With all his pellets filled with the medicinal of the stalks of Deep Sea Breathing Kelp, Cao Yun decided not to stop there. He still had half of the stalks in front of him. Thus, he kept on going. The pellets were already full of medicinal essence, but he was now working on his understanding of 'Writing Life With Fire'. Later, he would try to get more works from Master Jiangle. Maybe he could find some hidden gems in his works. Unfortunately, there were few copies of his manuals and treatises.
That was sadly a fact he had debated with Jiahe Ruo. Copying manuals and even books was not systematic. But through a better process, they might be able to improve the diffusion of knowledge. In fact, this would help all domains. Indeed, there could be thousands if not millions of works that were lost to time. With their enhanced mind, Spirit Warriors could read even a thick book in a matter of minutes. If they had access to more works, they might get new ideas. In time, Cao Yun would think about helping Jiahe Ruo's pursuit. This would be a good thing for all humans.
For now though, he was busy focusing on his control of the flames. On the same stage, Feng Yingyue had also begun to extract the medicinal essence from the very first stalk. Contrary to Cao Yun, she didn't have a fragment of the Dao of Fire in her. Thus, she decided to use another means to help herself. She took out a guqin. Like her sister, Spirit Master Hua Fenfei was using the 'Otherworldly White Crane' technique. This was both a martial art and a mind cultivation method. Of course, her direct disciple had worked on this technique.
In theory, it was a technique best suited to Spirit Warriors, but Feng Yingyue had been able to use it very effectively. And right now, she was playing a melody to help control her flames. Unfortunately, the arbiter used the array formations to isolate the sound of her instruments so it didn't disturb the other contestants. However, he knew that the audience would be disappointed if they couldn't hear it. The array formations around the stage were meant to control the flow of air in order to isolate the alchemists. As such, he altered it a little so the sound of Feng Yingyue's music could reach the audience.
Xiao Xuefeng was pleasantly surprised as Hua Fenfei knew more about the progress of her own disciple than her. This Feng Yingyue seemed to be as talented as Cao Yun. While his talent was still focused on martial arts and cultivation, hers was greater in terms of the mind. In fact, she would probably be done with 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks' way before Cao Yun while he would have reached Spirit Warrior before her. The two of them were forming a good pair of Dao companions. To be fair, she still felt they might take it a bit lightly as they were young. But then again, they were indeed very young. For now, she had no reason to interfere with their matters. She felt like they would ultimately choose different paths though.
-
Finally, Cao Yun presented his pellets first.
"Perfect. The pills are filled to the brim. 100 points."
At last, Cao Yun had obtained the perfect score in a trial. This time, Xue Gulin knew he could not best him at all. In fact, he was struggling with his own flames and ingredients. At the very least, he didn't want to score less than 90 points. Before he could get an assessment on his performance, Feng Yingyue and Mei Hua were both done. Feng Yingyue also obtained 100 points while Mei Hua only got 94 points.
Cao Yun's sworn sister had used the same technique as Feng Yingyue. Unfortunately, her mind cultivation was lower and her comprehension of 'Otherworldly White Crane' was a lacking in comparison. Still, for a Human alchemist, this was a great achievement. On the other hand, Feng Yingyue's achievement was incredible. They were close to the middle of the Alchemy Conference. And yet, she had always obtained a perfect score. If she kept on going like that, she might set a new, unbeatable, record. Indeed, no one had ever obtained a perfect score to all the trials of the Alchemy Conference, not even Xiao Xuefeng when she was younger.
A few minutes later, Xue Gulin presented his pills. This particular trial had been more difficult for him as it had required to learn a completely new technique in a short amount of time. To be fair, the other three had had way more time thanks to their mind cultivation. If Xue Gulin had been able to train for as long as they did, he might have had a better result. Anyway, he still received 91 points. At the very least, he had saved his face. In other circumstances, he would have been very proud of his score, but not this time.
After him, the other alchemists took a lot more time before presenting their pellets to the arbiter. Not a single alchemist reached more than 82 points. And seven of them simply failed to even get 50 points. Worse than that, two alchemists had failed to produce more than two pellets. They had wasted most of the ingredients before they got the hang of the technique. As such, all nine of them were eliminated. There were less than a dozen contestants now. More than half of the alchemists who had entered the Alchemy Conference had already been disqualified. In other words, the halfway-point of the competition had been reached.
Once again the arbiter talked to the crowd.
"Thank you to all the alchemists who came from every corner of the Hongchen Kingdom. Your names will be remembered as the most talented alchemists of your generation. Even those who failed today or yesterday or the day before that, will become great pillars of alchemy. The competition will resume in five days. But before that, we will have the great honor of seeing an incredible exhibition! Spirit Masters Hua and Xiao will perform a pill refinement. That incredible sight will happen on this very platform in two days' time."
That announcement had a huge impact on the crowd. They all turned toward the two women who were sitting among them. After all, even those who didn't know too much about alchemy knew that those two women had refined a 1-star Spirit pill. Watching them refine any pill would be a great show for them all. The alchemists, and especially the Heaven alchemists, were even more excited. Just by watching them, they might be able to improve their understanding of alchemy and gain some insights. In fact, they would have killed to watch them refine a Spirit pill if they had failed. And they would do anything to assist them in the process of refining even the simplest of pills.
"The two Spirit Masters will do us the honor to refine a 3-star Heaven pill, the Frozen Fire pill. Emperor Weide will be present in person to admire their work."
The arbiter had nothing more to say to convince the entire audience to come back in two days. In fact, the word would spread everywhere in the Imperial City. During two days, many servants would work on making the audience area as large as possible as many, many people would be present that day.
