Chapter 501: This is it

 

The discussions and ruckus stopped. Although many people guessed that Ye Mo already had the heaven glory pill recipe, no one dared to say it. this was the pill king tournament after all. They had to ask after the tournament even if they questioned things.

Or wait till the final round. If that Luo Xiaomo had no real capabilities, it would show up on the final round’s 12 pill king steps.

There was only 100 contestants left on the stage now.

Shen Guanqing stood up and announced “next, we shall have the second round of our tournament. Everyone concoct the pill they’ve dissected. The focus of this round will be on spirit herb refinement and fire control. Every step of your spirit herb refinement and concoction will be recorded and sent to the panel of judges. There is no time limit for the second round and you may use your own cauldron.”

Ye Mo couldn’t help but to sigh. The cultivation level of South Peace State wasn’t just a bit higher. In the North Far State pill concoction tournament, everyone had to use a cauldron supplied by the examiner to see what they did but here, the Pill City just arranged a surveillance formation for everyone. They could use their own cauldron.

When all sorts of spirit herbs were sent to Ye Mo, Ye Mo couldn’t help but to exclaim the wealth of the Pill City. There were about 100 people and they gave out all these herbs without a frown.

When he signed up for the pill king tournament, they didn’t even take a single spirit stones sign up fee. One could see this tournament was really held for pill master.

This time, Ye Mo didn’t watch other pill masters, he knew that there was no time limit this time but the time wouldn’t be long. Many pill master didn’t know how to concoct the pill, they only could refine the spirit herb.

Ye Mo looked at the 11 spirit herbs, other than the level six dihua beast core, the rest were top grade spirit herbs.

If he knew this, he should’ve written level seven dihua beast core. This Pill City really had everything and could take out dihua beast core at anytime.

Many cultivators took out their cauldron and fire ready to refine spirit herb. Ye Mo didn’t waste time too. After he checked the spirit herbs were fine, he let out his Shen Nong cauldron and was about to release his purple flower fire.

But before he did this, he immediately changed his mind. If he used purple flower fire, slightly smarter people would realise that he cheated the first round.

It was much hard to dissect a pill than concoct it. he didn’t use rare flame in the first round but used rare flame now. didn’t that mean he already knew the answer?

Thinking about this, Ye Mo was shocked. Although he dissected the components of the heaven glory and that granted him countless glory, if people knew that he cheated here, he wasn’t sure how much of that glory would be left. Usually, he wouldn’t care but now, the more famous he was, the safer he was.

He knew that after this tournament, everything about him would be exposed maybe even the days he stayed at the South Peace City.

Thus, Ye Mo only used his soul flare.

It could be said that 90% of the people here were watching Ye Mo so as soon as Ye Mo released the soul flare, everyone was shocked. Ye Mo shone so brightly in the first round and perfectly dissected the heaven glory pill. yet when he concocted his pill, he didn’t even have an earth or heaven flame.

Those judges who looked favourably to Ye Mo shook their heads. Compared to Jiu Qian and the other top 50 contestants, Luo Xiaomo’s flame was unbearable to watch.

But Yue Qichao looked at Ye Mo’s Shen Nong cauldron and said “his cauldron isn’t simple, it seems very strange but similar to an ordinary cauldron.”

“Lu qian bei, you have so many flames, just give one to this Luo Xiaomo later. His soul flare is a bit too....” Ji Ling said. He had a good impression of this Luo Xiaomo. If he had a rare flame he would’ve given one to this level seven spirit pill master.

Lu Wuhu smiled “this lil kid already owes me, he can keep dreaming about me giving him a flame now. but I can tell he’s cunning, things won’t be that simple.”

Ning Qingxue saw Ye Mo use soul flare and felt even more bitter. In this 100 people, only her husband used soul flare. She had decided to help Ye Mo find a good flame.

Only one person understood what Ye Mo did and that was Jing Yingli. Jing Yingli murmured. “you did this to yourself.”

She knew that Ye Mo had many rare flames and took the tournament very seriously as he wanted to become famous. That way, there was no way he would use soul flare. The only explanation was that he already knew the heaven glory pill recipe. He should’ve used a rare flame the first round, not a soul flare.

She couldn’t remind Ye Mo about this but when she saw Ye Mo hesitate a little, she breathed easy. Luckily Ye Mo realized the seriousness of the issue and continued to use soul flare.

But this way, the pill he concocted would be a grade lower.

Even though Ye Mo used soul flare, countless people still watched him. They all want to see how a level seven spirit pill master would concoct a level nine spirit pill.

If Ye Mo couldn’t concoct it, his results of the first round would be doubted.

As a level five pill king, of course Ye Mo wouldn’t be afraid not being able to concoct level nine spirit pill even if he used soul flare.

When the judges saw Ye Mo just casually throw the 11 herbs in the cauldron without order, they almost jumped up.

Was this guy an idiot? What sort of pill master was he? The procedure of refining herbs were very important. It usually went from hard to easy and thrown in the cauldron with strict sequence. The impurities also has to be removed in strict order. Otherwise, one mistake and the pill might explode.

If it wasn’t that Ye Mo’s performance was so outstanding the first round, the judges wouldn’t even want to look at him anymore.

Shen Guanqing exhaled and looked at Yue Qichao saying “brother Yue, I’m really beginning to wonder if he knew the heaven glory pill already, his pill concoction is...”

“if this kid is really a bludge, then he’s the luckiest bludge.” Lu Wuhu smiled and didn’t mind Ye Mo’s pill concoction method.

Even those who didn’t know pill concoction felt that Ye Mo’s pill concoction didn’t seem too right.

But Ye Mo had his hardship. Everyone was watching him now as he used the soul flare the first round. He had to put on a casual act and concoct the heaven glory pill to remove suspicion.

Although Ye Mo’s pill concoction system was different to others and he didn’t care about the order of refining herbs, he usually threw in 4 or 5 at a time. This time, it was a bit hard for him to throw in 11 at once.

Luckily, his spirit sense was very powerful. Even though it was 11 spirit herb, he completely controlled it in his cauldron and they were refined one by one while the impurities were expelled out.

Although soul flare was supposed to be slower than other flames, Ye Mo’s speed wasn’t slower than anyone.

Shen Guanqing gasped again “this Luo Xiaomo is most genius pill master I’ve ever seen.”

The judges knew what he meant. Throwing in the spirit herbs without order was no ordinary pill concoction means. It was even very hard or impossible for them to do this.

Yet this Luo Xiaomo did it. he refined the spirit herbs perfectly and was as fast as other pill master.

He was using a soul flare, everyone else used rare flames. What was a prodigy, this was.

…

When all the spirit herbs in the cauldron were refined, Ye Mo expelled the waste and let out a sigh of relief. He knew he was showing off, but this was dangerous. Any mistake and all his previous work would’ve been for nothing.

Those pill master with less spirit herbs had stopped because they could only refine. They didn’t even know the components of the pill, it was a joke to think of concocting it.

15 minutes later, there were only about 10 people on the square still working.

With a few cracking sounds, even level five pill king Xu Banchang and level four pill king Ji Youting failed. Almost all the pill master watched Ye Mo and Jiu Qian now. It was just those two still putting on a show.

Especially Jiu Qian, his pill concoction means attracted many people to watch. He dissected the pill very smoothly before, and now his pill concoction method was also very smooth. It made people feel like it was an art performance as he struck pill chants inside the cauldron.

“Such good means, he’s at least a level four pill king,” Shen Guanqing said. The pill kings there could also tell that Jiu Qian was definitely not a level nine spirit pill master but a real high level pill king.

A sense of pill aroma came and all the judges concentrated and looked at Jiu Qian, the pill aroma came from him.

Although the judges’ authority would drop if Jiu Qian eventually concocted the Heaven Glory Pill as he was only placed as second in the first round, they all still hoped Jiu Qian could concoct the Heaven Glory Pill. What if the pill only had 10 ingredients?

Ye Mo smiled and continued to concoct his Heaven Glory Pill. Only he knew that the Heaven Glory Pill had no aroma after adding the dihua beast core. The pill with aroma was not Heaven Glory Pill.

Crack, another crisp sound and Jiu Qian put away his fire in disappointment. The judges also moved their eyes away from him.

He failed.

Almost all the judges looked at Ye Mo now. Ye Mo pulled with his hand and 6 pills came out of his Shen Nong cauldron. Immediately they fell into the jade bottle prepared for the tournament.

According to his experience, if a level seven beast core was used, there would be 12 pills. Since he used a level six beast core, in order to ensure the potency, he only concocted 6 pills.

“He succeeded?”

“He really succeeded?”

As soon as Ye Mo pulled out the pills, a few judges got up. There was fire in their eyes, if they weren’t judges now, they would’ve charged up to Ye Mo and robbed the pill bottle.

100 people concocted pills and only one succeeded. To top it off, there were 6 pills as well. Shen Guanqing and a level four pill king were very annoyed with themselves because they were attracted by Jiu Qian’s pill aroma and didn’t watch Ye Mo’s pill concoction method and pill pulling method. Luckily, there was a recording, but a recording wasn’t nearly as satisfying as watching it live.

All the audience also saw clearly that the second round had ended and only one pill master had concocted pills. That was the pill master who recreated the Heaven Glory Pill recipe. He was the only one who concocted a pill, so it was obvious who had won.

The scene was very silent. Many people expected this as only Ye Mo had the recipe.

The only abnormal thing was that the only pill master who concocted a pill was the lowest level pill master and used the lowest level flame.

Jiu Qian looked at Ye Mo in shock. He had always thought he was the prodigy of pill concoction and he never even though that anyone would be able to take away number one from him, but now someone recreated the pill recipe and concocted the pill with just soul flare. He had already lost more than half here.

All the results appeared on the judges table and the Heaven Glory Pill bottle also appeared in Yue Qichao’s hand.

