Chapter 330: Jiangchen Elixir, Spirit-Feeding Pill, Chu Kui Challenges Danyangzi!

"Jiangchen Elixir..."

"What a lousy name!"

In the quiet room, Luo Chen looked at the second-tier pill formula in his hand and muttered a casual complaint.

A perfectly good pill, why call it Jiangchen (Descending Dust) Elixir!

Don't they know that my own name also contains the character "Chen" (Dust)?

Although he was complaining, Luo Chen's eyes were filled with surprise as he looked at this formula, which had never appeared in the cultivation world before.

This was actually a cultivation-type pill formula!

However, unlike conventional spirit pills that extract the essence of medicinal herbs and fuse them into one,

this Jiangchen Elixir followed a different path.

The essence of the Qi Refining path lies in refining essence into Qi, and refining Qi into Spirit!

The so-called refining essence into Qi falls within the scope of the three realms: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Jin Dan.

It speaks of extracting energy from the body's original essence and Qi to break through realms, ultimately achieving the human body's "Great Elixir," which is the Jin Dan.

But the human body is weak, far inferior to the myriad races of the world.

How much essence and Qi can a mere physical body refine?

Therefore, human sages devised a cultivation method of absorbing the free spiritual energy between heaven and earth.

From this point of view, the orthodox cultivation method of the cultivation world has already departed from the original path of refining essence into Qi.

Or rather, it is still on this path, but what it refines is not its own essence and Qi, but the essence of heaven and earth.

Furthermore, after achieving minor success in cultivation, cultivators will naturally condense essence blood containing essence, Qi, and spirit within their bodies.

To nourish the physical body!

And this Jiangchen Elixir goes against the grain, tracing back to the source, returning to the most fundamental path of refining essence into Qi.

After taking this pill, it will rapidly extract a large amount of essence and Qi from the cultivator's body and convert it into spiritual energy.

Thereby accelerating cultivation.

Jiangchen Elixir, Jiangchen Elixir.

If this pill is taken too much, the immortal spirit body, which was originally cleansed through tendon and marrow washing, will gradually descend back to a mortal constitution.

That is why it got the name "Descending Dust."

Looking at it this way, the name is actually quite apt.

"I am not at all unfamiliar with refining essence into Qi."

"When 'Mingshen Posha' was first created, it used the stimulation of evil energy to convert blood and Qi into spiritual energy, allowing a Wu Gong grandmaster to step onto the path of cultivation."

"The two have the same effect. One borrows evil energy, the other borrows the power of pills."

"It's just that the Jiangchen Elixir is too simple and crude, even having a hint of demonic pill flavor; if taken long-term, I fear it would truly cause great damage to a cultivator's body."

While muttering to himself, Luo Chen seemed to see a cultivator taking this pill for a long time.

The physical body, which had been cleansed, gradually became as weak and pathetic as a mortal's.

But he also thought of another possibility.

If a cultivator who has already achieved success in body refining takes this pill, could they accelerate their cultivation while ensuring their physical body does not drop to a dangerous level?

Luo Chen subconsciously glanced at his attribute panel.

【Realm: Foundation Establishment 5th Layer 2/100, Blood River Realm 50/100】

With the opening of his hundred meridians and his years of persistence in the Five Viscera Health Fist, he had already completed the two minor realms of meridian opening and organ refining.

If one does not consider the five levels of aperture opening and internal/external elixir formation,

he could already be considered to have achieved success in body refining.

If he were to exhaust this body-refining foundation and take the Jiangchen Elixir, how much spiritual energy could he gain?

How much could his immortal cultivation realm rise?

If combined with other spirit medicines beneficial to body refining, such as Gold-Quality Jade Liquid, could he maintain his physical body from falling?

Luo Chen did not know the details.

He regretfully tucked this pill formula away.

At this moment!

It was not the best time to study this second-tier pill formula!

With his alchemy talent, it was impossible to study a second-tier pill formula to the point of being able to refine it directly in a short time.

Perhaps the Seven Sons of Qingdan had such talent.

But he, at present, absolutely could not.

However!

He had the system in hand; he could just enter it directly when the time came, without much effort.

From this point of view, he had already secured victory in the second round of alchemy.

"Achievement points are hard to come by; entering a second-tier pill formula is making the best use of them. But applying it to that first-tier pill formula would be a bit of a loss."

Luo Chen muttered, taking out the copy of the first-tier pill formula.

He intended to use this half-month to study this pill formula carefully.

With his knowledge and alchemy attainments, he figured it wouldn't be difficult to get started with a mere first-tier pill formula.

"Spirit-Feeding Pill?"

"Also a pill I've never seen or heard of."

"The Tai Dan Academy of Qingdan Valley has quite impressive research capabilities to be able to produce two brand-new pill formulas in succession."

Because of the soundproofing formation, no matter how lively the fighting outside was,

Luo Chen could not see, hear, or know anything about it.

It wasn't until late at night that the clamor outside gradually subsided.

The Tao family cultivators were excitedly discussing the day's results.

