"Huiyi Clan: Resembling a serpent yet like a horse, clad in scales with four feet upon their bellies. Possessing twelve major sinews and ninety-six minor sinews, corresponding to the number of the Lesser Heavenly Circuit..."
"Horned Demon Clan: Humanoid in shape, with formidable horns. A single horn channels the power of wind and thunder, courageous and unstoppable..."
"Aberrant-Eyed Clan: Bearing a solitary eye between their brows, commanding the three wondrous powers of petrification, aerial ban, and soul-reaping; also called the Odd-Eyed Clan. Legend has it that they are the progeny of Torch Dragon, one of the three ancient demons of the Demonic Realm. Born frail and weak, their solitary eye alone cannot be looked upon directly. Their bodily acupoints are sealed, numbering one thousand eight hundred in total; when all acupoints open in unison, they attain a demonic body and open their demonic eye..."
"Poluo Clan..."
As Luo Chen had expected, aside from information on various medicinal herbs, the bamboo slips in the third trial's study also documented a vast amount of knowledge regarding the races of the Demonic Realm.
Some of the bamboo slips even had accompanying illustrations!
Though drawn in merely a few strokes, the artistry verged on the profound, making it feel as if a great demon were standing right before one's eyes.
In fact, it was not just the illustrations; the calligraphy on these bamboo slips was also exceptionally superb, imbued with a special power. Even though Luo Chen did not recognize the characters, a single glance was enough for him to grasp their true meaning.
If all these slips had been personally written by Demonic Lord Liantian himself, his capabilities were truly astonishing.
Back to the matter at hand.
Through reading the bamboo slips over the course of half a year, Luo Chen's understanding of that never-before-seen Demonic Realm grew increasingly profound.
Bizarre and varied races, unimaginable abilities, appearances either hideous or beautiful... and incomparably complex physiological structures!
With thousands of races congregated in a single world, the physical differences between them meant that the pills used by each race were completely different.
"When I first saw the topic for the third trial, I was ecstatic, thinking it was merely about concocting body-tempering pills and that I could accomplish it with ease."
"Now that I understand the distribution of races in the Demonic Realm and the anatomy of most demonic bodies, I realize that within this simplicity lies tremendous complexity!"
For it to make Luo Chen feel troubled was testament to the difficulty of the problem.
The third trial was indeed about concocting the simplest body-tempering pills, but it required creating pills with high universality.
To break the boundaries between demon races, enabling the vast majority of demons to use such pills to enhance their body-tempering realm and lay a solid foundation in pursuit of the True Demon realm that countless demons dreamed of.
In that light, it was anything but simple.
The more ordinary a pill, the more it required reaching the absolute pinnacle.
"I got a bit ahead of myself, underestimating the inheritance trials of the Alchemy Realm."
Muttering to himself, Luo Chen put down the bamboo slip and paced slowly through the study.
Numerous inspirations flooded his mind, yet looking at them now, none seemed quite suitable.
They were either too niche, fitting only one or two races, or possessed great universality but lacked potency, unlikely to meet the trial's requirements. If he spent great effort concocting a pill only to receive an Inferior-Low evaluation, the gains would not make up for the losses.
Right at that moment, Luo Chen's nostrils twitched.
A faint smell of burnt residue drifted over from afar.
Glancing into the distance, he saw the doors of the alchemy room swing open, billows of black smoke pouring out.
Shortly after, Haijiao Tianmu's soot-covered figure appeared in his field of view.
Another failure!
The corners of Luo Chen's mouth curled slightly.
How many times had she failed over the past half year?
Seventy times? Eighty times? Or had it already exceeded a hundred without him noticing?
How could Haijiao Tianmu fail to notice his gloating? Her expression darkened.
"Hmph!"
Seeing that she was about to duck back into the alchemy room, Luo Chen quickly spoke up.
"Fellow Daoist, two heads are better than one. Why not share the pill formula you've deduced so we can discuss it together?"
Haijiao Tianmu offered a cold, mirthless smile. "Then should this old woman thank you for your kind intentions?"
Luo Chen first waved his hand. "No need for thanks. Fellow seekers of the Dao should help one another!"
Then, pointing at himself with a look of smug satisfaction, he added, "With my alchemical attainments that carried me through two trials like crushing dry weeds, pointing out a thing or two to you shouldn't be an issue."
Haijiao Tianmu's face sank.
She said coldly, "Did no one ever teach you to respect the elderly and cherish the young? Even if you lack manners, you should at least understand that achievement comes first! Come back and point fingers only after you have surpassed this old woman!"
"Hmph!"
With a cold snort, she ducked back inside the alchemy room once more.
After she left, the smile on Luo Chen's face gradually faded.
What a pity.
He had wanted to see her research findings so he could avoid falling into the same pitfalls.
Nevertheless, after being mocked like this right on the heels of a failure, it would surely cast a heavy psychological shadow over Haijiao Tianmu's mind!
As long as it had some effect, that was enough.
"Now, it's time for me to strip away the superfluous and develop the basic pill best suited for tempering the bodies of most demons."
Luo Chen waved his sleeve, dispersing the pungent burnt smell in the air, and shut the study doors.
