“This Cangwu Alchemy Convention has come to a successful conclusion! Thank you all, Fellow Daoists, for traveling from afar to share in this grand event. The days ahead are long—let us meet again in a hundred years!”
The moment the Presiding Elder’s voice fell, the entire venue erupted.
Tens of thousands of cultivators rose from their seats to cheer, and the entire plaza trembled slightly.
But soon, the nature of those sounds shifted into an even more frenzied commotion.
“Go! Get down there!”
“That one in blue clothes—yeah, yeah, the one who refined the top-grade fourth-rank pill—don’t steal him from me!”
“I’ve got my eye on that rogue cultivator—none of you dare touch him!”
The cultivators on the stands surged toward the arena like racehorses hearing the starting pistol.
This was a talent grab.
Apart from competing in Alchemy Path skill, the Alchemy Grand Assembly had an unwritten tradition: various powers would take this opportunity to recruit promising alchemists.
Securing talent ahead of the competition meant profit—who cared about dignity?
Those contestants ranked outside the top ten hadn’t even had time to put away their elixir furnaces before they were surrounded by crowds.
“Fellow Daoist! I am the external affairs elder of Heavenly Balance Sect. I sincerely invite you to join our sect’s Alchemy Peak. Treatment will be generous!”
“What is Heavenly Balance Sect? Come to Azure Sky Palace—double the monthly spirit stones, private alchemy room, unlimited spiritual herbs!”
“Don’t listen to them! Come to me—direct inner disciple treatment!”
A young female cultivator was surrounded by over a dozen people. Clutching her furnace in dismay, her face flushed bright red, and she couldn’t even speak properly.
The male cultivator beside her was even worse off—two burly Golden Core cultivators each grabbed one of his arms and pulled him in opposite directions like a tug-of-war. He grimaced in pain.
The cultivators still on the stands who hadn’t managed to rush down stamped their feet in anxiety.
“Wait for me! Don’t snatch them all up!”
Of course, more people were aiming for the top three.
Ruan Se, Shao Jiao, and Meng Qiuran—these three names had already spread throughout the entire plaza. Any one of them was a figure capable of shaking a region in the Cangwu Realm.
Especially Ruan Se—she had become the hottest target in the entire venue.
“Fellow Daoist Ruan Se! I represent Rosy Cloud Sect and sincerely invite you—”
“Miss Ruan! Falling Petal Valley has the best Alchemy Path inheritance—”
“Please let me through! I’m from Sky Jade Pavilion. Our pavilion master said that as long as Fellow Daoist Ruan is willing to come, she can name any conditions!”
Over a dozen figures pounced toward Ruan Se from different directions on the stands, as if scrambling for a rare treasure.
Ruan Se stood there, not yet having a chance to speak, when a hand reached out from behind her and pressed down on her shoulder.
“All of you, get lost.”
Ruan Qin simply swept a cold glance over those rushing figures, and they all seemed to be held back by an invisible hand, stopping dead in their tracks, unable to advance another step.
The pressure of a Late Core Formation cultivator was no joke.
“Senior Ruan Qin…”
The leading man’s forehead beaded with cold sweat, and he gave an awkward smile.
“We were just…”
“She’s not going anywhere.”
Those people exchanged glances, not daring to say another word.
Ruan Qin’s reputation on the Alchemy Path of the Cangwu Realm carried more weight than most sect leaders’. Offend her, and forget about poaching her sister—they’d find it hard to even move an inch in the alchemy world.
So they tactfully withdrew and turned to other targets.
Over by Meng Qiuran, it was even livelier. As a core disciple of the Branch Sect of Alchemy and a Fifth-Rank Pill Master, he already had considerable backing, but that didn’t stop people from trying to poach him.
Several elders from major sects personally went down, fussing over Meng Qiuran with concern, handing him name cards and shoving storage bags at him, their enthusiasm practically bordering on kneeling and begging to become his disciples.
Meng Qiuran was surrounded, his smile barely holding.
“Seniors, this junior… this junior currently has no plans to switch sects… Seniors, please stop crowding me. I can hardly breathe…”
Shao Jiao also had many people around him. Although Wuyue Sect’s name was small, he himself was a genuine genius.
But faced with others’ inquiries, he paid them no mind. He just stood there quietly, lost in thought.
Lai Li’an stood behind the crowd, taking in all the commotion.
But right now, he just wanted to get the Qingxuan Root as soon as possible, go back to save Su Wan’er, and then find a quiet place to sleep well.
“Please follow me, the top three.”
Then Yin Zheng’s voice came.
“The award ceremony needs to be conducted separately.”
Ruan Se, Shao Jiao, and Meng Qiuran simultaneously walked toward Yin Zheng. Ruan Qin naturally followed behind her sister, and the other judges also began to move.
Lai Li’an stood still, waiting for someone to call him. After all, he was also a judge. Yin Zheng had just said “Please follow me, the top three” and hadn’t mentioned bringing the judges, but logically, shouldn’t the judges be present at the award ceremony?
But no one looked at him.
Yin Zheng rose into the air, spiritual power condensing into a cloud beneath his feet, and drifted gracefully into the distance. Pei Changjing casually formed a hand seal and followed.
In a few breaths, the group disappeared behind the flying eaves of the plaza.
Lai Li’an stood there, dumbstruck.
“…Wait, what about me?”
The cultivators around were still scrambling for the young alchemists. No one noticed him. He just stood there alone, like a scarecrow forgotten in a field.
The wind blew, picking up a fallen leaf that drifted past him, adding to the desolation.
Lai Li’an’s mouth twitched.
He couldn’t fly.
Walking from here to the award venue would take at least half an hour. By the time he got there, everything would be over.
He took a deep breath and was about to resign himself to walking when he suddenly sensed something approaching from behind.
That thing stirred a faint breeze, and Lai Li’an spun around.
A white crane was standing behind him. Its black bean-like eyes stared straight at him, carrying a condescending scrutiny, as if saying:
‘You?’
Lai Li’an was startled. He recognized this crane—it was Ruan Se’s, which he had seen a few times before.
He felt a bit creeped out by its stare.
“What are you looking at?”
The white crane tilted its head, let out a clear cry, and then slowly lowered its body.
Its long neck drooped, its body lowered, presenting its broad back completely to Lai Li’an.
Lai Li’an stared dazedly at the white crane in front of him, and suddenly an indescribable warmth surged in his heart.
‘It must be Ruan Se who sent it. Before being surrounded and leaving, she still remembered him, remembered that he couldn’t fly, remembered that he would get lost if left alone.’
Lai Li’an’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and his nose suddenly stung.
‘I knew it. Little Ruan, you’re a good person.’
He stepped forward, grasped the crane’s neck, and swung his leg over. The white crane’s back was very broad, its feathers soft—sitting on it was a hundred times more comfortable than Su Wan’er’s flying sword.
The white crane carried him past several pavilions and finally descended slowly in front of a hall.