Rolling in Riches!

The lingering pill fragrance gradually faded, and the wondrous phenomena accompanying the pill's completion were drawing to a close.

Jiang Yun beckoned with his hand. The pillar of light immediately trembled violently, and a moment later, a wisp of azure light drifted down from it, finally hovering quietly above his palm.

"A sixth-grade pill, with flowing pill patterns. This Sect Breaking Pill turned out rather well!" The azure pill settled into his hand. Its surface was perfectly rounded, with faint, extraordinary patterns that had formed naturally rather than being carved by human hands, a sign of its exceptional quality. Jiang Yun was extremely fond of the first Sixth-Grade Pill he had refined!

Men always remembered their first time vividly!

Looking at the pill in his palm, Jiang Yun could not resist turning it over again and again. He nodded slightly, indulging in a little self-praise.

As the pill descended, the towering pillar of light seemed to lose its source of power. It shuddered a few times, then gradually grew indistinct until it vanished completely.

"It worked!"

The instant Jiang Yun collected the pill, the people guarding him from the distant peaks eagerly used their movement techniques and gathered around him.

"Did it really work?" Elder Qing stared at the jade bottle in Jiang Yun's hand, which was wreathed in fragrant wisps, still finding it hard to believe.

"If you don't believe me, Elder Qing, you can inspect it yourself!" Jiang Yun chuckled. He understood how the elder felt. After years of longing, the hope of finally fulfilling his wish had appeared, and it was only natural to fret over whether he might gain it or lose it.

"Jiang Yun, Elder Qing might not believe you, but I do! Why not let me test this pill on everyone's behalf?" Impatient by nature, Wu Tianlang could no longer contain his excitement. He squeezed past the others and approached Jiang Yun, rubbing his hands with a fawning smile.

He could not bear to take his eyes off the jade bottle in Jiang Yun's hand for even a moment!

"Wu Tianlang, you little brat! You've really turned the heavens upside down, daring to mock your teacher! Come here and take a punch!"

Provoked by Wu Tianlang's remark, Elder Qing immediately lost his temper. Swearing furiously, he swung a fist at Wu Tianlang's face, determined to see whether his hide really was that thick.

"Great Elder! Great Elder, save me!" With a miserable cry, Wu Tianlang, now sporting a black eye, immediately darted over to Su Qian and circled around him. Like Elder Qing, he was a Peak Dou Emperor. With his years of combat experience and younger, vigorous body, he would have beaten Elder Qing in a real fight.

But Elder Qing had once been his teacher and had guided him throughout his journey. He could not bring himself to fight back, leaving him to flee like a rat with his hands over his head.

Why did you have to open your big mouth? Now look what's happened! Your cold, stern image is ruined. Who knows how Hu Gan will make fun of you once you get back?

As he fled from the beating, Wu Tianlang silently regretted his actions!

"Enough! You're both getting on in years, yet you're still so undignified. It's only a Sect Breaking Pill! The academy still has plenty of medicinal ingredients in reserve, enough for each of you to get one!"

Caught between the two of them, Su Qian restrained them and scolded them with a stern expression.

"Jiang Yun, look how undignified those two are. I think you should leave the pill testing to me!" While the other two were busy brawling, a furtive figure quietly edged over to Jiang Yun and lowered his head to speak.

"Well, that might not be appropriate!" Looking at Hu Gan before him, Jiang Yun's eyes flashed with mischievous amusement, though his voice sounded hesitant.

In truth, he preferred to give the first Sect Breaking Pill to Wu Tianlang. Of the three, Wu Tianlang was the strongest, the youngest, and had the greatest potential. He was the most suitable candidate to test its effects.

After all, the Sect Breaking Pill only increased the chance of success by ten percent. The actual outcome still depended on the person taking it.

Having refined his first Sect Breaking Pill, Jiang Yun felt much more confident about refining the next ones. He could guarantee one for each of Jia Nan Academy's Peak Dou Emperors, including Hu Gan.

It was merely a matter of timing!

However, the men trapped at the Peak Dou Emperor level were clearly growing impatient.

Moreover, deep down, all three shared another concern. Jiang Yun had successfully refined a Sect Breaking Pill this time, but what about next time?

No alchemist could guarantee success, and the ingredients for Sect Breaking Pills were so precious that even Jia Nan Academy, with all its wealth, only had a few sets.

If the ingredients ran out when their turn came, who knew how long they would have to wait? That was why all three were so desperately impatient.

