It didn’t take long for the pill battles to officially begin.
Danyun City was considered rich and imposing. It had prepared a standardized pill cauldron for each individual. Everyone had exactly the same environment and would use exactly the same medicinal herbs to refine the pills, which basically removed the majority of any outside interference.
This was also to maintain relative fairness.
Gu Zuo witnessed a venue filled with tens of thousands of pill cauldrons, which all burst with colorful red flames together. The heat radiated in all directions, and in the blink of an eye, the temperature of the entire competition field suddenly rose.
At first, the hissing noise of the herbs being dissolved only raged on within the pill cauldrons. However, there were many people here. That sound was also naturally greater, and had become so loud that it reverberated throughout the venue.
This kind of spectacle was very big, but there also wasn’t anything else worth seeing.
Gu Zuo compressed his psychic power to an extremely light weight. Then, like a layer of thin muslin, it enveloped the entire field. In a brief period of time, the scene of numerous pharmacists refining pills was taken into his mind.
After that, his mouth gaped slightly.
— Because, under the gazes of countless people, the pharmacists were too nervous. There were at least a few who failed to capture the right timing to fuse their medicinal pills. At that moment, the pill cauldrons exploded!
This was like a chain reaction. One person blew up their cauldron, then another, and another. Among the pharmacists whose mental qualities weren’t so good, a few dozen all blew up their cauldrons in succession.
Afterwards, these out-of-luck pharmacists could only dispiritedly withdraw.
They were tragically eliminated!
Soon after, when roughly a whole hour passed, this qualifying round ended.
Perhaps it was because some pharmacists wanted to do even better, but in the end, they ultimately failed to refine the pills. Except for a minority who hurriedly finished just ahead of the deadline, others were eliminated.
Next was to check the results.
Here, it needed to be said that the medicinal pill used in the qualifying round was the commonly seen Qi Generating Pill. On the whole, this was classified as a low-level pharmacist’s essential subject. On the Qingyun Continent, the ultimate number of formed Qi Generating Pills was reportedly nine pills. As such, during the qualifying rounds, if the number of refined pills was less than five, a pharmacist would be eliminated. Among these five pills, at least two had to be mid grade, or else the pharmacist would also be eliminated.
It could be said that the stipulations were comparatively harsh, but at the same time, anyone who could do this really belonged to an outstanding batch of low-level pharmacists.
At this time, the guards of the City Lord’s Mansion concluded the round. An individual, who was in charge of several dozen others, soon summarized the achievements. After that, more than half were eliminated, leaving only three thousand people.
Yet, the number of people was still too many.
In that case, there would be a second qualifying round.
Gu Zuo discovered that the three thousand people didn’t leave. Instead, they switched to refining the Rejuvenation Pill.
The Rejuvenation Pill was similarly classified as a commonly seen medicinal pill. Although it couldn’t compare to the widespread usage of the Qi Generating Pill, it was also a pill that Houtian martial artists couldn’t do without — It could be said that without the Rejuvenation Pill, the mortality rate of Houtian martial artists would have multiplied many times over. As far as pharmacists were concerned, the branch of techniques for the Rejuvenation Pill was also one they needed to grasp.
What this qualifying round required was, from a cauldron of nine medicinal pills, refining five pills where two were mid grade. The Rejuvenation Pill’s degree of difficulty in refining was a bit higher, so there was another elimination of one thousand eight hundred people.
One thousand two hundred still remained.
Gu Zuo: “…”
Ah, there were still so many people.
So to say, he just didn’t understand. There would be an additional third qualifying round, right?
This time around, it had become two types of medicinal pills being refined in succession. From their comprehensive achievements, the top two hundred places would be selected as the candidates who’d enter the finals!
The time for each round was one hour. If it was the previous two qualifying rounds, where one round had one pill, there was ample time. In this way, the third qualifying round was different for having two medicinal pills with a total of half an hour. If one wasn’t a proficient worker and didn’t have excellent skills, it would be impossible to finish refining them!
Due to anxiety, the pharmacists who previously relied on their proficiency, but whose techniques weren’t strong enough, all started to blow up their cauldrons.
Banging sounds occurred again and again. The more nervous one was, the easier it became to make mistakes. In a short period of time, there were already three or four hundred people who had already exploded their cauldrons.
