Chapter 30
BANG! Crack!
The sound of something breaking and crashing to the ground could be heard from outside a simple but well-built house. Inside a room, three people stood. One of them was kneeling on the ground, his body covered in bandages.
"You imbecile! You can't even defeat that trash. You've shamed our school and me. I will skin you alive!" a young man shouted after breaking a black table made of hardwood.
The young man was Lo Bei Wang, who was seething with anger after being shamed and having his crony defeated by Qin Lou. His face was red with fury, and his fists were tightly clenched.
"Young Master Wang, it's not my fault that she has already reached the apex of spiritual sense. No matter how hard I attacked, she could see through my moves as if she could see the future and leisurely evade them," Chen Je said, feeling indignant at his misfortune.
Lo Bei Wang didn't reply but just stayed quiet and stared out the window.
"I will have my revenge, Qin Lou. You may have won today, but I will have my revenge. I will kill you," Lo Bei Wang swore to himself.
Meanwhile, in another place...
"How did that bitch do that? This is impossible!" a young woman shouted internally as she clenched her fists tightly. She truly wanted to scream out her frustration and anger but was trying to control it as her body shuddered.
This young woman was Shan Su. She wanted to throw a fit but couldn't, as she was in the company of some beautiful young women along with a very handsome young man. Their topic of discussion was Qin Lou, and although the girls showed disdain, their words also praised Qin Lou's skills. Unbeknownst to them, the young man, Xian Jian Feng, had eyes glowing with greed and interest. He was trying to form a plan to add Qin Lou to his harem, even though she was "hideous." He was actually considering it because, while her face was "ugly," it wouldn't be so bad if she wore a mask. Her body was perfect, and of course, his true goal was to get the secret of the skills she possessed. He truly coveted them, imagining that if he could get his hands on them, he would be undefeatable. His heart always raced, and greed could be seen in his eyes whenever he remembered her performance on stage that day. Because of this, his resolve was strengthened.
The next day...
The alchemy contest was set to begin before the semi-finals of the martial arts tournament. They were using a single stage with about fifty tables arranged on it. On each table was a basic alchemy furnace for contestants to use to refine and concoct pills.
As the sun rose and bathed the sky in a golden gleam, a few alchemists were already heading toward the arena. Qin Lou and Shin Jiao had already registered and were standing behind their alchemy table. Shin Jiao, upon seeing the pill furnace, became curious and began to inspect it. This drew the ire of some alchemists, who couldn't believe someone with no knowledge of an alchemy furnace was allowed to enter, let alone a mortal servant. Almost everyone looked on with discontent, but they were unable to voice their complaints as Qin Lou was clearly being watched by Elder Ao of the famous Floating Lotus Alchemist School. It would be bad to get on the elder's bad side.
"Master, this alchemy furnace is truly baffling. I truly want one. Hehe," Shin Jiao said innocently to Qin Lou.
"I don't know if this guy is just acting or truly innocent. I know he can make that thing if he wishes," Qin Lou thought to herself as she stayed quiet and ignored Shin Jiao.
When all contestants were on stage and the time was up, an old man with a long beard stood and went to the front of the judges' stage. He started with pleasantries and began to explain the rules and the prizes.
"...Today's alchemy contest will have three very strict rules. If you follow them, you may be able to win this contest. But if you do anything against them, you'll be out... Let's start with the first rule. It is a must that each pill you create is either an original that no other alchemist has made or an improvement of any available pills, but it should be at least one stage higher in efficacy. Now, the second rule is crucial, as it will earn you entry into our Floating Lotus Alchemist School if you aren't a student yet. For students, it will earn you a rank promotion. The level of refinement we want for any medicinal plant should be at least 85% purity or above..." the old man explained.
"And last but not least is the grade and level of each pill concocted. Our alchemist judges on this stage will only be accepting a pill or any medicine with a level no lower than 4, and the pill must be of high grade or above," the old man continued with a smile.
The first two rules were easy for most contestants to accept. But the third one was a bomb that exploded in their faces. Level 4 pills? This meant the alchemist must have the ability to concoct pills for Golden Core cultivators. If you weren't an alchemist, you wouldn't know how difficult that rule was. Level 4 pills are usually concocted by Nascent Soul cultivators, as they have the minimum cultivation level to use the mind's eye for fire essence control, but there are always exceptions. In addition, the pill's grade must be high. Every alchemist knows that pill grades are composed of ten grades in total: low, middle, high, mortal, spirit, hybrid, sky, heaven, immortal, and deity.
After the announcement, everyone began to complain, as these conditions were absurd. They were just students, not official alchemists yet; how could the rules be so overbearing? This made them feel that something fishy was going on, that these new rules were being tailored to test someone in particular.
But the old man ignored their protests, waved his hands, and continued.
"The prizes for the winner of this competition are as follows. For the third prize, we will give that alchemist their very own Level 2 pill furnace, a bottle of Qi Gathering Pills, and volume 2 of the Compendium of Medicinal Plants. For the second prize winner, they will receive the same things as the third-place winner, but with an additional item: the Mind Fruit. This fruit will help a person increase their intelligence. And of course, for first place, we will give a fist-sized black ore, which is very useful for one's own cultivation."
