Reaching the pinnacle from Doupo

Chapter 591 The Beginning of the Competition, Meeting with Elder Yao

The following day, as the first rays of dawn pierced the darkness that enveloped the earth, the entire city of Saint Dan erupted in excitement…

The Gathering of Prodigies is being held today.

Although this is only the second time this gathering has been held, and it is far less historically significant than the Alchemy Gathering, the Heavenly Pride Competition is a grand event for all cultivation geniuses in Zhongzhou and the entire continent, unlike the Alchemy Gathering which is a major event for alchemists. The audience is far larger than that of the Alchemy Gathering.

Because this gathering was held by the most powerful force on the continent of Danta in the open, in the heart of the continent of Saint Dan City, and was followed by the world-renowned Dan Gathering, it was of particular significance.

There has never been a "Genius Martial Arts Tournament" of this scale in the past thousand years.

Undoubtedly, the winner of this Heavenly Pride Competition will become famous throughout the continent in a very short time. Meanwhile, the Pill Tower, in order to enhance the event's influence and to generate buzz for future Pill Tower competitions, has been heavily promoting it in recent years and has offered extremely generous prizes.

The combination of fame and fortune is an irresistible temptation for any young person whose passion hasn't cooled.

Under this immense allure, many powerful but little-known geniuses from reclusive sects were also drawn to participate in the gathering.

"Dangdang——"

At one moment, an ancient bell rang out from the top of the towering black tower, and then spread throughout the entire Holy Pill City.

The moment the bell rang, young powerhouses of different appearances but all possessing formidable auras suddenly opened their eyes in various places throughout Saint Pill City. Their eyes shone with a fierce fighting spirit, which rapidly surged amidst the ancient bell's toll!
In a room, the young man in black robes patted the heavy ruler on his back, feeling the powerful aura rising everywhere, and a burning fighting spirit surged in his chest.

"The Heavenly Pride Competition, the champion... I, Xiao Yan, will take it!"

He took a deep breath, pushed open the door, and slowly walked out into the courtyard, appearing in the sight of Mu Qingluan, Venerable Feng, Xiao Li, and the others.

"Junior Sister Mu, Uncle Feng, Eldest Brother, Second Brother..."

Looking at the few people he was close to, Xiao Yan's lips curled up slightly, a hearty smile appeared on his face, and he quickly walked up to them.

At this moment, the space behind him rippled, and Yao Lao's figure slowly emerged.

"teacher."

Upon seeing Yao Lao, Xiao Yan quickly bowed and greeted him respectfully.

The others, except for Venerable Feng, all bowed respectfully... Elder Yao's prestige in the Four Directions Pavilion was unparalleled.

"No need for formalities." Yao Lao smiled and waved his hand, then gently patted Xiao Yan's shoulder and said gently, "Little Yan, go! Show yourself without any worries, and demonstrate the results of these years on this stage that the world is watching..."

"Yes, disciple is setting off!" Xiao Yan nodded emphatically, then looked at Mu Qingluan and the others in front of him and said with a smile, "Let's go..."

After saying that, he took the lead and walked out of the courtyard.

Venerable Feng and Elder Yao exchanged a glance, with Venerable Feng giving Elder Yao a reassuring look before leading the others to follow.

"Lin Yuan, aren't you going to say something?"

After everyone left, the old doctor suddenly turned around, his gaze falling on the pavilion in the courtyard, and said calmly.

Immediately, he waved his sleeve, and a ripple spread outwards, smoothing out the subtle distortions in space. The young man, who was leaning against the stone pillar of the pavilion with his arms crossed, appeared in Yao Lao's sight. It was none other than Lin Yuan.

"Senior Yao, is it really alright to let Xiao Yan participate in the conference?" Lin Yuan asked with a meaningful smile.

"It's alright, I can still protect my disciple now."

The old doctor waved his hand and said calmly, his voice carrying a hint of composure.

He naturally understood the meaning behind the young man's words.

This Pill Gathering and the Heavenly Pride Competition have attracted a great deal of attention, including many from Canaan Academy. They might just recognize "Chen Yan" as "Xiao Yan".

After all, Xiao Yan used his real name, "Xiao Yan," when he was studying at Canaan Academy.

If Xiao Yan achieves good results in this competition, he will become truly famous throughout the Central Plains. Even if no one recognizes him during the competition, there is a good chance that they will recognize him later.

Compared to Lin Yuan, who is used to acting in secrecy, Xiao Yan needs to act in secrecy even more.

However, Yao Lao's attitude toward this matter has changed. Although he will not actively publicize it, he is not too concerned about being exposed... especially after meeting with Mang Tianchi.

He was no longer the ghost who had to evade the Soul Palace's pursuit when he first returned to Zhongzhou. Instead, he was a Dou Sheng powerhouse and the master of the Four Directions Pavilion in Zhongzhou. As long as the dispute over the Tuoshe Ancient Emperor Jade did not involve him, protecting a Xiao Clan disciple would not be difficult for him!

Seeing this, Lin Yuan didn't say anything more about the matter, but instead brought up the important matter: "I have read the letter that Senior asked Xinlan to deliver, so I came here after I came out of seclusion."

