The Undying Immortal System

Chapter 256: Life 73, Age 49, Martial Grandmaster Peak

Since Mo was the newly reconfirmed Master of the Workshops, I sent him to Dragon Gate City to negotiate the details of the alchemy competition with YuanKong. By doing this, I showed my trust in the clan’s appointed leaders, sent the message that YuanKong was beneath my station, and proved to everyone that I was afraid of the potential traps that might be waiting for me at YuanFeng’s base of operations.

Overall, I was happy with how my actions would be interpreted, but I was a bit worried about Mo’s safety. As a newly ascended Grandmaster, he would be able to defend himself against most threats in the Wastes, but the Su Clan had more than enough high-level Grandmasters who were capable of suppressing him.

To combat this, I sent Bao to act as Mo’s bodyguard during these negotiations. While Bao had never spent much time on martial arts, he was a Peak Grandmaster with a foundation that could rival anyone on the continent. Also, his ability to control plants and wood qi made him a far deadlier threat than most might assume. If he had to fight against the combined might of both the Su Clan and the Rising Sun Empire, Bao might not be able to win, but only someone with exceptional skills would be able to keep him from escaping.

So, it came as no surprise at all when one week after departing, Mo and Bao safely returned to the mountain.

The agreement they reached with the Su Clan was that the alchemy competition was to be held in Dragon Gate City three months before the start of the new year. The competition would have three rounds, one between Disciples, one between Masters, and one between Grandmasters, and all competitors would need to be members of the Su Clan by blood. Whichever side won two of these three rounds would be declared the victor.

This format put us at a slight disadvantage since we didn’t actually have any Grandmaster Alchemists in our clan, but since Mo had agreed to it, I would trust his judgment.

Six months later, I arrived in Dragon Gate City with a small entourage following behind me.

First, were Mo and ShouLi, who were there to represent the council.

Behind them were our three competitors. I wasn’t familiar with the Disciple- and Master-level participants, Hong and Chang, but our Grandmaster Alchemist was someone I had met several times by this point, Elder RuLan, Mo’s wife.

Not long after the start of the year, RuLan had given birth, and while managing a newborn had to have taken up a lot of her time, she had still managed to push forward and ascend to Grandmaster. With only a few months of experience as a Grandmaster, I wasn’t sure how much of the Rank 3 alchemy knowledge from the memory orb she would have been able to internalize, but as the only Grandmaster Alchemist in the entire clan, she was the only person eligible for that slot in the competition.

Finally, at the rear of our procession were TaiZu and YuanFei who were flanked by a couple of their loyal Grandmaster bodyguards. Neither of them had been too happy when they had learned about this competition, but there was nothing they could do to stop it. If they didn’t follow my lead in this, then they would have to leave the mountain, and neither was willing to do that.

After entering the city, our group slowly made its way to the large public square where I had once watched warriors fight during the Dragon Gate Festival. A large stage had been placed in the middle of this square, but only two small alchemy workbenches sat atop it.

Large wooden bleachers had been constructed along three sides of this stage. These bleachers had been formed from roughhewn wooden boards that had been sanded down enough to remove any risk of splinters but not enough to keep clothing from snagging on them. In more prosperous cities, even poorer members of society would have turned their noses up at such austere accommodations, but the well-dressed spectators who were packed in tight to watch the competition didn’t seem to mind.

Along the fourth side of the stage, an opulent, colorful viewing platform had been erected. This platform was draped in red silks that had been embroidered with golden threads. Small golden figurines adorned the tops of each pole that held up a silk awning that protected those on the platform from the harsh rays of the sun.

In contrast to the tightly packed bleachers, this large platform held only three chairs. Each of the chairs had been made from high-Rank wood and carved with various fantastical designs, but the chair in the center of these three was far more extravagant than the other two. It was formed from a Rank 5 wood that even a Martial Lord would have difficulty manipulating, and thin lines of a silvery metal coiled around each piece of exposed woodwork.

Not only would this metal prevent wood cultivators from turning the chair against the person who sat in it, but it would also provide a means of attack and defense as long as the person who occupied it was a metal cultivator.

By the time my group arrived, the three chairs on this platform had already been occupied. YuanFeng, the Su Clan’s new Patriarch, sat off to the left.

A soft growl escaped from ShouLi the moment she saw YuanFeng. In the past, ShouLi had referred to YuanFei as ‘uncle,’ so I had assumed YuanFeng was her father. Since then, I had learned that she was actually his granddaughter, and from the way she reacted upon seeing him, it was clear there was no love lost between the two of them.

