Number One Under Heaven

Somewhere in Xiangliu Continent, tens of thousands of people were quickly gathering in the middle of a particular city with no signs of slowing down.

“What the hell, why is there so many people for this year’s Pill Contest? I come here every year, and the most I've seen were in the hundreds.” Someone asked the crowd.

“Hah? Where have you been the past week when the rumors spread?”

“Rumor? I just came back from a trip…”

“Oh, no wonder. Here, let me give you some light. Since you come here every year, you should already know that only residents from our Xiangliu Continent would come to this Pill Contest every year, right?”

“Yes, I know that.”

“Well, this year’s Pill Contest is a little bit special. Not only will our Xiangliu Continent participate, but even genius Pill Masters from the other Continents will also be participating in this year’s Pill Contest!”

“What?! Why would they do that? And even if that was true, there still shouldn’t be these many people!”

“You’re right, but you didn’t let me finish. Catch this; I heard that the judges for this year would be Pill Grandmasters! So if they do well, they might get recruited as a Disciple!”

“Pill Grandmasters?! Really?”

Pill Grandmasters are considered the apex of Pill Making in the Mortal’s Realm, so who did not want such an existence as their Master?

“It’s true, the newly appointed Pill Grandmaster from the Xuan Family will be one of the judges.” Someone else butted into their conversation.

“A new one? So we have 4 Pill Grandmasters right now?”

“Yes.”

“Hey, who is the Xuan Family again?” Someone else

joined.

“Really?! How ignorant can you be to not know about the Family with three Spirit Kings?! They are currently the second strongest Family in the Phoenix’s Continent! Now that they also have a Pill Grandmaster, their status will surely skyrocket!”

“What?! Three Spirit Kings, and a Pill Grandmaster?! How come I have never heard of such a powerhouse?”

“They usually like to be low key, which is why their name has yet to spread fire in our Xiangliu Continent. However, things might be different after this Pill Contest.”

“With a Pill Grandmaster coming, geniuses will sure come flocking to become his Disciple.”

“Aiya, because they do not want to look inferior with all the geniuses coming, the decently good Pill Masters will not be participating in this Pill Contest, making it a genius Pill Making showcase.” Someone sighs.

“So you mean the number of participants this year will very little?

“That’s exactly what I mean…”

“Well, at least it will be a good show…”

“Yeah…”

*****

In the middle of Black Turtle City, the largest city in Xiangliu Continent, there is a stage currently surrounded by thousands of people, each filled with curiosity and excitement for this year’s Pill Contest.

“Goddamn, there is too many people here!”

“Just for a freaking Pill Contest? Are they that bored?”

“It’s not easy to see a Pill Grandmaster…”

A middle-aged man walked suddenly walked onto the stage, attracting the spectator's attention.

”Greetings citizens and foreigners, I am sure that most of you are already aware of today’s event, so I will skip the boring parts and jump right into the rules, but before that, let me introduce the esteemed Xuan Family.”

Looking at three figures sitting in the corner of the stage, he said, “First and foremost is today’s Pill Contest judge, and one of the four existing Pill Grandmaster, please give Pill Grandmaster Cheung your biggest congratulations and welcome!”

*Clap* *Clap* *Clap*

Thunderous claps roared, and people were screaming, “Congratulations, Pill Grandmaster Cheung!”

Xuan Cheung stood up from his seat gave a polite bow to the crowd, increasing their hype.

The noises did not stop even after a good minute, so the middle-aged man raised his hand and coughed, silencing everybody.

Once the crowd became quiet, he resumed speaking, “Next we have Senior Yuming. She is a Spirit King and Pill Grandmaster Cheung’s beautiful wife! Give her a round!

*Clap* *Clap* *Clap*

“May Senior’s beauty last for an eternity!”

Xuan Yuming also stood up from her chair and bowed, creating another wave of thunderous roars.

“Last but not least, we have the only daughter of the Xuan Family, Senior Wanshan! Not only is she the most beautiful woman within her generation, but she is also the strongest being a Spirit King at her young age---”

Before the middle-aged man could even finish his introduction, the entire place roared with screaming and clapping.

*Clap* *Clap* *Whistle* *Clap*

Many young men were even whistling!

“Senior Wanshan, you are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen!”

“Please marry me!”

“Please step on me!!!”

