As the exam time neared and the noon sun hung high among the clouds, three loud gongs resounded.
The commotion and the chatter immediately quieted down and all the disciples became alert.
Everyone was anxious to start the examinations.
After all, alchemy disciples were nobodies in the Eldorian establishment.
But alchemy trainees had a whole other degree of respect.
They were the real apprentices and alchemy practitioners in training.
And this exam was the only thing standing between a disciple and a trainee name tag.
So everyone steadied their minds, calmed their hearts, and prepared themselves to take the examination.
After the gongs sounded in succession, an ancient archaic voice boomed, seemingly from nowhere.
"You have six hours to prove your commitment to learning the blessed art of alchemy."
"This will be the only evaluation criteria for your promotion to the alchemy traineeship."
"Now, you may begin."
Once the voice faded away, the Master alchemists and other trainees standing around slightly bowed, as a token of respect for the voice.
Tang Yue couldn't help but feel surprised at this gesture. Was that the Emperor's voice? She wondered.
Marvin smiled smugly looking at the curious expression on Tang Yue's face. "You don't know who that is?"
Tang Yue nodded and smiled.
She was a newcomer to the Elven empire, so she obviously did not have much idea about the inner workings of the settlement.
"That is the voice of the old monster Pill Maniac." Marvin chuckled and explained. He was more than happy to explain things to Tang Yue.
"There are three grandmasters in our empire and all three are celestial master Pill Maniac's personal disciples."
"No one knows where that old monster disappeared, but his personal artifacts and soul weapons are still functional."
"One of that is the disciple exam commencement announcing jade."
"We still use it as a token of respect to the old master Pill Maniac."
Celestial master huh? Tang Yue stared in astonishment. That was an existence she couldn't even comprehend.
While she was pondering, a jade slip materialized in front of her and Tang Yue shifted her focus to the current matters.
Just like her, Marvin and other disciples as well fully focussed their attention on the jade slip in front of them.
As the disciples held the jade slip in their hands, several images of different herbs flashed in their mind, one after the other.
Their job was to write down the details about each and every single herb from the series of images, describing its name, characteristics, physical properties, planting requirements, harvesting methods, and other details.
This sort of thing was sometimes even more difficult than learning martial arts or cultivation.
It required hours and hours of dedication and commitment to memorize all the herbs and learn them by heart.
It really showed the determination of a disciple towards pursuing the path of alchemy.
Tang Yue completely immersed herself in the exam trying her best to recollect everything she had read.
Her emerald eyes sparkled with interest and her wrists busily moved.
She slowly listed the answers she knew one by one on the parchment sheets in front of her.
Sitting next to her, Marvin had a completely different demeanor.
The chubby little elf was happily humming and flexing his brush strokes as he casually scribbled on the scrolls.
He had an aura of a confident accomplished alchemist who was leisurely jotting down some nonsense for time pass.
The onlookers gaped in amazement at the sight of the dazzling golden son of the grandmaster alchemist dripping with smartness.
Marvin also did his part thoroughly and rubbed his chin every now and then as if he was contemplating something deep and unfathomable.
Time slowly ticked away and soon disciples started finishing their exams one after another.
That didn't mean they answered everything completely.
At a certain point, if one did not know the answers, there was nothing they could do about it except to finish the examination.
No one expected these disciples to learn about the hundreds of thousands of herbs from top to bottom.
That was why the exam criterion was set at a mere 50% in order to pass, and typically only the well known common herbs were quizzed on, not including the mixed grafts and other variants.
So there was no shame in handing over the parchments as and when they were finished.