Chapter 885

On this question, Wu Tie made Huang Pi Daoist roll his eyes in defeat.

In midair, the two other Qinglian Observatory elders who specialized in alchemy were so furious they kept tugging at their beards.

Their minds held countless uses of arsenic—assisting ruler and minister, neutralizing toxicity, guiding medicinal power, harmonizing yin and yang, and all manner of marvelous applications—fully grasping the profound mysteries of alchemy.

But the girls in high-end brothels take arsenic in liquor, in extremely tiny amounts, to whiten their skin? (A folk remedy, extremely dangerous, not to be taken seriously.)

What a bizarre use this is!

They are the exalted patriarch of Qinglian Observatory, its most orthodox direct disciples, who have grown up and cultivated there since birth; they have never touched the mortal world, so how could they know that some girls in brothels have such a bizarre pastime?

Arsenic, a deadly poison—take it and you die; this is common knowledge known to ordinary people…

Is there anyone who, for the sake of fairness, voluntarily takes arsenic?

On the first question, Huang Pi Daoist lost not due to his alchemy skill, but because of his background and status.

Slightly annoyed, Huang Pi Daoist took out a large piece of Jinjina tree bark, said nothing, looked at Wu Tie, and pushed the bark forward.

Wu Tie gave a faint smile: 'Another obscure, heretical little trick.'

The Jinjina frost refined from the Jinjina tree's bark is useless in alchemy, but it has some effect in treating malignant malaria, and even on the heart and women's private matters.

"Daoist, you're really mischievous." Wu Tie flicked his finger; a large piece of Jinjina bark shattered, and a small bowl of refined pure Jinjina frost appeared before him. He pinched a pinch of the powder and spoke of its various uses.

Before the slightly stiffened Huang Pi Daoist could come to his senses, Wu Tie quickly wrote a prescription.

It's a wondrous, extraordinary prescription—the Wuji Baifeng Pill.

Casually handing the prescription to Huang Pi Daoist, Wu Tie softly laughed and asked: "May I ask, what ailment does this pill formula treat?"

Huang Pi Daoist's face twitched violently; he seriously examined the various herbs on the prescription—for cultivators, these medicines are all extremely cheap, of little use, common herbs, not even a single one qualifies as a spiritual herb.

Fortified, Huang Pi Daoist is deeply versed in alchemy, so he has studied these ordinary herbs as well.

Relying on his profound alchemy knowledge, Huang Pi Daoist determined the properties of the Wuji Baifeng Pill and then listed its various effects one by one.

Wu Tie looked at Huang Pi Daoist without committing, waiting for a full cup of tea's time.

Huang Pi Daoist also stared straight at Wu Tie: 'Could there be other uses? I, the old Daoist, boast that I have already thoroughly analyzed its principle.'

Wu Tie lifted his head to the sky, then let out a long sigh: 'Old Daoist, you probably haven't touched a woman in your whole life, have you?'

Lao Tie laughed hysterically clutching his belly beside them; Wu Tie's vast knowledge base was passed down from Lao Tie, so he of course knows the main user group of the Wuji Baifeng Pill.

Alas, having grown up his whole life in Qinglian Observatory, cultivated there from childhood as the observatory painstakingly nurtured him, Huang Pi Daoist, as Wu Tie said, has basically never seen a few women, never felt a woman's pulse, and knows nothing of female physiology……

The Wuji Baifeng Pill splendidly knocked Huang Pi Daoist off his horse.

Having lost two out of three questions, Huang Pi Daoist's face flushed red, a hint of blood at the corner of his mouth, he staggered back a few steps, silently bowed to Wu Tie, then turned and left the deck platform, stepping on clouds to fly to several of his fellow disciples.

Huang Pi Daoist's junior fellow disciple, Red Dan Daoist, with a grim face, stepped on clouds to arrive at the bow of the martial vessel and sat opposite Wu Tie.

