Sect Breaking Pill!

"Do you still intend to wade into Maple City's muddy waters?" Su Qian asked earnestly when he saw Jiang Yun close the scroll.

After pondering for a moment, Jiang Yun rubbed his brow, then regained his breezy composure, as though nothing could trouble him, and chuckled.

"Why not?"

"Ahem." Jiang Yun's reply left Su Qian choking. His eyes widened as he said in disbelief, "That faction has two Dou Zong holding the fort and several Dou Emperor reinforcements. Don't think advancing to Dou Wang means you can look down on everyone under heaven."

Although Su Qian's tone was rather harsh, Jiang Yun could still hear the deep concern in his words.

"Han Feng has gathered so many powerful experts. He must have something major in mind, and in the Black-Corner Region, the only thing that warrants such caution from him is..."

"You mean..." Jiang Yun's words immediately put Su Qian on alert. In the Black-Corner Region, only Jia Nan Academy could field so many powerful experts.

The thought that all those people in Maple City might be targeting Jia Nan Academy sent a chill through even Su Qian. Granted, unless a Dou Zun intervened, Jia Nan Academy could not be destroyed, but Elders Qian and Bai were a pair of die-hard recluses. They would never emerge unless the academy faced a life-or-death crisis.

Even if they eventually came out to settle matters, the damage inflicted before then would be enough to make Su Qian's heart ache.

"That's only my guess. We don't know the truth yet!" Seeing that he had frightened Su Qian, Jiang Yun shook his head, dismissing the notion.

Han Feng's unusual actions had indeed caught him by surprise. Gathering so many powerful experts could plausibly be for self-preservation. After all, when dealing with the hyenas of the Black-Corner Region, the stronger he was, the safer he would be.

What was more, he had offended Demon Flame Valley. Wealth could stir men's hearts; there was no telling whether Earth Demon Old Ghost might personally step in.

As for the Dou Zong at Han Feng's side, Jiang Yun had a few vague suspicions.

"Well..." Su Qian hesitated. Jiang Yun's arguments made sense. For the academy to rashly go to war with Maple City over a mere conjecture would indeed be inappropriate.

People died in wars. On a battlefield like that, even Su Qian's death would be nothing unusual.

"Don't worry, Great Elder. Since I've chosen Maple City as my target, naturally, I have a plan," Jiang Yun said at just the right moment, noticing Su Qian's concern and hesitation.

"Oh? Let's hear it!" Jiang Yun's words caught Su Qian's attention, and he could not help asking curiously.

Jiang Yun gave a mysterious smile. Instead of answering, he took out a sheet of paper covered in writing.

Su Qian accepted it with a puzzled expression. After glancing at the medicinal ingredients listed on it, his face twitched. "You won't stop until you've emptied the academy's coffers, will you? These are all ingredients for refining Sixth-Grade Pills. You can refine Sixth-Grade Pills now?"

"I can give it a try!" Jiang Yun replied confidently. In fact, after refining the fallen heart flame, not only had his Dou Qi advanced enormously, but his soul power had also surged. His soul power had now reached a bottleneck.

Jiang Yun knew that this was the barrier to a spirit realm soul. As long as he continued practicing his clan's soul cultivation method and accumulated enough spiritual energy, he could advance to a spirit realm soul.

His current mortal realm peak soul power was enough to refine any pill below the eighth tier.

"You... What sort of monster did I pick up back then?" Su Qian stared at Jiang Yun in utter disbelief, speaking dazedly.

"What pills are these for? Why does this seem familiar?" Only after a good while did Su Qian recover. He looked at the list in his hand again, finding it more familiar the longer he studied it.

"These are the ingredients needed to refine Emperor's Extreme Pills and Sect Breaking Pills. I already have some of them, but I'll need the academy's help with the rest!" Jiang Yun spoke calmly, though his words nearly drove Su Qian mad.

"Sect Breaking Pills-"

"You're actually going to refine Sect Breaking Pills-"

As its name suggested, a Sect Breaking Pill could give a Peak Dou Emperor an additional ten percent chance of success when advancing to Dou Zong. It also guaranteed that even if the breakthrough failed, their strength would remain at its previous level rather than declining!

Although that ten percent increase might seem small, that tiny margin was enough to drive Peak Dou Emperors wild!

The Sect Breaking Pill could be called the crowning achievement among Sixth-Grade Pills, enough to send any Peak Dou Emperor into a frenzy. At the same time, it was also among the most difficult sixth-grade pills to refine.

Jiang Yun actually felt confident about refining a Sect Breaking Pill. Su Qian could not help studying him. A Sixth-grade Alchemist at thirteen or fourteen-surely he was the only one on the entire continent?

"You're planning to..." By now, Su Qian understood Jiang Yun's intentions.

