Reaching the pinnacle from Doupo

Chapter 539 Seclusion, Half a Year

Several days later, on the back mountain of Tianyou Valley, several figures were saying goodbye.

"Lin Yuan, I'm leaving!" Satisfied, Zi Yan opened her eyes, took a deep breath of Lin Yuan's intoxicating medicinal fragrance, and then released her hold on him. Without further hesitation, she tore open a spatial rift and slowly walked inside…

Feng Qing'er gave Lin Yuan a deep look, then lightly tapped her embroidered shoes and instantly flew out, following closely behind Zi Yan as they entered the spatial rift.

After the two entered, the spatial passage trembled slightly and slowly disappeared from Lin Yuan's sight.

"Master, what's next?"

A moment later, Fu Xuan's visibly relieved voice slowly echoed in Lin Yuan's heart—she had truly been terrified by Zi Yan's "dress-up" game these past few days.

Lin Yuan smiled slightly and said loudly, "Let's go into seclusion!"

The secrets of the Scorpion Demon Three Ghosts and the inheritance of the Cloud Rain Sect are more useful than Lin Yuan had expected... especially for him, who has a six-star Dou Sheng partner!

After several days of dual cultivation with Zi Yan, Lin Yuan's cultivation had reached the peak of the tenth level, and a breakthrough was imminent.

Now is the perfect time to retreat and break through to a higher level!
As for the location of his seclusion, Lin Yuan did not choose the seclusion secret realm in the Little Pill Tower, but instead chose the Star Domain—the birthplace and growth place of the Three Thousand Burning Flames.

Having made up his mind, he went to see Xuan Kongzi and briefly explained the situation.

Although he could forcefully open the Pill Domain with his strength, as a high-ranking member of the Pill Tower system, he still had to abide by the rules when it didn't matter.

Xuan Kongzi was also very decisive, directly allocating the star field to Lin Yuan for ten years, and guaranteeing that the area would be sealed off during this period so that no one would disturb the latter's seclusion.

"Tsk, kid, you've actually gotten to this level?"

Looking at the tall, handsome young man before him, Xuan Kongzi clicked his tongue, a hint of envy flashing in his eyes.

Four years ago, when the two first met, he was already at the peak of the Ninth Rank, while the young man before him was just a minor Dou Zong. Today, four years later, he is still at the peak of the Ninth Rank, but the young man before him has already surpassed him and seized the opportunity to enter the Sainthood.

Although Xuan Kongzi already knew about the Tianyun Mountain Range and Lin Yuan's latest achievements, he still found it hard to believe that the latter was about to break through to the Half-Saint level.

The difference between saints is like heaven and earth!
The gateway to sainthood has blocked countless brilliant and talented heroes throughout history.
Now, a descendant of a non-ancient lineage, a junior who came from a marginal area, has broken through to the Saint Realm before the age of twenty-five.

Such talent and ability far surpasses even that of the strongest expert in the Pill Tower a thousand years ago...

"Elder Xuan, aren't you getting closer too?" Meeting Xuan Kongzi's gaze, which seemed to look at him like he was a monster, Lin Yuan simply smiled and asked in return.

"Hehe, it's starting to look promising!" Xuan Kongzi chuckled, not denying it, and waved his hand, saying, "Thanks to the Bodhi seeds and Dou Sheng bone marrow you gave me, it saved me a lot of trouble! But it's still a little short, I can't compare to you, kid..."

Even so, the excitement in his voice was undeniable—no wonder, after being stuck at a bottleneck for decades, he finally saw hope of breaking through.

After exchanging words for a while, Lin Yuan bid farewell to Xuan Kongzi and headed directly to the star field.
-
Within the star field, scattered silver light shone down, the power of stars in the endless sky.

The Nascent Soul Qi Pill, which uses the Three Thousand Burning Flames as one of its ingredients, became noticeably more active after arriving here, as if it had returned home. Even Fu Xuan, who is the spirit of the pill's fire, couldn't help but become more lively.

With a slight smile, Lin Yuan's mind stirred, and a strange suction force was released from his natal Qi core, drawing in the vast power of the stars, which surged into Lin Yuan's body.

During the transformation of the Natal Qi Pill, the power of the stars instantly transformed into pure battle qi, which was then integrated into the Natal Qi Pill and into Lin Yuan's limbs and bones.

Previously, Lin Yuan had difficulty directly absorbing the power of the stars.

But now that Fu Xuan has obtained the power of devouring, he can efficiently incorporate it into his own power by using it as a relay.

"Not bad...not bad!" Sensing the changes within his body, Lin Yuan nodded. "The special energy of stars is indeed much stronger than ordinary energy from heaven and earth. I made the right choice in choosing this place for seclusion! However, it still needs some modifications..."

