In his previous life, Zhang Xuan was a bachelor and had never dated anyone. Thus, he was incapable of guessing the thoughts of a woman, needless to say, fathom that he had infuriated the receptionist Wen Xue to the verge of exploding in a mere ten minutes.
However, even if he were to know, it didn’t make a difference.
[After all, beauty cannot be eaten anyway. Besides, you are thousands of miles off in comparison with Shen laoshi and Huang Yu, so where does your self-confidence come from?]
At this moment, he didn’t have any spare effort to be thinking about these though. After walking into the room, he headed to the first row of the bookshelves, casually grabbed a dozen of books and lightly flipped through them. After which, he hurriedly placed them back in position before doing the same with another dozen of books.
Hualala! Hualala!
Along with the ceaseless sound of book flipping, books were swiftly being compiled in the Library of Heaven’s Path.
Zhang Xuan read the book as he imprinted them in his head. He could tell that it was just as the receptionist said, these were all the most basic knowledge that an apothecary needed to know. It contained the methods to differentiating different medicinal herbs, their detailed explanation, properties, types, effects when put together with others herbs and whether the effects would be in conflict with one another…
If he had to memorize them manually, he would surely find it difficult to accomplish even when he tired himself to death.
It was no wonder that the position of apothecaries was so well-respected. Just to become an apprentice, they had to put in a lot more effort than the other occupations in order to remember this vast amount of knowledge.
“What is he doing?”
Wen Xue had been wanting to see Zhang Xuan make an embarrassment out of himself. However, at this moment, looking at him flip through the books, seemingly without the intention to study them, her beautiful eyes blinked in incomprehension.
“Perhaps he is just trying to look for a specific book to read. Ignore him!”
The middle-aged man Uncle Li glanced at him before picking up a book and passed it over to her, “Take a look at it as well. Time is precious. One additional sentence memorized may just happen to be the determining factor in the results of the exam!”
“Un!” Wen Xue nodded her head. Grabbing the book, she started to absorb herself in it.
All occupations required one to have unwavering determination to study. It was impossible for one to soar to the heavens in one go, and apothecaries were the same as well.
When forging pills, a single formula tended to require more than a hundred of medicinal herbs. If one were to fail in recognizing even a single herb, it would cause all of the herbs, which they spent countless gold coins to buy, become useless trash. Thus, it was especially unbecoming for an apothecary to be ignorant or negligent.
Soon, four hours passed.
At the same time, Zhang Xuan happened to be flipping through the last few books on the bookshelves as well and he heaved a sigh of relief.
“It is no wonder that master teachers are so rare. Not speaking of any other occupations, just apothecary itself is such a profound occupation!” An epiphany struck Zhang Xuan.
Teachers, the imparter of knowledge and heritage, were required in every single occupation. Formidable master teachers were well-versed in all occupations. That was to say, not only could a master teacher guide a person in his cultivation, he was also able to offer pointers in pill forging, smithing, formation and such.
This was precisely the reason why the occupation was so well-respected and was regarded as the top of the Upper Nine Paths.
Initially, Zhang Xuan thought that pill forging would be an easy task. As long as one possessed the pill formula, followed it step by step and added in the herbs systematically, the pill should be formed. However, from the looks of it now, that wasn’t the case at all.
The maturity of a medicinal herb affected the herb’s properties as well. As such, when it is added along with other herbs, it would result in all kinds of different reaction. If one only knew the sequence to adding the herbs, it was impossible for them to successfully forge the pill they are aiming to create.
Just pill forging itself was such a complicated process. It was truly amazing how the more formidable master teachers were able to wield the knowledge of numerous occupations at the tip of their mind.
Upon walking out of the room, Zhang Xuan saw Wen Xue standing not too far away with a cold and supercilious expression. “You must have thought that I wouldn’t be here!”
“What matter of mine is it whether you are here or not?”
Zhang Xuan looked over speechlessly.
[I only want to take the apprentice apothecary examination, your presence shouldn’t make a difference at all!]
“Continue acting then. I’ll see how you will cry in a moment’s time!” Wen Xue gritted her teeth.
“The examinations are about to begin, let’s go in!”
The middle-aged man ushered him in.
“Un!” Ignoring the self-assuming woman, Zhang Xuan walked into the room.
