Chapter 358: The Preliminary Round
After leaving the Pagoda, Yang Wei returned to his room where it was completely silent.
Thanks to the notice he posted outside the room, none of the other disciples had dared to barge in.
After all, if they had accidentally disrupted Yang Wei’s alchemy refining, then they would surely be bashed by the others.
Yang Wei stretched his body slightly as he made sure to crush a pill in his hand.
Since he was using concoction as an excuse to train in the Pagoda, then his body must emit a medicinal smell. Otherwise, his lies would be easily exposed and they would question what he was doing all alone in the room.
Sometime later, once everything was done, Yang Wei stood up as he opened the door.
A large notice was posted on the wall as it told Yang Wei to meet the others in the reception area whenever he was done.
“Hopefully, I’m not late…” Yang Wei muttered as he began heading toward the reception area.
After walking for a few minutes, Yang Wei noticed everyone was already in the reception area.
Some disciples were sitting in a lotus position as they cultivate, while some were practicing their techniques.
If it weren’t for the spacious area in the Ivory Hotel, Yang Wei was sure they would have long been kicked out for disturbing other guests.
“Yang Wei, you are finally here huh,” Shan Zhilan crossed her arms as she glanced at Yang Wei.
“Confining yourself in the room for a week… have you managed to produce a good result?” She asked.
Suddenly, Jing Feng walked forward as she stepped in between Shan Zhilan and Yang Wei.
“Enough, Shan Zhilan… Yang Wei hasn’t even obtained his alchemist badge yet nor learned much about alchemy. Stop making him stressed by asking for the pill resistance pill.”
“Woah, did you really need to defend him this quickly? I mean like… if he wasn’t refining pills for the past weeks then what is he doing?”
As they were staring intensely at each other, Yang Wei decided to defuse the bomb by retrieving multiple jade bottles.
“Elder Shan, these are all the pills that I have refined.” Yang Wei said as he explained some other jade bottles.
“Besides the poison resistance pill, I had also refined some other strength-enhancing type and spiritual qi recovery pill.”
Shan Zhilan and Jing Feng both held a dumbfounded expression at the excessive amount of jade bottles Yang Wei had retrieved.
It was so much that even Jing Feng doesn’t have the confidence to be able to refine so many within a week.
Seeing their shocked reaction, Yang Wei had realized his blunder in retrieving so many jade bottles in one go.
When he was training in the Pagoda, Fan Ping had constantly fed him alchemy pills to consume. Thus, his sense of logic had been clouded hard and the amount he retrieved wasn’t much in his eyes.
However, that was a different case for Shan Zhilan, Jing Feng, and the other disciples.
That was because they believed all the pills in the jade bottles were refined by Yang Wei, and not someone else.
“D-Did you really refine all of these within a week?” Shan Zhilan asked stutteringly.
Yang Wei scratched his head as he needed to come up with a lie fast.
Clasping his hand, Yang Wei shook his head.
“I had refined the poison resistance pill, but the other pills with me were refined during my one-month disappearance.” Yang Wei said solemnly, hoping to sound as sincere as possible.
Shan Zhilan nodded her head.
She would rather believe this kind of explanation than believe Yang Wei was able to refine so many pills in one week.
Refining pills is completely different when cultivating.
One must never be distracted and be focused at all times during the refinement period. Otherwise, there’s a chance the pill might explode or dissolve in its essence if the flame was too hot.
Sometime later, Shan Zhilan distributed the pills evenly to the other disciples.
Meanwhile, Jing Feng dragged Yang Wei secretly to a corner as she glared intensely at him.
“Speak… who refined those pills?” Jing Feng asked in a serious tone.
Yang Wei sighed softly as he knew she would definitely catch on to his lies.
Even to this day, Yang Wei still doesn’t understand how Jing Feng can catch his lies every single time.
Yang Wei took a deep breath before explaining, “A Senior of mine had refined those pills for me… and as for his identity. I’m sorry Jing Feng, but I’m not allowed to disclose it.”
