A fragment of a Level-Two ancient pill recipe.
If this news spread, cultivators would come fighting for it not only from the neighboring cities, but probably even from Yunjiangguan.
Naturally, the members of the Pill Cultivator Alliance had not heard Xia Yunzhao’s muttering and politely asked whether he needed anything else.
Xia Yunzhao returned to his senses and requested several more spirit medicines. He had a few ideas that needed to be tested one by one.
If the Nightglow Pill and Heart-Linking Yuyao Pill belonged to the same series of formulas, then the difference in refining difficulty alone showed that the Heart-Linking Yuyao Pill was an advanced version of the Nightglow Pill.
The Nightglow Pill’s effect was frankly ridiculous. Take it and glow at night? What use was that? Saving money on lanterns?
But what if that glow was not literal physical light, but… spiritual light?
One pill embodied the physical form, while the other took the underlying concept. One was an utterly ordinary Level-One pill, while the other ranked among the finest even within Level Two…
Sunlight gradually shifted, and time passed little by little.
After Xia Yunzhao blew up three more furnaces, pill fragrance finally began emerging from his furnace.
Could it be?!
Forget the spectators below. Even Pill Master Lipan could not help leaning forward and gripping the armrests of his chair. He knew this young pill cultivator possessed astonishing talent, but no matter how astonishing the talent, surely nobody could reconstruct an incomplete pill recipe the very first time they saw it?
But… what if?
He kept glancing over and finally could not remain seated. Once again, he rose and walked toward Xia Yunzhao.
Below the stage, Xiao Tian glanced at Shang Shuangze and could not resist wondering, Does Pill Master Lipan really not want Senior Xia as his disciple? Yet judging by Senior Xia and Senior Shang’s attitudes, neither seemed particularly interested. If Xiao Tian himself received the favor of a Level-Three pill master, he probably would have dropped to his knees and begged for apprenticeship immediately! People truly lived on different levels.
Suddenly, another loud explosion came from the stage.
Xia Yunzhao’s furnace had exploded again.
Pill Master Lipan had made it halfway there. He sighed softly and sat back down.
Xia Yunzhao did not look particularly discouraged. It was only a furnace explosion. He experienced so few of them normally that he could treat this as making up his quota.
He picked up Xiao Qing, wiped it clean, and asked softly, “You’re all right?”
Xiao Qing shook its belly. It was completely fine. Since when did an exploding furnace actually destroy the furnace itself?
Xia Yunzhao smiled, though his mind was still replaying the previous attempt. He had discovered one of his weaknesses: he knew too few spirit medicines.
There was no helping it. He simply had not been learning pill refining for very long. Forget pill refining, it had not even been half a year since he started cultivating.
Knowledge of the countless varieties of spirit medicines required time to accumulate.
Now that he knew this weakness existed, he needed to fix it quickly. Fortunately, he possessed the Myriad Spirits Pharmacopoeia. It was only Volume One, but its catalogue of spirit medicines was comprehensive and perfectly suited to a Level-Two pill cultivator like him.
Just now, he had used the Nightglow Pill to deduce the medicinal properties of the Heart-Linking Yuyao Pill. Now he only needed to use the properties of the Yuyao Pill to identify the matching spirit medicines.
He took out the Myriad Spirits Pharmacopoeia, held it in both hands, and began flipping through it page by page.
Everyone present: “………”
How should they describe this feeling? It was like visiting a physician who began flipping through a medical textbook while taking your pulse. Nobody was saying it could not work, but it looked incredibly strange!
The local Beiliang cultivators all thought the same thing. This year’s Pill Cultivator Grand Competition had certainly broadened their horizons. They had seen someone refine artifacts on the competition stage, and now someone was consulting a medicinal encyclopedia on the spot. What? Those two people were the same man? Then never mind.
Xia Yunzhao ignored the renewed commotion below. He divided his attention between searching for suitable spirit medicines and memorizing every medicine he encountered along the way. His memory had always been quite good in that respect.
He did not look nervous. The Heart-Linking Yuyao Pill was already practically in his pocket. Even if he failed today, reconstructing the complete recipe later was only a matter of time.
