Chapter 1074, Pill Clouds

They didn’t know what kind of disaster had struck this mountain valley, but what was certain was Zong Ao’s palace had been destroyed and his thousands of acres of Medicine Gardens and profound Spirit Array no longer existed.

Zong Ao himself seemed like his soul had been pulled out as he sat helplessly on the ground, dust covering his robs as flames seemed to rage within his eyes.

Nearby, Yang Kai sat cross-legged in front of several dozen pill furnaces amidst a mess of broken walls, remaining motionless even now.

“What happened?”  Ha Li Ka and the others were dumbfounded.

This was the highest level Restricted Area on Rainfall Star, no one dared to even approach it without authorization, so none of these new arrivals could understand how it had suddenly been destroyed.

Exchanging a few confused glances, the Heng Luo Chamber Of Commerce masters summoned their courage and flew down to where Zong Ao was sitting, with Ha Li Ka calling out hesitantly, “Grandmaster Zong, what happened here?”

Lin Mu Feng even shouted indignantly, “Did some bold bastard dare to intrude and cause trouble?  Grandmaster Zong need only say the word and we will definitely exact revenge for you!”

The middle-aged woman also nodded firmly, her eyes flashing a thick murderous intent.

Zong Ao raised his head creakily, staring at them blankly for a moment before suddenly jumping up and pointing towards Yang Kai’s direction while fiercely screaming, “It was this little bastard that ruined my Medicine Gardens and exploded my palace!  The precious herbs this old master spent a hundred years cultivating have all been ruined, and now I don’t even have a home! If you really want to exact revenge for this old master, then kill him for me!”

Spittle sprayed out and rained down on the three executives’ faces, yet none of them dared to move, their expressions contorting as they stood there.

After a long time, Ha Li Ka wore an ugly smile and appeased, “Grandmaster Zong, please calm yourself.  What really happened? Weren’t you refining a pill to treat Lady Xue’er’s condition? When I last came here, everything seemed fine, how did all of this happen after only a few months?”

He could also see that despite the thunderous voice Zong Ao was shouting in, he was only venting his anger and not actually serious in killing Yang Kai.

Yang Kai was sitting in meditation at the moment, his aura and appearing extremely weak. If Zong Ao really wanted his life, why would he need to borrow their hands?  Even if Yang Kai was at his peak, it would be impossible for him to fight Zong Ao, let alone now.

“Who told you that this old master was refining such a pill?”  Zong Ao gave them a sideways glance.

“Could it be that Grandmaster wasn’t the one refining it but rather Little Brother Yang?”  Lin Mu Feng laughed dryly.

Zong Ao rolled his eyes and didn’t explain.

He knew that even if he were to tell them to the truth, they wouldn’t believe him!  In fact, if he hadn’t seen this ridiculous scene with his own eyes but instead heard about it from someone else, Zong Ao would have dismissed such a tale as nonsense.

However, the pill inside the jade bottle he was gripping was evidence that all this was real!  This little boy whose true cultivation only reached the Third Order Saint Realm had really done all this.

“Go away, scram!”  Zong Ao waved impatiently, “This old master spent one hundred calm and stable years in this place, yet it only took one little brat a few months to blast everything apart.  If anyone of you dares to approach within a hundred kilometres of this place in the future, this old master will twist your heads!”

The three Origin Returning Realm masters couldn’t help shrinking their necks while hurriedly withdrawing, none of them daring to remain.

However, before they could go too far, Zong Ao’s voice rang out again, “Wait!”

Ha Li Ka turned around, smiling helplessly, “Does Grandmaster Zong still have something he wishes to say?”

Zong Ao pointed to the dilapidated palace and snorted, “Find some people to build this old master a place to stay!  A bunch of blind fools, do you want this old master to sleep outdoors tonight?”

Ha Li Ka nodded quickly and assigned a dozen of the cultivators who had come with the three executives to build a temporary house for Zong Ao before taking his leave.

A dozen cultivators swiftly flew off, seemingly going to search for materials to build a small palace.

Zong Ao glanced over at Yang Kai who was still in a coma, then turned to look at the jade bottle which held the Burning Flame Pill, a faint look of dejection filling his face.

After three full days, Yang Kai finally woke up.

A strong sense of weakness spread from all parts of his body, causing Yang Kai to freeze up for a moment, but soon he remembered everything from before he slipped into a coma.

His Knowledge Sea was still a bit dry, the magnificent ocean which once covered it not reduced to a thin layer of water.  The Six Coloured Soul Warming Lotus was sparing no effort to make up for this loss, but it would take at least another ten days for Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea to fill up again.

Every muscle in his body was sore and the amount of Saint Qi he had consumed was not small.

Yang Kai had never experienced this kind of feeling before.  He had suffered great injuries before, but this time he was completely unfounded.  His current state could only be described as one of extreme weakness, as if his vitality had been sucked dry, making Yang Kai feel as if he had aged.

Standing up with great difficulty, Yang Kai looked around and quickly saw Zong Ao standing nearby, glaring angrily towards him, his old face filled with gloom and a raging fire burning in his eyes.

Yang Kai drew in a cold breath, wondering why Zong Ao was wearing such a horrible look.

However, after taking a look around, he immediately understood.

Without broaching the subject, Yang Kai sifted through the ruins for a while, pulled Xue Yue out from under a few planks, then found a comfortable place a few kilometres away to lay her down.

