Chapter 125: Cross-level attack
At the Immortal Dao Conference, the third-grade alchemist competition took place.
A Yuanying ancestor of Kunlun looked at Li Yu and said in disbelief: "You want to participate in the third-grade alchemist competition. Can you refine a third-grade pill?"
Li Yu shrugged and said, "I haven't practiced it, but I have read the recipe and the notes of the third-grade alchemist."
In alchemy, practice is more important than theory. What's more, Li Yu's cultivation is only at the foundation-building stage, which is far from meeting the requirements for refining third-level pills.
He looked at Li Yu and asked, "But your magic power..."
Li Yu stretched out his hand, and a ball of purple flame appeared in his palm. He looked at the Yuanying Patriarch and said, "Senior Zhao from Emei lent me this spiritual fire. There should be no problem with the Dan fire."
"But you just refined three furnaces of second-level pills. Your body..."
"Please, let me try."
The Yuanying Patriarch looked into Li Yu's eyes and saw that he was extremely determined. He finally said, "Okay, but you should do it within your ability and don't try to be stubborn."
Kunlun has ten places for each level of third-grade alchemist competition. Now that five people have temporarily withdrawn, there are five places left. Anyone below the fourth-grade alchemist can take part.
The Kunlun disciples looked at the figure who walked resolutely towards the competition venue with only admiration in their hearts.
He was only a second-grade alchemist, but when facing these third-grade alchemists, he stood up resolutely.
And he had just gone through an extremely mentally exhausting competition.
Compared with those third-grade alchemists who betrayed the sect, the slightly thin figure now appeared incomparably tall.
At this time, the immortal cultivators who were watching in the stands also noticed the figure and began to express their doubts.
"Isn't that Li Yu?"
"A third-rank alchemist competition, what is he doing here?"
"It's useless for him to go up there. Can he refine a third-level elixir?"
Even cultivators who are unfamiliar with alchemy know that it is impossible to refine third-grade elixirs without the cultivation of the Golden Core Stage. Although Li Yu has a high talent for alchemy, it is impossible for him to break this rule.
The mana fire of the foundation-building period is not refined and condensed enough to fuse the materials of the third-level elixir.
However, when Li Yu finished selecting the materials, purified the spiritual liquid, and began to refine the elixir, the people who had been paying attention to him were surprised and asked: "Hey, why is his mana fire purple?"
The magic fire of the righteous disciples should be red, and almost everyone saw the purple flame for the first time.
An alchemist in the crowd explained, "That's not the fire of mana. If I remember correctly, it should be the true fire of Ziwei, an extremely rare fire spirit. Currently, in the world of immortal cultivation, only a fourth-grade alchemist in the Emei Sect possesses it. Ancient books record that immortal cultivators in ancient times could use this fire spirit to make up for the lack of mana and refine pills of higher levels, but that requires extremely high talent and attainments in alchemy, and the grade of the pills refined will not be high..."
After some alchemists explained, everyone finally understood that Li Yu was challenging these third-grade alchemists by crossing levels.
Regardless of whether he succeeds or not, his courage has already moved many people.
The Yuanying ancestors and Jindan elders of various major sects looked at the figure on the water curtain who was seriously refining the elixir, and felt extremely envious.
Why doesn't their sect have such disciples?
Even the elder of the Tiandao Sect who was in the late Nascent Soul stage had a serious expression and murmured, "It would be great if he were a disciple of my Tiandao Sect..."
Kunlun Cave.
The soundproofing formations on each peak have been removed, and all Kunlun disciples can be the first to know the news of the Immortal Conference.
They had learned from Wu Tong that five third-grade alchemists in Kunlun had betrayed their sect and joined the Tiandao Sect before the competition. They also knew that Li Yu, who had just finished the second-grade alchemist competition, had not rested and jumped to the third-grade alchemist competition...
He never backed down at such critical moments.
In Yuxu Palace, many Nascent Soul masters were also keeping a close eye on the situation thousands of miles away.
Inside the main hall, a spiritual conch was suspended in the air, and Wu Tong's voice came from it: "It's started, it's started, Li Yu has already started refining..."
…
At the third-grade alchemist competition, Li Yu completely surrendered his body to the alchemy furnace inside his body and found it easier than refining second-grade pills.
He didn't need to provide mana, nor did he have to be distracted by refining the elixir, so he naturally felt extremely relaxed.
This competition requires the refining of three kinds of elixirs, namely the third-level Recovery Pill, the Foundation Establishment Pill and the Vessel Extension Pill. Although Li Yu has never refined them before, he is already familiar with the refining process. As long as the materials are chosen correctly and the order of the spiritual liquids is correct, there will be no problem.
