The Alchemist Association had cleared out early today, receiving no unrelated visitors. At this moment, Wen Wen led several people forward, serving spiritual tea and pastries prepared well in advance, filling several long tables in a row.
Amidst her busy movements, she stepped over and bowed first to President Song and Master Ji, then turned her gaze to Shi Yu, her eyes slightly red.
Shi Yu stepped forward and called out softly, “Sister Wen.”
Wen Wen took her hand and patted it gently. “It’s good that you’re back.”
Everyone took their seats. The presidents and elders of the four associations offered congratulations once more to President Song on successfully forming his Golden Core, before transitioning to discuss the preparations for his Golden Core Ceremony.
The four associations already held an extraordinary standing within the prefecture, and since Lingtai Prefecture had not seen a new Golden Core grandmaster in a long time, this grand event naturally called for a lavish celebration.
Shi Yu kept one ear open as she listened to them discuss the matters and details of the ceremony's preparations. Realizing that when the time came, she would only need to prepare a congratulatory gift without worrying about anything else, she listened for a bit before quietly picking up the pastries on the table and eating them.
Once the matters of the Golden Core Ceremony were fully discussed, the conversation immediately shifted to her.
President Liang Guan of the Refinement Association, unable to hold back any longer, looked Shi Yu up and down. “Is this girl about to establish her foundation?”
President Song smiled and nodded. “Her fortune is profound. She repeatedly turns danger into safety and gains many opportunities from it. Though her progress is fast, her foundation is remarkably solid and stable. I estimate she will be able to establish her foundation in two months at most.”
With that, he looked toward President Cui of the Array Association. “Old Cui, that Xuexiao Spirit Node under your association—we agreed earlier that girl Yu could use it. Don't back out now. I think this will be the perfect chance to assist her foundation establishment.”
This spirit node belonging to the Array Association possessed the most abundant spiritual Qi in all of Lingtai Prefecture. Cultivating inside would yield twice the results with half the effort. Moreover, it was not merely about spiritual Qi abundance; the node itself held other unique marvels. If Shi Yu could enter secluded cultivation inside to break through, it would naturally be the absolute best choice.
Before heading to Hengze Prefecture for the grand tournament, President Cui had mentioned that Shi Yu could cultivate in the spirit node on the condition that, besides the Daos of Artifacts and Alchemy, she also study the Dao of Formations.
President Cui raised his eyes, his expression solemn as ever. “A promise made is a promise kept. Why would I go back on my word?”
Liang Guan chuckled joyfully from the side. “Good, good, good! With girl Yu’s natural talent paired with the spirit node's assistance, an Earthly Dao Foundation Establishment will be no problem at all!”
President Song and Master Ji exchanged a glance, refraining from mentioning to the crowd that she had acquired a trace of Heavenly Dao aura, so as not to stir up excessive expectations that might disturb Shi Yu's mindset.
President Liang Guan patted his protruding belly, his eyes crinkling with laughter as he glanced at Shi Yu with a soft cough. “So... girl Yu, during the alchemy tournament, you re-refined and upgraded that Tier-3 pill furnace I gifted you, right?”
When he brought this up, his face was filled with regret, wishing he had gone along to witness the scene with his own eyes.
President Song threw him a side-glance. “This happened right before everyone's eyes and has long since spread across Changyuan Prefecture. Why ask what you already know?”
Seeing the fat man squint his eyes, President Song knew he must be up to some trick, immediately raising his guard.
Liang Guan chuckled. “Since it's already spread across all of Changyuan Prefecture, I see no problem with announcing that girl Yu is also a member of my Refinement Association, right?”
Only a few people knew that Shi Yu had joined the Refinement Association, and it had never been announced to the public. Although everyone knew she could refine artifacts, on the surface, her identity was still that of an alchemist.
Liang Guan naturally wished for her title as a weapon refiner to be as resounding as her fame as an alchemist. After all, her attainments in weapon refining were not inferior to her alchemy in the slightest.
Earlier, he had agreed with President Song that to avoid draining Shi Yu’s energy and delaying her core cultivation, they would temporarily let her handle both alchemy and artifact refining. They would see which discipline reached Tier-3 first to determine whether she had greater talent in alchemy or artifact refining, and then she would focus wholeheartedly on that single path.
But as it turned out, she could concoct Tier-4 pills as well as refine Tier-4 artifacts. Her talent in both the Dao of Artifacts and the Dao of Alchemy was evenly matched; giving up either would be a true shame.
