"Is this a regular thing, or are there more people here due to the competition," Alex asked.
"There are a little more people here due to the competition, but it's mostly just ," Ma Rong said. She too was a little affected by the festival-like environment but not nearly as much as Alex.
Soon they reached a massive building with floors in the dozens. "Woah, that's a tall building," Alex said. He knew there were taller buildings in real life, but had never seen any personally.
Even the tv station building he had gone to with his cousin wasn't as tall as this.
Ma Rong walked in with Alex behind her. The hotel clerk did nothing when they saw the robes and stayed aside. Even if they dared to, the aura Ma Rong was sending out would scare them away.
"Ah, sect leader, you are here," Second Elder was standing in the hallway with the 18 other disciples and a few more elders nearby.
"You got the room?" Ma Rong asked.
The second Elder shook his head, and said, "They say they need the talisman from the association I gave you."
"Alright," Ma Rong said and walked up to the registration and showed the talisman. The man quickly nodded and gave them a bunch of keys.
"Let's go," Ma Rong said and was about to walk to the stairs when suddenly someone spoke up.
"Oh my, Oh my. If it isn't the sect known for getting second place in the alchemy competitions last year. What a stroke of luck that we could meet them here," someone said.
Ma Rong's face turned a little cold and a general air of hostility appeared in the other elders and disciples too. Only Wan Li and Alex were looking around the place, unknown about what was going on.
"I see you successfully found the way to the hotel, Daoist Xu. It's good to know that all those explosions haven't left you blind," Ma Rong said.
"Hah, why would they blind us?" the person named Xu asked.
"Oh, it's truly a surprise that you weren't deafened either. I'm happy for you, Daoist Xu," Ma Rong said.
The person named Xu was a short, chubby, hawk-faced cultivator wearing orange robes. He was currently seething in anger, and so were the rest of his sect members.
"Ah, you must be late to go make some more explosions. I won't stop you," Ma Rong said and left up the stair. The rest of the elders and disciples did the same as well.
The Daoist Xu remained behind, fuming at the fact that he didn't get the last word in.
Alex walked up to Ma Rong and asked, "Who's that?"
"Xu Beng, sect leader of the Spring Song Sect," Ma Rong said.
"Ah, that sect that makes the explosive pills? Those were annoying to fight against," Alex said.
"Yeah, they are one of the best alchemy sects in the Crimson Empire," Ma Rong said. There was a hint of annoyance in her voice.
"What's their grade? Are they better than us too?" Alex asked.
"They are around the same level as us in terms of Alchemy achievements. But they were created before us so they are already a first-grade sect. Since we are so close to each other in prowess, we have a deep-rooted history of the rivalry."
Ma Rong didn't seem as angry when she talked about this aspect of their relationship.
"Also, they said we were the second-best in last year's exam. Does that mean that we didn't do very well?" He asked.
"We did well. It's just that they did better. However, that won't be the same case this year. This competition, we will surely win," Ma Rong said with an eye full of determination.
"What makes you say that?" Alex asked. 'It's not just because of me right?' he wondered.
"Because this time we have you and Wan Li," Ma Rong said.
"Wan Li? He wasn't there in the last competition?" Alex asked.
"No, he… we made him stay behind to grieve the loss of his parents," Ma Rong said.
Alex didn't expect such reasoning. "His parents died?" he asked.
"Yes. His parents were merchants that left their son at Hong Wu sect ever since he was 10 years old. He's worked his way up to where he is for the last 9 years."
"While he was here, his parents were away on their business. But then, one day during a normal caravan ride, they were targeted by bandits and were killed. We tried to find the bandits, but they got away," Ma Rong said.
Alex remained quiet. 'Why is there so much death and tragedy in this game? Can no one have a normal life here?' he wanted to shout.
Alex turned back to look at Wan Li who was walking up the stairs with Fan Ruogang holding his arm.
"The boy hadn't been with his parents for so long that he didn't know how to feel when he learned the news. Poor boy didn't even know how to grieve. He spent his days doing nothing but preparing for the competition, holed up in his house."
"He didn't listen to any one of us, so when the time came for leaving, I made him stay behind and made sure he took care of his emotions. His grief was too much and it was eating him away inside. He just didn't know it," Ma Rong said.
"Thankfully, after the competition, Fanfan has been there with him, making him do other things aside from just alchemy, trying to take his mind off of his feelings once he was done grieving."
"She has truly been a blessing for him," Ma Rong said.
"I see," Alex said. He couldn't have imagined that the bubbly girl that seemed to want to do nothing but play was actually just trying to help him.
Alex started seeing both of them in a new light. Finally, he stopped looking at them as just Number 1 and Number 3 and instead thought of them as actual human beings with thought.