Yue Qichao opened the bottle, tipping out six identically shaped pills, and exclaimed, “He used soul flare to concoct the Heaven Glory Pill for the first time and there are 4 top grade and 2 special grade pills. I believe even a level four pill king wouldn’t be able to do this.”

“Wow, this kid really is a pill master!” Lu Wuhu said in shock.

Yue Qichao shook his head, “No, he’s not a pill master. If I’m not wrong, he’s at least a level four pill king – but why did he sign up using a spirit pill master’s name?”

Lu Wuhu smiled awkwardly. “That kids’ sign up opportunity was given by me. He came to Pill City to sign up for the tournament but didn’t have the right to sign up, so I helped him get the identity of a level seven spirit pill master.”

What Lu Wuhu didn’t expect was that Yue Qichao walked up to him and bowed. “Thank you Lu qian bei. If it wasn’t for your help, how could I know that there was such a genius in the Pill City that’s blocked outside.”

Then, he turned to Shen Guanqing and said, “Martial brother Guanqing, we need to change the rules of the Pill City. No matter what tournament it is, there will still be spirit pill master and pill king verification available. We can’t let similar things happen again. Luo Xiaomo was lucky to see Lu qian bei, but what about next time?”

“Yes, martial brother Yue,” Shen Guanqing quickly replied.

The pill king Chang Shun suddenly said, “City lord Yue, I’ve never heard of this Luo Xiaomo. He seems to have appeared out of nowhere and he’s so talented. He doesn’t seem old and yet he’s a high level pill king, I think...”

Yue Qichao nodded. “I know, after the first round I’ve sent people to investigate his origin, there should be results soon.”

At this moment, a messenger flying sword appeared in Yue Qichao’s hand. Yue Qichao looked it and then looked at Ye Mo before sitting back down.

Yue Qichao said. “I just got the message from dao friend Xu Qiliang and Wang Han guarding the teleportation formation. The North Far State cultivator that invited Ye Mo has been in South Peace State for nearly two years, and they sent an image of him...”

“Huh, Ye Mo is here – why didn’t this kid come find me. Why have no big sects taken in such a genius?” Ji Ling asked.

Ji Ling saw everyone look at him so he said awkwardly, “Haha, this Ye Mo isn’t old but he’s also a formation great master. I went to North Far State to find him a few times but he was very busy and I didn’t get to see him even once, so I left a jade card for him.”

“He’s a formation great master too?” Everyone was shocked by this news. Just becoming a pill king took countless time and effort. This Ye Mo not only had a unique take on pill concoction, but was also a formation great master.

Yue Qichao smiled bitterly and took out the image, “If you know that Luo Xiaomo is actually Ye Mo, I suppose you guys wouldn’t know what to say.”

The judges were all speechless.

A prodigy was fine, but please be more realistic. In North Far State, he was called Ye Mo and created the Spirit Weaving Pill. In South Peace State he was called Luo Xiaomo and also dissected the Heaven Glory Pill.

Every judge here was extremely talented, but they were defeated by this strange being called Ye Mo.

“Why did he change his name?” Ji Ling asked. Didn’t Ye Mo come here to be famous? Why did he change his name if he was already famous?

“He probably offended someone in South Peace State. Xu Qiliang and Wang Han also said that when Ye Mo saw them, he didn’t change his name. He probably changed his name later. But no matter who he offended, since he’s at the Pill City, no one can touch him,” Yue Qichao said with a cold tone.

Yue Qichao waved his hand and said, “Let’s find someone to test the pills first and decide the top 50.”

Shen Guanqing nodded and walked out of the judges stage. He looked at Ye Mo and then announced, “The tournament hasn’t ended, but a lot of genius pill masters and pill kings have surged up. The pill master who successfully decoded the Heaven Glory Pill, Luo Xiaomo, also perfectly concocted a cauldron of Heaven Glory pills. Now we invite any golden core state cultivator to come up and test the authenticity of the pill.”

With this, countless golden core state wanted to charge up and try, but he quickly chose a golden core state level six cultivator and told the rest to leave.

He chose one at level six because if the pill could let golden core state middle stage reach tertiary stage, then there was nothing to doubt about the pill.

Chapter 502: Ye Mo is Dead for Sure

Fang Zhongshi looked at Ning Qingxue and Huang Qian who seemed overjoyed and wanted to ask about it, but his master suddenly got up. He told him that they had to get back to their sect.

Judging by his master’s complexion, it wasn’t a small matter, so Fang Zhongshi got up helplessly and left with his master.

As soon as Fang Zhongshi left with his master, Ning Qingxue’s master Zheng Heyin’s face sunk. She stared coldly at Ning Qingxue. “Qingxue, I didn’t say anything as they were here, but do you know how rude your actions were? Is the Ethereal Immortal Pond such a rude sect?”

Because Ye Mo succeeded, Ning Qingxue bowed to her master and said, “Master I have a husband, yet you still want to say those words...”

“How dare you!” Zhen Heyin slammed the table. “From now on, if you dare to mention you have a husband, I will take away your power! Our Ethereal Immortal Pond doesn’t lack prodigy sect members – plus you don’t even count as a prodigy. You will agree to Fang Zhongshi no matter what.”

Ning Qingxue was dazed, her master had been very strict to her but never this unreasonable. Fang Zhongshi was a prodigy, but the Ethereal Immortal Pond was also an 8-star sect, was it necessary to suck up to them like this? They didn’t even care about the happiness of their sect member?

“What is it?” the other few elders of Ethereal Immortal Pond noticed and asked unhappily.

Ning Qingxue had calmed down and bowed to her master and the elders. “I am someone with a husband, even if you kill me now, I won’t go to the Lightning Cloud Sect. After the pill king tournament, I will leave Ethereal Immortal Pond with my husband,,,”

“Hmph..” the elders sneered and Ning Qingxue suddenly stopped talking. Blood seeped out of her mouth. Her internal organs were injured due to the sneers.

Huang Qian quickly held Ning Qingxue and looked at the elders and master in worry.

Just when Ning Qingxue’s master was going to do something, the sect leader said coldly, “We’re at the Pill City pill king tournament. If there’s anything, say it back at the sect.”

“Yes.” Zheng Heyin and the elder bowed.

The vice sect leader glanced at Ning Qingxue and suddenly said, “The sect provided you guys with the best cultivation resources and protection. When the sect needs you, I hope you don’t reject. Plus, young master Fang is an excellent person. Let’s not talk about this now, there’s no rush.”

Huang Qian breathed easy, this meant that sister Qingxue was fine. She wanted to tell the sect leader and the elder that Luo Xiaomo was Ning Qingxue’s husband, but she didn’t dare to after seeing their bleak faces.

...

Fang Zhongshi and his master quickly went back to their sect and saw a few elders and one disaster transformation state peak stage grand elder with extremely bleak faces.

“What happened?” Fang Zhongshi subconsciously asked.

“We’ve found the killer of Aofeng, but we can’t do anything to him yet...” a cauldron filling state elder said.

Fang Zhongshi immediately said, “Since we’ve found him, how come we can’t do anything? Is he a 9-star sect core disciple? Even if he is, he has to pay with his life for killing our core disciple.”

The elders had a bleak face and didn’t speak. Fang Zhongshi was even more confused. No matter who killed Tian Aofeng in the South Peace State, he had to pay with his life, even if his dad was a truth realisation state cultivator.

“The killer of Aofeng is quite possibly Luo Xiaomo. If he really is, then with city lord Yue Qichao’s character, we can’t touch him for sure,” a hollow spirit state cultivator answered.

“What?” Fang Zhongshi and his master Lei Luo almost called out at the same time.

The hollow spirit state explained, “Aofeng’s master elder Tian has gotten news that Luo Xiaomo’s real name is Ye Mo, he comes from the North Far State...”

Hearing this, Fang Zhongshi’s face went pale. He realized that Ning Qingxue wasn’t trying to talk him down before.

When he thought about how Ning Qingxue was so excited watching the tournament and even clenched her hand until it bled, he fully realized that Luo Xiaomo was Ye Mo, the man she was talking about.

Thinking that Ye Mo was this powerful and talented, Fang Zhongshi even forgot about Tian Aofeng being killed.

The elders saw Fang Zhongshi’s pale face and thought he felt sad for Tian Aofeng and comforted him.

Fang Zhongshi realized his demeanor was too abnormal and quickly asked, “How did we find out that Luo Xiaomo killed martial brother Tian Aofeng?”

The hollow spirit state continued, “The time that Ye Mo came from North Far State matched when Tian Aofeng was killed. He came from Mo Hai City, so he had to go past the Heartless Sea to get to South Peace City. He probably took a ship as we didn’t find records of him taking the teleportation formation. When he got to Mo Hai, he went out with three golden core state tertiary stage cultivators. He was golden core state at the time as well, but after he went out, there was no news of the three cultivators. They might’ve been killed by Ye Mo.”

“He’s that strong?” Fang Zhongshi subconsciously asked. This level was on par with him.

Another elder sneered, “If he wasn’t that strong, he wouldn’t be able to kill Aofeng.”

The hollow spirit state cultivator nodded, “When he boarded the ship, his name was Mo Ying. He first came to the South Peace State and didn’t know about our sect, thus he killed Tian Aofeng.”

The hollow spirit state cultivator then glanced at Ye Mo before continuing, “When he went to South Peace State, he went to Youdao magic artifact shop and bought an armor and a spirit artifact, Stealth Sand. He also awarded a female cultivator a lot of spirit stones. Then he went to the trial tablet square, but even with his power, he didn’t even leave a name. That night when we were searching for the culprit in the South Peace City, he fled, probably because of the Stealth Sand.”

Even if Ye Mo was here, he would greatly admire this person’s analysis. He wasn’t 100% correct, but 90%.

