Chapter 857

In the hall, Wu Tie was still showing off his skills.

Four or five kinds of very common low-grade medicinal herbs, which could be seen everywhere in the mountains and forests of the Western Demon Country, were lightly scorched by the flame at his fingertips; without even using a pill furnace, he directly extracted their essence and condensed it into high-quality pills.

These pills, the size of soybeans and emitting a faint fresh fragrance, were personally grabbed by the Golden-Eyed Demon Venerable, who brought over a newborn piglet and stuffed one into its mouth; the piglet then gained cultivation equivalent to a year of arduous training by an ordinary human cultivator.

The Golden-Eyed Demon Venerable was startled and moved.

The Iron-Toothed King drooled at the corner of his mouth.

Blood Prison didn't know when, but had already stood beside Pei Feng.

More than a dozen kinds of moderately precious but not rare mid-grade herbs, Wu Tie simply held in his palm, lightly brushed with his hand, and saw a large amount of residue spray from between his fingers; then the flame in his palm rose, and after just a dozen breaths, another batch of spirit pills was refined.

The Golden-Eyed Demon Venerable gave a soft shout; Blood Prison issued an order, and several great demons of Blood Prison Mountain rushed out, summoning a group of little demons whose cultivations varied among the Chonglou Realm, Life Pool Realm, and Womb Storage Realm.

These little demons each took Wu Tie's second batch of refined pills, and the effect was astonishingly good.

Little demons of the Chonglou Realm could increase their cultivation by half a year.

Little demons of the Life Pool Realm could increase their cultivation by one month.

Even for those of the Womb Storage Realm, already considered elite combat forces among the demons, Wu Tie's second batch of spirit pills could increase their mana by at least the amount gained from three days of arduous training.

"Truly..." the Golden-Eyed Demon Venerable looked at Wu Tie with a face full of smiles, no longer the arrogant and frenzied demeanor he had before.

Wu Tie then waved at the Iron-Toothed King, who, without Wu Tie even speaking, produced a large pile of rare medicinal herbs special to the mountain ridges of the Western Demon Country—these herbs were extremely scarce, with on average only one stalk growing per mountain peak, and they often required hundreds of years to grow before they could be harvested.

This time, Wu Tie directly took out the Grand Dao Crucible.

The Grand Dao Crucible was ancient and sturdy in form, emitting a profound Dao mechanism and an uncast pressure that moved even the Golden-Eyed Demon Venerable; he gazed deeply at it, then took a deep breath.

From the rare medicinal herbs the Iron-Toothed King produced, Wu Tie selected thirty-six varieties and casually tossed them into the Grand Dao Crucible.

The Grand Dao Crucible is a projection of the Jade Disc of Creation, forged through boundless merit and supreme creative power, combined with Wu Tie's Dao insight, and further refined with several extremely rare ancient treasures and supreme divine artifacts.

This treasure is in tune with Wu Tie's mind, almost like a part of his own body, and controlling it is effortless.

Moreover, the Grand Dao Crucible incorporates the Three Thousand Daos and the Eighty-Four Thousand side paths; the principles of pill-making, herb transmutation, medicinal power aggregation, and the ruler-minister assistant theory are also inscribed within it.

Wu Tie merely made a few simple hand seals, and the Grand Dao Crucible began operating on its own, extracting medicinal power, purifying medicinal nature, having the powers mutually coordinate and interlock, arranging the ruler-minister combination of medicinal power in perfect order.

Especially, the flame inside the Grand Dao Crucible comes from a spark of flint fire; this crimson flame is the holy fire of the Human Dao. Combined with Wu Tie's infusion of boundless merit into the crucible, its creative marvels truly have the wondrous effect of turning decay into marvel and sand into precious jade.

In just three breaths, strands of strange fragrance drifted out from the Grand Dao Crucible.

Wisps of white and purple vapor rose from the crucible; a white tiger and a purple dragon coiled and danced, circling the crucible as they cried out in joy.

Thereafter, nine thumb-sized golden pills flew out of the crucible. In the high sky, a small thundercloud suddenly descended, a bolt of lightning blasted out, and it struck down at the nine lively, jumping pills.

The Golden-Eyed Demon Venerable casually slapped the lightning and thundercloud to pieces, shouting hoarsely: "This legendary pill tribulation actually exists? I always thought it was just nonsense spouted by those human pill refiners!"

The Iron-Toothed King moved with wicked speed, not like a pig but like a monkey, lunging forward and opening his mouth to bite at the nine pills.

The Golden-Eyed Demon Venerable was even faster; he kicked up a foot and struck the Iron-Toothed King's belly, sending him flying, nearly shooting him out of the hall.

Blood Prison glanced askance at the Iron-Toothed King rolling and cursing on the ground, gave a soft command, and several Divine Manifestation Realm demon kings under her command stepped out, lining up in a row before the Golden-Eyed Demon Venerable.

