Chapter 2200: The Pill King!

From the alchemy just now, Fu Jiangchen had developed a deep admiration for this incredibly young Zhang Xuan. How could someone who studied medicinal herbs and alchemy to such an extent possibly harm him?

Thus, even knowing that not resisting would bring danger, he gritted his teeth and accepted it.

Puff puff puff!

The silver needles entered his acupoints, and streams of true energy surged into his body. The meridians previously blocked by pill toxins exploded open under the force of the impact.

The true energy that had been sealed within his body surged upward like a flood breaking through a dam.

Crack! Crack!

In the blink of an eye, his life force and the purity of his true energy underwent earth-shattering changes. His entire demeanor ascended to a higher level, taking the final step.

“This… is a breakthrough!”

Fu Jiangchen was stunned.

The cultivation bottleneck that had plagued him for years was broken just like that?

Even Fairy Linglong couldn’t solve this, yet this young man did it effortlessly?

“Twenty breaths have passed. Don’t hesitate—hurry and raise the furnace temperature!” Seeing him dazed, Zhang Xuan quickly scolded.

The true energy output from the other’s body could only last thirty breaths. Acupuncture and breakthrough had already taken twenty breaths. If he didn’t hurry, once the true energy was exhausted and the temperature hadn’t reached the requirement, this alchemy session would be a complete failure.

Without the Divine King Grass, failure would only waste a pot of ordinary herbs, but… Zhang Xuan didn’t have that much time!

Refining one hundred and seven types of medicine had already taken nearly two hours. Finding new herbs and waiting for the other to recover before starting over…

By the time he returned to compete for the spot in the Spirit God Palace, it would be too late!

So, he had to succeed—failure was not an option!

“Alright!” Fu Jiangchen gritted his teeth.

Although he had broken through to the peak of Divine King, he hadn’t had time to cultivate, so his true energy reserves hadn’t increased. Thus, he could only last about ten breaths now.

Though he didn’t know the purpose of raising the temperature, he had no choice but to follow orders.

Whoosh!

His true energy became purer and surged wildly. The flame beneath the furnace indeed grew fiercer and more dazzling. The temperature, which had been stuck, began to rise again.

After another five breaths, sweat beaded on his forehead again. Fu Jiangchen turned his head: “I’ve reached my limit again. The flame temperature can’t go any higher…”

Even though his cultivation had broken through, he hadn’t consolidated it properly, so the temperature increase was limited. If it still wasn’t enough, there was truly no way.

“The temperature is enough… keep it steady!”

Zhang Xuan’s eyes were also a bit red.

As expected of someone who broke through by taking pills—his foundation was indeed not great.

He had thought that once he broke through to the peak of Divine King, the flame temperature would easily reach or even surpass the requirement. Unexpectedly, the temperature had only just crossed the critical point!

This critical point was the minimum temperature needed to melt the Divine King Grass. What he had thought was a sure success now seemed uncertain!

“Forget it…”

Knowing he couldn’t hesitate, he gritted his teeth and took out the Divine King Grass. Zhang Xuan waved his hand, and four stalks of the herb, infused with his Tian Ruo You Qing true energy, were thrown into the furnace at once.

Boom!

The true energy came into contact with the scorching medicinal liquid in the furnace, igniting instantly. The temperature, which had just reached the critical point, rose a bit more.

Splash!

The extremely tough Divine King Grass immediately melted, perfectly merging with the previous medicinal liquid.

Three breaths!

Two breaths…

"Hurry..." Zhang Xuan clenched his fists.

Even if the Divine King Grass melted, it still needed time to perfectly fuse with the previous medicinal liquid, but... not far away, Fu Jiangchen was clearly unable to hold on!

One breath!

"Sorry, I really can't..."

His face turning pale, Fu Jiangchen's body collapsed to the ground like a noodle.

The true qi in his body had been consumed to the last drop.

With the loss of this peak Divine King's power support, the flame in the furnace immediately extinguished, and the temperature inside the cauldron began to drop.

Boom!

The fusion of the Divine King Grass and the medicinal liquid had also reached its final step. The moment the power vanished, it was completely finished. A earth-shaking rumble sounded, and four pills shot straight out of the cauldron, arcing into the sky.

The Divine King Barrier-Breaking Pill was complete!

"I no longer have the strength to control the furnace and chase the pills..."

Looking at the pills that had burst out of the cauldron, Fu Jiangchen was both happy and distressed.

Happy that at the last moment, he hadn't dropped the ball and had still managed to refine the pills... Distressed because these pills, having reached such a level, had already developed their own intelligence. If they weren't caught quickly and their intelligence eliminated, it was highly likely that this refinement would yield nothing, all effort wasted!

The cultivation of Zhang Xuan before him was only at the Upper Celestial realm, and although these pills hadn't reached Divine King level, they weren't far off!

The four combined would not be easy to catch even before he himself had broken through, let alone now when he had not a single drop of power left in his body!

In other words...

Although the pill refinement had succeeded, he could only watch helplessly as the pills flew away, ultimately gaining nothing!

Woo woo woo!

As expected, these pills, after breaking out of the cauldron, immediately shattered the room's seal and flew into the sky.

"Why so few?" Zhang Xuan frowned.

According to his calculations, with four Divine King Grasses and such precise alchemy techniques, at least ten pills should have been produced. He hadn't expected only four to appear.

But this was not the time to dwell on that. Raising his eyebrows, he leaped into the air. A longsword appeared in his palm, and he pointed it into the void.

Whoosh!

Countless sword qi scattered, forming a huge net in the sky.

The heart is like a double-threaded net, with a thousand thousand knots within!

Knowing how formidable these pills were, Zhang Xuan immediately deployed his most powerful sword technique.

The sword technique that surpassed the Heavenly Dao, comprehended in the Upper Firmament, had been modified upon reaching the Divine Realm. Combined with a Divine King-level longsword, it densely covered the entire area.

Though the gaps in the net were large, they would automatically contract upon contact with any force.

The net of heaven is vast; though its meshes are wide, nothing escapes!

Squeak squeak squeak!

Once the pills touched the sword-qi net, they could no longer break free. Their intelligence was instantly erased, and they were collected into a jade box.

"Done!"

Having caught the escaped pills, Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to say something, his vision blurred. Another pill shot out from the furnace, in the blink of an eye soaring into the clouds, turning into a black dot about to disappear.

"Damn, there's even a Pill King!"

Zhang Xuan's pupils contracted.

Under normal circumstances, pills refined in the same batch had similar medicinal effects, but there were exceptions.

For instance, this time, the flame had reached the required temperature for too short a time, and too much Divine King Grass had been added. Coupled with Fu Jiangchen's power being completely exhausted, the most essential medicinal properties had not been evenly distributed, resulting in the formation of a Pill King with the strongest effects!

The medicinal properties of this pill were several times stronger than the others. In terms of power, it was already comparable to a Divine King!