Jiang Yun looked at Su Qian and nodded with a smile.

The academy would not risk going to war with Maple City for his sake without a reason. He would offer Sect Breaking Pills and Emperor's Extreme Pills in exchange for the assistance of several Dou Emperors and Peak Dou Emperors.

He believed the academy's elders would not refuse. In particular, Peak Dou Emperors such as Elder Qing, Hu Gan, and Wu Tianlang would probably scramble to join him.

Su Qian hesitated, then finally sighed. "All I can say is that I won't stop them."

"And what do you intend to use to 'invite' this old man to act?" Su Qian suddenly turned mischievous, rubbing his hands as he looked eagerly at Jiang Yun.

Jiang Yun found it rather amusing. Su Qian had suddenly become quite mercenary. Although he knew Su Qian would help even without payment, since he had decided to make a deal with the academy, he would naturally keep his word.

"This is the array diagram for a Fifth-Level Spirit Gathering Array. I wonder if it's enough to secure the Great Elder's assistance!" Jiang Yun took out a scroll and handed it to Su Qian with a smile.

"Enough! More than enough!" Su Qian's eyes widened, and with a swish, he immediately tucked the array diagram away. His smile grew so broad that his eyes nearly narrowed into slits.

"All right, leave the rest to me. I'll gather all the ingredients you need within three days." After he had finished grinning, Su Qian's expression grew considerably more serious.

"Thank you, Great Elder!" Jiang Yun cupped his hands and bowed in gratitude.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye!

In a secluded valley, Jiang Yun sat quietly cross-legged in a clearing. Before him lay an assortment of carefully stored medicinal ingredients.

These ingredients were quite rare. In the Black-Corner Region, they would certainly fetch excellent prices, and there were so many of them. One could not help marveling at Jia Nan Academy's deep reserves.

An ancient-looking, pale-yellow Medicine Cauldron floated into view. It was one of the treasures of Jia Nan Academy's Alchemy Department, a seventh-tier Medicine Cauldron that Su Qian had specially brought to lend Jiang Yun a hand.

The Sect Breaking Pill formula hovered in midair, a figure of light moving across it as it demonstrated the entire refining process over and over.

After an unknown amount of time, Jiang Yun finally settled his mind and began. White flames rose within his pitch-black eyes.

Whoosh-

With a faint sound, a wisp of white flame sprang from Jiang Yun's Dou Qi vortex. He flicked a finger, and the flame became a streak of light that shot into the Medicine Cauldron like lightning.

The moment it entered the Medicine Cauldron, the tiny flame abruptly swelled. In an instant, it became a roaring blaze that burned fiercely inside.

Jiang Yun had never refined a Sixth-Grade Pill before, yet he was challenging the Sect Breaking Pill right from the start. Without his mortal realm peak soul power to fall back on, he would never have dared attempt it so lightly.

He had not spent much time studying alchemy. He had relied on his formidable soul power and the annotations his predecessors had left with their pill formulas, following each instruction to the letter.

Now, however, the Sect Breaking Pill was already a high-grade pill. Simply copying each step would no longer suffice. From here on, he had to rely entirely on himself.

The white flame radiated light like a tiny sun, while faint strands of medicinal fragrance drifted from the Medicine Cauldron.

With a beckoning motion, Jiang Yun tossed a withered branch resembling an ice sculpture into the Medicine Cauldron.

This was one of the main ingredients for the Sect Breaking Pill: a cold marrow branch.

"It's begun!" On a distant hill, several figures watched the cold marrow branch drop into the Medicine Cauldron and spoke excitedly.

"Can Jiang Yun succeed?"

"Hard to say. It's a peak sixth-grade pill, after all. A few failures would be perfectly normal. Old Qing, stay calm. If it doesn't work this time, Jiang Yun will definitely succeed next time."

"You insolent brat! I was the one who taught your class back then. Oh, now that you're Vice Dean and a Peak Dou Emperor, you've started disrespecting your elders? I'll beat you senseless!"

"Teacher Qing, Teacher Qing, I was wrong!"

"At your age, you're still so flighty. Don't you agree, Great Elder?" Watching the two bicker, Wu Tianlang looked on coldly, his eyes filled with deep disdain.

"You're composed, are you? Then why are you shaking?" Su Qian looked at Wu Tianlang with an amused half-smile.

Following his gaze, they saw one of Wu Tianlang's legs trembling unconsciously. Clearly, his heart was nowhere near as calm as his expression suggested.

"..."

"Tch-what a bunch of ignorant fools. How could Xiao Yun possibly fail?" In the distance, a lovely purple-clad figure sat on a boulder, her mouth smeared with juice as she looked at the men disdainfully.

