Chapter 548: The Longevity Pill
Since Jiang Chen recognized this Skyheart Rebirth Pill, he didn’t need to spend too much effort on it anymore. The process of deconstruction was still needed to figure out the ingredients though, since there was the chance that substitute materials may have been used in the making of this particular pill. If he’d simply put down the original ingredients, it may be marked as incorrect. As such, he decided to unravel the pill’s true ingredients by breaking it down to its basic elements.
The analysis and distillation process went relatively smoothly, since he already knew this was the Skyheart Rebirth Pill. When he was done, he was sure that no substitute materials had been used in the making of this pill. Jiang Chen knew that he wasn’t being overly cautious, since this was a pill from the divergent pill faction. Its ever-changing style and peculiar use of ingredients made it a difficult pill to analyze. He had to remain vigilant.
After deciphering the ingredients, Jiang Chen wrote the dozen ingredients down. This segment had been surprisingly easy.
“Heh heh, who would’ve thought that I’d luck out in this section. However, it seems that many will fall in this section. The divergent pill faction’s pills are the hardest to identify. It would not be unreasonable to anticipate that many will be stopped short here.” Jiang Chen naturally wasn’t delighting in the misery of others, but was actually worrying about Mu Gaoqi and Ling Bi’er. If they recognized the style of this pill, then they would be able to forge onwards. But if they treated it as an ordinary pill, then it would be incredibly difficult to analyze. However, Mu Gaoqi and Ling Bi’er weren’t ordinary geniuses. If this stumped them, then it was highly likely that everyone would be equally stumped by this divergent pill faction’s pill.
Jiang Chen didn’t continue dwelling on his thoughts, and composed himself before advancing to the third and last section. With the lead he’d secured from the second section, Jiang Chen was fairly certain that he’d locked in the championship of the genius group.
There were a full hundred ingredients arrayed in front of him for the third section.
“This segment not only tests one’s powers in pill refinement, but also their ability to theorize logically, their observation, as well as their fundamental knowledge.”
With so many materials, there were more than just one or two pills that candidates would be able to refine. As Jiang Chen’s eyes swept over the ingredients, the names of several pills flashed through his mind, but were quickly discarded all one by one. They all came to about mid tier saint rank, so he would have to refine a supreme rank pill to gain full marks. Jiang Chen wasn’t willing to take this risk. It was a risk since he only had enough ingredients at his disposal for at most three pills. It would be a bit difficult to ensure the production of a supreme rank pill from just three pills.
He quickly came up with an upper tier saint rank pill recipe. He only needed to refine an upper rank pill to win 200 points. Jiang Chen thought about it some more and then looked at the ingredients again, still choosing to discard it. “Logically speaking, it’s not difficult to refine an upper rank Phoenix Croon Pill. It’s at eighth level saint rank, but the Fledgling Phoenix Grass here isn’t of the best quality. Some unwanted developments might happen if I were to refine it.”
Jiang Chen wanted a slow, but inexorable finish. In the end, he decided not to go with the Phoenix Croon Pill. He looked at the hundred ingredients, in no hurry to make a move. He knew that since the organizers had made a rule about a true saint rank pill, it was possible to create a pill recipe that would result in a true saint rank pill. Then, even if he refined a lower rank quality pill of that level, he would still take home full points. In other words, if he could create a pill recipe that gave him a true saint rank pill, he would gain full points no matter what level his completed product was.
In the world of pills, pills were divided into mortal, spirit, saint, true saint, earth, and heaven rank pills.
Saint rank pills corresponded to the origin realm of cultivation, and true saint to the sage realm. That meant that ordinary sage realm cultivators utilized pills of the true saint rank. In addition, each rank was further divided into lower, mid, and upper rank levels.
Jiang Chen kept combining and recombining the ingredients in his mind.
He had completed the first and second section in the record time of less than a day, so he had plenty of time to kill on this last segment. Naturally, all the sect heavyweights were keeping a close eye on him. When Palace Head Dan Chi witnessed Jiang Chen’s overbearing momentum and the speed at which he’d blasted through the first two segments, he was immensely gratified. His actions in recruiting Jiang Chen and allying with the Precious Tree Sect were being validated as incomparably wise.
With the painful lessons from the first three rounds, Wei Wuying and the others were now numb to Jiang Chen’s brilliance. They were convinced it was impossible to speculate or evaluate Jiang Chen with their logic. After all, he’d caught up and surpassed the others after starting off much later than any of them in the previous round of spirit seed cultivation! They’d never heard of anything of the sort before. Now, even as they watched him explosively sprint through the first two sections of the fourth round, they didn’t dare bring up any suspicions of cheating. All they could do was bury it deep in their hearts and try to focus on their tasks.
Of course, that didn’t mean to say that they weren’t hoping that Jiang Chen would become caught up in his arrogance, overestimate himself, and fail to perform at the level he’d demonstrated before. But their hopes seemed doomed, since his demeanor was as solid as Mt. Tai. It didn’t seem like his performance would be marred in any way.
Wei Wuying couldn’t help but complain in his heart, “That brat Dan Chi really lucked out this time. What kind of monstrous character is this Jiang Chen? I don’t believe that a mere sixteen kingdom alliance could’ve raised this kid. What a pity that Xing’er didn’t get anything from him when she went to probe him. Even her charm skills couldn’t shake him! Just what is with him?!”
