Chapter 268: The Grand Competition Begins

Nine Tribes are eligible to open them. Therefore, over countless years, it is said that they have only been opened once!But strangely, the Nine Nether Realms of Extinction aren't only accessible to ni...Elder Han's final words, like a huge stone, landed in the hearts of all the disciples of Yaoshhen Sect, instantly igniting their inner dissatisfaction.

There are more than 30,000 disciples of the Yashizong.

Although most of them are just pharmacists' apprentices, almost everyone takes pride in being a member of the Yaoshhenzong.

If their cultivation were inferior to that of the Outer Sect disciples, they might perhaps admit it;

But if you say that their skills in pharmacology are inferior to those of the Outer Sect, and that they, as someone who isn't even a Pharmacist from the Outer Sect, would definitely disagree!

Thus, the disciples of Yaoshenzong, each with a look of resentment, began to whisper and disparage Jiang Yun.

"No way! Nine out of ten pharmacists come from my Myriad Herb Sect. Other sects, even those who are also part of the Pharmacist Dao, can't compare to us!"

"That's right! The Mountain and Sea Pharmacist also respects the Medicine God Sect, and no pharmacist has ever dared to run wild in our sect. Let alone this Jiang Yun who isn't even a pharmacist!"

"Though you have talent, it's only relative to other sects!"

"Within my Yaoshenzong, those with exceptional talent are as numerous as fish crossing a river. I needn't even mention Senior Brother Guan, Xiao Zheng, Li Changlin – each one is astoundingly gifted!"

"This Ginger Cloud, even with some talent, if he enters my Medicine God Sect, he'll only be an average disciple! I think he probably won't even pass the first round of the competition!"

"Senior brothers and sisters, come on! Let this Ginger Cloud see what a real Medicine Master is!"

Looking at the many angry disciples, especially those pharmacists from the Earth and Heaven ranks who also wore expressions of discontent, Elder Han's face revealed a meaningful smile.

Evidently, he intentionally elevated Jiang Yun's status to provoke discontent among the disciples, making Jiang Yun a target of their ire and turning him into an enemy of Yaoshengzong.

In that case, even if Jiang Yun truly makes it through three rounds, or even four rounds of the competition, then regardless of which alchemist he asks to refine his medicine afterwards, no one would sincerely help him.

This way, we can lure out the ancient one through him!

However, out of all the pharmacists, only Meibuko's face remained completely expressionless.

Even his eyes had closed at some point, seemingly with no interest in this grand competition whatsoever.

Of course, Jiang Yun wouldn't know what was happening outside. After glancing at the various herbs spread out on the ground, he looked around.

Because of the formation, he couldn't see what other people were doing.

At the same time, he also heard the aged voice of Elder Han beside him: "The first round of competition tests your ability to identify medicinal herbs!"

Now, each of you has a thousand kinds of herbs surrounding you, forming an array of a thousand medicines.

“By channeling spiritual energy into herbs, you can inscribe them with words. Write the name and use of each herb, and if you answer correctly, they will disappear!”

“Answer a hundred questions correctly, and the path to the outside will be revealed! Once you successfully leave this formation, then you will have passed the first round of the competition.”

"Time, for a stick of incense!"

Whether it be above the heavens or before each disciple within the place of transmission, a burning incense appeared.

Having heard Elder Han's words, Jiang Yun naturally understood, and this also made him have to admire that the Yaoshendzong's research on the Dao of medicine truly had its unique aspects.

He originally thought that the first round of competition would be nothing more than a senior pharmacist taking out various kinds of medicinal herbs one by one and having all the participants identify them.

Unexpectedly, the examination involved an unusual method: arranging medicinal herbs in formations (arrays), testing the disciples' ability to identify them.

To pass this array, you need to identify the names and uses of one hundred kinds of medicinal herbs within the time of an incense stick!

Actually, this first round of competition isn't difficult. In reality, it tests whether each disciple has put in the effort to identify medicinal herbs.

In short, it tests the foundation of pharmacology.

Just as Xiao Zheng once said at the Luo family, the Dao of Medicine doesn't actually require any talent. It's simply about rote memorization, learning all the characteristics of various herbs by heart.

Whether you are a skilled apothecary or a humble drug boy, as long as you are willing to put in the effort, anyone can achieve it.

Only after the first round of competition will we know how many people have truly put in the effort.

"Let's begin!"

With Elder Han's decree, the Yaoshenzong's quinquennial Medicine Dou Competition finally began!

Many apprentices immediately bowed their heads and began carefully identifying the medicinal herbs in front of them.

Some were fast, even reaching out to grasp certain herbs and beginning to pour their spiritual energy into them.

Although the audience couldn't know what kind of spiritual energy they inputted into the herbs, it was clear that after some people finished channeling their energy, the herbs would vanish into thin air.

Because each master's disciple has thousands of herbs around them, at the beginning, it is impossible to tell the difference between them.

But as time went on for a third, the gap gradually began to show.

Most disciples were still surrounded by various herbs, but some disciples already had a few blank spaces in front of them.

Especially Guan Yiming, there was already half a path in front of him.

And this half of the road is still spreading outwards at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Haha, that Ginger Cloud, he's like an idiot standing there, can't even identify a single herb, and he's pretending to be deep with his eyes closed!"

After seeing the performance of their own disciples, some disciples had already turned their attention to Jiang Yun, and upon seeing him, they couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Although at the beginning, Gingercloud held a medicinal herb like everyone else.

But now that a third of the time had passed, Jiang Yun still held onto those herbs, half-kneeling there with his eyes closed, motionless.

And the myriad herbs surrounding him, of course, were not diminished in the slightest.

"He couldn't possibly know anything about medicine, could he"

But if you have no knowledge, why choose to take on the Five Passages of Alchemy

This issue puzzled not only the numerous disciples but also Elder Han and others who were paying close attention to Jiang Yun, their faces etched with confusion.

You have to know, an incense stick's time is not long, and when setting up this formation, they had the Heavenly Alchemist personally test it.

Even at the speed of a Heavenly Pharmacist, it would still take one-third of an incense stick's time to break this formation.

Therefore, for these disciples, if they wanted to break this formation, they had to race against time and couldn't afford to waste even a moment.

Even though it's already been a third of the time, there's still a chance to break through if they make good use of the remaining time. However, the probability is definitely lower now.

Look, Senior Brother Guan actually broke the formation!

When half the time had passed, a complete path appeared before Guan Yiming's eyes.

And he bore his hands behind him, under the gaze of all eyes, stepped onto this path and walked out.

I have to say, at this speed, even Elder Han and the others nodded in approval.

This is a remarkable performance! Indeed, Yi Ming truly lives up to his reputation as a prodigy in the field of medicine.

Although this time is still not as good as the Tian Yaoshi, it's pretty close.

To everyone's surprise, just as Guan Yiming had barely stepped out of the formation, in a mere instant, another figure followed suit and emerged from the Thousand Herbs Array!

This novel is first published on the Traditional Chinese Novels Network.up called Gu. Although they can be considered descendants of the ancients in a loose sense, in Jiang Yun's opinion, the power they possess differs from the true ancient force originating from the Four...