"The Medicine Buddha's secret realm doesn't need me anymore," the Medicine King's Cauldron communicated, its spiritual voice tinged with a sense of resignation and acceptance. After all, its original master was the legendary Medicine Buddha, and Su Min felt she had to respect his final will for his legacy. Moreover, the growth potential of that small, isolated world had its limits, producing eighth-grade medicinal herbs was already its peak capability.
Thus, it was of limited direct help to Su Min now in her pursuit of ninth-grade pills. Besides, she would inevitably return to the turbid qi-saturated environments of the Burial Lands and the Nether Prison in the future, so keeping the pure clear-qi treasure with her wouldn't be of much use and would only harm it.
"Very well. You can stay here at the Immortal Gate then. I'll implant a wisp of my Chaos essence into you. How much benefit you can derive from it, and how far you can evolve, will depend entirely on your own fortune." Su Min didn't waste words. She gently gave each of the two innate spiritual treasures a single, carefully controlled strand of her primordial Chaos energy and then placed them safely within her personal Five Elements secret realm, the most spiritually nourishing and suitable environment for their continued growth and evolution.
The Five Elements Holy Body's energy was inherently compatible with them, and now, blessed with a trace of the ultimate Chaos energy, their potential for growth was even greater. As for how much they could actually improve, Su Min didn't know. That would depend entirely on their own spiritual comprehension and fortune, and it wasn't something she needed to micromanage. If they hadn't made significant progress by the time her own Chaos Physique reached perfection, she would simply help them further then.
After settling the two spiritual treasures, she took out another item from her spatial ring, her most significant spoils of war from the Dark Universe.
"This thing seems potentially useful, but it's also a bit problematic." Staring at the pulsating immortal artifact, the Black Sun sphere, in her hand, Su Min frowned. She had no idea what would happen if she tried to melt it down and repurpose it. The power contained within a true immortal artifact was undeniable. If its full power were unleashed uncontrollably during the process, it might devastate the entire Heaven's Continent. So if she wanted to refine it safely, she had to go to a completely desolate, uninhabited corner of the cosmos.
"I'll head to the depths of space first. It'll take those sects years to gather the materials I need anyway. And with my current alchemical skills, refining an eighth-grade, nine-colored tribulation pill won't be too difficult once I have the ingredients. There's no need to rush that. So in that case—" With that thought, Su Min decisively left the sect, not informing anyone of her specific destination.
A week had passed since she sent out her request for materials, and no one had come forward with a complete set yet. Clearly, none of them had even a fraction of the total materials she needed. Since that was the case, she didn't need to wait around idly. After sending a simple message to Lin Yao that she would be away for a short time, she vanished into the void, her figure blinking through space until she arrived at a truly desolate region of space, a pitch-black expanse with no stars, planets, or nebulae in sight, only the cold void.
"This place is perfect. Completely dead. Even if a massive explosion occurs, it won't cause any disturbances or harm any life. Though, I suppose in a few decades, or even centuries, some distant planet's telescope might pick up the light from the blast." She glanced down at the volatile sphere in her hand, then without further hesitation, summoned her black-and-white Chaos Flames, which erupted violently around the artifact, enveloping it completely.
The sphere trembled violently in her grasp, resisting the foreign energy trying to decompose it, its dark light flaring erratically until—
BOOM!!!
A massive, silent explosion erupted with Su Min at its very center. From a distance, it would have looked like a miniature star being born, a sudden point of intense light in the darkness. Of course, this spectacle could only be observed from light-years away, the light taking years to travel. The visible shockwave of pure energy expanded outward at a terrifying speed, and in its path, it devoured a nearby frozen, lifeless planet that had long been drifting without a star to orbit. The explosion continued to spread, its radius swallowing what would have been an entire solar system in an instant.
"Damn, the energy shockwave exceeded the speed of light. As expected of an immortal artifact's destructive potential... Cough, cough... Good thing I prepared layered defenses." Su Min spat out a mouthful of blood, the coppery taste filling her mouth. The immortal artifact had detonated right in front of her, and despite her layered spatial barriers and physical defenses, she had still been injured. The Chaos Physique granted near-absolute defense, ordinary attacks couldn't even scratch her. The original Five Elements Holy Body only resisted elemental damage, but now, she had resistance to all elemental attributes, Yin-Yang forces, and even pure physical attacks.
Yet despite that comprehensive defense, she had still suffered internal injuries from the blast. "Not bad though. At least it's been successfully broken down into its base components." She observed the floating, shimmering remnants of the artifact, now separated into pools of liquid metallic energy. She had tried to use the artifact directly before but failed to activate it, so melting it down for materials was her only option. Next, she carefully infused the purified, liquid materials into her own weapon, her trusted Five Elements Sword, enveloping the entire process in the pale-white glow of her stabilizing flames.
