More time passed. The examination had now been underway for twenty hours. Of the original thirty thousand participants, only twenty thousand continued to fill in answers. The surroundings were as quiet as ever. Those who had abandoned their efforts did not leave, they stood by quietly, watching on.
By the time the thirtieth hour arrived, only seventy percent of the twenty thousand participants remained. The eyes of these more than ten thousand apprentice alchemists were bloodshot. Each and every one doggedly stared at their respective glowing screens, continuing to fill in information from their studies.
Meng Hao was as calm as ever. The speed with which he answered the questions caused Wang Fanming and the other old men to cast sidelong glances at each other.
By the fortieth hour, only thirty percent or so of the participants had not given up.
By the sixtieth hour, only six thousand remained in the square, continuing on madly with the examination. Already, quite a few were obviously about to give up. If they looked around, they would see that their compatriots were madly going all out, jaws clenched as they pondered the images of the medicinal plants in front of them, attempting to recall their habits and characteristics.
By the time eighty continuous hour of testing had passed, only three thousand participants remained. They had been answering questions for four days and four nights with no rest whatsoever. They were like mad devils who could remember everything.
When the one hundredth hour arrived, an older man who appeared to be about fifty years old coughed up a mouthful of blood and then collapsed to the ground. His previously gray hair was now completely white. The scene caused quite a commotion, and quite a few of the surrounding apprentice alchemists immediately stood pale-faced and gave up.
They knew that if they continued, they may very well die here this day. They walked off to the side, supported by fellow apprentice alchemists. Everyone was now watching the remaining thousand test takers, their eyes filled with fear and dread. They knew full well how fearsome these people were.
Only incredibly extraordinary individuals could remember so many of the hundred thousand plants and one million variations.
Meng Hao took a deep breath. His eyes felt gritty, so he closed them for a moment to rest. Then he opened them, focusing on the medicinal plants and continuing to fill out answers.
Time passed by in a blur. The number of people who remained answering questions grew smaller and smaller. One thousand, eight hundred, five hundred, three hundred… By the time one hundred and eighty hours had passed, only eleven people remained!
The eleven people all sat in different locations within the enormous square, competing with unbridled frenzy. Meng Hao was frowning. Some of the plants in front of him required a careful search of his memory to recall.
This was especially true of the medicinal plants that were easily misidentified. These could only be correctly identified by carefully examining various tiny details. In fact, in some cases, they could only be distinguished by taste; unfortunately only images were available, which meant that even further examination was required before any information could be recorded.
The other ten people all were pale-faced, and their eyes radiated with ferocity. Having endured all the way down to this point, they obviously were not willing to give up. This test was a trial by fire, and an unforgiving one at that. Only ten mistakes or oversights were allowed, and then, instant disqualification.
In this test, no one could masquerade as having ability. The best among the apprentice alchemists would be visible in a single glance.