Reaching the pinnacle from Doupo

Chapter 641 The Medicine Clan's Decision

The Celestial Saint waved his sleeve again, and a silver, cold moon appeared in the sky, the sun and moon shining together.

The Heavenly Pill Saint looked down at Lin Yuan and said gently, "Within the cold moon is the Pill Tower's Profound Pill inheritance, and within the radiant sun is the Pill Tower's Golden Pill inheritance. Just like before, you can receive the inheritance by connecting the sun and moon with your soul power."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yuan looked up at the sun and moon hanging high in the sky, his gaze becoming fervent—after such a long pursuit, he was finally able to achieve his wish!
"Thank you, Master! Your disciple will certainly live up to your expectations!"

He bowed again, then without further hesitation, sat cross-legged on the stone platform in the courtyard, closed his eyes, and began to mobilize his soul power.

The power of the soul transformed into invisible threads, extending towards the sun and moon.

The moment the connection was established, the sun and moon shone brightly, and then two massive streams of information, carrying countless essences of alchemy, surged into Lin Yuan's mind along the threads of his soul.

At this moment, Lin Yuan's mind became filled at an alarming speed.

The Heavenly Pill Saint then looked at Elder Lin and said, "Little Mo, the Pill Tower Master you chose... is quite remarkable. I am very satisfied!"

"Afterwards, you must wholeheartedly assist Lin Yuan and hand over the accumulated resources of the Pill Tower to him. By the way, Lin Yuan and I have already discussed and agreed to complete the Thirty-Three Heavens Pill Spirit Array within five years. You must fully cooperate with this matter."

Upon hearing this, Elder Lin's eyes flashed with joy, and he nodded solemnly, "Yes!"

The Thirty-Three Heavens Pill Spirit Array is the true foundation of the Pill Tower. If it can be fully deployed, the Pill Tower will no longer need to be too wary of the Medicine Clan.

The patriarch of the Medicine Clan was only a Seven-Star Dou Sheng, and he would not easily leave the Medicine Realm.

"Lin Yuan still needs some time, you can go back first!" The Heavenly Pill Saint smiled gently and instructed, "Remember, maintain this high spirit and cultivate diligently."

"You are not a genius, but you are a person with a strong will and perseverance."

"It is this humble and unassuming nature that has allowed you to achieve great things later in life and surpass your peers who were once considered to have more talent than you."

"However, excessive composure can also diminish your ambition and hinder your breakthrough to the Dou Sheng realm... Fortunately, you had a fortuitous opportunity and advanced two minor ranks in one go, which has rekindled some of your ambition. You must maintain it!"

"Breaking through to the Three-Star Dou Sheng realm is crucial for your future development, both in terms of strength and alchemy skills."

"Right now, your success rate in refining precious pills is less than 20%, but once you break through to the three-star Dou Sheng level, even if you don't reach the Great Perfection of the Heavenly Realm, your success rate in refining precious pills will be around 30%."

"I have high hopes for your future!"

"Lin Mo will respectfully follow the teachings of the Ancestor!" Having received the approval of the Pill Tower Ancestor, Elder Lin could not contain his joy and respectfully bowed. "I have troubled you for so long, this disciple will not disturb the Ancestor any longer... Farewell!"

Seeing that the Heavenly Pill Saint had nodded, he gave Lin Yuan a deep look before leaving the courtyard and the Heavenly Pill Stele space.

"We need to get that guy back in a while."

After watching Elder Lin leave, the Heavenly Pill Saint looked back at Lin Yuan, who was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed. A thoughtful look flashed in his eyes, and he quickly made a decision.

Although he acknowledged Lin Yuan, he still needed a "safety valve" just in case.

Elder Lin's strength was not much different from Lin Yuan's, so he was naturally not among the candidates. Therefore, the Heavenly Pill Saint did not intend to tell Lin Yuan about his connection with the Soul Palace or his possible relationship with the Ancient Dragon Clan.

Knowing too many things that one lacks the strength, wisdom, and temperament to handle is not a good thing.
-
At the same time, in the pharmaceutical industry.

Atop a cloud-shrouded peak, shrouded in mist, it resembles a fairyland.

At the edge of the cliff, an old man in white robes and with white hair stood with his hands behind his back, his deep gaze looking down at the churning sea of ​​clouds below, as if he were pondering something.

In a fleeting moment, space seemed to be stirred by an invisible force, rippling outwards.

Immediately afterwards, Yao Wanhuo, dressed in a fiery red robe, slowly walked out from the ripples and came behind the white-robed old man, bowing with a hint of shame on his face.

"I'm sorry, Clan Chief... Wan Huo has failed to live up to your expectations this time!"

In the world of medicine, there is only one person worthy of the title "Yao Wanhuo"—the number one alchemist on the continent, Yao Dan, the patriarch of the Yao clan.

