Reaching the pinnacle from Doupo

Chapter 540 Half Saint
At this moment, no one could answer Xuan Kongzi's question. He could only cast his gaze at the curtain of fire, but he still couldn't see anything clearly.

"Black Thunder... I haven't seen it for so many years!"

At this moment, the space around the three people slightly distorted, and the figure of an old man in a hemp robe appeared strangely. He looked at the eerie black clouds in the sky and murmured.

"Greetings, Grand Elder!" Upon seeing the newcomer's appearance, the three leaders of the Pill Tower quickly bowed in greeting.

The newcomer was none other than Lin Mo, the Grand Elder of the Little Pill Tower!

"No need for formalities, the progress of the three of you is quite remarkable." The Grand Elder glanced at the three of them, nodded with satisfaction, and said gently, "It seems that my Pill Tower may soon have a few more Half-Saints added... That's excellent!"

He paused for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "If necessary, bring the Bodhi seeds to me, and I will personally refine Bodhi pills for you..."

Upon hearing this, Xuan Kongzi and the other two were overjoyed and quickly bowed respectfully once more.

The three of them used the Bodhi seeds and Dou Sheng bone marrow given to them by Lin Yuan with great care, using them to aid their comprehension while trying to preserve their medicinal effects to the greatest extent possible.

Of course, the gains were also considerable.

The three, who have accumulated extremely deep knowledge, are all showing signs of breaking through their bottlenecks, with Xuan Kongzi making the fastest progress.

Even so, it will still take them quite some time.

The three of them had considered refining Bodhi Pills, but the medicinal properties of those three Bodhi seeds were not very good. If they, as peak eighth-grade cultivators, were to refine them themselves, the success rate would probably be only 30%, or even less than 20%... The risks were too great!
Bodhi seeds are extremely rare and precious; if the refining fails, the three of them will have nowhere to turn for help.

If the Grand Elder intervenes, the success rate is estimated to be around 70%, so it's worth a gamble!

Seeing this, the Grand Elder casually waved his hand and looked up at the distant sky, where the black clouds were constantly writhing, and an extremely dense destructive power was gathering. This power was many times stronger than the Nine-Colored Pill Lightning!
The entire world was deathly silent, without the slightest sound of thunder, making it all the more terrifying.

There, about ten minutes later, a circular hole slowly opened up in the center of the clouds. Inside the hole was pitch black, like a deep black hole...

Upon seeing this empty space, the three leaders' expressions turned solemn, and the hairs on their bodies involuntarily stood on end.

"laugh--"

Suddenly, a faint, soft sound rang out from within the pitch-black void.

The next instant, a black lightning bolt, about the thickness of a bucket, shot out from it, tearing through the void and hurtling towards the icy blue fire curtain below.

Wherever the black lightning passed, the void collapsed.

Seeing this, the Grand Elder, who was gathering his battle qi, was secretly alarmed—what was going on with this black demon lightning? Ordinary black demon lightning was usually only as thick as an arm, far less powerful than this black demon lightning.

However, although he had gathered power in his palm, he did not rush to make a move.

Having reached the late stage of the Heavenly Realm, his perception was extremely powerful, so he could vaguely sense that there was a very extraordinary aura in the curtain of fire below.

The array set up in this star field is also quite remarkable, and it may not necessarily need my help.

Thus, under the solemn gaze of the four, countless array patterns flashed with dazzling light centered on the ice-blue light screen, and the hundred-zhang-long light screen trembled slightly before suddenly shrinking into a deep blue light screen about nine zhang in size.

The deep blue light curtain unfolded layer by layer, like a blooming ice-blue fire lotus, but it also vaguely resembled a medicine cauldron.

"boom--"

When the two collided, a terrifying storm of destruction swept across the land.

The space within a radius of a thousand feet exploded like shattered glass, collapsing completely into a pitch-black void.

That special black lightning, though in no way inferior to a Dou Sheng's strike, could never break through the Ice Blue Fire Lotus.

"receive--"

A clear shout suddenly came from the fire lotus.

The icy blue flame lotus, as if blessed, released a dazzling flame, while its petals rapidly closed as if time were reversed, enveloping the terrifying black demon lightning layer by layer in just a few blinks.

At the same time, a refining power capable of scorching the heavens and boiling the seas flowed slowly within the fire lotus, causing its size to gradually shrink.

More than ten minutes later, the originally huge fire lotus had shrunk to the size of a palm.

The surrounding collapsed space gradually repaired itself, and a cool light once again poured down from the sky, illuminating this somewhat desolate world.