-
In the distance, Yong Ke had observed the competition until Cao Yun got his score. After that, she was forced to follow her tutor to work on her cultivation. As a 3rd-grade Mortal Warrior, she had to forge her Five Prodigious Gates. They were still not completely tempered and a bit too weak to advance to the next grade. As such, she received a Pure Transparent Celestial Key pill. Such a pill was able to open all the acupoints of someone. With a quality like that, the pill had little to no toxins within. Still, it wasn't a good idea to eat more than once a year. Two years ago, she had already ate one in order to completely open all her acupoints.
Consuming this pill, she then was helped by five late Spirit Warriors pouring their Qi in her. This was truly extravagant. Apparently, her father, Emperor Weide, wanted her to cultivate as fast as possible in order for her to become a Spirit Warrior. It wasn't painful per se but it was still very exhausting and the sensation was strange. It felt as though five horses were pulling on her limbs and head. Yes, it wasn't to the level of actual pain, but considering her current body, this wasn't an accomplishment. A mere mortal would have been torn apart by the actions of those Spirit Warriors.
That technique had no name but Yong Ke had decided to call it 'Five Wild Horses Tear Open the Doors'. This was an accurate description of what was happening to her. Without the effect of the pill, such a cultivation method would have left many injuries. But the medicinal essence was taking care of them while helping the tempering of the Five Prodigious Gates. In other words, this was like a form of intense muscle training. By lightly injuring one's muscles, they would grow stronger with enough recovery. Of course, acupoints were much more sensitive than muscles, especially the muscles of a Mortal Warrior.
As much as the technique was violent, it was clearly efficient. Yong Ke could feel her Five Prodigious Gates become stronger and stronger each time. But she needed at least two to three weeks of rest between each session to avoid any lasting injury. Those would defeat the purpose of the training as she would never be able to open her gates fully if they were to happen.
-
Back in the residence where Xiao Xuefeng and Hua Fenfei were staying, Xue Gulin was also present. He was the only one who had not heard about the upcoming refinement process.
"Spirit Master Xiao, this is too unfair! Sister Mei, Sister Feng and Brother Song will help you but not me?! I was granted a spot in the Alchemy Conference! I deserve the honor of helping you out! Hell, I would even be content if I could just watch up close!"
"Then you will have to watch from the audience. We can make sure that you have a front-row seat. However, if you raise your voice against me even once, I will remind you who is the master."
Xue Gulin had a lot of frustration that had been accumulating inside. After hearing the news, it almost erupted and he took it out on Xiao Xuefeng. Thankfully, he was reasonable enough to know where the limit was. Insulting Spirit Master Xiao would be the last mistake he would make. However, a terrible thought passed through his mind. He turned toward Cao Yun and then back to the two women.
"Spirit Master Xiao, will Chen Guo help you during the refinement?"
"Indeed he will. After all, he's the one who gave us the ingredients. And he's the one for whom we will refine those pills. As such, this is a completely private matter between him and us. We can refine the pill however we like."
Hua Fenfei tried to mediate the situation though.
"Disciple Xue. This is not against you. But we are more familiar with them as they are our direct disciples. Our goal is to obtain the best pills possible. And we took into account all the strengths and weaknesses of our disciples. Incorporating you in the mix would give rise to many problems. We can't simply change all our plans at the last moment. Besides, you've seen that Chen Guo is indeed exceptionally talented. Furthermore, Sister Xiao knows him a lot from her time spent in the Wubei Sect. This is why we accepted to let him assist us. Don't feel like you've been wronged at all. In fact, we thought about awarding you a Frozen Fire pill."
"Thank you, Spirit Master Hua. This disciple understands."
Cao Yun could literally feel Xue Gulin's killing intent intensify. This was a great show of self-control that Xiao Xuefeng couldn't sense it at all. But Cao Yun was just more sensitive after his time in the Demon Palace against the blood beasts and his blood cultivation. After all, demons were specialized in killing intents contrary to humans.
-
After leaving, Xue Gulin almost tried to contact the assassins he had employed. But he controlled his impatience. Soon, Cao Yun would be killed. He simply had to wait a bit longer. Being in a hurry would only make things worse for him. He had to make sure that no one could connect what would happen to Cao Yun to him. Although he had lost any hope of being with Feng Yingyue, he still had a great future among the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute. He would not let it go just to kill one man, no matter how much he despised him.
In fact, Xue Gulin somehow knew that he might be attributing blame to Cao Yun where there was none. But he was a convenient scapegoat. However, he was afraid that Xiao Xuefeng could see through him. Her behavior was showing it. That was why he had decided to stay as far away from their residence as possible. There was also the fact that he couldn't stand to imagine Feng Yingyue and Cao Yun together in their room.
Of course, his fears had already become reality. But he had failed to realize that Cao Yun was the one who had sensed his desire for blood and death. The very moment the idea of killing Cao Yun had settled in his mind, Xue Gulin's death had become a certainty. After everything he had lived, Cao Yun would not allow for such a threat to exist. As an alchemist, he wouldn't take long before becoming a Spirit Warrior and a true thorn in Cao Yun's side.
Unfortunately, Cao Yun didn't know all the details of Xue Gulin's plan. And following him in the Imperial Palace or even the Imperial City was impossible. He could only rely on the information from the Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall obtained by Xiao Xuefeng.
Anyway, the alchemists got ready for the upcoming refinement of the 3-star Heaven pill. This would be a great event and an important step for Cao Yun.