Chapter 1286

The fire raged, the scorching flames reflecting red on faces.

The cauldron was square and round, its entire body jet black, the lid tightly sealed, its surface engraved with nine three-dimensional black dragons, all gripping the pearl at the very top; at this moment, under intense heat, the nine black dragons had nearly turned red, the dragon pearl rolling continuously for dozens of days without pause.

Inside the cauldron.

Black flames licked the medicinal ingredients, suppressing, harmonizing, and organizing the violent potency of the most yin and yang substances.

The Black Dragon Myriad Directions Cauldron!

Once the great refining treasure of the former Great Qian dynasty, forged at the cost of countless labor and resources, it had produced innumerable famous pills; ordinary alchemy masters had to queue and apply to use it.

Later, following the remnants of the Great Qian dynasty adrift, it drifted into the depths of the Jianghuai marshes, unused, unusable, and untouched—even the Guimu Sect could not attend to it, lacking even a cleaning servant; when discovered, a thick layer of ash had already accumulated on the cauldron.

Fortunately, this treasure was never buried in the river of history; it was brought back to the capital by the Heposuo of Huai East, saw the light of day again, was maintained, and returned to service.

Yet the Black Dragon Myriad Directions Cauldron was merely a small part of today's alchemy furnaces.

Similar great cauldrons, there were six more!

The Taiyi Azure Void Cauldron, its entire body flawless blue jade, naturally formed, not refined by fire, but by morning dew and evening clouds; the pills it produced carried a pure, spiritual Dao rhythm.

The Vermilion Phoenix Cauldron, forged from the essence of earth's core fire and the Nirvana phoenix soul; in an instant, if alchemy went awry, it could be corrected once.

The Plain Dust Cauldron, forged from extraterrestrial stars, transparent and pure like multicolored glazed glass; stripping medicinal ingredients, like starlight flowing illusorily, it drew upon heavenly power and aligned with the Great Dao.

The Glutton's Cauldron, capable of forcibly swallowing and extracting specific medicinal properties from treasures, integrating them into the great pill; all kinds of extreme, domineering combat and breakthrough pills originated from it.

The Hundred Herbs Vessel, not an ordinary alchemy cauldron, but a vessel of wood and stone united; inside, it refined nine strands of "living vital energy," autonomously harmonizing the subtle five-element conflicts between ingredients, greatly reducing the risk of refining high-difficulty compound formulas.

Six great cauldrons, each with its own strength, varying across ages, their names evident throughout history's long river.

How many master alchemists' formulas debuted for the first time, the very first finished pill produced after genuine application, born from their bellies.

Yet today, they are not the main actors in the lineup, merely handling the preliminary steps of ingredient processing—"prep cooks" in a tavern kitchen!

At the center of the six great cauldrons, a golden-yellow great cauldron dominated them.

The Yuan Zhong Cauldron.

What special qualities does it possess?

None.

Compared to the other six cauldrons, the Yuan Zhong Cauldron has no special qualities—it cannot imbue pills with stellar properties, generate vital living energy, or forcibly extract or harmonize medicinal potency—

But the Yellow Sand Dragon Bone Pill was first produced from this very cauldron!

Pat, pat.

Bean-sized beads of sweat fell in succession, evaporating quickly; all alchemists followed procedure, busy in orderly fashion, expressions solemn, fingers calculating time.

The Imperial Alchemy Bureau's Bureau Chief, the current top alchemist aside from the Immortal of the Furnace, ranked second contending for first, one of only three qualified to apply for the Yuan Zhong Cauldron—Fu Shuò stood at the front.

Around the Yuan Zhong Cauldron, the six great cauldrons' fires extinguished one by one, emitting a faint burnt aroma, as residual heat baked the medicinal dregs into ash.

Amid this unique burnt aroma, the golden fire within the Yuan Zhong Cauldron burned silently.

A "heart-stirring and soul-moving" Heavenly Chaos Pill was gestating within.

"Pack in as many water-attribute creation-grade medicinal substances as possible, and as many creation-grade medicinal substances with similar yet opposing properties as possible; the medicinal effect must be entirely used to strike the sea of roots—ideally, one stalk possessing both qualities, and it must be consumable within three days of refinement—"

The Huai Wang's alchemy request, viewed across the entire bureau, is a one-of-a-kind scorpion rice cake, yet it is a rare opportunity for growth in experience.

Alchemy is about using one part human effort to unleash ten or even twelve parts potency from eight parts of medicinal ingredients; yet achieving this level inevitably requires massive experimentation to find combinations, hence lower-grade pills often offer better cost-effectiveness.

