128: Chapter 128 The Nine-Turn Emperor Pill is Completed! Extending Lifespan by Two Hundred Years Stuns All Beings!

Half a day, a full half-day.

The hundreds of thousands of Cultivators in the Holy Pill City plaza stood from sunrise to sunset, and not a single person left.

Even breathing was light.

The void furnace floated above Lu Chen's head, and the Nanming Li Fire had already turned from its initial reddish-gold to pure white.

Inside the furnace, the essence of the twelve-grade creation azure lotus was repeatedly melted, separated, and recombined; every cycle was accompanied by the rise and fall of the Great Dao Sanskrit.

Nine true Dragon phantoms were coiled above the furnace mouth, the golden light across their bodies having mostly dimmed.

The divine Phoenix also folded its wings and lay quietly atop the furnace lid.

The phenomena were fading, which meant the medicinal power had been completely tamed and integrated into the Pill Embryo.

On the high platform's judges' bench, Yu Yao remained standing.

Her gaze remained on Lu Chen from start to finish, watching his every Hand Seal, every addition of medicine, and every round of heat control.

The more she watched, the more shocked she became.

Lu Chen's Alchemy techniques had completely deviated from the Alchemy System she knew.

There were no redundant movements, no tentative fine-tuning; every step was precise to the level of the Laws.

He wasn't refining pills; he was writing with the Laws of Heaven and Earth, and the Medicinal Pills were merely the product of his ink.

Qin Cangsong stood beside Yu Yao, the shock on his old face already numb, replaced by a deep sense of powerlessness.

"Void Alchemy, using the Laws as a furnace and Emperor Fire as a catalyst... I've refined pills for a lifetime, but in front of him, I'm no different from a common fire-stoker."

Yu Yao didn't respond; she was counting.

From the moment Lu Chen opened the furnace until now, the medicinal liquid had cycled exactly nine times; with each round, the essence of the creation green lotus was purified once, Impurities were stripped away, and the Origin was condensed.

Nine rounds of purification, Nine-Turn Alchemy.

Yu Yao thought of something.

Just then, a low hum emanated from the void furnace, and the entire furnace vibrated violently.

With the pill completion imminent, Lu Chen's hands formed the final pill seal; Emperor Fire flowed between his fingers, and a brilliant golden light shone from his glabella.

"It's the final step."

His voice was very soft.

Then, the sky collapsed. It wasn't a figure of speech; it truly collapsed.

In the sky above Holy Pill City, the clear sky that had been dispersed by Lu Chen's shout of "Begone!" suddenly cracked open without warning.

The rift wasn't large, only a hundred feet across.

But the aura leaking from the rift froze the blood of everyone present.

An eye.

Within the rift in the firmament, a massive eye that occupied the entire opening looked down.

The pupil was grey, devoid of any emotion, cold and indifferent, as if scrutinizing a swarm of ants.

The eye of heavenly punishment.

The materialized will of the Laws of Heaven and Earth. When a Cultivator refines a Heaven-Defying object that exceeds the limits of what the human realm can bear, the Heavenly Dao will descend Heavenly Punishment to obliterate it.

The entire plaza was instantly enveloped in a grey light.

Wherever that gaze fell, the air solidified, Laws distorted, the surface of the city walls built from Saint Grade Spirit Stones began to crack, and the Formation patterns on the nine-layered platform crumbled one by one.

Qin Cangsong's expression changed drastically as his Quasi-Emperor cultivation erupted with full force to protect the judges' seats.

"The eye of heavenly punishment! It's the eye of heavenly punishment! I've lived for ten thousand years and have only seen it recorded in ancient books!"

Yu Yao's face turned pale, but not from fear.

It was worry; she looked at Lu Chen on the Alchemy stage, her heart in her throat.

The terror of the eye of heavenly punishment was something even an Emperor had to take seriously, and Lu Chen was currently at the most critical point of Alchemy; any distraction meant total failure.

On the plaza.

Ye Qingxian held the heavenly emperor cauldron, her small face pale and her legs trembling.

Nangong Ziyi gritted her teeth, her Heavenly Yin Fire God Flame spontaneously protecting her, but under the pressure of the eye of heavenly punishment, the flame was no different from a candle in the wind.

Ji Ziyue summoned the void mirror to shield the three of them within it, but her own hands were trembling.

"Don't panic," Ji Ziyue's voice tried its best to remain steady.

"Emperor Yun will be fine."

When she said this, she didn't even feel confident herself.

On the Alchemy stage, the eye of heavenly punishment locked onto the void furnace, and a grey beam of light shot out from the pupil, heading straight for the Pill Embryo that was about to take shape in the furnace.

It wanted to destroy it.

The Heavenly Dao wanted to destroy this Heaven-Defying Medicinal Pill that should not exist in the human realm.

Lu Chen raised his head.

He looked at the giant grey pupil in the sky, his expression unchanged.

It wasn't composure; it was annoyance.

"You even interfere with my Alchemy."

He withdrew his left hand, maintaining the pill seal with one hand while his free right hand, with fingers pressed together and palm facing up, aimed at the eye of heavenly punishment above him.

Lu Chen's right arm was raised high, palm facing the sky, and then he struck upward fiercely.

Great Desolation Heaven-Imprisoning Finger.

This finger strike had no fancy special effects.

There was no radiant golden light, no cries of Dragons or Phoenixes, and no earth-shattering cataclysm.

There was only a force of absolute purity, surging from his palm straight into the firmament.

Bang!

A piercing hole was struck right through the center of the eye of heavenly punishment's pupil by this palm strike.

Clean through.

Punched in from the front, blasted out from the back.

