Chapter 452: Hunyuan Pill

Within the sacred hall atop Tianlan Shengshan.

Qin Ming exchanged toasts with the two city lords, engaging in conversation.

He could easily see that both Nascent Soul cultivators intended to curry favor and draw him close.

After all, who would not favor a seasoned fourth-tier spiritual planter combined with a fourth-tier Su Danwang cultivator? "Fellow Daoist Qin, surely you have found the spiritual materials needed to refine pills during this journey?" Long Yangzi asked with a smile.

"That madwoman, Fellow Daoist Long Mu Zhenjun, aside from other things, truly possesses many good treasures within her medicinal garden."

"If she lacks them, this old man also has some family reserves; if you need anything, feel free to speak up."

Qin Ming smiled slightly, "Qin Mou has already exchanged for the primary material to refine the Hunyuan Pill with Fellow Daoist Xia; as for the remaining auxiliary materials, my subordinates should have gathered them all."

"Oh? That is best indeed. Is the subordinate of Fellow Daoist Qin the Hua Tianxiong who opened a shop in the city?"

"This old man has already ordered people to look after him," Long Yangzi said with a laugh.

Qin Ming nodded and said, "Then many thanks to both fellow Daoists."

"By the way, Qin Mou is searching for something called 'Azure Sky Spiritual Soil'; I wonder if Fellow Daoist Long Yangzi has any?"

Hearing this, Long Yangzi paused, then slowly shook his head: "This spiritual soil, this old man has heard slightly of; it is produced in the Profound Spirit Lands, accumulating ten thousand years of innate spiritual essence before birthing even a tiny amount."

"Even within our Star Palace, it is not certain that we possess it."

"However, Fellow Daoist Qin, rest assured; when the Immortal Mansion Grand Gathering convenes, with fragrances gathering from all sides, it is not impossible for such a rare item to appear."

Qin Ming nodded slightly, "Speaking of the Immortal Mansion Grand Gathering... upon Qin Mou's return, I discovered that people from the Ghost Nether Palace of the Blood Ring Realm seem to have infiltrated the interior of Dragon Abyss Island; they will likely make a move during the event."

At these words, the expressions of the two Nascent Soul cultivators from Tianlan Xiancheng changed abruptly! Long Yangzi asked with a slightly grave demeanor, "Are Fellow Daoist Qin's words true? This matter concerns much; could you elaborate on the details for us?"

Subsequently.

Qin Ming recounted the sights and experiences from the desolate island upon his return to the two city lords.

After all, he still intended to participate in the Immortal Mansion Grand Gathering to search for treasures and did not wish to see any major upheavals.

If the Tianhai Alliance could clear these hidden dangers as soon as possible, that would naturally be best.

"Judging by Fellow Daoist Qin's account, it seems the Ghost Nether Palace intends to make a big move during the Immortal Mansion Grand Gathering..."

"Unexpectedly, traitors have already infiltrated the East Sea Dragon Palace side..."

"This news from Fellow Daoist Qin arrives most timely; it is possible that spies have already mixed into our East Sea Immortal Realm as well," Long Yangzi analyzed.

Xia Yuangong's face was grave, and he also pondered aloud, "Originally, we thought our East Sea Immortal Realm possessed great strength and the impact of the descending realm would be minor; with two Nascent Soul Demon Lords of the Ghost Nether Palace already slain, we did not expect these demonic cultivators to remain so unrepentant."

"Furthermore, based on intelligence returned from our Tianhai Alliance supporting the frontlines of the three kingdoms in Zhongzhou, the Blood Refining Demon Sect and the Ghost Nether Palace seem to have reached some form of cooperation; not long ago, the Seven Sorrows Qishang Mojun of the Blood Refining Demon Sect successfully descended into Great Jin."

"Presumably, as time passes and the convergence of realms deepens, the number of void passages has increased."

"No wonder the Ghost Nether Palace has begun to stir again; they must be collaborating with the Blood Refining Demon Sect to plot against the Immortal Mansion Grand Gathering."

Long Yangzi expressed strong agreement: "The Immortal Mansion Grand Gathering is an event held every thousand years by the human and sea races of the East Sea Immortal Realm, where various Immortal Mansion treasures and top-tier rare resources emerge endlessly; these demon scions certainly will not let such an opportunity slip by."