The figure that had been shrouded in fire lotuses finally revealed itself!
The people in mid-air looked into the distance and saw Lin Yuan holding a palm-sized ice-blue fire lotus, standing calmly on a blue lotus platform.

In the center of the fiery lotus, a black lightning pearl was sealed inside, emanating a chilling aura of thunder.

Not far in front of Lin Yuan, a small, snow-white beast floated lightly.

This little beast resembles a cat, its body covered in thick, dense white fur, making it appear quite plump. Its round, chubby appearance looks憨厚 (honest and simple), but its incredibly lively eyes give it a particularly intelligent look.

With each breath, an extremely powerful energy fluctuation, accompanied by a rich medicinal fragrance, emanated from the little beast's body.

The energy fluctuations of this medicinal fragrance far exceed those of an eighth-grade, nine-colored elixir.

"Nine... Ninth-grade pills?"

Looking at the snow-white little beast, Xuan Kongzi was filled with disbelief, and even his voice became intermittent. Xuan Yi and Tian Leizi were also shocked.

The elder, standing to the side, looked at the little beast with a hint of doubt in his eyes.

This snow-white little beast is indeed a ninth-grade pill, but it has only just reached the ninth grade. Its quality is extremely ordinary among ninth-grade treasure pills. Logically speaking, it should not have triggered such a powerful black demon lightning just now.

Shaking his head, the Grand Elder dispersed the power he had gathered in his hands, and also the curiosity in his heart—the secrets of his own people should not be explored casually!

For an old man like him, suppressing curiosity is something he can easily do.

Then, he waved and led Xuan Kongzi and the other three down to a spot not far behind Lin Yuan.

And Lin Yuan, too, has reached the final step...

"Heavenly Thunder Pearl, complete!" With a low shout, Lin Yuan's eyes sharpened, and he clenched his fist. A scorching and mysterious energy instantly condensed, and the black thunder pearl in the fire lotus stabilized, with no more black thunder energy leaking out.

Then, Lin Yuan waved his hand, and the fiery lotus flower vanished instantly, while he held the Heavenly Thunder Pearl in his palm. The snow-white little beast then lightly landed on Lin Yuan's shoulder.

Lin Yuan let out a soft breath, turned around, and cupped his hands in greeting to the four people not far away: "Greetings, Elder, greetings, three guild leaders... I apologize for disturbing you all!"

The elder waved his hand, his gaze falling on the snow-white little beast on his shoulder, a profound meaning appearing in his eyes.

"Lin Yuan, did you create this little guy?"

"No!" Lin Yuan shook his head and said seriously, "Although it is a ninth-grade pill that I created, it was not refined by me. It was raised by an eighth-grade nine-colored pill beast."

"Just as I expected." The Grand Elder nodded, his face showing an expression of no surprise.

Standing to the side, Xuan Kongzi and the other two were astonished: "A ninth-grade pill you've cultivated... Lin boy, you've really done something reckless... extremely resource-intensive?"

Compared to refining a grade nine pill, cultivating a grade nine pill not only requires an enormous amount of resources but also a very long time.

More importantly, this method is not guaranteed to succeed.

There was a case hundreds of years ago where a peak eighth-grade alchemist spent his life savings and invested nearly a hundred eighth-grade pills, but ultimately failed to cultivate them and never recovered...

Therefore, although many alchemy masters know this method, few actually put it into practice.

After all, few people in the entire Dou Qi Continent could afford to squander resources like Lin Yuan. Those with such resources usually possess extremely high strength and status, making it not too difficult for them to find someone to help refine a precious pill!

Even Lin Yuan, if it weren't for the Void Thunder Pool, a treasure trove that provided an enormous amount of ingredients for Thunder Tribulation Pills, would have hesitated a bit about cultivating ninth-grade pills.

But in the end, Lin Yuan will definitely choose to carry out this plan, after all, it concerns the advancement of the Three Pills Method.

Of course, the Natal Qi Elixir is not included!
Thanks to the teachings of the Pill Tower Ancestor and Lin Yuan's thorough planning and preparation, Fu Xuan already had a direct path to the peak, which he could simply follow step by step.

If he had failed to cultivate a ninth-grade pill, would Lin Yuan have casually used his natal blood pill and natal soul pill for experiments?
Those two life-bound pills were the result of his immense effort!

First, cultivate other elixirs to verify their feasibility and accumulate experience, and then apply them to the cultivation of your natal elixir. This is the prudent approach.

In fact, Lin Yuan had already successfully broken through to the Half-Saint level three months ago during his seclusion.

One important reason why he has not yet emerged from seclusion is that he is cultivating ninth-grade pills to verify his path of achieving unity between man and pill, in preparation for future breakthroughs.

