Chapter 122 Alchemy Exchange
In fact, not only the others were confused. Li Yu himself was stunned for a long time when he received the reward for the second-level spirit beast competition.
He really didn't expect that Ling'er would be the one who laughed last with her strength that had just been established.
The most outstanding performance in this spiritual beast exchange was not from the Beast Taming Sect or the Tiandao Sect, but the little white tiger from Kunlun. That extraordinary competition opened the eyes of many people, and they didn't even have the heart to watch the next third-level spiritual beast competition.
Li Yu, Zhou Zixuan and Jiang Li were also surrounded by the crowd.
But others didn’t come to find Li Yu, they all came for Ling’er.
Regardless of gender, age or status, everyone wanted to touch and hug this cute and smart little white tiger. Li Yu was overwhelmed and Ling'er was obviously not used to this kind of scene, so Li Yu could only leave early with it.
In Kunlun Cave Heaven, when Wang Daoxuan received the news, he didn’t know what to say.
In this Immortal Conference, Li Yu brought him so many surprises, so many surprises one after another that he even felt numb.
This was the first time that Kunlun had made a big splash at the Immortal Dao Conference before the exchange of alchemy had even begun.
It can be said that even if Kunlun did not participate in the alchemist exchange, the current achievements alone have already surpassed the achievements of all previous years and deserve the title of one of the top ten sects in the world of immortal cultivation.
In Tiandao City, after returning to the base, Li Yu immediately took the ten Tuomai Pills that Ling'er had won.
Although Ling'er won, there was no need for Li Yu to be polite to her.
Only if he forms the elixir first, they will not be short of resources for cultivation.
He had made the right decision to come to this exchange meeting. Before the exchange of alchemy had even begun, he had already received twenty Tuomai Pills, not to mention the extra rewards that the sect had not yet fulfilled. The exchange of immortal ways took place every five years, which meant that he could come here to purchase goods once every five years...
Li Yu went to watch the subsequent exchanges on equipment refining and mechanical techniques with the purpose of broadening his horizons. Although he was only sitting in the audience, some disciples of the Tiandao Sect, Qingcheng Sect and Tianji Sect still looked as if they were facing a formidable enemy. Fortunately, Li Yu was a spectator the whole time and had no intention of participating in the competition.
In fact, Li Yu was thinking in his heart, after returning, should he study the art of refining weapons? Refining pills and refining weapons are actually very similar. He has all five spirit veins and his ability to control fire is impeccable, so refining weapons should not be too difficult for him...
The Tiandao Sect is indeed a super sect with balanced development in all aspects. Its beast taming is stronger than that of the Beast Taming Sect, its weapon refining is on par with that of the Qingcheng Sect, and even its mechanical skills are not much worse than those of the Tianji Sect. In addition, the previous competitions in formations and talismans were basically fought between the Tiandao Sect and other sects. This allowed some immortal cultivators who previously lacked knowledge of the Tiandao Sect's strength to witness the strength of this super sect for the first time.
After the exchange on mechanical arts ended, one day later, the exchange on alchemy began.
This is also Kunlun’s home court.
During Kunlun’s heyday, in three alchemy competitions, the top ten were all Kunlun disciples. It was the one and only holy land of alchemy in the world of immortal cultivation.
However, in recent years, the Tiandao Sect has produced many talented people, and Emei has also produced some excellent alchemists. Kunlun cannot form an absolute monopoly in alchemy, especially in the past two sessions. The Tiandao Sect can even compete with Kunlun in the alchemy competition.
Losing the alchemy competition actually meant no loss to the Tiandao Sect.
They were not originally famous for their alchemy.
But if Kunlun loses, the consequences will be more serious. Many independent cultivators and small and medium-sized sects will give their pills to Kunlun for refining because of Kunlun's strength and reputation in alchemy. Some cultivators with good talents who want to learn alchemy will also become his disciples for the sake of Kunlun's reputation.
If Kunlun loses to Tiandao Sect in alchemy, Kunlun's influence in alchemy will definitely decline sharply, and those that originally belonged to Kunlun will be transferred to Tiandao Sect.
Among the various arts of cultivating immortals, the others are external things, only alchemy can directly improve cultivation and thus increase lifespan. Even though Kunlun's resources are not as good as those of Tiandao Sect, some immortal cultivators with good talents are willing to become Kunlun disciples.
