Chapter 18 - Arrival

Waking up on the fifth day of the journey, they should arrive at the sect by late afternoon. Leon Fei seemed to think of something and spoke to Aster Wen.

"Brother Aster Wen, although the strength difference isn't much between the lower stages of the Foundation Body for humans and monster beasts, the same can't be said between humans. It'd be quite difficult to defeat someone who is even one minor realm above you, let alone multiple. So if you are to go up against someone who is at the Foundation Body second stage, you must not hold back against, okay?" Leon Fei said.

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind. But, do you think there will be someone at the Foundation Body second stage?" Aster Wen asked.

"From the other sects in the competition, it's unlikely. But the Defying Dragons Sect could be considered to be just below, if not on par, with the Lone Phoenix Sect with having star rookies every few years. I remember a few years back, my father talked about one disciple of the Lone Phoenix Sect sweeping through the sect competition without sustaining any injuries. I think he's the one you asked about at the mid-week review. Kai Lian, right?" Leon Fei said.

Aster Wen nodded.

"Well, the year before, the Defy Dragons Sect had someone similar, but not quite at the level of Kai Lian. So, just be prepared. You shouldn't have to worry about the other sects, only the Defying Dragons Sect," he said.

There was nothing noteworthy in the last day of the journey, and no alchemical ingredients were found either. When they arrived at the entrance of the Defying Dragons Sect, the elders of both sects greeted each other.

"Elder Wynn Kwong greets Elders Felix Chen, Gael Bai, and Henrik Jiang. I hope your sect is ready to lose again this year. We have quite the good disciple this year," Wynn Kwong said.

"Now, don't be so hasty, Elder Wynn Kwong. I doubt your disciple could beat out star rookie this year," Felix Chen said.

Both of the put their hands together as an invisible pressure seemed to pass between the two.

"We'll see about that," Wynn Kwong said. "Get your disciples settled in to the guest apartments."

Heading into the sects, the elders led them over to a building with two stories, and they all entered it. Each story held sixteen rooms, one for each disciple. With thirty-two disciples, sixteen disciples of each sect would face off each other each day. If two people of the same sect made it to the finals, the win would go to that sect, if not the final round would go on as normal. The last two days of the competition would be for those who lost in the first two days.

There was a large area on the first floor for people to gather and practice various talents. Aster Wen took out his alchemy furnace, and a few more people were gathered around than normal, hearing about his abnormal success rate from fellow disciples and the interest the elders gave to him. If they chose to practice alchemy in the future, would it not be good to observe someone with such a success rate?

Gathering the materials, he set out to make more Revitalizing Pills. With Leon Fei having just a few more days until he breaks through, he would need as many of the Revitalizing Pills as he could to ensure their smooth progression with the Looming Blossom Martial Technique. Five hours and five sets of materials went by, with the same success rate he had throughout the journey to the Defying Dragons sect. Three more Revitalizing Pills brought him up to seventeen, as he had made the Foundation Forming Pills the night before.

After he was done refining, more disciples gathered around to watch both Aster Wen and Leon Fei perform the Looming Blossom Martial Technique. Through the journey, rumours spread through the group of the martial technique they were practicing. The most common rumour was that it caused injury to the practitioner of the technique, and they would need to use Revitalizing Pills to heal the injuries quickly. Many were skeptical of this rumour, but they knew that Aster Wen had been refining the Revitalizing Pills throughout the journey to the Defying Dragons Sect. Their interest in it finally piqued to the point they wanted to watch.

Both of them got into position to perform the technique, and started circulating their natural qi. As they completed the movements, the surrounding disciples saw that neither of them were being injured and thought that it truly was just a rumour. But as Aster Wen performed the second movement for the fourth time that night, they all heard the clear sound of a bone crack in his arm. They all widened their eyes as their belief in the rumour subsided, but then was confirmed to be true. However, the only one who seemed to be injured was Aster Wen. Leon Fei was fine. They questioned out loud what the cause of this was. Aster Wen explained when he heard them talking.

"Though it might've looked like we performed the same movement, we didn't. I performed the second movement of the technique, while he performed the first. The difference is in the circulation of natural qi in the meridians, not the way the body moves. You'll also notice that we become immobile for some time after performing the movements. This time goes down, and when we can become mobile directly after using the technique, we will break through." He explained as he sat on the ground, taking out the Foundation Forming Pill and Revitalizing Pill.

With his explanation, the disciples left him be to heal and thought about how powerful of a martial technique it had to be to cause injury to the person using it. Aster Wen had gotten the immobility of the second movement down to ten seconds, and the time it took for him to completely refine the Foundation Forming Pill was now one minute. Aster Wen wondered if the Looming Blossom Martial Technique was the cause of the Foundation Forming Pill becoming easier to refine. As far as he knew, though it was possible for people to refine pills faster after prolonged use, the rate at which he refined the Foundation Forming Pill was too abnormal. As this thought popped into his mind, the thought of his abnormal success rate in alchemy also appeared. Was the Looming Blossom Martial Technique related to both of these abnormal behaviours?

Without having access to more information on the technique, or a better comprehension of the technique, he could not answer these questions right now. However, he should keep in mind what things were abnormal about him, and if they soon applied to Leon Fei as well. As they were both cultivating the Looming Blossom Martial Technique, they would be able to confirm if this was the case or not. Aster Wen became even more satisfied with his decision of teaching Leon Fei the Looming Blossom Martial Technique. They could both share their individual comprehensions with each other and progress faster in the technique than if a simple person were to cultivate it.

If the technique did affect the alchemical process and altered the success rate, they would have access to more pills than other alchemists at their same level. He wondered if this logic could be applied to other fields of practice as well. But aside from alchemy, he didn't know how the Looming Blossom Martial Technique would affect those other fields. He didn't know if it was the cause of the abnormality yet, either. But with Leon Fei on the cusp of breaking through to the Foundation Body second stage, he would be able to find out soon enough.

The rate at which the Revitalizing Pill healed him with the Foundation Forming Pill had not changed, and still stuck at thirty minutes to heal him. After he was healed, he headed to his room to sleep. Tomorrow would be the first round of the First Years' Competition. He would do his best to try not to kill his opponents by hitting them in non-vital areas, but if he had to hit someone in a vital area, he would not be polite about it. If his opponent happened to die? This was a competition, and accidents happened after all, didn't they?

If he couldn't win them over with graciousness, then he would tower over them with dominance. He was in a sect that held the envy of many others, and it would be difficult to be on good terms with people who viewed him that way. He knew the brutality of the world already, his upbringing thrust him into the center of it. The only reason he hadn't succumbed to the brutality was due to his brother. He would pay his brother back someday for his kindness. But now, Aster Wen had to join the brutality of this world, and only hoped he could at least retain his humanity through his rise.