Chapter 489: Pill Battle Conference
Chu Qingyun and Mu Xiaoxiao.
The two chatted as they arrived at a luxurious hotel inside Celestial Martial City.
Mu Xiaoxiao and the others had arrived three days prior, so they had naturally already found a place to stay. She had even booked a room for Chu Qingyun in advance.
"So many people have come for the Celestial Martial City Pill Battle Conference recently. If I hadn't booked a room for you in advance, you probably wouldn't have found such a nice place to stay."
"Why don't you go wash up and rest for a bit? We'll have dinner together tonight. My treat, I'll get you a feast."
Mu Xiaoxiao tilted her head up proudly and handed Chu Qingyun a key engraved with a room number.
"Thanks."
Chu Qingyun didn't stand on ceremony. He took the key and returned to his room.
After months on the road, he had finally reached a place of absolute safety. Chu Qingyun could truly relax and properly recuperate.
That evening, Mu Xiaoxiao and Dai came to find Chu Qingyun, and the three of them went to dinner together.
The dinner was a lavish spread. A single meal like this likely cost hundreds of drops of Primordial Spirit Liquid.
However, neither Chu Qingyun nor Mu Xiaoxiao were concerned about this amount of Primordial Spirit Liquid.
Dai ate and drank heartily to the side.
Meanwhile, during the meal, Mu Xiaoxiao told Chu Qingyun what she had learned about joining a sect in Celestial Martial City.
In her three days in Celestial Martial City, she had already managed to get clear information on many things.
In the Northern Domain, there were a total of fifteen sects, large and small.
The most powerful and influential were, naturally, the Three Major Sects of the Northern Domain: the Celestial Sword Sect, the Talisman Puppet Sect, and the Saint Extreme Sect. Of these, the Celestial Sword Sect was the strongest, followed by the Talisman Puppet Sect, and then the Saint Extreme Sect.
After the Three Major Sects came the Purple Cloud Sect and the Tianya Sect.
It was said that the strength of these two sects wasn't far off from the Saint Extreme Sect, the weakest of the Three Major Sects. They were only slightly lacking in terms of their foundations.
Further down the list were nine relatively weaker sects.
This year's sect recruitment was different from all previous years. The sects had guaranteed that as long as you could bring a sect's Golden Order through the Blood-soaked Land to Celestial Martial City, you would definitely be able to join a sect.
However, there were still distinctions in strength among the sects.
Therefore, whether one could ultimately join a powerful sect or a weaker one still depended on their strength and potential.
The major sects had jointly established a place in Celestial Martial City to receive those holding a Golden Order. There, they would face a few tests.
These tests were held once a month. Chu Qingyun had arrived just in time, as this month's tests were scheduled to take place in two days.
At that time, everyone who had arrived in Celestial Martial City with a Golden Order over the past month would go to participate in the sects' tests.
Those who performed exceptionally well would win the favor of powerful sects like the Three Major Sects, or the Purple Cloud Sect and Tianya Sect.
As for those who performed ordinarily, they could only join the weaker sects.
None of this had much to do with Chu Qingyun and his friends, however. They had already received Qi Hao's approval and invitation to join the Saint Extreme Sect in advance.
When the time came, they just had to go through the motions.
"Mu Xiaoxiao, are you and Dai really planning to join a sect? To join the Saint Extreme Sect?" Chu Qingyun asked with some uncertainty after she finished her explanation.
Mu Xiaoxiao wasn't from the Land of Hundred Dynasties; she was from Cold Star City.
Moreover, through their interactions over the past few days, Chu Qingyun could tell that Mu Xiaoxiao's knowledge and insights far surpassed those of an ordinary person.
Based on Chu Qingyun's guess, she was likely from one of the two major gangs in the Blood-soaked Land, the Cold Star Gang, and her status was probably quite high.
Although the Blood-soaked Land and the sect territories weren't exactly hostile forces, their relationship wasn't very friendly either.
That was why Chu Qingyun had asked the question.
Mu Xiaoxiao, however, didn't seem to mind. She said casually, "Of course I'm joining. It's the Saint Extreme Sect, one of the Three Major Sects of the Northern Domain!"
"But, the sect's Golden Order..."
"Here, two of them."
Mu Xiaoxiao said, pulling out two thumb-sized golden command arrows. She grinned at Chu Qingyun. "I picked up two back at the Blood Sect ruins. You just didn't notice."
Chu Qingyun shook his head and said no more.
Just then, two people passed by, and their conversation caught Chu Qingyun's attention. They mentioned the "Celestial Martial City Pill Battle Conference."
Chu Qingyun thought for a moment. It seemed Mu Xiaoxiao had also mentioned this when he first arrived today.
Curious, Chu Qingyun asked, "Mu Xiaoxiao, what's this Celestial Martial City Pill Battle Conference all about?"
"The Pill Battle Conference?"
Mu Xiaoxiao was taken aback for a second, clearly not expecting Chu Qingyun to ask about that.
She thought for a moment before explaining, "The Pill Battle Conference is a grand event co-hosted by many of the major merchant houses in Celestial Martial City. It's where the younger generation of Alchemists compete in Alchemy Skill. The rewards for the champion are said to be astonishing every time."
"Of course, they say it's open to the entire Northern Domain, but in reality, the champion and even the top few places are almost always taken by the Alchemy Dao geniuses from the major sects."
"The Alchemists trained by the sects have complete and systematic legacies, not to mention extremely abundant materials to practice with. They're on a completely different level than those self-taught Alchemists on the outside. Their skills are naturally worlds apart."
Mu Xiaoxiao's brief explanation gave Chu Qingyun a general understanding of the event.
"Then do you know what the reward for this year's Pill Battle Conference champion is?" Chu Qingyun asked.
Mu Xiaoxiao shook her head. "How would I know? They probably won't announce it until the day the Pill Battle Conference begins."
"Hm? Chu Qingyun, you're not going to tell me you're an Alchemist too, are you?" Mu Xiaoxiao said teasingly.
Chu Qingyun just smiled and said nothing.
The reason he was curious about the Pill Battle Conference was, of course, because he was also an Alchemist.
However, as things stood, he had no intention of participating in the Pill Battle Conference, because only the champion would receive a reward.
The Northern Domain was vast and the sects were powerful. Even with the heaven-defying assistance of the Light Card, Chu Qingyun couldn't guarantee that he could take first place in a competition among the younger generation of Alchemists.
'One should have pride, but not arrogance.'
Chu Qingyun wouldn't look down on the other Alchemists of the Northern Domain just because he had inherited the Alchemy Dao of that senior.
Besides, refining elixirs was also a matter of luck.
It wasn't uncommon for even a stronger Alchemist to lose during an Alchemy Skill battle.
If he couldn't get first place, there would be no tangible benefits, only empty fame, and Chu Qingyun had no interest in such things.
After dinner, the three of them returned to their own rooms to rest.
After returning to his room, Chu Qingyun took out all his boxes of Primordial Spirit Liquid, preparing to begin his cultivation.