The Legendary Master’s Wife - Chap 94

Chapter 94: Assessment (I)

After that, You XiaoMo used two days to try refining thirty magic pills.

Although the quality of the magic herbs was very low, it was not completely useless to You XiaoMo. Due to the low quality, the magic herbs contained quite a bit of impurities. You XiaoMo made use of this to practice his ability to distill level two magic herbs.

After two days of experimentation, he figured out that he could at most distill the magic herbs three to four times. This number was already very high for other mages because ordinary mages could only distill level two magic herbs one to two times, and not any more than that. On top of that, the quality of the magic herbs was not high so the resulting magic pills could only be described as ‘poor’. Furthermore, the risk remained as high as thirty five percent.

But after several rounds of distillation, You XiaoMo was able to reduce the risk of level two magic pills to fifteen percent. Although it still couldn’t compare to the high grade magic pills he refined before, for low grade magic pills, it was pretty good. Some people were too poor to buy a single high grade magic pill even after saving up for it their whole lives.

After he sighed with emotion, You XiaoMo decided to no longer hide in his room refining magic pills. For the remainder of the day, he started to learn to interact with his neighboring fellow disciples, gaining a lot of useful information from them.

Since the assessment was the next day, the disciples that came in half-a-year ago, like him, were all very nervous because the assessment would affect their future. It wasn’t possible for them not to be nervous.

You XiaoMo was already a level two mage so he was not worried. It was just that he found it unexpected that all three peaks would be undergoing the assessment together.

“Chen-shixiong, why do the three peaks hold the assessment together?” You XiaoMo asked a Shixiong who spoke frankly and confidently.

Cheng-shixiong turned around and saw that You XiaoMo was the one that asked the question. He actually didn’t want to answer him but seeing that the surrounding fellow disciples were all looking at him wide-eyed, he felt that it was not good if he didn’t answer, “This rule was put in place by the founder of our Mage Division to promote interaction and friendship among the three major peaks. But with the passing of time, this assessment lost its original intention and turned into a big contest between the three major peaks.”

This Cheng-shixiong was the one that went to the stone room together with You XiaoMo at that time to train the soul force. He was the one that was sent flying after he accidentally caused his cauldron to explode.

At that time, he was embarrassed by You XiaoMo’s instant success. Then, when You XiaoMo was praised by Wu-Shixiong, his heart became even more unhappy with You XiaoMo. When he found out that he was accepted by Kong Wen as a disciple, his heart became even more dissatisfied.

But after that, he rarely saw You XiaoMo again. Now seeing him once more, his heart was still a little unhappy but he no longer showed it on his face.

“Cheng-shixiong, according to what you said, if we do badly, wouldn’t that mean we would lose face in front of everyone?” You XiaoMo became aware of the conflict between the three major peaks for the first time. If it continued going on like this, the relationship between Capital Peak and Heaven Peak would reach an extent where they could no longer reconcile their differences, which was very disadvantageous for the inner workings of the Tian Xin Sect.

“That’s for sure. Especially for you You-shidi. You are Kong Wen’s direct disciple. If you were to lose face in front of everyone, the result would be unimaginable!” When Cheng-shixiong spoke about You XiaoMo, there was an added faint gloating at his misfortune.

“Thank you for your concern. I will try my best.” You XiaoMo smiled as he answered.

Who was concerned about you? Cheng-shixiong snorted.

Although he got the information that he wanted, You XiaoMo didn’t leave immediately, hanging around with everyone for a bit.

In the evening, a disciple came over to inform You XiaoMo that the assessment the next day would be held in the morning around seven. Everyone was to assemble at the Hall of Magic Herbs before then.

After sending the disciple off, You XiaoMo closed the door and went to sleep. He didn’t seize this time to refine magic pills, after all, nothing much could be done in a night. Also, it had already been a long time since he had a good rest.

Ling Xiao didn’t come to find him that night. Maybe he was busy so You XiaoMo didn’t see him even after he woke up and went to the assembly point.

This time the one that lead them to the assessment was Kong Wen.

Although the disciples undergoing the assessment were those that entered the sect about half a year ago, adding them up, it still amounted to a considerable number. They were all the future lifeblood of the three major peaks, so Kong Wen attached great importance to this matter.

Their destination was the Hall of Mages.

The Hall of Mages was the most peculiar looking building in the Tian Xin Sect. Its outer shape was that of a black cauldron, making it look very distinctive. There were two powerful stone guardian lions flanking the entrance. Their eyeballs were carved out of red jade that seemed to give off rays that could see through a person’s heart. Just one look and one wouldn’t dare to look at them again.

