Chapter 590, The Elder is Alarmed Again

Translator: Silavin

 

“You finished identifying them?” A staff member asked somewhat uncertainly. Upon seeing Qin Yichen nod extremely seriously, he could not help but twitch at the corner of his mouth.

 

“Done!” Just as everyone was speculating whether Qin Yichen had failed to recognise even a single Medicinal Liquid, after merely two minutes, from the uppermost stone platform, Qian Zhengchen’s indifferent voice also rang out.

 

“*Siiii!* It’s only been just over ten minutes, and he’s already finished identifying them all?”

 

“Worthy of being Qian Zhengchen!”

 

Hearing Qian Zhengchen’s voice, the crowd who had originally been looking at Qin Yichen with mockery all turned their gazes towards the direction where Qian Zhengchen was located.

 

On the uppermost stone platform, Qian Zhengchen could be seen dressed in white robes like snow, standing proudly with a confident smile. From his expression, it appeared that the Medicinal Liquid refined from those two hundred rare medicinal herbs posed no great difficulty for him.

 

On the platform where Qin Yichen was located, those few staff members merely casually handed him a piece of paper and pen, asking him to write down the name of each medicinal herb himself, while their gazes were all focused on the platform where Qian Zhengchen was situated.

 

*Swish! Swish!*

 

Qian Zhengchen rapidly wrote down the names of medicinal herbs beneath each jade bottle containing Medicinal Liquid. His writing speed flowed like water, without the slightest hesitation.

 

In just a moment, Qian Zhengchen had already finished. Under the gaze of countless eyes, the several staff members on that stone platform began their inspection.

 

“Qian Zhengchen, time taken: thirteen minutes…”

 

After a while, the four staff members exchanged glances. Then, the leader amongst them swallowed hard and bowed towards the direction of the high platform, slowly announcing: “Out of two hundred types, one hundred and ninety-six correctly identified!”

 

*Whoosh!*

 

As these words fell, they immediately caused an uproar of exclamations to ring out. Countless gazes filled with reverence looked fervently towards that white-robed figure.

 

Truly worthy of being Qian Zhengchen, who was acclaimed as the foremost amongst the young generation in the Heavenly Dragon Imperial Dynasty’s Alchemy!

 

Using merely just over ten minutes, he had actually recognised one hundred and ninety-six of the two hundred types of rare medicinal herbs in the Medicinal Liquid!

 

Such results were truly too extraordinary!

 

On the high platform, Dan Xuan and Chen Yun’s eyes also narrowed slightly, with a hint of admiration flashing through their gazes.

 

“Finished!”

 

“I’ve looked through them all!”

 

At this time, over twenty minutes had already passed, and from various stone platforms, voices continuously rang out declaring their completion.

 

“*Siii*It’s Luo Xiujie. He’s actually the second to finish. It seems First Gathering Alchemy Manor has spent considerable effort on him!”

 

“Indeed, but unfortunately this time with Qian Zhengchen present, he’s destined not to achieve first place.”

 

“Bai Caizhe is also done!”

 

“…”

 

Amidst the succession of exclamations, participants rapidly wrote down the names of medicinal herbs they had identified, then handed them to the staff members.

 

However, following Qian Zhengchen, there was not a single participant who could achieve above one hundred and ninety correct identifications. Currently ranked second was Luo Xiujie from First Gathering Alchemy Manor, who in twenty-one minutes had identified one hundred and fifty-eight types of medicinal herbs!

 

This result, if placed in previous Alchemy Manor Summits, would have been sufficient to secure first place in the herb identification round. However, this time due to Qian Zhengchen’s presence, there remained a considerable gap between him and first place.

 

Soon, half an hour had passed. Each participant, regardless of whether they had finished identifying everything, wrote down all the medicinal herbs they had managed to recognise with their utmost effort. Countless spectators also watched them tensely, as if observing who might emerge as a dark horse.

 

At this moment, almost everyone had forgotten that Qin Yichen was actually the first to finish identifying. However, because his attitude towards herb identification had been rather exaggerated, everyone believed he had simply failed to recognise those medicinal herbs.

 

Finally, after another quarter of an hour had passed, on the hundred or so platforms, except for Qin Yichen, all participants had announced their results. Shen Ling had identified one hundred and twenty types of medicinal herbs in half an hour, ranking fourteenth.

 

“This journey was not in vain despite travelling thousands of kilometres to reach Heavenly Dragon Imperial City. Being able to witness so many talented Alchemy Masters, I have no regrets in this life!”

 

“Indeed, identification in just over ten minutes with only four errors… Witnessing this scene will give me something to boast about for a year when I return!”

 

In the spectator stands, voices filled with lingering excitement continuously rang out.

 

“Eh, I remember the first to finish was actually Qin Yichen!”

 

“Pfft, are you dumb? He did not seriously identify the herbs at all. What use is finishing first?”

 

“Hmph, if it were me, I could finish looking in one minute!”

 

Suddenly, amidst the commotion, someone mentioned Qin Yichen, who should have been the first to announce results but had by the end been nearly forgotten. Immediately, countless gazes turned towards the platform where Qin Yichen was located.

 

However, those gazes mostly carried mockery, as everyone clearly maintained an attitude of watching Qin Yichen make a fool of himself.

 

“Ahem, er, have you finished writing?”

 

At this moment, the staff members on Qin Yichen’s platform suddenly snapped back to attention. At this time, they also remembered this matter. Immediately, one staff member coughed dryly and casually asked.

 

Facing the disregard from others and those countless gazes filled with mocking laughter, Qin Yichen appeared not to be angered by this. He remained completely composed.

 

“Well then, let me have a look…”

 

Looking at the paper that had been written long ago, one staff member coughed dryly, picked it up, and spoke casually.

 

However, in the next instant, his pupils suddenly contracted, and his body trembled violently.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

The three other Alchemy Council staff members beside him hurriedly stepped forward. When they saw the medicinal herb names written on the paper beneath the jade bottles, their bodies also froze in place.

 

“Im… impossible!”

 

One of the slightly older staff members was the first to recover. Then, he hurriedly ran down from the stone platform. Moments later, an Elder wearing the robes of the Alchemy Council followed him over.

 

“Eh, why is another Elder moving?”

 

“Could it be that because his attitude was too passive, they plan to directly expel him?”

 

“That’s quite possible indeed. After all, no one has ever dared to be so wilful at an Alchemy Manor Summit…”

 

Seeing that even an Elder had been summoned, whispered conversations immediately arose amongst the crowd.

 

On the high platform, Dan Xuan and Chen Yun exchanged glances, their eyes also showing surprise and doubt.

 

That Elder walked directly onto the platform where Qin Yichen was located, snatched the paper with the medicinal herb names written on it, and his gaze rapidly scanned across it. His expression also became increasingly grave as his gaze moved.

 

This unusual behaviour continued for quite some time. Finally, the Elder took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.