For seven days, Zhang Yong continuously prepared fifth-grade pills, adhering to a strict daily routine during this period.
He began by refining fifth-grade pills repeatedly. Each time, Elder Tian Hua observed him, and Zhang Yong, in turn, successfully crafted the fifth-grade pills every single time to raise the Elder's hopes in him.
Then, Elder Tian Hua would tell him about what he had seen when he went out, especially information regarding that group from the Sky Claw Sect, who seemed determined to pursue him. However, Zhang Yong couldn't trust him completely. There was a significant chance he was lying to motivate him to produce more pills.
Then, at night, he relied on the momentum from creating pills above his level to raise his own. He successfully reached the higher stage of the truth realm , which boosted his concentration and confidence.
He was now five percent more confident in his ability to create the pill the Elder requested.
But now, after this seven-day period had passed, Zhang Yong sat cross-legged in front of the cauldron. "Well, Elder, the time has come."
Elder Tian Hua shook his head slowly, and his deep voice entered Zhang Yong's ears as he waved his hand. "The world is born from Yin and Yang, everything is from Yin and Yang, and everything returns to Yin and Yang. Everything is Yin and Yang."
"Purple Dragon Head Grass, Blue Dragon Head Grass, Harmony Leaf, Autumn Dew Tear, Mature Withered Hawthorn, Spirit Tree Root, Dragon Spring Water, Resurrection Grass, Black Death Soul Grass, Mysterious Death Grass, Soul Cleansing Grass, Ice Coffin Stone, Yin Qi Soul Larva, Yin Qi Mind Larva, Jade Bone Powder..."
Material after material of all kinds dazzled Zhang Yong's eyes, but he couldn't allow his astonishment to fill his mind at this moment. As the materials floated in the air, Zhang Yong calmly guided them toward the cauldron.
Every material he saw, each one of these herbs, was of the fourth, fifth, and even sixth grade! This spring was simply a treasure trove. If only he could obtain it...
But Zhang Yong intercepted those thoughts. First, he had to deal with his current problem: this old man's spirit was not simple, and then there were those scoundrels outside.
But this didn't mean he hadn't gained anything. Even under the Elder's surveillance, he had managed to reap some benefits—pills for consolidation, healing, amplification, and enhancement. But the greatest gain would be if he obtained the method to produce the Spirit Origin Pill. After all, the Stellar Essence was right before his eyes.
Fortunately, he had collected its components. Among the herbs he requested from the Elder, he discreetly mixed in the herbs for that recipe, quietly gathering them. Currently, he had everything he needed. What he lacked was the Stellar Essence. If he failed in this... it wouldn't be a huge loss, but at the same time, he wouldn't gain much either.
The first material was the Purple Dragon Head Grass, which originated from ten thousand feet deep within a foul, poisonous swamp. It was extremely toxic. Even Zhang Yong's arm would rot in a short time if he touched it.
It was immediately followed by the Blue Dragon Head Grass, which originated from flawlessly clear seawater and was the complete opposite of the first herb, yet complementary to it.
Immediately, the two herbs entered the cauldron and began to spin rapidly.
Zhang Yong immediately released his Great Sun Flame inward and began to purify the two herbs. Then, the two herbs began to merge calmly. But before the two could fully combine inside, Zhang Yong threw in the Harmony Leaf and the Jade Bone Powder.
Immediately, the newly formed liquid from the two herbs began to solidify steadily, and the contents inside turned into a solid purple disc.
The toxicity of the Purple Dragon Head Grass and the pure power of the Blue Dragon Head Grass formed a kind of hidden balance, which was immediately gathered and solidified by the Jade Bone Powder, while the Harmony Leaf maintained the harmony between toxicity and purity.
The disc seemed incomparably solid, like a jade slab, but it emitted a somewhat ominous light. If anyone were to touch the disc now, they would die a miserable death.
This slab would be the new purification platform inside the cauldron for the time being.
Elder Tian Hua stretched out his hand, and immediately the Stellar Essence ignited on the disc, completely covering it. Meanwhile, Zhang Yong waved his hand, and the Dragon Spring Water flew over, falling gently onto the disc. Black smoke began to rise steadily from the disc.
Before that smoke could disappear, he threw the Ice Coffin Stone inside, heavily enveloping the mist. In an instant, it completely froze and became like a cubic block of ice above the disc.
Zhang Yong then sent the Spirit Tree Root, which pierced through the ice block. The piece of ice immediately turned black.
