Those people waited in front of the long table, many of them visibly nervous.
At the very front of the long table, several people sat upright.
Those people wore Miracle Hand Doctor Tokens at their waists, each with a refined look and an air of arrogance.
“Today is the test for second-grade Little Doctors to advance to third-grade. There are twenty candidates. In front of you are four herbs: crabapple, angelica, phoenix-eye fruit, and seven-leaf lotus.”
“These four herbs are the main ingredients for the Vitality Pill. Your task is to refine a Vitality Pill within the time it takes one stick of incense to burn. Anyone who succeeds passes the test and advances to third-grade Little Doctor.”
The person in the middle spoke in a calm voice.
The people below looked even more tense.
Evan Lin glanced around and saw Gary Liu and Ivy Liang not far away. He followed their gaze and spotted Gary at the long table.
Soon, the person announced the start of the test and lit a stick of incense.
The candidates quickly crushed the different herbs in stone mortars, then mixed the four herbs in various proportions before carefully putting them into the pill furnace.
The furnace flames burned gently. As the fire touched the crushed herbs, wisps of greenish smoke rose up. The second-grade Little Doctors below carefully controlled the heat through the vent at the bottom of their pill furnaces.
Occasionally, a pill furnace would suddenly spit out a burst of sparks, flames devouring the entire batch and drawing groans of disappointment from the crowd.
“They call this pill refining?”
Evan Lin raised his eyebrows slightly, shaking his head inwardly.
Back on the Immortal Martial Continent, even a random pill apprentice would be far more skilled and practiced than this.
By contrast, Byron Liu and Louis Liu were witnessing such a scene for the first time. Their eyes were wide with curiosity.
Everyone in the room was tense, and even the spectators outside were holding their breath, not daring to make a sound.
Everyone in the room looked tense, and even those watching from outside barely dared to breathe.
Occasionally, a pill furnace would suddenly erupt in a burst of flames, burning the entire batch of pills to ash and drawing sighs of regret from the crowd.
He was flanked by Louis Liu and Ivy Liang.
Finally, the stick of incense burned out.
“Time’s up. Please extinguish the furnace flames and place your refined Vitality Pills in front of you. I’ll check them one by one.”
Someone at the front stood up and began inspecting the results.
Out of twenty people, only five succeeded in refining a pill.
Gary Liu was among them.
“Five passed!”
After the announcement, some people cheered while others looked disappointed.
“After half an hour, we’ll begin the next round. Next will be the test for third-grade Little Doctors seeking full Doctor rank. Everyone preparing for the test, get ready!”
The announcer called out again and then left immediately.
Evan Lin took advantage of the break to go downstairs. On the first floor, he wandered around, browsing for anything truly useful.
Byron Liu was still caught up in the excitement of the pill-refining scene, his face glowing. Louis Liu didn’t dare wander off and just followed behind Evan Lin.
“I never imagined this is how pill refining works. I heard those Vitality Pills can restore your energy in a big way. I wonder if I’ll get a chance to buy a few later.”
Byron Liu was all smiles, clearly in a great mood.
“Buy a few? Didn’t you see that the only one who passed the test was that Little Doctor Liu from yesterday? He’s a third-grade Little Doctor now! We’d better hope we don’t run into him.” Louis Liu sighed, looking worried.
He was flanked by Leo Liu and Ivy Liang.
Just as Evan was about to leave, his gaze suddenly sharpened and landed on a square black iron box not far away.
The iron box looked utterly ordinary, pitch black all over, with a cold metallic sheen.
“What’s that...?”
A flash of surprise crossed Evan’s eyes. He quickly stepped forward and picked up the small black iron box.
The box was about two inches long, roughly palm-sized, and felt ice-cold to the touch, with an ancient vibe.
Evan Lin sent a thread of spiritual qi from his hand, probing inside. The qi slipped straight into the black iron box, wound around inside for a bit, then returned to his body.
“Interested in that, are you?”
Soon, the shopkeeper noticed a customer and hurried over, plastering on a smile.
Most of the vendors on the first floor of Miracle Hand Pavilion were well-known herb suppliers. After all, the Miracle Hand Sect needed lots of herbs and couldn’t rely solely on its own members to gather them.
“What is this thing?”
Evan looked at the shopkeeper, his expression calm.
“I don’t know what it is either. I bought it off a grave robber. That guy said the thing was surrounded by nine snakes, and he nearly died trying to get it. So I paid a pretty high price for it.” The shopkeeper, a bit chubby, was animated as he spoke, but when it came to the price, he switched to his shrewd merchant persona.
“What’s it good for? Looks like a piece of scrap metal to me.” Byron Liu frowned, clearly puzzled.
“Honestly, I don’t know what it’s for. In Miracle Hand Pavilion, little trinkets like this are just side items. What we really sell are herbs and pills.” The shopkeeper rubbed his hands together.
This thing had been sitting here for ages—nobody wanted it. It was rare to see someone finally interested.
“How much?”
Evan asked.
Others might not know what the iron box was for, but Evan had just discovered that it contained a pocket of its own space.
“Twenty Vitality Pills?” Louis Liu and Byron Liu both froze in shock at the price.
“A single Vitality Pill goes for five thousand yuan, so twenty would be a hundred thousand. But the real problem is, you probably can’t even find twenty Vitality Pills for sale.”
The shopkeeper pretended to wince, rubbing his fingertips together.
He was flanked by Leo Liu and Ivy Liang.
“You again!” Louis Liu's face twisted with annoyance.
Byron Liu reacted instantly; the moment Gary appeared, he quickly took several steps back to put some distance between them.
He was flanked by Gary and Ivy Liang.
“You again!” Byron Liu’s face changed.
Louis Liu reacted quickly. The moment Gary appeared, he took a few steps back to keep his distance.
“I just heard Gary say you tried to sneak into Miracle Hand Pavilion. I thought he was joking, but now I see you really don’t care about your own life!”