Chapter 1116: Let it develop
The next day, as the sun rose, the atmosphere in the border market was unusually warm.
Today is the day for the competition between Xu Qingyi of Qingdan Pavilion and Huo Yan of Yanyang Sect. The whole market is immersed in an emotion of anticipation and tension.
For this competition, a competition arena was specially built ten miles away from the border town.
The arena was built of solid bluestone and was surrounded by various protective formations to ensure the safety of the competition.
The area around the arena had already been crowded with people coming from all directions. Among them were monks who lived in the market town, as well as caravans and spectators who came from afar.
The competition has not yet begun, but the noise around the ring has already begun.
Some vendors took the opportunity to sell various items to earn spirit stones. Some children who were new to the path of immortality looked around excitedly under the guidance of their parents, their eyes sparkling with longing and curiosity about the path to immortality.
More often than not, alchemists gathered in groups of three or five to discuss the upcoming competition and speculate on its outcome.
Among the crowd, one can see some monks wearing various robes. Most of them are in the Foundation Establishment stage, and there are occasionally masters in the Golden Core stage hidden among them.
But overall, although the scale of this competition was grand, it was still limited to the border market and did not attract high-level people from the real big sects.
An old monster like Zhou Yiqiao, who could transform into a god on a whim, is already the strongest among these people.
On both sides of the arena, there are viewing platforms with various chairs and coffee tables for VIPs to rest and watch.
At this time, many people were already sitting on the viewing platform, including several prominent merchants in the border market, as well as some representatives of sects that had business dealings with Qingdan Pavilion and Yanyang Sect.
Huo Yan, wearing a fiery red robe, sat in the seat of the Yanyang Sect with a confident smile on his face, as if he was confident of winning the upcoming competition.
Meanwhile, Xu Qingyi, wearing a light blue dress, sat quietly at the seat in Qingdan Pavilion. Her expression was calm, but if one looked carefully, one could see a hint of worry between her brows.
With the ringing of a clear bell, the competition officially began.
The two young alchemists stood up from their seats and walked to the center of the arena.
Different from Huo Yan's steady steps and determined eyes, Xu Qingyi's steps were slightly hesitant. Just from the momentum, he was already at a disadvantage.
"Welcome everyone to this alchemy skills competition between Qingdan Pavilion and Yanyang Sect. I am the leader of Yanyang Sect, Li Xunfeng."
A middle-aged monk with a deep and magnetic voice walked out from one side of the arena. He was wearing a robe with flowing cloud patterns and holding a jade ruler inlaid with gems.
It was the host of this competition, Li Xunfeng, the leader of Yanyang Sect.
As the party that contributed the most to this competition, the Yan Yang Sect would naturally be the host of the competition.
Zhou Yiqiao thought
With the blessing of magic power, his words were clearly heard by everyone present, attracting everyone's attention and the atmosphere instantly became more heated.
Li Xunfeng looked around with a decent smile on his face. He cleared his throat, his voice calm and charming.
"Everyone, we are gathered here today and are honored to witness the skill contest between two young alchemists."
"Huo Yan and Xu Qingyi are both outstanding representatives of our border market. Their competition will surely be exciting."
His words sounded sanctimonious, but anyone with a discerning eye could sense his confidence in victory from the provocative looks he gave Zhou Yiqiao.
There was a lot of discussion among the people in the audience, but most of them thought Huo Yan would win.
After all, Huo Yan is well-known, while Xu Qingyi is too unknown in comparison.
These discussions flooded into Xu Qingyi's ears like a tide, making her already nervous mood even heavier.
She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down, but her palms were still sweating unconsciously.
"For the sake of fairness, the content of this duel will be randomly selected under the witness of everyone present."
Before Li Xunfeng finished speaking, a disciple of Yan Yang Sect, holding a jade plate with several jade slips engraved with complex runes, slowly walked into the center of the arena.
"These jade slips record different alchemy tasks, from basic elixirs to rare elixir recipes. Any elixir below the third level may be selected."
There was a barely perceptible cunning in Li Xunfeng's voice as he continued.
"This round of competition adopts a best-of-three system. The two contestants will draw the pills for the first two rounds. In the last round, the pill lady of Qibaozhai will randomly draw from the remaining jade slips to determine the winner."
Li Xunfeng's words were like throwing a stone into a calm lake, causing ripples.
Everyone present showed surprise when they heard the name "Madam Dan".
Only Zhou Yiqiao remained calm, sitting upright on the viewing platform, as if everything was under control.
There was even a hint of amusement in his eyes, and he seemed to be quite interested in the show that was about to take place.
The reason why the spectators were shocked was that Madam Dan was a well-known master of alchemy in the border market area.
Not only does she have a high level of attainment in alchemy and is already able to refine fifth-tier precious elixirs, but the quality and efficacy of her elixirs are also excellent, making her one of the top figures in the border market.
The reason why everyone in Qingdan Pavilion was shocked was that Qibaozhai was a long-term supplier of Qingdan Pavilion and the two had a very close relationship.
However, anyone with a keen eye could see that the Yan Yang Sect was trying to tamper with the selection of the last elixir so that Huo Yan could be sure of victory.
Qibaozhai's cooperation with Yanyang Sect made everyone in Qingdan Pavilion feel betrayed.
"Madam Dan actually participated in the drawing of lots for this competition. The Yanyang Sect is really good at this."
Someone whispered.
"Yes, hasn't Qibaozhai always had a good relationship with Qingdan Pavilion? What on earth is going on..."
Before the other person could finish his words, the person next to him pulled his sleeve, signaling him not to continue.
Amid the discussions of the crowd, Madam Dan slowly walked onto the stage.
She was wearing an elegant long dress, with a cool temperament and a sense of detachment between her eyebrows.
She didn't say anything, but just showed up in front of everyone, then walked off the stage and sat on the side of Yan Yang Sect.
From beginning to end, this Lady Dan never even glanced at the people in Qingdan Pavilion.
Little Leo, who was standing behind Zhou Yiqiao, naturally saw what Lady Dan did and cursed in a low voice behind Zhou Yiqiao.
"Damn it, didn't Qibaozhai always claim to be the most neutral force in the border market? How come they are in cahoots with Yanyang Sect?"
Zhou Yiqiao raised his hand slightly to stop Little Leo from saying anything further, and the smile on his lips became even wider.
"More chess pieces means more fun, Leo, just keep watching."
Zhou Yiqiao's voice was deep and magnetic, with a magical rhythm that soothed Leo's restlessness.