Setting the family drama to the side, I looked at the others on the platform.

The chair on the right was occupied by the man I now recognized as Prince Yangci of the Red Sun Kingdom. Between them, sitting in the position of the host, was Third Prince Yang of the Rising Sun Empire.

The Third Prince’s presence here wasn’t much of a surprise, but I wasn’t entirely sure of his purpose. He clearly wanted to support YuanFeng, but his motivations might go deeper than that. There was a chance that he aimed to expose my title of Prince of the Proud Mountain Kingdom as fraudulent, but there was also a chance that he was politically opposed to the Proud Mountain Kingdom and wanted to use this opportunity to attack it through me.

In the end, though, none of this made any difference. If the Third Prince opposed me, I would fight back against him. I didn’t need to know what his true motivations were.

After appraising the situation, I had an important choice to make.

YuanFeng and the Third Prince hadn’t prepared anywhere for me to sit. The group of competitors from the Su Clan had taken up a position along the base of the arena beneath the Third Prince’s viewing platform, and a similar waiting area had been set up on the opposite side of the arena for my team. From the way everything was laid out, it appeared as if they intended me to stand next to my competitors at the side of the arena.

This was a slap in the face, and I had to decide how I was going to respond to it.

Two servants walked forward and placed large crates of blue peonies next to each competitor.

Then, YuanKong activated a formation set beneath each workbench.

“As I’m sure everyone is aware, performing alchemy demands a great deal of focus and attention, making concocting pills in front of a large audience exceptionally difficult. As such, these formations will block out all sights and sounds from the surroundings, allowing both alchemists to fully focus on their craft.”

I quickly checked the formations using energy vision, but despite my skepticism, they looked legitimate. There was nothing that would give any kind of edge to the Su Clan.

Once everything was ready, YuanKong raised a hand and then sliced it down with a sharp cutting motion.

“Begin!”

Both young men immediately set to work.

Hong carefully picked a blue peony from his crate, placed it into his alchemy furnace, melted its physical structure, and burned away its impurities.

From the scrolls and memory orbs in the Technique Hall, he would have learned several ways to maximize the efficacy of a pill, but he didn’t use them. Such techniques would take time, and this was a competition focused on speed.

As quickly as he could, Hong burned away all the flower's impurities while using his wood affinity to manipulate the herb’s medicinal energy to reach the toxins hidden inside. Then, he condensed the energy into a pill. Once it was ready, he took the pill out of his furnace and placed it onto a jade plate that was sitting on his workbench.

As Hong was doing his best to move as quickly as possible, the efficacy of the pill he made was slightly substandard, but for someone who had only been practicing alchemy for a year, his level of skill was incredibly impressive.

Opposite Hong, Su JinHai was taking a far different strategy.

As soon as the competition started, he grabbed a flower from his crate at random and threw it into his furnace. Then, he melted its physical structure, made a quick job of destroying a few impurities, and condensed the energy into a pill. From his actions, it almost seemed as if he had a blessing for knowing the maximum amount of toxins that medicinal energy could contain while still being able to be condensed into a pill.

Pills quickly began to accumulate on the jade plate in front of Su JinHai, and I couldn’t help but feel that this was partially my fault. For years, I had instilled the message that only Perfect pills were acceptable into every alchemist in my clan, so the thought of purposefully concocting a Low-Purity pill was anathema to them.

If Hong had been able to see what Su JinHai was doing, he might have realized his mistake and changed his strategy. However, with a formation in place to block him from seeing anything in his surroundings, Hong could only focus on working as fast as possible.

As soon as 30 minutes had elapsed, YuanKong waved a hand and disabled the formations.

“Stop! Competitors, back away from your workstations.”

Four pills sat on the jade plate in front of Hong. Eighteen were on the plate in front of Su JinHai.

Seeing this, YuanKong smiled and motioned for them to take the plates to where WuJing was seated.

“Please, allow our esteemed judge to determine the victor of this round of the competition.”

The winner was clear to everyone, but Hong and Su JinHai did as commanded.

Upon inspecting the pills presented to him, WuJing’s upper lip curled in disgust.

He looked at me, and I gave him a slight shake of my head.

Then, he turned to look at the two boys.

“Disciple Alchemist Hong has crafted four Perfect Rank 1 Basic Qi Gathering Pills. Su JinHai has crafted eleven Low-Purity Basic Qi Gathering Pills and seven trash pills. The winner is Su JinHai.”