Three days had passed and the Alchemy Conference was getting closer and closer. During that time, the fifth year of Cao Yun's time in the Wubei Sect had gone by. Now, he was officially an inner disciple of the sect. Even though he had been named the Young Sect Master, technically he had still been an outer disciple until the end of this fifth year. Mei Hua told him that she had decided to stay with her master and to join the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute. On the other hand, Ren Chao had also become an inner disciple. And Sun Liao who had had other plans finally became an inner disciple as well in order to stay close to his master.
Since the attack on the Wubei Sect, Sun Liao kept on trying to get into contact with his master in the Palace of Supreme Wisdom. Cao Yun had obtained much information from Dian Mo along the months they had spent together and had sent everything to Sun Liao. However, it was still impossible to contact Chief Elder Suxian. Many thought him to be either dead or so weak that his soul was dormant, only waking up to take in disciples. Anyway, this had boosted Sun Liao's thirst for knowledge. Every occasion he had, he tried to improve his understanding of array formations.
Since his cultivation was simply too weak for now, he couldn't become a Heaven array formation master. Thus, he was focusing on his Qi cultivation with the manual he had received in the Palace of Supreme Wisdom, 'Crossing the Three Chasms in the Eight Directions'. This manual was very detailed and explained how to use array formations to improve one's cultivation. Besides that, he also practiced Cao Yun's mind cultivation. Of course, he also gave his brothers and sister the knowledge he had obtained from his manual. Although it was rather useless for Ren Chao and Mei Hua, Cao Yun had been very interested. In fact the Center of All Things array formation he had used had been from this very manual.
On his end, Ren Chao was working on his blacksmithing while enjoying life along Wang Mei. Apparently the two of them were complementing each other very well. Ren Chao was raw strength while Wang Mei was an expert of arts. What he lacked in finesse, she could make up for. Their dual cultivation seemed to be very efficient indeed. Sun Liao didn't miss an opportunity to tease his friend about that every chance he got. Slowly, the tragedy of his master's demise had healed enough for him to enjoy life without thinking about it every single instant. However, even if he hadn't met him in a long time, Cao Yun suspected that Sun Liao was hiding his culpability. A genius like him probably felt like it was his fault if he couldn't help his master trapped in the Palace of Supreme Wisdom.
Unfortunately, his brothers would not be present during the Alchemy Conference. But they had left a message to Mei Hua. They were both looking forward to seeing him back. In their minds, there was no doubt that Mei Hua and Cao Yun would be among the first places in that competition. Of course, Cao Yun was rather convinced that the first place would be Feng Yingyue, but then he was confident about his getting a high rank as well.
During the few days before the official start of the Alchemy Conference, the Imperial City became more and more agitated. Every commerce would be trying to rope in as many customers as they could. Apart from the alchemists, nobles from all over the Hongchen Kingdom would be present, both to admire the competition and to try to form relationship with the alchemists themselves. Even if they didn't win, or worse if they ended up last, those alchemists would be renowned throughout the kingdom. Absolutely every family wold want to befriend them. For that, they had to show sincerity from the get-go and not wait until the very end.
As a matter of fact, Cao Yun, Mei Hua and Feng Yingyue would receive a ton of gifts. Thankfully, Kang Cai and Kang Hai were able to deal with them easily as their master had given them clear instructions. The three alchemists would be kept away from the circus so they could focus on the competition. Well, Cao Yun and Feng Yingyue were focused on something else.
Still, they remembered the competition and ended their dual cultivation after only three days. To be honest, they could have kept on going for more than a week. But it was time to get to work.
Cao Yun could feel a powerful fire in his chest already. During his ardent embrace of Feng Yingyue, his cultivation had progressed by leaps and bounds. Dual cultivation was truly impressive. Besides, since he was supposed to gather Fire Qi in his Middle Dantian, such a fiery dance was ideal for him. On the other hand, Feng Yingyue's cultivation had also improved a lot. In fact, they could have both gained even more if her cultivation had been on Cao Yun's level. However, she had focused her efforts not on her Qi cultivation but on her mind. Right now, she was trying to subdue her fourth Po, the Po of Yin, related to fear.
They talked for some time and compared how they had been cultivated. Cao Yun was very surprised by his Dao companion's understanding of 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks'. Clearly she seemed to be much more connected to her soul than he had been. According to the manual, subduing each aspect of the Po could take up to two years and Cao Yun was not progressing that much faster. On the other hand, Feng Yingyue seemed to only need around a year to subdue hers. Maybe it would take more time for the next ones, but still, her progress was extremely impressive. So they spoke and were both able to get new ideas on their cultivation.
Cao Yun's way of tempering his Five Prodigious Gates gave many good ideas to the young woman. After all, she was an alchemist so she immediately thought of several pills that could have similar effects. In fact, she might also use some specific incenses to entice similar reactions in her body, thus limiting the toxins. As they spoke, the two of them were formulating plans to improve their cultivation. However, cultivating the soul was an even more personal matter than cultivating one's Qi. Thus Cao Yun gained less than his Dao companion. That being said, she gave him very interesting images to work on the aspects of his Po. Visualization was very important indeed, the young man had been convinced of it.
Ironically, Cao Yun who had been nervous to meet with Feng Yingyue again was now wanting for the Alchemy Conference to never come. Although he had not talked about martial arts for quite some time, those moments spent with that lovely woman were precious to him. He enjoyed every word they exchanged. Instead of martial arts, they talked about Qi cultivation, mind cultivation and a little bit of alchemy. Those were also subjects Cao Yun was passionate about.
"When this competition is over, I'd like to exchange a few moves with you. Even if I didn't train my martial arts very much, I still have some things I'd like your opinion about."
"Of course, it would be my pleasure."
