Another half an hour passed, and sweat seeped from Huchen Wuding's forehead, slowly trickling down. Even with his unique alchemy technique and his cultivation at the mid-stage Golden Core, after more than twenty consecutive days of alchemy, the magical power in his body was running low.
Huchen Wuding himself was an alchemist and naturally knew that he couldn't take too many Qi-replenishing pills. As for supplementing his magical power with Spirit Stones, at this level of refining, it was already insufficient to cover the expenditure.
After another incense stick's time, Huchen Wuding, his face already flushed, suddenly raised his hands. A dark golden rune, half the size of a head, suddenly rose into the air from between his hands. The next moment, it shot out like an arrow, flashing and disappearing into the purple-smoke-emitting cauldron.
Then, the entire cauldron trembled slightly, emitting a "rumbling" sound. At the top, faint streaks of rosy light immediately began to rise, and a slightly sweet fragrance instantly filled the entire refining chamber.
Huchen Wuding had stopped channeling his hand seals. With a flash, he was in front of the cauldron. He gently slapped the cauldron, and with a light "buzz," the cauldron's lid flew up. Immediately, three streaks of purple light, one after another, flew towards the refining chamber's door!
Huchen Wuding chuckled softly. With a roll of his wide sleeve, a ray of rosy light flew out. In one extension and retraction, it rolled back the three streaks of purple light. When he opened his palm again, there were three more purple pills in his hand. Each one was as translucent as an amethyst, shining with a luster.
Huchen Wuding extended two fingers, gently pinched one of the pills, and then held it up before his eyes. He observed it carefully for a few breaths. With a slight movement of his fingertips, a little bit of powder floated up from the surface of the amethyst-colored pill, which he then inhaled into his lungs and closed his eyes.
In just a moment, a series of purple stripes appeared on Huchen Wuding's originally fair face, making him look very demonic. He closed his eyes and felt it carefully for a while before opening them again. He nodded in satisfaction, and the purple stripes on his face slowly faded. He carefully placed the three pills into a white jade bottle and put it into the storage ring on his hand.
"It took several decades to collect the materials, and only now has the 'Purple Heart Pill' been refined. Next, I can slowly refine the 'Purple Heart Pill' and begin to break through to the late-stage Golden Core." The "Purple Heart Pill" was a very rare auxiliary medicinal pill for the Golden Core stage, which could help a cultivator break through a small realm.
However, the four raw materials in the "Purple Heart Pill" were very difficult to find and were rarely seen on the Desolate Moon Continent. Huchen Wuding had been searching for many years and had only managed to purchase one of the raw materials at a high price in an auction. There had been no news of the other three raw materials in the following ten years.
It was only later, when Huchen Wuding saw someone in the market offering a high price for several rare poison pills, that he suddenly thought of the method of bartering. So he put a few rare poison pills that could only be obtained within the Huchen family in the auction house, and stipulated that they could only be exchanged for any one of the three raw materials.
In his anticipation, after another twenty years or so, he finally slowly gathered the main materials for the "Purple Heart Pill."
This time, the entire refining process made Huchen Wuding very nervous. Now, in the entire family, no one could help him. Although there were three other Golden Core cultivators like him, in terms of alchemy attainments, he was now the number one person in the Huchen family. His father, Huchen Wandong, had also stepped into the Pseudo-Nascent Soul stage and had been in seclusion all year round, no longer hearing about the affairs of the clan.
The other two Golden Core cultivators were Huchen Wanli and Huchen Huiqing, whose cultivation and alchemy attainments could not be compared to Huchen Wuding's. And the Huchen Ancestor had left the family with another Nascent Soul friend several decades ago to search for an ascension node, and there had been no news since.
Now, Huchen Wuding had cultivated the "Ghost Realm Poison Scroll" to the sixth layer, finally living up to Zhuo Lingfeng's efforts and taking control of the entire Huchen family. Since no one could help him refine the "Purple Heart Pill," and Huchen Wuding only had one set of materials, he hesitated for a few days before making up his mind to enter the refining chamber and sealing it off from any disturbance.
