The Sect Master was stunned over and over again, completely at a loss for words for a moment. Just a moment ago, he had already begun planning how to arrange the wedding, and now they were telling him that wasn't the case at all?
At this point, the other elders also rushed into the small courtyard. Hearing Moyang's words, they all stood frozen in place, looking utterly bewildered.
"You still want to brazenly argue at this stage? Go ahead and explain where you got these pills!" the First Elder shouted coldly.
Chapter 17: An Incredible Breakthrough
To say nothing of Moyang, even the entire Lingxu Sect only purchased medicinal pills once a year. Furthermore, because pills were sold at exorbitant prices, the quantity bought each time never exceeded thirty.
The crucial point was that the pills they were able to purchase were all of the most ordinary kind.
As for the two types of pills Moyang had just mentioned, neither was ordinary. While they weren't familiar with the Youth-Retaining Pill, every single one of them knew the Marrow-Cleansing Pill; it was a treasured pill used to cleanse one's constitution and foundation, and it was in such high demand that even major sects fought over it.
Forget about buying them; even if they could be purchased, Moyang simply had no ability to afford them. The astronomical price alone was far beyond what any ordinary disciple could bear.
Moyang let out a cold snort and said, "As for the truth of the matter, once Su Fei'er wakes up, you can go and ask her about the whole story yourselves. As for the pills, why on earth should I tell you!"
The First Elder's face turned livid with anger. He was just about to speak when a surge of energy suddenly erupted from Moyang's room, abruptly cutting off the words on the tip of his tongue.
"Could Fei'er be breaking through?!" the Supreme Elder asked, somewhat startled. That fluctuation was unmistakably the aura produced during a breakthrough in cultivation.
Immediately following this, an aura at the Spirit Awakening Realm - Stage 3 radiated from inside the room.
Even the Sect Master's eyes flashed with a hint of joy. He knew Su Fei'er's cultivation level all too well; now that she had reached the Spirit Awakening Realm - Stage 3, she had clearly made a breakthrough.
However, before anyone could say anything, the expressions of the elders gradually stiffened. For the radiating aura was shifting—the early-phase of the Spirit Awakening Realm - Stage 3 was slowly transitioning toward the mid-phase, growing stronger by the moment.
"What on earth... is happening? How... how can cultivation grow like this..." The Second Elder's face was a picture of doubt and apprehension. He stared fixedly at the room behind Moyang, his speech stuttering.
Though Moyang was also somewhat surprised, he wasn't particularly shocked.
Su Fei'er had consumed that many Marrow-Cleansing Pills all at once. Although it had nearly cost her her life, the benefits were unimaginable. Having undergone such a thorough cleansing of her marrow and marrow-washing, it was akin to shedding her mortal coil and being reborn; her potential had been unlocked, so a breakthrough in her cultivation was only logical.
"The mid-phase of the Spirit Awakening Realm - Stage 3... this..." The Sect Master couldn't help gasping in amazement. Having practiced cultivation for so many years, this was the first time he had ever witnessed cultivation grow in such a manner.
And that aura was still slowly strengthening, continuing until it neared the peak of the third stage before finally coming to a complete halt.
Unable to restrain himself any longer, the Supreme Elder darted toward the room like a gust of wind. He only came to an abrupt stop at the doorway, turned his head, and asked Moyang, "Kid, is Fei'er fully dressed yet?"
The Sect Master, who had been following closely behind to rush into the room, stumbled and hurriedly pulled up short, turning his head to look at Moyang.
The other elders did the same, all casting their gazes toward Moyang. At that moment, they had completely forgotten about pursuing the topic of the medicinal pills.
Moyang: "……"
His entire face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a wok. It seemed this blame was pinned on him for good; no matter how he explained it, it simply wouldn't get through.
Everything he had said before seemed to have been like playing the lute to a cow.
Feeling those probing gazes fixed upon him, Moyang declared resolutely, "I didn't take them off!"
"Let me say this again: I didn't do a single thing! No meat was eaten, no soup was drunk, and I didn't cook any meals either!"
The Supreme Elder blinked, then said, "You unperceptive brat, I'll settle accounts with you later!"
