Dual Cultivation

Two weeks have passed in the blink of an eye, and on the day of the Alchemy Examination, Wang Shuren wobbled out of her room in a drunk-looking manner, feeling sore all over her body.

Su Yang walked out afterward, and he spoke to her, "If you don't want to be at the Assembly Hall, you can stay here and rest."

Wang Shuren quickly shook her head and said, "No, I want to be there because I also want to participate in your alchemy exam."

"You shouldn't force yourself too much. After all, you can barely even walk in a straight line." Su Yang shook his head with a smile on his face.

"Whose fault do you think it is that I am in such a state?" Wang Shuren looked at him with a face of disbelief. "If you didn't do me so intensively, I wouldn't be like this…"

Su Yang burst out laughing and said, "And who was the one that kept screaming 'do me harder'?"

"..."

Wang Shuren's face flushed with redness after hearing his words, and she mumbled, "How hateful."

Sometime later, the two of them left the Burning Lotus Sect and headed to the Assembly Hall, where hundreds of people had already gathered and were waiting for them.

"It's the Senior!"

"This Junior greets the Senior!"

"Welcome back, Senior!"

The people there immediately greeted him with respectful bows.

Once everyone had gathered at the Assembly Hall, Su Yang spoke, "Do you have any questions before I start the exam?"

Someone raised their hand and asked him, "How many tests will there be in total?"

"There will be three simple tests you have to pass in order to become my disciple."

"What happens if more than three people here pass the test?"

"Then we will have a contest between the winners until only the three most talented remains."

"Will we be required to concoct a pill for this examination?"

"No, I don't have the patience for that."

After answering everybody's question, Su Yang began the Alchemy Exam.

"For the first test, I will be testing the strength of your memorization." Su Yang suddenly waved his sleeves, causing hundreds of scrolls to fly towards the participants.

"There will also be two parts for the first test. There are 10,000 ingredients listed in each scroll with 10 different scrolls available, making the grand total 100,000 ingredients. And for the first part of the test, you have ten hours to memorize as many ingredients as you possibly can. In order to continue to the second test, you will have to memorize at least 10,000 ingredients."

"10,000 ingredients in ten hours?!"

At least half of the room was shocked speechless by the difficulty of the first exam. It would be a miracle if they can even memorize 1,000 ingredients in ten hours, much less 10,000!

As for the Alchemy Experts in the room, they all showed confident expressions on their faces, as they have already memorized tens of thousands of ingredients throughout their many years of their life as an Alchemy Master. It was almost like giving a Master Chef a guide book on how to cook basic dishes.

However, as soon as the test began, these Alchemy Experts quickly realized that they were wrong about the test and that they did not know the majority of the ingredients listed on the scrolls, and their confidence quickly shrunk until there was nothing left.

'What the hell is going on? I have memorized over 50,000 ingredients, and I can recall each of them as though they are written on the back of my hand, yet I do not recognize any of these ingredients?! Just how is this possible? Are these ingredients that only exist in the Holy Central Continent? He got me! I should've known that it wouldn't be this easy!' Senior Zeng, one of the most renowned Alchemy Masters in the Eastern Continent, cried inwardly as he was shocked speechless by so many new ingredients that he has never even heard of.

Wang Shuren was no different. Despite being taught by Su Yang, she has never seen most of the ingredients on the scroll before.

However, she did not dare to waste too much time thinking about it and purely focused on memorizing the names of these ingredients.

Ten hours later, Su Yang clapped his hands and said, "It's been ten hours. Stop what you are doing and look at me or I will fail you on the spot."

Immediately, the people there closed the scrolls and looked at him.

Unless one was cultivating, ten hours would normally feel like a long time. But for these participants, these past ten hours felt like ten minutes.

"What do you think of the first test?" Su Yang asked them afterward.

"Senior… are these ingredients from the Holy Central Continent?" One of them asked him.

"Something like that." He nodded.

And he continued, "You may be thinking that I am cheating by doing this, but if I didn't do this, it wouldn't be fair to those without much knowledge or experience in Alchemy, giving the Alchemy Masters here that has decades of experience all the advantage."

"And at the end of the day, I do not care about your current knowledge and abilities. I only seek the ones with the most potential, as that is the purpose of these tests."

Sometime later, Su Yang handed out a blank scroll to every individual in the room and explained to them the second part of the test, "For the next part, I will have you recall as many ingredients as you possibly can from the first part of the test into the scroll I just handed you. All you need to do is think about the ingredients in your mind while touching the scroll, and the scroll will automatically count for you. Just in case you are thinking of cheating by recalling ingredients that did not exist in the 100,000 ingredients I gave you, the scrolls won't count them, but you are free to try."

"And for this part of the test, you will have two hours to remember as many ingredients as you can."

After saying those words, Su Yang began the timer.

The place instantly turned dead silent, and everybody in the room beside Su Yang had their eyes closed to help their focus.

Two hours later, Su Yang suddenly clapped his hands again, startling everybody in the room.

"Open your scrolls and see for yourself the results. If your number is less than 10,000, you have failed the exam, and I will have to ask you to leave this place."

The people there began opening the scroll with trembling hands.

When they saw their results, more than half of the room showed a devastated expression, whilst the others showed relief on their faces.

In just one exam, more than half of the participants have failed, losing their chance to become Su Yang's disciple.

Sometime later, once those who have failed left the Assembly Hall, Su Yang said to the remaining participants, "Who here has over a number over 20,000?"

A few moments later, thirty people raised their hands.

Su Yang nodded and said, "For every 1,000 more ingredients you remember, you will be given 1 point. At the end of the exam, the three people with the most points will become my disciple."

And then he continued, "And for the individual with the best results for each test, you will be given an extra 10 points. So, which of you have the highest number?"

A moment later, Su Xun, his father, revealed his scroll to everyone and spoke, "I have 38,170."

Being one of the few Cultivators that have reached the Heavenly Spirit Realm, Su Xun's mental strength would obviously be much stronger than most people, allowing him to remember things faster.

"Anyone with better results?" Su Yang asked the crowd.

A second later, Bai Lihua raised her hand and said, "45,548."

"As expected of the Sect Leader of an Elite Sect…" The people there silently praised Bai Lihua.

Not only is she a beauty that can devastate an entire country, but she also happens to be one of the most talented individuals within her generation by reaching the Heavenly Spirit Realm at a very young age. Even now, she is the youngest one amongst all of the Heavenly Spirit Realm Cultivators in the Eastern Continent, not including Su Yang and Hong Yu'er.

"You are Bai Lihua, right?" Su Yang suddenly asked her.

"This humble one is indeed called Bai Lihua," she responded in a slightly surprised voice, as she didn't expect this Senior to recognize her.

"Mmm… I have heard good things about you from my little friend, Su Yang. Whether you pass this exam or not, you can stay here until the exam is done so we can talk more privately."

Hearing Su Yang's words, Bai Lihua's expression bloomed with joy, and she quickly bowed to him, "Thank you, Senior, for sparing your precious time for this humble one!"

'That Su Yang really helped me meet the Alchemy Master! I must thank him properly the next time I see him!' Bai Lihua thought to herself sometime later.