Chapter 209 Preparations for the Pill Gathering

To avoid being filmed, Wu Dongxiao worked even harder. Day and night, except when he was resting or practicing his cultivation techniques, he had endless things to do, endless pills to refine, and endless secret techniques to hone...

He's never been this tired since he was born!

However, the events of his childhood left too many marks on Wu Dongxiao. No matter how tired he was, he was absolutely unwilling to slack off as long as it made him stronger.

Wu Dongxiao is truly incredibly diligent and hardworking.

·

At that moment, Wu Dongxiao took out a medicine box.

Once opened, it is divided into many compartments, which can hold dozens of kinds of pills.

Each compartment is further divided into four smaller compartments, each containing pills of one of four qualities, from low-grade to top-grade.

Wu Dongxiao separated the newly refined level-three pills by quality and placed them separately.

At first glance, the medicine box contained only level-three pills, at least twenty different kinds.

Each small compartment contains a large number of pills, at least dozens!

Wu Dongxiao quickly scanned and counted the items with his spiritual sense, then said, "It will be full in a few days. We'll give it to Uncle Zhong to pay off the debt. I'll keep good records."

Zhong Cai smiled and said, "The more top-quality items you offer, the higher the price will be."

Wu Dongxiao nodded, looking somewhat disappointed, but quickly cheered up again!

Relying on third-grade pills to pay off debts is far from enough, but on the bright side, it can at least help a little.

·

Since Zhong Cai's alchemy skills improved, he has never gone back to refining low-level pills. However, his maternal grandfather's hunting group has always been steady and reliable, and the pills they can circulate are only level one or two, at most level three.

Since Zhong Cai no longer refines pills herself, it's perfect that Wu Dongxiao, who has learned along the way, can make up for it with pills of various qualities.

Of course, the quantity of goods that can be obtained from that side is not large, and Wu Dongxiao is also a pill-making expert with a high success rate, so most of the pills should be stored away for later delivery to Xihu.

Meanwhile, a special display case for pills was set up in the general store in Canglong City for Wu Dongxiao.

Only top-grade pills of level one and two, and high-grade pills of level one to three are produced there.

The third-grade top-quality pills were still sold to the academy's trading hall by Wu Dongxiao's puppet, which also helped Wu Dongxiao accumulate mission points.

Wu Dongxiao also kept a considerable number of top-grade level three pills for his own use.

The reason is simple: to build up one's foundation.

Although Zhong Cai had left Wu Dongxiao a lot of pills when she refined level three pills in the past, Wu Dongxiao was still an enlightened cultivator and wanted to make his foundation more solid, so he was not in a hurry.

However, because of the overwhelming "love" from his two uncles, Wu Dongxiao's grades were actually quite good despite the grueling exams.

He was already number one on the Enlightenment Ranking, and he could still fight for hundreds of rounds with a Suspended Illumination cultivator on the Hidden Dragon Ranking. It's conceivable that once he breaks through to become a Suspended Illumination cultivator, he will definitely be able to quickly climb to the top of the Hidden Dragon Ranking.

— Wu Dongxiao has now accumulated enough Yin energy for the fifth level of enlightenment and will soon be able to advance to the sixth level. At that time, he will be even closer to the Suspended Illumination Realm.

Furthermore, although his ranking on the alchemy ranking list may not seem to satisfy Zhong Cai, it is not really his fault. After all, the Spring Return Day had just passed a few years ago, and all the third-level alchemy disciples had gained a lot of benefits, and the number of people who could refine top-grade pills was also greater.

Although the top-ranked level three alchemists quickly broke through to level four, those ranked lower also caught up...

Even so, Wu Dongxiao was actually ranked third on the Dan Ranking.

Of the more than twenty level-three pills he has learned, seven have already reached the highest grade—with three or four more refined, he can be at the top of the list.

Zhong Cai's words of encouragement were simply encouragement.

No matter how fast Wu Dongxiao was progressing, Zhong Cai kept telling him to go even faster!

If it can go any faster, it means it hasn't reached its limit. Since it hasn't reached its limit, why not push it to the limit?

Hurry up!

·

Wu Dongxiao continued refining the elixir.