"Don't mock me though. Unlike you I am nowhere near forming a Martial Aura. My techniques will look ridiculous in your eyes..."
Finally, they left their room. In the corridor, they met Song Guixiang who had a large grin on his face.
"Oh?! So you're done 'speaking' with each other?! Ha ha ha!"
Feng Yingyue who used to be shy was now accustomed to Song Guixiang's attitude. Most of the time, he was been admonished by their master because he was often getting carried away. However, she also knew, like Spirit Master Hua, that his heart was in the right place. So she didn't get overly embarrassed. That being said, Cao Yun could see her complexion turning a bit red when she brazenly answered.
"We would have loved to keep on speaking, but the Alchemy Conference awaits us."
"I hear you, sister. Sometimes I'm forced to leave a charming company because our master needs me for some task... That's just the worst. But once you both win the competition, you'll have a lot more time to 'catch up'. Ha ha ha!"
Suddenly, Song Guixiang's attitude changed. Feng Yingyue also got colder. From the entrance, Cao Yun could hear that someone had entered the residence and he was able to recognize him through his Wei Qi. That person was Xue Rui's older brother, Xue Gulin. Cao Yun had killed his brother very recently. Even if his death had been attributed to Gu Song, he knew that the Xue family resented him. After all, he had asked for a formal investigation to be opened on Zhong Ling and this didn't look good for the Xue family. Chief Elder Meng had also heard the news and had been furious. He had felt rather close to Zhong Ling as she was the one who always woke him up to get to work.
Xue Gulin was very tall and handsome. Just by looking at his face, one could see arrogance everywhere. To be fair, he had the right to be arrogant. At 22 years old, he had become a 1st-grade Mortal Warrior, it was five years earlier than Song Guixiang. Of course compare with Cao Yun and Feng Yingyue, this was a bit slow. But compared with the average cultivator, this was still very good as they reached 1st-grade Mortal Warrior in their early thirties. Even Mei Hua who was a talented alchemist had become a 1st-grade Mortal Warrior very recently as she was already 21. Moreover, Xue Gulin was a 5-star Human alchemist already and had been chosen as the third representative of the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute.
In other words, in the Subei Province, he was an absolute genius. His mere existence would help his family rise higher than ever before. But he had two vexations and they were now right in front of him, rubbing it in his face. The first one was Feng Yingyue. Despite his attempts at courting her, he had failed. Over time, he had moved past it. After all, Feng Yingyue was a genius way above himself so he could accept that she didn't want to be with him. And he had even accepted that she was another man's Dao companion as that man was literally the Wubei Sect's future leader.
But then, this very man had caused his second vexation. His little brother had died in circumstances that weren't so clear to him. In fact, the more he heard about it, the more he was convinced that Cao Yun had somehow been responsible for it in some way. Or at the very least, he had decided to let him die when he could have helped him. Obviously, Xue Gulin didn't know the whole truth and even had contradicting reports. But this new vexation had somehow woken up the first one. His hatred for Cao Yun was now firmly set in his heart.
As much as he tried to hide it, Cao Yun could see it clearly in his eyes.
"Sister Feng, Brother Song. And you must be Chen Guo. It's a pleasure to meet you, Young Sect Master. Patriarch Xue told me a lot about your exploits in our Qingyun City."
"Xue Gulin, all my condolences for your brother. What happened to him was truly tragic. I intend to strike down all those demonic cultivators so that such a tragedy doesn't happen again. If only I had been able to take Gu Song down earlier..."
"Do not blame yourself about it. I am certain that you did your best. Besides, my own family didn't even sense his presence. This was completely our fault. And as the investigation revealed, my brother did wrong your Wubei Sect with this Zhong Ling. Through me, our patriarch sends his sincerest apologies. If the Wubei Sect wants anything from us, we are ready to answer your call."
"Thank you. I hope that we can put these unfortunate events behind us and move on. Mankind must stay united to face all those threats in front of us."
"Of course. Brother Chen is magnanimous and wise. No wonder Sister Feng chose him over an insignificant man such as myself. You truly make an exceptional couple. Demons and demonic cultivators alike should cower before you."
All the nice words of Xue Gulin were filled with poison. Everyone in the room was aware of it and the atmosphere was exceptionally tense. So when Xue Gulin left as abruptly as he had come in, they didn't mind at all.
Cao Yun was more sensitive to those things than the other two alchemists. Thus he was the only one who felt the powerful killing intent hidden behind Xue Gulin's good manners. There was no doubt in his mind, Xue Gulin didn't just blame or hate him, he wanted his death. As much as Cao Yun simply couldn't kill someone just because he had bad intentions, at least not in the middle of the Imperial City, he would show no mercy when the time came. In fact, he even thought about assassinating him. Cao Yun had grown from the young boy he was before. It was better to get rid of a threat right now than to let it fester.
Unfortunately, he couldn't act freely in the Imperial City. There were late Spirit Warriors everywhere and Xue Gulin was literally one of the contestants for the Alchemy Conference. His death definitely wouldn't go unnoticed. For now, Cao Yun couldn't know whether Xue Gulin had acted on his desire or intended to do so. Anyway, he was already ready for an attack by demonic cultivators as he had learned from Gu Song. In his mind, he had seen plans for such an attack during the Alchemy Conference. But of course, those plans would be altered now that he was dead.
In Gu Song's plans, Xue Rui should have caused a disaster during the competition to serve as a diversion for their real attack. Right now, Cao Yun had made sure that his older brother was not in cahoots with them. Indeed, he had no trace of Evil Qi or any demonic technique. However, they could also use orthodox cultivators. His hatred toward Cao Yun could be weaponized. Spirit Master Xiao was also aware of that, but being in the Imperial City made tailing him much more difficult as spiritual senses were prohibited.