"Brother Long Chen, I'm sorry, Ling'er is too useless." Ling'er's voice was tinged with tears; the pills she refined were terrible.
"You succeeded on your first attempt at alchemy. You're already amazing. There are nine variations in the heat control, but you haven't mastered them well. You're too hasty. Don't be afraid, take it slow. We still have plenty of time."
Long Chen's heart sank. The more nervous Ling'er was, the easier it was to make mistakes. She couldn't even perform at a normal alchemy level. Long Chen hurriedly comforted her.
Although Ling'er was smart, because she was a spirit weapon, her ability to handle pressure was too weak. If Long Chen showed anxiety at this moment, Ling'er would be even more anxious.
To ease Ling'er's nervousness, Long Chen kept his tone as relaxed as possible, pointing out several mistakes she made and encouraging her to gradually correct them.
Ling'er was comforted by Long Chen, her nervousness eased slightly, and she continued refining pills, while Long Chen continued sensing the changes in the surrounding space.
Soon, a scene appeared in Long Chen's mind. He seemed to see an endless, dark river rushing forward. At the edge of the river was a small hole, the riverbank was leaking, and the river gushed out, forming a whirlpool.
At the bottom of this vortex was the loophole, and Long Chen spun within it like a speck of dust.
"If we're sucked into the bottom of the vortex, we'll be entering that dark river." Long Chen's heart pounded uncontrollably a few times.
That dark river was endless and boundless. The vortex he was in was like a drop in the ocean to the river, and Long Chen was as insignificant as a speck of dust to this vortex.
"Buzz!"
Suddenly, thunder wings appeared behind Long Chen, charging forward rapidly to resist the vortex.
"You're crazy. Doing this will suck you into the bottom of the vortex faster, and you'll quickly drain all your stamina." Dragonbone Xie Yue shouted loudly.
"This is my only way,"
Long Chen replied, continuing to charge forward. But after three attempts, he was pulled back. Long Chen gasped for breath as his spiritual energy rapidly declined in this endless spatial torrent, exhausting himself terribly.
Long Chen took a deep breath and charged forward again. Suddenly, a wave surged forward, actually sweeping Long Chen into the air.
"Boom!"
Long Chen was sent flying far away, as if crashing into a transparent wall. With a loud explosion, he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, feeling as if his body had been torn apart.
Long Chen panted heavily, but his eyes held a hint of excitement. He finally escaped the core of the vortex and rushed to its outskirts.
Long Chen struggled to control his body, maintaining a strange arc and spinning around the whirlpool's edge, so he wouldn't be quickly sucked into the bottom of the vortex, while also buying himself a chance to catch his breath.
Just then, Ling'er finished another batch of pills. This time, it was better than last, with three low-grade pills and the rest mid-grade.
"Very good, continue. There are still three places where there are minor mistakes. I will share the power here with you, absorb the power of death here, and the quality of the Corrupted Heart-Eroding Bone-Eroding Death Elixir will improve rapidly. Ling'er, keep working hard; you are the best." Long Chen encouraged him.
With Long Chen's encouragement and progress in alchemy, Ling'er's confidence increased significantly, and she continued refining pills.
While controlling his body, Long Chen slowly channeled external forces into the chaotic space. Ling'er's runes trembled all over her body as she began absorbing them.
Within the spatial rift, endless death power surged. There were countless forms of life power, but death power was the same. Whether on the Tianwu Continent or in another world, this death power was no different.
This is an extremely strange phenomenon, like the opposition of light and dark. People can study light, distinguish its colors, and classify them.
But darkness is only one kind—impossible to study or detect. Because the power of death is the same, Long Chen suddenly thought of refining the Corroded Heart-Eroding Bone-Eroding Necromancer Pill.
Originally, refining the Corroding Heart-Eroding Bone-Eroding Necromancer Pill required the assistance of the Law of Death. Long Chen did not refine it on the Tianwu Continent because capturing the power of death required cooperation from the Heavenly Dao, which extracted the death power from it, which was very complicated.
Although the black soil in Long Chen's chaotic space also possesses the power of death, it is not purely deathly power; it also contains the path of destruction and decaying energy, which must be stripped away, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive.
Although the Yin-Yang Immortal Herb also has the ability to evolve the power of death, that kind of death power lacks laws and is of little help to Long Chen.
But this place was different. In the endless darkness, the power of death swept across the world like an ocean. This was the Abyss of Death, and extracting the Law of Death was far too simple.
Moreover, Long Chen needed to control the power of the Death Law to prevent too much death from flooding in and making it impossible for Ling'er to control.
"Buzz!"
Just as Long Chen had predicted, when the power of death surged, Ling'er's pill refining went smoothly. When a batch of pills was finished, all the pills were top-grade, and one even showed signs of breaking through to supreme grade. Ling'er shouted in surprise.
"Very good, Ling'er, you're the best. Whether you can break free today depends on you." Long Chen was not stingy with his praise for Ling'er. His voice carried excitement as he took out one of the pills and swallowed them in one gulp.
