Reaching the pinnacle from Doupo

Chapter 552 Preparations Complete, Joint Refinement Begins

That night, the back mountain of Xingyun Pavilion was quiet. The cool moonlight, like a silver veil, slowly fell from the sky, draping the entire valley in a serene veil.

However, at this moment, only Lin Yuan could appreciate this serene and beautiful scenery.

After the cooperation was settled, Yao Lao and Xiao Yan took their leave: Yao Lao went to prepare for the refining of the ninth-grade pill; Xiao Yan didn't say anything, but judging from his excited appearance, he was obviously preparing to try the Divine Finger.

This valley, where the old herbalist usually cultivated in seclusion, was reserved for Lin Yuan as his resting place for the next few days.

In the center of the energy-gathering array in the valley, a huge blue stone platform stands quietly.

Lin Yuan sat leisurely on the bluestone platform, his fingertips gently tapping his forehead. His mind raced as he recalled the meeting that day and sorted out his future plans.

"The matter of the agent has been settled, so this mission can be considered successfully completed."

"Having reached an agreement with Xiao Yan, we've also made contact with Xiao Xuan. This is a good start for our plans regarding the Heavenly Tomb! There are still more than four years until the Heavenly Tomb opens. After we return, we need to find a way to improve Xiao Danchen's strength!"

"Dan Chen's strength is insufficient, which will limit some of my methods, and that's not good..."

"According to the information from the soul seed, she successfully advanced to the Spirit Realm a few days ago, and the soul seed has 'sprouted.' It's time to move on to the next stage!"

"As for myself, I should focus on breaking through to the Dou Sheng level."

Thinking of this, Lin Yuan clenched his fist, and a scroll of pure blue appeared in his palm. On the side of the scroll were engraved several elegant and ancient characters.

"Mysterious Spirit Saint Essence Pill!"

Exhaling softly, Lin Yuan placed the scroll on his forehead. With a thought, his soul power surged forth from between his brows.

"Hehe, let me see what's so mysterious about this pill!" With a soft laugh, he slowly covered the scroll with his soul power. Instantly, the scroll burst with light, and a massive flow of information flooded into his mind.

He kept his eyes closed, his mind immersed in the profound elixir formula. After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes, a look of realization flashing across them.

"So it's for aiding in breakthroughs! No wonder Elder Yao was willing to go to such great lengths to refine it!"

"With this pill, combined with the effects of the Fire Saint Mirror and his own substantial accumulation, perhaps he can quickly break through the bottleneck of the Half-Saint realm and advance to the One-Star Dou Saint realm..."

"However, the difficulty of refining this pill is no less than that of the Treasure Pill-level Thunder Tribulation Pill. There are at least three difficulties in the process of refining it together."

"If I were to refine this pill alone, I would probably only have a success rate of less than 40%. However, with good teamwork, the difficulty of refining it together would indeed be much lower! Many people will be able to use this pill in the future, so it seems I need to practice more this time..."

With his mind settled, Lin Yuan flipped his hand and put away the pill formula in his hand. Then he closed his eyes again and carefully comprehended the profound mystery of the pill formula in his mind.

In this focused state of contemplation, three days flew by.

On the morning of the fourth day, before the sun had risen, a thin mist filled the valley, and glistening dewdrops shimmered on the blades of grass, trembling gently in the breeze...

Suddenly, ripples spread through the space, and the figure of the old apothecary emerged from the ripples.

"Lin Yuan, the preparations for refining the medicine are complete!" The old medicine master smiled slightly as he looked at the young man sitting cross-legged.

"The time has finally come... Let's go, Senior Yao!"

Lin Yuan's eyelids twitched slightly, then he slowly opened his eyes, a glint of expectation and confidence flashing in his deep eyes.

The old apothecary nodded slightly. "We need to travel some distance. This time, we cannot leave the medicine refining process in the Starfall Pavilion." As he spoke, he turned around and unleashed a palm strike at the spatial ripples. The space collapsed, revealing a silver passage.

"Follow me!" Yao Lao called out to Lin Yuan and walked directly into the passage. Lin Yuan followed closely behind.

After the two entered, the space trembled slightly and then slowly dissipated.
-
Half a day later, in a secluded valley sealed off by multiple barriers, several figures stood, exchanging information about the progress of their tasks.

"Qingluan, how are things on your end?"

Venerable Feng turned his head to look at the petite girl beside him and asked with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Mu Qingluan nodded solemnly: "Master, rest assured, after I took the pill to change my aura, I worked with Uncle Qinghua to drive away all the demonic beasts in the valley. Apart from us, there are no other intelligent beings here."

"Therefore, no matter what happens here during this time, no one will know that it is related to the Starfall Pavilion."

As she spoke, the powerful aura of a Seven Star Dou Zong emanated lightly around the girl in green—Xiao Yan was not the only one who had made great progress this year.

With the supply of massive resources, Mu Qingluan's strength increased by a full five stars.

