Seeking the Tao in the Mortal World

Grain Rain came in a blink of an eye, and the Immortal Palace Tao Conference had officially begun.

When Qin Yi arrived at the mountain peak that was opened as a venue for the tao conference, he deeply understood why this conference often failed.

Several different competition areas were opened up on such a big mountain peak, but there wasn't a single cultivator in the Cloud Riding Stage competition area. The cultivators in the Piano Heart Stage area looked sparse. Only the Phoenix Initiation Stage competition area was more lively.

It was even worse than an ordinary school sports meeting…

Thus, everyone who was supposed to go to the Cloud Riding Stage area ended up having no choice but to go to the Piano Heart Stage area.

There were five powerhouses sitting on the rostrum, and Ju Yunxiu was one of them. She was sitting quietly on the far right, lowering her head and reading a book. Judging from this seat position, they should be the leaders of the four major systems and the Palace Master.

Ju Yunxiu didn’t bother attending before, since her junior was participating, it would be unjustifiable not to attend...

But the Palace Master strangely didn't attend.

Qin Yi felt a sense of dissonance. The Palace Master should attach great importance to this even, but he actually didn't attend.

Forget it, there's nothing to guess about a powerhouse's thoughts.

Sitting on the left side of Ju Yunxiu was a taoist whom Qin Yi had seen before.

It was the one who played chess with the chess fanatic when Qin Yi first entered the mountain. He passed by in a hurry and only saw his side face. Now that he looked at him carefully, he noticed that the person wasn't an old man. He just had silver hair and a young face.

Or in other words, a white-haired young man.

It was understandable that people who were on an equal level with Ju Yunxiu should not be old achievers. He must have already condensed his golden pellet when he was young, so his appearance had not changed.

In fact, he was already over a thousand years old, and was probably much older than Ju Yunxiu. His white hair may not be due to aging, but more likely due to his tao.

Because he was the sect master, Tian Jizi, of the medical, divination, scheming, and planning sect.

He hadn't met the other two sect masters. One was a dirty craftsman who was fiddling with something in his hands and the other was an alcoholic who was still drinking with a big gourd.

In contrast, the way Ju Yunxiu read quietly was more pleasing to the eye. If Qin Yi was given the choice ten thousand times, he would still choose to join Ju Yunxiu.

Having said that, although the conference looked dead, that was because the place was too big. In absolute terms, the number of people was not small, because there were still many fellow students from Phoenix Initiation Stage who came to watch the competition and witness their own ways.

In the stands on all sides, people from the four systems were sitting together. The other systems still had a decent number of supporter, except a stand on the east side. There was only a little girl sitting alone on it. When Qin Yi looked over, she waved and shouted, "Master's Junior is the best!"

This was the first 'sect competition' that Qin Yi participated in in this life, and Qing Cha was the only cheerleader.

An elder on the sidelines rang the gong and said loudly, "The five-thousand-year tradition of the Immortal Palace, the Grain Rain Tao Conference is about to begin. It's still the old rules. Both sides can discuss the content of the competition. It can be a martial arts exchange, and it can also to prove different ways. But to be clear, no matter what form of competition, there must be a commonality competition. It is meaningless to challenge the way of medicine to challenge the way of chess in alchemy. Such competitions will not be approved.”

For example, was soul painting or puppet making useful? This was one of the links in proving a tao. In fact, in Qin Yi's view, these all belong to the category of 'spells', not tao. Since it was a competition, competing with 'spells' was more intuitive as 'tao' couldn't be concluded clearly.

Of course, in Qin Yi's eyes, the most intuitive option was the battle. Winning meant one's tao was better, that's all.

But the people of the Myriad Tao Immortal Palace didn't think so...

Qin Yi stared dumbfoundedly as Xi Xiangzi, his acquaintance, stood in the arena and said to a fat man next to him, "Junior, we drew in the previous tao conference. How about another match?"

The fat man walked onto the arena with a smile. "I'm just waiting for it."

As he spoke, he turned his fat hand and took out a drawer of steaming buns. "Senior, would you like to try these fresh steamed buns?"

Xi Xiangzi also took out a pill with a faint immortal aura and said, "Junior, please take it."

So the fat man ate the pills, and Xi Xiangzi ate the steamed buns. After a while, both of them fell to the ground limply.

The fat man's eyes were a little blurred. "Senior, why is your ecstasy pill so strange..."

Xi Xiangzi was also sweating profusely. "What are these buns?"

"This is called a stuffed bun. It's full of indigestible flatulence. If you want to refine the corresponding elixir to cure it, I'm afraid it'll be too late." The fat man patted his red cheeks, "Only my hungry bun can relieve it instantly... "

Qin Yi was so amused that he almost shed tears.

In the end, Xi Xiangzi couldn't relieve the effect of the stuffed buns, and the fat man's 'diet therapy' couldn't relieve the ecstasy elixir. The elder on the sidelines announced the results, "Draw."

Qin Yi was raking his head on the 'player bench'. With this style of competition, if you two compete against each other for a thousand years, the result will still be a draw!

This competition style is really far different from what I imagined. Can my piano, chess, calligraphy and painting skills be able to cope with it...

Turning to look at Ju Yunxiu, she almost fell asleep leaning on her seat.

The fat man wandered off the stage and sat down next to Qin Yi, muttering, "Xi Xiangzi has grown a lot. Even his ecstasy elixir can affect my mind..."

Qin Yi's heart moved slightly, and he asked with a smile, "May I know your name, Senior?"

"My surname is Jin, and I specialize in pastries."

"Senior Jin, didn't Xi Xiangzi use this method before?"

The fat man turned to look at him, shook his head, and said, "He did, but not to this level. Physical desire stimulation and mental stimulation are two different things. It is unusual for elixir to affect the mental level. Either his cultivation level has improved by leaps and bounds or he has developed a new recipe. It’s my mistake to look at him in the same old light.”

Qin Yi squinted.

He also understood that the medical sect of Xi Xiangzi didn't have the medical concept of saving others, but an obsession with refining elixirs, which was closer to the type of alchemist. Since he had been associated with 'scheming', 'divination', and 'planning' for a long time, it was normal to refine such elixirs with negative afflictions.

He didn't take it seriously at first. After all, he had been refining soul elixirs for a long time. But when the fat man mentioned it, he realized that this elixir was not meant to destroy the nerve hub, but to directly affect the soul. Everything that affected the soul was of a high level, and he might not be able to relieve it. If he were to rematch Xi Xiangzi again, he must pay attention to this.

The fat man then said, "Were you the one who recruited all the children with the fat sheep?"

Qin Yi said in a low voice, "That should be credited to Senior Ju."

"Your ideas are great!" The fat man patted him on the shoulder. "I like that fat sheep, and that silly girl in blue is so cute!"

Qin Yi stood half a foot away and looked at him. "Does Senior only make steamed buns? What about drinks?"

"I make them too. Do you have any good ideas?"

"Hmm... I think there is a drink that suits you very well. It's black, sweet, refreshing, and bubbling..."

"Is there such a good drink?" The fat man was very interested. "I'll try to develop it another day... What is this drink called?"

Qin Yi said. "Well, it's called cola-coca. It suits Senior very well."

"Since you have so many ideas, come and learn how to cook with me some other time..."

At this time, a middle-aged man said, "Junior Qin, I represent the craftsmanship of the eccentric skills to challenge the soul of calligraphy and painting."

TL: What will they compete on?