This time, they used a third-grade pill that had not yet been refined to its highest quality.

So he listened as he refined the ingredients…

"You only need three stamens for a thousand-petal flower, and you burned one of them!"

"There's half a drop too much juice from the condensing herb! And it's supposed to be the first one after being blessed? Is your finger injured? You can't even get the dosage right?"

"The fire is burning three-tenths of the way on the right! The fire is too strong, reduce it by one point."

"The slices of the Earthy Ox root are too thick. The weight is correct, but the heating is uneven. They should be thinner so that they are translucent."

"The wood and fire split into three streams, burning simultaneously! You only have two streams; what's with the other one?"

Wu Dongxiao quickly corrected them one by one.

Zhong Cai scoffed, "It's riddled with flaws; it's no wonder it's full of top-quality products!"

Wu Dongxiao hung his head, but his technique became more precise, and his movements became more cautious.

·

While Wu Dongxiao was refining pills, Zhong Cai was also busy, his fingers constantly moving as he refined a level-five pill.

After Zhong Cai had refined the Soul Fusion Pill to near perfection, he continued to learn about new level 5 pills and refine some pills repeatedly over the next few years. Even so, he could refine a level 5 pill to the highest grade every two or three months on average.

All in all, up to now, Zhong Cai has mastered refining a total of twenty-two types of level-five pills.

Each one is a fully-fledged pill, capable of being refined into a top-grade pill, with a success rate of over 80%.

·

Just two months ago, Zhong Cai felt that he had almost reached his goal and would not make any further progress in the short term, so he used the Divine Wood Token to go to the Divine Wood.

There was no one in the sky above the Dan Shen Tree. As soon as Zhong Cai arrived, he found himself and Lao Wu still at the top of the tree—according to the rules, he was with Wu Shaogan, who had already merged with the tree.

There were ten opportunities to refine pills. Zhong Cai selected ten of the fifth-grade pills that he was best at, and each time a wooden beast would attack, which Wu Shaogan had to defend against.

Of these ten types of pills, Zhong Cai could consistently produce three top-grade pills, and each time he successfully produced a full-quality pill.

The results may not seem as good as when using level four pills, but they are actually outstanding.

On the day of the return of spring, the wooden beast would only increase in strength after each round or even more of fighting, but now the wooden beasts that appear after each fight are even more ferocious—and he has successfully overcome them every time.

In the end, the two received ten gifts, totaling forty resources.

The total resources acquired are as follows:

Two pieces of a ninth-grade incomplete inheritance.

There are a total of eight level-eight resources: two martial arts jade tablets, two level-eight pill recipes (including incomplete ones), and four other level-eight resources.

Level 7 resources, twelve items.

Level 6 resources, 15 items.

Level 5 resources, three items.

The gains were also enormous.

Not many people knew about this, so Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan simply sent the alchemical texts and martial arts-related videos to their masters for copying.

Only the two masters knew about this whole thing.

·

However, Zhong Cai still did not participate in the Danbang assessment.

Neither the rewards he could get from the Pill Ranking assessment nor the rewards his master would give him after he topped the list were much for Zhong Cai now. And the honor that the top of the Pill Ranking would bring to his master was definitely not as great as climbing to the top of the Pill God Tree, which was just icing on the cake.

But the real reason why she didn't go was that after learning how to make three kinds of level-five pills, Zhong Cai had already discussed with her master, Sang Yunchu, whether or not to take the exam for the level-five pill king title.

Sang Yunchu did not give any more Xuan Stones, but instead gifted Zhong Cai several top-grade level six pills for him to study and observe in the future.

At the same time, Sang Yunchu offered his suggestion—there's no need to participate in the assessment.

Furthermore, he invited his disciples to join him in hosting a small gathering of alchemists.

Zhong Cai readily agreed!

The master and apprentice quickly made a decision: they would hold the event only after Zhong Cai had refined at least ten kinds of level-five pills. Just as Zhong Cai himself thought, it would be a bit embarrassing if there were too few kinds of pills.

At that time, Sang Yunchu will also reveal his identity as the Pill Emperor.

After all, it had been more than ten years since he became an eighth-level alchemist, and his disciples had given him a large amount of alchemy knowledge and experience to draw upon. In addition, his talent was terrifying, so it was only natural that he became a pill emperor early on.