Hearing Mu Qingluan's words, Venerable Feng nodded in satisfaction: "Very good. Before your master uncle breaks through to the Dou Sheng realm, the Starfall Pavilion cannot be too conspicuous... The impact of refining ninth-grade pills and expanding the Starfall Pavilion's power are completely different!"

As the group was talking, a streak of azure fire appeared in the distance. In the blink of an eye, it flashed to their side and transformed into an old man with gray hair.

"Meet Uncle Qinghua!"

"Greetings, Senior Uncle Qinghua!"

Upon seeing the newcomers, Xiao Yan and Mu Qingluan quickly cupped their hands in a respectful bow.

The old monster Qinghua waved his hand, indicating that the two didn't need to be so polite, and smiled at Venerable Feng: "Old man Feng, I've confirmed it on my end too! The aura within a ten-mile radius has been completely concealed by the barrier, and no one will come to disturb the alchemy..."

When he spoke of the words "alchemy," a brilliant light flashed in his aged eyes.

As an alchemist, he has never seen the refining of a ninth-grade pill in his long life. If he can gain some insights from it, it may be able to help him break through the current bottleneck in his alchemy skills.

Eight grades and six colors should not be the end of his youthful life!

Just as Venerable Feng was about to say something, he saw waves rise from the bottleneck not far away, and two figures appeared, namely Elder Yao and Lin Yuan.

"Senior is indeed very cautious. This place is already within the Beast Domain, and it's more than five thousand miles away from the Starfall Pavilion, isn't it?!" Lin Yuan sensed the surrounding scenery briefly and instantly absorbed it into his mind. He then said with a hint of amusement.

"There's nothing we can do about it!" Old Yao shrugged, a helpless look on his face.

"The Soul Hall has spies in many forces. If the joint refining of the Profound Spirit Saint Yuan Pill is successful, the Starfall Pavilion will become very conspicuous and will definitely be exposed to the Soul Hall's sight."

"The Anti-Soul Hall organization has not yet been established, and its current strength is insufficient."

"Under these circumstances, I've already been targeted by the Soul Hall before even advancing to the Dou Sheng realm. The situation at Starfall Pavilion will suddenly become very dangerous!"

"After all, I have grudges against many members of the Soul Clan. They have long harbored intentions to deal with me and the Starfall Pavilion. If the Starfall Pavilion were to produce another treasure like a ninth-grade pill, the likelihood of the Soul Palace intervening would greatly increase. We cannot gamble on this now." He paused, then looked solemnly at Lin Yuan, reminding him, "As far as I know, the Soul Palace has intensified its efforts to capture alchemists. Be careful..."

Lin Yuan nodded slightly: "Thank you for the reminder, senior. I understand!"

He knew about this matter perfectly well—the grand plan for a thousand years was about to begin, and the Soul Palace no longer needed to restrain itself, gradually starting to harvest the alchemists it had nurtured.

Although there was one more of him, the Soul Clan's demand for alchemists did not decrease, and the order to capture outstanding alchemists was not revoked.

After all, the more backups you have, the better.

As for Yao Lao, he had long been on the Soul Hall's target list, and was even mentioned by Hun Xuzi. However, the Soul Hall was currently just cultivating him. Once the Starfall Pavilion had grown large enough and Yao Lao had invested enough effort, the Soul Hall would use this to force him to submit.

As for the possibility of Yao Lao actively resisting, such a possibility is never within the scope of the Soul Palace's consideration... With the Starfall Pavilion's meager strength, it is far from being worthy of being an opponent!
Most people, the more they understand the power of the Soul Palace, the more likely they are to lose the courage to resist.

During their conversation, the two walked over to Venerable Feng and the others. Elder Yao and Venerable Feng exchanged a knowing smile and a tacit "ready" look.

Without hesitation, Yao Lao flashed to the central stone platform.

Lin Yuan briefly greeted Venerable Feng and Old Monster Qinghua, then turned his head and said with a playful tone, "Brother Xiao, Miss Mu, you two had better hurry up and cultivate diligently. Qing'er... is very strong now!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan and Mu Qingluan were slightly taken aback, and Venerable Feng's eyes narrowed slightly, a thoughtful look flashing in them.

Lin Yuan didn't care about their reactions. He took a step forward and appeared opposite Yao Lao.

"Lin Yuan, take these two pills!" The old apothecary tossed two pills to Lin Yuan, saying, "One is the Purification Pill, which can purify the mind and temporarily enhance soul power; the other is the Instant Qi Transformation Pill, which can restore battle qi. Taking them should increase the success rate..."

Before he finished speaking, he took out another Pure Soul Pill, put it in his mouth and swallowed it in one gulp. Before long, a vast and pure soul power overflowed from between his eyebrows.

Lin Yuan took the pills but did not take them. Instead, he flipped his hand and put the two pills away.

