The person who was quickly rushing over with Luo Shu was precisely Yao Chen.
However, looking at Yao Chen, he appeared extremely depressed and his face had a pale sickly color.
“Yao Chen finally arrived, haha.” All around, people recognized him and shouted out
After all, he was the clan school’s Great Competition’s number one place, and along with his Violet Flame Pill he ended up garnering quite a bit of attention.
But with just a brief look they didn’t recognize Yao Chen when he had such a face, causing them to be a bit flabbergasted.
“Huh? This is Yao Chen?”
“The clan school’s Great Competition number one place has this kind of appearance?”
“This extremely sick look, is it possible… that during this month, he was recovering from an injury?”
“That’s possible. Using a nine star Dou Zhe’s strength to obtain victory at the clan school’s Great Competition, there was definitely some kind of trick there….”
“Back then I thought he was overdrafting his strength, but looking at it now, it doesn’t appear to have been that simple.”
“It that’s true… if it was me, I wouldn’t even come out today. I’d save some of the mystery, as that would still be somewhat beneficial for my future growth.”
“Right, if he’s going to show up like this, coming to the Medicine Competition is just making a disgrace of himself.”
All kinds of voices rang out, with some deliberately ridiculing him in loud voices, causing the people around them to laugh. Even people who wouldn’t normally have laughed couldn’t help but give voice to it once they saw Yao Chen’s miserable appearance. To actually come to the Medicine Competition in this state was truly a disgrace.
But Yao Chen simply blocked his ears and didn’t listen to these stupid remarks. Yes he wasn’t in his top state, but he was confident in himself for the Medicine Competition. He was at least seventy to eighty percent confident in his chances.
Luo Shu’s face would twitch occasionally; what the other people were saying was hard to listen to, and even Luo Shu also felt that brother Chen had taken this too lightly. Although going into seclusion was fine, but how did you seclude yourself and end up in this manner? Although he wanted to say a couple of encouraging words, he just didn’t know how to find any words for this situation.
In the end, all he said was, “Brother Chen, good luck. I support you.” Although support him he did, but he didn’t have any hopeful thoughts.
Yao Chen laughed and he walked through all the ridicule to ender the competitor’s area. By this time there were already over a hundred Yao clan disciples who were making their preparations.
Although the clan school only had eight spots, but the various families and branches wouldn’t all necessary send their disciples to the clan school. The things that the clan school taught were all the basics amongst basics. Other than for stabilizing a foundation, it was difficult to find other benefits. The families that had the ability to would all use their own teaching methods or find a master for their disciples. With one student per teacher, the effect was obviously better than the clan school’s broad teachings.
So not only did the clan school have eight spots, but the various families and branches also had their own spots. The Yao clan was absolutely huge, and despite how selective the proceedings were, there were still over a hundred people left in the end. This displayed just how formidable the Yao clan was. The younger generation who were able to participate in the Medicine Competition at the very least had the strength of the Dou Shi class… of course, this was excluding Yao Chen. But when it came to true power, Yao Chen had a technique that let him obtain the power of a Dou Shi, so he could also be classified as a Dou Shi in this case.
As one of the major clans that had been continued on from ancient times, the Yao clan had to raise qualified successors. In order for it to continue growing in the future, it had to build a strong foundation for the next generation. Only by being powerful in the past, present, and future, would the clan be able to truly intimidate its enemies.
Yao Chen walked to a corner and was just about to sit down when a laugh suddenly rang out. “Yao Chen, with your current state, it seems like you’re going to faint?”
Yao Chen laughed, “It’s possible.”
Zuo Hongle narrowed his eyes. Happening to arrive right at Yao Chen’s ear, he whispered, “Yao Feng plans on making you an example, killing the chicken in front of the monkey. Did you not know this?”
“With you talking to me like this, are you not afraid he’ll switch targets from me to you?”
Zuo Hongle rubbed his noise, “What if I just said I was helping him scout you out?”
“Haha, you really are expecting too much of me. I wouldn’t want to disappoint him.”
“Not a bad idea, but no matter what happens, I’m appreciative of you and wish you good luck.”
“You’re no better or worse.”
“Hmph. However, what I’m interested in is what pill you plan on refining. The Violet Flame Pill is not bad, but for the Medicine Competition, a third tier pill is truly not good enough to even look at.”
In reality, Zuo Hongle was very curious towards Yao Chen. Allowing him to win by a surprise move could definitely not be allowed again. However, he didn’t know why, but Yao Chen’s pale and sickly expression gave him a kind of feeling that he had once again set up some kind of secret. Zuo Hongle always had confidence in his intuition, as most of the time whenever he had this kind of feeling it turned out true.
