Fierce Competition! The Most Cutthroat Meeting in History

The Three-Year Agreement.

Xiao Yan was not the only one who cared about it.

Yun Shan and the Misty Cloud Sect cared even more.

Yun Shan had worried himself sick over this young master's training.

Aside from bringing the Jia Ma Empire's forces together as vassals of the Xiao Clan,

Yun Shan devoted all his remaining efforts to directing the grand drama of the Three-Year Agreement.

He had to make sure Xiao Yan enjoyed himself while also growing stronger and achieving the purpose of his training.

The senior's regard for the boy truly left Yun Shan trembling with fear.

He was even more exasperated with the two girls in the sect for failing to live up to expectations!

Their attitude was all wrong. Women should find themselves men.

If they didn't want men, fine, but they shouldn't go provoking them either!

sigh~

He still had to clean up their mess himself.

So when Xiao Yan's group arrived at the Jia Ma Imperial Capital, Yun Shan kept a constant eye on them. He even took a moment when no one was watching to quietly visit the Dou Zun expert accompanying the young master.

At the time.

"This junior, Yun Shan, master of the Misty Cloud Sect, greets you, Senior."

"Senior Xiao has already brought the entire Misty Cloud Sect under his command. As its representative, I will unite the Jia Ma Empire under us, and together we will serve as an outer force of the Xiao Clan."

"Please show mercy, Senior. The Misty Cloud Sect will handle Young Master Xiao Yan's Three-Year Agreement with care and ensure that the young master gets the training he needs."

"Senior Xiao is also aware of this."

Yun Shan had almost wanted to kneel and humble himself. After all, there was no shame in bowing and scraping before a mighty Dou Zun!

Besides, Yun Shan had only been a Five-Star Dou Zong at the time. He felt that even if he reached the Dou Zun realm, he would probably still be no match for its stronger experts, so he might as well build a good relationship early.

It was not as though Yun Shan had never met an expert at the Dou Zun level.

But the man before him was anything but ordinary, so Yao Chen humbled himself even further.

Afterward...

No one knew what Yao Chen had said, but Yun Shan had left with a broad smile.

He had achieved his basic goal, at least. Senior Yao had accepted his gesture of goodwill.

And as long as the Dou Zun did not intervene, no matter how capable Young Master Xiao Yan was, he could only follow the script step by step, making a name for himself and winning both fame and fortune!

The Alchemist Grand Meeting, which was about to begin, was the first step.

At the gates of the Misty Cloud Sect, Yun Shan stood with his hands behind his back.

"Gu He, go!"

Yun Shan treated the sect's only sixth-grade alchemist quite well. Besides, Gu He had a substantial part to play later, so he needed proper instructions.

"Yes, Sect Master!"

Although everyone had to show Gu He, the man known as the Pill King in the Jia Ma Empire, some respect, he knew little about the major event that had taken place in the empire.

After all, Yun Shan—or rather, Mo Xuan-had offered so much!

And so everything had been overturned in an instant.

On the surface, things remained as they had been, but in truth... there was still not much difference. After all, an outer force did not need to go to war or anything.

At least, they did not need to fight to the death for now. Keeping watch was enough.

Their remaining task was to serve as training partners for the Xiao Clan.

The first person was Young Master Xiao Yan.

The Alchemist Grand Meeting officially began!

In the end, Xiao Yan set out alone.

As a Dou Wang expert, and in such a tiny place as the Jia Ma Imperial Capital, Yao Chen naturally disdained to accompany him. Besides, the organizer was Fa Ma, who could be considered Xiao Yan's senior brother.

Although the gap between the two in alchemy was already small, and Xiao Yan was even slightly stronger in combat,

Fa Ma was older, after all, so Xiao Yan respectfully called him senior brother. It was only polite!

Dou Qi wings!

Xiao Yan was making quite a show of himself.

He was here to make a name for himself, after all. How could he do that without showing off a little?

Unfortunately, Yun Shan had already guessed what Xiao Yan was thinking.

Wasn't he just treating the Misty Cloud Sect as a minor monster to defeat?

His way of clearing the stage was to have everyone push the wall once it began to fall, with Yun Shan himself as the target of all their arrows.

That made things even simpler.

So Yun Shan had written the rest of the script accordingly.

The Alchemist Grand Meeting had adopted a rather unusual format this time, with special changes made to it.

The three contests were being held together, all at the same time.

More unusually still, all the defensive barriers had been removed, so that everyone could see the alchemists' heroic bearing.

This was partly Yun Shan's doing, and partly Fa Ma's intention.

In any case, there could be only one champion.

Whether in terms of ability, identity, or status, Xiao Yan was fully deserving.

But that was not something to tell outsiders.

The ordinary people of the Jia Ma Imperial Capital knew only that this was the grandest Alchemist Grand Meeting the empire had seen in a century, and that it was not limited to the empire's own alchemists.

Nor did it fear challenges from foreign alchemists.

Sure enough, alongside the powerful alchemists known throughout the Jia Ma Empire, there were quite a few other alchemists, their figures indistinct and their faces impossible to make out, holding their own against them.

The rewards were simply too generous.

Besides a Sixth-grade Pill Recipe, the Alchemist Association had put up a great deal more.

The top three would receive, respectively, an Emperor's Extreme Pill, a Dou Ling Pill, and other precious heavenly and earthly treasures.

The rest could also receive merit prizes, including a chance to browse through numerous precious pill recipes once.

It was as if they had no intention of making ends meet afterward.

But these resources had not come from the Alchemist Association. Several powerful figures and Sect Master Yun Shan had provided them with all their might.

That was even less a matter to tell outsiders.

The venue was already packed to bursting.

Although the range of entrants had been expanded without limit this time, the Jia Ma Imperial Capital had its limits!

Almost the entire city, as well as people from outside, had flocked there. Of course they were packed shoulder to shoulder.

"A Dou Wang?"

Everyone cried out in surprise when they saw Xiao Yan flying through the sky, though they were not too shocked.

After all, quite a few Dou Wang-level figures had already appeared that day.

What an eye-opener!

This really was an eye-opener!

Countless people felt the trip had been worthwhile. If they had missed it, they would have regretted it for the rest of their lives.

Strangely, though, this Dou Wang expert seemed to be going to the wrong place.

The viewing seats were clearly up above!

He, he was a contestant?

Countless jaws dropped.

Xiao Yan dispersed the Dou Qi around him, revealing an extremely youthful face and drawing more cries of surprise from the crowd.

A Dou Wang-level alchemist, and so young at that!

Terrifying indeed.

In an instant, the atmosphere at the Alchemist Grand Meeting reached a climax.

Of course, some people were silently cursing.

Which shameless old bastard was disguising his face to come and swindle the rewards now?

Among them were quite a few people concealing powerful Dou Qi that seemed to have reached the Dou Wang realm as well.

The rewards were simply too tempting, after all.

Alchemists were not all that wealthy either.

Or rather, only those who reached a high rank could live without worrying about food and clothing. Those at the bottom still had to count every penny.

Besides, not all alchemists worked exclusively at alchemy.

Often, a person's Dou Qi strength improved while their alchemist rank remained stuck where it was. Such cases were not uncommon.

So they could come here, put on a little disguise, and obtain a considerable amount of resources.

Wasn't that a sweet deal?!

The trouble was, too many people were doing the same shameless thing.

The competition was fierce!

Compete, compete, compete!

All they knew was how to compete!

Those "powerful" alchemists with ulterior motives were thoroughly indignant.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The bell rang nine times.

The contests of the Alchemist Grand Meeting began!