Chapter 1733: Sect Contribution Points (Part 1)

Sometimes, elite disciples would also visit the Ordinary Mission Hall to find suitable tasks and earn extra Contribution Points. Regardless of the hall, the missions generally involved refining pills, farming spirit fields, or gathering rare herbs; only the difficulty varied. In Huangqi Valley, disciples could use these points to achieve things that spirit stones could not. Many high-level techniques and alchemical records required Contribution Points to access.

To enter the Legacy Ancient Hall, several conditions had to be met. First, you had to be a Core Elite Disciple. Second, your alchemical level had to rank within the top one thousand Core Elite Disciples, or you had to exchange eighty thousand Contribution Points for entry. Furthermore, the Legacy Ancient Hall was not always open; it opened only once every three hundred years. If you missed it once, you had to wait another three centuries.

Currently, the nearest opening was less than seven years away. This was a rare opportunity for Li Yan. Since meeting Dong Fuyi, his luck had generally been improving. Li Yan currently met the first condition, but although there were two choices for the second condition, he met neither.

With his eyes closed, Li Yan quickly organized these matters in his mind. ‘Ranking among the top one thousand Core Elite Disciples seems easy, but for me, it is very, very difficult. Although the Alchemy Great Grandmasters and those above have been removed from the rankings, there are still thousands upon thousands of disciples ranging from Alchemists to Alchemy Grandmasters. With my true alchemical level, I suspect I would have trouble even breaking into the top three thousand…’

According to the information Li Yan had gathered, the ranking competition for Core Elite Disciples required one to challenge the sect’s “Pill Emperor Tower.” This tower was divided into thirteen floors. The higher you climbed, the higher your rank, and you would simultaneously earn Contribution Points. The rewards for the sixth floor and above were calculated in the tens of thousands, which was staggering. Passing the fourth to sixth floors provided a decent amount of points, but the rewards for the first three floors were pitifully low. Furthermore, once a floor was cleared, no further points could be earned from it, no matter how many times you passed it again.

In Li Yan’s understanding of the tower, every floor required a duel against a Tower Spirit in a phantom space. For instance, if the duel involved refining a certain grade of pill, the process was not physical, but under the empowerment of the formation, everything was identical to a real environment, providing a true reflection of one’s skill.

‘…In that phantom space, I likely won’t be able to use other means. Relying on reaching the top one thousand ranking to get a spot in the Legacy Ancient Hall is simply not viable for me at the moment. Therefore, the only remaining path is to accumulate a large number of Sect Contribution Points!’

After sorting through the news, Li Yan couldn’t see any loopholes to exploit. In truth, most Core Elite Disciples relied on accumulating points to get what they wanted. Only the true geniuses of the sect enjoyed the privilege of reaching their goals through ranking. Li Yan had also checked the tasks in the Elite Mission Hall; they were much harder than ordinary ones but offered more points. However, the most common tasks only offered a few dozen to a hundred points; otherwise, one had to take on high-risk missions.

Li Yan remained in silent meditation for another fifteen minutes before finally deciding on his plan. ‘I must go to the Pill Emperor Tower first to see which floor I can actually reach. Even if the ranking doesn’t matter after passing a floor, I can still get some points. A mosquito’s leg is still meat, no matter how small. Moreover, by challenging the tower myself, I will truly understand the situation inside. Perhaps I can use some other means… If that doesn’t work, I’ll go to the Mission Hall and pick some high-risk tasks…’

Thinking of this, Li Yan immediately stood up. It was impossible for him to cultivate in peace now. The Mission Hall offered high risks for high rewards, and if a mission failed, not only would he get no points, but he would also have to provide compensation. For example, Li Yan had previously seen a task to assist a Void Refining stage Mysterious-rank Alchemy Grandmaster in sorting raw materials once.