As he spoke, he walked into the pavilion, calmly sat down on one side of the stone table, and gestured "please".

"What do you mean by the transaction mentioned in your letter, senior?"

"I've acquired some things that might interest you." Seeing this, the old apothecary slowly walked to sit opposite Lin Yuan, smiled slightly, and said, "In addition, I've also obtained what you promised more than a year ago, and I'll deliver it along with it..."

After saying that, he flipped his hand, and an ancient scroll, dark red in color, appeared in his palm.

As soon as the scroll appeared, an extremely cold and eerie wave emanated from it, spreading around the scroll like a chilling sea of ​​clouds, making it appear quite magical.

"The formula for the Nine Yin Yellow Spring Elixir, here you go!" The old apothecary pondered for a moment and handed the scroll in his hand to Lin Yuan.

"The Nine Yin Yellow Spring Pill requires a main ingredient called Yellow Spring Blood Crystal, which can only be formed at the bottom of the Nine Nether Yellow Spring... Yellow Spring Blood Crystal only condenses a little bit every thousand years. If you intend to refine this pill, you'd better make contact with the Nine Nether Earthly Python Clan as soon as possible."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yuan immediately thought of the Yellow Spring Blood Crystal in his storage ring and nodded with a smile: "Thank you for the reminder, senior!"

He then glanced through the scroll briefly before putting it away.

"In the world of alchemy, there are so many strange and unusual pill formulas," Lin Yuan remarked as he accepted a cup of tea from the old alchemist.

"Take this Nine Yin Yellow Spring Pill for example. Its usage is extremely limited. I wonder which senior created this kind of pill formula and for what purpose... Tsk, it's not easy to create a ninth-grade pill formula, and the materials for this formula are so difficult to find."

"Speaking of which, senior, you seem to have a special affinity with such peculiar pill formulas, as you have quite a few of these pills in your collection."

At this point, he raised an eyebrow and looked at the old doctor with a playful expression.

In the original storyline, among the pill formulas that Yao Lao presented, there were not many pills used to enhance strength, but rather a lot of pills with all sorts of strange and unusual effects.

Especially the Blood Lotus Pill, Earth Spirit Pill, Nine Yin Yellow Spring... these pills used to subdue strange flames are practically tailor-made.

When Yao Lao heard Lin Yuan's words, he gave a wry smile, but he couldn't refute them.

What the other party said doesn't seem to be wrong!

He had collected a bunch of strange and unusual pill formulas, but now that he wanted to improve his strength at the Dou Sheng stage, he had no formulas available and needed to trade with the person in front of him.

"Cough-cough-"

Clearing his throat, the old apothecary pondered for a moment, then said seriously, "Let's get back to business. As mentioned in the letter, I have a deal I'd like to discuss with you..." With that, he conjured an unbreakable barrier of his soul power, isolating the pavilion from the outside world. Seeing this, Lin Yuan sat up straight, a hint of anticipation flashing in his eyes. "So serious! That piques my interest!"

"Hehe, kid Lin, look what this is?!"

With a mysterious smile, Yao Lao touched the Bone Flame Ring on his finger, and a transparent ball of light about a foot in size flew out and hovered between the two of them.

An extremely terrifying fluctuation of the soul emanated from the transparent ball of light.

However, upon seeing this familiar object, Lin Yuan rubbed his temples, a hint of disappointment appearing in his eyes. "Soul Origin? I thought Senior Yao was talking about something valuable, but it turns out to be this? Looks like I was just looking forward to nothing!"

This reaction left Yao Lao somewhat bewildered—this was the very essence of the soul, a supreme treasure capable of elevating one's soul realm.

"Young Lin, this is the very essence of your soul!"

Staring intently into Lin Yuan's eyes, the old doctor's voice became more serious as he solemnly reminded him.

"I still recognize the origin of the soul!" Lin Yuan waved his hand casually, his expression devoid of interest. "Let me think, senior, you must have met up with the Reverse Soul Alliance recently, right? And this thing was probably seized from a branch of the Soul Hall there, wasn't it?"

Over the past year, the Reverse Soul Alliance has taken numerous actions, destroying dozens of Soul Palace branch halls, so it's not surprising that they've obtained some soul essence.

However, in Lin Yuan's opinion, this amount was really too little!

In fact, his Nether Sea Ring contained a massive amount of soul essence, far more than the small ball in front of him, measuring half a zhang in size.

The wisp of soul essence before me is not even enough to support a breakthrough from the mid-stage to the late-stage Heavenly Realm.

And the large mass of soul essence in his storage ring could have supported his breakthrough from the late stage of the Heavenly Realm to the Great Perfection of the Heavenly Realm... It's not impossible.

Of course, whether or not one can advance depends on their individual qualifications.

As for the origin of those soul essences, they were naturally the "extra money" I earned when I went to the Northwest Continent last time!
A month ago, in that battle on the Northwest Continent, he nearly wiped out the Soul Palace's forces gathered in the Northwest, including the Dou Sheng and Dou Zun who went to provide support.

The results were enormous, and the gains were naturally enormous as well.

