Desire for Attention

Seeing how they were standing there like statues, Xuan

Cheung pulled out an hourglass out of thin air and showed

them, "What are you standing there for? The time is already

ticking. Don't blame me if you fail because you wanted to

stand there like an idiot."

"!!!!!" The contestants did not have time to think or complain

and ran back to their Cauldron to begin Pill making.

Xuan Cheung watched them panic with a smile, 'It would've

been boring if I didn't do something like this.'

"Wow, as expected from a Pill Grandmaster. If it weren't

something like this, it would've been another generic Pill

Contest." People started talking again but in whispers.

The moment the contestants got back to their Cauldron, they

started to analyze the ingredients given to them.

"What are they doing? Why are they just staring at the

ingredients? Weren't they just panicking about the time

starting?" Someone with little knowledge on Pill making

asked.

"If they don't analyze it, how will they be able to tell how old

the ingredients are? Before a Pill Master starts making their

Pill, they must first inspect their ingredients to determine their

quality and age! They must also adjust their flame strength to

match the age and quality of the ingredients, if not, the

ingredients may burn from overheating!" Said an Expert.

"Wow, making a Pill was actually this complicated?!"

"Of course. Why do you think that we have so little Pill

Masters around?"

The ingredients inspection had taken around 15 minutes before

everybody began making their Pill.

'I need to spend less time on ingredient refining so I can have

more time for the next two phases. It is already hard enough to

make the Pill, so it is pointless for me to focus on the quality in

my current conditions. All I need is a Low-Grade True Qi Pill!

If I aim for a higher grade, it will reduce my chances of

succeeding by a large margin!' Gin Seng thought. What is the

point in showing off anymore when he is already standing on

the edge of a cliff at the beginning of the contest?!

'I am confident that everybody else has the same thought as

me right now!' He picked up an orange colored flower from

the pile of ingredients and summoned his Divine Flames

before swallowing the flower in it.

The orange colored flames floated in his palms for a few

minutes before dissipating and leaving behind the same flower

as before it got swallowed.

"Eh? Nothing about the flower changed, so what was the point

of his actions just now?" Someone asked.

"Only the outside looks the same, but the inside is entirely

different! You can't sense it, but the impurities within that

flower have been reduced by 5 percent! As expected from the

genius son of the Gin Family!" Said some Spirit Realm

Expert.

"Only 5 percent? So little?"

"What the hell do you know? To get 5 percent in a few

minutes is already splendid! If some ordinary Pill Student

were in the same shoes as him, he would've probably gotten

around only 2 percent! When it comes to the purity of a Pill,

even one percent can make a huge difference!

All the contestants on the stage were doing the same thing,

picking up an ingredient before covering it with their Divine

Flame for a few minutes. Nobody wanted to lose face by

failing to make a Pill in front of such a large audience, so they

rather drop the quality of the Pill to gain extra time to increase

the chances of creating the Pill!

Approximately 30 minutes later, the contestants finished with

their ingredients refining and were ready to proceed to the next

step, liquefying all of the ingredients in the Cauldron. This

step usually takes up the most time when creating a Pill

because they were required to put in one ingredient at a time.

Unless they are skilled enough to liquefy more than one

ingredient at a time without messing up the other one, there

was no other way to shorten the time spent on this step. If they

try to increase the flame power, it will only burn the

ingredients.

'Damn, it will take me about an hour to complete this step,

leaving me with only 2 hours left to do the last two phases!

That's damn near impossible!' Like everybody else, Huang Li

who is tagged as the most talented out of them is struggling

like she has never been before.

'If only that Senior didn't appear out of thin air messing me up

mentally, this stupid Pill Contest would've been way easier'!'

She blamed Tian Yi who caused a ruckus right before it started

as the reason to why she is struggling. The power shown by

Tian Yi has truly shocked her to the core. What kind of

Cultivation did one need to change the weather? He even

made the World tremble at his will! Such a monstrous Senior

would be world famous even if he lived like a caveman, yet

how come she has never heard of someone like that?!

'No, wait… He should still be watching, right? If I managed to

catch his attention with my talent, maybe he will accept me as

his disciple?' Desire started growing deep within her heart.

Who among the younger generation did not want a Master that

was as powerful as this Senior?! Who among them did not

want someone as overbearing as him to watch over and protect

them? She felt that if she had a Master like that Senior, even

Immortals would not dare to touch her hair!

It was not just Huang Li, but the other contestants and even

many in the audiences are having similar thoughts!

A Master that is willing to flip the overbearing Guo Family

just for them! A Master as tall as a mountain and as strong as

an ox! Who did not want someone like that?!

With that thought, the contestants forgot about their original

goal for winning this Pill Contest, the Perfect Grade Spirit Pill,

and instead, wanted to show off their talent to catch the

attention of this mysterious Senior! If such a person was

watching this Pill Contest in the first place, then there are only

two reasons! Either he was bored enough to watch some

younger generation make Pills, or he is looking for a Disciple

to pass on his legacy!

With such a desire in their mind, everybody broke through

their current mental state and reached an even higher state than

when they were in their perfect condition in the past!

'Hm?!' Xuan Cheung and Xuan Yuming noticed the change in

the air and was shocked. What happened? Why did the

atmosphere suddenly change?

'I must catch his attention!'

'What Pill Grandmaster?! I want that Senior as my Master!'

'Senior, watch this!'

