The Bigger the Storm, the Pricier the Fish

Within the Joyful Union Secret Realm of the Joyful Union Sect.

"Keep gathering spirit herbs, keep refining! I refuse to believe I can't refine a Nascent Soul Pill!"

The white-robed woman seated before the pill furnace gritted her teeth.

"Yes, Martial Aunt!"

Beside her, Joyful Union Sect Master Ye Chenyu wore a grave expression.

If they failed to refine a Nascent Soul Pill, the Joyful Union Sect risked being annexed by the Black Tortoise Sect.

Because their Nascent Soul Realm patriarch had already exhausted her lifespan and passed away.

Their patriarch had originally only had a dozen or so years left to live, but they had refined a Life-Extending Pill and forcibly extended the ancestor's life by more than ten years.

Yet in the end, it was still difficult to break the laws of heaven and earth.

Even a Nascent Soul Realm ancestor could not escape the final fate of dying peacefully of old age.

"Your youngest disciple, Liu Fuyao, possesses a top-grade Heavenly Spirit Root and cultivates the Ruthless Dao. Only by severing all feelings and love can she advance by leaps and bounds. You must keep a close eye on her. Every man is a stumbling block in her path. Do not let any man disrupt her Dao heart. I believe it will not be long before our Joyful Union Sect produces another great Nascent Soul Realm cultivator. By then, even if we cannot refine a Nascent Soul Pill, our Joyful Union Sect will not fear that Black Tortoise Sect."

The woman in white spoke calmly.

This was their backup plan.

"Rest assured, Martial Aunt. The Saintess is currently in seclusion, attempting to break through to the Golden Core Middle Stage. She should emerge soon."

Ye Chenyu said gravely.

"Still, we must gather enough spirit herbs for another batch of Nascent Soul Pills as soon as possible. Before the Sect Grand Tournament, I will open the furnace once more and refine another Nascent Soul Pill. I'll make one more attempt..."

The white-robed woman murmured thoughtfully.

"Yes, I will immediately order people to go down the mountain overnight and purchase spirit herbs..."

As Ye Chenyu spoke, she bowed to the woman in white, then turned and left.

After Ye Chenyu departed, the white-robed woman swayed, her face instantly turning deathly pale as she spat out a mouthful of blood.

"I never thought that even after I, Jiang Yingyue, went all out and even sacrificed my vital essence to invoke earthfire for pill refinement, I would still fail. The previous batch had failed too, but at least it condensed one waste pill. Yet all the spirit herbs in this batch were refined into medicinal dregs. Not even a waste pill formed. Could it be that only a Pill King can truly refine a Nascent Soul Pill?"

The woman in white was unwilling to accept it.

She was only one step away from the realm of a Pill King.

But she had failed to take that single step for decades.

"There is no use staying here. I might as well go out for a walk!"

Jiang Yingyue stood and headed to the secret realm's Spirit Spring to bathe and change, intending to go out and clear her mind.

Meanwhile, within Waste-Pill Valley, inside Number Eighteen Waste-Pill Room.

Lu Chen directly tossed that Nascent Soul Pill into the Yin-Yang Cauldron.

"Reshape!"

He immediately activated the Yin-Yang Cauldron.

At once, fifty strands of Yin-Yang Essence flew from the cauldron and merged with the waste pill wrapped in Pill Poison.

Soon, bursts of wind and thunder sounded from within the cauldron. It was as though heaven and earth were being split apart inside, releasing earthshaking roars.

Inside the Yin-Yang Cauldron, yin and yang converged.

The surrounding Pill Poison surged toward the Yin-Yang Cauldron like madness.

Fortunately, he had shut the door to the Waste Pill Repository. Otherwise, even the Pill Poison outside would have been devoured by the Yin-Yang Cauldron.

Half an hour later, the Yin-Yang Cauldron gradually calmed.

A fragrant pill aroma then wafted from within the cauldron.

The moment Lu Chen inhaled that pill fragrance, his spirits lifted, and even the circulation of vital essence within his body accelerated considerably.

"This pill..."

Lu Chen was beside himself with excitement.

A pill said to allow Golden Core, Great Perfection cultivators to condense a Nascent Soul was indeed no ordinary thing.

Once the Yin-Yang Cauldron came to a complete stop, a line of words appeared on its surface: Nascent Soul Pill, lower seventh grade!

"Ha ha... It succeeded! It's actually a lower seventh-grade Nascent Soul Pill!"

"This feels amazing!"

Lu Chen leaned over to look and saw a precious pill the size of a fingertip lying quietly inside, wrapped in purple qi.

"So this is a Nascent Soul Pill?"

He carefully reached in, picked up the precious pill, and examined it closely.

The Nascent Soul Pill was crystal clear. Within it seemed to sit a tiny figure in meditation. Three distinct pill patterns covered its surface, naturally formed, while its fragrance assaulted the nose.

Just one whiff was enough to make him feel brimming with energy.