Sharpening the axe won't delay the work of chopping wood. In the following days, Lin Yuan and Fu Xuan were busy constructing many mysterious formations in the star field.

These formations either gather energy or isolate auras...

Lin Yuan also set up multiple layers of barriers, and had them guarded by semi-saint puppets made from materials refined by the Heavenly Nether Demon. Although the Pill Tower was one of the safest places in the Central Continent, and few forces dared to cause trouble there, Lin Yuan still preferred to take responsibility for his own safety.
When everything was ready, he moved and returned to the central array eye of the formation, sitting opposite Fu Xuan on the Azure Lotus Platform.

"Little Fu Xuan, let's begin!" Lin Yuan said solemnly.

"Yes, Master!"

Fu Xuan nodded, tossed the star energy crystal given to him by Zi Yan into the air, releasing a dazzling light, like a rising purple sun.

At the same time, her eyes narrowed slightly, and her hands bloomed like lotus flowers, forming a series of profound hand seals in a smooth and flowing manner.

In an instant, a mysterious fluctuation emanated from the purplish-black energy crystal.

The array patterns that the two had set up beforehand began to flicker, and a huge light array appeared, drawing the vast power of the stars in this star field to converge towards the "purple sun" above them.

A moment later, a beam of star energy, about ten feet thick, suddenly fell from the sky and shot straight toward the two people on the Azure Lotus Platform.

Upon seeing this, Fu Xuan suddenly changed his hand seal, and the mark between his eyebrows flickered with an eerie black light.

In an instant, a burst of black flames erupted from her body, then expanded into a transparent purplish-black light curtain, enveloping the two people on the lotus platform.

The starlight beam collided with the purplish-black light curtain, but instead of creating a dazzling energy firework or producing a deafening roar, it was rapidly swallowed up the moment it touched the curtain, dimming at a terrifying speed visible to the naked eye.

In contrast, within Lin Yuan and Fu Xuan's bodies, streams of pure energy were quietly and continuously emerging.

Lin Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly. He then flicked his finger, and two Bodhi Pills, shrouded in spiritual mist and entirely emerald green, flew out from the Nether Sea Ring and hovered in front of the two of them.

A rich, fragrant aroma emanated from the Bodhi Pill, and just one whiff of it brought a sense of tranquility and joy to the two of them.

Lin Yuan and Fu Xuan exchanged a glance and nodded in unison. Then, they each grabbed a Bodhi Pill in front of them and swallowed it in one gulp.

The moment the Bodhi Pill entered their bodies, a gentle yet pure medicinal power was released. The two of them trembled, their auras instantly merging and harmonizing with the heavens and earth, and a strange aura of wisdom rippled around them...

"Click——"

After a long while, accompanied by a faint, almost imperceptible sound, the two practitioners began to steadily break through the barrier in the darkness, as if water had naturally flowed into a channel.

Their auras also began to slowly but steadily break through and rise...
-
Cultivation knows no time. In the blink of an eye, half a year had passed since Lin Yuan began his seclusion.

In the past six months, Saint Pill City has become much more lively than before. And the reason for this is largely due to Lin Yuan, who has been in seclusion for a full six months…

A year ago, when he returned to the Pill Tower after his travels, he suggested to Xuan Kongzi, who was reforming the Pill Tower, that the latter use the qualification for advanced studies in the Pill Tower as bait to get people from the major alchemist guilds outside the Central Continent to come and study, and to investigate the movements of the Soul Palace in the border areas.

On the one hand, it hinders the Soul Palace's unusual actions outside the Central Plains; on the other hand, it selects exceptionally talented individuals from the border regions to enrich the foundation of the Pill Tower.

The plan progressed quite smoothly throughout the year—after all, the Pill Tower was a sacred place in the hearts of countless alchemists.

Thanks to the success of this plan, Saint Pill City has seen thousands of new faces, many of whom are either alchemists of the fifth or sixth rank or young geniuses with exceptional talent.

Moreover, the number of people coming from all over the world is still increasing.

In order to retain these talents, the Pill Tower would regularly send out alchemy masters, and even alchemy grandmasters, to publicly refine pills and preach.

After all, the people who came were mostly high-ranking officials from various empires.

If they can be won over, Danta's influence over various countries will be greatly enhanced, and the resources it can control will also reach a new level.

In view of this, these masters and grandmasters would occasionally conduct on-the-spot examinations. During these examinations, there were many cases of exceptionally talented alchemy geniuses being spotted by these 'big shots' and immediately accepted as disciples or even personal disciples!

Stimulated by this, the atmosphere in Saint Dan City became incredibly lively, with alchemy competitions taking place everywhere.