Another hour passed before Xia Yunzhao found three spirit medicines with suitable properties and asked the Pill Cultivator Alliance for them.
One was called Moon-Essence Condensate, a Level-Three spirit medicine of extraordinary value. The Alliance attendant still had to ask Pill Master Lipan for permission before going to open the storehouse.
Xia Yunzhao had already decided that if they refused, he would offer his own Drunken Immortal Mushroom in exchange. Both were Level-Three spirit medicines, so there should have been enough value to make a trade.
Unexpectedly, Pill Master Lipan agreed without asking a single question. The man certainly was not stingy.
Before long, an Alliance member brought over a jade bottle containing five drops of Moon-Essence Condensate. Each drop could be used for one attempt, giving Xia Yunzhao five chances. That was extraordinarily generous.
The condensate alone was probably worth no less than twenty thousand spirit pearls. An ordinary pill cultivator receiving something this valuable might already have begun trembling.
Xia Yunzhao was not afraid. If he failed, worst case he would pay for it. If that still was not enough, he could find the same amount of condensate and return it.
Steady as ever, he accepted the jade bottle and began refining.
Everyone waited for his furnace to explode again.
Fifteen minutes, thirty minutes, forty-five minutes… two hours passed. No explosion.
Another two hours passed. Still no explosion.
Finally, with only one hour left before the competition ended… pill fragrance once again emerged from Xia Yunzhao’s furnace.
This fragrance was extraordinarily unusual. Though it was simply a scent, it inexplicably called to mind moonlight flowing like water, cool and gentle, carrying the natural resonance of the Dao… Of course. The sun and moon possessed their own essence, and what cultivator had never contemplated the Dao beneath sunlight or moonlight?
Cultivators with greater comprehension even felt their own cultivation rise by the faintest trace… and immediately stared in shock. What pill is this?! Then another realization struck. Wait! Did Fellow Daoist Xia actually succeed?!
Wave after wave of spiritual power entered the pill furnace, while Xia Yunzhao remained perfectly methodical. Even with the competition nearly over, he showed no impatience whatsoever… Then his eyes abruptly opened. “Open!”
Pill Master Lipan snatched away the copper hammer just before it fell, refusing to let the noise disturb the forming pills. He stared eagerly at that palm-sized furnace, the rims of his eyes faintly red. Did it work? Did it really work?!
The lid opened, but instead of five pills, there were only two. The two jade-green pills seemed to attract each other and flew together into Xia Yunzhao’s palm.
The Heart-Linking Yuyao Pill. Taken by one person, it could brighten their spiritual light and increase comprehension. If two people took the pills simultaneously, their spiritual lights would resonate faintly, allowing each to sense the other’s insights and condition.
Xia Yunzhao had believed he could succeed this time, but he had never expected the Heart-Linking Yuyao Pill to be this powerful! Spiritual light represented a cultivator’s capacity for comprehension. Someone with poor enough comprehension could not understand even an excellent cultivation method and was practically barred from the path of cultivation, while brightening that spiritual light even slightly could make one’s cultivation advance by leaps and bounds.
More importantly, two people could take these pills simultaneously and share their comprehension! Would that not make cultivation twice as effective for half the effort?
For cultivators truly devoted to the Great Dao, this pill was practically beyond price.
Feeling the rich medicinal power of the pills, Xia Yunzhao’s brows lifted with delight, and his first instinct was to look toward Shang Shuangze below the stage.
Shang Shuangze was also watching him, his gaze almost tender. Suddenly his expression changed, and he flung out a hand.
Mingyun tore through the air on a violent gust, its blade-tip moving so quickly that friction almost generated heat. In an instant it reached Xia Yunzhao and shot past his head with a sharp clang. It was Tantai Ning!
At some point, Tantai Ning had put on an iron gauntlet and was reaching straight for Xia Yunzhao’s throat.
Everyone stared at him in shock. Nobody understood why he had suddenly launched an attack.