“But Ye Mo’s fame is established and it’s not easy to kill him.” Lei Luo frowned.

A grey robed elder got up and cursed. “No matter who he is, even if he’s the city lord of Pill City, I will kill him for killing Aofeng.”

He was Tian Aofeng’s master, Tian Ji.

A middle aged cultivator got up and said, “Martial brother Tian, that Ye Mo killed our core disciple. He needs to pay with his life, but as martial brother Lei said, his fame is established. It’s not easy to kill him and the Pill City isn’t something our sect can take on now. He can’t stay in Pill City forever, there will be a time when he leaves. We have people investigating his whereabouts, as soon as he leaves, we will have an opportunity to kill him.”

This was the vice sect leader, Jiang Jianou. Even Tian Ji had to hold his anger now.

After a while, a messenger flying sword landed in the middle aged man’s hand.

He opened it and sneered. “That Ye Mo is dead for sure.”

…

The middle aged man sneered. “He’s planning to set up his own city, he changed the Dual River City of Han Liang empire to Mo Yue City. He’s focusing on building it now. He will probably go back to it after the tournament. We just need to wait there or on the path to it.”

“Han Liang empire? The empire that gave the Lan Rock Fire to Green Pill Sect?” an elder asked.

The middle aged man nodded. “That’s right, because of that the Green Pill Sect gave two spots to the Truth Fall Palace to them. Ye Mo took one, but I was there when Truth Fall Palace opened. He didn’t seem to be there...”

“I understand.” The elder suddenly realized and said, “Infinity Sect’s Yuan Guannan also disappeared in there. He was probably killed and this Ye Mo is hiding from that as well. He quite possibly is the culprit – this guy’s balls are real big. I’ve never seen a cultivator this brave.”

“Infinity Sect, great, great...” Tian Ji said, clearly very happy about Ye Mo offending the Infinity Sect too.

...

That golden core state level six cultivator who ate the heaven glory pill suddenly had spirit chi form a small whirlpool around him as his power grew rapidly. Soon, the cultivator howled and got up.

It was clear he had reached golden core state level seven judging from his power and cultivation essence wave.

“Great pill, great pill....” the golden core state said happily.

Shen Guanqing nodded and walked up to the cultivator saying, “You just ate the Heaven Glory Pill and broke through. Tell everyone about your experience.”

“Yes, city lord Guanqing.” The golden core state bowed and said to the rest of the cultivators, “It’s the first time I, Yan Ping, have seen such a magical pill. I’ve never ate the Cao Huan pill, but I’m sure it’s value is no lesser than that. I’m sure that the Heaven Glory Pill has no side effects and has unique effects for strengthening spirit sense. It would take about 8 to 10 years with my talent to reach golden core state tertiary stage, but now I just need one or two months to stabilize my power level. It’s indeed a great pill.”

A pill that could reduce ten years of cultivation and have no side effects – the crowd erupted.

Shen Guanqing told that golden core state to go down and got up on the stage saying, “Everyone calm down. The effect of the pill has been proved, I don’t need to explain further. Everyone has seen it with their own eyes. Now, I will announce the top 50 contestants.”

“Solo cultivator level seven spirit pill master Luo Xiaomo, full marks for the second round as well, 200 points, rank one...”

“Luo Xiaomo...”

“Luo Xiaomo...”

Countless cultivators viewed Luo Xiaomo as their idol and motivation to press forward. Female cultivators called out Luo Xiaomo like crazy. If they had a pill master dual cultivation partner like this, they wouldn’t need to worry about cultivation at all.

There were a lot of prodigy cultivators in South Peace State, but there were more ordinary cultivators. As a solo cultivator who used soul flare to concoct pills, Ye Mo gave great inspiration to ordinary cultivators.

Countless sects and cultivators were thinking about how to contact Ye Mo after the tournament. They wanted Ye Mo to be their sect’s guest elder.

Ye Mo breathed slowly. He knew that he only succeeded about halfway now. As long as he didn’t fail the third round, even if the Lightning Cloud Sect and the Infinity sect knew he killed Tian Aofeng and Yuan Guannan, they wouldn’t be able to do anything to him for the moment.

He just needed time. With enough time, Ye Mo believed that he could trample over a 9-star sect without relying on the Pill City.

Shen Guanqing continued, “Solo cultivator level nine spirit pill master Jiu Qian, 90 points for second round, total points: 180, rank 2. Pill City level five pill king Xu Banchang, 78 points second round, total points: 155, rank 3. Level four pill king Ji Youting, 75 points second round, total points: 149.9 rank 4...”

But this time, people stopped caring much about the rest of the pill masters. Their attention was focused on Ye Mo.

Even though Ye Mo took all the attention, the top 50 pill master were very excited, as being able to get top 50 in this tournament meant not only fame but also fortune.

The name Luo Xiaomo had never been heard before, but now he got two rounds of full marks. After two rounds, he still stood as number one with dominating force. He was the center of discussion now, and his life story and past flew between big sects quickly.

...

After the second round, only 50 pill masters and pill kings remained on the stage. After the disqualified people left, Shen Guanqing continued, “We’ve already decided the top 50 pill masters up until this point. The extra two rounds we’ve added were equally as exciting. Now I hope in the third round, which is the round that people anticipate the most, our pill master and pill king contestants will bring us even more fascination.”

A heated applause sounded. Ye Mo had never seen the pill king 12 steps and he really wanted to ask the cultivators next to him, but they weren’t allowed to talk now.

Luckily, Shen Guanqing explained.

“There are many pill master and pill kings who are participating in this tournament for the first time so they don’t really know the 12 pill king steps, but you will understand once you see it.”

Then, Shen Guanqing left and Ye Mo saw Ji Ling with a few cultivators who were at least above body condensation state walk up to where Shen Guanqing stood.

Then, Ji Ling and those few cultivators kept throwing out formation flags. Ye Mo just realized that there was a formation on the stage and it was at least a level nine formation, as he wasn’t able to see it.

The audience seemed very excited as though they had great anticipation for the pill king 12 steps.

Ye Mo also had some anticipation for it. He heard that in the past pill king tournaments, they decided the top 50 in the first round. What was this 12 pill king steps?

Soon, Ye Mo knew what it was. As more formation flags were thrown out, the stage exploded and the sound grew louder and louder.

*Rumble*

A huge rock that was ten meters tall suddenly appeared. It had 12 steps. From step 1 to step 6 it was yellow, then step 7 and above had different colors. There was yellow, red, green, aqua, blue, and purple.

Each step was very wide, even if a few hundred pill masters stood on a step at the same time concocting pills, it wouldn’t seem crowded.

Looking at that, Ye Mo suddenly thought about the upgrade of rare flame. The first level of rare flame was yellow and then the color would change each time it upgraded. From low level to high level, it happened to correspond to the colors.

Ye Mo then subconsciously looked at his level seven spirit pill master badge. It was yellow. He then looked at others. He found that those below level four pill king were yellow but just had different shades of the color. The level 4 pill kings had orange badges and level 5 pill king Xu Banchang had a red badge.

Ye Mo then looked at Shen Guanqing and saw his badge was aqua.

It seemed that the difference between those above level four and those below it was huge.

Chapter 503: Pill King Step that Blocked Ye Mo

Shen Guanqing saw the 12 pill king steps were revealed and said again, “The third round will be on the 12 pill king steps. There are 12 steps and each contestant only needs to concoct a level seven spirit pill on step 1, step 2 is level eight spirit pill, and so forth. The contestant can choose what pill they would like to concoct. The harder the pill to concoct, the higher the level.”

Many contestants already knew this rule, but Ye Mo listened to it very carefully.

“But it’s not that the harder the pill you choose the higher the rank you can get. Harder pills take longer to concoct. If everyone else went up and you’re still at step 1 concocting a level seven spirit pill, you’re disqualified. Even if someone concocts a simple level eight spirit pill, they would get higher marks than you choosing the hardest level seven spirit pill to concoct. I need to remind those pill masters who haven’t competed before that 12 pill king steps is also like the trial tablet. At every step, your will and spirit sense will be rigorously tested.”

Shen Guanqing suddenly raised his voice. “So, the 12 steps test your real pill concoction capabilities as well as power, wit, and cultivation level. So you will be kicked off the step if you can’t stay on it or can’t concoct a pill. This round has begun, I wish every one of you will able to reach the top.”

Ye Mo had understood – according to Shen Guanqing’s words, if someone wanted to reach step 12, they had to concoct a heaven grade level nine pill. It seemed that even if you didn’t concoct pills, it wasn’t easy to stay on the step.

This way, it seemed he wouldn’t be able to reach the top.

Ye Mo suddenly laughed at himself. He was thinking too far ahead. If he wanted to get to step 8, he would have to successfully concoct heaven grade level five pills.

At the same time, Ye Mo knew that although Shen Guanqing said he hoped everyone would reach the top, the truth was no one would be able to. One needed to be at least a heaven grade level nine pill king, and even that wouldn’t guarantee you reaching the top.

Plus, even if someone reached the top, would the Pill City be able to take out a bunch of level nine spirit herbs for someone to concoct heaven grade level nine pills? That was impossible.

As soon as Shen Guanqing said start, all the pill master went on the steps.

Ye Mo also walked up on the faint yellow step. As soon as he got on, he felt a strong pressure trying to push him off.

Feeling this, Ye Mo’s heart sunk. He wasn’t scared of it, but since step one had such force, didn’t it mean it would just get stronger and stronger?

He was only nascent soul state level. If he wanted to resist such force while cultivating, it would be much harder than those hollow spirit state and body condensation state pill kings. This wasn’t competing in pill concoction skills, but who had the strongest cultivation essence.

In that case, it was impossible for him to get top ten with his nascent soul state level five power.

Ye Mo knew that if he failed, then what awaited him wouldn’t be the honor of the first two rounds but question and reproach.

