The Imperial Martial Pill Venerable

Chapter 268: Chapter 267: The Shocked Merfolk Prince

Over the sea, Bo Wen of the Merfolk Race, the Ancient King, and Qin Ya met.

"Heh, Brother Qin, what impressive methods." Bo Wen gazed at the blood-stained sea, a faint smile on his lips, then flew onto Qin Ya’s Profound Vessel.

He then turned to the Ancient King and said lightly, "I must say, I didn’t expect to see you here, Ancient King. To what do we owe the pleasure?"

He was, in fact, rather surprised.

The Ancient King’s Cultivation was profound and unfathomable. He had been hiding nearby, so well that even the Celestial Human Guard at Bo Wen’s side hadn’t noticed him. Yet, Qin Ya had pinpointed his location with a single glance.

Then, he thought of the Spiritual Artifact and had a moment of realization.

’Right. Who knows how long that Spiritual Artifact has existed? It should at least be capable of that.’

"I’m the one who’s surprised. I never thought Your Highness enjoyed such excitement." The Ancient King smiled faintly and also flew onto the Profound Vessel. He then cupped his hands toward Qin Ya and said politely, "Master Qin, your abilities truly leave me in awe."

There wasn’t the slightest hint of flattery in his words; he was being completely sincere.

He had been secretly guarding Qin Ya, terrified that the slightest accident might befall this Pill King. But as he watched, he only grew more and more shocked by Qin Ya’s methods.

Although Qin Ya’s current Cultivation was only at the Sky-Controlling level, the Ancient King believed that one day, this young man’s achievements would far surpass his own.

Hearing this, Bo Wen, who was standing nearby, froze for a moment. ’When did the Ancient King become so polite to Qin Ya? Logically, Qin Ya stole his Spiritual Artifact. Even if they aren’t mortal enemies, the Ancient King shouldn’t be this courteous.’

’When we left the island, the Ancient King’s attitude hadn’t changed like this. That means something significant must have happened during Qin Ya’s time on the island to cause such a drastic shift. But what?’

’Something that could move a Martial Arts King must be extraordinary. And the way the Ancient King just addressed Qin Ya... that was also strange.’

’Master Qin... what could that mean?’

Suddenly, as if he’d thought of something, his golden pupils contracted, his gaze flashing with utter shock. ’The attitude... and "Master"!’

He suddenly remembered the recent appearance of a Spirit Pill!

’Could it be Qin Ya? No, no, that’s impossible!’

Everyone, including Bo Wen himself, had assumed it was Yur Piaoyun. On all of Liubo Island, he was the only Ninth-Grade Alchemist, the one most likely to break through the Alchemy Dao Realm and ascend to become a Pill King. But this young man...

’No, that’s the only thing that could explain the Ancient King’s attitude and how he addressed him.’

A keen light flashed in Bo Wen’s eyes. ’On Liubo Island, everyone assumed Qin Ya would face the Ancient King’s wrath and die without a grave. But he survived. Everyone thought there was no way Qin Ya could hold onto the Spiritual Artifact against several Celestial Humans—that he had no choice but to surrender. Yet he not only kept the Spiritual Artifact, he ran circles around those Celestial Humans and slaughtered the Extraordinary cultivators until they scattered in chaos. This young man before me cannot be judged by conventional wisdom.’

Therefore, no matter how unbelievable or absurd it seemed, Bo Wen forced himself to believe it. It was the only possibility that explained everything.

"Qin Ya... no, perhaps I should say, Qin Pill King!"

At these words, the guards behind Bo Wen all shuddered, their eyes filling with disbelief as they stared at Qin Ya. ’What? This young man is a Pill King?!’

’Damn it,’ the Ancient King cursed inwardly. ’I carelessly exposed Master Qin’s identity. I just hope he won’t be angry with me for it.’

