Chapter 1366 Hengyun Branch
Lin Yuqi and Han Xinyan both believed that Ling Han could indeed identify over 400,000 G.o.dly medicines. They didn’t test him anymore, and instead started to fill him in on the details of the clan compet.i.tion. This way, he could prepare himself for what was to come.
Just like Lin Yuqi had tested him before, the clan compet.i.tion also tested the compet.i.tors in a similar manner.
Each compet.i.tor had to take four examinations—identifying G.o.dly medicines, reconstructing medicinal ingredients, identifying mixed medicinal ingredients, and finally pill refinement.
The compet.i.tors would receive a score for each of the four rounds, though the weighting of each round was different. For example, the first round only made up 10% of the total score, while the final round of pill refinement made up 50% of the total score.
After all, this was the most important ability of an alchemist.
The carriage continued to whiz through the lands. After 13 days, they finally arrived at Azure Rain City. This was the headquarter of the Treasure Forest Pavilion, and the ancestral lands of the Lin Clan, s.h.i.+ Clan, Han Clan, and Huang Clan all were located within this city. However, what the Treasure Forest Pavilion was famous for was its alchemy. The Treasure Forest Pavilion exuded an aura of might and wealth.
In reality, however, the Treasure Forest Pavilion wasn’t weak in terms of cultivation, either. In fact, the four major clans all had Eternal River Tier elites within their ranks. Otherwise, there was simply no way that they could guard their ma.s.sive wealth.
However, in terms of how many Eternal River Tier elites each clan had, and in terms of what specific cultivation level they had reached, this was a closely guarded secret of the Treasure Forest Pavilion.
On the surface, the Cloud Apex Planet only had a measly 20 or so Eternal River Tier elites. However, as Ling Han learned more and more about the different forces, he was certain that this was definitely a severe underestimation of how many Eternal River Tier elites there actually were.
It was more probable that there were 20 elites at the consummate level of the Eternal River Tier.
Anyhow, Azure Rain City was a holy land for alchemy. Each day, carriage after carriage of alchemical pills would be dispatched from this city to numerous cities throughout the two Imperial Empires. Of course, Azure Rain City wasn’t far from the Blue Cloud Imperial Empire, either. In fact, the Treasure Forest Pavilion had built its headquarters here because it had been attracted by this location’s convenience.
In this city, almost every family was involved in the business of alchemy. Even if they weren’t alchemists, they would be medicinal farmers or medicinal harvesters. As such, there was a complete and ma.s.sive supply chain here.
The Treasure Forest Pavilion had a history of over one billion years on the Cloud Apex Planet. During this time, they had even experienced the destruction of an Imperial Empire, as well as the rise of another Imperial Empire. However, they hadn’t been affected at all. They had continued to earn huge amounts of True Origin Stones, just as they still continued to do so today.
After all, regardless of who was in power, cultivation was still heavily reliant on alchemical pills. In any case, it was rumored that the rise of the Great Crimson Sun Imperial Empire was partly thanks to the support that they had received from the Treasure Forest Pavilion. According to hearsay, the Treasure Forest Pavilion had donated a huge sum of True Origin Stones to support the Great Crimson Sun Imperial Empire. Otherwise, the previous Imperial Empire wouldn’t necessarily have fallen.
Moreover, after so many years of development, the four major clans had also branched out into a ma.s.sive network that contained numerous smaller branches. Furthermore, after several usurpations by powerful branch families, the four major clans already didn’t have any notion of a “main” branch. Whichever branch was stronger was whichever branch wielded power. Tides would turn, and power would also s.h.i.+ft hands.
Right now, the leader of the Lin Clan was the Beisha Branch. They had already enjoyed this position for over 9,000,000 years. This was because the Beisha Branch had a level 16 alchemist, allowing them to suppress all of the other 99 branches.
Lin Yuqi belonged to the Anyuan Branch, and this was a branch that was ranked near the bottom among all of the branches of the Lin Clan. The strongest alchemist in the Anyuan Branch was only a level 13 alchemist. Moreover, this alchemist had only just reached the Eternal River Tier.
It was also because of this that a prodigy like Lin Yuqi could wield so much power at such a young age. She had traveled to Big Trade City to search for external help in the hopes that the Anyuan Branch could achieve a better standing in the clan compet.i.tion this time around. That way, they would be able to send more branch members into the mystery realm.
