After reaching a preliminary cooperation agreement with Houtu the Ancestral Witch, Xuan Wazi became even more motivated. On the outskirts of Mount Buzhou, he found a secluded valley where the earthfire was relatively stable. After casually setting up a few concealment and defensive formations, he placed the Eight Trigrams Furnace there and officially began his grand endeavor of "making pills to pay off debts."
Houtu the Ancestral Witch was extremely efficient. Before long, warriors from various Witch Tribe settlements arrived at the edge of the valley carrying huge bundles of spiritual materials, Fierce Beast blood essence, bones, and all sorts of strange items brimming with vital energy. These supplies piled up like mountains and came in countless varieties. Many were scraps the Witch Tribe could not effectively use themselves, or considered less useful than directly devouring the spiritual essences of heaven and earth.
But in Xuan Wazi's eyes, these were superb alchemy materials! The Chaos Alchemy Technique encompassed everything, with corresponding methods for processing and fusing spiritual materials of all attributes.
He first began processing the largest quantity of materials: Fierce Beast blood essence and bones. These materials contained violent blood energy and countless impurities, making even direct consumption a burden for the Witch Tribe. Using the Eight Trigrams Furnace as his foundation, he drew upon the earthfire and tempered it with his own Primordial Chaos Magic Power, discarding the dross and preserving the essence as he refined and fused the immense power of blood and qi with the essence of the earth.
For his first large-scale batch, he cautiously chose the simpler Blood Strengthening Pills and Bone Strengthening Pills. As he cast in his hand seals, the Eight Trigrams Furnace hummed. Multicolored light swirled within, and the fragrance of medicine gradually spread. Several days later, the furnace lid opened, and over a hundred pills the size of longans flew out. Their crimson and pale gold hues intertwined, each pill round and full, with its own natural halo!
"Success!" Xuan Wazi's face lit up with delight. The quality of this batch far surpassed his previous practice attempts. Their medicinal properties were mild yet immense, making them ideal for Witch Tribe warriors to temper their bodies in their daily training.
He handed this batch of pills to a Great Witch from the Houtu Tribe who was responsible for the exchange. The Great Witch tentatively swallowed a Blood Strengthening Pill. Moments later, a sharp gleam burst from his eyes as he felt a warm current sweep through his entire body. His blood and qi surged with vigor, and his physical strength seemed to have risen slightly—without any side effects!
"Good! Good stuff!" the Great Witch praised in a deep, booming voice, his gaze toward Xuan Wazi filled with eagerness. Before long, the effects of these pills spread through a small part of the Witch Tribe. The Witch Tribe members delivering materials became even more enthusiastic. Some from other settlements even rushed over with their tribes' specialty spiritual materials after hearing the news, hoping to exchange them for these miraculous "pills."
Xuan Wazi refused no one. As long as the materials were useful, he accepted them all. His alchemy skills rapidly improved through constant practice. At first, he could only refine basic pills. Later, he began attempting Berserk Pills, which could briefly unleash one's potential; Life Creation Pills, which could quickly heal severe wounds; and even Malevolent Essence Pills, formed by refining Malevolent Energy into pills to grant the Witch Tribe special offensive enhancements.
As the pills he refined became increasingly advanced, the disturbances they caused also grew larger.
One day, he was refining a batch of Crimson Sun Blood Melting Pills, primarily using the heartblood essence of a Golden Immortal-level Fierce Beast. If successfully refined, this pill would provide a significant boost even to Grand Unity Golden Immortal-level Witch Tribe members. At the critical moment of refinement, the Eight Trigrams Furnace shook violently. Blazing crimson clouds erupted from its mouth, drawing the spiritual energy above the valley into a vortex. There were even faint signs of pill tribulation thunderclouds gathering!
The soaring Pill Aura and strange phenomena inevitably leaked a trace of their presence, even with the formations concealing them.
Far away in the Demon Clan's Heavenly Court beyond the Thirty-three Heavens, Di Jun was discussing how to deal with the increasingly powerful Witch Tribe—and Xuan Wazi, who made their teeth itch with hatred—with Eastern Emperor Tai Yi when he suddenly sensed something. His gaze pierced through the endless void toward Mount Buzhou.