He then gently dropped the Autumn Dew Tear onto the ice block. The moment it touched, the ice began to melt steadily upon it, turning into black water on it, but it did not spill out.
He then casually planted the Resurrection Grass, Black Death Soul Grass, and the Mysterious Death Grass onto the disc. The herbs grew a little before ultimately withering on the disc.
But Zhang Yong's expression was calm, not showing the slightest trace of confusion.
He then took the Yin Qi Mind Larva and the Yin Qi Soul Larva. Each of the two resembled a rock and weren't actually living larvae, but when placed on the disc, they immediately started moving and devouring the black liquid. After finishing it, the two larvae couldn't find enough food and began to devour each other until the Soul Larva ate the Mind Larva.
There was a hidden meaning behind this scene. The Mind could be likened to Zhang Yong, and the Soul to the old man Tian Hua; he would be devoured by him and disappear.
However, in that moment, the larva's body immediately exploded like a balloon
It had failed!
Everything exploded but the elder Tian hua Contain the situation before it causes problems
But the backlash was unavoidable
Zhang Yong spat out a large mouthful of blood, his eyes decaying, and he nearly lost consciousness.
He gritted his teeth, grabbed the ground; he felt the world spinning, seemingly seeing stars, and there were constant loud noises in his ears.
Especially, his chest felt stifled, and he felt nauseous.
Zhang Yong inhaled air very quickly and sat down slowly.
"Young man, rest a bit. Failure in pill refinement will lead to a violent backlash," advised Elder Tian Hua.
Zhang Yong was very pale, resisting the pain of the backlash with great difficulty. 'Agh, this will be severe pain I'll suffer for the coming days. Intentionally causing a pill explosion and failure is truly very dangerous,' Zhang Yong thought clearly.
According to the recipe, after one larva devours the other, its size should expand, then it should be fed the Mature Withered Hawthorn. The larva's body would fall and merge with the disc, resulting in the embryonic form of the pill. Then, by adding some other components and a few lightning strikes, the pill would emerge safely.
But before he could finish doing that, he made the larva explode. Why?
Simply because the situation was dangerous. This mountain was hollow inside; its interior was empty and therefore fragile, but it possessed high-level wind law energy. Yet, despite staying here for a week, Zhang Yong hadn't found any trace of the Wind Seed, not even a single sensation or clue.
If he succeeded in refining the pill, this Tian Hua would immediately use it to take his body. Not to mention the pill's lightning, which would literally bring the mountain down upon them all.
Therefore, he needed to find an opportunity. But Elder Tian Hua didn't give him a chance. Every time he left, he sealed the entrance with his mental energy, and Zhang Yong couldn't leave. So, he needed a slip-up to get out of this place.
Nevertheless, Zhang Yong shook his head. "No, Elder Tian Hua saved me. I am a man who repays kindness with kindness and revenge a thousandfold. I will not let the Elder down."
Elder Tian Hua looked at Zhang Yong struggling to stand up, a faint smile appearing on his wrinkled face. "You are a good lad. When you finish helping me, I promise to leave all my experiences to you alone. I will not forget your favor."
Zhang Yong sat down again in front of the cauldron, determined to prepare once more as if nothing had happened. But the coming days weren't that easy.
Day One
Wind blew from the holes in the ceiling within the mountain's internal structure.
But Zhang Yong was calm as he refined in front of the cauldron.
His eyes were red, firmly fixed on the cauldron.
Day Two
Elder Tian Hua brought bad news.
The number of those pursuers from the Sky Claw Sect had increased. Experts of the Master Realm had entered the Stormwind Mountain area. The total number of forces was now more than twenty people.
Zhang Yong listened calmly. 'It seems leaving this place... I won't leave a single piece intact at this rate.'
Day Three
Zhang Yong fell to the ground again, vomiting a massive amount of blood from his mouth.
His face was paler than death, looking as if he would collapse at any moment.
'I must find a solution. If I stay here for a maximum of one month, I'll kill myself before this old man does.'
Elder Tian Hua advised, "It's not that your skills are bad. You did it exactly by the recipe, Such a flaw shouldn't have occurred."
Zhang Yong looked at Elder Tian Hua out of the corner of his eye. The Elder was already starting to suspect, but this wasn't necessarily bad; it was exactly what he wanted.
Day Four
Zhang Yong paused briefly to rest. On Elder Tian Hua's order, some spiritual fruits with healing effects were placed beside him.
