In the twelfth month of the first year of Zhaoning, immortal radiance swirled around the Lu Clan Ancestral Mountain in tens of thousands of majestic manifestations.
The original ancestral hall of the Lu clan's immortal founder had long since been razed and rebuilt. In its place now stood a seven-story hall reaching one hundred and twenty zhang into the sky. Cultivated and refined day and night by tens of thousands of Dao foundation cultivators over three full years, the entire grand hall had been forged into a magic treasure.
The Lu clan's previous ancestral hall had also been a magic treasure, but on a vastly smaller scale. An immortal ancestor of the Lu clan had spent eighteen years refining the hall to anchor and suppress the clan's feng shui.
Back then, the Lu clan's circumstances had been dire, facing the risk of expulsion from the Thirteen Prominent Clans. As a result, that immortal had stopped once it reached the level of a magic treasure rather than continuing the refinement—a perpetual regret, as he felt its power to suppress feng shui remained insufficient.
After the Lu clan fell, all their records fell into Wei Yuan's hands. Upon reviewing them, Wei Yuan had wholeheartedly agreed: its power to suppress feng shui was indeed clearly lacking, or how else would the Lu clan have ended up in his grasp?
And so, Wei Yuan set about refining a grand hall of his own to serve as the cornerstone for anchoring the feng shui and thoroughly digesting this territory. In Qingming's hands, crafting such a monumental artifact followed an entirely different logic from that of ordinary immortal cultivators.
Wei Yuan first dispatched several thousand cultivators to survey the feng shui. With the World Refining Grand Array actively operating, the subterranean earth veins had already been mapped to a depth of a hundred li.
Next, Ji Liuli designed the grand array, Yu Zhizhuo designed the architecture, and the Splendor of the Many Realms optimized the plans. The result was a blueprint so flawless it stood an entire tier above the design of the Lu clan's former immortal.
This blueprint had been specially customized into several million discrete components. The vast majority were designed so simply that they could be refined by template Dao foundation cultivators, while the few core components were sent to the Hall of Heavenly Craft for crafting before being returned.
There was no need to wait for every component to be completed before construction began. Tens of thousands of template Dao foundation cultivators assembled the structure while simultaneously refining the parts. The entire grand hall was essentially equivalent to a massive formation. Under the ant-like bustle of tens of thousands—sometimes over a hundred thousand—Dao foundation cultivators, it took a mere three years to bring the entire project to completion.
Beyond anchoring feng shui, the grand hall housed numerous functional modules. For the time being, Wei Yuan had only installed an alchemy grand array, leaving the remaining modules temporarily vacant.
Only after the hall was finished and Wei Yuan had tested its functions did the idea strike him to refine realm-breaking grand pills for his fellow cultivators from the Palace of Grand Beginning.
Now, as the one-month deadline drew near, the cultivators put down their work and hurried over.
At the base of the grand hall stood eight massive pillars plunging deep underground, drawing upon the essence of the subterranean veins. At the four upturned eaves of the roof perched the Four Sacred Beasts, each facing in its own cardinal direction to channel spiritual resonance and celestial imagery.
From the surrounding mountains, specks of light continually floated upward, sinking into the enormous cauldron inside the hall, while eight fire arrays spewed forth spiritual flames of varying colors.
Wei Yuan had been waiting outside the hall for some time. Once all the cultivators arrived, he chatted idly for a few moments, giving everyone ample time to take in the breathtaking sight before leading them inside.
Within, the hall was equally magnificent. The vaulted ceiling soared into the gloom above, seemingly opening straight into the firmament. The four walls bore neither paintings nor carvings; instead, seamless slabs of profound jade were inlaid with an astronomical chart of the Heavenly Constellations. Stars large and small, bright and dim, were linked by intricate gold and silver threads, subtly aligning with the movements of the Heavenly Dao. Every incense stick of time, several stars would blaze with sudden brilliance, shimmering with flowing light as though burning with genuine astral fire, casting shifting patterns of illumination across the chamber like the depths of the Great Void.
In the dead center of the hall stood an enormous pill cauldron. Made of neither metal nor wood, its body gleamed in mottled grayish-yellow while purple mist curled about it. It stood an astounding nine zhang, nine chi, and nine cun tall! In all the world, a cauldron of such scale was exceedingly rare.
Upon entering, Xu Henshui examined the array layouts, swept his divine sense over the spiritual flames, and finally cast a glance at the medicinal broth simmering within the cauldron. He suddenly blurted out, "Are you using the Thirty-Six Heavens Mysterious Climate Pill Refinement Method?"
