Pill King Token

The atmosphere inside the dungeon was oppressive.

No one spoke. Only Liu Chengqi lay on the ground, screaming in agony.

Liu Chenggong came to his senses and hurriedly helped his cousin up.

"Dad! Dad!"

"Shut up!"

An uncertain expression appeared on Liu Tianfeng's face once more.

Chu Huai Xu, half a head taller than the old man, simply stared at him. He stared back at Chu Huai Xu.

Young and reckless! Truly young and reckless!

Steward Liu's heart seethed with endless fury, but he struggled for a long time.

The old hands beneath his robes trembled slightly. Several times, he nearly lost his temper!

He had fathered a son in middle age. This was his lifeblood, especially since his own true lifeblood had already grown old and withered.

Yet this young man before him was simply too arrogant.

With such an overbearing attitude, if he did not have a background that reached the heavens, how could he dare act this way?

Moreover, the old man had just been preparing to stop Chu Huai Xu, but Niu Yuanshan had blocked him with Spiritual Power, making his support arrive too late.

"That fellow surnamed Niu definitely knows his background!"

Niu Yuanshan was acting completely out of character today. When something abnormal happened, there was bound to be a reason!

Liu Tianfeng even felt that this fellow surnamed Niu was fawning over the young man.

His overwhelming rage was forcibly suppressed by reason, and he yielded to the Sixth Elder's might.

Liu Tianfeng took a deep breath and said, "My son was at fault first in today's matter. He broke the rules. I will certainly take him back and give him a proper Admonition!"

With several more ribs broken, Liu Chengqi felt he could not swallow this grievance. His eyes were bloodshot, his mind was a chaotic mess, and he felt as if he were about to go mad.

Liu Chenggong, who was supporting him, gripped his right hand tightly and kept giving him meaningful looks.

He understood now why he had reacted that way when the Deputy Captain of the Enforcement Team had gone to arrest him.

Thinking about it carefully, he had been completely fearless!

"Who exactly is he?" Liu Chenggong was shaken to the core.

Crouching on the ground, he looked up and saw Chu Huai Xu happen to glance over as well, looking down at him.

Their gazes crossed, and Liu Chenggong shuddered violently.

He realized that he had long since provoked the other party too!

Chu Huai Xu remained silent for several seconds before saying to Steward Liu, "Understood. Let Senior Brother Liu recover at his own pace."

"Disciple will take his leave first."

The reason Chu Huai Xu had struck him was simply that he had a backer. Nothing more.

You already tried to take my life. If I showed no reaction now, was I supposed to go home and quietly develop for a while before coming back to settle the score?

Just like those parenting videos say: "You have to teach children to delay gratification," right?

What I want is immediate enjoyment! Clear Mind!

After the three of them left the dungeon, Chu Huai Xu sent Niu Yuanshan a grateful look.

Old Niu smiled faintly at him, and the two understood each other without saying a word.

"Loyalty!"

Chu Huai Xu still had no sense of belonging to the organization. After all, he had never been trained or brainwashed by it.

The system had even classified his faction as the Dao Sect rather than the organization.

However, his personal favorability toward Old Niu had soared.

Niu Yuanshan truly possessed a powerful sense of affinity.

The slightly stooped, square-faced middle-aged man raised his right hand and beckoned to Chu Huai Xu and Han Shuangjiang. "Come, let's head back and chat along the way."

He tucked both hands into his sleeves and led the two young people toward his Small Courtyard.

Along the way, he chattered on and on, seeming a little long-winded.

"I imagine you're both curious about what these two Jade Token Fragments I obtained for you are actually useful for, right?"

"This Jade Token is extremely important, so listen carefully to what I'm about to say, hehe."

"Oh, right. Before I explain, I want to ask you both something. Do you know about the Pill King?"

"The Pill King?" Han Shuangjiang said softly. "I've seen him mentioned in storybooks. The king of alchemy."

Niu Yuanshan gazed ahead with reverence in his eyes and began an introduction.

"The Pill King was born in the Moon Kingdom. He was one of the few Great Cultivators of the Eighth Realm in the world. His attainments in alchemy were nothing short of heaven-defying, and he was hailed as the foremost figure in alchemy beneath the Dao Ancestor."

"Half of the Pill Recipes for the current High-Grade Spirit Pills and Super-Grade Spirit Pills came from him."

"For example, the Xuantian Fetal Breath Pill."

"In fact, many alchemists believe that the Pill King's attainments in alchemy already rivaled those of the Dao Ancestor!"

