Chapter 48: The Sect-Breaking Pill!
"Are you still determined to wade into those troubled waters of Maple City now?" Seeing Jiang Yun close the scroll, Su Qian spoke earnestly.
Jiang Yun thought for a moment, then rubbed his brow. He returned to that calm, unruffled demeanor, as if nothing could trouble him, and chuckled lightly.
"Why not?"
"Cough, cough —" Su Qian was choked by Jiang Yun's words. He widened his eyes and said in disbelief, "That is a force with two Dou Zongs seated there, plus several Dou Huang strong supporters. Do not think that just because you have advanced to Dou Wang, you can look down on everyone in the world."
Although Su Qian's tone was not very good, Jiang Yun could still hear the deep concern in his words.
"Han Feng has gathered so many strong experts. His goal must be significant. And in the Black-Corner Region, the only thing he would treat so seriously is..."
"You mean..." Jiang Yun's words immediately put Su Qian on alert. In this Black-Corner Region, only the Jia Nan Academy could field so many strong experts.
The thought that so many people in Maple City were targeting the Jia Nan Academy sent a chill down even Su Qian's spine. Although it was true that as long as Dou Zuns did not appear, the Jia Nan Academy could not be destroyed, the two elders Qian Bai were complete hermits. Unless the academy faced a life-and-death crisis, they would not come out.
Even if they eventually came out to clean up the mess, the destruction caused would be painful enough for Su Qian.
"That is just my speculation. Nothing is certain yet." Seeing that Su Qian was frightened, Jiang Yun shook his head and denied it.
Han Feng's unusual behavior had indeed exceeded his expectations. The fact that he had gathered so many strong experts could also be explained as self-preservation. After all, facing the jackals of the Black-Corner Region, the stronger one's own power, the safer one would be.
Moreover, he had also offended the force Mo Yan Valley. Wealth stirred people's hearts. There was no guarantee that Di Mo Lao Gui would not take the field himself.
As for the Dou Zong by Han Feng's side, Jiang Yun had some vague guesses.
"Well..." Su Qian hesitated. Everything Jiang Yun said made sense. For the academy to rashly go to war with a force like Maple City over a speculation was indeed somewhat inappropriate.
Wars caused deaths. On such a battlefield, even his own death would not be surprising.
"Grand Elder need not worry. Since I have set Maple City as my target, I naturally have a plan." Seeing Su Qian's worry and hesitation, Jiang Yun spoke at the right moment.
"Oh~~~, do tell!" Su Qian's attention was caught by Jiang Yun's words, and he could not help asking curiously.
Jiang Yun smiled mysteriously. Instead of answering, he took out a piece of paper covered in writing.
Su Qian took it with a puzzled expression. Scanning the medicinal ingredients listed, his face twitched. He said with exasperation, "You are not going to stop until you have emptied the academy's stores, are you? These are all ingredients for sixth-grade pills. Can you even refine sixth-grade pills?"
"I can give it a try." Jiang Yun's confident voice came. In fact, after refining the Fallen Heart Flame, not only had his Dou Qi advanced by a large margin, but his soul power had also skyrocketed. At this moment, his soul power had reached a bottleneck.
Jiang Yun knew that this was the barrier to the Spirit Realm soul. As long as he continued to cultivate his clan's soul cultivation method and accumulated enough spiritual energy, he could advance to the Spirit Realm soul.
With his current peak Mortal Realm soul power, he was capable of refining any pill below the eighth grade.
"You... just what kind of monster did I pick up back then?" Su Qian looked at Jiang Yun in disbelief and said dazedly.
"What pill is this? Why does it look familiar to me?" After a good while, Su Qian finally recovered. He looked at the list in his hand again, and the more he looked, the more familiar it seemed.
"These are the ingredients needed to refine the Emperor Pill and the Sect-Breaking Pill. I already have some of them. The rest will require the academy's help." Jiang Yun spoke flatly, saying things that made Su Qian want to tear his hair out.
"The Sect-Breaking Pill —"
"You actually want to refine the Sect-Breaking Pill —"
The Sect-Breaking Pill, as the name implied, could increase a peak Dou Huang expert's chance of advancing to Dou Zong by ten percent. Moreover, it ensured that even if the attempt to break through to Dou Zong failed, one's strength would remain at the level before the attempt, without dropping in rank.
Although that ten percent chance seemed low, that small margin was enough to drive peak Dou Huang experts crazy.
The Sect-Breaking Pill could be considered the pinnacle of sixth-grade pills. It was enough to make any peak Dou Huang go mad. At the same time, its refinement difficulty was also among the highest of the sixth grade.
Jiang Yun was actually confident enough to refine the Sect-Breaking Pill. Su Qian could not help but size him up at this moment. A thirteen or fourteen-year-old sixth-grade alchemist — that was probably unique on the continent, was it not?
