This really infuriated Forden Wayne. The two herbs Evan Yang picked at the end were exactly the ones he had chosen. He hadn't paid yet, but he'd just been discussing them when Evan swooped in and the shopkeeper happily agreed, letting Brandon Tu pay for them. Forden, furious, cursed loudly, "Little beggar, you'd better not leave this city, or you'll be dead!"
Actually, Evan mainly wanted the inconspicuous herb up front. It was called Slumberweed, and had a sleep-inducing effect—something Evan read about in the Herbal Heart Codex. Because it looked ordinary and its spiritual power was weak, cultivators often overlooked it. Even the shopkeeper was curious why the little beggar wanted it, but since Evan paid with Spirit Crystal Ore, the shopkeeper didn't care and quickly wrapped up all three herbs for him.
Amid Forden Wayne's curses, Evan Yang and Brandon Tu left the crowd laughing.
"Kid, why'd you pick such a useless herb?" With Brandon Tu's cultivation, even he couldn't see anything special about it, so after leaving Forden Wayne, he asked curiously.
"It's extremely useful," Evan said, thinking about the herb's effect and almost laughing.
"Didn't expect you to be an expert in herbs too?" Seeing Evan's smile and remembering his pill-refining skills, Brandon assumed he was not only a master alchemist but also well-versed in herbology.
Speaking of herb expertise, Evan couldn't help but think of the Heaven-Cold Seed's wonders. In truth, he relied on the Seed to judge a herb's properties; otherwise, he couldn't have refined three supreme-grade pills so smoothly.
Facing the Heaven-Cold Seed within him, Evan didn't know whether to be amazed or troubled. If the Seed ever grew bigger, would it burst his body? Or would leaves sprout all over his skin, turning him into a monster hunted by everyone?
Seeing Evan spacing out, Brandon Tu patted his shoulder and laughed, "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing," Evan replied, coming back to himself. Then he turned and noticed people were still following them, so he continued, "City Lord Tu, let's go to an inn and sit down. Maybe grab something tasty to eat."
To avoid those nosy troublemakers, Evan Yang and Brandon Tu ducked into an inn and ordered a pile of dishes. Luckily, this inn accepted Spirit Crystal Ore and gold coins—both were universal currency, set up by second-tier or higher cities for cultivators' convenience. Ordinary people could exchange Spirit Crystal Ore for gold coins at special city locations to use elsewhere.
Soon, the table was loaded with food. Evan hadn't eaten real food in over half a year. To avoid attracting attention, he'd had special meals made for him in the city lord's manor, but those weren't fit for human consumption. Rarely did he get a chance like this to relax and enjoy himself.
"Kid, cultivators like us don't need to eat, but you're different. So eat up, it'll keep your spirits up." Brandon Tu saw the table full of dishes and, though he wasn't really hungry, ate out of habit and chatted.
Evan understood what Brandon meant and didn't make it obvious. He pretended to devour the food like a beggar who hadn't eaten in days, startling nearby patrons and making them point and whisper.
"Look, isn't that the little beggar from the city lord's manor notice?"
"Looks like him, and the fat guy beside him too."
This immediately caught everyone's attention. Evan, who was enjoying his meal, looked up, wiped his greasy fingers, and after swallowing the last bite, asked in surprise, "City Lord Tu, why is everyone staring at us?"
"Someone must've spread the news." With his cultivation, Brandon Tu easily overheard the surrounding chatter and put two and two together, quickly figuring out the reason.
"Oh?" Evan asked Brandon Tu for clarification and finally understood—the city lord's manor had made public everything that happened in the manor.
After hearing this, Evan quickly paid and hurried back to the city with Brandon Tu, only to find the rumors spreading faster and in more versions. Now, wherever Evan walked, people stared at him with strange looks.
"It's impossible not to get famous now." Evan Yang was the most frustrated—once the city lord's manor made his story public, the Bai and Chu families would surely send people to investigate.
"Rockwell Nance is ruthless—he made the news so outrageous, calling you some pill-refining family master, unbeatable in the city lord's manor. To challenge you, the manor specially invited Human-Rank Alchemist Brynn Bishop, and since Brynn already lost, he just wants to use a treasure artifact to suppress you." Back in their room, Brandon Tu cursed angrily.
"Definitely ruthless. When did I ever claim to be a young pill-refining genius!" Evan was most angry that Rockwell Nance claimed he was the number one Human-Rank Alchemist among his peers.
Evan had never said anything like that, but now he was stuck with the label. Even if he went out, he'd probably be dragged into pill duels by Human-Rank Alchemists all the time.
"So what do we do now?" Brandon Tu had planned to slip away unnoticed, but now realized that plan wouldn't work anymore.
"If he's so ruthless, I won't hold back." Evan said coldly.
"You're really going to compete?" Seeing Evan's determined gaze, Brandon Tu asked worriedly.