Niu Yuanshan paused briefly. After all, his public identity was that of a Dao Sect steward, so he took a clear stance. "Of course, our Dao Sect absolutely does not acknowledge that."

Chu Huai Xu also knew something about this matter.

In terms of overall contributions, the Dao Ancestor had not actually created many Pill Recipes for High-Grade Spirit Pills and Super-Grade Spirit Pills. The number was only one-third of the Pill King's.

But there was nothing to be done about it. The Aperture Opening Pill was simply too incredible. The Dao Ancestor had single-handedly lowered the threshold for cultivation, ushering the Xuanhuang Realm into an age of cultivation prosperity.

As for the high-end products created by the Pill King, ordinary people could not benefit from them. Even ordinary cultivators could not.

After all, High-Grade Spirit Pills and Super-Grade Spirit Pills all used Heaven's materials and earth's treasures. Their prices were astonishing, and they were often unavailable even at a price.

At this moment, Niu Yuanshan continued, "Can you guess why the Pill King has so many followers in the alchemy world?"

Before either of them could answer, Old Niu gave them the answer himself.

"Because the Pill King took in far too many disciples throughout his life."

"Then his disciples took in disciples, and those disciples took in more disciples. After all these years, the alchemy world has been filled with his disciples and grand-disciples."

Chu Huai Xu knew this as well.

The Pill King loved taking disciples. He did not care whether their talent for alchemy was high or low. He only followed his mood and whether he found them pleasing to the eye.

As a wandering cultivator, he himself belonged to no sect or faction.

When accepting disciples, he did not care about their lineage, nor did he distinguish between nations.

That was because he did not teach cultivation at all. He only taught alchemy and served solely as a teacher of the Alchemy Dao.

As a result, even some disciples of the Four Great Sects in the East Continent Mirror Kingdom would seek him out to study alchemy under him.

The Dao Sect was no exception.

Niu Yuanshan continued, "The Pill King had twelve True Disciples, 129 ordinary disciples, and an unknown number of Registered Disciples—so many that he might not even remember them all."

"Amusingly, even now, there are people in the alchemy world flaunting the banner of the Pill King's lineage and swindling others, claiming that the founder of their lineage was once the Pill King's Registered Disciple."

"But in truth, because the Pill King never considered talent when accepting disciples, and because he was utterly devoted to the Alchemy Dao, he did not have enough time to guide so many disciples. As a result, their levels of alchemy varied wildly."

"Of course, there were also some outstanding ones. Several Alchemy Grandmasters emerged from among his disciples." Old Niu said this with a smile.

At this point, he suddenly stopped and looked solemnly at the two young people.

"The Jade Token Fragments you obtained are actually fragments of a Pill King Token."

Chu Huai Xu had known this long ago, but as the one playing along, how could he fail to provide emotional value? He immediately sucked in a breath and cried out, "The Pill King Token!"

Han Shuangjiang also froze slightly, astonished.

"That's right, the Pill King Token. Apart from his Registered Disciples, every one of the Pill King's official disciples possessed a Pill King Token to prove their identity." Niu Yuanshan smiled warmly.

He continued, "You should know that many of our Dao Sect's predecessors followed the Dao Ancestor's example. Before passing away, they established Secret Realms in various places within Mountain Beyond Mountain, leaving behind inheritances and opportunities."

Chu Huai Xu nodded.

Han Shuangjiang, the little newcomer, was hearing this for the first time. She looked at him in surprise.

Niu Yuanshan pointed at the two of them. "Your Jade Token Fragments are the key to a Secret Realm. That Dao Sect predecessor was not among the twelve True Disciples, but he was still an official disciple of the Pill King."

"Although the alchemical attainments of the Pill King's disciples varied, they were at least not too poor."

"Ahem, there was still a basic standard."

Chu Huai Xu and Han Shuangjiang exchanged a glance, both understanding the value of the Jade Token Fragments.

In Chu Huai Xu's memory, when Borrowed Sword had just begun its Public Test, the players were still in the beginner phase.

Even the storage ring left behind by a Third Realm cultivator had caused an uproar on the game Forum, prompting the major gaming guilds to spring into action and turning it into a sleepless night.

Surely this official disciple of the Pill King was not inferior to an ordinary Third Realm cultivator?

Niu Yuanshan looked at them, the smile on his face growing wider as he spoke.

"Finally, there's one last point I have to mention. This predecessor may have wanted to discover an unpolished jade, so only people without Spiritual Power can enter this Secret Realm."

"You two children at the Aperture Opening Stage meet this requirement perfectly."