Chapter 2804 — The Trial Begins
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"Whoa—" A stir ran through the assembled cultivators. None had expected the Mystic Pill Sect to offer such lavish terms for this trial, and their hearts raced at the prospect. To be able to name a pill and have it crafted on one's behalf! Such an opportunity had never existed before!
The Ice Palace disciple in particular could scarcely contain her excitement. She had come here merely to try her luck; since the Mystic Pill Sect refused to refine Ice-Heart Jade-Bone Pills for the Ice Palace, even passing the trial would earn her no more than a third-grade pill already in the sect's stores. But if she obtained two herbs?
Yet her excitement lasted only a moment before she shook her head. Never mind whether she could obtain two herbs at all—even if she could, the Mystic Pill Sect reserved the right to choose which pills it refined, and there was no chance they would refine a third-grade pill for her.
Seeing no hope of exchanging for a pill, the Ice Palace disciple decided to withdraw. Before coming, Bingtang had instructed her: if it seemed feasible, join the trial; if not, leave at once. "The Land of the Five Fierce Wilds is exceedingly dangerous. During the trial, I hope none of you will fight among yourselves. The herbs there are plentiful and not especially hard to find—the real difficulty is the sheer number of spirit beasts, which makes harvesting them no easy task. So once you have your herbs, your best course is to hurry back at once," Tianjisuan said. "In this trial, life and death are each man's own fate. The Mystic Pill Sect bears no responsibility whatsoever. Very well—any cultivator who objects may leave tonight. Those who do not object, go to Elder Kang to pay the trial deposit!"
After Tianjisuan's words, some left, while others rose of their own accord and lined up before Kang Jingming to pay the Mystic Pill Sect trial deposit. When Wei Zhao made to swipe his card for the deposit, Feng Shihua beat him to it and paid on his behalf—and throughout the entire process, Kang Jingming's face remained utterly blank, as though the matter had nothing whatsoever to do with him.
This rather astonished Wei Zhao. Had the boy turned over a new leaf? Why did his own appearance provoke not the slightest flicker of expression? Could some greater scheme be hiding beneath it all?
After paying the deposit and registering their strength, Wei Zhao received a trial entry token and was free to leave. This Mystic Pill Sect trial did not even bother to verify the participants' strength—nothing like the stringent screening of the Ice Palace trials.
Then again, the Ice Palace was selecting outer-sect disciples, whereas the Mystic Pill Sect cared only for herbs and profit. So what did anyone's strength matter? So long as one was above the Mystic Rank, with no upper limit, and could pay the deposit, one was free to join.
In this, of course, Wei Zhao was mistaken. It was only this particular Mystic Pill Sect trial that skimped on verifying participants' strength; in previous years, the sect had inspected every participant rigorously, tolerating not the slightest deception.
Once all the participants' deposits had been collected, Tianjisuan had the innkeeper arrange for everyone to return and rest, then said, "At six o'clock sharp tomorrow morning, assemble here on time. I will lead you to the site of the Mystic Pill Sect trial—the Land of the Five Fierce Wilds! Be here promptly to wait; latecomers will not be admitted, and their deposits will not be refunded!"
"Yes!" the crowd answered at once, solemn and respectful.
"One more thing I must remind you all of: from the start of the trial until you leave the Mystic Pill Sect, nothing that happens here may be spread abroad! And in the Land of the Five Fierce Wilds, cameras and other electronic devices for recording conditions inside are forbidden!" Tianjisuan warned in conclusion. His worry was that someone might record the terrain of the Five Fierce Wilds for convenience in future trials.