novelDealing with the Pill Spirit
| ← Ch.1994 | Ch.1996 → |
Seeing Xiao Chen's confusion, the Third Palace Master explained, "Right now, it is no longer a conventional Divine Pill. It is now considered a lifeform with sentience, what is customarily known as a Pill Spirit. The process of refining a Divine Pill can produce one, but the chances are slim; it creates Pill Demons most of the time.
"However, once a Pill Spirit is born, it is even more valuable than a Divine Pill to an Alchemist."
Since Xiao Chen could refine some Medicinal Pills, he immediately understood the Third Palace Master's explanation.
This was equivalent to the Alchemist gaining an assistant. Furthermore, this assistant lived in the cauldron amid the blazing fire. It could check the situation of the ingredients and the completion of the refinement.
Even the best Alchemist could not understand a Medicinal Pill's condition in a medicine cauldron as well as a Pill Spirit could.
"You understand now?"
The Third Palace Master continued, "However, this Pill Spirit is somewhat hard to deal with. Normally, a Pill Spirit would feel some intimacy for their creator. However, its creator already died long ago; its situation is special. I tried to communicate with it several times but could not establish a connection at all."
Xiao Chen pondered, then said, "I'll give it a try."
Even so, the Third Palace Master did not hold much hope."It's fine if you fail. There's no need to force it."
Xiao Chen nodded to indicate his understanding. Then, he soared into the sky and landed on the medicine cauldron before jumping into the blazing fire.
There was a world of fire inside the medicine cauldron. Xiao Chen knew that it would be impossible to find the Pill Spirit if it wanted to hide.
He could only think of an unusual method.
This so-called unusual method was the carrot-and-stick method.
Just as Xiao Chen was about to speak, a path opened in the sea of flames in front. A small male child with exquisite facial features wearing a chest undergarment appeared before Xiao Chen.
The little boy glared at Xiao Chen and snarled in rage, "It's you again! The last time, you already took ten percent of my Medicinal Energy. Now, you sent an old man to come and destroy me. If not for me being resilient, I would have died in that old man's hands long ago. If you try to threaten me again this time, you can forget about leaving this medicine cauldron. We will die together."
"Rumble... !"
The little boy's exquisite face looked exceptionally cute when irate.
However, he was not joking.
Xiao Chen felt somewhat embarrassed. He had been prepared to use the same trick as the previous time to deal with the Pill Spirit. Unexpectedly, the other party took the initiative to issue an ultimatum.
When Xiao Chen looked around, he saw the fire in the entire medicine cauldron gathering around them, forming a blazing fireball.
The medicine cauldron with divine characters suddenly flared with bright light, releasing overwhelming heat waves.
This startled the Third Palace Master, who was outside."What's going on in there? Why does it feel like this Pill Spirit has a deep grudge against Xiao Chen?"
"Whoosh!"
The Third Palace Master leaped up and landed on top of the medicine cauldron. When he looked down, the sight that greeted him greatly startled him.
He saw the fire that had filled every corner of the medicine cauldron had now coalesced into a dazzling fireball, which hovered in the medicine cauldron without scattering.
The Third Palace Master quickly sent out a strand of Soul Energy. After piercing through the fireball, he found that Xiao Chen was fine.
However, the Third Palace Master did not know what happened, so he still felt anxious.
Xiao Chen, how's the situation?
It's fine. I'll speak with him.
Inside the fire barrier, Xiao Chen felt startled when he looked around.
However, he soon calmed down.
This was a Pill Spirit, after all. The more ferocious he appeared, the more cowardly he was.
Xiao Chen tried to pacify the Pill Spirit."Don't be rash. I'm not here to take your Medicinal Energy or refine you this time. If you were not sentient, I probably would think of a way to refine you. Since you are sentient, I really can't bear to do it.
"This time, I am here to give you an opportunity. Look at your situation. If you remain in the fire for a long time without any Spiritual Energy to replenish yourself, your sentience will disappear eventually, right?"
The Pill Spirit's heart skipped a beat, but he did not want to admit defeat. He retorted angrily, "So what? In any case, you want to take my Medicinal Energy, consuming me and refining me. I'm going to go down with you."
On reaching this point, Xiao Chen already had complete confidence. He countered calmly, "By doing that, aren't you just going to benefit me? When you die, this rudimentary Divine Pill will lose sentience. I would not have any problems refining it."
"You... I will self-detonate at that time!" the Pill Spirit said sullenly when Xiao Chen pointed out the eventual result.
