Thunderclap Bead

Chen Lin had barely left when a stooped old man emerged from behind the house.

The woman saw the old man come out and immediately spoke with a strange expression: "Just as you said, he came back to ask about the Enlightenment Pill. Could it be that he actually refined the pill according to your formula? That seems unlikely, doesn't it?"

The old man smiled.

He said calmly, "Nothing is impossible. Not only did he refine it, but he refined more than one."

"What!"

The woman was stunned.

"Wasn't your formula a simplified version improved by Elder He? It was only theoretically feasible—even you couldn't refine it. How could a rogue cultivator do it? Could he be a hidden Master Alchemist?"

"Master Alchemist?"

The old man let out a cold sneer.

"A Master Alchemist couldn't refine a formula improved by Elder He's original Luck Alchemy Technique. To succeed, one must be a person of great luck!"

The woman's brows knitted together.

"Great luck? A rogue cultivator who only reached Qi Refining Layer 4 at forty years old—how much luck could he have?"

The old man's mouth twitched at being choked off. He shook his head and said, "Before, this man was indeed a down-and-out rogue cultivator, but recently he has changed greatly, as if he were a different person."

"You mean he was body-snatched!"

The woman exclaimed.

"Whether he was body-snatched or not, I don't know, but there's definitely been a change. This man is very cautious. If I hadn't used the First Origin Pill formula meant to test Zhao Zhengyuan, which he then sold to this man, and happened to be monitoring Zhao Zhengyuan when I discovered this man had refined the First Origin Pill, I wouldn't have believed it either."

He paused, then affirmed, "Both formulas were created by Elder He. Success depends entirely on luck. If he succeeded once, it could be coincidence. But succeeding with both types of pills, and more than once each—that's no coincidence."

The woman nodded.

"So, you mean to let him try?"

"Mm."

The old man nodded as well.

"That thing is about to take shape. If we can't cut the Red Thread and escape this place soon, all will be lost. We can't wait any longer."

The woman still hesitated, frowning. "Can entering the Foundation Establishment Realm really cut that Red Thread? Once the Blood Demon Pill is used, there's no turning back!"

The old man gave a bitter laugh. "What turning back is there? We were just unlucky to encounter such a powerful Strange Entity. Luckily, it hasn't taken shape yet, or we'd have died long ago."

Hearing this, the woman spoke with an apologetic tone, "It's all my fault. If I hadn't asked Senior Brother to help me track down the traitor here, we wouldn't be trapped."

The old man smiled and said, "Why say that? If anything, I should thank this Strange Entity. Without it, how could I have had this chance to be alone with you?"

Then, his expression turned serious. "After reaching Foundation Establishment, we will definitely be able to cut the Red Thread. I've already grasped the method. The patriarchs of the Zhang Family and the Han Family used this same secret technique. They are already preparing to leave the city with their core disciples."

The woman was taken aback.

"Really? No wonder those two families don't seem panicked. So the two patriarchs weren't missing—they found a way to leave."

The old man nodded. "Mm. Not just their two families—the other Three Great Families are probably preparing to leave too. But to avoid drawing the Strange Entity's attention, they likely won't dare take too many people."

He sighed and said, "It's a pity the Five Great Families are so exclusionary, and we're from the Black Demon Sect. Otherwise, getting two spots to leave from them wouldn't be such trouble. Now, it all depends on whether Fellow Daoist Chen can give us a surprise."

Chen Lin removed his disguise and returned to his dwelling, carrying a rabbit cage in his hand.

Before entering the house, he glanced at Zhao Zhengyuan's place, hesitated, then walked over.

He knocked on the door but got no response.

"Brother Zhao, I'm stewing rabbit tonight. Come have a drink!"

He called out loudly.

Still no response.

Chen Lin frowned. He hadn't seen the other man for a long time. He didn't know if it was because he was in seclusion or if the man simply hadn't come back.

Just then, the window across the way slid open, and the sallow-faced female cultivator poked her head out.

"Don't bother shouting. That guy hasn't been back for half a month. Want me to keep you company for a drink?"

Half a month?

Chen Lin couldn't help but feel a bad premonition.

With the beast rampage recently, he hoped nothing dangerous had happened to the man.

Unfortunately, even if something had happened, he couldn't help. He could only silently pray for him.

Ignoring the female cultivator, Chen Lin went straight into his own house, earning another round of curses from her.

He just let it wash over him.

After setting down the rabbit cage, he eagerly took out the pill box, removed a pill, carefully scraped off some powder, mixed it with water, and fed it to the rabbit.

Then he quietly observed.

As he watched, he took out the Artifact Refining Manual and began to read.

Throughout the entire tome, all the other pages had been rendered useless, with only a few pages in the middle still barely legible.

There were six pages in total, recording the crafting methods for two types of magic artifacts.

Calling them magic artifacts, they were not the usual flying swords or shields, but two rather obscure items.

One was called the Purple Light Bottle, which, according to the records, was a special container used to hold a substance known as Purple Gold Glazed Liquid.

What Purple Gold Glazed Liquid was, Chen Lin had no idea—he had never even heard of it—so naturally, he wouldn't be crafting that.

What he had his eye on was the other one.

The Thunderclap Bead!

Flipping to the page on the Thunderclap Bead, he studied it repeatedly, then took out his brush and ink, filling in the missing characters based on conventional understanding.

After working on it for quite a while, he nodded in satisfaction.

The missing parts of the crafting instructions weren't many, and they were all in less critical areas. After his deductions and supplements, it should be fine.

As for the function of this item, it was similar to a bomb from his past life—no need to channel spiritual power to activate it; just throw it out, and it would explode directly.

The downside was that its power wasn't all that impressive.

The explosion principle was also vastly different from bombs in his past life. It didn't use gunpowder but was made from several mutually repelling materials with unstable internal structures.

During crafting, a formation was used to keep the materials in a balanced state. Once activated, the formation's balance would break, triggering the explosion.

Based on the power effects recorded in the book, Chen Lin estimated it was about the same as a hand grenade.

It could handle Early Qi Refining Stage cultivators, but once someone reached Qi Refining Mid-stage, not only was their physical constitution strengthened, but they could also cast barrier-type spells, easily blocking the explosive damage.

So why did he still buy it?

Mainly because the tome mentioned that this item was difficult to craft, with a very low success rate.

He now had a fondness for anything with a low success rate, since only by crafting such items could he demonstrate the importance of his Talent Ability.

It gave him a sense of accomplishment.

Another point was that the raw materials were really cheap.

Even if he only managed to craft one out of ten attempts, it would cost less than two spirit stones.

And if one bead wasn't powerful enough, what about ten?

What about a hundred?

So, it couldn't be said to be completely useless.

Right now, he had no offensive means, and with this item, it counted as an extra layer of self-protection.