“Are you ready?” asked Jiao on the day of the Inner Sect Challenge.
“Yes,” I said. “My skills in Rank 2 pills have hit a point of diminishing returns. Without a significant time investment, or a better affinity or blessing to help me, I think I’m at my limit. If this isn’t enough to join the inner sect, then that is simply my fate.”
“Just remember,” said Jiao, “joining the inner sect is all about either having uniquely powerful abilities or having connections. The more of one you have, the less of the other you need. Since you’re an independent, you don’t have to compete with the faction disciples, but it does mean you need to shine brighter. Your elder can only do so much.”
The unwritten rules of this challenge had become clear to me over the years. Each of the three factions would always receive the same number of inner sect disciples, and it didn’t matter too much how qualified those people were compared to everyone else. If the second-best alchemist was part of the same faction as the best alchemist, it would be extremely difficult for them to be selected.
Of course, the same number for each faction didn’t always mean only one for each faction. As long as it was balanced, two or three could be selected for each faction. The complication was that if the Snakes had three excellent alchemists, but the Tigers only had one, there was a strong incentive to only allow one person per faction to pass.
Since I was under Elder Mu, and he was an independent elder, the faction games didn’t affect me too much. I wouldn’t be excluded because someone better had already been chosen, but I also wouldn’t get included when there was an extra slot. I just needed to be in a position where the elders saw value for the sect in my promotion.
Value wasn’t just determined by the quality of pills an alchemist could make, but also the quantity they made. Completing missions and bounties in the pill hall was factored in when the elders were making a decision. If you were contributing more, your promotion would have more value.
“Elder Mu said it shouldn’t be a problem,” I told Jiao. “He seemed confident that I would succeed.”
“Really?” she asked. “That’s odd. This year, Elder Hu, the head of the Tigers, decided to personally serve as a judge. This made Elder Long, head of the Snakes, and Elder Tao, head manager of the Eyes, also join. The judging panel is stacked against the independents this year.”
“I don’t know why, but he seemed sure that as long as I produced pills of the same quality I have been, it would be enough to move up.”
“Good luck then,” said Jiao, “I’ll be rooting for you.”
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“Welcome everyone. I am Tan GaoFeng, the Deputy Sect Master for the Twin Mountains Sect in charge of the Alchemy Peak. If you are new to the sect, and this is your first time at one of these competitions, I welcome you.”
I stood in the arena along with eighteen other competitors as the audience politely applauded.
“The Inner Sect Challenge is held once every three years. Every outer sect disciple who has reached the realm of Martial Grandmaster has been invited to participate. Unlike the competition to become an outer sect member, there is no set number for how many may be promoted to the inner sect. Instead, our panel of esteemed elders will decide who would be a good fit for the inner sect. This is done on an individual basis, so you only need to do your best.”
I looked to the stands where Elders Hu, Long, and Tao sat. They would be the ones deciding my fate for this life.
“For this competition,” continued the Sect Master, “you will be making three pills. We will start with the most straightforward. You need to concoct a fire-focused Meridian Builder Pill. This pill should be familiar to everyone, so I hope you will use it to show off the height of your abilities.”
This was the only pill where I was completely confident in the outcome. Without a specific blessing to aid them, none of the other disciples here would be my match, but I doubted I was lucky enough that no one would have such assistance.
I carefully prepared and began working. I carefully burned away all the visible pill toxins, raising the pill to the peak of High-Purity. When using my spirit fire, I was careful to leave a thick layer of toxin whenever I came close to the medicinal energy. With the qi of a Grandmaster, I was more than capable of supplying enough fire qi to eliminate the dregs without needing to risk approaching with my spirit fire.
When the medicinal energy was all prepared, I began using my Empowering Technique to let my fire qi improve the earth energy. This technique had reached a level where I felt I could extract all the potential from the ingredients.
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I combined each portion of medicinal power in sequence, then compressed it into a pill.
A small, perfectly round pill dropped to the bottom of my cauldron.
I picked it up and examined it. I didn’t have any ability or technique to analyze Rank 2 pills, but based on my experience over the years, I could still do a rough appraisal. I estimated that it was a peak High-Purity pill with 118% efficacy. Since only a Perfect pill could have a base efficacy of 100%, and the theoretical maximum bonus of the Empowering Technique was 20%, I was confident that this pill would be enough to secure one of the top spots in this round.
I had taken my time, so I wasn’t the first to finish concocting my pill, but I was close. I wasn’t sure how much, if any, importance would be placed on speed, but I didn’t want to lose points in this regard.
After everyone had completed the first pill, they were taken to be judged, but the results were not announced.
