Section 27: Blind Date Gathering
Author: Gu Zhenren
2014-06-18
The Blind Date Gathering is a significant annual event for the Yun Family. On this day, most of the Yun family members who are away from home return. Single young men and women meet, interact, and may eventually form couples. For newly admitted Alchemists, marrying a Yun family woman here is a path to gaining the Yun family’s complete trust and truly becoming one with them.
The Main Hall is bustling with the Blind Date Gathering. Chu Yun sits in an inconspicuous corner, drinking tea and watching the proceedings with amusement. The hall is divided into two halves, each with nearly a thousand tables laden with fruits and tea. On the right side of the hall, beautiful young girls are seated. On the left, young men with shining eyes chat excitedly, eager and impatient.
Despite the large number of attendees, the event is not chaotic; most people already have predetermined targets in mind. After all, marriage is a lifelong commitment, and no one takes it lightly. Before the Blind Date Gathering, various directories containing information about the participants were widely sold. These directories were expensive, but all versions were highly sought after, with a booming market. Almost everyone held three or four such directories. Chu Yun sat empty-handed, out of place.
The moment the formal start was announced, there was a clamor as the young men rushed towards the girls. They approached their favored girls, first introducing themselves. Afterward, the girls would often blush and present challenging questions, mostly concerning their views and insights on Pill Refining. Chu Yun didn’t quite understand why Pill Refining was involved in a Blind Date Gathering. It truly showed that the Nine Provinces each had their unique characteristics; in Danzhou, Pill Refining was integrated into every aspect of life.
If a young man answered exceptionally well, the girls would shift from discussing Pill Refining to topics of personal interest, asking about marriage, personality, and similar matters. If love at first sight occurred, they would immediately exchange their Dan Xin as a token of their affection. Whenever this happened, the entire hall would erupt in cheers, and the atmosphere would become exceptionally lively.
Chu Yun quietly observed. After a while, some young men began returning from the right side. Some wore disappointed expressions, others smiled. Some were visibly excited, clenching their fists, indicating they felt confident. Most, however, were uneasy, wondering if their performance had impressed the desired maiden.
“Brother Cai Bo, you seem pleased. Is it almost a done deal?”
“I’d say so. I answered a few questions about Pill Refining fluently. Haha, how about you?”
“Ah, mine is uncertain. She only asked a few polite questions about Pill Refining, and then I left.”
“Who can truly understand a girl’s heart? Many stories end with unexpected turns.”
“That’s true…”
“…Did you get rejected? Heh heh…”
“Weren’t you the same? Alas, she’s a princess from the Yun Family, Yun Baishen’s own sister. She wouldn’t possibly look favorably upon someone like us.”
“Even though I expected as much, if I didn’t at least try, I’d regret it for the rest of my life.”
“Heh, that’s true.”
…Conversations, spoken in twos and threes, reached Chu Yun’s ears. The young men talked most about Yun Xiaoai, Yun Baishen’s sister. Her status was exceptional, and while her talent in Pill Refining was inferior to her brother’s, it was still considerable. Although her figure hadn’t fully developed, discerning eyes could see her burgeoning beauty; she was undoubtedly a future beauty. Anyone who married her could potentially save themselves decades of struggle. Thus, even though Yun Xiaoai was attending the Blind Date Gathering for the first time, she was undoubtedly the most scrutinized young woman present.
“Wow, love at first sight! They exchanged Dan Xin!”
After some time, a sudden uproar erupted from the noisy hall. The atmosphere became instantly more fervent. Chu Yun followed everyone’s gaze and saw a young couple each spitting out their Dan Xin, holding it in their hands, and giving it to the other. The recipient took it and swallowed it to nurture within themselves. In Danzhou, exchanging Dan Xin signifies an engagement. The exchanged Dan Xin is returned to the other person during the wedding night. Because the Dan Xin has been nurtured within the other person’s body for a period, it carries their essence, allowing the couple to cooperate in alchemy in the future.
Exchanging Dan Xin is not common during a Blind Date Gathering, but each instance elevates the event to a new climax. This time was no exception. The voices in the hall became several times louder than before. Some offered passionate applause, while others cast encouraging and blessed glances at the young couple.
As the excitement gradually subsided, the young men and women became even more motivated. Some previously hesitant glances, emboldened by this, became more passionate and direct. Many young girls boldly cast glances at Chu Yun from afar. Chu Yun’s reputation as a Pill Refining genius in the Yun Family had already spread. He was known as the biggest dark horse and genius of this year’s Hundred Families Pill Convention. Yun Baishen, recognizing his talent, recruited Chu Yun into the Yun Family out of mutual admiration between fellow geniuses. Chu Yun, only nineteen years old, had already reached the Jun level in cultivation. Shortly after joining the Yun Family, he was specially promoted to the research institute. If Yun Xiaoai was the most popular among the young girls, then Chu Yun was the cream of the crop among the young men.
