Heaven and Earth Phenomenon

At a plaza somewhere in the central ancient city of Ten Thousand Demons Valley, Yan Kuan sat cross-legged before a blazing cauldron. Within the fiery-red Medicine Cauldron, a large mass of pale-red, pure medicinal liquid churned rapidly.

Ever since Yan Kuan had held an equal negotiation with Ten Thousand Demons Valley's upper ranks, carrying Great Sage Chisongzi's Broken Sword, the two sides had reached a preliminary deal. Ten Thousand Demons Valley would provide the spiritual herbs for Yan Kuan to refine, and the resulting pills would be divided forty-sixty, with Yan Kuan taking sixty percent.

This agreement appeared to put Ten Thousand Demons Valley at a disadvantage, but they actually came out ahead when the numbers were properly calculated. After all, there were already few people in the cultivation world capable of refining high-grade pills, and even fewer were willing to work with the demon race.

Moreover, in the cultivation world, hiring someone to refine pills generally required preparing at least three sets of ingredients along with lavish gifts just to have a chance of persuading an alchemist to act. Yan Kuan asking for only sixty percent was already remarkably fair.

This transaction benefited both sides. Ten Thousand Demons Valley exchanged spiritual herbs that were easily wasted for pills that were easier to absorb and refine. Besides receiving sixty percent of the pills, Yan Kuan also gained an opportunity to rapidly improve his alchemy.

With the spiritual herbs supplied by Ten Thousand Demons Valley, his alchemy advanced by leaps and bounds. Before long, he had refined many Fourth Grade Peak pills and had finally begun attempting to refine Fifth Grade Pills. Today's attempt was his closest to success yet.

Yan Kuan had already failed several times before. This time, he carefully divided his spiritual power into two streams and sent them into the Medicine Cauldron. One stream firmly suppressed the flames, while the other wrapped around the medicinal liquid like lightning before suddenly erupting with an immensely powerful compressive force.

As though it sensed the crushing force pressing in from all around, the pale-red medicinal liquid began to surge violently. With every surge, extraordinarily powerful energy ripples burst forth, repeatedly colliding with Yan Kuan's spiritual power.

On the white jade plaza, the Medicine Cauldron suddenly trembled slightly, and a crisp clanging sound rang out from within. The figures watching nearby could not help but grow nervous. Yan Kuan had failed at precisely this stage in his previous attempts; how could they not worry?

Yet Yan Kuan, who controlled the cauldron this time, remained exceedingly calm. The hand he held out toward the Medicine Cauldron abruptly clenched hard, as if he were trying to crush the air before him.

With that motion, the violently churning medicinal liquid inside the Medicine Cauldron suddenly froze. The spiritual power surrounding it surged in strength in an instant, and the originally massive mass of liquid had now shrunk to only half the size of a fist.

"Condense!!!"

As Yan Kuan shouted softly, he released even more spiritual power. The half-fist-sized mass of medicinal liquid inside the Medicine Cauldron suddenly trembled and rapidly shrank at a visible rate. In the blink of an eye, it became a thumb-sized, pale-red embryonic pill.

Forming the pill was the most difficult step. Since this step had succeeded, as long as the process continued smoothly, the chances of truly completing the pill would be greatly increased.

Within the crimson Medicine Cauldron, scarlet flames continuously leaped upward. The blistering heat nearly transformed the cauldron into a fiery furnace. Within the flames at its center, the irregularly shaped embryonic pill gradually became rounder under the blazing heat.

The lustrous sheen on the pill's rounded surface grew increasingly brilliant. From afar, it looked like a red gemstone, radiating dazzling light amid the scarlet flames.

After successfully completing the most difficult pill-condensation stage, Yan Kuan flawlessly carried out every subsequent step. As time passed, fine beads of sweat gradually appeared on his forehead, his breathing became hurried, and a trace of pallor appeared on his face.

Yan Kuan's physical condition was not particularly good, but his mental state was unexpectedly strong. With bright, focused eyes, he stared fixedly into the Medicine Cauldron. Amid the crimson flames, a dark-red pill flickered in and out of view.

The pill, now formed, had completely restrained its energy fluctuations. It looked like an ordinary pellet, bearing none of the appearance a Fifth Grade Pill should possess.

Yan Kuan had gradually reached the stage of completing and retrieving the pill. Since his first successful refinement of a Fifth Grade Pill was imminent, he stared without blinking at the dark-red pill. This Fifth Grade Dragon Strength Pill was nearly perfect and was about to emerge in truth.

Within the flames of the Medicine Cauldron, the dark-red pill began to spin rapidly. As its rotation intensified, the scorching energy within the scarlet flames gathered into twisted, invisible strands and poured into it without end.

"Clang!"

Just as a vortex formed at the center of the flames, a ring of dark-red energy ripples suddenly burst from the surface of the dark-red pill and slammed heavily against the inner wall of the Medicine Cauldron, producing a crisp, resounding sound.

Witnessing this change in the dark-red pill with his own eyes, Yan Kuan's face filled with delight. He had simulated this situation countless times in his mind, but this was the first time it had appeared in reality.

This was the chaos in heaven-and-earth energy caused by the formation of a Fifth Grade Pill, a heaven-and-earth phenomenon unique to high-grade pills. Only by refining pills of Fifth Grade or above could an alchemist be considered to have truly entered the profession.

"Retrieve the pill."

Yan Kuan's hands swiftly formed countless seals. With his movements, the scarlet flames quickly receded, and the spinning dark-red pill gradually restrained its energy fluctuations. Yet the increasingly rich medicinal fragrance drew countless sounds of people swallowing their saliva from the surroundings.

As Yan Kuan completed his final seal, the dark-red pill flew from the Medicine Cauldron. He caught it and placed it into a Jade Vial. In that brief instant, several impatient figures had already arrived at his side.

"Brother Li, is that the Dragon Strength Pill in your hand? It smells incredible. Is this really only a Fifth Grade Pill?"

Ten Thousand Demons Valley's Third Valley Lord, Sun Wukong, had long since lost his usual composure. The way he scratched at his ears and cheeks made him look exactly like a monkey.

Among the pills Yan Kuan had refined before, there had been some useful to Ten Thousand Demons Valley's upper ranks. But for a Dragon Transformation Realm expert like him, at least comparable to a Dou Zong, their effects had been nearly nonexistent. He had only been willing to invest because he valued Yan Kuan's Future.

What he did not know was that on the Battle Qi Continent, even ordinary Dou Zongs were willing to treat Fifth Grade alchemists with courtesy. This was because Fifth Grade Pills could also be somewhat useful to Dou Zongs, and it was one reason Sun Wukong's attitude had become so warm.

He had not held much hope before, always feeling that Yan Kuan was still far from refining pills that could benefit him.

Yet what he had not expected was that although Fourth Grade Peak pills and Fifth Grade Pills differed by merely a thin line, they belonged to two entirely different levels.

"Third Valley Lord, please prepare more spiritual herbs according to my pill formula. I have some ideas for the pills I will refine next."

Yan Kuan acted rather coldly, but this did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of Ten Thousand Demons Valley's upper ranks. In their view, it was best for a genius to possess such a stubborn temperament. Sun Wukong immediately instructed several great demons, setting the entirety of Ten Thousand Demons Valley into motion.