Xia Yunzhao, however, immediately realized that Tantai Ning was in a very abnormal state. His entire body trembled and his face twisted, his originally decent features contorting into angles that barely looked human.
Mingyun blocked him twice. In the next instant, someone had already seized the sword hilt. Xia Yunzhao tugged Shang Shuangze’s sleeve, conveying: Keep him alive. Something is wrong.
Shang Shuangze changed his slash into a flat strike and sent Tantai Ning flying.
Tantai Ning hit the ground, rolled once, and immediately scrambled back to his feet. Instead of attacking Xia Yunzhao again, however, he charged Pill Master Lipan with such vicious moves that he seemed determined to tear the man into pieces.
Clang! White light flared around Pill Master Lipan, revealing a protective magical artifact. Most pill cultivators were poor fighters, but they certainly did not lack defensive magical treasures.
Tantai Ning struck the treasure light and froze. Then he abruptly screamed. Black qi began pouring from his entire body, his lips turned pitch-black, and even his eyes became completely black. At the same time, thick black smoke began bubbling from his black pill furnace!
An elderly cultivator’s expression changed. “Not good! Could that be demonic qi?”
Xia Yunzhao heard Guang Xingyu ask in confusion, “Demonic qi? Haven’t demonic cultivators been extinct for ages? Where would demonic qi come from?”
The situation deteriorated in an instant. Whether or not it truly was demonic qi, there was clearly something terribly wrong with Tantai Ning. Xia Yunzhao was already considering grabbing Shang Shuangze and running away. Forget the prize. With two Heart-Linking Yuyao Pills in hand, this competition had already paid off spectacularly!
At that moment, a dark figure suddenly flew from the direction of the Pill Cultivator Alliance’s pavilion. In the blink of an eye, the newcomer had arrived.
The entire plaza instantly entered a bizarre state. The air seemed to turn gelatinous, heavy and viscous as it pressed against everyone’s bodies until movement became impossible. Xia Yunzhao felt all the blood in his body surge upward, while his eardrums pounded like drums: thump, thump, thump… His sharp instincts screamed at him to run, but he could not even lift a leg.
Shang Shuangze stepped in front of him, and every abnormal sensation disappeared.
Xia Yunzhao’s expression turned grave. Golden Core! The Pill Cultivator Alliance actually had a Golden Core cultivator here!
The Golden Core cultivator hovering in midair turned his face and seemed to glance at Shang Shuangze. Shang Shuangze gave him a slight nod, and the Golden Core cultivator returned it.
Watching from behind, Xia Yunzhao asked curiously, “What exactly did the two of you just communicate?” Only after speaking did he realize Shang Shuangze could not see his mouth from this angle.
Then, struck by a sudden impulse, he leaned close to Shang Shuangze’s ear and said, “Shang Shuangze, you look really handsome when you use your sword.”
Shang Shuangze kept his gaze fixed on the Golden Core cultivator above. Although the other man had shown a certain amount of goodwill, Shang Shuangze still did not relax. Warm, damp breath brushed his ear, and thinking Xia Yunzhao was worried, he naturally reached back, caught Xia Yunzhao’s wrist, slid his grip down, and enclosed his hand instead. The gesture carried an unquestionable promise of protection.
The Golden Core cultivator turned away, apparently baffled, then looked toward Tantai Ning, who was equally unable to move. He opened his hand and slapped downward as casually as swatting an insect.
Tantai Ning was instantly crushed against the ground. Blood sprayed from his mouth and nose, and the black qi around him dissipated.
Pill Master Lipan hurriedly shouted, “Spare his life!”
The Golden Core cultivator indifferently changed the slap into a grasp, hauled Tantai Ning up, crushed every bone in his body with one squeeze, and tossed him aside. Then his figure flashed and vanished.
Xia Yunzhao knew the man had not truly vanished. He had simply moved too quickly for everyone’s eyes to follow. Shang Shuangze could undoubtedly see him, though. Xia Yunzhao keenly noticed the tension leave Shang Shuangze’s muscles, so he stepped forward and stood beside him.
