Reaching the pinnacle from Doupo

Chapter 643 Tacit Understanding, Research

"From this perspective, Ancestor Burning Flame is a respectable senior."

Hearing the Heavenly Pill Saint's evaluation of the Burning Flame Ancestor, Lin Yuan felt somewhat relieved and asked, "May I ask, Ancestor, if I were to encounter his remnant spirit, what precautions should I take?"

"Just be more open and sincere," the Heavenly Pill Saint smiled and gently advised.

"Tang Fen is a straightforward and generous man, but he is by no means a reckless and foolish person. You must not deceive him with lies. As far as I know him, as long as you have no bad intentions, whether or not he really left behind a remnant spirit, he will not be of any harm to you."

"How about this... you carry a wisp of my soul's aura of greeting. If you do see his remnant spirit, it will save you some effort in building trust."

"I still have some influence with him."

"The only Grade 9 Xuan Dan he ever took was one that I personally refined... It was that Xuan Dan that helped him break through to the Six-Star Dou Sheng realm."

At this point, the Heavenly Pill Saint recalled the past, and a trace of nostalgia flashed in his eyes.

But soon, he dispelled the melancholy in his heart, and with a flick of his finger, a wisp of his soul shot out and landed not far in front of Lin Yuan.

"Disciple understands, thank you Ancestor!" Lin Yuan bowed respectfully, carefully putting away the wisp of soul power. A hint of joy couldn't help but rise in his heart—with the Heavenly Pill Saint's endorsement, things would be much easier.

"It's a trivial matter, not worth mentioning!" The Heavenly Pill Saint waved his hand and said, "That's all I have to say about Tang Fen... Is there anything else you want to ask?"

Lin Yuan frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, and then slowly said, "I have another question, and I hope the patriarch can answer it for me."

"As far as I know, the Xiao Clan and the Soul Clan are mortal enemies, and have always been at odds with each other."

"Xiao Xuan, the patriarch of the Xiao clan, has a very close relationship with Gu Yuan and Ancestor Fen Yan, and also has a good relationship with you. He is also well aware of the strangeness and danger of the Soul Clan... So why didn't you join forces and take action against the Soul Clan a thousand years ago?"

"With four half-emperors attacking at the same time, even a powerful race like the Soul Clan would probably find it difficult to withstand, right?"

In Lin Yuan's view, the period a thousand years ago when the five powers stood side by side was the best time to severely damage the Soul Clan... Xiao Xuan had a lot of chips in his hand and a great advantage.

Even if the Soul Clan was powerful back then, it couldn't compare to the Soul Clan of today.

Although the Soul Clan now boasts numerous powerful individuals, comparable to the combined strength of the other clans, their overall combat power is still inferior to that of two half-emperors working together.

The strength of those below the level of a half-emperor is completely different.

Even with Void Devouring Flame fully equipped, it could only rely on its health bar to withstand a few more hits from Gu Yuan.

Without the Soul Emperor, Gu Yuan could have killed the Soul-Piercing Clan.

However, among half-emperors, their combat strength is almost evenly matched: in a one-on-one situation, it is difficult to have a real winner; in a one-on-two situation, it is difficult to even last for a short period of time.

A thousand years ago, there were probably four half-emperors who disliked the Soul Clan and the Soul Emperor.

This lineup could easily defeat the Soul Emperor and the Soul Clan!
Even though the Heavenly Pill Saint was relatively independent and didn't get too close to Xiao Xuan, it was still at least a three-on-one situation... If Xiao Xuan, Gu Yuan, and the Burning Flame Ancestor joined forces once, it would be enough to kill and exterminate the Soul Emperor's clan.

But how could the Soul Emperor have turned the tide under such circumstances? This puzzled Lin Yuan greatly.

Upon hearing this, the Heavenly Pill Saint looked at Lin Yuan with surprise and said meaningfully, "You are so young, yet you care so much about these past events. It seems you have great ambitions from an early age."

"However, it's not surprising that you have this question."

"That situation did not occur because the imperial clans share a common stance and an unwritten agreement—in order to protect the common interests of the imperial clans, no matter how fiercely the imperial clans fight each other, they cannot unite with outsiders to attack and destroy another imperial clan."

"With this shared stance, there are also some tacit understandings that have arisen, such as if a powerful outsider wants to destroy an imperial clan, other imperial clans will most likely lend a helping hand."

"Hehe, the Medicine Clan has been able to exist until now, and this is a considerable reason why!"

At this point, the Heavenly Pill Saint let out a cold laugh, a hint of coldness flashing in his eyes—his sect, the Pill Sect, had an extremely long history and a long-standing rivalry with the Medicine Clan.

However, due to the shared stance among these imperial clans, the Medicine Clan always maintains a competitive advantage.

Despite the abundance of talented individuals in the Dan Sect, they were never able to defeat their opponent.