The contestants began moving faster and faster, and even the

way they controlled their flame became more skillful!

"What?!" With such a noticeable difference in their

movements, even the audience could see that something has

changed!

"What is going on? They seem to be moving faster?" Someone

asked.

"Not just faster, but the way they are controlling their flame

has become more skillful too," Said someone with a sharper

sense.

"It's unbelievable, but they've suddenly achieved

enlightenment," Xuan Cheung said with a shocked face.

The people close to him heard it and was shocked, "What?!"

They would understand if it was only one of them, but all of

them at almost the same time?! How is that possible?! What

caused them to receive such an enlightenment?!

"There are many ways to achieve enlightenment. Overcoming

hardships, a strong will, luck, fate, and strong desires.

However, it ultimately depends on what they are doing while

trying to receive enlightenment," Xuan Cheung replied.

"In this case, I believe it's the strong desire they all have that

an enlightenment happened," He continued.

'What could they possibly all want that gave them such a

strong desire? The Perfect Grade Spirit Pill?' People started

guessing.

"Wow, that was unexpected. For all of them to achieve

enlightenment…" Tian Yi was surprised as he has never

witnessed something like this happening before.

"In this situation, it would be their desire that caused it?" Yu

Yue guessed.

"You're right, but what is their desire?" Tian Yi wondered.

Little did he know that the reason they gained enlightenment

was that they wanted to catch his attention, hoping that he

would accept them as his Disciple!

*****

*Hahhh* *Haaah* *Haaahhh*

They were finally done with the first phase of Pill making,

Ingredient refining! Due to their enlightenment, what was

supposed to take around an hour to complete was shortened to

half an hour! However, the price that came with it was fatigue!

Because of their sudden enlightenment their concentration and

speed were doubled, but because their body were not used to

it, the time it takes to wear them out decreased, increasing

their stress at a faster rate!

"Haaah… Haaah…" Gin Seng gasped nonstop. He was dead

tired!

However– 'That felt freaking great! Is that what they call

sudden enlightenment?! It was as if my body moved on its

own!' Although he is tired, a broad smile could be seen

hanging on his face because his excitement surpassed his

fatigue!

It was not just him, everybody else on the stage had a similar

smile on their face. Their fierce desire for this mysterious

Senior to notice them had made them want to give it all they

got more than they've ever wanted to in their life!

'I-Is this really me?' The blind girl was more shocked than

excited at her own results. She has always been below average

in Pill making, yet the results she has shown up to this point is

on par with these renowned Pill making geniuses!

Is it because she wanted this Senior to notice her more than

everyone else on the stage? No. It was because she did not

want to disappoint this Senior who protected her. It was

because she did not want this Senior to think that he saved

someone as weak and untalented as her. Because she did not

want to disappoint this Senior, she gave it twice– thrice the

amount of effort into this Pill Contest.

'No, this is not the end. There are still two more phases…'

Although they all wanted to relax and digest their

enlightenment, they were not done because the Pill was still

nowhere near being completed!

Unable to waste even another second, they immediately began

mixing the liquids gathered from the ingredients.

*****

30 minutes after they began their second phase of creating the

True Qi Pill, the fatigue that was being suppressed by their

excitement has finally started to show and hinder them.

'Damn, I am almost done with shaping the Pill too!' Gin Seng

cursed.

"…"

"…"

After another 20 minutes had passed, his eyes were bloodshot,

and sweat could be seen dripping off his hair.

'It's done! Time for the last phase, Pill Creation! I should have

around 40 minutes left… I can make it!' He began feeding the

liquid shaped Pill trying to harden it.

' Hahaha. Senior, are you watching me? I hope you are,

because–' His body suddenly shivered halfway through his

thoughts, and as if fate was forcing his eyes to move, he

looked at a particular direction to where the audience were

sitting and whispering.

"?!?!?!?!?!?!?!" Gin Seng's mind sudden turned blank.

There he was– A young man with ordinary looks, and sitting

next to him was an incredibly beautiful young girl with an

innocent face.

'T-T-T-T-T-TH-TH-THAT'S– Impossible!' Unwanted memories

started replaying in his head. From the moment where he met

with this ordinary young man in the streets to asking the little

girl if she could sell him her weird Cauldron. Although the

part of his memory where after he swung his sword were a bit

unclear, he knew one thing for sure, and that was the feeling of

pain, intense pain!

'WHAT'S HE DOING HERE?! WHY IS HE LOOKING AT

ME?!?!?!? IT CAN'T BE— H-H-He is still feeling offended

from that incident and followed me all the way here to get

revenge?!' Although the little girl looked way different from

his memories, how could he forget about the ordinary face that

trashed him to the point where even his mother could not

recognize him at first when he was carried back home for

treatment?!

'He's definitely here for me! I'm done! I'm dead! I need to–

OH SHI–-'

*BOOOOOOM*

His Cauldron exploded, blasting him far away until he was in

the audiences!

*WHOOOOSH*

The Divine Flame that was inside the exploded Cauldron went

wild before taking form into a Viper!

"Wh-What's that?!?!?"

"It's a Viper made from Divine Flames!"

"Damn! What caused him to turn his Divine Flames like

that?!"

"That's an Enraged Divine Flame! Don't get near it or it'll

burn you to ashes!"

"Everyone, take cover!" Xuan Cheung stood up and screamed

before the power of a Spirit King exploded out from him.