The other cultivators were in much worse shape. The moment the Golden Core cultivator left, Guang Xingyu collapsed onto the ground, complaining that his legs had gone weak. Bei Wan fared somewhat better, but her face was pale.
The most miserable person was still Tantai Ning. He had been thrown down like a torn sack, too badly hurt even to cry out, and blood quickly spread beneath him in layer after layer.
Without the black smoke around him, his expression returned to normal and the venomous hatred disappeared from his eyes. He seemed utterly unconcerned with his own body and struggled forward twice, dragged the black pill furnace into his arms, and showed a fleeting trace of relief. Then he raised his head toward Pill Master Lipan, and hatred still filled his gaze.
Pill Master Lipan looked at him, seemingly genuinely confused. “Why do you hate me so much?”
Tantai Ning sneered and spat out bloody foam. “Why do I hate you? You killed my parents to steal treasure, then planned to use me to open the restriction. And now you’ve even taken my father’s ancient pill recipe and used it for a competition… What, did you think you could keep me in the dark forever?!”
Pill Master Lipan fell silent. Only after a long while did he say, “I never expected you to think that.”
Xia Yunzhao became anxious on his behalf. That’s not how you argue! Why are you so bad with words?! If you didn’t do it, hurry up and explain! There are this many people watching today. If you don’t clear things up now, just wait and see what rumors are everywhere tomorrow!
Considering that Pill Master Lipan had effectively gifted him an ancient pill recipe, Xia Yunzhao finally asked aloud, “Pill Master Lipan, is it true that you killed Tantai Ning’s parents?”
“Of course not.” Pill Master Lipan frowned. “I have also been searching for the true culprit who killed Brother Tantai and his wife.” Still frowning, he seemed unable to figure out how to explain himself clearly and finally said, “I’m afraid I need to borrow your Yuyao Pill.”
Xia Yunzhao nodded and handed him one.
Pill Master Lipan took out a pill recipe. This was the original Yuyao Pill recipe itself, while what they had seen earlier had only been its projected image.
Xia Yunzhao sensed a familiar fluctuation from the recipe… He and Shang Shuangze looked at each other and both recognized it. An Obsession Secret Realm!
Pill Master Lipan placed the Yuyao Pill atop the recipe, and the Obsession Secret Realm activated.
This particular secret realm could not pull people inside, however. Instead, it projected images.
Relief faintly appeared on Pill Master Lipan’s face. “When I arrived back then, Brother Tantai and his wife were already dead and their only son had disappeared. I found traces of an Obsession Secret Realm on this pill recipe but could never enter it, so I guessed that the method of entering was to solve the recipe. Unfortunately, I studied it for years without finding the answer.” Reaching this point, he cupped his hands toward Xia Yunzhao. “Many thanks, Fellow Daoist Xia.”
Everyone turned in unison to stare at Xia Yunzhao. Good heavens. He’s a Level-Three pill master in charge of an entire Pill Cultivator Alliance branch, and he couldn’t solve it after years of study, but you cracked it alone in twelve hours? What kind of monster are you?!
Xia Yunzhao only smiled and said nothing. Without that Nightglow Pill recipe, he might have needed several years too. Come to think of it, Xiao Qing’s pill recipes were all surprisingly valuable, even those that looked useless. In that case… perhaps those culinary recipes were useful too?
The images from the Obsession Secret Realm had already begun, and everyone raised their heads to watch.
The opening scene was almost unreal in its beauty. A small courtyard stood within a bamboo forest. A male and female cultivator occupied it together, the man holding a pill recipe and reading with complete absorption while the woman swung a long spear until the air whistled. One was still and one in motion, yet the two seemed extraordinarily harmonious.
Tantai Ning desperately crawled forward two steps, dragging two trails of blood behind him. His voice was hoarse. “Father! Mother!”
Some of the softer-hearted cultivators could hardly bear to watch him. If Pill Master Lipan truly had killed his parents, then Tantai Ning seeking revenge would have been completely understandable, but judging from this scene, that plainly was not what had happened.
