Chapter 109: Miraculous Pill Efficacy

As the pill refining progressed and the medicinal paste was baked to maturity, the strange pill cloud above the roof became increasingly thick and distinct; one could see with the naked eye a phantom blue flower flickering in and out of the cyan-white mist, and it was no hallucination.

This phenomenon was completely incomprehensible to Xuan Chen Zhenjun, who had already reached Spirit Transformation, and he felt it was an eye-opening experience the likes of which he had never heard of.

But at this moment, they could do nothing; they could only wait quietly for the pill refining to succeed before exploring the mysteries within.

Time slipped away, and in the blink of an eye, another quarter of an hour passed.

By now, the cyan-white pill cloud had shrouded the entire Danyuan, and the rich pill fragrance wrapped everyone in it like flowing water; the special aura contained within made one's soul throb and mouth water, while every breath of pill Qi inhaled into the lungs made one feel their sinews, bones, flesh, and blood cheering with joy.

This spirit pill refined with Soul Power seemed to be more than just a simple aid to the soul.

Inside the pill refining room, Xu Chen had already swallowed his fourth Great Origin Pill.

A full three hours had already passed.

Sweat had actually begun to drip down the Third Elder's withered, old face.

And this was only a first-grade pill!

The Third Elder was no longer just excited; he was in a state of extreme shock.

Moreover, as the pill refining continued and the medicinal paste was baked to maturity, he felt the Spirit Fire becoming increasingly restless; even with his cultivation at the True Essence Late Stage and his proficient pill refining and fire control skills, he was already beginning to feel unable to hold on.

"Qin Zhao, help me suppress the Spirit Fire!" After barely holding on for another quarter of an hour, the Third Elder suddenly sent a voice transmission.

Eldest Senior Brother was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly held his breath and reached out, pressing onto another Qi channel of the pill furnace; accompanied by a surge of thick Qi entering the furnace, the restless Spirit Fire calmed down once more under the dual suppression of the two True Essence Realm cultivators.

Because he did not need to worry about suppressing the Spirit Fire, Xu Chen focused all his attention on communicating with the array to bake the medicinal paste, and the process felt even slightly easier than when he refined the Small Yuan Pill last time.

Outside the pill room, a group of disciples were filled with shock, especially Qu Mei, who was nervously clutching her skirt.

Xuanchenzi and Xuanhe Zhenren exchanged glances, both revealing looks of astonishment, their moods becoming even more tense.

Xu Chen did not know what method he used to integrate Soul Power into the pill; not only was the commotion incomparably huge, causing a special celestial phenomenon, but the manpower required for this pill refining was also staggering.

They were all old monsters who had lived for over a hundred years, their Dao hearts as steady as old dogs; usually, they were truly unmoved by external objects and indifferent to personal gain or loss, and they had never heard of a single furnace of pills requiring three people to act together.

And this was merely a first-grade pill.

If it were a third-grade pill, would that not require three Spirit Transformation True Monarchs to act together?

The more he thought about it, the stranger Xuanchenzi's expression became.

He feared Xu Chen had obtained some incredible fortuitous encounter, or perhaps possessed something incomprehensible hidden on his person.

Recalling some ancient secrets of the Immortal World, or the theories about great cultivators who failed their Heavenly Tribulation and whose Yin Spirits survived to seize a body and be reborn.

Xuanchenzi's emotions gradually became somewhat tense and horrified.

The sky gradually darkened.

The whistling evening wind swept across the high Zhaoyang Peak, and within the cold, there were even a few fine snowflakes.

The phantom blue flower-like pill cloud continued to churn above the Danyuan, while rich pill Qi rolled out from the pill furnace like thick smoke, merging into the pill cloud.

"Chen'er, you may begin the pill dividing!"

With Eldest Senior Brother's help, the Third Elder could also spare a portion of his Divine Sense to carefully perceive Xu Chen's pill refining process while observing the situation inside the furnace; sensing that the medicinal paste had completely fused, he spoke to remind him.

"Understood!"

