303: Chapter 303 Treasure Artifact? Another Treasure Artifact?

"He introduced something special during the pill formation stage of his second batch," a Pill Hall Deacon whispered to his colleague, "After that wisp of green light seeped from his fingertips into the furnace, the speed and quality of the golden pattern formation far exceeded the first batch.

The depth and fullness of the first six golden patterns, to be blunt, could rival the handiwork of an average Elder."

"You saw it too?" the neighboring deacon nodded, "But that wisp of green light suddenly cut off at the seventh golden pattern, as if the supply couldn't keep up."

"Right, the issue isn't with his technique, but that the total amount of that substance he can call upon is insufficient."

"Then what if he could increase the total amount of that substance?"

"Likely very difficult, otherwise he wouldn't have failed."

The two deacons exchanged a look, neither continuing the conversation.

The answer was too obvious; if Su Cheng had enough Dao Rhyme to use, his performance during the pill formation stage would leave everyone else present far behind, including Shen Qing and Zhou Mingyuan, who had grasped true intent.

But the words "what if" are worthless in the cultivation world. Two of the five portions of Spirit Medicine had already been used, leaving only three chances remaining.

Su Cheng meditated in the independent space for two days, recovering from the expenditure of his Divine Soul and Qi of Creation.

During these two days, the light screen in the plaza was not idle.

Shen Qing started his third batch.

His Water Spirit Body had accumulated experience during the tempering of the first two batches, and his application of the true intent of water became increasingly proficient.

He made a change for the third batch: during the pill formation stage, he no longer used the spiritual power of the true intent of water solely to lubricate the collision of medicinal forces, but instead seeped it into the structure of the golden patterns themselves.

Water dissolves all things, and the golden patterns were no exception.

Under the infiltration of the water-blue spiritual power, the nine golden patterns became supple and elastic, and the repulsion during their merging was reduced to an extremely low level.

After the pill formed, of the nine golden patterns on its surface, six were clear and deep, while three had complete outlines but were slightly shallower; the spiritual quality had risen to a new level.

Medium Grade!

Shen Qing was the first among the fifty people to refine a Medium Grade nine-aperture golden spirit pill.

The moment this Medium Grade pill appeared on the light screen, the roar from the spectator area was even louder than when he had refined the Low Grade pill.

"Medium Grade! Heavens, a Medium Grade nine-aperture golden spirit pill!"

"It permanently increases the speed of spiritual power absorption and conversion by ten percent. If this thing were sold outside, I would dare to buy it if you dared to name a price."

"Priceless, yet unavailable," an Elder from a certain faction shook his head, "This kind of Medicinal Pill could never enter the market; no matter how many are refined, the Sect wouldn't have enough for its own use."

"Indeed, don't look at how many portions of Spirit Medicine were brought out for this competition; these Spirit Medicines are extremely rare. Those are three stalks of third-tier spirit medicine; imagine how many Spirit Stones they would sell for in the outside world!"

"Only the Danding Sect is rich enough to be so generous."

Zhao Zhengyang and Elder Fang were grinning from ear to ear in the spectator area. Several Pill Hall Deacons came over to offer congratulations; the two waved their hands in feigned modesty, but their mouths were stretched wide behind their ears.

On the high platform, True Monarch Yunyang spoke again, only two words: "Not bad."

A "not bad" from the mouth of a Nascent Soul Ancestor was a completely different matter from one spoken by a passerby. After these two words spread across the plaza, Shen Qing's status within the Sect rose another level.

On the other side, Wu Chen was also preparing his third batch.

His preparations were more thorough than others—no, one should say more extravagant.

Before starting the third batch, Wu Chen took out an object from his Storage Pouch that no one had ever seen before.

It was a small shovel forged from spirit silver, with the surface covered in dense Array Inscriptions circuits.

Embedded at the end of the shovel handle was a shimmering spirit bead, inside which spiritual power flowed on its own.

"A Treasure Artifact? Another Treasure Artifact?"

"Having a Treasure Artifact Pill Furnace isn't enough, he needs a Treasure Artifact for assistance too?"

"What is this shovel used for?"

People with deep backgrounds in the spectator area recognized this object.