Judging by their happy expressions, the arena battles must have gone well today.

However, everyone slowed their pace and lowered their voices when passing Luo Chen's room.

The person inside was the key figure affecting the second round!

Inside the deliberation hall.

Tao Wan looked at the four people below: Tao Daonan, Qi Lingyun, Tan Xiao, and Tao Yisheng, who was qualified to attend as an observer.

She said slowly:

"On the first day, we secured one arena spot."

"Thanks to Senior Brother Qi and Senior Brother Tan for going all out."

Tan Xiao shook his head, "In the last Dao Seed contention, I participated personally, but in the end, I didn't even secure a position among the nine great true transmissions. This time, it counts as bullying the young."

Tao Wan chuckled, "The junior brothers who came to challenge also have senior brothers under their command who participated in the Dao Seed contention decades ago; they are of the same generation as you, so how is it bullying the young?"

When she said this, the guilt in Tan Xiao's heart dissipated quite a bit.

Indeed.

There were many who were disappointed in the last round, just like him!

Not only did they fail to contend for the Dao Seed, they didn't even secure a position as a great true transmission, which would have granted them a portion of resource allocation.

Therefore, for the sake of Jin Dan formation,

they would never miss this suddenly opened second Dao Seed contention!

Even if they were over 150 years old and could not directly participate for the great true transmission spots, they could achieve their goals indirectly by helping qualified disciples.

Once the disciples they chose won the Dao Seed position,

they could obtain resources no less than what previous great true transmissions could get through them.

Due to the short time interval,

there were many late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators like Tan Xiao participating for the second time.

This also led to the first day of arena battles being unprecedentedly intense!

In the past, there weren't so many late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators participating.

Most were a mix of late and mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Qi Lingyun smiled at this moment and said: "In Qingdan Valley, besides Senior Brother Danyangzi, Junior Sister Wanwan's talent and disposition are the only choices. If you don't become the Dao Seed, who is worthy?"

In his words, the unusual emotion in his eyes was undisguised, surging and fervent.

Tao Wan slightly avoided that fervent gaze.

Instead, she brought up other matters.

"Everyone saw it today, right? The arena occupied by Senior Brother Danyangzi had very few challengers."

"This does not conform to the strategy we previously set."

Mentioning this, Qi Lingyun frowned: "Are the others afraid?"

Tan Xiao hesitated: "Although Senior Brother is alone without helpers, he has been a Dao Seed for decades and holds great prestige; it is reasonable that the junior brothers and sisters below dare not challenge him."

The youngest, Tao Yisheng, worried: "But in this way, wouldn't he be able to rest and recover, passing the fifteen days of arena battles safely?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone fell silent.

With Danyangzi's ability,

if there were no consumption over these fifteen days, he would certainly be able to pass the second round easily.

Once they reached the third round, with his superior ranking, he would definitely not be someone that up-and-comers like Tao Wan could resist.

Yes.

Although they were of similar age,

Danyangzi was indeed a senior.

He was exceptionally gifted and had won the Dao Seed position decades ago as an 8th-layer Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Now he was already at the 9th layer of Foundation Establishment, and he was likely not far from the Foundation Establishment perfection.

It would be very difficult for new 9th-layer Foundation Establishment cultivators like Tao Wan and Shangguan Yan to be his direct opponents.

In the silence, Tao Daonan's aged voice spoke up.

"No need to worry!"

"For the first few days, just secure the position of great true transmission. In the later days, when it involves the ranking of true transmissions, no one will ignore Danyangzi, the biggest threat."

"At that time, it will be his most difficult moment!"

Upon hearing this, everyone felt as if they had been enlightened, instantly understanding.

The time had not yet reached the white-hot stage!

By then, what Danyangzi would face would not be these scattered one or two challengers,

but a purposeful wheel battle from the other eight great true transmissions!

Tao Wan felt determined and then said: "Senior Brother Qi, Senior Brother Tan, you are tired today. Go down and rest early to recover your spiritual power; I may need to trouble you again tomorrow."

The two did not decline.

After a cultivator advances to the late stage of Foundation Establishment, their spiritual power is several times greater than before.

But they couldn't withstand excessive squandering.

Especially since the arena battle was a long, grueling fight, daily meditation and recovery were indispensable.

After the two left, Tao Wan first looked at Tao Daonan.

"Patriarch, what did the Fu family say?"

Tao Daonan said slowly: "Several families have already reached an agreement with the Fu family to send people to challenge Danyangzi one after another; it is absolutely impossible to let him enter the final true transmission sword fighting round in a complete state!"

With this, Tao Wan was relieved.

Then, she looked at Tao Yisheng.

"Is Danchenzi still studying the pill formula alone?"

Tao Yisheng scratched his head and was about to speak when he saw Tao Wan's cold, sharp gaze.

He subconsciously pulled his hand back and stopped scratching his head.

His sister had said that these small habits were signs of immaturity and should be avoided as much as possible.

He composed his mind and said seriously: "Brother Luo is indeed studying alone, forbidding anyone from visiting or helping."