The little beast on his shoulder was the second rank-nine pill he was trying to cultivate. It was the same pill beast from the Creation Saint's ruins... It had been cultivated by the Creation Saint for a long time and was not far from becoming a rank-nine pill, making it an excellent experimental subject.

As for the first one Lin Yuan cultivated, it was the pill beast he obtained from the three scorpion demons, which was also a pill beast that he had been cultivating for a long time.

However, the first seed ultimately failed to grow and became food for the little beast on his shoulder.

Fortunately, after summarizing the experience of cultivating the first one, the cultivation process of the second one went extremely smoothly. With the wonderful use of the strange fire, Lin Yuan finally succeeded in cultivating it.

This little beast is no longer a pill beast, but can be called a pill spirit.

Danling already possesses the ability to transform into human form. The reason why this little Danling has not transformed is because of Lin Yuan's methods—Little Fairy Doctor and it have a good liking for it and its cute appearance, so Lin Yuan naturally wants it to remain as it is.

This ninth-grade pill is extremely precious to outsiders, but Lin Yuan has no intention of taking it.

To him now, it was just an ordinary ninth-grade precious pill. Since Little Fairy Doctor liked it, it wouldn't hurt to keep it as a pet.

Now that he has advanced to the level of a half-saint, he has enough confidence to begin trying to refine a ninth-grade precious pill.

The pills you want to take, you should refine yourself!

"Hehe, Elder Xuan, have you forgotten?" Regaining his composure, Lin Yuan smiled calmly and said, "Several years ago, I went to a Dou Sheng ruin! This little guy is a pill beast I obtained from that ruin... a nine-colored pill beast that is not far from the ninth rank."

"The owner of that ruin has almost nurtured this little guy, and only the final step is needed."

He paused, then added, "This time, during my seclusion, I finally completed the final step of cultivation, successfully enabling it to break through the final limit and become a ninth-grade pill."

Upon hearing this, Xuan Kongzi and the others nodded: "I see, it truly is a wonderful coincidence!"

Lin Yuan's explanation was quite reasonable and within the understanding of the group... Otherwise, whether it was the fact that the young Lin Yuan had the financial resources to raise ninth-grade pills or that he could refine ninth-grade pills, it would be too shocking a conclusion!
Seeing this, Lin Yuan casually shrugged, a meaningful glint flashing in his deep eyes.

The principle of not flaunting wealth is timeless.

Although everyone present was considered "one of us," there were some things that had to be kept secret.

In fact, he could have helped the little beast complete the final step and advance to a ninth-grade pill a month ago, but he kept delaying it until today.

The core purpose was to conceal the matter of Fu Xuan.

Fu Xuan's affairs involve various kinds of strange fires, the strange life form of Dan Huo Ling, and Lin Yuan's cultivation path of the unity of man and elixir. The fewer people who know about it, the better!
Currently, besides the few people around Lin Yuan, only the old ancestor of the Pill Tower who travels around year-round knows about Fu Xuan.

The method of concealment this time was to use the commotion of other pills advancing to the ninth rank to cover up the commotion of Fu Xuan advancing to the ninth rank. The reason why the Black Demon Lightning just now was far more powerful than ordinary was because it was a fusion of two pill lightning tribulations.

Thinking of this, Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow and flipped his hand to put the refined Heavenly Thunder Pearl into his storage ring.

This black demon lightning is of extremely high quality and is a top-grade material for lightning tribulation pills.

At the same time, Xuan Kongzi's voice, tinged with amusement, suddenly reached his ears: "Lin Yuan, judging from your aura, you don't seem like someone who has just broken through to the Half-Saint realm!"

He had seen many semi-saints, including Yao Chen who had broken through in recent years, but none of them were as powerful as Lin Yuan.

"Hehe, Elder Xuan has a good eye!" Lin Yuan smiled and said calmly, "I've had some good opportunities. As soon as I broke through, I made quite a progress in the semi-saint stage, and I'm only one step away from becoming a mid-level semi-saint..."

The Devouring Power that Fu Xuan obtained was indeed a powerful weapon in cultivation, allowing her and Lin Yuan to absorb alien energies such as Star Energy Crystals and Demonic Yuan Spots at an extremely fast speed.

This made their six months of cultivation almost equivalent to several years of ordinary cultivation.

On the other side, although the Grand Elder and the three giants had some guesses in their hearts, they still couldn't help but gasp when they received Lin Yuan's personal confirmation.

A demigod, not yet twenty-four years old, was right before their eyes...

(End of this chapter)