"Boom!"
Long Chen's body trembled violently. The suppressed death power suddenly trembled, as if awakened.
"A demon core is just a demon pill, just a top-grade one, yet it actually has very strong medicinal effects." Long Chen was delighted in his heart.
"Not good!"
Long Chen suddenly cried out in alarm. Unconsciously, the surrounding space tightened tighter, and he was once again sucked into the core area.
"Boom!"
Thunder wings erupted from Long Chen's back, wildly surging outward. However, after charging twice in a row, his spiritual energy rapidly declined, leaving him unable to attempt a third attempt.
However, after two consecutive charges, he was a bit farther from the vortex's core. Although he didn't reach the same distance as before, he could still catch his breath.
"With the remaining time, we can push through again." Long Chen sensed the little spiritual energy left in his body, feeling a slight heaviness in his heart. He could struggle one more time; the rest would depend on Ling'er.
Long Chen swallowed one Heart-Rotting Bone-Eroding Necro Pill after another. The death power within him began to slowly awaken, surging like a tide, but he still hadn't had enough strength to launch an assault on the power of life.
Because the power of death was compressed to the extreme, and when the power of life reached ninety percent, it entered a saturated state, evolving into a single entity that was hard to shake.
To break this balance, the power of death must be activated, and then, just like the original force of life crushing it, it should be crushed back. The only thing that can provide power for the power of death is the Corroding Heart-Eroding Bone-Eroding Necro Pill.
"Buzz!"
Another batch of pills was finished, containing three top-grade pills. Long Chen was overjoyed; Ling'er had finally found her sense, able to gradually control the external power of death and infuse the pills.
"Ling'er, keep working hard. I'm counting on you." Long Chen said happily, while also bringing in more death power to supply Ling'er.
Ling'er was full of confidence, agreed, and continued to work hard at pill refining.
"You're pretty clever, kid. At this moment, when you break through your realm, suppress the power of life, and use the power of death to resonate with the external power of death. That way, your resistance will be reduced." At this moment, Dragonbone Xie Yue finally understood Long Chen's intentions.
"No wonder I was unlucky. If I had reached the third step of the Tongming Realm and been able to control the power of death, I wouldn't have been so restrained. I could have escaped so easily just now." Long Chen said helplessly.
The power of life and death counteracted. Ninety percent of Long Chen's life force was in his body, and within this spatial rift, it was entirely death. Long Chen was like driftwood, utterly unable to resist.
But if he reached the third step of the Tongming Realm and his death power reached ninety percent, he wouldn't be so restrained. He could even swim here like a fish in water. So increasing the death power within his body was the key to survival.
"Even if you reach the third step of the Tongming Realm and get sucked here, you still can't get out. There's a barrier at the crack entrance—it's easy to get in, but hard to get out." Dragonbone Xie Yue sighed.
"Damn, can't you just stop putting me down?" Long Chen shouted angrily, "
Haven't you heard that when a carriage reaches the mountain, there must be a road?"
Long Chen was so angry he wanted to curse. Not only did Dragon Bone Xie Yue not encourage him, she even discouraged him. Who exactly is this guy on?
Dragon Bone Xie Yue also realized she had said the wrong thing and fell silent. Long Chen swallowed a top-grade Corroding Heart-Eroding Bone-Eroding Necro Pill, and the death power within him finally exploded as he began to assault the life force.
Long Chen finished three top-grade Corrupted Heart-Eroding Bone-Eroding Death Spirit Pills, and Ling'er's second batch of pills was ready—this time he had six top-grade pills.
Long Chen was overjoyed and swallowed two Heart-Rotting Bone-Eroding Necro Pills at once. With the aid of the pills, the death power within Long Chen was continuously suppressed, beginning to squeeze out his life force.
Ling'er became increasingly adept at refining pills. Eventually, each batch contained nine top-grade Corroded Heart-Eroding Death Spirit Pills, and Long Chen frantically ate pills.
With a loud explosion, the power of death began to fight for the base. The power of life and death finally reached a ratio of eight to two, and the death power within Long Chen surged violently.
"Whoosh"
The thunder wings behind Long Chen trembled as he continued to dash outward, rushing from the core of the vortex to the spot where he first stopped.
"Hahaha, we did it, Ling'er, we did it." Long Chen was overjoyed and shouted wildly.
Just as he had expected, the death power within him surged, reducing the impact of the dark turbulence on him by a bit. He only charged once, yet achieved the effect of the previous three times. There would be enough time to go forward.
Ling'er was even happier than Long Chen, continuing to frantically refine the Corroded Heart Bone-Eroding Necromancer. After taking over a hundred pills, Long Chen heard another explosion inside his body, and his death power surged by another chronicle.
"As expected, fortune favors the bold. Then let's break through here to the third step of the Tongming Realm."
With the power of death enhanced, the oppressive force in the surrounding space lessened. Long Chen gradually gained control over his body. Suddenly, he summoned the Demon Moon Furnace and began refining pills right here.