Hearing this, Tao Wan couldn't help but frown.

Tao Daonan also said in confusion: "Other alchemists have hired a large number of medicine apprentices and fire workers to help them test the properties of various materials in the pill formulas. Is this Luo Chen really so arrogant?"

"It's not arrogance, it's confidence!" Tao Yisheng said, harboring absolute trust in Luo Chen: "With Brother Luo's alchemy attainments, he knows most low-tier medicinal herbs by heart and doesn't need anyone else's help to test them."

"But..."

Tao Daonan, old and cautious, wanted to say something more.

But he was interrupted by Tao Wan.

"Let him be. The list has already been set, and it's impossible to change the candidates."

Hearing this, Tao Daonan looked at Tao Wan in confusion.

If Tao Yisheng had confidence in Luo Chen, he could understand, as he already knew that his own rapid progress in alchemy during this period was due to Luo Chen's guidance.

But why did Tao Wan have such confidence?

Facing his question, Tao Wan did not explain anything.

Looking at the pitch-black night outside, Tao Wan narrowed her eyes slightly.

She didn't have confidence in Luo Chen's alchemy, but she had sufficient understanding of his determination to obtain high-grade pills.

If he didn't want to miss this opportunity,

he would never slack off in the second round.

What they needed to do was to secure the best possible ranking in the first round!

Let the wind and rain rage outside.

Luo Chen remained unmoved.

He had been studying the Spirit-Feeding Pill formula day and night, and had reached a critical point.

This was not a pill for humans to eat.

It was a pill for spirit beasts, or rather, demon beasts.

Ordinary sects and families raising demon beasts and taming them into spirit beasts often required a large amount of blood food!

High-tier spirit beasts were fine, as they had learned to breathe in the essence of the sun and moon, absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and convert it into demon energy.

But low-tier spirit beasts, whose intelligence had not yet been opened, had an instinct for blood food that was already ingrained in their bones.

In this situation, it would be fine if they were like those places near the Million Mountains, such as Dahe Square.

They had enough channels to purchase various blood foods.

But in the peaceful inland areas, there was no such convenience.

The blood food transported from outside was often not very fresh.

And the price was exorbitant.

This could be seen from when Luo Chen auctioned the second-tier demon beast corpse at the Xuelian Hall.

In this way, if one only tamed one or two mountain-guarding spirit beasts, the cost was still within an acceptable range.

But to tame a large group of spirit beasts, the cost would be too great.

There simply wasn't enough blood food!

Therefore, the alchemy masters of the Tai Dan Academy researched this new pill formula based on this.

The main ingredient was still a certain blood food that spirit beasts liked.

But it only accounted for a very small portion.

More of it was mixed with other medicinal herbs, minerals, and spirit liquids, finally fused into a pill.

Taking this could greatly reduce the pressure on blood food supply.

And the other raw materials were things that cultivators in the cultivation world could mass-produce.

The cost was thus invisibly greatly reduced.

"This thing, on Earth in my previous life, isn't it just feed!"

After understanding the principle of this pill, Luo Chen curled his lips.

Its refining difficulty was not high at all.

It was even much simpler than the Jade Marrow Pill, which required processing Jade-Washing.

As long as one understood the corresponding pill theory and used the corresponding alchemy techniques to refine and fuse them, the pill was considered formed.

"That's right!"

"If it were a pill formula with very high refining difficulty, it would be impossible to give only fifteen days of preparation time."

"The focus of the competition should still be on that Jiangchen Elixir."

After Luo Chen muttered, he threw himself into the actual refining without hesitation.

All materials had already been prepared by the Tai Dan Academy.

Even the earth fire and alchemy furnace needed for refining were fully equipped.

Five days later!

In Luo Chen's sleepless experiments, a batch of Spirit-Feeding Pills was finally successfully produced.

This one batch had a full thirty complete pills!

This yield already exceeded the level of twenty pills per batch of raw materials for the Jade Marrow Pill.

It could be seen that the refining difficulty was indeed very low!

After refining the finished product, Luo Chen breathed a sigh of relief.

Without saying anything, he went straight to bed and fell into a deep sleep.

During this time, he had been studying pill formulas and experimenting with pill refining alone, which had truly exhausted him.

But it was all worth it.

After a rough study of the Jiangchen Elixir formula, he had already used the system to enter it.

Next, he just needed to wait for the second round to start.

While others were still painstakingly experimenting, he could already rest and recover, waiting for the right moment!

This sleep lasted for a whole night and half a day.

The next day.

Amidst the bustling arena battles,

Luo Chen quietly arrived at Tao Yisheng's side.

"What's the situation now?"

"Eh!"

Tao Yisheng was startled; he never expected Luo Chen to finish his seclusion in just ten days.

He knew better than anyone what this meant.

Before he could ask how things were going, Luo Chen looked in surprise at a high platform that had been raised to the highest point.

A burly man, holding a mysterious yellow long staff, stepped onto that arena under the gaze of everyone.

"Chu Kui, a retainer of the He family, requests a battle with Brother Danyangzi!"