Sweat rolled down Xu Chen's pale face as his hands changed seals; the array inside the pill furnace shifted instantly, and the egg-sized mass of medicinal power was instantly divided into more than a dozen medicinal balls. Immediately following, a vortex of Qi appeared out of thin air within the furnace, driving the medicinal balls to begin whistling and rotating, and the dozen or so pills slowly condensed into shape amidst the rotation.

By this point, it could be said that this furnace of spirit pills was ninety percent successful; even if they were taken out of the furnace directly without pill nourishing, it would not be a big problem.

However, in order to preserve the medicinal efficacy and Spirit Qi to the greatest extent possible, all spirit pills would undergo a pill nourishing process of varying lengths.

After nearly another half hour of pill nourishing, the pill fragrance began to converge and weaken; this time, without waiting for the Third Elder to remind him, Xu Chen raised his hand and slapped the pill furnace. As the furnace lid was shaken open, pill Qi and Spirit Fire spewed out, and more than a dozen pills, green and translucent like jade, flew out amidst them. Xu Chen raised his hand to grab them, and the Qi wrapped around the pills as they were collected into his hand.

Xu Chen scanned them slightly with his Divine Sense, let out a long breath, handed them to the Third Elder, and wiped his sweat, saying: "Disciple has not failed the mission; this furnace of pills has been successfully refined!"

The Third Elder excitedly took the pills and carefully examined them with his Divine Sense and eyes, a look of shock appearing on his face.

These spirit pills were vastly different from the Great Origin Pill in shape, color, and aura.

Usually, the Great Origin Pill was emerald green, but it did not have this jade-like feeling; furthermore, within these pills, one could faintly see a white, cloud-like radiance flickering and flowing.

If his guess was correct, those should be the so-called Soul Power.

But this Soul Power seemed as if it were alive, which was mind-boggling.

The light around them dimmed slightly, and Xuanchenzi and Xuanhe Zhenren appeared beside the Third Elder almost simultaneously; each picked up a spirit pill to examine it closely, and soon both of their faces also revealed expressions of astonishment.

A group of disciples also swarmed up to watch, their Divine Senses crisscrossing and scanning these spirit pills repeatedly, and cries of surprise were heard one after another.

"What do the two Junior Brothers think?" After a long while, Xuanchenzi asked.

The Third Elder smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying: "Senior Brother, do not ask; there is no answer even if you do."

Xuanhe Zhenren had the same expression and shook his head, saying: "Senior Brother, this is asking a blind man about the path; I am not proficient in pill refining myself, and since Junior Brother does not know, I am even less able to explain the reasoning."

Eldest Senior Brother wiped the sweat from his forehead, his face full of horror as he said: "These pills are indeed made from Great Origin Pill spirit medicines; why they would become like this after introducing Soul Power is simply mind-boggling."

The other group of Kaiyuan Realm disciples were even more clueless; after hearing the conversation of the three Elders, they all turned to look at Xu Chen.

Xu Chen had just extinguished the furnace fire and stood up shakily, saying: "Three Elders, this disciple truly does not know what exactly happened."

Xuan Chen Zhenjun waved his hand and said: "Forget it; we are all seeing the introduction of Soul Power into pills for the first time. This strange phenomenon may be related to the Soul Power itself, as Soul Power is inherently elusive and is said to be related to the netherworld. Let us put this matter aside for now, but these spirit pills do indeed have an extraordinary aura. Let this old man consume one and refine it to see what the effect is?"

After speaking, Xuan Chen Zhenjun sat cross-legged directly in the pill room, a white light flashed between his brows, and he drew the spirit pill into his Purple Mansion, then closed his eyes and sat down.

Spirit Realm Great Cultivators primarily cultivate their Soul, so they do not need to consume pills orally through the digestive tract; instead, the Nascent Soul, condensed from the Three Souls and Seven Souls, refines them. This is not only fast, but it can also disperse the medicinal efficacy directly into the Three Souls and Seven Souls to enhance cultivation.

At this moment, inside Xuan Chen Zhenjun's Purple Mansion, a phantom image resembling a two-year-old infant, shrouded in white light, sat cross-legged, spewing Spirit Fire from its mouth to wrap the spirit pill within.