Compared to the Tiandao Sect, Kunlun's greatest advantage is that it has fifth-grade and even sixth-grade alchemists who can refine heaven-defying elixirs such as the Pregnancy Pill. Some geniuses in the world of immortal cultivation and many third-grade alchemists chose to stay in Kunlun precisely because of this.
After all, although the Tiandao Sect is powerful, it does not have a fifth-grade alchemist and cannot provide much help for their future practice.
But with the disappearance of those high-level alchemy materials, Kunlun also encountered the dilemma of being unable to cook without rice.
Without the materials, those high-level alchemists would not be able to create pregnancy-pregnancy pills out of thin air. In this way, Kunlun’s greatest advantage would no longer exist.
Li Yu often went to Yuxu Palace. He also heard a few words when the head master discussed things with other Nascent Soul masters. It seemed that ever since the last Nascent Soul Pill of the sect was given to Jiang Li, it had become difficult for Kunlun to recruit disciples with outstanding talents.
The resources of Tiandao Sect are ten times better than those of Kunlun. Having lost the advantage of elixirs above the fifth level, others will naturally be more willing to join Tiandao Sect.
If this situation is not changed, Kunlun's decline will only take a few hundred years.
Therefore, Kunlun attached great importance to the alchemy competition of this Immortal Conference, and vowed to win the first place in the three alchemy exchanges and let more disciples enter the top ten, so as to expand the influence of the sect and attract more talents.
The exchange of alchemy will not begin until tomorrow, and there is no other competition today. Li Yu has nothing to do, so he sits on the steps at the entrance of the hall and chats with Wu Tong.
He still likes chatting with Wu Tong, mainly because it broadens his horizons.
He could even find out gossip about the sect's ancestor Poxu, and he knew all the ancient secrets of the world of immortal cultivation like the back of his hand. There was no question of Li Yu that he could not answer.
Li Yu always gains a lot after chatting with Wu Tong.
When they came to Tiandao Sect, they chatted on the spirit boat all the way. Li Yu had a lot of questions that he hadn't asked yet. Today, they were both free, so Li Yu placed a plate of melon seeds between them and asked, "By the way, where did the remnants of the Tianyan Dynasty you mentioned last time escape to? Some secret cave?"
Wu Tong cracked a melon seed and said leisurely, "Spiritual Realm."
Li Yu asked in confusion: "How come I have never heard of Lingyuan Realm?"
Wu Tong smiled and said, "It's normal that you haven't heard of it. The Lingyuan Realm and our Xuantian Realm have not been connected for more than a thousand years. I dare say that most of the Nascent Soul ancestors don't know the existence of the Lingyuan Realm. A few of the God Transformation may still have some impression of that war. At that time, the remnants of the Tianyan Dynasty gathered the strong men of the Lingyuan Realm and wanted to make a comeback. They were beaten back by the Tiandao Sect and the righteous sects. Although we won that battle, the major sects also suffered heavy losses. Countless strong men fell, and it took hundreds of years to recover..."
Seeing that Li Yu didn't quite understand, Wu Tong explained, "In fact, our world and those secret caves are essentially the same. The only difference is the area. The larger one is called the big world, and the smaller one is called the secret cave. These worlds, big and small, are all floating in the void and are always moving. Some small worlds are connected to the big world, while some are not. Those that are already connected may be separated in the future, and those that are temporarily separated may be connected in the future. The two big worlds, Lingyuan and Xuantian, are very close to each other and run in a certain pattern in the void. Every once in a while, they will meet each other..."
Before Wu Tong told him this, Li Yu didn't even know that the big world they lived in had a name.
In addition, there is actually a Lingyuan Realm that connects with the Xuantian Realm every once in a while.
Li Yu learned from Wu Tong that, like the Xuantian Realm, the Lingyuan Realm also had indigenous people. There were cultivators in both worlds, and every time the two worlds were connected, a protracted war would break out.
The resources of the two worlds have been mined to exhaustion, and there is nothing to fight for. However, the golden elixirs, primordial infants, and even the primordial spirits of the cultivators on both sides are of great supplement to the other side, and are more convenient than taking pills. Once the two worlds meet, there will surely be a carnival of killing.
At present, the world of immortal cultivation has gone through a long period of peace.
