The Sect Leader System-Chapter 326: Plots, Plans, and Pests

Sun Hua had a much better time watching the tournament matches than she’d expected. Growing up in such a small village, she had obviously never been to a sporting event, but from what she’d heard, she had doubted very much that one would be to her liking.

Large crowds. Sweaty men and women beating each other to a pulp. Violence. None of that seemed appealing to her.

Mother had trained her for such a situation, of course. If the event was important to her boss, she should attend and feign interest. Otherwise, such activities were a waste of time.

Reality turned out much different than expectations. Rather than feeling stifled by the thousands of people surrounding her, Sun Hua had gotten caught up in the excitement and the energy. It was especially fun watching people she knew, like Zi Delan and Huang Yimun and Zhong Yun compete and win.

The actual fighting didn’t appeal to her overly much, but cheering on her sect along with hundreds of her fellows made her feel like part of a team. Considering how isolated she’d previously felt in the village, it was a pleasant change.

And the food was good, too. The variety for offer in the stalls was Senior Sister’s favorite part, and she convinced Sun Hua to try a bite of everything. She’d never realized so many types of food existed!

Overall, the Rising Tide Sect was seventy-three for seventy-three in the first round of the Qi Gathering division of the martial contest that took place over the first few days of the tournament, and she had enjoyed herself much more than she would have believed. By the end of the round, though, she felt bad for the clan most of her sect members had fought. Not all the contests were as one sided as Zi Delan’s but many of them were.

Those poor people!

After the last of the Rising Tide members, Ren Ning, won his match, the contingent all prepared to leave for their compound, ready for the day off before the start of the second round. Sun Hua walked along with Senior Sister, listening to her talk to Senior Brother about the performance of the individual fighters—what they did well, what needed improvement, ideas for new techniques, etc.

A man wearing a blue robe of the Swift Blizzard Sect waved, and for a moment, Sun Hua was quite confused. The person definitely was trying to attract her attention, but why? She didn’t know anyone from that sect.

But he looked familiar.

His name hit her. It was Wu You, the guy she’d sat beside at the logistics meeting.

Sun Hua planned to ignore him as surely nothing good would come from making contact with him. Unfortunately, he caught Senior Sister’s attention as well.

“Junior Sister! Who’s the guy? Have you been holding out on me? And someone from the Swift Blizzard Sect, too! Forbidden love?”

Sun Hua remembered being terrified the first time she’d encountered Yang Xiu. Two months ago, Sun Hua would have been aghast at such comments being directed at her from one of the sect’s designated heirs. After working so closely together for so long, though, she simply rolled her eyes.

“Spill, Junior Sister. Who is he?”

Sun Hua explained that she’d met him at a meeting. “I have no idea why he might want to talk to me. There are no legitimate logistical concerns to discuss. Honestly, I suspect nefarious intent.”

“How nefarious?” Yang Xiu said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Sun Hua rolled her eyes again.

“If you really think he’s trying to draw you into a trap,” Yang Xiu said, her tone turning serious, “you should go talk to him.”

“With respect, Senior Sister, if he’s trying to draw me into a trap, I should stay far, far away. Which is what I plan to do.”

“If the Swift Blizzard Sect is plotting against us, we need to know about it.” All hint of Senior Sister’s playfulness disappeared. “I’ll keep you safe, Junior Sister. Trust me.”

“You want me to go talk to him? Really?”

“It’s for the good of the sect.”

Sun Hua could hardly say no to that. She glanced at the man and then back at Senior Sister. The distance between the two was about a couple hundred feet.

“Ru’er and I will wait right here for you and watch your every step. I can have an arrow on its way in less than a second even with my bow starting in my ring. You’re perfectly safe.”

If there was one thing in the world that Sun Hua didn’t want to do, it was pretend she was some kind of spy. She’d leave that to Zou Tian. But maybe she was being too timid. Every other member of the sect would gladly give their life for the chance of protecting the rest.

Resigned, she trudged toward the man, wondering why he’d picked her for whatever scheme he had planned. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

“Greetings, Esteemed Cultivator,” he said once she drew near.

