The Sword God of the Universe

Chapter 529: Chapter 529 Time’s Up

Upon hearing Bai Lan’s words, the President of the Winter Sun Trading House became somewhat curious!

”If Jing Yan is just a nameless Pill Master from Lanqu County, then is President Qing Ru an idiot to pay such a high price to hire a Pill Master of negligible capability to represent her commerce?”

Not only did the President of the Winter Sun Trading House look at Bai Lan with doubt, but the President of the Dragon Soaring Commerce also cast his gaze over. Among the presidents of the five major guilds, the President of Dragon Soaring Commerce had an extraordinary status. So, when the few presidents gathered before, he exchanged pleasantries very casually and had little interest in the Pill Masters representing the other guilds.

However, what Bai Lan said still piqued his interest, prompting him to look this way.

Seeing that even the President of Dragon Soaring Commerce was looking at her, Bai Lan pursed her lips and continued to speak.

”This Jing Yan initially approached my Golden Sparrow Commerce, wanting to represent us!” Bai Lan slowly declared.

He briefly recounted the course of events.

While it was essentially the truth, the way Bai Lan described it made it sound as though Jing Yan was ungrateful and youthful arrogance.

Once the others knew the details, they all showed a sudden realization. Since Bai Lan provided a detailed account, the doubts about Jing Yan’s identity naturally dissipated. Jing Yan indeed was a Pill Master from Lanqu County. Those present, who were guild presidents, were all familiar with Lanqu County.

There are ninety-nine commanderies on Heavenly Origin Continent, and their businesses span the entire continent. Even if it’s a small place like Lanqu County, it would be impossible for them not to know about it.

Realizing that Jing Yan was a Pill Master from Lanqu County, they immediately lost much of their interest. Within Lanqu County, there were no Alchemy Dao families nor had they heard of any powerful Pill Masters.

”President Qing Ru, you might have been deceived,” said the President of Black Teeth Commerce in a low voice beside Qing Ru.

Black Teeth Commerce was ranked fourth among the commerce guilds in Pill Country.

Within Pill Country’s five great commerce guilds, the first was Dragon Soaring Commerce, the second was Winter Sun Trading House, the third was Golden Sparrow Commerce, the fourth was Black Teeth Commerce, and the fifth was Youhai Commerce. Among them, the status of Dragon Soaring Commerce was unshakable, while the gap between the second-ranked Winter Sun and the third-ranked Golden Sparrow was not very large.

As for the fourth-ranked Black Teeth and the fifth-ranked Youhai Commerce, they were a grade below Winter Sun and Golden Sparrow.

Hearing the words of the President of Black Teeth Commerce, Qing Ru smiled, unfazed.

If she hadn’t witnessed Jing Yan’s Alchemy skills before, she indeed might have lacked confidence. But now, she fully trusted Jing Yan’s capabilities. Even if Jing Yan really couldn’t make it onto the Pill King List, he definitely wouldn’t be eliminated in the first round.

”I believe in Alchemist Jing Yan’s abilities,” Qing Ru said assertively.

”Hehe... President Qing Ru really trusts this Jing Yan a great deal. However, President Qing Ru, the first round only lasts for two hours, and more than an hour has already passed, right? And that Jing Yan, he hasn’t even started writing much. I’ve been watching him, so I can affirm that he hasn’t identified more than thirty types of Spirit Grass,” Bai Lan said with certainty.

”The President is right, I’ve also been watching this Jing Yan, and he really hasn’t been writing much,” affirmed a director from Golden Sparrow Commerce.

Qing Ru’s gaze shifted towards Jing Yan, her eyebrows slightly furrowing.

In fact, she had been closely observing Jing Yan’s actions. She needed to pay attention to Jing Yan, as he was Youhai Commerce’s greatest hope. Youhai Commerce couldn’t compare to Dragon Soaring Commerce, which probably had more than one Sixth-level Alchemist to represent them. Even within Dragon Soaring Commerce itself, there were Sixth-level Alchemists under the age of a hundred.

So, she knew that what Bai Lan said was correct.

Qing Ru was uncertain what exactly was happening, so she didn’t bother to respond to Bai Lan.

The other presidents didn’t say much either. After all, Jing Yan was representing Youhai Commerce, and if Youhai Commerce suffered a great loss, it wouldn’t concern them much. Even in their hearts, they wished for Youhai Commerce to sustain a bigger loss.

Time trickled by steadily.

”These Spirit Grasses that come later are indeed very hard to identify, with some easily confused for others.”

”This Yellow Withered Lotus looks extremely similar to Snake Head Grass. I fear many Pill Masters would mistake the Yellow Withered Lotus for Snake Head Grass,” Jing Yan mused, squinting his eyes in thought.

Yellow Withered Lotus was a very rare type of Spirit Grass; many Pill Masters had never seen it. On the contrary, Snake Head Grass was quite common, so Pill Masters upon first glance at Yellow Withered Lotus could easily mistake it for Snake Head Grass.

And this was not the case for just one or two types of Spirit Grass, but for about ten types.

”There isn’t much time left!”

”Time to write!” Finally, Jing Yan began to write quickly, jotting down the names of the various Spirit Grasses on paper.

Seeing Jing Yan’s brisk strokes, Qing Ru finally revealed a smile on her face and let out a sigh of relief.

Jing Yan’s movements naturally did not escape Bai Lan and the others’ notice.

”Haha, this Jing Yan is quite amusing; seeing that time is nearly up, he starts to write randomly. Does he think he can pass this round by blindly guessing, like a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse? How naive!” Bai Lan said disdainfully.

Others shook their heads as well; however, they didn’t say anything, as it didn’t pertain to them. They were concerned with the Pill Masters representing their own guilds.

In their hearts, each was speculating which of the Pill Masters representing their commerce would be able to pass the first round and advance to the second.

Jing Yan’s writing speed was very fast, and as the names of the various Spirit Grasses emerged, the empty spaces on the paper gradually filled up.

When he reached the last type of Spirit Grass, Jing Yan’s brows furrowed.

”If I identify all one hundred types of Spirit Grass, won’t that be too showy?” Jing Yan pondered in doubt.

To be honest, identifying ninety-nine types of Spirit Grass was already defying the heavens, and while Jing Yan was not afraid of drawing attention, if he wrote all one hundred types of Spirit Grass, he did not know what consequences might follow.

”Forget it, let them think whatever they want!” Jing Yan, determined, still filled in the answer in the last empty space.

This time Jing Yan was determined to make a statement! The Alchemy Ceremony was undoubtedly a great opportunity to spread his fame across the continent. Though the difference between identifying ninety-nine and one hundred types of Spirit Grass was marginal, the impression it left was certainly not the same. A hundred percent versus ninety-nine percent might only be one point apart, but it’s the hundred percent that remains in memory longer.

”Time’s up. Please, all Pill Masters put down your pens immediately!” the white-robed elder presiding over the Alchemy Ceremony on the highest dais announced at this moment.

Two hours, the allotted time for the first round of Medicine Identification, had passed.

With the voice of the white-robed elder ringing out, all Pill Masters put down their pens. Many were reluctant and wanted to continue writing, but they dare not make another stroke; if they broke the rules and were disqualified from the competition, they would suffer a net loss.