Reaching the pinnacle from Doupo

Chapter 638 Meeting an Old Friend, Returning to the Pill Tower

In the western regions of Central China, at the Heavenly Palace of the Dipper.

The deputy temple master sat on the skull throne, his fingertips lightly tapping the skull on the armrest of the throne. His cold eyes looked ahead, and where his gaze fell, a young man's phantom stood with his hands behind his back, exuding an aura of arrogance and aloofness.

After gazing at the young man before him for a moment, the deputy hall master smiled slightly and offered polite compliments.

"A one-star Dou Sheng, a ninth-grade alchemist, the master of the Pill Tower... Yuan Tianzun's progress is truly beyond my imagination."

"I believe your master will be proud of your achievements!"

While a one-star Dou Sheng is nothing special, a ninth-grade alchemist is at least comparable to a mid-level Dou Sheng, which is already higher than my own three-star Dou Sheng status.

Even the deputy hall master was filled with admiration at this moment—the speed at which this young man had risen to power was simply too fast!
Thinking back to their first meeting, Lin Yuan was just a minor Dou Zong. In just six or seven years, his cultivation and alchemy skills had leaped to such a level, and he had even become the Pill Tower Master, a position not seen in hundreds of years, completely surpassing his own.

"Vice Hall Master, you're too kind!" Lin Yuan waved his hand casually and said indifferently, "I'm grateful for your care in the past, and now that my alchemy skills are complete, I can repay you in a way..."

"Hehe, Venerable Yuantian is too kind."

The deputy hall master's eyes lit up. Suppressing his excitement, he humbly said, "It is my honor to witness your rise and to contribute to the process."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yuan waved his hand and said, "Alright, we're all family, no need for such formalities."

"Haha, that's true!" The deputy hall master chuckled, then gritted his teeth and earnestly requested, "Speaking of which, I do have something I'd like to ask you for a favor."

"To be honest, my cultivation level has been stuck at the late stage of the three-star Dou Sheng realm for many years."

“I have tried to break through many times, but I have not been able to do so. So I would like to ask you for a pill to help me break through. I don’t need anything else. The ‘Divine Vein Foundation Pill’ that you won at the Pill Gathering can meet my needs.”

After speaking, the deputy hall master stopped talking and stared intently at Lin Yuan, his face full of anticipation.

Although the clan has a Grandmaster like Hun Xuzi, it has far more Battle Saints than other clans. In particular, the clan leader, Hun Tiandi, needs to consume a large number of high-grade pills to heal his injuries.

I wonder when I'll get my second precious pill, which is for a three-star Dou Sheng.

Lin Yuan did not disappoint the other party. After a moment's thought, he nodded in agreement, "Divine Vein Foundation Pill? Okay."

"But the Divine Vein Foundation Pill I have already been given to someone else, so I can't give it to you."

"Alright, my friend, prepare some medicinal herbs and send them to my Twenty-Third Hall of the Earthly Fiends... Within six months, I will refine a Divine Vein Foundation Pill for you. Considering our friendship, you only need to prepare three portions of medicinal herbs."

Before he finished speaking, he flicked his finger, and a wisp of soul energy flew out and hovered in front of the vice hall master.

The deputy hall master was overjoyed. "Hehe, then thank you very much, my friend."

As he spoke, he hesitated for a moment before cautiously reaching out and grasping the soul fluctuation in his hand.

The moment the soul fluctuation entered his hand, it immediately traveled up his arm and transformed into a torrent of information that quickly flooded into the Vice Hall Master's mind. Instantly, detailed information about more than a thousand kinds of medicinal herbs appeared in his mind.

He closed his eyes slightly, sensing the information, and only opened them after a moment.

"I will deliver the medicinal herbs to the Twenty-Third Palace within a month."

With a light breath, the deputy hall master suppressed his joy, cupped his hands in greeting to the illusory figure in mid-air, and said.

"Given our friendship, there's no need for such formalities." Lin Yuan smiled, then changed the subject: "Speaking of which, are you aware that Yao Wangui was chasing me?"

“I already know about the commotion that day.”

A strange light flashed in the Vice Hall Master's eyes, and he added a touch of anger to his voice: "Dare to attack your friend, that old bastard Yao Wangui truly deserves to die..."

Lin Yuan nodded slightly, letting out a chilling "heh heh" laugh, his refined face revealing undisguised killing intent.

"That damned old man really wants to kill me."

"On the border of the Central Region, Yao Wangui almost drove me to my death. If it weren't for some coincidences, I would have died at his hands... Even though I managed to escape the deadly situation, I had to temporarily leave the Central Region to hide."

"Heh heh, I have never suffered such a great loss in my cultivation journey."