In the end, under extreme caution, Huchen Wuding successfully refined the "Purple Heart Pill" without any mishap.
Huchen Wuding carefully felt the changes in his body after inhaling the powder of the "Purple Heart Pill," and finally confirmed that the effect was no different from what was recorded in the pill recipe, which made him quite satisfied. The three "Purple Heart Pills" needed to be consumed and refined in three stages:
The first pill would take about five years to refine; then he would need to come out of seclusion for a period of time before refining the second pill, which would probably take another ten years or so; after coming out again to adjust, the third pill would require twenty years of refining and comprehension. At that time, there would be a great probability of breaking through a small realm.
Although refining the medicinal pills alone would take thirty years, it was more than worth it for a cultivator. The higher a cultivator cultivated, the harder it was to break through a bottleneck. Even a small realm could be extremely difficult. This was also why, in the situation of Li Wuyi and the others, even with the support of the cultivation resources of a super sect behind them, only Li Wuyi had reached the late-stage Golden Core so far. This was still a situation that had occurred due to Li Wuyi's own amazing talent.
There were a large number of Golden Core cultivators in the Malevolent Spirit Sect, but there were many who had been stuck in the Golden Core stage for hundreds of years. Sect Master Yan Longzi, Elder Chigong, and others were of this type.
Huchen Wuding's cultivation was different from that of the vast majority of cultivators. The Huchen family itself was an alchemy family and had many pill recipes that could assist cultivators in their cultivation. It was just that some were normal assistance, but the medicinal properties were mild, and the progress was also limited. Some were unconventional, even very vicious. If things went wrong, the cultivator would have various situations after taking them, such as their body exploding, going mad, and so on.
However, even with such dangers, it was still a glimmer of hope that many cultivators could not ask for. This was the advantage of an alchemy cultivation sect or family. They could have more opportunities to improve their cultivation by taking medicinal pills.
"Yes, this alchemy has consumed too much energy and stamina. I need to rest for a few days, adjust my mentality, and then I can take the first 'Purple Heart Pill' to cultivate…" After carefully feeling the medicinal power, Huchen Wuding began to think about his next plan.
Half a tea's time later, he stood up and strode towards the door of the refining chamber. With a "rumble," the door opened to the left and right, and a dazzling ray of sunlight shone on Huchen Wuding's body. He squinted his eyes slightly.
The next moment, he saw several Voice Transmission Talismans flying around in the restriction outside the door, like a few headless flies. Huchen Wuding was not surprised by this. After all, he was now the head of the family, and some important matters certainly had to be reported to him. This time, he was afraid of making a mistake in refining the "Purple Heart Pill," so he had shielded everything from the outside world.
Huchen Wuding casually grabbed and caught the several Voice Transmission Talismans in his hand. Immediately, his Divine Sense probed into them one by one. One by one, the Voice Transmission Talismans were quickly scanned by his Divine Sense. Huchen Wuding's expression was normal. Although they were basically some family matters that needed to be handled, generally speaking, it was not something that couldn't be done without him. The content of the jade slips was mostly matters that Huchen Huiqing had handled and had informed him about.
Although Huchen Wuding was the head of the family, he had handed over many of the family's affairs to his second sister, Huchen Huiqing, who had always taken good care of him. Huchen Huiqing was now also at the peak of the initial-stage Golden Core. The benefits were naturally given to her the most. As for Huchen Wanli, whose attitude towards him had improved slightly later, Huchen Wuding's attitude towards him was not too good, but not too bad either. For those branches that had once suppressed him, he was already doing very well to be able to do this. At least in terms of resource allocation, it was relatively fair.
The Voice Transmission Talismans were quickly scanned by him one by one. When Huchen Wuding saw the last Voice Transmission Talisman in his hand, his Divine Sense also casually swept over it. He was now very eager to go back and have a good rest. And just as his Divine Sense swept over it, Huchen Wuding was suddenly stunned.
