Pill Convention Begins
Zhao Li looked at the bone-chilling white flame on his fingertip, which could already incinerate Dou Emperor experts. With a thought, a hint of orange-gold flame appeared out of nowhere next to the Bone Chilling Flame.
The originally arrogant bone-chilling white flame instantly shrank, then rolled and surged again, looking somewhat fierce but inwardly weak.
Compared to the past six months, Zhao Li's biggest gain was undoubtedly the path of integrating Laws. He had actually managed to grasp a clue. His Natal Flame had begun to show a trace of the Lightning Attribute.
Although raising a young one was difficult, during the past six months of taking care of it, Zhao Li would occasionally study and analyze the Laws within the Heavenly Flames. Slowly, Zhao Li discovered some interesting things.
When Zhao Li previously comprehended the Power of Rules, he mostly started from the overall structure of the Rules. What he comprehended could be considered the main trunk. Although his progress was fast, doing so inevitably made the effect of the Power of Rules seem somewhat monotonous.
During the process of analyzing Rules, Zhao Li discovered that the same Power of Laws also had different characteristics. For example, Flame has heat, explosiveness, and corrosiveness. Space has sealing, folding, strangling, and so on.
Having discovered that Rules also had different directions, Zhao Li went back to organize what he had comprehended. He purposefully studied different Mysteries of Rules and then found some common points among the different Mysteries of Rules.
Zhao Li attempted to start from the commonalities of the Mysteries and actually managed to integrate the Rules, allowing them to exhibit even greater power.
"If, after stepping into the Dou Sheng realm, there is no further progress, then comprehending Rules and slowly increasing combat power is also a viable method. Perhaps this could even lead to an Alternative Path to Emperor in the end?"
Yet, Zhao Li, merely an Eight-Star Dou Venerate, was already considering becoming an Emperor.
Although in the years since coming to the Pill Tower, Zhao Li had truly been living a sort of early retirement, enjoying himself greatly.
But Zhao Li didn't become complacent just because his status had reached the pinnacle of the continent. He knew that without strength, he was nothing. If some Dou Sheng found him displeasing and forcibly abducted him to be an Alchemy Tool, he would truly have nowhere to cry.
Shaking his head gently, Zhao Li stopped thinking about it. That was a matter for the future. Currently, he was still in a period of rapid progress. At least within the next ten to twenty years, he didn't need to worry about not making progress.
Of course, the premise was that Zhao Li could accept the change from gaining several stars per year now to gaining one star every few years in the future.
Stepping out of his room, Zhao Li turned his gaze towards the Pill Tower:
"I wonder if the Pill Convention Selection is over yet. Let's go take a look."
The Pill Convention had already begun its selection a month ago. Of course, this was just a preliminary screening to ensure that the participants were above a certain standard. Otherwise, if even Alchemist Apprentices wanted to participate, Holy Pill City, even if it were twice as large, wouldn't be enough.
Holy Pill City, Inner Domain, Northern District!
Zhao Li's figure flickered, and he arrived inside a tall building located there.
The final stage of the Pill Convention would be held in the plaza ahead.
The plaza was incredibly vast. Perhaps due to the Formation, thousands of Stone Platforms floated above it.
These were the seats that could only be occupied by those who had emerged from the numerous Alchemists after passing through layers of trials.
"Little Zhao is here. I thought you weren't interested in these matters."
Seeing Zhao Li appear, Old Huang greeted him.
In the years since Zhao Li entered the tower, he had either been studying or on the way to study. It was indeed rare to see him show much interest in outside affairs.
Zhao Li cupped his fists and smiled:
"How could that be? When I first came to the Pill Tower, I wanted to study and make a name for myself at the Pill Convention. I never expected that under the guidance of you Seniors, I would accidentally step into the Great Grandmaster realm."
What Zhao Li said almost made several people verbally attack him.
"Old Huang, how far has the Pill Convention progressed?"
Zhao Li sensed the awkwardness and quickly changed the subject.