The room wasn’t large, just a few dozen meters square large. There were a few people who were already seated inside and what was common of them all was that a nervous expression painted their faces.
Soon, an elderly walked in.
“That is the only 1-star intermediate-stage apothecary of Tianxuan Kingdom’s Apothecary Guild, Senior Ouyang Cheng, as well as the head of Tianxuan Kingdom’s branch!”
“That’s right! I thought that it would be Apothecary Du Man, I didn’t expect that it would be him!”
“Crap, I heard that he is reputed to be strict. Now, all possibility of passing the exam by luck is gone…”
Upon catching sight of the elderly, despondent expressions appeared on the faces of the few seated in the room.
Just like master teachers, apothecaries were classified based on stars as well and 1-star was the lowest rank.
Even so, given how Tianxuan Kingdom didn’t even have a 1-star master teacher, possessing a 1-star apothecary was already not bad.
Ignoring the mutterings of the crowd, Ouyang Cheng walked into the room, swept through the room with his gaze and said, “I’m sure you all are confident in your abilities to join in this examination!”
“Er…”
Everyone felt a little awkward.
No one dared to say that they were hundred percent certain that they would pass the examination.
“Since all of you are here for the examination, I will make things clear. If I were to catch any of you cheating, you will be banned from the examination for life!” Ouyang Cheng gestured grandly, creating an intimidating aura.
“Yes!” The crowd nodded their head hurriedly.
Seeing them agree to it, Ouyang Cheng nodded his head in approval. “Now that I am done with the rules, I will talk about the contents of the examination. There are three rounds to the examinations! Firstly, Written Paper! Questions on medicinal herbs will be randomly tested in it and one can only be considered to have passed if he were to be right for at least 90% of the questions!”
“Secondly, Medicinal Herb Discernment Time Trial! You will be given a few herbs and within a fixed period of time, you have to determine what herb it is and what kind of properties and effects it possesses! The requirements for this test is higher and one has to be 100% correct!”
“The third test is much more easy, Cultivation Realm Inspection! One must be at least Fighter 3-dan Zhenqi realm pinnacle! Why is there such a requirement? Simple, as an apprentice apothecary, one would be sent to do odd jobs for an apothecary. If your cultivation realm is too lacking, how can you have the strength to move cauldrons or to swiftly differentiate herbs?”
Those who were for the examination had been studying for numerous years, so they were well-aware of the flow of the examination.
Only Zhang Xuan was foreign to it. However, after hearing the explanation, he came to a comprehension.
[It’s actually quite simple. As long as I were to get everything right, I will be able to pass the examination. It isn’t as difficult as I thought it would be…]
“Since everyone has understood the rules and the contents of the examination, let’s start with the first round, written paper. The duration is two hours!”
After which, Ouyang Cheng passed the examination paper down.
After taking a look at it, the corners of Zhang Xuan’s mouth twitched.
The test paper was a thick stack consisting of at least several dozens of paper.
Several dozens of test paper within two hours?
Why did this scene seem weirdly reminiscent to that of his previous life?
He didn’t expect that after becoming a teacher upon transcending to a foreign world, he would still have to undergo examinations…
He found the situation a little peculiar.
“You may begin answering the question!”
After giving out the papers, Ouyang Cheng ignored the rest of them and stood coldly at one corner with his hands behind his back.
Even though he wasn’t looking at the examinees, if someone were to cheat, the perpetrator would surely be discovered and expelled from the examination hall.
However, it didn’t really matter to Zhang Xuan since he didn’t have any intentions to cheat anyway. Lowering his head, his attention focused onto the test paper.
“Flaws!”
Upon picking up the paper, he shouted out loud in his mind. Then, his mind jolted and a book appeared.
After taking a look, Zhang Xuan was at a loss of whether he should be laughing or crying.
Written in the book was: Tianxuan Kingdom Apothecary Guild’s Apprentice Apothecary Test Papers. Made from a 1-mo craftsman in Baiyi Mill using straws. Flaws: No. 1, the quality of the paper is too inferior, making it unsuitable for storage. Also, it attracts bugs easily. No. 2, it doesn’t hold onto ink very well, making it easy for it to smudge…
[The heck, what I want are answers, not the flaws of the material of this paper!]
Suppressing the urge to vomit blood, Zhang Xuan ignored the book and focused on the questions on it instead.