"Everyone, the first stage of the alchemy contest is to test your refining skills. You must refine any grade of medicinal plant or fruit to around 85% purity. Those who pass will be immediately admitted into our Floating Lotus Alchemy School as inner disciples. So do your best, and good luck."
Boom!
It was like a bomb went off in everyone's minds. Although the rules were absurd, the prizes were too valuable. Anyone who could win any of the three places would gain a lot. Not to mention, you could become an inner disciple of the number one alchemy school in Er City. No matter how much one worked and dreamed of becoming an inner disciple of that school, the reality was too harsh; it was not easy. It was widely known that there were only five inner disciples and three core disciples in the alchemy school. These people were truly monstrous individuals in both alchemy and cultivation. If they could enter this group, the fame and fortune that awaited them were frightening just to think about.
It was not new to these people that alchemy was a lucrative path. Looking at the stage, only 48 people had registered out of 50 tables. This meant that this year, there were only 48 alchemy students in Er City and the nearest towns and villages. Thus, the status of an alchemist was truly high and not common in the eyes of both mortals and cultivators.
"We will start the contest in a few minutes; please prepare until then," the old man with a long white beard said as he waved his hand and went back to his seat.
Upon his signal, a group of people began to walk forward, carrying bamboo woven trays with medicinal plants and placing them on the big table in the front. As this was happening, a young man slowly walked toward Qin Lou's table and stopped in front of her on the other side.
"I'm truly surprised to see you here, Senior Sister. I guess you're also going to try your luck in alchemy." The young man was very handsome, and both Shin Jiao and Qin Lou knew it was Xian Jian Feng.
He was wearing a silver robe with a flashy design, signifying his status as a young master. An insignia of a lotus in water could be seen on his left side, which meant that Xian Jian Feng was a student of the Floating Lotus Alchemy School.
"Senior Sister Qin Lou, I would like to once again offer you the same thing. Be one of my women, and I will give you status and protection. What do you say?" Xian Jian Feng said shamelessly, but he didn't mind it as his face was full of a smug look.
"Xian Jian Feng! Shameless as usual, I see." A young woman wearing a form-fitting white robe that accentuated her figure appeared.
She may not have had a perfect body like Qin Lou, but her figure was enough to make men's eyes glued to her. She also had a cute face and sparkling eyes that would make some women blush.
"Oh, my... Isn't this the young lady of the Ling clan? Did your loser of a brother let you out of your house?" Xian Jian Feng said with a sneer.
"You... My brother is not a loser! Compared to him, you're nothing!" the young woman retorted angrily.
"Haha! That's the funniest joke in the world. Your brother may not be a loser... but that was before. Because of a woman, he lost his cultivation. Isn't that what we call a loser?" Xian Jian Feng mocked.
"Hmph, you womanizer and cheapskate. If you hadn't..." the young woman wanted to continue but stopped as tears welled up in her eyes.
"Susu, I think you should mind your own business. Don't worry, if I become interested in you again, I'll visit your clan once more," Xian Jian Feng said with a hint of disdain.
"Who's that?" Shin Jiao asked Qin Lou in a low voice.
As the two bantered, Qin Lou explained to Shin Jiao who the young woman was.
He now knew her name was Susu Ling and that she was one of the heiresses of the Roc's Eye Merchant Company, a large and well-known clan in Er City and all the empires under Xi. Although they were a great clan, they exerted no dominance over others. The reason the Roc's Eye Merchant Company grew to such a great business empire was because of their credibility and rules. It was said that entering this great clan was not easy, as they would not marry for profit or power since they already held both. Even the imperial family supported them as they supported the Empire—a give-and-take relationship based on respect and rules. Although power ruled supreme in this world, in this clan, this rule didn't seem to exist.
The only thing the clan valued was a person's ability to conduct business and increase or maintain the clan's prestige and profits. In front of money and benefit, power always followed.
Upon hearing about her prestigious background, Shin Jiao was amazed at her character for not using her illustrious clan to suppress others. He now had a good opinion of her, as he truly respected people who relied on themselves to get what they wanted.
"Anyway, what do you say about my offer, Senior Qin Lou? You know I'm good to my women, right? I would truly treat you equally like them," Xian Jian Feng said, still shamelessly flaunting himself.
But upon seeing that she was talking to her servant instead of listening to him, he became furious. His eyes became fiery as he watched the two people talking to each other without even looking at him.
At that moment, Shin Jiao and Qin Lou were planning what they should do. As Qin Lou was able to wield a spiritual flame, she would be the one refining. Shin Jiao told her that the glasses could assist her along with her spiritual sense. This way, she could refine the medicinal plants better.
"I will make you submit to me and play with you to my heart's content, you bitch! Just you wait, just you wait," Xian Jian Feng shouted internally.
With an indignant look, Xian Jian Feng walked back to his table, grumbling and complaining in his heart. But he couldn't do anything for now because they were still under the supervision of the inter-school elders, and there were school protectors present. After a while, the old man with a long white beard walked to the front and stood there. His gaze scanned every contestant as if looking for things they could use to cheat or frame others. After a moment, he smiled as if content with the result and then raised a hand.
"Okay! I hope everyone is now ready. Now! Let the alchemy contest begin!"