147: Chapter 147 One after another

On a patch of spiritual soil on the north side of the arena, five stalks of Low Grade Grade 3 Spiritual Rice slowly broke through the soil. Fu Yihang held a small jade bottle, continuously watering them with Evergreen Liquid. Ten drops of Evergreen Liquid could make the Spiritual Rice grow one inch taller, until the Spiritual Rice reached a height of two feet and three inches, at which point it stopped growing.

The Spiritual Rice then flowered and bore fruit, growing grains of plump rice. The sweet, fresh fragrance of the rice spread wantonly in all directions, refreshing the heart and lungs, and making one feel the joy of a bountiful harvest involuntarily.

Fu Yihang looked at the five stalks of Spiritual Rice before him and let out a long sigh of relief; the stone in his heart had finally fallen.

He cut the five stalks of Spiritual Rice cleanly at one inch above the roots and handed them to Official Wu Tian. Fu Yihang's journey in the Prefecture Examination ended here.

With these five stalks of Low Grade Grade 3 Spiritual Rice, the result of Fu Yihang's craft assessment was beyond doubt; he could definitely rank in the top four.

Combined with the points from the top fifty in the martial arts competition, Fu Yihang had high hopes of entering the top ten in the final rankings.

Entering the top ten of the Prefecture Examination provided a stepping stone to enter the Prefecture Office. Once Fu Yihang entered the Prefecture Office to hold an official post, the crisis the Fu Family faced from the Qi Family would be greatly alleviated.

Fu Yihang himself would also be freed from the Qi Family's targeting. The Qi Family would never dare to engage in underhanded tricks behind his back or attempt to assassinate Fu Yihang again. Otherwise, it would be the crime of murdering a court official. If this charge were confirmed, the entire Qi Family would not be enough to pay with their lives.

Ye Yisong looked with slight confusion at this middle-aged uncle whom he had met a few times. This shouldn't be! With Fu Yihang's strength as a Nine-Star Martial Master, how could he not have made it into the top ten in the Prefecture Examination martial arts competition?

Could he have capsized in the gutter during the scenario trial?

The fact was indeed so. That unlucky kid, Fu Yihang, had inadvertently stumbled into the territory of a Grade 4 Demonic Beast during the scenario trial and was swatted away in a single encounter. If it weren't for the fact that the demon bear didn't want to move, it would be hard to say whether Fu Yihang would have survived the scenario trial at all.

Young Master Qi and Wang Xianliang successively completed the refining of one batch of Medicinal Pills and restarted their furnaces to begin refining the second batch.

When refining the second batch of Medicinal Pills, Young Master Qi appeared even more cautious, fearing he might make even the slightest mistake. He could only succeed with this batch of Medicinal Pills; he could not fail!

Because with the first batch of Medicinal Pills, he had only refined two Low Grade Grade 3 Qi Gathering Pills, and he had been surpassed by a large margin by Fu Yihang in both quantity and value.

If he failed the refining this time, Young Master Qi would fall to fourth place, which was something he could not accept under any circumstances.

As for why Fu Yihang did not continue to cultivate a few more stalks of Low Grade Grade 3 Spiritual Rice, it was mainly because his stock of Evergreen Liquid was already severely insufficient. Even a clever housewife cannot cook without rice, so he had to give up.

When Wang Xianliang refined the second batch of Medicinal Pills, he became increasingly steady. He methodically placed each medicinal herb into the Pill Furnace to extract, purify, and condense. His movements were pleasing to the eye, carrying the demeanor of a Great Master of Alchemy.

This made Ye Yisong feel unhappy. On the arena, only the three of them remained. Wang Xianda had ultimately failed, his furnace exploded again, and he retreated in gloom.

Ye Yisong himself had not yet successfully crafted a single Grade 3 Talisman. Young Master Qi had bean-sized sweat beads constantly streaming down his forehead, while Wang Xianda was acting all carefree and detached. This wouldn't do; he had to increase the difficulty for him.

After five days of "herding sheep" style Talisman Making, Ye Yisong had crafted a total of fifty Grade 3 Talisman plates and over one hundred and thirty Grade 2 Talisman plates.