“When the time comes, you’ll know.”
The confidence on Yao Chen’s face made Zuo Hongle even more curious. But no matter how he looked at him, Yao Chen’s current state made it seem that he would be nothing more than padding for the bottom rankings.
Clan head Yao Dan was already standing at the elders’ stage at this time, and after saying a couple of traditional sentences, he introduced First Elder Yao Wanhuo who took charge from then.
Yao Wanhuo’s gaze brightly swept over every single one of the competing Yao clan disciples. With a majestic and dignified voice, he announced, “The ones here are my Yao clan’s future. I hope you all do your best… in addition, there is a bit more good news. This time’s Medicine Competition’s first place will have the chance to pay respects to and become a direct disciple under the guidance of the clan head. They will also have the opportunity to enter into the clan treasury and select a Di class Dou Technique.”
Rumbling acclamations rang out from all around!
Every Medicine Competition would have rewards for the first place. In the past, these were divine weapons and a Xuan class technique chosen the clan treasury. Comparing the two, this time’s rewards made people go a little crazy.
A Di class Dou Technique was one thing, but it was the chance to train under clan head Yao Dan that truly made the disciples go crazy!
Clan head Yao Dan, whether it was the strength of his Dou Qi or his skill in alchemy, was the undisputed strongest within the clan. He had previously had a single apprentice before, which had been First Elder Yao Wanhuo.
Rumor had it that when Yao Wanhuo had become the clan head’s apprentice, he was barely above average in talent. However, under Yao Dan’s tutelage, he had completely surpassed all his fellow disciples in just a year. All the other talented geniuses were suppressed by him. Even to this day, Yao Wanhuo had become continued growing stronger, becoming the second strongest Dou Sheng within the clan other than clan head Yao Dan.
If you were able to become clan head Yao Dan’s disciple, it was true you might not necessarily end up like a second Yao Wanhuo, but with such a high starting point, your position in the future would most certainly be at least a core elder in the clan. Core elders were completely different entities when compared to the likes of Yao Lan who were in charge of the clan school or outer elders who were in charge of business outside the clan. Such a position was extremely exalted.
But in reality, these were just minor things; the real thing that caused people to become crazy was Yao Dan’s ability to change something rotten into something magical. Becoming his disciple would mean it was possible for you to become a famous Dou Sheng!
All the disciples’ eyes were erupting with an intense fighting spirit. But the usually calm Yao Tong’s faint smile faded and he stared towards the direction of Yao Feng.
Yao Feng sensed the gaze and simply continued smiling. Having the will to fight was not bad, but was there any meaning to it?
Strength was strength.
The Di class Dou Technique and becoming the clan head’s disciple, these were already in his pocket. In truth, this news was something Yao Feng had long ago heard about.
Not only was his older brother the chief of the inner clan’s punishment hall, but his father’s position was second only to elder Yao Wanhuo. Having the authority to be able to find out about the vast majority of the Yao clan’s inner and outer affairs required true power. Any secrets happening within the clan had difficulty bypassing Yao Feng’s house.
Yao Feng actually thought that the clan head was using the Medicine Competition to pick an apprentice because he had taken a fancy to his talent. After all, in the Yao clan’s younger generation, who could be picked other than him? Yao Tong was not his match, let alone Yao Chen who was basically nothing.
As for the various families and branches, they all had their own well-known talents, but most of them were only capable of matching up to half the skills of Yao Tong. If they wanted to fight with him, all he could say was that they were naive and should give up.
A bit of redness appeared on Yao Chen’s extremely pale face when he heard this. This information was extremely exciting to him. His father had once told him that the person in the clan with the greatest reputation for fairness was First Elder Yao Wanhuo, and the person who had brought him up was the clan head. In his father’s eyes, clan head Yao Dan was essentially a legendary character.
Yao Chen had been influenced by this thought since childhood, so to have the opportunity to become the clan head’s apprentice, even if it was just in title….
No, not even the clan head’s apprentice; even if it was becoming Yao Wanhuo’s titular disciple it would still be an extremely amazing matter for him. If his father knew about this then he would also be extremely gratified.
“All of you should reveal your talent to demonstrate your strength to the clansmen. Now, everyone take your places. This place is now considered your playing field!” Following the First Elder’s decree, rumbling sounds burst out, and flames starting rising towards the horizon, exploding like fireworks. Although it was daytime, the blazing flames’ radiance were still distinctly visible. This was the official signal to the start of the Medicine Competition!