The Golden-Eyed Demon Venerable nodded, selected three demon kings whose cultivations were clearly the first, fifth, and ninth heavens of the Divine Manifestation Realm, bestowed each with a golden pill, and then swallowed one himself.

The massive medicinal power exploded in their bellies, mellow and warm like aged wine, stirring their internal mana to surge and rise; clearly, the two demon kings of the first and fifth heavens of the Divine Manifestation Realm displayed Dao patterns on their surfaces, continually merging into their bodies.

The demon king of the ninth heaven of the Divine Manifestation Realm, however, was drenched in sweat like rain, with drops of black and red impurities visible in the sweat; these were the hidden wounds accumulated over years of slaughter and warfare within his demon body, as the demon race lacks refined cultivation methods, relying solely on bloodline power to increase cultivation.

These hidden injuries built up inside, causing this demon king to be able to exert only seventy or eighty percent of his full cultivation on ordinary days.

At this moment, the surging heat flow did not greatly increase his cultivation, but his internal hidden injuries were gradually flushed out by the massive medicinal power; this demon king, whose true form is a variegated poisonous serpent, felt so relieved that his whole body kept twitching, continuously spitting out long serpentine tongues with a prolonged "hiss" cry.

The Golden-Eyed Demon Venerable's eyes flashed with strange light as he fixed Wu Tie with a hard stare.

"This pill, surprisingly, even has some effect on me; it instantly put me into a mysterious ethereal state, making even my internal... Heaven-Earth law seals become somewhat clearer."

"If a large quantity of such divine pills were provided, I fear... I could still advance further."

"In artifact refining, you are at grand master level; as for pill refining, I dare not overly evaluate your skill... Wu Tie... brother, based solely on your artifact and pill refining arts, you are the most honored guest in my Western Demon Country."

The Golden-Eyed Demon Venerable lightly patted his own chest and said in a deep voice: "If you could supply me with tens of millions of these divine pills each year... I see you refining them with relative ease. If we had tens of millions of such divine pills, I would grant any of your requests."

Wu Tie smiled.

He produced a palm-sized jade slab, gave it a shake, and the slab turned into twelve pieces of jade talismans, each three cun long and one cun wide.

From his fingertips, threads of extremely fine lightning shot out, rapidly tracing patterns on the talismans; large amounts of jade powder continually fell from them, and in just a few breaths, Wu Tie crafted twelve jade talismans that were wholly crystal-clear and translucent, adorned with countless exquisite patterns.

"I also know how to make talismans, so there's no need to look for me for ordinary talisman paper... Who would like to try a talisman made from top-grade spirit jade, or other top-grade five-element materials, or other top-grade attribute materials?"

"Let the old pig come!" the Iron-Toothed King volunteered.

Just now he had lunged over, failed to get the golden pill, and instead got kicked; seeing Wu Tie create another good thing, he could not restrain himself and jumped up.

"This is an attacking thunder talisman, right? Old Pig has seen similar things before, but the patterns weren't as exquisite and complex as yours; compared to the thunder talismans sold by the Spark Dynasty that I've seen, yours are at least a hundred times more complicated."

"Old Pig's skin is thick and flesh tough, he can take a beating... Come, let Old Pig give it a try!"

The Iron-Toothed King held his head high and chest out, stood in the center of the hall, hooked a finger at Wu Tie, and was plotting with utmost shrewdness.

These talismans... are good things.

Especially since demons generally fight with their bodies plus a few innate divine abilities, they are always at a disadvantage compared to the myriad tactics of the Spark Dynasty's armies and the various divine-ability secret arts of the Spark Dynasty's Three Divine Sects guarding the nation.

Talismans can greatly enrich the demons' means of warfare.

Especially powerful top-grade talismans can serve as hidden treasures and be used to preserve life!

The Western Demon Country does not have as many miscellaneous magical artifacts and treasures as the Spark Dynasty, with various odd-function secret treasures such as those for defense, attack, escape, and preservation of life; even many demon kings cannot equip a full set.

Talismans, truly are good things.

However, as to how powerful Wu Tie's talismans are and what level they are at, the Iron-Toothed King decided to experience them personally.

Wu Tie gave the Iron-Toothed King a half-smiling glance, then casually shattered a jade talisman.

A fist-sized mass of red lightning roared as it surged toward the Iron-Toothed King, heavily striking his chest; then came a tremendous "hoo-la-la" boom, with fire, lightning, and countless lightning fragments exploding in all directions.

Demon Emperor strength... even if he belongs to the weakest tier among Demon Emperors, the Iron-Toothed King possesses genuine Demon Emperor strength.

The Iron-Toothed King's cultivation is roughly comparable to those Spark Dynasty geniuses who entered the Dao via over two hundred great paths as divine kings; however, as a demon, his thick skin and tough flesh are his racial nature, and his bodily defense is absolutely astonishing.

Yet Wu Tie merely activated a single thunder talisman; watching the Iron-Toothed King's iron armor blasted to pieces, his chest a mass of flesh turned to charcoal, even revealing charred black bones.

