Chapter 281: Elixir Manufacturing Process
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Translated by Frog in the Well
Read it only at Nineheavens.org
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***
A certain secluded place in the Limitless Pure Land.
“Aaaaargh!”
A wretched scream echoed through the rocky mountain where house-sized boulders lay scattered.
A middle-aged man whose entire body was a mess with bloodstained soil rolled desperately on the ground.
Boom!
It was to escape a giant bear that was charging wildly and stamping its claws…a Stone Heart race beast whose entire body was covered with heavy rock.
“Ugh.”
Gnash-toothed, he tried to soar into the sky, but it was impossible.
Suppressed by the secret realm restriction, he could not fly far before plunging back to the ground.
Roaaaar!
Without even giving him time to catch his breath, the Stone Heart beast that rushed in struck his shoulder with its sharp claws, and
“Cough!”
The necklace the man wore and the protective talisman in his chest turned to ash.
The defensive Dharma Treasure he had purchased by investing his entire fortune was ruined in a single strike.
The man who came to have a desolate expression kicked the ground to somehow widen the distance.
He hurriedly formed a hand seal to make the earth shoot up. He created a giant fortress gate, but…
Boom!
It was shattered to pieces by a single swipe of the bear’s front paw as it charged headlong.
“Tsk!”
The moment the man who was swept by the shockwave and sent flying clasped his hands.
The sky became dark.
A brilliant column of light struck down from the dark clouds that gathered like a whirlpool, devouring the Stone Heart beast.
Rumble…!
Just how strong the power contained in the column of light was, the earth convulsed as if an earthquake had occurred.
“Ah!”
The complexion of the man who was rolling on the ground after being swept by the shockwave brightened instantly.
Just as he was rejoicing that his decisive strike had hit.
A giant body shot out of the dust and charged like crazy.
“What…”
There was not a single wound.
Although he had deployed a secret technique that would completely blow away even a fortress, the Stone Heart beast whose entire body was covered with armor was still perfectly fine.
The pale-faced man turned his back without even thinking further.
Although he tried to flee by deploying his specialty, the Wind Escape Art, it was not easy because he could not fly due to the restriction.
The moment he was caught up in an instant and only faced death.
His eyes met with a woman who was floating in the sky and looking down superciliously.
“Senior! Please help me!”
The height of the woman was well over twenty zhang.
To be able to fly to that degree within the secret realm restriction meant she was a Void Refinement stage Heavenly Lord.
The man who discovered hope right before dying desperately shouted, but…
The woman did not move.
She merely looked down with an icy, cold expression.
“Senior, please…Aaaargh!”
Soon after, a corpse in a wretched state was created, and only then did the woman kill the Stone Heart beast with a light gesture of her hand.
“To think he was flustered and did not know what to do just because of a single flight restriction. What a truly pathetic race.”
Just as disgust crossed the eyes of the woman who looked down at the dead man who could not even close his eyes as if unfair.
“Your words are correct. The human race treading in peace is nary short of weak. They are no different from bugs.”
At the voice that echoed in the air, the woman’s attitude completely changed.
Where did treading loftily go? Toward the Asura man who descended from the sky, she bowed her waist politely like a maid.
“Elder Gwang-rim.”
Gwang-rim, the avatar of the Unity stage Dao Sovereign who accepted the greeting with a nod of his head, continued his words.
“However, one must not look down on the human race. Very occasionally, the variants born rarely are strong enough to be called monsters. Can you not know just by looking at Jin So-myeong who troubled you?”
“Ah…”
“Especially the three Sovereigns currently supporting the human race are so. Even my main body would struggle to guarantee victory against them.”
Was she shocked at the words that the Asura Sovereign, whom she regarded as heaven, struggled to guarantee victory?
Just as she was blankly standing without finding words to say.
“Useless words are enough. Looking from the entrance, there were several Infinite Void Temple Elders. I must find them first. Since observing them, who are nary short of the hands and feet of the Taixu Sacred Venerable, will allow us to gauge the state of the Taixu Sacred Venerable.”
“Yes.”
At her appearance of answering after hesitating for a very brief moment, Gwang-rim spoke.
“Is Jin So-myeong bothering your mind? Unless that fellow intends to give up cultivating, he will eventually come to the center of the secret realm. There is no need to search for him in a hurry.”
“Your words are correct, Elder.”
