Very soon, Evan Yang was led through a secret passage onto a large riverboat. The cabin was completely sealed, and a formation blocked all divine sense. Once inside, he could no longer sense anything outside and had to rely solely on his own eyes to observe his surroundings.
"So luxurious," Evan commented as he stepped onto the boat.
Since he was the first guest brought over, Evan entered the cabin alone. Just as he turned to leave, several attendants stopped him.
"Well, I'll stay and see what happens," Evan thought. It wasn't that he couldn't leave, but he was genuinely curious why he had been chosen.
Inside, the room was already set up with plenty of snacks, and six seats arranged—five for the guests, plus one special seat. Fresh flowers decorated both sides, making the banquet feel even more extravagant.
"That must be where the Flower Queen sits," Evan guessed, looking at the special seat. He deliberately chose the spot right beside it, sat down, and started snacking out of boredom.
"Why are they so slow?" Evan muttered, still munching on snacks as he waited alone.
Just then, the four outstanding young guests entered from outside. Their eyes widened in surprise as they took in Evan's actions and the way he was sitting and snacking.
"Never seen a handsome guy before?" Evan joked, feeling a bit awkward under their dumbfounded stares. He put down his food and straightened his clothes.
Finally, one of the youths snapped out of it—it was Brandon Tang, the pale-faced pretty boy. With an ugly expression, he blurted, "Where did this beggar come from!"
Brandon Tang retorted, "Ghost-Hand, don't think I'll be afraid of you just because you have the Medicine-God Physique!" He didn't actually make a move, though—he knew that people with the Medicine-God Physique had a bright future, and plenty of powerful cultivators would want to curry favor.
Everyone understood this well, and Evan especially so—if he didn't have his own seed to identify medicines, refining pills would be nearly impossible.
Noticing all eyes on him, Gavin Wu sneered, "If you've got guts, let's compete in pill-refining!"
"A pill-refining contest isn't as good as a formation contest!" Brandon Tang shot back, unwilling to show weakness.