Seeing this, the old apothecary gave Lin Yuan a meaningful look, flicked his finger, and a pure black medicine cauldron appeared, hovering between the two of them.

The medicine cauldron was quite robust, with a calm aura emanating from it. Lifelike flame totems were engraved on it, and as it rotated lightly, Lin Yuan could faintly sense that a faint flame energy was gathering around the cauldron.

"The 'Black Demon' ranked eighth on the Heavenly Cauldron List... truly extraordinary. Senior is indeed very lucky!" Lin Yuan examined the black cauldron for a moment and praised it.

"Your Myriad Beasts Cauldron isn't bad either, haha!"

The old apothecary laughed heartily, his gaze fixed on his old comrade-in-arms, 'Black Demon,' for a moment before he said in a deep voice, 'Lin Yuan, from now on, as we discussed in the passage, I'll lead and you'll assist...'

After saying this, he stretched out his palm and gently wiped the air.

In an instant, a thousand medicinal herbs transformed into a torrent released from the Bone Flame Ring, encircling the two of them and forming a surging sea of ​​medicinal herbs.

Lin Yuan and Yao Lao exchanged a glance and sat down cross-legged on the spot without prior arrangement.

Under the watchful eyes of the four on the outside, two torrents of flame, one white and one blue, surged out, engulfing a large area of ​​medicinal herbs around the stone platform. Before long, terrifying energy fluctuations spread out, causing the surrounding space to tremble.

The long and arduous process of refining a ninth-grade elixir has now begun...

Refining pills, especially high-level pills, usually takes a considerable amount of time; ten days to half a month is the most normal occurrence.

The observers were well aware of this, and naturally showed no impatience whatsoever.

Xiao Yan and Qinghua the Old Ghost, the two alchemists, watched with great interest... The layman sees the spectacle, but the expert sees the intricacies. In their eyes, the smooth and flowing alchemy process was no less exciting than a fierce battle.

However, refining a ninth-grade pill is by no means an easy task, especially when two half-saints work together to refine a ninth-grade pill.

On the third day, the energy of the Black Demon Cauldron became disordered and finally reached a point where it could no longer be suppressed. Ultimately, the energy completely erupted, destroying the essence of many medicinal herbs inside the cauldron.

However, neither Yao Lao nor Lin Yuan were discouraged by this failure.

After the two had been adjusting their breathing for several hours, they looked at each other, and Yao Lao nodded. Rang Yi then waved his sleeve again, releasing a vast sea of ​​medicinal herbs.

As the blue and white flames rose again, the second refining process began!
Despite their initial failure, their refining speed increased rather than decreased, and they seemed to be getting more and more skilled, clearly having gained a lot of experience in the previous refining process.

Unbeknownst to them, the second round of refining had finally reached its sixth day, marking the second of the three major challenges.

At this moment, both Yao Lao and Lin Yuan had rather solemn expressions.

Although Yao Lao had restored his battle qi to its peak state by taking the Instant Qi Transformation Pill, the massive amount of soul power he had consumed in the past few days was indeed not so easy to replenish; on the other hand, Lin Yuan's battle qi and soul power were both extremely stable.

After a brief exchange of thoughts, Lin Yuan and Yao Lao's eyes sharpened simultaneously, and their hand seals changed.

In that instant, the two clumps of medicinal liquid in the cauldron each transformed into a rainbow of light and flew out. Under the meticulous control of the two, they collided heavily together in the center of the cauldron!
"Bam—"

At the moment of impact, a deep sound erupted.

Immediately, an exceptionally powerful energy surged out from the boundary, crashing heavily against the inner wall of the cauldron with a crisp "clanging" sound.

Under that intense impact, countless tiny cracks appeared on the well-tested 'Black Demon' wall!

As time went by, the two liquids slowly merged and became indistinguishable, and their distinct yet powerful medicinal properties also gradually began to merge.

As an assistant in alchemy, Lin Yuan wrote that after completing several rounds of fusion, he would gradually withdraw his soul power and hand over control to Yao Lao, allowing him to take complete control and make more comprehensive and subtle adjustments and fusions.

The two are not one person after all. The most crucial step in the fusion of the core must ultimately be completely controlled by the one who is in charge!
However, the difficulty of mastering the power of a thousand kinds of medicine seemed to exceed the old master's imagination. The energy ripples when the medicinal liquids were fused continued to impact his soul.

It was somewhat difficult for Yao Lao, who had only just broken through to the mid-stage of the Heavenly Realm, to completely control the alchemy process.

However, Yao Lao was Yao Lao after all, not a mediocre person who would give up at the first sign of difficulty. In this dangerous moment when he was about to fail, the resilience in his heart was brought out.

"Spirit Ignition Technique, activate!"

The old apothecary took out a blood-red pill and swallowed it. His hand seals suddenly changed, and a wisp of blood-red fire rose from his suddenly opened eyes.

In an instant, his gradually weakening soul power became powerful again.

(End of this chapter)