Sang Yunchu never hides his thoughts from his disciples.

Another reason he was able to expose himself was that he obtained a state lord's protective token.

This is not a state lord's token that is bestowed upon all rank-based forces, but a protective token infused with the state lord's offensive methods—in addition to the token itself possessing level nine defensive protection for the token holder, it can also unleash attacks reaching the Tongtian level to resist Tongtian cultivators!

Of course, the resistance lasted only a short time, but it was enough to alarm the governor and allow him to come and drive the enemy away in time.

Sang Yunchu was able to obtain the token because Dean Hua, who was in seclusion, was summoned by a junior. After taking the life-extending elixir, she personally visited the state lord with another portion of the elixir.

The governor, who usually lived in seclusion, made time to meet with his old friend when he arrived.

Having examined the medicinal effects of the soup, he was naturally willing to protect this Dan Emperor. He also generously offered one of the highest-quality state lord protection tokens to the dean for Dan Emperor Sang.

·

A few days ago, Sang Yunchu had just informed his disciples that it was time to warm up for the Pill King Gathering.

In order to allow more cultivators to arrive, the time was set for two months later.

At that time, Sang Yunchu will provide two kinds of top-grade level 8 pills, three kinds of high-grade level 8 pills, and one kind of top-grade level 8 life-extending tonic.

There will be two doses of the life-sustaining soup, and at least three of each of the other pills, with no limit on the number.

·

Not counting life-extending medicines, Sang Yunchu can now refine a total of eight types of level eight pills.

Among them, three types of pills can produce top-grade pills, two types can produce high-grade pills, and three types can only produce mid-grade pills at most.

With Sang Yunchu's talent, if he really let go and learn to refine pills, it would be reasonable for him to learn how to make an eighth-level pill in half a year or a year. The difficulty actually lies in how to quickly refine it to a high quality.

However, it is not easy to collect all the level 8 pills.

Each batch of pills requires a considerable amount of level-eight rare herbs and common level-eight medicinal materials. However, learning to make a level-eight pill is far more difficult than simply opening one batch, which is why the time required is constantly increasing.

Even though Sang Yunchu had been preparing for this for a long time, he could only provide him with four types of skills that he could learn quickly.

It wasn't until he returned on the day of the Spring Return that he received the level-eight medicinal herbs as deposits from various parties who placed orders, as well as some medicinal herb gifts as a gesture of goodwill, and numerous level-eight medicinal herbs as gifts from his own disciples... Only then was he able to gather four kinds of pills again.

Then, he ran out of medicinal herbs again.

Sang Yunchu still consciously kept a trump card up his sleeve—perhaps it was no longer necessary, but he still kept out a top-quality eighth-grade pill, only releasing the high-grade one.

This elixir is called the Soul-Protecting Golden Elixir.

The use of the Soul-Protecting Golden Pill overlaps with the level-eight Soul-Fusion Treasure that Zhong Cai previously gave to Xuan Bing on credit—just one pill can nourish the primordial soul and add a layer of protection. Moreover, the higher the quality, the better the effect; once it reaches the superior grade, its effect will already surpass that level-eight Soul-Fusion Treasure.

...There are many types of pills for each grade, with various uses related to the physical body and the primordial spirit. After generations of alchemists have pondered and refined them, it has become very difficult to develop anything new.

·

Of course, at the Pill King Gathering, Sang Yunchu did not only show off his Grade 8 pills. He also brought out twenty of each of the Grade 5, Grade 6 and Grade 7 pills that he had stockpiled in the past. Each of them was of the highest quality, and there were three to five of each.

At the same time, Sang Yunchu also asked Zhong Cai which pills to take out.

The focus of the entire Pill King Gathering would inevitably be his master, so Zhong Cai simply threw out all the level-five pills he had learned! Each one had to be of the highest quality.

That way he won't embarrass his master, the Pill Emperor, and his master will definitely protect him.

However, this makes preparing the elixir exhibition hall a bit troublesome...

Normally, auctions are for the highest quality pills that the Pill Master can refine, while other pills of lower quality, which even a Pill King could refine, are used for exhibitions to showcase the Pill King's overall strength.

