Battle Through the Heavens: Xiao Yan, I am your second master.

"Look at what you're saying. If I wanted to take it by force, I wouldn't need to waste so much time talking to you. That two-star Dou Zun puppet next to you can't stop me."

"To tell you the truth, I am a five-star Dou Zun. I doubt anyone attending this Pill Gathering has a higher cultivation level than me. If I were truly willing to lower myself, your head would already be rolling on the ground."

Tianhe Venerable crossed his arms and said that he was not only an eighth-grade alchemist, but also a Dou Zun expert. He was not one of those pampered alchemists who had plenty of strength and skills!

"Um... what does Senior want?" Xiao Li asked. A five-star Dou Zun, I can't beat him, I'm scared, don't force me to kneel down and beg for mercy.

"Not very good. I want half of this Earth Core Soul Essence. You probably want to use the Earth Core Soul Essence along with other auxiliary ingredients to refine a elixir to enhance your soul, right?"

This Earth Core Jade Mother is quite large. I'll take half, and the other half will be enough for you. Besides, I won't take it for free; I'll trade it with you, or you can ask me to help you find a medicinal herb.

"The terms are pretty good, aren't they? How about a Dou Zun powerhouse making an equal deal with you?" Venerable Tianhe stroked his beard and said.

“Alright, I have no right to refuse. Senior, I need Star Soul Ganoderma, Willow Wood Soul Marrow, and Pill Spirit Elixir,” Xiao Li said.

"Tsk, the stuff you're making isn't bad at all. Let me see your medicinal formula; perhaps there's a better way." Venerable Tianhe suddenly had another idea.

“This, senior, this is the top-secret prescription that Yin Gu gave me, this won’t do,” Xiao Li said, shaking his head.

"Hey~ no need to be so old-fashioned. I won't spread this around. Only the Pill Realm or holy lands like the Pill Realm would possess such a thing. Under normal circumstances, it's impossible to find it."

Give me the prescription, and I'll personally concoct the medicine. We'll split it in half, everyone benefits, what's wrong with that? My soul power can continue to improve, and your soul will reach the Spirit Realm. Why not?

After the Venerable Tianhe's earnest persuasion, Xiao Li was somewhat tempted but couldn't make up his mind.

"How about this, after the Pill Gathering, I will personally accompany you to see Valley Master Yin Gu and explain the situation to her. Is that alright? My reputation is quite good in the mainland." Venerable Tianhe relented.

"Alright then." Xiao Li finally relented and handed the animal skin scroll that Su Wanyin had given him to Venerable Tianhe.

Venerable Tianhe carefully studied the animal skin scroll, then said with satisfaction, "As expected of the inheritance of a great power, it is indeed extraordinary. Let's go, I will take you to collect medicinal herbs."

Xiao Li raised an eyebrow, having no choice but to follow. After all, one has to bow one's head when under someone's roof. He didn't know this Venerable Tianhe, and what if everything Venerable Tianhe did was an act? Anyway, Xiao Li would just have to listen to his arrangements for now; there was no way to resist.

Venerable Tianhe suddenly remembered: "By the way, young friend, what medicinal herbs do you need for your assessment? I'll get them for you on my way."

Xiao Li: "Gastrodia Dragon Blood Essence, Sulfur Flame Spirit Saliva."

Venerable Tianhe nodded: "Understood, I will take you there now!"

Xiao Li helplessly shrugged at the Earth Demon Puppet, which could be considered a disguised form of being carried by a Dou Zun powerhouse.

Chapter 92 Spirit Ascension Liquid, Spirit Realm

Half a day later,

Led by Venerable Tianhe, they quickly began searching for medicinal herbs in the Ten Thousand Medicines Mountain Range. Xiao Li found the herbs he needed in no time. With a Dou Zun expert leading the way, Xiao Li felt that the second level wasn't very engaging.

At this moment, Xiao Li and Venerable Tianhe were in a secluded cave.

Several medicinal herbs appeared before Venerable Tianhe: Earth Core Soul Marrow, Star Soul Lingzhi, Willow Wood Soul Marrow, Pill Spirit Elixir, and Gastrodia Jade Essence.

