Chương 24: The Four Nights Festival - Preparation

By the time he reached the Outer Platform, An noticed that there were far more disciples around than usual. He had never seen so many. Carefully maneuvering between them, he made his way to the Alchemy Hall. Stepping inside, he suddenly stopped right in the main doorway. There were huge lines, with crowds standing at the windows in the center of the Hall and on the right side leading to the basement.

Looking around, he found a way to squeeze through this invasion of disciples, catching insults along the way whenever he accidentally brushed against someone. Reaching the stairs leading to the upper floors, he quickly climbed to the third. Surprisingly, there was no one here at all. Walking into the room where Elder Shoa's lectures were usually held, An entered and saw Elder Shoa and another old man sitting together, smoking pipes.

"Oh! An! Come in, come in!" Elder Shoa spotted An and started waving him over. The old man sitting next to him shifted his pipe from one side of his mouth to the other, raised an eyebrow, and stared intently at An. An approached and sat down on a chair that materialized after a wave of Elder Shoa's hand.

"This is Logu Pruto, my old friend, an elder of the Alchemy Hall of the White Dragon Sect," Elder Shoa pointed his smoking pipe at the old man sitting next to him. Logu Pruto looked about forty-five years old, with black hair streaked with gray, a small beard, lean, dressed in red robes embroidered with green and gold dragons.

"Nice to meet you, Elder Logu," An nodded and greeted the old man. Seeing how An was polite to him, Logu Pruto smiled and shifted his pipe to the other side of his mouth again. Logu Pruto and Elder Shoa exchanged glances.

"An, how are your results? Come on, share with us!" Elder Shoa stuck his pipe in his mouth, started blowing smoke through his nose, and asked An, urging him. An looked uncertainly first at Elder Shoa, then at Logu Pruto.

"Don't be afraid, Logu Pruto is an old and good friend of mine. Show him! Show him!" Elder Shoa reassured An and urged him again. He sighed in defeat and took out three envelopes with pills. Laying them out and opening them, he began presenting.

"The Qi Enlightenment pill, I managed to achieve a 12% loss... The Golden Body Qi pill as well, despite having limited ingredients, I reduced the potency loss to 12%," An presented the first two pills. When Elder Shoa and Logu Pruto heard this, they leaned in closer, and each took one of the pills, examining them with great interest, trying not to miss a single detail. An watched as surprise turned into smiles and back again while they studied his pills, which greatly boosted his confidence.

"And this... this is my own pill. I prepared it using the Kavana fruit as a base. Its effect is similar to the Golden Body Qi pill, but after many problems and difficulties and constant recipe adjustments, I managed to achieve a 19% effect loss. Moreover, in this state, two pills come out per batch, and the effect is almost twice as strong as the Golden Body Qi pill at 12% loss...

Oh, and the ingredient cost is much lower," An began talking enthusiastically about his pill, trying to explain everything he could, not noticing that both elders were looking at him with wide eyes.

"Can An see Qi flows?" Logu Pruto turned to Elder Shoa and asked him directly. Hearing this, An immediately fell silent and frowned slightly.' Damn. Looks like I trust Elder Shoa too much, in his presence, I laid everything out as is... And now another cultivator, someone for whom I'm just an insect, knows something no one else should know,' He felt uneasy, realizing that due to his own stupidity and inexperience, he had backed himself into a corner." Ughum!

Thanks to his single Wood element, An has the ability to see Qi flows while still at Qi Condensation. Incredible, isn't it?" Elder Shoa smiled and looked at An with a proud gaze. Even though An wasn't his personal disciple, from his expression, one could easily assume the opposite. Hearing his friend, Logu Pruto looked again, this time carefully examining the strange young man, who looked a bit like a beggar. And then he noticed the brand on his neck.

