It was at this time that bursts of muffled rumbles rang out, showing the results of the first batches of medicine. Besides Bai Xiaochun, the eighteen other participants also fell silent. Black smoke emerged from within their pill furnaces. Their first batch had failed.
Only Han Jianye threw his head back and laughed. When his pill furnace rumbled, rich medicinal aroma wafted in the air and at the bottom of the pill furnace, a piece of Black Incense the size of three cun appeared.
(ED note: one cun is aproximately equal to 3.5cm)
The observing outer sect disciples immediately looked in his direction.
“The very first batch is successful!”
“This Han Jianye is adept in refining herbs!”
Han Jianye’s face showed his delight as his proud gaze swept the other candidates, especially Bai Xiaochun. Realising that Bai Xiaochun was actually still examining the medicine recipes, his eyes revealed disdain. Lowering his gaze, he took out the second set of herbs and started refining once again.
Du Lingfei and the others had disgruntled expressions on their faces. They all gritted their teeth and began refining once again as well.
Time passed and when the second hour ended, everyone’s second batch of medicine was completed one after the other. Dull rumbling sounds rang out once again. This time… not a single person had succeeded. Everyone failed.
It was at this point that Bai Xiaochun finally put down the jade piece. He had completely memorised the medicine recipe of this Black Incense. But just when everyone thought that he was going to start refining the herbs, they looked at Bai Xiaochun with shock when he took out one of the herbs and began scrutinizing again. He had a serious expression as he focused intensely.
“What is this Bai Xiaochun doing? He examined the medicine recipe for two hours. What more can he learn from this herb?”
“Even if it is an inspection, surely it shouldn’t be this slow…”
Xu Baocai’s eyes widened. He too felt incredulous seeing that the others were already on their third batch.
While everyone was wondering about that, the third hour arrived. This time, all of the eighteen participants failed once again. This followed in the fourth hour before finally in the fifth hour, there were four people that successfully refined the Black Incense. Du Lingfei, Chen Zi’ang and Zhao Yiduo were among those successful in refining their first piece of Black Incense.
Followed by a drifting aroma, Han Jianye’s proud smile appeared. He was the first to refine a second Black Incense stick. Looking at his surroundings, his expression became increasingly prideful while his contempt for Bai Xiaochun similarly intensified.
Meanwhile, Bai Xiaochun was currently studying the fourth type of herb. He even cut one open to inspect it. Not only were the observers finding it increasingly surprising, even Elder Xu couldn’t help but throw a couple more glances in his direction.
Time flew by and soon the sixth hour arrived. Everyone failed their sixth batch of medicine, except for Han Jianye’s sole success.
At this moment, an uproar rose among the observing crowd. Even Elder Xu slightly nodded.
“This Han Jianye has already refined three batches while the others have only done one!”
“In previous assessments, two successful refinements were enough to qualify, four successful refinements would mean he’s a genius. Han Jianye has a couple more attempts, if he succeeds in refining another stick, he would be crowned as a genius.”
While everyone was busy discussing, Han Jianye’s eyes revealed a surging confidence as he mumbled softly to himself.
“I will definitely be able to refine the fourth piece of Black Incense and be known as a genius, obtaining first place in the process!” He flourished his long sleeve in high spirits, beginning the seventh batch.
Du Lingfei had an ashen look on her face, viciously clenching her teeth. Following Han Jianye, she and the others began their seventh batches as well.
When the seventh hour ended, happiness was revealed in Du Lingfei’s eyes. Inside the pill furnace in front of her, a medicinal aroma flowed. It was mixed with the black fog formed by the surrounding participants’ residue. She was actually the only one who had succeeded with this seventh batch.
“I passed, I can now be promoted, but just passing is not enough!” Du Lingfei controlled her excitement by taking a deep breath, then she started the refining process once again under Han Jianye’s cold expression.
The eighth hour passed swiftly and this time, a thunderous rumble sounded out, once again …… everyone had failed.
At this point, among the nineteen candidates participating in the promotional examination, Han Jianye had succeeded thrice, Du Lingfei had succeeded twice and both Chen Zi'ang and Zhao Yiduo had succeeded once. As for the others… they had not succeeded even once.
On Bai Xiaochun’s end, he was now starting to examine the last type of herb.
“The assessment this time is just too difficult…”
The observing