It was hard on him, having to "accidentally" turn Grade 3 Talisman plates into Grade 2 Talisman plates. Even though he had sufficient Spiritual Qi, he had to pretend to replenish it from time to time. In front of this large crowd, he was almost stifled.

Ye Yisong stopped his Talisman crafting movements and began to infuse Spiritual Qi into the carved Talisman plates one by one. Right off the bat, he completed a Medium Grade Grade 3 Explosive Flame Talisman.

"Oh my, how is it only a Medium Grade Grade 3 one?"

Ye Yisong's words directly shattered Young Master Qi's fantasies, instantly pushing him down to fourth place.

Hearing Ye Yisong's devilish voice, Young Master Qi's hands trembled slightly. His movements in adding medicinal herbs slowed down significantly, fearing he might miss a single step.

Wang Xianliang's movements remained as steady as an old dog, completely unaffected by Ye Yisong, as if everything happening in the outside world had nothing to do with him.

"He's quite a character," Ye Yisong evaluated to himself. If one didn't work, what about two, three... or even ten? I don't believe you can keep holding back!

He did as he thought. Ye Yisong took out another Medium Grade Grade 3 Talisman plate and infused it with Spiritual Qi. After a dozen minutes passed, a second Medium Grade Grade 3 Explosive Flame Talisman was born, once again stimulating Young Master Qi's nerves, forcing him to pause his Alchemy movements slightly to readjust his state, ensuring this batch of Medicinal Pills could be successfully refined.

"Not enough?" Watching Wang Xianda, who remained completely unmoved, Ye Yisong couldn't help but guess how many Medium Grade Grade 3 Medicinal Pills this guy had actually refined in his first batch.

"Fine, fine, fine. You can keep your cool, right? I want to see how long you can hold out." Ye Yisong muttered to himself.

He then focused his mind, throwing himself wholeheartedly into the Talisman plate infusion, intending to craft ten Medium Grade Grade 3 Explosive Flame Talismans at once, and then see if Wang Xianda could still remain so calm.

The third, the fourth... the tenth.

Every time Ye Yisong successfully crafted a Medium Grade Grade 3 Talisman, it caused Young Master Qi's little heart to beat faster uncontrollably. It wasn't until he recognized the reality later and chose to ignore it that he finally stabilized his mindset completely.

What puzzled Ye Yisong was that during this time, Wang Xianda remained completely indifferent, as if he couldn't hear Ye Yisong's voice at all. He sat in front of his Pill Furnace like an old monk in meditation, meticulously refining his Medicinal Pills.

Could Wang Xianda be deaf?

No matter how good a Martial Artist's mindset or focus is, they shouldn't be completely unresponsive when facing such a situation, especially on the arena of the Prefecture Examination craft assessment. The outcome here related not only to his own honor and disgrace but also to the resource allocation of his Family for the next hundred years.

Wait! Ears?

To cater to the perception of the vast majority of Martial Artists, for every Medium Grade Grade 3 Talisman he successfully crafted, Ye Yisong had to scrap an average of two Grade 2 Talisman plates. Anyway, the inscriptions were carved inside the withered vines; if not made into a Talisman, no one would know what grade it was. As for the waste, Ye Yisong was very civic-minded and would pack it up and take it away later.

Not to mention the automatically scrapped Talisman plates, he also had to pretend that his Spiritual Qi was insufficient halfway through, sit down to rest, and absorb Spiritual Qi from Spirit Stones to replenish himself.

It was during one of these breaks that Ye Yisong discovered Wang Xianda's trick. His Alchemy technique was too steady, as if everything was proceeding according to a set process, and the things in the outside world seemed not to exist at all.

No! It wasn't that they didn't exist; it was that Wang Xianda had actively closed off his hearing, cutting off all information from the outside world.

His ears hadn't twitched at all! Everything was clear now.

Interesting!

To actually think of such a method to improve focus to assist in his Alchemy.

I just wonder if Wang Xianda, being able to isolate his hearing, can also isolate his vision?