"Little Bamboo Peak… Li Yan, Benefactor… Benefactor is still alive? And he has become a Nascent Soul cultivator. The Nascent Soul Grand Ceremony will be held in nine years!"
For a moment, Huchen Wuding was in a daze, as if he had been hit by a petrification spell.
The Huchen Ancestor had also participated in the great war with the Demon Clan back then, thus protecting the Huchen family, which allowed Huchen Wuding and some others to stay safely in the clan. When the Huchen Ancestor returned, he had specially called Huchen Wuding over and told him about Li Yan.
The Huchen Ancestor had not participated in the final decisive battle at the Devil's Cliff Crevice because in the previous great war where the South Sea cultivators had turned against them, many Spirit Transformation and Nascent Soul cultivators from both sides had also gone out. Among them was the Huchen Ancestor. He was seriously injured in that great war and was moved to the rear to recuperate.
When the great war ended, as a Nascent Soul cultivator, the Huchen Ancestor received a lot of news about the decisive battle at the Devil's Cliff. He also knew that it was Wei Zhongran who had risked his life to achieve great military merit, but his daughter and disciple Li Yan had fallen into the Devil's Cliff, and their bones were never found.
After returning to the clan, he told this news to Huchen Wuding.
When Huchen Wuding heard that Li Yan was most likely dead, he asked for some more details and then returned to his residence. He was silent for a long, long time… He had been hiding since he was a child, and only "Uncle Sang" was his relative. He had never had any like-minded friends. And Li Yan had appeared at the moment of his life and death. Not only had he turned the tide of the battle, but he had also helped him regain his position in the family.
Although Li Yan's purpose at that time was for a "Netherworld Order," as far as he was concerned, Huchen Wuding still felt that he had benefited more. And Li Yan's calm and composed demeanor had also influenced Huchen Wuding's later style of doing things. For Huchen Wuding, who had been without friends since childhood, Li Yan had invisibly become his only friend.
Holding the Voice Transmission Talisman in his hand, scenes of the past flashed through Huchen Wuding's mind.
"Hehehe… Benefactor has a tough life. He didn't even die in the Two-Realm Barrier. That's great, that's great!
Nine years from now? There's still enough time for me to refine a 'Purple Heart Pill.' At that time, I will definitely go over and witness benefactor's current style!"
For a moment, Huchen Wuding felt that the summer sun outside was no longer dazzling. Instead, it felt warm on his body. His weary mind became very relaxed in this instant!
......
In a valley overgrown with weeds in an area under the jurisdiction of the Jingtu Sect, large snowflakes were falling from the sky. At this moment, the thick snow on the ground had been stirred into a mess, losing the original mirror-like smoothness of the wilderness snow. Not only were large patches of grass roots and ground exposed in many places, but there were also patches of dazzling crimson on the snow.
Three or four corpses lay scattered in the valley. The sound of violent explosions continued to come from the air. It was two figures, one in front and one behind, flying towards the outside of the valley.
"Fellow Daoist, Fellow Daoist, it's all a misunderstanding. As long as you let bygones be bygones, I can give you all the magical treasures and Spirit Stones on me, as long as you stop attacking…" A somewhat terrified voice came from the rainbow light in front. It was a middle-aged man with a black beard, holding a double-stranded long sword in both hands, his body stained with blood.
There was also a deep gash under his ribs. In the mangled flesh, some of his internal organs were already exposed, a very miserable sight. With such a serious injury, he had no time to deal with it at all and was only focused on fleeing.
And before he could finish his words, a cold snort came from the escape light closely following behind. "Nonsense, you've been chasing me all this way. How can it be a misunderstanding for so long? Go to hell!"
In the escape light behind was a young man who looked like a book-boy. He was carrying a bamboo basket on his back and was staring at the front with a fierce expression, a vicious light flashing in his eyes.