38 – The Assessment

“Grandpa Chen, did you say I don’t need to study the ‘Herbal Scripture’ anymore?” Lu Qing was somewhat surprised.

“That’s right, your learning speed surpasses my expectations. You have already mastered the ‘Herbal Scripture’; from now on, just review it often, there’s no need for dedicated study anymore.”

Old Doctor Chen stroked his beard as he spoke.

During this period, he had been extremely satisfied with Lu Qing’s performance.

Lu Qing’s intelligence was beyond his expectations.

In just half a month, he had fully learned the ‘Herbal Scripture’.

Originally, he thought that if Lu Qing could read through the ‘Herbal Scripture’ within a month, it would already be quite good.

“It’s thanks to Grandpa Chen’s teaching.”

Lu Qing felt much more relaxed.

Finally, he didn’t need to study the ‘Herbal Scripture’ anymore!

Heaven knows how thoroughly he had read the ‘Herbal Scripture’ during this period.

It really wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he had memorized it backwards.

But he couldn’t just outright show that he had completely memorized the ‘Herbal Scripture’.

Even if he wanted to showcase his intelligence, it had to be in a way that others could accept.

Otherwise, if he immediately demonstrated how exceptional he was, it might backfire.

Now, he had finally waited for this moment.

“Lu Qing, although your intelligence has surpassed my expectations, the assessment we agreed upon earlier still needs to be conducted,” Old Doctor Chen said.

“Lu Qing understands, please proceed with the assessment, Grandpa Chen,” Lu Qing replied respectfully.

“You have already familiarized yourself with the ‘Herbal Scripture’, but merely remembering the medicinal book is not enough. You need to combine it with practical experience to truly understand it.”

“My assessment is very simple: within one hour, you must find ten kinds of medicinal herbs recorded in the ‘Herbal Scripture’ around the village and bring them to me.”

“Remember, you can’t bring the book to look for them, you can’t make mistakes in picking, and you mustn’t damage the herbs during the collection process.”

Lu Qing silently remembered the old doctor’s words and only spoke after he finished, “Is that all, Grandpa Chen?”

“That’s right, just these points. If you accomplish them, I will officially accept you into my school, as my first disciple and my only disciple.”

“Rest assured, I will not disappoint you!” Lu Qing said confidently.

“Take this herb basket and this herb hoe, and remember, you only have one hour. If you exceed the time limit, even if you gather enough herbs, it won’t count as passing.”

The old doctor handed two tools to Lu Qing.

“Then I’ll set off now!”

Lu Qing took the herb basket and herb hoe and headed directly down the mountain.

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

[Thunder Root Herb: Superior quality, can be used medicinally.]

[Clears heat and detoxifies, very effective for treating heat-related conditions and coughs.]

This Thunder Root Herb was indeed recorded in the ‘Herbal Scripture’.

Seeing that his ability showed its superior quality, Lu Qing immediately bent down to dig.

The herb hoe that the old doctor gave him was quite sharp, so Lu Qing dug carefully, fearing that he might accidentally damage the herb.

After all, one of the assessment criteria was not to damage the herbs.

Carefully extracting the Thunder Root Herb and placing it in the herb basket, Lu Qing contemplated the time and felt a bit anxious.

It took him nearly a quarter of an hour just to dig up this one Thunder Root Herb.

At this rate, it would take ten quarters of an hour to gather ten herbs?

The old doctor had only given him an hour for the assessment.

“I can’t go this slowly, I need to speed up.”

Originally, Lu Qing thought that with his special abilities, finding ten medicinal herbs would be easy.

But now he realized that if he was careless, he might actually fail the assessment.

Putting away his relaxed attitude, Lu Qing began to hurry to other places.

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

Whenever he saw a plant that resembled one from the ‘Herbal Scripture’, he would immediately use his ability to check its information.

Once he confirmed it was a medicinal herb recorded in the ‘Herbal Scripture’, he would start digging right away.

Dandelion, Burdock, Plantain Grass…

One by one, the herbs recorded in the 《Herbal Scripture》 were dug out by Lu Qing and placed into his herb basket.

In order to dig up the herbs, his forehead was covered with sweat, and when he casually wiped it away, he left several dirt marks.

Some passing villagers saw Lu Qing in this state and couldn’t help but laugh.

“Ah Qing, what are you doing, making yourself look like a mud monkey.”

“Uncle Wang, I’m digging herbs. This is a task given to me by Grandpa Chen. I can’t slack off.” Lu Qing replied.

“Oh, it’s a task from the old doctor. Then you better take it seriously. Do you need my help?”

Uncle Wang’s expression immediately turned serious.

The respect the villagers held for Old Doctor Chen was heartfelt.

Upon hearing that it was a task assigned by him, they dared not make jokes.

“No need, no need. This task is something I must do myself. It’s a test of what I’ve learned so far from Grandpa Chen.”

Lu Qing waved his hand to decline.

“I see, then Ah Qing, you must do your best. Don’t let the old doctor be disappointed.”

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

After all, whether Lu Qing could learn well affected future medical treatments in the village.

“Alright, I’ll do my best.” Lu Qing waved his hand, “Uncle Wang, I have to go now. Grandpa Chen only gave me one hour for the assessment. I still need to dig herbs over there.”

Watching Lu Qing leave, Uncle Wang immediately ran toward the village.

It wasn’t long before almost everyone in the village knew that Lu Qing was completing a task assigned by the old doctor.

As a result, no one dared to disturb him, even if they saw him.

They were afraid he wouldn’t be able to complete the old doctor’s assessment and would be sent down from the mountain.

Even the little brats were ordered not to go near Lu Qing, lest they disturb him while he was gathering herbs.

Focused on gathering herbs, Lu Qing didn’t notice the villagers’ actions.

He only wondered why the village seemed much quieter than usual today.

Usually, at this time, the little brats would be running around, causing all sorts of chaos.

However, this thought just flashed through Lu Qing’s mind and was quickly dismissed.

He didn’t have time to think about such things.

He had already dug up eight herbs and needed two more, but most of the time had already passed.

If he didn’t hurry, this assessment might really be in jeopardy.

At this moment, Lu Qing felt a bit of regret.

If only he had paid more attention to the herbs around the village on regular days, he wouldn’t be so pressed for time now.

It seems that sometimes depending too much on his abilities isn’t a good thing.

Wasn’t it because he thought he had abilities to locate herbs whenever he needed, that he became neglectful?

Fortunately, Lu Qing’s luck was good, and he soon found another herb recorded in the 《Herbal Scripture》.

“Just one more.”

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

But he knew that time was running out.

“Where do I find the last herb?”

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

“That’s right, how could I forget that? It’s right under my nose, yet I almost overlooked it!”

Saying this, he sprinted towards his home.

Seeing Lu Qing running, some villagers were startled.

“Ah Qing, what’s wrong? Did something go wrong with the assessment?”

“No problem, my assessment is going fine!”

Lu Qing didn’t have time to think about why the villagers knew about his assessment. He answered casually as he ran.

Soon, he reached his home and smiled as he looked at the corner of his yard where a healthy patch of plants was growing.

“It’s you, Beef Bone Herb.”