236: Extensive collection

Stepping out of Dean Lei Tian's office, Jiang Donghua felt the sunlight outside was somewhat dazzling, yet it carried an indescribable chill.

The cruel story echoed in his mind: his master's wife, Ning Ling's tragic death, his master's decades of forbearance and pain, and the colossal entity known as the Netherworld Sect...

"Alas..."

Ultimately, all the churning emotions coalesced into a long, helpless sigh.

He could do nothing, at least not for now.

His mood was vexed and anxious, yet he had nowhere to vent.

He could only hang his head, like a defeated rooster, and somewhat dejectedly returned to his quiet alchemy room.

The stone door closed again, completely isolating the outside world.

His fingers unconsciously caressed the dark storage ring his master had left him.

The cool touch seemed to slightly suppress the irritation in his heart.

"Master~"

He murmured to himself, his Soul Power once again sinking into the vast space of the storage ring.

Before, he had only given it a cursory glance, overwhelmed by the Earth-Rank Cultivation Method and the joy of impending breakthrough, and had not carefully examined what his master had truly left behind.

Now, with a complex state of mind, as if through touching these collections his master cherished as life itself, he could get closer to his master's past; he began to truly examine them carefully.

His gaze swept over rows of neatly arranged rare medicinal herbs, over the thick jade slips recording his master's lifelong alchemy insights, over various peculiar alchemy tools...

His mind traversed through the diverse treasures, attempting to use these things to distract himself and calm the unspeakable vexation.

Suddenly, his attention was drawn to several dark-gold scrolls placed separately in a corner, protected by a strange energy seal.

The aura of these scrolls was distinctly different from other Pill Formulas, more ancient and obscure, yet containing energy fluctuations that made one's heart palpitate.

With a thought, he carefully touched the seal with his Soul Power.

The seal, sensing the Fire Attribute Dou Qi in his aura, which was of the same origin as Mo Xuan's, and that familiar soul imprint, subtly fluctuated before quietly dissipating.

The contents of the scrolls came into his view.

Just by perceiving the first few words and the vast stream of information, Jiang Donghua gasped sharply, and the vexation in his heart was instantly replaced by extreme shock!

"This, this is?!"

"seventh-grade pills formulas?! And more than one?!"

His heart pounded wildly, almost leaping out of his throat!

seventh-grade pills formulas!

What kind of concept was that?

This was enough to drive countless Dou Huang experts, and even some primary Dou Zong, to madly fight over them!

Their value was absolutely comparable to a primary Earth-Rank, or even a middle-rank earth tier Dou Technique! They were truly treasures capable of serving as the foundational treasure of a powerful sect!

His master had actually left even this to him?!

After the shock came a surging warmth and an even heavier sense of responsibility.

His master had not only left him the obsession of revenge and the inheritance of alchemy, but also unreservedly bestowed upon him the most precious trump cards and resources, which he himself might not have been willing to easily use!

This gift was too heavy.

Perhaps his master also felt that seeking revenge was too risky, so he left these precious things behind.

Just as Jiang Donghua's mind was completely captivated by the dark-gold scrolls, and he was still reeling from their value, an anomaly occurred.

A faint fluctuation suddenly emanated from the dark storage ring, and an extremely ethereal light-and-shadow, yet bearing a Soul Power aura incredibly familiar to Jiang Donghua, slowly emerged.

The light-and-shadow condensed, vaguely taking on the appearance of Elder Mo Xuan, with a hint of gratification and teasing smile.

This was clearly a wisp of his Soul Power imprint left in advance, like a pre-set surprise Easter egg, waiting to be triggered after specific conditions were met.

The ethereal Mo Xuan smiled slightly, and with a tone as if he had long anticipated this, he leisurely spoke, his voice directly resounding in Jiang Donghua's mind.

"Haha, kid, not bad, really not bad. I didn't expect you to be able to touch the seal I left behind so quickly."

