389: Chapter 377 I am quite interested in pharmaceutics

Immortal Xu pointed at the crowd and then turned to leave. The Administrator was stunned for a brief moment, but quickly realized the meaning of that gesture.

More than a dozen Russian Man Soldiers had received power bestowed by the statue of god, becoming "infinitely strong." The authorities had not disclosed news of this incident and had implemented various concealment measures; however, the other three countries had all been informed by their own transcendent beings.

The Administrator pondered slightly and realized that someone in the crowd must have been bestowed with power.

As for what exactly had been bestowed...

The Administrator's expression was solemn: "Lin Miao, contact Xiao Luo and have her come back. Then, mobilize some physical examination equipment here. Yue Ruo, don't call the Soldier back; you go and lead them to protect the crowd."

The two felt curious. Lin Miao looked around at the calm beach: "Protect the crowd? Oh, is it a sequela of the anomaly just now?"

"No." The Administrator shook his head, then recounted his own conjecture.

Yue Ruo was shocked: "It's really effective?"

"Do you still think the statue of god is a deception even now?"

"Uh, it's just too mysterious."

"Is the Queen returning to eighteen years old mysterious enough?"

"That's different; she drank a potion brewed at Hogwarts."

"Alright, stop talking nonsense and go get to work."

"Oh."

Yue Ruo turned and ran to the troop transport vehicle, leading the Soldier to separate the crowd according to kinship and arranging them into tents.

Afterward, she found an excuse to explain to the confused crowd that although the crisis had passed, there might be hidden dangers in their bodies. To be safe, everyone should not leave yet. The Special Investigation Bureau was already transporting testing equipment here, and it wouldn't be too late for everyone to leave after the check-up.

On the surface, the behavior showed signs of house arrest.

However, the people did not express dissatisfaction; instead, they praised the Special Investigation Bureau for being thoughtful and responsible for everyone's safety. Thus, things proceeded very smoothly, and the hundred or so people were all settled within an hour.

Lin Miao moved quickly.

The next morning, several large box trucks arrived on the beach.

The Administrator, unable to contain his excitement, had not slept all night. With thick dark circles under his eyes, he directed the Soldier to unload the equipment and place it under the sunshade built overnight.

Luo Xiling stood with her arms crossed behind a few palm trees on the edge of the sandy ground, chatting with Yue Ruo while asking about the details of yesterday's anomaly.

"So, does Master mean that transcendent beings have appeared among these people too?"

"It shouldn't be that easy, right?" Yue Ruo looked at the long queue of people coming out of the tents, preparing for the physical examination. "Otherwise, why would the Mountain Gate go to the trouble of picking you five out? Just wait in front of the statue of god. If someone gets bestowed, go up and take them as a disciple immediately."

Luo Xiling scratched her cheek with her index finger: "According to what Master said, the Russian Man Soldiers' strength increased to the point where they could easily crush a gun barrel; this is already beyond the scope of ordinary people."

Yue Ruo was also slightly puzzled by this.

The dream of stepping onto the path of transcendence is undoubtedly difficult to achieve.

When the Mountain Gate originally recruited disciples, they first identified more than twenty reserves from over a billion Chinese people, then the reserves competed, and only the five who remained could enter the Mountain Gate.

If one could achieve the same effect by sincerely praying to the statue of god, wouldn't the Mountain Gate be lowering its own standards?

She guessed: "I feel like there might be side effects, or there are serious drawbacks."

"For example?"

"For example, the statue of god can take back the bestowed power at any time, or there might be limits on how many times the power can be used per day. You all are different; what you have trained is your own."

Yue Ruo was guessing randomly, but she actually guessed seven or eight out of ten correctly.

The reason Zhang Mu added faith to the worshippers without any worries was precisely because he could take it back with a single thought.

He hadn't actually operated it, but there would basically be no mistake; this was the information the statue of god transmitted to his mind when he contracted it.

In other words, the more mortals rely on the gods, the deeper they are controlled. That is why Novak, who successfully contracted the statue of god, was so grief-stricken, because the creatures of the Saul Continent are destined to be enslaved by the gods forever, and cannot escape until death.

"What are you doing here?" The equipment was installed, and the examination work was carried out by specialized medical personnel. Lin Miao had nothing to do, looked around, saw the two hiding in the small woods, and walked over curiously.

"Discussing the statue of god."

"Discussing what about the statue of god?"

"Whether the statue of god can create transcendent beings."

"It can't." Lin Miao's tone was certain.

Yue Ruo asked in surprise: "So sure?"

"Immortal Xu told the Administrator." Lin Miao stood in the wide shadow under the palm leaves to avoid the hot sun. "The statue of god's ability is very strong; it can even bestow the cultivation methods of transcendent beings, but the Blue Star does not have the energy required for cultivation."