The image changed. The female cultivator finished training, walked to a bamboo chair, and bent down to look inside. A boy of six or seven was sleeping there, his features unmistakably those of Tantai Ning. His cheeks were rosy from sleep, and he hugged the black pill furnace in his arms.
The woman said, “Ning’er is already old enough to draw qi into his body. I want to make a trip to Liancui Mountain and gather some cultivation resources for him. He treasures the pill furnace you gave him so much that he may follow the Dao of pills one day. We can’t let him lack resources.”
So that pill furnace was a gift from his parents. No wonder he treasured it so much, Xia Yunzhao thought.
The male cultivator hurriedly said, “Don’t rush. I’m only a little away from reconstructing this Heart-Linking Yuyao Pill recipe. Let me refine a furnace first and exchange it for a protective magical artifact for you. The last time we went to those strange ruins, not only was one of your defensive artifacts destroyed, all we managed to bring out was this pill furnace. We really suffered a huge loss…”
As the two spoke, the little boy on the bamboo chair sat up and walked toward them. The man noticed first and asked gently, “Ning’er, you’re awake. Are you hungry?” He reached out to stroke his head, but the boy caught his palm, pulled it toward his mouth, and bit down viciously!
Ordinarily, a child could not possibly bite through a cultivator’s flesh, yet blood sprayed instantly from that single bite!
The man cried in shock, “Ning’er!”
The boy raised his head. His eyes were completely black, wisps of black qi escaping from them. He gave a strange laugh and suddenly exerted force, biting off the man’s entire hand!
“Ning’er!” The female cultivator raised her spear but was afraid of hurting him. She covered her hand with spiritual power and tried to pull him away, only for the boy to seize the opportunity and tear a large piece of flesh from her!
He moved with inhuman speed. Driven by the black qi and completely stripped of reason, he savagely tore at his own parents. The peaceful bamboo-forest retreat transformed in an instant into a bloody nightmare.
The female cultivator was the stronger fighter. After finally evading the boy’s attacks, she caught sight of the pill furnace still pouring out black smoke. “There’s something wrong with the furnace! I’ll destroy it!” She charged straight toward it and swept out with her spear.
The boy turned, saw what she was doing, and released a tremendous roar. Thick black qi poured from his body and instantly flooded the entire courtyard… When the darkness finally dispersed, the man and woman lay on the ground covered in blood, utterly still.
The boy’s eyes and lips were black. He swallowed the surrounding black qi back into his body in great mouthfuls, then picked up the furnace and walked away with stiff limbs.
Everything fell silent.
Nobody could quite process what they had just witnessed. Presumably, that husband and wife had been equally unable to understand it. Even at the moment of death, they probably could not comprehend why their family’s future had abruptly ended or why their happy life had vanished in an instant. It was nothing short of a nightmare.
This Obsession Secret Realm both contained an obsession and did not. There was no particular obsession waiting for an outsider to resolve. Instead, it stubbornly replayed what had already happened again and again, and only when the spiritual sense sustaining it was finally exhausted would it dissipate into heaven and earth.
“No… impossible…” Tantai Ning’s hoarse voice sounded. He instinctively hugged the black pill furnace that had comforted him countless times, then seemed to realize what he was doing and immediately hurled it away. “No! Impossible! I don’t believe it! Did you fake this to deceive me? Did you fake it?!”
He roared ferociously at Pill Master Lipan and struggled without caring what happened to his body. Blood burst from him in spray after spray like water squeezed from a soaked cloth. “Are you lying to me… lying to me?!” His hoarse voice finally broke into great, wrenching sobs, the sound so desolate that it resembled a dying beast.
Every person present felt pity. This family had truly suffered a calamity they never deserved.
A cultivator suddenly whispered, “It can drive people to kill… That black qi must be demonic qi! That furnace might even be a magical artifact left by a demonic cultivator.”
Someone immediately objected. “Impossible! Demonic cultivators disappeared thousands of years ago. Their bones should’ve rotted to dust by now. Where would demonic qi come from?!”
“But if it wasn’t demonic qi, how could a little child kill two Foundation Establishment cultivators? The Obsession Secret Realm can’t possibly be fake!”
