The ridicule caused many of the four hundred apprentice alchemists to feel very embarrassed, and even hesitant. They weren’t confident in their chances of success at all, but Meng Hao was very enthusiastic about the whole matter. Were it anyone else, they would think they were intentionally being set up to look bad.
“Ignore all of them! Trust me!” cried Meng Hao, his expression solemn. The four hundred apprentice alchemists gritted their teeth.
They still weren’t confident, and yet, were still interested in knowing how far away they were from being able to succeed in the first level of the Medicine Pavilion.
The sound of the onlookers’ mockery rang out, and there were quite a few people who decided to follow along to see what happened when the group tried to pass the examination in the Medicine Pavilion. There were some tier 1 alchemists who recognized Fang Qun and, when they saw what was going on, shook their heads.
“Fang Qun is really too shortsighted. Those are apprentice alchemists from Peak #7191, right?”
“Although it’s true that an alchemist lecturer will receive a reward if any apprentice alchemist from their peak passes the first level of the Medicine Pavilion, these people only have a few years of experience with the Dao of alchemy; they definitely have no chance of succeeding.”
“I heard that Fang Hao took over for Fang Qun over the past few months to give lectures at Peak #7191. He even started charging merit point fees. What a joke.”
Surrounded by laughter and ridicule, Fang Qun and the four hundred apprentice alchemists slowly passed into the inner mountains and then appeared in front of the Medicine Pavilion. Although some of the alchemists in the inner mountains noticed them passing by, none took an interest.
Granted, there were four hundred people all going to take the test together, but that wasn’t something unheard of. After all, there were many, many people who were members of the Dao of Alchemy Division. Furthermore, the Medicine Pavilion was a mysterious place; entrance was not limited to a single person. Even 10,000 could enter at one time if they wished.
The interior of the pavilion would appear empty to each participant, as if they were taking the test alone.
The four hundred apprentice alchemists gritted their teeth, paid their merit points, and were about to step into the Medicine Pavilion when Meng Hao took a deep breath and called out.
“All of you, remember, just do things the way you normally do, and you won’t have any problems!”
The four hundred apprentice alchemists gave nervous, forced smiles to Meng Hao as they clasped hands and bowed to him. Then, clenching their jaws, they entered the Medicine Pavilion one after another. In the blink of an eye, four hundred people vanished.
By this point, a few thousand people had gathered to watch, and were all laughing and joking.
Fang Qun was extremely nervous. Many of the people who had gathered were familiar with him, and he could clearly hear their jokes, but there was nothing he could say in response.
Meng Hao’s expression was calm as he floated there in midair looking at the Medicine Pavilion.
Meanwhile, inside, the four hundred apprentice alchemists inside all faced empty mists. Then, 1,000 medicinal plants appeared in front of them, and the vast majority were shocked.
“Huh? How come it’s exactly like the tests Alchemist Fang gave us?”
“This seems… actually, kind of simple! I know almost all of these….”
“One hundred breaths of time? I’ve practiced so many times, I’m used to it!” Virtually all of the apprentice alchemists were shocked and excited. Earlier, they never believed that they could succeed, but now they suddenly felt hope.
Time passed by…. One thousand breaths.
Of course, the onlookers were all still laughing about the matter.
“I really don’t get what Fang Qun is thinking. And as for all those apprentice alchemists, they don’t know the height of the Heavens and the depths of the Earth. There’s no way they can succeed.”
“Time’s almost up. They’ll be coming out soon. If even one of them succeeds, I’ll beat myself to death.”