The Martial Arts Ground at the center of Hundred Herb Island was now enveloped in layers of restrictions. Spirit-gathering patterns covered its white jade paving, while elders from the various halls of the Star Palace sat on the raised platforms surrounding it, their gazes blazing like torches. Dressed in the green robes of a Pill Pavilion apprentice, Han Li stood among the pavilion's disciples with two tokens marked "Pill" and "Formation" hanging at his waist. He looked at the four gilded characters spelling "Star Palace Grand Tournament" on the plaque above the platform ahead, his mind perfectly clear.
Held once every three years, this grand gathering was the touchstone by which the Star Palace tested the strength of its younger generation across the various halls. As a newly admitted Pill Pavilion apprentice, he could participate in the pill-refining event through his knowledge of the Pill Dao and also pit his formation skills against Formation Pavilion disciples-a perfect opportunity to test his belief that formations and pills shared a common source.
Dong-
With a toll of the bell from Dan Chenzi, the tournament officially began. The presiding elder announced the rules: this tournament comprised four disciplines-pills, formations, artifacts, and talismans-with three rounds in each. Whoever achieved the highest overall score would receive the title of Star Palace Rising Star and be allowed to choose a high-level cultivation art from the Star Palace's secret repository.
"First round of the Pill Dao: refine a Peiyuan Pill. The time limit is four hours. Victory will be determined by the number of pill patterns and the purity of medicinal potency!"
Han Li followed the Pill Pavilion team onto the Pill Flame Platform. A hundred Azure Flame Cauldrons stood at its center, their bodies engraved with simple fire-control formation patterns. He chose a furnace near the