This Purple Myrtle True Fire was nurtured for hundreds of years by a powerful warrior in the late Nascent Soul stage using his magic power. It is more than enough to refine a third-level elixir. As long as there are materials, Li Yu is even confident that he can refine a fourth-level elixir.
It is very difficult to refine third-grade pills. Even a third-grade alchemist cannot guarantee success in every batch. The refining time for a batch of pills is often more than five hours.
Only three hours had passed when several third-grade alchemists failed in their efforts and were eliminated.
Among them, there are even two third-grade alchemists from the Tiandao Sect.
The five alchemists of Kunlun, and the five alchemists who originally belonged to Kunlun and later joined Tiandao Sect, were obviously stronger than the others, and there were no mistakes when they were refining the first batch of pills.
What surprised people was that Li Yu's refining process was actually very smooth.
Doesn't this mean that although he is only a second-grade alchemist, he is stronger than those failed third-grade alchemists?
There are many alchemists in the world of immortal cultivation who have enough magic power but lack the natural talent for alchemy. As for him, he has extremely high attainments in the art of alchemy, but his magic power is somewhat insufficient.
Another hour passed, and alchemists began to open their furnaces one after another.
It is easy to produce top-quality elixirs from low-level and first-level elixirs, but it is very difficult to produce top-quality second-level elixirs. As for third-level elixirs, being able to produce top-quality ones has already surpassed most alchemists.
In this competition, among more than thirty third-grade alchemists, only less than ten were able to refine top-grade pills, the rest were mid-grade, and some even produced inferior pills of lower grade. As for super-grade and top-grade pills, there was not a single one.
To everyone's surprise, although Li Yu was the last one to finish, he actually managed to refine a top-grade Qi-restoring Pill, which was in no way inferior to those third-grade alchemists.
Of course, he was only a second-rank alchemist. Even with the help of spiritual fire, forcibly refining an elixir of a higher level would cause great losses to him.
After refining this batch of pills, his face became extremely pale and even his steps were unsteady. It was obvious that his body had reached its limit.
Half of this was just Li Yu pretending. After all, if refining a higher-level elixir was as easy as refining a second-level elixir, it would really be unreasonable.
The other half was true. During the five hours of refining, he had to provide his own mana and used up a lot of Qi-recovering pills. His mind was indeed greatly damaged.
Seeing how tired he was, the elders of Kunlun immediately took him back to the stands to rest. Several Nascent Soul masters took turns transferring their magic power into his body, and various elixirs for nourishing the essence and replenishing qi were also prepared for him.
The process of refining a third-grade pill takes a long time and requires a lot of energy. It takes twelve hours to refine a batch of pills, including rest time.
After Li Yu slept for several hours, the second competition had already begun.
The second round of refining was the Foundation Building Pill, which was more difficult than the Recovery Pill. A Nascent Soul Patriarch looked at Li Yu's pale face and couldn't help but said, "Why don't we stop here? Don't force it..."
Refining pills at a higher level is extremely mentally and physically demanding, and forcibly overdrawing your energy may cause irreversible damage.
Kunlun can lose the first place in the competition, but it must not lose Li Yu.
Li Yu smiled slightly and said, "It's okay, I can still hold on."
After saying that, he stood up and slowly flew towards the competition venue below.
I don’t know since when, few people have been paying attention to the third-grade alchemist on the field. It seems that even the result of this competition is no longer that important. Everyone’s eyes follow the movement of that figure.
After returning to the field, Li Yu continued to refine slowly.
Anyway, he was not in a hurry and would first see what quality of pills others could refine.
The difficulty of making the Foundation Establishment Pill is greater than that of the Recovery Pill. Even a third-grade alchemist cannot guarantee success every time. After five hours, several more alchemists were eliminated, and only twenty-four alchemists were left on the field, including Li Yu.
The rate of high-quality pills in this round is even lower.
Surprisingly, only four people were able to refine top-grade elixirs, while the rest were only of medium or low quality.
These four people all came from Kunlun, but only Wang Hua represented Kunlun. The others were alchemists of Kunlun a day ago, and now they are members of the Tiandao Sect.
Li Yu had the lowest cultivation level, so it was normal that it took him longer to refine the medicine than the others. He was the last one to open the furnace, and the pill he refined was still of top quality.
With his cultivation level at the foundation-building stage, he overpowers most third-grade alchemists. He is also the first to do so since the Immortal Conference began.
The price he paid was that after the furnace was opened, he collapsed to the ground with a pale face. He was taken back to the stands by Kunlun's Nascent Soul Master, who took turns using their magic powers to help him recover.
