Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The rules of the competition had put an end to all of their opportunistic thoughts.
They could only hope that the first-year student would be stumped in the first round. If that happened, then they would have an opportunity to win.
They were quite confident about that aspect. After all, they had studied the medicinal ingredients far longer than a first-year student, and they should know more potions than Shen Yanxiao too. Even without trickery, they were sure that they could still defeat Shen Yanxiao.
After the rules and regulations were announced, a blanket of silence enveloped the whole arena.
The content of the competition might have seemed dreadful, but it did cover all the important aspects of herbalism.
It was an excellent opportunity to assess a student’s abilities.
The participants rubbed their hands in anticipation as they stared at the pile of medicinal ingredients from afar. Each one of them wished that they could see from a thousand miles away so that they could scan the collection and quickly find the medicinal ingredients that they required.
The half an hour allocated for the first round was too precious to be wasted unnecessarily. They were uncertain if they could identify the correct ingredients in that short period. They also had to worry about getting the ingredients before anyone else did.
In that instant, the participants who had been sharing jokes just moments ago were on their guard against each other.
With Shangguan Xiao’s presence, they had long given up on getting the first position in the competition.
They would be quite equally satisfied if they were to get second or third place. As long as they were named as one of the top performers, the teachers would be better impressed with their abilities.
Furthermore, Great Master Pu Lisi was also part of the spectators that day. They wanted to do well just in case he was in such a great mood that he would accept another disciple. It was a good time for them to show off their skills.
Everyone itched for the competition to get started, but they were also nervous and excited at the same time.
Amongst all of the participants, only Shangguan Xiao and Shen Yanxiao remained calm in that situation.
Shangguan Xiao had won the first place consecutively for the past several months, so everyone believed that he would win it again. No one was silly enough to think that they could take over his position.
As for Shangguan Xiao, he thought that the rules for the competition were strange, but he was not shocked by its terms.
The first round was designed to test the participants’ eyesight, sense of smell, and their familiarity with the medicinal ingredients. Shangguan Xiao knew that he would not have any problem with that. He was so confident with his level of competency that he was not at all worried if anyone were to grab the ingredients that he needed. The potion that he had in mind was not one that the rest of the participants could make.
As for the final two rounds, he thought that they were as easy as 1-2-3.
Shangguan Xiao shot a glance at Shen Yanxiao and noticed that she had lowered her head in silence since the beginning of the announcement. He did not know if she had heard what the teacher had said.
He snorted in disdain. He presumed that Shen Yanxiao would not be able to recognize more than a hundred medicinal ingredients. She probably did not even have a formula that she could use, let alone to identify the ingredients that she would need for it correctly.
1The first-year students had only been at the Herbalist Division for less than half a year.
They would have only learned three to four types of junior-level potions, let alone the more difficult intermediate ones.
A ruthless glint surfaced in Shangguan Xiao’s eyes. He decided that he would let that stinky kid, Shen Jue, truly experience the massive disparity between their skills!
He wanted Shen Jue to know that his abilities and standards were not even enough to be his servant.
Shangguan Xiao kept those evil thoughts in his mind as he finally retracted his gaze from Shen Yanxiao.
The moment Shangguan Xiao withdrew his gaze, a smile surfaced on Shen Yanxiao’s serene face.