Chapter 43 The wooden plaque is in hand. Master, have you gone to be a thief?
Back at the inn, Senior Brother Lü stopped Song Yin and wrote down the competition tips he had learned in advance on a piece of paper for her.
Senior Brother Lü: "My second junior sister and I have participated in many alchemy conferences. Although my third junior brother is participating for the first time this year, he watched the last conference with us, so he has some experience. You are the only one who is participating for the first time and is here for the first time. Reading this should be helpful to you."
Song Yin quickly scanned the contents and could tell at a glance that the other party had written it with care. "Thank you, Senior Brother Lü. I will read it. This will definitely be of great help to me."
Senior Brother Lü smiled and nodded, "I'm glad I could help you."
Inside the room, Song Yin read through the entire text word by word, gaining a general understanding of the Alchemist Conference.
Once the competition begins, each group of contestants must refine elixirs according to the given requirements. The difficulty of refining the elixirs will gradually increase, and contestants who fail to refine them will be eliminated. The ingredients needed for all kinds of elixirs in the competition will be provided by the organizing committee, but the elixirs that the contestants successfully refine will belong to them.
During the competition, there will be a special venue to display various elixirs. If the person who refined the elixir is present, you can even ask them for the secret to success.
After reading the contents, Song Yin put the paper into her storage bag.
Shao Yangtian and the others were all doing their own things in different rooms next door. Some were counting all the spirit stones they had earned, while others were taking out their alchemy notes to review the key points.
After counting the spirit stones, Song Yin earned eighty-eight top-grade spirit stones from the Sword Repair Pill alone. Except for the first pill, which was sold at the original price, everyone else took out ten top-grade spirit stones to buy it.
"High-grade pills are really profitable." Song Yin sighed as she put away the spirit stones. She would cultivate diligently and strive to refine pills of the fourth, fifth, or even higher grades.
Time flies, and the setting sun casts a warm glow through the window.
Song Yin glanced at the sky; it was almost time. She got up and went out, walking all the way to the gates of Nine Star City. Senior Brother Lü and Senior Sister Cheng noticed Song Yin leaving, but didn't ask any questions.
After leaving the city gate and walking a short distance, they found a male cultivator who needed a sword-replenishing pill under a tree.
As she returned the wooden plaque, Song Yin used her spiritual power to leave a small line of words on it: "Outside the city gate this evening." She was very interested in the patterns on the wooden plaque, but unfortunately, the Floating Dream Realm had not yet opened. If the Floating Dream Realm ever opened, she would definitely go and explore it.
Song Yin walked over and asked him to come with her to another place to talk. After walking a distance further and finding that no one was around, Song Yin stopped.
"You should know that a bottle of pills usually contains ten pills. The Sword Repairing Pill I obtained was indeed ten pills. I sold nine today and have one left."
Upon hearing that Song Yin still had a sword-repairing pill, the male cultivator immediately became excited. His eyes, which had been as still as a pool of water, instantly lit up, and he hurriedly took out a wooden plaque and gave it to Song Yin.
Song Yin: "It's unfair of me to exchange a wooden plaque for my pills. After all, I don't know what the pattern on the wooden plaque is for. Why don't you tell me its secret, so I won't suffer a loss."
The male cultivator's voice was somewhat hoarse, "...I don't know what it's used for. It must be something very important to be hidden in the deepest part of the secret realm and guarded by powerful demonic beasts. It's a pity I can't figure it out."
Song Yin: "You don't know either, which makes things a bit difficult. How about this, tell me all your experiences and precautions in the Floating Dream Secret Realm, and I'll write them down so I can go there myself sometime in the future."
After a moment's thought, the male cultivator agreed to Song Yin's request, "Okay."