Because those who knew the Heaven Glory Pill recipe could perfectly finish the first two rounds, but the third round tested true strength. If he failed in that, there was no way people wouldn’t doubt him.

Thinking about this, Shen Guanqing said, “Contestants, you can choose any pill name you see from your spot. ”

Many pill masters already knew this rule and before Shen Guanqing finished, they started choosing a pill to concoct.

Ye Mo didn’t choose his spirit pill. He sat on his seat and looked at the tens of level seven spirit pills.

He knew that if he didn’t solve the matter of the pressure, then no matter how fast he concocted a level seven spirit pill, it was useless. He would lose to those with greater cultivation essence later. Instead of solving that problem later, he might as well solve it now on the step with the smallest force. He had to get top 10 or even top 3 or it wouldn’t serve him any good.

A strange scene appeared. The 49 contestants were concocting pills but Ye Mo sat there dazed with locked eye brows.

“What’s he doing?” Ji Ling couldn’t help asking, but he realized all the judges had the same face.

After Ji Ling knew that Ye Mo was the formation great master he favored, he had a good impression of him as well as high expectations.

Many of the audience and sects watching Ye Mo all started discussing. This was just the first step, if he hesitated that much about concocting a level seven spirit pill, what was the point of competing?

Eventually, people started publicly doubting Ye Mo.

“I say that the reason he got full marks the first and second round is because he already knew the Heaven Glory Pill recipe. See, the third round tests your true strength and he can’t even concoct a level seven spirit pill.”

“If I know the Heaven Glory Pill recipe beforehand, I can get full marks too.”

“Hehe, this tournament is getting more and more interesting.”

...

Some pill masters already refined their spirit herb and their pill was about to form, but Ye Mo still didn’t even choose a pill.

Ning Qingxue who was overjoyed got up suddenly, she was more worried than anyone. Why didn’t Ye Mo move? At least choose the pill and start refining spirit herbs.

“Sit down, you don’t need to watch the tournament, those people up there wouldn’t care about a mere golden core state cultivator like you,” Zheng Heyin said.

Ning Qingxue’s eyes went red and she didn’t talk. Huang Qian pulled her down carefully. “Don’t worry martial sister Qingxue, this is just the beginning.”

After one hour, a few pill kings were about to step on step 2 but Ye Mo still didn’t move. Even Xin Zhida was getting restless, why didn’t Ye Mo move? Even her martial brother Hu Wen pill king was about to finish step one.

The Lightning Cloud Sect elders were watching Ye Mo and when they saw that Ye Mo couldn’t even pass the first step they were shocked.

Tian Ji snarled, “This guy must be extremely lucky to know the Heaven Glory Pill recipe beforehand and thus got full marks in the first two rounds. Now, he has nothing to show. I’m afraid his marks from before won’t count now. Even the heavens are helping me revenge.”

Tian Ji got up and said, “Sect leader Jiang, I’m going to the Infinity Sect for a bit.”

The middle aged man nodded knowing that Tian Ji wanted to tell them that Ye Mo killed Yuan Guannan. It was a very good idea to get them to help as well. Regardless of whether or not Ye Mo killed Yuan Guannan, just a suspicion was enough for a 9-star sect. If he failed the third round, then even if Ye Mo didn’t cheat, it would be thought of as cheating.

Then, even the city lord of Pill City couldn’t protect Ye Mo. Could he protect a cheating contestant?

Jing Yingli knew Ye Mo’s real power and could guess why Ye Mo didn’t do anything, but she couldn’t remind him. If she could, she would say ‘Truth Fall Palace stairway’.

Ye Mo frowned, if the pressure increased based on steps, there was no need for pill concoction competition, they could just let those pill master with higher levels go up.

…

Thinking about this, Ye Mo thought of the Truth Fall Palace stairway and how he had used purple eye soul sever to reach level seven. Could this be the same?

Ye Mo reached out with his spirit sense and found that before he even used purple eye soul sever, the pressure decreased greatly. When he took back his cultivation essence, he wasn’t pushed off either.

Ye Mo realized this was it. If he used cultivation essence to resist the pressure, he wouldn’t be able to last until step three. Cultivators needed to use spirit sense to defend against this pressure. The stronger your power, the more pressure you faced.

Ye Mo laughed at himself, he was probably the only cultivator in this round who didn’t know this. The Shen Guanqing city lord already hinted at using spirit sense, but he didn’t think of it.

Although he used spirit sense to defend against the pressure and there wasn’t much interference, there still was some left. Concentration was very important in pill concoction. Ye Mo had Three Birth Chant and wasn’t afraid of this interference but it was still better to have no interference.

So, Ye Mo tried using purple eye soul sever and the pressure was severed off. Now, the step seemed like his own pill concoction room.

Didn’t this mean that those pill masters with spirit sense cultivation methods could sever the pushing force?

Ye Mo looked up and was dazed to see that he was the only left on step one. He looked forward and saw many pill kings had reached step three.

Ye Mo didn’t dare to doze off and quickly chose Blue Wen Pill. Before he even released his soul flare and Shen Nong cauldron, the ingredients were sent before him. He checked them quickly and began concoction.

Seeing that Ye Mo finally began pill concoction, the judges breathed easy. Every time this guy would scare them. The first round when he used soul flare, people thought he gave up but he dissected the pill. This time, he only released his cauldron now and chose the rather hard pill Blue Wen Pill. What other surprise would he give people?

Ning Qingxue also relaxed upon seeing that Ye Mo finally began pill concoction.

Ye Mo had concocted countless Blue Wen pills. Even with soul flare, he finished a cauldron in less than 15 minutes.

Although when he got to step 2, there were already people on step 4, it didn’t affect him. He knew that with his purple eye soul sever, he would have a huge advantage over those who had to constantly defend against the pressure.

He wasn’t the only one on step 2, there were still a few pill masters here.

Ye Mo chose Mist Spirit Pill here, it was rather hard to concoct amongst level eight spirit pills. Before Heaven Glory Pill, Mist Spirit Pill was the best pill for golden core state cultivators to break through, the second was Blue Wen Pill.

Seeing that Ye Mo used less than 15 minutes, Wu Tan sighed. “If he had a rare flame, not something that even ranked high, he would be so much faster.”

Ji Ling looked at Lu Wuhu immediately and Lu Wuhu sipped some spirit wine before saying, “No need to look at me, I don’t have many flames left, I really don’t.”

People were speechless.

“After the tournament, I will give him a stone skin flame, it’s ranked relatively low but it’s better than no flame. I’m sure that this Luo Xiaomo, no Ye Mo, is the most genius pill master I’ve seen. The smooth flow that he concocted level seven and level eight spirit pill with soul flare is an enjoyment to watch,” Yue Qichao said.

“But why did he stay at step one for that long? He could be on step four right now.” Ji Ling shook his head and felt pity.

Yue Qichao smiled, “I don’t feel it’s a pity. He saved all the time he will be losing in the future by staying at step one for that long. I’m just not too sure yet.”

Shen Guanqing nodded in agreement.

Ye Mo didn’t stay an extra minute on step two either. He was on step three now. Although some people had reached step 5, he had caught up with the crowd now.

Many pill masters saw Ye Mo stay at step one and in such a short time, Ye Mo chased up to step 3. They were all very shocked. Even a level one pill king needed 30 minutes to concoct a level seven spirit pill.

Yet Ye Mo was level seven spirit pill master and used soul flare.

But most pill master and audience realized that Luo Xiaomo definitely wasn’t a level seven spirit pill master.

On the third step, Ye Mo chose Face Recovery Pill, it was rather hard and of high caliber.

This step’s pressure was much higher than those two levels before. Ye Mo rejoiced that he thought of a way at step one. Otherwise, he might not last at step three now. if he got kicked off here, he would become a joke.

No pill master had been swept off yet.

When Jiu Qian reached step three and saw his number one opponent was still on step one, he was disappointed and shook his head. He also suspected that Ye Mo knew the pill recipe and thus got such a good score in round one and two.

But he charged up to step four immediately. Without Ye Mo, he would be able to get number one easily.

Steps four and five were no trouble for him at all. When he reached step 6, he subconsciously looked back and saw Ye Mo on step three ready to get onto step four.

Seeing this, Jiu Qian’s heart sunk. This Luo Xiaomo probably had real capabilities.

But even so, there was no way he would be able to beat him on the 12 pill king steps. No one knew that he was actually a level six pill king, one who was about to reach level seven.

As soon as Ye Mo got onto step four, before he could even use purple eye soul sever, he was almost pushed off. When Ye Mo severed the pressure with purple eye soul sever, he sighed. This step was for level one pill kings. Those level one pill kings with weaker spirit sense would find it very hard to concoct heaven grade level one pills here.

Even those who could stay here wouldn’t choose hard heaven grade level one pills. So this 12 pill king steps wasn’t completely irrelevant to cultivation level.

Ye Mo looked at Hu Wen pill king and Qin Muxin, Hu Wen was prepared to get on step four while Qin Muxin was struggling at step three. Even if she could get to step four, she wouldn’t be able to complete a heaven grade level one pill.

Ye Mo also realized Jiu Qian’s power, this guy was on step six now. Even Xu Banchang was only at step five. If he didn’t completely beat that guy with Heaven Glory Pill, it seemed really hard he would be able to get number one in the tournament.

But Ye Mo didn’t mind, he didn’t use his full power. He had only been concocting pills with soul flare so far.

Although Ye Mo didn’t really care, Jiu Qian’s attitude of saying that he was the only one to get number one incited Ye Mo’s competitiveness. He chose to concoct the hardest Cao Huan pill at step four.

Then, Ye Mo didn’t keep using soul flare, releasing purple flower flame.

As soon as he did this, there were countless exclamations of surprise. The judges looked at each other and realized Ye Mo only now showed his real strength.

