Chapter 105 - 104: Mixed Element Divine Pill
Linzhong Prefecture. Inside the Inspectorate Office.
Five days had passed since the battle at Mountain Monarch Ridge, and Chen Yuan’s injuries were mostly healed.
Du Tianfeng had generously given him a number of Healing Elixirs, and he had also taken quite a few from Gongyang Li. As a result, the depletion of his Qi Blood was easily restored.
When night fell and all was quiet, Chen Yuan took a small Jade Box from his Qiankun Bag. The moment he opened it, a golden Buddha Light instantly filled the entire private chamber.
Inside the Jade Box rested an irregularly shaped, eyeball-sized golden pill. Its surface was covered in winding marks that resembled Sanskrit, but they were naturally formed, not inscribed later.
This was the Sacred Artifact of the Vajra Prajna Temple: the Supreme Mahasari.
Just by basking in this golden Buddha Light, Chen Yuan felt his comprehension of the Sutra of the Pure Glazed Vajra deepen slightly. His mind grew tranquil, making it easy for him to enter a state of sudden enlightenment.
And this was after ninety percent of the Supreme Mahasari’s power had already been depleted over several hundred years.
One could only imagine how much the Supreme Mahasari must have helped the disciples of the Vajra Prajna Temple in its prime.
Chen Yuan stared at the Supreme Mahasari, a contemplative look in his eyes.
Originally, he had planned to refine it directly to advance his Cultivation in Buddhist Cultivation Techniques.
But now, seeing the Supreme Mahasari for himself, Chen Yuan felt that simply refining a Sacred Artifact of this level would be a terrible waste.
Gongyang Li’s actions, however, had given Chen Yuan a new idea.
Gongyang Li’s previous Primordial Pill had been a Soul-Devouring Primordial Pill. He had then devoured the Primordial Pill of a Grandmaster from the Lifting Heaven Sword Pavilion, transforming his own into a Blood Sword Primordial Pill.
Gongyang Li had plotted for a long time for this, even going so far as to betray his own people in the Blood God Sect. He didn’t just want to reconstruct his Primordial Pill; he wanted to refine an even stronger Blood Buddha Primordial Pill.
This technique of using an external object to supplement one’s own Primordial Pill was known as the Outer Pill Method. It was usually a last resort for Martial Artists whose Primordial Pills had been damaged.
However, if the external object used to supplement the Primordial Pill was a treasure on the level of a Sacred Artifact, it was no longer a last resort, but a method that could create an incomparably powerful Primordial Pill.
The problem was that the Primordial Pill is a condensation of one’s own Martial Dao foundation. For an external object to merge perfectly with it was exceedingly difficult.
Thus, most Outer Pills were merely serviceable—at least better than having a shattered Primordial Pill.
Gongyang Li was confident in his ability to refine the Blood Buddha Primordial Pill because of the Blood God Sect’s unique Cultivation Technique. He could seize the Qi Blood of the monks from the Vajra Prajna Temple, thereby imbuing his own Qi Blood with a Buddhist aura. By doing so, he could deceive the Supreme Mahasari and use it as the foundation for his own Primordial Pill.
Since Chen Yuan himself had cultivated both the Sutra of the Pure Glazed Vajra and the Six Paths of Vajra Mantra of Master Padmasambhava, he would face no obstacles in merging with the Supreme Mahasari.
However, Chen Yuan had no intention of forming a Buddhist Primordial Pill. Instead, he planned to use the Supreme Mahasari as just one of the foundations for his Primordial Pill and then seek out two other Sacred Artifacts, one from the Daoist Sect and one from the Demon Sect.
He would merge the three Sacred Artifacts—Daoist, Buddhist, and Demon—into one, using the corresponding cultivation techniques to balance their powers and form a supremely powerful Mixed Element Divine Pill!
The idea was audacious, but not without precedent.
Throughout the ages, the world had seen countless brilliant prodigies, and some were always willing to experiment, to forge new paths in the Martial Dao.
