Chapter 115: Refining

"King-level bloodlines also have their tiers."

"Like those Demon Kings in your Beast Taming Sect, if they were to conceive descendants with bloodline inheritance, they would at most have ordinary Demon King bloodlines. Their lineage is too poor; when their descendants encounter geniuses cultivated by major forces, such as that Heavenly God Body or the Talisman Body, they would only be suppressed."

"A higher-level King-level bloodline would be the descendants of powerful Demon Kings, like the children of Dragons and Phoenixes!"

"That Dragon Carp of yours, although not a bloodline successor of a Dragon Demon King, has an astonishing bloodline due to mutation and atavism. Plus, it has been nurtured by your Longevity Blood, and the luck accumulated by your minor-success Hidden Dragon Secret Technique has mostly been used to cultivate it. With this top-tier Dragon-Raising Secret Technique to enhance its potential, its bloodline potential is in the second tier of King-level bloodlines!"

"As for the top-tier King-level bloodlines, those are the ancient remnants that can feed on Dragons and Phoenixes. Even if their bloodline has thinned to the King level due to the passage of time, they can still slay Dragons and Phoenixes of the same level. They are supreme Demon Kings."

"The Ice Soul Gu refined by the Gu God Sect is currently at this stage. Also, don't look at it as only having a King-level bloodline now; that’s because it was just born. Give it time, and even without much cultivation, its bloodline will evolve on its own. This is why ordinary people cannot control the Ten Great Strange Gus."

"That’s why I said it has the most hope of possessing an Emperor-level bloodline. Hmm... with its current extreme foundation at the 11th layer of Qi Refining, I’m afraid once it establishes its foundation, it can evolve into a Gu Emperor. Even without the extreme foundation, evolving its bloodline to the Emperor level is only a matter of time."

After listening, Lin Jing looked at the Pine-Leaf Rat and the Dragon Carp. So, the Demon Emperor bloodline was indeed rare.

He understood even more clearly the strength of the Nanshan Demon Emperor. A Demon Emperor bloodline only meant the possibility of becoming a Demon Emperor, but right now, a truly powerful Demon Emperor had been suppressed and killed by the Divine Pine!

"Don't think about that anymore. Plant the tree, refine the pills!" He activated the cave’s own mountain-sealing array, signaling to outsiders that he was in seclusion and not to be disturbed.

With this barrier, he didn't have to worry that watering the sapling with Longevity Blood would cause a riot among the demonic beasts in the Academy.

While Lin Jing began his seclusion to prepare for pill refining, cultivators from all sides began to investigate the cause of the anomaly in Qianlong City.

However, the Academy, not wanting the outside world to know that a Demon Emperor had successfully invaded Qianlong City and almost succeeded in assassinating an Academy genius, forced the matter to settle down.

Still, some people managed to learn the cause and effect through various means.

"Brother Lin is awesome." Gao Sheng stood before the closed mountain-protecting barrier, having already learned of the matter from Zhang Hu.

What shocked him most wasn't that Lin Jing had been chased to Qianlong City by a Demon Emperor, but that Lin Jing actually had a Soul Transformation-level guardian!

You have to know, even his Soul Transformation maternal grandfather wasn't willing to protect his Dao!

His family hadn't even arranged a Nascent Soul guardian for him, just throwing a few life-saving magic treasures and a pile of spirit stones at him!

Comparing the two, Gao Sheng suddenly felt his treatment wasn't as good as Lin Jing’s!

Although, as a useless playboy, he didn't really need anyone to protect his Dao; no one would covet him...

"Encountering such a major event, Brother Lin immediately went into seclusion. I imagine the pressure is great. A mortal body also has the benefits of a mortal body." Finding he couldn't see Lin Jing, Gao Sheng shook his head and turned to leave.

In his view, Lin Jing was panicked and eager to improve his strength. Comparing the two, he suddenly realized that having poor aptitude was also a good thing. At least he didn't have to worry about being coveted by others like those with special physiques such as the Longevity Body.

Gao Sheng summoned a magnificent Dragon Horse, sat on it lightly, and went to find Xu Zhi. During the time Lin Jing was working hard in seclusion, he had to shoulder the responsibility of being the Dragon Palace’s protector to ensure the Dragon Palace didn't fall into chaos.

As the Dragon Horse flew, Gao Sheng analyzed and reasoned:

"Brother Lin’s guardian killed a Dragon Demon Emperor. Wouldn't that dragon blood be enough to refine many top-grade Dragon-Ascension Pills? The day Brother Lin comes out of seclusion will be the day the pills are distributed. Whether you can advance to a Demon King bloodline depends on our performance during this time." He patted the white horse and said, "Let's go, we have work to do."