Her Five Elements Sword trembled violently, groaning under the influx of such high-level materials. Since achieving the Chaos Physique, she had stopped using it actively in battle, it simply couldn't handle her new level of power and would shatter upon contact with a half-immortal's body. A Heaven-grade high-tier weapon was now a limitation rather than an asset. So if that was the case, she had to push it beyond its limits, to forcibly elevate its grade.
"Damn, forging an Imperial artifact really isn't easy. The energy feedback is brutal." Her hands shook as torrents of violent, unrefined energy surged from the melting immortal artifact into the sword, the feedback violently coursing through her own arms and meridians. If not for her incredibly resilient Chaos Physique, even the legendary Five Elements Holy Body would have been torn apart by these forces. But she had no choice but to endure the pain. If she lost control for even a second or let go, the refinement would fail instantly, and the weapon that had accompanied her for so long, through countless battles, would shatter into useless fragments.
Su Min was, at her core, a sentimental person. Even the simple 100×100×100 storage ring she had long outgrown remained with her, tucked away safely. After all, only these two items, the ring and the sword, had stayed by her side from the beginning of her journey. She cherished them deeply.
"Ugh..." After swallowing two high-grade recovery pills to steady her fluctuating qi, she gritted her teeth and persisted, pouring her will and energy into the arduous forging process.
Time flew by in the timeless void. In the blink of an eye, three years had passed in the outside world.
—
Meanwhile, in the crippled Nether Prison she had left behind...
"This humble warden greets the exalted immortals." The Warden knelt on the cold, dark floor of his fortress, trembling slightly as several overwhelmingly mighty figures descended before him. These individuals were the upper immortals who had been chosen as the sacrifices for the Zhexian Curse. The five great clans were known as the Five Royal Families precisely because each currently had a living King, a pinnacle immortal. After the last Chaos Physique user had slaughtered the previous generation of Kings and most upper immortals, it had taken countless thousands of years for five new Kings to slowly emerge. These five families now monopolized nearly all the resources and authority of the Burial Grounds and Nether Prison, while the hundreds of other, lesser clans struggled to survive under their tyranny.
None of the lesser clans dared to even try to produce a new King. Even if a young genius with the potential to become an upper immortal appeared, they would be swiftly identified and eradicated by the ruling families. Thus, upper immortals held immense status and power within their respective clans. Each of the five great families typically had around ten upper immortals at any given time. Now, each clan had been forced to contribute two, an excruciating loss of their core power.
Moreover, these selected upper immortals knew they were being sent to their deaths for the curse, so their tempers were exceedingly foul. If the Warden, a mere lower immortal, said or did anything to anger them, they wouldn't hesitate to kill him on the spot just to vent their frustration.
"Do you have any new information on that woman?" The leader of the group of upper immortals spoke coldly, his eyes filled with a simmering fury. The selection process within the clans had been bloody and ruthless. After all, they weren't sacrificing lower immortals, who were somewhat disposable, but their precious upper immortals. The ones standing here now were the "losers" of those internal struggles, the ones without enough backing or influence to avoid being chosen. Needless to say, they weren't happy about their fate.
"This humble one suffered heavy losses in the last battle, losing all the half-immortal guardians, and could only focus on guarding this passageway as ordered. I have no new intelligence," the Warden replied, breaking out in a cold sweat, fearing they might crush him with a single slap out of sheer irritation.
"Useless. You're dismissed. Everyone, prepare yourselves. Stay vigilant. If that woman causes any unusual energy disturbances and exposes her location, we must activate the Zhexian Curse immediately." The leader's voice was icy, brooking no argument. The patriarchs of all five clans were watching this operation closely through scrying mirrors.
None of the chosen immortals dared to outright disobey, but they all secretly hoped to delay their deaths as long as possible. After all, unlike the lower immortals who had no path to greater power, they still had things to live for, ambitions unfulfilled. Secretly, they all prayed that Su Min would simply die of old age or in an accident before ever making a move that would force them to enact the curse.
—
Back in the void, Su Min slowly opened her eyes. Her body was covered in fine, bloody cracks from containing the violent energies for three years, but as her consciousness fully awakened, the injuries healed at a visible rate, the flesh knitting itself back together until no trace was left behind.
"Finally... it's done." She exhaled a deep breath she felt she had been holding for years, then looked with satisfaction at the weapon floating serenely before her. It was a dark, profound longsword, its blade seeming to absorb the very light around it, its aura alone was enough to instill a primal fear in any who felt it. This was the unique, overwhelming presence of an Imperial artifact, the acknowledged pinnacle of treasures in this universe.