Old Huang and the others in the Little Pill Tower all had disciples. Even if they didn't have disciples, they had taught many Little Guys. Now that it was time for inspection, they naturally came here early to see the results of their learning and were well-informed about the progress of the Pill Convention:
"The preliminary selection is almost over. Only then will the Pill Convention truly begin. After that, there are several more stages, and finally, a thousand people will be chosen to refine pills in front of ten thousand people and showcase their brilliance."
Zhao Li asked:
"How many people from the Little Pill Tower are participating?"
Zhao Li also wanted to see what level Yao Chen, who was both talented and diligent under his guidance, could reach.
"Except for a few who are still young, everyone participated."
"It's a pity, they ran into the Yao Kid."
"That's not a big deal. Only by competing with strong opponents can one truly understand oneself. If all the participants are mediocre, winning the championship has no meaning."
This wasn't their first time at the Pill Convention, and they had seen many young talents. Some of them had even entered the Pill Tower after winning a previous Pill Convention championship.
Although they knew that this year's quality might be higher than in the past, there was indeed no one who could surpass Yao Chen, except...
Zhao Li noticed that several old men looked at him in unison, and he was puzzled.
Wind Lightning was the first to speak:
"Are you really not participating?"
In the past two years, Zhao Li's progress had repeatedly refreshed his understanding. This was despite them already knowing that Zhao Li's Soul Power far exceeded the level of a master alchemist, and that the only things restricting him were Pill Formulas and experience.
Zhao Li rolled his eyes and said calmly:
"If you're willing to play with these little kids, I won't stop you."
Wind Lightning was choked and stopped speaking.
Although he was still some distance away from Ninth Grade, he was an Eighth Grade Grandmaster capable of refining Pills that attracted Nine-Colored Pill Lightning. Looking at this competition where there were only a few Eighth Grade alchemists, it indeed seemed like a game for little kids.
Of course, considering their age, the participants really were a group of little kids, as there was no opportunity to subdue a Heavenly Flame this time, so those old monsters didn't participate.
Naturally, this also saved them from being swept away by the rising tide.
"They're here!"
While the two were bickering, Old Huang said crisply.
The first figure appeared in the plaza, and then, one after another, more and more arrived.
After a while, the plaza was packed with people. A quick glance showed that the lowest rank present was Fifth Rank Alchemist. In other regions, they would be considered top-tier figures, but here, they were a dime a dozen.
Seeing that the time was about right, Spirit Pearl and several Little Pill Tower Elders stood up and appeared above the stone platform in the plaza:
"Everyone who has traveled so far and can stand here is surely here for the Pill Convention. I won't say much more. The Pill Convention will proceed as usual, divided into three stages: Soul Illusion, Journey to the Pill Realm, and Outshining the Heroes."
"Soul Illusion is the stage where you walk from this space beside me to the Pill Realm Entrance, which also marks the start of the next stage, Journey to the Pill Realm. Now, the first stage begins. Everyone, please!"
With that, as he waved his sleeve, the previously confined Gray Mist Space expanded, enveloping the many participants.
Zhao Li's Soul Power probed it. This mist had a similar effect to the Soul Hall's Stone Tablet.
Zhao Li carefully investigated, determined to figure out what this mist actually was.
"Old Huang, what is this mist? How does it have such an effect?"
Zhao Li asked the living encyclopedia beside him.
"This space is within a Soul Stone Formation. The mist within comes from Soul Beasts. When combined, they have the effect of obscuring vision and obstructing Soul Power detection."
Old Huang indeed knew and told Zhao Li about the mist space.
Hearing this, Zhao Li frowned. He had never heard of Soul Stones or Soul Beasts:
"Soul Stones? Soul Beasts? What are those?"
Old Huang truly lived up to his reputation as a living encyclopedia and began to explain to Zhao Li:
"Soul Beasts are Magical Beasts, but their abilities are special, primarily attacking the soul. As for Soul Stones, they are a special mineral from the Demonic Soul Mountain Range. They have the effect of obstructing and dispersing Soul Power. If used properly, they can temper Soul Power."
Zhao Li nodded, suddenly understanding.
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