Roughly half an hour later, the gathering bell echoed through the Phantom Wave Great Hall, and the scattered geniuses from every sect returned once more to the great hall.
The six great fourth-rank sects occupied the first row, their status illustrious.
The twenty fifth-rank sects could only sit in the second row, and whether they were sect powerhouses or sect disciples, they were considerably more subdued and well-behaved.
The sect masters of the six great sects sat elevated upon the platform, their status even more prominent.
Because Palace Master Dan Chi had the least seniority and his cultivation was currently the weakest, he occupied the lowest seat among the six great sects.
However, no one would look down on Palace Master Dan Chi simply because he sat in the lowest seat.
After all, everyone knew that this sect master sitting in the lowest seat might very well surpass all the others within a hundred years and claim the first seat among the six great sects.
After all, of all the sect powerhouses present, aside from Dan Chi, the youngest was already over two hundred years old.
And Dan Chi had not yet even reached one hundred. At that age, in the course of a martial cultivation career, one was still essentially in one's youth.
Only after passing two hundred could one truly be considered to have entered the prime of one's cultivation life.
In contrast to Palace Master Dan Chi's status, Dan Qian Palace, having ranked first in the previous Phantom Wave Mountain Alchemy Competition—albeit by a narrow margin—had at least secured the top position.
Therefore, among the six great sects, it held the seat of honor.
This left Mu Gaoqi feeling profoundly awestruck, brimming with pride. Shen Qinghong, accustomed to putting on airs, maintained his usual composed demeanor.
Ling Bi'er's mind was consumed by her father's Mind-Bewildering Miasma, and she had little reaction to the top ranking. Perhaps in her view, since Dan Qian Palace was founded on alchemy, ranking first was only natural. It would have been strange if they hadn't.
Jiang Chen alone had already let his thoughts drift to Phantom Wave Mountain, indulging in fantasies of a grand sweep.
Although it was the Phantom Wave Mountain Alchemy Competition, in reality the judges were still the sect masters of the six great sects.
Of course, they were all renowned figures and regional powerhouses, so serving as judges, they wouldn't actually cheat.
Palace Master Dan Chi, as the representative of the previous champion, was responsible for delivering the opening remarks.
"Fellow Daoists, Phantom Wave Mountain is not merely a sacred mountain of spiritual medicine—it represents the heritage of the Myriad Phenomena Region, carries the history of the Myriad Phenomena Region, and bears witness to the glory of the Myriad Phenomena Region in ages past. Due to certain extraordinary circumstances, the Myriad Phenomena Region suffered a calamity, leading to its continuous decline. As cultivators, when we enter Phantom Wave Mountain, we must not only participate in the alchemy competition and harvest spiritual medicine—we must also remember that history, and use shame to forge courage."
Palace Master Dan Chi's words drew slight surprise from the great powerhouses.
They had expected Dan Chi to simply announce the rules of the Phantom Wave Mountain Alchemy Competition. They hadn't expected him to bring up the history of Phantom Wave Mountain, and even allude to the decline of the Myriad Phenomena Empire, using it to inspire the martial artists of the Myriad Phenomena Region.
One couldn't say there was anything wrong with it, but it struck everyone as rather peculiar.
Fortunately, Palace Master Dan Chi did not dwell on the matter further and proceeded directly to announce the rules: "In this Phantom Wave Mountain Alchemy Competition, the elders will compete in one group and the young geniuses in another. The top thirty from each group will enter Phantom Wave Mountain for the alchemy competition. After discussion among all parties, the method of entry will differ somewhat from previous years. The top ten may enter for twenty days; those ranked eleventh through twentieth may enter for ten days; and those ranked twenty-first through thirtieth may only enter during the final five days."
This meant that the top ten enjoyed the longest harvesting period—a full twenty days.
Those ranked eleventh through twentieth had to wait until the top ten had harvested for ten days before they could enter, and would enjoy ten days of harvesting time.
Those ranked twenty-first through thirtieth could only enjoy the final five days.
This way, the differentiation was clear.
Dan Chi continued: "This arrangement is designed to intensify competition, ensuring that alchemists of different skill levels receive different tiers of treatment. The greater the differentiation, the fairer it becomes."
Such an arrangement was actually more equitable. Otherwise, if everyone rushed in together regardless of their results, it would be unfair to those talented alchemists.
After announcing this information, Dan Chi deliberately paused to let everyone digest it.
The top thirty—truth be told—still involved fierce competition. But it did, to some extent, leave a few spots open for the fifth-rank sects.
Since both the elder group and the young genius group had thirty spots each, that meant a total of sixty spots.
After all, all the participants from the six great sects combined numbered only forty-eight. Even if every single one of them made it into the top thirty, there would still be at least twelve spots remaining.
Of course, as fourth-rank sects, the possibility of failing to break into the top thirty was quite slim.
For the twenty fifth-rank sects, competing for those final twelve spots was the real game. Trying to snatch food from the tiger's jaws of the six great sects—hopes were slim.
The twenty fifth-rank sects each had four participation slots, for a total of eighty people. Eighty people competing for twelve spots meant roughly one in eight would break through. The competition was indeed fierce.
But for the fifth-rank sects, they could only seethe in silence.