Luo Xiling suddenly realized: "Oh, that's right. My cultivation relies on the power bank Master gave me, and I have to go back to the Mountain Gate to recharge from time to time."

"Yeah, that's what it means. As for other things... like increased strength or being able to control one's body to fly freely, compared to transcendence, I think it's more appropriate to call it 'supernatural ability'."

"Seems like it."

Lin Miao felt that discussing this matter was redundant because there could be no result. She smiled and changed the subject: "Xiao Luo, isn't it your favorite thing to have people ask for photos with you? Why are you hiding in the woods and not going out?"

"Don't mention it." Luo Xiling had a sour face.

Lin Miao didn't understand, so Yue Ruo laughed and explained: "The tourists don't want to take photos with her at all."

"Then who do they want to?"

"The moon bright sword."

"Huh?"

"Hasn't our Special Investigation Bureau's official website uploaded the video of Immortal Xu holding the moon bright sword and retreating the calamity with a wave of his hand? Everyone wants to admire the elegance of the moon bright sword, and it just so happens that all Chinese people know that the moon bright sword is in Xiao Luo's hands, so of course they all look for her."

Lin Miao almost laughed out loud after hearing this. Glancing at Luo Xiling's dark, sullen face, she felt it was better not to strike the little girl's tormented, fragile heart.

It took her a while to hold back her laughter before saying to her: "By the way, the Administrator asked me to inform you that after the examination results are out, if there are no other accidents, you should return to the Sū City Base first."

Luo Xiling was even more unhappy: "Why are you in such a rush to drive me away?"

"It's not driving you away. Only those four are stationed at the Sū City Base. The Administrator is worried that if a calamity descends at this time, they won't be able to handle it."

The reason was sufficient, so Luo Xiling nodded and agreed.

The three continued to chat, while the physical examination on the beach was in full swing.

The matter was of great importance, and the Administrator repeatedly emphasized that the process must be careful and meticulous, without any negligence or omissions, so it took a lot of time. Work began in the early morning and did not finish until the sun went down.

Most of the sunset was obscured by the horizon. The Administrator walked toward the palm trees with his back to the light, his face dim and unclear.

"The results are out." He held a stack of test reports in his hand. "Most people are physically normal and have been arranged to return home. As for the remaining few, here, take a look."

Yue Ruo took the report, and the three heads huddled together to look.

"No way, out of a hundred or so people, only seven?" After reading, Yue Ruo said in astonishment.

"You think that's too few?" The Administrator felt slightly surprised.

"Didn't all ten or so Russian Man Soldiers who worshipped the god receive the bestowal?"

The Administrator rubbed his chin: "Hmm... looking at the proportion of people, ours are indeed fewer."

"It's not just a little bit less; it's a gap of nearly ten times. Where is the problem?"

"I'll go ask Immortal Xu." The report was a top-secret document. The Administrator instructed Yue Ruo to hurry and file it, while he himself turned and ran toward Kunpeng.

Unfortunately, Zhang Mu could not come out to see him at this moment.

Seventeen area.

Zhang Mu activated the Transformation Technique to turn into Tevan, took out the wooden staff from the Storage Pouch, and walked with small steps toward their classroom.

He hadn't managed them for over a month; he didn't know how the five of them were doing in class.

...

In the empty lecture hall.

Farid and the other four sat in a row, watching the movements of the teacher on the podium.

On the lectern, there was a transparent glass jar. A ball of blue fire floated at the bottom of the jar, and the water inside was heated, boiling incessantly.

The teacher, whose beard dragged to his chest, was constantly throwing various strange materials into it.

There were bones, plants, neatly cut square wooden sticks, hair, soil, and so on.

The materials floated and rolled in the water, and green smoke steamed from the surface of the water.

"Did you see that?" The teacher with a solemn expression looked up and asked the five.

They didn't understand at all what the teacher hoped they would see, so based on the principle of honesty, they all shook their heads together.

The teacher was silent for a long while: "Now, do they not even teach children the basics of Potions outside?"

"Teacher." The Young Woman raised her hand.

"Speak."

"We do have Potions, but it's not a compulsory subject, and... it's... a little different from what you teach."

The Russian Man twisted his mouth inwardly. A little different? It's a huge difference, right? There isn't any similarity at all, okay?

The teacher sighed: "No choice, we can only start from the beginning. Take notes."

The five hurriedly held their pens and opened their notebooks, their nose tips hovering over the beginning of the first line.

