Meng Qiuran opened his mouth, looked at Lai Li’an’s matter-of-fact expression, and finally swallowed the question that had reached the tip of his tongue.

He figured the other party didn’t like grand occasions; failing to receive him earlier was the best proof of that. He sighed.

He then solemnly cupped his hands to Lai Li’an and quickly caught up with the Elders ahead. Before leaving, he didn’t forget to turn around and add, “Senior, the judging panel is at the highest point directly north of the plaza, under the vermilion brocade canopy. Your seat is the third one on the right from the very center. This junior has arranged everything properly, Senior can just head straight there!”

Lai Li’an watched those people soar into the sky. He stood in place and waited for a moment to confirm there was no one else around before letting out a long breath.

He adjusted his robes and walked quickly towards the venue.

Fortunately, the plaza for the Alchemy Conference wasn’t too far from the Vermilion Pavilion. He quickened his pace, bypassed several pavilions, and climbed stairs for about a quarter of an hour before finally seeing that giant archway. Behind the gates was a scene he had never witnessed before.

The entire plaza was built along the mountain’s terrain, spreading out towards the horizon in a giant fan shape. The outermost edge of the fan consisted of spectator stands suspended halfway up the mountain, extending upward in overlapping tiers. Every tier was filled with cultivators from all over the Cangwu Realm, there were at least tens of thousands of people.

At the center of the fan-shaped layout was a flat area large enough to accommodate thousands of people. Elevated north of the square, a vermilion brocade tent was specially set aside; this was the judges’ seating area.

Several massive Spiritual Water Mirrors hovered above the square, their surfaces rotating slowly to clearly project the scenes from every corner of the venue.

When Lai Li’an slipped through the side door into the judges’ area, the opening ceremony had just ended.

Taking advantage of the fact that all the cultivators’ eyes were still focused on the young Alchemists about to enter the center of the square, he quietly took his seat.

From this angle, he could take in the entire square at a glance.

He suddenly understood why those big shots always liked to sit up high; this feeling of having the whole world beneath one’s feet was indeed easily addictive.

Afterward, the other judges also took their seats one after another. Yin Zheng sat down on Lai Li’an’s left, gave a slight nod in greeting, and then turned his gaze back to the field.

Subsequently, a few older Alchemists took their seats. Most were elders with gray hair and beards, and each possessed an extraordinary bearing.

Elder Sun was also among them. His identity was not that of an Alchemist, but rather he attended to supervise as a representative of the Law Enforcement Hall.

The last person to take her seat made Lai Li’an’s gaze involuntarily pause for a moment.

It was a woman with a tall figure, wearing a raven-black tailored long dress. Her facial features were sixty to seventy percent similar to Ruan Se’s, equally stunning, and she also had a pair of amber eyes. Moreover, she didn’t wear a veil, her long hair casually pinned back with a jade hairpin, yet her temperament was entirely different from Ruan Se’s.

If Ruan Se’s aloofness was like a secluded mountain spring, this woman’s coldness was like a blazing fire in a furnace.

The System Panel quietly popped up:

Sharing the surname Ruan, looking so much like Ruan Se, and with matching names like ‘Qin’ and ‘Se,’1 Lai Li’an was absolutely certain they were sisters.

After everyone was seated, Pei Changjing spoke first. Leaning against the back of his chair, he lazily said, “I took a glance during the opening ceremony earlier. The juniors this year are indeed more interesting than previous ones. Just the Alchemists in the Golden Core Stage alone count several; in past years, having even one was considered good.”

Yin Zheng gave a slight nod. “The level of the Alchemy Dao among the various families is indeed steadily improving. That child Meng Qiuran has also worked very hard this time.”

The others echoed in agreement, and the few of them began chatting, exchanging words back and forth.

Pei Changjing suddenly turned his head to look at Lai Li’an, a trace of playfulness in his sleepy eyes. “Fellow Daoist Lai, I apologize for the offense just now, I hope you can forgive me. However, I am indeed curious. Since you could make that kid Meng Qiuran submit so willingly, I wonder which sect you inherited your teachings from? I’ve met more or less all the Alchemy Dao Grandmasters in the Cangwu Realm, but you look very unfamiliar to me.”

Lai Li’an picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, and spoke flatly, “This Venerable belongs to no sect or faction, just a mere Rogue Cultivator.”

Pei Changjing raised an eyebrow and didn’t press the matter, but the interest in his eyes evidently grew stronger.

Yin Zheng also turned his head to glance at Lai Li’an, his gaze carrying a bit of scrutiny, while Ruan Qin did not participate in this idle chatter from beginning to end. Her gaze remained fixed on the platform in the center of the plaza.

With a long, drawn-out bell toll echoing through the plaza, the first round of the Alchemy Conference officially began.

The Spiritual Water Mirrors suspended in the sky simultaneously turned toward the very center of the plaza, clearly projecting that massive platform before the eyes of tens of thousands of people.

