Chapter 28 (1)
Dongfang Minghui appeared like a monkey to the crowd but she maintained a calm face.
In fact, she was very anxious inside! Damn, she had crushed medicinal liquid to treat the Female Protagonist's injuries when she was in the Purple Demon Mountain Range, but she'd never touched herbs or anything like that, not to mention understanding how real pharmacists concocted medicines.
It was said that all pharmacists had their own unique methods of making medicine, and they were all hidden and private, so much so that you couldn't steal it from even a master.
She knew she had a few hours of time, and although she didn't know how to concoct medicine, she knew the rules of balancing each of the ingredients. She arranged each of the medicinal herbs one by one according to their spiritual power.
It was unintentional, but the dean still saw this.
"Her method of concocting medicine is a bit strange, but this little girl is highly talented."
The so-called talent was the perceptual ability to predict the strength of spiritual energy.
Dongfang Minghui was afraid that due to her carelessness, she would use up all six of the spiritual medicines at once, and in the end, she would be laughed at by this group of people if she couldn't get past the test.
So she found the weakest areas of spiritual energy in each of the herbs and then separated them from the elixir one by one, doing experiments by the side to test.
"Do you see what she's doing?"
"What purpose can this leaf serve?"
"Heck, she even tasted it, is she not afraid of being poisoned?"
People couldn't understand what Dongfang Minghui was doing, so they chattered about it.
Dongfang Wanyu couldn't understand it either, but she probably guessed what the other person was doing, it seemed like she was trying her best. They say that serious women were the most beautiful, and she found that her own Little Nine seemed to be getting more and more dazzling.
"Wanyu, have you thought about how you're going to refine your Spirit Pill afterwards?" Qing Mo already had a dry mouth, the other party didn't care at all though, "You've wasted two hours of cultivation time in this place, are you fine with that?"
Dongfang Wanyu had hesitated when she received the other party's request to watch her junior pharmacist assessment, but eventually, she went. She was glad that she had made the trip, otherwise, the way her Ninth Sister had looked so lost just now, imagining it made her feel a bit sad.
"I'll have someone find another herb, if that's not possible, I'll replace the Spirit Pill with another pill." Dongfang Wanyu spoke with ease.
Qing Mo no longer knew what he should say, all the medicinal herbs they had prepared for almost half a year, in the end, they were given to someone else, this Dongfang Minghui was definitely Wanyu's nemesis.
Dongfang Minghui's first experiment failed, she had crushed all the elixirs into a liquid, trying to use her spiritual power to refine the liquid, maybe there was a problem with her spiritual power control, in the end, the liquid evaporated and dried up, becoming a small pile of powder.
"Hey, the powder works too, I guess." She tried a small taste, it was quite bitter, and the spiritual energy was just so-so.
Seeing her tasting the medicine, the dean was curious to know what wonders were in the powder she made, but due to his status, he could only continue to sit in the seat and wait.
The second time, she took a small piece of medicine again, rolled it continuously, and poured it into six different small porcelain bowls. For the first time, she used six kinds of medicinal materials to distribute the strongest and weakest kind of spiritual energy, and so on. But for the second time, she broke the former rule and put the two kinds of medicinal liquids with the strongest spiritual energy together. Who knew how strong and strong would react and it immediately exploded with spiritual energy. She didn't need to continue. She knew that the second time must have failed.
She poured all the medicinal liquids together and came up with a pattern of strong and weak spiritual strength that could complement each other in order as she tried different configurations.
For the third time, she took a bit of the herbs again and crushed them into a liquid, but reversed the first time's order, then controlled it a bit with her spirit power, she watched as the liquid slowly became thicker, taking the opportunity to crush them then pressing them harder, and finally, she crushed them into a small ball.
"Hehe, medicinal pill." This was one of her big wishes when she came to the Seven Coloured Continent, to turn medicinal liquid into medicinal pills that were very convenient to carry.
Dongfang Minghui opened her mouth and wanted to lick it, but she was stopped by the junior pharmacist on the side.
"You still have an hour to go."
