Chapter 913: Changes Bring Solutions! (1/2)

Chapter 913: Changes Bring Solutions!

“Hardships prompt changes, changes bring solutions!” Meng Hao’s eyes shone with the light of obsession. This saying was something he had come across in a book he had read when he was a scholar living at the foot of Mount Daqing.

Nowadays, he had not forgotten the true meaning of the phrase. However, because of his personality, he had come to a new understanding. To him, the first character of the expression… referred to being poor! [1. In Chinese, the first character of the phrase ”Hardships prompt changes, changes bring solutions!” by itself could mean “poor,” but the general meaning of the phrase refers to overcoming an impasse or difficult situation]

“If I can’t make a profit when it comes to merit points, then it means I’m poor… therefore I need to think of some ways to change the situation. That’s the only way to make it through the impasse. After I make it through, then I can start earning merit points again.”

After stepping into the first level of the Medicine Pavilion, Meng Hao was surrounded by mists. He took a deep breath, and his eyes began to shine brightly.

“In the past, I didn’t have a lot of spirit stones, but with over 100,000,000, it couldn’t count as being in short supply…. But, dammit! The Nirvana Fruits basically consume spirit stones! I barely have thirty percent of my original stockpile….

“It’s like a bottomless pit! Considering I’ve spent so many spirit stones on them, I definitely can’t stop now. I have to keep going! I wonder if the Grand Elder knew all along that I had a lot of spirit stones, and wanted to use this method to force me to go broke!

“A tier 7 alchemist sitting next to me, lecturing about plants and vegetation, cutting off my path to wealth! That’s outright bullying! Unbelievable!” Meng Hao was actually very angry.

Fueled by obsession and anger, he stalked into the first level of the Medicine Pavilion and was surrounding by swirling mists. In the blink of an eye, three incense sticks materialized in front of him.

Black smoke rose up from the first incense stick, swirling through the air to surround Meng Hao. Shockingly, a brilliant light appeared, as well as the images of countless medicinal plants.

At first glance, there appeared to be at least 10,000,000, packed together endlessly. It was only by looking closely that it was possible to clearly make any of them out.

In the space of a single breath, before Meng Hao could imprint any of them with divine sense, the 10,000,000 medicinal plants suddenly flickered with light, and then began to superimpose over each other. In the blink of an eye, they all merged together in the form of an ancient tome.

The book seemed archaic and old, and three characters were written on its cover.

Classic of Plants and Vegetation. (草木经)

Next, an ancient voice echoed out through the first level.

“In the time it takes three incense sticks to burn, identify the first 10,000 medicinal plants in the Classic of Plants and Vegetation. If you make a hundred mistakes or more, the result will be failure.”

“Now that the rules have changed,” thought Meng Hao, “this test is certainly a bit more impressive.” He sent out his divine sense to open the Classic of Plants and Vegetation to the first page. Visible there was a single medicinal plant.

“Quickspirit Flower!” he thought, identifying it immediately, branding it with divine sense, and also providing a quick description of its properties and use in medicines.

The tome flickered, and the second page appeared. Meng Hao made another divine sense imprint with incredible speed. Gradually, it began to appear as if a strong wind were blowing across the tome in front of Meng Hao. The pages flipped rapidly in quick succession.

Meng Hao stood there, not speaking, his divine sense covering the tome. To him, identifying these medicinal plants was a simple matter.

Before the incense stick had even finished burning, it seemed as if the tome’s pages were flipping by so fast they couldn’t go any faster. Dozens of pages would flip by in the blink of an eye. By the time the incense stick had burned to about 90%, Meng Hao had already identified 10,000 medicinal plants without making a single mistake.

However, he didn’t stop there. If his goal was simply to pass the level, then it wouldn’t matter. But if he was going to take this exam, he would do so in shocking fashion. He would make sure his name spread far and wide. That was the only way he could ensure that his lectures on plants and vegetation were profitable.

Therefore, he continued to identify medicinal plants. Soon, hundreds of pages flipped by in every blink of an eye. As soon as Meng Hao scanned them with divine sense, the profiles and information regarding these plants and vegetation appeared in his mind.

10,000. 30,000. 50,000. 100,000.

Faster and faster.

In the time it took an incense stick to burn, Meng Hao had identified 1,000,000 medicinal plants without a single mistake. The mist around him churned, and brilliant rays of light flickered. It was just barely possible to see countless magical symbols swirling around in response to Meng Hao’s miraculous performance.

Outside the Medicine Pavilion, it was impossible to tell what was happening on the inside. Many of the full alchemists and the apprentice alchemists were discussing and speculating about the matter. None of them believed that Meng Hao would fail to pass the level, but then they considered how the rules had been changed, and figured that even he might have to expend some effort.

The three old tier 8 alchemists looked at each other and then began to talk.

“How come the kid is taking so long?”

“If he’s really interested in taking the examination, then he should be able to pass the first level in the time it takes an incense stick to burn. Since he hasn’t come out, does it mean… that the kid is actually going to try to crack the test?”

Back in the Medicine Pavilion, Meng Hao was frowning.

“Time’s running out. It seems I was going a bit slow before.” His eyes flickered, and his right hand suddenly reached out to grab the tome’s right cover. At the same time, his divine sense exploded out, entering the tome. Meng Hao closed his eyes.

In that moment when his eyes closed, his divine sense filled the tome completely. It was as if countless medicinal plants had appeared in front of him, which he immediately began to identify and imprint at top speed.

1,000,000. 1,500,000. 2,000,000!