Urban Divine Doctor Descends the Mountain

Chapter 1813: Chapter 1812 Harsh Conditions

”The test officially begins. Who will be the first to take the test?” Elder Qingfeng swept his gaze over everyone and asked them.

At this moment, Zhang Feng spoke up, ”I’ll go.”

Zhang Feng chose to be the first to take the test.

”Alright, first we’ll test your sensitivity to herbs. Here is a formula. Follow this formula to prepare the medicine. You have only ten minutes.”

”Now, let’s formally begin.”

As soon as Elder Qingfeng finished speaking, Zhang Feng took the ancient alchemist formula from his hand and immediately headed off to prepare the medicine.

But preparing medicine here was far from as simple as in a pharmacy.

First, one had to select dozens of herbs from among tens of thousands listed in the formula. This was the first step.

Next, one had to add these herbs into the alchemy furnace in a specific sequence. The proportions of the herbs had to be controlled personally.

Additionally, some herbs required form changes, such as grinding them into powder.

Still, there were other steps that required combining two herbs for fusion.

The entire process was complex and meticulous.

If one lacked sufficient sensitivity to herbs, it was easy to make mistakes.

At the moment, Zhang Feng hurried to take the test, but before long, he was drenched in sweat.

He made numerous mistakes in the first step of selecting herbs, which delayed a lot of time.

When preparing the medicine, the errors became even more frequent.

Improper proportions, errors in herb fusion—problems were everywhere.

Ten minutes passed, and Elder Qingfeng said:

”Time’s up.”

Zhang Feng sighed, knowing he definitely failed.

Elder Qingfeng gave his evaluation, ”One star.”

With only a one-star rating for this test, there was no need to even test fire control skills—he was directly eliminated.

Zhang Feng forced a bitter smile as he returned to join Lin Dong, Qin Yitian, and the others.

He then said, ”This is way too hard. Sigh, it looks like I’ll never have a chance to become an alchemist in this lifetime.”

Lin Dong said, ”Don’t lose heart. If you can’t become an alchemist, then focus on the Martial Way instead, and seek a breakthrough there.”

Zhang Feng nodded, smiling to comfort himself, and then added, ”Mr. Dong Lin is right.”

Even though he couldn’t become an alchemist, he could still maintain his position as the leader of the eighth squad in Thunder Hall. This was not a low-ranking position in the Dan Alliance.

Now that the path of becoming an alchemist was cut off, he resolved to focus entirely on the Martial Way. The future was still promising.

At this moment, Elder Qingfeng spoke again, ”Who will go second?”

”I will.” Just then, another person spoke up.

This time, those who came to test their alchemy talent weren’t only Lin Dong, Wang Xiuxin, Zhang Feng, and An Lan. Among them were also over a dozen others.

At this moment, one of these dozen individuals, a man, stepped forward.

He then began his attempt at preparing the medicine.

Ten minutes later, the results were in.

”One star, eliminated!”

Once again, elimination.

Then, another six testers from the dozen stepped forward one after another. All of them failed at the first challenge.

Unable to pass the first stage, there was no need to proceed to the second stage fire control test at all.

”Who’s next?” Elder Qingfeng appeared calm, because such results were the norm.

As a senior responsible for evaluating alchemy talent, he hosted these newcomer tests every week.

Every week, potential candidates recommended from all over the nation came for the tests. If even one person managed to pass with scores of three stars or above in both stages, it would already be considered exceptional.

Such widespread failure at the first stage was the usual scenario.

”This time, I’ll go.” At this moment, Wang Xiuxin stepped forward and said aloud.

Elder Qingfeng nodded at him, ”Your name is Wang Xiuxin. You’re recommended by Elder Ming Yue, correct?”

”Correct.” Wang Xiuxin nodded. ”Elder Qingfeng, you know me?”

Elder Qingfeng laughed, ”I have a good relationship with Elder Ming Yue. He specifically mentioned you to me, saying you have great potential. He hopes you are as he described, that you’ll pass this test and become a member of our Dan Alliance.”

”Haha, good.” Wang Xiuxin confidently smiled, then took the formula, entered the medicinal material repository, and began his test.

Wang Xiuxin was indeed exceptional. Among tens of thousands of herbs, he selected the dozens listed in the formula in under three minutes.

And unlike the earlier testers, he made no mistakes.

Seeing this, Elder Qingfeng nodded with satisfaction, ”Sure enough, he’s a good seedling.”

After selecting the herbs, Wang Xiuxin began preparing the medicine.

His proportions were completely accurate!

The degree of herb fusion was entirely up to standard!

The sequence of combining the herbs was flawless!

About nine minutes later, Wang Xiuxin said, ”I’m done preparing!”

At this moment, Elder Qingfeng came forward and inspected the contents of the mortar.

After completing his inspection, Elder Qingfeng praised, ”Very good, very good. In the entire process of preparing the medicine, you only made two minor mistakes.”

”Moreover, you completed it within the stipulated ten minutes. Your test results are at four stars! You’ve passed the first-stage test!”

Wow!

Hearing this, the previously failed testers erupted in exclamations.

”He actually made it past the first stage of the test.”

”Amazing!”

”The benchmark is three stars to pass, and he hit four stars.”

”What a monster! This test is so difficult, and he completed it.”

”...”

Wang Xiuxin was overjoyed as he cupped his hands, ”Thank you, Elder Qingfeng.”

Elder Qingfeng chuckled, ”No need for thanks. This is all due to your talent.”

”Haha, you’re the first person this year to score four stars in the first stage. Truly remarkable.”

Elder Qingfeng seemed genuinely pleased. This year, he had tested countless individuals but had not seen anyone else score four stars in the first stage.

As a testing elder of the Dan Alliance, he naturally felt delight at this result.

Wang Xiuxin, brimming with pride, glanced back at Lin Dong, silently flaunting his success.

”Now, onto the second stage—testing your fire control ability.”

”The rules for the fire control test are as follows: You must control flames to simmer some items.”

”These items require specific flame intensity to be successfully simmered. You’ll need to simmer a total of five herbs.”

”If you can successfully simmer four within an hour, you pass the test.”

”Now, let’s begin.”

At this moment, Wang Xiuxin entered another alchemy room.

Inside this alchemy room, there were five medicinal pots.

Each medicinal pot contained herbs.

Below were stoves for generating flames, although the fire had not yet been lit.

It was up to the tester to ignite the flames.

At this moment, Wang Xiuxin walked up to the first medicinal pot.

The herbs in this pot required him to maintain the temperature between 60-62 degrees Celsius, using a medium flame to simmer them.

Beyond controlling temperature, he also needed to control the size of the flames. The requirement here was for the flame’s largest horizontal cross-section to stay within a diameter of five centimeters.

The color also had to meet the red-and-white requirement.

Seeing this challenge, Zhang Feng, one of the failed testers, couldn’t help but gasp.

”This level of fire control is way too difficult.”

Such precise fire control was indeed extremely challenging.

But all of these intricate and demanding skills were essential for alchemy’s foundational techniques.

”No wonder alchemists hold such esteemed statuses. I finally understand why—it’s just so difficult to become one.” Zhang Feng muttered to himself.

At the moment, Wang Xiuxin had already begun his test.