"Old man, what are you doing?"
"Heh heh, do you have any of those pills you gave me before?"
Ying Xuanzi chuckled. Although he was angry that Fang Yi had set his sights on both his daughters at once,
and got angry whenever he saw Fang Yi, he still had to put on a smile in the face of a possible breakthrough to the Reincarnation Stage.
"Old man, I liked you better when you were proud and unruly!"
Fang Yi wasn't surprised. As long as the Yimo Pills worked, Ying Xuanzi was bound to come looking for him.
And here he was.
Ying Xuanzi glared at Fang Yi. "I'm your father!"
"Heh, weren't you full of bluster when you drove me out before? You said the sight of me annoyed you."
Fang Yi gathered in the moisture around him and casually brushed the mist from his Daoist robe, then looked at Ying Xuanzi with a smile.
"Well, my emotions got the better of me for a moment."
Ying Xuanzi smiled awkwardly. Fang Yi flicked four pills into Ying Xuanzi's hand and said, "I still have a use for two of them. Are these four enough?"
"Not necessarily. Why don't you tell me what the pills are made from? I'll have someone gather the ingredients."
These pills could help someone at the peak of the Samsara Stage break through to Reincarnation. There were no such pills on the Tianxuan Continent. The strongest available were Profound Origin Pills, followed by the Life and Death Reincarnation Pill.
But those only increased Origin Energy and life and death Qi. Pills like these, which increased one's comprehension of Reincarnation, simply didn't exist.
"They were refined from the power of that thing beneath the Great Desolation Tablet. I relied on the tablet to suppress some of its power, then used it to refine the pills."
"I swallowed five before, using them to break through and cultivate a secret art. I only had eight left, and I still need to keep some to cultivate the secret art. I've given you all the rest."
Ying Xuanzi hadn't expected the pills to have been refined from the Yimo King's power. He had thought the devilish thing beneath the Great Desolation Tablet was a calamity.
Who would have thought it was a mountain of gold!
"Then why not keep going?"
Ying Xuanzi was puzzled. Fang Yi was no kindhearted person, much less toward a Yimo. He would have loved to squeeze that Yimo King completely dry by force.
"It's hiding and won't come out. It's not an idiot."
Fang Yi shook his head. It was supposedly a Yimo King, yet it was far too cowardly.
If he could have dealt with it completely now,
he would have had the Great Desolation Tablet release it for him to refine. Unfortunately, things like the Great Desolation Tablet that could suppress it on their own were few and far between.
The one in the Great Desolation Commandery couldn't even be moved.
That was because a great array suppressed the Ninth King Hall, making it impossible to handle as easily as the Great Desolation Tablet.
If anything went wrong and the Ninth King Hall was released, disaster would follow.
"Are there any other places?"
"There probably aren't any around here at the moment."
Fang Yi shook his head.
Ying Xuanzi felt it was a pity. He hadn't expected such a fine resource to be gone already.
But Fang Yi suddenly said, "Wait, there should be one place."
"Where?"
"Yimo City. There's probably one in the Burning Heaven Ancient Treasure Trove too."
Fang Yi stroked his chin. There was one in the Burning Heaven Ancient Treasure Trove as well, though it had been suppressed by the Burning Heaven Elder.
"The Burning Heaven Ancient Treasure Trove..."
Ying Xuanzi thought for a moment and said, "I'll see what I can do, though there are no guarantees. With these four pills and your Supreme Dao Scripture, it's not impossible for me to reach the Reincarnation Stage."
"Do your best."
Fang Yi nodded.
"Who do you think you're talking to? Show some respect for your elders. And when can we prepare to comprehend the Great Desolation Scripture, as you mentioned?"
"Anytime. It might just take some of the Pill River's power to bring out the Great Desolation Tablet."
"All right, I'll speak to Chen Zhen and Wu Dao."
Ying Xuanzi had no objection to Fang Yi choosing Ying Xiaoxiao, Ying Huanhuan, and Gu Mo to seek out the Great Desolation Scripture-or rather, he had never had any objection.
After all, both of them were his daughters.
As for Gu Mo, he was already the Desolate Hall's strongest hidden asset.
He was at the Profound Life Stage, Greater Completion, and was also a Greater Immortal Talisman Master.
If he could comprehend the Great Desolation Scripture, they might be able to produce another fighter with the strength of the Samsara Stage.
As for the Desolate Hall's disciples, even its current foremost personal disciple had little talent in Ying Xuanzi's eyes.
They were all far inferior to Zhou Tong. Why waste the opportunity?