"Back to Xiao Xuan," the Heavenly Pill Saint shook his head, pulled himself together, and continued to explain, "Although he is on good terms with Gu Yuan and Tang Fen at the same time, and has a good relationship with me, once he rallies people to fight against the Soul Clan, he can only rely on Gu Yuan."

"Gu Yuan is indecisive... or rather, extremely conservative and cautious, making it difficult for him to make up his mind to fight the Soul Clan."

"Furthermore, his stance on his own imperial clan is far more steadfast than that of Xiao Xuan, who is also a clan leader."

"If Xiao Xuan excludes Gu Yuan and joins me and Tang Fen to wage war against the Soul Clan, there is a considerable possibility that Gu Yuan will defect and lead the Imperial Clan's allied forces to stand on the side of the Soul Emperor."

"He and the other imperial clans will not allow this to break the tacit agreement of the imperial clans."

"It's not surprising. Logically speaking, if Xiao Xuan can unite with me and Tang Fen to destroy the Soul Clan, he can also unite with us to destroy other imperial clans."

"So, despite Xiao Xuan's excellent reputation and high standing among the various imperial clans, and his status as a hero in the fight against the evil Soul Clan, back then, the higher-ups of the imperial clans were just as wary of him as they were of the Soul Clan."

"One of the main reasons for this is that Xiao Xuan is too flamboyant. He doesn't even hide his ambition to break through to the Dou Di realm. The top leaders of various top forces all know about it."

"However, the Tuoshe Ancient Emperor Jade, which represents the opportunity to become an emperor, was in the hands of the various tribes of the eight ancient clans."

"For the six clans of Gu, Yan, Lei, Yao, Shi, and Ling, the best outcome would be for Tang Fen and me to die, and for the Xiao clan and the Hun clan to fight to the death."

"In the end, things did turn out exactly as they wished."

"In the current Dou Qi Continent, those ancient clans are all-powerful. As the future master of the Pill Tower, you should think carefully when dealing with their relationship."

As the Heavenly Pill Saint spoke, he sighed softly, a hint of inexplicable emotion in his voice.

Regardless of the process, the final result for the five of them was that they, Xiao Xuan, and the Burning Flame Ancestor all perished, and the Soul Emperor was also severely injured. The steady Gu Yuan had the last laugh.

In the last thousand years, the ancient races have become the strongest force on the Dou Qi Continent.

Lin Yuan frowned slightly, gaining a deeper understanding of the relationships between the imperial clans: "So that's how it is. The tacit understanding among the imperial clans... it's really troublesome!"

"It seems that Xiao Xuan's failure was not solely due to the strength of the Soul Clan, but also to the delicate balance and conflicts of interest among the Imperial Clans? He underestimated the vigilance of the other Imperial Clans and failed to properly handle his relationships with them?"

“Not bad!” The Heavenly Pill Saint nodded slightly, his gaze deep and unfathomable. “Xiao Xuan’s birth and experiences made his life too smooth, which led to his excessive self-confidence and arrogance.”

"Although he suggested that we work together to deal with the Soul Clan, from the beginning, it was impossible for us to join forces against the Soul Clan." "Although Gu Yuan and Xiao Xuan have a good relationship, he wants to protect the interests of the Ancient Clan and the position of the Imperial Clan... Xiao Xuan's suggestion will only arouse his vigilance."

"Tang Fen and Xiao Xuan have an excellent relationship, but due to the constraints of their positions, he cannot fight against the Soul Clan with him."

"As for me, to be frank, I became friends with Xiao Xuan with the intention of using him. If I can guide his domineering personality and ambition to become a Dou Di properly, I can instigate a great war between the imperial clans and end the long-standing imperial order."

"Unfortunately, before I could put my idea into action, I died at the hands of the Soul Emperor."

In order to warn Lin Yuan—this junior who was even more talented than Xiao Xuan—the Heavenly Pill Saint did not hide his gentle and elder-like side at this moment.

The words of the Heavenly Pill Saint also made Lin Yuan fall into deep thought.

After a long while, he took a deep breath and solemnly bowed to the Heavenly Pill Saint: "I understand the painstaking efforts of the Ancestor; I will keep the Ancestor's teachings in mind."

"Alright, let's leave it at that about the past!" The Heavenly Pill Saint nodded slightly, then, as if remembering something, transmitted a large mass of soul information to Lin Yuan. "By the way... Lin Yuan, do me a favor. Take a look at this first..."

After Lin Yuan closed his eyes and processed this information, he discovered that it contained pill formulas—some previously unseen ninth-grade pill formulas, as well as a complete set of strange and systematic secret techniques.

"The patriarch is... and these pill formulas are?" He looked at the Heavenly Pill Saint with a puzzled expression.

"These are unverified pill formulas," the Heavenly Pill Saint said calmly. "I deduced them using a special method. After you leave, help me verify them."

