I rely on learning to achieve immortality.

Xu Zhou originally thought that the job of apprentice at Baicaotang was both arduous and slow, and not many people would be willing to take it.

But when he arrived, he saw dozens of people standing in front of him, including inner disciples.

This is hardly an unconventional escape route; it's clearly a narrow bridge that requires fierce competition.

The inner disciples clearly knew each other and gathered around, talking loudly. Xu Zhou, standing a little closer, could hear them clearly.

"I didn't expect the young master of the Xiao family to come as well."

"Since your son, the deputy head of the hall, has arrived, I naturally have to join in the fun as well."

"We're all in the same boat. We're all here because our spiritual roots aren't good enough. Let's stop being sarcastic."

"That's right. If we weren't so badly outmatched by those monsters, why would we bother competing for a position as an apprentice at the Hundred Herbs Hall? I've heard that once you become an apprentice, you don't even have time to cultivate, and you'll never have the chance to reach the Foundation Establishment stage in your lifetime."

"Tch, as if I already had it. It doesn't matter if I don't reach the Foundation Establishment stage, as long as I can get a position as an alchemy apprentice, I'll at least have a more comfortable life in the future."

After listening to their conversation for a while, Xu Zhou's eyes were opened. He hadn't expected that these inner disciples were also having a hard time.

However, with their arrival, the difficulty of admission is likely to be higher than previously thought.

After a long wait, a steward finally emerged from the Hundred Herbs Hall.

"There are quite a few people who have come."

The steward glanced around and slowly said, "However, there are only five apprentice positions available at Baicaotang this time, and you must pass the hall's assessment to be selected."

Five people.

Xu Zhou glanced around and saw that there were more people here than when he arrived, now exceeding fifty.

Choosing one out of ten seems lenient.

However, if we include the inner disciples, the situation is not necessarily the same.

The steward continued, "To enter the Hundred Herbs Hall, one needs exceptional comprehension and unwavering perseverance. Therefore, the specific assessment methods for the Hundred Herbs Hall are as follows:"

"The assessment period lasts for a total of three months, but registration is only open for the first five days."

"The Hundred Herbs Hall will distribute a copy of the 'Spirit Herb Classic' to all disciples participating in the assessment. All disciples must study diligently for the next three months, with a centralized test every ten days. Ultimately, the five best performers will be selected based on the results."

The deacon looked around: "Is there a problem?"

"My lord!"

Many disciples couldn't help but speak up, one of them asking, "Sir, isn't three months a bit too long? Could it be shortened?"

"Yes, three months is too long, and there's no guarantee of being selected in the end."

"If we don't get selected in the end, won't these three months have been wasted?" Several outer disciples were particularly uneasy.

To this, the steward coldly replied, "These are the rules of Baicaotang. If you are not satisfied, you may leave now."

Immediately, those people fell silent.

Seeing that no one asked any further questions, the steward nodded in satisfaction: "Since there are no objections, then come forward to register and receive your copies of the 'Spirit Herb Scripture'."

Upon hearing the admission requirements, Xu Zhou felt a strange sense of familiarity, as if he had returned to the time of the imperial examinations.

His experience with the imperial examinations was like crossing a single-plank bridge with thousands of applicants vying for a single spot. The current situation, where one in ten is selected, is already considered relatively easy.

However, the three-month timeframe still made him somewhat hesitant.

After thinking for a while, Xu Zhou felt it was worth a try.

"Once I get into deep learning mode, with my learning ability, I think I can still compete."

"Even if we ultimately fail, there's still some time until the end of the year in three months, so it's not too late to find other options. Opportunities like Baicaotang's are rare, and we may not encounter another one in the near future."

Having made up his mind, Xu Zhou stepped forward and took the copy of "The Classic of Spiritual Herbs".

The Lingcao Jing is heavier than the Peiyuan Gongfa, and the characters are even smaller, but it contains many illustrations, so the total number of characters should be about the same.

After receiving the "Spiritual Herb Classic," some people couldn't wait to flip through and read it aloud.

He wasn't in a hurry. After thanking the steward, he left directly.

Back in the cabin, Xu Zhou prepared candles and sat down at the table to open the books.

He quickly entered a deep learning state.

This book, "The Classic of Spiritual Herbs," is a classic text explaining the medicinal properties of spiritual herbs. Its content is quite profound. In addition to recording the appearance of all common spiritual herbs, it also describes their corresponding medicinal properties and the influence of the year.

However, when placed within the realm of alchemy techniques, it can only be considered a basic text.

No wonder everyone felt that studying for three months was a waste of time. After all, most cultivators don't need to understand spiritual herbs in such detail, but if they want to learn alchemy, this knowledge is too shallow, and even if they learn it all, it won't be of much help.

But Xu Zhou watched it with exceptional seriousness.

It's not that I actually find it interesting, it's just that once I enter a deep learning state, I take everything very seriously.

After an unknown amount of time, Xu Zhou came to his senses in a daze.