In the competitor’s area, over a hundred Yao clan disciples all respectfully stood up, and followed the clan guard’s directions, they walked towards the refining area.
Yao Chen expression was also solemn and respectful. Truthfully he considered everything within the clan to be sacred.
The opening battle was just an initial selection to decide the final eight who would fight in the deciding battle. This time your competitors would be over a hundred of your fellow geniuses, some of whom were potentially even more talented than you! Anyone might manage to force their way into the top eight. They would become the core of the clan’s younger generation and obtain the true support of the clan in growing. The others would also obtain various resources and benefits, but the difference between their treatments would be like the difference between heaven and earth.
Yao Chen found his position in torner. He placed the Storage Ring on the table as well as a signboard with his name on it.
As soon as he had set those up, a loud rumbling came from the sky. A curtain of light slowly spread out in every direction before fading from sight. This was the activation of the Dou Formation isolating the refining area.
At the same time it was also the signal for the true start of the Medicine Competition.
Everyone immediately started to take action.
Yao Chen also started at the first moment. He grabbed the Storage Ring and inserted a strand of his Dou Qi. In a few seconds, his spirit entered and he could sense the various medicinal ingredients arranged inside.
The majority of those medicinal ingredients were extremely ordinary, but there also a couple of rare ingredients. However their quantity was extremely small, and so they couldn’t be used as main ingredients. They could only be used to neutralize or raise the other ingredients’ properties.
Yao Chen took a deep breath. If he were to only rely on the ingredients arranged in the Storage Ring, then he could only refine some extremely common high tier medicinal pills. If they were placed outside the Yao clan then maybe there would be thousands of people who wanted to steal it, but this was the Yao clan’s Medicine Competition. Wanting to rely on just a regular high tier medicinal pill to beat the over one hundred cream-of-the-crop disciples of the Yao clan was just simply delusional.
Yao Chen lifted his head and looked around. He saw many people had already ignited their medicinal cauldron with a glowing flame. The reason they were so quick was because they had already taken out all kinds of rare medicinal ingredients they had prepared long ago. Evidently they were going to put their all for this competition.
Yao Chen knit his eyebrows, as he saw people were using their meticulously prepared, excellent medicinal ingredients for this time’s decisive battle…. But then, what else would they use?
Ordinary branch families were not the same as the main bloodline; if branch members were to expend many years they might only be able to collect enough rare medicinal ingredients for just one attempt at an extraordinary pill. Only the clan’s rich and powerful families could afford more.
Yao Chen didn’t even have the necessary rare medicinal ingredients to attempt an extraordinary medicinal pill more even just once, so at this time the only things he could use were the medicinal ingredients provided by the clan.
The Luo family’s father and sons were all staring. When Luo Bing looked at his own son who couldn’t make anything of himself, he felt a bit helpless. “What’s the matter with Yao Chen? Did you see aunt Qing?”
Whether or not he could pass through and enter the top eight was not important. What was important for his future was displaying his skill. With his talent, strength, and with the afterglow of the Medicine Competition, was there still a need to worry about the clan not supporting him if he properly displayed himself?
As long as a disciple obtained the favor and support of the clan, then as long as they weren’t completely lacking in talent, their future prospects would be without limits. In Luo Shu’s opinion, that was what Yao Chen should be focused on. As for taking victory at the Medicine Competition and leaving his name of the Clan Monument, this type of thinking should be let go.
Luo Shu scratched the top of his head, “I don’t know. When I arrived I didn’t see aunt Qing, and brother Chen had just come out of seclusion in that condition… is it possible that he over trained?”
Luo Bing shook his head, his eyes flickering. Apparently he knew where Yao Qing was, but he didn’t say anything in front of his two sons.
Boom!
Suddenly, the formation that was sealing the entire refining area let out a strange sound. This sound couldn’t pass into the refining area, but outside the formation were still bursts of noises like thunder.
“Heavenly Flame! Nine Eerie Wind Flame!”
The guests from the various powers were all completely shocked.
The Yan Clan’s elder Yan Xiao focused his gaze. He asked the subordinate following him, “Who is that?”
The Yan Clan was also in expert in flames, and within the clan were three great Heavenly Flames. Thus they paid special attention to the Yao clan who also specialized in flame techniques. Within the Yao clan were two Heavenly Flames: the Nine Eerie Wind Flame and the Earth Tortoise Spirit Flame. Since they were comparable in strength, the two ended up in quite a few conflicts over Heavenly Flames.
