Max Level Return—I'll Protect That Fragile One

After learning the truth about Ying Ziyao’s family being removed from the clan registry by the Ying Family, the eyes of these contestants from outside the clan showed disdain.

Similarly, the contestants from the Ying Clan standing in Medicine King Square looked embarrassed and ashamed.

Common clan members were unaware of the secrets of the Divine Martial Realm.

Like everyone else in the Mortal World, upon learning that the Ying Family was the watchdog placed by the Divine Martial Realm in the Mortal World, acting as informants, they too looked down upon their own family.

Ying Ziyao shook his head and told Ye Mingluo, as well as everyone in the Ying Clan, "My achievements today have nothing to do with the Chuancheng Ying Family. In my life, I only recognize one benefactor, and that’s the honorable Mr. Ying Tu who raised me and taught me knowledge!"

Ying Ziyao glanced at the Old Madam Ying and said, "I think this is a consensus between me and the Ying Family."

The Old Madam Ying said with a forced smile, "It was the foolishness of a younger generation in the clan who misspoke."

Nodding, Ying Ziyao said, "That’s good."

Offstage, Ye Mingluo smiled slightly and said, "With the confusion explained, I have no issues. Please continue, Ying Family Master."

Continue with what?

Ying Zigeng felt his face burning, he forced a dry smile and said a few words, then directly announced the start of the competition.

The atmosphere offstage then began to heat up.

The examination desks were right beside them, each desk marked with a code. When Ying Zigeng announced the start of the competition, the voice of the proctor came over the loudspeaker from the Medicine King Tower—

"All candidates, silence."

"Next, I will read the exam rules and precautions needed for the first competition to the candidates."

"All candidates, please look to your right-hand side, open the exam desk, and take out the sealed exam paper from inside the desk, and carefully check whether the seal is intact, and if there is any damage..."

The proctor droned on for three minutes before announcing the official start of the first test.

The first test, similar to the knowledge Ying Ziyao shared that day, consisted of 70 questions on the exam paper. The first 50 questions were multiple-choice, with many answer options and no hints in the questions.

For each question, it was uncertain whether it was a multiple-choice or single-choice question.

The next ten questions were theoretical, and the last ten questions were practical.

The multiple-choice questions seemed the easiest, but in fact, they contained the most traps and tested the candidates’ knowledge base and attention to detail the most.

Under the first multiple-choice question, there were 8 answer options listed. Each answer seemed quite reliable, but was filled with textual traps.

Therefore, answering the questions was not easy for the candidates.

Ye Mingluo saw the densely packed ABCDEFGH options and felt his head pounding.

Ye Mingluo carefully considered each question, selecting each answer individually. When unsure of an answer, he simply left it blank.

Huo Xin, having studied alongside Ying Ziyao for several years, had amassed an extensive knowledge base. The questions that were mind-boggling for Ye Mingluo seemed like diagnosing patients to her.

After taking some time to finish the first 50 multiple-choice questions, she looked up to find Xu Xingguang, who was furiously writing, obviously working on the theoretical questions.

After Huo Xin finished the first three theory questions, she saw Xu Xingguang had already risen from her desk and went to the practical area to answer questions.

The practical questions mainly tested four areas: pulse diagnosis, acupuncture, massage, and bone setting.

The last question asked for a diagnosis based on the symptoms given in the question and required a prescription to be written accordingly.

Xu Xingguang submitted her paper in just over forty minutes, being the first to do so.

Upon seeing someone submit their paper so quickly, the onlookers thought the woman was unserious, but when they heard it was Medicine Farmer Star, they thought, oh, it’s Medicine Farmer Star, after all.

The prowess of Medicine Farmer Star is truly remarkable.

After submitting her paper, Xu Xingguang went directly to the audience, sitting down next to Huo Wen’an.

Zheng Lie quickly handed the saffron tea beside him to Xu Xingguang, who took a sip before holding Huo Wen’an’s hand with a touch.

The winters in Chuancheng are cold, the mountain region where the Ying Family resides is even more frigid.

Feeling Huo Wen’an’s hand and sensing it was warm, Xu Xingguang then said, "Why aren’t you wearing gloves?"

Huo Wen’an replied, "I’m not cold."

Noticing Xu Xingguang’s fingers were a bit chilly, he wrapped her hands with his palms and asked, "How did the exam go?"

Xu Xingguang said, "Ideally, it should be full marks."

She joked, "It depends on whether the Ying Family judges will give me a hard time."

She didn’t bother lowering her voice, and the Old Madam Ying in front heard and flinched, wanting to retort but had to hold back.

It wasn’t until two in the afternoon that candidates gradually began to submit their papers.

The results of the first round would be announced early the next morning.

As soon as the exam was over, Xu Xingguang and the others returned to the forest villa to rest. Seeing Huo Xin’s indifference, Huo Wen’an asked her, "Sister, how do you feel?"

Huo Xin said, "Starving."

Huo Wen’an was momentarily stunned before replying, "Pregnant women do get hungry easily."

Huo Xin quickly headed to the kitchen for food.

A little while later, she came out with a bowl of braised chicken feet, gnawing on them while handing the plate to Xu Xingguang and Ye Mingluo.

The spicy chicken feet from Chuancheng were quite tasty, Xu Xingguang graciously took one, while Ye Mingluo crouched by the fire like a quail.