"You must maintain your health. Don't overburden yourself," Elder Tian Hua said in a compassionate voice.
Zhang Yong nodded quietly and ate the fruit. There was no poison warning alert, so eating it was problem-free.
Day Five
Elder Tian Hua provided more information. "The total number of those people has become thirty. It seems they are desperate to find you."
Zhang Yong secretly knew, 'It's impossible for this organization to do all this just because I have a fifth-grade beast. That's not only unreasonable, it means this old man is lying to me. That's a high probability.'
Nevertheless, Elder Tian Hua offered a comforting smile as he patted Zhang Yong's shoulder. "Don't worry. When you can create the pill and I regain my body, I will help you get out of here."
The old man was intentionally pushing Zhang Yong to work better by making promises, all in an indirect way.
Zhang Yong smiled and clasped his hands. "Thank you, Elder."
Day Six
Another failure claimed droplets of blood from Zhang Yong's mouth with force.
He looked literally on the verge of death.
But suspicion began to enter Elder Tian Hua's heart. Was he failing on purpose?
But he completely dismissed that thought. Why? Who would be crazy enough to sacrifice their blood like that? And how would he know about this pill in the first place? Even back when he was alive, only a few people knew about it.
Zhang Yong breathed harshly. 'Survival of the fittest. Although intelligence and planning are essential, without the strength to use them, they remain just nonsense.'
Day Seven
A crack appeared in the cave wall, and a sharp white head protruded from it.
The old man Tian Hua went to it and inspected it. "Unexpected, pure unrefined ore. If refined, it could be forged into a good tool."
Zhang Yong approached and started digging around the sides, extracting a piece of ore, twice the size of a palm.
"I hope the Elder doesn't mind me taking it."
Elder Tian Hua shook his head. "I don't mind. You can have it. After all, it's useless to me."
The eighth, ninth, and tenth days passed in a similar fashion.
And with it, doubt grew in Elder Tian Hua's heart. Undoubtedly, no matter how trash a person was, given the performance he showed in the first week under observation, the pill should be ready by now.
He had already realized that this boy was deliberately stalling.
But that wasn't the problem. Due to the continuous strain of the sixth-grade, fifth-grade, and other components, the Qi energy in the spring was depleting dangerously. There was currently only enough for two more sets of herbs, meaning if the boy stalled any longer, the spring would dry up completely.
Currently, Elder Tian Hua relied on the spring's Qi energy to maintain his spirit. Without it, he would turn into a ghost filled with energy of despair and death.
This was the flaw of remaining spirits. Without a body or external power to support them, they cannot remain in this world with their consciousness intact. It was the same for the Thief King; if not for the rich energy of his personal small world , the same would have happened to him, and he would have vanished long ago.
Not everyone is capable of living as a spirit, and it was unbearable, like torture for a thousand years.
On the eleventh day, the old man had already made his decision.
"I will go scout to see if there is any presence nearby for caution," Elder Tian Hua said, leaving Zhang Yong alone.
The moment Elder Tian Hua left, Zhang Yong's expression changed to seriousness. This was the moment he had been waiting for, but he only had a short time to act before the Elder returned.
He stood up quietly and began examining all the components he had in his storage, checking twice. "Yes, everything is ready. All I need is the trigger, and everything will be over. I've started learning how to use the Stellar Essence from watching him all this time. It's either failure or success, but..."
Zhang Yong sat down, running probabilities in his mind. One split into two, then four, eight, sixteen, thirty-two... The potential situations that could occur and unexpected changes grew enormously in his mind.
After about an hour, Elder Tian Hua hurriedly returned to the cave.
"Boy Zhang Yong, they've discovered the place! They're coming!"
The moment Zhang Yong heard the news, all the thoughts swirling in his mind momentarily faded.
His heart began to beat rapidly, and a fierce smile spread across his face as he stood up.
He looked at Elder Tian Hua, who was rushing inside, surprised by the speed of the discovery. "What?! How is that possible? Damn this!" he cursed fiercely.
Immediately, a ripple of spiritual energy appeared in the outer area. Neither of them missed it.
Immediately, Zhang Yong activated his Heavenly Eyes ability and looked beyond the area. It was indeed him—Bing Wang!
Ice spears flew towards the cave from outside, but immediately, a brilliant, luminous blue barrier was erected at the entrance.
"Boy Zhang Yong, from above! Go out through the ceiling holes of the cave and escape! I will delay them!" Elder Tian Hua quickly ordered.
