The Divine Pill Had a Spirit

Three months later.

Within the Pill Hall, wisps of fragrance seeped from the crimson Bagua Furnace. The rich aroma had long since filled the entire hall. As Zhang Hexuan and Yang Zongyuan breathed it in, they both felt as though they were floating.

That feeling was like drinking a cup of icy spring water on a sweltering day, filling them from head to toe with a clear, refreshing sensation.

"What an incredible pill! Just a tiny bit of pill aura leaking out makes me feel full of vitality!" Zhang Hexuan stared intently at the Bagua Furnace.

"I feel as though my cultivation has improved a little!" Yang Zongyuan was even more astonished.

Yang Zhengshan, however, remained completely unmoved. His expression calm, he focused on every fluctuation within the Alchemy Furnace.

"Prepare to retrieve the pills!"

He gave the order softly.

Zhang Hexuan hurriedly fetched a jade plate, while Yang Zongyuan stared fixedly at the furnace lid, afraid that the pills inside would escape.

Yang Zhengshan slowly rose to his feet, flicked his Fly Whisk, and uttered a single word.

"Seal!"

A dense Dao Resonance instantly enveloped the Alchemy Furnace. The invisible Great Void Dao Intent sealed the furnace within it, and not the slightest trace of fragrance could escape from inside.

He then stirred his Divine Soul Power and sent it into the Alchemy Furnace, forcefully kneading the crystalline medicinal slurry inside into one mass.

Just like rolling pills, he forcibly rolled two pill pellets inside the furnace.

Under normal circumstances, as the refining process neared its end, the furnace's formation would automatically condense the medicinal slurry into pills. But this was no normal situation.

The medicinal materials used to refine the Myriad Wood Evergreen Pill numbered in the hundreds, and the conflict between their medicinal properties was even harder to reconcile. Not even the Golden Crow Eight Trigrams Furnace could fuse them together.

With no other choice, Yang Zhengshan had come up with this crude yet simple method.

With his own powerful Divine Soul Power, he would forcibly knead the medicinal slurry into pill pellets.

Although this might cause the alchemy to fail, it was already the best method Yang Zhengshan could think of at present.

Unless Yang Zhengshan could find an Alchemy Furnace better than the Golden Crow Eight Trigrams Furnace, it would have to be at least a high-grade Spirit Artifact.

Unfortunately, he could not find one at present. Both the Golden Crow Eight Trigrams Furnace and the Spirit Sealing Profound Fire Furnace were only mid-grade Spirit Artifacts.

With the Great Void Dao Intent sealing the furnace and his Divine Soul Power compressing the contents, the medicinal slurry inside began to grow restless. It trembled incessantly, causing the Alchemy Furnace to shake violently along with it.

"Hey, this thing is vicious! It actually wants to break through my Vermilion Wall!"

"Master, let me burn it to death!"

The Golden Crow shouted furiously.

It was the Spirit of Artifact of the Bagua Furnace, and the Bagua Furnace was its Main Body.

The violent conflict between the medicinal properties made it suffer terribly. The sensation was like having worms gnawing at its intestines from inside its stomach. The pain was secondary; the key was that it would damage its Main Body.

"No need!"

Yang Zhengshan rejected it without mercy.

He naturally knew that continuing like this would cause great damage to the Bagua Furnace. But the damage it suffered could be repaired. If this batch of pills were destroyed, he had no idea when he would be able to refine them again.

"Ah~ caw caw caw~~" The Golden Crow flapped its wings and circled around the Bagua Furnace without pause, occasionally letting out strange cries, as if it were doing everything it could to struggle against the pills inside.

"Wah wah wah, my stomach is going to split open!"

"How noisy!"

Yang Zhengshan glared at it unhappily. The Golden Crow, however, wore an aggrieved expression. "Master, my stomach really is going to split open!"

Yang Zhengshan was speechless for a moment, but he still consoled it. "Don't worry. It'll be done soon!"

As he spoke, he further strengthened the Divine Soul Power he had poured inside.