Jiang Yun's brief hesitation made Hu Gan anxious. Glancing at Zi Yan, who stood leisurely nearby, he gritted his teeth as though making some great decision. "Ahem, Jiang Yun, I have a granddaughter. She's pretty, obedient, and sensible, and the two of you are around the same age. You could spend some time..."

The more Jiang Yun heard, the stranger his expression became. Are you really talking about your Hu Jia? And Vice Dean Hu Gan, is it really all right to sell out your granddaughter for a Sect Breaking Pill?

"What are you saying, old man Hu Gan?" Zi Yan had appeared to be staring vacantly into space out of boredom, but she had actually been paying close attention to Jiang Yun the entire time. Before Hu Gan could finish, her hackles rose, and she fixed him with a sharp glare.

"Well, well, Hu Gan! You're as sly as ever, sneaking ahead of us!"

"Exactly! He was full of dirty tricks back when we were students, too. Teacher Qing, hit him! Hurry up and hit him!"

Zi Yan's sharp cry immediately drew the attention of the two men arguing nearby. Looking at Hu Gan, they understood at once what he was plotting. After so many years of friendship, how could they not know one another?

They immediately joined forces to denounce Hu Gan!

Su Qian watched the three squabbling men with utter helplessness. In the end, he could only turn to Jiang Yun. "Jiang Yun, you refined the pill, so the decision is yours. Tell us who should get it first!"

As soon as Su Qian spoke, all three stopped arguing and stood where they were, unable to stop casting glances at Jiang Yun.

Jiang Yun did not mind Su Qian passing the ball to him. He swept his gaze over the three and, under their anxious stares, said, "Let Commander Wu Tianlang have it!"

Jiang Yun's words settled the matter. Elder Qing and Hu Gan could not hide the disappointment in their eyes. Wu Tianlang approached excitedly and accepted the jade bottle from Jiang Yun. After carefully putting it away, he looked at Jiang Yun and spoke.

"Jiang Yun, words are empty. I know your plan. You can rest assured about this trip to the Black-Corner Region. Han Feng will never escape our grasp."

"Then I'll take your words as a good omen, Commander Wu. Let me also wish you an early breakthrough to Dou Zong." Jiang Yun chuckled and cupped his hands.

Wu Tianlang left with the Sect Breaking Pill. He was going to fulfill his long-cherished wish!

"Jiang Yun..."

Watching Wu Tianlang leave, Hu Gan and Elder Qing grew anxious. Both crowded closer and gazed at Jiang Yun with longing written all over their faces.

Jiang Yun immediately felt a headache coming on. But remembering that he had chosen this himself, he could only promise, "You'll both get one. Both of you..."

After resting and restoring his energy to its peak, Jiang Yun took out another set of ingredients for a Sect Breaking Pill.

Just as he was about to summon his flame, he abruptly stopped. Glancing toward the Black-Corner Region, he murmured, "I can't let you see what comes next, or things could get troublesome."

As his words faded, Jiang Yun raised his hand. Spirit seals flew out in dense streams, settling throughout the surrounding area. At a rough glance, there were several hundred of them.

"Formation, rise!"

At Jiang Yun's low cry, a complex array diagram appeared, tightly enveloping the area within a ten-mile radius.

"Hmm? What formation is this?"

Su Qian and the others grew curious. The instant the formation took shape, they sensed something change in the space around them. Its fluctuations felt familiar, but they could not immediately recall where they had encountered them.

"Xiao Yun just sealed off this space. You can't even tell that?"

"And you call yourself a Dou Zong?"

Seeing their puzzled expressions, the previously quiet Zi Yan spoke up, her tone carrying a faint trace of contempt.

"..." Su Qian's expression stiffened. His face darkened as he looked at Zi Yan. Will you only be satisfied once you've angered me to death?

Seeing Zi Yan act as though they were making a fuss over nothing, Su Qian felt utterly weary. Is this the world of geniuses? I was a genius once, too! Am I going about this the wrong way?

In terms of understanding spatial force, an Ancient Void Dragon at the Dou Emperor level did indeed surpass Su Qian, a Dou Zong. Her sensitivity to space was likewise beyond what Su Qian and the others could match.

After setting up the sealing formation, Jiang Yun nodded in satisfaction before resuming what he had been doing.

Over the following month, ripples of energy occasionally swept through the area. However, thanks to the formation's seal, those fluctuations attracted no attention.

Otherwise, the powerful figures of the Black-Corner Region would probably have been unable to sit still. The emergence of so many high-grade pills would have stirred towering waves throughout the region, drawing countless people toward this place.

Though this was Jia Nan Academy's territory, desperate outlaws were the last thing this world lacked.