She immediately put the pills in a porcelain bottle, excised and crushed all the most concentrated parts of the elixir, and it took a little close to half an hour. After that, it was a matter of controlling the spirit power, and this part of her had always been a weak point.
If Little Colour was there, perhaps the chances of success would be a little higher.
She carefully controlled her spirit power, letting it rub the liquid of the small porcelain bowl together, slowly pouring in the liquid of the remaining four spirit medicines, she made a ball from it patiently as she stared at the small clump.
It was a matter of success or failure.
Dongfang Minghui wrapped the liquid more carefully, watching them become sticky, so she went even slower for the last step.
The crowd, who were still talking, saw her sweating, but she was still infusing the liquid with her spiritual energy, soon the pill took shape.
When the junior pharmacist shouted that the time was up, she had been wrapping the pill with her spiritual energy and compressing it with great force, just as if she had been compressing the spiritual energy in her sea of souls that had been running around disobediently.
At this moment, she had a breakthrough.
Her spiritual energy, which had been suppressed so much, suddenly exploded, radiating from her body.
Dongfang Wanyu and the dean almost stood up at the same time, and the Dean made a sound, "All Pharmacists follow orders, everyone step back three hundred meters, no one is allowed to approach without my permission."
Dongfang Wanyu, however, stepped forward and snatched the pills as quickly as possible placing them in a porcelain vase. Then she whispered in her ear, "Ninth sister, focus your mind and sit cross-legged, Seventh sister is here to help you guard, you can advance at ease."
Lord Dean wanted to drive her away but then he saw Dongfang Wanyu find a place farther away from Dongfang Minghui then sit cross-legged on the floor. A sword was pulled out from her space ring and stuck into the ground in front of the crowd. This action was clearly telling others, if you dare to take half a step, there will be three feet of blood splashed on the ground.
Dongfang Minghui was no longer aware of any of the commotion outside, she was plunged into a grassland full of greenery, fresh air, blue skies and white clouds, and a herd of lovely alpacas in the distance.
"Stupid girl, guard your mind and don't think about something that's not there," Little Colour suddenly spoke up to remind her, apparently it had felt the Spiritual Sea's spiritual energy fluctuations, forcing itself to wake up.
Dongfang Minghui immediately began to deal with the swirling vortex of spiritual energy in her dantian.
Just in case you guys don't know, a dantian is the core in these sort of cultivation novels, usually refers to an area around the stomach/chest area.
"Remember, from now on, you must promote one level at a time until you find a skill that suits you." Little Colour warned in her mind.
The barrier from Level 1 Spiritual Master to Level 2 Spiritual Master was very thin, so she let a little Spiritual Energy out and easily breached it.
It took less than two hours, and she suppressed all the remaining Spiritual Energy into her dantian.
Dongfang Minghui opened her eyes to find the Female Protagonist sitting across from her also cultivating, but the moment she moved, Dongfang Wanyu opened her eyes as well.
"Congratulations, Ninth Sister."
Dongfang Wanyu was happy for her, though she wondered why the other party had only advanced a small level. She easily pulled up her sword and threw it straight into her space ring again.
"Is this the compounded drug you just made?" Dongfang Wanyu handed her the porcelain bottle.
Dongfang Minghui, on the other hand, amusedly corrected, "I call it a pill."
Well, it was the first time Dongfang Wanyu had heard of something like a pill, "What does this have to do with compounded drugs? Is there a difference?"
The question really put her in a difficult position, the common denominator was that they both basically looked the same, the difference was probably that compounded drugs were made by an alchemist using a furnace, while the pills were condensed by her using her spiritual energy.
"You've actually opened our eyes to the fact that while refining pills, you could actually make an advancement." It had been a long time since the dean had seen such a talented young person, he smiled and held out his hand, "Show me the pill that was made."
Dongfang Minghui handed it over with a small amount of apprehension in her heart, this pill she had refined but had yet to take a bite.
Even the effect she had no idea about before she handed it over.
Lord Dean poured it out of the porcelain vase, the pill still had a faint green streak in it, it really looked like it came from the alchemy room, if he hadn't seen Minghui make it with his own eyes, he probably wouldn't have believed it.