Creation-grade medicinal substances are too rare, too scarce; finding an identical stalk is extremely difficult, so the consequence is that mature formulas for any specific creation-grade substance are very few, and alchemists with experience and skill in refining them are even fewer.

If the formula is immature and the alchemist inexperienced, compared to using top-tier treasures or even creation-grade substances, the improvement from raw materials is minimal, yet the cost remains high; adding the risks of alchemy, it's hard to say one profits.

Many Falling Dragon Martial Saints gradually turned to directly consuming treasures, worsening this dilemma.

It's like seeking work requiring experience, but unable to get work without experience—a dead cycle.

Only occasionally do major powers intervene, making it possible to disregard this "marginal utility."

But now.

Six and a half unparalleled creation-grade medicinal substances within range are freely selectable and combinable.

Even for someone like Fu Shuò, a current top-tier alchemist, this is a great wave of experience absorption!

To reach this point is no longer something a single Dao alchemy master could independently refine.

After extensive discussion and research from multiple sides,

the Alchemy Bureau and the Imperial Medical Institute finally confirmed this alchemy method in May.

From medicinal ingredients, to medicinal fire, to cauldron selection, Fu Shuò took the lead, six Dao alchemy grand masters collaborated, each contributing from their strongest aspect; eight-level Martial Saints supervised assistance, with dozens of great alchemists observing and helping; ultimately, the Yuan Zhong Cauldron unified as one, achieving what may be a new milestone in single-commission pill grade over decades!

This is also good for the imperial court.

Using others' risks to enhance the proficiency of its own alchemists.

For learning and progress, the entire Alchemy Bureau's operations were suspended by one-third, delaying many "orders."

How many renowned masters, here as apprentices, stood and recorded.

Zhao Yaosuo mingled among the "master pile" of alchemists, continuously sleepless for dozens of days, only briefly sleeping a few times, leaving him slightly distracted at the final critical moment, unintentionally recalling that he had once refined two water-attribute great pills for the Huai Wang in his youth.

By coincidence, he repeatedly delayed the same longevity pill; in a blink, it was still the same person needing the pill, yet he himself was no longer qualified to participate—oh, but delaying others' orders remains as usual.

Saying times have changed and circumstances shifted is not quite accurate.

It's only been a few years—shops in the alley haven't changed much; the young concubine taken years ago still recalls her heart burning hot, that snow-white bosom—

The fierce heat swiftly retracted, nearly bringing a hint of chill; Zhao Yaosuo suddenly jolted awake, cursed himself for his thoughts, quickly recalled his scattered attention, and stretched his neck in the crowd.

Heavenly Pill Temperature Control Inner Fire!

The Heavenly Pill will be complete; its final medicinal fire will absorb all heat, causing an abnormal drop in temperature.

Ninety-nine eighty-one days, the ultimate of numerical principles.

The pill is about to be formed!

Yet the Yuan Zhong Cauldron's golden light retracted inward; everyone only smelled a strange fragrance in the air, without waiting to see clearly what the great pill, refined over several months, actually looked like, Fu Shuò and the six alchemy grand masters—busy, directly used pre-prepared containers, took the pill and fled!

"Quick, quick, quick! Waterway, waterway!" Fu Shuò held the pill, looking left and right.

"My lord, please take this path! The Huai King respectfully awaits your arrival!"

"Follow me, everyone!"

Long Pingjiang pulled open the door and gestured with a wave, calling out.

Outside the door was a pond; Long Pinghe had been waiting early, likewise shouting.

"Plop-plop."

Without another word, everyone jumped into the water one after another; the water spiders couldn't wait to sit and directly fell into the pond, and the last person turned back and waved.

"The pill is in hand—follow me!"

"Yes, yes, yes—follow Master Ye!"

All the masters reacted and rushed out.

"To witness such a peerless great pill appearing out of nowhere—death would be worth it!"

"Quick, quick, quick—let the Huai King take the medicine and see the effect first."

"Since this alchemy succeeded, verifying the principle of the 'Six Extremes Pill Theory,' Master Fu Shu and everyone will surely advance another level—no one will be able to compete!"

The pill is rare, and the Huai King is also a rare research subject; studying his growth trajectory, it seems he can refine and absorb any medicinal power, and combined with the phenomenon and the pill's effect, needless to say, he is clearly impacting the thousandfold root sea—truly, the Wang Ba to the mung bean.

Where there are people, there are desires—be it beauty or ideals.

Outside, everyone revered the masters seeking to refine a single pill; at this moment, disregarding appearance, they jumped into the pond, lifted their robes, entered the waterway, and fled all the way.

"Pah! Pah! How is there so much sand?"

"Nonsense—of course the Yellow Shahe has lots of sand! Otherwise, there would be water."