But according to Wu Tong, there is no fixed rule for the connection between the two big worlds. Sometimes they are separated by hundreds of years, sometimes by thousands of years. Maybe they will not meet again for a thousand years, but maybe it will be tomorrow.
The strength of the Lingyuan World is not inferior to theirs at all. Once the war breaks out, no matter whether it is the righteous path, the evil path, the Buddhist demon court or the Central Dynasty, no one will be spared.
When that time really comes, let alone the Foundation Establishment Stage, even the Jindan Elders and Yuanying Patriarchs of the sect will find it difficult to remain immune. In every major battle, even the God Transformation Stage masters will fall.
This gave Li Yu a sense of crisis. It would be better for him to improve his strength as soon as possible. Otherwise, when the crisis comes, he might not even be able to protect himself.
Wu Tong looked at him in deep thought and said with a smile: "What are you worried about? Even if a war breaks out, talents like you are responsible for logistics. You can just make pills in the rear. You don't have to work as hard as the cultivators..."
"When that time comes, I'm afraid no one will be able to remain immune."
"That's true. If there are no powerful Void-Breaking experts guarding the sect, even large sects like Kunlun, Shushan, and Emei will be at risk of being destroyed."
"Tell me, where is the sect's Poxu Patriarch? He hasn't shown up for hundreds of years..."
"He must be practicing in seclusion, seeking a breakthrough. When he reaches that level, he is only one step away from becoming a celestial being. Who would be willing to return to dust after thousands of years of practice? The sect is nothing more to them than a thing outside of their body..."
…
While chatting with Wu Tong, Li Yu glanced and saw a Kunlun disciple hurriedly running past them and into the hall where several Nascent Soul masters were.
After a while, when he walked out of the hall and passed in front of them, Li Yu reached out and called him, asking, "Brother Han, you look so anxious, what happened?"
The Kunlun disciple smiled and said, "This is good news for us in Kunlun. In tomorrow's third-grade alchemist competition, the Tiandao Sect actually gave out a pregnancy pill as a reward..."
Li Yu was stunned when he heard this, the pregnancy pill is a fifth-grade pill, and no one else can make it except Kunlun. Could it be that someone in the Tiandao Sect has been promoted to a fifth-grade alchemist? Even if there is, where did they get the materials?
The Kunlun disciple said, "According to the Tiandao Sect, they got more than ten pregnancy pills from an ancient secret realm. Whoever wins first place in the third-grade alchemist competition tomorrow will get this pregnancy pill..."
Upon hearing this, Li Yu's first reaction was that after this Immortal Dao Conference, there would probably be many talented cultivators willing to join the Tiandao Sect, and some of them would even be powerful Jindan cultivators.
The elixir that can help condense the Nascent Soul and increase lifespan by 500 years has a fatal attraction to any cultivator, especially those in the late Golden Core stage.
Afterwards, he quickly thought that the Tiandao Sect might be fully confident about tomorrow's third-grade alchemist competition.
Otherwise, they wouldn't set such a valuable reward.
However, what confidence do they have to snatch the first place among third-grade alchemists from Kunlun?
You should know that more than half of the third-grade alchemists in the world of immortal cultivation are in Kunlun, and their strength is far superior to that of the alchemists in the outer sects.
The Tiandao Sect does not have the kindness to give Kunlun the pregnancy pill for free.
A dozen pregnancy pills, picked up for nothing, Li Yu felt jealous just hearing this. If he had this much luck, not only would he not have to worry about pregnancy with his own five spirit veins, but Jiang Li, Zhou Zixuan, and even Ling'er would also have a share...
Li Yu couldn't help but complain: "How come there are all kinds of good things in these ancient secret realms..."
Wu Tongdao said: "That's right. Including the Tiandao Sect, the alchemy, talisman, weapon refining, formation, and mechanical arts of all the major sects are inherited from the ancient sects. Even the name of the sect was inherited from others..."
Li Yu asked in confusion: "Since the ancient sect is so powerful, why is there no one left now?"
Wu Tong scratched his head and said, "Well, for so many years, the immortal cultivation world has not reached a conclusion. When the major sects discovered these ancient secret realms, there were no people there. Now everyone generally believes that they should have left their inheritance and moved away..."
Li Yu was stunned and asked, "Moving, where to move?"