"It seems we must report the situation to Wei Mengzhu."

"And conduct a cleanup internally as well."

"If Fellow Daoist Qin obtains further information subsequently, please share the intelligence with us; this old man would be endlessly grateful."

"If your Southern Desolate Immortal Realm ever requires assistance from the East Sea Immortal Realm in the future, our Tianhai Alliance will certainly come to aid."

Having spoken, Long Yangzi cupped his fists toward Qin Ming.

"There is no need for courtesy between fellow Daoists; Qin Mou merely stumbled upon this and acted accordingly," Qin Ming waved his hand.

The three conversed for most of the day.

Long Yangzi handed a jade token to Qin Ming, "When the Immortal Mansion Grand Gathering opens, we Nascent Soul peers will hold an exchange meeting; with this jade talisman, you may enter the venue."

"Oh? Then many thanks," Qin Ming said with a smile on his face, accepting the jade talisman and storing it away.

Immediately after.

Long Yangzi, in the name of the Star Palace, also invited and sought to recruit Qin Ming to join; after all, the Star Palace is currently the Diyida Sect of the East Sea Immortal Realm, and even has a Soul Transformation Venerable presiding over it.

Coupled with various generous treatments, it was thought this would surely move Qin Ming.

Unfortunately, he politely declined.

According to what Qin Ming learned from Yan Laomo, unless the Immortal Realm faces a moment of life and death, Soul Transformation Venerables will not easily act.

They hardly participate in sect management and do not concern themselves with worldly affairs.

For Soul Transformation stage cultivators, the most important thing is their own lifespan.

Such top-tier cultivators are still restricted in the mortal world; if they exert great divine powers excessively, they will suffer backlash from the heavenly and earthly yuan qi, resulting in a loss of lifespan.

After the small gathering with the two Nascent Soul cultivators concluded.

Qin Ming took his leave and departed from the Tianlan Sacred Hall.

Long Yangzi and Xia Yuangong watched him depart, sighing deeply, "It seems Fellow Daoist Qin is thoroughly determined to take root in the Southern Desolate; what a pity for such heavenly talent and brilliance."

Within Tianlan Xiancheng.

Qin Ming found Hua Tianxiong in a shop located near the foot of the Shengshan.

Although this street was not on the main thoroughfare, the foot traffic was considerable, making it quite bustling.

The shop's name remained Hua Tianxiong's time-honored brand, "Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion."

He stepped into the shop, where a dazzling array of goods met his eyes; though small, it was complete in every aspect.

Qin Ming could see that Hua Tianxiong possessed considerable business acumen, managing to operate this place with great success in merely half a year.

Of course, this was also due to the support of two Nascent Soul bigwigs; otherwise, an ordinary person could not obtain usage rights for a shop here.

As soon as Qin Ming entered, a young female cultivator with a beautiful appearance, dressed in a light green gauze skirt, came forward to greet him.

"Welcome, Senior, to the Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion; is there anything you require? Our pavilion boasts a rich variety of goods, including pills capable of advancing the Jin Dan stage."

But just then.

From the staircase on the second floor, a figure hurriedly rushed down, revealing Hua Tianxiong's corpulent body.

With his large belly protruding, he hurried over to the two, then immediately instructed the female cultivator attendant: "Green Goose, I will host this senior myself; you go attend to your duties."

"Yes, Gu Gezhu, my lord!"

The female cultivator named Green Goose bowed respectfully, then gracefully withdrew, her expression filled with astonishment, for cultivators worthy of their Gu Gezhu's personal reception were exceedingly rare.

"Master, you have returned? Why did you not notify me in advance? Please, follow me upstairs," Hua Tianxiong said at once, plastering a smile on his face.

……

Inside the private room on the fourth floor.

Fragrant incense curled upward, and the aroma of tea filled the air.

Qin Ming sat in a chair and said, "Your progress is quite good; you have established this operation so quickly, and it has already taken on a substantial form."

"Hehe! Master, this is all the skill I possess; I cannot manage anything else," Hua Tianxiong said respectfully as he poured spiritual tea for Qin Ming.

Shortly after.

He took out a storage bag and respectfully handed it to Qin Ming, saying, "Master, all the spiritual materials you requested are inside."

"In addition, following your instructions, I have gathered some rare treasures unique to this Eastern Sea region, which should prove useful."