"Don't let him show his abilities under any circumstances until he reaches at least our level, Golden Core. I hope you realize that?" Logu Pruto, after lingering on An's eyes for a moment, turned to Elder Shoa. An felt a slight tremor in his legs, realizing he had been spared this time, that everything was fine. Understanding that Logu Pruto, like Elder Shoa, had no ulterior motives toward him, An relaxed a little more, sitting more comfortably now.

"Ha! Do you think I don't know that!" Elder Shoa fired back.

"All those fools clinging to status... It's just disgusting..." Elder Shoa continued.

"That's why nine out of ten can't break through past Foundation Establishment. All because of their stupid mentality..." Logu Pruto and Elder Shoa began discussing, forgetting about An.

"Um... Can't elders from clans and families guide their young generation toward breakthroughs? After all, I heard, many clans and families have ancestors at Golden Core..." An muttered as if asking more into the void than to the two elders. But both heard him, exchanged glances, and even smiled.

"It's not that simple, little An," said Elder Shoa.

"Even if you hammer these principles, no, your own beliefs, into the young generation's heads hoping they'll be able to break through in the future, it won't work. On the contrary, it could make things worse," continued Logu Pruto. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Even if you won't fully understand the essence, still... Every cultivator forms their path at the moment they first draw the very first particle of Qi into their dantian," Logu Pruto began explaining things that, while An understood them, he also felt that something was blocking his full comprehension and acceptance of these words. As if his own consciousness was trying to protect him, to shield him from things he shouldn't know or didn't need to.

"Their entire path and their beliefs carry over with them from the very beginning to the dead end they can't break through... People like me and Brother Shoa are more exceptions than the rule when it comes to Golden Core," Logu Pruto went deeper, starting to talk about more profound matters.

"Eh, what am I saying... You're only at Qi Condensation. The only thing I can advise you is not to take everything to heart, all the words, all the looks, just let them pass, don't pay attention... All the teachings, all the instructions, treat them like fleeting noise," Logu Pruto, shifting the topic, took a deep breath. An decided to simply nod, finding no words to answer or ask anything. Suddenly, the room fell into silence, only tobacco smoke drifting around the three of them.

Turning his pipe in his hands, Elder Shoa's eyes lit up.

"Oh, right! An, what do you know about The Four Nights Festival?" In the end, without giving An a chance to answer, he began explaining in detail one of the Non-Combat Path competitions that would take place during the Festival, specifically, the alchemy tournament. After listening, An frowned.

"Elder Shoa, I hope you..." before he could finish his thought, Elder Shoa interrupted him, shaking his head.

"What do you take me for? Ha!" Shoa glanced at Logu Pruto.

"I wanted you to be part of the assistant staff... Usually, the work of tournament assistants involves distributing spirit plants to participants, replacing equipment, and similar small tasks... But what will be useful for you is being close to alchemy geniuses from different sects of the alliance. You'll have the opportunity to learn something new, something interesting. Maybe it'll help you!" Elder Shoa began explaining why he wanted him to be among the assistants.

Logu Pruto, sitting next to him, nodded, fully agreeing with his friend's idea. After listening, An didn't hesitate, he nodded, agreeing to the elder's proposal. This could actually benefit him, allowing him to observe the variations and peculiarities of the four main techniques in pill preparation. Each sect, one way or another, uses its own tricks to modernize and perfect the original techniques. But the main reason he agreed so quickly was the elder himself.

After everything he had done for him, after all the help, An couldn't refuse his offer. After a few hours of intense conversation, he reluctantly but finally left the Alchemy Hall and decided to head straight home. Arriving home, he made a decision: for the remaining week before the festival, he would not practice alchemy. Instead, he would dedicate all his time to training in Qi manipulation and cultivation itself. Completely immersed in his schedule, the week flew by unnoticed.

He felt his plaque vibrate in his pocket. Opening his eyes and taking it out, he saw a message from the Alchemy Hall. The message said that he was required to report to the main hall, where instructions would be waiting for him. Getting ready, he left his plot and headed to the Alchemy Hall. Upon arriving, he noticed that several dozen disciples were standing by the left corridor. Scanning them, An saw that none of them had even reached the fourth layer of Qi Condensation.

