Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 316: Pill Refining
Time flies, and two years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Although Hunyuan Sect was calm, the situation in Xijiang County was becoming increasingly chaotic.

After the Murong family and Yun Xuanzong formed an alliance, the Beast Taming Sect has become somewhat powerless. In recent years, Xijiang County has been plagued by constant wars. Although there have been no major battles such as besieging the mountain gate and gathering all the troops in one battle, local battles still occur from time to time, with both sides winning and losing.

However, overall, the Beastmaster Sect suffered more casualties than the coalition forces of Yun Xuanzong and the Murong family.

Of course, the Beast Taming Sect also wanted to recruit monks from several subordinate city sects to join the war. However, its prestige is no longer as high as before, and it has basically lost control of the vast sects in Xijiang County.

A year ago, when the Beastmaster Sect once again proposed to recruit monks from various cities to join the coalition, it not only failed to receive a response from the sects in various cities, but instead exacerbated the rift between the leading sects in each city and it.

Yongning City even formed an independent alliance like Anyuan City, announcing that it would no longer obey the orders of the Beast Taming Sect and completely draw a clear line with the Beast Taming Sect. The leading sects in other cities also strongly opposed sending monks to fight for the Beast Taming Sect. In order to avoid further intensification of conflicts and forcing the sects in various cities to side with Yunxuan Sect, the Beast Taming Sect had no choice but to give up the matter.

The situation in Xijiang County has therefore fallen into a stalemate. The two sides are constantly engaged in small battles, but there have been no major battles. The situation has entered a stalemate stage, which is a pity for those low-level monks.

Four months ago, George Lam brought news that there were less than thirty of the eighty disciples who had participated in the conscription, and even Zhang Yi had died in a recent battle. Song Xian couldn't help but feel sad when he heard the news.

Zhang Yi was not only a elder of the sect, but he had also been loyal and hardworking over the years. However, he ended up like this, dying in Xijiang County, which made him feel a little sad.

But he did not blame himself or feel guilty about it. He had witnessed too many separations of life and death over the years, and he was very aware in his heart that many people would inevitably fall behind on the path of cultivation. This was a fact that could not be changed.

It was impossible for the ten people in the sect to keep going, as there would always be people who would leave.

Song Xian's life was still regular, going to and from work every day. A few months ago, he had reached the third level of foundation building, but the amount of spiritual energy in his body was stuck at 1149 points and could not advance any further.

This feeling is like the entrance and exit of the Linghai acupoint are blocked by a plug, and the amount of spiritual energy can no longer be increased by refining spiritual power.

He knew that he had encountered a bottleneck in his cultivation. After a cultivator reaches the foundation-building stage, he may encounter a bottleneck every time he reaches the critical point of the middle and late foundation-building stages.

There's no definitive explanation for the origin of bottlenecks in the cultivation world, and theories abound. The mainstream theory is that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth contains trace amounts of toxins, which cultivators are unable to completely expel during refining, causing them to settle. When this accumulates to a certain amount, a bottleneck forms.

There are many ways to break through the bottleneck. Some break through the bottleneck by fighting to the death, some break through the bottleneck by dispersing the power, and some break through the bottleneck by taking elixirs.

Of course, there are also many people who are unable to break through the bottleneck in their entire life.

Since Song Xian encountered a bottleneck, he has never entered the training room again. Instead, he focused on refining talismans and practicing martial arts and supernatural powers.

On this day, the sky was clear and the air was bright. Song Xian was refining talismans in his room as usual.

As his pen moved like a dragon, many complex patterns condensed under his pen.

What he is making now is a talisman called the Bewitching Heart Talisman, which is a special second-grade top-grade talisman recorded in the Jidao Secret Talisman.

The effect is to make people lose consciousness temporarily and obey their own orders.

This is somewhat similar to the soul-searching technique, but not as domineering as the soul-searching technique. The advantage is that there are almost no side effects. The disadvantage is that it requires the other party's full cooperation to integrate the talisman into the Niwan Palace. Otherwise, the spiritual power in the other party's body will disperse the power of the talisman.

It was unknown how long it had been, but the mysterious brush in Song Xian's hand suddenly stopped, and then the patterns on the talisman began to twist.

Song Xian touched the sweat on his forehead and sighed slightly, but still failed.

He has studied this talisman for a long time, but still hasn't mastered the key points and has never succeeded once.

But as soon as he left the room, an attendant disciple came up to greet him and said that Huang Ye was waiting in the waiting room and had something to report.

Song Xian then came to the hall, where Huang Ye was already seated. He stood up and bowed before saying, "Master, we have a clue about what you ordered."

Hearing this, Song Xian's eyes lit up and he immediately asked, "Have you found the person?"

Because his cultivation had reached a bottleneck and he could no longer increase his spiritual power by refining spiritual energy, he had to stop practicing and try to find a way to break through the bottleneck. There was a way in front of him.

