Although Star Swordlife hadn’t secured the distiller’s yeast, by absorbing the jade dew that was the alcohol, his energy arts were dramatically improving. Yang Qi watched in shock as his psychic scale began rising.

It was really a surprise that a little bit of alcohol would have such a profound effect. How could the alcohol be that terrifying? It begged the question of how miraculous the distiller’s yeast would be.

In fact, Yang Qi had the feeling that, if he could get it, his psychic scale might climb by several dozen. Right now, he was at twenty-two, which was formidable. However, there were plenty of experts present whose psychic scales were beyond fifty.

Even Star Swordlife was above him in this regard, although it was little surprise considering he was an Inheritor. And that meant that if Star Swordlife achieved another major breakthrough, it could be a really bad thing.

Therefore, Yang Qi immediately thrust his palm out, making a direct move to crush his enemy. A cracking sound rang out as Star Swordlife’s sword energy shattered and his attempt to absorb the alcohol failed. Spinning in fury, he launched a sword strike at Yang Qi and simultaneously shouted, “I can’t believe you’re interfering, Yang Qi! That said, I'm not going to kill you, I'm going to capture and seal you!”

There seemed to be little variety to Star Swordlife’s threats. As for the sword strike he used, it caused a huge sealing mark to appear and head right for Yang Qi.

Of course, there was no way a sealing mark like that would do anything to Yang Qi. He responded with his fist, shattering the technique. Then his hand continued onward, not to try to seize the alcohol, but rather to kill Star Swordlife!

When Star Swordlife realized what was happening, he didn’t dare to react too slowly. He immediately retracted his sword energy and converted it into a defensive barrier.

Yang Qi knew that, considering how many top experts were present, there was no point in trying to get the distiller’s yeast right now. At the same time, if he didn’t kill Star Swordlife as soon as possible, it might be difficult to do so later. Therefore, he unleashed his most powerful energy arts, resorting to a deadly and vicious attack to try to cut him down.

They clashed three times, and each time, Star Swordlife was forced backward in retreat. At the same time, purring sounds could be heard inside Yang Qi as he prepared to unleash his Purrfect God Art. Because he didn’t have full enlightenment of the art, he could only use it when he was free to act without any restraint whatsoever.

That was why he had been able to use it against the Flower-Seizing Marauder, and it was the same in this situation.

Whizzzzz!

When the junior empress saw what was happening between Star Swordlife and Yang Qi, she waved her hand, sending out a stream of energy to separate them.

Yang Qi was more than a little surprised. Reaching out, he softly touched the barrier and could sense the immense power in it. In fact, it made him seem completely incapable of doing anything. It even reminded him a bit of the Purrfect God Art, although there were clearly some fundamental differences.

The junior empress clearly had a psychic scale of around eighty or ninety, and a power index of over seven thousand! She was very close to being in the mid Terrifying level.

‘I can’t believe she’s that strong,’ he thought. Obviously, he had no hope of killing Star Swordlife in these circumstances. The two of them were so closely matched that defeating him would involve going back and forth for thousands of rounds. And even then, it was possible Star Swordlife would escape, instead of being killed.

Since the junior empress was clearly intent on preventing any deadly combat, Yang Qi would have to wait for a future chance to kill him.

“Why are you two fighting again?” she asked with a faint smile. “Scuffles over the alcohol are permitted, but uses of deadly force are not. We have powerful enemies to face, and joining forces is our only option for survival.”

Meanwhile, the ‘scuffles’ over the alcohol were getting more intense.

There were now dozens of experts fighting each other as they all tried to get into the Deer Cauldron. Sonorous booms rang out as the cauldron was struck, and occasionally alcohol would spill out, which everyone would eagerly try to absorb. At a certain point, the cauldron erupted into flames that spread out over it like a protective shield.

With that shield to protect it, the attacks being thrown toward it were useless.

Suddenly, one of the experts howled, sending an internal pellet flying out to slam into the shield, which split it open. Eyes shining, the man sent his true energy inside, grabbing a drop of green alcohol and pulling it into his mouth.

In that moment, his psychic scale increased by at least three.

Roaring with laughter, he tried to secure another drop of the alcohol, but before he could, his true energy was slammed into by numerous other experts, shattering it.

When Yang Qi saw this, he immediately made his own move, relying on a host of marvelous techniques to secure himself a drop of the alcohol. After absorbing the seething liquid, he felt it transform into perfect quintessence energy from the god world, which bolstered him and pushed his psychic scale from twenty-two all the way to twenty-four.

‘No wonder the junior empress is so strong,’ he thought, ‘considering she has stuff like this. That said, this stuff can't propel you to the mid Terrifying level. She must have another bit of distiller’s yeast of her own, as well as other marvelous assets. Otherwise, why would she call for a session of 

heating alcohol and discussing heroism

, only to offer something so valuable?”

With such thoughts on his mind, he launched another move in the hopes of getting some more alcohol.

However, his second attempt was not as successful. Having caught the attention of the other competitors, they all targeted him, which meant he was suddenly facing dozens of experts who were all roughly on the same level as the Flower-Seizing Marauder.

The fighting was completely chaotic, with everyone launching attacks on everyone else. Streams of true energy would occasionally hit the cauldron, and people would occasionally get bits of alcohol that improved their energy arts. However, anyone who succeeded was immediately mobbed and shoved away. Afterward, everyone would focus their attacks back on the cauldron.

Yang Qi had profound energy arts, such as the Life-Death Void-Destruction God-Lightning, which gave him a bit of an edge. As the fighting continued, he managed to make a few more gains, pushing his psychic scale to thirty. At that point, he realized that further progress was going to be difficult, even with more of the alcohol.

After all, his psychic scale progressed differently than other people’s.

He didn't stop, though. Every drop of alcohol that he got would be a big help to people like the sectlord, or Peaklords Memory and Celestial.

Star Swordlife managed to get quite a bit of alcohol, and there was nothing Yang Qi could really do to stop him. Soon, Star Swordlife’s face was flushed red as his psychic scale and power index continued rising, and his sword technique seemed to climb to an even higher level.

The junior empress watched it all with a faint smile on her face, occasionally nodding as she noted who seemed stronger and who seemed weaker.

After little more than an hour, the alcohol was almost completely drained. Everyone knew that it would only be moments before the distiller’s yeast flew out.

That was when the competition grew the fiercest, and Yang Qi’s true energy was stirring with more intensity than ever.

The purring coming from within him was so loud that it was terrifying to those who could hear him. Everyone was wondering exactly what technique he cultivated that would cause this.

RUMBLE!

When the last drop of alcohol was gone, the distiller’s yeast was no longer suppressed and it suddenly flew out into the open.

Everyone sensed the massive influx of true energy in the area, which shattered all the other energy arts and true energies, even Yang Qi’s. After all, he wasn’t even in the Terrifying level yet.

Thankfully, he had been prepared for this, and immediately launched a bubble that shot with lightning-like speed toward the distiller’s yeast.

Unfortunately, he had miscalculated.

A figure blurred into motion, moving so fast that no one could make it out clearly. And before anyone could react, it reached the distiller’s yeast and grabbed it.

A moment later, Yang Qi’s bubble reached the location and surrounded the figure.

However, the figure snapped a finger, releasing some unknown energy art that popped the bubble, causing something like a heatwave to roll out.

Then the figure burst out laughing. “Sorry I'm late, Junior Empress. However, it seems like I arrived just in time!”

‘Who’s this?’ Yang Qi thought. At the same time, everyone in the crowd prepared to pounce on the newcomer.

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