He said, "Don’t ask me, don’t ask anything."

If you ask, everything’s a mess.

After eating two chicken feet, Huo Xin finally felt better.

She sat next to Xu Xingguang and said calmly, "I am confident about the first round; it’s the second round tomorrow that worries me."

Ye Mingluo pursed his lips, "I’m not even qualified to worry about the second round."

"Look at you with all that little ambition." Xu Xingguang picked a foot from the plate and handed it to Ye Mingluo.

Ye Mingluo was tearfully grateful, "Master, you’re still the best to me."

Xu Xingguang grinned knowingly, "This is the best participation award for you."

Ye Mingluo hadn’t even eaten the chicken claw, but felt full already.

He said listlessly, "Did you notice there’s a little kid among this round’s contestants?" He said, "Looks kind of familiar too."

"He’s Fang Jinsu’s nephew." Last year, at Old Madam Ying’s birthday banquet, Xu Xingguang successfully sent that little brat to the Ying Family to learn medicine with a bowl of delicacy.

Huo Xin didn’t have any impression of that child, but Ye Mingluo remembered.

Ye Mingluo was heavily impacted, "How long has that little brat been learning? It’s only been a few months, and he already qualified to compete?"

Huo Wen’an told him, "That child is very talented, before joining the Ying Family, he could already distinguish herbs by smell."

Ye Mingluo opened his mouth, wanting to say something but eventually chose to remain silent.

Shut down.

The competition didn’t affect Xu Xingguang’s early morning exercise. Each of her limbs was tied with five pounds of Luo Fei Ore while she practiced horse stance with Huo Wen’an in the yard.

Zheng Lie also joined in for fun.

The three of them seemed to be competing, seeing who would admit defeat first.

Eventually, Zheng Lie was the first to give up, lasting only half an hour.

He sat on the ground, weakly massaging his wrist, glancing at Xu Xingguang whose squat position hadn’t changed at all before looking at Huo Wen’an whose forehead was sweating, legs trembling, but stubbornly refused to give up.

Zheng Lie kindly advised, "Pilot, you should throw in the towel."

Huo Wen’an’s lips were trembling too, "No."

Zheng Lie said, "Your legs are shaking like a sieve."

Huo Wen’an glanced at Xu Xingguang who seemed as if she could hold on for another hour, clenched his teeth and reminded Xu Xingguang, "Xingguang, you still have a competition today."

"Shouldn’t you save some energy for the competition?"

Xu Xingguang sneered, "Such trickery."

Huo Wen’an held on for another two or three minutes before plopping down, "I admit defeat."

Xu Xingguang smirked and asked Zheng Lie, "How long?"

Zheng Lie said, "43 minutes."

Nodding, Xu Xingguang said, "Wait for another seven minutes."

Zheng Lie gave Xu Xingguang a thumbs up, "Madam is impressive."

After finishing, Xu Xingguang was drenched in sweat, Huo Xin handed her a cup of warm water. Xu Xingguang held the water and just had a sip when she heard her phone beep.

Ye Mingluo dashed out of the restroom with his phone, shouting, "The competition results are out!"

Xu Xingguang unlocked her phone, seeing a notification from the Hundred Medicines Conference website informing them that they could now check the results.

Huo Xin had already opened the website and found her ranking, she said, "I passed."

Ye Mingluo also saw the results, exclaiming, "I scored 47, I also passed!" The first round had a total of 70 points, passing required a minimum of 45 points.

This was the lowest score Ye Mingluo had ever received in his exam career, yet he was thrilled.

"Master, what about you?"

Ye Mingluo and Huo Xin both waited for Xu Xingguang to check her score.

Xu Xingguang saw her results, calmly finished her warm water before saying, "Not too much, exactly a perfect score."

Huo Xin: "Pervert."

Ye Mingluo hugged Xu Xingguang, shouting excitedly, "You truly are my master, Xu Xingguang!"

Huo Wen’an grabbed Ye Mingluo’s collar, pulling him away from Xu Xingguang before saying to her, "Go freshen up, tidy up, we’re heading to the arena."

"Okay."

*

The second exam was set in the Ying Clan’s main dining hall; outsiders couldn’t enter but could watch in real-time through surveillance.

The first round saw six thousand candidates pass, scattered across five floors of the dining hall, with Xu Xingguang on the third floor.

Xu Xingguang saw Fang Jinsu’s nephew on the same floor.

The young boy remembered Xu Xingguang, and when he saw her, politely greeted, "Sister Xingguang." Compared to when they last met, he seemed more composed.

The young lad, although slightly immature, hadn’t fully grown, yet his handsome features were hard to conceal. His eyes were rare heterochromatic ones, with a left eye of black-brown and a right eye of blue-grey.

Xu Xingguang had only seen them in comics and novels.

She pinched the young boy’s cheek, "What’s the handsome guy’s name? Sister doesn’t know yet."

The handsome boy blushed slightly, his heterochromatic eyes sparkling as he looked at Xu Xingguang, softly saying, "Ying Huai."

"Little Ying Huai." Xu Xingguang praised, "It’s a good name."

Ying Huai then smiled.

Huo Wen’an saw this scene through the surveillance, not looking pleased.

Ying Ziyao teased him, "Your girl is quite restless."

Huo Wen’an’s expression turned even uglier.

Xu Renzha!

Even during exams, she couldn’t resist flirting with boys!

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