Cultivating Immortality Begins with Rejuvenation.

Chapter 272 The Pill King Refines Pills
The Wanfa Palace is located amidst a continuous range of immortal mountains, shrouded in celestial energy, especially the Flying Immortal Peak where the Pure Yuan True Person resides in solitude, right before Li Ji'an at this moment.

The spiritual energy of the fourth-order spiritual vein was so dense that it appeared as mist.

Under normal circumstances, let alone an outer sect servant like Zhao Ming, even an inner sect disciple would have virtually no chance of stepping onto this peak.

Pure Yuan Zhenren, citing his dislike of being disturbed while developing new pills, has prohibited anyone from entering within a hundred-zhang radius of this peak.

Even disciples of the Holy Palace Danfeng are not allowed to set foot there without an imperial edict.

Li Ji'an, accompanied by a man and a woman, arrived smoothly at the foot of Feixian Peak with their tokens.

He then activated the token with his magic, and the restriction in front of him slowly opened.

Leading the excited boys and girls behind him, Li Ji'an slowly stepped in.

He had no choice in bringing people up the mountain, but he could choose which two to bring.

He relayed the city lord's words verbatim, inviting those who were willing to take the bait.

"Old Zhao, I can't walk anymore, carry me on your back. Don't worry, once my master teaches me alchemy, you'll get plenty of benefits in the future." The ten-year-old boy glanced at the Flying Immortal Peak that disappeared into the clouds and said with courage.

Li Ji'an paused slightly.

When the boy first met Zhao Ming, who was selecting people, in the shantytown today, he was timid and cowardly, and even more so, he was trembling with fear and dared not look directly at him.

However, after dreaming of becoming a disciple of the Pill King along the way, coupled with Li Ji'an's deliberate flattery, his temperament changed drastically.

“It was I who failed to consider this. Although your future is limitless, you have not yet begun your cultivation. Let me take you up,” Li Ji’an said, mimicking Zhao Ming’s manner with a slightly ingratiating tone.

"Don't touch me!" The thirteen-year-old girl beside him immediately stopped her.

The thirteen-year-old girl in the cultivation world is already fully developed, and because she lives in a shantytown, she has been polluted by the environment at a young age. When Li Ji'an first arrived today, she was still quite coy and charming.

When she learned about the Dan King's apprenticeship, she almost resorted to seduction to seize the opportunity.

"Don't worry, I'll use magic to carry you all," Li Ji'an replied with a smile.

He then used his mid-stage Qi Refining power to lift the two of them up the mountain quickly.

There wasn't a soul in sight along the way. Although the vegetation was lush and the air was thick with a mystical atmosphere, there was a sense of gloom.

Before long, the three arrived outside the Half-Peak Cave.

The two children vied to kneel and worship.

"Come in!" came an old voice from inside.

Li Ji'an's heart stirred slightly. He thought that delivering it would be enough, but unexpectedly, he was also called in.

Fortunately, the safety of this trip had already been analyzed, and there was no danger.

After all, the former captain had done so much for Chun Yuan Zhenren and was still alive.

At the same time, he also had the opportunity to see up close the culprit who caused his trip to be so disastrous.

The two children crawled into the cave on their knees, and Li Ji'an could only follow by bending even lower.

The cave was filled with the strong smell of herbs, and Li Ji'an quickly identified the scents of several third-tier spiritual herbs.

Besides the smell of herbs, there was also a faint smell of blood. Unlike the beast pills that Li Ji'an had refined before, the blood smell in the Pill King's Cave was not from beast blood essence, but from human blood.

"Greetings, Elder!" Deep within the cave, an elderly man with white hair and beard sat cross-legged with a kind expression. Li Ji'an ignored the two children and bowed respectfully.

The old man didn't look at Li Ji'an; his eyes kept wandering between the two children.

"Not bad, not bad." Whether he was praising the quality of the two children's materials or Li Ji'an's competence, the old man smiled kindly and praised them repeatedly.

"Go to the Spirit Spring first to cleanse yourselves of worldly dust." He then pointed to a passage inside the cave.

"Thank you, Elder!" The two children were very excited. After saying goodbye, they walked inside.

Only after the two children had walked away into the distance did Chun Yuan Zhenren look at Li Ji'an and say, "Raise your head."

This gave Li Ji'an the opportunity to face the Pill King directly.

Looking up at the old man so close to me, I saw a weathered face, his aged features showing signs of fatigue, especially his cloudy eyes, which seemed to indicate that he didn't have much time left to live.

This made Li Ji'an pause. According to the information he knew, Chun Yuan Zhenren should only be over three hundred years old. In addition, he had no shortage of longevity pills, so his total lifespan should be around three hundred years. He never expected him to be in this state.

"Take it." A crystal-clear pill floated to your side.

Judging from its shape and smell, Li Ji'an instantly determined that it was a second-tier pill, and a poisonous one at that.

This pill is called the Heart-Eroding Pill. The mind of the person who takes it will be guided by the soul of the alchemist that was incorporated into it during the refining process, making them completely obedient to the alchemist and without any disloyalty.

