The Martial Saint Started from Scavenging

As night deepened, the candlelight flickered in Ye Sheng's eyes, casting a bright glow.

He held the jet-black seed, his fingertips gently tracing the mysterious patterns on it. The feeling was peculiar, as if some ancient creature slumbered within the seed.

[The Dao Seed has been locked, sharing the same origin as the host's 'Fragment of Dao' (skill panel), but its Law Attributes are unknown, and it is currently in a state of deep sealing.]

[The plan to unlock the seal is under development...]

Option 1: Find an object of the same origin, a "Dao-essence," and forcibly break the seal with external force. Success rate: Unknown. Risk: Extremely high; may result in damage to or complete destruction of the Dao seed's origin.

[Option Two: Use the 'Dao Calamity Body' as a catalyst to draw upon its devouring power, slowly eroding the seal. Success Rate: High. Risk: Medium; the Dao Calamity Body may be backfired by the immense primordial energy within the Dao Seed during the devouring process.]

[Optimized Plan 3: Once the 'Body of Calamity' has initially transformed into the 'Body of Dao Origin,' use the transformed 'Power of Creation' to nurture the Dao Seed, guiding it to break free of its seal autonomously. Success Rate: Extremely High. Risk: Extremely Low.]

Three lines of text appeared on the skill panel, and Ye Sheng's breathing quickened slightly.

Option three. This is undoubtedly the best choice. Not only can it break the seal on the Dao Seed, but it can also accelerate the transformation of Ye Kai's physique in the process, achieving two goals at once.

Instantly, a surge of joy welled up in Ye Sheng's heart. He seemed to see a glimmer of hope. As long as they could find Ye Kai, this Dao Seed would be the greatest reliance for the two brothers to secure their future and even reach the pinnacle.

However, this ecstasy lasted only a few breaths before being brutally extinguished by the cold reality.

Ye Kai has disappeared, and he was kidnapped by Yun Zhonghe.

The thought of this made Ye Sheng's heart, which had just begun to heat up, feel as if it had fallen into an icy abyss.

He gripped the seed tightly, its hard edges digging painfully into his palm.

"Cloud Crane... Beast Taming Peak..."

He muttered to himself, a murderous glint in his eyes. He knew very well that he had to return to the Azure Cloud Sword Sect as soon as possible, and the Pill Dao Grand Gathering was his only chance.

Silent all night.

In the days that followed, Ye Sheng completely entered a state of near-madness as he secluded himself to refine pills.

Lin Xuan seemed to sense his urgency and, instead of disturbing him, increased the resources allocated to him. Rare spiritual plants, high-quality alchemy furnaces, and even rare alchemy manuals from the Lin family's collection were continuously sent to his alchemy room.

Lin Qingxue came almost every day. She no longer simply brought him books as before, but sat quietly to the side, watching him refine pills.

Sometimes she would sit there for an entire afternoon. Gazing at the boy's focused profile, at his eyes that shone brilliantly in the flames, a strange ripple would always stir within her.

Ye Sheng was completely unaware. His entire mind was immersed in the world of alchemy, and his alchemy skills improved rapidly under the influence of a massive amount of practice and theoretical instruction.

[Skill: Alchemy (Proficient) Progress: 250/2000]

[Skill: Alchemy (Proficient) Progress: 480/2000]

……

He is not only skilled in refining more than a dozen low-grade pills with a success rate of up to 90% and consistently high quality, but also, with the added advantage of his "initial understanding of alchemy," he has begun to attempt to improve some ancient pill formulas.

For example, he optimized the formula for the "Qi Condensation Pill" by replacing one of the main ingredients with several milder spiritual plants, so that the "new Qi Condensation Pill" would not be less potent, but would be purer and easier for martial artists to absorb.

He also reverse-engineered the "Explosive Qi Pill" he obtained from the Black Wind Duo. This pill could forcibly boost a martial artist's qi and blood in a short period of time, but it had severe side effects, leaving the user weak for a long time afterward.

By adjusting the proportions of several auxiliary medicines and adding a herb called "Jade Marrow Grass" which nourishes the meridians, Ye Sheng's explosive power was slightly reduced, but the side effects were greatly alleviated.

These actions, which seemed almost unbelievable to the senior alchemists of the Lin family, became reality time and time again in Ye Sheng's hands.

After reviewing Ye Sheng's improved pill formula and pills, Lin Xuan remained silent for a long time before finally saying only one sentence: "This boy is definitely not someone to be underestimated."

Ye Sheng himself also benefited greatly from this process. He used the pills he refined generously on himself.

