Chapter 155 - 153: Emergence of the Divine Pill, Heavenly Might of the Divine Artifact
Although Chen Yuan had never formally trained in Swordsmanship, he could still unleash its ultimate power with the Blood Refining Divine Sword and the Burning Earth Sword Technique.
He killed the Condensing Truth Realm Martial Artist with a single strike, splattering pieces of flesh onto the nearby Mo Fan.
He froze for a moment, a look of terror in his eyes, before turning to flee!
In that instant, he finally understood the vast gulf between himself and the true young prodigies on the Hidden Dragon Rankings.
His entire Condensing Truth Realm Cultivation had only been achieved by relying on the resources Zhao Wuji had given him.
But the Martial Artists truly qualified to be on the Hidden Dragon Rankings never cared about their Realm; they cared about their foundation and combat prowess.
The Cui Family of Celestial Official City had served in the Astronomical Bureau for generations, accumulating immense resources. Yet, Cui Xuanye had always suppressed his Realm because his lack of real battle experience left his foundation unstable.
Previously, Chen Yuan had plundered all the Spiritual Medicine resources in Kaiping Prefecture and could have broken through without restraint, but he too had stopped to solidify his foundation before advancing.
An unstable foundation was like a castle in the air. Among the younger generation who could make it onto the Hidden Dragon Rankings, almost none were shortsighted.
They would only break through to the next Realm after completely solidifying their current one.
Otherwise, what was the use of breaking into the Condensing Truth Realm so early? Even if he could use the advantage of his Realm to stay on the rankings for a while, he would eventually be pushed off by others.
He would even become a stepping stone, a tale of a Reincarnation Sea expert defeating a Condensing Truth one.
Mo Fan wanted to escape, but Chen Yuan wasn’t about to give him the chance.
Forming a Seal Technique with his hands, Chen Yuan unleashed the Celestial Fire’s Power, which erupted into fiery chains that whistled toward Mo Fan.
With his face concealed, Chen Yuan could now unleash the Celestial Fire Secret Manual to its full potential, and its power was even greater than when he had fused it with Demonic Qi before.
Even from dozens of feet away, the fiery chains showed no sign of weakening, and they yanked Mo Fan straight back.
Mo Fan’s expression changed. He tried to break free but found it impossible.
The Celestial Fire Power was overwhelmingly tyrannical. Even when he pushed his True Qi to its absolute limit, he still couldn’t break its hold.
Most importantly, he still hadn’t expelled the power of the Heart-Burning Karmic Flame, and this bizarre energy was continuously incinerating his flesh, blood, and True Qi.
Seeing no escape, Mo Fan roared, and the True Qi and Qi Blood throughout his body began to burn wildly.
’Since this Qi Blood and True Qi are going to be burned away by the Heart-Burning Karmic Flame anyway, I might as well use them now to gain power!’
But before that power could fully erupt, the Burning Earth Sword Technique descended. Chen Yuan’s figure vanished from Mo Fan’s sight, replaced by a dense storm of Fiery Flame Sword Qi!
At that moment, Mo Fan felt as if he had been thrown into an Alchemy Furnace, enveloped by a scorching aura.
Explosive blasts of Sword Qi slammed into his body one after another. Before he could even absorb one impact, the next one arrived.
In less than three breaths, dozens of Sword Qi blasts rained down, blowing Mo Fan to smithereens!
Killing two Condensing Truth Realm experts in a row as easily as slaughtering chickens and dogs left the watching Martial Artists utterly horrified.
This scene was far more thrilling than the Cauldron Opening Ceremony.
After all, it was bad form to deal lethal blows during the ceremony, so everyone had been relatively restrained.
The only unrestrained moment had been when Chen Yuan killed Yan Jiuyi in a single blow.
However, Yan Jiuyi’s Poison Techniques were merely insidious; he himself was only at the Sea of Reincarnation Realm.
It didn’t compare to the spectacle of this Great Brightness Sect disciple consecutively killing two Condensing Truth Realm experts.
Meanwhile, Bei Tianya was fighting two opponents at once, completely suppressing Zhao Wuji and his companion.
