SECTION 36: Creating His Own Opportunity
By Gu Zhenren
June 18, 2014
The main hall was wrapped in a silence so profound that one could hear a pin drop.
Nearly every gaze was fixed on Chu Yun, a mixture of worry, schadenfreude, indifference, and anger palpable.
“It’s over, it’s over, Marquis Yi Dan found out after all,” Yun Wanqing lamented inwardly from behind Chu Yun.
In contrast, Chu Yun, the subject of everyone’s attention, remained calm, his eyes deep and placid as he met Marquis Yi Dan’s gaze without a hint of fear.
Had Chu Yun shown fear, Marquis Yi Dan might have erupted in rage. However, Chu Yun’s composed demeanor made Marquis Yi Dan pause. He thought, “If a junior possesses such composure, must I, an elder, resort to shouting?”
Unbeknownst to him, his anger began to subside.
Exhaling a deep breath, Marquis Yi Dan spoke again, “Very well, Yun Wuming. You shall be the first to share your thoughts. Tell us how to overcome this final hurdle.”
Marquis Yi Dan’s restraint brought Yun Wanqing a wave of relief. Yet, upon hearing his words, her heart tightened once more.
In her view, with so many present unable to solve this problem, Marquis Yi Dan’s insistence on Yun Wuming offering his opinion was clearly a deliberate challenge.
Yun Baishen cast a worried glance, but saw Chu Yun’s lips curve into a slight smile. Then, Chu Yun’s clear voice echoed through the hall, “I have a method that can completely refine the Second Spirit Light Pill.”
His words fell, and the crowd in the hall froze. Then, a clamor erupted, a wave of disbelief washing over them.
Everyone was stuck at the final step, making no progress for days. Now, someone confidently declared a method to completely refine the Second Spirit Light Pill.
“Kid, you can eat anything you want, but you can’t just say anything.”
“Did I just mishear that? Did he really say that?”
“Youthful impetuosity, making wild claims…”
“Quiet!” Marquis Yi Dan’s face grew stern as he raised his hands. With his command, the entire hall fell silent again.
“Speak. Speak boldly. It’s alright if you’re wrong, you’re just sharing your opinion.” Marquis Yi Dan’s eyes shone with intensity. He had reviewed Chu Yun’s prescription and was impressed by its ingenious creativity. In his memory, Chu Yun was a young man, talented and innovative. Perhaps he truly had a unique perspective that could solve the final problem.
A sense of anticipation began to stir within him.
Chu Yun rapidly scanned the room and then slowly began, “The final step in any pill refining process invariably involves expelling pill aura and integrating it into the pill liquid to form the finished pill. We are stuck here because the Second Spirit Light Pill is of Supreme grade rarity and its volume is immense. The pill aura required must be both pure and in colossal quantities. However, even Grandmaster-level Alchemists cannot meet this standard for pill aura…”
“Wuming, get straight to the point.”
“Everyone here is well aware of this problem; there’s no need to elaborate.”
“Hurry up and tell us your solution.”
The Alchemists urged him on impatiently.
Chu Yun, unfazed, continued at his own pace, “Before this, our solutions have all revolved around lowering the standards for pill aura. You all devised countless methods, but after careful calculation, the results were all unsatisfactory. The pill aura ultimately required still exceeded the capabilities of an Alchemy Grandmaster. Since that is the case, my proposal is – why not start by addressing the pill aura itself?”
“Address the pill aura itself?” The crowd exchanged glances. This was indeed a novel idea, but pill aura originated from the heart of dan. How could it be addressed?
“Continue,” Marquis Yi Dan’s eyes revealed extreme interest.
“We can gather a large number of people, collect their pill aura, and purify it. With enough individuals, we can achieve the standard required to refine the Second Spirit Light Pill,” Chu Yun stated calmly.
“This…” someone hesitated.
“It seems feasible!” someone exclaimed with excitement.
“It’s truly an unconventional approach, with a possibility of success,” another commented coolly.
Marquis Yi Dan fell into thought. The entire hall buzzed with discussion.
“Of course, this method has some drawbacks,” Chu Yun’s voice rose, instantly drowning out all other sounds. “We all know that Supreme grade pills have completely sublimated, becoming a new life form. They possess their own spirit and a pill soul. Some call them demon pills, on par with Demonic Beasts, Demonic Plants, and Demon Soldiers. Whoever expels pill aura and integrates it during the refining process will intrinsically form a bond with the demon pill upon its completion, making it easier to tame. To prevent the demon pill from automatically choosing a master, I suggest that the Alchemists expelling the pill aura should all be of the Yun Family’s direct bloodline.”
“Agreed.”
“Agreed.”
“I concur.”
After a moment of silence, one Alchemist after another voiced their opinions. Chu Yun leaned back in his chair, a faint smile playing on his lips. At this moment, he knew he had achieved his goal.
To refine this pill, individuals with Yun Family blood would be ideal, and the more, the better. This way, there was a high chance of seeing his mother.
