Dual Cultivation

"What? Did the Senior just call Su Yang his 'friend'?"

"Is it the same Su Yang from the Profound Blossom Sect?"

"The number one genius who reached the Heavenly Spirit Realm at the age of 17?"

When the people there heard Su Yang's words, they immediately began whispering among themselves.

Although it was quite surprising at first that Su Yang would have connections to the Alchemy Master, after they thought about it for a moment, it made sense for him to know someone from the Holy Central Continent, as that would explain his tremendous growth and talent.

'I knew it! That Su Yang really has connections to the Alchemy Master! But why haven't I seen him yet? Isn't he also here in the city? Or did he come here for another matter?' Lord Xie pondered with a serious expression.

"It seems like we have side-tracked for a moment here. Anyway, does anyone here have a better result?" Su Yang said loudly.

A moment later, an old man revealed his scroll and spoke, "75,651."

"That's Senior Zeng, one of the most renowned Alchemy Masters in the Eastern Continent!"

The people there immediately recognized Senior Zeng, who has been a famous Alchemy Master for over a century now.

"So you are the best in the Eastern Continent?" Su Yang asked him in a calm voice.

"This old man wouldn't dare to claim himself as the best Alchemy Master before your excellence, Senior." Senior Zeng stood up and bowed to him with deep respect. "However, I have studied Alchemy for over 200 years now, so I am fairly confident in my abilities."

Su Yang nodded before continuing, "Anyone else with a higher result?"

A moment later, a beautiful young lady raised her hand, and she showed him the number recorded in her scroll.

"87,979."

"Hoh? Not bad for someone your age, young lady. What's your name?" Su Yang asked her.

The young lady calmly stood up and bowed to him before speaking, "This Junior is called Lou Yixiao, and I am currently Senior Zeng's disciple."

"As expected of Senior Zeng's disciple, she seems more talented than her own Master."

"If I recall correctly, she's only 25 years old, right? And she's only at the Profound Spirit Realm…"

"Although having a higher cultivation base may improve your memorization, talented people like her are born with excellent memories. It's no wonder why Senior Zeng accepted her as his disciple."

"She'll definitely obtain one of those three spots, I bet…"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. While she indeed has good memories, we don't know how she'll do in the next two tests."

"I do not care if you already have a Master or not. As long as you have what it takes and you are willing to become my disciple, I will accept you under my tutelage." Su Yang said to her.

A moment later, he turned to look at Wang Shuren and asked her, "What's your result?"

A confident smile appeared on Wang Shuren's face, and she revealed her results.

"93,211."

"How dare you look so smug with such a pathetic result. I have expected a perfect score from you. Looks like I have been going easy on your training lately, huh? Don't worry, once this is over, I will properly educate you." Su Yang said to her.

"..."

The smile on Wang Shuren's face immediately disappeared, and she stared at him with wide eyes filled with disbelief. Even the other people there looked at her with pity on their expressions, with a few of them even laughing at her misfortune inwardly.

"Is this it? Did nobody here obtain a perfect score?" Su Yang asked them a moment later.

Suddenly, another individual raised her hand.

"Here."

The beautiful young lady who just spoke raised her scroll into the air, showing everyone in the room the perfect score of 100,000 written on it.

"That's Hong Yu'er! As expected of the number two genius of the Eastern Continent! If anyone should become the Senior's disciple, it should be someone like her!"

"..."

Su Yang looked at her with narrowed eyes and spoke to her through spiritual sense, "What are you trying to do? What will you gain by becoming my disciple when you are already my wife?"

Tang Lingxi smiled and responded via spiritual sense, "Don't worry, I don't really plan to lower my status from wife to disciple. I'm just trying to have so fun before I return to my original body."

Su Yang sighed inwardly after hearing her reason, and he spoke loudly, "Because Hong Yu'er and Wang Shuren are my disciples already, I won't be counting their scores. Therefore, I will give the extra 10 points to Luo Yixiao for having the best results."

"What?! Hong Yu'er is already his disciple?!"

When the people there heard this news, they stared at her with wide eyes. Even Wang Shuren couldn't help but turn around to look at her with a surprised look.

'When did Su Yang accept her as a disciple? I thought I was the only one!' she cried inwardly, feeling as though her title as 'disciple' was no longer as impressive.

Sometime later, Su Yang continued with the exam.

"For the first test, I tested your memories. Now, for the second test, I will be testing your sense of smell." He said to them.

"As an Alchemist, it is incredibly important to have a good sense of smell, as there exist herbs that cannot be tracked or sensed by spiritual energy but can be found using your nose. It is also important that you can tell apart ingredients by their smells. If you have a good nose, with some training, you will even be able to smell the ingredients of a pill you have never seen before."

The people there looked at him with wide eyes.

One can tell the ingredients of a pill they have never seen before just by smelling it? That sounded a bit unrealistic, as they have never heard of someone with such an ability before.

Unlike Wang Shuren, who has witnessed Su Yang achieve this before, it was simply too hard to believe such a claim.