At this moment, Venerable Tianhe was studying the order of refining the medicinal liquid. Since the medicinal liquid had no name, Venerable Tianhe named it Spirit Ascension Liquid, a spiritual liquid that could enhance the soul.

"Alright! We can begin." Venerable Tianhe was ready. He took out his medicine cauldron, put the medicinal herbs into it, and then a white flame appeared in Venerable Tianhe's hand.

"What kind of flame is this? It's so strong. Is it a strange flame? Bone Spirit Cold Flame? It doesn't look like it." Xiao Li looked at the flame in Venerable Tianhe's hand.

"Hehe, you're ignorant, aren't you? What I have in my hand is a ninth-order beast fire called the White Crane Flame. I found it in the remains of a ninth-order white-feathered holy crane back then."

Venerable Tianhe said proudly, and then the white flame in his hand transformed into the shape of a crane, which then flew into the medicine cauldron.

Xiao Li sat beside Venerable Tianhe, observing his fire control techniques. Watching an eighth-grade alchemist refine medicinal liquid up close was quite an opportunity, as the eighth-grade technique was enough for Xiao Li to learn a lot at this moment.

Xiao Li stroked his chin. If he were to refine this medicine himself, he would fail many times and consume at least half of the medicinal materials. However, Venerable Tianhe, an eighth-grade alchemist, directly put all the medicinal materials into the cauldron.

He is truly skilled and daring. If he fails, all the medicinal materials will be destroyed. He is indeed worthy of being an eighth-grade alchemist.

That's right. Venerable Tianhe is an eighth-grade alchemist with a soul realm that has reached the peak of the early stage of the Spirit Realm. With his abilities, there is absolutely no problem for him to refine an eighth-grade pill with three-colored pill lightning. If he is lucky, four-colored pill lightning or even five-colored pill lightning is not out of the question.

However, the four-colored and five-colored pill lightning would be somewhat troublesome for Venerable Tianhe to catch.

Venerable Tianhe came to this alchemy gathering specifically for the soul cultivation technique. His soul realm had been stuck at the early stage for too long, and if he wanted to continue improving his alchemy skills, he had to break through the soul realm. Now, this medicinal liquid gave him the opportunity.

Venerable Tianhe thought that if he could refine this Spirit-Ascending Liquid and consume it, his soul power would definitely break through again. As long as he could break through to the mid-stage of the Spirit Realm, Venerable Tianhe would consider his trip to the Pill Gathering worthwhile.

As time passed, a rich fragrance wafted out. It was then that Venerable Tianhe began to gather the flames, maintaining them at a constant temperature to continue nourishing the medicinal liquid.

"Young friend, quickly get a large jade basin!" Venerable Tianhe said anxiously.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Li immediately took out a large jade basin, which he had specially bought at the alchemist trade fair to hold special medicinal liquids.

"rise!"

Venerable Tianhe extinguished the flames, then used his battle qi to lift the medicine cauldron, and poured the liquid from the cauldron into the jade basin.

At this moment, the jade basin was filled with emerald-colored liquid with an extremely rich fragrance; just a slight whiff of it was enough to make one feel extremely comfortable!

"Alright, all done. The Spirit Ascension Liquid is finished. As we agreed before, you get half and I get half. Am I being generous enough?" Venerable Heavenly Crane said with a smile.

"Senior, my admiration for you is as boundless as a surging river," Xiao Li said with a grin.

"Alright, alright, stop flattering me. By the way, this Spirit Enhancement Elixir is probably quite potent. You can't drink it all at once, or your body probably won't be able to handle the enormous medicinal power."

With a wave of his hand, Venerable Tianhe summoned several jade bowls. He then collected half of the Spirit-Boosting Liquid from the bowls before heading deep into his cave to prepare for a secluded retreat to enhance his soul power.

Xiao Li scratched his head: "This senior has a really good personality. The rest are mine. Let's pack them up first."

Xiao Li took out a jade bottle and put away the remaining half of the Spirit Enhancement Liquid. He put away a total of eight jade bottles before he finished.

Xiao Li held two jade bottles in his hand, intending to consume two doses of Spirit Ascension Liquid to elevate his soul to the Spirit Realm! Without hesitation, Xiao Li swallowed the Spirit Ascension Liquid in one gulp.