Almost no male in the Myriad Domain could withstand Wei Xing’er’s charm skills. Jiang Chen was in the prime of his hot-blooded youth, how had he not been conquered, especially considering that he’d never tasted a woman before?
Wei Wuying really wanted to sit Wei Xing’er down for a chat and go over what had happened, but she was his junior after all. Although she wasn’t directly related to him, some things were still a bit awkward to speak of.
Sect Head Zhu was even more depressed. “Ai, it’s looking more and more impossible to shake the Regal Pill Palace’s position in pill dao through this time’s Pill Battles. How will I explain this to the Sky Sect when I return? Although they didn’t send their best in the form of Ding Tong, this genius is still someone who has some stature in their sect! I’d thought that he would leave the rest of the geniuses in his dust as he took the genius’ championship, but who knew that no matter how well he did, Jiang Chen would still one up him? No wonder the Regal Pill Palace went to the lengths of allying with the Precious Tree Sect for him. He’s once again thrown the Sky Sect’s plans for the Myriad Domain into disarray…”
Although the Tristar Sect was one of the fourth rank sects in the Myriad Domain, it had only accomplished their feats with the hidden help of the Sky Sect. The Tristar Sect was an important pawn of the Sky Sect in the Myriad Domain, and Ding Tong had been specially charged with helping the Tristar Sect set up the board for their next move. However, no one had anticipated that he would be met with setback after setback on his first stage in the Mt. Rippling Mirage Pill Battles. Jiang Chen’s absolutely stellar performance was actually firmly suppressing Ding Tong!
“It all comes down to the fact that the upper echelon of the Sky Sect underestimated the heights of the Myriad Doman. Even setting Jiang Chen aside, there’s still Mu Gaoqi, Wei Xing’er, and Wei Qing in the mix. Although Ding Tong is ahead of them, he doesn’t possess the absolute advantage that Jiang Chen is displaying.” Sect Head Zhu sighed inwardly. He too felt deeply helpless at the appearance of Jiang Chen, a genius rarely seen even in a hundred years.
As Wang Jianyu of the Sacred Sword Palace witnessed Jiang Chen’s rise to claim the championship, he too found it difficult to accept. His envy of such a genius had been overwritten by his desire to kill Jiang Chen and root out this competition. “Jiang Chen is a treasure that Dan Chi picked up in the sixteen kingdoms alliance, and it looks like he’s able to affect the entire fortunes of the Regal Pill Palace. The growth of such a person only forebodes ill for my Sacred Sword Palace. If a chance arises, I must eliminate this person and suppress the Regal Pill Palace’s fortunes.”
The four family heads of the Great Cathedral were equally shocked at Jiang Chen’s dominating performance. However, the Great Cathedral had always set itself up as the top sect in the Myriad Domain, so even if they had certain thoughts, they definitely wouldn’t express them. Besides, they were too busy plotting on how to headhunt Jiang Chen and lure him over to the Great Cathedral. They were well aware that their weakness lay in their lack of a heaven defying level pill master. Once this hole was plugged, the Great Cathedral was destined to make it into the ranks of the third rank sects in the next couple of decades.
Jiang Chen spent several hours putting his thoughts in order. Suddenly, inspiration struck and he slapped his leg. This is it! “A true saint rank pill!”
The name of a pill flashed through his mind, floating upwards out of his memories. “The Longevity Pill!”
If a sage realm cultivator used this pill, it would increase their lifespan from five hundred to eight hundred years. This actually wasn’t much to a cultivator of that realm, but it was an incredibly tempting thing if that much lifespan appeared at the end of one’s life, when they were decrepit and aging. Their hopes of breaking through would reignite, and if they managed to do so, the breakthrough would provide a further boost to their longevity.. When all was said and done, this wasn’t simply a matter of increasing one’s life to eight hundred years. “Eh, although the Longevity Pill is technically a true saint rank pill, it actually approaches the level of an earth rank pill. Surely the organizers hadn’t done this on purpose…”
Jiang Chen suddenly began to hesitate. He trusted that since the organizers had arranged for a true saint rank pill to be possible out of all these combinations, it wouldn’t be the pill he’d just thought of. Rather, it should’ve been a pill that was barely on the cusp of a true saint rank pill. The Longevity Pill was a pseudo earth rank pill already, which usually meant that only those in the emperor realm had the right to use it. Although it wasn’t solidly in the earth rank level, it wasn’t too far off. In addition, only those in the sage realm could take this particular pill. If anyone of a lower realm consumed the pill, its effects would immediately force them to explode. If anyone of a higher realm, such as the emperor realm, took it, then they would only receive an increase in lifespan of twenty years.
Jiang Chen sank into a mire of irresolution. He knew that once the Longevity Pill was introduced into this world, it would cause an immense uproar and unfathomable consequences. But then, another thought struck him. “I’ve continuously kept a low profile since I’ve reincarnated. It’s about time I showed off some of my skills after entering the Regal Pill Palace. Although there may be some negative fallout from bringing this pill into this world, there will no doubt be some opportunities that also arise. At the very least, it’s going to fill my coffers to bursting. I’ll never have to worry about resources no matter where I go!”
When his thoughts reached this point, Jiang Chen’s resolution hardened. No matter what, he was going to refine this Longevity Pill!