Most of them had failed. A small few could be considered partially successful, having managed to refine only a Daoist-Buddhist Primordial Pill or a Demon Buddha Primordial Pill, but they were unable to achieve a true union of all three paths to form a Divine Pill.
Chen Yuan, however, already possessed a foundation in all three paths—Daoist, Buddhist, and Demon. Now that he had the Supreme Mahasari, he could truly attempt to take this unprecedented step.
After a moment of contemplation, Chen Yuan resolved to form the Mixed Element Divine Pill.
The Primordial Pill Realm was critically important for a Martial Artist. The strength of one’s Primordial Pill could even determine the upper limit of their future potential.
Some Martial Artists, in their haste to form a Primordial Pill, ended up with an imperfect one. Later on, some would even go so far as to shatter their own Primordial Pill to start the process anew.
The strength of a Mixed Element Divine Pill surpassed almost all other types of Primordial Pills, which was why the genius who first conceived of it named it a Divine Pill.
With the Mixed Element Divine Pill as his foundation, Chen Yuan was ninety percent confident that he could one day challenge the very limits of the Nine Realms of Martial Dao.
Without hesitation, Chen Yuan swallowed the Supreme Mahasari. He then circulated the Sutra of the Pure Glazed Vajra, using pure Buddha Power to gently nurture the relic within his Dantian and Reincarnation Sea.
Because he was only nurturing it rather than directly refining it, the Supreme Mahasari’s immediate effect on Chen Yuan was not particularly great.
However, the Buddha Light it passively radiated continuously nourished Chen Yuan’s body and Meridians, causing his physical resilience to rise another notch.
At the same time, empowered by this serene Buddha Light, Chen Yuan’s already profound foundation was amplified even further. His Reincarnation Sea began to spin rapidly as Inner Strength surged into his Meridians. A boundless power overflowed, unexpectedly pushing Chen Yuan directly into the Middle Stage of the Sea of Reincarnation Realm.
Chen Yuan’s injuries had already been mostly healed, but with this breakthrough in his Realm, the Qi Blood he had previously lost was completely restored. In fact, he was now even stronger than before.
Chen Yuan couldn’t help but marvel. ’The Supreme Mahasari is truly worthy of its title as the Sacred Artifact of the Vajra Prajna Temple.’
’If I had refined it directly, the immediate benefits would have been even greater.’
The next morning, just as Chen Yuan pushed his door open, he saw Du Tianfeng walking in.
"You’ve recovered quickly, Lord Chen."
Du Tianfeng was slightly surprised.
He had seen Chen Yuan’s condition previously—his arm had been wounded and his Qi Blood severely depleted.
He hadn’t expected him to be as good as new in just a few days. In fact, his aura even seemed a bit stronger than before.
"It’s all thanks to the medicine you gave me, Lord Du."
Du Tianfeng chuckled. "Come now, I know the quality of my medicine. Don’t go giving me the credit."
After the brief jest, Du Tianfeng said, "I came to tell you, Lord Chen, that you should start making preparations."
"What preparations?"
"Preparations to become an Inspector!"
Du Tianfeng said gravely, "With Qi Yuanming dead, the position of Inspector of Kaiping Prefecture is now open.
In terms of strength, the Guardian Envoys in the smaller cities under Kaiping Prefecture are all just ordinary Sea of Reincarnation Realm experts, and they have no significant achievements to their names.
Therefore, the position will certainly be filled by an outsider. If the White Tiger Hall can’t find a suitable candidate to promote, the Main Hall might even transfer someone from another division to parachute in as the new Inspector.
Lord Chen, although you are in the Sea of Reincarnation Realm, your contribution this time—from discovering the Blood God Sect to annihilating it, and even successfully slaying a Blood God Church Master—is the greatest of all.
This achievement is enough for you to be promoted to Inspector despite the conventions, but the prerequisite is that you have someone to champion your cause and nominate you over all other objections."
