Chapter 69 Research Meeting 22 "Who did you call a bomber? Explain yourself..."

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, the official evaluation of the Shirao Cup Research Conference is about to begin, amidst the disciples' tense yet expectant hearts.

Commander Guo took some time to meet with Xie Jiaoyue again, and in exchange for half a percent of the profits, he managed to extract a more detailed plan from her.

Step 1: Invite the fathers and mothers of all the disciples, especially those whose disciples are talented, come from good families, or whose parents are concerned about their reputation.

Step 2: The above invitation is presented as free. After creating anticipation, VIP tickets are issued under the pretext of the limited capacity of the clan school. Only parents with VIP tickets can enter the clan school to participate, while others can only watch the live broadcast at the Fulai Restaurant.

Note: Fu Lai Restaurant must be the only non-ethnic academic venue where the academic conference evaluation can be viewed; no other venue is allowed.

Step 3: Divide the VIP admission tickets into three, six, and nine tiers, with the price increasing sequentially. The most expensive tier will have their seats trimmed with gold, making them as eye-catching as possible.

Commander Guo initially frowned, feeling that this plan would divide people into different classes, making those thin-skinned disciples lose face.

Then Xie Jiaoyue's words enlightened me.

"Disciples from less wealthy families should be able to tell whether spirit stones or face are more important. They are the ones who benefit the most from the clan school having spirit stones."

That's true! And since the disciples weren't even invited to serve, it's the teachers who are losing face.

Are they making money? They're raising funds! What's wrong with giving a wealthy patron a special treatment like a gold-rimmed chair? If the patron weren't so generous, could they afford to rent the Fulai Restaurant?

So a few days in advance, in order to welcome the parents of all the disciples, Master Guo recruited about ten disciples to help with the arrangements.

Xin Rong, who had always had a good relationship with Commander Guo, was naturally in the group, as was Xie Jiaoyue's cousin, Xie Lingliu.

Xie Lingliu cultivates alchemy, and this time she was responsible for painting the chairs with gold paint, which she herself had helped refine.

She always paid attention to her image in public and didn't talk too much, but since losing to Xie Jiaoyue in the last competition, Xie Lingliu hadn't contacted Chu Xingjin much. She tried to run into him several times but failed. She hadn't heard from Chu Xingjin since the preliminary evaluation.

She was a little anxious. She had long had her eye on a thigh, but she had lost contact with it. Naturally, she was anxious. So, as she was painting, she moved closer to Xin Rong's side, chair and all.

“Ah Rong.”

The sudden female voice gave Xin Rong goosebumps: "No, don't call me that, it sounds weird."

Xie Lingliu's face stiffened: "Arong, haven't I always called people that? There's no special meaning to it. I just feel that we're all classmates and will have to take care of each other in the future, so it's better to address each other in a more intimate way."

"Just call me Xin Rong."

"Okay, Brother Xinrong."

"No, no, no, I remember you're older than me, otherwise call me Brother Xinrong."

Xie Lingliu almost couldn't laugh anymore. Why was it so tiring to talk to this idiot? Was there something wrong with him?

Xie Lingliu finally found a form of address that both of them could accept: "Then how about I call you Rongdi? Actually, it's nothing, I just heard that my sister and your sister are in the same team participating in the research conference. Are they getting along well?"

"They should be fine. Didn't you know they went to the Xie family together on their day off before?"

"I was too busy at that time, so I didn't go home on my days off and really didn't know about this. I didn't expect that the introverted Jiaoyue could make such a thoughtful friend. But isn't there three people in a team? Is the other person Chu Xingjin?"

Her ultimate goal was not to inquire about Xie Jiaoyue, but rather about Chu Xingjin.

However, as Xie Jiaoyue's cousin, it was rather undignified for her to bypass Xie Jiaoyue and go to care about her future brother-in-law.

Xin Rong looked at him as if he were an idiot: "Who's in each team? Isn't it all engraved on that stone wall over there by the sword's edge? You've participated in research conferences before, and you don't even know that?"

Perhaps because of what happened last time, Xie Lingliu's resistance had grown a lot. Even under such circumstances, she endured it again and again, and the expression on her face remained completely intact.

"I've just been too busy. Unlike you, I'm not a glamorous sword cultivator. I'm just a pill cultivator with no real skills. So naturally, I rarely go to the sword's edge."

Showing weakness in front of male cultivators is also one of her usual tactics, and most people won't make things difficult for her after she says that.

Xin Rong didn't react much, but the others rushed over to comfort her.

“Ling Liu, how can you be considered a mere alchemist with no real skills? I think you might even be stronger than Xin Xiuying.”

This man was a male cultivator specializing in male enhancement techniques. It was obvious that he had a grudge against Xin Rong, as he was gossiping about Xin Rong's sister in front of her.

The male cultivator completely disregarded Xin Rong's feelings: "Xin Rong, you shouldn't be angry, right? What I said is all true. Everyone knows that there have been explosions in the alchemy room every day recently, and these explosions were all caused by Xin Xiuying. There are indeed quite a few alchemists who can make pills to the point of explosion, but there are very few who can make explosions every day."

Xie Lingliu tried to steer the conversation back to Chu Xingjin: "If Xie Jiaoyue and Chu Xingjin aren't on the same team, and if Xie Jiaoyue's team doesn't perform very well, then what about Chu Xingjin? Isn't he doing quite well?"

