Chapter 32: Pill Reversal Art
"You're a lucky man, Fellow Daoist Han. That Yin Soul Zoysia has to be at least 2,300... no, 2,400 years old. It's more than enough to exchange for a Sharp Watch Pill," Gao Bulin said.
"I want two Sharp Watch Pills for this Yin Soul Zoysia," Han Li demanded in an implacable voice.
A wry smile appeared on Gao Bulin's face upon hearing this. "But I only have one of these pills, Fellow Daoist Han."
"Perhaps I would believe you if you were an elder from another sect, but you can't expect to convince me that an elder of the Sunset Peak like yourself is unable to offer me at least two Sharp Watch Pills. If it's too much to ask, then I can afford to keep waiting. I'm sure I'll find a seller eventually," Han Li said in an unhurried voice.
Gao Bulin's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and this time, he was truly grappling with a dilemma. After pondering the situation for quite some time, he finally conceded, "Deal!"
Han Li accepted a white jade box that was handed to him by Gao Bulin, and a pleased smile appeared on his face after he inspected the box's contents with his spiritual sense.
The scent of different medicinal ingredients emanating from Gao Bulin's body served as confirmation to Han Li that he was indeed a pill refinement master.
For others, a spirit medicine that was over 2,000 years old was perhaps extremely rare, but it naturally wasn't much in Han Li's eyes, and it was far less useful to him than these two Sharp Watch Pills.
Gao Bulin brought the wooden box under his nose and took a long whiff, then exhaled with a satisfied expression before gleefully stowing the box away in his storage bag. He then invited Han Li to visit him at Sunset Peak when he had some free time before quickly departing.
After completing the trade, Han Li didn't immediately leave the market. Instead, he continued to make his way through the valley, trading most of his spirit stones for high-grade pills of a similar caliber to the Sharp Watch Pill, and only after that did he depart from the valley before traveling back to the Cloudrise Peak.
After returning to his cave abode, Han Li saw Liu Le'er sitting on her own in the hall, staring absentmindedly into the distance with her chin resting on her hand.
"What are you thinking about, Le'er?" Han Li asked as he made his way over to Liu Le'er before taking a seat in front of her.
Only then did she notice that Han Li had returned, and she immediately called out in an elated voice, "Brother Rock!"
"Why are you daydreaming here on your own?" Han Li asked with a gentle smile.
"I was just thinking to myself that ever since I met you, my life has felt like a dream," Liu Le'er replied with a serious expression.
Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before an amused smile appeared on his face.
"If this is a dream, then I really hope that I never wake up. Aside from mama and dada, you treat me better than anyone else in the world. I want to be by your side forever, Brother Rock," Liu Le'er said in a low voice as tears began to well up in her eyes.
Han Li hesitated momentarily, then suddenly raised his hand and joined his index and middle fingers together before pressing them against Liu Le'er's glabella.
Liu Le'er was quite startled by this, but she didn't recoil.
"Close your eyes," Han Li instructed in a gentle voice.
Liu Le'er immediately did as she was told without any hesitation, closing her eyes tightly.
A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he also closed his eyes before chanting an incantation.
Around 15 minutes later, Han Li opened his eyes.
At this point, Liu Le'er's face had already turned slightly pale, and there was a faint sheen of sweat on her forehead.
Han Li withdrew his fingers as he said, "Alright, you can open your eyes now."
Liu Le'er's eyelashes fluttered slightly as she slowly opened her eyes, then cast a puzzled gaze toward Han Li.
"I just implanted a cultivation art by the name of 'Illusory Spirit Cicada Transformation' into your mind. I picked up this high-grade demonic cultivation art some years ago, and it's perfect for a demonic fox like yourself to cultivate," Han Li said with a faint smile.
Liu Le'er closed her eyes to sense the newly implanted cultivation art in her mind upon hearing this, but she still looked rather perplexed.
"I'll continue to do my best to protect you, but if I'm not by your side for some reason, you need to be able to protect yourself as well. At the very least, you need to be able to keep yourself safe until I get to you," Han Li explained with a serious expression.
Liu Le'er thought about this momentarily before nodding in response with a serious look of her own. "I'll be sure to work hard on this cultivation art!"
Han Li gave a pleased nod in response.
……
In a certain conference hall on Cloudrise Peak, Luo Jun extended a respectful bow toward the scholarly-robed middle-aged man sitting on the main seat.
"As expected, Han Li really is a high-grade body cultivator. I've already arranged a place for him to stay, and no one from the other peaks has been made aware of his arrival. As for Martial Niece Gu, I've already issued a reward to her as you instructed, and she's been told not to tell anyone about Han Li's exploits in slaying that Deity Transformation Stage elder of the Heavenly Ghost Sect."
Peak Master Nangong nodded in response. "Good. The fact that he was able to slay a Deity Transformation cultivator as a Nascent Soul cultivator indicates that he must possess an exceptionally powerful body. I'm sure he's going to be extremely useful to our peak in the future. Make sure to look after him and satisfy any requests he may have as much as possible."
"Yes," Luo Jun replied.
"You can go now," Peak Master Nangong said with a dismissive wave of his hand.
Luo Jun extended a respectful bow before departing.
Following Luo Jun's departure, Peak Master Nangong sat in silence with his eyes closed for a short while, then rose to his feet and made his way toward the back of the hall.
