The lecture was still half an hour away, but the plaza was already packed with people.
The cultivators gathered in small groups, chatting idly. The topic of conversation was, naturally, related to today's main attraction—Miao Kefa.
"If I'd known that mastering a magic skill to perfection could make you a Sect Elder, I would've spent more time practicing magic back in the day."
"Heh, Brother Zhang, you're only in your early thirties. It's not too late to start now."
"Sigh... After a long day of alchemy by the furnace, I'm too exhausted to even speak when I leave the lab. Where would I find the energy...?"
With nothing better to do, Zhao Lin focused his hearing to eavesdrop on the cultivators' conversations. He glanced in the direction of the voices he'd just heard.
Not far ahead stood several cultivators in brown robes with the character for "Alchemy" embroidered on their chests. They were clearly alchemists from the prefecture.
