The second round of the Pill Exam was about to start.
The first round had been all about knowledge—herbs, flames, and pill names. Somehow, Li Ming had passed by giving answers like, "That’s the leaf that burns your tongue if you chew it," and "This root looks like my uncle’s beard." The elders were furious, but in the end, his answers turned out to be correct.
The second round was simple. Elder Qin pointed to the center of the arena where dozens of glowing pills floated inside jade bottles.
"You will fight! Whoever holds a pill when the time ends will pass. Those without... will fail!"
The moment his voice finished echoing, disciples pulled out swords, sabers, and spears. Killing intent filled the air. Flames, lightning, and sword qi burst everywhere.
The crowd roared into battle.
Li Ming, however, tilted his head. The pills floating in the air were round, golden, and shiny.
"...Why do those pills look like buns?" he muttered.
His stomach growled loudly.
The disciple next to him frowned. "Idiot! Those are Grade Three Spirit Pills!"
Li Ming nodded seriously. "Yes. Spirit buns."
The disciple stared, confused, and in that short distraction—
"BEGIN!" Elder Qin shouted.
Swords clashed, qi slammed, disciples screamed as they fought tooth and nail for the glowing bottles. Some flew across the arena, others got blasted into walls. It was chaos.
Li Ming walked forward carefully. "Looks dangerous..."
A spear-wielding disciple blocked him. "Out of my way, country fool!" The spear shot at Li Ming’s chest.
Li Ming panicked and sidestepped—
His foot hit a small rock.
Pah! The rock flew straight at the spear guy’s forehead.
The disciple collapsed instantly.
The arena went silent for a moment.
"...Did he just knock out Senior Zhang with a pebble?"
"No, no, it must be some mysterious technique!"
"Such mastery! To make a pebble look accidental!"
Elder Qin stroked his beard. "...Interesting."
Li Ming blinked. "I was just... walking."
Still, he moved forward.
Then, three disciples from Red Flame Peak stopped him. Their leader sneered. "Hand over your token and scram!"
Li Ming looked at the jade token in his hand. "Oh, you want this?"
"Okay." He tossed it.
But he tripped at the same time.
The token flew in a crazy curve—smacking one disciple’s nose, bouncing off the second’s teeth, and hitting the third in the stomach.
All three dropped to the ground, rolling in pain.
The crowd was dead silent.
"...He used clumsiness as a weapon?" ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel·fire.net
"What a deep dao! Truly unfathomable!"
Elder Qin muttered, "This boy... is either a genius or a disaster."
Li Ming scratched his head. "Uh... sorry?"
By now, five disciples had fallen behind him, yet Li Ming hadn’t even meant to fight them. He finally reached the floating bottles.
One golden pill hovered right in front of him, glowing with energy.
His stomach rumbled louder than ever.
He reached out. "Just one little bun..."
And the bottle fell into his hand.
Li Ming sniffed the pill.
"...Smells like medicine. No pork, no cabbage, no filling."
"Why is fate so cruel? Even buns here are fake."
From the stands, a few elders nearly coughed blood.