Hearing this, the corners of Qin Ya’s mouth lifted slightly. He looked at the Merfolk Race Prince before him with a trace of admiration in his eyes. To deduce the most incredible answer—that he was a Pill King—based solely on the Ancient King’s form of address and attitude...

’This Prince isn’t half-bad.’

Seeing that Qin Ya didn’t deny it, Bo Wen inwardly thought, ’Just as I expected.’ His attitude toward Qin Ya became even more respectful. A young man, barely an adult, had already reached the Extraordinary Realm—and was the kind of Extraordinary who could slaughter his supposedly invincible peers.

And on top of that, his skill in the Alchemy Dao had reached the Realm of the Pill King.

Once news of such a prodigy spread, the entire Azure Sky Realm would be shaken. Countless factions would do everything in their power to win him over. If he so wished, he could even form a power greater than the Brocade Cloud Palace at a moment’s notice.

At this thought, Bo Wen couldn’t help but offer a moment of silence for the Celestial Humans who had tried to rob and even kill Qin Ya. No power would ever want to offend a Pill King, because with a single word, he could have countless Martial Artists lining up to serve him to the death.

"Your Highness is truly sharp-witted," Qin Ya said with a faint smile.

"I am far from matching the wisdom of the Qin Pill King."

The three chatted for a while. Seeing that Qin Ya was unharmed, the Ancient King returned to Liubo Island. Bo Wen wanted to invite Qin Ya to the Merfolk Royal Palace as a guest, but he too was refused. Though regretful, he didn’t press the issue. After seeing the two off, Qin Ya replaced the Primordial Stones in the Profound Vessel’s Array, then piloted it away.

Not long after they had departed, three figures arrived at the scene.

It was the gaunt elder from Brocade Cloud Palace and the other two Celestial Humans.

Staring at the sea of red, the lingering energy fluctuations in the air, and the corpses bobbing on the waves, the gaunt elder’s face turned ashen. He snarled, "They all died here? Damn it! DAMN IT ALL!"

"We don’t see Qin Ya’s body. There’s a high chance he’s still alive," one of the Celestial Humans beside the elder said grimly. "There’s no way he could have killed so many Extraordinary cultivators by himself. Someone must have helped him."

’Qin Ya’s Talent is monstrous. If he’s allowed to mature, he’ll never let what happened today go. As long as Qin Ya lives, we’ll never know a day of peace!’

"Find him. We must find out where Qin Ya is."

"He has to die. I won’t be able to rest until he’s dead!"

The three Celestial Humans instantly came to a decision and departed.

「Two days later.」

News began to spread like wildfire throughout the Celestial Dragon Sea Region: a genius youth had appeared on Liubo Island; a new Pill King had emerged in the Southern Domain; six Celestial Humans had battled over a Spiritual Artifact. The stories caused a considerable stir across the entire Southern Domain, and the news of a new Pill King, in particular, turned all eyes toward Liubo Island.

And the name Qin Ya gradually became known to all.

...

Under a blue sky, a Profound Vessel sailed across the azure sea.

Qin Ya sat within the Quenching God Array, continuously tempering his Divine Thought. After an hour, the thousand-plus pounds of Primordial Stone turned to white ash, which was swept away by a gust of wind and scattered across the sea. Qin Ya slowly opened his eyes.

Seven days had passed since the fight for the Spiritual Artifact.

In the past few days, he had used tens of thousands of pounds of Primordial Stones to temper his Divine Thought, and the results were remarkable. In just seven days, his Divine Thought had risen to a new level. His perception now reached a distance of two hundred meters, its strength had increased significantly, and he could now control the Primordial Qi in a radius of seven thousand zhang.

However, Qin Ya was not satisfied.

"If I could just take a Spirit Pill, my progress would speed up by several tiers," Qin Ya muttered. In his past life, his Cultivation had only been at the Celestial Essence Realm. Even though he could refine Spirit Pills, his Cultivation was too low to consume them. Otherwise, no matter how poor his Talent, he could have relied on Elixirs to reach the Extraordinary Realm.