Assessment (Please Follow on Tuesday)

"Grandpa Chen, are you saying I don't need to keep reading the Classic of Materia Medica?" Lu Qing was a little surprised.

"That's right. You've learned faster than I expected. You've already read the Classic of Materia Medica thoroughly. Just review it often from now on; there's no need to study it specially anymore."

Old Doctor Chen stroked his beard as he spoke.

Over this period, he had been extremely satisfied with Lu Qing's performance.

Lu Qing's intelligence had surpassed his expectations.

In barely half a month, he had already learned an entire copy of the Classic of Materia Medica.

Originally, Old Doctor Chen had thought that if Lu Qing could read the Classic of Materia Medica fluently within a month, that would already be quite good.

"It is because Grandpa Chen taught me well."

Lu Qing felt much more relaxed.

He finally did not have to study the Classic of Materia Medica anymore!

Heaven knew how thoroughly he had memorized the Classic of Materia Medica during this time.

Saying he could recite it backward without a hitch would not have been an exaggeration at all.

But he could not immediately reveal that he had long since memorized the Classic of Materia Medica in its entirety.

Even if he wanted to show off his intelligence, there had to be a process people could accept.

Otherwise, if he displayed just how monstrously gifted he was right from the start, it might very well backfire.

Now, he had finally waited for this moment.

"Lu Qing, although your intelligence has exceeded my expectations, we still need to carry out the assessment we agreed on before," Old Doctor Chen said.

"Lu Qing understands. Please assess me, Grandpa Chen," Lu Qing said respectfully.

"You have already read the Classic of Materia Medica well, but memorizing a medical text is not enough. Only by combining it with practical experience can you be considered to have truly understood it."

"My assessment is simple. Within one hour, you must find ten medicinal herbs recorded in the Classic of Materia Medica near the village and gather them for me."

"Remember, you may not bring the book with you to search, you may not gather the wrong herbs, and you must not damage any herbs while digging them up."

Lu Qing silently memorized the Old Doctor's instructions. After he finished speaking, Lu Qing asked, "Is that all, Grandpa Chen?"

"That's all. If you accomplish those points, I will formally accept you into my school. You will become my eldest disciple, and also my only disciple."

"Don't worry, I definitely won't disappoint you!" Lu Qing said confidently.

"Take this Medicine Basket and Medicine Hoe. Remember, you only have one hour. If you exceed the time limit, then even if you gather enough herbs, you will not pass."

The Old Doctor took out two tools and handed them to Lu Qing.

"Then I'm setting off now!"

Lu Qing took the Medicine Basket and Medicine Hoe, then headed straight toward the Foot of the Mountain.

As soon as he reached the foot of the mountain, he spotted a medicinal herb.

Thunder Root Grass: Superior quality, suitable for medicinal use.

It cleared heat and detoxified the body, and was quite effective in treating internal heat and coughs.

This Thunder Root Grass happened to be recorded in the Classic of Materia Medica.

Seeing that his Supernatural Ability had identified it as superior quality, Lu Qing immediately bent down and began digging.

The Medicine Hoe Old Doctor Chen had given him was quite sharp, so Lu Qing dug very carefully, afraid that a moment of carelessness would damage the herb.

After all, one requirement of the Old Doctor's assessment was that he must not damage the medicinal herbs.

After carefully digging up the Thunder Root Grass and placing it in the Medicine Basket, Lu Qing considered the time and immediately felt his heart tighten.

Digging up just this one Thunder Root Grass had taken him nearly a quarter of an hour.

At this rate, would digging up ten herbs not take ten quarter-hours? The Old Doctor had only given him one hour for the assessment.

"I can't keep dawdling like this. I need to speed up."

Originally, Lu Qing had thought that with his Supernatural Ability, finding ten medicinal herbs would be easy as pie.

But now he understood that if he was careless, he really might fail this assessment.

Putting away his relaxed attitude, Lu Qing began hurrying toward other places.

Along the way, his eyes constantly searched through the grass on both sides of the path.

