A few days later, at noon, Meng Hao was sitting cross-legged when he suddenly heard a miserable shriek from outside. He immediately opened his eyes, stood up, and went to the window to look out. He saw an Outer Sect disciple being trampled, his chest covered in blood. Though not dead, he was injured. Someone had taken his storage bag, scoffed coldly, and left.
The man struggled to crawl up, his eyes filled with malice, and staggered away. Many onlookers stood around, but they were all indifferent, some even seeming to mock him.
Meng Hao remained silent. He had witnessed such scenes several times already, and his understanding of the rules within the Outer Sect of the Reliance Sect deepened.
Seven days passed in a flash. During these seven days, Meng Hao witnessed several more acts of robbery in the Outer Sect. Outer Sect disciples robbed and attacked each other, causing Meng Hao's personality to become more reserved. Especially when he personally saw a senior brother at the second or third level of Condensation being killed in the Outer Sect's public killing zone, it made him extremely cautious whenever he went out.
Fortunately, although his cultivation was low, he had nothing valuable on him, so others ignored him.
Meng Hao's cultivation had also stagnated. The second level of Condensation was different from the first. It also involved spiritual energy entering the body, but according to the Condensation Scroll, the second level began to transform the mortal body, making it more adaptable to spiritual energy. Therefore, the amount of spiritual energy required was far greater than for the first level.
At the same time, Meng Hao also understood the concept of what was called 'aptitude'. The degree to which one's body fused with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was aptitude. The better the aptitude, the higher the fusion; the worse the aptitude, the lower the fusion. For the same amount of time spent meditating and breathing, those with better aptitude would naturally absorb more spiritual energy.
Based on his calculations, he would need two years to reach the second level of Condensation, and several times that amount for the third level of Condensation.
Unless he obtained medicinal pills or spirit stones, using the energy within them to convert into spiritual energy could significantly reduce the time needed. This was also why robbery was so prevalent within the sect. Because every month, the Outer Sect distributed medicinal pills.
"The strong grow stronger, the weak grow weaker. The Reliance Sect truly uses this method to cultivate Inner Sect disciples..."
Meng Hao fell silent.
Early one morning, just as dawn was breaking, Meng Hao was already sitting cross-legged on his bed. He didn't possess astonishing aptitude, but he was tenacious. Even at night, he didn't neglect his meditation and breathing exercises. At this moment, a resonant bell chime echoed through the sect, and Meng Hao opened his eyes.
"This bell chime..." Meng Hao narrowed his eyes, seemingly guessing something, his expression slightly agitated. When he stepped out of his room, he saw many fellow disciples around, all excited and hurrying into the distance.
"The bell has rung! It's time for the distribution of spirit stones and medicinal pills." "It is today, by my reckoning."
Following the echoing bell, more and more people rushed over. It wasn't just here; all Outer Sect disciples throughout the entire Outer Sect were doing the same.
"Pill Distribution Day!" Meng Hao took a deep breath and followed the crowd towards the Outer Sect plaza. This plaza was exceptionally vast. On its four sides stood nine stone pillars carved with dragons, emitting dazzling light. On the first stone pillar, there was a square platform about ten *zhang* wide. Hues of light swirled around it, and there seemed to be figures, but when people looked up, they could only see indistinct shapes.
Here, over a hundred outer sect disciples, all clad in green robes, whispered amongst themselves, occasionally glancing up at the platform atop the stone pillar.
At this moment, the colored light on the platform dispersed, clearly revealing the figures upon it. It was an old man in a yellow robe, with a few freckles on his face, but his demeanor, though not angry, exuded natural authority, his eyes like lightning. On either side stood a man and a woman, both clad in silver. The man was extraordinarily handsome and dashing, his expression indifferent, his entire being radiating righteousness. As for the woman, when Meng Hao saw her clearly, his pupils constricted.
This woman was precisely the one who had brought him here from Daqing Mountain three months ago.
"Martial Uncle Shangguan has personally come to distribute pills, of course. And Senior Sister Xu and Senior Brother Chen, inner sect disciples rarely seen before, have both shown up this time. Could it be that no pills will be distributed?"
"That must be it! Look, Senior Brother Han Zong has also appeared. He's the second most prominent person in the outer sect, with a cultivation of Qi Condensation Stage Five. If he can reach Qi Condensation Stage Seven, he'll automatically become an inner sect disciple. It's a pity Senior Brother Wang Tengfei isn't here."
"With Senior Brother Wang Tengfei's talent, he wouldn't care about these few pills. That year, when he joined the Reliance Sect, it caused quite a stir among the elders and sect master. If Senior Brother Wang hadn't broken the sect's rules, wanting to rely on his personal abilities to enter the inner sect, he would have long since been the third inner sect disciple."
"Heh heh, this time there's a good show to watch! Each time pills are distributed individually, there's a twelve-hour sealing period. Every hour, a pill light is emitted, guiding people to snatch them. During that period, the pills cannot be used at all. Even if you manage to flee with the pills, you might not have the ability to hide them for twelve hours."
Meng Hao listened to his fellow disciples discussing beside him. Although this was his first time participating in such an event, he knew that every pill distribution for the outer sect led to contention and snatching. In the past half month, he had witnessed quite a few robberies, and even deaths.
Especially this time, it seemed pills would be distributed, so the struggle would likely be even more intense.
Meng Hao fell silent, thinking to himself that with only Qi Condensation Stage One cultivation, those things called pills probably wouldn't be his to keep. But as he looked at the greedy faces around him, Meng Hao understood the phrase "the strong prey on the weak" even more deeply.
"Silence!"
The old man in the yellow robe on the platform calmly opened his mouth. His voice wasn't loud, but when it spread, it was like thunder rolling across the heavens and earth, causing the cultivators below to tremble in spirit, their ears ringing. Meng Hao was no exception; it took him a long time to recover.
"This old man is Shangguan Tu. Today, I am here to distribute pills. Each person will receive one Spirit Condensation Pill and half a spirit stone."
Shangguan Tu waved his right hand. Immediately, over a hundred pills and spirit stones scattered in all directions, landing perfectly in front of each person. Meng Hao looked at the pill and spirit stone hovering before him; the medicinal scent wafting from them was intoxicating. This was Meng Hao's first time seeing a pill, and also his first time seeing a spirit stone.
This spirit stone was only about the size of a fingernail, transparent and glistening, captivating anyone who cast a glance at it.
His heart immediately began to pound. This pill and spirit stone must be extremely valuable. Manh Hao took them without hesitation. Just as he was about to swallow the pill, he noticed no one else was doing so and stopped. When he looked at the pill in his hand again, he saw a layer of radiance on it, and seemingly some strange mark as well.
"And one more… a Han Ling Dan."
As Manh Hao was observing the pill in his hand, Shangguan Tu's voice continued to drift down from the high platform. In his hand, a purple pill had appeared.
The moment this pill appeared, the entire plaza was filled with a medicinal fragrance. Manh Hao took a breath and immediately felt a trace more spiritual energy in his body. He implicitly understood that this pill was absolutely extraordinary.
"I can't believe it's… a Han Ling Dan!"
"This… This is a precious pill for cultivators above the fifth level of Condensation. The sect probably doesn't have many of them, yet they actually brought one out!"
"With this pill appearing, how many people will die in this outer sect competition!"
Everyone was shaken. Their gazes, fixed on the pill in Shangguan Tu's hand, instantly condensed with countless greed and desire. Especially the disciples on the verge of breaking through their cultivation, their breathing became even more rapid.