Brother Who Determines the Fate of the Nation: My Great Emperor's Cultivation Level Exposed by

On the day the Vajra Sect army retreated, the Sky Rift Plain was littered with corpses, and the air was filled with the mixed smell of scorched earth and blood.

Su Xuan followed at the very back of the main group. The bloodstains on his gray robe had dried completely, forming hard, brown scabs. He covered the bulging cloth pouch at his waist with his sleeve, and the seventeen storage bags lay quietly against his side.

No one spoke to him on the way back to the clan.

It wasn't intentional distancing; it was simply that no one had the energy to speak anymore. Of the 372 inner disciples who went on the expedition, less than 200 returned alive.

Three days later, in the main hall of the Vajra Sect.

The sect leader's spiritual pressure enveloped the entire hall, and his golden armor gleamed with a cold, hard luster under the light of the spiritual lamps on the ceiling. The hall was filled with people, with true disciples in front, inner disciples behind, and elders lined up on both sides, each bearing injuries.

"Although our Vajra Sect has won this battle, the price has been heavy." The sect leader's voice came down from the high platform, "But those who have made contributions will be rewarded, and those who have made mistakes will be punished. This is the way of Heaven, and this is also the rule of our sect."

A disciple in charge stepped forward with a jade book in hand and began to read out the list of war merits.

The names of the dozen or so elders who had been read out were all thanks to the Golden Core elders. Su Xuan stood at the very end of the line of true disciples, his head bowed, his spiritual pressure still contained at the level of the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.

"Su Xuan, the true disciple."

The deacon's voice suddenly rose by half a point.

"On the battlefield, we killed one early-stage Golden Core elder and six peak Foundation Establishment cultivators from Qingmu Valley. The seized supplies were valued at over 400,000 spirit stones. In addition..."

The disciple in charge paused, glanced at the contents of the jade book, and swallowed hard.

"In addition, I single-handedly stormed the Green Wood Valley Treasury, killed the Golden Core Peak Elder guarding the treasury, and brought back a large amount of enemy sect resources."

The hall was quiet for three breaths.

Then everyone turned their heads, and hundreds of eyes simultaneously fell on the gray-robed youth at the very end of the line.

Su Xuan did not look up.

The sect leader stood up from the high platform, the spiritual light on his golden armor flickering slightly, and his voice carried an unusual warmth: "Su Xuan, come forward."

Su Xuan stepped out of the queue, walking at a moderate pace, and stood still in the center of the hall.

"You have made a great contribution in this battle. I hereby grant you permission to choose any treasure from the sect's treasure vault without any restrictions."

A suppressed gasp filled the hall. Everyone present understood the weight of the words "no restrictions."

The top-grade magical artifacts and ancient cultivation techniques that have been gathering dust for hundreds of years on the highest floor of the treasure pavilion are all within the selection range.

The second elder stood to the side, stroking his beard, smiling, and said nothing.

Su Xuan raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the jade tablet listing the treasures hanging above the main hall, pausing for a moment at a certain spot in the third row.

"This disciple desires the 'Creation Elixir Manual'."

The hall fell silent again.

This time, it wasn't shock, it was confusion.

One of the Golden Core elders couldn't help but blurt out, "What is that thing?"

The old man in charge of the Treasure Pavilion was summoned on short notice. He searched through the books for a long time before finally finding it. With a wrinkled old face, he read aloud: "The Creation Elixir Manual, an ancient alchemical tradition, is stored on the seventh floor of the east side hall of the Treasure Pavilion. It has been in the pavilion for 320 years, but no one has ever looked after it."

A buzzing sound filled the hall.

"Why choose alchemy over the Heavenly Profound Cold Iron Sword and the Vajra Indestructible Technique?"

"Has this kid been beaten senseless?"

"Shh, keep your voice down."

The sect leader remained silent for a few moments before nodding: "Approved. In addition, the Alchemy Peak to the east has been vacant for a long time. It will be allocated to you as your cultivation ground, along with its accompanying alchemy room and spirit fields, all of which will be under your control."

Su Xuan cupped his hands in thanks: "Thank you, Sect Master."

He turned and left the hall without saying a single extra word.

The whispers behind them were shut out by the doors of the main hall.

Blue Star, Dragon Kingdom Live Stream Room.

The live chat exploded when Su Xuan uttered the words "Creation Pill Technique".

"Alchemy? Su Shen is going to become an alchemist? What kind of move is this?"

"Brothers, don't worry, when has Su Shen ever made a losing deal?"

"I'll bet a bag of spicy strips that there's a big strategy involved."

"Have you forgotten? The Five Elements Foundation Establishment Method requires a top-grade auxiliary pill to form the core, which is impossible to buy on the market. He's going to refine it himself!"

"Holy crap, this brain is too deep."

Alchemy Peak.

The moment Su Xuan closed the main hall gate, the entire mountain's grand formation activated simultaneously, and spiritual light surged up from the ground, enveloping an area of ​​three miles in an impenetrable blanket.