“Elder, that person is Yao Feng. This year he is seventeen years old. Born into the main bloodline, he is the younger brother of the chief of the punishment hall Yao Wangui.”
“Oh? Yao Wangui’s little brother? Seventeen years old, yet he has already obtained the Nine Eerie Wind Flame…. No, that’s not right, he has not completely obtained it and is only using a medicinal pill to borrow the Heavenly Flame’s power. He is unable to completely subdue the Nine Eerie Wind Flame with his current strength and is only borrowing the pill’s effect.”
The Yan Clan had a history of playing with fire, so they were extremely familiar with the Heavenly Flames. In just a short couple blinks of an eye he managed to figure out Yao Feng’s ins and outs. But although he was just borrowing the flame’s power, the source was still a Heavenly Flame. If used to kill enemies then he might not be able to control the flame, but using it to refine pills was just right. It was precisely because the borrowed flame power was much weaker than the true Heavenly Flame that Yao Feng could still manage to use his Dou Shi level Dou Qi to control it.
Yan Xiao wasn’t concerned with who won or who competed in the Medicine Competition. As long as could obtain some good pills from the Yao clan, who cared about the Yao clan’s inner workings. However, seeing the Yao clan’s ability to allow a younger generation seventeen-year-old disciple to directly borrow the Heavenly Flame’s strength…. Yan Xiao’s gaze became even more focused on Yao Feng.
Yao Feng’s two hands emitted a rumbling wind sound, and two streaks of Nine Eerie Wind Flame shot out from his hands, entering into the medicinal cauldron. He had no intention of holding back for the final battle. These blazing flames seemed to come to life as they revolved around inside the medicinal cauldron. A strange and bizarre wind sound accompanied it, and while the sound was not loud, it entered into everyone’s ears and caused a restless uneasiness to fill their hearts.
Yao Chen had just started to activate his Triple Flower Agglomerating Flame Technique to start the medicinal cauldron’s fire when his ears received the Nine Eerie Wind Sound. His heart began to heat up indescribably, and he almost lost control of the medicinal cauldron’s flame.
“Nine Eerie Wind Flame!” The clan had two Heavenly Flames under their control; this was a public secret. However, although the Heavenly Flames were within the clan, not anyone was capable of subduing them. The Heavenly Flames had their own dignity and character. The Nine Eerie Wind Flame was born in extreme Yin terrains within endless abysses, and after taking form, its Yin wind was the most violent of all. An unknown number of years of absorbing souls and swallowing the extreme Yin had to occur for it to be born, and it had long since formed a Heavenly Flame consciousness, making it even harder to subdue.
However, there was actually someone using the Nine Eerie Wind Flame at this time’s Medicine Competition!
It quickly caused the originally confident and ambitious disciples’ resolutions to waver. With the unexpected Nine Eerie Wind Flame, just what could they use to fight back?
Heavenly Flames, at least to alchemists, were a type of legend, and alchemists that had Heavenly Flames were all people of outstanding talent in the alchemy world. Each alchemist with a Heavenly Flame was a legend amongst the people.
Yao Chen’s heart was also shaking. As the sound continued to enter his ears, his heart couldn’t help but become moody. The sound caused him to feel depressed and hopeless.
No matter how many preparations he made, they were useless when facing the Heavenly Flame. It was without a match, so just what could he use to fight back? Let alone his goal….
Suddenly, Yao Chen’s heart seemed to become alert! Give up?
Just now he had unexpectedly wanted to give up on the Medicine Competition!
The Nine Eerie Wind Flame had truly shocked him. The Medicine Competition was Yao Chen’s number one target, as it was his only chance to have his named carved onto the Clan Monument. He would rather die than give up on the Medicine Competition!
A bead-sized drop of sweat rolled down Yao Chen’s face. Close call! Just now he had nearly succumbed to the Nine Eerie Wind Flame’s ability. The Nine Eerie Wind Flame’s fire would release Yin wind; this wind released a sound that would attack and try to seize the will and spirit of the people. After hearing the wind sound, people would feel discouraged, nauseated, and distracting thoughts of abandoning oneself to despair would form. Collecting his mental state, Yao Chen’s Spiritual Strength abruptly spread out. It didn’t go resist the Nine Eerie Wind Flame’s wind sound, but instead it resolutely firmed his own self-conviction; win, win, have to win, MUST WIN!
BOOM!