Since the matter regarding the human Unity stage Dao Sovereign was much more important, it was right to search for the Infinite Void Temple Elders first.
Having finished their conversation, the two departed traversing the sky.
Leaving behind the human cultivator who was cooling icily.
***
Another place in the Limitless Pure Land.
Three men who flew while creating streaks of light gathered in one place.
“We finally gathered.”
“The secret realm restriction is stronger than expected. To think it even scattered us.”
“Even so, were we not transmitted to nearby places?”
“At any rate, since we gathered, it is fine. Let us go right away.”
At the words spoken by Yin Cheon-ho, one of the three men clad in black and an Elder of the Dark Soul Demonic Sect, the man who wore a blood-red rosary on his wrist frowned.
“I wish to deal with that arrogant sword cultivator first.”
“How do you intend to find Jin So-myeong in a place as wide as the Limitless Pure Land?”
“Can we not just offer the souls collected in our storage pouches as sacrifices to deploy divination?”
At the words of the man wearing the blood-red rosary, Yin Cheon-ho shook his head.
“Useless talk. Just how much time do we have to stay in the secret realm that you would waste time on the likes of Jin So-myeong?”
“Hmm…”
“Did you forget our purpose? Naturally, we must go search for Life-Prolonging Stones first. To achieve that, more lifespan is needed.”
Yin Cheon-ho, who spoke as if snapping, relaxed his frowning brows.
“And there is no way madmen like sword cultivators would hover only around the outskirts of the secret realm and be satisfied. Jin So-myeong will definitely come to the center.”
“True.”
“We just need to focus on searching for Life-Prolonging Stones, and if we happen to encounter him by chance, we can just crush him.”
Looking at one another, the three men nodded their heads simultaneously.
While saying they would crush a sword cultivator who was called matchless in the same stage, there was not a single speck of fear.
And with good reason…
They were Elders of the Dark Soul Demonic Sect, which was one of the three great sects of the Stone Heart Realm.
As they were thoroughly versed in all kinds of rare demonic heritages, their grade was different from miscellaneous rogue cultivators.
“Since you understand, let us go right away.”
The moment Yin Cheon-ho tapped the beast-controlling pouch at his waist.
Thud!
A rattlesnake possessing three heads popped out and shook the earth.
With a body giant enough to completely wrap around a mountain, it created a canyon merely by lightly shaking its tail.
Ssshh.
The three-headed snake flicking its tongue as thick as a pillar lowered its middle head, and the three men who climbed onto it advanced toward the center of the secret realm.
***
Two years later.
Jin So-myeong, who was harboring his clone to scan the Secret Realm of the Mind, wore an appreciative smile.
‘It is running well.’
Should he call it an automated elixir manufacturing process?
When the phoenix whose entire body was made of black flame…the 6th-rank Dharma Treasure, the Black-Flame Boundary-Stone…created fire, the clones spearheaded by Baek Dan-il moved in an orderly fashion.
Putting the trimmed ingredients into the 6th-rank cauldron obtained from the Void Refinement stage cultivators, they proceeded with elixir refining, and the elixirs completed after hard labor were piled up orderly in the sub-space.
In this process, there was almost nothing for Jin So-myeong to do.
It ended simply by obtaining the elixir ingredients, the 6th-rank spiritual herbs, in large quantities and placing them in the sub-space.
Since the clones made them into elixirs on their own, it was very comfortable.
He retrieved his consciousness that was harbored in the clone and returned to his main body outside the Secret Realm of the Mind.
‘Wind-Body Elixir .’
Examining this way and that the purple elixir added to the sub-space, his head nodded automatically.
It was an elixir made using the Profound Wind Grass, the 6th-rank spiritual herb obtained recently, as the main ingredient.
It was an elixir possessing the effect of cultivating meridians by stirring up sharp wind while simultaneously accumulating law power, but honestly, it was hard to say the quality was good.
To speak openly, it was a mess to the extent that it could not be sold anywhere.
To the extent that if a normal cultivator consumed this elixir, a serious internal injury would occur?
Since the clones’ elixir refining art and experience were lacking, it could not be helped.
However,
‘It doesn’t matter to me.’
Not to mention treading the Great Success of the Five Viscera Hundred Tempering Art, but he had even mastered the Primordial One Qi Art and the Nine Successes Golden Body Art. He could lightly ignore typical side effects.