Even though he sat in a corner, his presence made that unassuming spot the most frequently observed place by the young girls’ gazes. Some girls even secretly grew anxious, wondering why this Young Master Wuming hadn’t made a move yet.
Things had changed. After Chu Yun joined the research institute, his status greatly increased. His demonstrated outstanding talent granted him many privileges. Previously, he had to marry a Yun family girl to gain the trust of the Yun Family’s high-ranking members to fully join them. But now, he could leverage his reputation as a genius to postpone this traditional practice of the Blind Date Gathering as much as possible. Of course, this postponement had to be subtle. He couldn’t just skip the Blind Date Gathering entirely; he had to make an appearance. Otherwise, people would think he was arrogant and looked down on the Yun family women, which would offend them.
Chu Yun didn’t care about offending these people. What he cared about was how their perceptions might affect his plans. He needed to blend in with his surroundings and keep the Yun Family as relaxed as possible. Therefore, Chu Yun had decided before coming that he would simply go through the motions. After observing for a while longer and experiencing the local customs, Chu Yun gradually lost interest in the Blind Date Gathering. While he appeared to be sitting upright, quietly sipping his tea, most of his attention was already focused on his Immortal Pouch World.
The migration of the Frenzied Saber Willowing Willows had been very effective. Initially, he had only acquired a few hundred trees as an experiment. After testing them, Chu Yun found these Frenzied Saber Willowing Willows to be incredibly powerful and decisively chose to cultivate and expand them. Now, his Immortal Pouch World housed nearly ten thousand Frenzied Saber Willowing Willows. These Demonic Plants formed a sparse willow forest, occupying a corner of the Immortal Pouch World’s periphery. Their defensive line could withstand thirty consecutive waves of Black Gold Beetles. However, after thirty waves, the battle-scarred Frenzied Saber Willowing Willows began to falter. Moreover, each time the Divine-Demonic Gate was opened for a period, in addition to the Black Gold Beetles, a new type of chaotic Demonic Creature would appear—the Steel Claw Mantis. These Demonic Beasts were more than twice the size of Black Gold Beetles, with a pair of large, crab-like pincers on their long forelimbs. They were fast and were considered assault-type Demonic Beasts. The Frenzied Saber Willowing Willows struggled to deal with these creatures, with limited success.
These circumstances forced Chu Yun to consider migrating a second type of Demonic Plant. He had initially considered migrating a batch of Terrified Scythe Grass, which he already had in storage from the Endless Forest in Xingzhou, saving him the trouble of acquiring more. It was also a close-combat slashing type, meant to complement the Frenzied Saber Willowing Willows. However, after experimentation, Chu Yun found its effectiveness to be extremely poor. Terrified Scythe Grass needed its prey to be terrified to unleash its full attack power. Chaotic Demonic Creatures, however, had unpredictable and extremely chaotic emotions. Sometimes, Black Gold Beetles would charge into the Terrified Scythe Grass patch and retreat unharmed.
Chu Yun had to abandon this idea and, after considering and testing other options, finally set his sights on the Five Elements Tree Mushrooms. Tree mushrooms are fungi that grow on trees. The term “Five Elements Tree Mushrooms” is a general classification representing Fire Element Tree Mushrooms, Water Element Tree Mushrooms, Gold Element Tree Mushrooms, Wood Element Tree Mushrooms, and Earth Element Tree Mushrooms. Planting these tree mushrooms on the Frenzied Saber Willowing Willows would allow each willow branch’s strike to be imbued with the burning heat of fire, the chilling frost of water, or the sharpness of gold blades. It could also grant the willow trees earth-like defense, enhance their recovery rate, or infuse them with vibrant life force. Given the foundation of the Frenzied Saber Willowing Willows, the migrated tree mushrooms would likely survive more easily. The next step was to decide which type of tree mushroom to migrate.
The experimental results were slightly surprising to Chu Yun. It turned out that the Water Element Frost Tree Mushrooms were the most effective in combat, not the Fire or Gold Element Tree Mushrooms. Under the effect of frost, the Black Gold Beetles and Steel Claw Mantises had their speed significantly reduced, giving the willow branches ample time to exert their full attacking power. “Then let’s transplant the Frost Tree Mushrooms on a large scale.” Practice makes perfect; seeing this result, Chu Yun made a wise decision.
At that moment, a wave of sound suddenly rose from the surroundings. Many exclamations reached Chu Yun’s ears. Chu Yun subconsciously looked up, wondering if someone else had exchanged Dan Xin. No one had exchanged Dan Xin; instead, under everyone’s watchful gaze, Yun Xiaoai, with a sly smile, was walking towards him.
“Hey, daydreaming? What are you thinking about?” Yun Xiaoai walked boldly up to Chu Yun’s table, pulled over a cushion, and sat down opposite him, separated by the table.
(To be continued)
