Unrivaled Medicine God, page 184
"Ruyan is insensible. Please don't get angry, Brother Ji," said Xiao Ruyan, apologizing to Ye Yuan.
Ye Yuan waved his hand and said, "Haha, Brother Xiao is too kind. I joined the Xiao Family originally just to find a place to stay. I didn't think so much. But since I've already joined, there's naturally no reason to go back on my word."
Although he suspected that Xiao Rufeng was just putting on a show, Ye Yuan did not mind.
One should say that the anguish in Xiao Rufeng's heart right now could only be more intense compared to Xiao Ruyan. But he could take the opportunity to rope in Ye Yuan so shrewdly and subtlety. It was truly the bearing of a fierce and ambitious person.
Xiao Ruyan pursed her mouth but did not make a sound.
Following this, the Xiao Family's group too entered the association building.
The Alchemist Association Headquarters occupied a huge territory. When the group of people arrived in a great hall, the place was already filled with distinguished guests.
Ye Yuan took his seat and noticed several gazes looking over at him provocatively, and he could not help but to feel gloomy.
You guys were clearly the ones stirring trouble. Why did you make it seem like I owed you guys?
What the hell?!
But thinking about it, those few people should be the Tong Family's junior generation.
And on that note, the strength of Tong Family's junior generation was indeed way stronger than the Xiao Family's.
Ye Yuan slightly released his sense and discovered quite a number of high-rank Alchemy Grandmasters, far beyond those few currently stepping onto the stage.
Looking at the Xiao Family's side in contrast, apart from Xiao Rufeng and sister, there were barely any Alchemy Grandmasters. Thinking about it, their standards should not be much. Otherwise, they would not have needed to find Ye Yuan this guest retainer either.
Ye Yuan's attention was still on Du Cheng. He traveled thousands of miles, deep behind enemy lines, for the sake of saving this bunch of fellow apprentices.
Now that he finally saw one of them after experiencing life and death, waves surged slightly within Ye Yuan's heart.
Right at this moment, the entire great hall suddenly quietened down. Evidently, an important figure had arrived.
Ye Yuan did not recognize a single person here. He only knew one, and that was Xiao Changfeng.
But Ye Yuan saw that he was currently escorting an elderly person. But that old man looked rather impatient.
Similarly an Alchemy King powerhouse, Xiao Changfeng actually had a sort of groveling attitude, making Ye Yuan sigh unceasingly.
When the family declined, even if one was an Alchemy King powerhouse, they also would not have a backbone!
In the martial artist world, it had always been the powerhouses' game. Nobody would pity the weak.
On the other side, a middle-aged man with a similar age to Xiao Changfeng also accompanied an old man. But the two of them were laughing and talking, clearly the relation of equals.
That person was naturally the Tong Family's family head: Tong Fangshuo.
After chatting a few sentences, Xiao Changfeng and Tong Fangshuo both returned to their family's seats, while the two elderly men sat on the seats in the center.
But a seat was still reserved in the middle of the row in the center. Clearly, there was still another even more important character that had not arrived.
Xiao Changfeng sat between Xiao Rufeng and Ye Yuan, while the other family elders sat at the back.
After taking his seat, Xiao Changfeng suddenly said to Ye Yuan, "Little Brother Ji, in this match, you will face Tong Wenchang. Rufeng and Ruyan will face Tong Wenshou and Tong Wenhui respectively! Facing Tong Wenchang, you just have to do your best. Victory or defeat isn't important, alright?"
Ye Yuan understood in his heart that this was clearly Xiao Changfeng not believing in his strength, wanting to use the method of Tian Ji's horse racing strategy to win this competition.
Towards Xiao Changfeng's arrangements, Ye Yuan did not have any conflicting thoughts. After all, he did not wish to be too conspicuous.
In this kind of life and death juncture grand competition, hoping for Xiao Changfeng to entrust all of his hopes onto an outsider like Ye Yuan was clearly not something very realistic.
In comparison, Xiao Rufeng and Xiao Ruyan, the brother and sister pair were his biological children. They were naturally more dependable.
