Longzang

Chapter 606 Unable to Tolerate

Even the most mundane things in life can be unreliable at times.

In his second round of alchemy, Wei Yuan fully adopted the suggestions from the "Human World" (a legendary alchemist), but only produced nine pills, including just one one-pattern spirit pill. The difference compared to the first round was so great that it was almost unbelievable to Wei Yuan.

Considering the immortal spiritual energy and fortune added, it should be worth at least tens of thousands of taels of immortal silver. Wei Yuan didn't even earn three times that amount with this batch.

Wei Yuan immediately began to reflect on why he had to accept all the ideas from a bunch of guys who had never refined pills before.
While these guys are mostly right in giving advice, they can't rule out making mistakes sometimes. This time, they made a lot of mistakes, and small mistakes accumulated into big ones, eventually leading to something outrageous.

Humanity also reflected on itself and came to several conclusions, including that the provided data was incomplete, the information was incorrect, the quality of the medicinal materials deviated beyond the normal range, the frequency of inspection of the alchemy furnace was too low, the test results were inaccurate, and the Creator Immortal did nothing, etc.

Wei Yuan looked at it from all angles and found that Renjian Yanhuo did not admit any of his mistakes, and completely shirked responsibility. In particular, the last sentence was the finishing touch.

Wei Yuan remained silent, then ordered a new summary, but the result remained the same. Another summary yielded the same result.

Wei Yuan pondered for a moment, then modified the task, requiring improvements to the alchemy process. This task proceeded exceptionally smoothly, and in the blink of an eye, over a hundred shortcomings were identified.

Wei Yuan carefully compared each item and pondered it thoroughly. He finally discovered that the main reason was that the original alchemy process had been modified too much, and that he had even started to tamper with the pill formula.

Every single pill formula that Xu Henshui presented was the result of hundreds or even thousands of years of meticulous research by the Creation Temple, leaving virtually no room for improvement.

The reason Wei Yuan was able to achieve unimaginable results time and again was twofold. First, he meticulously controlled and adjusted the entire process in real time, truly achieving a level of microscopic alchemy operation, which was not something a Dharma Aspect Alchemist should possess. Second, he incorporated Qi Luck, and his own Qi Luck was also exceptionally high, thus enabling him to seize the creation of heaven and earth.

However, this time the innovation went too far, even altering the formula, so the result was not surprising.

It was only through alchemy, an activity that defies the laws of nature, is exquisitely subtle, and has strict evaluation standards, that Wei Yuan discovered the problems of everyday life; it is not omnipotent.

Having identified the problem, Wei Yuan cancelled all changes to the pill formula and instead focused on precisely controlling and optimizing the alchemy process. He would then explore the specific effects of each medicinal ingredient during this process. Once the underlying principles were understood, improvements to the pill formula would be considered.

Before long, more than a day had passed since then. Xu Henshui somehow got the news and rushed back at full speed, managing to arrive in time before Wei Yuan started the third furnace.

Xu Henshui held Wei Yuan's hand, offering earnest comfort and sincerely saying that bad luck is common for alchemists, and that good fortune is rare. He then mentioned that he had brought back enough medicinal herbs from Benshan to start four more batches, intending to encourage Wei Yuan together.

Wei Yuan readily agreed and once again joined Xu Henshui in refining pills.

Seven days later, Xu Henshui successfully opened the furnace, yielding one two-pattern pill and one one-pattern pill, for a total of nine. Bathed in the astonished gazes of his fellow disciples, Xu Henshui felt that he had grasped the true essence of the immortal path; indeed, with clear thoughts, one could produce immortal pills.

Wei Yuan, however, remained completely still. This round of refining took more than twenty days before he quietly opened the furnace to collect the pills. Xu Henshui sensed the pill energy and immediately came to the pill room to wait. He saw Wei Yuan open the door, and a righteous and peaceful fragrance of pills wafted out.

Wei Yuan walked out empty-handed, looking thoughtful, and muttered to himself, "I understand..."

Xu Henshui knew he shouldn't ask, but he couldn't control himself: "What do you understand?"

Wei Yuan said solemnly, "This pill formula is indeed profound. If one understands it thoroughly, it should normally produce a one-pattern spirit pill. I still have one pill that hasn't been refined into a pattern. I am truly unworthy of the pill formula given to me by my master!"

As he spoke, Wei Yuan stepped aside, clearing the doorway. Through the door of the alchemy room, one could see a tray on the table inside, with twelve spirit pills neatly arranged in a circle on it. Six pills had two patterns, and six had one pattern, surrounding a bare pill without any patterns in the center.

Xu Henshui wanted to slap himself; he shouldn't have been so rude as to say that.

Although Wei Yuan didn't produce another three-patterned Heaven-Defying Mystic Pill this time, the overall quality and consistency of the pills produced were clearly on a higher level. Just considering the Great Sun Rising Pill, only a few Imperial Landscape Pill Masters in the Creation Temple can reach this level.

But Wei Yuan felt he still had untapped potential, and he hadn't even started modifying the pill formula yet.

So Xu Henshui returned to Benshan. Before leaving, Wei Yuan wanted to ask him for a few more medicinal herbs, but Xu Henshui said expressionlessly that all the herbs were used up, and Benshan had no stock. If he wanted to refine more, he should grow Huiyang Grass himself.

Left with no other choice, Wei Yuan had to start the fourth furnace alone. Before starting, Wei Yuan announced that any Tai Chu Palace cultivator who had worked in Qing Ming for three years could purchase a Great Sun Morning Glory Pill at half price, with the highest price being a One-Pattern Spirit Pill. Purchasing a spirit pill would only cost 60,000 Immortal Silver, equivalent to 40% of the market price.

