Chapter 834 - Unable to participate in the competition
Xue Rong shook his head, saying, “No idea. It seems to be about the Three Great Conventions that’s happening in two days. You’ll know once you head over.”
“Got it, thank you.” Sima You Yue smiled.
“What for, you’ve already helped us so much. I’m merely passing on a message.” Xue Rong smiled and nodded at them before returning to his own team.
Sima You Yue said to the others, “The principal is looking for me, so I’ll head back first.”
“Go ahead, we’ll head to the dorms first. In the meantime, we’ll find out whether anything new has happened in the sect recently.”
“Then I’ll look for you guys again once I’m back.”
Sima You Yue went to Mao San Quan’s office after she finished speaking. After knocking lightly on the door twice and hearing a reply, she entered.
“Instructor Mao, they said that you were looking for me.” Sima You Yue said.
“Yes.” Mao San Quan was currently looking at the workflow of the Three Great Conventions. When he saw Sima You Yue enter, he placed the data down and said, “Sit down.”
Sima You Yue came to one of the chairs beside and sat down. She looked at Mao San Quan and waited for him to speak.
“You Yue, you haven’t been in the sect recently? I sent men to look for you but they couldn’t find you.” Mao San Quan did not speak of the main issue immediately. Instead, he asked her where she had gone.
“I’ve been in the Black Lotus Little Realm with my seniors to research some ancient pill methods.” Sima You Yue replied.
In any case, the sect knew about her little realm, so it wasn’t a bad idea to use it as a form of explanation.
“Ancient pill methods?”
“Some pill methods that Master left behind.” Sima You Yue said.
“Old Xu did bring back a few ancient pill methods once.” Mao San Quan said, “Now that you’ve also obtained the Black Lotus Little Realm, there should be many ancient herbs in there too. How is the research coming along?”
“We have yet to succeed.” Sima You Yue said.
“Take it slow, there’s no need to rush. Ancient Pill recipes are a lot more difficult than those of the current state. It’s expected for you to take a longer time.” Mao San Quan comforted her.
“Understood.”
Mao San Quan saw the way Sima You Yue was sitting upright and said, “Do you know why I’ve called you here today?”
“Nope.” Sima You Yue answered honestly.
“I called you here today because I wanted to tell you that your participation in your profession’s competition has been cancelled.” Mao San Quan said.
“What? Why?” Sima You Yue looked at Mao San Quan with shock.
“Don’t worry, listen to my explanation.” Mao San Quan said, “We’re doing this in the interests of the students as well, the sect will give you a thousand cultivation points.”
“I’m the one participating in the competition of the sect, how could it be against those student’s wishes?” Sima You Yue looked at him, not understanding.
“Has Old Yuan told you about the pill competitions before?”
Sima You Yue shook her head, saying, “Principal Yuan merely told me to help the sect out should they ever need it when the time comes. He didn’t say much else.”
“Then he only told you a little bit about it.” Mao San Quan said.
“Instructor Mao, what is the pill competition? What does that have to do with me participating in the sect’s competition!” Sima You Yue asked.
“Listen to my explanation.” Mao San Quan said, “These pill competitions are the highest ranked competitions for Alchemists. Based on the result, they will give you a suitable ranking.
“Can this ranking be used for anything?”
“It’s the same as our sect’s ranking. The better your ranking, the higher your level of influence.” Mao San Quan said.
“All who participate in the pill competitions have some sort of backing?” Sima You Yue asked.
“The Alchemist Guild will send out invitations, and only those with the invitations can participate.” Mao San Quan said, “Most of the popular alchemists from the outer and central regions will accept. A few powers from the inner regions will participate as well.”
“You mentioned that the rankings given in the pill competitions will affect our levels of influence. What do you mean by that?”
“In the alchemist guild, there is a Pill Subdivision. The end results of the pill competition will affect their position in this subdivision.”
“Pill Subdivision? What is that?”
“The Alchemist Guild is the organisation that manages alchemists, while the Pill Subdivision is an alliance of those talented alchemists.” Mao San Quan explained.
“What is the use of the pill subdivision?”
“Nothing.”
“Pfft-”
Sima You Yue un-glamorously spat out all the tea that was in her mouth.
“Since it’s useless, why would I care about this competition?”
“It may seem useless to us, but the higher your ranking, the higher your position will be in the alchemist world. It might be of a bit of use when they’re distributing resources for you.” Mao San Quan.
“But what does that have to do with me?”
“The sect plans to send you and your seniors to participate in this pill competition this round.”
“What does this have to do with the Three Great Meetings? My participation in the Three Great Conventions will not impact the pill competition.” Sima You Yue didn’t understand.
She could participate in the sect’s competition and then go on to participate in that pill competition. The timing didn’t clash.
Mao San Quan pondered over it for a moment and said, “Actually, our sect is going to be kicked out of the pill subdivision soon.”
“Ah?”
“Although we don’t feel like the pill subdivision is of much use, leaving the subdivision and being kicked out of it is a different thing. We won’t be able to keep our reputation.”
Sima You Yue was stunned. The sect would actually get kicked out?
“Why would we get kicked out?”
“If we fail to reach the top three after three pill competitions, we’ll get kicked out.”
“The sect has already gone through two competitions?”
“Mm. If we do not enter the top hundred this round, we will get kicked out.”
“Aren’t the students and teachers extremely powerful? How could we not manage to enter the top hundred?”
“There is a restriction on age. Only those below two hundred and fifty can participate. Although our teachers are good, they don’t meet the criteria. As for those students, those young ones are a bit lacking in talent. Also…”
“Also.. what?”
“There is a power that keeps competing with us in the pill subdivision. If we go down, they will be able to rise. Furthermore, the other party really wants to join the pill subdivision. As such, they’re been acting against us a few times.” Mao San Quan said, The last time, our most talented person was attacked because of this competition, and was unable to compete.”
“Instructor Mao, you’ve said so much, but what does this have to do with me not participating in the Three Great Conventions?”
“We have realised that the other party has sent men into our sect. They’re the black horses in this competition. Do not reveal your power before the pill competition.”
“Didn’t I already reveal it when I took the test to enter the sect?”
“But he didn’t know you then. The information that we intercepted didn’t include you. It’s probably because he didn’t pay attention to your entry test.
“Since you know who it is, why don’t you just kick him out of the sect?”
“We only found out about this a few days ago. At that time, we only managed to get the information and did not find out who the other party had sent. They’re all students of the sect, so we can’t just accuse them blindly.”
“…”
Once You Yue left Mao San Quan’s office, she had already been stripped of the right to participate in the competition and could only participate in the billboard ranking.