Among them are not only the soul essence of the Northwest Branch Hall, but also the souls of a Dou Sheng, dozens of Dou Zun, and hundreds of Dou Zong... In particular, the soul of the Dou Sheng in the mid-stage of the Hun Qing Heavenly Realm has an extremely vast soul essence extracted from it.

According to Lin Yuan's estimate, after the extraction is complete, the total amount of soul essence will be no less than the stock of the Heavenly Gang Palace.

However, Lin Yuan did not intend to use these essences of the soul for himself.

Before his cultivation reached the level of a five-star Dou Sheng, even if his soul advanced to the Great Perfection of the Heavenly Realm, his alchemy skills could not undergo a qualitative change, and he would be unable to refine a ninth-grade Xuan Dan.

As for these soul essences, Lin Yuan planned to let Zi Yan absorb them.

As the highest combat force that our side can mobilize, once Zi Yan advances to the Great Perfection of the Heavenly Realm, her only "weakness" will be completely made up, and her strength will undergo a qualitative leap. When fighting Hun Xuzi, she will truly have it easy.

However, considering the difference in soul aptitude, the soul essence that is sufficient for Lin Yuan's advancement may not necessarily enable Zi Yan to advance successfully.

Therefore, Lin Yuan is still trying to collect them, but Yao Lao's batch... is really too small!

On the other side, seeing that Lin Yuan truly didn't care about the origin of the soul, and after considering the latter's words, Yao Lao suddenly thought of a possibility, and his pupils shrank sharply.

"You did what happened in the Northwest Continent? And you killed the Soul Palace Battle Saint too?" He took a deep breath, stared straight at Lin Yuan, and asked in a deep voice, his trembling voice filled with disbelief and horror.

"It's me!" After a moment's thought, Lin Yuan nodded in confirmation of the other party's guess.

"After I broke through to the Dou Sheng realm, I returned to Canaan Academy and unexpectedly learned that the Soul Palace had started a war in the Northwest. That place... after all, it's my hometown!"

"I took some time to deal with them."

"However, this matter involves a wide range of issues, and I am still assessing its impact. Please do not divulge this information to others, senior..."

As he spoke, his voice gradually became more solemn.

After receiving Lin Yuan's affirmative answer, Yao Lao couldn't help but gasp and exclaim, "Hiss, it really is you!" His face was full of surprise.

As a fellow Dou Sheng expert, he was well aware of the difficulty of killing a Dou Sheng.

But the person in front of me had only recently broken through to the Dou Sheng realm, yet he was able to kill a powerful Dou Sheng who had been at the Dou Sheng realm for many years. This was a Dou Sheng from an imperial clan who had no shortage of trump cards and whose strength far surpassed that of ordinary Dou Shengs.

Even after switching cultivation techniques and practicing Heaven-Rank combat skills, Yao Lao didn't believe he could accomplish such a feat...

From this perspective, this young man's strength completely surpasses that of Yao Chen.

When he recovered from his surprise, what he saw was a smiling face and a pair of deep, indifferent eyes, which made Yao Lao's heart tighten.

"Do not worry!"

The old apothecary gave a wry smile and said solemnly, "I am not a gossip... I will not spread this matter..."

Deep down, he also breathed a sigh of relief.

It seems that Lin Yuan is not only powerful, but also ruthless towards the Soul Palace, making him a good ally in the future resistance against the Soul Palace.

Having received the old doctor's promise, Lin Yuan smiled slightly and said, "I naturally trust your guarantee, senior."

"Let's get back to the main topic. What does Senior want to trade for this clump of soul essence? Let me clarify first, I've acquired quite a bit of this stuff myself, so I'm not lacking in it. And the amount you've brought isn't much, so I can't offer a very high price."

"If you wish to exchange for my pill formula—the 'Divine Vein Foundation Pill' formula that can enhance the cultivation of a Dou Sheng—you are still somewhat lacking."

Upon hearing this, a bitter look flashed in the old doctor's eyes: "That's a pity!"

The Reverse Soul Alliance only discovered the souls within the six branch halls by chance when they destroyed them, and only then did they begin to collect these souls.

A portion of it was also given to Elder Xu, who was operating under the guise of "Ancient Flame Saint" in Dantana.

Now, the Soul Palace has retreated entirely to the Central Plains. The risk of seizing the soul essence of each branch is far greater than when operating in the borderlands—where there is no distance barrier, the various branches of the Soul Palace in the Central Plains can easily support each other.

Under these circumstances, these are the only soul essences he can obtain in the short term.

Judging from Lin Yuan's nonchalant attitude, it seems that exchanging these soul essences for a ninth-grade pill formula and the opportunity to refine a precious pill is not feasible.

"In that case, let's call off this deal!"

With a sigh, the old apothecary waved his hand helplessly: "Soul essence... If even that won't work, I have no other offer to sway you..."

Lin Yuan shook his head and retorted, "Senior Yao underestimates yourself! You still possess a treasure that could impress me."

As he spoke, he stared intently at the old medicine master, a glint of icy blue fire flashing in his eyes…

(End of this chapter)