"Potions Beginner's Guide, Potions Basic Manual, Potions Advanced Teaching. After class, go to the library to get these three books. You must read them today... hmm, the next Potions class is in three days, so three days it is. Read them through within three days."

After speaking, the teacher waved his hand in front of him, and the floating fireball and the glass jar disappeared simultaneously.

After the teacher's back disappeared from the classroom, the Young Woman dared to speak loudly: "So cool! As expected, I am still quite interested in Potions!"

The Young Woman closed her notebook: "Stop thinking it's cool, hurry up and worry about whether you can read through three textbooks in three days."

"It's just reading them, there's no requirement to memorize them. What's so hard about that?"

"It's reading through. Reading through means reading the whole book from beginning to end, not jumping around to only look at key places," Farid reminded.

Heh, so what?

The Young Woman remained confident, until she and the four others went to the library to collect the three textbooks, after which she only wanted to say—sorry, I was reckless.

She stared at the textbooks stacked up to the height of her chest and questioned the Administrator: "Did you get the wrong ones?"

"Hmm?" The Administrator was stunned for a moment, hurriedly came out from behind the desk, and carefully checked the stack of books.

"You scared me." He looked relieved and muttered, "Nobody has checked out the Potions Basic Collection textbooks for hundreds of years; I thought I really got the wrong ones. Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to mock you."

The Young Woman was very angry, but powerless to refute. She had to angrily move the textbooks onto a cart and return to the dormitory with the four others.

On the way.

The Young Woman was having an existential crisis: "There are so many basic textbooks; how long must their school life be?"

"I heard from the dorm manager that the normal graduation period is at least eighty years," Farid recalled the information he had inquired about.

"Eighty years?!" The Young Woman's raised foot froze in mid-air. "Can I live until that time?"

"If you are a transcendent being, it shouldn't be hard to live for eighty years, right? Look, China's Immortal Xu has lived for tens of thousands of years," the Middle-aged Man comforted her.

"I don't know the method to extend life yet."

"Seventeen will teach it."

"I hope so..."

It was very difficult to read through these textbooks within three days, not to mention that the five of them had other courses, so time was very tight. They stopped wasting time and quickened their pace toward the dormitory.

Everyone walked into the dormitory building gate and was pleasantly surprised to find Tevan, whom they hadn't seen for over a month, standing by the stairs, seemingly waiting for them.

"Yo, juniors, how have you been lately?"

"Senior Tevan." The Young Woman pushed the cart and trotted over, pointing at the textbooks on the cart, "We had a Potions class today, and the teacher made us read these books."

"What kind of books are they?"

"Potions basic textbooks," Farid, who was walking over, explained.

"Hmm? The quantity isn't right." Tevan reached out to check the titles of the textbooks stacked high.

The Young Woman's eyes lit up: "I knew the librarian got it wrong!"

Learning that they didn't have to study so many textbooks, the four of them, whose brows had been tightly furrowed, also relaxed.

After checking, Tevan stacked the books back up and smiled: "Strictly speaking, it wasn't the wrong one."

Unease rose in the hearts of the five. The Young Woman asked hesitantly: "Can you explain it more clearly?"

Tevan rested his palm on the top book: "Perhaps the Administrator was a bit negligent and only gave you the catalog."

"Catalog?" A question mark appeared above the heads of all five at the same time.

At this moment, not to mention the four who had little experience with adversity, even Farid, who was fearless and possessed an iron will, couldn't help but feel his scalp tingle while looking at the stack of books that reached his chest.

Holding on to the last glimmer of hope, he hesitated and confirmed with Tevan: "Senior, what does catalog mean... I actually want to ask, are the catalog of Seventeen and the catalog of Russia the same thing?"

Tevan tilted his head: "If my memory serves me right, isn't the Russian catalog a summary of refined content?"

"Your memory is very clear; the Russian catalog indeed has this function."

"Then that's it; the catalog of Seventeen has the same function."

The five of them suddenly felt their vision go black.

Catalog? You are telling me that so many books are just a catalog?

The Young Woman made a bitter face: "Senior Tevan, do you transcendent beings have to study for decades?"

Tevan started counting with his fingers: "Before entering Seventeen, my time studying with the teacher was over a hundred years. After entering Seventeen, I have to spend at least another eighty years. Hmm, actually it's definitely more than that; eighty years is the shortest graduation record in Seventeen, and no one has been able to break it yet."

The Young Woman was stunned for a while, then came back to her senses and asked in surprise: "Isn't Senior Tevan Seventeen or eighteen years old?"

"When did I say I was Seventeen or eighteen years old?" Tevan asked, confused.

The Young Woman and Farid looked at each other, then looked at Tevan's young appearance.

"Senior Tevan, sorry for our misunderstanding all this time."