The group of elders filed in one after another. Moyang shook his head helplessly, then turned and walked straight out of the courtyard. He didn't dare continue tangling with these old fogies.
By now, the day was growing late; the afterglow of the setting sun illuminated a sky filled with colorful clouds.
Yet as he gazed up at the vast night sky, an indescribable sense of loneliness welled up within Moyang. In the past, even if the other elders and disciples of the sect looked down on him, there had always been someone keeping him company and constantly encouraging him. He had never once felt lonely.
But now, the entire world seemed left with only him alone.
The Xuantian Continent was vast and boundless. The Lingxu Sect was merely an ordinary sect in the western region of the continent, and the western region alone was home to countless sects. Legend had it that upon this sprawling continent, there also existed ancient sacred lands with incredibly ancient lineages.
"Xiaoyang, your master has never stepped out of the western region of the continent in his entire life. In the future, you must definitely go and see the outside world—that is the true battleground for heavenly prodigies."
The Fourth Elder's words seemed to still be echoing in his ears. Now that the Fourth Elder was gone, Moyang's heart no longer belonged here either.
He planned to leave once the time was ripe—not only to grow stronger, but also to seek out some answers.
Because there were far too many secrets surrounding him, and it seemed that some powerful figure had meddled with him. To this day, he had never even heard the name Star Emperor. He had once searched through the ancient texts in the scripture pavilion, yet he had not found the slightest record of it.
It wasn't until nightfall descended that Moyang returned to Wood Peak, guessing that those elders should have all left by now.
He walked into the courtyard with his hands behind his back, only to find the candlelight in the room flickering brightly, clearly indicating someone was inside.
Moyang was left speechless. Could those old fellows still be waiting for him?
He pushed the door open directly, but the scene before his eyes made him freeze in an instant. The candlelight flickered within the room, where a wooden tub was steaming with heat. The crucial point was that there was someone inside that wooden tub.
The wooden tub was the one Moyang usually used for bathing. Because he had been frequently taking Marrow-Cleansing Pills lately, impurities and toxins were expelled from his body every time, so he kept the tub specifically placed in the room.
The person sitting in that steaming wooden tub was none other than Su Fei'er.
As the door swung open, the sight before him left Moyang rooted to the spot. Although he had never harbored any improper thoughts toward Su Fei'er, the instinctive reactions of his body were not something he could control at will, and his gaze drifted uncontrollably toward certain areas.
Moreover, at his current age, his vital blood was at its most vigorous. After just a brief moment of daze, his breathing began to quicken, and the blood throughout his entire body seemed to surge faster.
Su Fei'er was also stunned. In the past, whenever Moyang disappeared, it would be a long time before he returned. Furthermore, upon waking up today, she had discovered a foul odor emitting from her entire body, which was why she had thought to quietly bathe here. Who could have expected Moyang to return so quickly?
After freezing for a few seconds, a piercing scream shattered the night sky.
That scream was like a curse, scaring Moyang so badly that his expression changed drastically. He hurriedly turned around, pulled the door shut, and fled in a panic, bolting out of the courtyard without once looking back.
It wasn't until the middle of the night that Moyang quietly crept back. After observing in secret, he discovered that Su Fei'er had already left, and only then did he let out a silent sigh of relief.
Upon returning to his room, he went straight into the Star Emperor Pagoda. The true qi within his body was growing steadily and was becoming somewhat difficult to suppress; he had to prepare to face a breakthrough.
The Heaven Mystic Realm was different from the previous three realms; it was no longer divided into three stages, but instead comprised a total of nine distinct grades.
This realm acted like a watershed for cultivators. Upon breaking through to the Heaven Mystic Realm, one needed to open up mystic veins within the body, much like unlocking nine bodily treasures that connected the entire physique. When that happened, one's spiritual roots would be thoroughly cleared, and combat prowess would undergo a heaven-and-earth transformation compared to the previous realms.
Chapter 18: Heaven Mystic Realm
Inside the second floor of the Star Emperor Pagoda, Moyang sat cross-legged in silence. Having regulated his breathing for several hours, he swallowed a Qi-Gathering Pill he had prepared in advance.