He recounted his experiences in the Floating Dream Realm, especially his journey to the deepest part of the realm. He was severely injured and his inner demons began to fester during a battle with demonic beasts. He finally escaped the beasts' attack and entered a safe secret chamber. Inside the chamber were only fragments, but unfortunately, they were restricted and he couldn't take them. After he copied the contents of the fragments, he waited in the chamber for the realm to close. When the realm closed, cultivators who entered would be rejected and sent out.
After the male cultivator finished recounting his experiences, Song Yin put the recording stone into her spatial storage and then took out the remaining jade bottle for him.
"This is the only sword-repairing pill I have. I hope you can successfully suppress your inner demons after taking it."
The male cultivator accepted the pill, his tone full of gratitude, "Thank you very much, fellow Daoist. I am deeply grateful."
Song Yin: "There's no need for that. I gave you the pills only because of the transaction; we each got what we needed."
After watching Song Yin leave, the male cultivator immediately opened the jade bottle and poured the pill directly into his mouth.
Upon returning to the inn, Song Yin immediately studied the patterns on the wooden plaque.
This time, she slid her fingers along the patterns with spiritual energy. She felt that the patterns were very special, and upon closer inspection, they did not resemble the patterns of a map or a talisman.
After studying the object for a long time without any clue, she decided to seek help.
So he quickly flew to find his master.
"Master, are you there?" Song Yin walked into Qi Zibo's resting place and called out to him in the courtyard.
Not hearing a response from her master, she went directly to the meditation room and knocked on the door.
Knock knock knock.
"Master?"
He knocked on the door harder, "Master, are you there?"
After a long silence, Song Yin asked, "Strange, where is everyone?"
"What do you want from me?"
Qi Zibo's voice rang out from the doorway.
Song Yin turned around, ran excitedly to her master, and took out the wooden plaque. "Master, please help me see if I've found any treasure? I feel that the patterns on this are very unique, but I can't figure out what they are."
Qi Zibo's clothes were still covered with soil from the mountains. After surveying the area around Jiuxing City, he returned under the cover of night.
"Let me see." Qi Zibo took the wooden plaque and scanned it with his divine sense.
Song Yin hopes that Qi Zibo can decipher the secret of the wooden plaque.
This is a moment to stake her reputation as an arrogant hero! Which arrogant hero wouldn't take advantage of a bargain?
The main reason she accepted the wooden plaque was that her sixth sense told her it might be a good thing.
After Qi Zibo finished reading it, he returned it to Song Yin. "It's an ordinary wooden plaque, so ordinary that you can't tell anything from the patterns on it. It's probably because the patterns are incomplete."
Song Yin: "Master, you are so amazing. You could tell at a glance that the pattern was incomplete. I traded a Sword Repairing Pill for it from a cultivator. He ventured into the deepest part of the Floating Dream Secret Realm and encountered the fragment, but he couldn't take it with him. So he copied the contents of the fragment, and that's how this wooden plaque came about."
Qi Zibo: "You traded the Sword Repair Pill for this? It might be useful, but it's incomplete. Can you find the remaining fragments?"
The analysis of the wooden plaque yielded no results, but Song Yin didn't regret exchanging the Sword Repairing Pill for it. Her master's words had enlightened her; perhaps she could try her luck in the future. If she could complete the fragment, wouldn't she be able to reap a great reward?
"Let's try our luck. Maybe I can complete it? My master can also sense the uniqueness of the pattern. There might be a surprise after it's completed."
Qi Zibo: "I'm not trying to discourage you, but without a single clue, where are you going to find the fragments?"
Song Yin gave Qi Zibo a look as if he were an idiot. "The item was found in a secret realm. We should look for it in any secret realm we go to in the future. Who knows if the fragments are scattered in other secret realms?"
Qi Zibo's brow twitched. What an unlucky kid who doesn't respect his teacher. What kind of look is that?
Qi Zibo: "Have you had enough of the inn? If you have, move back here. The competition starts the day after tomorrow."
Song Yin refused without hesitation: "No, Elder Xin is in the courtyard next door. You can run into him as soon as you go out. Listening to you two arguing gives me a headache."
