Dao of the World Walker (Xianxia) Book 2

As Yang looked toward the stage, he realised the setup was similar to the beginner pill refining competition.

He was glad to be here. Watching Senior Brother Lin Yi and Senior Brother Liu Te compete was the whole reason he had come today; otherwise, he would have rather chosen to attend the main event for late-stage foundation or late-stage golden core participants.

He would have loved to attend more of the specialised alchemy events, but there were limits. If he spent the whole competition watching other people perform their crafts, he would have no time to work on his own. The Skill Judging, he could prepare for methodically. The offense and defense events were a different matter entirely. His performance there would depend less on what he had practised and more on whether he could think around whatever type of offense or defence the elders in charge decided to throw at the participants on the day.

As it was, he planned to attend the Golden Core advanced pill refining event, the main events of each craft, and every talisman event he could make time for. He was glad to have made the deal with Senior Brother Wu Nai. Without it he would have been stuck attending only the events Senior Brother Lin Yi could personally bring him to.

The same elder as the last time came out and gave the same speech. Yang thought that after centuries of repeating the same event, it was likely that most events were getting recycled speeches.

The timings were different though.

These disciples had fifteen minutes instead of half an hour to select their ingredients, and four hours to refine instead of three. The elder also made a point of stating that only what had been provided was permitted. No personal cauldrons, no special fires. They were to make their pill with what was there.

Yang wondered why that was being emphasised when there had been no such announcement at the previous event.

He was about to ask when he heard Senior Brother Jiang Zhen Hao say to Senior Brother Xu Kai beside him, ”A pity I wasn’t there for that particular event. These things are usually a bore. I am here only because of Lin Yi and Liu Te.” He then turned to Yang. ”Junior Brother, don’t worry, I will be there to support you on your event day.”

Senior Brother smiled widely at him as he assured him. Yang gave a weak smile of thanks before his curiosity got the better of him.

”Senior Brother, what particular event?”

”Oh, Junior Brother, you don’t know?” came Senior Sister Xing Fei’s excited voice. ”Of course, how could you, being on the outer sect peak. For one of the more specific pill refining competitions, a few of the contestants sneaked in secret ingredients. They tried to make alterations to their pills.”

”They tried to cheat?” Yang asked, shocked. He had held his fellow sect members in fairly high regard until this moment. Finding out that seniors had cheated, or planned to, was a blow to his mental image of the inner sect disciples.

”Pfft, cheating hardly. They were joyful fellows just trying to have some fun,” Senior Brother Zhen Hao interrupted.

”You think trying to make a pill to get the elders drunk is fun?” came Senior Sister Shen Yue’s biting voice. Senior Brother Jiang Zhen Hao opened his mouth to answer but before he could, Senior Sister Shen Yue raised a hand toward him. ”No. Don’t answer that. I already know you would think it a delight.”

Senior Sister Xing Fei let out a chiming giggle and on Senior Brother Zhen Hao’s other side Senior Brother Xu Kai just sighed.

”So, Junior Brother, as I was saying before we were rudely interrupted,” Senior Sister Xing Fei gave a slight glare to Senior Brother Zhen Hao who just shamelessly grinned back and continued, ”those contestants were not here to win. They wanted to get the elders drunk. They all chose the same ingredients and brought some additional ones secretly that would allow them to make a Drunken Blast Pill.”

”Drunken Blast Pill?” Yang repeated.

”Indeed. They pretended to make Smoke Pills, which are usually used as a defensive tool, but swap certain ingredients and you get a Drunken Blast Pill instead. The two look similar enough to confuse someone if they aren’t paying close attention,” Senior Sister Xing Fei explained.

”But why would they waste this opportunity?” Yang asked.

”There is a bet running in the sect and someone greatly rewarded those cultivators to abandon reason and attempt this foolishness,” Senior Sister Xing Fei said.

”So they were all caught and disqualified,” Yang said.