A quick glance revealed that all the replacement candles prepared on the table had been used up.

He wasn't worried about missing the test. During the six months he spent studying the cultivation technique, he had mastered the ability to time the test by preparing candles, and knew that there was still one day left before the test.

He placed another short candle and studied until the early hours of the next day.

Seeing that the night outside the window was still dark and the time was approaching, Xu Zhou planned to go directly to the entrance of Baicaotang and enter to take the test as soon as Baicaotang opened.

Upon arriving at the location, he discovered that he wasn't the only one thinking this way; more than a dozen people were already sitting outside the hall, each holding a book and scratching their heads in confusion.

Some people swayed their heads and read aloud carefully, some paced back and forth, muttering to themselves, and others stared blankly at the books with bloodshot eyes.

Xu Zhou had experienced such strange phenomena before, so he found another corner and began to close his eyes and rest.

He didn't bring any books with him, since the people at Baicaotang might not wake him up on time.

But his arrival empty-handed made him stand out among the others.

"Is this person also here to take the test? Why didn't they bring any books?"

"Why is he closing his eyes to rest? What's he pretending for? I don't believe he's mastered the 'Spiritual Herb Classic' in just ten days!"

"Never mind, let's ignore it and focus on reading a few more pages. We might have a test soon."

Xu Zhou ignored the whispers and comments around him. Years of experience with the imperial examinations had taught him to disregard distractions before the exams.

As dawn broke, more and more people gathered in front of Baicaotang.

Suddenly, a voice caught Xu Zhou's attention.

"Oh, there's someone here who didn't bring a book?"

Without even opening his eyes, he could tell that the slightly frivolous voice belonged to an inner disciple.

Several people from the other side arrived and were whispering among themselves, "It seems they're mostly planning to give up. They'll go in later, inform the steward, and then leave."

"How can you be so sure? Maybe they're just highly skilled and daring."

"It's hard to say; perhaps he really is a rival."

The teasing from the group didn't affect Xu Zhou's emotions; he was more concerned about something else.

He didn't feel much tension during their conversation; they were all relaxed, as if they weren't worried about the test at all.

He vaguely thought of a possibility.

As the time approached, he stood up and prepared to follow them inside.

Just then, he noticed a figure in the corner out of the corner of his eye.

The other person was a simply dressed young man whose expression seemed more wooden than others, as if he hadn't had enough rest.

He had no book in his hand, but there was no sign of panic on his face.

Xu Zhou glanced at it again and secretly made a note of it.

Before long, everyone entered the Hundred Herbs Hall.

Xu Zhou saw dozens of tables and chairs in the hall, with paper and ink already prepared on them, and felt increasingly familiar, as if he had returned to his comfort zone.

On the contrary, many of the other disciples were trembling at this moment.

With a command from the deacon, they each chose their seats, and without much conversation, the test began.

Xu Zhou picked up the exam paper and saw that there were quite a few questions, mainly requiring him to recite the medicinal properties of a certain elixir and identify herbs from pictures. Fortunately, these were still within his guessing range.

He picked up his pen to answer, but the answer was not easy.

The contents of the "Spirit Herb Classic" were so vast that even though he had been reading it non-stop for the past ten days, he still only had time to finish it.

He didn't understand alchemy after all. When he looked at the records of medicinal properties, he felt that they were all scattered and unrelated, and he could only memorize them by rote. After ten days, he could only recognize each spiritual herb, but the specific medicinal properties were still very vague.

Fortunately, I managed to fill out the paper in the end.

Baicaotang's grading speed is quite fast. The results are already out before the sun has even set after the test is finished in the morning.

"First place: Situ Kong."

"Second place, Xiao Bing."

"Third place..."

The rankings were read out one after another, and it took Xu Zhou a long time to hear his own name.

fourteenth.

His gaze sharpened slightly, clearly not expecting his results to be like this.

This ranking isn't low, but Baicaotang only gives out five spots, so his ranking is far inferior.

I originally thought that with my deep learning ability, even if I couldn't get into the top five, I should at least make it into the top ten.

Are all the people ahead of me in line geniuses?

wrong.

Xu Zhou glanced at the people in front of him; most of them were inner disciples, gathered together, laughing and reviewing the test they had just taken.

"I didn't expect that we'd be testing Moonflower and White Heart Orchid now."

"However, it's similar to the assessment two years ago."

Xu Zhou sighed inwardly, already knowing the reason.

These inner disciples, whose families were originally cultivators, mostly already knew what the Hundred Herbs Hall's assessment was like. They had already studied the contents of the "Spirit Herb Scripture" before the recruitment announcement was released.

Starting from scratch, I can only rely on these ten days of hard work, while those others are well-prepared.

Everyone starts from a different point in time.

This is just one aspect.

Xu Zhou's gaze then fell on another outer sect youth who also did not bring any books.

Name: Peng Hu; Ranked fourth.

Xu Zhou took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

One should never underestimate the heroes of the world just because one has some unique qualities.