‘I don’t want you to somehow get dragged into some muddy water with me…’ Yang Wei exclaimed inwardly.
Jing Feng merely nodded her head as she didn’t pursue the matter any further.
People are people because they have a secret or two with them. She simply didn’t want Yang Wei to lie to her when he wanted to hide something.
It was best to just be honest and say you can’t disclose it since that is definitely much better than lying.
“Anyway, let’s head back to the group, Yang Wei.” Jing Feng said. “Today’s the first day of the preliminary round and we must win at all cost.”
“Rest assured, Jing Feng. I’ll make sure to go all out against the Purple Scorpion Sect.” Yang Wei clenched his fist tightly.
The Purple Scorpion Sect had always gone against them and it was about time that they had to pay the price.
Sometime later, Shan Zhilan and Jing Feng spoke a few more words before leaving the Ivory Hotel.
And it didn’t take long for the group to notice the streets were more crowded than usual.
In fact, it was extremely hard to see where the path was.
“Stay close by me and Elder Jing,” Shan Zhilan announced as she exuded some of her spiritual qi, creating a barrier around her and the group.
With the barrier intact, the streets became easier for them to walk as they made their way toward a large stadium.
The large stadium was recently created with the help of multiple cultivators and was built with strong materials.
After all, many cultivators would be fighting here and if the materials aren’t durable enough, then the stadium would easily collapse.
A few minutes later, Shan Zhilan arrived at the entrance of the stadium as she flashed her token.
The guard nodded his head as he explained the pathway for Shan Zhilan and the rest to take.
“Please head to aisle 34 and make sure to have your disciples ready for a fight. Since this is the preliminary round, it would go extremely fast.”
“Thanks for the help,” Shan Zhilan said.
Sometime later, the group walked through multiple aisles as they found their numbers and took their seats.
“Remember guys, don’t get intimidated by your opponent no matter what. Once fear takes over your body, it’ll be the end of your journey on not just the tournament, but your life as a cultivator. A cultivator must never feel fear nor back down.” Shan Zhilan warned.
With that said, time quickly passed by as the stadium filled up in an instant.
Louds cheering erupted from the crowd when they saw a dignified old man walking to the stage.
“Look, isn’t that Grand Elder Huo from the Phoenix Sky Sect!”
“It really is Grand Elder Huo. I never thought I would ever get to meet such a powerful figure in my life.”
The crowd was in disbelief when they saw Grand Elder Huo walking toward the center as he waved his hand around.
“Hahaa, I thought everyone had long forgotten this old man, but it seems like people still remember.” Grand Elder Huo joked as he laughed heartily.
“I know everyone must have been eagerly waiting for the long-awaited Sect Tournament. Thus, this old man would not waste anyone’s time as I announce the start of the preliminary round.”
When Grand Elder Huo announced the start of the preliminary round, the crowd erupted in a louder cheer as the first group of sect began entering from the opposite side.
Meanwhile, Grand Elder Huo kicked the ground softly as he leaped upward and floated in mid-air.
“For the first match, we’ll have Qianlong Sect going against Kunlun Sect. The two are well known for their weaponry of the halberd, so today’s match will be a sight to see,” Grand Elder Huo announced as he introduced the two sects.
“Hmph, we the Qianlong Sect are the most righteous halberd users. Kunlun Sect is merely a pretender and a fake.”
“Tch, your Qianlong Sect is indeed shameless. Kunlun Sect clearly started the halberd techniques first yet you dare to utter such nonsense.”
As soon as the Qianlong Sect elder and Kunlun Sect elder met, they began raining down curses at each other.
“What’s the history between them, Jing Feng?” Yang Wei asked softly as he doesn’t understand their reasoning.
Jing Feng giggled softly as she secretly intertwined their fingers together. “Nothing much, just two old men fighting over something stupid.”
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