The next day, at the Spirit Food Hall.
Chen Jinshu had gone out specifically to investigate the outcome of yesterday's Heart Inquiry.
What she learned surprised her.
Despite all participating disciples being questioned, they couldn't pinpoint the one who had poisoned the others. The whole thing was deeply suspicious.
"Could it be that the culprit wasn't from Medicine King Peak at all? Or perhaps someone had paid an outsider to do it?"
If someone had hired a poisoner, they should've been filtered out by the Heart Inquiry.
It could only mean the process still had room for improvement—or that the person behind it had anticipated the sect's methods and took countermeasures in advance.
"Hmph! I'm certain this has something to do with people from Medicine King Peak," said Senior Sister Dai, sitting across from Chen Jinshu.
"Why do you say that?"
"No other peak would go out of their way to poison someone at Medicine King Peak. If they were caught, they'd be expelled from the sect, no questions asked."
"You don't understand how serious the impact of the poisoning is. The Peak Lord was furious, even threatened to cripple the culprit's cultivation and expel them. The other elders were reprimanded heavily as well."
"My master has been worrying over this constantly. Who would've thought the Heart Inquiry would fail to detect such a dangerous rat?"
"People change. Sometimes all it takes is a single incident to turn someone," Chen Jinshu replied casually.
"Are you confident about the tournament?" Dai Yuzhu asked.
"My chances may not be great, but I'll do my best."
"That's good. Back when I was in the Foundation Establishment stage, the best I ever did was fifteenth. Don't push yourself too hard."
"Got it. Thank you, Senior Sister!"
Back at Ink Plum Courtyard, Chen Jinshu calmed her heart and began preparing intensively in the final days before the tournament. There were now less than five days left until the Medicine King Peak Alchemy Tournament—time was tight.
Although she had improved her ability to refine various mid-grade pills to a solid intermediate quality, the competition was fierce and pressure immense.
Medicine King Peak handled the aftermath of the poisoning fairly. The victims received appropriate compensation, especially in the form of increased monthly stipends. More importantly, their recovery and healing would be fully covered.
Of course, the competition standards wouldn't be lowered just because some participants were poisoned. That wouldn't be fair to the rest of the contestants.
Three days passed quickly.
Chen Jinshu spent her time either refining pills in the alchemy chamber, playing the zither in her courtyard, cultivating, or tending to her spiritual fields—her schedule was packed.
Her biggest improvement was that her mid-grade pills had started reaching high-quality levels. If she maintained this, she'd have a real shot at making the top twenty. She also learned more tournament details from Senior Sister Dai. The competition would be held in the Medicine King Hall.
But it wouldn't look the same as usual.
The Peak Lord would activate spatial formations in the hall, expanding its capacity so that hundreds of disciples could refine pills simultaneously. All elders would release their spiritual senses from the edges of the hall, observing the disciples. Any sign of cheating would result in immediate expulsion and a permanent ban from future participation.
Disciples' storage bags and beast pouches would be sealed with prohibitions, making them nearly impossible to open. Medicine King Peak had a long history, and thus a large number of elders—each would be responsible for around fifty disciples.
Which elder you ended up assigned to was left to fate.
But as long as one focused on pill refinement, the elders wouldn't make things difficult on purpose. She also heard the poisoned disciples were mostly recovered, but whether they could pass the trials was still unknown. In a way, this whole incident gave her an opportunity. After all, those disciples weren't in top condition anymore.
Frost Pool Medicine Garden.
Chen Jinshu had just finished watering the three acres of spiritual fields. Most of the herbs were close to maturity, so they only needed one final watering. She walked to a spirit vine and began checking the recovery of its rotting roots. It was much better than when she first saw it.
At first glance, she had been shocked. That a plant with such severely decayed roots was still alive—it had an incredible will to live. She also inspected the soil around it. It was a bit harder than the rest of the field but held much richer nutrients.
Whoever cultivated this medicine field had done so perfectly—just enough for the strange vine to settle into a corner, almost blending into the ridges.
"With my current cultivation, transplanting it is still too difficult."
The few remaining roots were barely sustaining its life. She had enough confidence to dig it out safely, but she wouldn't risk harming it for the sake of moving it. She wasn't the kind to prioritize the trivial and lose the essential.
"You'll have to stay here for now. Maybe once I reach a later cultivation stage, I can try again."
As she spoke, the vine gave a little nod. She smiled and applied medicine paste to its surface once more. The spirit herb meant to restore decayed roots was still just a sapling—it wouldn't mature until August or September.
Afterward, she made her way to Green Pine Medicine Garden. Currently, it was planted with top-grade Tier-1 herbs, meant for future high-grade pill refinement. They would also fetch a higher price at the market.
Soon, the day of the Alchemy Tournament arrived.
After waking, Chen Jinshu took a deep breath and carefully prepared herself, even putting on the delicate hairpin her mother had gifted her. Just as she stepped outside, her Shadowpeak Finch circled her excitedly as if sensing something.
"I'm going to the competition. You behave and stay here. You don't have the white light anymore—it's safe for you to go out now."
The bird protested with a series of urgent chirps, clearly insisting on coming along.
After a few moments of thought, Chen Jinshu nodded. The Shadowpeak Finch had recently become a little luckier. Bringing it along might just improve her fortune. She truly hoped to win a Cave Heaven slot in this tournament. That way, she wouldn't have to risk everything in the outer sect grand competition.
"Fine. But you'll have to stay inside the beast pouch once we're there."
The bird chirped happily and looked at her with great anticipation. She placed it into the beast pouch and quickly set out for Medicine King Hall.
Along the way, she passed many other disciples participating in the tournament, their faces filled with a mix of excitement and nerves. Before long, Chen Jinshu arrived at the front of Medicine King Hall.
The sight stunned her—today, the hall shone brilliantly atop the mountain, bathed in golden light like a divine palace. Even disciples from nearby peaks would surely take notice. Inside, it looked nothing like when she had previously attended lectures. Rows upon rows of alchemy furnaces stretched endlessly into the distance, the sight staggering.
Each furnace was spaced about two zhang apart (around 6.6 meters), with a special golden barrier encasing each one.
"Participants, draw your number tokens, register, and proceed to your assigned furnace to begin the competition!"
Upon hearing this, Chen Jinshu immediately understood the process—it was just like when she took her certification to become an official alchemist.