"Master is wise!!" The Dragon Horse felt for the first time that its master wasn't stupid. Although this was all thanks to the information provided by the Demon-Slaying Division, the Dragon Horse was very happy that Gao Sheng could analyze to this extent with his pig brain.

Without Lin Jing knowing, Gao Sheng paid out of his own pocket to build the Dragon Palace for him.

Whenever a Dragon Palace genius didn't have money to cultivate their pets, he would take out a storage bag and an IOU, lending out a large sum of interest-free spirit stones.

"This is the Dragon Palace’s investment in you!"

"You must perform well in the Autumn Hunt!"

"The gains obtained can be used to repay the spirit stones then."

Gao Sheng patted the shoulders of one Dragon Palace genius after another before leaving.

This instantly made the new students who had joined the Dragon Palace feel a different kind of warmth.

And during this period.

Outside Lin Jing’s cave, Lin Jing was still watering the sapling with Longevity Blood every day.

Actually, it didn't take long. Under the watering of the Longevity Blood, the sapling grew.

The Divine Pine, with its Green Emperor Longevity Technique at minor success, naturally couldn't let Lin Jing wait a year or a half to get pinecones.

A few days later, nine golden-green pinecones were conceived, and Lin Jing was overjoyed.

He stood before the sapling, which was as tall as a person, held the divine fruits that had grown on it, and asked:

"Senior Divine Pine, what are the effects of eating the pine nuts inside these pinecones?"

"What other use could they have? Prolonging life, surging vitality. That’s it." The Divine Pine didn't want to answer.

"Then we can start trying to refine the pills!" Lin Jing nodded. What the Divine Pine said was simple, but it was enough. What he sought was nothing more than letting the Pine-Leaf Rat prolong its life and have surging vitality.

Otherwise, the Foundation Establishment Pill he was refining for the Pine-Leaf Rat wouldn't have been named the Longevity Foundation Establishment Pill.

After picking the pinecones one by one, he looked at the sapling that had lost its pinecones, then summoned the Pine-Leaf Rat and muttered:

"Nine pinecones, nine chances to refine. We’ll surely succeed once. This tree is useless now. You use the Longevity Technique to absorb it. Don't waste it; after all, it’s the hard work of me and Senior Divine Pine."

The Pine-Leaf Rat’s eyes were large and bright, looking eagerly at the small pine tree that had been stripped of its pinecones.

However, the next moment, the sapling was taken away by the Divine Pine.

"Your Green Emperor Longevity Technique is already at minor success. This thing has no nutrition; the nutrition is all in the pinecones. It won't be of much use if you absorb it."

"Squeak!!!" The Pine-Leaf Rat was unconvinced.

While it was arguing with the Divine Pine, Lin Jing had already entered the cave, holding a pinecone, wanting to try it out with the Dragon Carp first.

At this time, the Dragon Carp was recuperating in the Hundred-Beast Cauldron. With Lin Jing’s arrival, it jumped out immediately, its eyes flashing.

Is it starting?

The Dragon Carp had also been waiting for this day for a long time.

Because Lin Jing had said that after the Pine-Leaf Rat’s Longevity Foundation Establishment Pill was successfully refined, he would start researching its Dragon-Transformation Foundation Establishment Pill based on the Dragon-Ascension Pill and the Longevity Foundation Establishment Pill.

In other words, the Pine-Leaf Rat was just a test-pill boy for its Dragon Carp.

When it established its foundation and transformed into a dragon, it would be even stronger.

As a proud member of the Dragon race, the Dragon Carp did not allow itself to have the lowest strength and lowest status among the three pets.

"Materials are ready, let's begin."

Lin Jing stared intently at the Hundred-Beast Cauldron, took a deep breath, and took out the nine materials for refining the Longevity Foundation Establishment Pill, preparing them one by one.

He waved his arm, and the space around the storage bag flickered.

First bottle, Longevity Blood.

Second bottle, Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid.

Third item, 500-year-old Spirit Ginseng.

Fourth item, Parasitic Grass.

Fifth item, Pine-Leaf Rat’s Natal Red Leaf.

Sixth item...

Up to the ninth item, Divine Pine Pinecone!

"Refine first, I'll control the fire temperature." As Lin Jing finished speaking, the Hundred-Beast Cauldron was covered in flames, with dragon fire surging inside. The Dragon Carp spat fire, while he threw the Spirit Ginseng into it, intending to extract the essence of the Spirit Ginseng using the most common fire-refining method in pill refining.

