Preparations Before the Pill Gathering
The Earth Heart Fire Pearl is in hand, but the crisis is not yet completely over!
Lin Ming's eyes were sharp. Almost at the same time that his soul returned to his body and he grabbed the Fire Bead, his left hand suddenly bent, and a powerful suction force surged out!
"Splash--!"
The huge Black Stone Stele that was originally used to cover the Earth Eye was pulled by the suction force and immediately made a dull friction sound. It moved over in an instant and then, with a loud "boom," it slammed down on the Earth Eye that had just erupted with terrifying energy!
"Bang!!!"
The moment the Black Stone Stele was placed down, it trembled violently, as if some enormous object had struck it from below! Several fine cracks even instantly spread across the surface of the Stone Stele!
Clearly, the raging Bloody Energy below has not subsided and is frantically attacking the seal!
However, this seemingly ordinary Black Stone Stele was clearly no ordinary object. Its material was extremely special, and it actually withstood the first and most violent impact without shattering on the spot.
Just as the Stone Stele trembled, seemingly about to collapse—
"Swish! Swish! Swish!"
The beams of intense heat that had been descending from the sky above the ancient Altar seemed to be drawn by some invisible force, suddenly shifting their direction and no longer projecting onto the center of the Altar, but instead covering the violently trembling Black Stone Stele!
Countless beams of light converged, seemingly transforming into invisible energy shackles, or like immense pressure, firmly suppressing the Stone Stele and helping it withstand the violent impact from below!
Under the combined suppression of the ancient Altar and the beams of sunlight, the trembling of the Stone Stele began to decrease at a visible rate, and the cracks spreading on it stopped expanding.
A moment later, the terrifying impact and energy fluctuations from the depths of the Earth Eye finally dissipated slowly and reluctantly, eventually returning to calm.
Lin Ming, who had been on high alert with beads of cold sweat on his forehead, finally breathed a long sigh of relief when he saw that the Black Stone Stele had completely quieted down and was no longer moving. His tense nerves finally relaxed.
Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead with lingering fear, Lin Ming gave a bitter yet relieved smile.
"It was truly... extremely dangerous..."
Lin Ming murmured to himself, still feeling a lingering fear as he recalled the thrilling chase deep within the Earth Eye. If he had been even a fraction slower, if he had misjudged and missed the moment when the energy was weakest, he might not have been able to obtain the Earth Soul Origin Earth Heart Fire Pearl today, and his very soul might have suffered a severe blow!
Fortunately, everything turned out alright.
He lowered his head, his gaze burning as he looked at the perfectly round bead lying quietly in his palm, radiating a soft red light and a warm aura— the Earth Heart Fire Pearl.
With it, the rest of the plan can be implemented smoothly!
Having successfully seized the Earth Heart Fire Pearl and suppressed the raging Earth Eye once again, Lin Ming's tense mind finally relaxed completely.
Slowly opening his palm, the thumb-sized, perfectly round, translucent blood-red bead lay quietly in Lin Ming's hand, radiating a warm yet intense aura.
He gently squeezed it, and an incomparably pure warm current emanated from the pearl, flowing slowly along the meridians of his arm, making him feel completely comfortable. What surprised Lin Ming even more was that Lin Ming keenly sensed that with the exposure of the Earth Heart Fire Pearl, the already quite dense fire-attribute energy in the surrounding world seemed to be drawn by an invisible force, and began to spontaneously and imperceptibly gather towards him, causing the energy concentration around him to noticeably increase by a level!
"This is... the effect of attracting surrounding fire-elemental energy?"
Upon noticing this subtle yet real change, a hint of surprise flashed across Lin Ming's eyes, which were then quickly replaced by an overwhelming surge of joy!
This Earth Heart Fire Pearl actually possesses such miraculous auxiliary effects?!
What does this mean? It means that no matter where he is in the future, as long as he carries this Earth Heart Fire Pearl with him, it will be equivalent to being in a miniature Fire Gathering Array at any time! Cultivating Fire Attribute Cultivation Method, tempering Fire Attribute Dou Qi, and even nourishing Heavenly Flames will have amazing effects, achieving twice the result with half the effort!
"As expected of a wondrous object formed from the essence of the earth, the Earth Heart Fire Pearl is indeed infinitely mysterious..."
Lin Ming fondled the warm, fiery red bead in his palm, his smile growing ever brighter. This adventure, though perilous, had yielded far more rewards than he had anticipated! Not only had he solved the problem of obtaining Yang Fire, but he had also acquired such a priceless treasure to aid his cultivation!
Just as Lin Ming was immersed in the joy of his harvest, a blazing beam of light pierced through the clouds in the sky, shining precisely down like a spotlight on a stage, illuminating the Earth Heart Fire Pearl in his palm.
"Puff!"
The moment sunlight touched the Earth Heart Fire Pearl, another strange change occurred!
The bead, which had been emitting only a red glow, suddenly trembled and then emitted a soft, faint sound.
Immediately afterwards, a thick, pure white flame, filled with countless tiny blood-red veins, rose silently from the surface of the Earth Heart Fire Pearl and hovered quietly above the pearl!
It is the Yang Fire, formed from the primordial combination of the sun's rays and the Earth Core Fire Seedling!
Moreover, judging from the size of this ball of Yang Fire and the pure energy it contains, it is several times larger and purer than the wisp that Lin Ming had painstakingly extracted from the crack in the Earth Eye!
"Haha! The Yang Fire generated by this Earth Heart Fire Pearl is more than ten times more efficient!"