Time passed second by second. The enormous Bagua Furnace trembled as though it were about to leap into the air, but as time went on, Yang Zhengshan still managed to suppress the pills inside.

With a bang, the furnace lid flew open, and two pills spun out of the Alchemy Furnace.

The blue-green pills were about the size of longan fruits. Wrapped in a gentle azure radiance, their surfaces were covered in densely packed rune patterns.

They actually wanted to escape!

Yang Zhengshan could clearly sense their forceful impact. If he had not sealed the surrounding space beforehand, these two fellows might truly have gotten away.

Divine Pills possessed spirituality. Back then, when the Nine Tripod Divine Pill emerged in the Sun Cave Heaven, it had also fled in every direction.

Although Divine Pills possessed very low spirituality, they had instincts of their own. When they encountered danger, they instinctively chose to flee.

At that time, within the Sun Cave Heaven, the Nine Tripod Divine Pill had instinctively fled in all directions while everyone pursued and surrounded it.

The Myriad Wood Evergreen Pill was the same now. Faced with Yang Zhengshan's restraint, it instinctively wanted to escape.

Clearly, however, it could not break free from Yang Zhengshan's restraint.

Yang Zhengshan used his Divine Soul Power to suppress the two newly refined Divine Pills tightly, then frowned and looked toward Zhang Hexuan.

"The jade plate won't do. Zongyuan, summon Fengling!"

Yang Zongyuan recovered from his shock and hurriedly went to fetch the Spirit Sealing Profound Fire Furnace.

"Ancestor, it's ready!"

Yang Zhengshan immediately put the two pills into the Spirit Sealing Profound Fire Furnace.

Once the furnace lid was closed, the restless Myriad Wood Evergreen Pills instantly settled down. Fengling leaped out of the Alchemy Furnace and first inspected his own furnace before saying, "Success. Their spirituality is very high, no weaker than the Nine Tripod Divine Pill from before."

"However, their quality isn't particularly high. They're probably only mid-grade."

Yang Zhengshan rolled his eyes. "What's wrong with mid-grade? They're still Myriad Wood Evergreen Pills."

The Myriad Wood Evergreen Pill and the Nine Tripod Divine Pill were both peak third-tier existences. During the Ancient Era of the Myriad Flower Domain, they were both called Divine Pills. As long as such a Divine Pill could be successfully refined, it would be as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns.

As for the grade after completion, naturally, the higher the better. If it could reach the supreme grade, it would practically mean breaking through the limits of the Myriad Flower Domain.

Within the cultivation system's classification of tiers, even a Golden Core cultivator was only third-tier. The highest tier of all Spiritual Items in the Myriad Flower Domain was third-tier.

Fourth-tier referred to existences that had broken through the restrictions of the Realm Boundary, such as Lords of Authority, Dao Masters, Great Void Spiritual Items, and Spirit Treasures.

A supreme-grade Myriad Wood Evergreen Pill most likely did not belong to the third tier. It should be classified as fourth-tier.

"Next time, let me refine it. It can be responsible for stoking the fire!" Fengling glanced at the Golden Crow beside him, his eyes showing a trace of disdain.

The Golden Crow cawed angrily. "You fool, don't get cocky!"

"I'm more suited than you to refining this kind of pill!" Fengling said.

"You don't have Solar True Fire!"

"That's why I'm making you responsible for stoking the fire!"

"..." The Golden Crow was rendered speechless.

Fengling was right. Compared with the Golden Crow Eight Trigrams Furnace, the Spirit Sealing Profound Fire Furnace was more suited to refining such a Divine Pill because it came with a Sealing Formation that could seal the medicinal properties inside the Alchemy Furnace.

But the Golden Crow still felt terribly wronged!

Wah wah, I'm the Alchemy Furnace Master loves most. Why do I have to stoke the fire for you?

The Golden Crow looked pitifully at Yang Zhengshan, but Yang Zhengshan ignored it completely because he also felt Fengling had a point.