[Chaos Sword (Imperial Artifact)].
There were no flashy descriptions or long lists of abilities. This was a weapon meant solely for her, one that only the Chaos Physique could wield without being corrupted or overwhelmed. This was also why most holders of supreme physiques never established their own long-lasting sects or empires. People like Yao Xian'er, the Great Desolate Martial Sage, and the ancient Five Elements Emperor, their ultimate abilities were too closely tied to their unique physiques. Even if they left behind legacies and techniques, only those with the same or a similar physique could truly inherit them.
Without sufficient heritage or the continuous protection of Imperial artifacts, their legacies would inevitably fade into obscurity within tens of thousands of years, or be completely wiped out at the slightest cosmic upheaval. Su Min's situation was similar. The only difference was that given her power and goals, she would likely never have to worry about her legacy being lost, as she intended to be the one to end the conflict altogether.
"This weapon has reached its current limit. To go further, simply stacking more high-grade materials won't be enough." She narrowed her eyes, sensing the sword's state intimately. She could feel that this was the apex of what could be achieved through conventional artifact refinement in the mortal realm. The only way to surpass it, to make it a true peerless weapon, was to bathe it in the blood of true immortals, not the pitiful half-immortals she had killed, but genuine, full-powered immortals. So far, Su Min hadn't killed a single true immortal, nor had she even fought one properly. Now wasn't yet the time for that.
"About three or four years have passed. It's time to return and see what progress has been made." She stood up, her body feeling lighter and more powerful than ever, and transformed into a streak of light, shooting back through the void toward Heavenly Continent.
However, the moment she arrived above her sect, she was slightly startled. Her sect's main square and reception halls were packed with people. A single glance with her spiritual sense revealed over a dozen Unity-stage experts, along with their attendants. Her sect was considered strong, but its core members at the Unity-stage were originally few, the little Golden Crow, Xie Yingying, the Peacock, and the Azure Dragon. As for herself? She had already reached the Mahayana stage, so she didn't count in this context. Yet now, there were at least a dozen more Unity-stage cultivators present, along with several early Mahayana stage experts she recognized from Tian Hao's group.
"Greetings, Fairy Su." This time, Su Min didn't conceal her presence as she descended. She strode directly into the main hall. Clearly, everyone had known she had been away temporarily for preparation, so they had waited patiently for her return. A few years were nothing to cultivators at their level, a mere blink of an eye. Of course, Su Min hadn't stood them up. She now stood before them and, with a wave of her hand, summoned ethereal curtains of chaotic energy that blocked all external prying eyes and spiritual senses. Simple as they looked, no one present could see through them. After all, Su Min now completely overshadowed them in both raw strength and cultivation level.
"Alright. Everyone, come forward one by one with the materials you've gathered. The rest of you, don't worry or grow impatient. Refining an eighth-grade, nine-colored tribulation pill only takes me a few days once I begin. You've waited this long; another week or two won't hurt." Her voice was calm and carried an undeniable authority.
"Understood." They all bowed respectfully, no one daring to question her.
The first in line, an elder from the Heavenly God Sect, stepped forward, presenting his collected materials with a storage ring.
"Three complete sets of ingredients? You've had remarkably good luck." Su Min was slightly surprised as she inspected the contents. She knew exactly how precious and rare these materials were, they only spawned in specific, often dangerous star systems under unique cosmic conditions. Even the Medicine King's Cauldron's secret realm couldn't cultivate them artificially. Yet this person had managed to gather three full sets.
"Mostly luck, Fairy Su, and a few fierce battles against spatial beasts and rival searchers along the way," the man smiled wryly, then handed over a specific pill recipe his sect desired and, slightly embarrassed, added, "and a fourth, nearly complete set, we're only missing the Stellar Sapphire Dust. My apologies. We searched three different nebula but could only gather four sets in total."
"That's perfectly fine. Four sets is an impressive haul. You may rest in our guest quarters for now. I'll notify you when the pills are ready." Su Min nodded, storing the materials securely.
Eighth-grade high-tier pills could summon tribulation lightning ranging from seven to nine colors upon completion. The more colors, the higher the quality and potency. But for Su Min, with her mastery and the Chaos Flame, it was always nine colors. The effort and time required were practically the same for her either way.
"Many thanks, Lady Su." The man beamed with relief and joy, accepted his receipt jade slip, and respectfully left the hall.
The next person entered promptly.
Soon, the entire main hall was filled with a joyous, anticipatory atmosphere, everyone who had braved the dangers of the cosmos left satisfied, knowing their efforts would be rewarded by the best alchemist in the world.