Qi Zibo pointed a finger at the traitorous disciple, "You, you, you!"
Song Yin noticed the dirt on Qi Zibo's clothes and blurted out without thinking, "Master, did you go out and steal?"
Qi Zibo changed the direction of his finger and pointed to the courtyard gate, saying calmly, "Go back to the inn."
Song Yin insisted on doing the opposite, "Since you've put it that way, then I'll rest here tonight. But Master, where exactly did you go?"
Qi Zibo: "Children shouldn't ask such questions."
Seeing that he wasn't going to tell her, Song Yin shut up and didn't press the matter further.
The next morning, Shao Yangtian and the others didn't see Song Yin and guessed that she had gone to find Elder Qi. They returned to their lodgings arranged by the Alchemist Conference and, sure enough, found Song Yin there. After greeting her, they went to find their master, Xin Huailiang, to discuss the arrangements for the next day's competition.
Qi Zibo was also explaining the precautions to Song Yin.
"You were staying at the inn the other day and didn't know that Dan Huajun's little apprentice, Bai Yuqing, said in front of many people that she was going to take first place in the Foundation Establishment group this time. Bai Yuqing originally wanted to fight against Shao Yangtian, but this year, the Immortal Cloud Sect has added you as an elder or disciple to participate in the Foundation Establishment group competition."
"As for our Immortal Cloud Sect, this year we have a total of eighteen Foundation Establishment cultivators participating in the competition, including you and Shao Yangtian, and ten Golden Core cultivators participating this year."
Song Yin: "Why didn't I meet anyone else?"
Qi Zibo said, "This is where the elders of each sect live. Only the elders' personal disciples can stay here. The other participating disciples are arranged separately. Xin Huailiang brought those disciples here, and he also has to be responsible for their safety. He's been extremely busy these past few days." He couldn't help but laugh as he spoke.
The division of labor was clear: one person was responsible for investigating the depletion of spiritual veins, and another was responsible for leading the team.
Elder Xin was indeed extremely busy, preparing for his own competition while also instructing his twenty-odd disciples in alchemy. Ironically, his three disciples, along with Qi Zibo's disciples, had run off to live elsewhere, making a fortune selling pills and spirit stones, and hadn't bothered to come and help.
In the neighboring yard.
Elder Xin: "You've had a few days of leisure, but I've been busy with everything. In the end, I still had to remind you three about the competition. Especially you, Lü Ziya, as the eldest disciple with a late-stage Golden Core cultivation, you've been running around with your junior sisters and brothers."
Senior Brother Lü poured Elder Xin a cup of tea. “Master, the capable are often given more responsibilities. The fact that the Sect Master entrusted you with the task of leading the team means that you are better than Elder Qi in this aspect. Otherwise, why wouldn’t the Sect Master have given the task of leading the team to Elder Qi? We took Song Yin out with us so that our Third Junior Brother could win the competition. Knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory in every battle.”
The three apprentices were adept at persuading their master.
Shao Yangtian chimed in, readily spouting lies, "That's right, I've discovered that although Junior Sister Song Yin is at the Foundation Establishment stage, she's only at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, and she's only been involved in alchemy for a few years. I estimate she can't even refine the more difficult second-grade pills."
Elder Xin: "Are you sure?"
Shao Yangtian patted his chest and assured him, "I'm sure!"
Elder Xin took a sip of tea. "Alright, then your task is to take first place in the Foundation Establishment group. You must outperform both Song Yin and Dan Huajun's little apprentice, Bai Yuqing."
Shao Yangtian turned around and gave his second senior sister a look that said, "Master is at it again," a smile that looked worse than a cry.
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Author's Note: On the Elders' Competitive Spirit
The older generation has an insatiable competitive spirit (it's ignited! [angry])
The younger generation prioritizes friendship and plays together (Makka Pakka [starry eyes]).
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[Empty bowl]
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