The reason he had chosen the Golden Crow Eight Trigrams Furnace was, first, that he was familiar with it and that he and the Golden Crow worked together seamlessly. The Golden Crow Eight Trigrams Furnace allowed his alchemy skills to reach their greatest effect. Second, this was his first time refining the Myriad Wood Evergreen Pill, and a familiar Alchemy Furnace allowed him to achieve twice the result with half the effort, preventing many unnecessary mistakes.

Now, however, he had already refined the Myriad Wood Evergreen Pill. Next time, he could try refining it with the Spirit Sealing Profound Fire Furnace.

He had also used the Spirit Sealing Profound Fire Furnace to refine pills before, but not often. Before using it next time, he would need to practice with other pills first.

"All right, get yourselves familiar with one another. Next time, I hope you can work together properly," Yang Zhengshan said.

"Master!" The Golden Crow felt even more aggrieved. It flew onto his shoulder and rubbed its face forcefully against his cheek.

Yang Zhengshan was speechless again, but he still consoled it. "Once I raise your grade in the future, I'll let you surpass Fengling!"

"Really?"

"Of course. When have I ever lied to you?"

"Caw caw caw~~"

The Golden Crow cried out happily, then looked at Fengling with a triumphant expression.

Fengling curled his lips and paid it no heed.

He was much more intelligent than the Golden Crow. When Yang Zhengshan said he would let the Golden Crow surpass him, he definitely would not lie to it. But "surpass" only meant temporarily. It would not take long for him to catch up with the Golden Crow.

A mature Spirit of Artifact would not compete with another Spirit of Artifact for affection. The greatest reliance of a Spirit of Artifact was not its grade, but its own usefulness.

Fengling believed that with his own ability, he would definitely not let Yang Zhengshan overlook his existence.

After pacifying the Golden Crow, Yang Zhengshan instructed Zhang Hexuan and Yang Zongyuan to tidy up the Pill Hall. Tidying the Pill Hall was secondary; the main purpose was to have the two of them summarize what they had gained from this round of alchemy.

This time, Yang Zhengshan had refined one batch of Myriad Wood Evergreen Pills, and the process had taken a full five months.

Throughout the entire process, Yang Zhengshan had used nearly every method at his disposal and poured in all his effort.

Not to mention Zhang Hexuan and Yang Zongyuan, even Yang Zhengshan himself felt that he had gained tremendously in alchemy.

The two of them had certainly gained something as well. As for how much, that depended on their own comprehension.

After arranging these matters, Yang Zhengshan went to find Yang Jizhen and had him refine two specially made porcelain bottles.

Ordinary porcelain bottles for storing pills also contained many formations. They could preserve medicinal properties and prevent them from dispersing. But these porcelain bottles were clearly unsuitable for storing the Myriad Wood Evergreen Pills.

To make the Myriad Wood Evergreen Pills stay obediently inside the porcelain bottles, at least a set of tight Sealing Formations was required.

This was no difficult task for Yang Jizhen. Before long, he had refined two magic-treasure porcelain bottles with sealing functions.

Yang Zhengshan put the two Myriad Wood Evergreen Pills into the porcelain bottles. Only after seeing them remain obediently inside did he finally relax.

These were Myriad Wood Evergreen Pills, Divine Pills capable of granting a person a new life.

If a cultivator took one at the brink of death, they could be reborn.

If an ordinary person took one, they could also obtain an ultimate Wood Attribute spiritual physique and transform from a first-tier mortal into a peerless genius.

Possessing such a Spirit Pill was equivalent to having an extra life.

Yang Zhengshan carried the two Myriad Wood Evergreen Pills to the Green Ox Palace.

The Green Ox Palace remained unchanged, quiet and somewhat desolate.

The Green Ox Demon King was also as usual. He was either lying in the main hall and sleeping soundly or studying his Planting Balls.

"Venerable, what brings you here?" The Green Ox Demon King asked in surprise when he saw Yang Zhengshan.

He was a homebody and thus appeared rather solitary. Unless someone came looking for him, he never went looking for anyone else.