"In the first round, senior brother lost. In the second round, it's the same, right? The old Daoist will produce three pill formulas, provide materials; the Martial King will produce three pill formulas, provide materials; we will directly compare the quantity and grade of the finished pills to decide victory."

"Straightforward!" Wu Tie gave Red Dan Daoist a thumbs-up: 'Acting directly is far more straightforward than talking to deceive people.'

Huang Pi Daoist let out a cold snort from the side.

For these three questions, Qinglian Observatory has racked its brains; stinky wormwood and Jinjina—these are utterly useless to cultivators, extremely obscure things; they thought they could stump Wu Tie, but they failed to do so.

And the arsenic and Wuji Baifeng Pill that Wu Tie produced are actually related to women…… This left a group of Daoists who have cultivated purity all their lives reeling, dizzy, unable to react.

However, discerning medicinal properties is merely lip service; in alchemy, the true test lies in actually refining pills.

Red Dan Daoist took out a pill formula from his sleeve.

The pill formula is extremely complex, comprising tens of thousands of characters, requiring hundreds of ingredients; it is an extremely tedious, extremely complex pill formula, in which the control of fire, the changes of hand seals, and even the mutual combination and influence of medicinal ingredients amount to over a million mutual generation and restriction variations.

A slight mistake, and it's a furnace of wasted pills.

But Red Dan Daoist merely took out two portions of material, placing one before himself and handing the other to Wu Tie.

"Martial King, please check—each portion contains seven hundred eighty-nine kinds of medicinal materials, with identical fire control, identical dosage, identical harvesting sites, and medicinal potency differing only minutely."

"These two portions of marrow-filling, spirit-nourishing pill materials, Martial King may freely choose one."

Wu Tie glanced at the formula, instantly memorizing the refining method and process; his vast divine sense swept over the materials prepared by Red Dan Daoist, he smiled faintly, and directly took out the Great Dao Furnace.

"The two portions of material are completely identical, so no need to switch. Well, Red Dan Daoist, please!"

The Great Dao Furnace shrank to the size of a human head, hovering before Wu Tie; its surface layered with Primordial divine light roiling endlessly, faintly visible sun, moon, and stars rising, and streaks of chaotic flow light flashing rapidly, profound and profound, beautiful beyond description.

Red Dan Daoist nodded, flicked his sleeve, and a Three-Legged Cauldron buzzed into existence.

The entirely crimson cauldron is about a zhang tall; its waist has three round fire gates, each spewing red, white, and yellow flames.

Wisps of medicinal vapor, barely visible to the naked eye, spewed from the cauldron, instantly filling the surrounding thousand li with a fragrant mist.

Shockingly, in the mountains and forests beneath the fleet, countless birds and beasts merely smelled this medicinal aroma and instantly began to clamor and roar, lifting their heads to howl; each felt their qi and blood surge, their bodies visibly swelling severalfold.

This pill-refining medicinal cauldron, no one knows how many years it has been passed down in Qinglian Observatory, how many pill masters have refined how many earth-shattering Great Dao precious pills on it. The cauldron itself is a treasure of immense power; its emitted medicinal vapor alone is enough to let the most ordinary birds and beasts undergo a metamorphosis.

Using such a pill cauldron to refine pills, setting aside success rate, the immense medicinal power accumulated over countless years inside would give how great a boost to the pill potency?

Even an ordinary grain-avoiding pill could possibly become a Great Dao precious pill–grade divine medicine.

"All came prepared!" Wu Tie laughed, and the Great Dao Furnace spewed a flame, swallowing the seven hundred eighty-nine medicinal materials in one gulp.

In the distance, Pig Ganglie, who was watching Wu Tie and the Qinglian Observatory Daoists duel, suddenly opened his mouth.

"Third Junior Brother, this furnace can not only roast people alive but also refine pills?" He shook his head, Pig Ganglie muttered: 'Feels weird, hey… the Soft Spring Monster Sovereign was literally refined to death by this furnace; this is truly a cremation furnace… pills refined in it… can they even be taken orally?'

