Fighting is prohibited within Pill City during the Pill Gathering. This is a rule of the Pill Tower, and even someone as powerful as the Yuan Zun can only silently abide by it. However, if it only causes interference to others, no one can say anything.
The refining of high-grade pills undoubtedly requires an enormous amount of Origin Qi, let alone the spectacular scene of a pill gathering with thousands of pills Pill Gathering made simultaneously. Fortunately, after countless years of cultivation by the Fallen Immortal City Pill Tower Origin Qi more concentrated than that of the outside world. In addition, the existence of the Pill Qi Lake is enough to support the normal operation of the Pill Gathering.
Even so, such deliberate interference would be a devastating blow to Nascent Pill was about to form.
"Puff!"
Over Xiao Yan's head, the invisible big hand controlled all the surrounding Heaven and Earth Origin Qi, and then shook it violently. The newly gathered Origin Qi suddenly escaped, and then a cyclone was quickly formed under the control of the big hand, covering the sky above Xiao Yan's head. Like a dragon sucking water, it began to continuously suck up the Heaven and Earth energy in the surrounding space, and turned it into a wind column, guiding it upward into the sky.
The direct result of this action was that the Origin Qi of heaven and earth in the area where Xiao Yan was located rapidly became thinner!
This situation immediately made the alchemists who were closer to Xiao Yan tense up. Even if the fire in their cauldrons was strong, if the Origin Qi of heaven and earth was lacking, it would still affect the refining of the pills. The competition had reached this point, and failure would mean that all their previous efforts would be in vain and they would miss the chance to enter the Pill Tower!
Although they were filled with resentment, their expressions turned even more grim after sensing the overwhelming soul pressure emanating from the invisible hand. The person who made the move was clearly an Tier Eight Alchemist. Alchemists of this rank were all powerful experts at the Origin Yuan Zun Realm present, far beyond what they, as members of the Yuan Zong, could afford to provoke.
Left with no other choice, these alchemists had to draw upon their Spiritual Strength to cover their surroundings, and like the invisible soul hand, they began to compete for the Origin Qi of heaven and earth within their space. Some even began to circulate their cultivation techniques and secret arts, disregarding their own consumption as they fought each other. Those who took the opportunity to suppress their opponents were also exposed one by one, and the group of alchemists in the arena immediately fell into chaos.
This action caused the Origin Qi of heaven and earth within Xiao Yan's area to dissipate at an even faster rate. If this continues, Xiao Yan's journey to the Pill Gathering condense Nascent Pill nascent pills.
The explosion caused by the invisible hand's manipulation happened in the blink of an eye. While the surrounding stands erupted in a cacophony of noise, Murong Qianqian, her eyebrows furrowed, walked to the edge of the platform, cursing as she pointed angrily at the arena below.
"This is utterly despicable! A dignified alchemist shouldn't be focusing on refining pills; instead, he's resorting to such methods to harm his opponent and reduce the threat he poses. What right does such a person have to participate in the Pill Gathering actually dares to dream of becoming the Pill Gathering! He's completely unworthy!"
After speaking, she deliberately turned her gaze and looked sharply at the elders of the Pill Tower. However, they seemed to ignore her. Only a few Pill Tower Elder with somewhat arrogant faces glanced at her indifferently, their expressions showing a hint of contempt for Murong Qianqian's words.
"Alright, alright, no need to get angry. The competition between alchemists is not as simple as you think. Besides, this is the Pill Gathering. The final champion is judged by who refines the highest-grade pills, based on the successful completion of the final pill, not just who had the opportunity to refine a pill. Having the opportunity and having concrete evidence are completely different. A truly capable alchemist should also have the hard power to withstand external risks. Otherwise, even if they successfully refine a high-grade pill and win the championship, what makes them convincing? After all, there are quite a few alchemists who refine high-grade pills by luck, but this is the Pill Tower, this is the Pill Gathering, not a place where luck alone matters."
Just as Murong Qianqian's face was filled with anger, Mu Leng, who was sitting behind Xiao Ming, slowly spoke up. As a fellow alchemist, he could naturally understand the situation at hand and was even more aware of the cruelty of the Pill Gathering. After all, this was a grand event for the entire continent. If the final result could be reached calmly in a short while, it Pill Gathering too lightly.
After Mu Leng's earnest persuasion, Murong Qianqian reluctantly sat back down, silently cursing the person who attacked Xiao Yan. Xiao Ming, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes, his gaze fixed on a certain spot in the arena below, where a young man in white robes was controlling a medicine cauldron with one hand, his sinister gaze occasionally glancing towards Xiao Yan's location.
"So it was the Bai Clan scum. They've been hiding in the shadows all these years, keeping a really tight grip. If it weren't for this trip, I would have been completely kept in the dark."
Xiao Ming thought to himself with intense killing intent.
The young man in white robes was none other than Bai Hansheng, whom Xiao Yan had fought in the secret realm.
Compared to Murong Qianqian's excitement and the commotion in the stands, Xiao Yan was unusually calm. With his current strength of Spiritual Strength, he naturally realized that Bai Hansheng of the soul hand the moment it appeared. Although the dramatic change in the current situation was indeed somewhat unexpected, it was not enough to make him flustered and lose his composure.
Xiao Yan quickly scanned the scene and sneered inwardly. Although all the alchemists present had started fighting each other for the Origin Qi, the Tier Eight Alchemist who could truly determine the champion of the Pill Gathering remained as steady as Mount Tai, sitting upright and seemingly unaffected.
After all, putting aside their status Tier Eight Alchemist, how many alchemists present would dare to easily offend a Yuan Zun? The only difference was Huo Huoxun Mingcheng's location. Given his status in the Pill Tower, those Tier Seven Alchemist naturally wouldn't dare to provoke him.