Yang Zhengshan had secluded himself for more than a decade and had not visited him in a long time.

"What? You don't welcome me?"

"Heh heh, of course I do. Venerable, please come in!" The Green Ox Demon King smiled foolishly.

Yang Zhengshan waved his hand. "I've come with something good. Take a look at this!"

He took out a porcelain bottle and handed it to the Green Ox Demon King. After opening the bottle, the Green Ox Demon King's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "This, this, this is the Myriad Wood Evergreen Pill!"

His round bull eyes stared at the pill inside the bottle before turning toward Yang Zhengshan.

Yang Zhengshan grinned. "That's right. It was just refined. How is it? Does it suit your wishes?"

"Mhm, mhm, mhm." The Green Ox Demon King nodded repeatedly. "Venerable, you're incredible! You actually managed to refine this pill! I never thought you could do it!"

Yang Zhengshan was stunned. "Then why did you give me so many medicinal materials back then?"

You didn't even believe I could refine it, so why did you give me so many medicinal materials?

The Green Ox Demon King looked embarrassed. "Heh heh, that was actually protection money!"

"..."

Yang Zhengshan did not know what to say.

When the Green Ox Demon King had first joined the White Jade Capital, it was perfectly normal for him to feel uncertain. He had tried his best to demonstrate his usefulness, showing Yang Zhengshan his Planting Balls and giving Yang Zhengshan many medicinal materials, claiming that he wanted Yang Zhengshan to help him refine pills.

In truth, he had not held out much hope that Yang Zhengshan could refine the Myriad Wood Evergreen Pill. He simply wanted Yang Zhengshan to take a look. If it succeeded, it would be the best of both worlds. If it failed, he could treat the materials as a gift to Yang Zhengshan.

To be honest, if Yang Zhengshan had not delivered the Myriad Wood Evergreen Pill today, he would have completely forgotten about the matter.

Yang Zhengshan understood his thoughts at the time, so he did not dwell on it with him.

"I refined two Myriad Wood Evergreen Pills. This one is yours, and the other counts as my payment. You don't object, do you?"

"No, no!" The Green Ox Demon King shook his head repeatedly.

"Good!" Yang Zhengshan said with a smile.

The Green Ox Demon King asked cautiously, "Can I use this pill myself?"

"Of course. I said it was yours." Yang Zhengshan looked at him in confusion.

The Green Ox Demon King was overjoyed. Then, under Yang Zhengshan's stunned gaze, he directly took the pill out and swallowed it in one gulp.

"Why did you eat it?"

"Didn't Venerable say I could handle it myself?"

"No, wouldn't eating it like that be a waste?"

"Of course not. It can improve my cultivation and even enhance my Divine Path Intent!"

"This can be used to save your life!" Yang Zhengshan reminded him.

The Green Ox Demon King grinned. "I already possess Wood Spirit Reincarnation."

Yang Zhengshan was stunned. "You know two divine abilities?"

"Yes. Myriad Wood Symbiosis comes from my bloodline inheritance, while Wood Spirit Reincarnation is something I comprehended myself!" the Green Ox Demon King said.

Yang Zhengshan looked at the Green Ox Demon King meaningfully. "You've hidden yourself quite deeply."

The fellow had been staying in the White Jade Capital for a hundred years, yet Yang Zhengshan had never known that he possessed two Divine Path Intents.

"I have to keep a few means of saving my life, don't I?" the Green Ox Demon King said with a smile.

Yang Zhengshan flicked his Fly Whisk. "That's true!"

Everyone had secrets of their own. It was impossible for him to investigate every person's secrets.

The Green Ox Demon King had long since integrated into the Life Realm Immortal Palace. Not only had he lived in the White Jade Capital for a hundred years, he had also raised a new group of Gray Horn Green Oxes in the Spirit Source Land.

The Green Ox Demon King now had no reason to betray the White Jade Capital, nor did he have any reason to betray Yang Zhengshan. Thus, Yang Zhengshan trusted him completely.