“Purple flower flame? Am I seeing this right? This Luo Xiaomo didn’t use his full strength the previous two rounds!”

“I finally realized what is absurd, this Luo Xiaomo is absurdly powerful. He had a rare flame but only took it out for heaven grade pills.”

Chapter 504: Getting An Ally

“He was the one who took it.” A nascent soul state level one cultivator from Infinity Sect clenched his fists.

“Tianya, what did he take?” a body condensation state cultivator next to him asked.

The cultivator clenched his teeth. “Master, I told you before that Luo Xiaomo was the cultivator I saw in the herb valley. When the purple flower flame came out and we were fighting over it, it disappeared at the bottom of the lake. I thought the purple frog took it but now it seems this guy took it.”

This guy was Dong Tianya. He was a genius disciple of the Infinity Sect, ranked just below Yuan Guannan. Before he reached nascent soul state, he was golden core state hall of fame number four and he was a lover of Wen Caiyi. So after Yuan Guannan died, he wasn’t sad at all, he was instead happy.

“So the flame from Luo Xiaomo is...” suddenly the master stopped talking and turned around, saluting to another cultivator. “So Lightning Cloud Sect’s brother Tian is here – how do you have the time to come to our Infinity Sect?”

Tian Ji saluted with his fists and said heavily, “The cultivator on the 12 pill king steps isn’t called Luo Xiaomo – his real name is Ye Mo.”

“Ye Mo?” Dong Tianya’s master repeated. “Why did he change his name?”

“Hehe, because he has to fear that your sect would bring him trouble,” Tian Ji sneered.

Dong Tianya’s master didn’t seem too happy. He said calmly, “For a prodigy pill master like Luo Xiaomo, we would love to invite him as a guest. Why would we cause him trouble?”

It seemed to him that Tian Ji had nefarious intentions.

Tian Ji said calmly, “Because your number one core disciple Yuan Guannan was killed by him. He used the name Ning Xiaoma and killed Yuan Guannan in the Truth Fall Palace, when he came out Abstruse Sound Sect’s Jing Yingli helped him get away...”

He just guessed that part about Jing Yingli helping Ye Mo, he wasn’t certain himself as well.

“What!” a few voices exclaimed.

Wen Caiyi also made a sound of surprise and saw Tian Ji look at her. She immediately knew her reaction was wrong and showed an angry look.

Dong Tianya’s master’s face changed a few times before saying to Tian Ji, “Why did brother Tian suddenly tell us this?”

He suspected that, as he feared, the Lightning Cloud Sect was up to some scheme. Just because Luo Xiaomo was good at pill concoction didn’t mean his fighting power was strong too. Yuan Guannan was Infinity Sect’s core disciple, and with his nascent soul state level five power, there was rarely anyone who was a match for him. Luo Xiaomo was only nascent soul state level five, how could he kill Yuan Guannan?

But when Wen Caiyi heard this, she knew that it was real. Martial brother Yuan Guannan was killed by that Luo Xiaomo or Ning Xiaoma for sure. She subconsciously looked at Ye Mo and clenched her fists.

She knew who Ye Mo was clearly, but if it wasn’t for Tian Ji, she would’ve never thought that Ye Mo had left Truth Fall Palace and made her go investigate Fu Rong and the An Bei three demons.

“Because our Tian Aofeng was also killed by this guy, he killed my disciple. I will only rest once I kill him,” Tian Ji said hideously. Clearly, his hatred for Ye Mo was to the bone.

“This matter is serious, please wait a moment.” Dong Tianya’s master left quickly.

Tian Ji knew that if Infinity Sect investigated slightly, they would believe him and he would get this ally.

...

The moment Ye Mo took out the purple flower flame, Ning Qingxue felt all the strength in her body leave. Her body was soft but she was relaxed. If Ye Mo just took out the rare flame now, it meant that he never used his true strength before.

With this, it meant that he could at least reach step five, meaning that he was at least a level two pill king.

Level two pill king – Ning Qingxue’s heart shook. She knew the value of a level two pill king after staying in South Peace State for so long. Even the Ethereal Immortal Pond only had one level one pill king, and they treated him like a valuable guest.

Ning Qingxue suddenly felt a little bitter. If Ye Mo was a level two pill king, why didn’t he come to the Ethereal Immortal Pond for her earlier? A level two pill king was enough to take her away without any resistance.

But then again, she thought that Ye Mo must have his reasons for not picking her up.

When Zheng Heyin saw Ye Mo release the purple flower fire, she seemed a little surprised but then she frowned and glanced at Ning Qingxue saying, “You guys leave first.”

“Yes master.” Ning Qingxue wanted to leave as quickly as possible. Her master gave her too much pressure.

Huang Qian quickly left too. It felt much better to stay with her master or martial sister, she could say whatever she wanted.

Before Ning Qingxue went back to where she was before, Huang Qian grabbed her wrist saying, “Sister Qingxue, your Luo Xiaomo is a pill king – don’t forget about me in the future. Remember to give me Cao Huan Pill, Hollow Meridian Pill, Essence Birth Pill...”

Ning Qingxue smiled and said, “The herbs for those pills are very precious, I will tell him if he has it.”

“I knew sister Qingxue was the nicest to me, I was about to risk my life to help you.” Huang Qian smiled.

After Ning Qingxue and Huang Qian left, Ning Qingxue’s master walked up to the elders and bowed before asking, “Martial uncle Chi, you needed me?”

Martial uncle Chi was a middle aged woman, she looked pretty and was already a body condensation state cultivator. She told Zheng Heyin to sit down before asking, “Heyin, your disciple Qingxue doesn’t have a good impression of Fang Zhongshi right?”

Zheng Heyin’s face froze and she quickly said, “Martial uncle, don’t worry. Qingxue is quite obedient usually, but she’s just been very stubborn today. I will persuade her to agree to this.”

Martial uncle Chi smiled. “You misunderstood me Heyin, I’m think that since Qingxue isn’t willing, then never mind.”

“Huh....” She was a hollow spirit state peak stage cultivator and knew some of the things of the sect. She knew a little as to why they had to have a marriage alliance with Lightning Cloud Sect, but since the elder said never mind, she wouldn’t force her disciple anymore.

Martial uncle Chi said, “You see that Luo Xiaomo right? He’s very young but so talented. With what he has done, he would be approved by city lord Yue Qichao and Shen Guanqing. He has a boundless future ahead of him.”

“What do you mean martial uncle?” Shen Heyin looked at the elder. Why did it sound like another Fang Zhongshi?

Martial uncle Chi nodded. “Our Ethereal Immortal Pond is just an 8-star sect and we don’t have any power to contest Luo Xiaomo with a 9-star sect, so if we want to be connected to him, we have no other way but beautiful female cultivators. We don’t have much else, but we do have a lot of beautiful female cultivators. Ning Qingxue is ranked third in all of South Peace State, there’s no way that Luo Xiaomo won’t be interested.”

“Just in case, bring two more beautiful disciples over to see him.”

She sighed. “If our sect wasn’t in danger, our Ethereal Immortal Pond wouldn’t resort to these means. Don’t force those disciples anymore. Try to persuade them nicely and tell them the reason we must do this.”

“Yes, martial uncle.” Zheng Heyin said. She sighed to herself, Ning Qingxue was unlucky, she was born in this age of great change. Since when did Ethereal Immortal Pond disciples have to suck up to people? It was usually the other way around.

...

Ye Mo refined spirit herbs even faster after he released the purple flower flame. And since he had concocted Cao Huan Pill a few times before, he concocted it very smoothly.

In the shocked eyes of the judges, he finished a cauldron of Cao Huan pills in just a bit over 15 minutes and continued to step five.

…

“Such fast pill concoction speed!” Ji Ling exclaimed. He wasn’t some high level pill master but he could concoct a few simple spirit pills. There were already a few people on the fourth step, but Ye Mo was the fastest. The only one who could compare with him was Jiu Qian on step six.

Shen Guanqing smiled. “His pill concoction speed never decreased. Although the difficulty increased, so did his pill concoction fire level.”

Cao Huan pill was indeed the hardest pill to concoct in the heaven grade level one pills, but it wasn’t hard for Ye Mo at all. Just when he finished with the Cao Huan pill and about to enter step five, Jiu Qian just finished his heaven grade level three pill and was ready to get on the seventh step.

On the fifth step, Ye Mo caught up with Xu Banchang and Ji Youting as well as level four pill king Qiu Niansheng and level four pill king Qing Die.

As Ye Mo arrived on step five, Xu Banchang and Ji Youting were ready to enter step six while Qing Die had just started pill concoction.

They were all shocked when they saw Ye Mo come up. Although Ye Mo recreated the Heaven Glory Pill recipe, the pill was just a spirit pill after all. But the 12 pill king steps tested real pill concoction capability, and being able to reach step five meant that Ye Mo was at least a level two pill king.

Ye Mo chose Soul Essence Pill in heaven grade level two pills. It was only medium level difficulty, but Ye Mo had cultivated many of these pills so he was fastest at them.

Seeing Jiu Qian get to step seven excited Ye Mo’s competitiveness. Jiu Qian didn’t seem much older than him and was also an solo cultivator. He not only had the Golden Page World but also the Three Birth Chant. If he still lost like that, it would be really unreasonable.

Ye Mo didn’t treat the Three Birth Chant as a cultivation method. He had some emotional attachment to it. Many of his abilities and powers were derived from it. Without the Three Birth Chant, there wouldn’t be the current him.

But even if Jiu Qian really did beat him, second place was still enough for him. He didn’t need to fight with Jiu Qian to the end.

Qing Die just finished her heaven grade level two pill and saw Ye Mo go to level six; she was even more shocked. This level seven spirit pill master was too absurdly strong. He got to step five later than her, but he finished before her.

