The senior members of the sect stared at Li Cheng in astonishment. After all that circumlocution, was he after the Pill Children of the Seventh Peak?
They couldn't fathom which lucky Pill Child it was, to be singled out by the junior grandmaster.
That one might soar to the heavens, just as Yun Tianqiong had!
The Seventh Elder also froze for a moment, "Junior Grandmaster wants to take a Pill Child from my Seventh Peak as a disciple?"
"Yes, Seventh Elder, rest assured, I will guide them earnestly and will not let you down!" Li Cheng said.
The Seventh Elder quickly shook his head, "Junior Grandmaster, please forgive me, but the disciples of my Seventh Peak aspire to the Alchemy Dao and aren't suitable for you!"
All the Elders raised their eyebrows. To be chosen by the junior grandmaster was surely a great fortune for that Pill Child.
But they all hoped the junior grandmaster would ascend soon. Taking on a disciple now would not be so fortunate.
Li Cheng knew this would be the outcome. What a pointless roundabout!
Li Cheng's eyebrows twitched slightly, "If you won't give them to me, I'll just take them!"
The muscles on the Seventh Elder's face twitched, "Junior Grandmaster, you must be reasonable!"
"Cough cough... Junior Grandmaster, since it's a Pill Child we're talking about, they would definitely be pursuing the Alchemy Dao, and such a disciple can only develop better at the Seventh Peak!" the Sect Master said.
"Exactly, junior grandmaster, you should consider someone from another peak... No, that's not right, you should focus on guiding Yun Tianqiong," the First Elder also advised.
Li Cheng stroked his chin, then shook his head, "Actually, I do have a certain expertise in the Alchemy Dao. With me, it won't be any worse than staying at the Seventh Peak."
The Elders were shocked. By that logic, was his mastery of the Alchemy Dao better than the Seventh Peak's?
Bragging without even writing a draft, huh?
Who didn't know that he had just read the Seventh Elder's insights on Alchemy Dao and had never practiced alchemy himself?
The Seventh Elder was not pleased. His old face darkened as he turned his head away, unwilling to engage with Li Cheng.
Li Cheng touched his nose, "Seventh Elder doesn't believe me? How about a competition?"
Huh?
Hmm?
All the senior members looked at Li Cheng in amazement. Was he implying he wanted to compete with the Seventh Elder in alchemy?
The Seventh Elder's face darkened even more, but the other party was the junior grandmaster, and with powerful strength, he couldn't act rashly.
After a few seconds of deliberation, the Seventh Elder took a deep breath, "Junior Grandmaster, please don't play with me!"
"I'm serious. You can't refine a Tribulation Crossing Pill, can you? After this grand ceremony ends, I'll come to the Seventh Peak to consult with you," Li Cheng said with a smile.
The Seventh Elder's face twitched slightly, "No problem. I admire those whose Alchemy Dao skills surpass mine the most. If the junior grandmaster truly impresses me, I certainly won't obstruct my disciple's future."
"Then it's settled!"
Li Cheng was overjoyed. His figure flickered, and he vanished from the spot.
As Li Cheng left, the crowd exchanged glances.
Could the junior grandmaster also be a genius in alchemy?
But the grand ceremony would end in at most three days. In such a short time, could the junior grandmaster, who had never touched the Alchemy Dao, truly impress the Seventh Elder?
"Seventh Elder, which of your Pill Children caught the eye of the junior grandmaster?" someone asked curiously.
The Seventh Elder shook his head, "I have more than a thousand Pill Children on my Seventh Peak, who knows which one the junior grandmaster took a fancy to. That's not the point. The important thing is to prevent the junior grandmaster from taking on another disciple."
"With the junior grandmaster looking so confident, I'm rather curious, how will he break into the Alchemy Dao in such a short time?" the Sect Master mused hopefully.
It wasn't just him who was curious, everyone was.
It was simply out of curiosity, everyone knows it's impossible to surpass the First Elder in Alchemy Dao within three days!