Spirit Ginseng... Parasitic Grass... Natal Red Leaf... Lin Jing pinched the seal with one hand, his mind merging into the flames, carefully extracting the plant essence and removing impurities and filth.

Until the most difficult Divine Pine Pinecone, they didn't encounter any accidents, perfectly extracting the essence of all the plant materials and placing them in containers one by one.

Lin Jing wiped the sweat from his forehead. Essence extraction was the simplest step in the pill refining process. He had used all the Hidden Dragon luck he obtained to improve his pill refining attainments and enhance the Dragon Carp’s potential. If they made a mistake in this step, there would be no need to continue refining.

"Next is the blending ratio!" Lin Jing looked at the portions of plant essence.

This step required mixing the refined plant powders or spirit liquid essences according to a certain proportion based on the pill formula. Since it was an original pill formula, Lin Jing referred to the experience of predecessors and only had a general direction. He quickly mixed the nine materials—some liquid, some blood, some powder—together, forming a fist-sized medicinal paste.

Next was the most critical step. Lin Jing threw the medicinal paste into the cauldron and began the final refining and fusion process. He needed to use suitable pill-refining techniques to fully fuse and react the various materials at high temperatures, shaping them into pills!

"Fire Dragon Spits Pearl!"

Inside the pill cauldron, the leaping flames were like a divine dragon, completely swallowing the various materials. The lifelike flame dragon head constantly compressed and bit down. This was one of the many pill-refining techniques Lin Jing had learned from the pill books in the library, the Fire Dragon Spits Pearl, which was most suitable for dragon-type beast fire!

This fire-control technique was a composite third-grade pill-refining technique. It was very difficult to operate, composed of multiple low-level fire-control techniques. Although complex, it could cope with various situations and was very versatile.

Outside.

The Pine-Leaf Rat and the Divine Pine had been arguing for a day and a night without result. Accompanied by a "boom," they both looked into the cave.

"Heh heh," the Divine Pine smiled and said, "Looks like the first refining attempt failed with a blown cauldron."

Lin Jing and the Dragon Carp walked out of the cave, covered in blast injuries.

"I discovered some problems with the blending ratio during the refining process. I'll try again later." Although Lin Jing felt bad about the materials, he had no choice.

For this kind of self-created pill refined for the first time, it was very difficult to succeed at once. Lin Jing wasn't discouraged; there were still opportunities.

Over the next few days, Lin Jing and the Dragon Carp kept trying. Inside the cave, the sound of blown cauldrons echoed many times.

Failure, improvement, failure, improvement...

The Pine-Leaf Rat kept watch outside the cave, feeling extremely anxious. After all, Lin Jing and the Dragon Carp were refining the Foundation Establishment Pill for it. Seeing them fail time and time again and come out injured, the Pine-Leaf Rat had the thought of just establishing its foundation directly!

After all, with its current foundation, trying to break through to Foundation Establishment was a very easy thing.

However, it also understood that what Lin Jing wanted wasn't an ordinary Foundation Establishment; he wanted it to obtain a more perfect bloodline through the Foundation Establishment Pill.

For this, they had worked hard for more than three years, and now they were only one step away... they absolutely could not give up.

The Pine-Leaf Rat could only pray that Lin Jing and the Dragon Carp would succeed as soon as possible, and pray that it could indeed be reborn through the Longevity Foundation Establishment Pill, and then provide some help to Lin Jing and the Dragon Carp.

In the blink of an eye, another month passed.

During this period, dragon roars often came from the cave, but in the end, they were usually accompanied by blown cauldrons. The Pine-Leaf Rat kept trying to sell the various strange spirit plants it had synthesized to the Divine Pine, hoping to exchange them for some treasures.

However, most of the first-grade mutated plants the Pine-Leaf Rat had synthesized over these three years could only be used at the Qi Refining stage. Let alone for the Divine Pine, even for themselves, 99% of the synthesized items were useless.

"You’ve hoarded so much trash and want to exchange it for treasures from me? You’re dreaming." The Divine Pine wasn't fooled at all. Then, suddenly, it sensed a pill fragrance flowing out from the cave...

"The seventh time, is the pill finally formed?"

"Hahahaha..." At the same time, Lin Jing’s loud laughter came from inside the cave. The laughter was relieved and contained a hint of bitterness, which made the Divine Pine sigh that this kid indeed had some talent...

"Senior Divine Pine, the pill is formed!"

"Please, Senior, test the medicine!!!"