Compared to the calmness he showed during the second-grade alchemist competition, refining a third-grade elixir was obviously his limit.
At this moment, there are only a few hours of rest time before the third round of competition. The refining of the Tuomai Pill for the third round is more difficult than the previous two. Even if his attainments in alchemy allow him to refine the Tuomai Pill, can his body hold on?
This question has arisen in the minds of countless people.
When Li Yu woke up, he learned from Kunlun's disciples that those third-grade alchemists had started refining the alchemy an hour ago.
They all have the cultivation level of the Golden Core Stage and their souls are extremely powerful. After refining a furnace of pills, they can quickly recover their minds and will not be overdrawn like Li Yu.
Li Yu propped himself up and stood up, and heard several voices in his ears.
"Brother Li, forget it!"
"Yeah, it's just a competition..."
"The Tiandao Sect wants this broken first place, so just give it to them."
…
All the Kunlun disciples looked reluctant. He had already brought too much honor to Kunlun in this Immortal Conference. He should not and did not need to bear these things that he should not have to bear.
Jiang Li and Zhou Zixuan also looked distressed, while Zhao Xiner was full of regret. She really shouldn't have given such blind advice just now. If anything happened to Senior Brother Li, she would feel guilty to death.
Faced with everyone's dissuasion, Li Yu patted Zhou Zixuan and Jiang Li's hands, and walked out without hesitation.
There is no reason to give up halfway on something like this.
If the Tiandao Sect dares to give the fifth-grade elixir, he will dare to take it.
The last match of the third-grade alchemist competition is undoubtedly the most watched one. In previous Immortal Conferences, whoever won the first place in this competition would be the true number one third-grade alchemist.
The first place in the previous competitions was Zhao Guangxuan from Kunlun.
However, Zhao Guangxuan died unexpectedly some time ago, and the outcome of this competition became a little more uncertain.
Wu Boyong, Wang Hua, Sima Yan, Gao Yuan and others from Tiandao Sect were all outstanding third-grade alchemists. Originally, this competition was a solo show for Kunlun alchemists, but unfortunately, the best third-grade alchemists from Kunlun were all recruited by Tiandao Sect, so Wang Hua couldn't handle it alone...
Although many people still placed their hopes on Li Yu, he was only at the Foundation Establishment stage after all. He had already refined three furnaces of second-level pills and two furnaces of third-level pills in succession. When he was refining the last furnace of Tuomai Pills, he had obviously reached his limit. Although his body was still upright, he was trembling slightly, and the sweat on his forehead was clearly visible.
Even so, his eyes remained firm.
At this moment, even the disciples of Tiandao Sect were in awe of him.
A real man should be like this!
Time passes slowly.
One hour.
Two hours.
Three hours...
It was not until six hours later that alchemists began to open their furnaces. Among them, alchemists outside of Kunlun and Tiandao Sect produced many inferior pills with only one danwen. Even a few alchemists from Kunlun only produced one mid-quality pill with two danwen.
A mid-grade Tuomai Pill would already meet the requirements even in Kunlun.
Top-grade Tuomai Pills are usually made by fourth-grade alchemists.
Wang Hua put out the alchemy fire, opened the alchemy furnace, and looked a little ugly.
Although he seldom refined useless pills, his rate of refining high-quality pills was not very high, about 30%. But that was when he was in extremely good condition. Today, these five people stabbed him in the back at the critical moment. He was very angry and his pill refining was also affected. He only refined a medium-quality pill.
Soon, Wu Boyong and Sima Yan also opened the alchemy furnace.
The two top-grade medicinal pills have undoubtedly announced the result of this competition.
The Qi-Restoring Pill, the Foundation-Building Pill, and the Meridian-Expanding Pill were all top-grade pills without exception. There wasn't even a single mid-grade pill. Although there weren't any super-grade pills either, it was clear that they had already mastered the art of refining these pills to perfection.
Li Yu is still refining, but it is difficult for him to change the result.
Even if he also refined a top-grade elixir, it would take him longer to refine it than these Jindan powerhouses. According to the rules, when the elixir patterns and elixir quality of two people are the same, the one who takes the shorter time will be the winner.
As the last third-grade alchemist finished refining, Li Yu was the only one left on the field.
At this moment, he has obviously reached his limit.
His body was shaking violently, and sweat gathered into a puddle at his feet, but the flames in his hands remained steady.
After an unknown amount of time, he slowly put out the flame.
However, he did not open the furnace, but fell down straight away.
No one was surprised by this. With his cultivation level at the Foundation Establishment Stage, he had refined six batches of pills in succession, three of which were of a higher level. His body and mind should have reached their limits long ago, but he had been holding on.
