"Whoosh!"
Xiao Siyu flashed into view of Xiao Yan and immediately breathed a sigh of relief, saying:
"You finally made it out! I was so worried. If you had been an hour or two later, this Pill Sea Illusion Realm would have closed, and anyone who didn't manage to escape in time would have been eliminated!"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan felt a slight chill in his heart, then a smile of relief appeared on his face. He thought to himself that his previous failure to break through to the Tier Eight Soul had turned out to be a good thing. Otherwise, if he had succeeded, he didn't know how long the subsequent consolidation would have taken, and he would have truly missed out on the championship of the Pill Gathering.
Fortunately, we managed to make it in time.
Letting out a long sigh, Xiao Yan grinned and chuckled softly.
Seeing this, Xiao Siyu rolled her eyes at the former, and after chatting for a few more minutes, just as she was about to descend, Xiao Siyu's eyes suddenly changed slightly. She then quickly scanned Xiao Yan and asked in surprise:
"Why is your Spiritual Strength so turbulent, as if you've just been through a great battle?"
Xiao Siyu didn't believe it, since Xiao Yan had only just destroyed that illusionary body with his abilities.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan smiled awkwardly and briefly explained his failure to break through to the Tier Eight Soul. The latter's beautiful face immediately showed surprise upon hearing this. Just as she was about to exclaim, her beautiful eyes quickly glanced at the crowd below, and she swallowed back the words that were about to come out. She exchanged a glance with Xiao Yan, and the two then chose a less crowded spot on the platform below and quickly descended.
Their conversation was so brief that it went unnoticed by most, except for a few who were particularly interested in Xiao Yan.
"You bastard, you actually dared to attempt to reach the Tier Eight Soul power at the Pill Gathering, right under the nose of the Pill Tower! You really did it!"
The two descended to a secluded spot. Xiao Siyu waved her jade-like hand, separating their conversation from those around them, before gently scolding Xiao Yan.
Xiao Yan gave a helpless wry smile, raised his hand to gesture for Xiao Siyu to look at the alchemists in the arena, and slowly said:
"There's nothing we can do about it. After all, I didn't expect that more than ten Tier Eight Alchemist would appear at the Pill Gathering. The title of Pill Gathering champion is really hard to win. If you want to compete for a place among them, what choice do you have besides having Tier Eight Soul?"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Siyu opened her mouth slightly, but then fell silent.
She had some knowledge of Bai Hua's affairs, and therefore understood that Xiao Yan's entire intention in going to the Danhui was to win the championship, so any other words of advice were naturally unnecessary.
For a mere Tier Seven Alchemist to compete with more than ten Tier Eight Alchemist for the championship is simply a fantasy. No wonder Xiao Yan chose to attempt to break through to the Tier Eight Soul under such circumstances.
The two continued their conversation, during which Xiao Yan learned that Mu Leng had also not escaped from the Pill Sea Illusion Realm, and it seemed that he was truly trapped inside.
This made Xiao Yan express a slight regret for him, but he let it go. After all, Mu Leng's ability to pass this level as Tier Six High-Level Alchemist was already quite remarkable, and he had personally experienced the power of that illusionary body.
Two hours later.
"Clang!"
The clear chime of the bell rang out once more throughout the hall. Immediately afterward, a thunderous sound echoed from the sky, and in an instant, Yuwen Zong's tall figure appeared in the air, his gaze sweeping over the entire hall. He chuckled softly and slowly said:
"Ladies and gentlemen, the Pill Sea Illusion Realm has been open for over two months. Now the time has come, and it is time for the Pill Tower to close it. Alchemists who have failed to emerge from the illusion will be disqualified from continuing the competition. We ask that you all bear witness to this."
After speaking, Yuwen Zong's gaze quickly swept over the remaining hundreds of mist passages in the arena, his expression calm and composed.
After Xiao Yan broke through these passages, no one else ever escaped.
Yuwen Zong raised his hands to his chest, and as his palms opened and closed, a small cauldron several inches in size appeared. Then, his hands flew, and a series of complex shadow seals were quickly cast, landing on the small cauldron in front of him. In a short while, hundreds of milky white light bands flew out from the small cauldron and disappeared into the misty passages.
Then, at Yuwen Zong's command, the light bands were pulled out again, and figures were drawn out from them, falling uncontrollably. Yuwen Zong seemed to have anticipated this, and with a wave of his sleeve, a vast Spiritual Strength condensed into an invisible hand in the void, lifting all the figures up.
Of these people, a small number were still conscious but extremely weak, while the rest were completely unconscious, like a lump of mud. Fortunately, the illusion was not fatal, and they could recover as soon as they returned home and rested.
After releasing these people, Yuwen Zong then controlled the small cauldron to retrieve the dissipated illusions along with the Fragrance-Nurturing Pill within them. However, at a certain moment, the expression on his calm face suddenly froze, as if he had encountered something unbelievable. He then placed his hand on the small cauldron in disbelief, closed his eyes to examine it for a while, and then suddenly opened his eyes, his entire expression and movements completely frozen.