With a single thought, the golden true qi within his dantian surged forth, wildly circulating through the meridians of his entire body under the propulsion of the Star Emperor Scripture technique. The true qi piercing through his skin flowed across his body like golden dragons, causing the atmosphere within the second-tier stone tower to churn as the ambient heaven and earth origin qi was continuously drawn in.
Not long after, a wave of energy dissipated from Moyang's body, spreading in all directions accompanied by a powerful fluctuation of cultivation.
The Heaven Mystic opened, the nine stages turned, and the barrier of cultivation was broken through.
His body trembled violently as his dantian was instantly widened to more than double its previous size. The golden true qi rushed back from his meridians, converging and surging aggressively along a single meridian pathway.
The Heaven Mystic Realm possessed a total of nine stages. Every time one broke through a stage, a mystic vein had to be opened within the body. Now that he had stepped into the first grade of the Heaven Mystic Realm, the next step was to open the first mystic vein.
Regarding this realm, the Fourth Elder had previously taught Moyang a great deal of related martial arts knowledge. Although under normal circumstances one broke through and opened a single mystic vein per stage, this could also be chosen by the cultivator themselves. Rumors had it that heavenly prodigies with exceptional talent would open two or even more mystic veins simultaneously, and obviously, their combat power differed vastly as well.
"The dantian itself is already the largest mystic vein. If I treat it as the first mystic vein and open it once more, would there be any difference?!"
Just as Moyang was pondering this, under the guidance of his will, the true qi reversed direction once again. Driven by the Star Emperor Scripture technique, that violent true qi was instantly forced down into his dantian.
"Ah—"
Moyang let out a sharp cry of agony. In an instant, his dantian was shaken to the point of fracturing, nearly shattering completely.
A mouthful of fresh blood rushed up his throat instantly, and a trail of crimson blood immediately spilled from the corner of his mouth.
Moyang had never experienced such excruciating pain. In that split second, it felt as though his tendons were being pulled and his bones stripped, or as if he were being carved by a thousand knives. His consciousness blurred into a haze, and he nearly passed out on the spot.
Moyang had not realized the severity of the consequences at all. No one had ever attempted this method before, because according to the laws of opening mystic veins in the Heaven Mystic Realm, nobody would ever think to treat their dantian as a mystic vein to be unlocked.
Yet at this moment, the cultivation technique continued to run, and that fractured dantian seemed truly on the verge of shattering completely under the ravages of the violent true qi.
The true qi inside his body had fallen into absolute chaos, slipping entirely beyond his control.
"Boom—"
Right at that moment, Moyang felt the entire stone tower shake. Patterns flickered across the surrounding tower walls, emanating dazzling wisps of brilliant light, and streams of radiance converged upon him from all directions.
Faintly, Moyang seemed to hear the sound of the Great Dao, resembling chanting Sanskrit.
At this moment, his eyes were tightly shut, his expression agonizing, and his consciousness had begun to blur; he utterly failed to notice the changes on the surrounding tower walls. Divine radiance billowed as ancient characters emerged one by one, vibrating with powerful wisps of sonic waves.
The Star Emperor Scripture within his body began to operate on its own, generating a certain resonance with the stone tower. His ruptured dantian was actually steadied, and then it unexpectedly began to slowly reshape and heal.
Clenching his teeth, he persisted for a long time until he simply could no longer hold on. His consciousness grew dim, and he gradually drifted into unconsciousness.
He had no idea how much time had passed when Moyang finally woke up. He felt that his entire body was still aching terribly, as if every single inch of his skin had been sliced by knives.
Opening his eyes, he saw that the interior of the stone tower had completely returned to peace. He hurriedly checked his dantian and discovered that it was actually undamaged and seemed to have grown a size larger, though his surrounding meridians had suffered a certain degree of damage due to the earlier loss of control over his true qi.
However, Moyang was not worried about the injuries to his meridians; the Continuous-Mending Pills he had previously refined were precisely healing pills.
"That was too close! I almost caused a catastrophic mistake!"
Recalling the scene from before, Moyang still felt a lingering fear. Just before losing consciousness, he had vaguely felt that the stone tower had experienced a massive commotion, with wisps of Dao sounds roaring and forming some mysterious connection with him.
