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Swish! Swish! Swish!
Countless figures, like a swarm of locusts blotting out the sky, surged into the distorted space.
On the high platform, Xuan Kongzi slightly nodded, his hands tucked inside his sleeves, and spoke faintly, "This session of the Pill Gathering is indeed a bit interesting, I didn't expect even some of those old fellows who have been famous for a long time to come and join in the fun."
"Not surprising, the Three Thousand Burning Flames is ranked within the top ten of the Heavenly Flames Ranking, far from what ordinary Heavenly Flames can compare with. For those old fellows, it holds no small attraction, naturally they would come and take part."
Beside Xuan Kongzi, a dark-skinned elder lifted his eyelids slightly, his gaze sharp like lightning sweeping across those figures entering the Soul Fantasy Realm.
"The younger generation pushes the older forward, the current crop of youths are not necessarily weaker than them. Even if those old fellows make a move, in the end they might just end up disgraced." At the side, a beautiful woman in a cheongsam also smiled slightly as she spoke.
Hearing this, Xuan Kongzi chuckled, nodding as well.
Stroking his beard, he said, "The younger generation these days has indeed produced some remarkable individuals, even compared to when we were young, they are no less and perhaps even stronger."
His tone carried a touch of emotion: "But what I'm most curious about are those two little fellows, Xiao Yan and Wei Yang, just how far they can go."
"Xiao Yan, Wei Yang, both of them are Yao Chen's disciples." The dark-skinned elder interjected, his gaze then shifting toward the beautiful woman.
"Yao Chen?" The woman was slightly startled at that moment.
In recent years she had been in seclusion, rarely appearing unless it was something as significant as sealing the Three Thousand Burning Flames. Among the three giants of the Pill Tower, she was the most low-profile.
Normally unconcerned with worldly matters, at the sudden mention of that distant yet unforgettable name, a faint glow flickered in her eyes.
"A few days ago, I deliberately met with Xiao Yan to learn about Yao Chen's situation these past years."
Xuan Kongzi spoke slowly, "Xiao Yan is Yao Chen's disciple, while that Wei Yang is his student."
"According to Xiao Yan, Yao Chen has already fallen into the hands of the Hall of Souls. After the Pill Gathering ends, the two youngsters plan to rescue him. If possible, perhaps we could lend a hand to that old fellow too, after all, no matter what, he once did us Pill Tower a great favor."
Hearing this, the woman's face slightly changed. That heart as calm as an ancient well actually rippled violently at this moment, yet her expression quickly sank.
"Who told that old fellow to act recklessly back then, clearly knowing the Hall of Souls was watching him yet still running around everywhere. Ending up like this, he brought it on himself."
"You may say that with your mouth, but who doesn't know you're the one most worried about that old fellow? All these years you secretly sent many people to look for Yao Chen's whereabouts, both of us know." Xuan Kongzi sighed.
"Who cares if he dies!" The woman's delicate brows arched slightly, her manner carrying a natural air of authority.
But in the ears of Xuan Kongzi and the dark-skinned elder, her words lacked conviction. Still, knowing her stubborn temperament well, neither argued further, merely shaking their heads helplessly.
Behind them, the many Pill Tower elders who witnessed the quarrel of the three giants glanced at each other, then wisely chose to pretend they heard nothing.
"After the Pill Gathering ends, let me meet those two youngsters. I've heard the Hall of Souls has already set their sights on them. No matter what, they are still his disciples and students."
Seeing Xuan Kongzi and the elder fall silent, the woman gradually calmed down, her expression dimming as she spoke with complicated eyes. Hearing this, the two exchanged a glance, then nodded without saying more.
"Soul Fantasy Realm?"
When Wei Yang rushed into that gray distorted space, he immediately felt the strange fluctuation emanating from the badge on his chest.
As that fluctuation spread, the moment his body touched the distorted space, a suction force exploded out, swallowing him within. Of course, this was because Wei Yang had not resisted at all.
Swish!
His vision blurred, and when it cleared, he was already within a strange gray space.
The space was shrouded by thick gray mist, his line of sight reaching barely half a meter, everything hazy and dim.
Moreover, some areas within sight even showed faint distortions. This place, should be the so-called Soul Fantasy Realm.
He reached out casually and grabbed a wisp of the deep gray mist, examined it for a moment, then discarded it.
Immediately after, his eyes slowly closed, and his vast soul power spread outward like rippling water.
This deep gray mist indeed had a suppressive effect on soul perception, much like the black storm he had once encountered on the Black Region Plains.
However, that suppression had its limits.
With Wei Yang's current soul power, though slightly restricted, it was still easy for him to probe and clearly sense the surrounding environment.
As his perception gradually spread, Wei Yang also sensed faint fluctuations in the surrounding gray mist from time to time, clearly indicating that new contestants were constantly entering.
"To twist space by human force, and add this gray mist to create a maze… this method of trapping people is somewhat interesting."
After a short while, Wei Yang had roughly understood the reality behind this so-called Soul Fantasy Realm.
This space was clearly formed by the Pill Tower experts forcibly distorting space. Within it were countless twisted and folded dimensions, combined with the interference of the gray mist. If one recklessly charged in, they would easily lose their sense of direction, or even be trapped within.
Still, no matter how complicated this Soul Fantasy Realm was, in the end it was man-made. To successfully break out of this area, one only needed to grasp the traces of spatial distortion.
As long as one followed the winding passages formed by those twisted spaces, it was possible to walk out of the illusion smoothly.
Of course, though it sounded simple, it was actually extremely difficult. With this strange mist filling the air, both vision and soul perception were firmly suppressed.
To discern those intricate spatial traces and find the correct path under such conditions—almost like being blind—was an exceedingly difficult task for most alchemists with only ordinary soul power.
Sensing the occasional fluctuations nearby, Wei Yang shook his head with a faint smile.
Quite a few alchemists who had rushed in here, without first figuring things out, wandered aimlessly, and unsurprisingly ended up trapped within the overlapping distorted spaces, unable to escape.
As his soul power quietly spread, Wei Yang clasped his hands behind his back, his steps light on the void, walking forward with calm composure.
This distorted space was quite vast.
Combined with the countless overlapping spatial folds inside, it made this place like a labyrinth. If one was careless and stepped into the endless folds, then they would most likely lose their qualification to continue in the competition.
Wei Yang walked at an unhurried pace. Along the way, he saw quite a few contestants who had stumbled into the folds, floundering around like headless flies.
Of course, he also "saw" quite a few truly powerful contestants.
Many of those strong individuals sensed his soul perception as well, but instead of approaching, they retreated cautiously, keeping their distance.
Wei Yang wasn't surprised by their behavior.
Everyone understood the unspoken rule—minding their own business, not interfering with one another, each searching for their own path.
Most of the alchemists who came to the Pill Gathering did indeed possess considerable strength. Of course, there were also plenty of pretenders, and not a small number of them.
However, the first two trials had already been more than enough to eliminate those unqualified ones.
In the end, those who could stand upon the stone platform for the final battle would all be the elite among elites.
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