“The evaluation of this Toxicology course is extremely simple. Among these foods, three types are poisonous. As long as you all can identify the two that are harmless, able to calmly eat them, then it is considered passing…. Lin Xi, do you have any questions?”
“Teacher, can I do my evaluation tomorrow? Today, my nose feels a bit off, I might not be able to differentiate them only by color and other types of recognition.”
“That’s fine, the academy has stated that the evaluations can be held at any time during the next three days. You can head over tomorrow or the day after as you see fit.”
…
The next day, Lin Xi entered Toxicology course’s classroom again.
Just like yesterday, there were all types of utensils placed on the table, more than twenty fresh foods that had already been exchanged piled here. Half of these twenty something types of food were processed cooked foods and drinks, while the other half were wild fruits and roots picked from the wild. Among them, there were only three that hadn’t been poisoned by this Toxicology course lecturer.
This Toxicology course’s professor Ouyang Yuncang was basically Ge You with messy yellow hair and a sparse white beard stuck to his head. That was why before, when Lin Xi attended his Toxicology course, whenever he compared that world’s widely known bald Grandpa Ge with Ouyang Yuncang in his head, he would always secretly laugh to himself for a long time.
Even though Lin Xi dozed off in his class once, ending up being sent to the reflection room as punishment, meeting Gao Yanan and Jiang Yu’er there, normally, Ouyang Yuncang’s temper and patience were still relatively good.
However, just because his temper was good didn’t mean that the course evaluation was easy.
Of the twenty something students who participated yesterday, only three people passed in the end. Some students without much confidence decided to take a look at the situation first, so the number of people who came to participate in the second day’s evaluation was still not few.
After giving Ouyang Yuncang a respectful greeting, Lin Xi thus began this Toxicology course evaluation.
He seriously and calmly examined every single food article, his careful appearance making a hint of praise flash past Ouyang Yuncang’s eyes. Of these twenty something edible articles, there were some problems with their smell, color, gloss, and other factors, while some had some extremely hard to detect holes. These should all be methods of the enemy Ouyang Yuncang imitated, applying poison in all different ways, but by using some differentiating methods that he taught the students in class, they shouldn’t be too hard to distinguish.
However, despite this being the case, in the end, there were still six items Lin Xi couldn’t identify.
Of these six items, there should be three types that were harmless, while the other three types were definitely poisonous. Only, either because Ouyang Yuncang’s poisoning methods were too ingenious, or perhaps because it was hard for Lin Xi to not miss some things during class, he couldn’t detect any traces.
After shaking his head, Lin Xi directly picked up the items, starting to eat them.
Hong!
This place immediately erupted into commotion!
Ouyang Yuncang also stood up in disbelief, his face immediately becoming a bit pale, shouting, “Lin Xi, what are you doing?!”
Of course, any student who had taken Toxicology’s classes knew that once these things were eaten, it would be easy to tell if there was any poison from the taste and their body’s reactions.
However, when poisonous things were ingested, the poison would immediately affect them… so this type of method was naturally not allowed in the evaluation rules. This evaluation only tested one’s observation skills, and then what one believed to be poisonous would be written down in front of Ouyang Yuncang, only at the end of the day would Ouyang Yuncang publically announce which three types were poisonous. Otherwise, if everyone took a bite, changing things all the time would be way too annoying.
Moreover, these students who had attended Toxicology lessons knew that many poisons, once eaten, even if there were antidotes, they would still inflict quite the damage on the body. There were some that might even inflict permanent damage, cause some internal organs to fail. Without some rare spiritual herbs, it was completely impossible to recover.
It just so happened that of the things Lin Xi ate, there was one type that inflicted serious harm on one’s liver.
That was why it wasn’t just the other students who were waiting for their turn to take the evaluation that were stunned, completely unable to understand why Lin Xi suddenly acted like there was something wrong with his brain, even Ouyang Yuncang was considerably shocked.
“So bitter, this should be the poison extracted from the bitter angelica. There is no color or smell from the outside, but when eaten, it is actually this bitter. I reckon that it normally wouldn’t be applied to food either.”
“This one, when eaten, it’s as if a line of flames begin to burn within the stomach, what a strong poison…”
“...”
However, Lin Xi remained extremely calm, only sensing the reactions from the things he ate. Only when Ouyang Yuncang furiously jammed several antidotes into his mouth, did he release an embarrassed chuckle, saying ‘return’.
…
The next morning, there were several dozen new students waiting outside a Spiritual Sacrifice classroom. Someone was currently undergoing Spiritual Studies’ evaluation.
Spiritual Studies is a Spiritual Sacrifice Department war priest course, as well as a foundational course for the even more profound Spiritual Sacrifice Priest.
Unknown as to whether Principal Zhang did this intentionally or inadvertently, when Yunqin Empire was founded, the border territories were all some barren hills and wild rivers, places of complex terrain.
Together with the various nations’ powers, Yunqin Empire, regardless of whether it was against the bandits, Tangcang, Great Mang, or the cave barbarians Dragon Snake’s side struggled against, it was still mostly a battle between cultivators and elite soldiers.
Using the two thousand li around Jadefall City as an example, there were Flying Tigers, Heaven’s Lens Mermaids, Altar Devils, and many other powerful special beasts with strength comparable to cultivators.
One of the essential skills Yunqin’s war priests needed to grasp was the skill to quell the hostility of some powerful special beasts, to the extent where the favorable impressions of some powerful beasts could be used to aid them in facing the enemy.
Among them, the priests with the most noble and pure hearts could even more so communicate with some special beasts, making them follow them like companions. These few high level priests were just like Mu Qing, Spiritual Sacrifice Priests.