Another female alchemist changed the subject again: "Heh, so what if there's an explosion? Does an explosion mean bad results? They've only failed temporarily. Haven't you all read their plan? If they succeed in the end, fragile alchemists like us won't have to worry about our safety when we go out."

The female alchemist was very optimistic about Xie Jiaoyue's plan and would not tolerate it being slandered by others.

The male organ repairman retorted, "Doesn't an explosion mean bad results? Maybe they won't even be able to produce a finished product. They'll be using the guise of adventure, breakthrough, and novelty, and in the end, they'll just have to slink off the stage in disgrace."

The female alchemist said, "Even if they don't succeed this time, they will definitely break through again and succeed one day. You think they won't be number one? Could it be because you gambled on it?" The male weapon cultivator said, "Yes, Chu Xingjin's team has a good configuration and is excellent in the initial evaluation, so I naturally bet on them. Who would bet on those explosive guys?"

"Who did you call a bomber? Explain yourself!"

A deafening roar echoed from the horizon.

The alchemy room exploded again.

The male organ repairman paused for two seconds, then burst into laughter, laughing so hard he could barely breathe.

This is it? You think you can be number one? You're at the bottom!

Xin Rong nudged the female alchemist and whispered, "Don't argue with this guy. He bet a lot of spirit stones on Chu Xingjin during the entrance exam, but Xie Jiaoyue came in first, and he ended up losing a lot of money. Now he's stuck in this mess, stubborn as a mule, and he's betting on Chu Xingjin again."

The female alchemist was speechless. What kind of skill was it to take out her anger on an innocent little girl after losing herself?

Boring.

The three argued for a while and then left, leaving Xie Lingliu standing there helpless and speechless.

She just wanted to subtly find out about Chu Xingjin's recent situation, but somehow the conversation kept turning to Xie Jiaoyue.

Fortunately, she also knew some information about Chu Xingjin.

Should I find time to deliver some soup? That wouldn't be appropriate; she's very busy right now. Should I deliver some classical texts? That's also not really suitable, considering Xie Jiaoyue has borrowed so many from the clan school free of charge.

I should talk to Teacher Guo and ask him to help with the evaluation at the academic conference.

Although the debate between male weapon cultivators and female alchemy cultivators couldn't reach a conclusion, it basically represented the two main attitudes among the disciples of the clan academy recently. One side thought Xie Jiaoyue's plan was very interesting; although it might not succeed, it was good to actively explore it. The other side thought that Xie Jiaoyue and her group were just bombing the clan academy every day—what useful things could they possibly produce?

Besides Xie Jiaoyue, Chu Xingjin's proposal received the most support.

But unlike previous editions, there was one team that received tremendous support, with over 50% of people believing that team would inevitably win, and in the end, they were almost always right.

However, even disregarding those who support Xie Jiaoyue, only about 30% of the remaining people believe that Chu Xingjin's team has a chance to win the championship. The rest have their own supporters and are quite scattered.

This situation is naturally thanks to Xie Jiaoyue.

The spiritual materials and classic texts provided by the charitable Bodhisattva Xie Jiaoyue have inspired countless teams, significantly raising the overall level of this year's participants. Many have decided to move beyond theoretical discussions about insurance and get down to practical work.

Wouldn't that lead to a flourishing of diverse talents?

Among all the teams, Chu Xingjin's team was more dazzling than the others, but only slightly so, and could not secure first place.

Was Xie Jiaoyue sure? Xie Jiaoyue didn't know either, but after that huge explosion, they finally succeeded in refining their first batch of pills.

The first batch!

success!

They have a finished product!

Xin Xiuying carefully opened the pressure cooker-like alchemy furnace in front of her, peeking into it furtively, looking as nervous as a novice thief.

Inside the alchemy furnace, several pills, their outer shells gleaming with metallic light, lay peacefully at the bottom of the furnace.

It's beautiful.

Then Xin Xiuying was so exhausted that she collapsed to the ground.

"Jiaoyue, save me, I've exhausted my magic power."

God knows how difficult it was for her to control the fire; she now considers herself a master of fire control.

Xie Jiaoyue stuffed several Qi-restoring pills into Xin Xiuying's mouth: "Quickly meditate and recover. The preliminary evaluation is tomorrow, and we don't have much time. We also need to send a copy of the finished product to Commander Guo so she can review it first. When we need to use it tomorrow, we can just go to Commander Guo's place to get it."

"Can you give me a break?"

"Oh, you take a break, Xie Xinghui and I will handle it."

"Okay, okay, you're a busy person."

Xie Jiaoyue divided the pills into six portions: one for each of the three of them, one for Commander Guo, one for Feng Qianqian, and one for Gongshi Moyu.

Xie Xinghui asked in confusion, "Sister, why are you dividing it into so many portions?" The amount of pills they've refined isn't even enough to go around.

Xie Jiaoyue said, "You don't understand. This is a competitive event. All the teams are in competition with each other. Who knows, someone might try to sabotage us, right?"

Xie Xinghui stroked the kitten in his arms: "Mimi, look, our sister is so cunning, she doesn't have any ulterior motives."

With Commander Guo watching over them, who would bother to go to such lengths to deal with them?