Lu Chen stared at the precious pill in his hand. Who would dare say now that he was not fated for the Great Dao of Immortality?

He was ecstatic beyond measure.

As long as he cultivated to Golden Core, Great Perfection, then swallowed this pill, he could shatter the Golden Core, transform into a Nascent Soul, and become a Nascent Soul ancestor.

At that time, not only would Liu Fuyao, that lofty Saintess of the Joyful Union Sect, have to kneel at his feet and sing of conquest, but so would every beautiful senior sister in the entire Joyful Union Sect.

He took out a jade bottle, carefully placed the Nascent Soul Pill inside, and temporarily stored it in his storage pouch.

After killing Lin Shicai and his lackeys, he had obtained ten storage pouches.

Lin Shicai's storage pouch was of decent quality, with an interior far larger than that of Lu Chen's original storage pouch.

Lu Chen no longer wished to reshape the ordinary waste pills left over from before.

Now that he could identify waste pills, naturally he would pick high-grade ones to reshape.

He intended to use the Yin-Yang Cauldron to reshape these high-grade waste pills and lure the beautiful senior sisters from the Joyful Union Sect's inner sect to seek pills from him.

But reshaping waste pills was not urgent.

He took out the copper slip he had bought from Duan Zhengde for two Mixed Spirit Stones.

This copper slip contained the foundational cultivation technique of the Five Elements Immortal Sect: the foundational volume of the Five Elements Swallowing Heaven Scripture.

Without hesitation, he carefully placed the copper slip into the Yin-Yang Cauldron.

A line of words immediately appeared on the cauldron: Transmission Copper Slip, Damaged Artifact. Consume ten strands of Yin-Yang Essence to reforge into a Lower-Grade Spirit Artifact.

"Reforge!"

Lu Chen did not hesitate in the slightest.

After consuming ten strands of Yin-Yang Essence, the copper slip, mottled with verdigris, was instantly transformed anew.

Information about the copper slip appeared on the cauldron: Transmission Copper Slip. Material: Violet-Gold Mystic Copper. Lower-Grade Spirit Artifact!

"This is... a Violet-Gold Mystic Copper Slip?"

Lu Chen was stunned.

Using Violet-Gold Mystic Copper to forge Transmission Copper Slips had been a popular inheritance method among the immortal sects of antiquity.

However, the method of forging such Transmission Copper Slips had already been lost in the present age.

Lu Chen removed the reforged transmission copper slip, bit his finger, and dripped blood onto it.

The next moment, he formed a wondrous connection with the copper slip in his hand.

Then, a cultivation technique appeared in his mind.

It was that simple.

"The Five Elements Swallowing Heaven Scripture, the Body-Tempering Chapter, and even the Foundation Establishment Chapter?"

Lu Chen trembled all over with excitement. Though they were merely foundational techniques, they were the foundational techniques of the Primordial Five Elements Immortal Sect!

This Five Elements Swallowing Heaven Scripture was absolutely an unbelievably badass cultivation technique.

Lu Chen could not wait to read through it.

The Five Elements Body-Tempering Chapter was divided into the Mortal Body Stage, Copper Skin Realm, Iron Bone Stage, and Golden Body Stage.

The Mortal Body Stage tempered the flesh; the Copper Skin Realm refined skin, membrane, sinew, and muscle until blades and spears could scarcely harm them; the Iron Bone Stage reforged the skeleton, granting strength sufficient to lift ten thousand jun; the Golden Body Stage made the sinews, bones, blood, and flesh throughout the body as tough as gold and iron, leaving the golden body indestructible, with a single punch capable of shattering a mountain.

Yet beyond the Golden Body Stage, there were no further techniques.

Good heavens, this was practically a body-tempering technique for achieving sainthood through the flesh!

The Five Elements Golden Body Stage was so formidable. If he mastered it, would he not be able to confront a Nascent Soul Realm ancestor head-on with the power of his physical body alone?

This felt amazing!

Even oxen and horses had their day to defy heaven!

Ha ha...!

He could only search for the later portions of the Five Elements Swallowing Heaven Scripture in the future.

For now, he was going to crack open every wall cabinet in this Waste Pill Repository.

He put away the Yin-Yang Cauldron and the Transmission Copper Slip, then rose from the floor.

Looking at the densely packed wall cabinets along the walls of the Waste Pill Repository, he revealed a brilliant smile.

These waste pills all belonged to him now.

Of the eighty-one strands of Yin-Yang Essence, sixty had already been used, leaving twenty-one.

This Yin-Yang Essence was being consumed far too quickly.

Hmm, he would use these twenty-one strands of Yin-Yang Essence to reshape a Foundation Establishment Pill and a Realm-Breaking Pill, then begin carrying out his plan of trading pills for dual cultivation.

He had already figured out the method.

Couldn't the Yin-Yang Cauldron conceal his aura?

Couldn't even great Golden Core Realm cultivators see through his true depth?

Fine, then.

Then he would disguise himself as a reclusive master.

It was dangerous, but the bigger the storm, the pricier the fish.