An inscribed dark red sandalwood plaque hung on top of the building. On it was inscribed clearly ‘Hall of Mages’. Three large and simple characters written with forceful strokes, it was clearly the work of a great Master.

Kong Wen said a few words to the two guards standing outside the Hall of Mages before leading them inside.

You XiaoMo followed behind everyone. He looked up at the plaque of the Hall of Mages and felt that it was very majestic. Then he looked in all directions but didn’t see anyone from Heaven Peak or Flying Peak. Maybe they hadn’t arrived or they could already be inside.

Walking into the Hall of Mages, a slight medicinal fragrance immediately flooded the nose, instantly lifting spirits and easing minds.

The main hall was very spacious, roughly able to hold more than five hundred people. From the outside one couldn’t actually tell that it was so wide, making it suddenly feel bright and open. There were groups of people standing inside chatting in twos to threes. Most of them were very young, some not even older than fifteen.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, they looked towards the entrance. Seeing Kong Wen at the lead, everyone’s questioning eyes immediately changed to looked of respect.

Although Kong Wen was from Capital Peak, no matter how one looked at it, he was still a high level mage and also their senior. Even if they looked down on the disciples of Capital Peak, they still didn’t dare to show any inkling of that in front of him.

You XiaoMo didn’t recognize the people inside but the disciples around him did.

Upon seeing them, the happy chatting voices quiet down. Their faces also look rather unhappy. You XiaoMo guessed immediately that these disciples were most probably from Heaven Peak.

A middle-aged man sporting a black beard stepped out from the crowd. Kong Wen turned around and told the disciples to wait for him where they are before walking up to that man.

You XiaoMo finally recognized that person. He was Mo Gu, the Heaven Peak elder he met when he went down the mountain the first time. A level five mage.

“Kong-shixiong, why are you bringing them over personally this time? Where is Xiao-shixiong?”

Mo Gu cupped his hands as he bowed towards Kong Wen. His seniority was lower than Kong Wen so it was only right that he bowed.

Kong Wen nodded his head slightly, “He had something to do so it was up to me to bring them this time. It’s almost time to start. Flying Peak is not here yet?”

Xiao-shixiong was one of the Elders that was there when You XiaoMo faced the ‘combined judgement of three courts’. Before he was always the one that led the disciples over for the assessment. So Mo Gu was a little surprised that it was Kong Wen this time.

Just as he said these words, sounds of footsteps could be heard coming from the entrance.

Kong Wen and Mo Gu looked over at the same time. The person leading the way was the Shifu of Flying Peak, Zhou Yu. He had a mottled grayish white beard with a kindly face, looking very much like a friendly and benign person. Like Kong Wen, he was also a high level mage with considerable prestige but was especially low profile. This was one of the reasons why he was always the peacemaker when conflicts arose between Heaven Peak and Capital Peak.

Due to his low profile, some people would sometimes forget about his existence. Not only that, the disciples of Flying Peak were also just as low key.

As for coming just in time, Zhou Yu apologized very politely. Kong Wen treated him indifferently while Mo Gu said a few flattering words.

Zhou Yu stroked his beloved beard with the same slight smile on his face. A smile that was just right, so as to not be irritating. It showed that he really had the ability to act as a peacemaker.

“It’s time. Gather up the disciples. Then the testing will commence.” Kong Wen said these words to the two of them then turned to walk back to his own disciples.

Zhou Yu and Mo Gu returned to their own disciples wordlessly, and started to make arrangements for the assessment.

This assessment was for the disciples that the Tian Xin Sect took in half a year ago. Some were already formal disciples while some were still probationary disciples. Although the status was different, the assessment was still the same. Of course there were also a few people that entered a few days earlier or later.

Kong Wen called his disciples up to him. He didn’t ask You XiaoMo to stand in front of him just because he was his direct disciple. After instructing them on things they should pay attention to during the assessment, he started to arrange them in order.

In order to prevent chaos, each disciple from each peak was given a tablet. A number was carved on each tablet. During the assessment, the disciples would go up according to the numbers called.

Capital Peak had a total of twenty four disciples. This number was a little less than the year before but it was still consistent with the average. Heaven Peak and Flying Peak also had twenty four each, but their quality was clearly better than Capital Peak.

You XiaoMo received a yellow tablet that had the number seven on it.

He glanced over to Heaven Peak and Capital Peak. They had red and green tablets respectively. Clearly it was to distinguish the disciples.

The one presiding over the assessment was a Senior from the Hall of Mages. Seeing that everyone had gotten a tablet, the Senior announced the start of the assessment. With these words the floor suddenly shook and nine stone platforms immediately rose from under the floor.