Most of the cultivators gathered beneath Pill Workshop Mountain were in the Core Formation Realm. Those at Spiritual Connection accounted for less than thirty percent.
The Pill Origin Ceremony opened only once every eighty to a hundred years, so for most ordinary cultivators and alchemists, this was their first time taking part in its selection.
After learning from the old cultivator how slim their chances were of passing, they could not help feeling disheartened.
Yet his talk of defying fate and ascending to the heavens in a single step stirred the longing in their hearts.
Someone has to make it. Why can't that someone be me?
With that thought in mind, the mood recovered after a brief lull, growing even more fervent than before.
While the crowd debated eagerly, the Spiritual Connection cultivators standing atop several nearby hills appeared much calmer.
Most of them had cultivated for over two hundred years. Even if they had never attended the Pill Origin Ceremony, they had heard how fierce the competition was, so the news came as no surprise.
"Fellow Daoist Zhao, see that woman? She's He Xinxian, the chief alchemist of Three Flames Cave I mentioned before."
Atop one of the hills, a small, slightly stooped old Daoist pointed to a blue-robed woman on a distant hill as he spoke to a middle-aged cultivator beside him, who wore a fire-patterned Daoist robe.
The cultivator surnamed Zhao looked over, then frowned. "Fourth level of Spiritual Connection? Someone with that cultivation can become the chief alchemist of a sect? If I remember correctly, Three Flames Cave has a cultivator at True Intent Perfection presiding over it, doesn't it?"
"Ah, fellow Daoist, don't let her modest cultivation fool you. Her skill in the Alchemy Dao is considerable."
The small old Daoist continued, "Just over a