Her gaze drifted into the distance and settled on the figure diligently refining pills, her eyes brimming with amusement. "I wonder if Emperor's Extreme Pills taste good. I'm a Dou Emperor now too. When the time comes, I'll have Xiao Yun refine a few bottles for me to try."

The moment these men heard that Jiang Yun intended to refine a Sect Breaking Pill, they grew excited and clamored to guard him. And so, Jiang Yun had welcomed the strongest group of guardians he had ever had.

Every last one was a Dou Emperor!

At that moment, Jiang Yun was battling the cold marrow branch. Faced with the scorching flames, it did not simply await its doom. Instead, it continuously released waves of icy mist to resist the invading heat.

The mist and flames ate away at each other. Amid sizzling sounds, a faint white haze even began rising inside the Medicine Cauldron.

"As expected, high-grade pills aren't so easy to refine. Even refining the ingredients takes quite a bit of effort." Watching the scene inside the Medicine Cauldron, Jiang Yun clicked his tongue in wonder. With a thought, he sent the temperature inside soaring!

As the flames burned hotter and hotter, the cold marrow branch finally began losing its resistance and slowly melted.

Half an hour later, the cold marrow branch had melted completely. Jiang Yun turned his palm and added another medicinal ingredient.

Time slowly passed as Jiang Yun refined the ingredients methodically. The ingredients laid out before him gradually dwindled, while a rich blend of medicinal fragrances lingered within the Medicine Cauldron like clouds and mist.

After several crises, all deftly resolved through Jiang Yun's formidable soul power, every stage of refining the Sect Breaking Pill was finally complete. Only the final formation remained.

The Medicine Cauldron, heated red-hot, slowly rotated in midair, white flames churning violently within it.

"Condense-" At a certain moment, Jiang Yun shouted, pouring a vast amount of soul power into the Medicine Cauldron. The many purified medicinal liquids inside gradually began to merge.

A multicolored ball of liquid half the size of a fist slowly appeared within the Medicine Cauldron, continuously releasing tiny ripples of energy.

Centered on the Medicine Cauldron, these energy ripples spread outward in circles in every direction. Within the flame-filled cauldron, a ball of liquid as wide as a bowl's mouth steadily shrank. As the flames refined it, the outline of a round pill slowly took shape.

As the flames continued nurturing it, impurities were steadily purged from the embryonic pill.

Throughout the tedious wait, Jiang Yun dared not relax his concentration in the slightest. Refining high-grade pills truly was extraordinarily taxing.

An hour passed in the blink of an eye. The impurities within the pill were finally purged completely, and just then, the surrounding worldly energy suddenly began to fluctuate.

With a bang, a beam of energy roughly half a foot wide burst straight out of the Medicine Cauldron and shot toward the sky.

Watching the beam soar skyward, the faces of the distant observers shifted slightly, then filled with wild joy.

"Is this... Did he succeed?"

"The beam is brimming with pill fragrance. He succeeded! Jiang Yun refined a Sect Breaking Pill!"

"The commotion caused by a high-grade pill's birth... It seems Jia Nan Academy is about to produce another Grand Alchemist."

"What a fuss. I told you Xiao Yun would succeed!"

Jiang Yun stared at the ball of light inside the Medicine Cauldron. As it pulsed, waves of energy spread ever more rapidly. Wherever the ripples passed, rocks tumbled and trees snapped at their trunks.

Such power was already comparable to the destructive strength of a Dou Ling!

The Black-Corner Region!

At that moment, atop a pavilion, Han Feng, who had broken through to Dou Zong, raised his head slightly. His gaze was directed toward the very place where the energy had erupted.

"Fluctuations like these only appear when a Sixth-Grade Pill takes shape, don't they? That direction is Jia Nan Academy. Is it Old Man Huo? A newly advanced Sixth-grade Alchemist like him couldn't produce energy fluctuations of this magnitude. Another unfamiliar Sixth-grade Alchemist?" Han Feng frowned slightly and murmured to himself.

"Never mind. One more Sixth-grade Alchemist won't affect the overall picture. That fellow might even be happier about it." Shaking his head, Han Feng slowly turned away, a strange smile tugging at his lips.

Han Feng was not the only one who noticed these fluctuations. Many powerful experts across the Black-Corner Region sensed them as well, and their reactions varied.

On a plain, vast billows of black mist surged out, blotting out the sky. The mist swiftly gathered overhead, finally taking the shape of a black-robed figure shrouded entirely in deep black smoke. A pair of faintly crimson eyes emerged from the profound darkness. Watching the distant fluctuations, the figure's lips curled into a strange smile that looked particularly sinister amid the black mist.

"Heh heh heh-a Sixth-grade Alchemist? What an unexpected windfall..."