Rise of the Wang Clan: Starting with a Portable Farm

Chapter 204: Clan Grand Competition

Many shops in Wanxiang City hired rogue alchemists. Zhang Mingxiang had survived this way for years, but ‘surviving’ was the ceiling. With the meager salary these shops offered, buying a Foundation Establishment Pill was a pipe dream.

The shop owners were shrewd. They paid just enough to keep you fed, but never enough to let you rise. It was a golden cage. If you signed a contract, you were locked in for at least a decade of grueling labor—a sweatshop with a prettier name.

There was a way to earn a Tier 2 Alchemist legacy or a Foundation Establishment Pill: sign a lifetime contract. Sell the rest of your life for a single chance at power.

Even that required competition. For every hundred alchemists who applied, maybe two or three were chosen.

Zhang Mingxiang had never been one of the chosen.

He had investigated the Wang family’s Danfu Pavilion. Business was slow, suppressed by rivals, and their inventory was often empty. Logically, they were desperate for alchemists. Yet, for years, they hadn’t hired a single outsider.

But now, someone inside was breaking through to the Golden Core.

This was his signal. The Wang family was rising. He had to be proactive. As soon as the spiritual vortex appeared, Zhang Mingxiang marched to the Danfu Pavilion’s closed doors and sat down to wait.

Wang Guang’an was oblivious to the sensation he had caused. Even if he knew, he couldn’t spare a shred of attention.

Every ounce of his will was focused on the fragile Golden Core spinning in his dantian.

Heaven and Earth Qi surged into his body through the vortex. It was compressed, liquefied, and then fed into the rotating core, adding layer upon layer of solid True Essence.

The Nine-Elixir Golden Liquid acted as a primer, a seed crystal that allowed the liquid energy to solidify. Without it, condensing a solid core from thin air was nearly impossible.

Time lost meaning. For some, the growth phase was quick; for others, it took months. Speed didn’t determine quality—only the stability of the final product mattered.

As the days turned into weeks, the vortex over the Danfu Pavilion stabilized. The initial excitement in the city faded into a watchful calm.

Wang Family Ridge.

While the ancestor battled for his future overseas, the clan back home was buzzing with energy.

Today was the decennial Grand Competition.

And the prizes were legendary: Three Foundation Establishment Pills.

Unlike the annual Minor Competition, which was segmented by cultivation level, the Grand Competition was a free-for-all. A Qi Refining Level 1 novice could fight a Level 9 veteran.

Age restrictions were also relaxed. Even an eighty-year-old elder, whose success rate with the pill would be a dismal 40%, was allowed to compete.

Realistically, anyone over eighty or under Level 6 had no chance. The elderly had declining Blood Qi, and the weak simply couldn’t bridge the power gap. The Wang Clan had geniuses who could punch above their weight class, but jumping three minor realms was unheard of.

Originally, Wang Yanzhao had planned to cancel the competition since Wang Guang’an had taken the clan’s stock of pills overseas. But Wang Hao had produced four pills, claiming he looted them during the Qingyuan Sect war.

Wang Yanzhao was skeptical—Wang Longyou had been there and seen nothing—but he didn’t pry. Wang Longyou was in deep seclusion, and everyone had secrets. He assumed Wang Hao had bought them overseas and kept them hidden.

He couldn’t possibly guess that Wang Hao was mass-producing them in his Farm.

With the pills secured, the Grand Competition proceeded.

Thirty-six clansmen signed up. The youngest was twenty; the oldest was eighty-five.

The clan now boasted 244 cultivators. With forty overseas, eleven guarding the mine, and others stationed at resource points, only about a hundred were on the mountain. Excluding the children born during the recent baby boom, thirty-six competitors was a solid turnout.

The tournament was brutal. Four rounds.

Round 1 cut the field to eighteen. Round 2 left nine victors. The tenth spot was a ‘wildcard’ chosen by the elders from the losers bracket, ensuring that a bad matchup didn’t eliminate a promising talent.

Round 3 whittled them down to five. Another wildcard made it six.

Then came the finals. Three arenas. Three winners. Three pills.

The final six stepped onto the stages.

To Wang Hao’s surprise, the eighty-five-year-old granduncle, Wang Longxing, was among them.

Ranked twenty-fourth in the ‘Long’ generation, the old man had fought with a steady, unshakeable rhythm. Wang Hao watched him closely. There was a grit in Wang Longxing’s eyes, a determination that suggested he hadn’t yet shown his full hand.

Cultivation is about destiny, Wang Hao mused. If this old man can fight his way here against the younger generation, his luck is strong. Why not give him a chance?

Foundation Establishment favored the young, but the mental hurdle—the Divine Sense barrier—favored the experienced.

As Wang Hao predicted, Wang Longxing unleashed his full power in the final match. Facing a Level 9 opponent, he didn’t try to match their explosive speed. He fought defensively, wearing them down with patience and textbook technique. When his opponent overextended, Wang Longxing struck with the speed of a viper, ending the fight in a single move.

He secured the first pill.

The other two winners were Wang Yanji (Yan generation) and Wang Wending (Wen generation).

The winners circle was a mix of generations. Wang Yanzhao (Yan gen) was Wang Hao’s father, but Wang Hao was older than many of his ‘uncles’ in the Yan generation due to the recent population boom. The family tree was getting complicated.

With the three winners decided, the fourth pill was quietly awarded to Wang Wencai.

The young puppeteer had worked himself to the bone. Just before the competition, he had successfully crafted his first Tier 1 High-Grade puppet. His success rate was abysmal, but he had met Wang Hao’s condition.

One from the Long generation. One from Yan. Two from Wen.

The Wang Clan was growing stronger, layer by layer.