Ma Rong was a little surprised at the sudden request.
"But tomorrow is the last day of alchemy competitions. If you don't take part tomorrow, you won't get to take part at all," Ma Rong said.
"That's the thing master. There are other competitions on Friday too right? Aside from the battle ones of course," Alex asked.
"Hmm… yes there is but… you can't be thinking of taking part in those right? First of all, we don't even know what competitions there will be, and second of all, your cultivation base is still quite low. You are still only at the 5th realm of the Organ Tempering realm. That is not enough to be able to do anything," Ma Rong said.
"How about I just wait for a suitable competition. If there is one on Friday, I will take part in it, if not, I won't," Alex said.
Ma Rong was about to refuse when suddenly someone else spoke.
"Sect leader, can I not join in tomorrow's competition as well?" surprisingly, the person who spoke just now was Wan Li.
The other sect members had been listening to the Master-Disciple talk and hadn't said anything, so they were quite surprised when they saw Wan Li speak up.
"Why do you not want to take part in tomorrow's competition? Don't you want to earn points for the sect?" Ma Rong asked.
"I do, but you know me, Sect leader. I am very bad at learning anything quickly, so I will need a lot of practice tomorrow if I want to get a decent rank. I doubt that will be possible with how quick they will want us to be. Besides, while Brother Yu might not have the cultivation for fighting, I do. I can take part in the fighting competitions, right?" Wan Li said.
Ma Rong fell into contemplation. Wan Li was correct. His cultivation base was quite high. Even she was surprised when she saw his cultivation base last time during registration.
"Please master. I want to take part in a competition other than alchemy. I feel like it is a waste if I spend half my time in the tiger sect and still don't take part in a non-production competition," Alex said.
"Sigh, okay okay. You kids win. I will let you take part in those competitions. But only if it is suitable for you," Ma Rong said as she gave up on refusing any further.
She didn't want to deny the disciples what they wanted just for the sake of the sect.
"Sigh, what about you two girls? You have any such aspirations too?" Ma Rong asked Fan Ruogang and Zhou Mei.
"Haha, No way sect leader. I'm too weak to want to do anything. I'm fine with tomorrow's competition," Fan Ruogang said in her usual cheery self.
"I am looking forward to tomorrow's competition actually. I feel like I haven't done very well in this competition," Zhou Mei said.
"What? You've done pretty well MeiMei. Don't be down on yourself. Hehe, maybe with WanWan and Mingming not taking part in tomorrow's competition, you will be the best? Oh, of course, that's if that Huang Fu guy doesn't join. Tsk, Now I feel anxious thinking about tomorrow," Fan Ruogang said.
"Alright. We will talk about this more during tonight's meeting. For now, just enjoy the competition," Ma Rong said. So everyone focused back on the competition.
The contestants in front of them were having a Talisman competition. According to the rules of the competition, it was to check who could make the best talisman.
Everyone was given an hour to make the best talisman they could, and the competition was coming to a close. They had to create their own ink before making the runes for the talisman so it took them quite a lot of time to make the talisman.
So, compared to alchemy, they didn't have enough time to create multiple ones and had to stick with a single one.
One tested the talisman was not by its effects or usage, but by the stability of the runes and the accuracy of the ink. Any slight inconsistencies in the ink mixture or irregularity in the talisman runes affected the output of the talisman.
Have the problems be big and you end up with a talisman that is not usable as all.
There were formations to check the inks and runes, just like pill testers. So, one by one, the contestants put their talismans face down on the talisman tester that was just a flat metal surface with a rectangular indent on it.
The talisman tester checked both the ink and the runes, and the balance between them. The higher the balance, the better the talisman.
Slowly, the results started coming in one by one. It didn't take long to realize who the winners were for the talisman competition.
As expected from the sects focused on talismans, like the Grand Void sect and the Little Dawn sect, they took first and second place respectively.
As for the third place, those were taken by none other than the Royal Fu Academy. No matter what the competition was, they were always there to take part in and most of the time ended up in the top 3.
Finally, there were no more competitions for the day, so Ma Rong stood up.
"Let's leave," she said and started walking. All the sect members followed her as well. Along the way, they saw the Spring Song sect standing up to leave as well.
Ma Rong didn't make any snarky remarks at all. However, she did simply just smile at them as she left. The fatty started fuming in the ears, but couldn't do anything since he had undoubtedly lost today's competition.
Ma Rong felt a sort of relief at what had just happened. The shame from losing last year was finally cleared in her mind.
Once again, everyone was allowed to do whatever they wanted, while the rest of them returned back to the hotel to rest.