"Rumble rumble... Within
Long Chen's body, it was as if billions of wild lions were roaring madly. The endless medicinal power erupted like a volcano, threatening to explode his body.
"A demon core is a demon core—evil and powerful. But this demonic power is not something just anyone can withstand." Long Chen was secretly shocked in his heart.
Last time, Long Chen refined a giant pill and knew its terrifying medicinal effects. But this time, he didn't refine a giant pill, yet its efficacy was still even more overwhelming than Long Chen had anticipated.
It must be that Ling'er's trip to the Underworld was the result. The stronger Ling'er became, the better the quality of the demon cores she refined.
However, the reason demon pills are called demon pills is because they are filled with demonic power. The violent will attached to the pill not only places a heavy burden on the physical body but also impacts the soul and infects the mind.
Demon pills are usually regarded by orthodox pill cultivators as a form of demonic arts because their side effects are so severe that taking one or two pills occasionally might not cause any problems.
However, if taken long-term, it can lead to extreme dependence, eventually becoming irresistible, causing mental confusion and turning one into a madman. That's why demon pills have never been recognized by mainstream alchemy circles.
However, Long Chen did not see it that way. Existence is justified; in the Heavenly Dao, there is no useless way.
Swords have double edges. Whether they are used to kill enemies or to slit throats depends entirely on the user, which is related to the sword itself.
The so-called side effects were that their bodies weren't strong enough and their wills weren't firm enough, so they were eroded by the demon core. As for dependence, it was because they pursued the drug's effects too much, neglecting their body's endurance. In the end, their bodies were riddled with holes, forced to rob Peter to pay Paul, and could only rely on demon pills to survive.
However, demon pills are indeed not something ordinary people can control. Even the Dragon Blood warriors now dare not let them take such pills.
Long Chen had taken three demon pills in a row, and the endless medicinal power kept surging into his body.
The spiritual energy within Long Chen began to surge, surging like a tide. Originally, his spiritual energy was chaotic, but now, under the impact of the medicine, it gradually transformed, with black and white spots swirling around.
Spiritual essence in the chaotic state represents the first entry into the Netherworld. It doesn't even count as the first step; only when the power of life and death begins to evolve does it count as taking the first step.
Originally, the chaotic state of spiritual essence and the power of life and death were mixed together, indistinguishable from one another. Now, Long Chen wanted to separate the power of life and death, making it clearly divided.
The Yin-Yang Dao Fusion Pill is precisely a pill that activates the power of life and death. With its assistance, the life and death power within Long Chen's body gradually began to differentiate.
Others need to use the power of the Heavenly Dao as proof and reference to slowly differentiate themselves. Normally, this process is very slow, but because of the changes in heaven and earth, everyone's cultivation has become much easier.
Moreover, with Liu Ruyan as a powerful supporter, the Dragonblood Legion made cultivation much more efficient. In the Yin-Yang Realm, Liu Ruyan absorbed the divine liquid of the Yin-Yang Immortal Herb and gained its insights.
Her life-and-death realm became a benchmark for everyone's cultivation. With her assistance and the blessing of the Heavenly Dao, the cultivation speed of the Tianwu Alliance's experts was unbelievably fast.
But no matter how fast they were, they weren't as fast as Long Chen. Long Chen didn't need any comprehension of life and death power, nor the aid of the Heavenly Dao. He didn't care about benchmarks or frameworks—cultivating the Nine-Star Overlord Body Technique was just about taking medicine, taking medicine.
As Long Chen swallowed the Yin-Yang Fusion Pill one by one, under the impact of the medicine, the power of life and death gradually separated. The spiritual essence slowly turned into two colors: the black ones were jet black like ink, the white ones as lustrous as jade.
"Ling'er, don't refine the Yin-Yang Harmony Dao Pill anymore. It's already enough. I'll teach you how to refine the Tiger Bone Spirit Pill." Long Chen said.
While Long Chen was taking the pill, Ling'er refined two more batches of Yin-Yang Dao Integration Pills herself, and Long Chen immediately told her to stop.
Because only he could take this kind of pill, refining too much would be wasteful. Long Chen took out some rare medicines and began teaching Ling'er how to make another kind of pill.
After two rounds of testing, Long Chen and Ling'er worked together again to continue refining pills, and their cooperation grew increasingly harmonious.
"Boom!"
As the furnace lid opened, the roar of tigers shook the void, and one colorful fierce tiger after another roared out, fiercely biting at Long Chen.
"Pfft"—
Countless runes lit up on the Demon Moon Furnace. The fierce tigers vanished, transforming into white jade pills the size of longan eyes.
These pills were as white as snow, as if wrapped in milk, radiating endless vitality. Once these pills appeared, even with the support of a grand formation, Long Chen still noticed that the vegetation around the mountain had become vigorous and began to grow rapidly.
The medicinal effects of the Tiger Bone Vitality Pill actually transmitted through the grand formation. The power of life was affecting the surrounding vegetation, which greedily absorbed the energy permeating the air. The scene was truly astonishing.
"Such powerful medicinal effects—truly worthy of being a top-grade demon pill. Even before passing the tribulation, it's already so terrifying." Long Chen couldn't help but marvel—the demon core was truly powerful.
Long Chen refined two more batches of pills in a row, then let Ling'er do it herself, while Long Chen continued to take the Yin-Yang Dao Integration Pill.