Xu Banchang and Ji Youting only refined a few herbs and saw Ye Mo come up. They no longer had the determination to fight with Ye Mo till the end, they were also sure that Ye Mo won the first and second round with his own power.

The only thing they didn’t understand was that although the pill king steps didn’t rely on cultivation level to resist the pressure, if one’s cultivation level was low then his spirit sense was low too. As a nascent soul state level five pill king, how could Ye Mo not be affected at all?

Even though they were body condensation state, they needed to use a lot of effort to stop the pressure with spirit sense at step six.

Ye Mo was really grateful to that frog that he cut. Without that purple frog, he wouldn’t be able to stand here so easily. Even if he didn’t get swept off, he would at most stay make it to step four.

The two stopped watching Ye Mo and focused on their own pill concoction. They knew it was impossible to beat Ye Mo.

It was already quite depressing that one absurd genius came, but now there were two.

Ye Mo didn’t take notice of the other pill kings, he just watched that level nine spirit pill master Jiu Qian. He chose the heaven grade level three Blue Carrot Pill at step 6, it was a pill for nascent soul state cultivator breakthrough, so it was not only precious but also rather hard to concoct. The pill might dissolve easily, becoming a pill that just had pill shape but no effect.

Blue Carrot Pill’s main ingredient was the level six spirit herb Purple Back Blue Carrot. Ye Mo got large amounts of it in the herb garden, so this wasn’t the first time he concocted this pill. He didn’t feel any pressure when concocting it.

Ever since Ye Mo started pill concoction from step one, the judges had been watching him even more than Jiu Qian.

Shen Guanqing saw Ye Mo’s fluent and experienced spirit herb refining procedure and felt speechless. “I wonder how many times he has concocted the Blue Carrot Pill. I really don’t know where he got all those high level spirit herbs.”

Yue Qichao also shook his head. “This Ye Mo definitely has had extraordinary fortune. Otherwise, even if he has the best pill concoction heritage, he wouldn’t be able to concoct level one and level two heaven grade pill so fluently. This requires large amounts of practice. Up until now, his pill concoction rate is almost 100%. Even Xu Banchang only made 9 pills at step 5, while he had the full amount of 12.”

Qin Muxin was swept off step four of the pill king stage now, she watched Ye Mo at level six and sighed. Even her master probably underestimated this martial brother Ye.

“Pill king Qin, you know that Luo Xiaomo?” another pill king saw Qin Muxin look at Ye Mo strangely and asked. They were disqualified, so it didn’t matter if they talked.

Qin Muxin saw it was Rain Pill Sect’s level two pill king Lao Xi, so she quickly said “Martial brother Luo perfomed so well in round one and two, of course I would watch him. By the way, does martial brother Lao know him?”

Qin Muxin didn’t want to casually spill that Ye Mo was Luo Xiaomo.

Lao Xi didn’t mind and nodded. “I saw him at the Truth Fall Palace, I didn’t mind at the time. I didn’t expect him to be such a powerful pill king. The means with which he concocts heaven grade pill doesn’t seem like a solo cultivator either. With that fluent procedure, who knows how many heaven grade pills he has concocted. I really can’t imagine how an solo cultivator has that many high level spirit herbs for practice.”

Qin Muxin laughed to herself but didn’t reply. Ye Mo scammed countless high level spirit herbs in the herb plain, and he also went to the Truth Fall Palace. With Ye Mo’s character, could he only get a few spirit herbs in there?

...

At this moment, Ye Mo’s Blue Carrot Pill was finished and he pulled out 12 Blue Carrot pills as fast as he could. Ji Youting and Qiu Niansheng just began pulling their pills. Ye Mo scanned their pills, they were both Life Essence Pill, it was much easier to produce than Blue Carrot Pill.

Xu Banchang finished pill concoction the same time as Ye Mo; he concocted the Break Tiger Pill. It was slightly harder than Life Essence Pill.

Seeing Ye Mo come later and finish his heaven grade level three pill at the same time as him, Xu Banchang nodded to Ye Mo with eyes full of praise.

In his view, regardless whether Ye Mo could concoct heaven grade level four pills at step seven, he was a prodigy amongst prodigies to be able to finish heaven grade level three pills this fast. He would be pursued everywhere he went.

At the same time, Jiu Qian finished the heaven grade level four pill and saw Ye Mo and Xu Banchang come up. He didn’t go up to level eight immediately.

Jiu Qian walked up to Ye Mo and said, “You’re very good, your performance was catchy in round one and round 2, but I’m sure that you knew the pill recipe beforehand. That’s why your marks were higher than mine, so in the third round I will show you that I’m better.”

Seeing Ye Mo daze, Jiu Qian suddenly said, “Do you know how I know that you knew the pill recipe? I thought of it when I saw you use the Purple Flower flame. No one can use soul flare to refine the components of a level nine spirit pill. I can’t, you can’t, even Yue Qichao can’t.”

Xu Banchang dazed at Jiu Qian, not sure why Jiu Qian said that now.

Ye Mo was shook, he suddenly realized the huge loophole. If Jiu Qian could think of it, so could the judges.

How could he make up for it?

Seeing Jiu Qian go up to level eight, Ye Mo suddenly felt extremely unhappy. Before Jiu Qian went up, he sneered. “You broke the rules. We’re not allowed to talk in the tournament. And you did something wrong. I didn’t plan on getting first before, but now you can only be second. Sorry.”

Chapter 505: The Final Battle at Step Eight of the Pill King Steps

Ye Mo wasn’t sure if this was the first time Jiu Qian had concocted the Break Spirit Pill, but it was his first time. Although he had the Spirit Recovery pill to recover his spirit sense, he didn’t dare to be confident. This was his first time concocting a heaven grade level five pill; it was a huge challenge for him.

Ye Mo was certain he would be able to concoct it but he didn’t dare to be careless. Even so, he didn’t decide to take out the Mist Lotus Heart fire. It mattered too much. The third ranked heaven flame, if he took it out, who knows who would try to take it from him?

Luckily he had the purple eye soul sever, or else he could just admit defeat now.

Ye Mo sat down and took out the Shen Nong cauldron. His mind was focused on it and the Purple Flower fire.

He was certain that both of them could concoct the heaven grade level five pill and Jiu Qian wouldn’t stop at step eight. If he couldn’t get to step eight, he wouldn’t have said those condescending words earlier. Jiu Qian didn’t seem like someone without a brain.

So Ye Mo knew that although he could concoct heaven grade level five pills, that wasn’t enough to beat Jiu Qian. He had to be enlightened in the process of concocting the Break Spirit Pill and be able to concoct heaven grade level six pills from that.

For a level five pill king to reach level six pill king, it might take a few years or even a few decades. Some level six pill kings might never be able to reach level seven pill king for their entire lives. Even with the Three Birth Chant, Ye Mo wasn’t sure if he could break through to level six pill king right after concocting a heaven grade level five pill. However, the Three Birth Chant gave him the possibility of breaking through.

The reason he reached level four pill king was only because he helped Su Jingwen concoct a Rainbow Spirit Pill.

Ye Mo knew that even if he didn’t use this method of breaking through to level six pill king, he would become one sooner or later.

But now, he couldn’t wait.

Before, he intentionally didn’t break through to higher levels of pill king as he thought he was only a nascent soul state cultivator and didn’t need heaven grade level five or six pills, he at most needed level one or level two pills. Plus, he didn’t have spirit herbs above heaven grade level five.

Now, he realized that even if he didn’t need heaven grade level six pills, there was no harm in reaching that level.

Ye Mo forgot about everything around him. He wasn’t just concocting pills now, as he refined the spirit herbs for the break spirit pills, he analysed them again and again. Then, he used the Three Birth Chant to find the rhythm. This was similar to when he refined spirit herbs and formed the pill rapidly.

15 minutes passed, 30 minutes passed, a few hours passed. Ji Youting and Qiu Niansheng were swept off at step seven and Xu Banchang wasn’t able to concoct heaven grade level five pills at step 8, so he was swept off as well. Only Ye Mo and Jiu Qian remained on the 12 pill king steps. Ye Mo was still refining spirit herbs and didn’t yet start pill concoction.

What people didn’t expect was that after Jiu Qian finished the pill, he didn’t go to step nine and sat down with his eyes closed as though waiting for Ye Mo.

...

“What are these two doing?” Level four pill king judge Gao He looked at the two in confusion. One of them took more than a few hours to refine spirit herbs and still wasn’t finished yet, while the other sat down instead of going to step nine after finishing with step eight.

Shen Guanqing frowned, he completely couldn’t understand Ye Mo anymore. He didn’t understand that Jiu Qian either. From Jiu Qian’s speed and his challenging words to Ye Mo, he obviously took winning seriously, so why did he wait for Ye Mo?

He didn’t understand that Ye Mo even more. Before, whether it was spirit herb refining or pill formation, pill refining, and pill pulling, it all flowed smoothly and seemed very aesthetically pleasing. Speed and quality were both top notch.

Although heaven grade level five pills were much harder than heaven grade level four, but it didn’t take this long for spirit herb refining?

He glanced at Yue Qichao and saw Yue Qichao also look at him. The two clearly didn’t understand what the two contestants were doing.

It could be said that all that was happening on the stage was Ye Mo refining spirit herbs, but the audience didn’t feel bored.

There was just the two of them left and from how Jiu Qian already finished his pill, it seemed that he was better than Luo Xiaomo.

But after waiting for so long, the audience was disappointed to find that the difference between Luo Xiaomo and Jiu Qian was huge. They were expecting an exciting battle.

After another 15 minutes, Jiu Qian sneered and got up. He no longer had the interest to keep waiting. He felt he overestimated this Luo Xiaomo. If he needed this long just for a heaven grade level five pill then what would he do for heaven grade level six?

This guy wasn’t of his caliber.

