Chapter 161: The baseline

"The scenario seems to have changed a lot. The first elder is in search of the fire vein. It means that there must be information or at least a prediction of there being a fire vein in these regions."

"Predicting the composition of the earth mantle is possible after doing a proper geological survey. There might also be sightings of this natural spot that is able to gather fire energy quite early within the time of its formation. But if that would be the case, I think there would be more than one party involve in this matter."

"Are you implying 5that there might be interference from other forces once the explosion occurs?'

"It's best to be prepared for what is about to come. You need to plan according to the worst possible scenario, which in this case is the interference of parties with similar strength to the first elder."

"We won't be able to handle the situation even if it just a king level cultivator, a Qi emperor feels like a faint dream in these situations."

"The energy vein has enabled the artifact to recover a lot of damages. If the situations follow in my estimated path, a bigger surprise might be on its way."

"is the artifact finally going through a major transform."

"It might regain some of its past abilities, which includes the devouring properties of the artifact. During the creation of the artifact, a devouring formation was installed within the artifact to enable an instant soak of energy when the situation is too dire. We might be able to use that to get a bigger horde of resources."

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"wouldn't it be better if we proceed according to the pre-planned objectives?"

"Are you willing to leave these resources for your master at pill hall?"

Long Tao looked at the Keeper and said. "I insist because of the structure of this whole pit. Once someone decides to inspect the whole pit, they would find that a whole portion of its is missing from the zone."

"The suspicion might be prevented if we go along with the pre-planned. The chaos which is going to be created during these situations would ensure it. The same wouldn't be the case, once we go ahead with any more than that."

"Why don't you switch up the amount of Chaos created. We would be fine if the suspicion didn't fall on us or a party which would be potentially indicative towards our side."

Long Tao decided to modify his current plan. If he wanted to seize the maximum amount of resources possible, he needed to take risks and adapt to the situation.

"It seems I need to involve that beast and those flies roaming around these zones."

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Pill Hall-

The first elder was monitoring Long Tao's training. Since Lu Ming managed to outshine his expectations, he decided to give his best and train this disciple of his for the upcoming pill brew competition.

"What is the level necessary for me to reach to get a position in the top 3 masters."

"As mentioned earlier, you need to be an advanced level 2 alchemist just to qualify for attending the Pill brew competition.

"The top 100 are all in the peak of 2nd level alchemist or beginner of 3rd level alchemist. The top ten is reached by those who are at intermediate 3rd level alchemist. About the top 3, they are the monsters who manage to reach the very peak of intermediate 3rd level alchemist."

"What about the winner master."

"The last test of the pill brew competition is a bit complicated than that. I won't be revealing the form of examination. Just believe in yourself."

"What are the benefits of winning the competition." Lu Ming was interested in the rewards presented by Pill Valley.

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The sect leader spoke out. "The top 100 participants get recruited as the inner disciple of the Pill valley. The top 10 get an additional benefit of resources along with a chance to get recruited as core disciples of the valley."

"As per the top 3, they get two additional opportunities. One is the chance of getting evaluated by the elders of the valley and get accepted as a personal disciple."

"What is the other aspect master."

The sect leader looked at the first elder, who nodded his head and signaled her to go forward with her speech.

"The second benefit is a secret which isn't released unless you do win and join the valley. It is the chance of entering the land of flames within the organization."

Lu Ming was instantly shocked by this news. "What does the land of flames contain within themselves."

"It is an ancient training ground created by the ancestors of the pill valley. The contains is only known to those who get to enter it.'

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"Fortunately for you, there is someone who has entered the valley before." The first elder looked at the sect leader. Lu Ming was surprised once again to know that the sect leader was such an accomplished individual.

"The valley is where all the inheritance from the previous generations of Pill valley alchemist resides. The opportunities here are endless. During my time, there was someone who received the inheritance of a level 6 alchemist. There was another instance of someone getting the rank 1 beast flame and an ancient cauldron."

"I have heard that some fortunate individuals got their hands-on earth flames and many major natural oddities."

"The biggest secret resides in the fact that the most powerful alchemist within the pill valley was a level 7 alchemist. Records speak of him being in possession of the highest-grade fire."

"The heavenly flame." Lu Ming completed the sentence.

"No one has ever managed to even identify the spot where the inheritance resides."

Lu Ming's spirits got a huge motivational boost to practice for the upcoming competition.

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The Pit-

"if you desire to win the competition, you need to get to the advance level 3 alchemist."

"I won't be able to speed up the cultivation, above a certain extent. Is there a way to fasten the rate of progress"?

"Don't we have the fire vein with us? The fire stones gained from it can help you in cultivation as well as increase the strength of your true fire and enhances the fire affinity to a great extent."

"Another way to increase your fire affinity is to start training within the fire vein. A Qi general would in general get instantly incinerated when exposed to such a high temperature, but your body is a special one. You have the Omni element body along with the heaven hell body. You even managed to open all your meridians."

"Although the body might not be able to bear it at the start, if you manage to sustain and push through, you will be comfortable eventually. You can train within the vein to increase your fire reserves."

"The other aspect is to train your soul power. Continue to practice heaven pestle art. Pill concoction is another way to increase your soul power by a spontaneous rate."

Long Tao was presented with a horde of pill recipes. "You will be practicing to concoct the pills mentioned within these recipes. I have managed to create the sequence to be followed while tra8ining."

"Make sure to concoct at least 2 batches of the best grade pills in each of those recipes."

Long Tao decided to follow the path designed by the Pill hall master of the Crimson lord world. He had around 4 years (according to the time ratio in contrast to the real world) to advance into the ranks of advanced 3rd level Pill alchemist. 

"Your talent is monstrous, even among the previous masters of this artifact. If you train hard enough, I am confident of you entering the 4th level of alchemists."