His cultivation in the Innate Realm was still too low. To survive the coming turmoil, he would need to reach at least the Grandmaster Realm.
Of course, the Great Grandmaster Realm would be even better. If he could reach the Peak of Humanity, he could come and go freely amid an army of three hundred thousand, as if strolling through a garden.
With the system's help, Ye Jing was confident he could reach the Peak of Humanity, or even become a God of Heaven and Earth. But all of that would take time.
Three months—at most three months—and King Zhennan's army of three hundred thousand would have refined that Spirit Vein. When the time came, they would surely march straight for the Imperial Capital.
Ye Jing had only three months. Becoming the Peak of Humanity in that time was a pipe dream, even with the system's help.
Forget the Peak of Humanity. Ye Jing wasn't even entirely confident he could reach the Grandmaster Realm within those three months.
The Innate Realm was different from the Qi Refining Realm. Ye Jing had Heaven-Defying Comprehension, so he could refine spiritual energy at an astonishing speed. But that comprehension wouldn't help nearly as much with cultivation in the Innate Realm.
The Innate Realm required forging an Innate Physique and shaping an Innate Dao Body, strengthening the body's physical power.
At this level, one had to train the body step by step. There were few shortcuts to take.
The news that King Zhennan was about to rebel had hit Ye Jing hard. He no longer felt like talking with Hu Jie.
All he wanted now was to hurry back to compiling books and see whether he could gain further insights from them, improving his strength once more.
He went to the desk and took a book from the pile stacked as high as a small mountain.
The book chronicled the life of a Pill King.
Pill King Yao Xingchen had been born a thousand years ago into a declining Pill Dao Family.
Yao Xingchen had been born with insufficient Qi and Blood, frail and sickly. A Pill Dao Great Master had once declared that he was doomed to die young, and would not live past the age of three.
Yet Yao Xingchen had been blessed by fortune, growing up safe and sound until he was eighteen.
When he was eighteen, the Fifth Heaven and Earth Cataclysm descended. Living beings perished in droves; a thousand miles of land turned red, rivers of blood flowed, and bones lay in heaps.
Unable to bear the sight of such suffering, Yao Xingchen resolved to save the world through the Art of Pill Dao.
Though Yao Xingchen had exceptional comprehension and outstanding Pill Dao Talent, his frail constitution doomed him to achieve little in the Art of Pill Dao.
And so it proved. For the first thirty years of his life, no matter how well he understood Pill Dao Pharmacology, he knew nothing of cultivation. Unable to condense Innate Fire, he couldn't refine pills at all.
Perhaps Heaven couldn't bear to see it; perhaps the Dao of Heaven favored him. A chance encounter came his way and changed his life forever.
While gathering herbs, Yao Xingchen stumbled into a Secret Realm. No one knew what he had experienced there.
All anyone knew was that a hundred years later, Yao Xingchen emerged from the Secret Realm with not only vigorous Qi and Blood, but also an Art of Pill Dao so miraculous it seemed divine.
He could restore flesh to white bones and raise the dead. With this godlike Art of Pill Dao, it didn't matter whether you were an ordinary mortal or the Peak of Humanity, standing atop the world.
No matter how grievously wounded you were, as long as a breath remained, one pill from Yao Xingchen could bring you back to life.
Later, with this unfathomable Art of Pill Dao, he helped the first Emperor Li, Long Zhan, establish Dali and quell the Fifth Heaven and Earth Cataclysm.
Sadly, in trying to defy fate and extend Emperor Li Long Zhan's life by another five hundred years, he suffered a backlash and died in his prime. He never even passed the Pill King's Precious Mirror down to his descendants.
[You witnessed Yao Xingchen's life. You were fully focused, activating Heaven-Defying Comprehension.]
[Your comprehension defied Heaven, and you comprehended the Pill King's Precious Mirror.]
Ye Jing closed his eyes, sensing the many changes brought about by the system.
What appeared in Ye Jing's mind were Yao Xingchen's various experiences in the nameless Secret Realm.
After stumbling into the Secret Realm, Yao Xingchen wandered around like a headless fly, searching everywhere for an exit.
As he stumbled along, he saw two white-haired, youthful-looking old men—one dressed in black and the other in white—refining pills inside a Thatched Cottage.
Yao Xingchen had always been deeply fascinated by the Art of Pill Dao, so he couldn't help but approach and watch.
After the pills were ready, each old man gave Yao Xingchen one to taste, asking him to judge which was better.
As soon as Yao Xingchen swallowed the pills, he felt a sharp pain in his heart and promptly fell unconscious.
When he awoke, the two old men and the Thatched Cottage had vanished. Somehow, a copy of the Pill King's Precious Mirror had appeared in Yao Xingchen's hands.
His understanding of the Art of Pill Dao had also reached a profound, unfathomable level.
[You were completely engrossed and have now fully comprehended every profound principle of the Pill King's Precious Mirror.]
The system's sudden notification pulled Ye Jing back from Yao Xingchen's experiences.
He had mastered the Art of Pill Dao just like that!
Now that he was fully aware he had mastered the Pill King's Precious Mirror, Ye Jing could no longer hide the delight in his eyes.
In the Ancient Dali Kingdom, Martial Arts reigned supreme. Yet a powerful pill master could be treated as an honored guest by even the mightiest martial artists.
That was because the pills made by powerful pill masters could restore flesh to white bones and raise the dead.
Who could claim never to lose? Who in this world could call themselves invincible? Even those who had reached the Peak of Humanity could still meet their end.
But with pills from a powerful pill master in hand, it was like having extra lives. In a life-or-death struggle, they could often turn the tide.
However, ever since the Fifth Heaven and Earth Cataclysm had completely faded, spiritual energy in the world had grown increasingly scarce. Many heavenly treasures and earthly wonders had gradually vanished as well.
Without heavenly treasures and earthly wonders or peerless rarities, even the strongest Art of Pill Dao could hardly produce pills with potent effects.
The path of pill masters gradually declined, and in this current Age of Dharma's End, their standing had become no different from that of ordinary medicine practitioners.
But things were different now. Signs of the Sixth Heaven and Earth Cataclysm had appeared. Before long, heavenly treasures and earthly wonders, along with peerless rarities, would reappear throughout Dali.
When that happened, the path of pill masters would flourish once more.
Yao Xingchen had been the most powerful pill master in Dali for a thousand years. Now that Ye Jing had fully mastered the Pill King's Precious Mirror, he felt a little more confident.
Even if the Sixth Heaven and Earth Cataclysm began right now, Ye Jing wouldn't panic in the slightest. With this Art of Pill Dao, he could refine all sorts of pills and rapidly improve his strength.
Though the world was still in the Age of Dharma's End, this Art of Pill Dao was nothing short of timely rain! It could greatly ease Ye Jing's urgent predicament.
The Innate Realm had three steps. The first was Body Refining, the second Marrow Washing, and the final step was Shedding Mortal Fetus to forge an Innate Physique.
With this Art of Pill Dao, Ye Jing could refine pills to help himself quickly get through the first two steps and forge an Innate Physique in a fraction of the time.
"Saving the world through medicine, great virtue and righteousness, revered for generations, a model for posterity." After writing down these sixteen characters, Ye Jing glanced at the sky and prepared to leave.
It was still early, so he needed to go to the Myriad Treasures Pavilion to buy some medicinal herbs and refine Foundation Building Liquid, quickly strengthening his body.
Before you continue