Volume 3, Chapter 450 – Shattered, Cracked, Destroyed

A challenge existed to be broken through.

“Three lines upon the pill’s birth, five stars shining as one.”

“The Crimson Firmament Blood Burning Pill! It’s done!”

Inside the alchemy chamber, the fragrance of medicine drifted freely.

Chi Xiyan’s expression was full of excitement as she cupped the pill before her in her hands.

The pill sat in a jade bowl, blood red in color, with three blazing crimson lines wrapped around it like flowing lava.

Chi Xiyan’s luck had turned out quite well. After spending so long preparing.

Her very first attempt at refining had succeeded, and the pill had even formed with three lines, a spirit grade result.

“Next, it’s time to refine the Five Aggregates Qi Absorbing Pill.”

The Five Aggregates Qi Absorbing Pill was one of the most famous pills to come out of Medical Immortal Valley.

It also went by another name, the Perfect Breakthrough Pill.

Breakthrough pills, in general, were actually a fairly common type of pill. Their effect was to increase the odds of success when a cultivator hit a bottleneck and tried to break through to the next realm.

However, because of countless factors such as spiritual roots, talent, cultivation methods, and personal effort, the difficulty of breaking through a realm differed completely from cultivator to cultivator.

For that reason, the breakthrough pills that circulated in the world were similarly varied, each suited to different needs.

For a cultivator to use a breakthrough pill to advance, the first thing they needed to do was find the specific type of breakthrough pill suited to themselves.

The Perfect Breakthrough Pill solved this problem perfectly.

Not only did it have the highest success rate among all breakthrough pills currently known, it could also quickly stabilize a cultivator’s foundation after the breakthrough was complete.

And the time saved from that was exactly what Chi Xiyan needed most.

With the Perfect Breakthrough Pill, she could advance to the Fifth Realm without any side effects at all, and it would also help her settle and solidify her new foundation quickly.

At the same time, the Perfect Breakthrough Pill was far more difficult to refine than any other breakthrough pill.

Among all its difficulties, the most troublesome was the materials the pill required and the time needed to refine it.

All five elements had to be gathered together, which meant she needed to prepare five treasures, one for each element, at the same time, and simply refining those five elemental treasures alone would consume an enormous amount of time.

As a result, refining a single pill like this would take several months on its own.

***

Rеаd oո ΚαtRеаⅾingСαfe

After carefully putting away the Crimson Firmament Blood Burning Pill, Chi Xiyan sat quietly and regulated her breathing, restoring some of the spiritual energy she had spent earlier.

At some point in between, she summoned an attendant to ask about the progress on refining the Nine Nether Fate Reversal Pill.

The attendant answered respectfully, “Miss Xiyan, Qing Niang left word that a small mishap occurred with the alchemist refining your pill.”

“However, she has already gone there personally to handle the matter.”

“Once the trouble is resolved, Qing Niang will have the pill delivered to the foot of Lingxiao Mountain ahead of time.”

Chi Xiyan felt a bit surprised that something had gone wrong with the Nine Nether Fate Reversal Pill.

But for now, there was nothing more she could do.

Since Qing Niang had already gone to handle it herself, all she could do was trust her.

“Let’s continue refining.”

Once she had settled her state of mind, Chi Xiyan set about beginning the refinement of the breakthrough pill.

“The five elemental treasures…”

“Heaven Thunder Meteor Iron, Azure Heaven Divine Vine, Cold Pool Mystic Ice Lotus Root, Ember Fate Departing Fire Feather, Jiuyi Earth Spirit Crystal.”

“Open the furnace!”

“Begin the smelting!”

To many people, refining pills was a tedious, dull affair.

But to Chi Xiyan, alchemy was something genuinely fascinating.

While refining, she would sink her entire mind and spirit completely into the process.

Feeling the treasures of heaven and earth slowly release the energy and medicinal properties within them, drawn out under the scorching heat of the pill fire.

Then, through complex combinations of ingredients, arriving at exactly the effect the alchemist was after.

A process like this demanded absolute focus from the alchemist. Any single mistake could ruin an entire furnace of pills in an instant.

Thud, thud–!

Thud, thud–!

A faint tremor ran through the alchemy furnace.

Rеаd οո KαtRеαⅾіոɡСαfе

Chi Xiyan’s brow furrowed.

“What’s happening?”

“Is something wrong with the furnace?”

Chi Xiyan kept the pill fire steady while sinking her spiritual consciousness into the furnace.

“No! It isn’t the furnace!”

