The Sect Competition arrived as scheduled. The disciples of Linghua Sect, Red Blood Lake, and Jiyi Valley stood in their respective ranks. Led by the rising stars of their sects, they entered the arena to listen to the admonitions of the elders from the three sects.
Thus, three neatly arranged queues—one deep blue, one blood red, and one snow white—stood in formation. Every single one of them was an elite among peers; one could even say the future of the cultivation world rested in their hands.
However, the center of attention this time—Linghua Sect’s top rising star, Senior Brother Su Li—seemed somewhat distracted.
His gaze repeatedly darted toward the VIP seating high on the elevated platform. In front of what was originally Immortal Respecter Lingyue’s seat, there was still no one present.
Master…
The rising star of Red Blood Lake was tall and slender, his red robe bright and eye-catching. He issued a rather arrogant provocation: “What’s wrong? I heard that you just formed your Golden Core recently. Is your cultivation unstable? Do you need to withdraw from the competition to rest and recuperate properly?”
The rising star of Jiyi Valley glanced in their direction with concern.
Su Li’s gaze swept over sharply as he said nonchalantly, “I am at the Golden Core stage while you are at the Foundation Establishment stage. Who actually needs to weigh whether to withdraw or not?”
These words struck right at the Red Blood Lake disciple’s sore spot. His expression stiffened slightly: “…I am at the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment! I am deliberately suppressing my breakthrough precisely so I can comprehend the Dao during battle today and form a superior Golden Core!” He raised an eyebrow, declaring proudly, “As a sword cultivator who sleeps on ice, drinks snow, and slumbers beside my blade, slaying opponents of a higher realm is a commonplace affair. You had better be careful!”
Su Li nodded casually, though his focus completely veered off track: “Slumbering beside your blade? I’ve heard that sword cultivators treat their swords as they would a Dao companion. Is that true?”
“?” The Red Blood Lake disciple was choked up. “That is indeed the case.”
Su Li turned his eyes back, their depths dark and inscrutable: “Then if someone used your sword without permission, or shared the same sword with you, wouldn’t that be tantamount to snatching your Dao companion?”
The disciple’s face instantly flushed red: “What Dao companion?! What sharing?! You—you—you, what do you want to do to my sword?!”
He clutched his sword and took three sharp steps back, looking at Su Li as if he were looking at a complete pervert.
The rising star of Jiyi Valley had no choice but to step in to smooth things over: “Brothers, please do not get agitated…”
Su Li then shifted his gaze toward this Jiyi Valley disciple. After pondering for half a second, he asked, “May I ask, brother—is that formidable-looking green umbrella in the Medical Immortal’s hands something that every grand power in your valley possesses?”
The Jiyi Valley disciple looked at him in astonishment as well: “How could that be?! Our Valley Master’s magic treasure was crafted by Feixing Workshop! It is one of a kind in Jiyi Valley!”
Su Li spoke no further.
Heh. As expected. Claiming that he only had a friendship of ‘discussing tea and the Dao’ with Master—yet as it turned out, the one entering and leaving the room that night was you!
The color in his eyes deepened further. Looking up, Lu Yin had finally arrived, taking his place in Immortal Respecter Lingyue’s seat. Only, he looked rather weary, sitting lazily in his elevated seat.
The moment Master appeared, Su Li’s eyes could no longer hold anyone else.
A trace of obsession flickered in Su Li’s eyes.
Pity that the Lake Master of Red Blood Lake and the Valley Master of Jiyi Valley sitting beside Master likely held the exact same thoughts.
Though their appearances fell far short of even one-tenth of the figures he had seen, wouldn’t face-altering pills be effortless for these two to obtain?
How ridiculous those two were—did they actually go out of their way to make themselves look handsomer whenever they entered and left Master’s room?
Did they even know that they weren’t Master’s only Dao companion?!
Although he still didn’t know who the other two dog men were, making these two before him fight each other would surely be quite entertaining.
Lost in thought, black Qi still lingered faintly around the sword wound on Su Li’s chest.
The first day consisted mainly of arena battles.
Su Li was invincible on the stage. Against ordinary disciples, he could win simply by unleashing his Golden Core pressure.
