"Not human?"
Xiao Yan's scalp instantly went numb. The corner of his mouth twitched, and only after a long while did he lower his voice and murmur, "A legendary Emperor Grade Pill?"
Generally speaking, as long as a pill underwent Nine-Colored Pill Thunder, it could gain intelligence. However, such pills mostly took the form of beasts. Though intelligent, they could not truly compare to humans. Some legendary Ninth-grade pills, however, could take human form and even cultivate. But even Xiao Yan had only read about such things in ancient texts.
"Hehe, Emperor Grade Pills were exceedingly rare even in ancient times. How could anyone possibly refine one now?"
Xuan Kongzi was not surprised by Xiao Yan's shocked expression. When he had first learned of the Ancestor's true form, he too had been stunned for a long time before recovering.
"The senior who refined the Ancestor was also one of the founders of the Pill Tower. However, that senior had long since passed away... During the year before his death, he exhausted all his energy refining a pill. When the pill was completed, he too depleted all his strength and quietly perished. Yet at the moment of his death, a trace of his consciousness fused into that Ninth-grade pill through a strange method, causing this pill—which had reached the level of a Nine-Rank Profound Pill—to mutate..."
"Later, that pill took human form but did not leave the Pill Tower. Instead, it remained as the Pill Tower's guardian. In a sense, this Ancestor could be considered an alternative incarnation of that senior, though the relationship between original and incarnation was rather complicated."
Xuan Kongzi smiled. "As time passed, the Ancestor repeatedly saved the Pill Tower from destruction. Eventually, his status within the Pill Tower became unmatched. Yet he had little interest in