Everyone waited for less than two hours when Shen Guanqing stood at the highest place of the judges panel and announced. "The first round of the tournament has concluded. We've worked out the top 100 scoring pill masters and pill kings. Now I will read out the names. Those who have their names read out, please stay for the second round. Those friends who didn't get their names read out, please leave the contestant area. After the tournament, you will still have the opportunity to cooperate with many sects."
Everyone fell silent at this. Especially the contestants of course. Even if they couldn't get into the top 50, getting into the top 100 was not only an honor, but it would also benefit their future greatly.
Shen Guanqing didn't even look at the rankings as he said, "Rain Pill Sect's level nine spirit pill master Jia Youtian, 43.5 points, rank 100. Pill City's level nine spirit pill master Wang Xiaofeng, 43.9 points, rank 99... Heaven Herb Lake's level one Pill King Hou Xibao, 55.2 points, rank 72, Heaven Star Sect's level one Pill King Feng Ling, 56 points, rank 71…"
Those who had their names read out were already receiving congratulations from their sect. Although it was just a small cheer, but the honor splashing into their face already made their sects very happy.
When Feng Ling heard he got 57 points and was ranked 71st, he didn't even believe it. He would've been very happy if he had just made it into the top 100, but he had surpassed that target and got ranked 71st.
He could already imagine Yi Pandie's shocked expression. 'She wouldn't expect me to get this, right?' He thought of that Luo Xiaomo and Pill King Hu Wen too. Their name still hadn't been called out. They probably didn't even get in the top 100.
Shen Guanqing continued. "Blue Lake's level two Pill King Gu Wenqian, 62.8 points, rank 43, Rain Pill Sect's level two Pill King Wang Laoxi, 63 points, rank 42…"
Feng Ling was dazed and wasn't proud like before. He didn't look down on Pill King Hu Wen, but he didn't think Hu Wen was that much better than him. However, Hu Wen got into the top 50 in the first round, while he was only ranked 71st. That wasn't even worth being proud of. The only satisfying thing was that his disciple didn't get into the top 100.
Mo Youshen who sat in the VIP lounge was very nervous. When he heard that Ye Mo had created the spirit weaving pill, he got very anxious, fearing that the Ye Mo in front of him was that Ye Mo. If that was the case, he wouldn't be able to kill Ye Mo, and he would have to worry if Ye Mo would kill him instead.
But after hearing the names get called out all the way to the top 30, he finally felt secure. He believed that no matter how good Ye Mo was, he wouldn't be able to get into the top 30 as a level seven spirit pill master.
Ning Qingxue had forgotten everyone around her. Her eyes stared deadly at Ye Mo as she waited anxiously. She didn't even know her nails had pierced her palm and that there was blood flowing.
Fang Zhongshi was hearing the names, but his focus was on Ning Qingxue. When he saw that her palm was bleeding, he was confused. Was there someone she cared about a lot among the contestants?
"Solo cultivator level three Pill King Zong Shidao, 71.5 points, rank 14. Pill City's level four Pill King Wang Mao, 71.7 points, rank 13…" It grew quieter and quieter as the final names started being read.
When it got to the top ten, some cultivators couldn't wait anymore and began discussing quietly.
"I think the first will be Pill City's Half Immortal Pill King Xu Banchang. He's a level five pill king after all."
"Not necessarily, Heaven Herb Lake's level four Pill King Ji Youtian is very strong. He got in first place in many pill concoction tournaments all around."
"Pill King Shengting is not bad, but could the pill kings he competed against before count? Not to mention that Green Pill Sect's Pill King Nian Sheng was using a heaven flame."
"So what, Half Immortal Pill King was using an even higher ranked Extreme Geng Flame."
Shen Guanqing's voice suddenly grew louder. "Fusion Joy Sect's level two Pill King Li Qiliang, 73.2 points, rank 9… Clear Dream Mosque's level four Pill King Wang Qingdie, 74.1 points, rank 6, Green Pill Sect's level four Pill King Qiu Niangsheng, 74.3 points, rank 5, Heaven Herb Lake's level four Pill King Ji Youting, 74.9 points rank 4, Pill City's level five Pill King Xu Banchang 77 points, rank 3…"
The crowd erupted.
"How is this possible, how is even level five pill king Half Immortal Pill King only ranked third? Who can get into the top two then? All the level three and level four pill kings were already named. Is it going to be a spirit pill master?"
"That's right, we need an explanation."
"Even if there is one spirit pill master, there can't be two."
"Pill City can't disappoint us like that."
Clearly, Xu Banchang and Ji Youting had a lot of fans.
Although cultivators respected strength above all else, in the depths of their hearts, they also desired fairness. Pill City was respected so much because it was powerful, but also because it was the fairest place. If even a place like this had shady dealings then one could imagine how disappointed people would be.
Ye Mo was also confused. His pill recipe was enough to concoct the heaven glory pill and get first or second. But all the high level pill kings had already been named and those who didn't get named weren't skilled enough to get into the top two. Was there really a spirit pill master like him or were there some dealings behind the scene going on?
Suddenly, Ye Mo thought of that cultivator who had used Sense Sha Fire. His speed of dissecting his pill reminded Ye Mo of flowing clouds, while his demeanor seemed casual. Was he in the final two as well?
After the ruckus, Shen Guanqing howled, and the sound tore apart the heated discussion. The scene fell quiet again. No one dared to make any noise. Even if they knew there were shady things going on, they would die if they made too much commotion.
Following the howl, an even more powerful spirit sense scanned across the entire square. Every cultivator felt like he had been seen through and didn't dare to talk at all. Everyone knew that this spirit sense came from a truth realization state peak cultivator. A cultivator of this caliber didn't even need to move to kill anyone. He would be able to form a giant cultivation essence hand from far away to annihilate any ordinary cultivator.
After the square became quiet again, Shen Guanqing continued. "Our Pill City has been in the South Peace State for nearly 1000 years. Although we may have minor faults, no one dares to do anything shady in a big tournament like the pill king tournament. We won't do that. Anyone who gets into the top three will be great for us. Even me or City Lord Yue Qichao can't decide who gets in the top three in this."
Many cultivators realized that that was true. If Pill City dared to do such an obvious shady dealing, it wouldn't be the respected Pill City of before.
Seeing that the audience realized this, Shen Guanqing spoke even louder, "Moreover, we have Earth Forgery God Lu Wuhu Qianbei and level nine formation Grand Master Sect Leader Ji here as fellow judges. Who would dare do anything shady here?"
"City Lord, we trust you, we trust Pill City. You can continue to announce second and first place."
"Yes, we trust Pill City."
Yue Qichao nodded and read out the two names. "Solo cultivator level nine spirit pill master Jiu Qian, 90 points, rank 2…"
"Who is Jiu Qian?" everyone asked around, but no one knew who this was. Yet this fellow had beaten number three by 13 points! This was the greatest difference in points in the top 100. Usually a difference of one or two was already significant, but this Jiu Qian got 13 points more than level five Pill King Xu Banchang.
Ye Mo looked at this man and felt he definitely was no level nine spirit pill master. If he hadn't gotten the heaven glory pill, it wouldn't have been easy to beat him.
Jiu Qian also frowned, not expecting himself just to be number two. He was expecting 90 points, but not number two. He, like everyone else, was now very desperate to know which god had gotten in first in the first round.