In no more than a quarter of an hour, the spirit pill disappeared. As the Nascent Soul opened its eyes, Xuan Chen Zhenjun also opened his eyes; two faint beams of white light shot out more than a foot from his pupils, only to quickly converge and vanish.

"Senior Brother, how is it?" Xuanhe Zhenren and the Third Elder asked hurriedly.

Xuan Chen Zhenjun exhaled slightly, his face wearing a strange expression. After pondering for a long time, he said: "This pill is extraordinarily miraculous; not only can it enhance the soul, but it can actually temper the physical body. With this tiny pill, this old man can feel subtle changes in my meridians, sinews, bones, and flesh. It is just that perhaps the pill grade is too low and the integrated Soul Power is thin, so this old man needs to examine it carefully to detect these subtle details."

Upon hearing this, the crowd was not disappointed; instead, there was a violent commotion and exclamations.

For a Spirit Realm Great Cultivator, a first-grade spirit pill was much like the feeling of a True Essence Realm cultivator consuming a mortal pill like the Peiyuan Pill; it was almost no different from a candy bean.

But the Great Elder could actually feel changes to his soul and physical body, which showed that this pill could truly be called heaven-defying.

"Great Elder, then can this spirit pill help me grow my soul if I consume it, and will it be helpful for Foundation Establishment?" Seventh Senior Sister Qu Mei could not help but ask.

The two Elders and all the Disciples also had expressions of almost identical doubt.

Xuanchen Zhenjun nodded slightly and said, "The effect should be quite good. I have just carefully refined and sensed this pill, and there is nothing amiss with it. Moreover, it is very simple to verify this matter; you shall take one pill, and a single trial will reveal all!"

"Many thanks, Great Elder, this Disciple is willing to test the pill!" Qu Mei was incredibly excited.

"Junior Brother, give Mei Er a Spirit Pill; we shall stand guard and observe the effects!" Xuanchen Zhenjun waved his hand.

Holding the medicinal pill handed over by the Third Elder, Qu Mei took a few deep breaths to calm her mood, then sat cross-legged, focused her mind for a moment, fed the pill into her mouth, and closed her eyes to begin circulating her energy to refine it.

The crowd watched from the sidelines, releasing their Divine Sense to observe carefully.

A moment later, an obscure aura fluctuation emanated from Qu Mei's body, followed by sweat seeping from her forehead, which quickly condensed into beads of sweat and dripped down her cheeks.

As time passed, Qu Mei's body began to tremble slightly, appearing somewhat painful, but the expression on her face was one of irrepressible surprise.

A full two quarter-hours passed before the aura fluctuations on Qu Mei's body gradually stabilized, though they still had not disappeared; by this time, she was drenched in sweat, her clothes completely soaked.

After another incense stick of time, Qu Mei slowly opened her eyes, let out a long breath, and stood up with a face full of excitement, saying, "This pill is truly miraculous. I feel my Soul has grown much stronger, and my Meridians and dantian both feel much more robust."

"Wow~"

The group of fellow Disciples instantly broke into an uproar, each of them looking at the Third Elder with excitement and drooling mouths.

The three Elders looked at each other, and Xuanchen Zhenjun said, "Since the effect of Mei Er testing the pill is good, everyone shall take one back to consume and contemplate. It seems that the pill Chen Er refined by accidental mistake will bring our Taiyuan Sect unexpected surprises; it is not impossible that everyone will have a chance at Foundation Establishment."

"Yeah~~"

The group of fellow Disciples cheered in unison, one after another reaching their hands out in front of the Third Elder.

The Third Elder smiled and distributed one to each person, then waved his hand and said, "Chen Er, stay behind; everyone else disperse for now. Remember, the matter of Soul Power entering the pill is our sect's greatest secret. No one is allowed to spread it, or else you will be dealt with according to sect rules!"

"This Disciple obeys!"

The group of fellow Disciples bowed in salute one after another, then dispersed in high spirits.

(End of chapter)