Lai Li’an looked down from the judges’ seats, only to see that the platform had at some point been completely covered with Spirit Herbs. There weren’t just a few dozen, but tens of thousands of Spirit Herbs randomly mixed together, piled up into low, grassy mounds.

The color, shape, and scent of each Spirit Herb were masked by the odors of the other Spirit Herbs.

Spirit Herbs of similar colors were deliberately mixed together. What was even more troublesome was that some Spirit Herbs had been purposely rubbed with Spiritual Power after being picked, disrupting both their surface textures and scents.

“Contestants—” the Presiding Elder’s voice echoed throughout the entire venue via a Voice-Amplifying Formation, “The first round of this Alchemy Conference, Myriad Herbs Identification. Each contestant has already received their respective Examination Jade Slip, which specifies twenty Spirit Herbs. All specified Spirit Herbs are mixed together on the Herb Table before you. Contestants must find all of their specified Spirit Herbs before the hourglass runs out, mark them with Spiritual Power, and hand them over to the Herb Appraiser for verification. Those who fail to complete the task before the hourglass runs out will be eliminated.”

“During the competition, the use of any Magic Tool or Spirit Pet to aid in identification is strictly prohibited. It is also forbidden to use violent means to snatch or destroy the Spirit Herbs of other contestants. Violators will have their qualifications immediately revoked.”

As the signal sounded, nearly a thousand young Alchemists in the square simultaneously surged toward the massive Herb Table.

Some took the lead and dove deep into the mounds of herbs, some stood in place with their eyes closed to sense them, while others were already crouching on the ground, starting to sort through them stalk by stalk.

The scene quickly evolved from its initial orderliness into a silent scramble; no one spoke, but everyone’s movements were highly urgent.

The Spiritual Water Mirror projected this scene into the air, and low murmurs of discussion began to rise and fall in the stands.

Lai Li’an’s gaze searched through the crowd, and he quickly spotted Ruan Se.

She did not scramble like the others. Instead, she walked slowly along the edge of the Herb Table, her right fingers slightly spread. A wisp of Spiritual Power drifted down from her fingertips like a gossamer thread, gently brushing over the surface of each pile of Spirit Herbs.

Every time Ruan Se passed a mound of herbs, several Spirit Herbs would be gently plucked up by her Spiritual Power and dropped into the Storage Tray in her left hand.

A Wood Spiritual Root’s perception of Spirit Herbs was inherently much sharper than that of other Spiritual Roots. In just half a quarter-hour, twenty Spirit Herbs had already been collected in Ruan Se’s Storage Tray.

When she immediately handed her tray to the Herb Appraiser, the fastest of the other contestants had only found a dozen or so.

After the Herb Appraiser finished verifying, he announced loudly, “Ruan Se, all twenty correct, first place in the first round!”

A wave of exclamations rose from the spectator stands, and in the judges’ area, several elders began to whisper among themselves.

“Fellow Daoist Ruan, your sister’s performance is truly eye-catching,” a white-bearded elder chuckled, turning sideways to cup his hands in greeting toward Ruan Qin from a few seats away. “Even though this Myriad Herbs Identification is only the first round, she remained composed from start to finish, identifying Spirit Herbs as easily as taking things from her own pocket. It is truly rare to see a Wood Spiritual Root utilized to such a realm.”

Another judge beside him chimed in, “Indeed. The conference has only just begun, and your sister has already made a striking impression. It seems she has a real hope of taking first place this year.”

Ruan Qin turned her head slightly and responded politely, “You two are too kind. Identifying herbs is merely a basic skill; the subsequent rounds are the true test. If she can keep a steady state of mind, only then can it be considered true progress.”

After saying that, she turned her gaze back to the field, without speaking another word.

The two judges, feeling rebuffed, smiled awkwardly and turned to Yin Zheng to compliment Meng Qiuran’s performance.

Yin Zheng, however, was much more approachable than Ruan Qin. He smiled and said that the child Qiuran had indeed put in a lot of hard work. After a brief chat, the judges’ topic of conversation returned to the arena.

Before long, Meng Qiuran also completed the herb identification, ranking second. Subsequently, the other contestants submitted their answer sheets one after another. The names of the top ten were successively projected in mid-air by the Spiritual Water Mirror, but Shao Jiao’s name was nowhere to be seen.

Lai Li’an sat in his chair, slowly taking a sip of tea.

Ruan Se had said that placing in the top three would be a piece of cake, and now it seemed she really wasn’t boasting.

Meng Qiuran was steady and sure; his herb identification speed was second only to Ruan Se, showing quite solid basic skills. The strength of both of them was within expectations.

However, that Shao Jiao was not in the top ten; he probably wasn’t very good at this aspect.

He placed the teacup back on the table and cast his gaze back to the arena. The first round was just an appetizer; the real contest lay ahead.