Qin Ming took the storage bag, swept it with his divine sense, and said with great satisfaction, "You have done well." After storing the spiritual materials, he took out a jade slip and instructed Hua Tianxiong to continue gathering and monitoring.

After conversing with Hua Tianxiong for a while.

Qin Ming flew to the upper levels of Tianlan Xiancheng, used the Tianlan Token given to him by Xia Yuangong, and selected a fourth-rank spiritual pulse cave dwelling to reside in.

Inside the cave dwelling, facilities such as a weapon-forging chamber, a pill-refining chamber, and a talisman-making chamber were all complete; there was even a fourth-rank superior-grade earthly fire vein.

After completing his daily cultivation of the Green Emperor Art, Qin Ming took out the Feng Lei Ding and the spiritual materials required to refine Hunyuan Pills, preparing to ignite the furnace and begin pill refinement.

The spiritual materials Hua Tianxiong had gathered for him this time were extremely abundant, sufficient for Qin Ming to refine quite a number of spiritual pills.

Within the Immortal Realm, spiritual elixirs capable of enhancing the magic power cultivation of Nascent Soul practitioners were hard currency even more precious than spiritual stones; when the Immortal Mansion Grand Meeting opened, many Nascent Soul old monsters would come specifically for these pills.

Qin Ming, prepared for any contingency, could take this opportunity to exchange for some rare items.

When he had previously visited the Penglai Sect, he had also intended to exchange with Long Mu Zhenjun for the formula of the Qingxu Pill, but unfortunately, as a core inherited formula of the Penglai Sect, it naturally could not be transmitted outward.

Qin Ming had previously consumed one Qingxu Pill; regarding both medicinal efficacy and cultivation advancement, this pill was superior to the Hunyuan Pill by a margin.

Nevertheless, even the Hunyuan Pill was a fourth-rank pill that many Nascent Soul old monsters fought desperately to obtain.

Qin Ming cleared his mind of distracting thoughts, sinking into silent oblivion.

Then, following the pill formulas within the Source Dao Pill Classic, he began refining pills.

……

……

Time flashed by.

Three months later, inside the Tianlan Sacred Hall.

Xia Yuangong and Long Yangzi were discussing matters regarding how to handle the demonic calamity.

"After our Tianhai Alliance leadership held a secret meeting, and in response to the tricks of the Blood Refinement Demon Sect and the Ghost Nether Palace, an internal investigation was launched among the Sidazong Sect."

"Sure enough, quite a few spies were uncovered."

"Even within our Crystal Palace, agents have infiltrated; truly, they are impossible to guard against."

"Fortunately, Daoist Friend Qin reminded us in time; otherwise, with the Immortal Mansion Grand Meeting approaching, the consequences would have been unthinkable."

"Mm, after this cleanup, the Demon Sect's plans have likely been disrupted; I doubt they will dare to act rashly again."

"How is the situation over in Zhongzhou?"

"Difficult! Mainly because the Great Li Demonic Path is leading the charge, and the Divine Dao Mountain has defected; their comprehensive strength is considerably greater than that of Great Jin and Great Zhou, so the situation is not optimistic."

"Behind the Great Li Yin Demon Sect lies the continuous support of several major sects from the Blood Universe Realm, which is why they dare to be so rampant."

"Wei Mengzhu has already decided to increase the level of support for the Zhongzhou Dao-Protecting Alliance."

"Currently, a new batch of cultivators has already departed aboard Dharma ships."

Just as the two were conversing.

Roar~ Suddenly, from outside the fourth-rank cave dwelling on the upper levels of Tianlan Shengshan, a sound resembling a tiger's roar and a dragon's chant erupted.

Immediately afterward, a cloud of purple mist began to envelop the area above, swirling densely, within which seemed to appear the image of a Green Dragon and a Bai Hu locked in battle.

The appearance of such a heavenly anomaly caused the myriad cultivators within Yunze Xiancheng to stop in their tracks and gaze upward, their expressions revealing endless astonishment as they pointed and commented toward the mountain peak.

"Eh! What kind of heavenly phenomenon is this? How can it be so miraculous?"

"Could it be that another great expert is breaking through their realm here?"

"Are you foolish? If a Nascent Soul Qin Zhenjun were breaking through their realm, would the scale of spiritual energy and mist clouds be only this small?"