Senior Brother Jiang Zhen Hao let out a barking laugh. ”Of course not. Most of them were caught but some managed to make and deploy the pills.” He continued chuckling. ”Had half a dozen of those old men stumbling drunk off their feet.”

Yang was lost for words. These seniors were really something.

”What punishment did they receive?” he asked.

”They had to shovel waste in the flying beast pens for a few weeks,” Senior Brother Zhen Hao said.

”There is no technique for that?”

”Of course there is. But the one who assigns the punishment decides whether it’s used. Those valiant men and women are dealing with it like mortals.” Senior Brother Zhen Hai didn’t discriminate. He took equal joy in the misfortune of elders and disciples alike.

A truly fair person.

But Yang was quite relieved at the punishment. The sect elders could take a harmless prank without giving out severe consequences, and the troublemakers had come out of it fine, if a little stinky.

”Who made the bet?” Yang asked. His gaze drifted toward Senior Brother Jiang Zhen Hao. His suspicion must have shown on his face because both Senior Brother Jiang Zhen Hao and Senior Brother Xu Kai chuckled at the same moment.

It was Senior Brother Xu Kai who answered. ”Junior Brother, while I understand why anyone would assume Zhen Hao behind every trouble in the sect, that is not always the case. He has only just entered the Golden Core realm. Even with his position as a core disciple, he isn’t powerful enough to be running illegal betting on the competition. The betting pools had been going on for far longer than any of us have been in the sect.”

”If you ask me, it’s likely one of the elders who wanted to teach their brothers and sisters a lesson,” Senior Brother Zhen Hao added. ”They must have created the bet themself and promised those disciples great advantages in exchange for giving up their chance at the rankings.”

Yang was startled to see Senior Brother Xu Kai nod at that.

If Senior Brother Zhen Hao or Senior Sister Xing Fei had agreed, he would have taken it as a joke, but Senior Brother Xu Kai was not one to jest about things like that.

He was still turning this over when Senior Sister Shen Yue hissed at them. ”Stop gossiping. Look at the stage. Lin Yi and Liu Te are already there.”

Yang turned along with the others.

She was right. The contestants were already on the stage, and as soon as he looked, the bell rang. All the participants took a basket and moved to the ingredient tables.

Yang noticed immediately that Senior Brother Liu Te placed every ingredient he picked straight into his basket, while Senior Brother Lin Yi took considerably longer over each choice. He wondered if that was down to Senior Brother Liu Te being on the alchemy path.

Senior Sister Shen Yue leaned forward in her seat.

Five minutes in, Senior Brother Liu Te was done. He stood next to his refining station with his basket already in hand.

Senior Brother Lin Yi took longer but made it back to his station with a few minutes to spare. A dozen or so other participants were still at the tables when the bell rang and called them all back.

Then the refining began.

The same general rhythm played out as it had in the first event. Every contestant cleaned their cauldron and began processing their ingredients, each in their own way. Looking at how differently Senior Brother Liu Te and Senior Brother Lin Yi were handling theirs, it was clear they had chosen different pills.

The hours passed quickly. Without Senior Brother Lin Yi explaining to him what was going on or him and Senior Brother Liu Te discussing participants between themselves, Yang understood considerably less of what he was watching than last time. The expressions of the seniors around him suggested they were in the same position. The one thing any of them could tell was that neither Senior Brother Liu Te nor Senior Brother Lin Yi looked troubled.

Near the end, a few participants who had failed to produce a pill stepped back from their stations. The rest continued. Both Senior Brother Liu Te and Senior Brother Lin Yi looked satisfied with their pills.

The bell rang, and all contestants stepped away from their cauldrons.

The judges came onto the stage and began working through the stations one by one, offering remarks and grading each pill.

Yang noticed that none of the middle-stage Foundation Establishment alchemists had made any of the same pills that had appeared in the beginner stage foundation event.

He leaned forward as the judges finally approached Senior Brother Lin Yi’s station.

Once they were there Senior Brother Lin Yi presented his pill to the judges.

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