"Your task is to find the medicinal ingredients listed on the mission sheet."
"Only by finding the medicinal ingredients within the stipulated time and successfully submitting them will you pass."
"Additionally, here is a spatial stone. You can crush it if you encounter life-threatening danger, and after crushing it, you will be directly teleported out."
"But be warned, once you are teleported out, it means you have failed. So, do not use the spatial stone unless it's absolutely necessary."
The Pill Tower Elder simply finished explaining the task for the second round, then began distributing mission lists to everyone.
Those who received their mission sheets strode confidently towards the entrance of the second round.
Xiao Li also received his mission sheet and entered the second round.
As space twisted and shifted, he arrived in a dense forest.
Surrounded by lush trees and jungle, he saw no sign of anyone else.
"Is this the Dan Realm? Such rich spiritual energy."
As soon as he entered, Xiao Li felt an extremely rich spiritual energy of heaven and earth present here.
This place was suitable for both cultivation and growing medicinal ingredients.
"Let's first see what medicinal ingredients the mission requires me to find." Xiao Li opened the mission list in his hand; it only listed three medicinal ingredients:
"Ascension Grass, Blood Spirit Ganoderma, Bone Lotus Flower… Good heavens, these are all high-grade medicinal ingredients."
Xiao Li naturally recognized these three medicinal ingredients; they were all very rare and primarily used for refining eighth-grade pills.
"The Pill Tower has a good plan; using participants to help search for medicinal ingredients saves time and money, essentially getting free labor."
Besides the mission sheet, there was also a map with several areas circled, all of which were likely to contain these medicinal ingredients.
Without a map, the Dan Realm was so vast that finding the medicinal ingredients could take forever.
After a quick look at the map, Xiao Li quickly pinpointed the nearest red-circled area and began flying towards his destination.
The Dan Realm was vast, but many people had entered the second round.
Along the way, Xiao Li also saw many people.
He even saw some people already fighting fiercely over medicinal ingredients—not necessarily those on their mission lists, but possibly others as well.
The Dan Realm's spiritual energy was extremely rich, with medicinal ingredients everywhere, and their quality was generally much better than those outside.
As an Alchemist, it was impossible not to be tempted by the medicinal ingredients one saw.
Although the task for the second round was to find the medicinal ingredients on the mission list,
the Pill Tower also didn't explicitly forbid participants from collecting other medicinal ingredients in the Dan Realm.
In fact, this was also part of the Pill Tower's design.
The entire Pill Gathering had three assessment rounds. There were tens of thousands of participants, but only over a thousand spots for the final round.
This meant that a large portion of participants had to be eliminated in the first two assessment rounds, with only over a thousand making it through to the final competition.
The elimination rate in the first round was not very high.
The second round was the real main event.
Searching for medicinal ingredients seemed like a simple task.
However, if two or more people had the same medicinal ingredients listed on their mission sheets, then only one or two might obtain them, and the rest would be eliminated.
This round tested the cunning and strategy between people!
Xiao Li was not interested in those other medicinal ingredients—his Growth Realm had an abundance of various high-grade medicinal ingredients.
Although these medicinal ingredients were of much better quality than those outside, they were essentially only mid-to-low grade medicinal ingredients, at most suitable for refining some fifth- or sixth-grade pills, which Xiao Li didn't care for.
His current goal was only the medicinal ingredients on the mission list… Soon, Xiao Li arrived at the first location circled on the map—the Bloodthirsty Forest.
This was the origin of the Blood Spirit Ganoderma.
In the dense jungle, wisps of red mist permeated the air, exuding a somewhat eerie aura.
Xiao Li remained vigilant, advancing cautiously.
Although the Dan Realm belonged to the Pill Tower, the Pill Tower didn't actually have a complete grasp of the situation here.
Because this was merely a place forcibly demarcated by the Pill Tower, there were also many native magical beasts here, and their strength was not weak.
One could easily fall here if not careful.
Of course, Xiao Li was very confident in himself.
He was walking so carefully only because he was afraid of missing the Blood Spirit Ganoderma.
After searching around the Bloodthirsty Forest, Xiao Li finally spotted a palm-sized Blood Spirit Ganoderma on the back of a giant rock.
"Good luck, I found the first medicinal ingredient so quickly."
Xiao Li raised an eyebrow and plucked the Blood Spirit Ganoderma.
"Next, the nearest area… is this direction?"
Xiao Li found his direction according to the map and flew over.
Just then, a roar of battle suddenly came from ahead, and the commotion was quite loud.
Xiao Li flew over and quickly saw the two parties fighting—
It was a petite young girl in white, with a gentle and beautiful face that made one want to protect her carefully in their arms.
Xiao Li recognized her—Dan Chen of the Dan Family.
A girl who seemed gentle and timid, but her Alchemist talent could rival Cao Ying's!
Dan Chen's situation was not very good. Opposite her was a pitch-black snake, over ten meters long and one meter thick.
The great snake's cultivation was very strong, reaching the seventh-tier intermediate level.
Dan Chen, however, was only at the peak of Dou Huang, and facing a great snake comparable to a five- or six-star Dou Zong, she was struggling greatly.
She only had good Alchemist talent; her cultivation could only be described as average.
Hiss!
The great snake quickly flicked its tongue, opening its bloody maw and lunging towards Dan Chen.
At the same time, its huge tail swept from another direction, a pincer attack!
Dan Chen's combat experience also seemed to be lacking, and coupled with the disparity in strength, she was caught off guard by the great snake's pincer attack, taking a fierce blow to the chest, and her delicate body immediately flew backward.
"Cough…"
A striking streak of fresh blood immediately spilled from the girl's lips.
"Hiss~"
The great snake slowly raised its head, its cold snake eyes examining the prey before it.
Snakes are very cautious creatures and do not easily attack without certainty.
However, Dan Chen's current state clearly posed no threat in its eyes.
Thus, the great snake opened its maw again and lunged, attempting to swallow Dan Chen in one gulp!
At the critical moment, a figure appeared in front of Dan Chen, lightly slapping out a palm.
The next moment, the great snake's ten-meter-long body thrashed wildly on the ground, slowly coming to a stop after crashing into countless trees.
Its body twitched a few times, then gradually became still.
Dan Chen, still shaken, looked up and saw a handsome face.
"It's you?"
The one who acted was none other than Xiao Li!
"Miss Dan Chen, are you alright?"
Xiao Li smiled faintly.
The two had already met during the Five Great Families assessment.
Although they had no interaction, they both knew each other.
Hearing his question, Dan Chen shook her head and whispered,
"I'm fine, thank you, Young Master Xiao…"
...