Arguments erupted throughout the crowd. The grief and outrage of witnessing such a tragedy, combined with their fear of something they knew nothing about, made everyone desperate to vent their emotions. Every person present was a cultivator. If nobody stopped them, the argument turning into a fight was practically inevitable.
Xia Yunzhao saw Pill Master Lipan still standing there in a daze and shook his head. This man would have been perfectly suited to living freely as an ordinary pill cultivator. He truly was not cut out to manage a branch of the Alliance. The fact that Beiliang City had remained peaceful for so long was probably sheer luck.
So Xia Yunzhao raised his voice. “Pill Master Lipan, may I ask how your Alliance intends to handle this matter?”
Only then did Pill Master Lipan recover from the sight of his friend’s tragic death. He looked at Tantai Ning with a complicated expression. “This matter is extremely serious. I will report it to the main Alliance and ask them to send people to investigate. If it truly is demonic qi, we will notify all major powers. Everyone may rest assured.”
The agitated crowd gradually settled. Only now did they remember that the Pill Cultivator Alliance itself stood behind the man. They nodded. This seemed like a reasonable way to handle things.
The Pill Cultivator Alliance was one of the major powers of the cultivation world and stood toe-to-toe with Wandan Hall when it came to pills. Wandan Hall would shout, “All pills under heaven come from this one house,” and the Pill Cultivator Alliance would answer from afar, “Every pill cultivator under heaven belongs within our gates.” The two had competed for thousands of years without either suffering a crippling defeat, proof that both possessed tremendous foundations.
Now that the Pill Cultivator Alliance had promised to handle the matter, it would naturally deal with it thoroughly.
Xia Yunzhao thought that was quite good too. These great powers might look down on mortals, but when cultivators themselves were involved, they took things seriously.
Pill Master Lipan stopped looking at Tantai Ning on the ground and waved a hand. “Take him away and confine him until someone from the main Alliance arrives.” Then he added, “This year’s Pill Cultivator Grand Competition is concluded. The final rankings are as follows.”
He took out yet another Phantom Stone. Three days of competition had consumed three Phantom Stones. Nearly three hundred thousand spirit pearls, gone.
Xia Yunzhao practically clawed at the walls inside his mind. How are they this rich?! How do they make this much money?! If joining the Pill Cultivator Alliance comes with lessons on getting rich, I’ll join!
He had completely forgotten that his problem was never earning too little. He simply spent too much.
Shang Shuangze tilted his head toward him, amusement in his eyes as though he could see the little cat claws frantically scratching at the walls inside Xia Yunzhao’s head.
Xianchan mewed from the opening of his collar.
The Phantom Stone projected a light screen. The rankings would remain displayed there for three days, and the following three days would be the Pill Cultivator Gathering itself, giving the competitors an opportunity to capitalize on their newly established reputations.
Sure enough, Xia Yunzhao’s name stood at the very top. Bei Wan was second and Guang Xingyu third. Fourth place went to the cultivator whose water-attribute pill had exploded the previous day. He apparently had not expected to rank so highly either and chuckled happily to himself.
Xia Yunzhao continued reading and found Tantai Ning in eighth place. Tantai Ning did possess pill-refining talent, but his talent was not particularly high. He could not compare with Pill Master Lipan, much less his own father.
Since Tantai Ning had spent some time in the Pill Cultivator Alliance, the people sent to restrain him did not handle him roughly and even allowed him to finish looking at his ranking.
Unexpectedly, the moment the rankings appeared, Tantai Ning shook their hands off. He whispered, “I don’t want to go to the main Alliance.”
The Alliance members tried to persuade him. “Don’t throw a tantrum. Try to accept what happened, or you’ll only suffer more later.”
Tantai Ning slowly shook his head and looked toward the Obsession Secret Realm, where the images were still endlessly repeating. His eyes filled with yearning as spiritual energy gradually escaped from his body. His voice was hoarse and sorrowful. “…I’m going to find my father and mother. They were unlucky enough to have me as their child in this life. In my next life, I’ll be a pig, sheep, chicken, or dog in their household and let them slaughter me for meat…”
“Wait!” Xia Yunzhao was the first to realize what was happening. “Tantai Ning! Don’t rush off and die yet! There are still things you haven’t explained! Did you capture those five pill cultivators? Where are they? Are they still alive?”