"Yao Wan Gui is still alive, my heart is uneasy, my mind is restless... My friend, could you ask the Palace Master or a senior member of the Soul Clan to help me kill that old man?"

"As a reward for this, I will help you refine a ninth-grade elixir later."

At this point, he let out a soft breath, his cold eyes fixed on the deputy hall master, a hint of anticipation in them.

Seeing this, the deputy hall master carefully considered his words before slowly speaking, "I'm sorry, I cannot promise anything about this matter; I can only do my best. Although our clan's strength far surpasses that of the Medicine Clan, due to certain reasons, we cannot directly attack the Medicine Clan yet. However..."

After a brief pause, as if he had made up his mind, he said solemnly, "I will use some of the clan's resources to ensure that Yao Wangui will never attack you again."

Lin Yuan was silent for a moment, then nodded: "Is that so? That's fine then... Thank you, my friend!"

There was a hint of disappointment in his voice.

The deputy hall master comforted him, saying, "Don't worry, there will be a day of revenge! Hehe, the Medicine Clan, their good days are numbered... Our clan's grand plan will soon begin, and once it succeeds, that old fellow Yao Wangui will be at your disposal."

Lin Yuan nodded slightly, "That's good, I also look forward to that day! Let's keep in touch next time!"

After the two bid farewell, the illusory figure standing in the void trembled slightly under the gaze of the deputy hall master, and then slowly dissipated.

Gazing at the empty void, the deputy hall master's smile faded, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Judging from his expression, doesn't he know that Yao Wangui is dead?"

“That’s right. The Medicine Clan has blocked the news. Currently, only the Medicine Clan itself, the party that killed Yao Wangui, and our Soul Clan know about this. Other clans are unaware of this matter, so Yuan Tianzun naturally has no way of knowing either.”

"Heh heh, that's fine too. By taking advantage of this information gap, I've earned a favor from him for free. Perhaps I can use this to try and get another Grade 9 precious pill later."

"Lord Yuan, whether I guarantee it or not, Yao Wangui will never bother you again!"

Thinking of this, the deputy hall master's lips curled up slightly, revealing a smile that was a mixture of smugness and cunning, but deep down he still had some doubts.

"Speaking of which, who exactly killed Yao Wangui?"

"Is it another ancient clan that is making a move under that person's name? Or is it a powerful figure within the clan? Or is it really Lord Hun Xuzi himself...? A blood soul spirit body that can help people achieve the Emperor Soul is indeed worth that person's help."

"Forget it, this is not something I can get involved in. The person who can kill Yao Wangui silently is not someone I can afford to offend."

"I need to prepare the medicinal herbs. Three sets... I'll have to put some thought into it!"

Shaking his head, the deputy hall master stood up, took a step, and his figure instantly disappeared from the skull throne.
-
In the Central Region of Zhongzhou, at the Third Hub Branch Hall, as the illusory figure of the Soul Hall's Vice Hall Master vanished from the hall, a playful, clear laugh suddenly rang out in the empty communication hall of the branch hall.

"Hehe, my dear brother, you're such a good actor!"

Before he finished speaking, the space inside the hall suddenly distorted, and in the next instant, Zi Yan's figure appeared strangely beside Lin Yuan, and then she grabbed his arm tightly.

The disappointment and distress on Lin Yuan's face vanished instantly, replaced by a sly smile.

How was my performance?

"One word: Absolutely brilliant!" Zi Yan gave a thumbs up and said with a smile, "I was laughing so hard just now. That deputy hall master of the Soul Hall was completely fooled and was still comforting you. He had no idea that you had already killed Yao Wangui."

"That's good!" Lin Yuan nodded slightly and said gently, "It clears my name and gives you some entertainment, so it wasn't a wasted performance..."

"Next, we'll head straight back to Dan Tower."

Before he could finish speaking, he waved his sleeve forward, and a spatial rift appeared in front of him.

Lin Yuan didn't say much, and with one step, he pulled her into the crevice.

As the two entered, the spatial rift gradually dissipated, but the instant it disappeared, a faint light shot out from the ground and flew into the rift.

The empty space remained as silent as ever.

Suddenly, a crack appeared, and two figures slowly emerged from it, appearing in this deep space.

Lin Yuan absorbed the faint light into his brow and closed his eyes to absorb the information within.

After a long while, he opened his eyes, a look of amazement flashing in them. He exclaimed, "The Soul-Devouring Life-Severing Array, truly worthy of being called an ancient and ferocious array, is indeed a profound formation. The Soul Clan's ability to set up such arrays on a large scale in the Central Continent is truly a grand undertaking..."

"Unfortunately, the Emperor-Slaying Array, with the Soul-Devouring Life-Severing Array as its node, is still difficult to fully comprehend."

At this point, he shook his head regretfully.

