Chapter 106: Squandering the Opportunity?

As night deepened, the quiet alley gradually fell into silence. Xu Zhe finally managed to lull the little girl to sleep and stepped out of the dilapidated little house. After a moment’s thought, he casually carved a few simple protective runes on the wooden door to prevent those who had seriously injured the woman from pursuing them here.

As for why the woman was injured and who had harmed her, Xu Zhe didn’t want to meddle. What if, upon inquiry, he found out she had committed some wrongdoing and was being punished? Besides, he had already intervened to save her; what remained was fate’s will. If someone came looking for her and he happened to be free to see them, he could ask then.

For now, all his focus was on the Divine Pill Conference.

“Four hundred and fifty points!” Xu Zhe held up the jade token again, his heart trembling, hands shaking.

When had he ever imagined such a humiliating moment? Back in university, he had scored full marks in every subject; even losing five points had troubled him deeply. Yet now, in a competition where five hundred was perfect, he had lost a full fifty points!

A full fifty points!

“If I can make it into the top one hundred tomorrow, I must give it my all. I must not be careless again. There are always stronger people; I cannot underestimate the pill refining techniques of the Qingci Continent,” Xu Zhe resolved silently.

Back at the inn, he took out the Ten-Thousand Phenomena Jade Tablet and vigorously studied everything related to pill refining. Even the basic knowledge he found on the Spirit Network was not wasted.

…

At the same time, the judging panel of the Divine Pill Conference gathered, their brows tightly furrowed in the solemn atmosphere of the meeting hall.

“Do you all really want to award first place to this person?” one asked.

“I don’t think so. Look closely at his records. He’s only at the fifth level of Qi Refinement. If we give him first place, the outside world will think we’re corrupt, and our oversight will be questioned.”

“Four hundred and fifty points! That’s a score never before reached in past conferences!”

“Back then, the highest score by Master Gu was only four hundred and thirty-five points. Later, Alchemist Dong broke that record with four hundred and forty points.”

“I’ve seen Yu Song’s results. He got full marks in the first three rounds, showing his deep knowledge and understanding of medicinal materials. But why only fifty points in the last round?”

“He used ancient pill refining techniques in the last round. The methods described are theoretically feasible, but practically impossible to execute, so we gave him fifty points.”

“Do you think he’s hiding his true strength? After all, he’s from the Vermilion Bird Army. If that’s the case, invalidating his score could cause us trouble.”

“That’s unlikely. I think we can give him first place. If he shows up tomorrow for the pill refining contest, the only ones who will look foolish are him and the Vermilion Bird Army.”

“He’s barely at Qi Refinement stage, hasn’t even condensed Divine Consciousness, how can he refine pills? Just memorizing the medicinal records in books to get a high score doesn’t mean he can actually refine pills.”

“No, absolutely no first place for him. Otherwise, the credibility of our judging panel will suffer unprecedented doubts.”

…

The debate grew increasingly heated until dawn, when they finally reached a compromise.

They canceled the first-place ranking and placed “Yu Song” within the top one hundred, qualifying him to participate in the pill refining competition, but his rank would not be displayed. The rest of the competitors were ranked as usual: only the top fifty would have their rankings shown on their jade tokens; the others would have no rank displayed.

This way, fairness was maintained and public criticism avoided.

…

The next day dawned bright and clear.

The Divine Pill Conference officially began its most important segment—the pill refining competition.

All pill refiners who made the top one hundred had a “Pill” symbol displayed on their jade tokens, Xu Zhe included. He had learned all this the previous day.

Sitting in the inn, seeing the response on his jade token, he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Luckily I made the top one hundred, though no ranking is shown. That means I didn’t even make the top fifty. As expected, the pill refiners of Qingci Continent are not to be underestimated!” Xu Zhe muttered under his breath, his expression turning serious as he pocketed the jade token and strode out of the inn towards the competition grounds.

He had spent the entire night reviewing basic knowledge of medicinal materials on the Spirit Network. Though much of it was repetition since he already understood those points, it served as a refresher.

