"How did these people show up at a time like this?" Zi Yan asked, puzzled.
As a veteran of the Pill Tower, Elder Lin knew the reason well. "The Yao Clan's Medicine Ceremony isn't just a contest of alchemy. It also hosts a trade fair that isn't widely known but is extraordinary in scale. Most of these experts came for the fair. Watching the Thunder Clan's successor contest is probably just a matter of curiosity."
"There's another reason," Huo Zhen added. "Once someone reaches the Dou Saint realm, advancing becomes extremely difficult, so everyone has a great need for medicinal pills. Ninth-grade Alchemists are also vanishingly rare. The Medicine Ceremony is one of the few places where you can meet several."
Xiao Yan understood at once. After reaching the Dou Saint realm, advancing truly was a daunting challenge. Even after absorbing all the energy in the Bodhisattva Heart and taking a Tier 9 Medicinal Pill Yao Lao had specially refined for him, he had only risen by one star.
If someone had nothing and simply kept their head down and worked, they might go decades or even a century without advancing an inch. That made exchanges and trade among high-level experts especially important. The Yao Clan was one of the renowned Dou Di Descendant Clans. With them hosting the fair, plenty of people would attend.
Wei Jiangyuan grinned. "The requirements for this trade fair are incredibly strict. Anyone below the Half-Saint realm can't even get in. Treasures crop up one after another there, so we've got to go take a look!"
Thanks to his teacher, Old Man Shennong, Wei Jiangyuan knew the details of the fair. But he had been too young to attend before. This would be his first time.
Looking at the stream of people, Yao Lao could