The faint light just now was the Thunder Illusion that Lin Yuan had released earlier, specifically to investigate and record the Soul Devouring Life-Severing Array underground.

Unlike the Northwest Branch Hall, this time Lin Yuan was not disappointed. He found the Soul Devouring Life-Severing Array underground in a bustling city a thousand miles away from the Third Hub Branch Hall in the Central Region—an important branch hall in the Central State—and made a copy of it.

"Did you get what you wanted?" Zi Yan raised an eyebrow upon hearing Lin Yuan's exclamation and asked with interest.

"Got it, let's go!"

As Lin Yuan spoke, he took the lead and flashed out through the void, with Zi Yan following closely behind.

Half a day later, in the Central Region, in Saint Pill City.

On a desolate mountain peak outside the city, a spatial rift quietly appeared, and two figures slowly walked out from the rift.

"Dan Tower, finally back!" Lin Yuan withdrew his gaze from the towering black tower, lazily stretched his body, and handed a jade slip to the beauty beside him.

"Zi Yan, go to the Pill Realm and assess the difficulty of the repair."

Upon hearing this, Zi Yan took a deep breath, suppressed the alluring blush on her face, and without saying a word, picked up the jade slip and flew towards the Pill Realm.

"That little glutton, Zi Yan, she really knows how to cause trouble." Watching Zi Yan's departing figure, Lin Yuan rubbed his aching back and thought to himself, "It seems that my Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms technique still needs some improvement..."

Shaking his head, he gathered his scattered thoughts, sent a message to the three giants, and flew directly towards the Pill Tower.

Before long, Lin Yuan met the three giants who had rushed over to the top of the Pill Tower.

"Lord Tower, you're finally back."

Seeing that Lin Yuan was unharmed, Xuan Kongzi breathed a sigh of relief. "If he hadn't come back, we would have been prepared to contact the Ancestor using emergency measures."

"Hehe, I'm sorry to have worried you three." Lin Yuan chuckled, exchanged a few pleasantries, and then cut to the chase: "I just sensed that the atmosphere inside the tower is a bit tense. Have people from the Medicine Clan arrived?"

Xuan Kongzi nodded: "It's Yao Ying, whom we met in the Thunder Realm before. He has advanced to the Dou Sheng realm and wants to take away the ten heroes of the Yao Clan whom we rescued and imprisoned."

He then proceeded to explain the situation in detail... the matter of the Pill Tower, the matter of the Medicine Clan.

"I see!" After listening to Xuan Kongzi's explanation, Lin Yuan also gained a detailed understanding of the recent situation of the Pill Tower.

"Master Tower, what do you suggest we do?"

Xuan Kongzi took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and then asked Lin Yuan for his opinion on how to handle the situation.

"Give those people back to them!" Lin Yuan pondered for a moment and said, "Since I am unharmed, there is no need to confront the Medicine Clan head-on."

"But we can't just return them directly; we can do some design work instead."

"Let me think about it. We'll divide the imprisoned Yao Clan members into three groups, allowing them to redeem one group at a time... This way, we can avoid direct confrontation and wear down their morale, preventing Yao Wangui from acting recklessly."

"In addition, news of my return will be temporarily blocked. Danta will maintain a relaxed exterior but a tight interior, remaining on alert for a period of time."

“Yes, Tower Master!” Xuan Kongzi nodded in response.

“But…” Tian Leizi gritted his teeth and said unwillingly, “Tower Master, wouldn’t this be too unfair to you? This time, the Medicine Clan bullied the weak and tried to kill you. Shouldn’t we retaliate?”

"There's nothing we can do." Lin Yuan shrugged and said calmly, "Ultimately, the reason why Yao Wangui dared to act so recklessly is because our Pill Tower is weaker."

"This incident has served as a wake-up call for me."

"Generally speaking, rather than indulging in momentary pleasure or venting anger over unknown consequences, I would rather solve the problem at its root."

"The fundamental solution is to enhance the strength of our Dan Tower."

"What I lack most now is time... Give me a few more years, and I'm confident I can kill that old codger Yao Wangui as easily as slaughtering a dog."

"Time is on our side, so there's no need for us to act impulsively. We can simply avoid the Medicine Clan's sharp edge for now."

"But I hope that the strength of the Pill Tower is not just my strength, but the strength of the Pill Tower as a whole... In my opinion, advancing the 'Strengthening Foundation Plan of Dou Qi Continent' is the foundation of the Pill Tower's eternal cause. I hope the three of you can put more effort into it."

"During this time, I will also use my ninth-grade alchemy skills to help you and the elders improve your strength."

As the master of the Pill Tower, Lin Yuan began to show his magnanimity and wisdom. His calm demeanor, which allowed him to plan carefully before acting, pleased all three giants.

(End of this chapter)