Next came the spiritual wine and silk. Shen Douke, the envoy from Chu State, tasted the spiritual wine brewed by various countries one by one, inspected the silk and made a decision on the tribute.
Wu Sheng muttered: "Why can't magic weapons and elixirs compete like this?"
Dao Baifeng said: "My Sima once said that magic weapons and elixirs are the bulk of the tributes, and nothing else matters. These two items must be tested on the spot to convince all parties... My Sima also said, This is the request of the Chu people.”
Sure enough, the suspicion in my heart was confirmed. This is because the people of Chu are afraid that the relationship between the four countries is too harmonious, which is just a pain for us corporals.
Huh? It seems that I haven’t been promoted to the rank of scholar yet?
As he was speaking, Bo Gui, the Grand Chief of the Fish Kingdom, announced: "The next competition is an alchemy competition. Alchemists from all over the world are invited to attend!"
Wu Sheng took a deep breath, stepped off the stage, and came to an open space on the south side of the stone platform. Four futons had been set up here, each of them about ten feet apart, lined up facing the stone platform.
Alchemists Kui and Lu were very conscious and went directly to the left and right sides, giving up the two central positions.
After the two alchemists took their seats, they carefully placed the alchemy furnaces in their arms in front of them, each took out a piece of red silk and held it in both hands, and bowed to the kings and ministers of the various countries, as well as Shen Douke, the Chu envoy who was supervising the appointment.
"Corporal of Zuoyinmen of Kui Kingdom and alchemist Mo You, please give me a try on the elixir!"
"Corporal of the Situ Sect of the State of Lu and Master of Alchemy Yue Zhong, please give me a try on the elixir!"
After hearing the reply "Yes" from the king of their country, the two alchemists solemnly tied the red silk ribbon in front of their foreheads, tied their hair in a bun, and arranged their appearance. Their generous heart to die was clearly revealed. Wu Sheng couldn't help but feel sad again. A shudder.
Although I had made up my mind to survive even if I lost, I still couldn't help but be deeply affected by being in the situation, and I felt a little calm.
The alchemist from the Fish Kingdom put down the two-foot-high alchemy furnace with a smile on his face. His behavior was the same as that of the alchemists from Kui and Lu: "Your Majesty from the Fish Kingdom, alchemist Yun Ji, please give me a try on the alchemy."
Sure enough, it was Yun Ji who was appointed as a guest minister by the Yu Kingdom. The guest minister was a high official in the Qing Dynasty and was already among the officials. Mr. Yu folded his palms in front of his forehead and returned the greeting: "Thank you, Mr. Yun!"
Yun Ji nodded, tied up the red silk ribbon, and looked at Wu Sheng with a smile. He occupied the right side of the middle seat, which was the first place, and looked at Wu Sheng with a smile, obviously provocative, but this move did not scratch Wu Sheng's basic point - Wu Sheng didn't care about the ranking, not even a little bit. Without any thought, I took the seat to his left.
"Shen Wu, alchemist of Yong Kingdom, please try the elixir!"
Young Master Qingyu secretly sighed in his heart, the alchemists of the Three Kingdoms were either scholars or officials, but the alchemists of the Yong Kingdom were nothing, how could they compare with others? Alchemist Shen is about to die in service to his country, but he has to live as a countryman. He is truly unworthy of a noble scholar!
It was not him who had the final say in the Yong Kingdom. Wu Sheng had not yet accomplished enough to be promoted, so he could only say nothing. However, he was very solemn in his courtesy, folded his hands in front of his forehead, and responded with the courtesy of a doctor. Wu Sheng: "You have Alchemist Laoshen."
Wu Sheng took out the alchemy furnace he was using, which was the one he had captured from the Longquan Sect. He originally wanted to use an ordinary alchemy furnace, but the situation seemed a bit grim just now, so he turned around and went to the back to change it out, which made Dao Baifeng surprised for a while: "When did Master Shen bring this alchemy furnace?"
After putting the alchemy furnace away, Wu Sheng pretended to take it out for a moment, then spread his hands, as if he was looking for something but couldn't find it, and smiled apologetically at the three alchemists around him...
Everyone was waiting for his next words, but Dao Baifeng next to him knew that there would be no more words, and his face felt hot.