However, Zhong Cai and Sang Yunchu, this master and apprentice pair, had a problem: they had to refine every elixir they learned to make into the best quality.

So, almost all of them can go to auctions... what's the point of exhibiting them?

In other words, Sang Yunchu can keep three of his current level-eight pills for exhibition.

But they set up a whole exhibition hall for each of them, only to display three kinds? That's really empty.

In the end, after discussing it, the master and apprentice decided to cancel the exhibition hall altogether.

When posting, explain the situation—that you will showcase the three types of level-eight pills separately after the auction ends.

Moreover, mid-to-low-grade level 8 pills are also very popular and will likely be contested... We'll see when the time comes.

·

Time passed by, bit by bit.

Wu Dongxiao produced the elixir again.

This time, thanks to Zhong Cai's constant corrections, the quality of the pills produced improved, with two more high-grade pills, but they still couldn't refine any top-grade ones.

Undeterred, Wu Dongxiao continued to refine this type of elixir.

In the new batch, all the problems that Zhong Cai had pointed out were corrected, and no new problems arose—but there were still some areas where he couldn't quite get it right, resulting in some flaws in his technique.

Zhong Cai also gave him pointers one by one.

Wu Dongxiao always admired Uncle Zhong when he received guidance from him.

Uncle Zhong is truly skilled in alchemy. He seems to be able to refine pills with ease and fluency without paying too much attention to the heat in his own furnace, without making the slightest mistake—he has never even had a furnace explode in front of him!

The success rate of pill formation is absolutely terrifying!

Wu Dongxiao yearned for it and used it to motivate himself.

Another half hour passed, and Wu Dongxiao produced the elixir.

The quality has been improved once again.

Once again, Wu Dongxiao exploded... Unsurprisingly, he was scolded by his Uncle Zhong.

Wu Dongxiao quickly cleaned the furnace, using a level-three top-grade dust-purifying talisman he had bought from the trading hall.

He knew that his uncle had been drawing top-grade purification talismans for Uncle Zhong, but he knew even more clearly that even if his uncle Zhong had some unused level-three top-grade purification talismans, he would never give them to him!

In order not to waste too much time cleaning the stove and annoy Uncle Zhong, Wu Dongxiao would make all the necessary preparations before each "lecture".

Therefore, Wu Dongxiao could start refining another batch as quickly as possible.

Otherwise, while he was cleaning the alchemy furnace himself, Uncle Zhong would keep nagging him, making him dizzy, confused, and incredibly ashamed...

·

Wu Dongxiao did not spend all his time working on the same type of pill. Instead, he took out any pills he was unsure about or that he was not good at refining and showed them to Zhong Cai one by one.

Zhong Cai also meticulously examined each and every one of them.

Wu Dongxiao discovered that no matter what kind of pill he was refining, even if it was a very obscure pill he found in the Myriad Classics Tower, as long as he started refining it, his Uncle Zhong could always offer suitable suggestions.

He always felt that Uncle Zhong's knowledge of alchemy was unfathomable... No matter what he wanted to know, as long as he asked, Uncle Zhong would give him the correct answer, and a very detailed answer, covering a wide range of topics.

This feeling was similar to when his uncle would occasionally drag him out and beat him up.

Even though his uncle suppressed his strength to the same level as him and the secret techniques he used did not exceed that level, he even became more and more courageous in battle many times, feeling that he was only a step away from catching up with his uncle... but he still could not catch up.

This narrow gap seems to be perpetual.

That's outrageous.

If Wu Dongxiao hadn't suffered a severe trauma in his childhood, he probably would have had a hard time avoiding a breakdown.

He's quite resilient now, turning all the pressure into motivation.

·

Four hours later, Zhong Cai produced the elixir on time.

Wu Dongxiao hurriedly looked over.

Zhong Cai's fingers moved rapidly, and the reaction inside the alchemy furnace was quite intense. The sound of the pills colliding inside was extremely fierce and continuous, as if it would break the alchemy furnace in an instant!

Zhong Cai was not affected at all, and continued to use the method of collecting the pills with great skill, waiting for the pill furnace to calm down.