Ye Mo didn’t know Jiu Qian was waiting for him. After he repeatedly simulated the Break Spirit Pill in his mind and reorganized the structure of the pill, he learned quite a lot. It was actually easier to reach from level five pill king to level six pill king than from level three pill king to level four.

After Ye Mo refined the spirit herbs and simulated them, he seemed to be suddenly enlightened and his pill concoction drastically picked up in speed. He sent pill chants into the cauldron and the refined herbs soon formed into herbal liquid with astonishing spirit chi.

Jiu Qian saw this and stopped his feet. He didn’t understand how Ye Mo was extremely slow before and now he was this fast. This wasn’t normal.

But regardless, the Break Spirit Pill formed rapidly in the cauldron. In less than 7 minutes, Ye Mo pulled the pills and 6 special grade Break Spirit Pills were pulled into a jade bottle.

The judges also didn’t understand why there was such a huge difference in timing. Usually, the ratio of time spent for spirit herb refining and pill formation was 4:6.

No one knew that while Ye Mo was concocting heaven grade level five pill, he was thinking about the way to concoct heaven grade level six pills.

Ye Mo put away the cauldron and got up but saw Jiu Qian standing on the side. He was dazed but realized that he had used up quite some time. Jiu Qian was still here meaning that he was waiting for him.

But Ye Mo didn’t think Jiu Qian waited for him out of good will.

As expected, Jiu Qian sneered again. “The speed with which you concocted Break Spirit Pill is disappointing. In order to defeat you utterly, I waited for you for almost 8 hours. Remember, the person who beat you on the 12 pill king steps is called Jiu Qian, he beat you with real power, not by cheating.”

Ye Mo said calmly, “Remember clearly too: if you really have some small capability, I will give that time back to you.”

Ye Mo was certain that he would be faster than Jiu Qian. He gained some foundation while concocting the Break Spirit Pill.

No one understood the power of the Three Birth Chant, he could even derive a heaven grade cultivation method, much less a heaven grade level six pill.

“There seems to be some fire between these two kids.” Lu Wuhu glanced at the two and smiled.

The judges smiled bitterly, how could they not tell as well? They even choosingly ignored how the two broke the rules and spoke on the stage.

When the audience saw the two pill masters jump onto step nine at the same time, their fervor erupted.

…

Ye Mo felt the pressure of step nine before he even landed. With his past experience, he severed with purple eye soul sever before he even landed and the pressure around him reduced drastically. Ye Mo severed a second time and the pressure was completely severed off.

Ye Mo didn’t know what method Jiu Qian used but he was sure Jiu Qian had similar ways. Jiu Qian also landed on the level nine pill king step and glanced back at Ye Mo saying coldly, “You’re not simple, you even have a spirit sense attack cultivation method.”

Ye Mo immediately realized that Jiu Qian used the same method. No wonder he couldn’t feel any pressure.

“Your master isn’t simple,” Ye Mo also replied coldly. He relied on the Three Birth Chant but that was his own effort, he was sure Jiu Qian was taught by someone.

Jiu Qian frowned and didn’t say anything.

Ye Mo ignored him and chose the Dew Condense Pill. This was a pill needed by body condensation state cultivators for cultivation. It had great effects for breaking through. This was only an ordinary pill amongst level six heaven grade pills.

He had decided this while he was on step 8. While concocting the Break Spirit Pill, he was simulating the concoction of the Dew Condense Pill.

Another reason was that he was afraid he might fail if he chose a very hard pill.

He didn’t know what pill Jiu Qian chose and he didn’t want to scan with his spirit sense. That would make him seem very nervous.

Although this was the first time Ye Mo concocted the Dew Condense Pill, he had simulated it for a long time using the Three Birth Chant at step eight and knew what to do. If he used the Mist Lotus Heart fire for this, he would have much greater success rate and his pills would be mostly special grade.

But even now, Ye Mo didn’t take out the Mist Lotus Heart fire. He felt he wasn’t at the edge of the cliff yet.

Seeing Ye Mo already start spirit herb refining, Jiu Qian sneered. He didn’t care as Ye Mo took that long refining herbs at step eight, now he would only take longer.

He had concocted heaven grade level six pills more than once. He was already a top level six pill king.

He wasn’t going to be scared of a pill king who had trouble concocting heaven grade level five pills.

...

Everyone stared at Ye Mo and Jiu Qian, the two brought them too many surprises. The big sects cared more about how both of them were solo cultivators.

If they were some pill kings of a sect, it wouldn’t really benefit others and they could at most cooperate with the sects the pill kings were at, but if they were solo cultivators, they might be able to pull them into their sect or at least hire them as a guest elder.

All the big sects were full of surprise and joy seeing the two get onto step nine. Regardless of whether they could concoct it or not, this pill king tournament was already worth their trip.

Plus, they would be able to ask them for free pill concoction later. This was very rewarding. Level five pill kings were able to concoct Break Spirit pills, but Jiu Qian and Ye Mo were both level six pill kings. Break Spirit Pill would be a piece of cake for them.

How many peak stage hollow spirit state cultivators were in need of Break Spirit pills? Even those top grade 9-star sects didn’t have a few Break Spirit Pills. It was a huge expense to invite a level five pill king to concoct Break Spirit pills. Even a 9-star sect wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Now, they had free pill concoction from level six pill king, how could they not be happy?

...

“He’s actually a level six pill king...” Huang Yushan and his martial uncle said dryly.

He was a hollow spirit state cultivator and asked his sect to send the 5 Color Lotus, but if Ye Mo was a level six pill king, this wouldn’t even be enough to knock on his door much less suck up to him with.

Huang Yushan’s mouth was bitter, if he knew that this Ye Mo was this powerful, he would’ve given all the spirit herbs to him.

Huang Yushang suddenly said, “Martial uncle, I think that Ye Mo seems to be very into the 5 Color Lotus. Regardless, let’s go try. Even if he doesn’t want it, it’s fine. He’s not going to slap the face of someone giving him a present. Plus, at the herb valley, I was on the losing side, he didn’t lose anything.

The hollow spirit state cultivator nodded. “That’s the only thing we can do.”

Zhen Heyin of the Ethereal Immortal Pond also had a bitter smile. Elder Chi told her to bring Ning Qingxue to see that Luo Xiaomo after the tournament. But he was a level six pill king now and she was only an ordinary hollow spirit state cultivator in an 8-star sect. she wasn’t even sure if she could get to see him.

At the same time, the Lightning Cloud Sect and Infinity Sect elders sat together with bleak faces. When the Infinity Sect learned that Ye Mo was the killer of Yuan Guannan, they already considered him dead.

But what they didn’t expect was that Ye Mo was a level six pill king. A level six pill king’s power was on par with an 8-star sect, if Ye Mo was a level seven pill king, then even a 9-star sect wouldn’t dare to touch him easily.

Someone like that would have large amounts of powerful cultivators willing to protect them for free. They could imagine that after the tournament, countless masters would be willing to follow Ye Mo to the Mo Yue City. At that time, Mo Yue City won’t be an ordinary city but a small scale Pill City.

“Even if he is a level seven pill king, I will kill him for sure,” Tian Ji said coldly.

An Infinity Sect elder nodded. “If our core disciple is indeed killed by Ye Mo, we will take his life for sure, no matter what pill king he is. But before this, I have to report this to our grand elder.”

...

The judges were discussing quietly now. To them, the victory was already decided.

“If no circumstances arise, Jiu Qian would probably get first for this round. In that case, his total points would beat Luo Xiaomo and he would get first in this pill tournament,” Zhao Shuntiang said.

Wu Tan also nodded. “Yes, Luo Xiaomo had trouble concocting Break Spirit Pill and he chose Dew Condense Pill at step nine. This pill is a level easier than the Cauldron Essence Pill Jiu Qian chose. I suspect that he might not even be able to concoct the Dew Condense Pill.”

The judges all nodded. Only Lu Wuhu who didn’t understand pill concoction smiled. “Not necessarily, this kid is very cunning. There were a few times when I thought he wasn’t going to make it, but he eventually stood on step nine of the pill king steps. If you don’t believe me you can look at what he’s doing.”

The judges subconsciously looked at Ye Mo and they all fell silent. Ye Mo was refining spirit herbs more than ten times faster than his speed at step 8. There were no pauses in his movements at all. Nearly 20 herbs were thrown in the cauldron and rapidly refined.

In less than half an hour, Ye Mo had completely refined all the pills and was beginning to cast in pill spells to form the pill liquid.

“What is this?” Even Yue Qichao didn’t understand, much less the other pill kings. No one understood why Ye Mo performed better at step nine than step eight.

Chapter 506: I’ll Give Back that Little Time to You

Ye Mo was very fast. Heaven grade level five and level six pills were all heaven grade middle grade pills. The difference in concoction wasn’t big. Under the simulation of the Three Birth Chant, he had a complete method of pill concoction. The only thing was that this was his first time concocting it.

In less than 30 minutes, Ye Mo began finishing the pill.

Under the shocked gaze of the judges, Ye Mo pulled out 6 pills from the cauldron.

“Such speed, I’m sure this isn’t his first time concocting the heaven grade level six pill!” level four pill king Gao He exclaimed.

Shen Guanqing shook his head. “No it’s probably his first time concocting heaven grade level six pills.”

“It probably is his first time, even if he has concocted it before, it won’t be much.” Yue Qichao nodded.

They were both level seven pill kings and had concocted heaven grade level six pills countless times. Ye Mo’s method seem to flow, but there were many minor parts that could be improved. The two didn’t need to look to know that the grade wasn’t very high.

But they were very sure that if Ye Mo concocted these pills another time, his grade would be much better.

As a level six pill king, he would be able to find the errors he made after he concocted pills once. Even if he couldn’t find them all, he would be able to find most of it much less a genius pill king like Ye Mo.

Ye Mo put the cauldron away and his face remained the same but he was actually very disappointed.