Numerous geniuses competed to showcase their talents, hoping for the day they would rise to the top.

In addition, these elites from various countries brought many rare medicinal herbs unique to their respective regions, many of which were not previously available in Saint Dan City.

As a result, the medicinal herb market in Saint Dan City flourished, and various alchemist exchange meetings sprang up one after another.

The entire city of Saint Dan was in a state of 'vibrant life, with all things flourishing'.

At this moment, in the void space at the center of the inner domain of Saint Pill City, the three giants of the Pill Tower sat cross-legged on three white jade platforms, holding their regular meeting and deliberations.

"The Soul Palace has indeed made its move on the border!" Tian Leizi said solemnly, looking at his two old friends.

"Most of the thousands of people who came to the Dan Tower for further study this time have deep roots in various border countries and are considered to have extensive connections within their own countries. After integrating them, our Dan Tower's intelligence network is now in no way inferior to that of the Soul Palace."

"Based on feedback from various countries, the Soul Palace's actions in the border regions have become quite aggressive. They have begun to support agents in various places and are attempting to instigate major wars in different regions."

"Their actions this time are not limited to a certain region, but are being carried out on various continents."

"Although it hasn't involved Zhongzhou yet, it should be only a matter of time."

"If things continue to develop like this, in a few years, the entire continent will probably be engulfed in war, and the number of dead and wounded will probably be in the hundreds of millions."

"My gut feeling tells me that we should intervene!"

At this point, Tian Leizi's eyes became solemn, and his voice unconsciously carried a hint of sternness.

Of the three leaders, he was in charge of external wars and was also the most familiar with the Soul Palace.

However, even he, who had dealt with the Soul Hall for many years, had never seen such a large-scale 'foreplay' from the Soul Hall before. This gave him a vague premonition that a storm was about to break – this great battle would probably be much more brutal than the last one.

"Will it cause hundreds of millions of deaths and injuries?" After hearing his old friend's words, Xuan Kongzi frowned and his expression became serious.

"Those inhuman bastards are still as unscrupulous as ever when they do things."

After a moment's hesitation, a resolute glint flashed in his eyes, and he said in a deep voice, "Now that we know, we cannot let this happen. I agree to intervene!"

Beside him, Xuan Yi nodded: "Me too, I agree to dedicate some of my resources to this matter!"

Although the three made the decision to intervene, many things still need to be finalized, such as the specific methods of intervention, the manpower to be used, and the resources to be invested.

So the three of them began to discuss various matters in detail in this void.

Just as the three were seriously discussing their plan, a deafening roar from another realm pierced through space, resounding in their ears and throughout the entire Holy Pill City.

Meanwhile, in a corner of the sky above Saint Dan City, ripples began to appear.

Many powerful figures looked up at the seemingly shattered sky and gasped in shock, a look of horror flashing in their eyes—they vaguely sensed that an extremely powerful energy was gathering behind that sky.

However, considering the ban imposed by the giants six months ago, no one dared to fly to that horizon to explore the secrets beyond space.

In Saint Dan City, the orders of the three giants have absolute authority.

On the other side, Xuan Kongzi, who was in the middle of a discussion, suddenly heard this earth-shattering roar and his expression was also taken aback.

Coming to his senses, he seemed to realize something, his pupils narrowed slightly, and he immediately got up and rushed out, leaving only a hurried voice echoing in the ears of Xuan Yi and Tian Leizi.

"There's a situation in the star sector, I'm going to check it out!"

“Let’s go too!” Tian Leizi and Xuan Yi exchanged a glance, nodded, and simultaneously transformed into streaks of light and sped off.

The three then left, and the void returned to silence once more.
-
In the star field, the 'purple sun' in the sky has long since dissipated, replaced by layers upon layers of thick clouds.

These clouds were neither black nor colorful, but rather a deep, dark color.

This is a dark cloud so deep that it can be drawn in with one's gaze, shrouding the sky without a single sound of thunder. Yet, if anyone tries to look into it, their soul will tremble at the extreme darkness.

Below the dark clouds was an area about a hundred feet in size, which appeared somewhat hazy because it was enveloped by layers of icy blue light curtains.

From the outside, only a few points of light can be vaguely seen, but it is impossible to see anything specific.

Just as the energy in the clouds was accumulating, several whooshing sounds suddenly rang out, and three streaks of light pierced through the void one after another, flashing to the ground beneath this sky.

The light dissipated, revealing the astonished faces of the three giants of the Dan Tower.

"This is... Black Demon Lightning?" Xuan Kongzi looked at the thick black clouds in the sky, his voice full of confusion. "What's going on? Wasn't Lin Yuan in seclusion this time to break through to the Half-Saint realm? Why would he attract Black Demon Lightning?"

(End of this chapter)