The Supreme Elder stroked his beard and began, "The four sects' annual martial arts tournament is fast approaching. If all our disciples can improve their cultivation, perhaps we won't embarrass ourselves quite as badly as before. For a full five years, our Lingxu Sect has been dead last. If we could somehow win the championship this time, it would be of extraordinary significance to the entire Lingxu Sect..."
The several elders all fell silent. Calculating the time, barely a month remained until the four-sect martial arts grand gathering.
At the mere mention of the martial arts grand gathering, the elders lowered their heads in shame. Over the past five years, the Lingxu Sect seemed cursed; the younger generation struggled to rise, leaving them at the bottom of every tournament.
"If Moyang participates, there might actually be a chance of winning this year..." The Sect Master mused aloud. By now, Moyang had become the strongest cultivator among the disciples. With his combat prowess, dealing with the strongest disciples of the other three sects gave him a high probability of victory.
Of course, even the Supreme Elder did not yet know that Moyang had already stepped into the Heaven Mystic Realm—a realm none of the other three sects had ever produced among their disciples in the past.
On Wood Peak, Moyang had already closed his doors for the day. He had moved all the medicinal herbs he obtained from trading pills directly into the Star Emperor Pagoda, where they were piled into a small mountain. Moyang walked around the pile several times, rubbing his hands together in excitement. He felt he had made an exceptionally wise choice, having even managed to gather plenty of ingredients for refining other types of pills.
At this rate, he would never have to worry about medicinal ingredients again.
Over the next few days, Wood Peak grew increasingly lively as the miraculous effects of those pills were verified.
Many disciples who traded for and consumed the pills found that whether it was the Marrow Cleansing Pill or the Youth-Preserving Pill, the effects were extraordinary, leaving them feeling as though they had shed their mortal bodies and exchanged their bones.
In the days that followed, quite a few sect disciples successfully broke through their cultivation bottlenecks with the aid of the Qi Gathering Pill, leaving the elders of the Lingxu Sect both shocked and overjoyed.
Even the Supreme Elder had not anticipated such an occurrence. In the sect's training chambers, batches of disciples went to make breakthroughs, and the number of disciples at the second tier of the Spirit Awakening Realm increased by nearly ten overnight.
Eventually, even Qi Heng and Xu Xin could no longer sit still and couldn't help walking up to Wood Peak. After seeing disciples consume the Marrow Cleansing Pill and experience a direct surge of two minor realms in their cultivation, the temptation for them was undeniably immense.
Chapter 20: Row Character Formula
For five or six consecutive days, inside the second floor of the Star Emperor Pagoda, various medicinal herbs had piled up like mountains. Their sheer quantity alone likely surpassed the entire treasury of the Lingxu Sect.
Through this period of continuous pill refining, Moyang's alchemy skills had advanced by leaps and bounds. Refining Marrow Cleansing Pills, Qi Gathering Pills, and Youth-Preserving Pills had become second nature to him, allowing him to produce five or six pills in a single furnace.
After sorting and organizing the herbs, he sat cross-legged to practice his cultivation. He had been so busy refining pills these past few days that a significant portion of his cultivation time had been occupied.
Not knowing how much time had passed, Moyang suddenly felt the entire Star Emperor Pagoda tremble. He hurriedly opened his eyes, and a surge of great joy filled his heart.
After waiting for so long, this Stone Tower had finally undergone a change. The seemingly stone-like walls rippled with brilliant light, golden patterns slithering like golden dragons as they slowly coalesced into ancient characters.
Moyang was no longer unfamiliar with this sort of phenomenon; the mental cultivation method for the first layer of the Star Emperor Scripture had appeared in the exact same manner.
Moyang hurriedly gathered his focus to examine the characters as they slowly imprinted themselves into his mind.
"This..."
Yet Moyang was somewhat bewildered, for this was not the mental cultivation method for the second layer of the Star Emperor Scripture.
Closing his eyes to concentrate and comprehend, his expression shifted slightly after a few breaths. This was actually a movement technique called the Row Character Formula!
This was a secret movement technique, seemingly created specifically for the Star Emperor Scripture, because only by practicing the Star Emperor Scripture could one cultivate the Row Character Formula.