Swallowing the elixir in one mouthful, he guided the medicinal effect to the Chaos Origin Wheel.
‘The effect is decent.’
The meridians tingling was a feeling helpful to body tempering cultivation.
Although it was an elixir made clumsily with lacking skill, it was much better than consuming the spiritual herb raw.
If he added this elixir to the spiritual Qi that became dense while heading toward the center of the Limitless Pure Land…
‘At the latest, I will become a 2nd-layer Void Refinement stage cultivator in five years.’
Once he raised the 6th-Rank Elixir Refining Art, which was at the Entry level, to the Mastery stage, the elixir refining success rate and the quality of the finished products would improve drastically.
It meant his cultivation speed would continue to become faster as time flowed.
‘Well done, I might even become a mid-Void Refinement stage cultivator before exiting the secret realm.’
He fell deep into thought.
After raising his Elixir Refining Art to the Mastery stage to speed up his cultivation, what should he do next?
Since there were too many things he wanted to do, making it hard to choose, he made his standard of thought clear.
To what he should do to pull up his combat strength in a short period.
‘…Should I aim for 6th-rank body tempering to cultivate?’
His current body tempering realm was at the 5th-rank highest grade.
It meant it was a realm where he could ascend to the 6th rank at any time if only there was an opportunity.
And also.
Wugeuk, his Natal Spiritual Treasure, also had to be grown to the 6th rank.
There were several methods to raise the grade of Wugeuk, but the most certain method was to have it absorb 6th-rank swords or minerals.
Among what could be obtained in the Limitless Pure Land, the mineral that would be most helpful to Wugeuk was…
By far, it was the Life-Prolonging Stone.
‘Good. I will continue to harvest spiritual herbs on the way to the center, and focus on body tempering cultivation and obtaining Life-Prolonging Stones.’
Organizing the tasks to do in the future, he unfolded the Lightning Insight Spell-Breaking Eye.
To go to the center of the secret realm, around the time he selected the highest mountain nearby and flew in a straight line.
‘Hmm…?’
A strange discordance was felt from a certain mountain he was passing by casually.
The moment he narrowed his brow.
Thud…!
The earth convulsed as if an earthquake had occurred, and
The mountain from which the sense of discordance was felt raised its body and became a bull possessing sharp horns.
“Hah.”
Although he had fought many existences possessing mountain-sized bodies, he was dumbfounded when a literal mountain raised its body.
‘It is at the early Void Refinement stage level. Is that bull also of the Stone Heart race?’
Harboring rocks all over its body as if wearing armor, the feeling was similar to the scorpion he had encountered when he just arrived in the secret realm.
The moment the bull that let out a rough breath like snorting glared over here.
Boom!
Its giant body stretched like taffy and rushed like an arrow.
It was fast.
To the extent that a typical Void Refinement stage cultivator would struggle to react.
However, why?
Even though he had not spread his Blood Wings or summoned the Golden Body Dharma Image, all movements were vivid. To a strange degree.
The motion of kicking the air while putting forward horns sharp like a spearhead was clearly seen.
The momentary second became endlessly long.
It looked to have slowed down to the point of completely stopping. No, did I become fast?
Perhaps distinguishing between the two would be meaningless.
At any rate,
He matched the tip of his sword to the tip of the bull’s horn that was approaching sluggishly like a slug.
He drew a diagonal slash to resolve the pressure concentrating on the wrist holding the sword, and
Within the bizarre concentration state where the entire world slowed down, he pondered for a moment what he should do, and struck the sword he had swung vertically upward.
And,
Rumble!
Along with the explosion that echoed a beat late, the earth convulsed.
Because the bull possessing a mountain-sized body plunged to the ground.
Simultaneously with the first actual combat he fought upon becoming a Void Refinement stage cultivator, he realized.
‘This…’
Perhaps, I might have become stronger than I had vaguely thought.
He had underestimated himself under the thought that he must not let down his guard.
Once an overwhelming speed was added to the strength that could receive the opponent’s strike head-on, his combat strength became on a completely different dimension.
He re-realized after a long time the meaning of his basic frame rising.
Snort!
Just as the bull that was shaking its head inside the giant crater was about to rise again.
Crackle…!
Starting from the crown of its head to its body. A single line was drawn, and its mountain-sized body was divided vertically.
Under the second sword strike he had swung while shedding the charge, its heavy body was neatly cleaved.
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