Break Formula

Pill Cauldron Peak. "As alchemists, the most important thing for us is to learn how to break through the limitations of conventional thinking. Pills do not necessarily have to enhance the consumer's own strength—take this Ten-Ox-Strength Pill I refined, for instance," Wu Ming said, speaking with fervor and eloquence in the Pill Cauldron Lecture Hall, explaining the principles of alchemy in simple, accessible terms. The disciples seated below took notes in a hurry. These precious insights into the ways of alchemy were extraordinarily difficult to come by in the outside world. Alchemists of the outside world placed great emphasis on lineage and inheritance, believing that teaching a disciple meant starving the master. Consequently, trying to learn the principles of alchemy out in the world was fraught with endless obstacles. Pill Cauldron Peak was different. They could hardly wait to empty their pockets, dumping every single one of their ideas without reservation into the heads of their awake junior brothers and sisters. Alchemists of the outside world also placed great emphasis on tradition, strictly maintaining that the ancestral ways could not be altered. Consequently, trying to get the outside world to understand Pill Cauldron Peak's alchemical theories was equally fraught with endless obstacles. Seeing his junior brothers and sisters listening so intently to the lecture, Wu Ming felt exceedingly smug. The Dao Seeking Sect had not accepted only five newcomers in this intake—Lu Yang, Meng Jingzhou, Man Gu, Tao Yao, and Li Haoran. It was simply that the talent of those five was so overwhelming and they made such a splash in the sect that people subconsciously overlooked the rest of the new disciples. Aside from the five of them, there were many disciples with dual spiritual roots, tri-spiritual roots, or unique talents, all of whom would form the backbone of the Dao Seeking Sect in the future. Those currently attending this lecture were the disciples of the new intake who had chosen to apprentice themselves to Pill Cauldron Peak. They had been studying on Pill Cauldron Peak for a little over a year and were still feeling their way around the threshold of alchemy. "Many cultivators have a habit of popping pills during battle, unleashing a burst of power several times greater than their own to catch their opponent off guard with instantaneous explosive force and seize victory. "While victory is certainly a fine thing, this practice causes power multiplied several times over to surge through one's meridians. The meridians are only so wide; violently battering them inflicts severe damage, and in serious cases it can even harm one's foundation, hindering future cultivation. "Our duty as alchemists is to heal the sick and save lives. We must do everything we can to eliminate such occurrences. "To this end, I conducted painstaking research and paid a visit to a good friend next door who is adept in summoning arrays, finally developing this Ten-Ox-Strength Pill. "The pill contains a miniature summoning array. Once ingested, it uses the body as a medium to summon ten water buffaloes to help slay the enemy." "Senior Brother Wu, where are these ten water buffaloes summoned from?" a cute junior sister asked, having listened attentively. Wu Ming smiled and said, "They're called forth from the spiritual fields." Most of the food in the cafeterias and restaurants was grown in the Dao Seeking Sect's own spiritual fields. Growing spiritual grain and produce of such high quality came with exceptionally demanding requirements for soil, fertilizer, and farming techniques. Among those laboring tirelessly in the spiritual fields was the clan of azure-eyed water buffaloes. The azure-eyed water buffalo clan possessed boundless brute strength and formidable power, with members ranging from the Qi Refinement stage all the way to the Nascent Soul stage—and they even had an old ox king at the Soul Formation stage, which was truly terrifying. When the Third Elder was young and hot-blooded, he had once rushed down to the spiritual fields, shoved an ox aside, and plowed the fields himself for an entire night; the ox mentioned in that tale belonged to this azure-eyed water buffalo clan. The azure-eyed water buffalo clan loved nothing more than locking horns and butting heads with one another. Wu Ming had contacted them to see if he could summon them during battle, and the azure-eyed water buffalo clan had gladly agreed. "As alchemists, you must learn to do as I did: put yourselves in others' shoes. Stand in the shoes of those who take the pills, and consider why they take them, whether the pills carry side effects, and whether there is a better solution." Wu Ming had written a paper detailing the results of his Ten-Ox-Strength Pill and submitted it to *Pill Fire*, an authoritative publication in the world of alchemy. The editor-in-chief of *Pill Fire* was utterly stunned by Wu Ming's wildly imaginative thinking, and turned around to submit it to a premier journal in the summoning world instead. It was now successfully published. Wu Ming also knew that his ideas were too far ahead of his time and that cultivators needed some time to adjust. For