Moyang contemplated it with focused concentration for a moment, and profound shock gripped his heart. This mental technique was unfathomably profound and mysterious. If it truly matched the description of the cultivation manual, once fully comprehended, it could unleash speeds that rivaled the heavens and the earth.
Any cultivator knew the importance of a movement technique. Not only did it secure the initiative in battle, but even when outmatched, it could be used for fleeing and preserving one's life—to a certain extent, serving as a cultivator's second life.
Yet movement secret techniques were extremely rare on the Xuantian Continent, treated as core secrets among the major powers and strictly kept from outsiders.
"Tsk tsk, this Star Emperor Pagoda is truly a treasure!" Moyang couldn't help exclaiming in admiration.
Whether it was the Star Emperor Scripture, the Row Character Formula, or the Creation Cauldron, none of these items were remotely ordinary. At that moment, Moyang even suspected whether the so-called Star Emperor might have been some ancient Great Emperor who had passed away.
Yet Great Emperors were far too distant. Those supreme powerhouses, standing at the very ends of the heavens and earth, had been far too few from antiquity to the present—merely a handful of them—and everything known to the world was mere legend.
Moyang still remembered the look of reverence from the bottom of her heart—as if worshiping a deity—that the Fourth Elder's eyes had held when recounting those legends of the Great Emperor to him.
Moyang calmed his mind and began to comprehend the technique. Once this movement technique was mastered, it would be equivalent to gaining an additional means of self-preservation.
Over the next few days, Moyang remained seated cross-legged inside the Star Emperor Pagoda, comprehending the Row Character Formula.
Meanwhile, on Wood Peak, numerous sect disciples had been waiting here the entire time. They had finally managed to scrape together the medicinal herbs, only to find that Moyang had vanished somewhere, completely out of sight for days on end.
Even the Second Elder and First Elder finally lost their patience, coming over quietly in secret several times. Though they felt somewhat sheepish, for the sake of their cultivation, they had no choice but to bite the bullet and swallow their pride.
"That brat holds grudges. Now that we need him, will he take the opportunity to make things difficult for us?" The Second Elder hid in the shadows, peering toward Moyang's small courtyard.
The First Elder's expression was rather unsightly. By now, he harbored a fair bit of regret; had he known Moyang could refine pills, he never would have picked a fight with him.
"Fei'er and Moyang seem to have a pretty good relationship lately. How about we have Fei'er step forward..." The First Elder pondered for a moment before making the suggestion.
Moyang remained entirely unaware of the situation outside. He had been engrossed in comprehending the Row Character Formula, yet after several days passed, he always felt as though he just couldn't quite grasp that flash of insight.
The ancient characters in his mind flashed like afterimages. The technique was simply too profound after all, and with his current shallow cultivation, it was very difficult to comprehend it in a short span of time.
Moyang let out a soft sigh, feeling that he had been far too impatient.
He finished his circulation, stood up, and left the Stone Tower. The moment he pushed open his room door, he froze in place.
The courtyard was actually packed tight with disciples of the Lingxu Sect.
"Junior Brother Mo, you're finally back! Wait, where did you come from?" A disciple asked, spotting Moyang with a face full of suspicion. They had been waiting in the courtyard the whole time—when on earth had Moyang gone back inside his room?
"Junior Brother Mo, I want to trade for two Youth-Preserving Pills!" A female disciple pushed her way to the front, frantically shaking the pouch of herbs in her hand as if she wanted to shove the ingredients directly into Moyang's embrace.
"I want a Qi Gathering Pill..."
"I want two Marrow Cleansing Pills!"
...
Moyang was momentarily stunned, a massive headache blooming. "Come back at noon," he said. "No trades right now!"
With that, he hurriedly stepped back inside the room and slammed the door shut.
The crowd was left speechless, all of them raising their heads to look at the setting sun lingering on the horizon. Damn it, it was almost dark—which noon was he talking about?
Yet the disciples could only leave in resignation. The pills were in Moyang's hands, and whether he agreed to a trade depended entirely on his mood; they certainly couldn't resort to outright robbery. The crucial point was that Moyang's combat strength was there for all to see—even Qi Heng was no match for him. If they dared to rob him, their fate would only be far more miserable than Qi Heng's had been.
In the evening, the Second Elder and First Elder ultimately couldn't hold back any longer and invited Su Fei'er over.