The quality was fine, but it still had a small flaw, missing a small corner.
The dean lord put it under his nose and sniffed it, the smell was fragrant and the strong spiritual energy entered his nose, for no other reason than the fact that the pill could keep the spiritual energy from dissipating he would have to count Qian Minghui as a pass.
"Not bad."
To get a nice compliment from the head of the pharmacy, Dongfang Wanyu was genuinely happy for Dongfang Minghui.
Dongfang Minghui also couldn't believe that the pill she had condensed for the first time could receive a compliment.
"But, little girl, today I saw that you're rusty in making pills, you're a complete novice. It's still a weak point for you. Follow me some other day to learn a bit, so you can gain some insight." The dean still pointed out her shortcomings, don't think that just because he was old he couldn't see clearly that when this little girl was refining, her hands were trembling. It was clear that there her mind wasn't peaceful.
But the other party had still refined a new type of medicinal pill in the end, making him very surprised. What was even more surprising was that the other party's comprehension was also quite good.
This further deepened the decision that Lord Dean had made deep within his heart.
Dongfang Minghui was somewhat embarrassed by what the fat old man said. It was actually pure luck. If she hadn't done a few experiments, this game would've been lost.
By then, she would be shaking from embarrassment and that Xu Lian woman would die laughing.
When everyone saw that the dean was holding something similar to a pill in his hand, they curiously approached closer and started discussing it with their seven mouths, some even wanted to take a closer look at it from the dean's hand.
"After my appraisal, this pill's spiritual energy is well preserved and very abundant. Therefore, Qian Minghui's second test for Junior Pharmacist is a pass."
"Congratulations."
"Congrats."
Many people had witnessed her failure, and she had used only three chances, so success was not easy to come by. Plus, seeing her talent, many people were happy to accept it, at least it let them see that everyone can make mistakes. As long as you don't give up, you'll eventually succeed.
"Isn't there a third test?" When Xu Lian saw everyone surrounding Dongfang Minghui, it made her feel as if they were honoring the stars! Her heart was inevitably unbalanced, and on impulse, she threw a pot of cold water on everyone.
The dean looked at her and smiling then saying, "Pharmacist Xu is right, after half a stick of incense, the third round of testing will begin."
Dongfang Minghui also smiled and spat out her little tongue at Xu Lian, that provocative look almost made Xu Lian lose her manners and rush up to smack her twice.
The third round of the junior pharmacist assessment, a qualified pharmacist was definitely able to use medicine to save people. The theme of the third round was to save patients, as the saying goes, saving people is like putting out a fire, the assessor must concoct the medicine with the fastest time and speed, and then give it to the patient.
This assessment is precisely testing the ability to make a rapid diagnosis and find out the proper medicine.
In front of Dongfang Minghui's eyes were an entire table of bottles and jars, all of them the same height and without any markings, which undoubtedly made the assessment more difficult.
There was a junior pharmacist who would specifically time her.
Dongfang Minghui looked at Xu Lian, who was staring at her with resentment in the crowd, and her head spun a little, "Lord Dean, in order to show the principle of fair and impartial assessment, I have a better proposal, I don't know if it is appropriate to speak. "
The Dean smiled, "Go ahead."
"Timing is not convincing, I believe that the third round you should select a junior pharmacist of exceptional ability and talent in every way to compete with me. The winner will be the one who selects the best medicine and cures the patient at the same time, I'm sure you won't have an opinion right?"
It was said quite beautifully as if to stifle the controversy that followed.
Once everyone heard that they nodded their heads in agreement.
The dean also smiled, if it was put forward three months ago, the three rounds of tests for junior pharmacists wouldn't be only one person, so Dongfang Minghui's proposal coincided with the usual rules. The winner would be the one who was right.
Dongfang Wanyu pursed her lips and laughed, her Ninth Sister is too naughty, always thinking of ways to be bad.
"Your Ninth Sister's move is really evil, it seems like she wants a fair and just competition, but she's actually trying to step on others to climb up." Qing Mo commented rudely.
