The blue-robed elder and the two middle-aged individuals also seemed taken aback by Nie Kong's blunt refusal, exchanging incredulous glances. For Spirit Masters on the Tianling Continent, the recruitment offer from the Spirit God Hall’s “Medicine Platform” was practically irresistible, yet this young man remained completely unmoved.

A brief silence hung in the room, and the blue-robed elder sighed with palpable regret. “What a shame. In that case, we shall drop the matter. Nie Kong, your cultivation level is not an issue, but to directly participate in the Fourth-Grade Spirit Alchemist assessment, we must first verify your understanding of pharmacopoeia and medicinal properties, and finally, the refinement of a Fourth-Grade Spirit Medicine. Do you understand?”

Nie Kong nodded. “I understand!”

“Good, let’s begin then.”

The old man in blue wasted no more words and simply gestured toward the middle-aged man. The man then approached Nie Kong carrying a wooden tray. He first placed a sheet of paper already bearing some script onto Nie Kong’s desk. “Nie Kong, there are five prescriptions here. Each one is missing one or two ingredients, and furthermore, there may be errors within these formulations. Please supplement them with the most suitable medicines and correct any mistakes.”

Next, the middle-aged man retrieved five small wooden boxes from the tray and opened them one by one before Nie Kong. Each box contained a small amount of processed herbs. “These are five relatively rare medicinal herbs. You must taste each one and then write a detailed report on the trial results.”

Finally, the middle-aged man placed the last item from the tray—a white jade bottle—in front of Nie Kong, a faint smile gracing his lips. “Nie Kong, this contains a poison, very mild in potency. After ingestion, it will cause stagnation in the circulation of spiritual power within your body, lasting only for a quarter of an hour. You may use any method to examine the nature of this poison, provided you can successfully draft a prescription for a spirit medicine that can neutralize it.”

While the middle-aged man was speaking, Nie Kong’s gaze had already swept over all five prescriptions and the five herbs. Upon hearing that the final item was a mild poison, his expression remained outwardly placid, yet he inwardly chuckled; for him, such an examination presented virtually no challenge.

At this moment, the middle-aged man’s expression grew solemn. He spoke with gravity, “Nie Kong, you have only two quarter-hours. If you can complete these three minor assessments within that time, you may proceed immediately with the Fourth-Grade Spirit Alchemist evaluation alongside those six individuals. Otherwise, I regret that we cannot proceed.”

In just half an hour, he was required to fill in and correct five prescriptions, taste five herbs and write detailed trial results, and especially, devise an antidote for a poison—the difficulty was self-evident. Hearing the middle-aged man’s decree, the six Spirit Alchemists standing nearby couldn't help but change color.

If it were them, let alone half an hour, even a full day might not be enough time to finish. The white-haired elder cast a sympathetic glance at Nie Kong, but the others felt a surge of secret satisfaction—this was the consequence of refusing the Spirit God Hall’s overtures! This fellow had shown them such disrespect; they could easily ratchet up the difficulty of the assessment, making him suffer the consequences!

To expect to pass the Fourth-Grade Spirit Alchemist assessment in one go? A pipe dream!

The group did not believe Nie Kong could complete these three preliminary assessments before the Fourth-Grade evaluation within two quarter-hours. It was true that this young man possessed the cultivation of ‘Spirit Transformation Eighth Grade,’ but he had only reached ‘Spirit Gathering First Grade’ in September two years prior. This indicated his exposure to alchemy had been extremely brief, meaning his attainments in the field could not be profound. Furthermore, the ‘Thousand Spirit Herb Convention’ was deeply influenced by the noble clans of the Great Accomplishment Empire; his first place finish might well have involved trickery.

Nie Kong, unaware of the sinister thoughts swirling around him, had no interest in paying them any mind. He smiled and asked, “No problem. When do we start?”

“Immediately!”

The middle-aged man smiled at the young maidservant. “Start the timer.”

The maidservant quickly nodded, hurried to a corner of the wall, and inverted one of the five hourglasses. The sand began to cascade down, and the distinct, smooth shush of falling sand immediately echoed throughout the room.

Nie Kong wasted no time. Picking up his brush, and after only a moment’s contemplation, he began writing on the paper. In less than a minute, all five prescriptions had been fully supplemented, and for the two that contained formulation errors, Nie Kong had already substituted one or two new ingredients.

Beside him, the middle-aged man’s smile had been firmly in place, but as Nie Kong continued writing, the smile swiftly vanished, replaced by an expression of unconcealed astonishment that gradually spread across his face. By the time Nie Kong finished amending and filling in the five prescriptions, that astonishment had deepened into shock.

The several Third-Grade Spirit Alchemists exchanged glances. The time Nie Kong spent pondering the prescriptions was practically negligible. Had he completed the first minor assessment so quickly? Perhaps he was just scribbling nonsense? But judging by the middle-aged man’s expression, that didn’t seem likely.

A restless urge stirred within them to sneak a look at what Nie Kong had written, but upon seeing the blue-robed elder and the middle-aged woman seated at the long table, they forcefully suppressed the impulse. However, they soon realized that those two had also left their seats and moved to Nie Kong’s side.

In the next instant, they saw Nie Kong pick up the first herb from the box and begin to chew it. Moments later, their eyeballs nearly popped out. Even as he was tasting the herb, his hand was already moving, seemingly writing down the trial results.

“Crash!”

The six Third-Grade Spirit Alchemists could hold back no longer and drifted closer to Nie Kong’s side… By this time, Nie Kong had already finished writing the first trial result and was moving on to taste the second herb. For him, substance testing was second nature. Last year, in order to obtain the formula for the “Jade Leaf Glazed Pill,” he had spent countless hours engaged in such tasks at the ‘Alchemist Guild Hall’ in Lingyu City.