Tie Chi Da Wang shrieked shrilly; he was blown out of the hall by a thunderbolt, rolled dozens of times across the square outside, and only with difficulty stabilized his form.

He jumped up with a jerk, spat a mouthful of old blood, vomited a clump of black smoke, and Tie Chi Da Wang shrieked, roaring: "What powerful thunder talismans… good grief… below the Demon Emperor, one thunderbolt means certain death!"

"If we had tens of thousands of such thunder talismans… Old Pig alone would dare to attack their Qi Yin Mountain defense line!"

Wu Tie gave a hehe smile, glanced at Blood Prison, who had somehow appeared beside Pei Feng and even grabbed her wrist, and gave her a hehe nod.

Blood Prison looked at Wu Tie calmly, not a muscle moving.

Pei Feng is her good sister; as long as we capture Pei Feng, we need not fear Wu Tie flying away!

Weapon forging, pill refining, and thunder talismans with such astonishing power… If Wu Tie could cooperate long-term with Blood Prison Mountain—obviously, as long as we secure Pei Feng, Wu Tie would surely prioritize cooperation with Blood Prison Mountain.

As long as Wu Tie can continually supply Blood Prison Mountain with these fine weapons, miraculous elixirs, and immensely destructive talismans, Blood Prison has confidence that in an extremely short time, Blood Prison Mountain will become a major power among the Western Demon Kingdom.

Golden Eyed Monster Lord simply returned to their throne, furrowing their brow in thought.

Unlike the drooling Tie Chi Da Wang who wanted to hug Wu Tie's thigh and claim kinship, Golden Eyed Monster Lord thought of much more.

Weapon forging, pill refining, and talisman crafting—these three arts had reached grand master level… no, even higher. Such a Wu Tie is of immense value; Golden Eyed Monster Lord must consider the impact and reactions from all sides after cooperating with Wu Tie.

The demon race cannot tolerate even a speck of blood.

Seeing the benefits, they will surely try to seize them.

Before they even gain any real benefits from Wu Tie, the several great monster lords of the Western Demon Kingdom will start fighting among themselves, and if that gets out, it will truly be a laughingstock.

Wu Tie smiled at the drooling Tie Chi Da Wang, casually tossed eleven thunder talismans to him, then took out a set of formation disks and flags, casually traced a pattern in the air; the disks and flags glowed with spiritual light, and in an instant he laid out a grand formation in the void, enveloping the entire hall, which occupied a huge area.

"I also know how to craft formations; I have some attainments in the way of formations."

Wu Tie said calmly: "Now, let me demonstrate to the monster lords and everyone present the power of this most ordinary yet fundamental Nine Palaces Demon-Subduing Grand Formation."

"Because it is ordinary, because it is fundamental, it can have endless variations and generate endless power. By continuously adding various divine weapons and esoteric formations within, the power of this Nine Palaces Demon-Subduing Grand Formation can be said to be limitless."

Wu Tie chuckled, sending the black sword and the Primordial Crown into the formation diagram.

Inside the hall, invisible time ripples spread outward; except for Wu Tie and his companions, time throughout the hall suddenly froze.

With the power of the grand formation, Wu Tie can indeed completely halt the flow of time in a limited area for a short period.

The black sword turned into a semi-transparent black stream of light, carrying immense killing intent as it thrust toward a corner of the hall; wherever the sword light passed, the void was sliced with fine, clearly visible cracks.

"Yikes! You brat, how dare you hit even your senior brother!"

In the corner of the hall, a patch of void suddenly collapsed and shattered; a pitch-black pig's hoof reached out from the fractured space black hole, carefully tapping the sword light formed from the black sword.

With a tremendous boom, the black sword shook and recoiled backward several dozen zhang, while that pitch-black pig's hoof was cut more than halfway through; had he not withdrawn his strength in time, it would have been severed by a single sword.

"Oh dear, my life! Junior brother, after all these years, your methods have become ever more fierce. It seems you are close to breaking the Fetal Tribulation, regaining your past-life wisdom, and success is in sight."

A tremendous demonic aura surged skyward, forcefully withstanding the immense power of the Primordial Crown, and restored the normal flow of time to a small patch in the hall's corner.

Panting, a huge black pig seven or eight zhang tall, covered in black fur, fat and sturdy, its coat glossy and shiny, trudged out of the space black hole, breathing heavily.

Compared to the formidable demonic aura of the Golden Eyed Monster Lord, this terrifying demonic aura is exactly what erupts from this great black pig's body.

As soon as this great black pig appeared, it loudly shouted at Wu Tie: "Third junior brother, could you really have forgotten your second senior brother, me?"

Wu Tie was bewildered.

Pei Feng was bewildered.

The corners of the Golden Eyed Monster Lord's eyes twitched; he angrily cursed: "Dead pig, are you trying to deceive people again?"