Going back a few days in time, Roan had just finished his first batch of neutral pills. Well, Werxa and the others couldn't tell whether it could really be considered neutral, though.
Roan then looked at his pills and narrowed his eyes.
'I've never made this pill before, so it really became quite a subpar product.'
Roan then put the pills inside a pill bottle and threw it at the Foundation Establishment cultivators.
"This is quite a shitty result, so you will need at least three or four. Still, it should be enough for any of you to enter the Core Formation Realm. There are eight pills inside, so just decide which one of you will get it. It doesn't have any elemental affinity requirement, so anyone can use it. I'm going to make a new batch, which should be much better than this one, so just wait a bit."
"However, you better remember this. Using too many pills might be detrimental in the long term. Once you break through with these pills, make sure not to use any other similar pills for at least five years. The ones I made are quite potent, after all."
Werxa and the others were taken aback.
'What?! You can guarantee a breakthrough with three or four pills?'
'He's joking, right? We don't know how many of the alchemists' pills will even be effective. There are bound to be many of them with pills that will not achieve the breakthrough effect.'
'No, we don't even know how many of the alchemists will succeed in concocting this type of pill to start with. How can he be so sure that they will definitely achieve a breakthrough with those ones?'
'Those are supposed to be neutral pills, no? Is it because of what he did in the end?'
'No, wait! He just said that this result was not good, so he would make better ones.'
For a moment, no one believed Roan's words. However, they soon recalled his performance in the previous three phases where he trashed everyone else. Perhaps, his neutral pills (not that neutral, though) can really do that. If that is really the case, he is guaranteed one of the 10 slots to enter the Guild Main Branch, no doubt.
Roan ignored everyone else and immediately asked for more concoction materials. He was analyzing his previous concoction while making adjustments to the pill formula. He wasn't a god, so there were many places where he could have achieved a better result if done differently.
While Roan analyzed the information, the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators began to struggle between themselves for Roan's pills.
"Enough! We will select which one of you will get it later."
Oligan spread his Spiritual Energy and immediately grabbed the pill bottles that Roan threw at them. At his cultivation level, none of those old men could do anything to stop him. They could only look as the pills flew away with gloomy expressions.
Obligan then passed the bottle to Werxa, who could finally take a close look into it. He grabbed one of the pills and sent his Spiritual Energy and Sense inside. Sure enough, he was able to see just how clear the pills were.
'It's at least 90% pure. Just how good can Dark and Light Elements be to remove impurities? Even a Heaven Low-Level Alchemist might have problems reaching this degree. It just doesn't surpass the Earth High-Level threshold because of Roan's cultivation and the materials used. As for the Light and Dark Elements revolving inside, they are not like normal elemental pills. Although the elements are fused with the pill, they are acting independently. Other Elemental Pills would be whole. Both the Element and the Medicinal Properties would be one and the same.'
Werxa then looked at Roan and understood why.
'This was his way of working around the issue. He could try to use other elements as well. After all, everyone can use other elements that they don't have an affinity with. However, it will never reach the level of an alchemist who does have the affinity necessary. In the end, he stuck with his two elements and created this thing... or so I think. I wonder how it would work on one of those Foundation Establishment cultivators.'
Roan wasn't the only one who finished his first batch. In fact, he wasn't even the first one. Another two batches were delivered before his own to Oligan to decide what to do. Right after, those alchemists went back to concoct again since they also wanted to make better ones.
Still, it wasn't a joke when it was said that making the pills would be very hard. Half a day passed in a flash, but only 46 of the 100 alchemists succeeded in making a batch of Cross-Realm Pills. That showed just how difficult it was. Lita Xue and the other top contestants were the same as Roan. They only delivered a single batch until that point as well.
The reason was simple. After the alchemists finally succeeded in making their first batch of pills, they spent a lot more time analyzing what they did wrong. Only after making sure that they knew what steps to take did they start to concoct again, Roan included.
Time continued to pass, and more batches of Earth High-Level Cross-Realm Pills were delivered every now and then. In the end, each participant finished one, two, or at most three bottles of pills. In fact, just three cultivators finished more than two batches. Cluhe, Joan, and Kobe. Lita Xue put her all on the second batch and didn't make any extra one after that. Roan was the same as Lita, matching only two bottles with eight and nine pills, respectively. The only difference was that Roan didn't bother to make the third one since he thought the second set of pills was more than enough.
Finally, the day was over, so Obligan came forward to do the talk once again.
"Time is up. 71 participants have succeeded in making at least one bottle of Cross-Realm Pills. As for the rest, they are automatically disqualified. This exam has been ongoing for too long already, so let's start the test straight away."