Seeing the automatically generated, high-quality Yang Fire, Lin Ming was overjoyed. Without hesitation, he immediately followed suit, using his Soul Power to refine and adjust it to make it easier to absorb. Then, without hesitation, he guided it to the Flaming Flame Gold Earth Heart Fire that had reappeared at his fingertips.
"Buzz!"
When the Flame Gold Earth Heart Fire came into contact with this "highly nourishing" Yang Fire, it immediately erupted with unprecedented joy. The flames danced violently, like a hungry wolf pouncing on its prey, quickly enveloping and devouring it!
The cyan-gold flames mingled with the white Yang Fire, emitting a pleasant "sizzling" sound. Lin Ming could clearly feel that the origin of the Flame Gold Earth Heart Fire was becoming more and more solid and pure at a steady pace, and that cyan color was also transforming in a deeper direction.
The ball of Yang Fire was quickly consumed.
With a thought, Lin Ming once again activated a beam of light to illuminate the Earth Heart Fire Pearl.
"Puff!"
Another ball of pure Yang Fire, the same size, rose up.
Feed it to the Flame Gold Earth Heart Fire.
Absorb, refine.
Reactivate, regenerate, feed again...
In this cycle, Lin Ming acted like a generous feeder, continuously nourishing the Flame Gold Earth Heart Fire with this high-quality "feed".
When Lin Ming fed the ninth ball of Yang Fire, the Flame Gold Earth Heart Fire finally showed a change in reaction.
It no longer pounced on it greedily as before, but swayed somewhat lazily. It even let out a small Energy Ripple from the center of the flame, like a hiccup. Then the flame's light became unusually restrained and profound, as if it had fallen into some kind of dormant state. No matter how much Lin Ming tried to draw the Yang Fire closer, it ignored him, simply burning quietly, carrying out its internal digestion and transformation.
"Oh? Full? You've reached your limit?"
Seeing this, Lin Ming was not surprised but pleased. He knew that this was a sign that the energy absorbed by the Flame Gold Earth Heart Fire had reached saturation at its current stage. It needed time to fully digest the benefits brought by these Yang Fire and complete its internal evolution. Forcing it to continue feeding them might backfire.
"Little one, digest this well. I look forward to seeing how you transform."
Lin Ming smiled slightly, and with a thought, he retrieved the dormant, undergoing profound transformation, Flame Gold Earth Heart Fire back into his body. He could sense that once it completed this digestion, its power and quality would undergo a significant leap!
Having successfully resolved the issue of Yang Fire, Lin Ming's attention was finally fully focused on the upcoming, highly anticipated Pill Gathering!
Time slipped by unnoticed, and less than a month remained until the official start of the Pill Tower Pill Gathering. The atmosphere throughout the Pill Domain gradually became heated and tense, with countless alchemists flocking from all over the continent, all hoping to showcase their skills, gain fame, or seek opportunities in this grandest gathering of the alchemy world.
The Ye Family placed all their hopes on Lin Ming and naturally provided him with all their support.
Over the past two days, Ye Zhong personally led his clansmen to continuously deliver batches of high-quality medicinal herbs to the Forbidden Area the Yang Fire Ancient Altar. These herbs were of various kinds, including some rare varieties, and their purpose was self-evident—to ensure that Lin Ming could start refining pills at any time before the Pill Gathering, and always maintain his skill and Soul Power at their peak!
Lin Ming did not refuse. Although he was confident in his alchemy skills, the Pill Gathering filled with powerful figures, and there were even people from the Imperial Palace secretly watching. He had to be fully prepared. Using these medicinal herbs to warm up and familiarize himself with the refining of various High-Grade Pills would also allow him to further temper his Soul Power. Why not?
So, over the next ten days or so, the Ye Family's Back Mountain, which had been designated as Forbidden Area, became anything but peaceful.
"Boom!"
A low rumble of thunder began to echo intermittently from the Forbidden Area.
At first, only a few silver lightning bolts flashed occasionally; those were ordinary Pill Lightning attracted by the Tier 7 Medicinal Pill.
But soon, the Ye Family members were surprised to find that the Lei Yun gathering above the Forbidden Area began to turn brilliantly colored!
Sometimes, it appears as magnificent Three-colored Thundercloud, hanging in the sky like ribbons, radiating a chilling pressure.
Sometimes, a fourth color even faintly appeared within the Lei Yun! Although it was not yet very stable, its vast heavenly might, far surpassing that of the Three-color Pill Lightning, had already drawn the attention of many powerful figures in Ye City!
Inside the Ye Family mansion, all the clansmen listened to the intermittent thunder and watched the ever-changing colorful Lei Yun in the sky. The worry and unease on their faces had long been replaced by increasingly intense joy and excitement!
Every time Lei Yun gather and every bolt of Colored Lightning strikes, it's as if they are proclaiming hope to them!
This young man named Lin Ming is not only incredibly strong, but his alchemy skills have also reached a level that they can only look up to!
Ye Zhong stood by the window of the pavilion, gazing at the Four-colored Thundercloud that were slowly dissipating once again above the Forbidden Area in the distance. His clenched fists trembled slightly, and his old eyes shimmered with barely suppressed tears and anticipation.
"Xin Lan, our Ye Family... is truly saved this time!"
Inside the Forbidden Area, Lin Ming waved his hand to dispel the residual heat from the Medicinal Cauldron in front of him, and put a pill the size of a longan, emitting a four-colored halo, into Jade Bottle. He looked up at the clear sky that had returned to normal, and a faint smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
That's about enough warm-up.
Pill Gathering, here I come!