“Next,” said Tan GaoFeng, “you will all need to make a wood-focused Meridian Builder Pill. Everyone has a natural advantage when making the fire version, but this should stretch your abilities slightly more.”
The elemental cycle to create a wood-focused pill began with fire. I couldn't empower the fire medicinal energy the same way I had with the earth energy, but that didn’t mean I was helpless. After studying countless techniques in the libraries of Elder Mu and the Sect, I was able to create a derivative version of the Empowering Technique.
I focused on the fire medicinal energy, which was the beginning of this pill. Adding my fire qi to it would not be able to improve it in any way, and trying to force the issue would only damage the medicinal energy.
Instead, I began to weave strands of qi throughout the structure of the medicinal energy without ever touching it. In most pills, this would be futile at best, as the fire qi and fire medicine never truly integrated, but making the fire energy more potent wasn’t the goal.
After this initial stage was complete, I began to integrate the amalgamation of fire qi and medicinal energy with the earth medicinal energy. As they were merging, the fire qi excited the earth energy, causing it to become slightly, but noticeably, more potent than usual. This technique couldn’t be used to produce wonders since too much fire qi would overwhelm the mixture, but it did provide a boost.
After completing the pill, I examined it. My estimate put it at 106% efficiency. Far worse than with the empowering technique, but it was still better than nothing.
As I was the only one who added this extra step to the process, I was the last to finish in the second round, but I didn’t worry about the loss of time here. The improved pill should be considered far more valuable.
“The final pill for today will be a Rank 2 Explosive Pill,” announced the Sect Master.
Explosive pills were tricky, and I was surprised to see them as part of this competition.
This pill consisted of four herbs: one wood, one metal, and two fire-based herbs.
I didn’t have any special method to help me here because I had never wanted to risk experimenting with explosives, so I could only execute the basic pill to the best of my ability.
First, I combined the wood herb with one of the fire herbs, strengthening it. Then I began to weave the empowered fire herb together with the unempowered one. They did not merge. Instead, the two energies began to resemble a large ball of twine with two different-colored strings mixed haphazardly together. This combined ball of fire energy was completely inert since the energies could neither move nor combine.
The ball of fire energy was then wrapped in fire qi, and the fire qi was wrapped in the energy from the metal herb. Finally, the energy ball was compressed into a solid form.
I carefully picked up the final pill and gingerly placed it into a padded pill bottle.
The fire qi acted as an insulator between the metal and fire medicinal energies. When crushed, the metal energy would pierce through the layer of qi and into the fire energy, destabilizing it. This would result in an almost instant explosion that I had no desire to be anywhere close to.
When I was finished, I turned in my pill and quickly escaped to the edge of the arena. Some of the competitors were doing their best to fight for a place in the inner sect, and I wanted to be far away if their attempts ended in disaster.
Disaster never struck, though. Many people had their pill collapse, but it was always before they began working with the metal energy, so there was no true danger.
“Congratulations on completing the Inner Sect Challenge!” said the Sect Master. “Please wait while the elders discuss your results.”
Had I done enough? My first pill could easily contend with anything a regular disciple could produce, and my second pill used a unique refinement process, so that should be enough. The only thing that could keep me out of the inner sect was politics, and for that, I could only rely on Elder Mu.
“Sect Master Tan,” said Elder Hu in a loud voice, “we have reached our decision. The first disciple promoted is Hu JinPo.”
As he announced this, a large, proud smile broke out on the elder’s face.
“Next,” announced Elder Long, “is Bao DuPing.”
“Third,” said Elder Tao, “is Jiang FeiLong.”
After each name, a small burst of applause could be heard from different parts of the stadium. Those had to be the disciples chosen by their factions.
“We will also promote Wen Hong,” said Elder Hu.
Wen Hong? Was he related to Wen Hao? Wen Hao was in Elder Hu’s faction, so were they advancing two people each?
“And Bao DuJin,” stated Elder Long.
“The final inner sect disciple this year will be Su Fang,” announced Elder Tao.
At this pronouncement, he gave me a wide, inviting smile.
After the selections were complete, the disciples who were not chosen quietly exited the arena while those who had been picked began walking toward their respective elders.
I wasn’t sure what to do. Had I just been poached by the Eyes? As a disciple under Elder Mu, wouldn’t it be improper for me to join Elder Tao at this time? Elder Tao represented the Sect Master, though, so I had to give him face.
I walked to where Jiang FeiLong was already talking with the elder.
I gave Elder Tao a deep bow. “Hello, Elder Tao. Thank you for allowing me to join the inner sect.”
“Disciple Su,” said the elder, looking me up and down. “I’ve heard a lot about you. Welcome to the Righteous Defenders of the Twin Mountains.”