Among the remaining people, there were many who were drenched with sweat, many who were cautiously refining, and many…who had cards up their sleeves. Time quickly slipped by, and the results were out.
After the final results were announced, Gu Zuo found that every pharmacist who entered the top two hundred was capable of refining a high grade medicinal pill. This was enough to prove that pharmacists from all corners of the world had flocked to the Pill Batting Assembly. This was even greater proof of Danyun City’s foundations! In addition, the number of outstanding low-level pharmacists on this continent really wasn’t small.
Reaching this point, Gu Zuo then asked Xu Lingxiu: “Senior Sect Brother Xu, didn’t you say that anyone who participated in a round of pill battles would get a reward? Would those pharmacists who failed in the qualifiers also receive rewards?”
Xu Lingxiu’s brows faintly furrowed: “You still don’t know even now?” But he didn’t refuse to explain. Rather, he said, “Danyun City has the Myriad Medicine Tower. It has a monopoly on all types of medicinal herbs, and holds many precious and rare things. Only, the medicinal herbs are limited, and not everyone can casually purchase them. Thus, that Myriad Medicine Tower has limited purchasing slips.”
Gu Zuo was puzzled: “Danyun City only has that Myriad Medicine Tower to sell medicinal herbs?”
Xu Lingxiu stared blankly: “Of course not.” He continued, “There are medicine streets all over the city, and there are countless medicinal herbs on those streets. It’s just that those places test your eyesight when buying herbs. Also, you might not necessarily find enough good ones. The Myriad Medicine Tower has the City Lord’s Mansion’s seal of approval. The medicinal herbs within the tower are all the real-deal, and the product grades are usually pretty good. Also, its comprehensive variety is far superior to the various streets outside, and the stock of medicinal herbs is extremely bountiful. Therefore, everyone fights over the rights to make purchases in that Myriad Medicine Tower.”
Gu Zuo understood.
Simply put, everything outside was just grocery stores, and the source of the goods wasn’t necessarily reliable. However, the Myriad Medicine Tower was classified as an officially approved store. It could be rated as a large supermarket for medicinal herbs with all kinds of guarantees.
When one thought about it, medicinal herbs really weren’t like other things. Ones with a guarantee were naturally more trustworthy. If it was Gu Zuo, he’d also be willing to spend a bit more time to go to the Myriad Medicine Tower to purchase herbs.
Soon after, Xu Lingxiu gave Gu Zuo a detailed explanation about the previously mentioned limited purchasing slips.
Basically, this thing was considered a complementary item as well as a certificate to pass through the Myriad Medicine Tower. Overall, it was divided into four types: Iron slips, copper slips, silver slips, and gold slips. The range of application was from low-level pharmacist to high-level pharmacist.
Generally speaking, low-level pharmacists usually could only obtain iron and copper slips, mid-level pharmacists would generally get copper and silver slips, and high-level pharmacists would get silver and gold slips. As for the specific type of permit slip one was able to obtain, that depended on the number of permit slips the City Lord’s Mansion issued as well as the pharmacist’s own strength.
And how would a pharmacist prove their own strength?
It was, of course, at the Pill Battling Assembly.
Gu Zuo understood at last. The City Lord’s Mansion of Danyun City really was good at making gimmicks. This entire time, not only did it raise up its own branding, it also attracted pharmacists from all over. It promoted sales and people’s vanity, increasing their face. Ah, it was indeed a profiteer.
But even if many could understand the inner workings at a glance, the conveniences it brought about still made them happy to comply.
As a result, during the Pill Battling Assembly, the rewards for the three qualifying rounds were as follows:
Those who won the first round could receive an iron limited purchasing slip. The iron slip allowed a pharmacist to receive one herb as well as the privilege to buy ten herbs on the first floor. Those who won the second round got two iron slips, which equated to double the rewards. Those who won the third round received five slips, so the rewards were multiplied by five.
In other words, the top two hundred among those low-level pharmacists could all obtain five stalks of medicinal herbs and the privilege to purchase fifty herbs. So long as they had money, there were no restrictions on the amount they bought — Even if they came from identical powers, the rewards would also be layered on top of one another!
The Pill Battling Assembly was so user-friendly!
These were the real benefits which made those many powers willing to send their pharmacists over — To seek fame and store up medicinal herbs.
Gu Zuo thought about it: “These iron slips are…provisional?”
