Chapter 306 - Sharp Eyes and Agile Hands (2)
It was no longer just a test for their eyesight and their sense of smell. The first round was designed to test if they could identify the medicinal ingredients with only one glance.
For a brief moment, the participants felt as if their heart had fallen to the bottom of a pit.
Shen Yanxiao walked casually toward the pile of medicinal ingredients. However, she frowned when she realized that similar-looking ingredients had been placed in the same heap.
Many of the medicinal ingredients had only minimal differences. It was quite similar to the test that Luo De had set for their enrollment.
However, no matter how minuscule the difference was, a slightly different medicinal ingredient would remain distinctive. It looked like the first round of the competition depended on whether those students paid attention in their classes.
Shen Yanxiao had obtained a photographic memory when they undid her second seal. Even the smallest discrepancy could not escape her eyes.
She had also been learning by Ye Qing’s side for quite some time before the competition, and she had helped him with hundreds of types of medicinal ingredients. Perhaps it did not amount to a thousand ingredients, but she knew there had been at least eight hundred. She had also processed the medicinal ingredients for the potion that she had chosen for at least four to five times.
If she could not even identify the medicinal ingredients correctly after all her efforts, then she might as well hang herself to death.
The first segment of the competition had baffled most of the participants, but it did not pose any difficulty for Shen Yanxiao. She held her hands behind her back and walked around the heaps of medicinal ingredients to find the ones that she needed.
At the same time, Shangguan Xiao was also not in a hurry to start as his sharp eyes swept across the pile of medicinal ingredients. Even though the teachers had deliberately placed similar-looking ingredients in the same heap, it was not a difficult feat for him. Instead, it helped him to distinguish the area that he could find the ingredients that he needed for his potion.
A few moments later, he stopped at where various types of purple flowers were piled together. He bent slightly to grab a five-petal purple flower from the bunch.
Pu Lisi, who sat nearby, nodded in satisfaction when he saw his choice.
Even though Shangguan Xiao was not the first to arrive, he was the first one to locate what he needed. Then, he started to walk toward his next target.
When Pu Lisi was satisfied that Shangguan Xiao had no issues with the situation at hand, he shifted his attention to that damned little kid.
Shen Yanxiao stood near the pile of medicinal ingredients, and she gave the items there a few casual back-and-forth glances. It was as if she did not know what to do.
“Fool,” Pu Lisi sneered.
The kid might have been talented, but so what? It did not even matter if Ye Qing had taken a liking to her. Was she not still at a loss at the competition? It was apparent that she was still on par with Shangguan Xiao.
Even though Shangguan Xiao was named as his assistant, in actuality, he was his disciple. Pu Lisi was there that day to observe how his disciple would teach the kid that had angered him a lesson.
Just as Pu Lisi was feeling pleased with himself, Shen Yanxiao finally made her move.
First, she walked toward a pile of dried yellow-colored medicinal ingredients. Then she bent down to rummage through the collection to sort through those almost identical-looking ingredients.
After only a short moment, she chose a yellow-colored grass that was the size of a thumb.
Pu Lisi squinted and looked at the ingredient in Shen Yanxiao’s hand before he sneered.
The ingredient that Shen Yanxiao had in her hand was similar to the Dusk Grass that one would use in some intermediate-level potions. However, Pu Lisi knew that it was not Dusk Grass, but a similar-looking ingredient called the Crepis Grass.