"Who are these people from the Demon Sect? Why haven't I heard of any of them?"
"Elder Qiancha just recruited them in the plaza yesterday. Didn't you come watch yesterday?" someone explained with a laugh.
"Elder Qiancha is throwing a desperate gamble. Jiang Tu was poached by them—what else could he do?"
"How can they even compete like this? Isn't the Demon Sect doomed to lose?"
"They still have to go through the motions."
The surrounding crowd laughed, as though there had never been any suspense in this contest from the very beginning.
Pill Saint Elder looked at the six of them, his gaze sweeping across the group.
He was the most revered elder of the Pill Pagoda, known as the Pill Saint. His status was evident from that alone.
"You six have half an hour.
"There are no restrictions on materials or the type of pill. Once the pills are formed, they will be judged in this order: grade, Dao patterns, and time."
Pill Saint Elder said, "The six of you are not permitted to interfere with one another. Bring your own materials. I now declare the competition officially begun."
As Pill Saint Elder's voice fell, the others all raised a hand and summoned their respective pill furnaces.
Some pill furnaces took the shape of divine dragons, while others resembled azure clouds settling into the void and turning into clusters of mist.
Others were like pill cauldrons, with exotic flowers and strange herbs blooming around them.
Before anyone had even begun refining, the phenomena of the pill furnaces and the pill fragrance had already spread for thousands of miles. An ordinary cultivator needed only one breath to feel refreshed and clear-minded.
Dan Qingyun in particular had a pill furnace before him that resembled a blazing sun.
That sun