Two youngsters who knew how to hide their strength.
During martial arts competitions, they wouldn’t use all their power; instead, they would first put on a show and then find an unseen place for a real battle.
As for how the prizes were distributed, he had no idea.
Of course, even in secret matches, Liu Jian’an was no match for Jiang Yuan and would lose even faster.
This time was no exception.
“I’m about to break through to Second Grade Martial Artist; next time, I probably won’t fight alongside you.”
Jiang Yuan, at 11, becoming a Second Grade Martial Artist was indeed astonishing.
“Second Grade Martial Artist?”
Liu Jian’an felt he and still had some way to go; breaking through to Second Grade would do, but for him and Jiang Yuan, they wouldn’t break through without perfecting their current realm.
“I estimate it’ll take me some more time, but I’ll catch up with you soon.”
Although Liu Jian’an lost every time, he didn’t give up easily.
He had experienced fleeing before; this failure was nothing by comparison.
“You’re about two years younger than me…”
“One year!” Liu Jian’an stressed.
“Alright, one year then. Being this skilled at one year younger than me…you were much better than I was at the time; you’ll probably surpass me eventually since it gets increasingly difficult to break through later on.”
Many Martial Artists were caught up to by younger ones for this reason.
If one’s talent wasn’t up to par, they might get stuck at a certain threshold for a long time, which is when younger Martial Artists with exceptional talent would take the chance to leap ahead.
Liu Jian’an and Jiang Yuan both understood this.
Liu Jian’an didn’t believe a word Jiang Yuan said.
He wanted to surpass Jiang Yuan, but that was easier said than done.
Jiang Yuan’s talent was by no means weaker than his.
He was well aware of the reasons for reaching this strength at his age.
It wasn’t something just anyone could surpass.
“Let’s hope you really don’t get stuck; otherwise, catching up to you would be no fun at all.”
“Ha ha!”
After sitting for a while and tidying up, they returned to the crowd.
It was as if nothing had happened.
What they didn’t know was that Wang Lingwei came back right after them.
She wore a smile on her face as if she knew some secret.
“Concealing one’s strength, what a great idea!”
Wang Sheng, who had observed the whole process, smiled nonchalantly.
Jiang Yuan really led the two most talented ones astray.
But that was fine; in these times, knowing how to hide wasn’t a bad thing.
As long as they didn’t lose the sharpness of youth.
“The New Year is coming soon; this is our gift.”
“Village Chief, this is a gift from our three families.”
Before parting, the Village Chief and people from the three families each presented their gifts—three from the Village Chief, one from the three families.
These were all pre-prepared items.
“Ha ha ha!”
They exchanged gifts with a smile, looking at each other.
Both parties had collaborated well over these three months, and thinking of the New Year, they had prepared some items.
“See you next year!”
After parting ways, the Village Chief opened the gifts.
The items prepared by the three families were certainly good, including Martial Artist manuals that could utilize Qi Blood Power, which were very precious.
There were also some Spiritual Medicines suitable for Martial Artists to use.
Overall, the sincerity was there.
The three families did similar actions, opening the gifts after parting.
Each family received a stem of Spiritual Medicine.
This was not a surprise for them; for a Martial Artist, Spiritual Medicine was the best gift.
Then there was an elixir.
A Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pill!
Although it wasn’t much for Wang Sheng, after three months of exchange, the Village Chief understood the rarity of such an item.
A spiritual pill!
Generally, elixirs for Martial Artists were made using one stem of Spiritual Medicine mixed with various common medicinal herbs to extract the full potential of the Spiritual Medicine.
The more types of Spiritual Medicine used in the elixir, the rarer it became.
And to earn the title of spiritual pill, the elixir had to be made entirely of Spiritual Medicines and require a corresponding formula.
Spiritual Medicines were hard to find; the formulas were even more precious since few forces could afford a vast quantity of Spiritual Medicine to study formulas.
Considering all these factors, it was clear how rare a spiritual pill was.
The key was, ordinary elixirs generally had usage limits and would not work beyond a certain realm.
Only spiritual pills were effective even for Grandmasters and Great Grandmasters.
The Village Chief was flabbergasted when he heard the news from the three families; were the items that one could exchange with mission points in the village really so powerful?
He himself had not known.
It was only after speaking with Wang Sheng this time that he used the Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pill as a gift.
If the Village Chief was like this, one could imagine the reaction of the people from the three families.
The words on the piece of paper beside the medicine from the Village Chief made them exclaim in surprise.
“A spiritual pill?!”
They didn’t think the Village Chief would deceive them; such a thing was easy to verify. That’s precisely why they were all so stirred.
The three families were not considered very weak, but neither were they very powerful.
The strongest in their clans were Ninth Grade Martial Artists.
Without a Grandmaster that could live for 200 years as a top Martial Artist, they couldn’t be considered top-notch noble families.
For the Ninth Grade Martial Artists in the three families, most were just a step away from advancing.
Over the years, the families had collected many items to help their strongest members cross this threshold.
Of course, without a bit of fortune, it might be impossible to cross in a lifetime.
And this spiritual pill, apparently, was that bit of fortune.
“Our three patriarchs have already started to decline in Qi-Blood, and some potent medicines are actually not suitable; we need those special items, just not sure if this one will work.”