The moment the Spirit Ascension Liquid entered his body, Xiao Li felt a buzzing in his head, and the soul power between his brows suddenly swelled up as if it had been given a catalyst.

The rapid expansion caused Xiao Li to experience a sharp, throbbing pain between his eyebrows, as if his head was about to explode!

"At the pinnacle of the soul, one draws stars into the body, gathers stars to form spirits, and forges the soul by absorbing these spirits."

Xiao Li began to silently recite the incantation, and then the Yin-Yang Heart Flame within his body began to refine the Spirit Ascension Liquid.

Upon contact with the strange fire, the Spirit Ascension Liquid immediately emitted a powerful and terrifyingly strange energy, which rapidly seeped into the soul. At the same time, the strength of the soul seemed to have suddenly increased, as if it had consumed some kind of powerful tonic!

Just as Xiao Li was refining the Spirit Enhancement Liquid, spiritual energy from the surrounding space continuously flowed into Xiao Li's brow, causing his head to feel throbbing.

boom!

A strange fluctuation emanated from between Xiao Li's brows and quickly spread outwards, startling the nearby magical beasts and people.

"This is...! Someone's soul has advanced to the Spirit Realm!" an elderly alchemist said tremblingly.

Many alchemists began to flock to the source of the strange phenomenon, whether they were there to kill and plunder or to observe the powerful figures; they went there with different purposes.

However, when they were about half a mile from the cave, a golden and silver figure flashed by and killed two Dou Zong and several Dou Huang in just a few breaths.

"A puppet at the Dou Zun level!"

Seeing that there was a Dou Zun-level puppet guarding the place, many people retreated. Of course, there were also those who didn't believe in the evil spirits and insisted on rushing over, only to be met with the fists of the Earth Demon Puppet.

Xiao Li was unaware of what was happening outside; he was now completely immersed in the rich spiritual energy, experiencing a comfort that reached the very depths of his soul.

The area between Xiao Li's brows also underwent a dramatic change due to the influx of massive spiritual energy.

Time flows like water, passing quietly. In the blink of an eye, seven days have passed since Xiao Li broke through to the Spirit Realm in seclusion. During these seven days, the strange phenomena in this place have gradually dissipated.

Venerable Tianhe sat beside Xiao Li, who was sitting cross-legged. At this moment, Venerable Tianhe's eyes were even more profound, and he exuded an even more unfathomable aura.

"Is this little guy not ready yet? Hehe, an eight-star Dou Huang has reached the Spirit Realm in his soul realm. Hehe, I wonder how many old guys this will drive them crazy. They've cultivated hard their whole lives and still haven't reached the Spirit Realm, but this little guy has."

Venerable Tianhe smiled faintly. He had already reached the mid-stage of the Spirit Realm with the help of the Spirit Ascension Liquid. The breakthrough in his soul realm had also loosened the bottleneck in his battle qi.

hum-

Xiao Li opened his eyes, and a vast soul power surged forth like a monstrous wave.

"Thank you very much, senior." The first thing Xiao Li did after waking up was to thank Venerable Tianhe.

"Haha, it's alright, it's alright. You're too young, perhaps this is your first time in Zhongzhou, and you're not familiar with my reputation. You can ask around later; my reputation in Zhongzhou is quite good."

"You don't need to call me 'senior' anymore. My surname is Jiang, so just call me Elder Jiang." Venerable Tianhe waved his hand and said.

"Old Jiang."

Chapter 93 The Final Round

"Elder Jiang, how long have I been cultivating? How many days do I have left?" Xiao Li asked.

Venerable Tianhe: "There are still more than two days left, so there shouldn't be any major problems. We can go to the Ten Thousand Medicines Mountain Range for another stroll. Of course, we can also retreat now that we have collected all the medicinal herbs."

Xiao Li nodded: "Then the boy went out. Although the Pill Realm has good opportunities, my cultivation is still too shallow, so I won't go and join in the fun."

Venerable Tianhe: "Do as you please. I'll go take another stroll. But you have a Dou Zun-level puppet, what do you have to be afraid of?"