Wei Yuan smiled. "Indeed! Martial Uncle Xu's discernment is truly piercing!"
The moment he saw Wei Yuan's smile, Xu Henshui realized he had walked straight into a trap.
Yet the matter was too important to keep quiet. Stamping his foot, he cried, "Y-You... how could you possibly use this method? Even if Patriarch Danming and Patriarch Zhidan of our Creation Watch joined forces, assisted by more than a dozen top alchemists, they still wouldn't dare activate this array lightly!"
Feng Tingyu asked curiously, "Why? Is this refinement method that difficult?"
Xu Henshui was visibly far warier of Feng Tingyu. He answered honestly, "The 'Thirty-Six Heavens' in this method isn't just a fancy name. It genuinely gathers the spiritual resonance and imagery of the Daoist Thirty-Six Heavens and incorporates them into the cauldron. As the pills form, their outcome fluctuates wildly among the Thirty-Six Heavens, changing in the blink of an eye. Whichever heaven the pill ultimately settles into will yield a drastically different result, altering the grade of the pill entirely.
"Generally speaking, at least twenty-four of the thirty-six heavens spell total ruin—if the pill falls into one of them, it becomes useless dross, or might even blow up the cauldron. The next eight heavens yield inferior grades; though the pill forms, its quality drops severely. Only three heavens produce pills of normal grade, and only one will drastically elevate the pill's quality—the Orthodoxy Heaven. But getting a pill to land within the four auspicious heavens of the Three Clarities and the Orthodoxy Heaven? Exceedingly difficult!"
Feng Tingyu uttered an "Oh," turning her gaze back to Wei Yuan.
Wei Yuan smiled faintly. "Only peerless alchemy such as this is worthy of crafting pills for all of you."
Xu Henshui did not believe him in the slightest. But with his sharp eyes, he suddenly spotted several sheets of jade paper laid out on a table in the corner of the hall. Pill vapors coiled above them; one glance was enough to tell they were no ordinary pill formulas.
He extended a hand, beckoning the sheets into his grasp. As his divine sense swept across them, his expression turned odd. These couldn't really be called pill formulas; rather, they were treatises focused specifically on the Thirty-Six Heavens Mysterious Climate Pill Refinement Method. Their primary focus was using mathematical methods to calculate the probability of a pill settling into a particular heaven at any given moment.
The treatises employed various mathematical tools, but they all had one thing in common: they were profound from beginning to end. The most intricate paper claimed a predictive accuracy of up to thirty percent! Even if True Monarch Danming personally took charge of the cauldron, his results would hardly surpass this.
Though Xu Henshui loved alchemy more than his own life, he felt no joy right now—simply because he couldn't make heads or tails of what was written.
Yet with the sheets in his hands, he saw Feng Tingyu's lips part as she prepared to speak. Xu Henshui didn't even need to think to know she was about to ask what the papers said. In that moment, the jade sheets felt like red-hot iron plates—too painful to hold, yet impossible to drop.
An epiphany suddenly struck Xu Henshui: Wei Yuan had deliberately left these treatises in such a conspicuous spot! And he had even added pill vapor to them!
These writings were so abstruse that even Ji Liuli would likely need time to pore over them. Wei Yuan's intentions were as clear as day: If I can't understand it, neither can you, which means we're all on the same level.
Fortunately, he was quick on his feet. Before Feng Tingyu could speak, he turned directly to Wei Yuan and said, "Even an immortal would find it hard to master such an alchemy technique. Realm Lord, why don't you demonstrate it for us?"
Wei Yuan readily agreed, going along with the flow. "The greatest challenge of this method lies in which heaven the pill settles into upon formation. In the past, even supreme alchemists relied thirty percent on skill and seventy percent on luck. So when the cauldron opens shortly, everyone will have to depend on their own luck. Who wants to go first?"
The cultivators exchanged glances. Finally, Ji Liuli spoke up: "I'll go first."
Everyone knew Ji Liuli had terrible luck. Her taking the lead was simply to hit rock bottom for the sake of those who followed; she was already prepared for a ruined pill or even a cauldron explosion.
Following the incantation, Ji Liuli drew out a wisp of her own Dao power along with a drop of blood essence and channeled them into the cauldron.
