Death... and me

Oligan then read the information on one of the bottles in his hand before saying.

"These are Fire Element Cross-Realm Pills. There are a total of five pills inside the bottle. The maker was Travon Porem, from the Porem Subordinate Clan. He got the 37th position during the previous phase."

After that, he called a random cultivator with Fire Affinity. The guy was excited to be selected and immediately received the bottle. He sat on the stage and began to consume the first pill. As soon as he did that, Spiritual Energy mixed with the properties of the Fire Element rushed into his dantian.

The guy concentrated on the absorption of the pill's energy. However, he didn't get nearly enough to attempt a breakthrough, so he took another one. Only then did he feel that he had enough to give it a try and attempt the breakthrough.

Unfortunately, his bottleneck was more challenging than most cultivators. The Alchemist Guild had selected people who usually didn't have a chance to break to the Core Formation Realm anymore. After a few minutes, his breakthrough had failed. However, before his energy dissipated, he took two more pills.

Once again, energy rushed into his dantian, allowing him to push for another breakthrough attempt. His dantian raged with the energies of the elements and the herbs.

Travon looked at that and became nervous. After all, he only had a single bottle of pills. He tried to make a second batch, but he ultimately failed.

The guy trying to make his breakthrough noticed that he wasn't quite there yet, so he looked at the last pill and gritted his teeth before swallowing it. The energy in his dantian intensified even more as he tried to force his way into the Core Formation Realm.

Time passed as he attacked the bottleneck with all his strength. Unfortunately, the energy of the pill began to run out. In the end, the energy in his dantian completely disappeared as his cultivation returned to the Peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm. The worst part for that guy was that it would now be even harder for him to have a breakthrough in the future.

Travon couldn't help but sigh as well. In the end, just five pills were not enough. Besides, he knew his ones were far from being considered satisfactory ones, so he wasn't that surprised that the guy failed even after taking all of the pills in the bottle.

Oligan ignored that and simply announced.

"Travon's pills were not able to allow a breakthrough, so he is disqualified."

"Next, we have a batch of seven Water Element Cross-Realm Pills. The maker was Luiz Tuti, from Lavaz Country. He was in the 52nd position during the previous exam."

Just like before, Oligan called some random Water Affinity cultivator to try it out. The guy quickly took Luiz's pills and swallowed two of them straight away. He knew how hard his bottleneck was, so he was sure that one would be far from enough. Luiz didn't see anything wrong with it since he also didn't believe a single one was enough.

Soon enough, the guy consumed five pills from Luiz's batch without breaking through. On the sixth pill, the situation remained the same, much to Luiz's disappointment. There was only one pill left for him now. However, a few seconds after the Foundation Establishment cultivator took the seventh pill, a burst of Spiritual Energy came out of his body. His cultivation began to increase at breakneck speeds following that.

Eventually, it settled down sometime later. Obviously, the cultivator had entered the Core Formation Realm after consuming seven of Luiz's pills. Luiz was delighted to see that since at least he didn't fail. The only doubt now was whether there would be ten or more people obtaining better results than him or not.

"Luiz Tuti, Seven Cross-Realm Pills for a breakthrough."

Oligan quickly sent that guy out and called the next batch.

"Sua Samikil from the Samikil subordinate clan. A batch of Wind Element Cross-Realm Pills, totaling six."

Same process, different results. In the end, the guy who got Sua's pills failed to break through to the Core Formation Realm.

The tests continued as batch after batch was tested. So far, the best result was a breakthrough with six pills. It was then that one of the previous top rankers was called.

"Joan Porem from the Porem subordinate clan. Eight Earth Cross-Realm Pills."

Joan's cultivator quickly tried his breakthrough. On the fifth pill, the same burst of Spiritual Energy came out as his cultivation rose. Sure enough, another successful breakthrough. Joan couldn't help but become ecstatic. With such a result, he had a high chance of finishing in the top 10.

"Joan Porem, Five Pills for a breakthrough. Not too bad. Let's continue."

Just because you did well in the last phase didn't mean you would be doing good this phase as well.

Farkol ended the Medicinal Paste test in 6th place. Still, his pill only allowed the cultivator to breakthrough after the 8th one. Although a breakthrough was achieved, the result was pretty subpar. The only good thing for Farkol was that he had made two batches, and that was the worst one.

"Next, Cluhe Sol."

Cluhe had made three batches, so this was his first. Just like Farkol, Oligan started with Cluhe's worst batch. Nevertheless, Cluhe was able to get a breakthrough after the sixth pill, putting him in the top 10 for now. Cluhe didn't seem to care, though. He knew that his best batch would come only two attempts later.

"Cluhe Sol, Six Pills."

Oligan then looked at a bottle in his hand and paused for a second. However, he quickly got ahold of himself before calling out.

"Roan Larks, a Neutral (Or at least it was...) Cross-Realm Pill bottle. There are a total of eight pills inside. Since there is no affinity whatsoever for the pills, any affinity can be tested. So, who wants to try these ones?"

Immediately, the Foundation Establishment Cultivators went quiet. Roan did say that three or four should be enough for that batch before. However, after seeing all those Elemental Pills failing, would Roan's pill really work like that? If even Elemental Pills got poor results, chances were high that Roan's Neutral Pills would be even worse. The worst thing was that once they fail the breakthrough with his pills, they wouldn't be able to try again. That would be the end of their breakthrough attempt. No one wanted to waste it with neutral pills.