The grey pupil shattered, cracks spreading frantically from the hole; that giant eye representing the will of the Heavenly Dao, under the disbelieving gazes of everyone, collapsed, disintegrated, and dissipated piece by piece like a broken mirror.

The rift in the firmament healed, and the light of the sky fell once more; the entire process took less than three breaths.

The eye of heavenly punishment, the ultimate sanction descended from the Heavenly Dao, was pierced through by one person, with one hand, and a single palm strike.

On the Alchemy stage, Lu Chen withdrew his right hand and patted his palm.

He didn't even look back at the wreckage in the sky.

The pill seal in his left hand never broke.

"Congeal!"

A thunderous shout.

The void furnace burst open with a bang.

It wasn't an explosion, but a blooming.

The pure white Nanming Li Fire spread in all directions, turning into a rain of light that filled the sky, and from within that light, ten Medicinal Pills soared into the heavens.

The Medicinal Pills were entirely azure, emitting a piercing light; on the surface of each pill were nine natural Innate patterns, with the Origin essence of the creation green lotus flowing between them.

A Nine-Turn Super Emperor Grade Divine Pill — the creation green lotus longevity pill.

Ten pills; the moment the Medicinal Pills emerged, their fragrance filled the air.

The fragrance wasn't strong; it was faint, like a passing spring breeze, but the moment it was inhaled, every Cultivator present felt the same thing.

Meridians operated on their own, spiritual power flowed automatically, and old hidden injuries within the body began to loosen under the cleansing of the pill fragrance.

It was merely the pill fragrance.

Before even entering the mouth or being consumed, just a single sniff had the effect of healing hidden injuries.

On the high platform.

Yu Yao's gaze was locked onto those ten azure Medicinal Pills.

"The creation green lotus longevity pill..."

She spoke each word emphatically.

"It is recorded in the immortal canon of yaochi: using the twelve-grade creation azure lotus as the main ingredient, purified through nine turns, and refined with an Emperor's Origin True Fire..."

She paused for a breath.

"A single pill can extend the life of any Cultivator by two hundred years."

"Including Emperors!"

"And there are no side effects!"

Extending life by two hundred years.

For minor Cultivators in the Blood-Moving Realm, two hundred years was more time than they could use in ten lifetimes.

For experts in the Xiantai Realm, two hundred years was an ample guarantee to consolidate their cultivation and charge toward the Saint Realm.

But for those lingering Old Emperors who lay in undying divine coffins, struggling to extend their lives...

Two hundred years was life itself.

It was something more precious than an entire continent, all Emperor weapons, and all Heaven And Earth Treasures combined.

And on the stage, there were ten.

The eyes of everyone present turned green with envy.

The gazes of hundreds of thousands of Cultivators were fixed on Lu Chen's hand, filled with greed, desire, and madness.

But not a single person dared to move.

The scene from just now was still vivid in their minds.

Even the eye of heavenly punishment was pierced through with a single palm strike; whoever went up would end up just like that eyeball.

In the distance, several Emperor Divine Senses that had already retreated began to stir again, but after sensing the undisguised Emperor Might from Lu Chen, they retracted once more.

Ling Yuling's Emperor voice, saying "I'm not dead yet," still echoed between heaven and earth.

Lu Chen alone was enough of a handful, and behind him was a Revered Master in the Emperor Realm.

It wasn't worth it, at least not now; among the Emperors, those two were considered the strongest in combat and the most resilient!

Threatening with death would certainly lead to a bad end for everyone, but those who hid in divine coffins were naturally afraid of death!

Unless pushed to the brink, they certainly wouldn't use lethal blows!

On the Alchemy stage.

Lu Chen raised his hand, and the ten creation green lotus longevity pills obediently fell into his palm.

He took out a white jade bottle from his Storage Ring and placed the pills inside one by one, his movements as casual as if he were packing pickled radishes into a jar.

In his mind, the System notification sounded right on time.

"[Ding! Flexing task complete! Disciple Ye Qingxian's Alchemy talent has been preserved!]"

"[The reward was given in advance and will not be issued this time.]"

"[Host's current Salted Fish Points +500, Lifespan +2 years.]"

"[Extra Evaluation: A textbook-level flex; This Palace gives you full marks! However, there is one shortcoming: you should have cupped your fists and said, 'It was just luck, just luck!']"

Lu Chen tucked the jade bottle into his robes and turned to walk down from the Alchemy stage.

His pace was slow, his Black Robe swaying gently in the evening breeze.

He walked down from the platform, and Ye Qingxian was the first to rush over.

"Revered Master!!"

"Revered Master, who is the pill you refined for?"

Lu Chen patted her head.

"For your Grandmaster."

Ye Qingxian was stunned for a moment, then nodded vigorously and buried her face in Lu Chen's robes.

Nangong Ziyi stood three steps away, still clutching that Purple-Gold Token; her peach-blossom eyes stared at the jade bottle in Lu Chen's arms, her lips moving, but in the end, she said nothing.

Ji Ziyue held a fruit plate, complex light swirling deep within her phoenix eyes.

On the nine-layered platform, Yu Yao slowly sat back in her chair.

She picked up the fresh cup of tea handed to her by a maidservant and took a sip.

The tea was bitter, but the corners of her mouth curled slightly.

A Voice Transmission silently entered Lu Chen's ear.

"This is a longevity pill refined for your Revered Master, isn't it? But some of the techniques used are from my immortal canon of yaochi."

"Lu Chen, when did you peek at my immortal canon of yaochi?"

"Or rather, back then when you climbed over the wall into Yaochi, what you stole wasn't just a Bellyband?"