When the breath of anger was released, he fell into a coma due to mental exhaustion.
This is a form of self-protection for the cultivator's body.
Kunlun's Nascent Soul Patriarch took Li Yu back immediately without even opening his alchemy furnace.
Regardless of whether he has refined the elixir or not, he is a hero of Kunlun.
But this was a formal competition after all, so a referee came over and opened the alchemy furnace that Li Yu had not opened.
However, when he looked at the alchemy furnace, his body shook violently.
There are only two danwen on the pill.
But there are two!
Two medium-grade Tuomai Pills, four pill patterns!
In this competition, he refined three furnaces of four pills with a total of ten pill patterns, surpassing all the third-grade alchemists present!
When the water curtain's perspective was given to Li Yu's alchemy furnace, there was a moment of silence around it, and then it exploded completely.
"Two pills!"
"He refined two more!"
"Two mid-grade pills, four pill patterns!"
"He didn't pursue the quality of the pills. He wanted to win by quantity from the beginning!"
No one could believe it. Even Kunlun's Nascent Soul and Golden Core masters had not expected that Li Yu, as a second-grade alchemist, would actually surpass all third-grade alchemists and create another miracle.
And those third-grade alchemists who left Kunlun and joined the Tiandao Sect also stood there in a daze, unable to come back to their senses for a long time.
They actually lost, lost to a second-grade alchemist, a junior in the Foundation Establishment Stage.
Several people were familiar with Li Yu, and they recognized his talent in alchemy. Among the younger generation, no one was able to defeat him, but they had never thought that they would lose to him in the third-level alchemist competition.
Kunlun Cave.
Deafening shouts were heard from the top of each peak, and countless Kunlun disciples were extremely excited.
No matter how many methods the Tiandao Sect has, one person in Kunlun is enough.
Facts have once again proved that the man is trustworthy at all times.
Yuxu Palace.
Wang Daoxuan pondered for a moment, looking at the Yuanying masters who were all delighted, and he had already made a decision in his heart.
The secret realm of heaven.
Several powerful gods fell into silence for a long time.
In order to prepare for this alchemy exchange, the Tiandao Sect made extremely careful arrangements.
Several powerful gods were willing to take action personally.
At great cost, he instigated the rebellion of several of Kunlun's most outstanding third-grade alchemists.
With high-level alchemy materials in short supply, the existence of Kunlun's three fifth-grade alchemists does not have much significance. If this alchemy exchange can fully suppress Kunlun, the Tiandao Sect's alchemy lineage will be able to take its place, recruit more alchemists, absorb more powerful people, and deal with the upcoming catastrophe more calmly.
But no one expected that their well-thought-out plan would be ruined by a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator.
A powerful god-transforming expert said, "It is impossible for a person to be free of desires. If he doesn't want strength, you can give him power. If he doesn't want power, you can give him women. There are tens of thousands of female disciples in the Tiandao Sect for him to choose from. I don't believe it. Is he so loyal to Kunlun?"
The head of Tiandao Sect waved his hand and said, "I have investigated him through Kunlun's spies. With his personality, it is unlikely that he can be used by our sect. There is no need to waste any more effort. If we take the initiative to come and get rejected, where will the face of Tiandao Sect be?"
After hearing this, the powerful god-transforming master stopped talking.
What the headmaster said made sense. For the Tiandao Sect, the reputation of the sect was far more important than one or two talents.
Even though he has extraordinary talents in alchemy and formation, what the Tiandao Sect lacks the most is talent. They have achieved their goal in this Immortal Conference. Although they encountered a minor setback in Kunlun, it did not affect the overall situation.
However, after careful consideration, this powerful god-transforming expert said, "It is indeed not a good idea to actively recruit him, but what if he takes the initiative to join?"
The head of Tiandao Sect asked: "How can we make him take the initiative?"
The powerful spirit-transforming master said leisurely, "We can give him the Five Spiritual Veins Golden Pill, and Kunlun can also give him. It is indeed not a big temptation. I heard that this person's only shortcoming is lust, and no one in Kunlun has accepted him as a disciple so far. If a spirit-transforming master of my sect accepts him as a disciple, helps him break through every bottleneck, and helps him find a few Taoist companions with outstanding talents and looks, will he still refuse?"
"What if he still disagrees?"
“Haha, we don’t need to take the initiative to find him this time. Let the low-level disciples spread the news. Even if he disagrees, the sect won’t suffer any loss. On the contrary, it can show that we are eager to recruit talents. Kunlun has not expressed any opinion on this kind of disciple. I want to see how many people they can retain in Kunlun…”
