Within less than ten minutes, all the medicinal substances from the three jade boxes had entered Nie Kong’s stomach, and three sheets detailing the testing results now lay beside him. In truth, the actual process of testing the medicines took less than a minute in total; the vast majority of the time had been spent on those three pieces of paper.

“Fifteen points secured!”

Nie Kong tidied himself up, stood, and rose. A fifth-grade mission required a thousand points to undertake, and achieving a thousand points meant perfectly completing two hundred first-grade missions—a daunting task indeed. Perhaps, once his points increased, he could look into taking on some second or third-grade missions.

Seeing that Chao Dong was distracted, lost in a daze, Nie Kong didn't bother him, instead taking the jade boxes and papers directly to queue at the window.

This time, there were only five people ahead of Nie Kong, so the process moved faster, and his turn came around quickly.

Seeing Nie Kong reappear so soon, the girl with the large eyes paused in surprise, then chuckled, “Apologies, as I said, when points are zero, you can only accept…” Her voice abruptly ceased as she stared blankly at the wooden box and papers on the counter.

“You’re here to submit a mission?” the girl with the melon-seed face beside her exclaimed in astonishment.

“Impossible, right?”

“Finished already? That fast?” the other two beautiful young women gasped in disbelief, the words ‘No way’ clearly etched onto their pretty, delicate faces. Immediately, the eyes of all four converged onto the three sheets of paper, their bright gazes slowly glazing over in stunned incomprehension.

“Four senior sisters, please hurry, I’m pressed for time!” Seeing their prolonged silence, Nie Kong couldn't help but tap lightly on the counter to remind them softly.

The four young women snapped out of their trance. The girl with the big eyes quickly said, “Please wait a moment, I will immediately go invite the Master to authenticate your testing results!” With that, she spun around and ran, her graceful figure quickly vanishing from the window. The other three, however, began to scrutinize Nie Kong intently.

Less than half a minute later, two figures appeared at the counter. Besides the girl with the large eyes, there was a woman in black, around thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old, possessing a slender posture—truly a woman of mature charm, where remnants of her youthful beauty could still be discerned on her face.

“Hmm?”

Picking up the papers, a slight expression of surprise crossed the black-clad woman’s face. After reading for a moment, a hint of admiration bloomed in her eyes. Soon after, she set the papers down and smiled warmly, “Very good. Just three common herbs, yet you managed to analyze their properties so brilliantly. Award him five points for each.”

The last few words were directed toward the four young women. The girl with the large eyes swiftly retrieved Nie Kong’s waist token, inserted it into the slot, and began carving marks onto the white jade. As streaks of white light merged into the token, the zero displayed on the side facing Nie Kong finally turned into fifteen.

The girl with the large eyes correctly surmised that this was Nie Kong’s first time accepting a mission at the Alchemist Hall. Thus, she beamed and began explaining to him, “Regarding the rewards for completed missions, once the mission issuer confirms the answers, someone will deliver them to you. Please leave your address.”

“No rush, bring on three more first-grade missions!” Nie Kong waved his hand dismissively.

“Ah… Alright!”

“…”

A moment later, Nie Kong returned to the same secluded corner where he had tested the medicines, carrying three more jade boxes. He opened the new medicine containers and resumed his work. Chao Dong had already sobered up, watching Nie Kong unblinkingly, paying even closer attention to the changes in his expression after ingesting the substances.

Approximately ten minutes passed before he was back at the counter.

“You’re here to submit missions again?”

The girl with the large eyes stared with her dark, round eyes wide open, looking stupefied at the jade boxes and three sheets of paper on the counter. Her three companions beside her were equally dumbfounded.

They were also from the Medicine Heart Hall and were Spirit Alchemists themselves; they were acutely aware of the difficulty and dangers of testing elixirs. Nie Kong had taken less than twenty minutes in total across both trips to test six different herbs. This efficiency was certainly astounding and shocking.

“Yes.”

Seeing Nie Kong nod, the girl with the large eyes no longer ran inside but immediately called out sweetly toward the inner room, “Master, Master!”

The black-clad woman gracefully approached, casting Nie Kong a peculiar glance before picking up the papers. After reading Nie Kong’s testing results, she smiled broadly, “Five points! Five points! Five points!” Her gaze toward Nie Kong became even more intensely intrigued.

Six missions completed perfectly, all yielding the highest possible score! The four young women behind the counter gaped, their small mouths wide open, until the black-clad woman repeated the commendation, only then did they startle awake. The girl with the large eyes carved marks onto the white jade while glancing at Nie Kong, her curiosity entirely unconcealed.

“Three more missions!”

“…”

The commotion at the counter had already attracted the attention of many disciples from the Spirit Control City nearby.

Whether in Nie Kong’s previous life or in the current Tian Ling Continent, humans shared an inherent tendency to crowd around excitement. When Nie Kong returned to that corner with his third set of jade boxes, quite a few people had already followed out of interest, standing around the area, just like Chao Dong, to watch Nie Kong test the medicines.

The box lids were opened. The first two boxes contained root fibers and leaves, respectively, but the third box held a small, faint green fruit. As soon as the lid opened, a pungent stench rapidly diffused outwards. Many people initially recoiled, covering their noses, and then lower-cultivation Spirit Masters began feeling nausea and chest tightness.

Nie Kong also sensed that this little green fruit was problematic. With a crisp kachā, he snapped the lid shut. With the source cut off, the foul smell quickly faded until it disappeared entirely. Those Spirit Masters who had felt unwell only then felt a significant easing in their chests, though their hearts were filled with shock and suspicion.

The mere odor was so potent; that small green fruit must harbor considerable toxicity. Would this Spirit Alchemist ultimately give up, or choose to continue testing?

Abandoning a first-grade mission meant a deduction of thirty points, nullifying all the work from his previous six tests. Continuing, however, presented obvious dangers. To proceed despite knowing the herb possessed extreme toxicity meant the Spirit Alchemist either possessed absolute certainty or was simply mad.

The onlookers asked themselves: if they were the Spirit Alchemist seated on the ground, they would definitely choose to forfeit. Their lives were more important than the points.

As they speculated, Nie Kong calmly picked up the root fibers from the first jade box, placed them in his mouth, and began chewing with his eyes closed.

The crowd immediately tensed, eager to see Nie Kong’s reaction. Yet, after a placid half-minute passed, Nie Kong suddenly opened his eyes and began writing the testing results on the paper. Throughout the process, his complexion remained utterly undisturbed, as if nothing had happened.

That’s it? The crowd looked at each other in astonishment.

The second test proceeded with equal calmness. Fortunately, the previous test had prepared them mentally. When they saw Nie Kong finish writing the second result and place his right hand over the third jade box again, everyone held their breath, their hearts clenching slightly.

The lid opened, and the green fruit came into view. In the blink of an eye, the fruit was split in two, and one half unhesitatingly entered Nie Kong’s mouth.

After just two chews, a thick, sickly green vapor began to emanate from Nie Kong’s lips. Instantly, it engulfed his entire head, then spread down his neck to the rest of his body. Witnessing this bizarre spectacle, a collective gasp of shocked breaths rose from the surrounding crowd…