"You are thinking..." By now, Su Qian already knew what Jiang Yun was planning.
Jiang Yun looked at Su Qian and smiled, nodding.
The academy would not risk going to war with Maple City for no reason on his behalf. So he would use the Sect-Breaking Pill and the Emperor Pill as conditions to invite several Dou Huang and peak Dou Huang experts to assist him.
He believed that the academy's elders would not refuse. Especially Elder Qing, Hu Qian, Wu Tianlang, and the other peak Dou Huangs — they would probably be fighting each other for the chance.
Su Qian hesitated for a moment, then finally sighed. "I can only say that I will not stop them."
"May I ask what you will use to 'invite' this old man to take action?" At this moment, Su Qian suddenly turned into an old rascal. He rubbed his hands together and looked at Jiang Yun with great interest.
Jiang Yun found it somewhat amusing. At this moment, Su Qian looked very mercenary. Although Jiang Yun knew that Su Qian would act even without payment, since he had decided to make a deal with the academy, he would not go back on his word.
"This is the blueprint for a fifth-grade Spirit-Gathering Array. I wonder if it can move the Grand Elder to act?" Jiang Yun took out a scroll and handed it to Su Qian with a smile.
"Enough, absolutely enough!" Su Qian's eyes widened. With a swish, he immediately put away the blueprint, grinning so broadly that his eyes narrowed into slits.
"Alright, leave the rest to me. The medicinal ingredients you need will be gathered within three days." After laughing enough, Su Qian's expression became much more serious.
"Thank you, Grand Elder." Jiang Yun cupped his hands in thanks.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
In a quiet valley, Jiang Yun sat cross-legged on an open space. Before him were arranged various medicinal ingredients, each properly stored.
These ingredients were quite rare. If placed in the Black-Corner Region, they would surely fetch a very good price. And the quantity was so large. One could not help but sigh at the deep reserves of the Jia Nan Academy.
A light-yellow, antique cauldron floated out. This was one of the treasures of the Jia Nan Academy's Alchemy Department — a seventh-tier cauldron. Su Qian had specially brought it to assist Jiang Yun.
The formula for the Sect-Breaking Pill floated in midair. A light shadow leaped upon it, repeatedly displaying the refinement method in its entirety.
No one knew how long passed. Finally, Jiang Yun set his mind and began to move. In his jet-black eyes, white flames rose.
Puff.
With a soft sound, a wisp of white flame shot out from between Jiang Yun's energy vortexes. With a flick of his finger, the flame turned into a streak of light and flashed into the cauldron like lightning.
The moment the flame entered the cauldron, its small body suddenly expanded. In just an instant, the tiny flame turned into a blazing inferno, burning fiercely inside the cauldron.
Jiang Yun had never refined a sixth-grade pill before. To challenge the Sect-Breaking Pill right away — if not for the backing of his peak Mortal Realm soul power, he would not have dared to try so easily.
He had not studied alchemy for very long. He had always relied on his strong soul power and the annotations left by predecessors on pill formulas to refine pills step by step.
Now, the Sect-Breaking Pill was considered a high-level pill. Blindly copying would no longer work. From now on, everything would depend on himself.
The white flame was like a small sun radiating light. A faint medicinal fragrance slowly drifted out from within the cauldron.
Jiang Yun raised his hand and beckoned. A withered tree branch, like an ice sculpture, was tossed into the cauldron.
This was one of the main ingredients for refining the Sect-Breaking Pill: the 'Cold Marrow Branch.'
"It has begun." On a distant hill, several figures watched the Cold Marrow Branch fall into the cauldron and said excitedly.
"Will Jiang Yun succeed?"
"Not necessarily. After all, it is a peak sixth-grade pill. A few failures would be normal. Old Qing, calm down. If not this time, next time Jiang Yun will definitely succeed."
"No respect for seniority. Back in your day, I was the one who taught your cohort. Now, having become the vice dean and a peak Dou Huang, you have started disrespecting your elders. I'll beat you to death."
"Teacher Qing, Teacher Qing, this student was wrong..."
"At your age, still so unstable. Grand Elder, do you agree?" Watching the two carrying on, Wu Tianlang looked on coldly, deep contempt in his eyes.
"You are stable enough, so why are you shaking?" Su Qian looked at Wu Tianlang with a mocking smile.
Following Su Qian's gaze, they saw that one of Wu Tianlang's legs was shaking unconsciously. Clearly, his heart was not as calm as his surface suggested.
"..."
"Tch —, you ignorant fools. How could Xiao Yun possibly fail?" In the distance, a purple figure sat on a large boulder, her mouth full of juice. She looked at the group with contempt.
