After hearing the middle-aged Daoist's announcement, the surrounding crowd erupted into cheers.
"Holy shit, the prizes for first place are incredible!"
"Right? Five Taiyuan Pills? Disciples like us only get one every two years, and they're handing out five at once?"
"The Thunderstruck Jujube Wood Demon-Subduing Plaque must have been made from that jujube tree on the mountain that got struck by lightning early this year. Even if it's a single-use magical artifact, its power is amazing!"
"Bixia Incense and Bixia Poria Paste-one helps you gain insight, and the other heals injuries. They're both great stuff. I want them so badly!"
"Then get up there! What good does just wanting them do?"
"Hahaha..."
For a while, excited chatter filled the air.
Even outsiders like us gradually came to understand how valuable these prizes were after listening to the discussions.
Zhang Yuchen was the first to speak up:
"Ou Doudou, this stuff really is good! Brother Jiang, Brother Mao, why don't the four of us go up there, fight a few rounds each, and take all the prizes?"
Mao Jing gave a wry smile.
Pan Ling said awkwardly:
"Even if we're going to milk them for freebies, we can't go that far, can we? It'd hurt our reputation!"
I smiled without saying anything.
The few of us did indeed have the strength to win these prizes.
But if every one of us went up to milk them dry, as Zhang Yuchen suggested, that really would be a little shameless...
After the commotion died down, Bixia Temple's internal trials began.
The first round was the "qualifying trial."
The examiner was Daoist Xuanting from Mysterious Pivot Temple. Dressed in a yellow Daoist robe, he was a man in his early fifties, a little bald, with a protruding belly and a rather greasy look.