If the immortal silver is insufficient, it can be purchased on credit, to be repaid in five years. Although there is no interest, it requires continuing to work in Qingming for another five years. Furthermore, the purchased elixirs cannot be resold and can only be used personally. Upon hearing this news, Ren Suxing, who was engrossed in manufacturing cannon barrels, suddenly had a glint in his eyes, and his entire aura changed.

Similarly, the earliest disciples of the Tai Chu Palace, such as those from the Jianmu Hall, Tiangong Hall, and Xuanming Hall, have all been in Qingming for almost three years. Their hopes of achieving Dharma Aspects were initially slim, but now they suddenly have a glimmer of hope.

The Great Sun Morning Radiance Pill can be taken continuously, once every three years. Even the disciples of the Primordial Beginning Palace with the worst aptitude have at least a 20% chance of advancing to the Dharma Aspect stage. If they can take one One-Pattern Spirit Pill each time, and try three times consecutively, they will have a more than 60% chance of advancing to the Dharma Aspect stage.

If one fails to break through to the Dharma Aspect stage, each attempt will cause significant damage to the body, and the power of the tribulation will increase with each attempt. Generally, a cultivator can only attempt this four or five times, and the final attempt must be reserved for before the end of their lifespan.

News spread very quickly within the Azure Netherworld, and soon all the cultivators of the Primordial Beginning Palace knew that Wei Yuan had about a dozen one-pattern spirit pills, and even some two-pattern spirit pills.

They dared not even dream of obtaining the Second-Rank Spirit Pill, but those from families with decent means all wrote to their clans requesting to raise all available celestial silver so they could apply for the Great Sun Morning Radiance Pill as soon as the work deadline arrived. Those whose families could afford it even prepared to buy three pills at once, using up their entire lifetime's supply.

Overjoyed, the cultivators inquired among themselves and learned that Wei Yuan was still refining pills, so the Great Sun Rising Pills would not be in short supply for the time being, which put their minds at ease.

Sun Yu and Yu Zhizhuo, who first arrived in Qingming, were both geniuses in the Taichu Palace, as was Xu Henshui later on. While the Old Daoist Chuhe was only mediocre in combat, he was excellent in every other aspect. For one thing, his ability to keep several spirit beasts happy at all times was something few could do.

However, besides them, there were actually dozens of Taichu Palace cultivators in the early stages of Qingming, working silently in various parts of Qingming. As Qingming stabilized, after Xu Henshui and others arrived, dozens more disciples came to Qingming one after another.

Afterwards, True Lord Huangyun passed away here, and more than a dozen disciples from Jianmu Hall came to Qingming.

There are now over a hundred cultivators from the Taichu Palace in Qingming. However, even among the disciples of the Taichu Palace, the vast majority are unknown, and only a very few are able to shine.

Wei Yuan can finally do something for these ordinary cultivators and add some hope to their path of cultivation.

Over the next month, Wei Yuan opened two furnaces and refined all the pills left by Xu Henshui, finally breathing a sigh of relief.

He has now readjusted the alchemy process, increasing the time required for one batch of pills from seven days to twenty-one days, and reducing the standard number of pills produced from eight to twelve. Furthermore, ordinary alchemists are now highly likely to produce one or two spirit pills with pill patterns.

After collecting the pills, Wei Yuan spent three whole days organizing all the data from this period, ultimately creating an extremely detailed alchemy strategy. While keeping the pill formula unchanged, he comprehensively optimized the refining process of the Great Sun Rising Pill.

After completing these steps, Wei Yuan submitted the alchemy strategy through the Hall of Merit. If all goes well, the entire Taichu Palace will benefit from this strategy for the next thousand years, and who knows how many more True Immortals will emerge from it.

Stepping out of the alchemy room, Wei Yuan felt completely relaxed. As expected, time seemed to stand still in the alchemy room, and three months had passed in the blink of an eye.

During the alchemy process, Wei Yuan was not idle either, using the Dao Foundation Warriors who traveled around to monitor the progress of the entire Azure Netherworld.

To some uninformed cultivators, it seemed as if Wei Yuan had spies everywhere, giving them the feeling that a powerful older brother was watching them. And indeed, that older brother was always watching them.

Wei Yuan had Cui Yu form a scout force of several thousand men, who would usually change into the uniforms of the Extinction Heaven Gang and travel in groups of several dozen men within a thousand miles around Qingming, driving out the Witch Clan and other small forces that wanted to settle there.

In Wei Yuan's eyes, the area within a thousand miles of Qingming was his territory, and since this was the situation right before his eyes, he naturally wouldn't allow anyone else to establish a foothold here.

The witch tribe is relatively easy to deal with, but some small human forces are the most troublesome, always looking for an opportunity and full of schemes. These people who have come to the Western Regions to make a living are naturally all rebels and unruly people, without exception.

Wei Yuan didn't even need to communicate to know what they were thinking. They simply believed that Wei Yuan's Azure Nether would eventually expand to this region, and that as long as they endured the hardships of the first ten or twenty years, the expanded territory would immediately become a fertile land.

After operating here for decades, they would have the leverage to negotiate with Wei Yuan. The ideal scenario would be to establish a state within a state, and then live a carefree life.

If it were more than half a year ago, before the Rain Kingdom attacked, Wei Yuan would still welcome such people. At that time, Wei Yuan wished he could grab every straw that drifted by.

But now, having suffered a million casualties in a direct confrontation with the Rain Kingdom, Wei Yuan can no longer tolerate such people trying to reap the rewards.

The name "Extinction Heaven Gang" itself implies a certain level of ruthlessness; their actions are based on the principle of "those who obey me prosper, those who defy me perish." When encountering smaller clans or forces, they offer only three options: either leave, join them, or die.

Where in the world is there land without a master?
(End of this chapter)