that reason, he had set the price of the Foundation Establishment-grade Ten-Ox-Strength Pill very low, at only a hundred contribution points. One had to keep in mind that even a youtiao sold in the cafeteria cost a hundred and fifty contribution points. Wu Ming had also clearly marked the effect on the exchange board as "consuming it grants the strength of ten oxen," showing remarkable thoughtfulness. ... Lu Yang fell into deep contemplation. If one were to call this pill fake, it truly did grant the consumer the strength of ten oxen; the description and the effect aligned completely, with no exaggeration whatsoever. Yet if one were to call this pill real, something felt thoroughly wrong about it. Where on earth had things gone astray? He couldn't figure it out. The ten Foundation Establishment stage water buffaloes were burly and stout, charging toward the tiger demon in unison with tremendous momentum. Facing these wild beasts, never mind that the tiger demon was at the half-step Golden Core stage—even if it had been at the true Golden Core stage, it wouldn't dare take a direct head-on collision from such a herd of water buffaloes. No matter how much the tiger demon excelled in physical power, it could never match the raw strength of ox demons. It went back to that same saying: though Pill Cauldron Peak was unreliable, they had never once failed in the efficacy of their pills. The ten summoned beasts were definitely more than capable of defeating the tiger demon. Seeing this, Man Gu and Meng Jingzhou unconsciously relaxed. The outcome of the battle was already decided; the tiger demon had no hope of turning the tables. The tiger demon's eyes bulged wide, its fur bristling completely, seemingly aware that it could not overcome these ten water buffaloes. In that case, it would drag someone down to the grave with it! Right at that moment, a resounding crash rang out as the Mountain God Temple collapsed. The Mountain God Temple had already been on the verge of falling apart, and it took nothing more than a casual collision from the ten water buffaloes to bring it down entirely. Dust and torrential rain instantly mingled together, blotting out all vision. Seizing the opportunity, the tiger demon pushed off with all four limbs and leapt high into the air, clearing the buffaloes' charge. It lunged straight toward Lu Yang, moving as swiftly as a bolt of lightning! This human, of all people, had to die! The water buffaloes were bulky and clumsy, unsuited for leaping, and failed to react in time to this sudden turn of events. Man Gu and Meng Jingzhou cried out in alarm. They had let their guard down, and it was already too late for them to save Lu Yang. Everyone present was thrown into panic—everyone except Lu Yang, who remained as calm as ever. He had anticipated all along that the tiger demon would make a desperate, last-ditch attempt to drag him down with it. A cornered beast fought the most ferociously! Lu Yang neither dodged nor retreated. Instead, he invoked the technique "To Inches," shrinking his body along with his sword. The tiger demon's pounce caught nothing but air. Lu Yang slipped directly beneath the beast, restored himself to normal size, and channeled verdant spiritual energy across his blade until it all condensed at the tip of the sword. "Break!" Lu Yang executed the "Break Formula." The Green Blade Sword proved unstoppable, piercing right through the tiger demon's thick hide and fur. With a squelching sound, it ran through the demon's belly, its bloodstained tip bursting out through the spine. This was a sword technique he had learned at Tianmen Peak. Among all his sword moves, it possessed the greatest offensive power; this single strike could drain the better part of his spiritual energy, so it was not something to be used lightly. During their earlier clash, Lu Yang had already pinpointed the tiger demon's weakness: across its entire body, only the dead center of its belly had the weakest defense. Lu Yang released his sword qi. Deep-blue sword qi, fine as ox hair, bloomed outward from within the tiger demon's body, piercing through the beast like countless long needles. A series of popping, crackling sounds like firecrackers resonated inside the demon, running all the way up its spine straight to the crown of its skull. Bleeding from all seven facial orifices, the tiger demon collapsed to the ground. Lu Yang was left panting heavily with exhaustion. Leaning against a broken wall, he signaled to Man Gu and Meng Jingzhou to help Lan Ting eliminate the remaining demon. Seeing her mate die, the tigress turned even more feral, throwing herself into a desperate fight. Lan Ting was nearly unable to suppress the cornered beast. Before Man Gu and Meng Jingzhou could even join this new battle, the water buffalo demons wheeled around and charged at the tigress. Failing to dodge in time, the tigress was trampled into a mangled pulp of flesh and blood under the buffaloes' thundering hooves. The battle was over. Lan Ting parted her lips in disbelief. Remembering all those bizarre rumors her senior sisters had told her about the Dao Seeking Sect—tales she had initially dismissed—she was now at least seventy percent convinced.