Previously, the Xiao Family was finding guest retainers impatiently because Xiao Rufeng was confined to his bed. The Xiao Family only had Xiao Ruyan one person left. Now, since Xiao Ruyan refined the Vast Tuber Essence Stimulating Pill, Xiao Changfeng naturally believed in his own son more.
Although Xiao Rufeng was not in his optimal condition right now, wanting to win Tong Wenshou should not be something hard.
The Tong Family sent out three people to battle. Tong Wenhui's strength was the weakest, leaving Xiao Ruyan to deal with him. The assurance was naturally much greater too.
One should say that under the situation where Ye Yuan's formidable strength was excluded, such an arrangement was the most rational!
Ye Yuan did not have any mentality about not being able to get past losing to Tong Wenchang. He was a reincarnated Alchemy Emperor. What was he being serious for against a puny little Quasi-Alchemy King?
Previously with Tong Wenchang, it was at most considered squabbling with words. Ye Yuan was not that petty to such an extent.
Anyway, Xiao Changfeng did not place his hopes on him either. He just had to hoodwink him a little, and that would do.
Thinking this through, Ye Yuan was even less serious about this Grand Pill Assembly. He was planning out in his mind on how to get close to Du Cheng.
Ye Yuan just nodded his head slightly at Xiao Changfeng to indicate that he got it.
Chapter 376. The Forsaken Youth |
After a short while, an old man slowly walked out from the back and sat down on the centermost seat.
Everybody stood up at this time and bowed. They said, "We pay respects to Sovereign Star Abyss!"
The old man nodded slightly and said, "Everyone, have a seat. This old man, I, only wished to come and have a look at what genius descendants have appeared in our capital these few years. This matter about judging, old me won't be taking part in. You all just decide it on your own. I'll be watching everybody's performance in today's match and take one person as my disciple."
When Sovereign Star Abyss's words were spoken, everyone revealed ecstatic looks.
"What did I hear? Sovereign Star Abyss is going to accept disciples! I didn't hear wrongly, right?"
"It has already been decades since Sovereign Star Abyss has accepted any disciples. Today, he actually wants to accept a disciple out of the blue! What on earth happened?"
"A sovereign's disciple! As long as one can step onto this track, they will have a meteoric rise!"
When Ye Yuan saw this Sovereign Star Abyss, his eyes also shrunk slightly. This was the first sovereign level powerhouse that he met!
When martial artists reached the Divine Traversing Realm, they could be titled as sovereigns. That was also a sovereign level powerhouse!
The meaning of a sovereign level powerhouse was extraordinary. In regards to the Lower Realms, they were practically pinnacle existences!
This old man was apparently a Divine Traversing Realm powerhouse. More importantly, he was even an Alchemy Sovereign!
An Alchemy Sovereign on the Alchemy Path was similarly considered as reaching a high level in proficiency.
Only alchemy sovereign powerhouses had the minimum qualifications to enter Ye Yuan's arcane eyes!
Due to the disparity in strength between Ye Yuan and Sovereign Star Abyss being too great, he completely could not see through the other party's depth.
But Ye Yuan had a sort of feeling that this old man was not simple!
Seemingly detecting Ye Yuan's gaze, Sovereign Star Abyss's gaze also looked towards Ye Yuan. That deeply profound gaze actually nearly made Ye Yuan collapse uncontrollably.
Ye Yuan hastily moved his gaze, secretly sighing with vicissitudes of emotions.
Right now, his soul force was still too weak. The other party just swept a glance lightly like that, and it practically made him lose his mind.
"Rufeng, Ruyan, the two of you have to perform well this time. Even if you're defeated, you also have to obtain Sovereign Star Abyss's favor! As long as you become his disciple, our Xiao Family can likewise protect our family business!" Xiao Changfeng said softly with visible joy on his face.
The pair nodded slightly. But Ye Yuan sighed lightly in his heart.
This Xiao Changfeng was evidently an experienced and cunning person. But he was too conservative with this sort of major matter. It might not have a good outcome!
Firstly, this method of Tian Jian racing horse strategy was actually a very negative way of dealing with things. It was equivalent to admitting that their own family was not as strong as the other party.