"Ninth sister is not like that." Dongfang Wanyu chuckled.
"In that case, which pharmacist with outstanding ability and talent do you want to pick?" Lord Dean asked in a good-tempered manner, he was almost certain that the little girl had started digging a hole again.
Dongfang Minghui's eyes swiveled slightly, sweeping over all of the senior brothers and sisters before finally stopping on Xu Lian, "Dean, I see that Pharmacist Xu's abilities and talents are all quite outstanding, and she had more than a little regard for me when I was at Angelica Garden, I think that she would be quite a good person to compete with me, what do you think?"
Naturally, the Dean was happy to watch a good show, and he said, "Does Pharmacist Xu object?"
Xu Lian saw this and took a step forward, "It'd be my pleasure."
She had been waiting for this moment for a long time, and as soon as Dongfang Minghui provoked her, she rushed up without thinking about it.
"Pharmacist Xu, please take care of me." Dongfang Minghui also showed her brightest smile towards Xu Lian.
To the current Xu Lian, any act of kindness from the other party was just another form of provocation.
The Dean smiled and said, "The third round of testing is about to begin, in order to demonstrate the fairness and impartiality of this competition, this time the patient will be chosen by me, it's up to you guys to handle the rest."
The dean himself appointed the patients, surely he would choose a hard one, but this instead reassured her that she didn't have to worry about someone cheating.
The patient was quickly brought in, both with the same symptoms, both rolling on the ground.
Dongfang Minghui went up to the patient and held him down, "What's wrong with you? Is it the stomach?"
The patient's face turned white with pain, and he could not even speak clearly, so Dongfang Minghui put his hand on the patient's abdomen. Pressing all over the place, gently, with each press, she asked, "Is it here?"
This was repeated until, when pressed at the abdomen, the patient uttered a mouth-wrenching scream.
"Is it here?"
She pressed again for confirmation.
The patient nodded with difficulty, "Right."
At this moment, it was as if she was back in her last life, treating patients in a hospital, and she was so used to it that she was just about to take out her stethoscope and hold out her hand when she realized she was still in the contest field, not a hospital. She rubbed her brow, feeling confused.
In order not to interfere with the competition, a blue cloth was used to separate the two sides in the middle.
While Dongfang Minghui was on the other side, Xu Lian had finished diagnosing the patient and begun selecting an appropriate elixir for the patient to take.
"Have you eaten anything wrong today?" Dongfang Minghui continued her questioning without missing a beat.
The patient shook his head at first but then thought of something and nodded.
She saw that the other party's lips were purplish, beads of sweat were falling, his face was pale with pain, his limbs were weak, his abdomen was the most painful, and he couldn't bear to roll on the floor.
She had a preliminary judgment, she went to the table, opened each porcelain bottle, put it to her nose and sniffed it, then put it down very quickly. It took only the time of an incense stick to burn to divide the medicine into two batches.
After that, she opened the lids of the porcelain bottles again, but this time the sniffing time became longer, and with each sniff, she eliminated one porcelain bottle.
In the end, there was only one bottle left.
She repeatedly sniffed twice, and even tried a sip herself, feeling the warmth in her abdomen, she poured the medicine into the patient's mouth.
Soon, the patient's pain gradually decreased, the color of his lips gradually faded, and his face was not as pale as before.
On the other hand, Xu Lian quickly diagnosed the patient and thought it was a mild poisoning, but then she thought that the dean's choice of patients should not be so simple so she tried to diagnose again.
Like Dongfang Minghui, she also spent a lot of effort identifying the elixirs.
She selected an elixir and poured it into the patient's mouth. The pain in the patient's body disappeared and his face turned red.
"You're already cured." Xu Lian asserted.
The patient was about to get up but felt an unbearable abdominal cramp, even worse than the pain just now.
Dongfang Minghui on the other side helped the patient stand up slowly and was extremely patient, "Actually, you weren't that sick, just a slight poisoning from something you ate, I've given you the antidote. Don't eat random things anymore."
Everyone had seen the two's treatment of the patient and in their eyes, it was clear to everyone who was winning and who was losing.