"What about you, Elder?" Zhang Yong asked, his tone clearly reluctant to leave Elder Tian Hua behind.
Elder Tian Hua smiled with satisfaction. "Don't worry about me. The worst they can do is breach the place or detain me. Compared to me, you still have a brilliant future ahead."
Zhang Yong looked miserable for a moment. "Elder, what if I refine the pill now and help you with it? Would you be confident in defeating them?"
Elder Tian Hua smiled secretly. Everything was going according to his plan.
He had secretly studied Zhang Yong's behavior during his time here. One could say he was sincere and good-natured, and certainly, he did not forget favors. But he wasn't sure, so he forced him to work under pressure.
He knew Zhang Yong was an intelligent person, so he intentionally trapped him. The only exit from the cave was the entrance, but it was surrounded by the attackers. He had agreed with them beforehand; they were besieging the place from outside, encircling it. So, even if Zhang Yong went up and saw the situation, he would realize it was useless to leave and would have no choice but to return.
Which is better? Refining the pill with all your might and ensuring your life, or going out to face a full army? Even a fool knows what's better for him.
The basic art of manipulation: corner your target from all directions and leave him no choice. Then, open the path you want him to take, and he will be forced to walk it because it's the only option.
Elder Tian Hua smiled comfortably. "Yes, that's possible. But with your success rate... Never mind, your life is more important than mine."
Immediately, Zhang Yong turned towards the cauldron and began refining the pills at full speed. He immediately repeated the steps quickly and sent a hidden hand from below.
Immediately, Elder Tian Hua took control of the Stellar Essence in the cauldron while continuing to reinforce the wall.
His spirit was doing two tasks at once, leaving some weakness in his energy, but this was nothing.
Immediately, the two larvae were created on the plate, and the Soul Larva devoured the Mind Larva. The larva expanded steadily.
Zhang Yong shouted powerfully, "Elder Tian Hua! Produce more herbs, now or never!"
Immediately, Elder Tian Hua squeezed his spirit, urgently ordering the spring to refine the last set of herbs. It was now completely dry, reduced to a lump of mud, useless.
Immediately, the components rushed into the cauldron, and the refinement process began with great force.
Outside, the sky darkened as lightning flashed in the air.
In an instant, three large lightning bolts descended, striking the mountain directly and piercing through the summit's ceiling. In that moment, the lightning struck the cauldron with immense force.
Elder Tian Hua shouted, focusing while another barrier appeared above Zhang Yong's head. "The moment has come, boy! I will protect you from the debris. Do not lose your concentration in the process!"
The lightning varied from pill to pill; that was the difference in the pill's quality. For instance, the healing pill Zhang Yong refined back then for healing purposes could be considered relatively lightly struck. But this pill he was refining was for seizing bodies and was therefore evil and opposed by Heaven. Then, in an instant, lightning struck again with force on the cauldron.
Then, the final lightning bolt, ten meters thick, struck and demolished the mountain until all that remained was dust amidst the rubble.
Zhang Yong waved his hand, and the lid flew quietly into the sky. Zhang Yong grabbed the pill and threw it towards Elder Tian Hua. "Take it quickly, Elder!"
A happy expression appeared on old man Tian Hua's face. He grabbed the pill happily and approached Zhang Yong, swallowing the pill. "Hahaha! You fool, your body will now be mi—"
Before Elder Tian Hua could finish his words, he fell to the ground, unable to move. "What is this!?... This... impossible!" He kept staring at the ground in disbelief before looking at Zhang Yong. "What did you do?!"
Zhang Yong looked at him with cold eyes, a small smile playing on his lips as he watched the old man struggle to comprehend what was happening. There was no surprise on his face; he had planned for this moment from the beginning. It was more accurate to say he exploited a flaw in the Elder, with a bit of luck, he managed to do this. "Elder Tian Hua... you are too foolish. Do you want to know what's in the pill? Three words: Burnt Shadow Grass," Zhang Yong said in a quiet voice.
Elder Tian Hua's face turned completely pale. He began to feel numbness in his limbs, resisting what was happening to him, but the energy draining from his body was stronger than he could imagine. His body began to crumble.
"How...?" he muttered, "How did you know?"
Zhang Yong calmly picked his ear. "I don't think I need to explain things to a dead man."
Everything Zhang Yong did was extremely simple. Elder Tian Hua was busy protecting the entrance, then there was the Stellar Essence and the spring. In the moment whe