Giving up fighting with the other party's strongest person and letting the strongest person on their side deal with the Tong Family's number two figure, even if they won in the end, there would not be anyone cheering for the Xiao Family either.
Xiao Family would obtain victory, but lose the respect of others.
And Xiao Changfeng making his own son and daughter perform well to draw the attention of Sovereign Star Abyss was similarly a method that lost one's drive.
The Xiao Family was in an inferior position to begin with; the family did not know how to risk it all to fight, but entrust their hopes onto another person instead. Ye Yuan could not agree with this way of doing things.
Furthermore, Ye Yuan had a feeling that that Tong Wenhui and Tong Wenshou might not be easy to deal with.
Truly, the older the person was, the smaller the guts were.
"Alright, the once in a decade Grand Pill Assembly is about to begin. Most of the people present here know this old man, but this old man better still introduces himself first. I'm the Alchemist Association's First Elder, Yang Xiu. The Grand Pill Assembly this time will be hosted by me."
Speaking up to here, Yang Xiu cleared his throat. Xiao Changfeng and Tong Fangshuo got up at the same time and said, "I'll have to trouble Sovereign Star Abyss and Elder Yang."
Yang Xiu nodded slightly and continued, "Sovereign Star Abyss has already spoken. The juniors of the Xiao and Tong families have good fortune. The sovereign has not taken in any disciples for close to 50 years already. This time can be considered as an epoch-making event! Alright, enough superfluous words. The two Xiao and Tong families have already sent the name list of the battles to my hands. I'll now announce the battle sequence."
Speaking up to here, Yang Xiu looked at the battle name list in his hands, his eyes involuntarily swept over Xiao Changfeng.
Xiao Changfeng's heart palpitated but did not say anything. He naturally knew that doing it this way was inappropriate. But this was also a solution that could not be helped.
Yang Xiu was silent for a moment, and continued, "The first battle, Xiao Family's Xiao Ruyan against the Tong Family's Tong Wenhui!"
When these words were uttered, the crowd burst into an uproar.
"What? Xiao Ruyan is actually facing the Tong Family's weakest Tong Wenhui? What kind of situation is this?"
"Heh heh, to think that Xiao Changfeng actually pulled this sort of underhanded trick. Looks like the Xiao Family's fortune is over."
"Yeah. Looking at this, Xiao Family has already given up on the battle with Tong Wenchang, leaving Xiao Rufeng and sister to go deal with the weaker Tong Wenshou and Tong Wenhui."
Tong Fangshuo was also a little stunned. But he immediately burst into laughter and said, "Hahaha! Xiao Changfeng, you're really deteriorating the older you get! The Xiao Family declining in your hands is also something within reason! But if you think that victory is within your grasp like this, then you're too naïve!"
Xiao Changfeng was aware that reason was not on his side and did not respond to Tong Fangshuo. He looked straight ahead, no idea where he was looking at.
Yang Xiu coughed lightly and continued, "Silence, silence! The second match, Xiao Rufeng against Tong Wenshou. The third match, Ji Qing versus Tong Wenchang!"
"That boy is really pitiable, to actually have to face Tong Wenchang. I reckon that he'll be defeated horribly."
"Hehe, what's pitiful about him isn't this! I heard that his strength isn't bad. A middle-rank Alchemy Grandmaster that can actually refine Tier 3 high-level medicinal pills. He joined the Xiao Family in their moment of crisis but was directly forsaken by Xiao Changfeng. That's his pitiable part."
"Using such a method, even if they won, it will also be winning through unorthodox means. It's just sad for this young man."
Many people felt sorry for Ye Yuan. A middle-rank Alchemy Grandmaster battling a Quasi-Alchemy King. What chances of victory was there?
There were also many who felt disappointed. They originally thought that they could see Xiao Rufeng and Tong Wenchang's summit battle. Who knew that there was no opportunity?
Although Tong Wenchang was a Quasi-Alchemy King, he had only just advanced to the realm of Quasi-Alchemy King not long ago. In truth, there was still a chance to win, though this chance was very minuscule.
Xiao Rufeng had enjoyed Xiao Family's limitless resources. Adding in his talent, he had always been keeping in pace with Tong Wenchang these few years.
