The Fallen Consort

"There are only about 200 ovens and time is pressing. Your test would be to make a small weapon. It could be anything as you wish. We will silently judge your work from here. As soon as your finish, place it on the table and stand beside it. We will wait until everyone is done, before announcing the winners. There is a time limit of 3 hours, but the fastest you are done the better it would be."

After saying his words, Minzhe sat back down. Just then, Xiang He clapped his hands twice and the servants that he brought today started working. At least 200 of them went to put coals inside the ovens and then 300 went to help set up the stoves for the cooks. The guards didn't need anything, as their test were all about their strength. Since the Blacksmiths and the Cooks had to wait, The guards test was up first.

----

Tefei silently stood beside Qianru, both of them was standing in front of the crowd. There was at least a thousand of them. This would certainly take too long to handle, but they were both used to it. They both commanded two armies before. One army consisted at least a million each or more. Back then, Tefei commanded the Spiritual Beasts, while Qianru commanded that humans.

"We will do it this way. Inside the Red Pass Mountain, Your first test will be luck. We had hidden 500 red strings. It is your test bring one here, Only 500 slots can go forward to the next test. You may begin." Qianru held a red string on her hand to let everyone see it.

Everyone nodded and left towards the mountain. What they didn't know that Tefei summoned quite a bunch of Spiritual Beasts. They were all guarding the strings individually, some were even in groups. They thought that it was going to be an easy test, was actually the hardest of all.

Qianru had an evil smirk on her face, seeing everyone headed towards the mountain. This was one of her evil ideas. Soon, sounds of screaming could be heard. The ones who were taking the other tests shivered. They heard what the guards test was, Qianru had to maximize her voice, in order for the people that stood behind could hear her. After all, there were about a thousand of them.

The Blacksmiths and Cooks felt lucky. At least they wouldn't have to trade their life for a spot.

-----

About half an hour later, the servants had filled all the ovens with charcoal and wood. Seeing that it was all prepared. Xiang He stood up and stood in front of the stage. He had been waiting for this moment. Though he wasn't able to judge, he was still there to help.

Though his Master was absent for the last 5 months, there wasn't a day that he stopped improving himself. Before, he could bȧrėly light up a flint. Now, he could conjure fireballs.

With a waved of his two hands, Xiang He finally showed his fire element. The first one in so many many years.

"Haaaa!!!" Xiang He jumped up high and conjured exactly 200 fireballs in the air.

Everyone froze. What the hell???! What kind of sorcery was this? Although they knew how powerful an Emergent Stage was, nobody in record could summon fire. Much less, control them!

One by one, the fireballs flew straight to the ovens. Lighting them up and instantly heating the Oven! It was hot enough that it could certainly melt most metals. Everyone was astounded! They all gulped their saliva. How monsterous was this Sect?! This only shows how great the Blue Rose Sect was.

They couldn't help but look at the top seat again. They all heard how the Sect Master turned the Emperor from a cripple to an Emergent Stage Master. All under a year. Their hearts burned with fire and determination. They all lined up perfectly well to start their test.

Xiang He sat back down and sighed. Although it look simple, it took quite a large amount of energy from him. It wasn't until a couple of days ago, when he finally able to conjure that many fireballs. So far, this was his peak. Yi Ling nodded towards her direct disciples. Knowing that she wasn't wrong in choosing Xiang He as her direct disciple.

----

There were at least 600 of them. If everyone had a 3 hours time limit, they would all finish after 9 hours. By then, the sun would be setting. Working on the dark would be difficult. The Elder said that the faster the weapon is made, the better it was for them. But if the weapon is built that fast, what would be the quality of it? It was indeed a wise test. Not only how fast they could make one, but also making sure that the quality was also on par.

The best option would be to make a concealed knife or a dagger and most of them had the same ideas. How do they make their own weapons to stand out though? This was a question too. Some of them looked at the ones on their right. The cooks had yet to receive their tests.

-----

Linyu and Haoran stood tall in front of more than 400 people. In a short amount of time, the servants that Xiang He brought built at least 200 stoves.

Truth be told, A cultivator didn't need to eat. Cultivators above Nascent stage doesn't feel hunger anymore. Dawning Stage would still feel hunger but not as much. Why they decided to hire cooks was for admonishing Medical Food. This was one of the things that Yi Ling had discovered. Mixing regular food with herbs was normal for most doctors. Foods with rare herbs was considered luxury. If there was people who even dare used the rare spiritual herbs with food, most likely it would be the people from the high-ranked kingdoms.

What Yi Ling wasn't short of was spiritual herbs. Eating one of them could boost someone's strength and other effects. It all depends on the ingredients. But for this test, of course the taste should also be excellent. After all, Cultivators eat them because they love the tastes!

"For this test, you are all going to make some Medical Dishes. In front of you, are a variety of herbs, rare herbs and some spiritual herbs. This would test not only the taste of your dishes but also your knowledge about herbs. You may think that this is unfair, since you all aren't doctors nor alchemist. But herbs can be considered as vegetables.

So to maximize this, you would all have to work in two's. You and your partner would have to present three dishes. One dish each for your specialties and the third one would be a collaboration. Remember though, if you are planning on using the rare and spiritual herbs, you may only grab certain amount of them. The disciples of our Medical Court would be supervising you.

This time, he didn't have to stand up. He only snapped his fingers and flints of fire directly hitted the woods on the stove. Slowly, they started a fire. This time, the people weren't as shock anymore. They slowly clapped their hands and bowed towards the Emperor.

This Sect was indeed so powerful!