Chapter Eighty-Six: The Essence Gathering Pill!

With this treasure in hand, Qi would soon set foot upon the path of cultivation.

After a month of torment, he had finally learned the art of commanding the wondrous pouch from the Great King of Gold and Wealth.

Qi Xiu felt at once that the thirty days of bitter endurance had not been wasted.

For thirty straight days he had been shut up with a toad reeking of filth.

Any ordinary man would have given up long ago.

“But now it is over at last. The hardship has given way to fortune.”

Cradling the jade-dark pouch, faintly gleaming with a treasure-light sheen, Qi Xiu softly intoned a series of awkward syllables.

A sliver of spiritual radiance lit the pouch in his hand.

The next moment, two strange perspectives appeared in his mind’s sea.

They were two mist-shrouded spaces, one to the left and one to the right.

The left-hand space was broad and empty, filled with thick, ink-green haze.

Countless tiny figures, no larger than ants, were scrambling about within it, as though trying to flee that uncanny space.

Qi Xiu peered closer.

Were those grain-sized silhouettes not the demons and fiends the Great King of Gold and Wealth had schemed into the spirit-gathering pouch?

The right-hand space, by contrast, was far more cramped.

Its shape was roughly circular.

An ancient and mysterious giant seal seemed to drift half-hidden upon the floor.

Heavy crimson mist stirred slowly through the air. No one was there, only a weighty and oppressive atmosphere.

“Two spaces: one to hold the captured beings, the other to refine the spirit pills.”

Comparing what the Great King of Gold and Wealth had handed over with the scroll in his possession, Qi Xiu lowered his left palm and formed a seal with his right hand, placing it atop the left.

Pill refinement!

Boom.

The pouch’s interior space abruptly shuddered.

The nearly hundred demons, monsters, and rogue cultivators in the left-hand space were instantaneously shifted into the space on the right.

The sudden change sent the whole crowd into panic. They screamed and howled, surging their power in desperate attempts to force their way out.

Watching those demons and evil cultivators struggle helplessly within the pouch, Qi Xiu felt a strange stirring in his heart.

So this was what it meant to “hold dominion.”

A single thought for life or death, and all was decided by me.

The strong control the weak.

The weak control those weaker still.

The primal law: the fittest survive.

If he did not wish to become the “ingredient” beneath another’s gaze and control, then he could only grow stronger without ceasing.

He had to become the one who controlled.

His resolve, somewhere in the dark, grew firmer still. Qi Xiu’s gaze sharpened, and he directly activated the pill-refining method.

The wondrous powers of the spirit-gathering pouch awakened once more.

The ancient and mysterious seal, faintly visible upon the floor of the crimson mist space, suddenly burst into blazing light.

“Aaaah!”

Struck by that radiance, the demons and evil cultivators let out shrill, pitiful screams.

Their bodies were like candles to a flame.

Little by little, they melted into slurry, then slowly evaporated away.

In the end, only the tiniest trace of scarlet essence remained; all the rest was reduced to nothingness.

Nearly a hundred demons and evil cultivators.

In less than half an hour, they had all been refined away.

When it was done, only six pills remained in the crimson mist space.

Each was perfectly round, as large as a baby’s fist, with faint gleams drifting over their surfaces and a rich fragrance rising from them.

“So this is... the Spirit Essence Pill?”

Qi Xiu took out the miraculous medicine said to grant formidable progress to anyone below the threshold of awakening to the path, and the moment his fingers touched it, he froze.

A flash of delight appeared in his eyes.

“I was muddled. Since it is refined with pill arts, it is not as though only medicines made by mundane means can count.”

He slapped his own forehead and laughed heartily.

Since this spirit pill had been refined by his own hand, that meant he could imitate its medicinal force directly with the Medicine Talisman.

Though its effect was only one-tenth of the original, the Medicine Talisman consumed merely his own mental and spiritual effort.

