Yao Qing was personally escorted by the exam overseer, Jiu Xian also tagged along with her as she requested the elder to take him with them.
Soon they joined the rest of the children who had passed the test in a large and luxurious hall. Several serious looking people wearing blue robes were standing at the center of the hall.
"I am Elder Xiao, responsible for the internal affairs of the 4 art sect. Now form three separate files. For the ones with the coal token gather over there in front on elder Pu, he is in charge of menial disciples." Elder Xiao pointed towards the ragged looking old man standing in the corner.
The hall was soon cleared of the crowd as most of the children present gathered in front of Elder Pu in an orderly manner.
"Take care, Qing'er. I will soon be promoted... wait for me."
'Ao Tian' gave Yao Qing one final look before heading towards Elder Pu with reluctance.
"People with wooden token will report to Elder Su over there and People with Gold or higher token report to me."
It took some to for Elder Xiao to properly sort the children as some greedy children tried to mix in with the children of higher level tokens, he just laughed inwardly at their childish behaviour after all who doesn't want to get better treatment.
Elder Su and Elder Pu left the hall with their repective disciples leaving only two man and three children in the hall.
Jiu Xian was still somewhat distracted thinking about this and that so when he saw a girl with short brown hair, green eyes he didn't react much.
Yao Qing on the other hand immediately beamed rushing towards him and hugging him tightly.
"Jiu Xian~ I thought I was here alone." She shed tears of joy.
Shocked by the sudden impact, he looked at the girl hugging him.
"YAO QING!" he shouted hugging her back.
"I am so confus" she was interrupted.
"*cough* Ahem!" Elder Xiao coughed to pull the two youth out from their little world.
Jiu Xian and Yao Qing soon separated, clearly flustered. Jiu Xian looked around him and found Bing Mei'ren staring dagger at him with her arms crossed.
Bing Mei'ren felt happy for some reason when she saw the girl and Jiu Xian hug, but she also felt like she was supposed to 'act?' jealous.
"This is Elder Dugu, he is in charge of inner disciples. You three will have to take an additional test to see which auxilary arts are suitable for you."
...
"You know originally the sect leader should also have been present but he was recently injured by the alliance of different associations so...
" And that's how I seduced the she devil...
"Haha! I shit you not Elder Pu shat his pants the whole day when I secretly put the pill in his food. Hmmph, who told him not to share his food with me."
The trio of Jiu Xian, Yao Qing and Bing Mei'ren got a massive headache from the constant yapping of Elder Xiao. The man was a chatter box, dropping random lore after lore like a maniac, not even giving Jiu Xian to confirm some things with Yao Qing.
Luckily they soon found salvation when arrived in front of a small multi-storey building made of gilded stone giving the building a majestic aura.
"Enter through that door. You will feel dizzy and confused when you enter so don't be alarmed and don't fight it. I will be here when you have completed the test to guide you to the inner disciple's area."
The elder said and then continued on about he was a once in a million years genius then randomly switching to another topic.
Yao Qing quickly took Jiu Xian's and Bing Mie'ren's hand pulling them to the gate of the building.
~Buzz~
Their vision blurred, and nausea and dizziness washed over them. When their sight finally cleared, they found themselves standing in a vast hall lined with several cauldrons. The scent of medicinal herbs wafted through the air, quickly dispelling their discomfort. Heat filled the room, and beads of sweat soon formed on their skin.
"Welcome to the pill inheritance hall. I am the remnant will of the pill king Yao. Follow my teaching and you will be well on your way to claim the title of the next Pill King."
A loud voice resounded though the alchemy room. Yao Qing and Jiu Xian tried to suppress their surprise at the wonder of this but after all the things Granny taught them it felt a tad bit underwhelming.
The trio followed the Pill King's instructions as he patiently thought them herbology for beginners.
Even picking herbs had various harsh requirements, moistening the soil, cutting some plants at certain angles, flowers were harvested differently.
"Herbology is the foundation for pill making" The Pill King's voice resounded again.
Jiu Xian felt soon got bored of planting and harvesting different plants. Everything about herbology depended on nimbleness and dexterity of the hands.
'Some months ago I would have gone mad hearing about Immortal plants but now...' Looking over to Bing Mei'ren he saw her harvesting the immortal plants with great dexterity.
'Yup, Mei'ran was never so dextrous, she was always clumsy.' The thought that she was not the real Mei'ran resurfaced in his mind once again.
He looked and squatted beside Yao Qing, who was nimbly separating some blue flowers and sorting them according to their grades.
"There is something off about his place."
"*Gasp* you scared me. How did I not notice you?"
"Well, you were too investing in this herbology thing to notice anything. You should have looked at the smile on your face as you plucked the flowers." Yao Qing's cheek flushed pink in embarrassment.
"So what were you saying?"
"There's something off about this place. And I also think that Mei'ren is not the same Mei'ren that I used to know in previous reality." Jiu Xian told her his worries, hoping that he was not alone in feeling something odd about all this.
"Yes... I also think the same. Ao Tian is feeling...um... how do I say this, artificial. Yes, he feels fake, like a cheap imitation."
~poke~poke~
Bing Mei'ren also walked over near them and squatted in front of both of them as she poked Jiu Xian and Yao Qing with a tree branch.
"What are you guys talking about?" She asked.
"..."
"..." Jiu Xian and Yao Qing were too absorbed in their talk that they didn't notice Bing Mei'ren till she poked them.
"Nothing, I was just asking her about this and that."
"YES!"
"..." Mei'ren puffed her cheeks at them for not wanting to include her in their little secret.
"Focus on the lessons! Get back to harvesting the herbs." Pill King's will voice sounded slightly annoyed this time as he reprimanded them.
The rest was the day was spent learning more about herbology before they were allowed to retire to rest.
Entering the rest room adjacent to the Alchemy hall they found three beds side by side and went to sleep.