"It seems this Star Emperor Pagoda is far more mysterious than I imagined..."
Without sparing more thought, Moyang sat down cross-legged to regulate his breathing. The injuries inside his body were not light, and he needed to heal them as quickly as possible.
This time, he remained inside the stone tower for two days, during which he consumed three Continuous-Mending Pills. It wasn't until the injuries to his meridians had recovered by seventy to eighty percent that Moyang withdrew his cultivation.
With his cultivation having broken through, Moyang felt an unprecedented strength within his body. The Heaven Mystic Realm was indeed completely different from the previous realms. Channeling his true qi, he raised a finger and pointed it forward. A wisp of sword qi shot out, instantly piercing right through the stone stool in the small courtyard.
"Truly, the affairs of the world are unpredictable. In less than two months, I've actually reached the Heaven Mystic Realm—a realm I once only dreamed of, and now it's within arm's reach..."
Moyang couldn't help marveling. If it were placed less than two months ago, this was a realm he wouldn't even dare to imagine.
He had no idea how many people had visited the small courtyard over the past two days. Su Fei'er's cultivation had broken through overnight, rocketing directly from the peak of the second-order Spirit Awakening Realm to the peak of the third stage—it was simply an Arabian Night's tale.
Such a matter could simply not be concealed, and rumors circulating mentioned that all of this was related to a certain kind of medicine belonging to Moyang.
Once the news spread, countless disciples couldn't help but come to Wood Peak—especially those sect disciples who had always been stuck at the bottleneck of their breakthroughs. They swarmed to Wood Peak, hoping to acquire that medicine from Moyang in order to break through.
Yet Moyang was nowhere to be found, and no one within the sect had seen a trace of him.
Following this incident, the ones who truly found it all unbelievable were the elders.
After repeated questioning by the Supreme Elder and the Sect Master, Su Fei'er had no choice but to confess, stating that Moyang knew how to refine pills, and the medicinal herbs she had previously taken from the treasury were fetched to help Moyang.
To the group of elders, this was earth-shattering news.
At the same time, they were even more bewildered, unable to figure it out for a thousand reasons.
Although Moyang had always followed the Fourth Elder on Wood Peak, over the years he had essentially grown up right under their noses. How on earth could he know how to refine pills?
The crucial point was that even the Fourth Elder knew nothing about alchemy; where on earth had Moyang learned it?
One elder after another furrowed their brows in deep thought. Forget the Fourth Elder—even throughout the entire history of the Lingxu Sect, there had never been a single alchemist.
"This kid definitely harbors secrets unknown to others!" The Supreme Elder had been keeping a close eye on Moyang lately. Ever since Moyang exposed his cultivation, his strength had been continuously breaking through, which had utterly subverted his past understanding.
"No wonder his demand for medicinal herbs was so immense... He actually knows alchemy! He truly is a treasure trove..."
While frowning and muttering to himself in thought, the Supreme Elder seemed to recall something, and his expression sank once more. He said with a hint of resentment, "He won't even eat the meat delivered right to his mouth—such an unperceptive wretch, just how many secrets are you hiding..."
The whole affair regarding Moyang and Su Fei'er seemed to have become the Supreme Elder's greatest knot in his heart, the crux being that Moyang simply refused to play by normal rules.
Chapter 19: Crazy Medicinal Pills
The recent changes in Moyang had been so astonishing that they made the group of elders feel extremely unfamiliar with him.
Especially the Supreme Elder; during this period, he had felt an extraordinary stifling in his heart. The more he paid attention to Moyang, the more he realized he didn't understand the boy, finding him increasingly inscrutable.
Having lived for so many years, he knew there had to be a reason behind Moyang's recent changes—especially alchemy. It was very likely that Moyang had encountered some high-level expert; had it not been for the guidance of such a master, these events were completely unexplainable.
Over the next few days, the entire Lingxu Sect was exceptionally lively. Many disciples were discussing Moyang, and quite a few even guessed that the reason Moyang's cultivation was so formidable was probably because of that medicine.
Meanwhile, Moyang was also exceptionally troubled, because over the past few days, the peace on Wood Peak had been completely shattered. Numerous disciples came up seeking medicine.
