The first round tested the ability to refine pills.
The second round, then, tests your familiarity and understanding of Immortal Medicines. Every Immortal Medicine has its own unique habits, and to preserve its medicinal properties, you must use different methods to collect and store each one.
For example, one of the Immortal Medicines listed in Ian Song’s jade slip is called Cold Moon Grass. This herb grows in places of extreme cold; after harvesting, it must be kept sufficiently chilled, or its medicinal properties will rapidly dissipate.
Another example is Jade Beauty, also listed in his jade slip. This Immortal Medicine must never be touched with bare flesh; when harvesting, it needs to be wrapped in immortal yuan force, or half of its medicinal power will instantly be lost upon contact with skin.
There’s also Linglong Grass, which is even more peculiar—it ‘likes music.’ When harvesting it, you have to keep singing to attract its attention. Otherwise, it’ll burrow into the ground and escape. If you try to forcibly pick it, it will destroy its own medicinal nature, and even if you get it, it’ll just be a useless stalk.
So, if you don’t understand the habits of these Immortal Medicines and just try to brute-force your way through, there’s no way you’ll pass the second round.
The medicine garden is huge, but it’s divided into many zones. Each zone is covered by unique formations that create environments suited to the growth of specific Immortal Medicines.
These formations also block spiritual sense probing, which makes picking Immortal Medicines much harder. To find out what’s growing inside each formation, you have to physically enter and look, which wastes a lot of time.
With a thought, Ian Song spreads his immortal sense, instantly enveloping the entire medicine garden. He can’t detect the specific Immortal Medicines inside the formations, but he can infer the general type based on the attributes of each formation.
He’s already classified the thousand Immortal Medicines in his jade slip by attribute: 87 cold-type, 75 yang-type, 99 metal-type, 108 water-type, 81 wood-type, 135 fungi-type, 196 poison-type, plus various special types.
He starts by searching for cold-type Immortal Medicines, since the areas with ice formations are closest to him.
With a flicker, he arrives in that zone.
In just half a quarter-hour, he picks all 87 cold-type Immortal Medicines.
Next, he heads to the metal-type zone and picks 99 Immortal Medicines, then goes through each area in turn until he’s collected them all.
The whole process takes him just over half an hour.
"Senior, all one thousand Immortal Medicines from the jade slip have been collected. Please check!"
Ian Song presents both the Storage Ring containing the Immortal Medicines and the jade slip.
The black-robed elder takes the Storage Ring and inspects it, then nods with satisfaction. "All medicinal properties are well preserved. You pass!"
"Thank you, Senior!"
Ian Song replied calmly and respectfully.
"Stand aside and wait for the others."
"Yes, sir!"
Ian Song stepped aside, standing there with his eyes closed, resting.
After another hour, Yukon Gee also came out of the medicine garden, presenting his harvested Immortal Medicines and jade slip.
"One Immortal Medicine lost more than half its medicinal power. You meet the requirements. Pass. Stand aside and wait." The black-robed elder said blandly.
"Thank you, Senior!"
After bowing, Yukon Gee joined Ian Song and quietly asked, "Brother Song, did you pass?"
"I was lucky to pass!"
Ian Song smiled modestly.
"That's good!"
Over the next hour, more candidates arrived, but only a few dozen passed. After two hours, at least three hundred had not returned and were directly eliminated by the black-robed elder.
In the end, only eighty-three candidates passed the second round, barely one-tenth of the total.
Notably, all eleven Profound Immortals—including Ian Song—passed the assessment. Among the remaining candidates, most were Golden Immortals, with only six Earth Immortals.
"Now, we begin the third round. Everyone, follow me!"
With that, the black-robed elder turned and walked out, and everyone hurried after him.
Fifteen minutes later.
The black-robed elder led everyone into a vast hall, where seventy-two stone pillars stood, each carved with mysterious runes.
Pointing at the pillars, the black-robed elder said, "Each pillar’s runes represent a Pill Formula. Within one hour, anyone who can comprehend three Pill Formulas may advance to the next round and receive my master’s personal test. Begin!"
Ian Song focused his immortal sense on a stone pillar. The runes, which seemed lifeless before, suddenly came alive in his mind. As they flew about under his immortal sense, he searched for patterns, copying them all into his sea of consciousness and began arranging them.
He immediately realized this was a test of soul strength.
Alchemy is a tedious and monotonous profession. Refining certain powerful pills can take years, decades, or even centuries, during which not a single moment of carelessness is allowed.
Sleeplessness means little to an Immortal, but maintaining peak energy at all times puts great demands on the soul.
Ian Song’s soul has already undergone one transformation from the baptism of Chaos Aura, and he is preparing for a second. His soul level is exceptionally high.
In less than half an hour, he assembled the runes into a complete Pill Formula.
Next, he wrapped his immortal sense around three stone pillars at once, deducing their runes together. This time, it took him just under fifteen minutes to comprehend three Pill Formulas.
So he simply enveloped the remaining sixty-eight pillars with his immortal sense. Watching the countless runes flying about in his sea of consciousness, he felt no dizziness at all.
This time, he spent half an hour.
He deduced all sixty-eight Pill Formulas together.
An hour passed quietly. The black-robed elder, who had been standing in silence, spoke up: "Anyone who comprehended more than three Pill Formulas, stay. The rest, leave."
Immediately, most of the eighty-three candidates left. Only fifteen remained.
Surprisingly, one Earth Immortal was among them.
In addition, there were three Golden Immortals.
The remaining eleven were all Profound Immortals.
"Those who comprehended more than ten Pill Formulas, stand to the left!"
The black-robed elder spoke again.
Six people stepped to the left: Ian Song, Yukon Gee, the Earth Immortal, and three Profound Immortals. The white-robed Profound Immortal who had tried to get Ian Song to withdraw earlier was not among them, and now looked at Ian and the others with deep jealousy.
"Young man, how many Pill Formulas did you comprehend?"
Suddenly, the black-robed elder fixed his gaze on the Earth Immortal and asked.
The Earth Immortal replied solemnly, "Nineteen, Senior!"
"Excellent! Excellent!" The black-robed elder nodded in satisfaction, then asked the other four. Yukon Gee had comprehended thirty-two Pill Formulas.
"And you?" The black-robed elder looked at Ian Song, a hint of anticipation in his eyes.