“Greetings.”

She should have added an honorific of some kind, but she really just wanted to get the ordeal over with. Hopefully, her rudeness would cause him to get to the point quickly. Or give up entirely. Either was fine.

Silence stretched between the two of them. He opened his mouth to speak but didn’t actually end up saying anything.

Good grief. She felt like grabbing his mouth and physically dragging his words from him.

“You wished me to approach you, correct?” she said.

He nodded.

“Why?”

“Apologies, Esteemed Cultivator.” He scratched the back of his neck. “It’s been a long time. I forgot how difficult this is.”

She had no sympathy for him. Scheming and plots should be difficult.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“I’ll just lay it out,” he said. “Will you have a cup of tea with me?”

“Now?”

“Uh… Maybe tomorrow? Say early afternoon?” He named a tea house near the tournament grounds.

Sun Hua really wanted to refuse outright, but Senior Sister would not approve. Besides, Mother would say to accept, too. Who knew when having a contact from another sect might become advantageous. As long as Senior Sister guaranteed Sun Hua’s safety, the correct thing to do was to accept.

She sighed again. “Okay. I’ll see you then.”

“Gratitude, Esteemed Cultivator.”

Whatever.

She turned and stalked back to Senior Sister, who inexplicably was grinning widely.

“What’s got you so amused?” Sun Hua said.

“Somebody’s got a date!”

“What? No. It’s a scheme. A plot.”

“It’s a date.”

“No. It’s not.”

“He asked you to tea,” Yang Xiu said. “That’s a date.”

“He just wants to get secret information from me or to ambush me or something.”

Senior Sister laughed. “Your children will be attractive but nerdy.”

Sun Hua shook her head. So many times in her youth she’d seen friends teasing each other, and some part of her had desperately yearned to have a relationship like that. What, exactly, had she been thinking?

To say that Wan Ai was nervous would have been a massive, massive understatement. If the contest had been closed, viewed by just her and her fellow competitors, things would have been fine. But it wasn’t closed. Instead, it was in a large, open area on the first floor of a gigantic pavilion, and there were stands just like at the arena. And just like at the arena, those stands were packed.

And way too many of those eyes were staring at her.

Feeling very self conscious, she smoothed out her robe. While doing so, her hand encountered something odd—a hard shape inside her pocket. She was almost positive that pocket had been empty when she dressed that morning.

Reaching inside, she found a note, and her heart leapt. She’d been in Sixth Flawless Flowing City for over a month, and she had neither seen nor heard from Zou Tian. If the note was what she thought…

She unfolded it. It was!

Dearest Wan Ai,

It’s been way too long since I’ve been able to enjoy the pleasure of your company. Missing you is, by far, the most difficult part of this mission.

Please know that I’m watching and I love you. Good luck in your contest, though I know you won’t need it.

Yours,

Zou Tian

She nearly cried as she read the short message. The only thing that stopped the tears from flowing was the fact that so many eyes were on her.

As she re-read it for the third time, though, an obvious fact occurred to her. He had slipped the note into her pocket. The pocket inside her robe. Next to her skin.

Her face heated.

After reflecting on what he’d done for a moment, she decided she didn’t mind. In fact, the thought of him being near her like that was … good. One of the biggest things stopping her from discussing marriage with him was her fear of the physical implications.

She’d always thought that the things men and women got up to together sounded awkward and embarrassing. But for some reason, the thought of doing those things with Zou Tian brought a warmth to her instead.

A decision slid into place in her mind. She was ready. As soon as they got back to the village, she’d drag him in front of Master, and they’d be wed.

Wait. No. Not Master. He’d surely want to make a big deal out of the whole thing. Probably put on some kind of huge, mortifying ceremony in front of literally everybody.

The mayor would say a few words in his study, and it would be done. Yes. That would work. She’d drag Zou Tian to the mayor’s house the moment they returned to the village. Just the two of them.

Or … maybe Senior Sister and Senior Brother. Zou Tian would want them there. And Bai Xinyi would be disappointed if she wasn’t there. And a few of the other girls from the Alchemy Pavilion.

