Chapter 43: Chu Lian Excited

As Lu Chen's internal Mysterious Elixir prototype gradually solidified, the vast spiritual power within his body gathered toward the center of his Dao Foundation, like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, finally condensing into a round Elixir Core above his Dao Foundation.

「Supreme Mysterious Elixir, achieved. 」

Lu Chen felt immensely elated; not rushing to break through Storage Elixir earlier and instead seeking the Imprisoned Spirit Pill had indeed been the best choice.

「After breaking through Storage Elixir, I'll have more confidence going to the Heavenly Demon Sect. 」

These past few days, he learned about the Heavenly Demon Sect from Su Qian.

Because they share the same lineage, the Heavenly Demon Sect is actually not far behind the Nine Abyss Sect.

However, the core disciples of the Nine Abyss Sect are mostly at the late Stabilizing Foundation to late Storage Elixir stages.

But the Heavenly Demon Sect is different; as one of the Six Great Demon Sects of Zhen Prefecture, it alone has hundreds of Storage Elixir disciples.

In the Nine Abyss Sect one could be called a Holy Son, but upon going to the Heavenly Demon Sect, one would be merely slightly above the status of an ordinary inner-door disciple.

「I don't even know if that lass is still at the Ghost Market. 」

What Lu Chen referred to was naturally that 'Dan Chi' Chu Lian.

She bears the aura of a Cave Heaven, so her background must be extremely powerful.

If we could connect with her, given her love of alchemy, all kinds of poison pills would thereafter be inexhaustible.

「Anyway, it'll still take a few days to reach the Heavenly Demon Sect; we can go back to the Ghost Market to have a look, and it would be even better if we could get some more pills from her. 」

After successfully breaking through to the Storage Elixir realm, Lu Chen slowly opened his eyes, feeling refreshed.

He rose and left the Hall of Killing Qi, stepping outside, where he noticed the elders hovering in the air.

Because he was in a hurry to find Chu Lian, Lu Chen gave them a salute and then quickly departed.

He left before the elders could even open their mouths to ask.

「This aura, indeed he has broken through to Storage Elixir. 」

「Strange, why does the killing qi inside the hall feel so thin? 」

「The killing qi has become much thinner? 」

Through an elder's remark, the elders were astonished to discover that the Hall of Killing Qi, which had originally been rich in killing qi, had become extremely thin after Lu Chen's breakthrough absorbed it.

「How is this possible? The sect's killing qi is supposed to be replenished daily by the on-duty elders. 」

「I just saw the Sixth Elder replenish the killing qi a moment ago; how long has it been? 」

Hearing what they said, Du Gu Ming's eyes flashed with a hint of apprehension.

At the same time, Lu Chen had already gone to Su Qian's residence, bringing her along as they immediately left the sect and headed for the Ghost Market.

Today the Ghost Market was unusually bustling; a rough glance showed at least hundreds of cultivators present.

Lu Chen had Su Qian conceal her cultivation level, and the two quickly arrived at the cave where Chu Lian was.

Because of that strange medicinal aura, not many people come here.

Lu Chen quickly entered the cave and saw Chu Lian in the midst of alchemy.

「Almost done; those days and nights of effort weren't wasted—this batch will surely succeed! 」

Originally, the cave's stone walls flickered light and dark in the furnace glow; a burst of combustion sound rang out, and the whole cave suddenly blazed bright.

「Success! 」

With the final step completed, the medicinal pill inside the furnace finally took full shape.

Smelling this aura and combining it with what she had said earlier, Lu Chen roughly guessed that the pill in the furnace was that demon pill from that day.

After carefully storing the pill, Chu Lian finally noticed the two of them.

She looked at Lu Chen, then glanced at Su Qian, as if suddenly having an idea.

Before Lu Chen could voice his intention, she took the initiative to come before him.

「You broke through? Your Dao Foundation is so steady—could it be that the Imprisoned Spirit Pill has no effect on you? 」

「Or perhaps you are born with a Medicine-Killing Sacred Body? 」

After Chu Lian voiced this thought of hers, she seemed to become even more excited.

Before Lu Chen could speak to explain anything, she suddenly produced several previously failed, substandard pills and handed them over.

「Try taking them. 」

Lu Chen received the pills, slightly startled.

She seemed to regard him as someone possessing a special constitution because of the Imprisoned Spirit Pill matter.

However, this wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Immediately, he lowered his gaze to look at the pill in his hand.

【Detected wasted pill, Fifth-rank Gathering Killing Qi Pill!】

【Original effect: Due to the failed refinement, the original gathering effect became minuscule; after consumption, not only is it hard to gather killing qi, but it is also prone to cause damage to cultivation from the toxin produced by the failed refinement.】

【Reversed effect: With extremely successful refinement, after consumption the gathering effect becomes several times the original!】

「Hiss... 」

Lu Chen never expected that a wasted pill could also be reversed.

Seeing this effect, he immediately consumed the wasted pill.

Witnessing this scene, Chu Lian suddenly leaned forward, full of anticipation.

She didn't care at all whether the distance between them was too close.

This scene made Su Qian, standing to the side, feel a twinge of jealousy.

But seeing Lu Chen remain silent, she could only stand aside, simmering with resentment.

「How is it? Any feeling? 」

Chu Lian eagerly awaited Lu Chen's reaction after taking the pill because she greatly needed someone who could long-term help her test medicines.

She often concocts pills, and her love for them is practically obsessive.

That's exactly why the amount of defective pills she produces from alchemy is not small.

The effects of these pills are unstable, so someone is needed to test them.

However, the pills she refines usually have enormous toxicity; even demonic cultivators would not willingly risk their own dao foundation.

So far, no one has been able to undertake this great task.

"Hmm, this pill is very toxic." Lu Chen said calmly.

Hearing him, Chu Lian grew even more excited and immediately brought out another batch of defective pills from another furnace.

【Detected waste pill, Five-grade Gathering Kill Pill!】

【Original effect: Due to a refinement mistake, the pill's efficacy has decreased by thirty percent.】

Seeing the system notification, Lu Chen promptly took the pill and quickly reported the result to her.

"This pill has lost some potency, but it carries no pill poison."

Hearing this, Chu Lian's eyes lit up and she was overjoyed.

If you only saw this scene, it would be hard to imagine she is the same person as the girl from a few days ago.

She seemed to doubt she had really found someone with a special constitution, so she promptly handed Lu Chen several more pills.

They come from different furnaces, and their effects are entirely unknown.

After Lu Chen consumed it, the system quickly yielded the result.

Finally, she also took a pill that Lu Chen had confirmed was safe, to verify the truth.

"..." After swallowing the pill, Chu Lian remained in a daze for a long time.

Only when Lu Chen was about to voice his purpose for this visit did she slowly speak.

"As long as I can refine the pills, you supply the ingredients and I will unconditionally refine them for you."

"However, the precondition is that you must long-term test medicines for me."

Actually, Lu Chen still had some doubts about this, but he didn't conceal them and directly asked her.

"Why does it have to be me? Aren't we demonic cultivators, short of people?"

Upon hearing Lu Chen's question, Chu Lian answered truthfully: "It's not exactly that; mainly because the pill's grade is too high, cultivators below the Dan-containing Realm, even if they take it, are likely to die from the medicinal power exploding their bodies."

"Besides obtaining a result, you'd ultimately waste the pill for nothing."

Lu Chen quickly understood.

It turns out it's not because she's unwilling to act against ordinary cultivators; it's actually for this reason.

"As expected of a demonic cultivator..."