There were even quite a few female disciples who came for entirely different purposes.
For Su Fei'er had recently seemed like a completely different person: not only had her cultivation skyrocketed, but an ethereal spiritual charm now seemed to emanate from her entire body. Her figure had grown increasingly slender and graceful, and even her skin had become as delicate and fair as a newborn infant. Evidently, Moyang's medicine was useful for far more than just cultivation.
Inside the second floor of the Star Emperor Pagoda, Moyang sat cross-legged in front of the Good Fortune Cauldron, muttering to himself, "It seems the matter of the pills can no longer be kept under wraps. Since that's the case, we might as well go all out!"
As the saying goes, heaven destroys those who don't look out for themselves. Naturally, Moyang couldn't simply give away pills for free, and with his alchemy skills improving, his demand for medicinal herbs was growing larger by the day. Trading herbs for pills was the best possible method.
Because on the Xuantian Continent, although medicinal pills commanded exorbitant prices, ordinary herbs were cheap, and every disciple could easily afford them.
Especially those elders of the Lingxu Sect—if he didn't squeeze a bit of oil and water out of them, Moyang would feel he was doing himself a disservice.
"Now that my cultivation has broken through to the Heaven Mystic Realm, it's time to calm down and consolidate for a while. Blindly pursuing speed will only lead to losing more than I gain."
That very day, a piece of news exploded across the entire Lingxu Sect.
Moyang released word that any disciple of the sect could bring medicinal herbs to Wood Peak to exchange for pills. At the same time, a list was wildly circulating among the disciples, clearly listing three types of pills: the Qi-Gathering Pill, the Marrow-Cleansing Pill, and the Youth-Retaining Pill.
Their corresponding effects were marked out in explicit detail, followed clearly by the types and quantities of herbs required to exchange for each pill.
The entire Lingxu Sect was thrown into a complete uproar. Previously, because the elders had intentionally kept it under wraps, many disciples only knew Moyang had medicine, but didn't know they were actual pills. Now that the news was out, it dropped like a bombshell.
"Exchanging herbs for medicinal pills? Could Moyang be an alchemist?"
"Marrow-Cleansing Pills alone are priceless and unavailable on the market; where on earth did he get so many? Could he have obtained some heaven-defying fortune..."
"Forget it, I'd better hurry up and gather some herbs to exchange for one and try it out. If I'm late, I probably won't even get to drink the soup!"
……
For a time, countless disciples left the Lingxu Sect in droves. Naturally, they didn't dare to harbor designs on the sect's treasury like Moyang had; medicinal herbs could only be purchased at the apothecary shops in the cities outside the sect.
Moyang flung open his courtyard gates directly, setting up a table and a chair in the yard. The table was piled high with bottles of medicinal pills, and he sat there like a diagnosing physician, looking quite the part.
Wood Peak became utterly bustling. Numerous disciples carrying herbs bought from apothecary shops rushed up the mountain, and even deep into the night, the stream of disciples coming and going along the stone path leading to Wood Peak remained uninterrupted.
Many female disciples even went so far as to sell off their jade hairpins and jewelry, solely to trade for herbs so they could exchange them for pills.
In the main peak's grand hall, a group of elders looked at one another in silence.
What in the world was this supposed to be? Moyang had actually opened up a shop on Wood Peak! Within a single day, his business was thriving so vigorously that the entire sect seemed to have turned into a marketplace.
"This is simply preposterous! How can the sect just let him run wild like this!" the Second Elder said with extreme indignation.
The First Elder also spoke in a deep voice, "Our Lingxu Sect is a cultivation sect, not an apothecary, nor is it a marketplace. With him making such a ruckus, how can any of the disciples practice in peace!"
He continued, "He took all those herbs from the treasury, and now what? He turns around, refines them into pills, and starts doing business right inside the sect! In my opinion, all those pills should be confiscated by the sect!"
The Third Elder chuckled and said, "If you two old fellows want to exchange for pills, just go do it. Why bother making up so many excuses? Although the herbs were taken from the sect treasury, that's not the crucial point. The crucial point is that they can be refined into pills, and it's the sect's disciples who are benefiting. Honestly, I think this little fellow Moyang is quite interesting!"