In short: zero cost.

Yet this spirit-gathering pouch required the flesh and blood of living beings as materials before one could refine Spirit Essence Pills.

If he could not find enough demons and evil cultivators, then even possessing the pouch would be useless.

Just like the Great King of Gold and Wealth, who had lacked materials and so lured those demons and rogue cultivators over under the pretext of a longevity banquet, intending to use them as pill-refining ingredients.

But now it was different.

With the Medicine Talisman as his foundation, he would no longer have to worry about cultivation resources.

“What a pleasant surprise. What a pleasant surprise indeed.”

Beaming so broadly that he could hardly close his mouth, Qi Xiu paced back and forth in that dim, cramped cave, occasionally letting out a laugh he could barely suppress.

It took a long while before his excitement finally subsided.

Finding a clean rock, Qi Xiu sat cross-legged, raised the baby-fist-sized pill, and slowly sent it into his mouth.

Gulp.

His throat bobbed as he swallowed the rather large pill whole.

“If your throat were any smaller, wouldn’t that choke a man to death...”

His muttered complaint had barely left his lips when a vast surge of pure, concentrated vitality suddenly erupted from his stomach and abdomen.

His body seemed to plunge into molten iron of unimaginable heat. His skin turned red, and blue veins bulged up beneath it.

The medicinal essence within the Spirit Essence Pill was simply too rich.

Caught unprepared, Qi Xiu was struck by that sudden burst of energy before he could react, nearly swollen apart on the spot.

Forcing himself to stabilize the turmoil within, he swiftly circulated the three inner cultivation scriptures in his body, gulping down and devouring the excess vitality at the fastest possible pace.

With his eyes tightly shut, white mist rose all around Qi Xiu.

The Purple Extreme True Art and the Azure Pool Hidden Scale Scripture had both already reached their highest level and could no longer absorb too much vitality; the one taking the lead was still the Great Crimson Tiger-Form True Art.

Thoughts surged in his mind.

Qi Xiu split his focus into three.

With the Purple Extreme True Art and the Azure Pool Hidden Scale Scripture, he protected every meridian in his body.

He prevented the vitality from running wild.

Then he let the Great Crimson Tiger-Form True Art absorb and refine that energy, raising its mastery.

In this way, not a shred of the pill’s power would be wasted.

Beads of sweat the size of soybeans kept breaking out on his forehead and cheeks. Maintaining and circulating the three inner scriptures at once caused severe spiritual exhaustion, and Qi Xiu’s face grew noticeably paler.

Thus he remained immersed in cultivation.

He did not know how many cycles of day and night had passed.

Suddenly, Qi Xiu opened his eyes, and the void behind him stirred faintly.

A giant tiger, with red vertical stripes all over its formidable, majestic body and radiating an intense aura of mountains, wilderness, and savage antiquity, slowly stepped out.

Roar.

It lifted its head and roared, the fierce soundwave taking on a near-solid form.

The entire cave trembled, shaking and quivering as dust and stones fell in torrents, raising layer upon layer of mist.

“The second inner scripture is complete.”

A faint smile on his face, feeling the rich and weighty power within him, Qi Xiu flicked his fingers and sent out a blazing burst of energy.

In an instant, the damp and gloomy cave grew warm.

It was as though every trace of moisture had been steamed away.

“If all the demons in the spirit-gathering pouch are refined, there should be about ten Spirit Essence Pills.

“To forge the secret meaning of the Unified Origin Dragon-Tiger Scripture, the true arts and inner scriptures must each account for half, making ten parts in all for perfect completion.

“By that reckoning, the remaining spirit pills will be just enough for me to cultivate the other true arts and inner scriptures.

“Looks like that Great King of Gold and Wealth truly is my lucky star.

“A veritable little god of fortune.

“Without it, who knows how long it would have taken me to forge the secret meaning of the Unified Origin Dragon-Tiger Scripture?”

