Chapter 417 - 423: When Enemies Meet

A smile played in Song Wanning’s eyes. She had now pioneered her own path of alchemy. To put it grandly, she was the founder of her own school of thought!

In the future, she could compile her findings into a book and pass it on to that little girl, Li Rao.

She put away the Elixir Pills, rested for a while, and then resumed her alchemy.

The more she practiced, the more adept she became, and she soon had a complete grasp of this new technique.

...

「Three days passed in the blink of an eye.」

Song Wanning finally emerged from her room. Her gaze landed on Wu Qingfeng for a moment before shifting away as if she hadn’t noticed him.

Many people had already gathered in the main hall downstairs, exchanging pleasantries with one another.

The moment Song Wanning appeared, all eyes turned to her.

There was a simple reason for this. Song Wanning’s cauldron had been exploding daily, so everyone was immensely curious about the person staying in that room. They were all rather surprised to see it was a great beauty.

Moreover, with a bone age of just over a hundred years, she looked far too young.

’No wonder her cauldron kept exploding. She’s too young to be participating in the Alchemy Dao competition.’

Many Sect elders shot Fourth Elder sympathetic glances. They must have thought the Ancient Cold Sect had truly run out of disciples, forcing them to send someone like her just to fill the quota.

The corner of Fourth Elder’s mouth twitched as she felt their stares.

She snorted inwardly. ’So, you’re looking down on Wan Ning, are you?’

’Once the competition starts, you’ll all regret it!’

"Wan Ning, are you alright?"

She walked over with Lu Yi and Wu Feng, her eyes filled with curiosity.

Song Wanning didn’t try to be coy. She smiled and replied, "Thanks to your guidance, Fourth Elder, I’ve managed to figure out a new method."

"Really?"

Fourth Elder was overjoyed, her gaze on Song Wanning growing even more fond, as if looking at a rare treasure.

’Someone who can develop new methods isn’t a mere genius—they’re a peerless one!’

’For the Ancient Cold Sect to have found her... we really hit the jackpot!’

However, she remained discreet, quickly composing herself before leading her group downstairs.

In the crowd, Wu Qingfeng was glaring murderously at Song Wanning, killing intent blazing in his eyes.

The three participating disciples from the Medicine King Sect also recognized Song Wanning as the person on their Sect’s wanted list, and their expressions darkened.

"She actually knows alchemy?"

"Martial Uncle, that woman is too arrogant! She knew our Medicine King Sect would be competing, yet she still dared to show up so brazenly. She clearly has no respect for us!"

The disciples’ expressions turned grim; they found Song Wanning’s audacity utterly infuriating.

The memory of the Ancient Cold Sect brazenly taking her from them was still fresh in their minds.

Now, they were seething with a helpless rage.

Wu Qingfeng remained silent, his mind already scheming to get his hands on the Alchemy Dao inheritance Song Wanning had obtained.

’That bitch must have obtained some incredible inheritance,’ he thought. ’Otherwise, how would she have the chance to compete?’

’Hmph! Once I kill her, that inheritance will be mine!’

"In this competition, if any of you dare lose to her, you can get your asses to Siguoya!"

His cold gaze swept over them, and the disciples immediately tensed.

"Don’t worry, Martial Uncle! Dealing with a single Song Wanning will be a piece of cake. We’ll be sure to teach her a lesson she won’t forget!"

They immediately and repeatedly assured him, which finally mollified Wu Qingfeng.

In the crowd, Xiao Heyun had spotted Song Wanning long ago.

But he was in no mood to snark at her right now, because an elder from the Canglan Sect was glaring daggers at him.

In fact, thanks to the Canglan Sect deliberately fanning the flames, everyone now knew about their feud.

But he was truly being framed!

’This is outrageous! I never even saw those people after I entered the realm, so how could I have been the one who killed them?’

’Damn it! They must have killed each other and are now trying to pin it on me!’

’FUCKING HELL!!!’

Xiao Heyun was seething with rage. If everyone hadn’t been here, he would have smashed everything to pieces.

Outwardly, however, he appeared calm and nonchalant. Many people nodded to themselves, impressed. ’This kid’s got a solid mentality. No wonder he dares to stand against the entire Canglan Sect.’

"Mr. Gu, are they letting just any riff-raff into the competition these days?"

The Canglan Sect elder said coldly, "They say a biting dog doesn’t bark. You’d best keep him on a tight leash, lest he get out and start biting people!"

Xiao Heyun’s fists clenched, and a flash of killing intent crossed his eyes.

’How dare this person call me a dog?’

Gu Yan’s expression shifted, but then he gave a dry chuckle.

"On the contrary, I think the Canglan Sect’s elders should be the ones watching more carefully. You wouldn’t want to let someone else sneak in again, would you? If they won, the prize wouldn’t even belong to the Canglan Sect, now would it?"

His words were venomous.

The greatest shame for the Canglan Sect wasn’t the death of their disciples, but the fact that one of their own esteemed Divine Separation Stage elders had failed to see through Xiao Heyun’s disguise, allowing him to slip into the Secret Realm.

For an elder of the Divine Separation Stage, this was a tremendous insult.

It was such a tremendous insult that others now felt bold enough to taunt the Canglan Sect about it.

And his words had a powerful effect.

The Canglan Sect elder’s face flushed red with rage, and he looked as if he wanted to execute Xiao Heyun on the spot.

The amused glances from the other elders only fueled his rage.

He grit his teeth and held back, silently cursing that fool Wu Zongyuan. ’It’s all his fault for leaving this mess for me to clean up, making me the one to be humiliated like this.’

"Hah."

Finally, he let out a cold laugh and looked Xiao Heyun up and down.

"The Alchemy Dao competition will end eventually. We’ll see what happens then!"

With that, the members of the Canglan Sect were the first to leave the inn, heading toward the square where the competition was to be held.

Once they left, the others followed suit, pouring out of the inn in a vast and magnificent procession.

Everyone in Wuyang City had converged on the square today. Fortunately, the square was enchanted with a Spatial Array and could easily accommodate a hundred thousand people. Even after everyone had arrived, it still felt spacious.

Song Wanning followed the crowd to the square, smiling as she brushed past Xie Qinglan.

Seeing Xiao Heyun at her side, she shot a meaningful glance at his lower half, instantly causing a spasm in his groin.

The pain of that day seemed to flare up anew, to the point that the mere sight of Song Wanning triggered a conditioned response.

He stared stiffly at Song Wanning, his glare so intense he seemed to want to burn a hole right through her.

But Song Wanning’s smile only grew more brazen, which infuriated Xiao Heyun so much he almost lost his icy composure.

Xie Qinglan, on the other hand, greeted Song Wanning sweetly, completely oblivious to her senior brother’s contorted expression.

The group then parted ways, each heading to their assigned positions.

The Sects from the Eastern Domain were all gathered together. Song Wanning did a quick count: besides the five Major Sects, more than ten other Sects had arrived, each having sent three participants for the competition.

The number of contestants from the Southern Domain was also close to a hundred. The Demon Race had the fewest with only seven, while the Demon Clan had slightly more, with over twenty members.

In addition, there were over a hundred Loose Cultivators. These were all Pill Masters who had been vetted by Wuyang City and met the basic requirements to qualify for registration.

In total, there were over three hundred participants, making for a very lively scene.