"Hmm? Such intense fluctuations of blood and qi, along with Creative Vitality... It does not seem to be a naturally born spiritual treasure emerging?" Di Jun frowned slightly and calculated with his fingers, but all he found was a haze of chaos in the heavenly secrets, impossible to discern clearly.
"Big Brother, did you discover something?" Taiyi asked.
"There is an anomaly in the direction of Mount Buzhou. It seems connected to the Witch Tribe, but it also carries an unfamiliar Dao aura... Send someone to investigate," Di Jun said gravely.
Just as the pill tribulation was about to descend, Xuan Wazi remained utterly calm and directly brought out the Chaos Bead, suspending it above the Eight Trigrams Furnace. The Chaos Bead rotated slightly, and the gathered thunderclouds and heavenly phenomena seemed to be wiped away by an invisible hand, vanishing in an instant. The pills within the furnace finished forming smoothly. When the furnace opened, nine blood-red pills flew out, Dao patterns flowing across their surfaces. Their fragrance filled the entire valley, and merely smelling it made one's blood and qi boil.
[Ding! Successfully refined Crimson Sun Blood Melting Pills (top-grade immortal pill level). Alchemy cultivation greatly increased! Trade scale with the Witch Tribe expanded. Obtained Unfilial Points +150,000! Houtian Merit +50,000 strands!] [Notice: The Witch Tribe's ongoing "resentment" has transformed into points due to intensified internal competition caused by the pills' excessively good effects: +20,000/month.]
"Haha, at this rate, I'll pay off my debt soon enough!" Xuan Wazi was in an excellent mood.
As time passed, the pills Xuan Wazi provided gradually became more widespread within the Witch Tribe. Though each individual Witch Tribe member could exchange for only a limited number, the Witch Tribe's enormous population made up for it. Moreover, the pills' effects were indeed remarkable, subtly improving the Witch Tribe's overall strength and recovery ability. This slight change was quietly affecting the balance of power between the Witch Tribe and the Demon Clan.
Xuan Wazi immersed himself in a cycle of refining pills, acquiring materials, and refining more pills. Not only did he use Witch Tribe materials for alchemy, he also began using some of the private reserves he had collected and marked while "exploring the map," attempting to refine pills beneficial to his own cultivation, as well as items with more unusual functions.
Several months later, after he delivered another large batch of Blood Strengthening Pills, the system's notification sounded once more:
[Ding! Detected that the host has accumulated Unfilial Points exceeding his debt through the "Witch Tribe's Pill Supplier" mission!] [Debt automatically repaid: -222,157 points!] [Current Unfilial Points: 0 (no debt)!] [Congratulations, host, on escaping the status of "debt-ridden man"! Additional reward: Free Attribute Point ×1 (can temporarily increase one of comprehension/luck/charm for the duration of one yuanhui)!]
"Being debt-free really does make you feel light!" Xuan Wazi let out a long breath, feeling as though even his breathing had become smoother. Looking at the mountain of Primordial World specialties in his system space that he had exchanged for pills, as well as his remarkable progress in alchemy, he felt that this round of "working" had been an absolute steal.
With his debt repaid, his alchemy on track, and a preliminary connection established with the Witch Tribe, Xuan Wazi knew it was time to consider his next move. Burying his head in alchemy all day was not his style. The Primordial World was so vast, and there were still so many "exciting" events waiting for him to join—and to Not Be a Person.
He put away the Eight Trigrams Furnace, removed the valley's formations, and looked toward the peak of Mount Buzhou before glancing in the direction of the Heavenly Court. A familiar, slightly sly smile appeared on his face.
"Time to go out for a walk. If I keep refining pills, my bones will rust. I wonder if there's been anything 'lively' to watch on the Demon Clan's side lately?"
His figure flickered, transforming into a gentle breeze as he left the valley that had brought him his first pot of gold—and paid off his debt. Once more, he merged into the vast Primordial World, ready to seek new "opportunities."
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