Both the spirit-gathering pouch in his hand and the entire box of true arts and inner scriptures had come from the Great King of Gold and Wealth. Qi Xiu smiled and shook his head, then a sharp, piercing light flashed in his eyes.

Now everything was ready.

All that remained was to grind.

...

“Still no news. It has been a month now. Could something have happened to him?

“With his cultivation, even if he could not win, escape should not have been a problem.

“Could he have run into an awakened demon?”

In the residence of the Song family in Treasure River County, Song Tingye had sent people to inquire after Qi Xiu several times, but no trace of him had ever been found.

“It is not impossible. According to reports from several quarters, the province is already in complete chaos.

“Demons fleeing here from the Xiangchu Great Province are stirring up trouble everywhere.

“They have even invited demons and evil cultivators from other provinces over as guests.

“Add to that sectarian rebel forces like the Golden Flower Mother Cult, as well as bandits, refugees, and even insurgent armies roaming and entrenched in various places.

“The imperial forces are too busy suppressing them to keep up.

“In some prefectures, there are even horrifying cases where an entire county’s population has been devoured by demons.”

Sun Yueting’s expression was grave.

The disorder in the Yunchuan Great Province was growing more and more severe.

Though Treasure River County remained relatively peaceful for now, judging from the present situation, no one could say when demons and evil cultivators might sweep in.

By then, who knew how many people would die?

“In the end, isn’t it because our regional lord is getting old?”

With eyes deep and unreadable, Song Tingye opened his mouth with words so rebellious they could have cost him his head a thousand times over.

“The Gao line, because of that civil strife, lost its young regional lord, and two-thirds of the younger generation were wiped out.

“That left a great clan that had dominated an entire province in a miserable state, with neither the young nor the old properly in place.

“If that young regional lord were still alive, then Gao Tianxiong, with his withered and aged body and half a foot already in the grave, would not need to travel the province in person.

“He is only trying to intimidate the petty thieves and monsters in the province while he still breathes.

“Alas.

“Too many people know exactly how weak his body is.

“Such tricks, how many can they truly deceive?”

Just as Song Tingye was shaking his head and sighing that a great clan might soon be entering decline, a black hawk flew in and landed steadily on Sun Yueting’s arm.

Taking the letter from the hawk’s leg, Sun Yueting opened it and his expression changed at once.

“Young master, there is new information.”

“Oh? Speak.”

“This morning, the frontier command yamen issued a regional decree.

“From this day forward, all sects and aristocratic houses within the Yunchuan Great Province must send people to participate in the extermination of the province’s demons, evil cultivators, rebels, and bandits.

“Territory is to be divided by a radius of five hundred li from each stationed locality.

“All demonic disasters and fiendish calamities committed within that territory are to be dealt with first by the sects and families assigned there.

“The frontier command yamen will immediately dispatch circuit inspectors.

“Anyone who refuses the order will at once be judged a heretic and traitor, and the frontier command yamen will personally lead the troops to suppress them.”

After hearing Sun Yueting’s report, Song Tingye’s expression was wonderfully complex. After a long while, he muttered:

“So the Gao family is... getting anxious.”

“Young master, do you think those sects and aristocratic houses will obey this regional decree?” Sun Yueting asked, somewhat doubtful.

“Disobey? Gao Tianxiong is not dead yet. To say the frontier command yamen will lead troops to suppress them is just polite phrasing.

“When the time comes, it will surely be the Gao family itself going over to settle accounts.

“Gao Tianxiong may be old and decrepit, but a tiger remains formidable even in old age.

“As long as he is still alive for a single day, no one will dare defy his command.

“Heh heh heh. But to be driven to such a measure means the situation in the province has already exceeded the Gao family’s control.

“They have no choice but to borrow the strength of the great houses and sects to steady things.

“Interesting. Truly interesting.

“This game of chess is only getting more and more splendid.”

...

The End of Chapter 1