"There's no need for both sides to go down. It would not be good for anyone. As long as you agree to help, not only will I not refine you, but I will even provide you with resources to help you cultivate. There were Pill Spirits in history that managed to attain the Dao. After you attain the Dao, you will detach from the Divine Pill, and I can naturally refine the Divine Pill then."
The Pill Spirit's determination wavered but quickly hardened once more. He said, "You humans are not worth trusting. I will not cooperate."
Things already reached this point. Unexpectedly, the Pill Spirit was still so stubborn.
Xiao Chen frowned slightly."I am half a master to you, after all. If not for me suppressing the Pill Demon, you would not be born. Are you really unwilling to work with me?"
The Pill Spirit's determination wavered again. However, he resolutely shook his head in the end."No. Since you obtained the medicine cauldron, you will be refining Medicinal Pills sooner or later. I will not take advantage of you. I'll just take some of the Spiritual Energy generated by the refinement process."
Xiao Chen smiled and said, "You don't even know what I want your help with, and you already rejected me. It looks like your first impression of me is too bad. All I want is for you to help me shape the pills when I refine Medicinal Pills, just nourish the Medicinal Pills slightly. If so, not only would there be the Spiritual Energy from the process, but I will also give you extra natural treasures to help you cultivate."
The Pill Spirit asked with some disbelief, "Really?"
"Of course. I said before, helping you is akin to helping myself. By giving you resources, I would be further refining the Divine Pill. Once you become accomplished in your cultivation, the Divine Pill would be nearly complete. At that time, you can live independently from the Divine Pill, and I can consume the Divine Pill without any qualms. Isn't that great?"
The Pill Spirit lowered his head and pondered. Evidently, Xiao Chen managed to tempt him.
Xiao Chen continued, "You can give it a try first. After all, you won't lose anything."
"Alright. I'll give it a try."
The Pill Spirit finally agreed. He waved his hand and scattered the fire. Then, Xiao Chen revealed a smile and soared up, flying out of the medicine cauldron.
"How was it?" the Third Palace Master asked anxiously.
Xiao Chen nodded and said, "He agreed to give it a try as long as we give him natural treasures."
When the Third Palace Master heard what Xiao Chen said, he felt pleasantly surprised."That's not a problem. Compared to what I will receive, the resources provided would not even be worth mentioning. This is great. Not only will my alchemy skills improve, but the Heavenly Dragon Palace might also experience a qualitative improvement because of this.
"Oh, by the way, how did you do it?"
The Pill Spirit was not even willing to meet with the Third Palace Master. Every time he tried to enter previously, he would end up covered in ashes. There were even a few times when he nearly escaped through the hole for medicinal dregs again.
The Third Palace Master had not held out much hope. Unexpectedly, Xiao Chen managed to solve this problem.
Xiao Chen smiled faintly."The main reason was the Pill Spirit's willingness to meet me. Although he almost killed me when we met, I managed to convince him in the end."
The Third Palace Master shot Xiao Chen a suspicious look as he said, "What exactly did you do to him, to create such a deep grudge? That startled me. I thought the medicine cauldron would explode."
Xiao Chen thought for a while. At that time, he had been in a rush to save a life, so he took ten percent of the Pill Spirit's Medicinal Energy. It was indeed somewhat cruel.
It was like wresting away ten percent of a living person's soul.
Xiao Chen did not answer the Third Palace Master's question. Instead, his gaze fell on the medicine cauldron with divine characters."Third Palace Master, I can let you use this medicine cauldron for one year for free. After one year, I need to take it back. Third Palace Master should not have any problems refining high-ranked Medicinal Pills using it."
Xiao Chen had his ideas. If he managed to rebuild the Azure Dragon Palace in the future, this medicine cauldron would be of great use.
He had taken the risk to convince the Pill Spirit partly because of his plans for his Azure Dragon bloodline.
The Third Palace Master found this unfortunate. However, this medicine cauldron belonged to Xiao Chen in the first place.
Just using this medicine cauldron for one year was already an excellent opportunity. The Third Palace Master said, "Alright, as long as I can provide it, you can get any resources you lack from me for this one year."
"Many thanks."
The Third Palace Master smiled and said, "What are you being so polite with me for? Quickly go back and prepare. The trip to the Silver Dragon Palace is an opportunity to expand your horizons. Grasp it properly."
"Yes."
| ← Ch. 1994 | Ch. 1996 → |