Inside the room, the atmosphere was somewhat awkward, because Moyang was actually making a great show of holding a wolf-hair brush and practicing his calligraphy. He looked utterly engrossed, not letting his gaze wander even the slightest bit.
The moment he saw Su Fei'er arrive alongside them, Moyang knew these two old fellows must have a favor to ask of him. The fact that he could refine pills was already exposed, and the First Elder and Second Elder were most likely here to ask him to refine some.
The Second Elder kept gesturing for Su Fei'er to speak, but because of what happened previously, Su Fei'er felt completely unnatural just looking at Moyang and kept hesitating.
After a long while, Moyang put down the wolf-hair brush, calmly picked up his teacup, took a sip, and only then asked the First Elder and Second Elder, "I wonder what business brings the First Elder and Second Elder to see me? Surely you aren't here specially to watch me practice calligraphy."
The First Elder and Second Elder exchanged awkward glances, then hurriedly looked at Su Fei'er, signaling her to speak.
They were terrified that if they brought it up themselves, Moyang would flatly refuse, and that would be far too humiliating.
"Brother Moyang, the First Elder and Second Elder would like to ask for your help in refining two kinds of pills!" Su Fei'er's cheeks flushed slightly as she spoke in a low voice.
Having previously been caught red-handed taking a quiet bath right here by the returning Moyang, she hadn't dared to set foot on Wood Peak for quite some time.
Moyang nodded, then leisurely picked up his teacup again, took a gentle sip, and asked, "I wonder what kind of pills the two elders wish to have refined?"
The First Elder and Second Elder had been watching Moyang with tense expressions. Hearing him ask, the two hurriedly pulled two medical formulas from their robes and handed them over.
"This is a medicinal formula I accidentally stumbled upon more than ten years ago. I heard it can help Heaven Mystic Realm powerhouses clear their mysterious meridians..." The Second Elder said, looking at Moyang with a face full of anticipation.
They knew nothing whatsoever about alchemy, but they understood that medicinal formulas were precious. Having acquired this one by chance, they had kept it treasured ever since.
Moyang took the formula, glanced at it, and immediately gave the Second Elder a peculiar look. This formula was recorded in the Ancient Scroll of the Divine Alchemy Dao, and it was called the Spring-Returning Pill!
Chapter 21: We're All Family Here
Moyang had already committed the medicinal formulas recorded in the Ancient Scroll of the Divine Alchemy Dao firmly to memory. With just a single glance, he recognized that this was indeed the formula for the Spring-Returning Pill.
The purpose and efficacy of the Spring-Returning Pill were extremely singular. In the Ancient Scroll of the Divine Alchemy Dao, it bore another name—the Vigor-Restoring Pill. To put it simply, it was a medicinal formula specially created for men who were somewhat dysfunctional in certain aspects.
Moyang raised his head and gave the Second Elder a bizarre look, which instantly made the Second Elder tighten up, asking anxiously, "Can the pills from this formula be refined?"
Su Fei'er and the First Elder were also watching Moyang. Then they heard Moyang say, "Refining them is certainly possible, but tell me, Second Elder, you've treasured this formula for over ten years—did you really not know what kind of pills it was used to make?"
The Second Elder shook his head in utter bewilderment. When it came to alchemy, if you didn't understand, you simply didn't understand. Having never dabbled in the Dao of Alchemy, he could recognize the herbs listed on it, but he had no way of deducing the actual purpose of the pill.
"Cough, cough!" Moyang suppressed his laughter and gave a few dry coughs before speaking. "This is the Spring-Returning Pill, and it has another name called Vigor-Restoring!"
The Second Elder glanced at the First Elder, vaguely feeling that something wasn't quite right. Frowning, he asked, "Is it useful for Heaven Mystic Realm cultivators?"
"Naturally. Never mind the Heaven Mystic Realm—even Grandmasters above the Heaven Mystic Realm, or Battle Kings even higher than that, will find it equally effective after taking it!"
Hearing Moyang say this, both the First Elder and Second Elder wore looks of shock, while a trace of joy simultaneously surfaced in their eyes. This medicinal formula was actually this extraordinary?
Su Fei'er was completely baffled and couldn't help asking Moyang, "Brother Moyang, what on earth is this Spring-Returning Pill for? Is it really that powerful?"
