Chapter 93: Grading the Exam Papers

In his previous life, when he was in middle school, he had also experienced this—liking a girl, deliberately showing off in front of her, even going so far as to oppose her just to get her attention!

This woman had been opposing him at every turn since she arrived, probably for the same reason.

Otherwise, why would she act like this?

Hey, you're not bad-looking, and you must have plenty of suitors. Why bother clinging to me?

Zhang Xuan felt utterly melancholy.

Being pursued, it seemed, wasn't such a good thing after all.

Oh, the agony of a time traveler!

"Give up?"

Wen Xue stumbled, feeling as if a mouthful of blood was about to spew out; she was going crazy.

Clearly, you were the one deliberately trying to get my attention and curry favor with me!

When did it become me deliberately causing you trouble?

Damn it!

Explain to me, what the hell is that pitying look in your eyes? What the hell do you mean by 'give up'?

Regardless, I'm a beautiful woman, liked by countless people. How did it come to this, as if I can't get married and have to settle for you?

Gnashing her teeth, Wen Xue's face twitched uncontrollably, as if about to explode.

Just as she could no longer hold back and was about to strike this self-righteous fellow, she saw the young man sigh and shake his head, then walk to a stool on the side and sit down.

Calm and carefree, not taking a single cloud with him.

"Alright, Wen Xue, this is the entrance to the Assessment Hall. If an alchemist sees you, it will be hard to take the exam again in the future!"

Uncle Li spoke up.

"Yes!" Hearing this, Wen Xue had no choice but to suppress her anger and also sat down.

This was the entrance to the Assessment Hall, where alchemist masters often appeared. If they saw her angry and fighting, it would leave a bad impression, making it difficult to pass the apprentice exam next time.

"You're lucky. When the results come out, I'll teach you a lesson!"

Casting a cold glance at this self-righteous guy, Wen Xue gritted her teeth inwardly.

Ignoring this woman who was "secretly in love" with him, Zhang Xuan sat on the stool and carefully organized the knowledge in his mind.

Much of the information about medicinal herbs was summarized by countless predecessors and wasn't too erroneous. Zhang Xuan picked out the mistakes and studied them carefully.

His consciousness immersed in the Library of Heaven's Path, the exam finally ended, and everyone handed in their papers.

"Wait outside. If you pass, you'll be notified for the next test!"

Ouyang Cheng waved his hand, shooing everyone out, then picked up a vermilion brush and began grading the papers one by one.

As he graded, his brows furrowed, and his face turned gloomy.

"Brother Ouyang, how did it go? Is there anyone who passed? I happen to need an apprentice!"

Just as he finished grading, a middle-aged man strode over.

Another one-star alchemist from the Alchemist Guild, Du Man.

"Pass? Look at these—answers full of nonsense! If I took them as apprentices, I'm afraid the Alchemist Guild would be disgraced!"

Tossing the vermilion brush aside, Ouyang Cheng picked up a stack of graded papers and said angrily.

"Let me see!"

Alchemist Du Man came to the table and flipped through the freshly graded papers. After a short while, he too frowned.

The exam content, in their view, wasn't too difficult, but the answers were a mess, and many even got the properties of common herbs wrong!

If such people became apprentices, it would indeed tarnish the reputation of the Alchemist Guild.

"Hmm? What's with this paper? Brother Ouyang didn't grade it?"

After flipping through seven or eight papers without finding a single satisfactory one, Alchemist Du Man's eyes suddenly landed on a crumpled ball of paper on the table.

There was not a trace of red ink on it, clearly unmarked.

"Written by some reckless dandy, definitely worse. No need to read it to know it won't pass. Rather than getting angry, I might as well not correct it..."

Thinking of the guy who had been scribbling furiously just now, Ouyang Cheng's mood soured even more.

A fellow who submitted his paper after only half an hour was bound to fail—no need to correct it at all!

What's going on? In previous exams, at least three or four could pass the first round. This time, after all this correcting, only two made it, and the rest answered terribly!

"A dandy? Let me see what kind of answer could make you dismiss it without even looking..."

Du Man shook his head with a smile and casually opened the paper.

"Huh?"

His eyes landed on the paper, followed by a startled exclamation.

Rustle! Rustle!

Then came the sound of pages turning. The more he flipped, the more astonished Du Man's expression became. His originally indifferent look grew increasingly serious.

"What's wrong? Is his answer too outrageous?" Seeing his expression, Ouyang Cheng snorted. "Some clueless dandy, relying on money to sneak into the exam, doesn't take the Alchemist Guild seriously at all..."

"No... Brother Ouyang, take a look too..."

Hearing the other's angry words, Du Man quickly interrupted and handed the paper over.

"What's there to see? He won't pass anyway..."

Muttering, Ouyang Cheng looked down. After just one glance, like Du Man earlier, his eyes went wide, and he couldn't help letting out an "Oh?"

He turned to the second page: "Huh?"

He turned to the third page: "Ah?"

He turned to the fourth page: "Damn!"

……

His face shifted through various expressions, but his hands never stopped, hurriedly flipping backward.

Soon, dozens of test papers were all flipped through. Ouyang Cheng's eyes nearly fell out of their sockets as he looked over in utter disbelief: "How is this possible? Not... not a single mistake?"

"Indeed! Not a single mistake. There are a few places where we deliberately left tricky problems; even if I were answering, I'm afraid I might fall into the trap and make a mistake..."

Du Man also looked incredulous.

The reason they were so confident in this test paper was that some of the questions were extremely obscure. Even they, as certified alchemists, couldn't know the correct answers without careful recollection, deliberation, or even consulting reference materials.

But now, this test paper was not only written clearly and plainly, but also... had not a single error!

How... could this be?

"Not a single mistake... Brother Ouyang, how could you have judged that he would definitely fail?"

After the shock, Du Man couldn't help asking.

Such excellent answers had never appeared in the history of the Tianxuan Kingdom Alchemist Guild. For such a genius, this Brother Ouyang had dismissed him without even looking—wasn't that too arbitrary!

"I..." Ouyang Cheng's face flushed red, and he was speechless for a long time.

He had always been known for his seriousness and caution, earning the admiration of countless people, yet today he had...

This slap in the face was burning with pain.

He had clearly seen the kid finish the test paper in half an hour without putting his heart into it—how could he have gotten everything right?

At that speed, even he couldn't do it!

Could it be that this kid's research on the Dao of medicine had already surpassed his own?

Calling someone with more knowledge of medicine than himself a wastrel and failing him?

Damn, this is too much!

Ouyang Cheng felt his whole body stiffen, as if constipated.