Soon enough, he faced his match against the rising star of Red Blood Lake.
The disciple was named Wu Kai, and he specialized in using a heavy sword—quite consistent with the style of the Red Blood Lake Master.
Unslingshoulder his heavy sword from his back, Wu Kai cupped his fists: “Pardon me!”
Su Li kept one hand behind his back, his posture standing straight like green bamboo in the wind: “Please.”
Wu Kai’s attacks crashed down like a furious storm!
Such was the style of the heavy sword: violent and powerful strikes. If one remained suppressed, they would quickly fall into his rhythm and ultimately lose the strength to fight back.
Under this offensive, Su Li was forced back step by step, appearing completely powerless to strike back.
Wu Kai laughed excitedly: “Aha! The number one genius of Linghua Sect is nothing special after all! I told you I would slay across realms—you’d better be careful!”
Su Li merely looked at him without a word, his gaze heavy. The wind whipped the hem of his robe, leaving a deep blue streak across the stage.
Up in the viewing gallery, the deep-red-robed, sharp-featured Lake Master also grew intrigued. He extended an arm to nudge Lu Yin, raising an eyebrow: “How about it? Care to make a bet on which one will win—your disciple or my prized pupil?”
Lu Yin raised his eyelids, casting a lazy glance at him.
This was it—this high-altitude flower who appeared indifferent to all matters, pulled down and crushed in his palm until he wept… that was what made it most entertaining.
The Lake Master grew even more excited. He slapped the railing, stood up, and shouted to the two fighting fiercely in the arena, “Fight well, you two! Immortal Respecter Lingyue made a bet with me—if he loses, he has to come and stay at Red Blood Lake for a month!”
Lu Yin: “When did I…”
Before his voice even faded, the aura on Su Li’s side suddenly shifted. He formed hand seals and cast several arrays, his figure shifting as light and graceful as the wind. Dragged down by his heavy sword, Wu Kai couldn’t dodge in time and crashed straight into Su Li’s cluster of arrays. Frost, snow, rain, and swift winds attacked in succession, rendering him instantly immobile.
By the time he finally snapped back to awareness and raised his heavy sword high, Su Li stood motionless. With a wave of his hand, five golden bolts of thunder flashed—resembling five golden dragons swirling around him, accompanied by the faint roar of dragon cries. Then, wind and thunder surged—
The five thunder dragons alternately passed through Wu Kai’s body. The electricity poured straight along his heavy sword into his body; Wu Kai stood stiff and motionless as plumes of blue smoke rose from his body.
“Whoa—” The spectating disciples gasped in awe.
Even the Lake Master narrowed his eyes, as if seeing this disciple for the very first time.
Su Li straightened up and bowed: “Thank you for the match.”
Wu Kai swayed twice before crashing heavily to the ground.
The referee froze for a moment before crying out in surprise, “Linghua Sect, Su Li wins!”
“Worthy of being a favored child of heaven…”
“A hero among the younger generation…”
Amidst the flood of discussions, the young man standing proud against the wind and snow walked all the way up to the balcony viewing platform, standing obediently behind Lu Yin. Turning solely to the Red Blood Lake Master, he said, “My master will not be able to go to Red Blood Lake…”
Watching the Lake Master’s face turn drastically, he added another sentence: “Master had already agreed to taste tea with the Medical Immortal of Jiyi Valley previously.”
In a large sect like Linghua Sect, disciples usually addressed their masters respectfully as “Master” (Shizun). Yet Su Li insisted on calling him “My Master” (Jiashi) with every breath, practically wishing to announce to the whole world that he was the one in the same household as Lu Yin.
Sitting on Lu Yin’s right side, the Medical Immortal was somewhat surprised, casting a meaningful glance over: “Zizhuo, this disciple of yours is certainly well-informed about your affairs.”
Before Lu Yin could speak, Su Li took the initiative to apologize first: “As the sole disciple under My Master’s seat, I naturally pay close attention to everything and dare not slack off.”
These words were so flawless that no one could pick out any fault.
He turned and bowed to the Lake Master again: “The Red Blood Lake Master sent over Blood Algae Tea a while ago. My Master drank it and said it was quite good; he will likely bring it along to Jiyi Valley to savor together.”
