On the central plaza of the ancient city in Ten Thousand Demons Valley, the rich medicinal fragrance lingered enticingly, drawing in countless accomplished demon cultivators. The constant stirring of heaven and earth energy had also turned this place into a sacred cultivation ground within Ten Thousand Demons Valley. Countless thatched cottages had been built around the plaza where Yan Kuan refined pills.
Among the countless thatched cottages, two were especially distinct. They belonged to Yan Kuan's parents. After Yan Kuan reached a cooperation agreement with Ten Thousand Demons Valley, they too entered the core of this land rich in spiritual energy to cultivate in seclusion, and their cultivation had progressed quite well.
Yan Kuan had refined pills here for more than two years, while they had stayed in Ten Thousand Demons Valley for two years. Occasionally, escorted by powerful figures from the valley, they traveled to towns to contact the heads of the company's various departments and remotely direct its development.
Because they regularly received Yan Kuan's pills and cultivated in the abundant spiritual energy of Ten Thousand Demons Valley, these two people of average aptitude had unexpectedly risen from the Sea of Bitterness Realm to the Life Spring Realm within two years. Their very essence of life had undergone a qualitative leap.
Some of the pills they had taken over the past two years had even made great demons of the Four Extremes Realm envious. They had truly come to understand what it meant for one person to attain the Dao and for even the chickens and dogs to ascend to heaven.
"Wife, look at how serious our son is this time. Could it be that the pill he's preparing to refine is extraordinary?"
At the edge of the plaza, Yan Kuan's parents stood beside Sun Wukong, the Third Valley Lord. Over the years, Yan Qiang had become quite familiar with Sun Wukong and was no longer overly restrained. He glanced at his son and noticed that the latter's expression seemed especially grave this time, so he could not help asking his wife.
Sun Wukong also pricked up his ears to listen to the couple's conversation, mainly because he wanted confirmation from Xiao Lin. Xiao Lin had taken care of Yan Kuan's daily life over the years, and her precious son would share certain important matters with his mother.
"Shh! Keep your voice down. Don't disturb our son. This time, Little Kuan is preparing to refine a Rank-Advancing Pill, the kind he mentioned before—the Divine Pill that might help someone in the Four Extremes Realm advance to the Transforming Dragon Realm."
Xiao Lin shot her husband a glare. It was not that their affection had faded after reaching middle age, but after living with the same person for so long and becoming overly familiar, everything about him seemed displeasing. How could he compare to her precious son?
"Rank-Advancing Pill."
Sun Wukong had been openly eavesdropping on the couple, and when he heard the words "Rank-Advancing Pill," he could not help crying out. The great demons who had heard Yan Kuan mention this pill before immediately erupted in excitement. Every great demon at the peak of the Four Extremes Realm became wary of the others, seeing everyone as a rival.
Ten Thousand Demons Valley was home to countless demon cultivators. Naturally, those at the top of the pyramid were the three Valley Lords, including Sun Wukong, all great demons of the Dragon Transformation Realm.
Among them, Sun Wukong, the Third Valley Lord, was the youngest. His talent was extraordinary and his mystical power boundless, yet he had cultivated for only a little over two hundred and thirty years. Such achievement was exceedingly rare in this era, and he possessed a faint possibility of glimpsing the Immortal Platform during the End of Dharma era and becoming a Great Divine Power Expert.
Amid Xiao Lin's repeated gestures and shushing, the surrounding demon cultivators gradually quieted down. Everyone watched Yan Kuan in the center of the plaza with tense anticipation.
Yan Kuan sat cross-legged before a Medicine Cauldron covered in strange flame patterns. After refining high-grade pills continuously for over two years, from the Fifth Grade Dragon Strength Pill at the beginning to his current attempt at the Peak Sixth Grade Rank-Advancing Pill, Yan Kuan had achieved in only two short years a leap that ordinary alchemists would not even dare dream of.
However, one reason he had improved so greatly was that his spiritual power had long met the Seventh Grade standard. The greatest shackle limiting his advancement as an alchemist did not exist. What remained were pill-refining techniques and mastery of the alchemist's path, which required patient, grinding effort and constant pill refinement to improve.
He had refined pills for two years, using countless treasured spiritual herbs from Ten Thousand Demons Valley and even the reserves within its treasury. Only through endlessly accumulating experience had he attained his present level.
These two years of secluded pill refinement had also been an unforgettable experience for him. They had given him far too much pill-refining experience and would be of enormous help to his future development.
Within the Medicine Cauldron, the flowing flames wriggled faintly as though they possessed sentience. Like living creatures, threads of fire serpents licked at the spiritual herbs. The various herbs were gradually refined into medicinal liquids, which slowly drew closer together under Yan Kuan's control.
The Rank-Advancing Pill was among the finest of Sixth Grade pills. Even in the Central Province, where powerful experts gathered on the Battle Qi Continent, Rank-Advancing Pills were incomparably precious and would incite countless sects and factions to fight madly over them.
This pill could help a Dou Emperor advance to Dou Zong. A Dou Zong expert could establish a sect and found a school, and on the Battle Qi Continent, they would be considered to have truly entered the ranks of the continent's powerful figures, gaining the capital to make their own way in the world.
But in the universe of Shrouding the Heavens, Yan Kuan reckoned that its value would be even greater. Especially for the major factions of the Ancestral Star, where cultivation was difficult, a pill that could greatly aid those in the Four Extremes Realm in advancing to the Transforming Dragon Realm would likely trigger an upheaval throughout the cultivation world of the Eastern Lands.
Yan Kuan spent a very long time refining this pill. Only after three full days and nights did the several crucial main ingredients gradually weaken their rejection and begin their initial fusion.
Though it was called fusion, the speed of that fusion was as slow as a crawling turtle, unbearably sluggish. Yet this was the most important step in pill refinement, and it allowed no carelessness or distraction.
He remained alert, watching every detail. At noon on the third day, the pill took on an embryonic form, and the surrounding heaven and earth energy suddenly began to surge. It was like a massive boulder being hurled into a placid lake, sending huge waves rolling forth.
An energy pillar roughly half a foot wide flew from the Medicine Cauldron and shot straight into the sky. Such a startling phenomenon did not move Yan Kuan in the slightest. His entire focus remained on the changes within the cauldron. At this critical moment, he had to stay calm.
As time passed, the originally irregular pill embryo gradually became round and smooth. A faint, precious radiance spread from it, making it resemble an exquisitely beautiful gemstone.
Ring after ring of nearly tangible energy ripples erupted endlessly in all directions from the Medicine Cauldron at their center. The ceaseless momentum was quite spectacular.
The hand seals Yan Kuan formed changed rapidly, and the blazing flames within the Medicine Cauldron suddenly surged, nearly filling the entire cauldron. Yet amid the overwhelming crimson flames, a tiny point of light became increasingly distinct and dazzling.
The point of light contracted and expanded. With each expansion, waves of energy ripples spread outward once more. Some lesser demons standing around the plaza were knocked sprawling, while even the turf in the distance was directly overturned. Such overwhelming destructive force left the demons alarmed.
The point of light within the Medicine Cauldron contracted and expanded as though it were brewing something. After nearly half an hour, it suddenly shrank to its smallest point.
Boom!
Three minutes after the point of light shrank, a torrent of precious radiance burst forth and swept across the entire plaza. A thunderous explosion rang out from thin air, followed by an energy pillar nearly twenty feet thick that shot from the Medicine Cauldron into the heavens, forming a pill cloud in the sky.
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