...
"Failed again!"
"How could it fail?"
"Clearly, body tempering for both demon beasts and fiends shares common ground, so why does my pill formula fail time and time again?"
Inside the alchemy room, Haijiao Tianmu questioned herself repeatedly, a bewildered expression on her face.
She did not believe the fault lay in her alchemy technique.
With her prowess as a Grandmaster of Alchemy, concocting a formula she had researched herself—and a relatively low-grade basic formula at that—should have been child's play.
Therefore, the issue had to be with the formula itself!
"Could it be that the medicinal potency of Deep Abyss Grass is too domineering?"
Pinching a clump of black ash between her fingers, Haijiao Tianmu fell into deep thought.
After pondering for a long time, she decided to return to the study and examine those bamboo slips again.
The answer had to be hidden among them!
Creak...
The study door was pushed open. The preoccupied Haijiao Tianmu took a single glance, and her pupils narrowed.
Unlike the past half year, the human cultivator known as Demonic Lord Qingyang was no longer pacing between the bookshelves. Instead, he was seated at the desk, writing furiously.
This sight caused her heart to sink abruptly.
"So fast?"
"The knowledge recorded on the bamboo slips here may not be as boundless as the sea, but it is no less than a mountain of books. He took a mere half year to read through it all. He has even... reached the point of drafting pill formulas!"
Recalling the immense confidence he had displayed earlier, along with his record of sweeping through the first two trials with irresistible force, the old woman imperceptibly clenched her fists.
"I cannot see through his cultivation realm, yet facing me, he is neither servile nor overbearing; he must also belong to the rank of Perfected Persons."
"Yet his attainments in the Dao of Alchemy must be exceptionally profound, especially when it comes to creating pill formulas... Could he be an old ancestor from some Nascent Soul superior sect, or even a direct lineage scion from a Soul Formation sacred ground?"
"If that is truly the case, I fear things will be difficult for me."
The old woman drifted between the shelves, her gaze drifting from time to time to the man bent over his brush by the window desk.
Her mind was in turmoil, chaotic thoughts fluttering about.
When it came to the Dao of Alchemy, the human race was undeniably superior to the demon beasts.
Although Haijiao Tianmu hailed from the Haijiao clan, renowned for their skill in identifying spiritual herbs, their alchemical heritage was still lacking.
In her early years, to advance her alchemy, she had hunted down countless cultivators to obtain alchemical texts. She had even risked her life to venture deep into the human heartland, attending grand alchemical assemblies to exchange insights with powerful alchemists.
It was through such step-by-step perseverance that she had attained her current success.
Yet when compared to those superior sects and sacred grounds with heritages spanning thousands or tens of thousands of years, her foundational heritage ultimately fell far short.
If Demonic Lord Qingyang were truly to come from behind and conquer the third trial ahead of her, this entire trip would come to naught.
At this thought, the old woman's expression turned even darker.
"It's all the fault of Merfolk Emperor Liu Jun. If he had been willing to give me the alchemy texts he obtained from the Yuan Demon Sect, how could I be stuck in such a difficult spot now?"
"If I obtain the alchemy inheritance this time, all is well. But if I fail, the friendship between my Haijiao clan and the Merfolk..."
As she brooded, Haijiao Tianmu suddenly froze.
"What has come over me?"
Right then, she looked toward the window, where the young, handsome man was lifting his head, gazing quietly at her.
Their eyes met silently, then drifted apart.
Haijiao Tianmu seemed to realize something and spat out a low curse.
"Despicable!"
...
No matter how petty one's schemes or how despicable one's tactics, they did not diminish one's mastery of skill.
In Luo Chen's view, the so-called pure heart of innocence and the way of absolute sincerity merely referred to one's degree of devotion to a specific path, completely independent of good and evil.
Countless concoctions, countless successes, and relentless reading over a century had laid an immensely robust foundation in alchemy for him, even if he could not claim to have integrated every school of thought.
This foundation played a monumental role in the Alchemy Realm's three trials that required creating pill formulas!
Regarding body-tempering pills for the demon race, Luo Chen spent a year and a half drafting dozens of formulas.
Later, he realized that demon body-tempering shared superficial resemblances with the blood-qi transformations of humans and the spiritual energy tempering of demon beasts, but was closer to the physical honing of desolate beasts.
However, during this process, it also incorporated certain body-tempering concepts from both humans and demon beasts.
Prioritizing the body and supplementing with qi, walking an extreme and overbearing path!
Once he grasped this, everything fell into place.
If one wished to concoct pills for those walking this path, the medicinal potency of the pills had to surge like a raging torrent that swept away all silt and sand!
Simply put, the secondary materials had to be potent, and the main ingredients had to be even more potent. Only then would the finished pills possess terrifying power.
The physique of demons was inherently stronger than that of humans and demon beasts, naturally allowing them to endure far greater medicinal strength.
Therefore, he could unreservedly unleash his hand!
Adhering to this train of thought, Luo Chen filtered out the vast majority of the formulas, retaining only nine.
Among the nine formulas, skin, flesh, and bones formed the main focus, while blood and acupoints accounted for only one or two.