“It’s the ground! It’s the ground that’s trembling!”

Chi Xiyan startled violently. She could feel it now, the floor of the alchemy chamber was trembling faintly, again and again.

The alchemy chamber was protected by formations and restrictions, and under normal circumstances, nothing like this should have been happening.

“Something’s going on outside!”

“This tremor… someone is causing trouble at the Silver Bell Commerce Association!”

“This is the shockwave from warriors clashing in combat.”

Chi Xiyan’s heart clenched.

With Qing Niang away, who would come cause trouble at the Silver Bell Commerce Association at a time like this.

But right now was the critical moment for the pill to form. If the furnace took a hit at this instant, not only would the entire furnace of pills be ruined, Chi Xiyan no longer had enough elemental treasures left to attempt refining it a second time.

Without the aid of the Perfect Breakthrough Pill, there was almost no chance she could advance to the Fifth Realm within this one year.

The gap between the Fifth Realm and the Fourth Realm was an enormous watershed for any cultivator.

At the Fourth Realm, she would stand little chance against Song Shixuan at the Fifth Realm.

“The Perfect Breakthrough Pill… I must complete it!”

Chi Xiyan bit down lightly on her lower lip.

Her eyes remained fixed unwaveringly on the furnace before her.

At this final, critical stage of the pill’s formation, she poured almost everything she had into the furnace.

Thud thud!

Thud thud!

As time passed, the tremors grew steadily more violent.

Rеad оո KαtRеаⅾіոɡСαfе

Even through the formations and restrictions, she could feel a terrifying pressure drawing closer, step by step.

A warrior.

At the very least, one at the early Fifth Realm!

But right now, Chi Xiyan simply had no way to spare a hand to deal with it.

The furnace before her carried not only two years of her own blood, sweat, and time, but Muxue’s entire future as well!

“So close! Just a little more!”

Chi Xiyan bit down hard on her lower lip, and a thin trickle of crimson blood seeped from the corner of her mouth.

She could feel that, under her full effort, the pill liquid inside the furnace had already begun its final fusion.

All that remained was to lock the medicinal power completely in place, letting it condense into solid form, and the pill would finally be complete.

This was the very last step of the refining process.

“This alchemy workshop has many chambers. It will take them time to find their way here!”

“There’s still time. There’s still a chance!”

A deafening boom rang out.

The door behind Chi Xiyan burst open in an instant.

Someone had smashed it open by brute force.

In that instant, a storm of wind swept through the entire chamber, carrying broken stone and splintered wood like a rain of blades.

At this final, critical moment, Chi Xiyan threw every last bit of her spiritual power toward shielding the furnace in front of her.

Splinters of wood drove into her slender back, tearing open trails of blood.

“It’s fine… a cultivator’s body is strong. Once the spiritual energy circulates, it will heal quickly.”

“Even broken bones can regenerate.”

Fragments of stone and debris struck against the furnace, ringing out with sharp, clattering sounds.

Then came a sharp crack.

A gash split open across the surface of the furnace.

Rеαd οո KαtReadіnɡСαfe

“It’s fine… the furnace is only a tool. The pill fire is the true root of it all. As long as the fire holds steady and the embryonic pill inside is protected from being smashed apart, even without the furnace, there’s still a chance to complete it.”

Chi Xiyan kept her eyes locked unwaveringly on the furnace before her.

Even grievously wounded, even with the furnace shattered, her gaze never strayed from it, not even a fraction of an inch.

“It’s done! It’s about to be done!”

Chi Xiyan could already see a burst of golden light shooting out from the cracked furnace.

“Come to me!”

“Form, pill!”

Amid Chi Xiyan’s silent, desperate cry, the light within the broken furnace grew stronger and stronger.

A small, golden pill drifted out from the furnace, borne on the force of the blast.

“It’s done! It’s done!”

“The Five Aggregates Qi Absorbing Pill!”

“It’s done!”

Chi Xiyan nearly wept with joy.

Her perseverance had not been in vain!

She opened her palm, reaching her blood streaked hand toward that small pill.

Drawn by her spiritual energy, the pill drifted slowly toward her palm.

Suddenly, there came a sharp crack.

A jagged shard of stone, carried on the force of the blast, struck straight into it.

With that single strike, the small pill was shattered into pieces.

The medicinal power that had already condensed and solidified now poured out in an instant.

That resplendent golden light vanished from Chi Xiyan’s eyes.

“The Five Aggregates Qi Absorbing Pill…”

“It’s shattered…”