"During the verification process, try to record all the details and then report them back to me."

"During the thousand years in the Heavenly Pill Stele space, I was not idle. I focused my energy on one thing—to complete a theory, a set of secret methods, and a system, so as to help alchemists deduce pill formulas more efficiently and cost-effectively."

"I have created a prototype of this system, but it still needs a lot of experience and feedback to perfect it."

"But I am dead and cannot verify this in practice, so I can only have someone else do it for me."

"For the eighth rank and below, I have already had Xiao Mo collect a lot of the necessary experience and feedback; but for the ninth rank, I need your help."

"Those ninth-grade pill formulas were deduced by me using this system; they are verified pill formulas."

"Whether you succeed or fail, every detail and experience you gain during the refining process will be the feedback I need to complete this system."

Do you understand what I'm saying?

"Of course I understand!" Lin Yuan nodded and said with some joy, "To be honest, I have also put a similar idea into practice—using illusions to simulate reality, experiencing various battles in the illusions, and thus gaining a lot of combat experience."

“Simulating alchemy in the illusion to improve my alchemy skills was one of my planned research topics. I didn’t expect that the founder was already conducting similar research.”

"This matter is of great significance, and I will help to the end."

The goal of the Celestial Elixir Sage, simply put, is to create a secret system similar to "simulation software" to increase the speed and reduce the cost of creating elixir formulas.

He had plenty of free time while inside the Heavenly Pill Stele, so he had the leisure to complete this task.

The pill formula that the Celestial Pill Saint just passed on to Lin Yuan was a ninth-grade pill formula derived from the "simulation system". Next, Lin Yuan needs to refine and verify it in reality.

The insights and details gained during the refining process serve as data to correct the "simulation" secret technique system.

If this matter succeeds, it will be a major event that will revolutionize the world of alchemy. Lin Yuan had similar ideas before, but he had not yet put them into practice.

Lin Yuan originally intended to use the effects and insights gained from Bodhi Reincarnation to advance the research on this "Dan Formula Simulation Software"—in the original trajectory, Xiao Yan gained experience in alchemy and created a ninth-grade dan formula through a hundred reincarnations.

Unexpectedly, the Heavenly Pill Saint, a peak alchemist, had been conducting extensive research in the Heavenly Pill Stele space due to his boredom.

"Training with illusions? That's a good idea!"

Hearing Lin Yuan's words, the Heavenly Pill Saint was also somewhat surprised, and his gaze towards Lin Yuan held a hint of joy at meeting a fellow practitioner.

This young man before me is simply the chosen one to be the Tower Master of the Pill Tower!

Lin Yuan smiled modestly and said, "My illusion simulation is mainly used for combat. I haven't tried to simulate alchemy in depth yet. However, since the founder has already done some research, we can learn from each other and advance together."

The Celestial Saint stroked his beard and chuckled, "Indeed, learning from each other and complementing each other's strengths is the way to progress."

As he spoke, he waved his hand, and a beam of light flew into Lin Yuan's brow.

"These are some of my insights from the process. Go back, reflect on them, think about them, and verify them. When you have any ideas, come back to me."

"You've absorbed too much information; let's stop here for today!"

Before he finished speaking, the Heavenly Pill Saint fanned his sleeves, and Lin Yuan felt a dizzying sensation before his eyes, and his soul flew out of the Heavenly Pill Stele space.

Outside, on the altar, the Heavenly Pillar Stele stands silently.

In an instant, ripples suddenly appeared on the surface of the stone tablet, and a silver light flew out from the ripples, straight into Lin Yuan's brow.

After a long while, Lin Yuan, who was sitting cross-legged, twitched his eyelids and slowly opened his bright eyes.

"This time, the harvest has been truly substantial!"

As his thoughts wandered, a hint of weariness flashed in his eyes. Then, with a thought, he extracted some pure medicinal power from his natal soul core and integrated it into his soul.

Instantly, a cool sensation spread through the depths of his soul, quickly dispelling the weariness in his eyes.

Stretching, Lin Yuan stood up, feeling the surging power within his body and the vast knowledge in his mind, his heart filled with confidence and anticipation.

"Lin Yuan, you're awake... This is the key to the Heavenly Pill Realm. The Ancestor asked me to give it to you." A gentle voice came from behind him. He turned around and saw Elder Lin suddenly appear, handing him a fiery red jade slip.

Lin Yuan took the jade slip and held it, injecting pure spatial power into it. He then gently swiped it in front of him, and a spatial passage appeared.

"Elder, let's leave!"

After taking a deep look at the Heavenly Pill Stele, Lin Yuan did not hesitate any longer and slowly walked into the passage, with the Grand Elder following closely behind.

As the two entered, the spatial passage trembled, then slowly dissipated...

(End of this chapter)