Chapter 493: Concocting Pills
Translator: Novel Saga Editor: Novel Saga
And, the restrictions were the same as the Vitality Linkage Pill. Basically, great rewards are always accompanied with high risk.
It has to be said that anyone could've easily realized that Jun Mo Xie was being an idiot. After all, he hadn't realized that the Vitality Congregation Pill was pretty much the same as the Spirit Amassing Pills from the previous level. However, its effectiveness was far more than that of those pills from the previous.
The Heavenly Vitality Pill…
This pill could be used to increase strength; but, it had no other benefits. It could be said to be an upgraded version of the Ten Years' Pills. Taking one of these pills would increase the strength by fifty years. However, its restrictions were greater than that of the Ten Years' Pills. It couldn't be taken by anyone. Only those at Sky Xuan Realm and above could take these.
Jun Mo Xie was going wild inside the Hong Jun Pagoda. He was laughing and cursing. He yelled out; [Hard work always pays off. This instance proves that one shall get to reap the harvest if the plough the field in a diligent manner. This Young Master has worked so diligently, but he has finally found these three kinds of pills. This is like finding some measure of hope after exhausting oneself rugged whilst being at the edge of desperation.]
However, the Young Master still had some doubts. After all, strength had always been of paramount importance in his mind. Consequently, he believed that the Heavenly Vitality Pill was better than the Vitality Linkage and the Vitality Congregation Pill. After all, it could increase strength by fifty years. [Why would something as amazing and terrifying as the Heavenly Vitality Pill have such a low-level restriction?]
[Moreover, the other two pills are restricted for use until the Spirit Xuan Realm and above. But, the Heavenly Vitality Pill's restriction is only at the Sky Xuan Level. The disparity between these two is far too much, right? This doesn't make any sense…]
People would've probably beaten him up if they had heard of the doubts he harbored. In fact, the said-individuals would've turned his face into a peach blossom. Those eyes of his' would've puffed, and he would've been left to see stars hovering around him. His head would've resembled that of a pig… or maybe an elephant's posterior. However, they would've at least told him why they had beaten him red… And, it could be assumed that he would've only vomited blood even if he would try to roar in anger afterwards…
He was idiot — a thorough and true idiot! Such a divine level of idiocy would even leave the gods speechless. However, the Young Master was still favored by such amazing fortunes! How could such a great thing fall into the hands of such a big idiot? It seemed as if an excellent cabbage had been awarded to a pig which had dug the earth with its snout…
Jun Mo Xie had seemingly taken permanent residence in the Hong Jun Pagoda. And, he would only do one of two things — He'd either refine the pills, or he'd practice his martial arts. He'd often feel thirsty or hungry. But, he would simply eat some of the "common" ingredients he had stored there. It was a bit of a waste, but it could satiate his thirst and hunger under the circumstances. Moreover, these "common" herbs would also give him energy. He obviously had a huge stock of them in his reserves. So, he didn't bother himself much with them since only a short amount of time was left at his hands.
It was clear that these things weren't of much importance to Jun Mo Xie anymore since he had started to compare these 'mere' materials to the greatest herbs available. Consequently, Young Master Jun was being extravagant and wasteful with them. In fact, he was wasting them recklessly. Any other family of this Xuan Xuan Continent would've held these items in the highest regard. They would've taken rebirth to live a life of extreme torment even if they had died… but they wouldn't have allowed these herbs to slip out of their hands.