Moreover, once this pill is taken, the mind and spirit will be controlled, the path to enlightenment will be basically cut off, and it will be difficult to make any further progress.

However, it is only effective for cultivators in the Foundation Establishment stage.

"Thank you so much for the pill, Elder!" Li Ji'an was overjoyed and quickly took the pill, swallowing it in one gulp.

Pure Yuan Zhenren watched expressionlessly, his divine sense also enveloping Li Ji'an.

After confirming that Li Ji'an had swallowed the pill and that it had dissolved in his body, he finally spoke: "Do your job well in the future, and I will not treat you unfairly."

"Yes, yes, I will certainly do my utmost for the elder." Li Ji'an thanked him excitedly.

At this moment, he finally understood why the renowned Pill King would send a mere patrol captain on a mission.

The city lord could have easily been coerced and lured, yet they insisted on having him bring him personally.

"Follow me to refine pills!" With a wave of his sleeve, Master Chun Yuan floated deeper into the cave.

"Alchemy?" Li Ji'an frowned slightly, a guess forming in his mind, and hurriedly followed.

Soon, Master Chun Yuan led Li Ji'an to a pill-making room, where a large pill furnace, as big as a water vat, was particularly eye-catching in the center.

The Great Alchemy Furnace was branded with countless strange patterns, demons roamed freely, and monsters were born from the evil land, making it seem unlike anything of this world.

"First, clean the inside of the alchemy furnace thoroughly, making sure it is not contaminated with any magical energy," Pure Yuan Zhenren said again.

"Yes!" Li Ji'an readily agreed, then climbed into the alchemy furnace, not daring to use a single bit of his magic power.

The furnace was filled with a dense aura of blood and evil, but also contained traces of medicinal energy.

However, this kind of elixir energy was completely unfamiliar to Li Ji'an.

Since meeting Master Yu Dan, he has become familiar with many pill formulas over the years. Even though he has not personally refined many of them, he still knows them well. However, Li Ji'an has no clue about the medicinal aura left in this pill furnace.

As for the fact that no magical energy should remain inside the alchemy furnace, that was also something he couldn't understand.

After cleaning the alchemy furnace, Master Chunyuan instructed again: "Bring the two materials, but they must not be contaminated with magical power, nor should they come into contact with the earth."

"Hmm?" Li Ji'an's expression suddenly changed, and he finally understood the purpose of the Pill King.

The materials he mentioned for alchemy were those young boys and girls.

"Yes, sir!" Li Ji'an dared not delay in the slightest and turned to enter the spirit spring room next door.

Inside the spiritual spring, the boy and girl were already floating on the spiritual pool, unconscious.

As soon as Li Ji'an entered the water, he immediately felt a slight corrosive sensation from the spirit pool. It was clear that the Pill King had put some kind of potion in the spirit pool. However, this potion disappeared instantly upon encountering the magic power within Li Ji'an's body.

With one child in each hand, Li Ji'an lifted the boy and girl out of the spiritual spring and returned to the alchemy room.

He then saw that the Pill King was already sitting cross-legged in front of the alchemy furnace, calming his mind and concentrating his spirit. He did not dare to make any rash moves and waited for the next instruction.

At the same time, they were also quietly observing the Pill King. After a short while, the Pill King held his breath, and golden light shone in his dantian. Then, a flame twice the size of the Little Fire Spirit shot out.

The flames were gilded, and Li Ji'an passively sensed the power of the spiritual flames they emitted, which was even stronger than that of the little fire spirit.

"Is it this thing that has become connected with the little fire spirit?"

Before Li Ji'an could think further, the flame had already been driven by the Pill King to the bottom of the large pill furnace, and then it burned around the furnace for a week.

During this process, Li Ji'an was able to clearly sense the fluctuations in the flame controlled by the Pill King's divine sense.

Clearly, the spirit flame, being an unconscious entity, is far less holy than the little fire spirit. The little fire spirit doesn't need Li Ji'an to control it; he only needs to give commands.

Only after the alchemy furnace had finished preheating did the Pill King withdraw the spiritual flames back into his dantian, and then began to add the medicinal herbs step by step.

"Third-tier demonic beast essence blood!"

"A third-tier longevity fruit!"

"Purple Water Chestnut Without Stamens!"

……

Witnessing the documents being thrown into the furnace, Li Ji'an was deeply disturbed.

A true third-tier demon beast is comparable to a human true core cultivator. Moreover, based on his experience in refining beast cores, the aura of that demon beast's essence blood was rich, suggesting it was probably a mid-third-tier demon beast with a relatively high bloodline.

The third-tier longevity fruit, the main ingredient for the most advanced longevity pills in the region, is a treasure coveted by countless pseudo-core cultivators.

And then there's the Purple Lotus without Stamen, which is a rare treasure for Core Formation, and it's even ranked among the top 100 on the leaderboard.

It must be said that the King of Alchemy's batch of pills was truly a grand gesture.

The amount of medicinal herbs he used at the beginning was already several times higher than that used to refine the Crystallization Pill.

"Ugh~ This is..." Nearly an hour later, the boy and girl who had been hanging upside down by Li Ji'an, holding their ankles, slowly woke up.