The world spun; Zhao Yaocuo emerged from the water channel, nearly vomiting, he held his breath, poked his head out, wiped away water droplets, saw the water surface shadow stretching endlessly, then turned back to look.

A huge ship was moored on the water!

The great ship towered, its body seamless with no visible joints, formed as one, shimmering with emerald light.

Dragon people patrolled; otters waved their paws.

The water beneath flowed automatically, lifting the pill masters onto the ship, their drenched bodies drying in an instant.

Quiet chamber.

"Master Fu, is this the great pill you wanted?"

Liang Qu carefully received a crystal-clear small jade box, still radiating a scorching residual warmth, and couldn't help but feel stirred inside.

"It is a heavenly pill—those with great power are all called heavenly pills." Fu Shu emphasized.

Seeing the other's solemn expression, Liang Qu felt embarrassed to say it was just a name; what did it matter? He looked around: "Shall we eat now?"

"No! Wait!" Fu Shu raised his hand to refuse, fingers pinching, "Wait another two quarters!"

"Yes, it's not time yet." The second master chimed in.

"It is Tianheng water—combining various medicinal effects, I added Tianheng water." The third said.

"What is Tianheng water?"

"The Huai King said it's best to take it within three days; given this demand, I simply went all out, pushing the power to the extreme—Tianheng water's function is to have a remarkable effect on specific prescriptions, guiding the medicinal power to peak within an hour—"

"And after one hour?"

"After one hour, the peak medicinal effect lasts for a quarter hour; thereafter, every half hour, the effect halves, and within half a day it becomes waste poison—no longer preservable."

"How much can it increase?"

"At least twenty-five percent, up to thirty percent!"

Liang Qu was shocked.

Seven unparalleled achievements, half a pill refinement, six and a half increased by thirty percent— isn't that eight and a half?

"Can Tianheng water be added to all?"

"No—prescriptions suitable for Tianheng water are few; most催发类 aren't this potent."

"Gloop."

Liang Qu swallowed his saliva and turned his gaze inward.

Four hundred forty-sixfold root sea, according to the original average growth of five times per portion of specialized root sea impact lower fortune, those seven would be seventy times; refining into pills, it should not be lower than this number, then adding thirty percent—

Good fellow, stronger than the heavenly pill rewarded by the Whale King!

Thus.

Liang Qu silently counted time under the gaze of a group of old men.

The medicine box in his hand grew hotter and hotter; the internal qi surged like a volcano, repressed yet vigorous, truly making one doubt this was a pill at all—it was practically a living thing!

"Good opportunity, Huai King—now!" Fu Shu roared.

Following the advice like flowing water, the medicine box opened.

A soft white airflow gushed forth, faintly coiling into a golden bell, ringing out a clear, resonant chime.

Dispersing the mist.

A dragon-eye-sized pill, entirely golden, sank within, covered in cloud patterns, a rich strange fragrance bursting out, quickly winding around the entire treasure ship.

Birds cried out, uncontrollably diving; fish surged, leaping to strike the hull; wild boars that smelled the wind's scent had red eyes, leapt into the Yellow Shahe, desperately swimming toward the treasure ship—everyone felt an instinctive longing, even Liang Qu!

"Gloop!"

Like a stone falling into a deep well, the source of the strange fragrance vanished without trace; the great wind on the river blew away the lingering echo; in an instant, the astonishing phenomenon disappeared; the wild boar struggled in the river.

The heavenly pill entered the belly.

In the Ze Ding.

Blue tide surged wildly!

【Water Marsh Essence +6515474】

【Water Marsh Essence: Seven million five hundred sixty thousand】

Six million five hundred thousand!?

The unprecedented massive amount of essence nearly knocked Liang Qu unconscious; in the next instant, the pure medicinal power spread, thoroughly exploding under the fermentation of Tianheng Water, like a ball of samadhi true fire, ready to burn his five viscera and six bowels to ashes!

"Hah, inhale."

Chest heaving, hurricane-like gale.

Crimson light blazed, heat waves rolled.

With each inhale and exhale of the root sea over four hundred times greater, each contraction and expansion grew stronger than before!

"What astonishing qi!" Fu Shuo exclaimed.

Without prior knowledge, merely observing from the side, he would never have thought this was a new saint who had ascended less than three years ago; saying he was an experienced high-ranking martial saint would not be inappropriate!

In the days that followed, nothing but waiting for the Huai Wang to exit seclusion, Fu Shuo and the other alchemy masters simply moved their own alchemy furnaces here, waiting for the medicinal effects to be ready, reviewing the alchemy process, exchanging insights, occasionally completing imperial court orders, without conflict.

