Chapter 1617: Eighth-Rank Soul-Nurturing and Marrow-Washing Creation Pill

A single pill furnace stood tall within the solar system.

It had swallowed all the heavenly tribulation thunder and Dao essence, swallowed all the stellar sunlight, and now that the final refinement was complete, it drifted quietly in the starry sky.

"Is it done…"

True Venerable Zhenjun Shenji, unseen for a long time, said with a parched throat.

Many old acquaintances looked toward those two cultivators.

After not meeting for several thousand years, the gap between them had grown to near reproductive isolation; now the thoughts of the two of them could barely be understood by lower-realm cultivators, the computing power of their divine souls differing far too greatly.

True Venerables Master Canghai, Mieri, Senior Wanji, and others were urgently hoping to advance to Dao Merging, so as to once again take part in the most cutting-edge immortal Dao scientific research—this was very important both for their own Dao paths and for the future of the Immortal Gate.

Jiang Ding looked toward Yuan, took half a step back, and left the radiance for this ruler.

"Hahaha!"

"My old friends, naturally it is done!"

Yuan did not decline what was rightfully his; seeing so many old friends again, he was somewhat excited, as if returned to his youth: "Since you lot can't wait, then let's open the furnace."

"Don't worry, everyone gets a share, no one will be shorted."

Yuan stepped up before the Lei Gao Jie pill furnace, communicated with the Central Array Spirit Computer, and layer upon layer of prohibitions opened before him, revealing the pill furnace within that seemed both solid and energy.

"Open!"

He struck down a dharma decree.

Hum!

Hum hum!

The pill furnace trembled, cracks gradually appeared, and then it disintegrated into powder, exposing what lay within.

A wave of strange fragrance rushed forth, spreading in an orderly manner to every citizen of the solar system, lifting their spirits, warming their bodies, and instantly sweeping away all manner of chronic ailments and hidden cultivation wounds.

Just this one breath alone extended a mortal's lifespan by at least five years.

This was the baseline.

The crowd looked with longing gazes at what had appeared after the pill furnace's disintegration.

It was an azure-blue lake, not large—only several thousand kilometers across—appearing very small in the cosmic starry sky, seeming solid, yet also liquid, yet also gaseous, as beautiful as a life-gem.

This was the Immortal Gate's Eighth-Rank Soul-Nurturing and Marrow-Washing Creation Pill!

Of course, not all of it was.

Some of the outer-layer pill "impurities" were only equivalent to Jin Dan-grade pills; the deeper one went, the more precious the spirit pill grade became.

"Disperse!"

With the assistance of the Central Array Spirit Computer, Yuan once again struck out a dharma decree.

This was the common Condensing Pill Art among pill-refining techniques, now applied to this Creation Pill several thousand kilometers in size.

This azure-blue lake disintegrated under that dharma decree, becoming thumb-sized raindrops one by one, each gathering together, like a jade belt of Tianhe flying toward the over ten trillion citizens on the solar system's eight major planets and Pluto.

Each raindrop had its own master; everything had already been arranged.

Every raindrop has its own master; everything has already been planned out.

Drip! Drip!

In the citizen cities of the solar system, raindrops fell from the sky one by one, falling on the cities, on the streets, on citizens hurrying to work, on those meditating and cultivating, on the brows of sleeping citizens, merging into them, washing marrow and transforming muscles, fundamentally altering the innate talent of these beings.

The vast majority of mortal citizens received an ordinary drop, extending their lifespan by thirty years.

Mortal citizens who had received ancestral merit received an even stronger drop, their innate talent greatly enhanced, producing something akin to a spirit-body constitution, extending their lifespan by a hundred years.

Citizens at the higher Foundation Establishment, Jin Dan, Nascent Soul stages and so on each received different grades of spirit pill raindrops, distributed entirely according to their contributions to this project and their Immortal Gate merits.

Soul Transformation and Void Refining cultivators above them received even more; many cultivators who had directly participated in the core project had spirit pill raindrops covering several hundred meters around them, falling continuously.

The most, naturally, went to old predecessors of the Immortal Gate with great merits such as True Venerable Zhenjun Shenji, True Venerable Senior Wanji, and True Venerable Master Canghai.

The spirit pill rain around them covered several dozen kilometers, continuously strengthening their dharma bodies and their magic power; with every passing moment their lifespan was increasing, extending their lives by several thousand years with ease.

The spiritual pill rain around them covered dozens of kilometers, constantly strengthening their Dharma bodies and their magic power; with every passing moment their lifespan was increasing, adding several thousand years of life with ease.