To surpass the accumulation of hundreds of years by the First Elder in just three days, how is anyone else supposed to live?
At Eighteenth Peak, Li Cheng returned and sat down cross-legged, checking the Jade Slip given by the First Elder and preparing to use his opportunities for Enlightenment.
Yes, this was where Li Cheng's confidence lay.
In a state of Enlightenment, one would make rapid progress in any dao one focused on!
Now with two opportunities for Enlightenment, if he could surpass the First Elder in Alchemy Dao, that would be a huge win.
Under normal circumstances, two or three days would only suffice to grasp the basics, but Li Cheng had strong cultivation to sustain him and, with Enlightenment, naturally progressed rapidly.
"In the Qi Refinement Realm, one absorbs spiritual energy, transforming it into a sea of qi. Refining the qi into a vortex, one can become a level one Pill Master, followed by Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Divinity Transformation, Fusion Dao, and Mahayana, each corresponding to a higher level of Pill Master."
"The First Elder, being at Fusion Dao stage, could at most become a level six Pill Master, while I, at the Transcendance Tribulation Stage, could reach up to a level eight Pill Master!"
"Let's not talk about level eight, as long as I reach level seven, that would be enough to make the First Elder concede wholeheartedly!"
"Come on, Enlightenment!"
The next moment, Li Cheng entered a state of Enlightenment, his mind clear and void, with only the vast knowledge of Alchemy Dao surging within it.
In no time at all, the insights on Alchemy Dao given by the First Elder were fully grasped by Li Cheng, and on that foundation, he made further deductions, continuously pushing forward.
At this moment, Li Cheng understood what the Sect Master once said, starting from the shoulders of a giant, one would already be beyond the reach of ordinary people.
The First Elder's Alchemy Dao might not be that of a giant, but as a level six Pill Master, he had saved Li Cheng a lot of trouble.
The next day, Li Cheng reluctantly exited the state of Enlightenment. His achievement in Alchemy Dao had already surpassed the First Elder, reaching the level of a level seven Pill Master.
This was faster than Li Cheng had anticipated, but since he had never refined pills himself, there would be shortcomings in actual practice.
After ruminating for a while, Li Cheng did not rush to continue deducing Alchemy Dao, as based on the First Elder's insights, he had reached his current limit.
To advance further in Alchemy Dao, he needed to master more knowledge of Alchemy Dao.
However, there was another path, and that was to strengthen True Fire!
True Fire, condensed from True Yuan, would make pill refining much more efficient, and with powerful True Fire, one could refine pills above one's level to become a higher-level Pill Master.
Of course, one could also seek Heaven and Earth Spirit Fire to refine it, but there was not enough time, and such Spirit Fires were not easily found.
As he pondered, Li Cheng made a decision, using another opportunity for Enlightenment, this time to comprehend the Rule of Fire.
If True Fire contained the Rule of Fire, it would undoubtedly boost the power of True Fire manifold!
Then, whether used for pill refining, artifact refining, or combat, it would be an extremely strong technique.
As dusk approached, the grand ceremony was still in full swing at the plaza.
In these two days, over ninety percent of disciples had been eliminated, leaving only a few thousand competing for rankings.
The better the ranking one managed to secure, the more attention one would receive from the higher-ups of the Inner Gate, and the more likely one would become an Inner Sect Disciple.
Therefore, all disciples were going all out, pulling out all the stops to pass through the successive selections.
"These more than two thousand disciples are not bad; they have the potential to become the elite of the sect. Note down their names, for even if they cannot become Inner Sect Disciples, the various peaks of the Outer Door should pay special attention to them," the Sect Master said, pointing at the crowd in the plaza, contentedly.
The Elders nodded in agreement. At this point in the ceremony, the higher-ups of the sect already had several candidates in mind, just waiting for the selection process to continue.
"Sect Master, shall we conclude for today? It's getting dark," the First Elder suggested.
The Sect Master nodded, about to speak, but then he noticed the already dim sky suddenly flare with light, and the whole world became bright as day!