"It seems your Soul Power has already advanced enough to glimpse the threshold of the seventh-grade realm? Hmm, to be able to break through to a Seventh-Rank Alchemist, I am indeed quite pleased."

The design of this wisp of Soul Power imprint was clearly full of his master's mischievous humor and expectations.

It was like a prepared surprise gift box, meant to automatically open when Jiang Donghua truly reached the Seventh-Rank Alchemist realm, offering encouragement and further guidance.

Unfortunately, Jiang Donghua, at this moment, had stumbled upon it prematurely by relying solely on the storage ring's permissions and his master's unreserved inheritance imprint, plus a bit of luck, during his search, thus exposing this future surprise ahead of time.

The ethereal Mo Xuan image did not disappear due to Jiang Donghua's 'rule-breaking' action; it continued to transmit information according to its predetermined program.

His gaze fell upon the dark-gold scrolls.

"Since you can already access them, then take a look. These are some of the most precious Pill Formulas I have collected in my life, all of the seventh-grade, each with its own marvels. Study them well, and do not let me down."

As his voice faded, the information on the three scrolls seemed to become clearer, opening themselves up to Jiang Donghua.

His Soul Power carefully swept over these three invaluable Pill Formulas.

Just by delving slightly into the vast, star-sea-like seventh-grade pills formulas, which contained terrifying streams of soul information, Jiang Donghua felt an intense dizziness, and his Soul Power felt as if it were being gripped by an invisible hand, almost tearing apart!

He was so frightened that he quickly withdrew his Soul Power from the dark-gold scrolls, still feeling lingering fear.

"Hiss, what a terrifying information Impact!"

He rubbed his temples, which felt as if they were being pricked by needles, and secretly congratulated himself.

"With my current Soul Power, I am far from being able to read seventh-grade pills formulas. If I had forced myself to peek just now, I'm afraid my soul would have been instantly damaged, and falling into a coma for several days and nights would have been a light outcome!"

This was like a child trying to wield a thousand-pound hammer; not only would they be unable to control it, but they would also injure themselves.

seventh-grade pills involved profound realms of natural laws and the essence of energy, far beyond what he could currently touch.

Helplessly, he could only shift his fervent yet regretful gaze from those highest-grade treasures and turn it towards the neatly categorized area of Sixth-Rank Alchemist Pill Formulas next to them.

His master's collection was indeed incredibly rich.

The number of these sixth-grade pills formulas, if considered 'many' compared to the vast world of alchemy, perhaps thirty or so wasn't much, but if considered 'few,' for any Sixth-Rank Alchemist or most forces, this was an astonishing treasure trove that would make them green with envy to the point of madness!

It was enough to support the alchemy foundation of a massive sect!

His Soul Power, like nimble fingers, swiftly swept over these precious scrolls and jade slips, roughly glancing over the names and descriptions on their labels as if flipping through a book.

"Heart-Shattering Pill," "Calming Pill," "Dou Ling Pill"—various famous pill names in the Dou Wang and Dou Huang expert tiers flashed by, each one enough to cause a scramble if brought out.

Suddenly, his fingertip paused abruptly, stopping on a jade slip that emitted a faint golden glow and had a particularly grand and profound aura.

On the jade slip, three ancient, magnificent characters, seemingly imbued with supreme authority, instantly captivated his entire mind.

"Huangji Pill!"

Jiang Donghua's heart leaped, and he unconsciously held his breath!

This was a truly famous name, resounding like thunder!

As a genius student of the Alchemy Department, he had seen this name countless times in various ancient texts.

This was the top-tier pill coveted by countless Dou Huang experts!

Its effect was simple, crude, yet incredibly heaven-defying: it could help a Dou Huang expert increase their strength by one star, and incidentally, the medicinal effect could also temper the body.

Note, it was an increase of one star!

Not an increase in cultivation, but a direct leap across the star-level barrier!

One must know that at the Dou Huang expert level, every star's increase required immense energy and a long period of time, making it incredibly difficult.

One Huangji Pill was enough to save years, or even more than a decade, of arduous cultivation!