After all, these were top-notch raw materials which came from the very depths of Tian Fa! In fact, these herbs could be considered the accumulation of the many years of horrors in the Tian Fa Forest. After all, how many people in the world were capable of safely reaching the very core of Tian Fa? Even the Eight Great Masters would fear losing their lives if they were to enter the Tian Fa Forest…
Even a hundred-year-old herb would be considered a treasure if it were to be put out in the open market. However, Jun Mo Xie was treating the thousand-year-old ones as carrots… In fact, he was even sighing... [It's tasteless. It doesn't even have salt's taste. It tastes like I'm chewing wax. It's not tasty at all… This Young Master is being mistreated…]
Many old and grey-haired men from the divine medicinal families would've been left striving to get here if this information had gotten out. In fact, they would've fought and smashed each other's heads to rush here first. [I… I… I beg you… I beg you to let me endure this mistreatment instead… I beg you… my whole family of eight generations begs you to allow us to endure this in your place… lets us be mistreated…]
Then, there was that Fatty Tang… A money-grubbing miser like him would've come yelling and crying, "Elder Brother! You're my elder brother! Why don't you bully me instead! I'll take it ten times, a hundred times, whatever you want! But, stop eating these. It's like you're eating a mountain of silver or gold! Mistreat me as much as you want, but stop this…"
Young Master Jun's face would redden once those thousands of years old herbs had reached his belly. Energy would surge through his body, and he would have no place to vent it. So, he'd first circulate his energy smoothly and steadily throughout his body. Then, he'd roar and practice his skill for a long time. After that, he'd snigger and snort. Then, he'd practice his sword play for a bit. And, he would begin refining the pills again once he was done with this...
Jun Mo Xie was already quite experienced in refining the pills. After all, it could be said that he had gained a fairly rich alchemic experience from frantically refining the Bone Tempering and Ten Years' Pills in the past. However, Jun Mo Xie was confronting the research on these three new pills. And, he rightly believed that he should start with the pill of the lowest level. He would wait till he had garnered more experience before he'd begin to refine the more troublesome and higher-valued Heavenly Vitality Pill. After all, squandering such top-notch ingredients would be a huge waste…
Therefore, his first choice was the pill which was comparatively simpler — the Vitality Linkage Pill.
The Young Master Jun was in high spirits. He assumed a balanced stance to start. It was a most eye-catching stance. After that, he started mumbling the chants he had learnt, "Om… ma mi… ma mi… hong… hong… ma mi… hong…"
Then, he pointed his finger like a sword.
The 'Furnace of Good Fortune' started to whiz. It rose into the air, and started to rotate. It started emitting various vapors and lights of ten-thousand hues along with its rotating motion.
It slowly started to flame-up as the black 'Flame of Primal Chaos' silently leapt up. The flame then rushed up with a loud "Bang!", and covered the furnace. The black flame was moving like thousands of ghostly tongues. The blaze had begun to combust within the furnace. And, the black color of the flame had illuminated the multi-colored 'Furnace of Good Fortune' in a splendid manner...
Jun Mo Xie flashed a prideful smile; he was brimming with confidence. His empty right hand grabbed towards around twenty herbs he had prepared in advance. And, they floated forth very slowly as a result. In fact, it seemed as if an invisible string was pulling them along. These herbs then entered the furnace one by one… like moths drawn to a flame.
Jun Mo Xie made several fluctuating finger movements. He then heard a "Bang!" as the lid of the furnace flew up. But, it only flew up for a second before rejoining the main body of the furnace. Then, there was another explosion as the Flame of Primal Chaos soared. And, the entire furnace was surrounded by it in an instant as a result.
Jun Mo Xie moved his limbs in accordance to the requirement for the refining of the pills. He moved around the black flame as his fingers made many gestures. Consequently, energy surged from within his body to support the combustion of the Flame of Primal Chaos.
Time passed quickly. However, Young Master Jun suddenly felt that something was wrong.
[Damn! I've been refining these pills for a long while now. In fact, I guess that I've already spent at least ten-fold the time I've ever spent on any of the pills I've refined in the past. So, how come I haven't witnessed any activity yet? I would've taken the pills out of the furnace by now if these were the Ten Years' Pills. But, there hadn't been any development in the case of these pills! What's going on…?]