Why should the things he gifted be shared with another man?
The Red Blood Lake Master’s expression turned increasingly unpleasant.
Lu Yin waved his hand, dismissing Su Li: “There is still the alchemy competition this afternoon. Go rest first.”
Su Li acknowledged the command and lowered his head as he withdrew.
Before walking down the balcony, the corner of his eye caught the Red Blood Lake Master pointing at the Medical Immortal, speaking to him in a rush.
The corners of Su Li’s lips curled up in satisfaction: Wonderful. The more you fight, the better.
Come the afternoon’s alchemy competition, the people of Red Blood Lake were generally inferior to Jiyi Valley.
However, the topic given this time was the meridian-clearing “Rejuvenation Pill.” This type of pill could be called a classic among cultivation sects; after all, who wouldn’t get poisoned while heading out to explore grand mountains, rivers, and secret realms?
Since it was a detoxification method that everyone in every cultivation sect had to master, each sect had its own variations.
For instance, Red Blood Lake relied on a scorching Red Blood sword intent to enhance the medicinal potency during the final stage of refining. Jiyi Valley relied on selecting more flawless herbs and altering the proportions to make the Rejuvenation Pill’s medicinal properties more complete.
Linghua Sect, after years of improvement, used different techniques to process the herbs, tweaking their properties to achieve a more perfect compatibility between ingredients and reduce side effects. Indeed, the Rejuvenation Pill was not without side effects; if the refinement failed, it would cause dizziness and fatigue.
The cauldrons were of uniform design, and the disciples had to judge the timing to unseal them on their own. Across the square, wisps of pill fragrance instantly rose into the air.
As the sky darkened, many cauldrons had already been opened, leaving only the cauldrons of the Jiyi Valley rising star and Su Li still operating. The surrounding onlookers couldn’t help but sweat on their behalf.
“I can still understand Jiyi Valley—it seems they added extra Ice Grass, which requires a long time to activate its potency. But as for Linghua Sect’s disciple, why can’t I understand what he’s doing?”
“How long has his cauldron been going?”
“It seems to have exceeded the standard time by an hour.”
“An hour? Even if processed with special techniques, it shouldn’t take this long… If he continues refining, the cauldron will burn dry!”
“Linghua Sect is overdoing it…”
Amidst the chorus of doubts, the Jiyi Valley disciple and Linghua Sect’s Su Li opened their cauldrons almost simultaneously. In an instant, colorful clouds swirled across the horizon, forming cloud shapes of luan birds in the sky. Hundreds of birds chirped in unison, coming from all directions to pay homage.
“An anomaly in the heavens… This is the sign of a top-grade pill being unsealed!” The judges and spectating elders were all deeply moved.
The largest cloud continuously expanded like a luan bird spreading its wings. Then, with a clear cry, a real luan bird broke through the clouds and mist, folded its wings, and plunged straight toward the square, its long, sharp beak pecking toward Jiyi Valley’s cauldron!
“Luan bird dotting the eye!” The other alchemy cultivators exclaimed in awe. “To think I would actually witness such a scene in my lifetime!”
“Worthy of being Jiyi Valley’s rising star—the younger generation is truly to be feared!”
“To summon a luan bird even while refining a classic pill like the Rejuvenation Pill, Jiyi Valley’s foundation is truly unfathomable…”
Right at that moment, an unexpected turn occurred!
The auspicious luan bird that had been summoned suddenly let out a sharp cry. Its feathers bristled, its eyes flushed red, and it unexpectedly dived headfirst toward the balcony viewing platform!
Beyond everyone’s expectations, the sharp bird beak was already piercing into the balcony—
With a flash of his figure using the Cloud-Capturing technique, Su Li darted ahead of the luan bird, blocking the way in front of Lu Yin: “Master!”
“Beast!” With a single sword intent from the Red Blood Lake Master, feathers scattered everywhere as the luan bird fled for its life.
However, Su Li collapsed into Lu Yin’s arms, half his body drenched in blood.
Lu Yin’s expression was complex: “You… foolish child, how could a luan bird possibly harm your master…”
Clutching his injured arm, Su Li smiled brightly: “…Disciple was being foolish. As long as Master is fine, that’s all that matters.”