Although what they received was not the most core spirit pill, only reaching quasi-Eighth-Rank, it was still enough to cause a world-shattering qualitative change in Void Refining cultivators.

And where was the true Eighth-Rank spirit pill rain?

It was with Yuan.

Within a range of over ten thousand kilometers, a thin, gaunt old man sat cross-legged, breathing in and out as he absorbed long dragons of pill qi, his aura continuously growing stronger.

This was not an enhancement of magic power or realm, but an enhancement of foundation!

The foundation of a Dao Merging Divine Monarch was being transformed by the Eighth-Rank Creation Spirit Pill.

More of the Eighth-Rank spirit pill rain was with the Great Sun Sword Master.

What he had here was not a ten-thousand-kilometer spirit pill rain, nor a several-thousand-kilometer one, but a spirit pill raindrop of a hundred thousand kilometers!

A true Eighth-Rank Heavenly Man-grade spirit pill!

This was the Central Array Spirit Computer's assessment of the Great Sun Sword Master's merits, its assessment of the contributions of a powerhouse at the Heavenly Man level of combat strength.

Such a great opportunity was enough to make even Heavenly Man cultivators immensely excited.

Yet, within the spirit rain, the youth in blue let out a sigh.

He symbolically absorbed a little, then stopped cultivating and slowly stood up.

He symbolically absorbed a little, then stopped cultivating and slowly stood up.

The Great Sun Sword Master's Void Refining limit had already been reached.

This was not something an Eighth-Rank opportunity could change, nor perhaps even a Near-Immortal-grade opportunity.

Because the existence of Near-Immortal-grade strong

ers' Upper Realm Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong had failed to allow their Dao Child to break through; more was needed from the Dao Child's own fortune.

The upper realm's Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong couldn't make their Dao Child break through; what was needed more was the Dao Child's own fortune.

"Donate twenty percent to the Banyan Scholarship."

Jiang Ding pointed at this rain of eighth-tier spirit pills and said.

A vast expanse of spirit pill rain vanished, collected by the Central Array Spirit Computer, and stored away.

When the Great Sun Sword Lord was young, his family was poor; he received help from the Banyan Scholarship, allowing him to grow up smoothly during those impoverished times without major setbacks.

He kept it in his heart, never forgetting it.

The recipients of the Banyan Scholarship are citizens of the Immortal Gate whose aptitude meets the standard and whose moral character is superior.

Such people resemble the young Great Sun Sword Lord; helping these citizens is helping his younger self, bringing joy to his heart.

"The remainder,"

"is given to True Venerable Zhenjun Shenji, True Venerable Senior Wanji, True Venerable Chengyang, True Venerable Luling, True Venerable Gu Lin, True Venerable Siyan, True Venerable Jin Lingfeng, True Venerable Muri, True Venerable Pingyang, True Venerable Master Dinghai..."

Jiang Ding spoke softly, reciting name after name.

These were all old friends from many years past: teachers from his youth, soulmates, and elders.

These old friends were the top geniuses of their era; without such status, they could not have advanced to Soul Transformation in those hard times, broken through to Void Refinement, and now begun to glimpse Dao Integration.

They were all the top geniuses of an era.

However, in the long passage of time, among generations of Immortal Gate geniuses and the countless ascended immigrant prodigies who emerged through the ages, objectively speaking, some old friends appeared mediocre or even... slightly inferior.

Many old friends might die in the Dao Integration heavenly tribulation.

From the cold perspective of calculating interests, all resources should be invested in cultivators with the best aptitude and talent, so as to cultivate more talents and increase the probability of Heavenly Humans being born in the Immortal Gate.

However,

beyond interests, within legality and compliance, cultivators still have emotions and still have a self.

Private property is sacred and inviolable.

This is personal wealth; the Great Sun Sword Lord's personal wealth is to be used on old friends to whom he entrusts his emotions, hoping that the old friends from many years ago can live on, and that they can gather again many years later.

Amidst these words, under the extremely envious gazes of countless Void Refinement True Venerables, the rain of eighth-tier spirit pills, ten thousand kilometers in size, began to shift, falling upon the bodies of Void Refinement True Venerables who had been in deep slumber for a long time, causing them to open their eyes in shock.

Eighth-tier Creation!

Heavenly Human Creation has appeared upon their bodies!

"This, this..."

True Venerable Luling opened his eyes from seclusion, looked at the spirit rain surrounding him, and stammered, unable to speak.

"Hahaha!"

"Teacher!"

Seeing this, Jiang Ding laughed loudly: "Teacher, back in the day you gave me the Nascent Soul treasure Yin Mist Pearl to temper my sword intent; did you ever imagine this day would come?"