A good while passed, and Jun Mo Xie started feeling that his energy had drained. He felt his mental strength waning, and he was on the verge of passing out. His legs felt weak, and his body had become damp from the excessive sweating. The Young Master's energy was nearly bottoming out. However, there hadn't been any activity from the dark flames surrounding the furnace.
[I must stand firm! This is a very crucial moment! I can't screw up! I must stand firm!]
Jun Mo Xie clenched his teeth, took out a Ten Years' Pill, and threw it into his mouth. [It can't increase my strength anymore, but it can still restore my energy.]
…. ….
The Goddess of Fortune favored the Young Master once more when he was completely exhausted, and wasn't able to continue any further… There was a sound of a gong from the furnace, and its lid flew into the sky with a gentle sound resembling that of birds. The Flame of Primal Chaos silently withdrew, and slowly crumbled into a small heap inside the furnace.
"Heavens be damned! It's too difficult! How can it be so difficult? It isn't like the Bone Tempering Pills or the majority of other pills! How can it be so difficult? This process nearly killed this Young Master!" Jun Mo Xie panted hoarsely. He was sweating very profusely. His legs shuddered like noodles for a moment. Then, they eventually buckled. And, he was forced to sit as a result. It was like he had done a lot of work throughout many nights without rest. He was like a horse which had run thousands of miles without a moment's rest. His tongue poked out as he continued to pant and shake for a long while. He then stood up with difficulty, and stretched his neck to look into the furnace.
"How could this be?" Jun Mo Xie exclaimed in shock. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Consequently, the Young Master rubbed is eyes, and stared at it again.
A heap of black ash quietly lay in the furnace…
Jun Mo Xie felt like an inflated balloon that was leaking air; he felt paralyzed. His body's reserves had been depleted in their entirety. His energy had been pushed beyond the limit. And, his confidence had suffered a crushing blow. [I wasted so much energy, and I still failed! Fu*k me! How could it be so difficult?]
"Fu*k! I don't believe this evil sorcery! I will sort you out. Don't think that I can't bring you under my control just because I've failed once!" Jun Mo Xie's expression was fierce as he jumped up and raised his finger to the sky. Then, he closed his eyes and initiated the Art of Unlocking the Heaven's Fortune once more with the entirety of his strength.
His dantian warmed up, and started palpitating. Then, a stream of pure energy flew out, and rushed through his meridians. The divine aura inside the Hong Jun Pagoda violently started moving towards Jun Mo Xie like tornados on a sea.
A long and immeasurable period of time elapsed. Jun Mo Xie's eyes suddenly emitted a sharp radiance as they opened. His physical stamina and energy had been restored to its optimum. But, further investigations made Jun Mo Xie realize that his 'energy overdraft' limit had surprisingly increased from its previous limit.
This increase in overdraft limit was a great step towards the next level inside the Art of Unlocking the Heaven's Fortune. In fact, he could clearly feel that his ability to absorb aura had increased by three or four times.
"That's strange!" Jun Mo Xie scratched his head. Then, he got out into his courtyard, and realized that his effort in refining those pills had taken no less than a full day and a night if the subsequent recovery of his strength was also taken into account.
He had stayed in the Hong Jun Pagoda for over ten days if everything was to be taken into account. His originally snow-white gown had become so filthy that it couldn't even be looked at. His hair was disheveled and dirty. In fact, it appeared like he had been into a chicken coop. His face had many black marks, and his sweat was flooding the floor. He'd look like a beggar… even to beggars.
Jun Mo Xie quickly gave a few orders to make arrangements. Then, he hurriedly slipped into the large bathtub, and scrubbed himself clean. And, he also thought about what had happened as he did so…
He didn't even know how lucky he was that he hadn't chosen the pill which was even more difficult. He had only chosen the second-tier Vitality Linkage Pill. He would've been in a much worse-off condition if he had picked the Vitality Congregation Pill instead. However, things would've been different if he had chosen the easy Heavenly Vitality Pill. In fact, it was possible that he would've been done with the refining by now...