Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Entering the manor, Xuan Hao was met by the sight of all the elders franticly moving around the manor as they were all making sure Qing Yi was ready for the alchemy competition.

Every single one of them wanted Qing Yi to do well, as it would mean an increased popularity for the Alchemy Hall and that in turn would mean more disciples would come to join the Alchemy Hall in the future!

Whoosh~

Seeing her master appear at the entrance to the manor, Qing Yi quickly freed herself from the elders of the Alchemy Hall and ran over to meet him.

"Qing Yi! Wait!"

"Qing Yi, you still have to memorize the exotic spiritual herb codex before the alchemy competition!"

"Master! Help!" Ignoring the elders calling out to her from behind, Qing Yi quickly hid behind her master, as the elders from the Alchemy Hall soon came rushing over.

At the same time, Gong Bo and Chi Hu were standing at the side watching the entire thing play out with a wry smile on their faces.

The elders from the Alchemy Hall had gotten a little too fired up over the past few days...

The close it got to the alchemy competition, the more anxious they became thinking about how the alchemy competition would end up determining whether they would be able to get a new batch of disciples to join the Alchemy Hall.

For these elders who most of the time had no disciples to teach due to how unpopular the Alchemy Hall was. The matter of the alchemy competition was by far one of the most important things in their life ever since they had become elders.

After all, currently they were elders in name only, with no disciples to speak of under them in the Alchemy Hall. Outside of Qing Yi of course...

"All of you, calm down! If you, do it like this, you will just end up stressing her before the start of the competition."

Standing in front of Qing Yi, Xuan Hao stopped the elders from the Alchemy Hall from jumping over and dragging Qing Yi away for a few last-minute preparations.

"Y-yes..."

""...""

Looking a bit unwilling, one of the elders shyly responded while the rest of the looked away embarrassedly after they realized just how they had been acting a few moments ago.

Ah! Just looking at how Qing Yi stared at them now from behind her master was painful!

"Let's get going, it won't hurt to arrive a little earlier."

Ignoring the elders from the Alchemy Hall, Xuan Hao turned his attention back towards Qing Yi as he said this.

"Y-yes, master!" Nodding her head eagerly upon hearing her master, Qing Yi and Xuan Hao soon turned to leave the manor towards the competition ground.

"Indeed, I think Elder Xuan is correct, we should also get going."

"Good idea, Elder Gong Bo!"

Following behind Xuan Hao and Qing Yi, Gong Bo and Chi Hu, who had watched the entire thing from the side hurried out of the manor together.

""...""

Soon, only the elders from the Alchemy Hall who had been insisting on having Qing Yi stay to memorize a few more things before the start of the competition were left behind inside the manor.

"M-maybe we should get going as well...?"

Whoosh~

Without even responding to the elder who said this, the rest of the elders looked at each other before they also made their way out of the manor towards the competition ground.

"Guys...?"

The elder who was left behind looked in the direction everyone had disappeared with a slightly confused look on his face. Not really understanding clearly what had just happened.

"Wait for me!"

Whoosh!

Realizing that everyone had left him alone, the poor elder in question quickly used his cultivation base to rush after them. Not wanting to be left alone in the manor. In the first place, he had to quickly catch up with the rest. After all, without them, how would he even be able to enter the competition ground in the first place?

He was not like Elder Xuan who had a Core Elder Token for identification! All he had on him was a few random herbs that he brought along for practice and trade during his time in the Iron Sky Kingdom!

...

"Let's go before the competition starts! I heard that several young lords and ladies from the various large powers of the Sky Empire joined!"

"Really!? Let's get going!"

The alchemy competition being hosted in the Iron Sky Kingdom was not only a place for smaller sects to show off and gain recognition but was also a gathering for the young genius alchemist across the Sky Empire.

While it was not comparable to an alchemy competition hosted in the capital of the Sky Empire by one of their Master Alchemists, it was not too far off the mark. After all, the person hosting the competition was incredibly close to reaching the Master Realm and would likely end up becoming one of the few Master Realm Alchemist in the Sky Empire in the future!

No matter what, this was an opportunity for the younger alchemist to become the disciple of such an amazing alchemist. Even if the Iron Sky Kingdom was at the borders of the Core Region of the Sky Empire, a few of the young people joining the competition spared no expense to make the journey.

Because of this, several different flying ships could be seen landing around the capital of the Iron Sky Kingdom on the day that the competition started as the young people coming from the Core Region of the Sky Empire coming to join the competition showed up.

Compared to most of the other participants, like Qing Yi, who had to travel over a long distance for serval weeks if not months to reach the Iron Sky Kingdom, these people could get there within a few days of travel through the use of a flying ship!

"I really wish I could have a flying ship myself in the future... Travel would be so much easier if that was the case..."

"Dream on! Do you know how expensive they are!? Not only that, but they also consume a large amount of spirit stones just to function in the first place!"

Looking over at the many flying ships that had arrived in the air around the capital, the people coming from outside the Core Region could not help but look over filled with envy.

If they just had a flying ship of their own, travelling to the Iron Sky Kingdom would have been much easier and less dangerous!

After all, compared to Xuan Hao's group, they did not have anyone in the Domain Lord Realm to protect them if they were attacked. Not to mention the people who couldn't even get their hands on flying demon beasts and were forced to travel on foot...

Soon enough, everyone participating in the alchemy competition had arrived at the capital of the Iron Sky Kingdom as they made their way towards the place that the competition would be hosted.

Of course, there were some unlucky people who didn't make it in time for the competition and the even more unfortunate ones who died on the journey to the Iron Sky Kingdom...

...

"Looks quite a lot of young ones showed up today, I wonder if I can find a new disciple among them..." Looking down at the large crowd of both spectators and participants moving towards the area where the competition was going to be hosted, the old alchemist Fang Shi felt himself grow excited as he began looking forward to the performance of the young alchemist.

"Yeah, there are indeed quite a few interesting ones among the participants. Hm? Not that guy... Master, it looks like the Crown Prince of the Dark Sky Kingdom showed up as well... Do you think he is here to try and become your disciple again...?" Looking down on the crowd of people moving around on the streets below them, Cai Yu frowned deeply upon seeing a certain person making his way towards the competition area with great fanfare.

Smiling wryly as he looked over and spotted a familiar arrogant young man making his way through the crowd with a large group of guards following closely behind him, Fang Shi didn't dare say anything.

The history between his only disciple Cai Yu and the Crown Prince of the Dark Sky Kingdom, he knew all too well that talking about that person would only result in bad things...

"Ahm! I-I think it's time for us to make our way towards the competition grounds. After all, we don't want to be late as the host!" Doing his best to avoid talking about the Crown Prince of the Dark Sky Kingdom, Fang Shi began moving towards the exit of the room. Hoping that Cai Yu would just follow him and not mention anything regarding that Crown Prince...

"Fine..." Not looking the least bit happy after having seen a certain arrogant looking Crown Prince, Cai Yu stopped staring menacingly towards him from the window and made her way out of the room together with her master.