Wu Tongdao: "Move to a place with richer spiritual energy. The spiritual energy of a world will become less and less as time goes by, and it will become increasingly difficult for cultivators to cultivate to a higher level. Just like the major sects moved to various cave secret realms, those ancient sects should have also moved to other worlds with more abundant spiritual energy, leaving only the sect's inheritance for those who are destined to come later..."
The predestined people that Wu Tong mentioned are all the major sects today, including the Tiandao Sect.
The ideas of these ancient sects are similar to those of Li Yu’s old friends who are about to die. Even if they return to the abyss and leave, they still want to leave a legacy for future generations.
I don’t know where they moved to. There are obviously other big worlds besides Xuantian and Lingyuan.
Li Yu found that the more he talked with Wu Tong, the less he knew about the world of immortal cultivation. He only had a few questions before the conversation, but after the conversation, he had more doubts...
…
Early the next morning, at this Immortal Dao Conference, in addition to the competition for the Magic Cultivator Prodigy Ranking, the most anticipated Alchemy Competition officially began.
The level of alchemy in the world of immortal cultivation is closely related to every immortal cultivator. Every exchange on alchemy will also attract the attention of many people. When the Kunlun people arrived at the competition venue, they could only choose to descend from the sky, because the competition venue was already surrounded by people.
On the competition platform, in Kunlun's area, Li Yu found many familiar faces.
In addition to Zhao Wuliang, Chen Shu, Fang Jin, Huang Yuanji and other people who participated in the alchemy competition, there were also many familiar faces in the Dharma cultivation lineage. There were Zhou Han, Chang Ze, Cai Xing and other geniuses who Li Yu was familiar with when he was refining Qi. Among the Seven Sons of Kunlun, except for Senior Sister Xu who was in seclusion, and Senior Sister Qin who did not appear, all the others were there.
Senior Sister Qin was not here, just as Li Yu had expected. She liked quietness and seldom appeared in crowded places. She only participated in the last competition for the Tianjiao List and should still be in the sect now.
However, among the remaining five people, Li Yu only knew Lu Xingzhou and Hua Yun, whom he had met once, and it was the first time he met the other three.
Although the Seven Sons of Kunlun are often talked about together, there is actually a big gap between them.
Senior Sister Qin’s talent is unique and she is one of the most talented people in the entire world of immortal cultivation.
Senior Sister Xu’s talent is not as good as hers, but she is also extremely close to the Heavenly Spiritual Vein. Her fame is not limited to Kunlun. Even if you look throughout the Tiandao Sect, you can’t find many people with better talent than her.
Apart from these two, the other five were only somewhat famous within Kunlun. Not many people knew them outside of Kunlun.
The alchemy competition is Kunlun's home court . This time, all the disciples from Kunlun who came to the Tiandao Sect, whether they were magic practitioners, formation masters, or talisman masters, came here to support their fellow disciples without any important matters.
Behind the crowd, Wu Tong held a spiritual conch in his hand and said to the conch mouth: "I am Wu Tong. This is the scene of the alchemy competition of the Immortal Dao Conference. The first-level alchemy competition is about to begin. The lineup sent by Kunlun is Chen Shu from Cuiwei Peak, Fang Jin from Baiyun Peak, and Zhang Xin from Jiuhua Peak..."
In the distant Kunlun Cave Heaven, Tongtian Peak, Tianzhu Peak, Feilai Peak..., soundproof formations were arranged on the platforms and squares of each peak. Within the formations, countless Kunlun disciples sat cross-legged, listening attentively to the sound coming from the huge spirit conch floating above their heads.
"The first-grade alchemist competition has begun. The sect's ten first-grade alchemists have entered the arena. The first round of refining is the Qi-restoring pill. No one has yet finished refining it. I will report the follow-up situation to you as soon as possible..."
A group of Kunlun disciples sat quietly in the formation. The location of the alchemy competition was in the distant Tiandao Sect. Being in Kunlun, they could also be the first to know the news from the scene.
Although the entry fee of fifty spirit coins is not low, the Immortal Conference only takes place once every five years, and some disciples who attach great importance to the honor of the sect are still willing to spend the money.
Tiandao City, the scene of the alchemy competition.
The alchemy competition was conducted one round at a time. When the first-grade alchemists were competing, Li Yu was watching in the stands.