The prolonged upside-down position made them blush.

"I'm sorry, Master, I... I just fell asleep. I'll never do it again." Upon seeing the Pill King by the alchemy furnace, the boy immediately apologized and was even more annoyed that he had fallen asleep.

"What are you doing? Captain Zhao... Captain Zhao, let me go!" The girl struggled to raise her head, looking down at herself, completely naked, with Li Ji'an holding her ankles. She instinctively prepared to scold him, but barely managed to hold back.

Li Ji'an frowned slightly. He had thought that the Pill King had added something to the spiritual spring to make them unconscious, and he thought it was because the Pill King was kind-hearted and couldn't bear to let them suffer.

But now I realize that I had been too kind to this old man.

It's likely that the substances in that spiritual spring only served to pre-prepare the food.

Dan Wang ignored their shouts and didn't even glance at them.

"The elder is refining pills, no noise allowed!" Li Ji'an said softly.

The two immediately shut up, but a hint of resentment flashed in their eyes as they looked at Li Ji'an.

After another half a while, Li Ji'an judged that all the medicinal materials had been refined into essence, and the furnace should now be in a state of mixed medicinal essence. If there were no other materials, it should be time to condense the pill.

He glanced at the two children, a boy and a girl, almost instinctively.

As expected, the next moment, the Pill King slowly opened his tightly closed eyes, glanced at Li Ji'an, and said, "Take over the medicine!"

"Phew~" Although he had expected it, Li Ji'an's heart still skipped a beat when he was asked to put the young boy and girl into the molten lava furnace with his own hands.

Meanwhile, it has been completely confirmed that this famous Pill King is indeed refining the Living Human Pill.

Li Ji'an had only heard Master Yu Dan mention this kind of elixir once, and it was an extremely evil and poisonous substance.

Using living people as the main material, the three souls and seven spirits, flesh and bones are refined to ultimately achieve the innate Qi of the human body before birth.

Some elixirs are extremely beneficial to cultivation, and can even provide incredible help at the bottleneck of a major realm. Ancient books record that in ancient times, evil cultivators who refined elixirs could cultivate at a speed several times faster than ordinary people.

However, the cost of using elixirs varies greatly.

Some realms, once reached to a certain level, can never be advanced further in one's lifetime.

Some of them are extremely taxing on lifespan and vitality.

Some even become neither human nor ghost.

"Yes, sir!" Li Ji'an replied, carrying the two men as he slowly walked to the large alchemy furnace.

"It's so hot! Stop! I haven't started cultivating yet, so I can't get too close!" The girl cried out as she felt the intense heat.

The boy's expression suddenly changed. He looked at the seated Pure Yuan True Man, then at Li Ji'an's action of throwing them into the alchemy furnace: "Ah! No, no, I want to die! Don't throw me in! I'm not cultivating immortality anymore! I'm not learning alchemy!"

Hearing the boy's cries, the girl belatedly realized that they were the main medicine here.

"Elder, please! I'll do anything, please let me go..."

Dan Wang remained unmoved.

Li Ji'an had already arrived in front of the alchemy furnace.

As the lid of the alchemy furnace slowly opened, the two children's fear reached its peak...

"Plop!" In the end, after their pleas were ignored and they turned to angry curses, two vibrant lives were devoured by the medicinal essence within.

The Pill King also began the final and crucial step of condensing the pill.

Li Ji'an stepped back to the side, a chill running through his heart.

He was unsure whether the Nascent Soul True Lord of the Myriad Laws Palace supported the actions of the Pure Yuan True Man.

But how could such seemingly secretive methods truly deceive a Nascent Soul True Monarch?
Even if they weren't accomplices, they must have tacitly approved of it.

"I hope the pills will be successfully formed!" At this moment, Li Ji'an hoped even more than Chun Yuan Zhenren that this batch of pills would be successfully formed.

After seeing the medicinal herbs that Chun Yuan Zhenren put into the alchemy furnace, Li Ji'an fed the two main ingredients with two other medicinal herbs.

It is not poison, but only incompatible with the medicinal materials used by Pure Yuan Zhenren, and it does not affect the formation of the elixir.

Once the pill is formed, its color, taste, and shape are not significantly affected, but its medicinal effects are greatly different.

He was certain that he could have succeeded in forming the elixir if it weren't for the last two main ingredients.

However, he had no experience with the properties of medicines that primarily use young boys and girls as ingredients.

"As long as this old thing suffers an accident after taking the Human Pill and loses the will to search for the Little Fire Spirit, that might be the day he is truly free."

Half an hour later.

A soft clang echoed from inside the alchemy furnace.

"It's done!" Li Ji'an was overjoyed.

At the same time, he saw a deep smile on Chun Yuan Zhenren's aged face.

Immediately afterwards, Master Chunyuan waved his hand, and the lid of the alchemy furnace hovered in the air, from which a blood-red pill flew out spinning.

"Not bad!" The crimson pill stopped in front of him, and he nodded in satisfaction.

Without touching it with his hands, he opened his mouth and swallowed the blood-red pill, which was still warm from the furnace.

(End of this chapter)