Everyone ascended, but I didn't get on board

Chapter 77 When Knowledge is Needed
Zhen Yi easily deduced the number of flags and immediately began a careful search without further delay. They diligently concealed their whereabouts, and if they sensed another team from afar, they would immediately turn around and change their route. After all, among the three, only Jing Hong was at the Nascent Soul stage, so if they were to face another team, it would be a tough battle.

Fortunately, the three of them walked around for most of the day, and although they almost bumped into others a few times, they did not meet the Master.

"There should be a pond ahead, and there is a third-level monster beside the pond." Zhen Yi paused and suddenly spoke.

"How do you know?" Feng Ting and Social Anxiety Jing looked at him in surprise. After all, they didn't sense any moisture.

"There's Bixi Grass here," Zhen Yi pointed at a first-level spiritual plant on the ground and blurted out, "Bixi Grass only grows in places with ample moisture. It's the companion spiritual plant of the third-level Water Cloud Lotus. And what's been pressing on this Bixi Grass? It could only be a third-level Azure Cloud Snake, which loves to eat Water Cloud Lotus."

"Brother Zhen, you can even guess this?" Feng Ting was even more surprised. This wasn't the first time Zhen Yi had predicted the terrain ahead, and each time he'd predicted it, he'd been very accurate. "When did you become so familiar with the terrain?"

Not to mention the two of them, Zhen Yi himself was a bit shocked, because in just half a day since they entered the secret realm, they had already roughly grasped the terrain. Even with just a little thought, he could sketch out a rough map of the entire secret realm in his mind and clearly deduce what to encounter in each direction.

And all this is because...

"The encyclopedia of spiritual plants... These are all written in the encyclopedia of spiritual plants that Sister Xiao Ci gave us. I also deduced the specific terrain based on the growth conditions of these spiritual plants in the secret realm." Zhen Yi suddenly understood why Sister Xiao Ci had asked them to memorize these things first when she taught them the way of alchemy. It turns out that there are such benefits.

It turns out that the value of knowledge is only known when it is used.

"So it was Sister Xiao Ci who taught her. That's okay then." Feng Ting nodded, and her surprise was gone in an instant. Even Jing, who had social anxiety, looked as if it was natural.

Zhen Yi: “…”

After confirming that there were no other teams nearby, the three of them quickened their pace and headed forward. Sure enough, a quarter of an hour later, a pool of water appeared in front of them. The pool was not big, but it was full of white lotuses, which were the second-level Water Cloud Lotus. However, a large green snake was coiled on the stone in the pool, with a lotus in its mouth and was swallowing it. More importantly, a small red flag was clinging to the tip of its slender tail.

"The French flag!" The three of them looked at each other at the same time. After looking around for so long, they finally found the first French flag.

Without hesitation, the three of them attacked the third-level Azure Cloud Snake. Third-level monsters weren't very strong, and they quickly secured their first magic flag. Zhen Yi also understood where the magic flag might be. Reflecting on the secret realm's topography, he instantly deduced several locations where the magic flag might be hidden.

The three of them discussed it and headed towards the target location.

This scene was repeated in various teams, and all of them had disciples from Lan Shitang joining them.

Someone is walking in the woods.

"This is... the Yinchenzhi! We can't go forward, there's a karuta beast ahead!" A student from Lanshitang stopped his teammate.

"Why?" The teammates were confused.

The student blurted out, "The Dust-Hidden Tree is a parasitic spiritual plant that often inhabits the bodies of fourth-tier cypress beasts. It's extremely poisonous and can only be cured by fifth-tier detoxification pills. I just copied this question ten times as punishment. Believe me! You can't pass it."

Teammate: “…” It’s a bit weird, but okay!
Someone discovered the French flag.

"The French flag is right up there. Let's quickly climb up." One team exclaimed in surprise, "Hey, why are these rocks so colorful?"

"Don't touch it, that's the nest of the rockworm." The student from Lan Shitang stepped forward to stop the person.

"what?"