Wu Sheng, who had nothing to say, looked at Uncle Gui, waiting for the announcement that the competition would begin.
Several alchemists looked at each other, and Yun Ji suddenly smiled, full of sarcasm: "How dare you end up with no determination to die?"
Alchemist Mo You of the Kui Kingdom and Yue Zhong, the alchemist of the Lu Kingdom, couldn't help but touch the silk ribbons on their heads.
Wu Sheng said: "The key to refining alchemy is to keep your mind calm and focused. If your heart is not calm, your Qi will not sink. If your Qi is not sinking, your fire will be impure. If your fire is not pure, your yin and yang will not be adjusted. If your yin and yang are not adjusted, your essence will not be condensed. If it is not condensed, the elixir will not be formed. If you only care about winning or losing, and thinking about life and death, how can you refine a good elixir?"
Yun Ji didn't expect that Wu Sheng would not be ashamed of it but would be proud of it on such a solemn occasion. He would also speak plausibly and confidently. He immediately frowned and said, "Don't you know the rules of the competition?"
Wu Sheng asked: "What are the rules of the competition? Which rule? Which article does it appear in? Is there any application for it?"
Yun Ji sneered: "It is the custom for the Four Nations to compete in an alliance. I heard that Master Shen Alchemy is not a mediocre person. If you don't know, you can ask your young master or the kings of various countries... The envoy of Chu is also here, so you can ask Master Shen Alchemy too!" "
Wu Sheng nodded: "So, Dan Master Yun knows about me?"
Yun Ji said disdainfully: "I don't know where the savages came from. After learning the skills of the three-legged cat, they dared to make elixirs on their own. There were villagers who didn't know the elixirs and were deceived. They bought them at a high price and thought they were good at it." Is this the way? Today I will ask you to show your true form!"
Wu Sheng said: "So you have really heard of me, are you dissatisfied that my elixir is sold more expensive than yours?"
Yun Ji said: "Let's not talk nonsense. If you don't dare to marry someone, just admit defeat honestly, cut off your hands and feet and go down on the platform. Maybe you can save your life, otherwise I will make you die on the platform today!"
Wu Sheng was silent for a moment and sighed: "I originally thought that there were very few people who could do alchemy. The four countries formed an alliance and were originally in-laws. It would be good to keep one person. Why bother? It's a pity that Master Yun has this intention. Determined to die, there is no other way... In this case, your wish will be fulfilled."
As he said that, he looked around: "Everyone, who brought more red silk?"
He walked up to Mo You and said, "Fellow Taoist, please lend me Hong Ling."
Mo You was stunned and said: "I never brought more..."
Wu Sheng reached out and took off the red silk ribbon on his forehead.
Mo You touched his forehead and muttered: "But I don't have it anymore..."
Wu Sheng smiled and said, "Today is a battle between me and Yun Ji. Don't get involved. Just stay useful to Kui country."
As soon as he finished speaking, the other Dan Master Yue Zhong rushed over, took off the red silk scarf on his forehead, and put it into Wu Sheng's hand: "Use Yue's!" He then said with gratitude: "Master Shen is right. Well, the key to refining alchemy is to be calm and undistracted. Yue has been taught, and this single sentence is enough to be regarded as a teacher. Yue feels ashamed! Today I am convinced and don’t dare to leave, so I have to serve the teacher and prepare for it. I wish you a great success, sir!”
This smart guy not only avoided the danger of dying for Dan with his words, but also became a good story when it was spread. He was very chivalrous. Wu Sheng patted Yue Zhong on the shoulder and said politely: "In this case, please serve Dan!"
Wu Sheng sat back on the table, tied both red ribbons on his forehead, and waited for the competition.
Yue Zhong came behind him and sat down to serve him. Mo You over there finally came to his senses, stumbled over and served Wu Sheng on the other side: "You, please serve the elixir for sir."
Dazai Bo Gui said calmly: "This year's tribute, one thousand Wushen Pills, five hundred Jingning Pills and Rhubarb Pills each. Therefore, three furnaces of these pills were opened, and one furnace each was refined for evaluation. According to the results yesterday, The doctor has agreed that the two alchemists will ask to test the spiritual material."