Afterward, he went into the Alchemy Realm to gather spiritual herbs, bringing them back to grind and process.
In the process of handling these medicinal ingredients himself, he eliminated another six formulas, keeping only the three with the boldest, most rugged styles.
Then, using the system's appraisal, he verified their completeness.
At this point, everything was in place, waiting only for him to begin concocting!
Throughout this process, Haijiao Tianmu watched with cold detachment.
She naturally saw the herbs Luo Chen gathered; every single one was of a violent and turbulent nature.
This filled her with doubt, along with a touch of scorn.
"He pays no heed to host and guest distinctions, nor does he understand balancing strong and weak elements. Could it be that I overestimated him?"
Despite her doubts, Haijiao Tianmu did not slacken her own efforts.
She had spent three years breaking through the divide between mortal and immortal in the first trial, only one year cleansing the beast soul in the second trial, but this trial of forging the demonic body's foundation had already cost her three full years!
It was time to test the fruits of her labor.
This time, she was supremely confident!
She had monopolized the alchemy room of the third trial all along, while Demonic Lord Qingyang had never stepped inside.
Over three years and countless failures, success might very well come on the next attempt.
The old woman began concocting pills once more.
Three months later.
With bloodshot eyes, the old woman stared unblinkingly at the red-hot furnace, the sensation of imminent breakthrough growing ever stronger within her heart.
This time, she would definitely succeed and pass the trial!
And the brat who had set up a hut outside to refine pills would be left behind her once again.
"He only began concocting three months ago. His extensive trial and error has barely started. Compared to me, the gap is simply too vast!"
"Earlier, I fell for his trick and let my mind be unsettled. This time, when I pull ahead, it will be his turn to panic."
At this thought, a gratified smile appeared on Haijiao Tianmu's face.
Yet before that smile could fully bloom, a weak voice rumbled and exploded from the sky.
[Stone Skin Pill, successfully concocted at Tier 3 low-grade; aids low-tier demons in tempering skin and flesh.]
[Thunder Bone Pill, successfully concocted at Tier 3 low-grade; aids low-tier demons in tempering bones and marrow.]
[Mercury Blood Pill, successfully concocted at Tier 3 low-grade; aids low-tier demons in tempering blood.]
[Trial Result: Superior-High. Passed!]
Boom!
Inside the alchemy room, the medicine furnace exploded.
Caring nothing for her ruined concoction, the old woman waved her sleeve, flung open the doors, and dashed straight outside.
Within her field of vision, a brilliant beam of light enveloped the red-robed Daoist, the surrounding space seemingly twisting and collapsing.
The Daoist looked at the white-haired, bloodshot-eyed old woman and gave a slight nod.
"Fellow Daoist, I shall take my leave first."
With those words, the pillar of light faded, and the Daoist's figure vanished completely.
Gazing at this dreamlike scene, the old woman trembled all over, her face filled with disbelief.
"How is this possible?"
"How could he have concocted the correct pills in such a short time?"
"Tier 3! At such a high grade, the medicinal potency must be horrifying beyond measure. How could low-tier demons possibly endure it to build their foundation?"
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
The old woman's muttering grew louder, until it was like a shout.
Yet this time, no one answered her.
The look Luo Chen gave her as he departed was calm and serene, as if he had never regarded her as a competitor for the alchemical inheritance at all.
Indifference was the greatest contempt!
Haijiao Tianmu's composure was completely shattered.
...
Sun and moon rotated, shifting into a new sky.
Absorbing the dense heaven-and-earth spiritual energy of this place, Luo Chen felt the Golden Core within him throb restlessly.
Sure enough, after three trials, there was still a fourth, seemingly endless.
Yet he understood that the alchemical inheritance of a Void Refining True Monarch would never be so easily obtained.
All he had to do was press forward, step by step, no matter how many trials lay ahead.
In the third trial earlier, he had demonstrated a complete advantage over the Grandmaster of Alchemy, Haijiao Tianmu!
Relying on his years of body-tempering experience, he had deciphered the prompt faster; with the system's help, he had filtered formulas faster; and in the actual concoction process, by using achievement points to achieve basic mastery, he had succeeded in brewing his first batch of pills in a mere three months.
Such swift, thunderous momentum must have delivered quite a shock to that old woman!
However, Luo Chen could sense that she had also been drawing nearer to success; his petty tricks would likely not hold her back for long.
Going forward, he would have to work even harder.
With a faint smile, Luo Chen's gaze suddenly sharpened.
A voice sounded in his mind, echoing endlessly like a great bell.
"Demons envy the mutability of demon beasts; demon beasts admire the wisdom of humans; humans covet the purity of demons. Each being primates of heaven and earth, each possessing unique strengths. We alchemists, who enter the Dao through alchemy, must break through the boundaries among demons, beasts, and men."
"Concoct the three pills of Demon Transformation, Beast Transformation, and Human Transformation."
"The pill formulas are as follows..."
In an instant, Luo Chen stood motionless, sinking into deep contemplation.
This trial was not testing basic understanding of the Dao of Alchemy, but rather specific concoction techniques?
Chapter 688