One day, two days——

Ten days, half a month——

Time entered September; the weather in Jiangnan remained hot, yet on the Huangsha River in Yuzhou, a hint of coolness had already arisen, especially at night, and where the Treasure Ship of Creation was moored, the riverbanks on both sides were tens of li apart, with hundreds of li of villagers feeling constant hot winds on the river, and as autumn arrived, not only did it not cool down, but it intensified further, compounded by the recent tumultuous river god procession, which made the countryside folk loudly proclaim divine signs.

Si Nan counted the days; Heposuo and the Three Legal Departments interacted closely, especially Governor Qian Bingyi, who particularly liked to find some difficult case files, decrypt them for amusement, often sending her to handle the handover; upon hearing she was following the Huai Wang in water control, the Zijin Tingqi Lingxuan gloated, saying the Huai Wang never followed rules, saying they had agreed to work diligently, yet he always ended up doing something else mid-task, and could not even explain why it was wrong, causing torment.

—

At that time, she did not think so.

Now, from the first seclusion to the second, work had indeed stopped for a month!

"Hah, hah."

Liang Qu's entire body turned crimson, closed his eyes and exhaled, with blood-red qi light coiling around him.

The dragon and tiger phenomena resembled a surging long river, with the martial Fubo bathing within, lightly trembling, the wooden spear shaft cracking and renewing, wood shavings falling, the spear blade and core ringing and vibrating, internally undergoing astonishing transformation.

The two sides' martial saint jade plaques were already filled early on.

But this was not the most terrifying.

Separating the chest, fascia, and ribs, Liang Qu's beating blood-red heart was visible to the naked eye.

Five viscera and six bowels, exposed everywhere!

After his internal root sea surpassed the five-hundred-fold threshold, Liang Qu nearly felt he could not control his own root sea—five hundred and one, five hundred and two, five hundred and five——up to the current five hundred and twenty, his whole body seemed to have become a furnace, everything melting, everything growing.

—

From this moment on, his body gradually turned transparent!

Fascia, muscles, blood vessels, and eyeballs all trembled, transforming together, the jade-white skeleton clearly visible.

This experience differed greatly from the agonizing pain of Hua Shui's favor.

Hot!

Scorching hot!

The cloud sea boiled, the immortal isle trembled, the fruit on the peach trees swayed, about to fall.

It seemed something wanted to emerge from within, yet never did; the various colored vital energies' light in the cloud sea interwove and flickered.

Liang Qu's mind turned this boiling cloud sea like water into paste; he struggled to persist, daring not to relax the slightest bit of spirit, fearing some uncontrollable phenomenon might appear.

The blind man's hearing became more acute, the deaf man's touch more delicate.

In his dazed state, he seemed to have gained a certain sharper insight, more boundless thinking, like floating above the cloud layers, countless streams of light brushing past, yet merely drifting, he could never grasp that flowing light no matter how he tried.

No, not right.

He should have done something greater.

He thought.

The martial bone transformation brought by Yinglong's favor, at this critical moment, provided just the right boost.

A hint of enlightenment flashed in his mind.

Abandon effort, abandon the tense nerves and obsession.

Liang Qu entrusted everything to his own instinct, letting his body decide.

When the wind does not move, the body moves on its own.

The thoughts floating beneath the cloud layer were seized.

The next moment.

The external body's forging transformation reached its peak, while internally, the atmospheric conditions underwent the same earth-shattering interweaving and reshapingO

Gang Lian returns!

The dragon transformed into rivers and rivers, the tiger coiled and crouched into lakes, mutually interweaving and faintly appearing.

The "Wansheng Baoyuan" and the "Subduing Dragon and Taming Tiger Vajra Sutra"—these two techniques Liang Qu had practiced since the start of his cultivation, always in parallel, attempting to merge but always just short—on the foundation of everything, stepped onto a brand-new path!

Breath surged, the window trembled.

"Sudden enlightenment?"

Fu Shuo exclaimed in surprise.

Is this the effect the Tian Dan should have? And enlightenment upon taking the pill?

"No, the Tian Dan does not have such an effect. This is troublesome—now enlightenment and pill consumption are mixed together, how to record it?" Everyone frowned in deep thought.

After several more days passed, the summer heat waves gradually dissipated, and autumn's slight chill slowly enveloped.

The large flat tail clung to the deck, Da He Li sat on the ground holding half a watermelon, gripping the spoon, inserted it into the watermelon's core, and gave a firm poke.

"Crack."

"Squeak."

The watermelon flesh burst, the pivot shifted.

The crisp watermelon sound and the sour-tooth friction mixed together.

A breeze stirred.

The quiet chamber's door was pushed open, a wave of heat surged forward, steaming the autumn chill.