Within the cauldron, the assorted medicinal ingredients had long since melted into a searing, pure, gold-red liquid without a single speck of impurity. Upon incorporating Ji Liuli's qi, a single droplet of medicinal liquid split off and began darting wildly through the chamber. At the same time, spectral projections of the Thirty-Six Heavens faintly materialized inside the cauldron.
Seeing all Thirty-Six Heavens present, Xu Henshui was startled once again.
Normally, when using this method, one could rarely resonate with all thirty-six heavens. Needless to say, any missing heavens were very likely to be one of the Three Clarities or the Orthodoxy Heaven.
To manifest all thirty-six heavens at once, how much effort, how many resources, and how many alchemists would have to be mobilized?
Coming to his senses, Xu Henshui unfurled his divine sense, only then discovering that within the other tiers of the grand hall and around its perimeter, thirty-six grand arrays had been established. Each array was manned by a thousand Dao foundation cultivators dedicated solely to resonating with a specific heaven and maintaining the connection!
He froze on the spot, thinking in disbelief, Th-This kind of refinement method...
The method itself was not profoundly complex, yet no one had ever used it before for one simple reason: no one else could muster thirty-six thousand Dao foundation cultivators.
Looking upon the vividly distinct Thirty-Six Heavens, a thought suddenly surfaced in Xu Henshui's mind: The world of alchemy is about to undergo a seismic shift.
While Xu Henshui, the resident expert, was silently reeling from shock, the other cultivators were merely enjoying the show. They watched the droplet guided by Ji Liuli bounce about haphazardly, its trajectory shrinking smaller and smaller until it hovered near several of the lower heavens, poised to become ruined dross.
Xu Henshui's spirits lifted. Since Wei Yuan had deliberately set out those treatises, he had surely gained some insights. Xu Henshui was eager to see how Wei Yuan would turn dross into a miracle and guide the droplet into the Three Clarities or even the Orthodoxy Heaven.
Then Wei Yuan waved his broad sleeve. A vast cascade of immortal essence suddenly showered down from above the cauldron like a dense mist, settling in layers and instantly infusing the droplet with new vitality, sending it darting wildly once more.
And then came the real display of skill: green, blue, and purple karmic luck fell like torrential rain. In the blink of an eye, the equivalent of several million mortal karmic luck rained down, causing the thirty-six heavens to extinguish one after another until only the Three Clarity Heavens and the Orthodoxy Heaven that suited Ji Liuli remained!
At this, Wei Yuan smiled. "My Dao of alchemy is called: Certain Success."
Xu Henshui was struck completely speechless.
The droplet of medicinal liquid swept past the Orthodoxy Heaven and ultimately settled into one of the Clarity Heavens. Blending with the heaven's resonance and drinking in immortal essence, it condensed into a fist-sized pill of deep black etched with golden patterns. It radiated a potent aura of heavenly mystery, its surface occasionally rippling with the six lines of divinatory hexagrams.
Once the pill formed, it traveled along the fiery currents within the cauldron and shot out through a dedicated conduit. In the sky above, thunder was already rumbling, laying down a thousand li of tribulation clouds. Lightning bolts of heavenly tribulation struck relentlessly, only to be deflected by the grand hall. A specialized array within the hall then channeled a single wisp of tribulation thunder down onto the pill. The entire pill suddenly let out a joyful chirp—it had developed sentience!
Wei Yuan reached out to catch the pill. Sweeping it with his divine sense, he announced, "This pill has been bestowed a name by the Heavenly Dao: the Mystic-Penetrating Destiny-Securing Pill. Consuming it adds the power of heavenly mystery to one's mental realm, making it easier to grasp authority over the corresponding Great Daos. With this pill in hand, Eldest Senior Sister's breakthrough chances are... er, still one hundred percent."
Ji Liuli took the pill and laughed. "Even if it doesn't affect my breakthrough chances, my cultivation in heavenly mystery will increase substantially. Perhaps my Dao wisdom in mathematics might even see a boost."
Internally, however, Wei Yuan sighed. Ji Liuli's luck truly was cursed; even after restricting the options strictly to the Clarity Heavens and the Orthodoxy Heaven, it had still drifted into the single Clarity Heaven least suited for her.
With this, the secret behind Wei Yuan's alchemy was laid bare: the initial pass at forming the pill genuinely depended on each individual's personal luck, whether good or bad.
If the result turned out poorly, Wei Yuan simply dumped in immortal essence to recharge it and roll the dice again. Then he poured in karmic luck to shut down the lower heavens one by one until only the Clarity Heavens and the Orthodoxy Heaven were left.