Tantai Ning struggled to raise his eyes toward him. “…They’re locked up in a farming household east of the city… I’m sorry.” The day before yesterday, I really did want to kill you. Luckily, I didn’t succeed.
The final trace of his cultivation dispersed, and he collapsed to the ground without another sound. The family of three, one inside the projected memory and one outside it, were finally reunited.
Xia Yunzhao rubbed his temple. He was now certain that Tantai Ning had been affected by demonic qi all along. What he did not know was whether the demonic qi merely amplified the darker thoughts inside him or actively pushed him deeper and deeper into a dead end. What exactly was this demonic qi that could control someone into devouring his own parents?
He turned back and said, “Why don’t we stop here for today and collect the prizes tomorrow?”
Bei Wan and Guang Xingyu looked at each other and both nodded. If even Xia Yunzhao was not in a hurry, they certainly were not.
Pill Master Lipan stared at the corpse on the ground for a very long time before saying, “No. Today. Return here in two hours to collect your prizes.”
With that, he left in silence.
After something like this, Xia Yunzhao had no interest in chatting either. He casually waved goodbye to his two friends and left with Shang Shuangze.
The two found a teahouse at random and sat down. Xia Yunzhao immediately asked, “What exactly is demonic qi? Does getting even a little of it on you suddenly change your personality and make you start killing people? When Tantai Ning was covered in black qi, so many people came into contact with it. Are they going to be all right?”
Shang Shuangze poured him tea and slowly said, “It isn’t that simple. Tantai Ning was affected so easily because he was only a child when he first encountered the demonic qi. Moreover, he had probably been in contact with that pill furnace for many days before the incident.”
Seeing how much Shang Shuangze seemed to know, Xia Yunzhao asked, “You know quite a lot about this?”
Shang Shuangze nodded and continued, “Regardless of their moral character, cultivators generally possess resilient minds. If someone can be contaminated by demonic qi and eventually fall completely into demonic cultivation, it is because there was already a crack in their heart. For example, suppose you wanted a great many spirit pearls…”
Xia Yunzhao immediately objected, “What’s wrong with spirit pearls?”
Shang Shuangze instantly changed examples. “Suppose someone desperately wants a magical treasure. Demonic qi may tempt him to steal, rob others, or even murder someone and seize their treasure. The moment he finally gives in to that temptation and truly commits the act, an inner demon takes root. Demonic qi feeds upon that inner demon and grows until eventually it occupies his entire mind and transforms him into a demonic cultivator.”
Xia Yunzhao thought about it. “That sounds pretty powerful, but it doesn’t seem impossible to defend against.”
Shang Shuangze’s tone remained calm. “You conduct yourself uprightly and your heart is clear. Demonic qi would dissipate on its own upon touching you. There is no need to worry.”
Xia Yunzhao felt as though his heart dropped straight back into place with a splash. “Then the other cultivators who touched demonic qi today…”
“They will also be fine,” Shang Shuangze continued. “That Golden Core cultivator dispersed all of the demonic qi.”
Xia Yunzhao relaxed further. “It seems a major power like the Pill Cultivator Alliance knows far more about demonic qi than unaffiliated cultivators do. Even cultivators at one of their branches know how to handle it. Perhaps this isn’t the first time something like this has happened.”
Shang Shuangze continued pouring tea for him.
Xia Yunzhao looked at him and suddenly smiled. “You’re talking so much today. Are you trying to comfort me?”
Shang Shuangze caught only the final two words and gave him a faintly puzzled look, clearly asking Xia Yunzhao to repeat himself.
Xia Yunzhao only smiled at him, raised his teacup, and lightly tapped it against Shang Shuangze’s. “Try it. This tea is really fragrant.”
Shang Shuangze was helpless. He had never thought losing his hearing was particularly inconvenient before, but at this moment he finally understood otherwise.