"I told you long ago, I am a super rich man!"

"You didn't believe me at the time!"

"Indeed, I never expected this..."

True Venerable Luling was torn between laughter and tears.

He vaguely remembered that back then the Great Sun Sword Lord was deeply moved and even thought of marrying his granddaughter as repayment, but he had flatly refused; no one would marry their granddaughter to a sword cultivator who lived by the sword's edge and was always seeking life-or-death battles.

He vaguely remembered that back then the Great Sun Sword Lord had been deeply moved and had even thought of marrying his granddaughter to him in gratitude, but he had been flatly refused—who would marry their granddaughter to a sword cultivator who lived by the blade and might challenge anyone to a death match at any moment?

"You didn't expect this, did you?"

Jiang Ding turned again to True Venerable Chengyang, Zhang Zhang Junsheng, the teacher who introduced the "Great Sun Seed Sword Sword Refining Method" to the Immortal Gate, and laughed loudly: "With your broken aptitude, barely passing the Void Refinement heavenly tribulation back then, reaching the peak of Void Refinement relied entirely on piling up spirit pills; were you already despairing? Are you preparing your funeral arrangements recently?"

Jiang Ding looked again at Chengyang True Sovereign Zhang Zhang Junsheng, the teacher who had introduced the Great Sun Seed Sword Refining Method into the immortal sect, and laughed heartily: "With your lousy aptitude, you barely managed to survive the Refining Void heavenly tribulation back then, and reaching the peak of Refining Void was entirely thanks to being force-fed pills, right? You've long since given up hope, haven't you? Recently been preparing your funeral arrangements?"

"No way!"

"Get up quickly and prepare to become a Dao Integration Divine Lord!"

"Get up quickly and get ready to become a Dao Merging Divine Lord!"

"Damn! You were the first Immortal Gate cultivator to attack me back then; Laozi still remembers. Don't you dare die; later, advance to Dao Integration, advance to Heavenly Human, and then let me beat you to a pulp to avenge that grudge from back then..."

Jiang Ding spoke with great enthusiasm, pointing at Jiangshan.

He found old friends one by one to chat, recalling past years; the hearts of all, recently shrouded in despair for thousands of years, became much more cheerful and lively.

He found one old acquaintance after another to chat with, reminiscing about the years gone by; the heart that had been shrouded in despair for the past several thousand years had become much more cheerful and lively.

"I've already been locked in prison for many years."

True Venerable Muri said resentfully.

Everyone happily exchanged old stories; having not met for thousands of years, there was not a shred of estrangement, discussing many things from ancient times to the present, many experiences of fighting side by side, full of sighs.

Everyone happily exchanged reminiscences; though they hadn't seen each other for several thousand years, there wasn't the slightest awkwardness, as they discussed many matters ancient and modern and many experiences of fighting side by side, overcome with sighs.

"This thing is truly useless to you?"

True Venerable Senior Wanji asked a question: "To speak the truth, even without these things, my certainty of advancing to Dao Integration is over eighty percent; if..."

Senior Wanji True Sovereign asked: "To be honest, even without these things, my confidence in advancing to Dao Merging is over eighty percent, so if…"

"Elder Yuan."

Jiang Ding laughed loudly and called out.

"It is indeed useless to him."

"This is already Heavenly Human combat power; he is simply a ghost."

Yuan opened his eyes and said bitterly: "You, young man, doing this, with such a comparison, makes me look miserly... Of course, before the Great Dao, I am indeed miserly."

If it were an ordinary cultivator, he might already harbor hatred.

Even if his morals were high and he held no hatred, others might still generate various complex emotions and dark thoughts in their hearts.

However, for these old friends who fought side by side for tens of thousands of years, this was a small matter, completely like a clear breeze.

However, for old friends who had fought side by side for tens of thousands of years, this was a minor scene—nothing more than a gentle breeze.

Like a gentle breeze brushing the face.

"Haha!"

"Before the Great Dao, who is not stingy?"

Jiang Ding smiled faintly: "If this were an opportunity to break through the Limit of Void Refinement, would I be so generous? We are humans, not sages; naturally, we possess all kinds of joy, anger, sorrow, happiness, greed, ignorance, and caution. Who does not?"

"Then I am relieved."

"My foundation for the Heavenly Human realm will be laid today..."

Seeing this, True Venerable Senior Wanji ceased his hesitation, sat cross-legged, and devoted his entire body and mind to absorbing the eighth-rank opportunity.

True Venerable Zhenjun Shenji and the others felt their hearts ease and successively entered seclusion.

For so many old friends to obtain an eighth-rank opportunity today, and to not die in the future, is a great fortune in life.