Chapter 92: Just Give Up!

"Please describe the classification of green-leaf grass and the characteristics of the gray-fingered flower of the borderlands..."

"How many medicinal herbs can be combined with pig-heart leaf..."

...

The exam paper was densely covered with questions, just as the waitress (Wen Xue) had said, all related to medicinal herbs.

"Search!"

Seeing these questions, Zhang Xuan's mind stirred, and books flew over from the shelves, landing before him and opening one after another.

"Green-leaf grass can be divided by stem color into purple-stem, yellow-stem, and black-stem. The characteristics of the gray-fingered flower of the borderlands include..."

Looking at the book contents in his mind, Zhang Xuan wrote swiftly, answering quickly.

In his previous life, he was used to hard-tipped pens. Although the brush was somewhat difficult to handle, his predecessor had studied it specially, so his handwriting wasn't too ugly.

Rustle!

He flipped and wrote so fast that a rustling sound filled the air.

Others answered questions by racking their brains and recalling from memory, but he, with the Library of Heaven's Path in hand, could directly find the answers without thinking, no different from copying. His speed was astonishing.

"Hmm?"

Looking around to see how the others were doing, Ouyang Cheng caught sight of Zhang Xuan writing furiously. He frowned, his expression darkening.

"Looks like another aristocratic brat trying his luck!"

Every alchemy apprentice exam had many such deluded people who knew they couldn't pass but still came to try their luck. These people came from wealthy families, didn't care about the two thousand gold deposit, and only wanted to learn the question types to memorize them later.

He held such people in great contempt.

It was no different from cutting corners.

Without thoroughly memorizing tens of thousands of medicinal herbs, how could one become an alchemy apprentice just by luck? Where was such a good thing?

"Hmph, every exam has different question types and problems, never repeated. Even if you come many times, it's useless. I must rectify this风气, or else, with money, they'll come every time, and people from other professions will laugh at us!"

He flicked his sleeve and snorted inwardly.

Although the exam paper couldn't cover all the characteristics of tens of thousands of medicinal herbs, it covered a wide range. Without a profound understanding of medicines and their properties, it was impossible to achieve a correct rate above ninety percent.

Zhang Xuan was so young, and he hadn't even read the questions clearly before flipping and writing randomly. In Ouyang Cheng's eyes, he was instantly judged as an aristocratic brat cutting corners.

Alchemists most detest pretending to know what one doesn't. They tolerate no carelessness or mistakes. A single error could waste medicinal herbs at best, or cost lives at worst!

Because of this, the apprentice exam, though ostensibly three parts, also required the invigilator to observe the candidates' character and attitude. Someone like this guy, who didn't even read the questions clearly and just flipped and filled randomly, clearly had a problematic attitude.

Without even grading the paper, Ouyang Cheng had already judged from the bottom of his heart that Zhang Xuan would not pass, sentencing him to failure.

It wasn't that he was overly subjective. Had you ever seen anyone answer an exam paper without even reading the questions thoroughly? Had you ever seen anyone write without thinking, with ink flying?

Answering without thinking—it must be random writing!

Anyone would find it hard to believe he could answer all the questions correctly.

In less than half an hour, Zhang Xuan had filled out all the dozen or so pages of the exam paper.

Whoosh!

Letting out a breath, Zhang Xuan checked it again, found no problems, and handed it in.

"Handing in? So fast?"

"Maybe he knows he can't score and gave up!"

"Ah, to be honest, the exam is really too hard. Giving up is normal..."

"Giving up is one thing, but this is Senior Ouyang invigilating. I bet this kid is in for trouble..."

...

Seeing Zhang Xuan hand in his paper, the room buzzed with discussion.

The exam lasted an hour, and he handed it in before half the time was up. This had never happened in the history of the apprentice exam.

Seeing this, everyone thought he hadn't finished but had given up, lacking confidence to continue.

"When does the next exam start?"

Ignoring the crowd's comments, Zhang Xuan handed the paper to Ouyang Cheng and asked.

Collecting papers would take time for grading. He wanted to confirm the time so he could wait in advance.

If he hadn't asked, it might have been fine, but hearing this, Ouyang Cheng felt anger burning, ready to explode.

You know nothing, flipping and filling randomly. Even if there's a next exam, it has nothing to do with you!

The alchemy apprentice exam requires passing one part to qualify for the next. With your level, waiting for the next exam...

Are you awake?

Still, he was a formal alchemist. Though angry, he wouldn't show it to someone who hadn't even become an apprentice. He waved his hand: "Wait outside. If notified, come in. If not, you didn't pass. You can go back."

"Oh!"

Zhang Xuan nodded and walked out of the room.

"Deluded fool!"

As soon as he left, Ouyang Cheng casually crumpled the paper on the desk into a ball and tossed it aside.

There was no need to look at such a paper; it would only fuel his anger.

...

Zhang Xuan walked out of the room.

With the Library of Heaven's Path, testing this knowledge was too easy for him, with no difficulty at all.

"You handed in? Isn't the exam an hour? Why are you out after only half an hour?"

The middle-aged man, Uncle Li, looked at him in surprise.

The apprentice exam paper had a huge volume. In an hour, he barely finished, and sometimes didn't even read all the questions, leading to wrong answers and failure. Coming out in half an hour was too fast!

"Need to think? He must have found it too hard and given up!"

Wen Xue laughed.

Aren't you good at pretending?

You know nothing, yet you go take the apprentice exam. Now you know how hard it is!

"Heh!"

Hearing her words, Zhang Xuan couldn't be bothered to explain.

Besides, even if he explained, she wouldn't believe him. Rather than waste words, it was better to wait for the final result, and everything would be clear.

"What, feeling guilty? You pretended, but now you can't keep it up!"

This expression, in Wen Xue's eyes, was a sign of guilt.

"If you have a mental problem, get it checked. Don't jabber here." Zhang Xuan was a bit speechless with this woman. From the moment they met, she targeted him, as if he had raped her.

She was really sick!

He thought back carefully. His predecessor didn't seem to know her either.

Since they didn't know each other, why did she deliberately cause trouble for him?

Zhang Xuan was baffled.

"You..."

She thought that being exposed face-to-face, this guy would be ashamed and want to crawl into a hole. But instead, he was still righteous, saying she had a mental problem!

You're the one with a problem! A body full of problems!

Wen Xue breathed rapidly, her proud chest heaving up and down, about to explode.

"Oh, I see!"

A flash of insight struck Zhang Xuan. He thought of a reason and finally understood why she kept causing trouble for him. With pity in his eyes, he couldn't help shaking his head, his voice sincere and earnest.

"Don't think that by deliberately causing me trouble, you'll get my attention and I'll take a liking to you! This kind of thinking is very childish. Let me tell you clearly, doing this only makes me dislike you and has the opposite effect!"

With that, he sighed: "I only like gentle and elegant women. I won't like you. Just give up!"