Although the competition for Origin Qi around Xiao Siyu seemed fierce, the surrounding alchemists seemed to be quite wary of her, deliberately keeping a considerable distance from her, as if they were keeping their distance. Therefore, her progress in refining pills was not affected too much.
Even with the allure of the Pill Tower Elder, these alchemists still held great reverence for the powerful clans and families, demonstrating the immense influence and prestige of these clans.
From this perspective, among the people present who are relatively familiar with him, only Xiao Yan himself is on the verge of defeat.
"It's really nice to have the shade of a big tree..."
Seeing the various scenes on the field, Xiao Yan couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Then, his gaze turned and met Bai Hansheng's gaze.
The latter stared at Xiao Yan with a smug smile, seemingly already anticipating the scene of the latter leaving in a huff with the damaged item in his hand.
Xiao Yan expressionlessly withdrew his gaze and focused on the medicine cauldron in front of him.
With a thought, the Power of the Great Dao gathered, and several fist-sized pitch-black spatial vortexes condensed on the inner wall of the medicine cauldron. Under the influence of the Great Dao of the Void, Origin Qi surged out from them and continuously flowed into the medicine cauldron.
With the medicine cauldron as a cover, the Heavenly Flames as a concealment, and the chaotic arena as a result, who would notice what was happening inside the medicine cauldron at this moment?
Before long, after a fierce battle for Origin Qi, a large number of alchemists were forced to leave the field for various reasons.
At this point, the number of alchemists who could remain on the field to refine pills was only half of what it was at the beginning.
To Bai Hansheng's surprise, Xiao Yan had been steadily refining the pills in the cauldron from beginning to end, seemingly unaffected by the earlier struggle for Origin Qi.
"How is this possible? What did this kid do?"
Seeing Xiao Yan still calmly sitting cross-legged in front of the medicine cauldron, Bai Hansheng was immediately annoyed. After a quick probe with his Spiritual Strength, he found that although the Origin Qi of heaven and earth around Xiao Yan had recovered somewhat due to the departure of many alchemists, it was clearly far from the state before everyone started working on the cauldron. If that was the case, how could he maintain the condensation of the Nascent Pill in the cauldron?
Could it be...?
Bai Hansheng an eyebrow, something suddenly occurring to him, but the next moment...
"Roar..."
A deep dragon's roar echoed from somewhere in the arena, immediately attracting everyone's attention and completely interrupting Bai Hansheng's thoughts.
Before the white-robed elder, Elder Zhong, a perfectly round pill inside a medicine cauldron was emitting a rich fragrance. Around the cauldron, a small dragon, a few inches long and formed from the Pill Qi, was freely circling around it, almost as if it were alive.
" The Nascent Pill is formed! The Nascent Pill is complete!"
" The Pill Qi, and it's actually an eighth-grade Nascent Pill! This is already a precursor to the Formed Pill of an eighth-grade elixir!"
"It seems like the championship for Pill Gathering is already secured."
"Hehe, not necessarily. This is an eighth-grade pill after all. Putting aside its quality, do you really think that's the end of the matter Nascent Pill is formed? Eighth-grade pills are different from any other pills before. Pill Rune... they're not so easy to condense!"
The sight of the Pill Qi into form immediately caused an uproar among the crowd both inside and outside the venue, and even the various factions on the dais all turned their attention to Elder Zhong.
Noticing the numerous gazes directed at him from the platform, the white-robed elder glanced upwards, a smug smile playing on his lips.
"This Old Freak Zhong may seem rough around the edges, but he's actually done a lot of preparation."
Seeing Elder Zhong's smug expression, Yuwen Zong chuckled, his tone laced with teasing. Ji Yao, standing nearby, giggled, her hand half-covering her mouth.
"If he had been more low-key in his conduct at the previous Pill Gathering, he wouldn't have missed out on the championship time and time again, to the point that even our invitations were seen as a mockery of him."
The people on the podium exchanged a few words of laughter, and bursts of enthusiastic cheers rang out from the stands below. It turned out that many Tier Seven Alchemist had condensed their Nascent Pill, and the entire arena was instantly filled with a rich aroma of pills. The eyes of the people in the stands gradually turned to a fiery light.
"Clang!"
Suddenly, a cyan-gold medicine cauldron somewhere in the arena trembled violently, and a rich aroma of medicinal fragrance uncontrollably emanated from it. After twisting and converging, it transformed into a small dragon a few inches long, and then let out several powerful low roars.
"That's... Xiao Yan!"
The moment Chen Xuanling and the others focused their gaze on the black-robed figure sitting cross-legged in front of the medicine cauldron, not only they, but also the others in the room, suddenly changed their expressions.
Bai Hansheng, in particular, stared with an extremely ugly expression at the small dragon of Pill Qi swirling around the Luo Heavenly Cauldron. He hadn't expected Xiao Yan to be able to successfully condense the pill into Nascent Pill, let alone refine an eighth-grade pill. Immediately, a surge of anger welled up inside him, and he disregarded the cauldron in front of him. His furious gaze quickly rose to look up at the sky, and he immediately saw several inconspicuous tiny black dots scattered in the sky above the entire arena. Upon closer inspection, he realized that they were indeed Xiao Yan's Great Dao of the Void!
"Kid! It was my carelessness!"
Bai Hansheng his teeth and roared, his gaze fixed on Xiao Yan for a moment before he could even look away...
"Puff!"
The moment their gaze returned, the flames in the cauldron in front of them suddenly went out uncontrollably, and the Nascent Pill that was about to take shape also lost its stability and exploded.