He entered the secret room, sat cross-legged, and took out the three-inch-long piece of emerald green wood from his storage ring.

The heartwood of the ancient Jianmu tree lay quietly in my palm, brimming with vitality, its verdant light painting the entire secret chamber with the colors of spring.

Refining.

The overwhelming life force flowed into his dantian through his meridians, colliding violently with the water, fire, and metal elemental energies that had been dormant there. The intense pain spread from his dantian to his limbs and bones. Su Xuan's back was taut and straight, and fine beads of sweat seeped from his forehead.

Water nourishes wood, wood nourishes fire, fire overcomes metal, and metal overcomes wood.

The cycle of mutual generation and restraint of the five elements runs wildly within the body, and the four spiritual energies pull and tear at each other. Each collision brings a new wave of intense pain, but at the same time, it is also establishing a deeper balance.

Three days and nights.

The moment the fourth elemental energy completely merged into the dantian, the four colors of light—water, fire, metal, and wood—simultaneously lit up, forming a four-element formation in a mysterious trajectory. The flow of spiritual energy changed from unidirectional to cyclical, endlessly generating.

In the later stages of foundation building, it becomes extremely stable.

But there's still one step to go.

You will then be able to reach the peak of Foundation Establishment!

Earth-based sacred object, the core of thick earth.

And a top-grade pill that can help condense a flawless Five Elements Golden Elixir.

The former requires a stroke of luck, while for the latter, he decided to create it himself.

Su Xuan opened the storage ring he had looted from the Green Wood Valley treasury. The seventeen bags of battlefield spoils, plus the treasury's stock, contained a small mountain of various spiritual herbs, ranging in quality from the third to the seventh rank, in a ridiculously large quantity.

He unfolded the golden silk scroll of "The Elixir of Creation" and turned the pages one by one.

Throughout his 30,000-year reign as emperor, alchemy was never his primary focus. However, as an unparalleled emperor who once dominated an entire era, he had seen more alchemical formulas than all the sects in the entire Eastern Wilderness combined over the long years. His understanding of the properties of medicinal herbs was already etched deep into his soul.

The first batch of elixir.

The Samadhi True Fire rose, its crimson flames licking the bottom of the bronze cauldron, the heat precisely controlled to the millimeter. Spiritual herbs were added to the cauldron, the medicinal liquid condensed, and the elixir embryo took shape.

Blasted.

Su Xuan looked at the shattered fragments of the alchemy furnace without any further reaction, and reached out to move a new one from the shelf next to him.

The second furnace, the third furnace, the fifth furnace, the tenth furnace.

A month later, the success rate of pill formation stabilized at 30%.

Three months later, 60%

One year later, 90%

Five years.

He hadn't left the gates of the Alchemy Peak for five whole years.

On the last day of the fifth year, above the alchemy furnace in the secret chamber, nine alchemical patterns slowly emerged on the inside of the furnace lid. Spiritual light radiated outward through the furnace wall, and the entire alchemy peak was enveloped in a rich and cloying medicinal fragrance.

The furnace lid flew off.

Nine perfectly round pills rose into the air, milky white in color, with golden pill patterns covering their surfaces, each radiating astonishing spiritual energy fluctuations.

At the same moment, the sky above the Alchemy Peak suddenly darkened, and a dark cloud of tribulation clouds gathered from the void, with lightning rolling and leaping within the clouds.

The Tribulation of Elixir.

A celestial phenomenon that can only be triggered when a top-grade elixir is produced.

All the cultivators of the Vajra Sect raised their heads, looking at the churning tribulation clouds in the direction of the Alchemy Peak. The communication jade tablets in each hall rang simultaneously.

Zongwu Hall.

An inner disciple rushed in, flustered: "Reporting to the elders, a pill tribulation has occurred on the Alchemy Peak! It's... it's Su Xuan's side!"

The sect leader's voice came from the high platform, very calm: "I saw it."

He stood in front of the main hall, looking up at the distant cloud of calamity. He remained silent for a long time before suddenly speaking to the Second Elder beside him.

"We'll probably have to rely on this disciple for the sect's future supply of pills."

The Second Elder stroked his beard, a deeper meaning creeping into his smile: "It's not just pills."

forbidden.

Su Ruo squatted on the ground, her arms wrapped around her knees, staring at the tribulation cloud in the sky and the nine pills rising into the air. She opened her mouth for a long time before uttering a single syllable.

"elder brother……"

In the sky, the tribulation clouds dispersed, and the nine pills fell back into Su Xuan's palm. He put them into the jade bottle one by one.

The secret room returned to silence.

Su Xuan stood up and stretched his stiff shoulders and neck. The fatigue from five years of sitting still quickly subsided under the operation of the Asura Divine Body.

The Dao of alchemy has been achieved.

The elixir-forming aid can now be refined.

Now only one last thing is missing.

Earth-based sacred object, the core of thick earth.