The venue for the Pill Gathering.
After Chen Xuanling's efforts, an extremely spacious platform immediately appeared before everyone present.
As the platform solidified, the central area slowly opened amidst a series of friction sounds. Then, a pitch-black medicine cauldron, several meters tall, gradually rose up, with raging flames burning inside. Through the fire holes on its surface, the sounds of intense flames exploding continuously emanated from it.
Looking at the medicine cauldron that suddenly appeared in the arena, many people present showed suspicion. Xiao Yan's eyes narrowed slightly, and a spark of fire flashed in his pupils. When he looked again, he could see through the flames in the medicine cauldron that there were densely packed pills floating inside.
At that moment, Chen Xuanling's voice rang out again in the hall.
"Everyone, the requirement for this first challenge is that you can retrieve one of the Nascent Pill pills stored in this cauldron within one hour and refine it to pass. If the pill is destroyed or damaged during the process, it will not count as a success. Please proceed as you see fit."
As Chen Xuanling's light laughter subsided, his figure gradually vanished into nothingness, returning to the platform above. Meanwhile, the alchemists in the stands below, their eyes fixed on the medicine cauldron on the platform, leaped out one after another, rushing towards the medicine cauldron like shooting stars.
Xiao Yan and the others on the platform exchanged smiles. Their seats trembled slightly as they rushed down as well. Huoxun Mingcheng and the family members beside him, on the other hand, calmly walked to the edge of the platform, looking down at the scene below with smiles on their faces. Yao Shiling stared at Xiao Yan's back with a mocking expression, as if waiting for some good show.
Given the vastness of the venue, even with Xiao Yan and his group's speed, it would take them several seconds to rush down from the stage. The alchemists at the front were now only a hundred feet away from the dark medicine cauldron in the center of the venue, and it seemed they would be able to obtain the pills from the cauldron in the next moment.
However, at that very moment...
"Puff!"
Suddenly, a torrent of flames erupted from the pitch-black cauldron, engulfing its body and soaring into the sky. The flames forced the alchemists directly above to turn and retreat, and those who came into contact with them paled. The power of the flames was clearly extraordinary!
The fierce flames spread rapidly from the medicine cauldron to the platform, reaching a radius of a hundred feet, turning the entire center of the platform into a fire. Those alchemists who were caught off guard and fell into the fire changed their expressions drastically the moment they landed.
With their Yuan Zong level cultivation, their Origin Qi was being consumed extremely quickly in the face of these flames. Even with their own flames to resist, they could not hold out for long. Helpless, the people who had entered had no choice but to flee in a sorry state to the platform outside the fire. When they rushed out of the fire, some of them were already charred black by the flames, clearly having underestimated the power of the fire.
"Hehe, to ensure the fairness of the Pill Gathering, special methods are not allowed in the extraction of pills."
Just as everyone's expressions changed, Chen Xuanling's laughter rang out again. Upon hearing this, everyone understood. Most of the people with cultivation levels at the Early-Stage Yuan Zong revealed smug expressions on their faces. After all, in terms of cultivation, they naturally could not compete with the high-level Yuan Zong practitioners present. However, if they relied solely on their Spiritual Strength, they might not necessarily lose to their opponents.
Outside the fire, Xiao Yan and Xiao Siyu glanced at the raging inferno before them, lost in thought. Just as Xiao Yan was pondering, several figures flew down from the sky above. They appeared to be members of the Pill Tower. Xu Qinghe followed closely behind, landing on a less crowded open space.
"Ha, a bunch of brutes. They think they can get the pill so easily?"
As Yao Shiling descended, she glanced disdainfully at everyone present, her gaze undisguisedly turning cold as she looked at Xiao Yan and the others.
With the immediate priority of probing the fire and obtaining the elixir, Yao Shiling naturally didn't linger on anything. He flipped his hand, and with a wave of his hand, his Spiritual Strength transformed into an invisible hand, fearlessly rushing straight towards the flames in the fire ahead.
"Hiss!"
Faced with unfamiliar Spiritual Strength, the flames were naturally extremely fierce. After twisting and expanding, the flames in the fire chased after Yao Shiling's soul hand and kept biting at it, as if they wanted to devour it alive. This scene aroused some mockery in the eyes of some people in the scene, but most of them were surprised.
Although Yao Shiling was arrogant, his methods were genuine. As a member of the Yao Clan, he manipulated the flames in the fire in front of him at will, and the flames not only did not harm his Spiritual Strength in the slightest, but even became strangely compliant under the intense pursuit.
In the end, the flames clung to the soul's hand like a kitten, and with a thought from the Yao Shiling, they easily passed through the hundred-foot-long fire field and headed straight for the black medicine cauldron.
"Heh, this guy's Flame Conversion Art seems to have improved again."
As Xiao Yan was watching Yao Shiling's methods with great interest, a man's voice suddenly came from beside him. Turning his head, he saw Huoxun Mingcheng appear beside him at some point.
" Flame Conversion Art?"
Xiao Yan frowned slightly, Huoxun Mingcheng continued:
"A fire control secret technique passed down through the Yao Clan. When mastered to a high level, it allows one to directly convert the opponent's flames into one's own. When pursuing an enemy, one can often easily subdue them without personally taking action. It also has considerable benefits in subduing flames. It is said that when a powerful member of the Yao Clan used this technique to subdue a Yuan Zun- level magical beast, he forcibly extracted the Beast Flame from its body, causing it to burn itself to death."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan nodded slightly, his expression remaining unchanged. This method was somewhat similar to the Flame Manipulation Art he had once practiced, the difference being that this secret technique seemed to be more domineering. However, it made sense, as it was a secret technique inherited from an ancient clan, and naturally it had its unique aspects.
"Whoosh!"
Suddenly, a chorus of shouts arose in the arena. Xiao Yan and the others quickly looked over and saw that Yao Shiling had withdrawn the Spiritual Strength he had released. At this moment, he held up a Nascent Pill that was not yet fully refined in his hand, showing it off to everyone present without any hesitation.
"Heh, this guy's really high-profile."
Huoxun Mingcheng shook his head and chuckled softly, then looked at Xiao Yan again, slightly clasped his hands in a fist salute, and said:
"These flames might be troublesome for others, but they should be nothing to Mr. Xiao Yan. Time is short, so I won't stand on ceremony."
After speaking, he smiled and gestured to Xiao Siyu before heading towards the fire. As he approached, a powerful, crimson flame erupted from his body, transforming in his palm before condensing into a musket. He then hurled it heavily, piercing through the sea of fire and shooting straight at the central medicine cauldron.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Xu Qinghe, as expected of a genuine Tier Eight Alchemist, actually used his soul as a blade to condense a completely solidified soul greatsword. With a thought, he directly broke through the sea of fire, and the powerful shockwave pushed the flames on both sides several feet away, revealing the ground below.
Faced with this strike, the flames that caused even ordinary Yuan Zong experts a great headache didn't even have a chance to get close!