Her gaze traveled far into the distance and landed on the figure earnestly refining pills. Her eyes were full of smiles. I wonder if the Emperor Pill tastes good. I am a Dou Huang now too. When the time comes, I will ask Xiao Yun to refine a few bottles for me to try.
As soon as they heard that Jiang Yun was going to refine the Sect-Breaking Pill, these people got excited and clamored to come and stand guard. And so, Jiang Yun had attracted the strongest guard squad in history.
All Dou Huangs, without exception.
At this moment, Jiang Yun was struggling with the Cold Marrow Branch. Faced with the flame's burning, the Cold Marrow Branch did not sit idly by. Instead, it continuously emitted waves of icy cold mist, resisting the high temperature's erosion.
The mist and the flame eroded each other. With a hissing sound, even a faint white fog rose inside the cauldron.
"As expected, high-level pills are not so easy to refine. Just refining the ingredients alone takes considerable effort." Seeing the scene inside the cauldron, Jiang Yun marveled. With a thought, the temperature inside the cauldron rose sharply.
Under the increasingly high temperature of the flame, the Cold Marrow Branch finally began to gradually weaken and slowly melt.
Half an hour later, the Cold Marrow Branch had completely melted. Jiang Yun turned his hand and tossed in another ingredient.
Time slowly passed under Jiang Yun's orderly refinement. The medicinal ingredients placed before him gradually decreased. A rich, mixed medicinal fragrance lingered inside the cauldron like clouds and mist.
Several crises arose, but Jiang Yun cleverly resolved them all with his strong soul power. Finally, the Sect-Breaking Pill had successfully completed all its steps. Only the final pill formation remained.
The red-hot cauldron slowly rotated in midair. White flames churned violently inside.
"Condense —" At a certain moment, Jiang Yun shouted loudly. A massive amount of soul power surged into the cauldron. Inside, the many strands of pure medicinal liquid began to gradually fuse.
A ball of colorful liquid about the size of half a fist slowly appeared inside the cauldron. Continuous, subtle ripples of energy radiated from it.
These energy ripples spread outward in circles, centered on the cauldron. Inside the flame-filled cauldron, a ball of liquid the size of a bowl's opening was constantly shrinking. Under the flame's heat, the rough shape of a pill was slowly taking form.
As the flame continued to nurture it, the impurities within the pill embryo were continuously removed.
During the tedious wait, Jiang Yun did not dare relax his concentration for a moment. It had to be said that refining high-level pills was indeed very mentally consuming.
An hour passed in the blink of an eye. The impurities in the pill had finally been completely removed. Just then, the surrounding energy of heaven and earth suddenly began to fluctuate.
With a bang, a beam of energy about half a foot long shot out directly from the cauldron, shooting straight into the sky.
Seeing the beam shooting into the sky, the expressions of the several people in the distance changed slightly. Then wild joy followed.
"This is... did he succeed?"
"The beam is filled with pill fragrance. He succeeded. Jiang Yun has refined the Sect-Breaking Pill."
"That is the phenomenon of a high-level pill being born. It seems the Jia Nan Academy will have another alchemy grandmaster."
"Making a fuss over nothing. I told you Xiao Yun would succeed."
Jiang Yun stared at the ball of light inside the cauldron. As the ball of light swelled, energy ripples spread more and more rapidly. Where the ripples passed, rocks tumbled and trees were snapped in half.
This level of power was already no less than the destructive force of a Dou Ling.
Black-Corner Region.
On a certain attic, at this moment, Han Feng, who had broken through to Dou Zong, slightly raised his head. The direction his gaze was fixed on was exactly where the energy had erupted.
"That fluctuation appears only when a sixth-grade pill takes shape, does it not? That direction is the Jia Nan Academy. Is it Old Man Huo? But this level of energy fluctuation is not something that Old Man Huo, a newly advanced sixth-grade alchemist, could produce. Another unfamiliar sixth-grade alchemist?" Han Feng frowned slightly and muttered to himself.
"Never mind. Just one more sixth-grade alchemist. It does not matter. Perhaps that guy will be even happier." Shaking his head, Han Feng slowly turned around, a strange smile on his lips.
This fluctuation was not only noticed by Han Feng. Many experts in the Black-Corner Region had also detected it. Their reactions varied.
On a plain, a large mass of black fog surged out, covering the sky. This fog quickly condensed in the sky, finally transforming into a black-robed figure completely shrouded in deep black smoke. Faintly, a pair of slightly reddened eyes could be seen peering out from the deep darkness. Looking at the distant fluctuations, a strange smile curled at the corners of his lips, appearing extremely eerie and sinister within the black fog.
"Hehehe — a sixth-grade alchemist, huh? What an unexpected harvest..."