Ying Xuanzi left happily with the four Yimo Pills. People really did need to get out and about-just look how strong the adopted son he had brought back was.
Not only did the Dao Sect have a successor, but Fang Yi could also help him grow alongside him.
Fang Yi watched Ying Xuanzi hurry off and shook his head. The old man wasn't composed at all.
He didn't mind giving the pills away. The remaining two were enough for him to master the Azure Emperor Wood Sovereign Art and the Scarlet Emperor Fire Sovereign Qi anyway.
It was just that, with only one pill for each, he would probably need something to serve as a catalyst. He had an idea for the wood element.
The Immortal Origin Ancient Tree counted as a wondrous plant too.
As for the Scarlet Emperor Fire Sovereign Qi,
the Flame Ancestral Symbol was naturally the best choice, but getting in touch with Mo Luo would be a little difficult.
"Still, using the Yimo as a reason, getting in touch with him shouldn't be hard." Fang Yi considered what he needed to do next.
He couldn't pin all his hopes of suppressing the Yuan Sect on Ying Xuanzi's breakthrough. He had to expand outward as well.
Unfortunately, although the Dao Sect was indeed powerful in the Eastern Xuan Region, it wasn't much in the Chaotic Demon Sea, making it hard to stretch its reach out there.
The Yuan Sect, on the other hand, had laid plans in the Chaotic Demon Sea long ago, and many of its disciples were out there.
But that was only natural.
Dealing with the Yuan Sect in the Eastern Xuan Region was probably difficult enough. How could the Dao Sect spare too much of its strength elsewhere?
"Looks like I need to get my hands on the Immortal Origin Ancient Tree quickly."
Fang Yi pondered. He had actually told Ying Xuanzi about it long ago, but the people sent over had discovered that the Immortal Origin Ancient Tree had yet to produce seeds.
Handling it carelessly would likely affect its growth, and they wouldn't be able to obtain its seeds either.
And to avoid letting the Yuan Sect notice anything amiss, they had only had people watch it in secret rather than openly protect it.
Now, only a few years remained before Lin Dong discovered the Immortal Origin Ancient Tree. They should be able to bring its seeds back already.
"Comprehending the Great Desolation Scripture can't be done with great fanfare either. We still need to play it safe."
Fang Yi considered the matter. For now, everything had to be kept low-key.
With him there, the Dao Sect had already attracted enough attention. Since reaching the Form Creation Realm, he had hardly ever left the Dao Sect's territory.
Even his last visit to the Ancient Tomb Mansion had been made in secret, with Gu Mo accompanying him.
Perhaps because he had spent so long in the Dao Sect, the Yuan Sect didn't know much about his circumstances.
Unlike Senior Brother Zhou Tong back then.
Zhou Tong had won the Hundred Dynasties War and joined the Dao Sect straightaway. He had plenty of accomplishments to his name, suppressing the disciples of the other seven great sects in the Sect Competition and stealing the limelight.
Honestly, Lin Dong's later path was much like Zhou Tong's, except that he had started lower and achieved more.
If Zhou Tong and Lin Dong hadn't met before, Fang Yi would have suspected that both were reincarnations of the Symbol Ancestor.
Some information about him had surely leaked out, but he had relatively few concrete feats to his name, so the Yuan Sect might not yet take him seriously.
But once three people comprehended the Great Desolation Scripture at the same time,
those fellows from the Yuan Sect would surely start probing.
Especially since the Yuan Sect had captured Senior Brother Zhou Tong, it was possible they had designs on claiming the Great Desolation Scripture for themselves.
If three people suddenly appeared who had comprehended the Great Desolation Scripture, it would be strange if the Yuan Sect didn't start scheming.
"Forget it. I'll make a breakthrough first."
Fang Yi thought it over. There was nothing else he needed to pay attention to, and his Wind and Thunder Tribulation had waited long enough.
Since he had nothing to do now, he would make a breakthrough.
At once, Mental Energy surged out, stirring up the wind and thunder of heaven and earth.
Fang Yi felt heaven and earth pulling at his spirit body. Pull, my ass. Was his spirit body something it could budge?
"Heavenly thunder, become a pill."
At his command, the Wind and Thunder Tribulation that had just appeared began to change, and the dark clouds became a pill furnace.
The brilliant lightning, like an ancient thunder dragon tearing through space, had only just emerged when the pill furnace swallowed it whole.
A moment later,
a thunder pill fell into Fang Yi's hand, and he swallowed it. Lightning entered his Niwan Palace, tempering his Mental Energy.