"Shut up!" Netherworld Peng Sovereign coldly barked: 'Dead pig head, shut your bird beak……'

After a proud cold snort, Netherworld Peng Sovereign softly said: 'Although I know nothing about pill refining, back when I studied alchemy I consecutively blew up three hundred sixty-five seized supreme pill furnaces. As for judging pill furnaces, I still have some say.'

After pondering a moment, Netherworld Peng Sovereign clasped his hands behind his back, slowly nodded in praise: 'Martial King's this furnace is of extraordinary quality, far surpassing Qinglian Observatory's Shennong Cauldron…… even if the Shennong Cauldron is a supreme ancient treasure?'

Pig Ganglie stared in astonishment at Red Dan Daoist: 'Is this the Shennong Cauldron, the top one in Qinglian Observatory's Pill Hall? Old bird, how do you recognize it?'

Netherworld Peng Sovereign softly sighed: 'I…… once launched thirty-six surprise attacks on Qinglian Observatory's Pill Hall, trying to seize this medicinal cauldron.'

"For this treasure, I was consecutively severely wounded thirty-six times…… etched into the bone, memory fresh, of course I recognize it."

Pig Ganglie opened his mouth, licked his lips, and gave a very simple-minded laugh: 'Old bird, I've said it before—you are the reincarnation of that ancient Great Peng Bright King…… you once stood atop the Buddha's head as a great being reborn. In our past life, we were sworn brothers!'

"Hey, launching thirty-six surprise attacks on Qinglian Observatory and merely returning wounded…… such divine ability, it must be you, you didn't run away."

We are, after all, sworn brothers who are even closer than biological brothers.

The Netherworld Peng Venerable's face turned completely pitch black, his ten fingers suddenly turned into huge bird claws, and he twitched violently like someone having an epileptic fit.

Netherworld Peng Venerable

Standing to the side, Blood Prison let out a faint sigh: "Little sister, your lover is no ordinary man... hehe, arsenic whitening, Black Chicken White Phoenix Pill for health... He knows a lot about women's affairs, right?"

Blood Prison (likely a nickname) refers to arsenic whitening—a poison—and the Black Chicken White Phoenix Pill, a traditional medicine.

Pei Feng narrowed his eyes, his pupils flashing with an unfathomable dark light.

Pei Feng

Wu Tie acted roughly and simply, like a novice just learning alchemy, haphazardly dumping all the ingredients into the Grand Dao Furnace.

Wu Tie

Grand Dao Furnace

The Yellow-skinned Daoist and others simultaneously let out a sigh of relief.

Yellow-skinned Daoist

This round is secured.

The Marrow-Filling Spirit-Nourishing Pill has extremely delicate medicinal properties, like spring wind turning to rain, drop by drop merging into the marrow to nourish the primordial spirit; it is a unique formula specially created by the Azure Lotus Temple for disciples who practice special secret arts.

Marrow-Filling Spirit-Nourishing Pill

Azure Lotus Temple

It can be said that this pill is exclusively owned by the Azure Lotus Temple, with no equal in the world.

- same.

Although this pill's grade is not high, its refinement method is extremely complex and tedious; the Azure Lotus Temple calls it the number one difficult formula, and only alchemists of Grand Master level or above dare to attempt it. Even then, a Grand Master must handle it with utmost care, and perhaps only seven or eight out of ten furnaces will succeed.

Grand Master

Red Pill Daoist, in the Azure Lotus Temple, has the highest success rate in refining this pill, but it remains stable at an eighty percent chance out of ten attempts.

Red Pill Daoist

Every ingredient must be added at the right moment, seizing the fleeting instant when the medicinal powers fuse; otherwise this pill will surely be ruined.

Seeing Wu Tie so rudely dumping all the materials into the Grand Dao Furnace at once, Red Pill Daoist's heart became as calm as an ancient well, his expression turned light and carefree, like an immortal with Daoist bearing, ethereal and transcendent.

Wu Tie, Red Pill Daoist, Grand Dao Furnace

This one's settled.

