Ye Fanxing's Sudden Appearance: Identifying Herbs Blindfolded

"Clan head, the materials are ready. We can begin the disciple assessment."

The materials for the disciple assessment were usually kept ready, so Steward Ye only had to send someone to bring them out.

Ye Han glanced over everything, confirmed that all the necessary items were ready, and turned his gaze to Duan Qingya.

"The Nine Heart Begonia clan's disciple assessment has three parts: identifying herbs blindfolded, preparing medicine within the burning time of one incense stick, and diagnosing illnesses and prescribing medicine."

"Each part has its own standards. As long as you meet them, you pass."

After hearing Ye Han describe the tasks, Duan Qingya did not find them particularly difficult. He could complete all of them.

I worked for Boss Ling for six years. I might not be outstanding at these things, but I'm well practiced.

"No problem. When do we start?"

Seeing that Duan Qingya was ready, Ye Han was about to announce the start to everyone gathered around when a voice suddenly drew everyone's attention.

"Clan head, may I compete against your newly accepted disciple?"

At some point, Ye Fanxing had appeared inside the Nine Heart Pharmacy. She raised her hand high and stepped out of the crowd.

The sight of Ye Fanxing made Ye Han laugh in exasperation. He had not expected the person backing her to receive the news so quickly.

When Liu Da had come looking for him with the Family Token, he had not encountered anyone else. He had gone straight to Ye Han's study.

"Oh, my uncle actually let you out today, Ye Fanxing? The sun must have risen in the west."

"My teacher said that cultivating for too long was bad for my health, so he let me take a stroll."

"But I can't sit still. When I saw something exciting happening here, I wanted to join in. Please don't hold it against me, clan head!"

Faced with Ye Han's teasing, Ye Fanxing responded with a smile, as though she had not understood his implication.

Since Ye Fanxing insisted on participating, Ye Han glanced at Duan Qingya and found his expression calm.

Duan Qingya was not nervous at all. He had already guessed something like this would happen.

"Steward Ye, sorry for the trouble, but please prepare a disciple assessment for Ye Fanxing as well."

Since Duan Qingya had no objections, Ye Han had Steward Ye prepare another set of assessment materials for Ye Fanxing.

While Steward Ye prepared her materials, Ye Han briefly explained to Duan Qingya who stood behind Ye Fanxing.

"The person backing Ye Fanxing is my uncle, Ye Hongtao. Because of the special nature of our clan's martial soul, my uncle couldn't inherit the Nine Heart Begonia martial soul."

"His martial soul is a Mutant Begonia, and he follows the control path. He's now a level eighty-nine control-type Soul Douluo."

"As Spirit Hall has grown stronger over the past few years and kept making underhanded moves, my uncle has begun considering changes to the clan."

"He wants to shift the clan's focus from healing to offense. But our clan has developed along its current path for hundreds of years. Such a transformation would take decades."

At this point, Duan Qingya more or less understood the conflict between the two men.

Ye Hongtao's idea was sound. With Spirit Hall showing signs of unusual activity, it was reasonable to give the Nine Heart Begonia clan some fighting strength.

But Ye Han certainly would not let Ye Hongtao take charge of that change outright. The Nine Heart Begonia Family could never complete its transformation before Spirit Hall made its move.

Duan Qingya now felt that he should never have agreed to Boss Ling's request. He had practically set himself on fire.

"Clan head, everything is ready!"

Having finished his work, Steward Ye hurried over to Ye Han to report.

Ye Han stopped there and led Duan Qingya back to the competition area.

"Hello, I'm Ye Fanxing. What's your name?"

When Duan Qingya appeared, Ye Fanxing eagerly approached to greet him.

"Duan Qingya. Nice to meet you. Please don't stand so close to me."

With Ye Fanxing almost pressing her face against him, Duan Qingya took a step back in distaste.

Ye Fanxing, who had always been confident in her looks, had not expected to suffer another rebuff. The last time this had happened was with Ye Lingling.

Seeing that her approach did not work, Ye Fanxing did not get angry. Still smiling, she returned to her station.

"First round: identifying herbs blindfolded!"

Steward Ye stood before Duan Qingya and Ye Fanxing and explained the rules of the first round.

"In a moment, I'll have one hundred randomly selected medicinal ingredients brought out. You'll have fifteen minutes to identify and memorize all one hundred while blindfolded."

"Once time is up, you'll write down the names of all one hundred ingredients in the order you remember. Whoever identifies the most wins!"

After explaining the rules, Steward Ye waved a hand. Two people brought over two lengths of black cloth, stood behind the contestants, and wound the cloth around their heads, layer after layer.

After more than a dozen layers, Duan Qingya could no longer see anything.

I don't know how skilled Ye Fanxing is, but considering her outstanding talent, I'll write down ninety ingredients later.

Although he could not use his sight, Duan Qingya was confident that he could identify the ingredients with his other senses.

Besides, if he truly could not identify something, he could use his beast taming talent. He had long since memorized the approximate composition of common medicinal ingredients.

Soon, the one hundred ingredients were brought out.

"Let the competition begin!"

At Steward Ye's announcement, Duan Qingya and Ye Fanxing both began moving along the long tables in front of them.

The first ingredients were common and distinctive. Duan Qingya could identify almost all of them the moment he touched them.

Only when Duan Qingya reached out and touched the forty-fifth ingredient did he appreciate the difficulty and twisted humor of this competition.

The ingredient in the jar was white lilac processed into the shape of silkworm dung. One careless moment was enough to mistake it for silkworm dung.

Of course, anyone willing to put a piece of White Lilac into their mouth and taste it could distinguish it from Silkworm Dung.

After all, the former was sparrow droppings, while the latter was silkworm droppings. Their flavors were bound to differ.

Ye Fanxing, who had also reached the White Lilac, immediately found herself in a bind. Naturally, she could feel that something was off about the “Silkworm Dung” in the jar.

But with her sight unavailable and her nose unable to detect any smell, her only remaining option was to judge it by taste.

While Ye Fanxing hesitated, Duan Qingya, who had pretended to pause for a moment, started moving again.

Damn it, how is Duan Qingya so... Could he have failed to notice anything wrong with this Silkworm Dung?

Hearing Duan Qingya moving farther and farther away, Ye Fanxing cursed inwardly. Unable to worry about anything else, she steeled herself, picked up a piece, and put it into her mouth.

This taste—it’s White Lilac! It really was a trap.

After identifying the ingredient as White Lilac, Ye Fanxing took out her handkerchief and immediately spat it out.

Duan Qingya had just identified the nearly powdered substance before him as Poria when he heard Ye Fanxing spitting something out.

Ye Fanxing is ruthless. She actually tasted it to distinguish Silkworm Dung from White Lilac.

Still blindfolded, Duan Qingya turned toward Ye Fanxing and gave her a thumbs-up.

The spectators, who had been instructed to remain silent, communicated through their eyes and expressions instead.

Whoever prepared this was vicious! They actually made White Lilac look like Silkworm Dung. Forget Ye Fanxing—even I’d have to taste it.

Exactly. But did that boy really identify it, or did he just give up because he couldn't?

He probably failed to identify it and simply mistook the White Lilac for Silkworm Dung.

Everyone present with a good knowledge of medicinal ingredients unanimously believed that Duan Qingya had failed to identify the white lilac.

After all, even Ye Fanxing, who had studied for so long, could only distinguish White Lilac from Silkworm Dung by tasting it. What chance did Duan Qingya have after merely touching it a few times?