Volume One, Chapter 38: The Sect Grand Competition (Part Four)

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Chen Yu’s face was deathly pale as he coughed incessantly. It was clear that he had exhausted his spiritual energy and suffered from an attack. Compared to his wretched state, Gu Mingxi stood on the arena floor, completely unscathed. The outcome of the match was obvious: Gu Mingxi had won.

Gu Mingxi stepped forward and asked, "Chen Yu, are you alright?"

Chen Yu clutched his chest, coughed a couple more times, and then said in a hoarse voice, "I am fine. You are very strong; my skills were simply inferior to yours!"

Gu Mingxi smiled slightly. "You are also very strong. It’s just that during the three years I spent in secluded meditation, I set up and dismantled many arrays, so I might be a little more practiced than you. There is no need to belittle yourself."

Gu Mingxi felt a bit awkward; she probably shouldn't have said it like that. What was she to do? She wasn't good at comforting people, and her words sounded as if she were implying that the other party hadn't practiced their arrays diligently, which was absolutely not what she had meant.

Fortunately, Chen Yu did not seem to mind what she said; he gave a slight nod to Gu Mingxi and stepped off the stage.

In the match just now, Chen Yu had deployed a trap array and a kill array against Gu Mingxi, while Gu Mingxi had countered by trapping him in an illusion array combined with a kill array. What Gu Mingxi had told Chen Yu was not false modesty, nor was it simply to comfort him; it was the truth. During those three years of seclusion, every day was spent either engraving array disks or breaking through arrays. There was also the saying that practice makes perfect, to say nothing of the fact that Gu Mingxi already possessed a high innate talent for arrays.

With the defeat of Chen Yu, Gu Mingxi had completed her second round of challenges. Having successfully defended her position, she was eligible to enter the third round. The steward informed her to return the next day to collect a new number tag for the start of the third stage of the sect tournament.

After finishing her match, Gu Mingxi took the opportunity to look for Gu Mingyue. When she found her, she was so shocked by what she saw that her jaw dropped.

Gu Mingyue’s opponent in this match happened to be another alchemist. Yet, to her surprise, the two alchemists were not competing by brewing pills; instead, they were using their pill furnaces to smash into each other.

Gu Mingxi was perplexed. Were all alchemists like this nowadays? To attack an enemy by directly hurling a pill furnace at them? She felt a bit dazed—had her three years of seclusion truly left her out of touch with reality? Since when had alchemists become so violent?

When Gu Mingyue spotted Gu Mingxi by the edge of her arena, she took a moment to turn and shout, "Mingxi! This is my last opponent. Wait for me for a second, I’ll be done soon!"

After saying this, Gu Mingyue turned her attention back to her opponent, casting a spell to enlarge her pill furnace and smashing it toward the other. Her opponent was not to be outdone, enlarging her own furnace and launching it back at Gu Mingyue. The final result was that both their defensive artifacts were battered and damaged.

However, Gu Mingyue ultimately won because her defensive artifact was of superior quality.

Good heavens, did the competition between alchemists come down to whose defensive artifact was better? Wasn't this just a disguised way of comparing who had more money? In her memory, weren't alchemists supposed to be serene and refined? My goodness, this was a complete shift in style!

Once Gu Mingyue defeated her final opponent, she hopped off the arena, beaming, and ran over to Gu Mingxi. She grabbed Gu Mingxi’s arm and said, "Mingxi, I had planned to look for you after finishing my tasks, but I didn't expect you to be faster..." Then, seemingly remembering something, she added, "Well, that’s to be expected, Mingxi—your cultivation is higher than mine..."

Gu Mingxi finally snapped out of her daze and asked in disbelief, "Mingyue, isn't an alchemist's duel supposed to be about alchemy? Why is it like this?"

Gu Mingyue chuckled. "Mingxi, don't you think this method is convenient? Simple and direct!"

"I just... I found it a little hard to accept for a moment..."

"But it really is a good method. Alchemists' furnaces are very heavy. Smashing one at an enemy when they least expect it can have some truly unexpected results!"

Gu Mingxi asked curiously, "Mingyue, who exactly invented this technique of using pill furnaces to smash enemies?"

Gu Mingyue replied with a touch of pride, "It was my senior brother, Qu Jinghua!"

"My senior brother loves to come up with all sorts of strange inventions. Remember when I told you about how he once brewed a 'Stinky Pill'? That was one of his creations, although something went wrong in the process—he intended to make a fragrant pill, but it ended up being a stinky one."

"My senior brother also created a 'Flower Beauty Pill' that both male and female cultivators can take to make their skin smoother and more delicate..."

Gu Mingxi burst into laughter. "'Flower Beauty Pill'? Does that imply that whoever takes it will become as beautiful as a flower?"

"Both men and women can take it? Your senior brother is truly a god-like man. There are indeed girls in this world who want to be beautiful, and boys who want to be beautiful too. Your senior brother is truly impartial in this regard."

Hearing Gu Mingxi’s approval of her brother's creations, Gu Mingyue introduced even more of them with excitement.

"Mingxi, Mingxi! My senior brother also makes pills that give you a natural body fragrance when you eat them!"

"I especially love this kind of pill. I once asked him to make me one with the scent of snow lotuses; it smells really wonderful. It’s just that the fragrance from these pills doesn't last very long—only about a month."

A pill that grants a body fragrance? Gu Mingxi thought of the various balms and perfumes from her modern life; a pill that worked from within would certainly be fresher and more natural. This senior brother of Mingyue’s, Qu Jinghua, was truly a fascinating person.

Gu Mingyue said with longing, "Senior brother has made so many spirit stones using the pills he invented; he is very popular."

Seeing Gu Mingyue’s envious look, Gu Mingxi couldn't help but chuckle. "Everyone loves beauty. If your brother's pills can make people more beautiful, he certainly won't lack customers!"

"Nothing is set in stone. You can learn from your senior brother—master the existing pill formulas thoroughly, and then use your own intelligence to innovate."

Gu Mingxi patted Gu Mingyue’s head and comforted her, "I believe that when you reach your senior brother’s level, you will definitely achieve even greater things than he has."

Gu Mingyue said happily, "Alright! I will work hard so I don't let you down, Mingxi!"

"Good!"

If Gu Mingxi had known that her encouragement today would lead to Gu Mingyue creating so many strange and bizarre pills in the future, she would have definitely wanted to stop her past self from speaking.