Faced with this situation, Evan had no choice. If he ran now, every frustrated Human-Rank Alchemist would hunt him down, keeping him on the run forever. The only solution was to defeat their representative.
So Evan smiled and said, "I have to compete, and it has to be a grand competition. Since it's a once-in-ten-years event and this storm has drawn so much attention, plenty of Human-Rank Alchemists and famous pill sects will send people. Success is the only option—failure would lead to consequences beyond control."
"Looks like things are really getting big this time." Brandon Tu looked at Evan's unwavering resolve and couldn't help admiring him. Evan just smiled lightly and said, "If it can't be avoided, I'll face it head-on!"
"Good kid, I'm behind you!" Despite all the pressure, Brandon Tu said heartily, already determined to protect Evan if needed.
Having chosen to face things head-on, Evan didn't back down. He asked Brandon Tu to guard the door while he 'trained his pill-refining skills.'
Really, he just wanted Brandon Tu to keep watch outside and prevent anyone from coming in. Evan's true goal was to communicate with the Heaven-Cold Seed inside him—trying to sense the spiritual qi of the world, then taking out the two herbs he'd snatched from Forden Wayne and beginning to select the best parts. This time, instead of picking a few good herbs from a pile, he aimed to extract the essence from a single herb.
Evan wasn't worried about the Heaven-Cold Seed absorbing the medicinal power of those two herbs—ordinary herbs had already saturated it. But the Seed had a powerful function: whenever Evan's fingers touched a spot with stronger medicinal essence, the Seed pulsed more vigorously in his dantian. He called this reaction 'medicinal resonance,' a new function he'd discovered.
If Forden Wayne knew his carefully chosen herbs were being dissected like this by Evan, he'd definitely curse him out.
Meanwhile, a middle-aged man and a youth were sitting there in a daze.
Finally, the youth spoke, "City Lord Rockwell, what do you think that kid is up to?"
"Probably working on his pill-refining technique." These two were Rockwell Nance and Brynn Bishop. After days of sending people to spy, they still found Evan and Brandon Tu holed up in their room and couldn't figure out what they were doing.
"I still want to figure out his master and background!" Brynn Bishop complained, frustrated at not uncovering Evan's secrets.
"Don't worry, no matter who his master is, you'll crush him when the time comes." Rockwell Nance said with a cold smile.
Brynn Bishop knew well how much influence Rockwell Nance had in Centralgate. Since Rockwell had spoken, Brynn wasn't afraid of humiliating Evan or his backers—after all, Brynn himself had powerful support behind him.
Seeing Brynn's little schemes, Rockwell Nance spoke again, "Spend these days studying your furnace. That way you won't embarrass your master with a poor performance."
"Don't worry. My master gave it to me, so I'll make sure it shines, and show all those Human-Rank Alchemists what a real genius looks like." Brynn Bishop replied with a cold smile.
Seeing Brynn so confident, Rockwell Nance laughed to himself, "That's best. With someone like you, I can gain some benefits from above, you get your reputation, and I get my rewards."
Brynn Bishop had no idea what schemes the old fox Rockwell Nance was plotting.
The once-in-ten-years Grand Pill Meet began in Centralgate. Even though it was held a year early, it drew crowds—families came to recruit talent, sects to find disciples, and many just to watch the spectacle.
"Kid, looks like Rockwell Nance is going all out, attracting loads of Human-Rank Alchemists." Seeing the crowd gathered at Centralgate's largest pill-refining arena, Brandon Tu laughed. Even with Rockwell's unknown 'attacks,' he was happy to stand with Evan.
After spending days together, Evan grew more certain of Brandon Tu's character, so talking with him never felt stressful.
Looking at the crowd, Evan muttered, "Why are there so many people?"
"It's always like this. Most are here for the show—this once-in-ten-years Grand Pill Meet is the best place for sects and families to scout new talent." Brandon Tu explained as he squeezed through the crowd with Evan.
"Doesn't City Lord Rockwell get angry?" Evan asked curiously.
"He's just a second-tier city lord. Some of these families and sects are bigger than him, so he has to turn a blind eye and rely on luck to attract talented alchemists to his side." Brandon Tu had spent years in second- and third-tier cities, so he was familiar with how things worked.
Evan looked thoughtful. Just then, a commotion erupted ahead. Listening closely, Evan realized Brynn Bishop and some alchemists were stirring up a crowd.
"What's Brynn Bishop's background, to get so many people cheering for him?" Evan asked, curious.
Brandon Tu chuckled, "Half of them are probably fakes."
"Fakes?" Evan asked in surprise.
With Brandon Tu's explanation, Evan learned that many were hired by Rockwell Nance as 'cheerleaders' to boost Brynn Bishop's popularity.
This trick really opened Evan's eyes. Just as he was about to see what the 'cheerleader' situation was like, he heard someone shout, "The little beggar's here!"