"Shh!"

Fire Phoenix was startled and hurriedly made a silent gesture, whispering, "You must never mention Dragon Island in front of the Long Family people. It’s not only a taboo in the entire spatial realm but also a major taboo of the Long Family."

"Once, someone provoked the Long Family, claiming in front of them that they wanted to go to Dragon Island to settle scores with the Dragon Clan. The entire Long Family mobilized and launched a war to annihilate that family. And that provocateur was from a Saint Monarch family, with several Saint Monarchs.

Yet they were all slain by the Long Family. Friends of that family tried to help but were also caught by the Long Family, with two Saint Monarchs killed. Originally, the Long Family intended to wipe out the entirety of that family, but they were eventually stopped by the people of Destiny Origin City, and only then did they desist!"

Fire Phoenix’s face was solemn as she cautioned, "Ever since then, nobody dares to mention Dragon Island in front of the Long Family, even without malicious intent. The Long Family is very sensitive about this. You mustn’t violate their taboo; you could be slapped to death!"

Jiang Chen was startled upon hearing this. It wasn’t that he was afraid of being killed by the Long Family; he simply hadn’t expected them to be so strong!

"Annihilate a Saint Monarch family, one with multiple Saint Monarchs, could it be..."

Jiang Chen’s eyes glimmered with a sharp light: "Does the Long Family have a Supreme power?"

"Nobody knows. But after this incident, even people on the Origin Continent are unwilling to provoke the Long Family, which stands among the top few powers there."

Fire Phoenix lightly shook her head.

"Why do they have branches on the Canglan Continent then?"

Jiang Chen asked in a puzzled manner.

"That’s quite normal. Which superfamily doesn’t have branch forces on other continents? Academies and sects can be harder to branch out, but family forces? Isn’t it simple to send a powerful figure to another continent to marry and have children?"

Fire Phoenix remarked casually.

Jiang Chen was momentarily stunned and blinked. While establishing a force surely wasn’t as simple as that, it seemed that at its beginning stages, it truly started with having people to form a family!

"If you’re finished watching, then come with me. Let’s check out the banquet of the Five Great Families. This time, it’s just in the Long Family."

Fire Phoenix gently tugged Jiang Chen.

"A banquet by the Five Great Families? What do you mean?"

As Jiang Chen walked, he asked in puzzlement, "Aren’t the Five Great Families competitors? The big competition is tomorrow. Why hold a banquet now, to poison all the opponents?"

"What are you talking about!"

Fire Phoenix glared at Jiang Chen, leading him out as she explained, "The banquet of the Five Great Families is to prevent excessive mutual depletions among them, and to avoid letting others who wish to bring the Five Great Families down exploit any gaps. It’s kind of a self-preservation method through alliance."

"Alliance for self-preservation? I see, it’s about weaker parties not exhausting stronger ones when they meet, and letting the stronger ones win against other forces. The weaker ones deplete more, and in the final contest, everyone relies on their own skills. Is that right?"

Jiang Chen’s eyes showed a hint of realization.

"Yes, that’s right."

Fire Phoenix nodded lightly.

Jiang Chen shook his head in amusement. This kind of alliance actually didn’t have much impact; often it’s unnecessary, just better than nothing.

The rules of the alchemy dao competition are divided into three items.

The first item is Primordial Spirit Power confrontation. The pill refining method in the Void Nether realm requires use of Primordial Spirit Power, and this confrontation tests the tenacity of Primordial Spirit Power.

The second item is flame confrontation. Everyone participating in the competition needs to bring their own flame. This is also what a qualified Pill Master must possess; during the competition, no one will provide a flame for you.

Normally you can borrow flames, but in the Extraterritorial Battlefield, no one lends flames to you. The ultimate purpose of these competitions is actually to gain fame and enter the Extraterritorial Battlefield.

The third item is the real pill refining contest.

Not everyone making it to the third item in the alchemy competition. The first item is where most are eliminated. Those who fail the Primordial Spirit confrontation inevitably get injured. Although there are special scenes to avoid damaging the foundation, those severely injured can’t recover quickly, let alone refine pills.

The second item also sees eliminations. Some refuse to concede and stick it through, which might injure their original fire seed. Damage to the original fire seed greatly impacts pill refining.

Therefore, those who enter the third contest are definitely not mediocre.

And the so-called alliance of the Five Great Families is firstly to probe each other, and secondly to avoid unnecessary depletion. If they meet but don’t get along, the strong can be dragged down by the weak in the third item, unable to fully exert themselves.

However, this method seems somewhat useless. Even though Canglan Continent doesn’t have many Pill Masters, given a grand event like this, surely those participating in the alchemy competition must be more than a hundred thousand, right? With so many participants, how could just the people from these five families possibly encounter each other?

"By the way, there’s something I forgot to tell you."

Fire Phoenix spoke softly: "During the competition, due to the number of participants, they will be divided into over a hundred groups for duels, each group selecting five people, and the Five Great Families hold a privilege in this contest; they do not need to participate in the preliminary selection.

The preliminary selection only involves the first item contest, and it’s quite fast, mostly finishing within a day.

We simply wait until the top five hundred are determined and then join these. In this way, each family of the Five Great Families sends three people, and ultimately the five hundred fifteen individuals are divided into five groups for the first two rounds of contests.

The first item decides twenty people, the second item decides the top ten, and fifty people enter the final pill refining contest."

"That does save time."

Jiang Chen nodded lightly.

The two had unknowingly walked out of the Huo Family, heading east along the street.

The Five Great Families are all located in the Central Region of Elixir Divine City, not far from each other.

"By the way, why are there just the two of us? Where are the others participating in the duel?"

Jiang Chen perceived something off and asked in confusion.

"My brother Huo Qiong was out on trial, just returned today, and went directly to the Long Family. Besides him and you, the other participant in the duel is my second uncle Huo Langtian; he went there a while ago."

Fire Phoenix explained softly.

"Huo Qiong and Huo Langtian?"

Jiang Chen was slightly stunned and then understood.

The transaction of Spirit Grass requires on-site identification. Both Huo Langtian are Pill Masters; they are indeed the right choice for the transaction with the Gold-devouring Rat Clan.

"What rank are they as Pill Masters?"

Jiang Chen gently asked.

"They are both sixth-grade Pill Masters, but they can mostly only refine mid-level six-grade elixirs and still need your assistance."

Fire Phoenix gave Jiang Chen a slight smile.

"What about you?"

"I..."

Fire Phoenix’s expression changed slightly as she shook her head gently: "I have no talent for pill refining."

"Sorry."

Jiang Chen apologized with concern, aware that lacking talent for pill refining in an alchemy dao family might be challenging.

"No worries, my talent for cultivation is quite good, among the young generation in the family, my cultivation talent stands out!"

Fire Phoenix laughed softly, her eyes showing a hint of pride.