"Cough, cough... It allows a man to stand tall once again. Would you say that's powerful or not?" With the two elders present, Moyang couldn't well go into explicit details.
Yet the First Elder and Second Elder naturally understood in an instant. They had already felt the name of the pill was somewhat strange, and now that Moyang put it this way, how could the two of them fail to grasp its meaning? The Second Elder's aged face instantly flushed red, though there was no sign of disappointment on it; instead, a gleam flashed in his eyes.
"Really?!" A sharp glint flashed in his eyes as he hurriedly questioned Moyang.
Moyang looked at the Second Elder with a half-smile, sweeping his gaze meaningfully toward a certain area below, and remarked, "It seems the Second Elder is truly getting up in years..."
"Er—cough, cough..." The Second Elder instantly wore an awkward expression, unable to stop himself from coughing a few times as he mentally cursed himself for being too impatient.
Su Fei'er stood to the side with a blank look. Moyang and the others were talking in riddles; she genuinely didn't understand what Moyang meant by "stand tall once again."
"Fei'er, it's getting late, you should head back first. We still have some things to discuss with Moyang!" the First Elder spoke up. With Su Fei'er present, it wasn't convenient for them to ask too many questions.
Su Fei'er looked at Moyang, then looked at the First Elder and Second Elder, and backed out of the room with her head full of confusion, muttering under her breath, "If you won't tell me, I'll go ask Senior Sister Xu to make it clear!"
The faces of the two elders darkened instantly. The Second Elder hurriedly walked over to close the room door, then turned back to ask Moyang, "Moyang, is what you said true?"
At this moment, even the First Elder revealed a sliver of eager hope.
Moyang looked at the two faces before him, holding back his laughter as he spoke earnestly, "Naturally it's true. But Second Elder, you're getting on in years, too; you ought to take better care of yourself. Why obsess over that sort of thing? Some matters should just take their course—why force it?"
Before the Second Elder could speak, the First Elder chimed in, "As cultivators, our training is an act of defiance against the heavens—how can we just let things take their course!"
Moyang shifted his gaze to the First Elder, giving him a meaningful, half-smirking look. The First Elder's face immediately flushed with awkwardness, and he hurriedly changed the subject. "What about my formula then? What kind of pill is that used to refine?"
Moyang shook his head. "I took a look just now, and this formula is wrong. The attributes of the herbs listed on it directly oppose each other. I don't know where the First Elder got it from, but I'm afraid you've been scammed!"
Upon hearing this, the First Elder flew into a rage. "Damn it! I was wondering why that old bastard was suddenly being so kind, selling me a formula for just twenty thousand silver notes!"
He muttered a few curses under his breath, and after calming down, he asked Moyang, "Moyang, we harbored some prejudices against you in the past, and that was our fault. Please don't take it to heart!"
The Second Elder at the side also hurriedly chimed in with a nod.
Moyang sneered inwardly, though on the surface he maintained a very calm demeanor. "People always say children speak without taboo, but they also say adults are magnanimous. I still have at least that much breadth of mind. Don't worry, two elders, I won't hold a grudge!"
The First Elder: "..."
The Second Elder: "..."
The faces of the two men darkened by more than half in an instant. Knowing that Moyang was doing this on purpose, they couldn't help mentally chewing him out, but for the moment they could only offer awkward nods—after all, they still had a favor to ask of him.
"First Elder, if you have something to say, just spit it out," Moyang said.
"Well, you see, Moyang, since you've received guidance from an expert and become an alchemist, do you happen to have any other pills with miraculous effects on cultivation?"
"I don't have the pills ready-made, but I do have the formulas. It's just that I'm lacking the corresponding medicinal ingredients here, so I'm afraid the First Elder will be disappointed." Moyang had been pondering how to squeeze a bit of oil and water out of these elders, and here they were.
Upon hearing this, the First Elder's face lit up with joy, and he hastily blurted out, "That's not a problem at all! As long as they can be refined, leave the matter of the ingredients to me!"
Moyang had been waiting precisely for those words. He nodded and said, "If the herbs can be found, leave the pill refining to me!"
