Chapter 1136, Yao Song

Translator: Silavin

 

“What?! You actually lost to some unknown Junior who was just swindling others!?”

 

At the far end of the Medicine Market sat the estate occupied by the Medicine Race. Ordinarily, the place was remarkably quiet, but today, from somewhere within its walls, an enraged roar rang out with enough force to rattle the air itself.

 

The person shouting was clearly not low in standing, for the guard cultivators stationed at the entrance found themselves instinctively hunching their shoulders with sheepish, flinching looks.

 

Inside the estate’s main hall at that moment, more than a dozen figures stood about with uniformly dark expressions.

 

In the seat of highest authority, the unmistakable presence of Yao Song, an Alchemy Saint of the Medicine Race. It radiated like a thundercloud. Every trace of his customary gentle, benevolent manner had been swept entirely away. His aged face was suffused with barely contained fury, and from his mouth came a stream of wrathful roars, one after another, which left every Medicine Race member in the hall keeping their heads bowed and their mouths firmly shut.

 

*Thud! Thud! Thud!* Each bellow of his seemed to land like a physical blow on the room.

 

“Jie’er, tell me everything from start to finish. I want every detail! Leave nothing out!”

 

This went on for quite a length of time before Yao Song at last managed to force his temper down by a degree, and with an expression like a stormcloud, he turned to address Yao Jie.

 

“Yes…” Yao Jie, though seated nearby, wore a rather strained look of his own. Under Yao Song’s questioning, he did not dare conceal a single thing, and he laid out everything that had happened between himself and Qin Yichen in the Medicine Market.

 

As his account unfolded, the expressions of everyone in the hall began to grow heavier by degrees.

 

When they heard that Yao Jie, exerting his full strength with the added amplification of the Three-Legged Black Flame Cauldron, still had his assault shattered with great ease, every face in the room became gravely serious.

 

They were, of course, intimately familiar with Yao Jie’s capabilities.

 

Without holding back, and with the Three-Legged Black Flame Cauldron to bolster him, Yao Jie was nearly without equal among Heaven Grade Alchemists.

 

Yet by Yao Jie’s own account, Qin Yichen had not appeared to exert his full strength at all, breaking through Yao Jie’s all-out strike as though it were an afterthought.

 

For that to be possible, one’s mastery of Spiritual Energy would need to surpass Yao Jie’s by an entire tier.

 

And Yao Jie, in terms of Spiritual Energy mastery, had already reached a level bordering on Perfection.

 

Could it truly be that a fellow younger in years than Yao Jie himself had attained that level?

 

“Impossible. Even I have only just barely grazed that threshold. A mere Junior, regardless of how early he began cultivating his Spiritual Energy, could simply not have reached such a level. Yao Jie, is every word you have said the truth?”

 

Yao Song’s own expression had grown somewhat grave. In truth, he understood Yao Jie’s character very well, and he knew that in a situation like this, the boy would not manufacture lies to cover his own failings.

 

Still, Yao Song found himself unable to fully believe it.

 

“Elder Song, I have not exaggerated in the slightest. His Spiritual Energy…”

 

Yao Jie’s expression was earnest as he spoke, and when it came to Qin Yichen’s Spiritual Energy, an involuntary flicker of dread rose in his eyes.

 

Without him even realising it, the other man seemed to have planted a Heart Demon within him.

 

In truth, this had not been Qin Yichen’s deliberate doing. Even Qin Yichen himself was unaware that, after being tempered by the Nine Illusions Life Extinguishing Flower in the Brilliant Sky Sacred Land, his Divine Soul had reached a degree of terrifying cultivation that was difficult to put into words. Add to this that the Divine Indestructible Soul Art left behind by the Demon Subduing Great Saint had been cultivated to the Partially Accomplished Stage, and the solidity of his Divine Soul was something that even an Alchemist Saint would likely struggle to match.

 

In the Alchemy Duel earlier, though he had only drawn upon his Divine Soul to the most modest of degrees, that was still far beyond what Yao Jie, a Heaven Grade Alchemist of only a few years standing, could have withstood.

 

This Heart Demon would become a barrier in Yao Jie’s path. If he could not overcome it, Yao Jie would find it impossible to take a single step further for the rest of his days. Yet if he could, the gains would be immense, and his Spiritual Energy might advance by leaps and bounds.

 

“He also said he wished to present this to the Patriarch.”

 

After a brief hesitation, Yao Jie gritted his teeth and produced the jade bottle Qin Yichen had given him at the moment of departure.

 

“Hmm?” Yao Song’s brow furrowed. With a flicker of Spiritual Energy, he drew the bottle into his hand, tilted it gently, and several round, smooth Pills steeped in a rich, fragrant scent rolled out into his palm.

 

“These are…”

 

*Thud.* The collective intake of breath from the entire hall was nearly audible.

 

Every pair of eyes in the room suddenly locked onto the Pills sitting in Yao Song’s palm with an intensity that did not waver.

 

At a casual glance, the Pills appeared merely to be of an admirable quality, with nothing else notably unusual about them.

 

Yet the many accomplished Alchemists in the room discovered something deeply, deeply wrong: surrounding these Pills, several distinct, separate Pill fragrances coiled and mingled together.

 

Anyone with even a basic understanding of the subject knew the fundamental singularity of Pills: one Pill, one fragrance. That was the rule. Yet these small, unassuming Pills before them seemed to overturn every assumption held by every person in the room.

 

Four separate Pill fragrances coiled around each single Pill.

 

Had they not witnessed it with their own eyes, not one of them would have believed it. Four fragrances, on a single Pill.

 

Every fragrance represented a different healing effect. Four fragrances coiling together, surely that was not saying this Pill had four separate effects?

 

“Ren Feng!” After a brief deliberation, Yao Song’s expression became one of absolute gravity. With a single sharp call, a dark shadow appeared at his side.

 

“Immediately deliver this to the Patriarch!” Yao Song placed every last Pill back into the jade bottle and commanded.

 

“Elder Song, that young man…”

 

“Leave him be for now. Await the Patriarch’s orders.”

 

…

 

Back in the Medicine Market, under the gaze of countless watching eyes, Qing Luan, who had swallowed the Pill, finally, slowly, opened his eyes.

 

The instant they opened, nearly everyone present could feel the excitement blazing within them.

 

“Could it be… that the Pill truly has such effects?”

 

At the sight of Qing Luan’s expression, countless pupils contracted sharply.

 

Given his standing, Qing Luan would never conspire with another person in a charade for the sake of some scheme. The look on his face right now was proof enough of the Pill’s effects.

 

A Pill usable by every Race, and simultaneously possessed of multiple effects.

 

At the thought of it, the faces of countless onlookers began to show signs of excitement.

 

This kind of Pill, regardless of which Race one belonged to, there would never be too many of it. In fact, the mere appearance of such a Pill could potentially shatter the balance of power between Races whose strength had been deadlocked for untold ages.

 

“Brother Qin, how many of these Pills do you have? My Race will take all of them!” Before the crowd’s speculations could fully form, however, Qing Luan’s voice rang out, faintly unsteady. He was clearly somewhat overwhelmed with excitement.

 

Qing Luan’s imperious declaration, delivered with all the assurance of a Top Tier Race, sent a ripple of unease through the crowd.

 

A Top Tier Race, with their foundation, the idea of them monopolising these Pills was not beyond the realm of possibility.

 

“My apologies, Brother Qing Luan. These Pills cannot be sold exclusively to your Heaven Devouring Green Marten Race.” Yet, to the astonishment of the onlookers, Qin Yichen refused him outright without a moment’s hesitation.