Repeating this process ensured guaranteed success.
To this, Xu Henshui could only marvel in utter defeat: it was simply too extravagant. Setting aside whether the Creation Watch could produce so much immortal essence, even if they could, they certainly didn't possess tens of millions of mortal karmic luck and tens of thousands of Dao foundation cultivators.
To put it bluntly, with this method, even a common stone could be refined into a spirit pill. It had absolutely nothing to do with one's attainment in the Dao of alchemy or wisdom in mathematics!
After Ji Liuli's success, the rest of the cultivators stepped forward one by one. Feng Tingyu barely consumed any karmic luck before her pill landed in the Orthodoxy Heaven, yielding a set of three golden grand pills. Inherent in spiritual awareness and complementing one another, the complete set was unquestionably on par with immortal pills.
Wang Hu received several large pink pills that looked delightfully adorable.
Old Daoist Chuhe received a handful of tiny pills that looked like feed for some kind of creature.
When it was Xu Henshui's turn, he stared down at the handful of pitch-black pellets in his palm, each no larger than a sesame seed, and couldn't help roaring in fury, "Wei Yuan!"
Wei Yuan looked baffled. "What is it? Yours came from the foremost of the Three Clarity Heavens, second only to the Orthodoxy Heaven—your luck was quite good. Once you take this pill, your immortal orchid should be ready to propagate."
Xu Henshui hesitated, his anger hard to suppress. What he really wanted to ask was: Why is it black again?!
In the blink of an eye, all the cultivators had received their custom-refined grand pills, consuming immortal essence equivalent to half an immortal remains and over a hundred million mortal karmic luck. The cultivators all felt a twinge of heartache at the expenditure; Wei Yuan was the only one who didn't care in the slightest.
Once consumed, these grand pills would genuinely elevate the cultivators' attainments and foundations a notch higher, smoothing their immortal paths.
Back then, the cultivators of the Palace of Grand Beginning had disregarded personal gain and braved death to come to his aid, braving countless bloody and vicious battles. Only today was Wei Yuan finally able to repay them with the opportunity to attain the Dao. When they all reached Scenery Command, each would surely manifest their own distinct majesty, none of them ordinary.
Wei Yuan thought to himself that when that day came, he would find a master painter to capture their portraits, and he had already decided on the title: Record of the Host of Immortals.
With the main task concluded, dregs remained at the bottom of the cauldron. Wei Yuan did not let them go to waste. This time, he specifically poured in a thousand strands of dharma idol karmic luck to lock the heavens in place, allowing the remainder of the medicinal liquid to roll straight into the Taihuang Huangzeng Heaven.
Imbued with the resonance of that heaven's Register of Longevity and absorbing immortal essence and karmic luck, the liquid eventually transformed into three hundred and sixty jade-colored pills. Each could extend a dharma idol's lifespan by thirty years, while also cleansing the dharma idol and marginally improving one's innate talent.
Staring at the pile of jade-colored pills, Xu Henshui was struck utterly speechless. Taken individually, a single pill was nothing extraordinary, but all three hundred and sixty Longevity-Extending Pills combined... the sheer value...
Xu Henshui had completely lost any desire to compare himself, and he felt that for the next five hundred years, no one in the Creation Watch would possess such wealth either.
The emergence of this batch of dharma idol Longevity-Extending Pills was actually unexpected even for Wei Yuan. He had originally aimed for pills that enhanced innate talent, but to his surprise, the talent enhancement was slight, while most of the medicinal efficacy had shifted into longevity extension. Though this transformation caused the pills' value to skyrocket more than tenfold, it somewhat strayed from Wei Yuan's initial intent; after all, he was in no need of money right now.
As he pondered, Wei Yuan suddenly recalled an orthodox immortal art handed down from predecessors that he had once seen in the archives of the Palace of Grand Beginning: the Blood Dissolution Mortal Body Great Art. Executing this art required burning ten years of one's lifespan to unleash a strike of terrifying power—a force not even ordinary Heavenly Idols could withstand.
If he distributed these pills, wouldn't the Golden Pellet dharma idols who received them essentially gain three devastating ultimate moves? As weak as the Golden Pellets were, with this art in hand, they could heavily injure even an Earthly Idol.
As long as there were enough of these longevity-extending pills, every Golden Pellet in Qingming would have at least three brutal strikes up their sleeves. Before their initial flurry was spent, they would be terrifying indeed.
Chapter 1215