Xiao Li stood up, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and said, "Farewell, Elder Jiang. We'll meet again in our final match!"

Venerable Tianhe: "Hehe, I have high hopes for you. Give me some pressure and let me see how good your alchemy skills are."

. . . . . .

Xiao Li headed towards the exit of the Pill Realm, while Venerable Tianhe wanted to linger in the Pill Realm for a while longer.

After traveling for a long time, Xiao Li finally came into view a huge plaza built of white giant rocks, and on the plaza, he could vaguely see some figures.

Xiao Li found a spot, lay down, and waited for the second match to end.

Just as Xiao Li had settled down, a Dou Zong walked towards him, his gaze cold and his lips curled into a greedy smile.

"Boy, hand over your storage ring, and I might spare your life!"

Peng——

No sooner had this Dou Zong finished speaking than a golden and silver fist slammed into his face. This six-star Dou Zong was quite strong; he could be considered an elder in any major power in Zhongzhou, not to mention he was also an alchemist.

As a result, he was instantly killed with a single punch, his soul shattered.

"Hiss—a Dou Zun-level puppet? Isn't this the unlucky guy who was driven away by old man Huang Yan before? So he was hiding his true strength!"

"Hmm, these young people nowadays are really good at enduring hardship. That old man Huang Yan is probably in grave danger."

"Yeah yeah."

The people around weren't fools. Many people remembered the scene of Xiao Li being driven away by Huang Yan. Many people secretly mocked this audacious Dou Huang. But what happened? You're telling me that this Dou Huang had a Dou Zun-level puppet next to him?

Xiao Li sat up and shouted at the people around him, "Who else?!"

The people around immediately moved away, each sticking together and chatting amongst themselves.

Xiao Li then lay down, and with the Earth Demon Puppet protecting him, there shouldn't be any major problems.

In the center of the plaza, where the space was slightly distorted, stood an old man dressed in the robes of the Danta. On his chest was a Danta emblem, its emblem a dazzling purple-gold color.

One of the elders of the Pill Tower was also keeping an eye on Xiao Li.

'So young, yet already reached the Spirit Realm Soul stage? Plus a puppet equivalent to a two-star Dou Zun? Interesting. This Pill Gathering is getting more and more interesting.'

As time went by, more and more contestants came to this square, and most of them were not weaklings. But thinking about it, how could they not have some skills to persist in such a fiercely competitive arena as the Pill Realm?

Elder Danta slowly spoke, "The time has come. Hand over your prescriptions and the medicinal materials for your mission to me, and then leave here to participate in the final alchemy competition."

One by one, the contestants stepped forward and handed in their items. Of course, some tried to pass off inferior goods as genuine, but they were slapped to the ground by Elder Danta and lost face.

When it was Xiao Li's turn, he handed the item to the old man. The old man opened his eyes, carefully examined Xiao Li, and then nodded.

"Hmm, not bad, keep up the good work, little guy. Go on in."

Xiao Li bowed and clasped his hands in greeting to the old man before entering the spatial gate.

. . . . . .

Outside, the plaza was once again filled with clamor as the Dan Realm opened. As the contestants walked out one after another, the stone platform suspended in mid-air became the focus of the entire arena.

"Li'er, why isn't he coming out yet? I'm so worried!" Su Wanyin paced back and forth. She didn't want Xiao Li to perish inside; how could she face Wang Ming if that happened?

Mang Tianchi sat there cross-legged, but his hands were gripping his robes tightly, clearly indicating that he was also nervous.

As more contestants appeared, Xiao Li also came out. Su Wanyin breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Xiao Li, and Mang Tianchi loosened his grip on his robe.

"Hmm? This kid's soul has reached the Spirit Realm!" Mang Tianchi stood up, his face full of joy.

"Really?" Su Wanyin looked over as well, and she also noticed the difference in Xiao Li.

Xiao Li's soul power has now reached the Spirit Realm, and his perception has been greatly improved. He quickly noticed Su Wanyin and Mang Tianchi's gazes and waved his hand towards that direction.

"Hmm?" Xiao Li sensed several unfamiliar gazes again, and then looked towards the source, only to find that they were the three giants of the Pill Tower on the high platform.

On the high platform,