It was just that Tong Wenchang stepped into Quasi-Alchemy King Realm a step before Xiao Rufeng. That was why Xiao Rufeng appeared a level weaker.
But now, the Xiao Family retreating without fighting made many people present feel disappointed.
Yang Xiu continued and said, "The rules of the Grand Pill Assembly will be the same as past years. I won't be repeating them. Now, starting the first match: Xiao Ruyan versus Tong Wenhui!"
On the stage, the Xiao and Tong two families faced each other across a great distance. All sorts of alchemy medicinal herbs, wares, and medicinal cauldrons were also placed between them.
Xiao Ruyan took in a deep breath and stepped up.
Not knowing why, before Xiao Ruyan stepped onto the stage, her gaze unconsciously looked over towards Ye Yuan.
And Ye Yuan was also presently looking at her and gave her a hand gesture, "Miss Ruyan, good luck!"
Chapter 377. Xiao Ruyan Lost? |
Although Ye Yuan's words were cheers, no matter how she looked at it, it somewhat lacked some sincerity.
But not knowing why, Xiao Ruyan's originally rather nervous feelings actually calmed down under Ye Yuan's encouragement.
She shot a fierce glare at Ye Yuan and came to the fighting area.
"Tch. Good intentions taken for granted!" Ye Yuan muttered to himself resentfully.
At this time, a quasi-alchemy king came to the arena. Clearly, he was the person maintaining order on-site, while the final ruling was still by Yang Xiu and the other six alchemy kings.
As for Sovereign Star Abyss, he shut his eyes from the start just now, looking as if he was snoozing, like everything here had nothing to do with him at all.
"The first match, constituting medicinal pills! There will be people delivering a hundred types of spirit medicines right away. The two of you need to differentiate these hundred types of spirit medicines and freely match these hundred kinds of spirit medicines together, forming pill formulas. Finally, the one who composes the most pill formulas win!" That quasi-alchemy king explained.
There was a long table in the center. When the quasi-alchemy king finished talking, some apprentice looking people brought up stalk after stalk of spirit medicines. There were tier 2, tier 3, so on and so forth.
Xiao Ruyan and Tong Wenhui each respectively went to one side of the arena and started to differentiate the spirit medicines.
This was actually testing the fundamental skills of the alchemist. Speedily and accurately identifying spirit medicines was an essential skill for alchemists.
But in this sort of Grand Pill Assembly that determined the fates of two families, identifying the spirit medicines were clearly not an easy matter.
It was true that the two people could differentiate the vast majority of the spirit medicines. But there were definitely a handful of rarely seen spirit medicines that the pair had not even seen before.
Under this sort of situation, one would have to see if the alchemist's foundation was sturdy or not, and if they could identify them through the records in the books.
"Old Liu, in your view, which of the two of them will win?" Yang Xiu asked an old man beside him.
This old man was similarly an Alchemy King powerhouse; Alchemist Association's Elder Liu Han.
Liu Han said, "Ruyan's, this lass's, talent is exceedingly high. Her future accomplishments are boundless. It's just too bad that she was dragged down by the Xiao Family. Tong Wenhui is seven to eight years old older than that lass, but his foundation is more solid than hers. In my opinion, the outcome should be around 50/50."
Yang Xiu nodded and said, "Actually, I feel that the Xiao Family only has Ruyan, this lass, that can give Tong Wenchang a run for his money. Rufeng that boy is already beaten by Wenchang. If Ruyan this lass performs well, maybe she can let Lord Star Abyss take her in as his disciple."
Liu Han concurred and said, "These two brats have been at loggerheads for so many years. This time, they finally will determine the winner. But I heard that Rufeng this boy was able to take part in the Grand Pill Assembly today because Ruyan that lass refined the Vast Tuber Essence Stimulating Pill. Looks like this lass's talent is even above her brother's!"
Yang Xiu exclaimed in surprise, "There's actually such a thing? No wonder! Assaulting cultivation realm and failing is the most troublesome. Although the Xiao Family has the Vast Tuber Essence Stimulating Pill's complete pill formula, they were missing the refinement method. To think Ruyan that lass actually successfully refined it!"