When he participated in the Tianlan event, he obtained a Zhixuecao in the forbidden area. This was the main ingredient for refining the Huanglong Pill, and the function of the Huanglong Pill was to break through the bottleneck in the early stage of foundation building.

But the problem now is that he doesn't have an alchemist who can refine the Yellow Dragon Pill. Although Hunyuan Sect has several alchemists, their skills are not enough to refine this level of pills. He only has one Zhixuecao, so he must find an alchemist with high skills, otherwise it will be wasted, and that would be the end of it. This is related to his future path of cultivation, so he must be careful.

Therefore, he ordered the sect's intelligence center to make every effort to find Han Yuan's whereabouts, hoping to refine the Yellow Dragon Pill through Han Yuan.

The two had gone treasure hunting together and had established a certain basis of trust. Han Yuan had refined a second-grade, low-grade elixir and possessed a scroll of ancient elixir recipes, which must have contained the method for refining the Yellow Dragon Pill. He was the right person for the job.

Huang Ye replied, "There is currently no clue about Han Yuan's whereabouts, but we have received information about another alchemist. His name is Ji Yue, a famous alchemist in Xijiang County, with a cultivation level of the middle stage of foundation building, and he is from Humen City. There is news that he recently returned to Humen City. Master, you can try to contact him."

Han Yuan was a free cultivator who traveled all over the world. He was elusive and unpredictable. Finding his whereabouts depended on luck. Therefore, Song Xian had instructed the Intelligence Peak to find clues about Han Yuan and also to inquire about the whereabouts of other famous free cultivators.

It's not that he doesn't want to find alchemists from famous sects, but these people are all well-known figures and it's not easy to get close to them. In addition, they have powerful forces behind them, so they are fearless and there is a high possibility that they will rob each other.

Take Luoyun Sect for example, its chief alchemist is only at the initial stage of foundation building and may not be able to refine the Yellow Dragon Pill.

Alchemists of this level have to be sought out by forces like the Beastmaster Sect and the Murong Family, but Song Xian has no relatives or friends with them and just met them by chance, so naturally he doesn't trust these people.

As for independent cultivators, they have no power or influence and dare not offend others easily, so they are safer. "Ji Yue," Song Xian repeated. He had heard of this person, but had never met him in person and didn't know him well. "What is his reputation?"

"It has a good reputation and is said to be trustworthy."

.........

The sun was shining brightly, the sky was clear and the air was fresh. In Humen City, on a desolate hill, in front of a bamboo house, a beam of light shot down, revealing the figure of Song Xian.

After learning about Ji Yue's clues, he immediately set out from Tianshan and came here. Many of these wandering cultivators were nomadic and had no fixed residence. It was not easy to find their whereabouts. If he did not take this opportunity to visit them and missed the chance, it would not be so easy to find them again.

As soon as his escape light fell, he felt a divine consciousness sweeping over him, and then the bamboo door was pushed open, and a tall and thin old man with a mustache walked out. He looked to be about sixty or seventy years old, with white hair and beard, but he was very energetic, with a straight body and bright eyes.

"Excuse me, are you Fellow Daoist Ji? I am Song Xian, the headmaster of the Hunyuan Sect in Xicheng. I have come to visit you. I apologize for disturbing you." Song Xian walked up to him and bowed his head.

The old man looked him up and down, then returned the greeting with a smile. "So it's Brother Song. I've long heard of your great name. I wonder what brings you to my humble abode?"

"To be honest, I'm here to ask for a favor. I've gathered all the materials for the Yellow Dragon Pill, but I regret that I don't have a skilled alchemist to help me. I've heard that Fellow Daoist Ji is very famous, and I heard that you've returned to Humen City, so I came to visit you and earnestly ask for your help in refining the Yellow Dragon Pill for me. If you can, no matter what conditions you put forward, I will do my best to meet them." Song Xian didn't hide anything and stated his purpose directly.

Although Ji Yue is a famous alchemist in Xijiang County, he may not be able to refine the Huanglong Pill. To refine the pill, one must first have the recipe, and then have experience in refining this kind of pill.

After all, he only has one plant of Zhixuecao and does not have the space to study it slowly, so there is no need for him to make it mysterious. If he can refine it, then they can negotiate the conditions, and if he can't, then forget it.

The old man smiled slightly after hearing this: "Fellow Daoist Song has found the right person. When I encountered a bottleneck in the third level of foundation building, I once refined the Yellow Dragon Pill."

Hearing his words, Song Xian's expression brightened: "If you can refine the Yellow Dragon Pill for me, I will be very grateful and will definitely reward you handsomely."

"Fellow Daoist Song, please come in! Let's talk slowly." Song Xian walked into the room as he said. The two sat opposite each other at the table. Ji Yue asked with a smile, "I wonder how many Yellow Dragon Pill ingredients Fellow Daoist Song has."

