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**
As time passed, more and more contestants arrived at the exit plaza. And most of the people who came here were no weaklings.
Of course, it made sense. Anyone who could endure until now in such a brutal competition inside the Pill Realm couldn't possibly lack ability.
At this moment, a man in black appeared.
His aura was faint and restrained, making him look ordinary at first glance, but faintly, within Wei Yang's sharp senses, it was as though there was a formless black hole inside his body, capable of silently devouring even one's perception.
"Nihility Devouring Flame!" Wei Yang's eyes narrowed, and he instantly recognized him.
If he was not mistaken, this black flame man should be none other than the Mu Gu Elder who had ambushed Xiao Yan that night.
The moment he appeared, as if sensing something, his gaze swept across and stopped on Wei Yang and his group.
Mu Gu's eyes narrowed slightly. He looked at Wei Yang, then at Xian'er and Ah Da beside him, and his brows furrowed.
From Xian'er and Ah Da, he couldn't sense their exact cultivation at all. They seemed like ordinary people, yet it was as though there was a faint barrier shrouding them, blocking perception from probing.
Finally, his eyes landed on Xiao Yan, and a cold snort escaped his nose, "Lucky brat."
He had originally intended to kill Xiao Yan while he was alone inside the Pill Realm, but unfortunately, he never got the chance.
Xiao Yan's face darkened, his gaze coldly locking onto Elder Mu Gu. Clearly, Xiao Yan had also caught a familiar trace of aura from him, which allowed him to recognize who it was.
"He's as good as dead sooner or later, no need to bother with him, let him strut around for a few more days." Wei Yang closed his eyes and transmitted his voice faintly. Xiao Yan gave a slight nod and slowly withdrew his gaze, ignoring him.
At the center of the plaza, the space there began to distort slightly.
From within the twisted space, an elder wearing the Pill Tower's robes stepped out. The elder held a cane, the skin on his face shriveled like dried orange peel. On his chest was a badge of the Pill Tower, the tower emblem upon it shining in a brilliant violet-gold color.
Tier 8!
"It's one of the eight great Elders of the Pill Tower."
Seeing that special badge, some people in the plaza couldn't help but let out a hushed gasp, their eyes burning with heat and respect, then quickly fell silent.
The elder with the cane ignored the voices in the plaza. His eyelids drooped, like an old monk in meditation, saying nothing.
Only when a certain moment arrived did his eyelids twitch, slowly opening his eyes, his gaze casually sweeping over. Then he said faintly, "Time is up, hand over your pill list and task materials to me, then leave from here to participate in the final Pill Gathering contest."
As his words fell, he lifted his hand, and the cane gently traced across the twisted space behind him. Instantly, a pitch-black spatial rift slowly tore open.
Hearing this, the plaza stirred.
Quite a few faces turned gloomy and despondent. Clearly, these were people who had failed to complete their task.
Soon, a cold-faced middle-aged man was the first to step forward, handing over his pill list and materials completely to the elder.
The elder checked them, then nodded slightly. The man immediately stepped into the spatial rift and vanished.
With the first one leading, the others began to follow one after another, handing in their things before entering the rift to leave.
Of course, there were also some clever ones who hadn't completed their task but tried to cheat their way through by taking out similar herbs, attempting to muddle through.
But as soon as they produced their things, the elder directly smacked them flying with a swing of his cane. They crawled back up covered in dust, their faces burning red.
"Let's go." Wei Yang rose to his feet. Under many envious gazes around, he walked toward the elder.
With a flip of his hand, he took out the pill list and herbs from his storage ring and handed them over.
The elder received them, his old eyes narrowing slightly as he cast a seemingly casual glance at Wei Yang, then gave a slight nod. Wei Yang also gave a faint nod in return, before stepping into the pitch-black spatial rift. Behind him, Xiao Yan, Xian'er, and Ah Da followed suit.
The elder watched the four figures vanish one after another into the spatial rift, and only then did his expression shift slightly.
In his heart, however, stormy waves had already erupted. Even his usually calm and unshaken mind almost faltered at this moment.
If he wasn't mistaken, those four who just went in… were all at the Spirit Realm. What kind of godlike lineup was that?!
This year's Pill Gathering, was it really this fierce?
The elder's heart was shaken, speechless for a moment. Could it be that the Yao Clan sent people to crash the event?
No… even the Yao Clan wouldn't be able to field such an extravagant lineup.
The allure of the Three Thousand Burning Flames was simply irresistible. This was a plaza so vast it left one utterly stunned.
Around the plaza, an endless sea of people stretched all the way to the limits of sight. The thunderous roar of voices, boiling with excitement, was like the bellow of a giant dragon surging into the heavens, echoing endlessly through the skies.
Under the terrifying impact of such sound waves, even the clouds in the sky were torn apart into scattered shreds.
In the air above the plaza, countless stone platforms hovered.
These platforms were the focus of the entire venue. Because the final contest of this Pill Gathering would take place upon them.
After ten days of waiting, today the atmosphere in this plaza had undeniably reached its peak. For this was the day when the Pill Realm would open.
The entire place was feverishly ablaze with excitement, countless eyes fixed on the very center of the plaza. There stood a massive gate built of black stone.
From within the giant gate, spatial ripples began to distort. At this moment, that spatial gate started to radiate intense waves of space fluctuations. Amid the deafening cheers and under the burning gazes of countless eyes.
The fluctuations of the gate grew stronger and stronger, until finally, figures began stepping out from within, landing upon the plaza's ground.
Facing these contestants who had successfully emerged, the spectator stands erupted with earth-shaking cheers.
Anyone who had made it this far could already be considered among the elites of alchemists across the continent. Even if they could not seize the championship, they would still be welcomed as honored guests by countless powers.
Amid the swelling cheers, the gate rippled again, and four silhouettes slowly emerged. They stepped out from within, descending gradually onto the ground.
"Daddy!"
"Mommy, mommy~"
Seeing those four figures, in the outer crowd of the plaza, the two little ones in Qing Lin's arms suddenly kicked and flailed, imitating the crowd, their milky voices shouting loudly, as if trying to outmatch the cheers of the entire arena. And their effort was not in vain.
Wei Yang and Xian'er seemed to hear the cries of the little ones, for their gazes suddenly turned over, and both smiled and nodded toward them.
Xian'er even raised her hand and waved gently in their direction. This immediately made the two little ones shout even harder.
Their tiny arms and legs flailed wildly, exerting all the strength they had, and if Qing Lin weren't holding them tightly, they might have wriggled free and run across already.
Wei Yang couldn't help but chuckle, saying to Xian'er, "Stop teasing them already, look, they're about to fly over here if they could."
"Hmph, none of your business." Xian'er's face was full of smiles, letting out a proud little hum, her eyes fixed on the two little ones, even blinking playfully at them again and again.
"Well, some mother you are, not even acting proper." Wei Yang shook his head in amusement, shifting his gaze away.
His eyes swept once across the scene, looking at the spatial gate from which people still streamed out one after another, and in his eyes flickered a trace of emotion.
Judging from the numbers that had passed the trial, there had to be at least a thousand. To think, even after two rounds of elimination, there were still this many who had made it to the third stage. Truly worthy of being called the grandest of Pill Gatherings.
Compared to this, both in quantity and quality, the Alchemist Grand Meeting of the Jia Ma Empire back then was utterly insignificant.
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