The crowd went crazy, and many males were even shouting nonsense. However, no matter how crazy they were, nobody blamed them. Xuan Wanshan was the most talented and beautiful Cultivator in her generation, even beating most of the current generation if she were to be placed next to them, so it was normal for her to have many admirers. She was so popular that people still show up to her Xuan Family every day to ask her hand in marriage! If she didn’t run off to Jin Long Continent to become a teacher there, her family would’ve been flooded long ago with marriage requests.

The noises continued, but Xuan Wanshan did not stand up and only sat there with a cold expression on her face.

‘Hurry up with this Pill Contest so I can leave!’ Xuan Wanshan cursed in her heart. She does not like it when everybody’s attention is on her because it feels awkward.

Xuan Wanshan wanted to act cold so people would ignore her and focus their attention on somewhere else, but not only did that fail, it even raised the crowd’s excitement even more.

“Senior Wanshan’s coldness is good too!”

“Please tie me up!”

*Ahem*

Xuan Cheung intentionally coughed.

Although his cough was like a whisper in a busy market, everybody heard it and calmed down.

After the noisy crowd had subdued, Xuan Cheung looked at the middle aged man and nodded, indicating him to continue.

“Ahem, now that the introduction is over, I will be going over the rules.”

“One, only these age 20 or below can participate, anyone older will be disqualified! We won't have this problem because this year's contestant are all well known Pill Masters!”

“Two, the contestants will all be required to make a Profound True Qi Pill with at least a Low-Grade Quality!”

“Three, they will all have a time limit of twelve hours to complete it. Even if they made it one second after the deadline, they would fail!”

“Four, we will Grade them by the Pill’s smell, taste, color, and quality overall!”

“And finally, the reward. Due to the low number of people partaking in this year’s Pill Contest, only the first place will be able to receive the reward, and that reward is a Perfect Grade Spirit Qi Pill!”

*OOOOOOOHHHHH!*

The crowd roared.

“Holy shit! What did he just say?! A Perfect Grade Spirit Qi Pill?!” The crowd began talking again.

“Damn, if I had known what kind of reward it was, I would've participated even if I had one percent chance of winning!”

What was a Spirit Qi Pill? It is a rare Cultivation Pill for these Cultivators in the Spirit Realm! For one to get their hands on a Spirit Qi Pill, they must be either super wealthy or a powerhouse. But even with that, it was extremely hard to obtain a Perfect Grade Spirit Qi Pill! Even for Pill Grandmasters, it is near impossible for them to produce a Perfect Grade when the chances of succeeding are less than one percent! Even if it had a high chance, the ingredients to make a Spirit Qi Pill was scarce in the Mortal’s Realm.

“P-Perfect Grade… Spirit Qi Pill…” Even the contestants had their mouths overflow with saliva the moment they heard the reward!

Spirit Qi Pills are considered a luxury even for Spirit Realm Experts, so who wouldn't drool over a Perfect Grade Spirit Qi Pill?!

The middle aged man nodded his head with approval as if he had expected this kind of reaction.

“Before we start, let me give the contestants a chance to introduce themselves. We have a total of 11 contestants for this year's Pill Contest. We go from left to right, you, introduce yourself.” He looks at the young man all the way on the left.

Standing up from his lotus position, he said, “Guang Zhou from Xiangliu Continent, 18 years old, Pill Student.”

After introducing himself, he showed his palm to the crowd before summoning his Divine Flames.

*Poof*

An Orange colored flame lit up on his palm.

“Oooooo! Amazing! He is only 18 Years Old, yet he is already a Pill Student!”

“Of course, who do you think he is? He is the eldest son of the Guang Family known for their talented Pill Masters!”

After showing off for a few more seconds, Guang Zhou sat back down with a proud smile on his face.

After he had sat back down, the person to his right stood up and bowed.

“Gai Tang, 20 Years Old, Pill Student.” He said before sitting back down.

“Gai Tang, the second eldest son of the Gai Family from the Phoenix Continent. Although he is very talented in Pill Making, he is still inferior to his big brother Gai Wong. Aiya, if only the big brother were not over the age limit, it would've been a way more exciting this year.” Someone sighed.

“Hey, look who’s next.”

“It’s the Huang Family’s treasured daughter, Huang Li!”

An incredibly beautiful young lady stood up next and smiled, creating flowery illusions around her and pumping excitement into the audience's’ heart.