Sure enough, the storm subsided in no time.

Zhong Cai opened the furnace lid and took out six pills.

Full-grade pills, three top-grade pills, and three high-grade pills.

This wasn't the first time Wu Dongxiao had witnessed Uncle Zhong producing pills, but each time he saw it, he was still deeply impressed.

As expected, it was another unsurprising and incredibly consistent result!

Zhong Cai put away the pills as usual.

Over there, Xuan Bing and Wu Shaogan's battle had ended, and they were now walking over, both covered in sweat.

Wu Dongxiao leaped up and stood beside his senior brother.

Zhong Cai also stood up and leaned against Wu Shaogan.

As usual.

The two fellow disciples over there bid farewell to Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan.

This concludes today's refining and cultivation.

If I come again, it will be at least half a month later, and I will have to make an appointment in advance.

Just as the two brothers were about to leave, Zhong Cai stopped them at the last minute.

Wu Dongxiao waited patiently for instructions.

Zhong Cai took out an invitation and handed it to Wu Dongxiao, gesturing for him to take a look.

Wu Dongxiao watched it.

After reading it, he was taken aback at first, then suddenly remembered something, his eyes brightened, and he said excitedly, "Uncle Zhong, are you going to hold a small gathering of alchemists with King Sang Dan? Can this invitation be used to invite three to five people?"

Zhong Cai replied with a smile, "Thanks to my master's kindness, this is an event organized with him. There won't be a dedicated exhibition hall for the pills, but there will be many pills up for auction. If you're interested, you can find a few people to accompany you. After the auction, there will be activities for the alchemists. You can attend with your invitation and observe, which will be somewhat beneficial to improving your alchemy skills."

Wu Dongxiao naturally wouldn't refuse, and had already instantly decided who he would bring along.

My senior brother will definitely be with us, and if Master comes out of seclusion, he'll be with us too... Perhaps Master can bid on a few of the pills she needs at the auction...

However, there will definitely be a lot of people at that auction, so I should be able to get something... right?

Even if I can't get a picture, maybe I can place an order with other alchemists who participated in the post-event activities and take the opportunity to get to know a few alchemists...

·

After Wu Dongxiao and Xuan Bing left, Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan packed their things and returned to the ancient city.

Wu Shaogan quickly went to take a bath, while Zhong Cai happily went to store and count her stock of pills.

After taking inventory, Zhong Cai climbed onto his bed, picked up several books on alchemy, and began to study and comprehend the various alchemical knowledge within.

Not long after, Wu Shaogan finished his bath and climbed up as well, leaning against Zhong Cai and pulling her into his arms.

At the same time, Wu Shaogan also took out the jade tablet, probed it with his soul, and began to comprehend it.

The two of them then began to "study" together intimately and comfortably.

They spent many nights like this.

·

Since the day of the return of spring, high-level alchemists from various forces, large and small, as well as countless well-informed martial arts cultivators, have been looking forward to the Alchemy King Gathering that Sang Yunchu proposed to hold together with his disciple.

However, they also knew that organizing such a small meeting required a lot of preparation, and that the pills to be displayed and auctioned in order to showcase the master and disciple's strength also needed to be carefully selected and could not be chosen casually.

Otherwise, if the small gathering wasn't of a high enough standard, it would ultimately embarrass the master and apprentice.

Therefore, almost all advanced alchemists felt that it would take at least another ten or eight years—no, it should be even longer—because the master and disciple would still need to digest the gift of the Divine Pill Wood.

However, cultivators have long lifespans, so even if there is a twenty-year gap in between, they can wait.

Only five or six years later, the post was delivered to the alchemists through various channels.

Every level eight alchemist will definitely receive an invitation, while level seven invitations are more random—many major powers will send out some, which alchemists from those powers who wish to attend can collect themselves.

Alchemists below level seven who don't receive invitations have to find out the information themselves and come on their own.

As for the martial arts cultivators, they also obtained invitations from their respective forces... Those without invitations took the initiative to seek out the Azure Dragon Academy to request one, or simply accompanied a certain alchemist who had an invitation.

This was, after all, a small gathering hosted by an exceptionally outstanding eighth-level Pill King, and cultivators from even the farthest states flocked to it.