Chapter 187: Pill-bloom city

" How I there not even a single trace of the four."

"The only way they could have done it is through the backup of someone who is at least at the emperor level. The other options are not viable enough."

"I suggest there could be another possible way they could have done this."

"The only other way I could visualize is through them possessing a masking artifact, which should at least be at the emperor level. That makes their background even more horrifying for us to pry in." Masking artifacts were some of the rarest kinds of treasure, and emperor grade at that was quite valuable. Even their sect didn't possess such kinds of artifacts.

"Let's assume a positive outcome. There must be an emperor-level cultivator backing the group. We just need to find them and capture the girl. We might even get lucky and get the cultivator to join the rank of elders in our sect."

"Send words to all the branches spread across the plains. If you could provide us with the image of the four people, we will put up a notice in all the branches and information guilds across the continent. Sooner or later we will get hold of these people."

The biggest loss in the situation was the frost spring which was totally dried out. Even for the four of them, it would be a difficult task to carry that out. The cultivator backing them up must be quite powerful.

"Report the situation to the sect leader. He needs to sanction this capture."

The four people exited the hall and left for the sect. It is unknown to them that this very decision would lead to a series of events that would shake the whole central plains.

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The central plain was a huge expanse of land which encapsulated a large part of the Qi continent. Needless to say, there was an uncountable number of powers within the region. The most famous ones were those who stayed at the top of their specialized trade.

Alchemy was one of the most profitable and sought after jobs. The allure of this profession was its riches and the number of resources one could obtain for cultivation. It was natural that some of the powers would be concentrated to walk the path of alchemy. Pill Valley is one of the biggest names in the sector.

It was present within the center since the beginning of its history and had managed to continue its traditions until now. It was said that 10 individuals were ancient alchemy masters. They decided to come together and form an organization called Pill Valley.

The lineage of those 10 masters further became the ten families supporting Pill Valley through the advent of time. Pill valley soon established itself as the holy ground for pill practitioners. Every year they would conduct a Pill-brew competition to test the new generation of alchemists. The top seeds of this competition would be accepted as the disciples of the pill valley.

The city was excessively crowded as of now. The event attracted hordes of alchemy enthusiasts, who would gather as soon as three months before the actual event took place. The reason behind this behavior was the open-schooling provided by the senior alchemists of the valley during the two months before the competition. Multiple stages are also established to help people test their talent and compete against each other.

The biggest hindrance for any alchemy practitioner was money. Although alchemist was a profitable profession, the cost required to practice it was also enormous. It was the reason that families throughout the central plains would decide to cultivate no more than one or two alchemy practitioners among the family.

The common man wouldn't stand a chance against the elites of the rich families, and hence most of them join as outer disciples to the valley. 

.....................…..

About 1 month before the competition-

A group of three people entered Pill-bloom city. There were no distinctive features that distinguished them from the rest of the crowd. Long Tao's objective was to not garner any attention until the pill-brew competition. The recent confrontation with an unknown power having emperor level cultivators put them on high alert.

The power backing the two siblings must be out looking for them, and hence the less attention they get, the easier it would be for them to hide their identity. 

"You should go look for a place to stay, while I am gathering some information regarding the upcoming competition." Lu Ming separated from the group and disappeared into the crowd. Long Tao and Su Menqi managed to find a lodge to stay in.

"How may I help the customer?"

"We would like to book a room for three people to stay in."

"Have sir come here to attend the Pill-brew competition?"

"One of our brothers has decided to take the exam. We are here to cheer him up."

"I wish luck to your brother. May I know what sort of lodging does sir prefer?"

"I would like to have one of your premium rooms. There shouldn't be any disturbances for the rest of the months before the competition. The meal should be delivered to the room, and we want the utmost privacy." Long Tao handed a small sachet to the receptionist. Upon opening, he was still shocked. Top grade Qi stones and there was a horde of them in the bag. It was enough to rent multiple rooms for the next month, but Long Tao gave it to him, to keep his mouth shut.

"You can be assured about your privacy, sir."

"I would like you to gather as much information as you can about the competition." Another pouch was handed to the receptionist, who gladly accepted and asked Long too to follow him.

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Crimson Lord World-

"You did manage to speed up through the torturous process. The last batch of pills refined by you is top grade, which means you can easily refine a perfect grade batch of all the other pills. The main objective of this month is going to be different from before."

"Do you know what is the most crucial requirement in entering level 4 of alchemy?"

" I guess it is soul power since that is the only thing you made me practice exclusively."

The Pill hall master of Crimson world was elated to hear the response. "You currently stand within the soul master level. The next stage is called soul grandmaster and it is also the entrance into level 4 of alchemy. Only by entering into the soul-grandmaster level, can you begin refining the pill of grade 4."

"I want you to concentrate on Heaven-pestle art as of now. Although the entry stage to the soul-grandmaster is not yet revealed, you should be able to sense it upon practicing for the remaining time."

"The last of the three avatars should concentrate on cultivating with the newly acquired Crimson fox flame. You need to master your control over it, while also improving your fire affinity. As for the elemental accupoints, practicing within the fire pool we created should be able to open multiple of those. I guess you could start cultivating with fire stones once you enter the King realm."

The Keeper interjected during this time. "I am preparing for the next phase of your training, which is to help you create the perfect law mandate. Both the elemental pools and the heaven-hell energy pool are being compressed as of now. We can't take a single misstep at this time."

The last month of training was officially on its way.