"You've already fought with someone?" Yao Dan turned around, sized up Yao Wanhuo, and asked in a deep voice, "Does the Soul Clan deny capturing Yao Ling? Or is it that even with such generous terms, they still refuse to return Yao Ling?"

"Clan leader, you've misunderstood." Yao Wanhu shook his head, a hint of helplessness on his face. "This time, I wasn't fighting the Soul Clan, but the old monster from the Pill Tower."

"That old guy?" Yao Dan was taken aback, and after a brief silence, he spoke again.

"That old guy always keeps a low profile and never makes a move easily. It seems he's really been provoked this time... Judging from your expression, you're slightly inferior?"

"That's right. That guy's physique is very strange now, giving him an advantage in fighting against people with fire attributes."

"I'm ashamed to say that the old man's strength has increased considerably since then." Yao Wanhu nodded, pondered for a moment, and then continued, "But from his reaction, I can basically conclude that it was not him who killed Elder Wan Gui."

"As the price for losing to him, he wants me to promise that the Medicine Clan will no longer bully the Tower Master of the Pill Tower, and that Elder Wan Gui will be punished."

"It seems that he didn't even know about Elder Wan Gui's death."

“These conditions are fine.” Yao Dan nodded slightly and said seriously, “When you went out, envoys from the Gu, Lei, Yan and Shi clans came and expressed their strong dissatisfaction with Elder Wan Gui’s pursuit of their partner, the Tower Master of Dan Tower.”

"Heh, that was to be expected." Yao Wanhu sneered, "They have always been dissatisfied with the price of our clan's ninth-grade pills."

"Now that the Pill Tower has a ninth-grade alchemist, they naturally do not want him to perish."

"When the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits... Our competition with the Pill Tower, constantly driving down the price of ninth-grade pills, is exactly what they want to see."

"Chieftain, what do you think we should do?"

"My idea is to lower the price appropriately." After thinking for a moment, Yao Dan said in a deep voice, "I can feel that the bloodline of my clan's Dou Di is beginning to show signs of decline."

"Once such a sign appears, if the clan cannot produce a Dou Di, the process of bloodline depletion will be irreversible."

"As the clan leader, I must consider the future."

"It is no longer a wise move for our clan to continue to make huge profits from alchemy as usual."

"Without sufficient military force to deter them, the wealthier the Medicine Clan becomes, the more they will be coveted when they decline in the future... It would be better to take this opportunity to go along with the wishes of the other clans, give up some benefits, and repair and deepen the cooperative relationship with them."

"Without revealing the decline of our bloodline, lowering the price under the pretext of competing with Danta would be more acceptable to our clansmen."

"Wan Huo, what do you think of my decision?"

Upon hearing this, Yao Wanhu fell silent for a long time before finally nodding in agreement with Yao Dan's statement. "Possessing a treasure is a crime; the clan leader's foresight is remarkable, and I support him."

"That's good!" Yao Dan breathed a sigh of relief, her voice becoming more relaxed: "With your support, persuading the Grand Elder of the Ancestral Hall will be much easier... He has old-fashioned ideas, but his seniority is too high. If he opposes this matter, it will be very troublesome."

Yao Wanhu smiled, then raised another question: "Lowering prices is fine, but how exactly? And by what margin?"

"I have thought about this matter," Yao Dan said after a moment's thought.

"I plan to reduce the amount of medicinal materials needed to refine grade nine pills from five to four. Currently, the overall success rate of grade nine pills exported by our clan is about 30%. If we sell every four sets of medicinal materials, we can still make some profit."

"Of course, the other rules remain unchanged for the time being. As always, we will only do our best to refine the medicine, but we cannot guarantee that we will be able to deliver the pills."

"Let's try this first and see how Danta reacts."

“I have no objection!” Yao Wanhu stroked his beard, then brought up another important matter: “By the way, I successfully met Hunxuzi under the pretext of delivering the pharmacopoeia invitation.”

"Did he capture the medicinal spirit?" Yao Dan's eyes narrowed, and his voice became more serious.

"I don't know." Yao Wanhu shook his head in confusion and said, "According to Hun Xuzi, Yao Ling is currently in his hands, and he wants us to exchange five Grade 9 Xuan Dan for her."

"But when I asked to see Yao Ling first, he flatly refused."

"In the end, Hun Xuzi only showed the image of Yao Ling being imprisoned... It looked very realistic, but images are too easy to fake, so it's hard to trust them. So there's a possibility that he was trying to get something for nothing."

"Of course, it's also possible that Yao Ling is really in his hands. He's just creating a smokescreen, trying to take advantage of my state of mind just now to discourage us from rescuing Yao Ling."

"His strength has improved over the years, and he is now at the mid-stage of a six-star Dou Sheng."