It seemed Bei Tianya hadn’t been boasting when he’d claimed he wouldn’t be afraid even if all the Divine Platform Realm Martial Artists in Medicine King Valley attacked him at once.
Watching the Celestial Fire under the Shennong Cauldron burn ever brighter, Ming Gongqiao couldn’t help but feel a flicker of despair in his eyes.
Having come from Medicine King Valley himself, he naturally knew how compatible the Shennong Cauldron was with the Celestial Fire Secret Manual.
Even though that Martial Artist from the Celestial Fire Hall was only at the Sea of Reincarnation Realm, his Celestial Fire Power alone was enough to control the outcome of the Shennong Cauldron’s Alchemy.
Normally, the Cauldron Opening Ceremony would take two to three days just to gather enough kindling fire for the Shennong Cauldron.
But now, with a single burst of Chen Yuan’s Liaoyuan Celestial Fire, the Shennong Cauldron began operating at incredible speed.
Under the Celestial Fire, the poisons Ming Gongqiao had thrown in were instantly incinerated into ash. The Top Grade Spiritual Medicine in the cauldron, along with the Healing Spiritual Medicine added by Bei Tianya, had already melted into pure medicinal liquid and was beginning to congeal.
Finally, the medicinal liquid continued to evaporate and condense, forming two Elixirs inside the Shennong Cauldron.
One was Crimson Gold in color, resembling Golden Iron.
The other glowed with a verdant green hue, like a piece of Warm Jade.
As a scorching aura exploded outward, the Shennong Cauldron shone with a golden brilliance and radiated a seven-colored light. Even the surrounding Power of Heaven and Earth was drawn in, forming raging, stormy gusts.
The Divine Pills were born!
Chen Yuan reached out and snatched the two still-warm Divine Pills, storing them in his Qiankun Bag.
"Lord Ju Mang, I have the Divine Pills!"
Bei Tianya laughed heartily. "I’m done playing with you!"
As soon as he spoke, the immense Power of Heaven and Earth surrounding Bei Tianya suddenly contracted and condensed, and his entire body merged completely into it.
In an instant, that supremely immense Power of Heaven and Earth transformed into a hundred-zhang-long Azure Dragon that stretched across the sky. A dragon’s roar echoed through the heavens.
This was the true Cyan Heaven Dragon Transformation Technique!
Using one’s own body as the dragon’s soul and the heavens and earth as its body, the Nine Heavens Dragon Roar changed the face of the world.
The core of this Cultivation Technique was the perfect control over the Power of Heaven and Earth.
With a swing of the Azure Dragon’s tail, an enormous amount of the Power of Heaven and Earth came crashing down.
Zhao Wuji frantically channeled his True Qi and burned his Qi Blood, raising the Nine Dragon Body Protection in front of him.
Ming Gongqiao cultivated Poison Techniques. Although he was also in the Divine Platform Realm, his methods were too one-dimensional. The moment his Poison Techniques failed, his power would plummet.
Now, he could only choose to resist with his own strength, but the power of his Poison Techniques was pathetically fragile against this immense Power of Heaven and Earth.
The blow sent Zhao Wuji flying back over a hundred feet, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood, his face pale.
Ming Gongqiao, however, had half of his body blown apart and was nearly killed on the spot!
Bei Tianya had truly been holding back when he was fighting them earlier.
It wasn’t that he was being merciful; Bei Tianya had to be wary of the unexpected and keep an ace up his sleeve.
The Great Brightness Sect’s identity was a sensitive one. Once Bei Tianya revealed himself, he had to be prepared to be ganged up on by everyone.
Heaven knew if other masters would arrive to provide support, or if Zong Siyuan and the others from Medicine King Valley would make a move.
But it seemed he was relatively lucky; no Grandmasters of the Eighth Realm Divine Platform appeared around Medicine King Valley to interfere.
And Zong Siyuan and his men were clearly operating under the principle of "settle internal conflicts before dealing with external threats." Even though Bei Tianya was from the Great Brightness Sect, and even though the Sect had once forcibly ’borrowed’ the Shennong Cauldron, Zong Siyuan had endured and not acted.
However, this strike had also consumed a great deal of Bei Tianya’s energy, and he could sense that Zhao Wuji still had trump cards he hadn’t played.