Judging by their faces, these disciples were possibly from the previous year's intake. Among them, he also noticed a few disciples who had joined together with him. Approaching closer but staying separate from their group, he sat down, leaned his back against the wall, and waited like everyone else. His behavior earned him several sideways glances, not only from the group nearby but also from passing disciples, all because he simply sat on the floor.

No one else, no matter how exhausted, would dream of sitting on the ground, fearing they might soil their robes, and, consequently, their reputation. After several long hours, the group had grown to about fifty people. Passing disciples started asking those in the group what was happening. Some received answers, others were brushed off and shooed away. Suddenly, a woman began descending the stairs from above. She looked about fifty years old. Her faded green eyes perfectly matched her wrinkled face.

White hair was tied in a bun at the back of her head. Dressed in completely dark green robes, with a white metal emblem of a cauldron and a single pill on her chest. Seeing the emblem on the old woman's chest, everyone immediately understood that they were looking at an Alchemy Master.

"Good evening, disciples. I am Vota Lum, and as you may have already guessed, an Alchemy Master. From this moment until the end of your duties at the Festival, just call me Master Vota," Vota Lum, without even looking at the crowd of disciples, simply tapped her emblem a few times with her finger. Walking straight through the crowd, she headed toward the exit and simultaneously waved her hand, as if telling the crowd to follow her.

When everyone had come outside in front of the Alchemy Hall, Vota Lum waved her hand, and hovering in the air just a meter above the ground, a massive ship materialized. It was shaped like a very low, flattened cauldron, made entirely of brown wood. As soon as everyone saw it, they started gasping and exclaiming in surprise. Even passing disciples stopped and gawked at this ' ship'. An wrinkled his nose and tilted his head to the side, trying to examine this vessel from a different angle.

Visually, it looked stupid to him. Why make a ship shaped like, essentially, a deep dish. Why not make it in the shape of a real ship, which would look much more impressive. No matter how hard he tried to look at this hovering cauldron, An couldn't understand it.

"What are you standing there with your mouths open for? Get on, quickly!" Vota Lum, smiling, feeling the envy emanating from the disciples, waved her hand and opened the side of the ship. From its bottom, a staircase began to extend down to the ground. Even though this ship was hovering only a meter above the ground, its height, or rather, its depth, was over six meters. As soon as the staircase descended, everyone began quickly walking up it onto the deck. An waited until everyone had boarded, then went up last.

Behind him, the side of the ship closed with a rumble, and the vessel shot into the sky toward a massive open space located on a plain right in the middle of the Sect. As they approached, An saw again the familiar huge coliseum-like structure that occupied a vast expanse below. Only today, this whole ' little' town at the base of the Sect was buzzing and humming with an enormous number of people scurrying about like ants below.

Looking around, An saw and heard ships flying in from everywhere, different sizes and shapes. A roar, shouts, the noise of air being torn apart. If An hadn't been a resident of a huge modern city in his first life, the scene before him would have definitely frightened him. Vota Lum brought her flying cauldron down to the main gate leading into this enormous coliseum. Descending to the ground, An kept turning his head in all directions, trying to take in everything interesting around him.

They were standing on a very long, straight street. The floor was paved with stones. The street itself was over fifty meters wide. On both sides, everything was filled with shops, large and small. In some places, there were just tents with signs. An glanced all the way to the end of the street, everything was shops. A strong aroma of baked goods and various meat dishes hung in the air. Even though there were still a day until the start of the Festival, the entire street was already decently packed with people.

Children, adults, elderly, peasants, nobles, everyone mixed together on this street. It strongly reminded An of Christmas and New Year's time, only missing the snow around. Comparing it to the holidays, An realized that this Festival really did take place near the end of the twelfth month, the Frost Month.