Chapter 24
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Chapter 24: Is the First Place a Son-in-Law?
In the vast hall, all those who were taking the written examination were answering earnestly.
And according to the rules, Pill Masters like Lin Zhi Shou who were accompanying took turns supervising the young disciples of other families.
"Hmm, this kid’s knowledge is surprisingly broad?"
The one responsible for supervising the Lin Family was that old man from the Wang Family.
He was standing next to Zhou Luo, looking at the answer beneath a certain question, and could not help feeling surprised inside.
That question was testing what precautions a Pill Master should pay attention to during the final step of pill fusion.
In principle, this question should have been an easy one for Pill Masters.
After all, pill fusion was the most important step in pill refining, and its precautions had long been memorized thoroughly by every Pill Master.
But the old man, who was a top-level first-level Pill Master, understood very well.
This seemingly simple question actually had a trap.
That is, the question did not specify which stage of first-level Pill Master it aimed at.
Generally, the precautions for pill fusion were the same for those below the top-level first-level, but the old man knew that when refining a first-level top-quality elixir during the final pill fusion, one also needed to pay attention to the allocation of spiritual power.
This point was probably known only by top-level first-level Pill Masters.
Therefore, wanting to get full marks on this question was basically impossible.
Yet Zhou Luo wrote this precaution beneath the question.
This greatly surprised that old man from the Wang Family.
He could only attribute the reason to Lin Zhi Shou.
But when he saw Lin Nian’s answer, the old man frowned slightly again.
Because the other party had not answered this precaution, which inevitably made the old man from the Wang Family feel a little puzzled.
Time slowly passed, and Zhou Luo deliberately controlled his speed, even intentionally getting one or two questions incorrect.
When the time was almost up.
After everyone handed in their papers one after another, he also handed in that paper.
Those responsible for reviewing were five Pill Masters from the long-life families, who were at or above the top-level first-level.
Everyone silently stared at the five examiners in front, inwardly extremely tense.
Only Zhou Luo sat there looking relaxed, even having time to snack on the small snacks on the table.
The time for grading soon passed.
The five people summarized all the papers according to their scores and placed them in front of family head Li Shuntian.
After handing in the paper, Lu Chen sat on the chair with a relaxed expression, proudly looking at the opposite Lin Zhi Shou.
Just now, he had already learned of the Lu Family disciple’s result through another Pill Master from a long-life family.
Among that stack of papers, his descendant Lu An scored ninety-five points, being the first place in it.
According to past written examinations, this score would rank in the top five historically.
So he was very confident.
Lin Zhi Shou was looking at the stack of examination papers from the members of the Wang Family, so he didn’t know how Zhou Luo and Lin Nian had scored.
At that moment, seeing that expression on Lu Chen’s face, he felt vaguely uneasy in his heart.
After comparing the five stacks of examination papers, Li Shuntian pulled out the papers ranked in the top ten.
According to the rules of the Spiritual Pill Conference, only the top ten in the written examination were eligible to participate in the martial skills competition on the second day.
After all, if their theoretical knowledge wasn’t up to par, how high could their pill-refining skills be?
"Tenth place, Wang Pingtong, eighty-eight points."
Soon, Li Shuntian began announcing the scores of the top ten.
The others sat upright and attentively, staring intently at the family head of the Li Family.
"Ninth place, Zhang Anshi, eighty-nine points."
"Eighth place, Lu Xuan, ninety points."
…
One after another, names were called out from Li Shuntian’s mouth.
Clearly, the Pill Masters who entered the top ten were mostly from the long-life families.
This was perfectly understandable.
After all, the teachings they received were certainly superior to others.
However, what surprised everyone was that when the fourth place was announced, there was still no member of the Lin Family.
At that moment, in the Lin Family area, Lin Nian clenched his fists, lowered his head, and looked very embarrassed.
Lin Zhi Shou’s aged face also showed a displeased expression.
"Third place, Li Guangzhi, ninety-three points."
After a short while, the ranking had reached the top three.
The third place was held by a Pill Master from the Li Family.
"It seems this Wind Movement Pill will belong to our Lu Family," Lu Chen finally couldn’t help but speak up.
Because he already knew that Lu An had scored ninety-five points.
That meant he was either first or second place.
As for the remaining person, he guessed it should be a member from the Wang Family or Li Family—in any case, it couldn’t be those two small good-for-nothings from the Lin Family.
In response to Lu Chen’s words, Lin Zhi Shou did not speak, but his expression turned very unpleasant.
"Second place, Lu An, ninety-five points," Li Shuntian announced.
Lu Chen’s expression changed slightly.
He hadn’t expected that Lu An actually wasn’t first place.
But it didn’t matter; at least he had won the bet with the Lin Family.
At the same time, the group of Pill Masters below became a bit restless.
As expected, the top nine spots were all taken by young disciples from the long-life families.
Hindered in every aspect, none of them had managed to qualify for the alchemy examination.
Some Pill Masters shook their heads in despair, even considering leaving the venue immediately.
Of course, others were more interested in who had secured first place in this written examination.
Especially those young disciples from the long-life families whose names hadn’t been called, their hearts brimmed with anticipation.
"First place…"
Li Shuntian gazed at the name on the test paper, a flicker of astonishment crossing his face.
"Zhou Luo, ninety-seven points."
His calm voice echoed in the hall, reaching every ear.
"Zhou Luo? Not from a long-life family?"
Someone gasped in surprise.
The dejected Pill Masters below instantly perked up with excitement.
Wasn’t this the first time in the history of the Spiritual Pill Conference that someone not from the long-life families had broken into the top five?
People glanced left and right, trying to spot the Pill Master named Zhou Luo.
At the front, the young disciples from the long-life families wore unpleasant expressions.
The written examination champion was a loose cultivator?
Wasn’t this a direct slap in the face to their long-life families?
"Who is Zhou Luo?" Li Shuntian set down the test paper, his gaze sweeping across the crowd below.
He, too, had assumed Zhou Luo was a loose cultivator.
"Me."
Just then, a meek voice sounded from nearby.
Li Shuntian looked in its direction and discovered the voice came from the Lin Family’s designated area. It belonged to the rather handsome young man seated to the right of Lin Zhi Shou.
Simultaneously, the crowd turned their heads towards the source.
"How is this possible?"
Lu Chen, his face a picture of shock, shot to his feet, staring at Zhou Luo with utter disbelief.
Meanwhile, Lin Zhi Shou, who had been in low spirits moments before, burst into hearty laughter, "Hahaha! Zhou Luo is my Lin Family’s son-in-law living with us."
"Lin Family’s son-in-law?"
Others stared, dumbfounded.
This was especially true for those who had secretly mocked the Lin Family for tricking someone into becoming their live-in son-in-law; their hearts trembled.
Li Shuntian studied Zhou Luo with a complex expression.
Had the Lin Family really recruited such a promising alchemy genius?
It seemed his own family should also start widely recruiting live-in sons-in-law.
"Lu Chen, hand over your magical artifact," Lin Zhi Shou declared directly, beaming from ear to ear.
After enduring such humiliation for so long, he could finally vent his pent-up frustration.
As for Lu Chen?
His face darkened as if frost had formed upon it, his expression grim as if mourning his parents.
Those sharp eyes bored into Zhou Luo with deadly intensity, as if he wished to tear the man apart and swallow him whole.