What Spiritual Studies mainly taught were the lifestyle habits and preferences of some special beasts, placing emphasis on the sensing of nature’s mysteries.
Because perception was related to soul force cultivation, and because Yunqin Empire was an empire founded on martial might, at least half of Green Luan Academy’s new students already knew in which direction they wished to advance in the future. At that time, even if they couldn’t reach the level where they could tame a special beast, being able to understand a bit more about their lifestyle and habits, doing their best to avoid or not provoke them when they met by accident was still a good thing. That was why the number of students who chose this Spiritual Studies course was comparatively much higher than the other electives.
Of the ones who were waiting to take their Spiritual Studies evaluation, there was also Capital City’s Third Young Master Xu Qiu Lu spoke of.
Third Young Master Xu’s name was Xu Zhenyan. His father Xu Tianwang previously rose up in the military, later on transferred to Judicial Sector. Because of his outstanding achievements, he currently held the position of Judicial Sector Supervisor.
Yunqin’s official rankings were just like Green Luan Academy’s, after being heavily influenced by Principal Zhang’s whims, many titles were extremely awkward sounding and hard to remember. However, because of the respect the late emperor felt for Principal Zhang, it was always continued. After several decades, no one felt like it was strange anymore.
The Judicial Sector of the eight sectors was in charge of issuing punishment, investigating cases, and arresting criminals, above Judicial Sector’s Supervisor was Judicial Sector’s General Inspector, then the Vice Sector Head and Sector Head. Judicial Sector Supervisor is major first rank already, the one with the fourth highest authority in this sector. In Yunqin, he was naturally a figure who already carried tremendous weight.
Xu Zhenyan is Xu Tianwang’s third son, which is why he was called Third Young Master Xu. His older brother is serving in the military, also already a major sixth rank officer, his older sister married to Beilong Province’s provincial supervisor Meng Changge. Meanwhile Meng Changge is also a well-known up and coming figure, his prospects brilliant. Even though Qiu Lu was also a golden spoon, compared to Xu Zhenyan, he really was still not much different from a bumpkin.
The number of talented figures around someone with this type of background was naturally also not few.
For example, of the three that were closest to him right now, one was named Li Fulong, from the southern Linchuan Province. Even though he was only sixteen years of age, looking about as tender as Qiu Lu, his countenance also darker, appearance not that astonishing, his achievements in the Natural Arts Department were extremely astonishing.
One was surnamed Wang, secondary name Ling, age close to twenty. His age was a bit high, but he was born in a scholarly family. His father is a major second rank member of the Government Sector, a graduate of Hanlin Academy. Ever since he was young, Wang Ling read classic books extensively, his knowledge deep and varied, also someone who already ignited his soul force before entering the academy. Now, he had already reached initial stage Soul Expert level cultivation. Even though he wore Statecraft Department clothes, what was in his hand was a jade fan, making him look extremely confident and elegant.
The last individual was from Shanjin Province, his name Zhou Tianshui, also a Statecraft Department student, someone who excelled at reading people and arranging matters. This was someone who Xu Zhenyan took the initiative to approach in the first few days of entering the Statecraft Department, viewed as a capable individual who would definitely be of great help in the future.
Around these individuals were several other golden spoons or talented figures from various departments. Among them, there was a student with a handsome face, temperament also seeming outstanding, who was currently quietly consulting Xu Zhenyan. “Brother Xu, when that Spiritual Sacrifice Department Lecturer arranged those eggs, having us choose which one is alive, what was the meaning of that?”
When he heard this, the hair bound by a jade ring behind him, indescribably heroic and handsome Xu Zhenyan surrounded from all sides suppressed his voice, saying with a light chuckle, “You all need to understand one thing, of all the officials in the various sectors, the ones with the strangest tempers, the hardest to change, are Religion Sector’s priests. Most of these priests and war priests from the army are from our Green Luan Academy. Even though this Spiritual Studies course is an elective course, in the end, it is still a Spiritual Sacrifice Department course. For the Spiritual Sacrifice Department, they will always attach heavy importance on perception and communication, so they naturally won’t make changes for students from other departments like us, asking us some questions related to special beast habits or hold evaluations that they feel go against what they originally pursue.”
Light cries of praise immediately sounded from all around.
“Brother Xu, your understanding is above ours as expected. After your explanation, the murky darkness in my mind has suddenly become clear.” The student who asked this also had a smile on his face, saying, “Turns out Spiritual Sacrifice Department’s focal point of evaluation has always lied in the perception towards the natural and life force they care so much about.”
Xu Zhenyan smiled towards the people around him in a modest manner. As the gentle sunlight scattered down on his face, he appeared even more dazzling.
“Lin Xi is here.” Right at this time, Zhou Tianshui who was smiling gently next to him, willing to play a supporting role, turned his head slightly, saying this.
“Their Self Defense Department is rumored to have one course that is not holding evaluations, just like our Statecraft Department. I wonder how many courses this Self Defense Department heaven’s choice has passed during these last three days of evaluations.” Wang Ling, who was at Xu Zhenyan’s side, moved the jade fan in his hands, saying pensively.
The surrounding people all knew that Xu Zhenyan didn’t like Lin Xi because of Qin Xiyue. After hearing Wang Ling’s words, Li Fulong naturally knew what Xu Zhenyan wanted to hear the most, and as such, with a chuckle, he said, “No matter how formidable he is, there’s no way he can compare to Brother Xu who has already passed five of the seven courses in succession.”
“Already passed five of the seven courses in succession?”
“Who is the one that is this formidable?”
Li Fulong’s voice wasn’t that quiet. Many people in the surroundings heard him, thus immediately releasing some sighs of amazement.
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