Refining a Seventh-Grade Pill

"Brother Li, can you really deal with this Undying Divine Tree that has been contaminated by deathly energy?"

Inside an ancient city pavilion of Ten Thousand Demons Valley, Monkey, Old Crane, and the recently returned Second Valley Lord, Spirit Cat, had all gathered in Yan Kuan's courtyard. They stared at the Divine Tree Branch on the Stone Table, which emitted a faint green light. Monkey's eyes were filled with longing, but also a trace of hesitation.

After Yan Kuan and his two companions returned with some gains from the Burial Grounds of Earth Immortals, the unwilling Old Crane and Monkey had also searched through the ancient records of Ten Thousand Demons Valley, trying to find a way to refine and handle it.

Unfortunately, they were quickly disappointed. Since ancient times, there had been very few methods for refining Undying Divine Medicine, and most involved directly refining it, resulting in enormous waste. The Undying Divine Tree Branch they had brought back also contained deathly energy. If it was refined into the body without first removing that energy, one would become a half-living, half-dead evil spirit.

Just as they had all given up, Yan Kuan asked them to prepare a batch of spirit herbs. He intended to use this section of the Undying Divine Tree as the main ingredient to refine pills, so their hesitation was perfectly understandable.

Yan Kuan replied calmly, "Among the alchemy inheritances I studied, there is a prescription that uses a certain evil herb similar to Nethergrass as its main ingredient to refine the Life-Devouring Pill."

Monkey asked hesitantly, "Life-Devouring Pill? It doesn't sound like a normal pill. What does it do?"

When Yan Kuan mentioned the Life-Devouring Pill, his tone was rather strange. He seemed expectant, yet also somewhat conflicted. "A Seventh Grade Life-Devouring Pill can directly increase the consumer's strength. Of course, this pill also has severe side effects—it greatly reduces the consumer's lifespan.

"The original Life-Devouring Pill can directly raise the consumer's cultivation to a level comparable to the Four Extremes, but the price is that the consumer only has three years left to live."

"Three years of life."

The three Valley Lords of Ten Thousand Demons Valley had originally been somewhat interested in the Life-Devouring Pill, but upon hearing that taking it left one with only three years to live, they immediately lost all interest.

Leaping straight into the Four Extremities Realm was indeed like Divine Medicine to ordinary people, but with only three years left to live, perhaps only desperate men obsessed with revenge would be interested. Why would great cultivators of the Four Extremes like them need such a pill?

Yan Kuan was not surprised by the reactions of the three Valley Lords of Ten Thousand Demons Valley. Seeing that the three demons had fallen silent, he simply continued, "Three Valley Lords, according to our previous agreement, if I wish to refine pills, you must provide support and assistance.

"The Life-Devouring Pill's effects are indeed rather useless, but with my current cultivation, under normal circumstances, it would be impossible for me to successfully refine a pill of this grade. With Undying Divine Medicine as the main ingredient, I may be able to give it a try.

"You should understand just how important an opportunity to refine a higher-grade pill is to an alchemist, shouldn't you?"

Yan Kuan's words convinced the three Valley Lords of Ten Thousand Demons Valley. Old Crane stepped forward and stated, "Brother Li, since you've put it that way, we brothers will naturally support you. The spirit herbs you need will be delivered within three days."

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Countless demons gathered in the square of Ten Thousand Demons Valley. Ten Thousand Demons Valley had truly come through; in less than two days, they had collected all the spirit herbs. After emerging from seclusion, Yan Kuan had sat in meditation there for an entire day.

At noon on the third day, an invisible force rippled outward. Yan Kuan's pitch-black eyes slowly opened, a faint gleam flashing within them.

"It's time."

Yan Kuan's voice rang out, and then he moved. With a wave of his hand and a strike of his palm, a fiery red furnace descended onto the earthfire formation at the center of the square.

Yan Kuan took a deep breath to adjust his condition. A ball of Colorful Flame soon appeared within the Medicine Cauldron, suddenly erupting with extreme heat.

Yan Kuan used the Empyrean Flame from the very start, showing just how seriously he took this refinement. The gorgeous colored flames churned continuously within the Medicine Cauldron, and the rapidly rising temperature brought a trace of scorching heat to the surrounding air.

As the flames surged, Yan Kuan flicked his sleeve. One spirit herb after another floated out, then hovered in midair under the protection of divine power and the control of spiritual force, like tiny glowing orbs.

"The Life-Devouring Pill, a Seventh Grade pill, possesses the astonishing effect of directly increasing the consumer's strength. It uses strange and evil spirit herbs containing life force and deathly energy as its main ingredients. The better the main ingredient, the greater its miraculous effects. The materials required for refinement are extremely complicated..."

The description and refinement method of the Life-Devouring Pill slowly surfaced in Yan Kuan's mind, and he firmly memorized several crucial points.

There were nearly a hundred spirit herbs with differing properties, paired against one another. The final quality of the pill depended on the quality of the main ingredient.

Countless scattered thoughts flashed through Yan Kuan's mind. After expelling all distractions, he raised his head and sensed the temperature inside the Medicine Cauldron. He nodded slightly, then made a small gesture with his finger, causing the wildly burning Colorful Flame to weaken.

His gaze remained fixed on the Medicine Cauldron. A moment later, Yan Kuan moved his finger, and a streak of light flew over, transforming into a blood-red ganoderma mushroom that landed in his hand.

The instant this ganoderma mushroom appeared, it released a rich scent of blood. Within that bloody smell, one could also faintly sense a rather pure energy fluctuation.

Blood Spirit Mushroom, a special ganoderma mushroom that grew in places where blood was buried. Yan Kuan gently rubbed his fingers over the Blood Spirit Mushroom, sensing the slightly chilling yet pure energy contained within it.

He softly exhaled and flicked his finger. The Blood Spirit Mushroom turned into a red streak of light and was thrown into the Medicine Cauldron. The Colorful Flame that had been lying dormant inside immediately surged up, refining it into a blood-red medicinal liquid that gave off a strange fragrance.

After refining the Blood Spirit Mushroom, Yan Kuan flicked all ten fingers in succession. Nearly ten of the many floating points of light immediately separated out and, one after another, flew into the Medicine Cauldron.

Refining so many medicinal ingredients at once placed strict demands on soul power. Fortunately, Yan Kuan had already cultivated his soul to a level infinitely close to the Spirit Realm, so he had long met the requirements for refining a Seventh Grade pill.

The many medicinal ingredients entered the furnace. Within a few breaths of coming into contact with the Empyrean Flame, they rapidly withered. Their bodies eventually turned into ash, leaving behind drops of pure medicinal liquid that were then slightly fused together under Yan Kuan's exquisite control of his soul power.

A lump of blood-colored liquid half the size of a fist appeared within the Medicine Cauldron. The flames enveloped it, causing the blood-colored liquid to slowly shrink while its color grew increasingly vivid. By the time it had shrunk to the size of a thumb, it had become extremely viscous.

Seeing this, Yan Kuan beckoned with his hand and set it aside. With another gesture, another streak of light flew over, transforming into a white fruit covered in pits and bumps. The Empyrean Flame followed once more, beginning the refinement of the second batch of auxiliary ingredients.