When all the Yin-Yang Combined Dao Pills were consumed, a thunderous explosion erupted from Long Chen's body. In that instant, the five stars within Long Chen—Feng Mansion, Yu Heng, Siming, Gong Qi, and Shen Guan—trembled violently.
At the same time, the 108,000 stars surged again. Originally, chaotic energy surrounded them, but now the chaotic energy of these stars began to become distinctly black and white.
"Buzz buzz buzz... The
Divine Gate Star in Long Chen's sea of consciousness flickered continuously. He felt his sea of consciousness actually begin to tremble, its boundaries rapidly expanding outward. As the sea of consciousness grew larger, he felt his soul power growing thicker and thicker.
"The first step of ascending to Tongming even changed soul power. Wow, the sea of consciousness has doubled in size.
I wonder if I can withstand Feng Fei's attacks with just my soul power. Long Chen was both surprised and delighted.
But after thinking it over, he shook his head. Although his soul power had increased and its quantity had increased, its quality hadn't changed significantly.
Moreover, his control was insufficient, unable to unleash the full power of so many soul powers. However, such a large amount of soul power was still a pleasant surprise for him.
"Finally, I've taken the first step into the Mingming Realm." Long Chen laughed heartily, but halfway through laughing, he held it back.
Now, in the entire Dragonblood Legion, even Guo Ran, who is recognized in the cultivation world as a second-class disabled man, has reached the third stage of Tongming. This first step seems nothing to boast about.
"Continue."
Long Chen took out a Tiger Bone Vitality Pill purified by thunder power and swallowed it in one gulp. A fierce tiger's roar erupted in his belly, followed by a milky white medicinal liquid, spreading like scorching lava within Long Chen's body.
"The Cloud-Treading Tiger is the only magical beast that doesn't eat meat, eating various spirit fruits and having a long lifespan.
If refined into ordinary pills, their medicinal properties are extremely mild. Even a beginner at the Innate Realm won't be killed by the medicinal power.
But once you refine a demon core, it's completely different. Even the gentlest medicinal power can become violent. This world is truly wonderful. The
medicinal power of the Tiger Bone Vitality Pill echoed within his body,Long Chen couldn't help but sigh in his heart—there are so many unknowns in this world.
In the Alchemy Emperor's memories he had fused, there was only the recipe and refining method for demon pills, but Long Chen didn't understand many principles. He only knew the truth, but not the underlying principles.
Whether it was alchemy, martial arts, or other paths, each path was vast and profound. Even if one exhausted their entire life's energy, one might not uncover even a fraction of their mysteries, which was truly awe-inspiring.
Long Chen cast aside distracting thoughts and focused on absorbing the medicinal power, continuously devouring the Tiger Bone Vitality Pill. He discovered that the life and death power within his body was split in half.
But as the medicinal effects of the Tiger Bone Vitality Pill were infused into the body, the power of life began to slowly erode the power of death. What was originally a five-to-five ratio gradually grew stronger, suppressing the power of death.
The separation of the power of life and death is the first step of the Tongming Realm, while the force of life begins to suppress the power of death, which is the manifestation of the second step of breaking through to the Tongming Realm.
As the effects of the medicine hit, the proportion of death power gradually decreased, gradually approaching a six-to-four ratio.
Long Chen discovered that even though the power of life had already taken up sixty percent and the power of death was clearly compressed, there was still a balance between the two.
"The power of death hasn't decreased; after shrinking, it actually becomes even more solid. I see." Long Chen suddenly understood.
Long Chen continued to consume the Tiger Bone Life Pill, continuously influxing life energy. If it were someone else, besides taking the pill, they would also need to draw on the life force of heaven and earth to suppress the power of death. Only by combining both approaches would the effect be even better.
But Long Chen didn't need it at all. He had an intuition that heaven would never help him; invoking the power of the Heavenly Dao would only cause trouble.
"Boom!"
When the life-and-death power within him reached seven to three, Long Chen's body trembled, and the 108,000 stars suddenly expanded once more.
"Tongming First Heaven?" Long Chen chuckled.
According to the cultivation rules of the Tianwu Continent, only after entering the first step of the Tongming Realm does cultivation truly begin. At the third level, one enters the second step—the Living Realm; the sixth heaven enters the third—the death stage; and the ninth heaven enters the fourth step—the Reincarnation Realm.
But just as Long Chen laughed, he sensed something was off. The Nine-Star Overlord Body Technique has thirteen levels, which is different from others. Could it be that the Nine Star Overlord Body Technique's Tongming Realm has a fifth step?
Thinking of this, Long Chen felt uncertain. He was still at the stage of being blind and touching an elephant, knowing too little about the Nine-Star Overlord Body Technique.
"Whatever, when the car reaches the mountain, there will always be a way. Just close your eyes and do it." Long Chen gritted his teeth, didn't want to go that far, and started eating pills nonstop.
Ling'er was indeed formidable; she quickly mastered the alchemy method. Her control over the Origin Fire became increasingly proficient, and batch after batch of pills was fed into Long Chen's mouth.
The terrifying, top-grade demon pill was eaten like a candy bean by Long Chen, never stopping his mouth, and his vitality surged rapidly.
"Boom!"
Another explosion rang out from Long Chen's body as he entered the Second Heaven of Tongming.