After all, Moon Frost King was once a refining prodigy, rivaled only by Chu Yun’s father, Old Dan King, in their generation.
The Yun Family needed her to contribute pill aura, and Chu Yun needed such an opportunity to meet her.
Since he couldn’t wait for an opportunity, he decided to create one.
Chu Yun’s ingenious idea opened up a new world for all the Alchemists present. That very evening, the Alchemists calculated that Chu Yun’s method was indeed feasible. Everyone was overjoyed and filled with enthusiasm.
“When this pill is successfully refined, you will have made a great contribution!” Marquis Yi Dan declared on the spot, clapping Chu Yun on the shoulder in encouragement.
Envious gazes were cast upon him from all sides.
Marquis Yi Dan was known for his strictness and severity; receiving his praise was a great honor.
At this moment, Marquis Yi Dan was amiable and gentle, a stark contrast to his demeanor earlier in the hall.
Chu Yun smiled faintly, remaining unperturbed by praise or blame, and simply said, “Thank you for your commendation, Senior.”
The problem that had stumped everyone, Chu Yun had solved with relative ease due to his upbringing in Xingzhou, which offered a different perspective.
Only in Danzhou did pill refining necessitate the use of pill aura. Marquis Yi Dan and the other Alchemists present were native to Danzhou, and using pill aura had become ingrained in them, an instinct.
This, consequently, created a blind spot in their understanding. When faced with the problem, they hadn’t considered addressing the pill aura itself, instead focusing solely on the Second Spirit Light Pill.
Chu Yun, on the other hand, had always been studying pill aura. Ever since he learned of the ultimate ideal of pill refining – immortality through pills – he had become even more fascinated with the heart of dan and pill aura.
This made it easy for him to connect these concepts when faced with the current challenge.
With the final problem solved, the progress on the Second Spirit Light Pill surged forward at a breathtaking pace. After the previous suppression, the Alchemists’ passion and drive intensified tenfold as they approached the pill’s completion.
Three days later, the milky mist dissipated, and the Second Spirit Light Pill revealed its true form for the first time.
Below it, over six thousand carefully selected Yun Family members were gathered. They were positioned throughout White, gazing upwards, faces filled with fervor or excitement.
These individuals all possessed Yun Family blood. In the upcoming process, they would continuously expel pill aura for an entire hour. Their sole purpose was to completely refine this Supreme grade divine pill.
Marquis Yi Dan, who had been overseeing the refining process, and Chu Yun, along with more than ten others, were excluded from the city, as their bloodlines were not of the Yun Family.
Yun Baishen and the others, however, were within White. They were the main force behind this refinement.
Chu Yun’s gaze was intense as he watched from afar, fixed on a specific area in the center of White. A figure stood there.
He knew it was his mother, Moon Frost King.
“The accumulation of millennia, the efforts of more than a dozen generations, today, we shall reap the most bountiful harvest! Yun Family members, the most glorious moment of your lives is about to arrive. Witness the birth of a Supreme grade divine pill, witness the beginning of the Yun Family’s rise.”
The Yun Family Patriarch raised his arms and shouted, drawing a fanatical cheer from the Yun Family members. The atmosphere reached a fever pitch even before the refining began.
“Even if we exhaust our hearts of dan, we must persevere until the end. Now, let us begin!” Before his voice faded, the Yun Family Patriarch was the first to open his mouth and expel his heart of dan.
His heart of dan spun above his head, releasing a pale blue pill aura that formed a long plume of smoke, soaring upwards to merge with the Second Spirit Light Pill.
Countless others followed suit. In an instant, over six thousand hearts of dan, each unique, levitated, emitting wisps of pill aura like smoke. Like a hundred rivers converging into the sea, they all flowed into the Second Spirit Light Pill.
Not a sound was uttered. Tens of thousands of people in White City held their breath, silently observing the scene.
The spectacle was so awe-inspiring that even Marquis Yi Dan trembled with emotion.
Time flew by. As the pill aura continued to flow in, the Second Spirit Light Pill began to tremble.
Within its trembling, the Second Spirit Light Pill seemed to inflate like a balloon, growing larger. It was already larger than White city, and now it became even more immense, occupying nearly half of the sky in the Cloud Peak Garden’s small World.
Boom!
It suddenly erupted with intense, incandescent light, shining magnificently like billions of arrows piercing the sky. It swept away all impurities, instantly clearing the milky mist.
Countless people cried out in pain as they were struck by the sudden change. Their eyes burned, tears of blood streaming down. Some, more severely affected, lost their sight on the spot.
“Endure, keep enduring!” the Yun Family Patriarch roared. The Yun Family members gritted their teeth and persisted, their resilience moving the onlookers. Even those who had lost their sight never stopped expelling pill aura.
It was like a white sun.
As the refining continued, the light from the Second Spirit Light Pill intensified. Eventually, the entire secret realm was filled with white radiance, and no one could open their eyes in such an environment.
Except for Chu Yun.
His Innate Body allowed him to gaze directly at the Second Spirit Light Pill in the sky.
(To be continued)
