competition preparation I

"Shixuan, Qianyu, we will be doing the competition soon! I want it to be held in at most five days! Both of you think of how the competition will be going, just make it about smithing, but don't make anything that would take too long, or anything that would be too bothersome. Just test them on their mindset or something, that's always working. Also, tell the steward to go to the town chief and invite him when you finished your stuff. 

Just plan everything, I will go into seclusion for five days and plan out my things, you guys just make sure that everything is smooth, so I don't have to meddle in. Take it as a test, I trust you guys because you are my little brothers since we were born, so don't disappoint me! 

Also, if Rong Xi refuses because I am not present, just give him the tea and tell him that it's my gesture of peace to him, he'll understand" With that, Ji Li went onto his bed and started mediating. 

Monkey and Stone smiled a bit awkwardly, as their brother really liked giving people bad food, but they just accepted it as part of his weird personality. They went out and then into their rooms separately to make plans and present them to each other and see how the competition would be held. They for sure didn't want to disappoint their big brother!

…

The next day Shixuan and Qianyu met in the garden and presented their ideas, they talked for about an hour before they found what they really wanted. They already know by now that the competition won't be to recruit them but showcase the generosity of the eunuch palace.

They prepared for the recruitment that their big brother panned later on, so now they had to make sure that the whole town is in awe and revere the eunuchs. The problem was that they didn't have a lot time. Barely five days to prepare, and one was already over. In the end they decided that the competition had three parts separately that would show the ability of the individuals that participated. They didn't want to make it a workshop-based competition as there are already the five prevailing ones, and in the end it's also more precise to compare the individual, as they would also show their potential for all to see.

So this competition wasn't just for the eunuch palace, but it also helped the town to find the hidden gems among them and recruit them into their ranks, basically fattening the pig before it is brought to the slaughterer. It wouldn't hurt to provide help and make a positive image for when they would recruit the whole town. It also had to be a spectacle, so these three stages can't be too grand as there are too many participants. In the end, the winners of each stage would be three and they would compete against each other in the fourth stage.

Of course, there was one universal rule: all participants had to be below the age of thirty. That gave a chance to talented non-dwarfs to also win the competition, as dwarfs age much slower than humans do. Still, as it was a town of dwarfs, it was unlikely that such a thing would happen. At most there would be one winner that is not a dwarf.

Stone and Monkey discussed for another hour after they planned the competition prematurely. They then went to the steward and told them to invite Rong Xi. There was a slight feeling of guilt, as they were really disturbing the town chief, a role above theirs, for the third time in such a short time span. One could only pity him, but they also knew that he would benefit from the recruitment the most, so it didn't take long before they forgot any kind of guilt.

…

When Rong Xi received the latter, once again during a meeting, he was more than anxious but still followed suit. By now the other dwarfs also knew the temperament of the eunuchs and also understood that they didn't come with bad intentions, but they also weren't ones they could challenge. Afterall, out of the five elders, only two were middle stage Essence Awakening cultivators, while the rest was low. Only the town chief was at peak level, but he still didn't awaken his talent. In comparison, the enemy group consisted of four Essence Awakeners, one middle and three low, but one of them had already refined their talent!

Additionally, to that, the other side could totally just summon a few more Essence Awakeners to put them to sleep, so how could they still keep up their anger?

…

When Rong Xi saw the door, he kind of felt bad as he remembered that he had just drunken a certain tea here. He shortly calmed himself then entered the garden and closed the door behind him. The two guards looked at each other and then turned back to statues, totally being ignored but they were astonished how fast their mission captain gained the highest authority.

Inside the room, Rong Xi approached the table they were at previously. When he saw that Ji Li wasn't present, he unconsciously let out a sigh of relief. Although his rank was above that of an Junior Eunuch, he wasn't stupid enough to test out his power, so he still bowed and cupped his hands respectfully as he asked "Esteemed eunuchs, how may I help you? I apologise for my lateness; I rushed here as soon as I received the letter."

Shixuan and Qianyu didn't really care as they expected such behaviour already and went straight to the theme "We will be holding a competition for all smiths inside of the town. Make arrangements for the competition to begin in four days." One of them said.

Rong Xi was shocked 'A competition? What do they mean? Is this the mission? I thought they'd be here to request a few new weapons from us or check upon all our stock? Have I misunderstood… a competition… they already know all the youths, maybe they want to find the talented ones and recruit them? But that's not possible, and they should know that. Eunuch Li wouldn't be so hopeful and naïve to think that we can't keep our clansmen together, and even the free cultivators wouldn't leave this town, as it meant betrayed their benefactors… Well, I will see. But four days? How would that be possible? They won't make just a small gathering as a farce, right?'

After his own inner monologue, he looked at the two eunuchs as he asked confusedly "Esteemed eunuchs, do you maybe mean a fete? I might have misheard, is that the case?"

Qianyu looked for a few seconds before he said "No, you heard right. It will be a competition for the whole town to participate in. We have already planned it out, you may just look from the side and give some suggestions if needed. For now, tell us where we will be holding the competition. The final will naturally be in the open plaza in the centre of the workshop district, but there will be numerous candidates for the other stages, so you might have to prepare a lot.

Also, make sure that the information is spread widely so that every and all smiths participate. Don't worry about the prizes, we already prepared for that and will be providing everything in that regard. You only need to publicize that. Also, since we're at it, invite the smiths of the nearby town to also join, and make sure that enough people know of the competition that everyone in a radius of one thousand kilometres tries to come into the city. You should probably prepare many stalls and resting places for the influx, it should be a great attraction for your city, you wouldn't want to miss this large of an opportunity to widen your banks, now, will you?

Of course, we need a small compensation for the rewards, that is only natural, right?"

Rong Xi understood a bit and was once again stunned 'They are giving me this opportunity, even if we have to give them half our earnings, wouldn't we still have enough of a profit to expand the town? Even if I don't have the cultivation, if we can expand our city till we have a population of 500.000, which is the requirement for a medium sized city, won't we at least become a small city? And if we already have the reputation of holding competitions, won't we be able to expand even more in the future? It wasn't like none of my ancestors thought of it, but what prize would be large enough to gather all the smiths in the region? Even though we have enough secrets, how could we willy nilly just risk giving it out… but if it's the Eunuch Palace that promises rewards… then they won't be stingy in the least and we might repeat that!'

"Esteemed eunuchs, please tell me your orders, and I will fulfil them! Right outside the gates, between the town and the outer workshops, we have more than enough space and all smiths could gather there. We can build large tents for the visitors and put stone platforms all around the space for all the competitors to participate on!"

Shixuan nodded as he took over "Just make it quick, go and announce that there will be a competition here on the fifth day from today and that the lowest prizes are introductory books of smithing coming from the Eunuch Palace, the higher prizes will be announced later. The only rule is that the smiths aren't to be older than thirty, we will be using tools to find out, and all rulebreakers will have to pay a fine for trying to sneak in. Go now"