As dawn faintly tinted the horizon, the city of Jiyang, quiet for a better part of the night, began to stir with subtle **. As time rapidly slipped by, these ** grew larger, until by the time the sky was dimly lit, nearly the entire city had turned into a roiling cauldron of noise and activity.

Throughout the alleys and main streets of Jiyang, figures swarmed everywhere. The cries of early-rising vendors, the clamor of hurried footsteps, shouts of friends calling out, curses, laughter… all rose and fell in ceaseless waves. These countless sounds converged from every direction into torrents, humming and buzzing as they flowed toward the Lingbao Pavilion in the northern part of Jiyang. There, they detonated with a thunderous boom, then spread outward, instantaneously reaching every corner of the city, waking even the sleepiest sloth.

At first light, the area around Lingbao Pavilion was already a dense throng. Besides the ordinary citizens who had specifically come to watch the spectacle, most were Spirit Masters. Every face held a degree of anticipation; the harsh cold of deep winter could not dampen their enthusiasm for this "Thousand Spirit Medicine Assembly."

After all, such a vast and bustling grand gathering occurred only once every five years. In the Great Success Empire, only the Mu family of Luocheng possessed the capability to host the "Thousand Spirit Medicine Assembly" independently. For others, even the imperial family of the Great Success Empire would likely need to collaborate with several other clans.

This was not to say the Mu family of Luocheng was the strongest. Among the Five Great Clans, the Mu family was only slightly stronger than the Nie family, ranking fourth. However, the Mu family managed the Lingbao Pavilion, accumulating spiritual medicines far exceeding those of other families, and furthermore, their number of Spirit Apothecaries led all the noble clans.

The entire Great Success Empire had only one Seventh-Rank Spirit Apothecary, who hailed from the Mu family of Luocheng. Of the two Sixth-Rank Spirit Apothecaries in the Empire, one belonged to the imperial family, and the other was also from the Mu family. As for Fifth-Rank Spirit Apothecaries, there were ten in the Empire, three of whom were from the Mu family.

A family possessing such strength and such a high concentration of high-rank Spirit Apothecaries had undoubtedly drawn the envy of countless others over the centuries; had their foundation been weaker, they likely would have been carved up long ago. Yet, although the Mu family’s overall strength wasn't the greatest, the clan had consistently maintained the presence of a Heaven Spirit Master.

With a Heaven Spirit expert holding the line, the other families of the Great Success Empire, and even neighboring nations, dared not act rashly on their jealousy, content to harbor it internally. Moreover, the current Heaven Spirit expert of the Mu family was also the Empire's sole Seventh-Rank Spirit Apothecary.

Rumor had it that he held a significant chance of ascending to the rank of Medicine King.

The Great Success Empire, founded centuries ago, had never produced a Medicine King. Should he succeed and earn the title bestowed by the "Spirit God Hall," it would bring immeasurable glory to the entire Empire. Because of this prospect, the other noble clans showed even greater fervor than before when the Lingbao Pavilion hosted the "Thousand Spirit Medicine Assembly."

“Dong!”

As the sun climbed high, a resonant bell pealed. The deafening sound wave soared into the sky, rumbling straight up to the highest heavens, even scattering a few wisps of dark clouds floating above. The noisy crowd fell suddenly silent, then erupted with a roar, as if thousands of pounds of explosives had ignited simultaneously, making the area outside Lingbao Pavilion even more boisterous. The masses, previously clustered densely around the pavilion, began to divide into two streams: one heading toward the large manor on the left side of Lingbao Pavilion, the other toward the right. In a short while, a large contingent of people moved from the right side to the left. Spirit Masters who had personally attended, or whose friends and relatives had attended past "Thousand Spirit Medicine Assemblies," knew that while the medicine sales area on the right would indeed start displaying various spiritual medicines and herbs today, the truly valuable remedies would only appear tomorrow and the day after.