“I could barely protect myself in front of him, so I didn’t fight him. I came back right after delivering the invitations.”

"Clan leader, how is the situation on your end? I remember that some of the pill formulas you used to make medicine spirits were personally inscribed by you, and they should contain your soul imprint."

"If we could sense those markings, maybe..."

“Success! And failure!” Yao Dan shook his head and explained, “Although I sensed the soul imprint, I only retrieved Yao Ling’s storage ring… The person who captured her was extremely meticulous and did not take her storage ring with them.”

At this point, a hint of helplessness crept into Yao Dan's calm voice.

There's nothing he can do about this situation.

At this moment, Yao Dan couldn't help but feel a deep resentment towards the deceased Yao Wangui—if he had abandoned his post, things wouldn't have come to this.

Without the medicinal spirit, how could he possibly cultivate to the Emperor Realm Soul level?

"Clan leader, what should we do next?" Yao Wanhuo rubbed his temples and hesitated, "Should we really do as Hun Xuzi suggested and prepare five Xuan Dan to exchange for Yao Ling?"

"You should know that the ingredients for each Xuan Dan are extremely precious."

"Our current success rate in refining Xuan Dan is only about 20%. Even if we use the method of combined refining, the chance of success is less than 30%... To refine five Xuan Dan, we estimate that we will need to consume nearly twenty sets of medicinal materials. This cost is too high."

In the hundreds of years since Yao Wanhuo reached the Great Perfection of the Heavenly Realm, he has attempted to refine a Grade 9 Profound Pill six times, but all attempts ended in failure, nearly bankrupting him.

When it comes to the difficulty of refining Xuan Dan, few people in the world understand it better than him.

Even the patriarch before us, in the thousand years after reaching the Great Perfection of the Heavenly Realm, has only successfully refined three Profound Pills, and his four most recent attempts have all ended in failure.

The difficulty of obtaining the elixir is greater than ascending to the heavens!

When Yao Wanhuo heard that Hun Xuzi was asking for five Xuan Dan, he was completely stunned.

"Let's put this matter aside for now!" Yao Dan shook his head and said helplessly, "Judging from the soul imprint left by Yao Ling in the clan, she is not in any immediate danger."

"Make the arrangements to continue the covert investigation into her whereabouts."

"In any case, we need to find out who has the medicinal spirit first, then our subsequent preparations will be worthwhile."

"As for the focus of the investigation, prioritize the Soul Clan for now. Don't hesitate to invest resources and try to bribe some Soul Clan members to act as informants. Soul Clan members are also human; if you set the price higher, you can still bribe some of them."

"Don't worry, clan leader, I will dedicate some of my energy to personally oversee this matter," Yao Wanhuo said solemnly.

"Very good, I trust you to handle things!"

Yao Dan nodded slightly, as if remembering something, and said quietly, "By the way, find some time to go to Sifang Pavilion... and bring this item and this letter to Yao Chen for me."

As he spoke, he flicked his finger, and a jade slip of inheritance and a handwritten letter flew out from his storage ring and hovered in front of Yao Wanhuo.

"Clan leader, do you intend to recall Yao Chen?"

Upon hearing this, Yao Wanhuo looked at Yao Dan with some surprise, his voice tinged with astonishment.

"It's not a recall, but a reconciliation!" Yao Dan turned to look at the vast sea of ​​clouds and said calmly, "No matter what, Yao Chen is of the Yao clan's bloodline."

"Elder Wan Gui went a bit too far at the alchemy meeting a few days ago."

"This precious elixir jade slip is my way of making amends to Yao Chen... After all, back then, as the clan leader, I condoned Elder Wan Gui's actions."

"Now that Yao Chen has proven his talent and ability, and Yao Wangui, who had a past grudge against him, has also passed away, that long-standing feud and regret should come to an end. I am willing to give him a chance to realize his long-cherished wish."

"If he secretly returns to the Yao Clan under the identity of Yao Chen, and at the same time stands as the Pavilion Master of the Four Directions Pavilion in the Central State, it would be a good thing for our clan."

"With my clan's covert support, his Four Directions Pavilion can expand even faster."

In Yao Dan's view, with the support of the Medicine Clan, the Four Directions Pavilion, which already had considerable potential, might have the opportunity to become a behemoth like the Soul Palace.

Being able to secretly control such a behemoth is extremely valuable to the Medicine Clan.

There's another reason, which Yao Dan didn't explicitly state after being awakened by the killing of Yao Wangui and the capture of Yao Ling—the Yao clan, whose bloodline power is gradually weakening and fading, needs Yao Chen, an outlier, as an example to change some of the clan's customs.

After a moment's thought, Yao Wanhu put away the letter and jade slip, and sighed softly, "I hope Yao Chen will not disappoint the clan leader's expectations!"

(End of this chapter)