Moreover, although the herbs prepared by the Medicine Platform were unfamiliar, if they were going to use these herbs to test others, they must at least be able to taste and discern their properties themselves, otherwise, how could they judge the correctness of others’ findings? Relatively speaking, the properties of these five herbs were not overly complicated.

In less than six minutes, Nie Kong’s five trial results were laid out for all to see. Such astonishing speed left not only the Third-Grade Spirit Alchemists and the young maidservant dumbstruck, but even the blue-robed elder and the two middle-aged individuals were momentarily speechless. Even with their experience, they had never witnessed any Spirit Alchemist possess such speed in testing substances, nor had they even heard of it.

For a moment, the blue-robed elder’s gaze toward Nie Kong became intensely eager. Merely at the Eighth Grade of Spirit Transformation, his sensitivity to the medicinal power of herbs was already so formidable. If his cultivation were to advance further, how terrifying would he become? Perhaps no unfamiliar herb on the Tianling Continent could baffle him!

For a Spirit Alchemist, having someone like Nie Kong serve as a substance tester—forget Sixth or Seventh-Grade Spirit Alchemists—even an Eighth-Grade Medicine King would likely treasure him like a rare gem. In a flash of thought, the blue-robed elder’s intention to recruit Nie Kong reignited, growing even stronger.

Under the fixed stares of the crowd, Nie Kong had already broken the poison pill in half and placed it in his mouth. An instant later, the spirit medicine dissolved.

“Hmm?”

Nie Kong let out a surprised, low cry.

As soon as the poison’s potency entered his abdomen, it integrated with the spiritual power already circulating within him. But what surprised Nie Kong was that although the medicinal strength had spread, it caused him no adverse effect whatsoever; his spiritual power continued to flow unimpeded through his meridians, without any sensation of stagnation.

Nie Kong closed his eyes and began to sense with subtle awareness.

Seeing Nie Kong in this state, those surrounding him simultaneously let out a breath of relief, especially the three individuals with the blue-robed elder, whose eyes revealed a slight smile.

Finally, one of the three trials might actually stump Nie Kong. If he breezed through this third assessment as effortlessly as the previous two—like eating and drinking—it would look terribly bad for them. If word got out, it might even lead people to question whether the Medicine Platform was intentionally going easy on him.

In a mere instant, Nie Kong grasped the situation and understood. His spiritual power had completely transformed into “Spirit Treasure Essence Qi.” The poison’s potency, upon entering his meridians, had not exerted the expected paralyzing effect on the Spirit Treasure Essence Qi; rather, it had been entirely absorbed by the Essence Qi, leaving not a trace behind.

A surge of delight rose in Nie Kong’s heart. If the Spirit Treasure Essence Qi could absorb the potency of poisons, did that mean in the future, even without the Little Fellow, he could become immune to all poisons? However, he couldn't draw a final conclusion yet, as the poison administered was too weak. He would need something truly venomous, like the “Eight-Star Conch” or the “Serpent Coil Blood Lotus,” to truly test this. Of course, that was a matter for the future; the priority now was to pass the assessment swiftly.

Under these circumstances, Nie Kong had no choice but to once again invoke the Little Fellow’s “Scent Perception for Medicine.” “Xiangxiang [Fragrance]…”

Nie Kong muttered inwardly, swallowing the remaining half of the poison pill. Before the potency could fully disperse, the Little Fellow’s verdant energy swept it all into the Yaochi Acupoint. After only about two minutes, Nie Kong opened his eyes, picked up his brush again, and continued writing the antidote prescription on the paper.

Seeing this, the faces of the blue-robed elder and the middle-aged individuals stiffened, their eyes locked intently on the tip of Nie Kong’s brush. Perhaps because he had fully settled his strategy beforehand, Nie Kong wrote with extreme speed. Watching the names of the medicines flow from the tip of his brush, a wry smile played on the faces of the trio.

They hadn't hoped that this third trial would disqualify Nie Kong from the Fourth-Grade Spirit Alchemist assessment; they only wished to make him spend a considerable amount of time. They never expected Nie Kong to devise the antidote formula so quickly, and moreover, one of the ingredients in his formulation was superior to the answer they had prepared.

When they saw Nie Kong set down his brush with a smile, the six Third-Grade Spirit Alchemists couldn't help but turn to look at the hourglass in the corner of the wall. The sand inside had not even fallen halfway. The three assessments that a low-grade Spirit Alchemist might not complete in a whole day, Nie Kong had finished in less than a quarter-hour, and it seemed he had done exceptionally well. Was there anything more utterly inconceivable in this world?

The three leading figures exchanged speechless glances, and suddenly, the room fell into a silence so profound that the only sound was the gentle shush of the hourglass—quiet enough to hear a pin drop.

“End of the first chapter for ‘Bu’ for today.”

Uh. I should probably explain a bit. These few chapters, besides introducing the plot for Volume Nine, are also setting up traps for later developments. This way, when related plot points surface later, they won't feel too abrupt. After reading for so long, everyone should know I like using small plots to introduce larger ones, right? If I said these small bits were just to ‘pad the word count,’ it would be pointless...

Also, I just realized I’ve unknowingly passed the million-word mark. I should congratulate myself a little. If you want to send congratulations, please smash me with recommendation votes, haha... It seems I'm just a few votes away from hitting the category recommendation chart.

O(∩_∩)O ~Word count not included above~~