With that, he picked up the wolf-hair brush from the desk and began writing away in brisk strokes. In just a few breaths, he stopped, handed the paper to the First Elder, and said, "These are part of the ingredients required for the Universe Pill. The Universe Pill possesses the power to reverse heaven and earth; once consumed, breaking through bottlenecks in the Heaven Mystic Realm is an absolute breeze. I already have some of the other ingredients here, so the First Elder needn't worry about those. As long as you can find these particular herbs, leave the rest to me!"
The First Elder hurriedly took the list of herbs to examine it. As he read on, his expression gradually turned somewhat unsightly, and a layer of sweat inevitably oozed across his forehead.
What kind of divine pill was this damn thing? The *partial* list of ingredients alone ran to over ten distinct varieties?
The crucial point was that the required quantities weren't small either.
Moyang had measured things out in his mind; the herbs he wrote down were all ones that could be purchased, though they certainly weren't ordinary ingredients.
"The Universe Pill is extremely difficult to refine. With my current level of alchemy attainments, it's very hard to succeed on the very first try, so the quantities are slightly elevated. We're all part of the same sect, and family doesn't speak of two different households—I'll handle the rest of the ingredients myself!" Moyang said, his face neither red nor his heart beating fast.
The First Elder couldn't help wiping the cold sweat from his forehead. This was going to bankrupt him.
Yet knowing nothing about alchemy and driven solely by the desire to improve his cultivation, he gritted his teeth, feeling as though his heart was bleeding, and nodded. "Alright, I'll gather the herbs as quickly as possible!"
The Second Elder at the side hurriedly spoke up as well. "If I were to put together a portion as well..."
Before he could finish, Moyang cut him off. "No problem! Finding ingredients isn't easy, but I keep that in mind. Both elders can rest easy!"
Moyang was already blooming with joy on the inside; this was precisely the effect he wanted.
Only then did the Second Elder lean over to look at the list of herbs. The moment his eyes scanned it, his face darkened instantly, and he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead in a continuous stream.
At this moment, Moyang looked at the Spring-Returning Pill formula in his hand and asked, "Are the two elders still planning to refine this one?"
"This... We'll refine it. The herbs... I'll go find them!" the Second Elder immediately replied, his tone resolute.
The First Elder hurriedly nodded in agreement, then asked, "Counting my share as well, do the herbs need to be prepared in an extra portion too?"
Moyang put on a troubled expression, nodded, and sighed softly. "Although this pill has decent efficacy, another kind of pill I know of has even better results. A single pill is guaranteed to leave both elders satisfied, but it requires two additional types of medicinal ingredients."
The two elders exchanged glances, sharp glints flashing in their eyes, and spoke almost simultaneously, "No matter! As long as it can be refined, everything else is trivial!"
Moyang nodded and immediately picked up his brush to list two additional ingredients.
Chapter 22: Blame My Innate Kindness
Until they stepped out of the courtyard, the First Elder and Second Elder were still wiping cold sweat from their foreheads. Yet both knew that their cultivation had stagnated for many years, and if they could break through by relying on this, it would be worth more than anything else.
Watching the First Elder and Second Elder depart from the courtyard, Moyang couldn't help bursting into laughter.
He felt that he had finally vented his pent-up frustration. The Universe Pill genuinely aided cultivation, but the ingredients required to refine it were nowhere near that extensive—there were only seven types in total.
As for the two extra ingredients he had added to the Spring-Returning Pill, Moyang had done so deliberately. In truth, they weren't needed at all; he was simply using the opportunity to stockpile a few more medicinal herbs. After all, the path of alchemy was long and arduous, and there would be plenty of places he'd need herbs in the future.
Furthermore, with Moyang's current mastery of alchemy, whether it was the Universe Pill or the Spring-Returning Pill, he could easily refine them now. He just needed to pay a slight bit of attention, and failing would be harder than succeeding.
Over the next few days, Moyang hid himself inside the Stone Tower to comprehend the Row Character Formula. Comprehending this movement technique a day earlier meant having an extra means of self-preservation a day earlier.
After several days of comprehension, Moyang's heart grew increasingly shocked. This movement secret technique was indeed unimaginably profound. He had already gradually grasped the basics of it, and after sprinting wildly through the Stone Tower for a single night, his speed was twice as fast as when he used the Lingxu Steps.