"Level 2 Rockworms are skilled at camouflage. They often live in groups and transform into colorful rocks. Their feces are often used as Level 2 elixirs," Lan Shi's student blurted out. "Touching them would alert the herd. There are at least tens of thousands of Rockworms here."

A closer look revealed that the originally colorful rock wall was indeed covered with dense insects. The teammates were so scared that they immediately retracted their hands, "Then how are we going to take the magic flag?" "We can only smear our bodies with feces. It's a second-level spiritual medicine anyway. This way they will think we are the same kind and can take the magic flag away." The student from Lan Shitang suddenly had an idea.

“…” The teammates gritted their teeth and did it!
Then they successfully got the French flag, made three colorful little figures, and left happily.

Someone was seriously injured.

"Oh no! Senior Brother Wang was bitten by the monster. Quickly give me a third-grade flesh-growing pill." A teammate said anxiously.

"Uh... I'm just a first-grade alchemist. How about trying a first-grade Qi and Blood Pill?" The student from Lan Shitang said weakly.

"Brother Wang's injuries are too severe. He won't be able to survive without a third-grade elixir. I shouldn't have teamed up with a newcomer like you." The teammate said with regret. "Looks like we have no choice but to eliminate him and find a third-grade alchemist. First-grade Qi and Blood Pills are really... Hey, the bleeding has stopped."

The teammate paused mid-sentence, looking in shock at his brother's wound, which had already begun to heal. "It really...really works." Aren't Qi and Blood Pills only supposed to heal minor scrapes? How could they even heal such a serious injury?

"This is a two-patterned Qi and Blood Pill." As if noting his teammates' confusion, Lan Shi pointed at the patterns on the pill and explained, "It's ten times more effective than an ordinary Qi and Blood Pill, and just as effective as a third-grade Flesh-Growing Pill. Just take two more."

"Oh...oh." The teammates were stunned. Do first-grade elixirs also have different elixir patterns? "How many of these elixirs do you have?"

"Not much." Lan Ru said calmly, "Just... seven, eight, nine, ten bottles, maybe. It should be enough for this competition."

“…”Isn’t that a lot?

****
Outside the secret realm.

"Huh? How did they find the flags for this competition so quickly?" The elders observing the competition said in surprise, watching the red dots marking the flags disappear one by one on the water mirror before them. "Given the level of this class of students, it should take ten days to find 90% of the flags. It's only been a day, and they've already found most of them?"

"It must be because there are many more students who are good at identifying terrain this time." Another Pavilion Master who was watching the game stroked his beard and smiled at Quan Shuo beside him, "It seems that these people are all students from the Dan Pavilion."

"Hahahaha..." Quan Shuo narrowed his eyes and said with a look of pride, "Alas, there's nothing I can do. The students of my Dan Pavilion are just so outstanding. Thank you all for your kindness."

The elders' faces darkened and they said, "You are fat and you are out of breath. You are shameless."

"Hmph! Didn't you just snatch Little Friend Chu away from you? If she'd come to our Sword Peak first, we could have done it too!" All the elders of the Sword Pavilion were the first to object, their habitual barbs blaring. They thought no one could miss the fact that these disciples, skilled at finding the flags, were all students of Lan Shi Tang. When they considered the identity of the current Lan Shi Tang master, everyone came to their senses. He was the only genius in history to have mastered all the skills. It was no surprise that he could produce such a unique student.

"Ah, there's nothing we can do. It's just that our Dan Pavilion is lucky. We just happen to catch up with the competition..." Quan Shuo smiled with a face that looked like he deserved a beating.

"You are so shameless!"

"shameless!"

"..."

Everyone's faces darkened, and some cursed out loud in disapproval. Elder Quan even rolled his eyes to the sky. Suddenly, he thought of something and immediately said, "Since the flag is being found so quickly, the progress needs to be adjusted."

After his reminder, the elders reacted and nodded in agreement.

"Then notify the teachers inside who are taking the test that they no longer need to stay where they are and can start catching mice!"