He had also mentally rehearsed the refining methods for a dozen different pills repeatedly, again, just reviewing.

Now, fully prepared and confident, he was ready to face the competition. Whatever the outcome, at least he had tried his best—there would be no regrets.

The pill refining venue was set in a vast martial arts arena.

When Xu Zhe arrived, the place was already packed with people.

Many cultivators had not left since the previous night, crowding around the arena’s perimeter, jostling for a spot close to the front.

Many disciples from the Tianji Sect had come as well, using various means to set up Ten-Thousand Phenomena Jade Tablets around the arena to film the event.

It seemed this would be another live broadcast.

Xu Zhe didn’t mind being watched while refining pills. After all, the key difficulty in pill refining didn’t lie in the outward movements but in mastering the fire’s timing and deeply understanding the medicinal properties.

The same spirit herb, refined by two different pill masters, would yield liquid with different impurities or varying potency.

Even slight variations in fire control during refining would affect the final quality of the pill.

So even if the whole refining process was observed, no one could really learn much.

Standing outside the crowd, Xu Zhe glanced at the arena.

On the spacious ground were two hundred pill refining stations, each equipped with a pill furnace and several sets of familiar glassware.

“Beakers, alcohol lamps, centrifuge tubes, burettes…” Xu Zhe recognized the equipment one by one, his expression growing increasingly peculiar.

Good heavens, are these pill refiners setting up for chemical experiments?

“Participants in the pill refining competition, please enter immediately. Those not inside by the start of the competition will be considered to have forfeited,” boomed an elderly man as he stepped onto the arena, his voice resonating powerfully.

The crowd immediately stirred, many pressing toward the arena entrance, raising their jade tokens for inspection before being allowed entry.

Seeing the line growing longer, Xu Zhe hurried over.

Two beautiful women in Taoist robes were in charge of inspecting the jade tokens. They were said to be disciples from the Putuo Sacred Land, serving as the event’s face.

Many attendees seemed to have come just to catch a glimpse of the Putuo female disciples’ beauty.

Some even flirted with the two women during the inspection, but the disciples ignored them completely, maintaining a cool aloofness and swiftly calling the next person, showing great efficiency.

Xu Zhe was quite pleased, feeling the competition was being handled professionally.

Before long, it was his turn. Holding his jade token, he stepped to the arena entrance.

But the two women’s expressions changed abruptly upon seeing his name on the jade token.

“Yu Song?”

“You’re Yu Song?”

They looked at Xu Zhe simultaneously, their faces a strange mix of surprise, complexity, and curiosity.

“Uh, yes, that’s me,” Xu Zhe replied, puzzled. He wondered if Yu Song had somehow offended them. Everyone else had passed inspection without issue—why was he treated differently?

“Alright, you may enter.”

“Next!”

Though they glanced at him a few more times, they let him enter without further comment.

Still confused, Xu Zhe didn’t ask and hurried into the arena.

“Fellow cultivator, are the pill refining stations chosen freely?” he asked a refiner ahead.

He was curious why, if only the top one hundred could participate, there were two hundred stations. Were the extra furnaces backups for those who might blow theirs up?

“That’s right, you can pick any spot. Is this your first time?”

The man blinked, then stared at Xu Zhe in surprise.

“No way! With your Qi Refinement stage cultivation, how can you participate in the pill refining contest?”

His exclamation drew many eyes.

The entire arena fell silent for a moment.

All gazes focused on Xu Zhe; many even probed him with Divine Consciousness.

Then many faces turned sour.

“Qi Refinement?”

“No way, he’s really at Qi Refinement?”

“This is ridiculous! How is he even eligible to join the pill refining competition?”

“Has the judging panel gone mad this year? A Qi Refinement cultivator in the top one hundred? At Qi Refinement, he hasn’t even condensed Divine Consciousness. How could he possibly refine pills?”

“This is a complete waste of a spot in the competition!”

…

[End of First Update]

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