Chapter 48 - : Earth Quintessence Pill (1/2)

Sensing Ye Chen gazing at him, Li Xu looked back too. Ye Chen looked just like any other average teenager but for some odd reason, he found the boy rather captivating like there was an air of uniqueness to him.

Unlike the other teenagers who looked up to him, Ye Chen did not seem to share the same sentiments.

“Who’s that boy over there in the white robe?” Li Xu turned to ask Yun Yiyang who was seated next to him.

The people around were slightly taken aback. Behind every rank nine combatant stood one or two of their respective clan’s finest disciples. They had brought their disciples, intending to showcase their talents to Li Xu, hoping that he would choose them. However, Li Xu only seemed to be interested in Ye Chen who was at the far end of the corner.

Yun Yiyang looked at Ye Chen curiously. What was it about him that caught Li Xu’s eyes?

“Master Li, that’s Ye Chen, the son of Ye Zhantian from the Ye Clan,” Yun Yiyang courteously responded. Although he hated the Ye Clan to the core, he dared not make a scene before Li Xu.

“What’s his cultivation base?” Li Xu suddenly realized his reason for noticing Ye Chen. As a high ranking apothecary, Li Xu was particularly sensitive toward fire elemental Celestial Chi and he could feel the same energy coming from Ye Chen too.

“Lower rank six,” Yun Yiyang replied. He was getting increasingly annoyed that Li Xu only seemed to be interested in the Ye Clan’s member. He was surrounded by so many fine disciples from the Yun Clan yet Li Xu paid them no attention.

“Is the Ye Clan a practitioner of the fire elemental cultivation system?” Li Xu pressed on.

“Not at all. They’re practitioners of the thunder elemental cultivation system.” Yun Yiyang furrowed his brows. Just what exactly did Li Xu mean by that? Did he notice something?

“Oh,” Li Xu replied indifferently.

Ye Chen’s Astral Body heard every word that Li Xu and the rest had said. He was a little surprised that out of all people, Li Xu had noticed him. What did he mean by those questions?

Underneath Ye Chen’s robe, Little Tanuki wriggled. Ye Chen quickly gave it a little pat and whispered, “Stay still, Little Tanuki.”

“It’s time,” a couple of the Yun Clan members reminded.

Yun Yiyang briefly looked to the sky and stood to salute the people around him before continuing, “Today is the triennial Grand Martial Tournament of the Eighteen Houses of Lianyun. I’d like to thank the lords of various houses as well as the prestigious families from Donglin County for attending this event. Joining us today is Master Xuanyi’s most senior disciple, Master Li whom we’re extremely honored to have. As such, this year’s tournament will be a little different from the previous years. Apart from the contenders of the Eighteen Houses of Lianyun, the other houses are invited to participate in the tournament. We have also included another test this time. Those who perform outstandingly and meet Master Li’s requirement will be given a chance to enroll in Master Apothecary Xuanyi’s school!”

Hearing Yun Yiyang’s words, the crowd roared. They had heard about Master Xuanyi’s search for a disciple but they would have never guessed that the search was a part of the tournament.

“Does that mean that those who aren’t from the Eighteen Houses of Lianyun can participate too?”

“I wonder what’s the other test?”

The people in the crowd spoke among themselves.

Noticing the positive reaction from the crowd, Li Xu smiled and stood up to weigh in, “It’s my honor to attend this year’s grand event and have the opportunity to meet the young talents of Donglin County. For that, I’m truly grateful. To those of you young lads out there who are keen to enroll in Master Xuanyi’s school, you may showcase your talents in the arena. Also, I’ve prepared a gift as a good luck charm for today’s event. Be it the tournament or the second test, the victor will stand a chance to receive an Earth Quintessence Pill specially made by Master Xuanyi himself. I trust that the floor will find the gift enticing enough?”

Li Xu’s voice lacked that certain huskiness that Yun Yiyang had but he spoke just as effortlessly. The arena may be crowded but his voice was clearly heard.

An Earth Quintessence Pill? One that was specially made by Master Apothecary Xuanyi himself?!