Hearing Liang Guan’s words, President Song did not show anger or dissatisfaction as expected. Instead, his gaze rested on Shi Yu, and he let out a soft sigh before nodding. “This matter is already common knowledge, so there is no need to hide it. You may go discuss it with girl Yu yourself.”
He then added, “We kept it hidden initially out of fear that she might get distracted, failing at both and accomplishing neither—after all, such cases are plentiful. But now... it seems we were being narrow-minded. It won't be long before Little Yu's achievements in both the Dao of Artifacts and the Dao of Alchemy surpass us old fellows. As such, what right do we have to limit her?”
Shi Yu knew that President Song's decisions were all out of concern for her. “President, please rest assured. I know that the road of cultivation is long, and I will surely guard my heart and cultivate diligently.”
President Song smiled, greatly comforted.
Liang Guan nodded in agreement as well. “In that case, I will make an official announcement to let everyone know.”
At this moment, President Cui of the Array Association, who was usually taciturn, spoke up. “Since you've joined the Refinement Association, why not join the Array Association as well?”
Everyone could not help looking at one another in surprise.
If the fact that Shi Yu knew artifact refining in addition to alchemy was something they could gradually accept after nearly two years of rumors fermenting, how did the Array Association suddenly pop up now?
Even the highly respected elders of the Array Association present were unaware of this, all looking at their president in astonishment.
President Cui was truly a man of few words and insensitive to social niceties. Having no intention to explain, he simply raised his head and looked at President Song.
President Song naturally knew that Shi Yu had studied all four auxiliary arts—artifact refining, alchemy, array formations, and talismans—and now felt a headache brewing.
It was improper to reject President Cui abruptly, as it would inevitably seem like favoring one over the other. Besides, he had only just agreed to offer the Xuexiao Spirit Node... But if they publicly gave Shi Yu yet another identity as an array master, it would be far too shocking to the world.
After reflecting for a moment, he said slowly, “Adding so many titles to Little Yu is not necessarily good for her; a tree that stands out in the forest easily catches the wind.” Though she was already standing out enough as it was.
“I suggest we quietly add her to the association's roster and issue her an identity jade token to prove her status, but keep it from being publicized,” President Song proposed a compromise. “We can wait until Little Yu achieves the Golden Core Realm and has sufficient power to protect herself before announcing it. What do you think?”
President Cui's original desire was simply that Shi Yu should not waste her natural talent in the Dao of Formations, and that he could have a legitimate capacity to urge and guide her in her array studies. He readily accepted President Song's proposal.
Having reached a consensus, facing the unabated confusion of the crowd, President Cui briefly mentioned that Shi Yu possessed quite a solid foundation in formations.
Having spent a long time together, everyone naturally understood President Cui's temperament. For him to actively recruit someone and describe her work as “quite solid,” it meant her skills were undoubtedly extraordinary.
They could not help looking at Shi Yu with complex emotions.
Shi Yu was half-full from the pastries and was sipping spiritual tea to cleanse her palate. Feeling everyone's scrutinizing gazes, she concealed her face behind her cup as mist rose from the warm tea, obscuring her expression.
The president of the Talisman Master Association could not help shaking his head, speaking with considerable envy. “Wonderful! Such a young talent with accomplishments in artifacts, alchemy, and formations, yet skipping right over my Dao of Talismans. It is truly...”
He was merely venting a passing complaint, but out of the corner of his eye, he caught the awkward expressions on President Song and Master Ji. His voice paused abruptly, his expression turning extraordinarily vivid as he probed, “Could it be... this girl is also talented in the Dao of Talismans?”
President Song and Master Ji had known since their interaction with Jiang Qihe that Shi Yu was a skilled talisman maker. Realizing their slip-up in failing to control their expressions, they tried to laugh it off and brush the question aside.
However, the president of the Talisman Master Association grew animated, adopting an attitude of refusing to drop it until he got to the bottom of things, badgering them excitedly with question after question.
“You can't favor one over the others! Leaving out my Talisman Master Association among the four associations—how does that look? President Song, what do you say?”
“Look, I said the moment I laid eyes on girl Yu that I felt a sense of kinship! Turns out we share this underlying affinity!”
...
In the end, President Song and the others had no choice but to reach an agreement with him: just like with the Array Association, she would join privately without publicizing it. Even within the association, it was not to be spread, keeping the fact that Shi Yu cultivated all four auxiliary disciplines—artifacts, alchemy, formations, and talismans—restricted to only those present.
Only then was a consensus finally reached.
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