"There is only one plant of the main herb, Glechoma longituba." Song Xian answered truthfully.

"Fellow Daoist, please let me take a look at this first."

Song Xian flipped his hand and took out a wooden box. He opened it and found a three-foot-long, snow-white Ganoderma lucidum inside. It was Ganoderma lucidum.

Ji Yue didn't pick up the elixir, but just glanced at it for a few seconds, then nodded: "It's mature Zhixuecao, it can be used to refine Huanglongdan. Daoist friend, have you prepared the other auxiliary medicines?"

"I have only heard that Zhixue Dan is the main ingredient of Huanglong Dan, but I have never seen the recipe for Huanglong Dan. Therefore, I don't know what other auxiliary ingredients are needed, so I haven't gathered them yet. I implore Fellow Daoist Ji to let me know, and I will prepare them immediately."

"In addition to Zhixuecao, the Huanglong Pill also requires second-level snake gall, second-level snake scale fruit, second-level fire spirit leaf..." Ji Yue listed the auxiliary medicines needed one by one, and there were more than a dozen of them.

Song Xian wrote them down one by one: "Thank you for telling me, fellow Daoist. I wonder how many auxiliary medicine materials I should prepare?"

"This Yellow Dragon Pill is no different from other pills. It requires a very large amount of medicine. One plant of Zhixuecao is only enough to make one Yellow Dragon Pill. There's no room for more auxiliary medicines."

"Only enough to refine one Yellow Dragon Pill?" Song Xian didn't know about this before. After hearing this, he felt a little worried. The tolerance rate was too low. If the refining failed, it would be terrible.

"That's right. All elixirs used to break through bottlenecks are like this. Because the dosage is so large, one spiritual herb is only enough to refine one pill. Although I have experience in refining Zhixuecao, I can't guarantee absolute success. Fellow Daoist Song, please consider it carefully. If you want me to refine it, we have an agreement in advance. If the refining fails, you can't blame me."

Song Xian's eyes flashed slightly, his thoughts raced in his mind, and finally he nodded. He had no choice. If Ji Yue couldn't do it, then others might not be able to do it either, unless he could find an alchemist in the Jindan stage to refine the Huanglong Pill for him.

Ji Yue is quite famous and has experience in refining this kind of pill, so he is a very suitable candidate.

"Since you trust me, I can make this pill for you. I just need a small reward."

"Of course. Please tell me how many spirit stones you want, fellow Daoist." The two of them had no relatives or friends, so it was impossible for the other party to refine the Yellow Dragon Pill for him for free. Song Xian was mentally prepared for this. Not to mention the sect's property, his personal wealth also amounted to hundreds of thousands of spirit stones. For him, anything that could be solved with spirit stones was not a problem.

"To refine this pill, I will charge a deposit of 30,000 spirit stones. If it succeeds, I will charge another 30,000 spirit stones. If you agree, then our cooperation is complete."

"No problem." Song Xian agreed without thinking too much. According to Ji Yue's charging standard, if he failed, he would charge 30,000 spirit stones, and if he succeeded, he would charge 60,000. This was not a small amount, but for Song Xian, it was not unacceptable.

The price may be a bit high, but he has no choice. The bottleneck in cultivation is a lifelong thing. If he wants to break through the bottleneck, the sooner he refines the Yellow Dragon Pill, the better. Compared with successfully refining the Yellow Dragon Pill, a mere tens of thousands of spirit stones are nothing.

After reaching an agreement, Song Xian immediately paid the deposit. Considering the other party's cultivation and fame, he was not worried at all that the other party would embezzle the 30,000 spirit stones.

In fact, the reason why Ji Yue agreed to help him refine the pill was, on the one hand, it was profitable, and on the other hand, he was excited about the opportunity. As a senior alchemist, when encountering such a rare opportunity, he would want to try it. This would not only help his alchemy skills, but also increase his value.

It's like an excellent knife maker who, upon coming across a piece of rare fine iron, instinctively wants to forge it into a weapon.

Besides, Song Xian is not an unknown person. As the head of a sect, he has some connections in Bianxi City. If he helps me, I can ask him for help next time I encounter difficulties. For a casual cultivator, making friends with good people is a basic rule.

The two chatted for a while, and then Song Xian said goodbye and left. After returning to Tianshan, he immediately found Zhang Ningyuan and asked him to collect the auxiliary medicines for refining the Huanglong Pill.

Although those second-level spiritual medicines and herbs and various cultivation materials are not the goods sold at street stalls, they are not too rare. In addition, there are now many shops of Muhe Grassland forces in Stone City buying and selling goods, so it didn't take much effort to collect two sets of various auxiliary medicines.

This is to avoid some auxiliary medicines not meeting the standards, so Song Xian requires that two portions of each be prepared.

(End of this chapter)