Whenever he saw a plant resembling one in the Classic of Materia Medica, he immediately used his Supernatural Ability to inspect its information.

Once he confirmed that it was a medicinal herb recorded in the Classic of Materia Medica, he immediately dug it up.

Dandelion, Cocklebur Seed, Plantain Herb...

One medicinal herb after another recorded in the Classic of Materia Medica was dug up by Lu Qing and placed into the Medicine Basket.

His forehead was covered in sweat from digging herbs. Whenever he casually wiped it, he left several streaks of mud behind.

When passing villagers saw Lu Qing in this state, they could not help but laugh.

"A Qing, what are you doing? You've turned yourself into a little mud monkey."

"Uncle Wang, I'm digging medicinal herbs. This is a task Grandpa Chen gave me, so I can't be careless," Lu Qing answered.

"It's a task assigned by the Old Doctor? Then you must take it seriously. Do you need my help?"

Uncle Wang's expression immediately turned solemn.

The villagers' respect for the Old Doctor came from the bottom of their hearts.

The moment they heard it was a task he had assigned, they no longer dared to joke around.

"No, no. I have to do this myself. It's Grandpa Chen's assessment of what I've learned during this period."

Lu Qing waved his hand in refusal.

"Is that so? Then A Qing, you have to do your best. You can't let the Old Doctor down."

Hearing Lu Qing say this, Uncle Wang's expression became even more solemn.

After all, whether Lu Qing could learn well was tied to the village's medical care in the future.

"Alright, I'll definitely work hard." Lu Qing waved. "Uncle Wang, I'm leaving first. Grandpa Chen only gave me one hour for the assessment, and I still have to dig herbs over there."

Watching Lu Qing's departing figure, Uncle Wang immediately ran toward the village.

Before long, nearly everyone in the village knew that Lu Qing was carrying out the assessment task the Old Doctor had assigned him.

As a result, even when they saw Lu Qing, no one dared disturb him at all.

They were afraid he would fail the Old Doctor's assessment and be expelled from the mountain.

Even the Little Brats were ordered not to go near Lu Qing, lest they disrupt his herb gathering.

Lu Qing, focused on gathering herbs, did not notice any of the villagers' actions.

He merely found it strange that the village seemed much quieter than usual today.

At this time of day normally, the Little Brats would be running wild everywhere, and they would not stop until they had stirred up such a racket that chickens flew and dogs jumped.

But this thought merely flashed through Lu Qing's mind before he cast it aside.

He had no time to think about such things now.

He had already dug up eight medicinal herbs. He only lacked two more, but more than half the time had already passed.

If he did not hurry, this assessment was truly going to be hanging by a thread.

At this moment, Lu Qing felt a little regretful as well.

Usually, he had not paid much attention to what medicinal herbs grew near the village. Otherwise, he would not have made the time so tight.

It seemed that relying too much on his Supernatural Ability was not a good thing either.

Had he not become negligent because he felt that, with his Supernatural Ability, he could identify medicinal herbs whenever he wanted?

Fortunately, Lu Qing's luck was good. Before long, he found another medicinal herb recorded in the Classic of Materia Medica.

"Only the last one remains."

After completely digging up this medicinal herb, Lu Qing let out a breath.

But he also knew there was not much time left.

"Where should I find the last medicinal herb?"

Lu Qing thought for a moment, then suddenly slapped his forehead.

"That's right, how could I forget it? What a case of darkness beneath the lamp—I nearly overlooked the thing most familiar to me!"

With that, he took off running toward his home.

When a villager saw Lu Qing running, he was immediately startled.

"A Qing, what's wrong? Did something go wrong with the assessment?"

"Nothing's wrong. There's no problem with my assessment!"

Lu Qing had no time to wonder why the villager knew about his assessment. He answered casually as he ran.

Very soon, he reached his home. Looking at the small patch of thriving plants in the corner of the courtyard, he smiled.

"It's you, Cow Bone Grass."