In the first round, there were a total of two hundred people competing.
Among them, the ten major sects of the righteous path have ten people each, and it can be less than ten people, but not more than ten. The other one hundred people come from independent cultivators and some small and medium-sized sects. At every Immortal Conference, the Tiandao Sect will also give them opportunities, which also invisibly expands the influence of the Tiandao Sect among independent cultivators and small and medium-sized sects.
The people of Kunlun are not actually worried about the result of this competition. Kunlun is still in an absolute leading position in the way of alchemy. There are countless excellent first-grade alchemists, and many outstanding alchemists cannot get a place.
It can be said that the first-grade alchemist competition in Kunlun is even more intense than the first-grade alchemist exchange competition in the Immortal Conference.
In a corner of the stands, Li Yu was reading a book.
In the first-grade alchemist competition, one has to refine five furnaces of pills in succession. Among them, the Qi-recovering pill is a must for everyone. For the other four types of pills, the alchemist can choose the first-grade pill that he is good at.
This kind of rule is obviously fairer, reduces the impact of accidental factors, and makes it impossible for there to be any behind-the-scenes manipulation.
It takes almost a whole day to refine five furnaces of pills, plus the time for adjustment and rest. Jiang Li, Zhou Zixuan and the three Emei sisters could no longer stay and took Ling'er out for a walk.
Li Yu did not accompany them, but was studying the notes of the fourth-level formation master from Huashan.
The complete art of formation actually also includes talismans and refining of instruments. But just like alchemists do not have to cultivate spiritual herbs and medicines by themselves, or purify spiritual liquids by hand, refining formation plates and flags, and carving formation patterns can all be left to skilled instrument refiners and talisman masters.
With the formation plate and formation flags, you can set up the formation with your hands, but this kind of formation is fixed. A truly powerful formation can be controlled by a formation master, and it is infinitely changeable and much more powerful than a fixed formation.
In order to control the formation, one must first understand the formation. This is Li Yu's weakness. However, controlling the formation is relatively simple. With these formation notes, he will be able to catch up quickly.
The real difficulty lies in finding the center of the formation among the ever-changing formations.
This requires precise calculations and perfect control of timing. It is generally believed in the formation world that this ability depends mainly on talent, just like alchemy. Acquired efforts are important, but what is more important is the innate talent for alchemy.
Fortunately, Li Yu can skip this step. For him, breaking the formation is no different from an open-book exam.
As long as he memorizes all these high-level formations, his theoretical knowledge will reach that of a fourth-level formation master.
Seeing Li Yu absorbed in reading, several alchemists from Kunlun curiously took a look at the book. The densely packed array diagrams and formulas on the pages gave them a headache.
This also made them admire Li Yu even more.
Before the alchemy competition, he was still reading a formation book. No wonder he was able to win first place in the second- and third-level formation master competitions. He deserves it for what he has worked so hard for...
Li Yu was immersed in the ocean of knowledge and could not feel the passage of time until the Kunlun disciples around him made a commotion from time to time, affecting his reading. Only then did he shift his attention away from the formation book in his hand.
"what happened?"
"When did the Tiandao Sect's first-class alchemist become so powerful?"
"It's over, it's over. We're going to lose to the Tiandao Sect in this first-grade alchemist competition..."
Listening to the whispers of the crowd, Li Yu glanced at the huge water curtain suspended in the void, on which were the real-time rankings of the contestants. At the moment, the first place was Song Zhixuan from the Tiandao Sect.
Li Yu had seen Song Zhixuan's attainments in alchemy. He had once surpassed many first-grade alchemy geniuses in Kunlun, and he must have been promoted to the second grade long ago. It was probably because of this Immortal Conference that he had not been promoted.
Compared with the competition between second-grade and third-grade alchemists, Kunlun is not sure about winning the competition between first-grade alchemists. The difficulty of first-grade elixirs is limited, and it is not easy to widen the gap.
However, among the top ten disciples, except for one from Emei, the Tiandao Sect actually has six, while Kunlun has only three. More importantly, the top three are all disciples of the Tiandao Sect, which is very surprising.
In the crowd, a middle-aged man holding a wine jug sneered with disdain and whispered, "For such a small competition, a Spiritualization Stage cultivator personally participated. The Tiandao Sect really has no shame at all..."
