Painting of the Nine Immortals

Translator: _Tat_ Editor: Rundi

Inside the giant tent, a couple hundreds of alchemists were sitting in their seats. Their brows, however, were tightly knit together as they pondered over the Dan recipe before them.

It was obvious that the difficulty level of the second test surpassed the initial test.

Therefore, when Ling Xian saw the Dan recipe on the spiritual paper, he frowned.

There were three spiritual papers on top of the table and each one of them recorded a Dan recipe. The first one was named the Dan of Speed Healing, a Dan of the eighth realm. It was a Dan used to help heal injuries at a fast pace.

The second one was named the Dan of Restoration. It help to restore one's strength and spiritual energy. Its realm was also of the eighth.

The third one was the Dan of a Clear Heart. It could help a cultivator clear his or her heart and protect it from being harassed by demonic thoughts. It was also an eighth realm Dan.

Every single page recorded the affect of the Dan and its name. As well, it contained the name of nine different spiritual medicines. However, similar to the initial test, these spiritual medicines were used to help the alchemists analyze the tests and there were missing ingredients as well.

"No wonder all of the alchemists are frowning. The difficulty level of this is more than 10 times harder than the initial test."

Seeing that all of these Dans were of the eighth realm and were recipes he'd never heard of before, Ling Xian couldn't help but to frown.

Compared to the initial test, the second test was, without a doubt, much harder.

First of all, the Dan from the initial test was a Dan of the ninth realm. Plus, there was only one recipe. Yet for the second test, there were three recipes. The Dans in these recipes were also of the eighth realm!

Even though the gap between ninth and eighth realm spiritual Dans was not that large, the difference in Dan recipes, however, were like night and day. Plus, there were three Dan recipes. The difficulty level in this didn't require much explanation. It could be said that the second test was 10 times harder than the initial one!

Despite the fact that the exam paper had listed more than half the spiritual medicine needed to make the Dan, the exams remained extremely difficult!

This was why when Ling Xian saw the three different recipes, he frowned. However, very quickly, his tightly knit brows relaxed. He didn't look troubled anymore.

To other alchemists, it might be difficult to solve three Dan recipes and there was no way to figure out the spiritual Dans in a short period of time. However, to him, this wasn't anything difficult. At the very least, he already had a few ideas.

Yes, after glancing at the Dan recipes, he had some ideas for the answers. One had to admit that his knowledge towards spiritual medicines had already reached a profound level.

Ignoring the fact that he possessed the heaven defying Essence of Herbalism, his understanding of spiritual medicine had surpassed most people at his own age. Even more so, some alchemists from the older generation could not out compete him.

"To have the second test in the same format as the initial is my fortune."

Ling Xian's lips revealed a faint smile. Even though he wasn't afraid of any tests, having the test in this format saved him a lot of time.

What could he do? He was insane enough to think that finding the missing ingredient was easy.

"Then, let me complete the first Dan recipe."

Ling Xian faintly grinned and decided to finish the first recipe. Therefore, he calmed himself down and his brain went to work and searched for spiritual medicines that could be used together with the nine spiritual medicines written on the spiritual paper.

Because of the experience he gained during the lost century, as well as the fact that he had the Essence of Herbalism - it merely took him a few seconds to think of a spiritual medicine.

The Grass of Poria Mushrooms.

It was one spiritual medicine that was of the eighth realm. Its medicinal affects were light and have no actual healing properties. However, the moment it was combined with the nine different spiritual medicines, a shocking reaction would occur and healing affects would take place.

Thus, Ling Xian was very certain that the Grass of Poria Mushrooms was the last missing ingredient.

"That's it."

Ling Xian faintly smiled. Using his finger as the pen, he wrote down the words, Grass of Poria Mushrooms. Then, he no longer looked at the recipe for the Dan of Speed Healing and picked up the second spiritual paper.

The Dan of Restoration.

The moment he saw these words, he recalled a type of spiritual medicine. After carefully analyzing it, he couldn't help but to reveal a smile.

"In terms of restoring spiritual energy, this spiritual medicine is the most suitable. Even though its realm of it is high, it's perfect to be used alongside the other spiritual medicines. They won't counteract each other."

Grinning, Ling Xian did not hesitate before writing down the four words on his spiritual paper.

The Flower of Restoration.

This spiritual medicine possessed the ability to quickly restore people's spiritual energy and all of its properties were medicinal. It was perfect to be used to make Dans like the Dan of Restoration.

Therefore, Ling Xian decided on choosing this one as the ingredient.

Then, he placed down the recipe for the Dan of Restoration and picked up the last spiritual paper.

"The first two have been dealt with. Now if I can figure out the Dan of a Cleared Heart, I can pass the test." Ling Xian's lips curled up and he looked over the spiritual paper carefully.

After he was done, he frowned immediately, feeling a strange sensation overtaking him. Because based on his analysis, he found that the ingredients listed on the spiritual paper was near perfection. It didn't seem like there was any spiritual medicine missing from the list.

"Weird, could it be that the recipe is wrong?"

Ling Xian frowned, feeling suspicious. However, just as he was getting a little confused, the Essence of Herbalism inside his chest suddenly thumped. Then, his brows relaxed.

"So it is a trap purposely set by the five clans. The list of ingredients seem perfect on paper. However, if we brewed it based on the instructions given, the cauldron would 100 percent explode."

Ling Xian chuckled and continued, "Not only is the list of ingredients imperfect, one of them was also wrong. If I cross off the wrongly listed ingredient, then the Dan of a Clear Heart can be brewed. That is the correct answer."

Then, using his finger as a pen, he crossed off the Fruit of a Clear Heart on the spiritual paper.

Then, with the three spiritual papers holding in his hand, he stood up and walked towards the middle aged man.

Seeing that Ling Xian had stood up, everyone was at first startled, and then they began gossiping.

"Did he finish?"

"That's not possible. I remember that he just sat down. Till then only 15 minutes have passed. There is no way he can finish that fast."

"Yes, the first two recipes are okay. But the Dan of a Cleared Heart is perfectly listed already. How could he find the answer?"

"I think he has given up. There were three eighth realm Dan recipes, it is impossible to be that fast!"

Everyone at the scene discussed him. Just like at the initial test, they wouldn't believe Ling Xian had the answers. Again, it wasn't because they couldn't do it, so they thought there was no way others could do it.

It was that Ling Xian's speed was far too astonishing and had exceeded their logic. That was why nobody would believe him.

Those who knew him well, however, all knew that, when did Ling Xian ever act within logic?

"It's happening again. Is it that what I'm doing is surprising?"

Hearing everyone's words, Ling Xian smiled helplessly and continued to walk towards the cold-faced examiner.

Seeing that Ling Xian was approaching, the middle aged man frowned. Before Ling Xian could speak, he warned, "Because you did so well in the initial test, I will give you a chance and check your answers. Remember that you only have one chance. Don't ruin your future because of your arrogance today."

"Even the examiner doesn't believe me?"

Ling Xian laughed bitterly. He knew that the middle aged man meant well, but was he the type of person the examiner described? Since he dared to hand in his test papers, he had the confidence!

"Senior, I suggest you take a look first before lecturing me."

Smiling, Ling Xian arrived in front of the middle aged man and handed over the three spiritual papers.

"You sure cannot identify the right from the wrong." The middle aged man utterly out cold words and took over the spiritual papers. Using his peripheral vision, he glanced at the papers.

This glance petrified him. He was completely stunned and he couldn't even turn away his gaze.

As he flipped through the pages, shock flooded his heart and crept up his eyes.