Entering the mystery realm was a huge opportunity that could turn a branch family’s fortunes. Otherwise, the Anyuan Branch could only continue to wallow in its incompetence until the day that it was finally disowned by the clan.
In fact, there were far more than 100 branches in the Lin Clan. However, only the 100 most powerful branches had the right to have an official existence in the Lin Clan. The weak would be eliminated by the strong, and this was a rule that wouldn’t change for all eternity.
Because the Anyuan Branch wasn’t powerful enough, Ling Han and the others could only stay in a place that was relatively old and derelict. This was unlike the branches ranked near the top, where the courtyard of any random member was already larger than the total of their three residences.
Moreover, looking at the other branches, they all had 10 people partic.i.p.ating in this compet.i.tion. This was the upper limit for how many people could compete from any one branch. However, the Anyuan Branch only had two compet.i.tors in Ling Han and Han Xinyan. This was a clear sign of their desperate situation.
More importantly, both of these compet.i.tors were external helpers. Shockingly, the Anyuan Branch hadn’t been able to find any branch member who was talented enough to compete!
Lin Yuqi was also a prodigy, yet most of her talent was in the field of cultivation. Although she was also talented in identifying medicinal ingredients, she was a complete amateur when it came to actual pill refinement. However, pill refinement was the biggest part of this compet.i.tion, so those who were poor in this area were destined to receive bad results.
After settling in, Ling Han immediately entered the Black Tower. Right now, he was extremely interested in learning about the unique qualities of different medicinal ingredients.
Peng!
There was a huge boom as the main door of their courtyard was kicked open. Five people appeared, one of them a st.u.r.dy middle-aged man. He appeared especially casual, and his entire upper body was naked. His thick chest hair quivered in the wind, and it truly looked a little too lively.
Behind him were four youths, three men and one woman. They all had an air of arrogance about them, and it was as if they were the favored sons and daughters of heaven and earth.
Lin Yuqi and Han Xinyan had been chatting in the living room, and they immediately dashed out upon hearing the loud commotion. Upon seeing the collapsed front door, their expressions changed drastically.
“Lin Feng, are you crazy?” There was no sign of charm or seductiveness on Lin Yuqi’s face as she roared at the middle-aged man. A look of disgust spread across her face as she glanced at the thick hair on his chest.
These five people were naturally from the Lin Clan as well. They belonged to the Hengyun Branch, and this branch was powerful enough to rank in the top 10 out of the 100 official branches. The middle-aged man was called Lin Feng, and he was the leader of the Hengyun Branch’s group for this compet.i.tion. His cultivation was at the medium extreme of the Heavenly Body Tier.
Lin Feng greedily stared at Lin Yuqi’s shapely b.r.e.a.s.t.s. He had traveled to the Anyuan Branch several thousand years ago, and he had come across Lin Yuqi by coincidence. It was from that time that he had started to l.u.s.t after this seductive beauty.
He had asked for her hand in marriage, yet Lin Yuqi had expressed absolutely no interest in him. However, he had been apprehensive while in the Anyuan Branch’s territory, so he hadn’t dared to make a huge scene.
This time, he was leading the Hengyun Branch’s team for this clan compet.i.tion. After learning that Lin Yuqi had also come here, he couldn’t resist his urge to come over.
“Yuqi, your Anyuan Branch is destined to fall into insignificance, so why stay in that futureless branch? Why don’t you marry me and enter the Hengyun Branch? The Hengyun Branch is one of the top 10 branches, and we can offer you countless cultivation resources. You should know that this is the best choice for you,” Lin Feng said earnestly.
It was a shame that he continued to leer at Lin Yuqi’s face, b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and legs as he said this. No matter how one looked at him, he was a d.a.m.ned disgusting pervert.
“Regardless of how weak my Anyuan Branch is, it’s still got absolutely nothing to do with you!” Lin Yuqi was indignant as she pointed at the main door, and shouted, “Scram!”
“Heh, is there any need for this?” Lin Feng was an extremely shameless person. Lin Yuqi had rejected him before, so it was only natural that she would reject him again. He chuckled, and said, “There are three more days until the compet.i.tion begins, so why don’t we let the young’uns warm up first? How about some sparring?”
He sneered coldly in his mind. This time, he was definitely going to show that woman!