Before he could catch his breath though, Zong Ao silently appeared beside him.

Yang Kai looked at him, but didn’t say a word, instead just panting for breath.

“You’re not going to ask if you succeeded or not?”  Zong Ao waited for a while before he couldn’t help himself from asking.

“I put forth the greatest effort I could, that’s enough.”

Zong Ao stared deeply at him for a moment before nodding lightly, “Good, this old master won’t hold you accountable for the loss this time.”

In any case, he could just go ask Ha Li Ka and his bunch to compensate him for this loss; they wouldn’t dare say no.

Saying so, he threw a jade bottle he had been holding this entire time over to Yang Kai.

Yang Kai caught it and glanced at it without much surprise or excitement, everything seemingly within his expectations.

Inside the jade bottle, there was a single pill which was covered in a fine layer of misty clouds, and even though the jade bottle was partially blocking them, the energy fluctuations coming from this pill were incredibly strong.

It was pulsing regularly, seemingly having a life of its own.

Pill Clouds, it was a Burning Flame Pill which had formed Pill Clouds!

Although it was technically just a Saint King Grade Low-Rank pill that did not diminish its value or significance, if any outstanding Alchemists were to hear about it, they would likely go all out to acquire it.

They could obtain a great deal of insight and information from these Pill Clouds, possibly allowing them to further their Alchemy skills.

As Yang Kai observed this pill, Zong Ao briefly explained what happened after he fell unconscious before casually saying, “The Pill Clouds surrounding this pill are different from the ones this old master managed to refine.”

“Different how?” Yang Kai asked curiously.

Zong Ao tossed four other jade bottles over to Yang Kai, each one containing a single pill.

These four pills had been refined by Zong Ao over the past hundred years, each one the result of incredibly good luck.

After comparing them to the Burning Flame Pill he just refined though, Yang Kai was immediately able to discover the biggest difference.

The Pill Clouds of the pills Zong Ao refined were very sparse, not even completely enshrouding the pill’s surface.  There was even one that only had half its surface covered.

In addition, Yang Kai could clearly feel that the medicinal efficacy and energy contained within his Burning Flame Pill was more than twice as strong as those of Zong Ao’s.

Zong Ao suddenly took out a piece of Saint Crystal and placed it in Yang Kai’s hand.

Immediately, the energy inside this piece of Saint Crystal was slowly drawn out and absorbed by the Pill Clouds, further enhancing its efficacy.

“Pills that form Pill Veins have their medicinal efficacies doubled and can be stored indefinitely without their potency falling, different from ordinary pills which will slowly lose their efficacy over time.  After three or four hundred years, most pills will become completely useless. Once Pill Clouds appear on a pill though, not only can they be preserved for an unlimited amount of time, along with the passing years, the Pill Clouds will also actively absorb the surrounding World Energy to nourish the pill, allowing its medicinal efficacies to become richer and richer.  As such, for a pill that forms Pill Clouds, the longer it is stored, the stronger its effects will be!” Zong Ao said, seemingly talking to himself.

Yang Kai nodded, understanding all this well.

When he swallowed that ancient pill which had formed Pill Clouds, he had nearly exploded as it had been accumulating energy for thousands of years.

“This old master inadvertently refined this pill ninety years ago,” Zong Ao said while picking up one of the jade bottles he had tossed to Yang Kai.  Inside this bottle was a brown pill. “After ninety years of nourishment, the efficacy has more than doubled, and its grade was also Saint King Grade Mid-Rank, but compared to the Burning Flame Pill you refined a few days ago, it still falls far short.”

“It’s probably because of the difference in density of the Pill Clouds!”  Yang Kai said thoughtfully.

“This old master came to the same conclusion,” Zong Ao gently nodded, “This old master used to think that Pill Clouds were all like this, but after seeing your Burning Flame Pill, this old master now knows that Pill Clouds can be more complete, covering the entire pill.  On top of that, your pill absorbs energy at a far faster rate than this old master’s, if it were to be placed in storage for a few hundred years, it would likely become as valuable as an entire star!”

“That’s not possible, is it?”  Yang Kai was startled, thinking Zong Ao was exaggerating a bit too much.

“How could it not be possible?”  Zong Ao sneered, “Do you know how many Origin Returning Realm spend their entire lives struggling yet failing to break through to the Origin King Realm?  Do you know how many Origin King Realm masters spend their entire lives failing to break through to the next Minor Realm? If this Burning Flame Pill was set aside for a few hundreds of years, it may be possible for an Origin King Realm master who cultivates a Fire Attribute Secret Art to break through to the next Minor Realm.  Do you think they’d not be willing to trade an entire star for it?”

After hearing what he said, Yang Kai really thought it was possible, although he still felt it was a bit overblown.

“Are you really willing to feed this treasure to this little girl?”  Zong Ao glanced back and forth between Yang Kai and Xue Yue solemnly.

“My life is about to expire, why wouldn’t I feed it to her?”  Yang Kai laughed. After investing so much time and effort to refine this Burning Flame Pill, how could he not feed it to Xue Yue?

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Zong Ao’s face twitched slightly, seemingly wanting to say something, but eventually, he managed to choke his words back down and wave his hand, “Forget it, you were the one who refined this pill, so what you do with it is your decision; however, you have to tell this old master, how were you able to produce these Pill Clouds?”

“I don’t know,” Yang Kai shook his head.

Zong Ao almost spat blood.