Han Zhang whispered, "That is an 'Herb-Guiding Shovel,' specifically used for processing Spirit Medicine. A Treasure Artifact-grade Herb-Guiding Shovel can strip away surface Impurities from Spirit Medicine before it enters the furnace, and use the power of Array Inscriptionss to stabilize the medicinal properties in advance. With this thing, the repulsion when third-tier spirit medicine integrates into the medicinal liquid will be reduced by at least thirty percent."

"The Nascent Soul Ancestor really provided his Disciple with a complete set of gear." A Golden Core Elder from the Liu family nearby said with a sour tone.

After Wu Chen used the Herb-Guiding Shovel to pre-process the three types of third-tier spirit medicine one by one, he put them into the Pill Furnace.

Sure enough, the process of the three types of third-tier spirit medicine integrating into the medicinal liquid in the ninth step was much smoother.

During the subsequent pill formation stage, the thirty-six fine flames again controlled the temperature in separate zones, but this time Wu Chen's spiritual power consumption was reduced by twenty percent; the pre-processing of the Herb-Guiding Shovel saved him a large amount of spiritual power.

He poured all the saved spiritual power into the final compression stage of the nine-pattern unification.

All nine golden patterns condensed, and the collision of medicinal forces during the merging was precisely regulated by the temperature of the Glazed Pure Fire, forming the pill.

Medium Grade!

Wu Chen's third batch, a Medium Grade nine-aperture golden spirit pill.

As the second Medium Grade pill appeared on the light screen, the atmosphere in the spectator area shifted from amazement to excitement.

"Wu Chen is also Medium Grade!"

"Two Medium Grade pills in one day; this competition is too fierce!"

The two Golden Core Elders of the Wu Family were truly smiling this time, filled with heartfelt pride.

A Treasure Artifact Pill Furnace plus a Treasure Artifact Herb-Guiding Shovel plus the third-tier Glazed Pure Fire—no other Foundation Establishment Disciple could be found with this set of equipment.

How many resources the Wu Family invested for this competition was unknown to outsiders, but the results were visible to the naked eye.

On the high platform, True Monarch Yunyang glanced at his Disciple and nodded slightly.

He had not taken this Disciple in vain; his talent was high enough, his Heart-Nature was stable enough, and most importantly, after the first batch failed, he was able to deduce a synchronous refinement plan within a few days, refining a Low Grade pill in the second batch, and bringing out an auxiliary Treasure Artifact to precisely reinforce his shortcomings in the third batch.

This ability to constantly iterate in the face of adversity was more precious than mere talent.

With Wu Chen and Shen Qing both producing Medium Grade pills in one day, and Su Cheng producing waste in his second batch, the gap had opened up just like that.

The tone of the discussion in the plaza began to shift.

"Wu Chen and Shen Qing are the real contenders for first place, right?"

"Su Cheng is such a pity; that method from the first batch could only produce Low Grade, and he crashed when trying to push for quality."

"He still has three portions of Spirit Medicine, but given this failure rate, wanting to refine a Medium Grade..."

"And look, Wu Chen has the Herb-Guiding Shovel, Shen Qing has the true intent of water, what does Su Cheng have? Aside from a Treasure Artifact Pill Furnace and exotic fire, nothing."

"Thinking about the 109 biling pills from the first two rounds now, maybe it really was because he had practiced the biling pill countless times that he had that speed and stability; he just can't do it with a different Medicinal Pill."

"You can't say that; his first batch of five Low Grade pills was still very strong."

"No matter how strong a Low Grade is, it's still Low Grade; Medium Grade is the true watershed."

Su Cheng couldn't hear these words, but even if he did, he would probably just display that expression that left people unsure if it was calmness or indifference, then continue to sit in meditation with his eyes closed.

He adjusted his state in the independent space for two days and re-examined the cause of his second batch failure.

The Dao Rhyme decayed too quickly, and the supply broke at the seventh golden pattern.

The root of this problem lay in the transmission path of the Dao Rhyme from the Sea of Consciousness to the furnace being too long; every node it passed through in between caused a loss.

To solve this problem, one must either shorten the path or increase the initial output volume.

Shortening the path was unrealistic; this link was determined by the Meridians and couldn't be changed.

Increase the initial output volume? The total amount of Dao Rhyme he could call upon in his Sea of Consciousness was only so much, and he was already outputting at full capacity.

Then there was only the third path: reduce the loss of Dao Rhyme during the transmission process, which was the part absorbed by the Physical Body.

Su Cheng closed his eyes and began to deduce in his mind.