Red Pill Daoist smiled, picked up two portions of yin-yang opposing medicinal guides, and carefully placed them into the Divine Farmer Cauldron.

Red Pill Daoist

yin-yang opposing medicinal guides

Divine Farmer Cauldron

Placing both hands on the Divine Farmer Cauldron, a series of hand seals changed, stimulating the cauldron's divine fire to rise, expand, increase, and fall, gradually drawing out the medicinal power of the guides, then forming a perfect yin-yang confluence, becoming the embryonic form of a spirit pill.

Divine Farmer Cauldron

Spirit Pill

Before the pill embryo took form, in the span of a breath, Red Pill Daoist hooked his right pinky, and five portions of hundred-year spirit herbs of the five phases rose into the air, precisely falling into the Divine Farmer Cauldron, where in an instant the cauldron refined all their medicinal essence, like a gentle spring rain, drop by drop falling into the embryo.

Red Pill Daoist

hundred-year spirit herbs of the five phases

Divine Farmer Cauldron

pill embryo

Red Pill Daoist refined the spirit pill in an orderly manner.

Red Pill Daoist

Spirit Pill

Various medicinal materials, positioned at the Left Three Powers, Right Four Aspects, Upper Eight Trigrams, Lower Nine Palaces, continuously flew into the Divine Farmer Cauldron, and strands of wondrous medicinal fragrance continuously sprayed from the cauldron.

Left Three Powers, Right Four Aspects, Upper Eight Tr

- Divine Farmer Cauldron

These medicinal aromas are the refined impurities of medicinal power; despite that, the fragrance remains rich, drifting out a hundred li on the wind. No new names.

Since Red Pill Daoist had already decided that Wu Tie had lost this match, he was supremely confident, completely at ease, and in an extremely relaxed state as he refined the pills.

- Red Pill Daoist

- Wu Tie

He felt that the condition of refining this batch of pills was better than ever before. No new.

He could even predict that this batch of pills would yield 108 pills, all of which would be of superior grade or higher. No new.

Red Pill Daoist even felt his mind become far more lively and spirited, as if the Pill Dao that had held him in a bottleneck for tens of thousands of years would, thanks to this alchemy session, break through the bottleneck and attain a realm beyond Grand Master that cannot be spoken or described.

- Red Pill Daoist

- Grand Master

Pill Dao

Seven hundred twenty-seven medicinal herbs have already been placed into the Divine Farmer Cauldron, and Red Pill Daoist smiles while shifting his hand seals.

- Divine Farmer Cauldron

- Red Pill Daoist

He has already seen the dawn of breakthrough; that glimmer of light is right before his eyes, and if he maintains this subtle, indescribable miraculous state for a moment, the moment this batch of pills forms will be the moment his realm breaks through. No new.

Just then, Wu Tie, extremely crude, like a butcher slapping a dead pig's head on a chopping board, struck the Grand Dao Furnace with a loud 'bang'.

- Wu Tie

- Grand Dao Furnace

"All done!" No.

Amidst a hissing sound, one hundred twenty-four strands of cyan-purple vapor erupted from the Grand Dao Furnace, each bearing a thumb-sized pill that was bluish-purple and semi-transparent.

- Grand Dao Furnace

pill

Red Pill Daoist was startled by the loud noise Wu Tie made, nearly slipping out of that wondrous state.

- Red Pill Daoist

- Wu Tie

He angrily glanced at Wu Tie, and then he saw the pills spraying out of the Grand Dao Furnace.

- Wu Tie

- Grand Dao Furnace

- pill

One hundred twenty-four pills, and every single one is of supreme quality. No new.

The quality is perfect, with no flaws whatsoever, no impurities at all, the medicinal power fully contained internally, not a trace of medicinal aroma escaping, completely achieving the standard of 'divine object hides its radiance'.

divine object hides its radiance

This pill... this pill... this pill... No new.

This quantity, this grade, the Red Elixir Daoist let out a strange howl, the perfect, smooth state of mind shattered with a boom, blood spurted from all seven orifices simultaneously.