A Samadhi flame blazed into being within Yao Chen’s medicinal cauldron. Yao Chen took a deep breath. Taking the Storage Ring from the table, he inserted his Dou Qi, and from within he took out a couple types of medicinal ingredients. Using his Dou Qi to wrap them, he cautiously cast them into the medicinal cauldron. His Spiritual Perception and Dou Qi combined together in order to be able to sense any changes at any time in the medicinal ingredients’ merger within the Samadhi flame.
The Golden Mica Essence, the Bone Forming Rock, the Revolving Shore Insect… all the various medicinal ingredients and all their various changes, under the strength of the Samadhi flame and the Dou Qi’s urging, gradually began to merge. Yao Chen’s entire being was focused on the merger, and at this moment he seemed like a deity. Above the medicinal cauldron were streams of Spiritual Strength and Dou Qi that were controlling everything.
On top the elder’s stage, First Elder Yao Wanhuo’s gaze was patrolling over all the contestants. These disciples were his clan’s future seedlings. Looking at Yao Feng using the Nine Eerie Wind Flame, a faint smile appeared on his face. Although it was borrowing the flame, but to be able to gain the Nine Eerie Wind Flame’s spirit’s approval meant that in the future there was still hope that he could genuinely obtain the Nine Eerie Wind Flame for his refining.
Pausing slightly, Yao Wanhuo’s gaze fell on Yao Tong. Although this child was from a branch family, his father was still extremely powerful in the clan and he had completed many meritorious acts from leading his family’s army. Other people might not be aware, but Yao Wanhuo was extremely clear on Yao Tong’s hidden strength. However, at the moment it seemed that Yao Tong’s mental state was suffering under the Nine Eerie Wind Flame’s force.
Actually, it wasn’t just Yao Tong, but every disciple in the refining area who was being affected. The people closest to Yao Feng received the greatest impact; however everyone present were elites of the elites, and in a short moment they managed to collect themselves and once again focus on refining. Merely, comparing to their initial enthusiasm, their spirits’ were inevitably impacted which was something that was very likely to affect their pill quality.
Apparently, this time the main bloodline would once again obtain first place, unless….
Suddenly, Yao Wanhuo’s gaze consolidated onto Yao Chen. He became a bit confused. “Strange.”
A slim, middle-aged man who was just walking over beside him heard Yao Wanhuo speak. He laughed, “First Elder, is there something wrong?”
Yao Wanhuo turned around, faintly smiling, “So it’s elder Wuhuang. It’s not that there’s something wrong, it’s just that I feel like that that disciple is a bit strange.”
Saying this, Yao Wanhuo pointed his finger towards Yao Chen.
This middle-aged man’s eyes and brows were long and narrow, and his nose was crooked like a hawk’s, making his face appear particularly malicious. His position in the clan was second only to Yao Wanhuo; his first son was the chief of the punishment hall Yao Wangui, while the one currently using the Heavenly Flame in the refining area was his second son, Yao Feng.
Yao Wuhuang turned to look at Yao Chen. A faint sneer appeared on his mouth. “So it’s the winner of the clan school’s Great Competition. Does elder really believe that he has entered into the state of forgetting the world and only focusing on the pill?”
Yao Chen had defeated the famous Yao Tong in the Great Competition and taken first place at the clan school. Something like that wasn’t considered that large of a matter within the Yao clan, but it also wasn’t something small, so Yao Wuhuang had naturally heard of it. But he only considered it a meaningless piece of news. In his opinion, all it meant was that Yao Tong had been too overconfident and Yao Chen had been too lucky. After all, his ancestors had once been extremely capable people.
“Right, but this kind of pill refining state is something we only managed to enter after a great deal of training. But this child is just a one star Dou Shi; how is it possible for him?”
“A one star Dou Shi? Not possible. He cultivates the Triple Flower Agglomerating Flame Technique; with his current speed, how could he possibly have advanced to the Dou Shi class at this time?”
Even a genius wouldn’t be able to cultivate to the Dou Shi class by twenty with the Triple Flower Agglomerating Technique unless he had the resources of the main bloodline. No matter how talented, at best they would be nine star Dou Zhes. This kind of cultivation method focused so greatly on the foundation that in order to advance from Dou Zhe to Dou Shi required far too much Dou Qi. After all, every technique had its benefits and drawbacks.
First Elder Yao Wanhuo laughed, “That’s why I said it was strange.”
His gaze once more focused on Yao Chen and it truly did hold a slight interest.
Yao Wuhuang’s expression fluctuated slightly, and this time when he looked at Yao Chen he carefully observed it.
In a short time, he started to frown… someone who had broken through the common limitations of the Triple Flower Agglomerating Flame Technique had appeared.