He simulated the pill concoction many times bu0t when he actually concocted it, he only got 3 top grade pills and 3 middle grade pills, he didn’t even get a single special grade pills.

This made Ye Mo very disappointed. Ye Mo estimated that even if he used Mist Lotus Heart fire, he wouldn’t be able to get all special grade pills as well. There would be at least half special grade pills however.

Ye Mo knew that he would yield much better results if he concocted it again but this was a tournament and he only had one chance.

Luckily, he still concocted a cauldron of heaven grade level six pills eventually. Even if he wasn’t as good as Jiu Qian, he had a chance to get to step 10.

Thinking about this, Ye Mo collected his thoughts and the cauldron. Then, he scanned Jiu Qian and sat down quietly just like Jiu Qian before.

He concocted the Dew Condense Pill very fast. Even so, he spent nearly an hour.

“Interesting.” Lu Wuhu saw Ye Mo sit down on the side as well as though waiting for Jiu Qian.

“This is really interesting.” Even good old Ji Ling could feel the competition between the two. Ye Mo didn’t seem to let Jiu Qian give him any advantage at all.

...

Jing Yingli frowned, she didn’t understand Ye Mo that well but she knew what sort of person Ye Mo was. He wasn’t someone who liked to show off, he was very good at staying subtle.

Being able to reach step seven, he already surpassed his original goal. Why did he seem to be fighting Jiu Qian to the end?

Ye Mo didn’t really care about what other people thought of him, he only cared about his own interests, so why did he fight Jiu Qian to the end? The only explanation was that Ye Mo felt he had to beat Jiu Qian.

Jing Yingli didn’t know the reason but she knew that Ye Mo had a reason. Ye Mo seemed very cunning and meticulous to her, her rested heart started to hang in the air again. She even suspected that Ye Mo might release the heaven flame in the end.

Almost all the audience thought that Jiu Qian was better than Ye Mo and said that Jiu Qian would finish first but now, it was actually Luo Xiaomo who finished first. This confused them greatly as they didn’t know which one was better.

The audience split into two groups one supporting Luo Xiaomo and one supporting Jiu Qian. The two groups argued nonstop. However, they didn’t affect Jiu Qian at all.

Yet, Ye Mo affected him. He didn’t consider Ye Mo a threat at all after step eight.

But at the ninth step, the tables suddenly turned. Luo Xiaomo, who was very slow at step eight, was this fast at step nine. He finished a heaven grade level six pill in less than an hour. Although Jiu Qian didn’t know what pill Ye Mo concocted, since Ye Mo wasn’t swept off it meant he succeeded.

Even he would need 1.5 hours to concoct heaven grade level six pills but now Ye Mo greatly surpassed him. He was waiting for him just like he did before.

Thinking about how Ye Mo said, “If you really have capability then I’ll give that time back to you,” Jiu Qian became more anxious.

He thought this Luo Xiaomo was just talking tough before, but he now realized that Ye Mo was saying he was only considered decent if he didn’t get swept off on the ninth step. Ye Mo could even give him time, but that was only if he could concoct pills at step nine.

Thinking about this Jiu Qian’s heart grew anxious and desperate. He wanted to speed up and immediately smelt a faint burning smell.

Jiu Qian was shook, he knew that the spirit herbs inside were affected by his mood.

Jiu Qian forced himself to calm down and regain his composure. He cast Ye Mo aside. He didn’t really understand how Ye Mo wasn’t affected at all when he was waiting for him but he was beginning to guess if Ye Mo intentionally took that much time at step eight to make him lose his vigilance. If that was the case, then Luo Xiaomo was too cunning.

Ye Mo would laugh if he knew what Jiu Qian was thinking. If he could fight with people while forming his golden core, how could this little thing affect his pill concoction? The Three Birth Chant was about three giving birth to everything. The outside influence was like floating clouds to him.

A seed would blossom even if it was under a rock. A powerful seed would still bloom even if fried in oil.

The Three Birth Chant was like that seed to Ye Mo. Right now, he could only resist the pressure of a rock, but when it was powerful enough, no interference would affect him no matter how big.

Due to Ye Mo’s influence, the perfectly synced herbal liquid began to burn and become unstable.

Jiu Qian forced down his anger and slowly removed the excess liquid. If it wasn’t for Ye Mo, how could he make such a low level mistake.

Normally, the formation of a pill from liquid was a basic procedure and one had to throw in pill spells and use spirit sense to mix the liquid together to form the pill.

But if the liquid was partially burnt, the herb liquid ratio wouldn’t match and one wouldn’t be able to concoct pills. The cauldron might even explode.

A weaker pill king or pill master could only let the pill go to waste.

But Jiu Qian was no ordinary pill king, there was no way he was going to admit defeat due to this.

Jiu Qian seemed to have sunk all his attention on the separation of herbal liquids. He had to separate out the burnt part and then form pills with the remaining liquid.

This was time consuming work, but he had to do it.

Two hours, four hours, even 8 hours passed, but Jiu Qian was still stuck on that part.

“What is going on?” Both the judges and audience didn’t understand this scene.

…

Seeing Luo Xiaomo take longer at step eight and Jiu Qian take longer at step nine, the audience could only conclude that one was better at concocting heaven grade level five pills and the other was better at concocting heaven grade level six pills.

But no one knew that Ye Mo actually needed to take that long while Jiu Qian took this long because of Ye Mo. Although Ye Mo didn’t do this intentionally but it affected him.

Another hour later, Jiu Qian finally removed the excess herbal liquid and rapidly started forming his pill. 8 minutes later, he finished and brought out a few Cauldron Essence pills.

Looking at the four pills he concocted, one top grade and 3 middle grade, Jiu Qian wanted to kill Ye Mo. If it wasn’t for Ye Mo, he could at least concoct 3 top grade and 3 special grade. But now, he was sure he didn’t do as well as Ye Mo despite not knowing what pill Ye Mo concocted.

Seeing Jiu Qian get up, Ye Mo got up and said before Jiu Qian could rage. “It’s been more than 8 hours, I won’t count the extra time, I’m not a stingy person.”

Jiu Qian’s eyes spewed flame as he glared at Ye Mo and said coldly, “You’re a very calculating person, you intentionally disrupted my mental state for pill concoction right? You’re intentionally disrupting the order of the tournament, you’re indeed a very calculating person.”

Ye Mo looked at the tenth step and didn’t even look at Jiu Qian. “Very well, then go report me. I will tell the judges that you waited for me for my benefit but when I waited for you I was intentionally trying to disrupt your pill concoction. You don’t need to explain to them.”

Then, Ye Mo flew up onto the tenth step.

Jiu Qian’s fury gradually disappeared, his face went icy cold. No matter who he told, they would think he was unreasonable.

He broke the rules first, whether it was talking or waiting for Ye Mo for 8 hours.

Seeing Ye Mo climb up to the tenth step, his tone became cold and confident again. “So what if you’re a level six pill king? I will let you know despair.”

Then, Jiu Qian charged up to the tenth step without hesitation. He didn’t think he would lose to Ye Mo even though he struggled at step nine, he had other cards left to play.

He didn’t intend to show his full power, but Luo Xiaomo was too good. Even if he didn’t struggle at step nine, victory wouldn’t be able to be decided at step nine. He didn’t expect Ye Mo to be a level six pill king.

After all, level six and above pill kings numbered less than 2 digits in the South Peace State. How could someone younger than him be a level six pill king and come to the pill king tournament?

...

When both Ye Mo and Jiu Qian flew to the tenth step, almost everyone got up. Even the judges couldn’t keep sitting anymore.

If they could concoct pills on the tenth step, it meant that they were level seven pill kings. There was a huge difference between level six and level seven pill king.

Level six pill king was rare but there were a few, but in the entire South Peace State, there was only the city lord and vice city lord of Pill City who were level seven pill kings excluding those in solitude. Even the pill concoction prodigy Wu Tan was stuck at level six pill king.

When the big sects realized that both Ye Mo and Jiu Qian might be level seven pill kings they couldn’t stay in their seats anymore. Level seven pill king meant that they could concoct heaven grade level seven pill Kun Filling pill. That was pill needed for body condensation states to break through to cauldron filling state. One couldn’t even see it usually. And, the pills that cauldron filling state and above needed could only be supplied by level seven and above pill king.

One knew how important a cauldron filling state cultivator was to a sect. Even the 9-star sects didn’t have a lot of cauldron filling state cultivators.

A sect with countless years of storage had a lot of good things but even with good spirit herbs and materials, they might not be able to turn them into pills and magic artifacts.

The currently known level seven pill king were the two city lords of Pill City, how high was their status? What didn’t they have? How many powerful beings were asking them for pill concoction? They also needed to cultivate, so the most they could concoct for other people was once a year.

Those who could invite them to concoct were high level powerful beings. Even 9-star sects couldn’t frequently ask them for pill concoction.

At Yue Qichao and Shen Guanqing’s level, they didn’t lack cultivation resources, they perhaps only lacked time.

That’s why the big sects were so excited when they realized the two might be level seven pill kings. They couldn’t invite the two city lords but they could invite the two solo cultivators. They weren’t old and didn’t have a high cultivation level. They needed large amounts of resources, if they slammed them with large amounts of cultivation resources, how could they not be interested?

Only once they concocted heaven grade level seven pill on the step did they prove themselves to be powerful level seven pill kings.

It was much harder to concoct pills on the pill king steps. Xu Banchang for example wasn’t able to concoct heaven grade level five pill on the steps.

“If the two can really reach level seven pill king, then it’s the great fortune of our South Peace State cultivation society.” Yue Qichao was overjoyed too. He exclaimed, if it really was Ye Mo’s first time concocting heaven grade level six pil on the ninth step and now he’s going to concoct heaven grade level seven pill on the tenth step, then Ye Mo was too absurdly talented.