Today’s main event was the opening competition of the "Thousand Spirit Medicine Assembly"—the Medicine Assembly Grand Contest. Initially, this contest was simply meant to encourage the younger generation of Spirit Apothecaries within the family, usually confined to internal competition among the Empire’s Five Great Clans: the Great Success Imperial Family, the Qu family of Lifeng, the Que family of Yego, the Mu family of Luocheng, and the Nie family of Jiyang. After hosting it a few times, they found the number of participants too small, so they introduced five other relatively powerful families. Now, the scale was even larger: any Spirit Apothecary under the age of twenty-five could register, regardless of whether they were from a noble clan, provided they were a citizen of the Empire.

Consequently, the Medicine Assembly Grand Contest now drew a large number of commoner Spirit Apothecaries. While their overall strength might not be exceptional, a few possessed considerable talent, and these budding apothecaries became prime targets for recruitment by the great families. Thus, most of them came here with that ambition.

For this "Thousand Spirit Medicine Assembly," the manor on the left had undergone extensive preparation days prior. Passing through the open main gate revealed a vast open ground capable of holding tens of thousands, and at the northernmost edge of this ground stood a massive, triangular high platform, tiered with ascending steps. These tiers were divided into five distinct levels, with significant height differences between each set of steps. These represented the Five Trials of the Medicine Assembly Grand Contest. All competing Spirit Apothecaries started at the First Trial; passing each one allowed them to advance to the next level of competition on the platform above. Completing all five trials and reaching the summit would earn the most substantial reward, though those placing in the top ten also received prizes, the disparity between them and the top-ranked Spirit Apothecary was enormous.

Below the tiered high platform were rows of long, separated seating areas. Those seated there were the judges for this Grand Contest, as well as the honored guests attending the Thousand Spirit Medicine Assembly. At this moment, as the contest had not yet truly begun, all seats were empty.

“Hush…”

After a moment, dozens of figures emerged from the passage connecting the high platform to Lingbao Pavilion. The vast open ground instantly erupted with a burst of thunderous noise; the murmurs, discussions, and chatter of the crowd converged into a surging torrent, like a broken dam, spreading outward with a sound that echoed for miles. The Spirit Masters attending the "Thousand Spirit Medicine Assembly" came from all corners of the Great Success Empire, and in an instant, they recognized the identities of those leading the procession.

“Look! That is Master Mu Zisi from Lingbao Pavilion!” “Master Tianxin of the Nie family…” “Master Cheng Feiliu! It’s Master Cheng Feiliu from the Imperial Family! I didn't expect the Emperor to send a Fifth-Rank Spirit Apothecary this time. It looks like he will also be a judge for this Grand Contest!” “Tsk, tsk. Though the Imperial Family has sent participants to the Medicine Assembly before, their high-rank Spirit Apothecaries never served as judges for this competition. The influence of this Grand Contest will certainly surpass previous ones.” “Hey, isn’t that Master Qu Tingyun from the Qu family of Lifeng City? Our Great Success Empire’s only female Fifth-Rank Spirit Apothecary!” “I knew it. With the Fifth-Rank Spirit Apothecaries from the Four Great Clans present, there’s no way Master Que Yu from the Que family of Yego City wouldn't show. See, if I’m not mistaken, the one next to Master Tianxin should be Master Que Yu. Hah. I heard this Master had never even left Yego City before!” “Ah, and Master Fu Errong, the Fifth-Rank Spirit Apothecary from the 'Falling Sunset Sect.' Could he also be a judge this time? If so, this is the first time a judge from outside the Five Great Clans has been introduced…” “…”

Amidst the rolling clamor, those figures took their seats before the tiered high platform. Just as the crowd had guessed, Mu Zisi, Lian Tianxin, Cheng Feiliu, Qu Tingyun, Que Yu, and Fu Errong all occupied the very front row. Behind them sat the important figures from various clans and sects. Soon, the seats before the high platform were completely filled. The crowd understood that the Medicine Assembly Grand Contest was about to commence, and the atmosphere on the wide flat ground swelled like a tide.

At this moment, behind the high platform, a completely different scene was unfolding… …