Yun Hai felt somewhat worried and sympathetic toward the Qingyun State disciples. Those poor kids.
On the elevated platform.
“Am I hearing this right? They can bring in outside help? Isn’t this just making sure Haoling State wins this match?”
“Ugh! Even Diling State doesn’t get this kind of treatment, and Haoling State actually does?”
“Haoling State has Daoist Wuji. Diling State doesn’t. Besides, Diling State doesn’t need outside help at all—we win on our own merit…”
“Haoling State’s Baili Kesheng has a very high-ranked strange fire. It’s ‘Heaven and Earth Crimson Flame,’ ranked fifty-third.”
“Qingyun State’s land is barren. They don’t have any high-ranked strange fires at all. I heard the ones they have are all ranked below seventieth. Qingyun State is bound to lose!”
“Never mind the strange fire for now—just the spiritual plants alone are enough to give Qingyun State a headache. Lord Yun Hai still hasn’t announced what pill they’ll be refining…”
“Haoling State looks completely confident, clearly they already know what they’ll be refining, while Qingyun State looks totally lost…”
Everyone from Qingyun State looked grim.
Cheating so blatantly, and then telling them they weren’t allowed to cheat.
“Old Xiao, what do we do now? The spiritual plants we prepared might not be usable?” Rong Zhuofan’s eyes were full of anger.
The two states had agreed on something, and then it was changed at the last minute—why couldn’t they have been notified earlier?
“I’m more worried they’ll send Baili Kesheng up.” Xiao Qingfeng looked at his disciple, his head throbbing.
“Baili Kesheng?! Then what’s the point of even competing? We might as well just forfeit.” Rong Zhuofan’s bushy beard trembled.
Xiao Qingfeng’s disciple spoke up. “Sect Master Rong, I can’t forfeit! I want to compete.”
Rong Zhuofan shook his head. His voice was trembling as he spoke, yet the boy still insisted on competing. Xiao Qingfeng’s disciple wasn’t bad at all.
Just as the three of them were racking their brains—
Feng Qingran walked over with Qin Hanyan and Mu Qianjue.
When Rong Zhuofan saw Feng Qingran, his eyes lit up. This girl always had the best ideas—had she thought of a better solution?
Feng Qingran blinked her sparkling, crystal-clear eyes. “Sect Masters, they’re going to refine a third-rank Spirit Enhancement Pill. Prepare two sets of ingredients according to that, and you definitely won’t go wrong.”
“How do you know it’s the Spirit Enhancement Pill?” Xiao Qingfeng asked curiously.
“Because the spiritual plants that Haoling State disciple prepared can only be used to refine the Spirit Enhancement Pill,” Feng Qingran said, her eyes like moonlight, her expression full of confidence.
Xiao Qingfeng’s dark eyes narrowed slightly. He observed the disciple on stage again and believed what Feng Qingran said.
So he handed his disciple a storage pouch.
Then Feng Qingran passed over another storage pouch. “When you have no spiritual plants left to use, take this out.”
The disciple looked at the storage pouch Feng Qingran handed him, his cheeks flushing red. He stammered, “Th-th-thank… thank you… Miss Feng…”
Smack!—
Xiao Qingfeng slapped the back of his disciple’s head. “He gets nervous around strangers. He’s not usually like this.”
Xiao Qingfeng didn’t want Feng Qingran to think poorly of his disciple.
The disciple lowered his head, not daring to look at Feng Qingran again. She was so beautiful and kind—how could there be such a wonderful girl?
Rong Zhuofan asked Feng Qingran, “The spiritual plants are settled, but what about the strange fire?”
“Hmm…” Feng Qingran touched her nose. “There are two options. Have Third Senior Sister lend you the Violet Extreme Crimson Flame Stone, or have my Fourth Senior Brother go up with him—he can handle the fire.”
“The Violet Extreme Crimson Flame Stone?” Xiao Qingfeng’s dark eyes turned to Qin Hanyan.
Qin Hanyan was very beautiful, and her aura was as cold as frost—not like that person from years ago.
“Miss Qin, where did you get this Violet Extreme Crimson Flame Stone?” Xiao Qingfeng asked.
Qin Hanyan met Xiao Qingfeng’s cold gaze and sensed the unfriendliness in his tone. She said calmly, “Someone gave it to me.”
“Old Xiao, the match is about to start. Make your choice quickly—discuss the rest later!” Rong Zhuofan interrupted Xiao Qingfeng, who was about to press further.
These people had come to help, and he was being picky and causing trouble?
Xiao Qingfeng collected himself. “The Violet Extreme Crimson Flame Stone should be fine against strange fires ranked below seventieth, but against the Heaven and Earth Crimson Flame, it won’t work.”
“But Fourth Senior Brother doesn’t know alchemy. If he goes with his strange fire, we might waste a spot,” Feng Qingran pointed out the problem.
“Little Junior Sister, you underestimate me too much. Even if I haven’t eaten pork, haven’t I seen a pig run? Alchemy and artifact refining are pretty much the same. I’ll be fine.” Mu Qianjue smiled with noble elegance, full of confidence.
Xiao Qingfeng and Qin Hanyan’s gazes fell on Mu Qianjue, and they wore strange expressions.
Alchemy and artifact refining were worlds apart!
Many artifact refiners could never learn alchemy, because alchemy required finesse, while artifact refining mostly relied on brute force creating miracles.
“Third Senior Sister, I’m always the most reliable. Don’t you know me by now?” Mu Qianjue looked confident.
“No—what rank is Young Master Mu’s strange fire?” Xiao Qingfeng asked tentatively.
Smack!—
Mu Qianjue opened his folding fan and waved it lightly. “Hmph! This young master’s strange fire is ranked—”
“Fourth Senior Brother’s strange fire can handle the Heaven and Earth Crimson Flame no problem. Sect Master Xiao’s disciple can focus on alchemy.” Feng Qingran cut Mu Qianjue off.
Mu Qianjue’s strange fire rank couldn’t be revealed. If the Haoling State people heard it, they would definitely change their plans at the last minute.
When the match began and Haoling State saw Fourth Senior Brother’s strange fire, it would be too late for them to back out.
Besides, Mu Qianjue’s strange fire was too high-ranked. It was best to keep a low profile—otherwise, if someone got greedy and killed him to steal the strange fire, that would be terrible.
The Fire Spirit State was full of danger. Better to be careful.
Xiao Qingfeng didn’t press further. A third-rank Spirit Enhancement Pill was nothing for his disciple. They chose the strange fire option.
“In that case, I’ll have to trouble Young Master Mu. And thank you, Miss Qin.” Xiao Qingfeng was thorough with his courtesy.
Hearing Xiao Qingfeng’s thanks, the cold indifference in Qin Hanyan’s expression softened slightly. She raised her jade-like hand and handed Xiao Qingfeng’s disciple a pill formula.
The disciple’s face went red again as he took the formula, stammering his thanks.
