Kent, Yun Rou, and Lin Lin finally reached the grand arena of the Sacred Pill Ascension Grounds. The Half Moon Inn now felt like a distant memory, replaced by the solemn hum of reverence.
The trio stood momentarily frozen at the edge of a sea of cultivators.
The arena was no ordinary stage—it was a hundred-step jade pill platform, carved out of a single mountain slab and shaped like a blooming lotus, each step wide enough to seat dozens. And every seat—every stair—was filled.
Alchemists from every corner of the Immortal World had gathered here today. White-robed elders with long flowing beards, arrogant young geniuses with radiant clan emblems, and even beast clans in their humanoid forms—all faces turned toward the central altar below.
"I didn't expect this many people," Lin Lin muttered, eyes wide.
"I told you we overslept," Yun Rou replied with a sigh, her tone somewhere between exasperation and amused defeat.