This seemed like a simple task that only required the applicant to be a Yellow-rank Alchemist, and it offered eight hundred points. But any alchemist knew this was not simple. The employer would require the assistant to provide specific materials with extreme precision during the refining process—not a grain more, not a grain less. Furthermore, alchemy was all about timing; the moment the grandmaster spoke, the assistant had to find the exact material within a breath and deliver it perfectly…

Seven days later, Li Yan quietly stepped out of a side door on the first floor of the Pill Emperor Tower. At this time, the area outside the tower was bustling with people. Many were looking up at the sky or talking in low voices. Just as Li Yan emerged, he heard someone at the entrance of the first floor say in a deep voice:

“There’s a vacancy! The next person, get in quickly to fill the spot, don’t waste time!”

As Li Yan was walking out, a figure rushed past him and instantly vanished into the tower… Li Yan stood under a large tree and looked up at the Pill Emperor Tower. A long queue of fifty or sixty people still waited at the side door of the first floor. Two disciples stood guard at the entrance, and the one who had spoken was one of them.

Entering the Pill Emperor Tower was not easy. Besides being a Core Elite Disciple, there had to be a vacancy inside. The tower had a limited capacity. Upon entering the first floor, a cultivator would be required to enter a separate stone room. Once inside, they would project a sliver of Divine Sense into the formation, which would then manifest their body in a specific floor’s space to begin the assessment.

The content of the assessment progressed from easy to difficult. It began with testing basic alchemical knowledge, such as memorizing herb names. However, Li Yan was kicked out at the fourth floor!

The fourth floor tested the refinement of third-rank pills. The winner was determined by whoever could condense the most pills within a specified time. His opponent was a Tower Spirit. What shocked Li Yan from the very start was that the Tower Spirit instantly summoned five alchemy cauldrons the moment the duel began, its techniques incredibly skillful.

Li Yan knew then that he was likely doomed. The number of pills he could produce from a single cauldron could never match the output of so many. In his desperation, Li Yan summoned more cauldrons. But while he was controlling four cauldrons simultaneously, one of them exploded before he could even defeat the Tower Spirit. Controlling multiple cauldrons required a cultivator to balance their fire control perfectly; the sudden explosion caused a chain reaction. In a moment of distraction, three more thunderous booms echoed in quick succession, and Li Yan was immediately ejected from the fourth floor…

Li Yan looked at the sky above the Pill Emperor Tower. A light screen hung there year-round, displaying the names of the top one thousand cultivators. Li Yan’s gaze fell upon the last few rows. His name was nowhere to be found, and he could only manage a bitter smile.

‘I already knew there was no hope, yet I insisted on seeing it for myself.’ The result was expected, but for any intelligent being, “refusing to give up” was the most natural reaction; one always wanted to confirm it personally.

Li Yan withdrew his gaze. With a flash of light, his sect token appeared in his hand, and he submerged his Divine Sense into it. Soon, his figure shot into the air, flying in a specific direction. ‘I earned three hundred Contribution Points. That should be the total reward for the first three floors. Any further assessment will take me straight to the fourth floor. The queues here are so long; if I’m not confident, it’s better not to waste time.’

Li Yan felt that earning three hundred points in a few days was decent, but such a good thing happened only once. No matter how many times he passed the first three floors again, he would get no rewards. He immediately turned his attention to the Mission Hall.

Inside the Mission Hall, people were also coming and going. Li Yan ignored them and went straight to the light screen displaying the tasks, searching carefully. Before long, his eyes lit up.

“Mission: Find one intact horn of a fifth-rank Ground-Rhinoceros Purple-Gold Dragon-Python. Reward: 1,500 Sect Contribution Points…”

Li Yan stared at the task, remaining motionless for a long time as he rubbed his chin. The task was detailed, including several locations where the dragon-python might appear. Once the task was accepted, one would receive more specific information. As Li Yan was thinking, he saw several cultivators take out their tokens and quickly swipe them across the task.

Missions in the hall were not only graded but also had various restrictions and rules. For a task like this, as long as no one had handed it in, it remained active regardless of how many disciples had accepted it. The reward went to whoever finished first, and there was no penalty for failure.