This state lingered on his face for a good ten breaths. After a moment of blinking, Yuwen Zong took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. Then, amidst the suspicious gazes of the crowd, he quickly withdrew the illusion.
During this process, somewhere in the crowd on the platform below, the old man surnamed Zhong, after seeing the surprised expression on Yuwen Zong's face, had an even more intense look of smugness on his face.
In the end, Yuwen Zong did not rush to open the fourth level. After a moment of hesitation, he slipped back to the platform.
"What's wrong? You looked like you were frightened by something just now."
As soon as Yuwen Zong appeared, Ji Yao asked him in a soft voice with some concern.
The former pursed his lips, his voice dry and filled with disbelief:
" The Pill Qi within one of the illusions... has vanished!"
Upon hearing this, Ji Yao and Chen Xuanling exchanged surprised glances, while Wu Changfu scoffed disdainfully and said:
"No doubt about it, it must have been that Old Ghost Zhong who did it. Ever since the last two Pill Gathering, that old bastard has been absorbing some Pill Qi in the Pill Sea Illusion Realm every time. Otherwise, how could his soul realm be what it is today? Speaking of which, I don't know what kind of secret technique this guy has cultivated. Even we find it extremely slow to absorb this Pill Qi for our own use, yet this guy can absorb nearly a hundred streams of Pill Qi at once!"
In the end, Wu Changfu slammed his fist in frustration, shattering the armchair beneath him into a pile of dust.
"No, it's definitely not Old Ghost Zhong!"
No sooner had Wu Changfu speaking than Yuwen Zong retorted in a very serious tone. The other two were also moved by this, for they had been together for so many Suiyue, and they naturally trusted his words.
Seemingly worried that he couldn't explain clearly, Yuwen Zong quickly raised his hand and presented the small cauldron in front of the three, indicating that they should each probe with a strand of their Spiritual Strength. Sure enough, after a moment, the expressions on the faces of Chen Xuanling and the other two also became extremely solemn.
Those illusory spaces all rely on the Pill Qi to create countless illusions. After the assessment, the internal Pill Qi will naturally be collected back by the Pill Tower. However, among these illusory spaces, there is one space where the internal Pill Qi is reduced by nearly half. And that illusion is the place where the old man surnamed Zhong entered.
However, what truly horrified Chen Xuanling and the others was another space.
The world was completely empty, as if it had just been created, with not even a trace of Pill Qi remaining!
If this illusionary space weren't a separate entity that required the activation of the Fragrance-Nurturing Pill, even they would probably have mistaken it for something else.
"How is this possible? Each illusion contains over a thousand Pill Qi. Even with Old Ghost Zhong's secret technique, he could only absorb a maximum of four hundred strands. Who could possibly possess such immense power to absorb such a vast amount of Pill Qi? Even if he could draw the Pill Qi into his body, how would he refine it?"
Wu Changfu spoke in a deep, incredulous voice.
"Who knows! I just checked those who escaped from the illusion, and none of them had their Spiritual Strength suddenly surge by a level."
Yuwen Zong snorted in frustration, then gave a wry smile.
Upon hearing this, the former was speechless, but Chen Xuanling, after hearing these words, couldn't help but lower his head and ponder. Then, his gaze turned curiously to a certain spot on the platform, where a young man in black robes and a woman in red dress stood prominently.
"Looks like we underestimated this guy after all!"
Suddenly, Chen Xuanling smiled wryly, as if he had seen through something.
As soon as he finished speaking, the three people beside him immediately turned their gazes towards him, their expressions a mixture of surprise and doubt. Ji Yao couldn't help but ask a question, to which Chen Xuanling replied with a smile:
The person I'm referring to is naturally Xiao Yan.
" Xiao Yan?"
Upon hearing this, Yuwen Zong raised an eyebrow, his gaze quickly sweeping over Xiao Yan below. He let out a slight surprised sound, gently stroking his chin, and asked suspiciously:
"This little guy's Spiritual Strength is indeed fluctuating abnormally, but he only recently escaped the illusion, so that's to be expected."
"Hmph, of course that's not what I meant..."
Chen Xuanling gave a faint, cold laugh, then continued:
"Since Xiao Yan entered the illusion, I have been unable to ascertain his situation. Apart from him, I can at least know some general information about the others. Even with those Yuan Zun, although I cannot ascertain the details, I can sense some energy fluctuations within the illusion. At least I can perceive the special energy of the Fragrance-Nurturing Pill. Although I did not monitor the entire process, at least when those Yuan Zun left the illusion, this situation did not occur."
"Hiss!"
Upon hearing this, all four men's gazes immediately fell upon Xiao Yan below. Yuwen Zong couldn't help but take a deep breath and asked in surprise:
It was him!