At this point, Du Tianfeng lowered his voice. "I have friends in the Main Hall, and I know you joined the Zhenwu Hall through Military Advisor Liu Suifeng’s connections, Lord Chen. However, a distant patron is less helpful than an immediate superior. You still need to put in some effort with our Hall Master here."
Chen Yuan nodded. "Thank you for the reminder, Lord Du. But can an Inspector really be parachuted in from the outside? You mean, promoted into the White Tiger Hall from other halls?"
"Not from the other halls, but parachuted in from the Celestial Martial Guard or the Po Jun Guard. The Shadow Guard is very mysterious, so it’s rare for their members to become Inspectors or Guardian Envoys.
The Inspectors and Guardian Envoys of our four halls get to oversee their own territories. Frankly, life is much more comfortable for us than it is for those in the Celestial Martial Guard and Po Jun Guard, who report directly to the bigwigs in the Main Hall.
So whenever a position like this opens up, members of those two guards will definitely scheme to claim it for themselves. You must act quickly, Lord Chen."
Du Tianfeng had seen Chen Yuan’s strength and potential with his own eyes. Befriending him now was undoubtedly the right move.
That was why he was so eager to remind Chen Yuan to make a play for the Inspector position.
"Thank you, Lord Du. I will return and prepare at once."
Chen Yuan wasted no time. He immediately returned to Linyuan City and had Lu Wenxing take out all the gold, silver, and jewelry obtained from the previous confiscations.
Chen Yuan hadn’t given all of this to Feng Wushang at once, saving it precisely for an occasion like this.
The gold, silver, and jewelry filled ten whole carriages. Chen Yuan had Lu Li drive, and together they led the convoy straight to Lujiang Prefecture.
In the private residence of the White Tiger Hall, a smile touched Feng Wushang’s lips when he heard that Chen Yuan had arrived.
Thus far, he had been extremely satisfied with Chen Yuan’s performance.
The man was sensible, knew his place, highly capable, and showed him, the Hall Master, sufficient respect.
In any case, compared to the other Inspectors, Chen Yuan’s performance was outstanding.
"Greetings, Hall Master."
Chen Yuan stepped into the rear hall, followed by the train of carriages.
"Hall Master, these are some of the spoils I seized while eradicating the Blood God Sect. The Linyuan City treasury simply doesn’t have the space for it all, so I must trouble you to help manage it."
"Take it all to the Treasure Vault."
Feng Wushang waved his hand dismissively, not even glancing at the gold, silver, and jewelry in the carriages. Instead, he asked in a concerned tone, "I heard you were seriously injured in your battle with Gongyang Li. Are you fully recovered now?"
Although Feng Wushang was greedy and materialistic, he was, after all, the Hall Master of the White Tiger Hall, a man who presided over an entire region. He wasn’t so base as to lose his composure at the mere sight of cartloads of treasure.
Chen Yuan was now one of his most capable subordinates; he had to at least show some concern.
Of course, it was only verbal concern. One couldn’t expect anything more.
When Chen Yuan had been seriously injured, even Du Tianfeng had been willing to give him his personal Healing Elixirs. Yet Feng Wushang, as the Hall Master, was too reluctant to even send some medicine. He was the epitome of stingy—all take and no give.
"Thank you for your concern, Hall Master. I am fully recovered."
Feng Wushang nodded lightly. "Good. Now, did you come here for a specific reason?"
Chen Yuan had given him plenty of gifts before, but never this much.
Ten cartloads of treasure... one would probably have to annihilate several factions to amass such a fortune.
Even Feng Wushang himself wouldn’t believe it if Chen Yuan claimed he wanted nothing and was purely giving him a gift to foster their relationship.
"As expected, nothing escapes you, Hall Master."
Chen Yuan lowered his head and said in a low voice, "With Qi Yuanming dead, the position of Inspector for Kaiping Prefecture is vacant. I have come today because I wish to vie for that position."