Invincible Soul Emperor

Chapter 106: Chapter 106: Identifying Herbs

Li Qingfeng furrowed his brows, having understood Ye Qingchen’s thoughts. He nodded and said, ”Since you’re willing to participate, I’ll give you a brief overview of the rules for this competition.

”This Apprentice Alchemist Competition is divided into two stages. The first is a herb identification challenge. Each contestant will find a storage ring on their table. You must write down the name and effects of each herb. You have an hour and a half to identify as many herbs as possible; the more you identify, the higher your score.”

Ye Qingchen nodded. He had recently put in a great deal of effort in this area. Although he was starting an hour behind everyone else, with the Pill Emperor’s Heart Sutra and the legacy of Elder Fen Tian, he was confident he could not only catch up but surpass the others!

Seeing that Ye Qingchen showed no negativity despite his clear disadvantage, Li Qingfeng grew even more appreciative of the young man’s composed State of Mind. ”The top fifty from the first round can advance to the second,” he continued. ”As for the contents of the second round, it is not yet time for them to be announced.”

After speaking, Li Qingfeng pointed to the table closest to the judges’ seats. ”If you wish to compete, you’d best hurry.”

Knowing there was no time to delay, Ye Qingchen bowed to Li Qingfeng and ran towards the table.

As Ye Qingchen departed, Elder Liu Qin couldn’t help but ask, ”Sect Master, are we just going to let that brat get away with tarnishing the Sect’s reputation?”

Li Qingfeng smiled and replied, ”Elder Liu Qin, this incident was our own oversight to begin with. The young man hasn’t pressed his advantage where he was wronged, so why should I punish him?”

Elder Liu Qin opened her mouth to say more, but Li Qingfeng simply waved his hand dismissively and turned away.

Li Zongrui hung his head. The meaningful look Li Qingfeng had given him before leaving was a clear sign that the Sect Master knew he had orchestrated the whole affair. Still, I’m not afraid. As long as I deny it to my dying breath, the most he can do is give me a lecture.

Watching Ye Qingchen busy himself on the high platform, Li Zongrui scoffed inwardly. Don’t think that just because you managed to qualify, you can become an Inner Sect Disciple. Starting this late... I refuse to believe you can even make it to the second round!

Down in the audience, Ye Ying and Xiao Xiao had been searching for Ye Qingchen. When they finally spotted him on the high platform, they both breathed a sigh of relief.

”What is Qingchen doing? Why is he only starting now? The others are almost finished!” Ye Ying’s impatient nature surfaced as she began to complain.

In contrast, Xiao Xiao blinked her bright, limpid eyes and smiled at Ye Ying with utter confidence. ”Don’t worry, Sister Ye Ying. The moment the Young Master makes his move, he is guaranteed to take first place.”

Seeing Xiao Xiao’s boundless confidence, Ye Ying found herself nodding in agreement.

Ye Qingchen walked to his table, on which lay a storage ring, a brush pen, and a stack of Xuan paper. Nothing more.

Being so close to the judges’ stand, his arrival immediately drew the gazes of the Qingyun Sect elders, some of whom began to murmur amongst themselves.

”Is that the boy who was making a scene earlier? So it was all just for a chance to compete.”

”Hmph. The first round is nearly over. What’s the point of getting a spot now?”

”Exactly. I just scanned the floor. Some disciples have already identified several hundred herbs, and even the lowest-ranking ones have identified dozens. To have any hope of reaching the second round, he’ll probably need to identify at least two hundred.”

The chatter from the judges’ stand reached Ye Qingchen’s ears, but it did nothing to affect his State of Mind.

He picked up the brush and paper, then took the storage ring. With a single wave of his hand, he dumped all the herbs from within the ring onto the table.

Then, a dumbfounding scene unfolded. Ye Qingchen’s brush flew across the Xuan paper like a dancing dragon. At the same time, a steady stream of herbs was being returned to the storage ring.

”What is that boy doing?” The elders on the judges’ stand watched Ye Qingchen’s actions with confusion, their discussions starting up once more.

”Absurd! He’s just giving them a cursory glance! How could he possibly identify all the herbs with a single look? With only half an hour of time, identifying hundreds of herbs isn’t something an Apprentice Alchemist can do. He must know he has no chance and has resigned himself to failure,” Elder Liu Qin, who had approached the judges’ stand, spoke with disdain as she watched Ye Qingchen.

Li Qingfeng was also frowning, unable to understand Ye Qingchen’s actions. He had just extended an olive branch, hinting that he could directly promote him to an Inner Sect Disciple. Yet, Ye Qingchen had refused. Li Qingfeng had assumed the boy wanted to prove his own strength, but he never expected him to act so frivolously. This display caused Li Qingfeng, who had initially formed a high opinion of the boy, to silently dock a few points from his mental evaluation.

Standing behind Li Qingfeng, Li Zongrui sneered inwardly. He’s just putting on a show. There’s no way he’s actually identifying herbs. Not even those famous, long-established Alchemists could possibly move that fast!

Of course, Ye Qingchen was not giving up in despair. Having studied the Pill Emperor’s Heart Sutra and received the legacy of Elder Fen Tian, while his skill in Alchemy might not yet match those Alchemists, his ability to simply identify herbs wasn’t the least bit inferior to even a third-grade Alchemist.

This was the result of only one week of study. The Pill Emperor’s Heart Sutra contained a veritable ocean of information. Given more time, Ye Qingchen’s identification speed would become even more astonishingly fast.

Furthermore, since this competition was designed for Apprentice Alchemists, it naturally wouldn’t contain many high-level Immortal Herbs, making the task even easier for him.

As a result, Ye Qingchen could identify each herb’s name and effects with a mere casual glance. To an outsider, however, it certainly looked like he was just scribbling nonsense.

Time ticked by, and the other contestants’ identification speeds grew slower and slower. Brows were furrowed in concentration. Some even went so far as to taste the herbs, only to have mistakenly ingested a poisonous one and been carried off the stage.

Even Wang Cong and Wang Peng now wore troubled expressions as they looked at the herbs before them. Liu Ming, considered a favorite to win, had also slowed down considerably, taking a full five to six minutes to identify a single herb.

Across the entire stage, only Ye Qingchen’s speed never faltered. The pile of herbs on his table was rapidly shrinking as he placed them one by one back into the storage ring.

With five minutes left until the end of the first round, Ye Qingchen’s brush finally came to a halt. Then, under the astonished gazes of the entire crowd, he raised his hand, signaling to the judges that he had finished.