……
Han Li was naturally oblivious to the conversation that had taken place between Luo Jun and Peak Master Nangong.
At this moment, he was seated with his legs crossed in a secret chamber of his cave abode, and there were around a dozen containers, such as jade vials and jade boxes, placed on the table in front of him.
He was holding a small red vial, and he pulled out the stopper before tipping out a crimson pill. A strong medicinal aroma immediately spread through the air, and after a brief inspection, Han Li took the pill before closing his eyes to examine his internal condition.
Moments later, he reopened his eyes with tightly furrowed brows.
The red pill was comparable in caliber to the Sharp Watch Pill, but it had no effect on him whatsoever.
Han Li wasn't surprised by this, and he picked up a second vial before tipping out a yellow pill that he promptly swallowed.
The pill melted as soon as it entered his stomach, but there still wasn't any magic power generated.
A short while later, Han Li opened his eyes before picking up a third vial.
Soon, most of the pills on the table had already been tested, but none of them had proven to be effective, and there was only a purple jade box and an azure porcelain vial left on the table.
A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face, and he was beginning to feel rather frustrated.
It seemed that finding pills that would have an effect on him was going to be far more difficult than he had imagined. However, the good thing was that he was now part of a major sect, and based on his current understanding of the Spirit Domain Realm, this was a realm with an abundance of cultivation resources, so as long as he put his mind to it, there was surely progress to be made.
With that in mind, he picked up the purple jade box from the table, then plucked out a gray pill between his fingers before tipping his head back to swallow it.
This time, a hint of elation finally appeared on Han Li's face.
He could feel wisps of magic power emerging from the pill before circulating throughout his meridians and entering his dantian, slightly increasing his magic power reserves.
The gray pill was far less effective than the Sharp Watch Pill, but it was still very encouraging that he had managed to find another pill that he could use for magic power restoration.
As for the pills in the azure porcelain vial, sure enough, they were also completely ineffective.
Han Li exhaled as he pulled out another gray pill from the purple jade box and held it at the center of his palm.
This pill was called the Dark Cloud Pill, and it was supposed to have restorative properties, but it was more suited to cultivators using water-attribute cultivation arts, and its intended effect was quite different from that of the Sharp Watch Pill.
After a moment of contemplation, Han Li suddenly rose to his feet, then exited the secret chamber before making his way outside.
He stopped while passing by Liu Le'er's bedroom, and even through the door, he could still sense the spiritual qi surging inside the room, clearly indicating that she was cultivating diligently.
He gave a pleased nod before continuing onward, quickly arriving in the pill refinement room.
This pill refinement room wasn't very large, only around 40 to 50 feet in size, and the ground was a dark azure color. At the center of the room was a cylindrical mound that was around half a foot tall, upon which was engraved an array consisting of many dark red patterns.
At the center of the array was a black hole that contained a lit flame, and a scorching aura was emanating from within it.
A pill furnace that was around half the height of a grown human was sitting on the mound, giving off wisps of spiritual qi.
Han Li swept his gaze over the room, then took a seat on a futon beside the pill furnace before releasing an incantation seal with a wave of his hand.
The red array immediately lit up, following which a burst of bright red groundfire erupted out of the black hole to envelop the pill furnace.
First, Han Li cleaned the inside and outside of the pill furnace in an expert fashion. He then flipped a hand over to produce the Dark Cloud PIll before tossing it into the pill furnace.
The groundfire began to move at his behest as he made a hand seal, splitting up into eight independent flames that surged into the pill furnace, and soon, a strong medicinal scent began to waft through the air.
As Han Li continued to make hand seals, the medicinal aroma suddenly became less pronounced.
His expression remained unchanged as he continued to go through a series of hand seals, and close to an hour passed by in the blink of an eye.
At this point, the medicinal aroma wafting out from the furnace had almost completely faded, and it had been replaced by another aroma that seemed to be a rather chaotic culmination of many types of different scents.
All of a sudden, Han Li stopped what he was doing as he released a final incantation seal, and the flame beneath the furnace was instantly snuffed out.
He swept a hand through the air to remove the furnace's lid, and the Dark Cloud PIll inside had already disappeared, having been replaced by a small mound of colorful powder.
Han Li inspected the small mound of powder briefly, then carefully released a burst of green light that carried the powder out of the furnace.
The green light shuddered slightly, and countless thin threads that resembled thousands upon thousands of tiny hands reached into the powder.
Soon, the small mound of powder was split up into around a dozen portions, each of which was of a different color.
Han Li gave a pleased nod upon seeing this, then carefully split the powder up into around a dozen small jade boxes that he had already prepared in advance.
The secret technique that he had just used was called the Pill Reversal Art, and it was quite a rare secret technique that he had obtained by chance back in the Spirit Realm. The secret technique allowed him to reverse-refine and break down pills.
The creator of the secret technique had tried to use it to break down other people's pills in order to extrapolate the refinement methods for those pills.
Unfortunately, he failed in the end. The Pill Reversal Art ultimately still had its limits, and it was only able to help one identify the ingredients used in a pill, but was unable to yield the actual pill refinement method.
Han Li had been quite intrigued by the secret technique, and he was a pill refinement master himself, so he decided to record it, but this was the first time that he had ever used it.
Thankfully, the Dark Cloud Pill was only a Nascent Soul Stage pill, so it wasn't of a very high caliber. Otherwise, he may not have been able to successfully break it down on the first try.
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