As many Qi Refining disciples believed they had already lost to the Purple Cloud Sect, Xiao Fei's pills were finally ready.
However, aside from the few individuals on the main stage, no one had high hopes for him.
Everyone's gaze was fixed on the injured round-faced youth, contemplating how to deal with him in the future.
When Xiao Fei lifted the lid of the furnace, a dense spiritual energy mixed with the aroma of pills emanated from within.
"Mmm! So fragrant!"
Following the medicinal scent, everyone involuntarily turned their attention to Xiao Fei.
They saw that inside Xiao Fei's furnace, there were actually nine Qi Gathering Pills, with one of them reaching the mid-grade quality.
"Wow! A mid-grade pill!"
"Hahaha... there's actually a mid-grade one!"
At this moment, all the disciples of the Danxin Sect were in high spirits.
A mid-grade Qi Gathering Pill was a rare treasure for ordinary families and rogue cultivators, but for the Danxin Sect, many could refine it.
What made them happy was that this single mid-grade pill had completely turned the situation around.
Coupled with Xiao Fei's performance in the previous round, his total number of pills formed was the same as Zuo Qiu Liang and Kong Yang of the Purple Cloud Sect.
However, with the addition of a mid-grade pill, the first place in this round of competition was undeniably his.
At this moment, all the Danxin Sect disciples were genuinely happy for Xiao Fei to win first place.
They regarded Xiao Fei as a hero who had restored the sect's honor.
Soon, all the refining results were released, personally inspected, scored, and ranked by several Foundation Establishment elders from the Pill Hall.
Xiao Fei successfully secured the first place in the Pill Refining Grand Competition.
As outer sect disciples' participation in the exchange competition did not count towards the rankings, Zuo Qiu Liang was not as lucky this time, failing to defend his title and ranking second.
Xin Chu Yao had even worse luck, falling out of the top ten due to failing her refining in the second round.
Ranking third was a female cultivator named Xia Wa, who was also a top ten contender in the previous session.
To Xiao Fei's surprise, Zhu Yu managed to squeeze into the rankings, securing the 97th position.
As a disciple who had only joined the sect two years ago, achieving such a result was truly commendable.
Xiao Fei felt that without the ten-fold time acceleration from his space, his talent in cultivation and refining would likely not match Zhu Yu's.
Concurrently with the release of the pill refining rankings, the rankings for the other three disciplines—Artifact, Formation, and Talisman—were also determined.
Huang Feifei also successfully entered the Formation rankings, placing 95th.
After the four sets of rankings were released, the next major event of every grand competition followed: the Combat Power Ranking.
For cultivators to survive in the cultivation world, combat power was always paramount.
The Combat Power Ranking was the most valued item for every sect, hence it was placed last.
The Danxin Sect assessed disciples' combat power, also divided into two rounds.
The first round involved passing through the Trial Tower, eliminating most disciples and retaining only 100.
The second round was a competition among the top 100 selected from the Trial Tower, to determine the specific rankings.
The Trial Tower was a large magical artifact that could, through some special means that Xiao Fei couldn't comprehend, replicate a cultivator to battle within the tower.
Even if a participant died in battle, they would only suffer some spiritual energy depletion, not actual death.
The combat power competition did not conflict with other competitions in terms of time, and most disciples would sign up.
This was because normally, entering the Trial Tower to hone combat power required contribution points, and the price was not cheap.
Participating in the grand competition, however, did not require contribution points, making it an obvious opportunity to take advantage of the sect.
Xiao Fei naturally also registered. He received a jade token and sat with everyone else on the plaza.
He dripped a drop of blood onto the jade token and immediately felt a suction force emanating from it.
After a moment of dizziness, when he opened his eyes again, he found himself inside the Trial Tower.
He felt his body. Although it was a simulation within the Trial Tower, the sensation was no different from reality; even the small mole on his thigh was identical.
Everyone in the Trial Tower was equipped with only one mid-grade magical artifact and nothing else.
Each level of the Trial Tower contained a demon beast, and one had to slay the beast to proceed to the next level, with the beasts growing stronger on higher floors.
Cultivators could only use the mid-grade magical artifact in their hands and some spells to fight the demon beasts. Without external aid, it honed the most pure combat power, leaving no room for shortcuts.
After removing all external means, Xiao Fei realized how meager his combat power was.
The poisons that had previously killed many cultivators were unusable in the Trial Tower.
His most familiar spell, Entanglement, had no seeds available here.
Relying on the mid-grade flying sword in his hand and the less-than-smooth Wood Thorn Art, Xiao Fei was torn apart by a demon beast on the 10th floor.
When his consciousness returned to his true body, he found that many people's consciousness had not yet returned, and they were still continuing within the Trial Tower.
From the plaza, countless points of light could be seen on the Trial Tower; each point represented a person.
Some points of light had already reached the twentieth floor.
The first round of the combat power competition lasted for a full day. As Xiao Fei expected, he didn't even make it into the top 100 and was eliminated by the Trial Tower.
Xiao Fei was not overly disappointed by this.
There were many cultivators in the sect above the tenth level of Qi Refining. Others had spent longer periods cultivating in the sect, and their pure combat power was far superior to his.
Knowing shame as a spur to courage, Xiao Fei secretly resolved to diligently hone his combat power after the grand competition.
It took another two days for the rankings of the top 100 disciples in combat power to be finalized.
Next was the most exciting awards ceremony.
Every disciple who entered the rankings would receive a reward.
On this day, all disciples were summoned to the plaza, and the atmosphere was solemn and grand.
The Sect Master of the Danxin Sect was a Golden Core cultivator with an ethereal demeanor, hovering in the air.
The Sect Master first gave a few words to briefly inaugurate the awards ceremony, aiming to inspire the disciples to strive for progress.
"Disciples ranked in the top 50 of this grand competition will be incorporated into the inner sect.
Inner sect disciples will receive monthly sect benefits, including 100 contribution points, 100 spirit stones, and the right to independently establish their own cave dwellings..."
After the Sect Master finished listing the numerous benefits, many disciples' eyes turned red with envy.
They silently vowed to cultivate diligently starting tomorrow and to no longer concern themselves with trivial matters like romance.
Whether they would remember today's vows tomorrow remained to be seen.
Following this, the Sect Master personally presented rewards to the disciples on the rankings.
These rewards were primarily in the form of contribution points, which disciples could use to exchange for desired items.
However, the top ten were different; in addition to contribution points, they also received rewards such as high-grade magical artifacts, spirit herbs, and pills.
What made the thousands of disciples envious and jealous was that the first-place winner in each list would receive a Foundation Establishment Pill.
This was a pill worth 150,000 contribution points, something ordinary disciples would strive for decades to obtain.
As Xiao Fei received the Foundation Establishment Pill from the Sect Master, he could feel all eyes in the entire venue focused on him.
The intensity of those gazes made his hair stand on end.
Aptitude and disposition; aptitude can only determine the speed of cultivation, while only disposition can determine the ultimate height one can reach.