They wouldn’t go so far as to give a medicinal herb every time one went, right?
Xu Lingxiu harrumphed: “One can only get a cost-free medicinal herb once. However, all the iron limited purchasing slips still belong to the victors. With these slips, one can go to the Myriad Medicine Tower once a month. Every time, one may only purchase up to ten herbs. Any surplus iron slips can be given to others. The Myriad Medicine Tower recognizes the permit slips, but not the people themselves.”
Gu Zuo then asked: “In that case, how can the iron slip be obtained normally?”
Xu Lingxiu said: “Maybe someone else could give it as a present. Maybe someone could use golden banknotes to buy it — But while it has value, there’s no market for it. Maybe one could challenge the checkpoints of that Myriad Medicine Tower, but it’s annoyingly strict.”
So it was like this… Gu Zuo suddenly understood.
Compared to all that, with the opportunity of the Pill Battling Assembly, one only needed to pass through a qualifying round to obtain it. It really was much more convenient than those other methods. Not to mention, there were free medicinal herbs. It wasn’t surprising.
As for the qualifying round for the mid-level pharmacists, two hundred people would similarly be selected. What those people would obtain were copper limited purchasing slips. Because the number of high-level pharmacists was low, there weren’t any qualifying rounds. However, every time they won, what they could obtain were silver limited purchasing slips.
In order for this Pill Battling Assembly to attract even more pharmacists to participate, it could be said that the City Lord’s Mansion of Danyun City had grand designs. Ultimately, the medicinal herbs it gave out were but a drop in the ocean. In the end, regardless of how many permit slips were given out, those permit slips would all transform into the Myriad Medicine Tower’s business turnover.
No matter how one looked at it, there were no losses at all!
Gu Zuo couldn’t help giving a thumbs-up in his mind.
…He still had to praise this “profiteer” again to express the feelings of admiration in his heart.
Anyway, back to the Pill Battling Assembly’s competition.
After the top two hundred low-level pharmacists were decided, things were temporarily put on hold for today. Next was the qualifying round for the mid-level pharmacists. With regards to the number of people who came, there were seven to eight thousand, so three qualifying rounds were needed.
At this time, the medicinal pills that needed to be refined were the Qi Linking Pill and the Revitalization Pill. There were basically no differences in the elimination methods with the ones for the low-level pharmacists. Moreover, in order to test the mid-level pharmacists’ capabilities, each of the qualifying rounds were limited to one hour.
After the three rounds passed, the ones chosen were still the top two hundred.
When it was time for the high-level pharmacists to take the stage, the number of people suddenly decreased by a lot.
Compared to the previous seven to eight thousand, there only remained a little more than one thousand people now.
Although it was like this, it still elicited cries of alarm from many people.
One needed to know that while the number of high-level pharmacists among the great powers were many, it was considered pretty good for many small powers to have a single high-level pharmacist. Where could they witness so many high-level pharmacists gathered in one place?
Overall, it was very eye-catching.
But what Gu Zuo didn’t understand was if these high-level pharmacists were overconfident in their own identities. They were refining in such a public area with so many people. If they lost, wouldn’t they have felt like they’d lost a bit of face…
Gu Zuo’s misgivings made Xu Lingxiu give out a cold laugh.
He scoffed and said: “Junior Sect Brother Gu, how many of these so-called high-level pharmacists do you think have any genuine skill? Among some of them, in their lifetime, they’re only able to refine one or two types of medicinal pills suitable for Immortal Realm martial artists. Regarding pills that are suitable for Xiantian martial artists, they can’t be compared to you and me… Danyun City not giving them a qualifying round is already showing face to these high-level pharmacists.
He continued: “However, there really are a few talented high-level pharmacists. The great majority have long become valued guests of the City Lord’s Mansion. Just like our Qingyun Sect’s Senior Sect Brother Li, they basically don’t have to participate in the up-coming competition. Rather, they’ll directly enter the finals.”
Gu Zuo heard this, and looked again at those high-level pharmacists, who’d just started refining pills.
It seemed like… Oh.
He also discovered that, during this round, the pills that the high-level pharmacists refined weren’t set by the Pill Battling Assembly. Instead, the ones they chose…were the pills they were good at.
Thinking about what Xu Lingxiu had just said, his expression became a little subtle.
T/N: Thanks for the corrections, Charysa.
Please don’t forget to support the original author.