The tea really was fragrant, and its aftertaste was sweet.
When they returned to the platform, Xia Yunzhao’s mood had lightened considerably.
The platform had already been cleaned, though the smell of blood still lingered and would not disperse.
Bei Wan and Guang Xingyu were both present, and hardly any of the spectators had left either. Some remained anxiously hoping to learn more about demonic qi, while the more carefree among them wanted to witness the Pill Cultivator Alliance’s supreme treasure. After all, the first-place winner was about to enter the Myriad-Formula Medicinal Realm to cultivate!
Xia Yunzhao had even prepared himself for Pill Master Lipan to send someone else in his place, but unexpectedly the man came personally.
Only two hours had passed, yet Pill Master Lipan looked as though he had aged considerably, although there was also a little more relief in his expression. A strip of black cloth was tied around his wrist. Xia Yunzhao had seen that custom before in Qingxi City. It symbolized the white-haired sending off the black-haired, an elder mourning someone younger.
Elio’s Notes: “The white-haired sending off the black-haired” is a Chinese expression for the particular tragedy of an older person having to bury someone younger, especially a parent mourning a child.
It seemed that regardless of what Tantai Ning himself had believed, Pill Master Lipan truly had regarded his old friend’s son as his own child.
They began awarding prizes from third place. Guang Xingyu stepped forward and received twenty thousand spirit pearls. He looked delighted. Twenty thousand spirit pearls would fund quite a lot of delicious food on his travels.
Bei Wan went next. The Pill Cultivator Alliance’s Pill Pavilion was itself a magical artifact. Pill Master Lipan brought it out on the spot and allowed Bei Wan to enter and make her selections. She appeared to have prepared in advance, because she emerged in less than fifteen minutes. Nobody knew what she chose, but judging from her expression, she seemed quite satisfied.
Finally came the highlight of the entire competition: the Myriad-Formula Medicinal Realm!
Many people had heard of the Medicinal Realm’s great reputation, but this was their first time seeing it with their own eyes.
Pill Master Lipan raised a hand and summoned a painting scroll. It floated in midair and slowly unfurled, revealing the First-Glimpse Scroll of the Myriad-Formula Medicinal Realm. Mist swirled within while radiant light surged, and through the shifting gaps one could see countless spirit medicines flowering, bearing fruit, dropping seeds, and taking root again, a visible manifestation of the different flow of time within.
Pill Master Lipan nodded toward Xia Yunzhao. “Fellow Daoist, you may cultivate within for twelve hours. According to the flow of time inside the Medicinal Realm, that will equal one hundred and twenty hours. You may freely use the spirit medicines within, and any pills you refine may be taken out with you.”
Xia Yunzhao rubbed his hands together eagerly. “Good!”
He swallowed a Qi-Replenishing Pill and restored his spiritual power to its peak. There were so many spirit medicines inside, and since they had explicitly given him permission to refine as much as he pleased, then he certainly would not be polite!
He did not know whether the Spirit-Transmutation Art would work inside, but he had plenty of Qi-Replenishing Pills in his Hundred-Compartment Pouch. This time, he absolutely intended to refine enough pills to make every moment worthwhile.
He gave Shang Shuangze a reassuring smile, walked up to the Myriad-Formula Medicinal Realm, and touched the scroll with one hand. His entire body was immediately pulled inside.
His vision blurred as a sensation of weightlessness washed over him, and when his feet finally found solid ground again, he was standing in a place filled with birdsong and the fragrance of flowers.
He looked around and discovered that the entire ground was covered with spirit plants, all of considerable age! He and Shang Shuangze had searched practically all of Liancui Mountain before finding a Hundred-Year Resilient Vine, yet here Xia Yunzhao spotted four or five at a single glance!
There were countless other spirit medicines too. Level One, Level Two… even Level Three!
Then he sensed the surrounding spiritual energy… Even the spiritual energy here was extraordinarily abundant?
Xia Yunzhao immediately lit up. Now this is a good prize! Those three days of work weren’t wasted at all!