187: Chapter 187 Five Years, Mastery of Both Pills and Talismans

[Time flows like water; in the blink of an eye, five years have passed.]

[During these five years, Tang Xun barely stepped out of his door, completely immersing himself in Cultivating and improving his crafts.]

[In the cultivation room, an ancient Pill Furnace sat before Tang Xun. It was his spoils of war, and its quality was extraordinary.]

[His expression was focused to the extreme, his Divine Sense cautiously controlling the flames within the Pill Furnace.]

[The furnace fire blazed, and a rich medicinal fragrance mixed with a scorched smell permeated the air.]

[“Bang!”]

[With a muffled thud, the Pill Furnace vibrated violently, and a puff of black smoke rose from the top.]

[“Failed again.”]

[Tang Xun sighed, though there was no look of frustration on his face.]

[This was already his ninth attempt this month to refine the Fifth-Grade Medicinal Pill, the “Primordial Spirit Pill.”]

[The difficulty of refining a Fifth-Grade Medicinal Pill was more than ten times higher than that of a fourth-grade one.]

[It wasn't just about controlling the heat; it also involved a profound understanding of the Fusion of various medicinal properties, and even required a sliver of comprehension of the Alchemy Dao.]

[If not for his [Alchemy Genius (Purple)] trait, he likely wouldn't even have the qualifications to try.]

[“Damn, this is truly burning money.”]

[Tang Xun looked at the precious Materials that had turned into a furnace of waste residue, feeling a twinge of heartache.]

[The value of this single furnace of Materials was almost equivalent to a decent Magic Treasure.]

[It was only because he had ransacked the Youming Sect and had a thick family background; any other Nascent Soul Cultivator would have gone bankrupt long ago from such squandering.]

[He chuckled self-deprecatingly, not at all discouraged.]

[He stood up, not continuing the Alchemy, but pacing in the cultivation room, his mind constantly replaying every detail of the failure just now.]

[“When extracting the ‘Purple Soul Flower,’ the heat was still a fraction too fierce, causing a five percent loss in medicinal properties.”]

[“When fusing the ‘Dragon Saliva Fruit’ and the ‘Nine-Leaf Ginseng,’ the sequence seems like it could be adjusted...”]

[The effect of the [Epiphany (Purple)] trait quietly activated at this moment, and many previously incomprehensible bottlenecks suddenly became clear.]

[He paced and pondered like this for a full day and night.]

[The next day, Tang Xun's eyes regained their luster, filled with confidence.]

[He opened the furnace again, throwing a new batch of Materials into the Pill Furnace.]

[This time, his movements were as smooth as flowing water, every step precise.]

[Divine Sense was like silk, flames like an extension of his arm; everything was under his control.]

[Time passed minute by minute.]

[Seven days later.]

[“Buzz—”]

[The Pill Furnace emitted a clear and pleasant hum, and a refreshing pill fragrance suddenly diffused from the furnace, instantly filling the entire cultivation room.]

[A look of wild joy appeared on Tang Xun's face.]

[“It's done!”]

[He slapped the Pill Furnace hard, “Open!”]

[The furnace lid soared into the sky, and three longan-sized, perfectly round pills emitting purple light lay quietly at the bottom of the furnace.]

[On the pills, there were even faint pill veins, a sign that the Medicinal Pill's quality had reached High Grade.]

[“High Grade Primordial Spirit Pill!”]

[Tang Xun carefully took out the three pills and placed them in a jade bottle.]

[Feeling the vast and pure Soul energy contained within the pills, he knew he had succeeded.]

[From this day on, he, Tang Xun, had officially entered the ranks of Fifth-Grade Alchemists!]

[With the first success, the subsequent refinements went much smoother.]

[In the following two years, Tang Xun tried the Fifth-Grade Elixir Recipes he obtained from the Youming Sect one by one; his success rate grew higher and higher, and his Alchemy skills improved rapidly.]

[In his spare time from Alchemy, he did not neglect making Talismans.]

[The [Talisman Heart Clarity (Purple)] trait allowed his understanding of the Talisman Way to progress by leaps and bounds.]

[In the Talisman-making room, Tang Xun held a Talisman brush made of thousand-year-old Lightning-Struck Wood, holding his breath and concentrating.]

[Before him lay a golden Talisman Paper made from the skin of a fifth-rank Yao Beast.]

[The tip of the brush dipped into Talisman Ink formulated from various rare Materials, slowly moving across the Talisman Paper.]

[His movements seemed slow, yet they contained a mysterious rhythm.]

[With every stroke, the surrounding Spiritual Qi fluctuated.]

[The runes of a Fifth-Grade Talisman were a hundred times more complex than those of a fourth-grade one. Not only were there many strokes, but it also required connecting one's Divine Sense with the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to trigger a sliver of the power of Law.]

[“Sizzle!”]

[Halfway through the drawing, the Talisman Paper suddenly ignited without fire, instantly turning to ash.]

[Tang Xun shook his head and took out a new piece of Talisman Paper.]

[Failure, then try again.]

[Failure, then try again.]

[The consumption for making Talismans was not at all less than that of Alchemy.]

[Another two years passed.]

[On this day, in the Talisman-making room, golden light flared!]

[A golden Talisman floated in mid-air, its surface flowing with countless profound runes. A terrifying Gengjin Qi emanated from it, as if it could tear everything apart.]

[“Fifth-Grade Talisman, Gengjin Spirit-Shattering Talisman, it's finally done!”]

[Tang Xun looked at this Talisman, a satisfied smile appearing on his face.]

[Once this Talisman is activated, it can release a gengjin sword Qi comparable to the full-strength strike of an Early Soul Transformation Stage Cultivator, specifically designed to break through protective divine light and Divine Souls.]

[This is definitely a powerful weapon for killing those at a higher level!]

[In five years, he not only consolidated his cultivation at the peak of the Early Nascent Soul Stage but also successfully raised both his Alchemy and Talisman-making skills to the Fifth-Grade Realm.]

[Such an achievement, if spread, would be enough to shake the entire Central Continent.]

[Tang Xun put away the Talisman, feeling in high spirits.]

[He calculated the time; from the moment he got the [Ten Consecutive Draws (Green)] until today, exactly ten years had passed.]