Yes. A small group. The mayor’s house. Perfect.

With the embarrassing and awkward parts of marriage not seeming quite so daunting, she could think about other aspects. Like babies.

Her parents had sent her to the village while they and her older siblings stayed on the farm, wanting to protect her, the only daughter, as the danger of spirit beasts grew. News of their loss had been devastating.

Having a baby wasn’t something that she wanted for herself, necessarily, but she remembered her mother speaking all the time about “when you have children of your own.” Little ones would honor their memory.

It was a well known fact that it was quite difficult for cultivators to become pregnant. Qi interfered with those particular natural processes, requiring either a formation or an alchemical solution. Both of those possible remedies, however, were normally quite hit or miss. If she were a member of any other sect, she would have despaired about how unlikely it was she’d ever conceive.

The manuals Master provided, however, held recipes for a couple of pills, which were likely to be more effective than what most alchemists could produce even if they were only meant for Foundation Establishment realm practitioners.

They problably wouldn’t be perfect, but they’d help.

Wan Ai’s plans firmed in her mind. First, marriage, of course. Then maybe a year or two of enjoying wedded bliss. Then, babies. At least two. Maybe three. Four would probably be a bit much. She’d have to see.

With a small smile on her face at the idea of how her mother would have felt about seeing little grandchildren, Wan Ai returned her attention to the contest, which was about to start. She was in a group of ten for the first round, and only the winner would advance.

Soon, a voice sounded a countdown, and she entered a small chamber with a table filled with herbs, a prep station, and a cauldron sitting atop a heating array. Walls laden with formations blocked any sight or sound to either side of her, not allowing her to see her fellow competitors nor they her. Unfortunately, the front of the chamber was open to the audience.

The objective of the contest was simple—prepare ten mortal grade Concentration Enhancement Pills. That wasn’t a type that Wan Ai had made previously, but from her manuals, she was familiar enough with it that she knew the recipe and how to make it. There weren’t, after all, very many standard pills that alchemists could make while still in the Qi Gathering realm, less than two dozen all told.

To pursue Alchemy was to pursue perfection. The more perfect each step in the process was, the better the end result. And Wan Ai had trained hard the last several months, subjectively much longer than that, to attain that perfection.

First, she’d reached the very peak of Qi Gathering, which annoyed her to no end. She was one short step away from advancing to making true pills, not just mortal grade ones. But Senior Sister had impressed upon Wan Ai how important the tournament was.

She had, of course, disagreed, but only internally. There was no sense arguing with Senior Sister. And besides, the girl had been so supportive at the beginning. Wan Ai owed some consideration. Until Zou Tian came along, Yang Xiu was a rock in the fast changing stream the village became after Master appeared.

Committed to her course, Wan Ai had considered the best way to improve her craft while stuck at Qi Gathering. The manuals were heavens sent for that purpose, of course, but she discovered a huge hole in her skill set—perception.

A true Alchemist used all their senses to examine a herb, not just the spiritual sense they gained upon reaching Foundation Establishment. The way a herb looked told an Alchemist something. The way it smelled revealed different information. Taste. Feel. Even the way air passing through stems and leaves sounded gave clues if one knew enough.

Wan Ai’s senses were not that adept, though. She needed a technique. It hadn’t required much effort to convince Master to give her, and all the other members of the pavilion, one specifically tailored to detect minute details that revealed all a herb’s secrets.

Having used a Time dilation room to get that technique to Mastery, Wan Ai felt in her element as she approached the table piled high with herbs. For a moment, she simply stood before the materials, allowing the sights and scents to wash over her.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

Motion. Tiny movements counter to those caused by the circulation of air in the room, though barely perceptible, were present. Yes. Pests. Mites. The herbs were infected.

For a moment, she was concerned about sabotage, but she rejected that suspicion. If the contest were unfair, Master would deal with it. Her job was to simply do her best.

Detecting the pests in the first place was the real challenge. Once she knew they were there, it was a trivial task to determine the exact type. And any Alchemist worth anything knew how to rid the herbs of them without impacting the efficacy of the base material.

Wan Ai found herself lightly humming as she worked.