Chapter 217: Struggling for Plant M

Chapter 217: Struggling for Plant Mastery

All thirty thousand apprentice alchemists were respectful and solemn. Quite a few had full heads of white hair. Other than Meng Hao, not a one appeared to be under thirty years of age.

They had all been apprentices for at least 10 years and had deep, profound understanding of medicinal plants. Practice had ingrained the knowledge so deeply that if they left the Sect for another on the outside, they would be rated as a medicinal plant Grandmaster.

Right now, they solemnly filed forward toward the workstations. Meng Hao took a deep breath as he looked around at the workstations, selected one, and sat down.

This was his first time participating in an examination for promotion from apprentice alchemist. However, the feeling was not strange to him. Actually… everything felt quite familiar.

The scene around him was very much like the examinations he had taken part in back when he was a scholar in the State of Zhao. He had participated in the preliminary rounds of the Imperial examinations on multiple occasions, and although he had never scored top marks, he was still very familiar with the process.

Meng Hao chuckled to himself. “There really are a lot of similarities between the two. This master alchemist promotion examination tests your knowledge of medicinal plants. The more plants you remember, the more details you recall, and the more accurately you do so, will determine how close to perfection your final score is. It’s not very different at all from the imperial examinations.” He felt like he was back in the imperial examination hall. Except this time, he was not aiming for a scholarly rank, but promotion in the Dao of alchemy.

He took another deep breath and looked around at all the apprentice alchemists as they peered down at the jade slip in front of them. Suddenly, magical glowing screens appeared in front of them, upon which could be seen various medicinal plants.

The task of all the apprentice alchemists was to identify the plants they recognized and then record their habits and characteristics, planting requirements, harvesting methods and any other details.

Seeing that many of the participants had already started, Meng Hao tapped his jade slip, and immediately, a magical screen appeared. He stared thoughtfully at the medicinal plant which appeared, and then began to record the name of the plant, its characteristics, and some other details.

Time passed. The square was quiet and peaceful. The eight old men who sat cross-legged by the pill furnace appeared to Meng Hao to be the test administrators. They looked around the examination square. Clearly, if anyone caused a disturbance, severe punishment would follow.

Meng Hao soon fell into a rhythm of answering the questions. He quickly recorded the information about the plants that appeared in front of him. Many of them he had seen with his own eyes in the Celestial Land. Others, he had even held in his own hands when assisting Li Tao in pill concoction.

Six hours quickly passed. Meng Hao was immersed in filling out his answers. His eyes shone with determination. He had discovered that this was an excellent method to verify how much he had learned. All of the information he had studied about medicinal plants during the better part of the year once again floated up in his mind.

As he reached down into the depths of his memory, he began to experience the same feeling he had as a scholar all those years ago, the joy that can be found in the midst of hardship.

Soon, it became apparent that some of the surrounding apprentice alchemists were wearing out. Some frowned, obviously wracking their brains for answers. More time went by, another four hours. Some of the apprentice alchemists were pale-faced. Many were clearly encountering unfamiliar medicinal plants, which they would skip past quickly. However, soon, they discovered that the unfamiliar plants became more and more frequent. Eventually, people began to abandon their struggles and bitterly leave the examination field. They moved off to the side to observe.