Chapter 3660 — A Rich Reward
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 3
But now Wei Zhao knew he had been wrong—wrong beyond all reckoning! Here on Cloud Terrace Island, early Foundation Establishment was nothing but the most basic starting stage, no different from a Yellow Rank master in the mundane cultivation world. If he could not grow stronger quickly, he would have no possibility of mastering his own fate, and at any moment he might become an ant crushed beneath another's heel!
"The newcomers these days grow weaker and weaker." The bald elder seated at the center of the three open-air chairs glanced at those newcomers who had been frightened to their knees. His voice was not loud, yet every word struck deep into the minds of the crowd like a heavy hammer, filling them with involuntary dread.
After a pause, this bald elder began to announce the rules of the trial.
The rules were simple. The newcomers would be randomly dispatched to the outer perimeter of the back mountain, and the principal trial task was to seek out medicinal herbs. The specially made baskets of the Back Mountain Hall would assign points according to the value of the herbs, and the final results would be ranked from highest to lowest, with specific rewards granted according to rank.
These trial rules could not help but remind Wei Zhao of the Ice Palace trial in the mundane world long ago. The two were quite similar—one might even say cut from the same cloth. Of course, though the rules were somewhat alike, both the environment and the competition were entirely different from before, so they were not to be taken lightly.
One point in the rules, however, took all the newcomers somewhat by surprise: this trial would not pit all the newcomers of the Welcome Pavilion against one another, but would instead be evaluated separately according to their respective pavilions within the Tri-Stack Pavilion, and even the trial zones for each were clearly demarcated. This point delighted the newcomers of the Azure Cloud Pavilion beyond measure.
After all, if they were truly to be placed together with the newcomers of the Skyward Pavilion and the Mystic Mechanism Pavilion, they would almost certainly end up at the very bottom, and this trial would then be utterly meaningless to them. But now that the newcomers of the three pavilions were to be evaluated separately, they saw hope—and the bald elder's very next sentence set every newcomer instantly ablaze with excitement.
"The top three in this trial shall each receive a Foundation Establishment Pill as reward, and the first place may additionally receive ten pieces of spirit jade! Fourth through tenth place shall each be rewarded three pieces of spirit jade; as for those beyond tenth, think of nothing at all. Of course, these rewards are only to be honored once the most basic threshold score has been met."
The top three could obtain Foundation Establishment Pills!
The whole gathering erupted in an instant. However ill-informed these newcomers might be, how could they possibly not know of the Foundation Establishment Pill, that elixir for which countless cultivators dreamed and yearned! For any consummate Heaven Rank master, so long as their aptitude was passable, a single Foundation Establishment Pill would immediately enable them to succeed in establishing their foundation!
After all, these newcomers had gathered at the Welcome Pavilion with the ultimate goal of succeeding in Foundation Establishment within a year, and a single Foundation Establishment Pill might very well accomplish it in one direct step—how could they not be thrilled!
Of course, the Foundation Establishment Pill was not the same as the Foundation Establishment Golden Pill. The Foundation Establishment Pill worked only when a consummate Heaven Rank master broke through to the early Foundation Establishment stage; once one had set foot in Foundation Establishment, it was useless, and a Foundation Establishment Barrier-Breaking Pill would be needed instead!