"It has been unknown how long since a rogue cultivator last broke through to the Jin Dan stage within Yunze Xiancheng."

"It is likely that some great expert has refined some strange treasure or pill, triggering a resonance with the heavenly and earthly spiritual energy."

"Hiss, then what grade of pill must this be to achieve such an effect?"

"Cough! In this old man's opinion, it must be at least of the third-rank lower-grade level or above."

Meanwhile, Xia Yuangong and Long Yangzi, having caught wind of the event, had already moved and arrived at the entrance of the cave dwelling where Qin Ming was in seclusion.

The two gazed at the misty cloud anomaly above and exchanged a glance.

Long Yangzi, still somewhat unable to believe it, asked, "Daoist Friend Xia, has it not been just over a year since Daoist Friend Qin exchanged those two main ingredients from you?"

"Has he refined the fourth-rank Hunyuan Pill so quickly?"

He had originally thought that even for a Su Danwang with extremely high attainment in the Dao of Pills, refining this fourth-rank spiritual pill would require ten or eight years of studying the formula before it could possibly be produced.

After all, Long Yangzi had also dealt with Nascent Soul Pill Kings within the Star Palace and knew very well just how pitifully low the success rate for forming fourth-rank pills was.

Xia Yuangong's facial skin also twitched; he gave a dry laugh and replied, "I fear so; I did not expect Daoist Friend Qin to be truly somewhat unexpected."

"Then shall we wait here for Daoist Friend Qin to emerge? We might also see if we can exchange for a Hunyuan Pill."

Thus, the two began waiting at the cave dwelling entrance once more.

Yet Qin Ming inside showed not the slightest intention of coming out.

Two more days passed.

Above the cave dwelling, purple auspicious clouds once again lingered without dispersing. Long Yangzi and the other were utterly stunned: "Has he refined another furnace full?"

"With such a high pill-success rate, it seems Fellow Daoist Qin is not refining this pill for the first time; furthermore, his attainment in the Dao of Pills likely far exceeds what the two of us could have imagined," Xia Yuangong stared blankly at the extraordinary phenomenon, feeling somewhat numb.

After successfully refining two furnaces in a row, Qin Ming still did not exit the cave dwelling, remaining buried in bitter refinement.

However, to avoid shocking the world too greatly, after successfully refining the third furnace of Hunyuan Pills, Qin Ming stored away his pill furnace and spiritual fire.

On the ground now lay three exquisite Bai Yu spirit bottles; inside each jade bottle were six high-quality Hunyuan Pills, with the final bottle even reaching the premium grade.

Their medicinal potency was double that of ordinary Hunyuan Pills, rivaling even those Qingxu Pills, making them extremely precious.

He intended to keep them for his own enjoyment.

Qin Ming had naturally seen everything outside the cave dwelling clearly and knew that the two fellow Daoists waiting outside could no longer hold back their impatience.

He promptly tidied up, then rose and walked out of the cave dwelling.

"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Qin, on your great success in pill refinement! To produce three furnaces worth of pills is rarely seen in this world!"

Long Yangzi hurried over, smiling as he offered his congratulations, even he revealing thick envy.

"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Qin, hehe!"

"With Fellow Daoist Qin's attainment in the Dao of Pills, refining pills for the mid-Nascent Soul stage should not be difficult, right?" Xia Yuangong put on a smiling face, asking indirectly through his words.

Once promoted to a fourth-tier middle-grade Su Danwang, the situation would be entirely different.

Xia Yuangong and the other had formed a new perspective regarding Qin Ming's potential.

Qin Ming himself had not expected that after refining the Ningying Pills and Ice Heart Jade Soul Pills, he would feel as though capturing other fourth-tier pills was as easy as reaching out one's hand.

Perhaps this was also due to his breakthrough into the Nascent Soul stage, which caused his soul power to surge greatly.

In this pill refinement session, he had consumed only three portions of spiritual materials, wasting almost nothing, yet produced over ten Hunyuan Pills.

Looking across the Eastern Sea Immortal Realm, such a pill-success rate was terrifyingly high, enough to look down upon all heroes.

Thanks to Fellow Daoist "Lu Ren" for the generous support of 100 coins.

Thanks to all fellow Daoists for your voting support! (End of Chapter)