CHAPTER 75: LI SHEN’S DIFFERENT STRATEGY

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The next day.

Ming Yuan Sect.

As scheduled, participants from each island hurriedly flew away from their islands to arrive at the Alchemist Hall.

This place was provided for participants of the Ming Yuan Sect Pill Tournament to refine their pills.

Li Shen flew and saw many other participants flying in the same direction. From a distance, the Alchemist Hall was clearly visible and looked magnificent, standing in the center facing the highest podium where the Ming Yuan Sect Leader stood.

Surrounding it were circular spectator podiums filled with sect visitors. They were made up of ordinary people, sect disciples, and representatives of each participant.

Everyone cheered happily to welcome the arrival of the 32 main round participants. Many of the participants waved their hands, greeting the cheers from the audience.

However, Li Shen’s attention was shifted to the front, focused on the podium where Ming Yue waved gently in his direction.

’I can’t destroy his trust in me,’ replied Li Shen.

One of the elders came and flew in front of the Alchemist Hall. He explained the rules of the main round.

Li Shen and the other participants listened from their tables. The tables were spaced far apart, giving each participant plenty of room.

"There are three important rules that you must obey and understand. First, every participant is prohibited from injuring other participants with physical attacks or cultivation techniques. Second, every participant is prohibited from visiting other participants’ tables, no matter what the reason. Third, every participant is prohibited from leaving their table without any reason," explained the man, flying while explaining the three important rules.

"Can you all hear me clearly?" the man asked, and all the participants nodded in agreement.

"Alright. I will now explain the first test of this main round."

The Elder of the Ming Yuan Sect explained the rules of the first test. The participants were allowed to go to the Ming Yuan Sect’s pill material storage room to obtain the materials they needed. The pill that had to be made in this test was a fifth-level pill.

"You only have one attempt. If you fail, you will be eliminated," the elder replied.

"You have 18 hours to perfect the pill. Use the time given wisely!" the man said firmly, his words clear and obeyed by all the tournament participants.

"Your time starts now!" the elder declared.

One by one, the tournament participants flew out of the Alchemist Hall and headed to the Ming Yuan Sect’s pill material building. The participants jostled each other, leaving five people behind in the Alchemist Hall who had not yet left.

One of them was Ji Haofei. In his opinion, the Ming Yuan Sect’s storage room was quite large and abundant, so he didn’t need to worry about running out of materials when he got there.

Li Shen turned his head; he felt the gaze of the man in the golden robe fixed on him, as if he was targeting him. Li Shen could see that his cultivation was at the Soul Formation stage with a dao concept he didn’t know.

"It seems that there are only five wise persons who didn’t join the scramble for materials. I think I should keep an eye on you guys," explained Ji Haofei.

"Young Master Ji is too modest, I’m just confused about what materials to look for," said one of the cultivators near Ji Haofei.

Li Shen’s gaze sharpened when he heard the cultivator’s words. He clearly referred to the man in the golden robe as Young Master of the Ji Family. It was certain that he had sufficient pill resources from his family.

Half an hour passed, the participants flew away leaving the pill material storage room carrying the materials they needed. They began to refine the pills.

Now, it was Li Shen and the other four cultivators’ turn to go there. Sure enough, when they arrived, they saw that many materials had been taken and used, most of which were 4th and 5th grade pill materials.

Level 4 and 5 materials were commonly used by cultivators to refine level 5 pills.

"Damn! They’ve taken the important materials for 5th level pills," Ji Haofei lamented.

"What should we do? The only materials left are 4th level and below," another cultivator replied in a panic.

But not Li Shen. He had studied every common material in this world, and his experience in pill refinement spanned thousands of years. For the issue of material shortage, Li Shen found it easy to handle.

Ji Haofei chose to take 4th and 6th grade materials, even though there was a possibility of more extreme backlash. Seeing Young Master Ji do that, the other three cultivators followed suit, but not Li Shen.

"What are you doing?" asked another cultivator, seeing Li Shen busy selecting materials at levels 2 and 3.

"Looking for similar material properties. I know what I’m going to make, so I’m trying to find materials that, when combined, will have the same properties as the original material," replied Li Shen.

"What do you mean?"

"He’s looking for low-grade materials to combine later. So the core of the combined material will have the same effect as the original material of the pill he’s going to make," Ji Haofei added.

"You’re clever, Young Master Ji. I admire your intelligence."

Ji Haofei smiled. He took his leave from Li Shen since he had obtained the material he wanted. However, Li Shen was still there, not yet finished with his material selection.

Ming Yue looked ahead; Ji Haofei and the other three cultivators had already arrived at the Alchemist’s Hall. However, she did not see Li Shen. His table was still empty with no one there. That was enough to make Ming Yue worried.

"What’s wrong, Yue’er?" asked Ming Gong.

The woman shook her head, acting overly concerned for just one person. Li Shen’s future was at stake in this first test.

Three hours passed, and as Ming Yue was overcome with anxiety, Li Shen arrived at the Alchemist Hall, which was filled with a storm of wind. Many participants were trying to refine their pills in this situation.

"It’s him," said Ming Yue. Ming Gong turned his head to the side, then looked back to see Li Shen’s arrival.

"Was he confused while he was there? He’s been there for three hours," explained Yun Zhi.

"No. You see, he’s fine," said Ming Gong.

Li Shen activated his hand formation, summoning the Azure Dragon protective technique that could shield him from any storm’s impact. The Azure Dragon, blue in color, descended from the sky, roaring loudly enough to startle many people.

The Azure Dragon hovered around the area surrounding Li Shen’s table, protecting him well. The participants applauded, as this was the first time they had seen an alchemist protect themselves with a cultivation technique.

"Wise. He used a defensive technique to protect himself and make him more focused on the pill battle," explained Ming Gong.

"You have an interesting friend, Yue’er."