As soon as he finished speaking, the surroundings suddenly fell silent.
Following that, there was an uproar.
“What a boast! That kid is too arrogant!”
The crowd laughed mockingly.
Contrary to their expectations, the kid defeated the prodigy of Cloudcore Valley and won the first match. It meant that the kid was actually quite knowledgeable and not some fake genius.
However, he was too young to challenge a master, even if he were really a genius.
“You…”
On the stage, the young man who stood up became red-faced. He gritted his teeth and looked at Tang Hao.
“Don’t be so arrogant, you brat!”
The other young men glared at Tang Hao and stood up to scold him.
They were prodigies, and they had always thought highly of themselves. It was the first time they had been humiliated.
The master medicine makers seemed indignant.
They were unhappy that a junior had provoked them.
At the same time, they were also frustrated.
They only accepted the challenge based on the fact that the guy was not a disciple of a master medicine maker and he had average medicine-making skills. From the looks of it, that did not seem to be the case.
They were impressed by that guy’s skills in the duel earlier.
“Damn! Where’s that kid from?”
They cursed softly.
The three pill makers stared at Tang Hao with gloomy expressions on their faces.
“If you want to humiliate yourself so much, I’ll fulfill your wish. Elder Feng, you’ll go first!” The pill maker in the middle said coldly.
“Yes!”
An old man among the group of master medicine makers hesitated for a moment before standing up.
“I might be old, but don’t expect me to hold back.” He strode over and sat down opposite Tang Hao.
“It’s Master Feng!”
“Haha! That kid will have trouble defeating Master Feng!”
Many people in the crowd cheered.
Master Feng of Cloudcore Valley was a renowned individual. He was known as a master medicine maker for several decades. The young man would not be a match for him.
It would be an overwhelming victory for Master Feng.
Meanwhile, the people from Cloudcore Valley did not seem very excited. It was an uneven match, and there was nothing to be proud of even if they won. The first defeat had already embarrassed them.
Tang Hao sized up Master Feng and said indifferently, “Are you going first, or should I?”
Master Feng stroked his long beard and said proudly, “You are a junior. Naturally, you go first!”
He seemed relaxed. He did not take that kid seriously at all.
“OK!”
Tang Hao grinned and smiled brightly, “Then I’ll ask the questions first.”
“HeH! Do you think you can stump me? Stop dreaming! I’ve seen more medicine in my life than you’ve eaten salt, so bring it on,” Master Feng said with a contemptuous smile.
“Alright, here’s the first question. You should know about monkey’s tail grass, right? It’s very smelly. Is there a way to perfectly remove the stench?” Tang Hao asked.
When Master Feng heard the question, his face stiffened.
‘Wait, why didn’t he ask about rare herbs? Isn’t monkey’s tail grass that herb that smells like urine? It’s a common herb with many uses, but there’s no way to conceal the stench. Any pill that used the herb would more or less have the smell of urine.
‘There’s no way of perfectly removing the smell!’
“No trick questions, kid!” He scolded angrily.
“That’s right, you’re cheating!” The masters at the side also shouted.
“Shut up!”
Tang Hao’s expression turned cold and he said sternly, “It’s not a trick question. Just because you don’t know the method doesn’t mean there isn’t one!”
“Bullsh*t! It’s a publicly known fact that there is no way to remove the stench from monkey’s tail grass!”
“Is that so?” Tang Hao chuckled.
Following that, he took out a stalk of monkey’s tail grass, and its stench could be smelled from several streets away.
The surrounding crowd revealed looks of disgust and tightly pinched their noses.
Tang Hao crushed it, then took out a bottle of liquid and poured a drop on it.
Soon, the pungent smell of urine completely disappeared. What was left was a faint fragrance of grass.
“How… how is that possible?”
The masters were stunned.
They could not believe it. One by one, they stood up and sniffed hard.
Master Feng even stood up and rushed forward agitatedly. He snatched the medicine bowl from Tang Hao’s hand, stuck his nose in, and sniffed crazily.
There was no urine stench at all. In fact, the contents in the bowl smelled quite pleasant.
“This… this is impossible!”
He muttered in complete disbelief.
He could not believe it!
The problem of Monkey’s tail grass had been studied extensively, and it was considered common knowledge that its stench could not be removed. However, the kid had upended that fact right in front of his eyes.
“What’s that liquid?”
He looked at Tang Hao. He was so excited that his entire body was trembling.
“I can’t tell you!” Tang Hao said.
Master Feng was shocked. Then, he smiled drily.
Tang Hao was right. The liquid could be considered a trade secret.
He handed the medicine bowl back to Tang Hao and sat down. His old face was slightly red with embarrassment.
Everyone in the audience exclaimed in surprise.
“How could that be? Master Feng actually failed to answer the first question!”
Master Feng felt uneasy when he heard the discussion.
He became even more annoyed when he saw the smirk on the kid’s face.
‘Damn! What’s there to be proud of? You happen to have that secret liquid. You won’t be so lucky after this!’ He cursed in his heart.
“Next question! Hurry up!”
“Here’s the second question. Under what circumstances will the medicinal properties of a medicinal herb change?”
Master Feng was stunned once more after hearing the question.
‘How could the medicinal properties of a herb change? That’s a joke!’
“You, you, you… you’re cheating again!” He shouted angrily.
“The medicinal properties of certain herbs will change depending on the temperature! Don’t you even know that?”
Tang Hao had a mocking look on his face.
When Master Feng heard that, he was so angry that his lungs nearly exploded. He said angrily, “Bullsh*t! That’s impossible! Don’t talk nonsense!”
“Ahem! Elder Feng, that is indeed possible!” One of the masters said after discussing with the others for a while. “Of course, that phenomenon could only be observed in very few herbs.”
Master Feng was stunned once more.
His face was flushed red, and he felt as though it was burning.
He had failed to answer the second question!
“Next… next question!”
“Listen carefully to the third question. I have two herbs, gyrfalcon beak and stonecrock fungus. How do I incorporate both herbs in the same recipe?”
Master Feng’s jaw dropped when he heard the question.
‘What the hell? What kind of bullsh*t question is that?
‘The two herbs have contradicting properties. How could you incorporate them together?’
He wanted to blurt out cursing again, but he thought of what happened earlier and kept his mouth shut.
He racked his brain but could not think of a solution.
“It’s fine if you can’t figure it out, Sir. Let’s move on to the next question!
“Oh, you don’t know that either? How could you? That’s basic!
“You’re too weak, Sir!”
Every question that Tang Hao asked was very tricky. Master Feng opened his mouth, but he could not say a word.
He thought that he was so ignorant compared to the kid, and he could not help but feel ashamed of himself.
That was ridiculous!
How could a master that devoted decades of his life in the field of medicine making could not compare to a kid in his early twenties?
He lowered his head, and his face was already red with embarrassment.