“Xiangliu Content, Huang Li, 19 Years Old. It is an honor to have Pill Grandmaster Cheung to be our judge.” She bowed towards where the Xuan Family was sitting.

Xuan Cheung nodded, showing his approval.

“Damn, not only is she a supreme beauty, but she is also one of the seven younger generation Spirit Realm Expert! How nice would it be to have her as a wife…”

“Out of all the contestants, she has the highest chance of winning. To see her here, this long trip was worth it!”

After Huang Li had sat back down, the next contestant stood up.

“Who’s that? I don't recognize her.” Someone asked.

“It is normal for these outside of Xiangliu Continent to not know her. She’s… Well, she’s nameless.” A citizen of Xiangliu Continent said with a sigh.

“Nameless? What the hell kind of name is that?”

“No, her name is not nameless, but she is nameless.”

“Like I said, who the hell names their child nameless?”

“Are you retarded or are you screwing with me? Her name is not nameless because she has no name!” The citizen almost punched this idiot in the face.

“Oooooh! So why does she have no name?” The idiot said as if nothing was wrong.

“Well, it is a complicated story, but long story short, she once had a name, but after her mother who was a concubine died, the mistress ordered to have her name discarded, leaving her nameless.”

“Her mother was a concubine? What family is she from?”

“Our Xiangliu Continent’s 2nd most influential family, the Gou Family.”

“Dog Family? What kind of stupid name is that?”

“You--- Are you courting death? If they heard you--- No, I don’t know you, and we have never talked! Goodbye!” The citizen instantly turned his head away and pretended that idiot did not exist. He has never seen someone as mentally disabled as this man next to him! If he interacts with him any longer, his life would be at stake!

‘This idiot will not live a long age!’ He thought.

“???” The idiot was confused and felt wronged.

‘Hmph, people are so rude these days, better ignore them before I catch their rudeness.’ He thought before facing to the opposite side and asked, “Hey Brother, why is she wearing a blindfold?”

“Huh? She is obviously blind.” The man next to him said.

“Oooh… But where is her walking stick? How will she be able to walk around without it?”

The dude made a weird face after hearing that question, “Obviously with her Divine Sense...?” He said.

“Ooooh! She must be what people call a genius!” The idiot said.

“No, she’s only decent with her Cultivation…” The man corrected him.

“Oh… Then she must be a Pill Making genius!”

“No… She is below average in that…”

“Then why the hell is she in this genius showcase? Is she trying to make a fool out of herself?”

“... Whatever her reason is for participating, it’s not my problem, and shut up, you ask too many questions.”

“....” The idiot sighs before continuing to watch the arena.

*****

“Gou Family, I… I have no name, 17 Years Old.” The blindfolded girl said with a low voice.

She tried to sit back down right after introducing herself but shouts called out one after another, stopping her from her tracks.

“What Gou Family?! Our Gou Family does not have a worthless trash like you!” Someone in the audience screamed.

“Pei, your dirty mouth does not have the right to have the honored words ‘Gou Family’ to come out from there!”

“What the hell are you doing in this genius showcase, you talentless, worthless piece of shit! You should be in the bathroom scrubbing the toilets right now! Are you trying to degrade the Gou Family’s name more than it already is just by having you?!”

“...” The blindfolded girl bit her lips so hard it began to bleed but did not dare to refute, taking in all the insults from audiences.

“Hahaha, she’s angry, she’s angry!”

“...”

“...”

“Master, were Mortals always this disgusting?” Somewhere in the crowd, a young girl asked the young man sitting next to her with a frown.

“...” The young man did not reply. Instead, he sat there with his eyes closed.

“What is going on?” These who came from the other Continents were confused at the current situation. They did not know who this blind girl was, but they did not pity her. Everybody understood that they were living in a cruel World where the strong ruled the weak, so this blind girl could only blame herself for being weak.

“Leave right now! Go back to doing what you are good at, cleaning toilet!”

“You dare to stand on the same stage as these chosen by Heaven?! Get lost!”

“Hahahaha---”

“SHUT THE HELL UP!”

*RUMBLE*

The entire Xiangliu Continent trembled as these sharp words echoed throughout the Continent. Nobody could pinpoint where the shout came from as if God himself had spoken to them directly, shaking their Soul along the way.

“.....” The entire place instantly turned dead silent!