After putting away the final pill, Jiang Yun seemed to enter a strange state. He slowly closed his eyes, his hands continuing to move as he took a pill from a jade bottle and swallowed it. His aura gradually surged.

As the pill finished forming, Jiang Yun's many days of refining had also brought him the opening he needed to break through to Seven-Star Dou Wang. He immediately swallowed a Dou Ling Pill and attempted the breakthrough.

A Seven-Star Dou Wang was already an advanced Dou Wang. Even within Jia Nan Academy, such cultivation would be enough to rank among the top twenty.

"He's... about to break through!" On the distant peak, only Su Qian remained to guard him. Everyone else had gone into seclusion after receiving pills from Jiang Yun.

Even Zi Yan was no exception. She had taken an Emperor's Extreme Pill that Jiang Yun gave her, hoping to advance another two levels.

Thus, only Su Qian was present. Watching Jiang Yun's actions, a look of surprise crossed his face.

As the pill entered his body, Jiang Yun suddenly unleashed a powerful suction force, even stirring up a tornado-like energy storm. Meanwhile, his aura rapidly strengthened.

"Break!" At a certain moment, sensing the bottleneck within him loosen, Jiang Yun gave a low shout in his mind and drove his internal energy against it.

Crack! Two faint sounds of shattering rang out in succession. Jiang Yun's aura surged once more as the Dou Qi of an Eight-Star Dou Wang flowed through his body. He felt incomparably powerful.

After absorbing the Fallen Heart Flame, he had been only a step away from Seven-Star Dou Wang. With normal cultivation, he could have broken through in two months. This round of pill refinement had merely accelerated the process.

Together with the Dou Ling Pill he had taken, it allowed him to accomplish the feat of advancing two levels in succession.

"A Sixth-Grade Emperor's Extreme Pill. Not bad!" After his breakthrough, Jiang Yun was in excellent spirits. The sight of the Emperor's Extreme Pill before him, its surface traced with pill patterns, made his mood even better.

He had finished refining the pills owed to the academy seven days earlier. Every pill he had refined during those last seven days belonged to him.

By the rules of the alchemy world, anyone hiring an alchemist had to provide three sets of ingredients along with payment. Any leftover ingredients also belonged to the alchemist.

It was precisely this "black-hearted" stipulation that left every alchemist rolling in riches.

Naturally, Jiang Yun and the academy had not followed those terms. Still, the academy had offered him two sets of ingredients for each pill. How much he could save depended entirely on his own ability.

Fortunately, Jiang Yun's alchemy skills were good, and they improved steadily each day. He had only wasted a few sets of ingredients during the first several days. After that, his success rate had been one hundred percent.

Thus, Jiang Yun had saved a considerable amount of ingredients and turned them all into pills over those seven days. Now, he truly was rolling in riches. After being an alchemist for so many years, he finally looked the part.

At last, he had a little confidence that he could fulfill his old promise to raise Zi Yan until she was plump and rosy.

Whoosh! A sound cut through the air, and Su Qian's figure slowly appeared beside him.

"Even I'm getting a little envious of your wealth now. You alchemists really are all rolling in riches!" Looking at Jiang Yun as he put away the pills, Su Qian could not resist teasing him.

"The alchemist still needs the skill to earn it, doesn't he?" Jiang Yun chuckled noncommittally. This was simply a matter of one party willingly striking and the other willingly taking the blow. It had always been that way.

"Now that you've finished refining the pills, I'm sure we'll hear their results soon. It's time to put your plan on the agenda, too." Su Qian's smile faded, and his expression suddenly turned serious.

After all, when going to war with a top-tier power, no amount of preparation was excessive.

"There's no hurry." In response to Su Qian, Jiang Yun calmly shook his head, a mysterious smile curling his lips. If Zi Yan had been there, she would certainly have realized that someone was about to suffer. Jiang Yun always wore that expression whenever he was preparing to trick someone.

"Does the academy have a way to store heavenly flames for a while?" Faced with Su Qian's puzzled look, Jiang Yun first asked a seemingly unrelated question.

Though his mind was full of questions, Su Qian still nodded and answered, "The academy does have a method of storing heavenly flames for contingencies. Why do you ask?"

"Our Medicine Emperor has quite an unusual obsession with heavenly flames!" Jiang Yun looked at Su Qian with a meaningful smile.

"You mean..." Su Qian was a clever man. With that hint from Jiang Yun, he guessed the plan, but he still could not help asking, "He already has one heavenly flame. Would he still be interested in another?"