His cultivation of the "Thick Earth Technique" progressed rapidly. The true energy within his dantian became increasingly condensed and substantial, and his peak cultivation at the Opening Meridian Realm was completely stabilized.

He could sense that he was only a thin layer of paper away from the Grandmaster realm of condensing evil energy into qi, and that he could break through it at any moment.

Time flew by amidst this almost monotonous practice and alchemy.

The grand gathering of alchemy experts has finally begun amidst great anticipation.

On this day, Qingyun City was deserted as everyone flocked to the giant square in the city center, eager to witness this top-level event in the Eastern Region's alchemy world.

The true core arena is located within the Qingyun Sword Sect's mountain gate—a massive platform specially constructed for this purpose. Floating above the sea of ​​clouds, the platform is paved with white jade, surrounded by swirling mists and soaring cranes, exuding an extraordinary grandeur.

Hundreds of alchemists from all over the Eastern Region gathered here. Some were dressed in magnificent Taoist robes and had an otherworldly air about them; some wore strange clothes and had a mysterious aura; and some, like Wang Teng, were surrounded by a large entourage and had a grand presence.

Ye Sheng was among them. He was still dressed in a moon-white brocade robe, with a black dagger hanging at his waist, standing alone in a corner of the crowd, looking somewhat out of place.

But this time, no one dared to underestimate him. The names of the Lin family's guest elder, a peak Qi Opening Realm martial artist, and a mysterious youth who could stand up to the young master of Medicine King Valley—these titles had already spread throughout Qingyun City.

Ye Sheng attracted a lot of attention as soon as he appeared. Curiosity, jealousy, and of course, resentment.

Wang Teng stood not far away, his sinister eyes fixed on him, his gaze filled with a desire to devour him alive.

Ye Sheng ignored them. His gaze swept past the crowd and landed on the main seat at the highest point of the platform. There sat several figures whose auras were unfathomable.

Leading the group was an old Taoist priest with white hair and beard and a gaunt face. He wore a purple Bagua Taoist robe, his eyes slightly closed, as if he were one with heaven and earth.

This person is the sect leader of Qingyun Sword Sect, a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, Xuan Yang Zhenren.

Beside him sat Wu Fei, the second elder of the Enforcement Hall, and several other Golden Core stage sect elders.

Yang Zhao stood quietly behind Xuan Yang Zhenren, a gentle smile on his face. When his gaze met Ye Sheng's in mid-air, his smile seemed to deepen.

Ye Sheng felt a chill run down his spine and subtly shifted his gaze away.

"when--"

A melodious bell rang out, echoing through the sky.

Master Xuanyang slowly opened his eyes. His seemingly cloudy eyes seemed to contain the stars and the universe.

His gaze swept across the entire room, his voice calm.

"The purpose of the Alchemy Grand Gathering is to promote alchemy and exchange experiences. The rules are the same as in previous years, consisting of three rounds."

"Round 1: Identifying the Herbs."

"Second round, fire control."

"Third round, pill formation complete."

"The final top ten will be determined through three rounds of comprehensive evaluation. The champion will be granted the title of Guest Elder of our Qingyun Sword Sect and will be awarded a thousand-year-old Dragon Blood Ginseng."

"Now, the first round, identifying the herbs, begins."

As soon as he finished speaking, hundreds of servants filed in. Each of them carried a jade plate covered with a red cloth and placed it in front of each contestant's alchemy platform.

On the jade plate in front of Ye Sheng, the red cloth was lifted, revealing a pile of powders of various colors and shapes. There were at least a hundred kinds of powders, evenly mixed together, emitting a mixed and pungent smell.

"Before you all is a mixture of 108 kinds of spiritual plants ground into medicinal powder," Master Xuan Yang's voice rang out again. "What you need to do is to identify as many kinds of spiritual plants as possible within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, and write their names on the jade slip."

The top 100 people who can identify the most types most accurately will advance to the next round.

Upon hearing this, a collective gasp rippled through the audience.

One hundred and eight kinds! And they're all mixed together! This level of difficulty is simply hellish.

Even the most experienced alchemists would feel their scalp tingle when faced with such a complex array of smells and forms.

Wang Teng glanced at the medicinal powder in front of him, a confident smile playing on his lips. Born in Medicine King Valley, he had been exposed to various spiritual plants since childhood, and his skill in identifying medicinal herbs was already highly refined.

He glanced smugly at Ye Sheng, as if he could already see the other's helpless and embarrassed appearance.

However, when he saw Ye Sheng, the smile on his face instantly froze.

Because Ye Sheng didn't smell, look, or even pick up the powder to examine it carefully like the others. He just stood there quietly with his eyes closed.