To avoid any further complications, he didn’t pursue them. With a flicker of his body, he took Chen Yuan and departed.
Zong Siyuan, who had been trapped by the poison net earlier, had long since broken free but had remained a silent observer.
The very instant Bei Tianya left, Zong Siyuan and the two Medicine King Valley Elders suddenly sprang into action. They simultaneously formed Seal Techniques, and in a flash, a powerful Fiery Flame Power surged into the Shennong Cauldron.
Before, while the medicinal liquid was still inside the Shennong Cauldron and had not yet formed pills, even Zong Siyuan, as its Commander-in-Chief, couldn’t activate it.
To the Shennong Cauldron, Alchemy took precedence over all else.
Now that the Divine Pills were complete, Zong Siyuan acted with extreme decisiveness, immediately activating the Divine Artifact.
In the blink of an eye, the Shennong Cauldron shot into the air, unleashing an intensely concentrated, world-destroying dragon of fire and flame!
An aura that seemed capable of incinerating the heavens and extinguishing the earth was unleashed, its target none other than Ming Gongqiao!
Zhao Wuji was close to Ming Gongqiao. Seeing this terrifying power, he immediately retreated.
But Ming Gongqiao had no time to dodge. Under the pressure of this ultimate power, he was completely engulfed by the fire dragon and turned to ash!
The strike left a massive crater hundreds of yards across where Ming Gongqiao had been. It was filled with black, molten slurry that, upon solidifying, resembled black glass.
This scene stunned everyone present.
The might of Divine Artifacts and Demon Soldiers was truly terrifying!
Even the young disciples from Major Sects and Families present, who possessed Divine Artifact Incarnations, had never witnessed the true power of a Divine Artifact or Demon Soldier in action.
Everyone had always assumed Medicine King Valley’s Shennong Cauldron was only for Alchemy. No one had expected its destructive power to be so formidable.
Although the Cauldron Opening Ceremony had failed, they had witnessed Medicine King Valley’s internal strife, the reappearance of the Great Brightness Sect after centuries of silence, and the true might of a Divine Artifact. The single Spiritual Medicine paid for admission had been well worth the price.
Zong Siyuan’s face was pale, but his expression was impassive as he looked at Zhao Wuji.
"In the end, Medicine King Valley has won this round. Marquis, how do you now propose to cooperate with my Medicine King Valley?"
Using a Divine Artifact or Demon Soldier consumed an immense amount of energy, and the three of them—Zong Siyuan and the Elders—could not use it a second time.
If they forced it, the two Divine Platform Realm Elders would likely die instantly, and he himself would be crippled.
Most importantly, Zhao Wuji had many trump cards. As the wielder of the Divine Artifact, Zong Siyuan could sense the aura of a Divine Artifact Incarnation on him!
Even if he forced an attack, he wasn’t confident he could kill Zhao Wuji in a single blow.
And although he was only a Marquis, he was also a member of the Great Xia Royal Family.
If Medicine King Valley actually killed Zhao Wuji, Zong Siyuan wasn’t sure if the Great Xia Royal Family would take out their anger on the valley. That was why he hadn’t attacked immediately.
Zhao Wuji’s expression flickered, but then he laughed heartily. "Valley Master Zong, by eliminating the traitor, you have rid Medicine King Valley of a hidden danger. This is truly a joyous occasion worthy of celebration.
That Ming Gongqiao researched Poison Techniques under the false pretense of the South Sea Pavilion’s name. It was an utterly depraved act.
However, the South Sea Pavilion does indeed control a portion of the Overseas Spiritual Medicine trade and has been a supplier for Medicine King Valley for many years.
Now, although Ming Gongqiao is dead, the South Sea Pavilion still stands. Some of the professional merchants within it were unaware of Ming Gongqiao’s true identity.
How about this? I, this Marquis, will make a decision and give the South Sea Pavilion directly to Medicine King Valley. This way, the valley will directly control a channel for Overseas Spiritual Medicine. What do you think, Valley Master Zong?"
Zong Siyuan stared intently at Zhao Wuji and finally uttered a single word: "Fine!"