The Target: The Magic Core of the Ninth-Tier Magical Beast, the Heaven-Splitting Thunder Flood Dragon!

Two days later, at the Pill Tower plaza.

Jiang Yuan sat on a step in a corner of the plaza, eyes closed as he cultivated.

Dou Qi raced through his meridians. With every completed Circulation Cycle, it grew stronger. His cultivation speed was absurd.

The terrifying power of the Dou Di Bloodline was on full display. Another Dou Emperor would need years, perhaps even decades, of bitter cultivation to advance from one star to eight. Jiang Yuan had made that leap in just two days.

After a while, Jiang Yuan slowly opened his eyes and breathed out, a faint smile of satisfaction on his lips.

He checked the state of his body. Feeling the vast, surging Dou Qi in his dantian put him in an excellent mood.

Eight-Star Dou Zong.

From a One-Star Dou Emperor to an Eight-Star Dou Zong in two days. No one on the entire Dou Qi Continent would believe that cultivation speed if they heard it.

Jiang Yuan knew better. The Dou Di Bloodline really was that outrageous. The higher he climbed, the faster he cultivated, because his bloodline kept evolving and his affinity for Dou Qi kept increasing.

He was about to get up and stretch when a familiar voice sounded beside him.

"Senior Brother Jiang Yuan!"

Jiang Yuan turned toward the voice. Dan Chen was hurrying over, and when she reached him, she was slightly out of breath and smiling brightly.

"Senior Brother, I saw you cultivating from a distance, so I didn't dare disturb you." Dan Chen sat down beside him. "What level have you reached now? Your aura feels so much stronger than it did two days ago."

Jiang Yuan saw the admiration on her face. He had no reason to hide it from her, so he said casually, "I'm already an Eight-Star Dou Zong."

Dan Chen froze. Her eyes went wide, and her jaw nearly hit the ground.

"An E-Eight-Star Dou Zong? Senior Brother, you're joking, right? Weren't you a One-Star Dou Emperor two days ago? How did you reach Eight-Star Dou Zong in just two days?"

Seeing how worked up she was, Jiang Yuan nodded. "Yes, that's where I am."

Dan Chen opened her mouth, but for a moment, she had no idea what to say. Her whole understanding of the world had taken a blow.

Two days. From a One-Star Dou Emperor to an Eight-Star Dou Zong.

Who would believe it? Even the greatest geniuses in the history of the Dou Qi Continent couldn't have crossed more than an entire major realm in two short days, could they?

Dan Chen couldn't help wondering just what kind of monster Senior Brother Jiang Yuan was. His cultivation speed was frightening.

Before she could dwell on it any longer, a system notification sounded in Jiang Yuan's mind.

[Intelligence Alert: In three days, a Magic Core from the Ninth-Tier Magical Beast known as the Heaven-Splitting Thunder Flood Dragon will be auctioned at the Space Trade Fair. The core contains exceptionally pure energy and will greatly aid the host's cultivation. The host is advised to obtain it.]

The Heaven-Splitting Thunder Flood Dragon?

Jiang Yuan's eyes lit up at the alert. A Ninth-Tier Magical Beast's Magic Core was no ordinary treasure. Even a Dou Zun would covet it.

And since the system had specifically alerted him, the core really would be of great help to his cultivation.

But Jiang Yuan knew how the Space Trade Fair worked. Money would not buy a treasure of that caliber. Which of the powerful figures attending the Trade Fair lacked money? What they wanted was something they couldn't buy on the market.

In short, the only way to obtain the Ninth-Tier Magic Core was to trade a pill of equal value for it.

Jiang Yuan considered it. With his current alchemy skills, refining a high-grade pill would be no problem. He only needed the right Medicinal Ingredients.

With that in mind, he could not stay and chat with Dan Chen. He stood and said, "I have something to take care of. I'll be going."

Dan Chen was still puzzled, but she nodded. "All right, Senior Brother. Go ahead."

Jiang Yuan left the plaza and headed straight for the Pill Tower's Medicinal Ingredient Treasury to gather what he needed for the pill.

The pill he intended to refine was the Nine Netherworld Underworld Pill, a peak Eighth-Tier Nine-Colored pill. Its effects were extraordinary: it could allow a Dou Zun who took it to advance directly to Dou Sheng.

Pills of that caliber were virtually impossible to buy, no matter the price. It would be more than enough to trade for a Ninth-Tier Magic Core.

For the next half month, Jiang Yuan devoted nearly all his energy to gathering Medicinal Ingredients. When the Pill Tower's treasury lacked something, he searched the Markets. When he could not find it there, he traveled farther afield.

He left early and returned late each day until, at last, he had gathered every ingredient needed for the Nine Netherworld Underworld Pill.

One evening half a month later, Jiang Yuan checked the last ingredient in his Storage Ring. Once he confirmed everything was there, he nodded in satisfaction.

He finally had all the materials. Now he needed a suitable place to begin refining.

Refining a peak Eighth-Tier Nine-Colored pill was no small matter. The Pill Tribulation Lightning it summoned would be far more powerful than that of an ordinary Eighth-Tier Pill. If he refined it inside the Pill Tower, he would draw a crowd and no end of trouble.

After giving it some thought, Jiang Yuan left the Pill Tower and found an empty, deserted stretch of Wasteland outside the city.

He chose a spot and sat cross-legged. Then he took the ingredients from his Storage Ring, laid them out one by one, drew a deep breath, and closed his eyes.

After quickly reviewing the steps for refining the Nine Netherworld Underworld Pill in his mind, Jiang Yuan opened his eyes and began.

His soul power spread out in an instant, enveloping the ingredients and feeding them into the flames for extraction. Every movement flowed smoothly into the next.

With his previous experience refining Eighth-Tier Pills and the added talent of a Heavenly Sovereign alchemist, Jiang Yuan worked with even greater skill this time. He extracted the essence of each ingredient with perfect precision, wasting nothing.

Time slipped by unnoticed, and the clouds overhead began to change.

Dark clouds gathered above the Wasteland. Faint flashes of lightning flickered within them, radiating a pressure that set the heart pounding.

Jiang Yuan looked up at the sky. He knew the Pill Tribulation Lightning was about to arrive.

The lightning summoned by the successful refinement of a peak Eighth-Tier Nine-Colored pill was immensely powerful. An ordinary alchemist would have panicked at the thought of facing it.

Jiang Yuan, however, remained calm. He had mastered the Lightning-Avoidance Method while refining his last Eighth-Tier Pill. This time, too, he had no need to withstand the lightning head-on. He could simply evade it.

A little while later, a pill slowly took shape within the flames. Nine flowing bands of light coursed across its surface, and a rich medicinal fragrance rose from each one.

At long last, the Nine Netherworld Underworld Pill was complete!

The instant the pill fully formed, the dark clouds overhead churned violently. A massive bolt of lightning plunged down, bearing a destructive force as it thundered toward Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan did not move. He merely raised his eyes.

Just before the lightning struck the pill, it seemed to lose its target. It veered strangely through the air, then dissipated.

The second bolt did the same, as did the third. The Lightning-Avoidance Method evaded them all perfectly.

When the final bolt of Pill Tribulation Lightning vanished, the dark clouds gradually dispersed, revealing a clear night sky.

Jiang Yuan reached out and caught the Nine Netherworld Underworld Pill floating before him. He felt its warmth and the vast energy within it, and a smile spread across his face.

Done!