Chapter 4423 Peerless Grade Heavenly Tribulation
When three Sacred Light Pistils entered the Earth Cauldron, the Earth Cauldron’s runes lit up, and divine light condensed into eighteen barriers around it.
“I’m too weak in my current state. In order to fully lock down the Sacred Light Snow Lotus Pill’s sacred nature, I will require outside power. Are you alright?” asked the Earth Cauldron.
“I’m fine.”
Long Chen nodded. The Earth Cauldron had used his Spiritual Strength to create these barriers, preventing the pill’s energy from leaking.
After all, the Sacred Light Snow Lotus Pill’s sacred energy was extremely precious, and even the Earth Cauldron cared about it immensely. It even chose a secluded place far from the academy for the refinement.
As Huo Linger’s flames rose, Long Chen saw the three Sacred Light Pistils start to melt. Contrary to other medicinal ingredients, they didn’t turn into powders but a liquid ice crystal instead.
When it turned into a fist-sized crystal, the majority of it suddenly vanished, leaving behind only a thumb-sized crystal.
Following this, various precious medicinal ingredients flew out of Long Chen’s primal chaos s.p.a.ce, entering the Earth Cauldron. Long Chen didn’t need to do anything. He just had to watch.
The next moment, currents flowed through the barrier, merging into the Earth Cauldron. Long Chen realized that the Earth Cauldron was extracting the power of the ten thousand Daos for this refinement.
“d.a.m.n, if it were another pill furnace, absorbing this much energy from heaven and earth would have caused it to explode.”
A vast surge of energy was pouring into the cauldron, and Long Chen’s heart shook just by sensing its magnitude. He would also absorb the energy of heaven and earth when he refined pills, but it was barely a smidge compared to what was being absorbed now.
The Earth Cauldron resembled a whale engulfing water, and even Long Chen couldn"t shake off the concern of a potential explosion due to the sheer magnitude of this energy influx.
As expected of a Saint pill, its power really is terrifying.
Suddenly, Long Chen felt a burst of pain in his soul. At this moment, his Spiritual Strength poured into the Earth Cauldron, causing Huo Linger’s flames to instantly reach their peak. Within the cauldron, astral winds and lightning erupted, as if millions of wild beasts were engaged in a fierce battle. Wild energy raged within the cauldron.
Despite Long Chen possessing Pill Sovereign memories and extensive experience with alchemy, this was his first time seeing such a thing.
There was no need for him to do or control anything. He was just like a spectator, watching the refinement process from within the cauldron—a novel experience for him.
Inside the Earth Cauldron, tens of thousands of energy currents clashed, repelling and merging. They seemed to form alliances and jointly combat common foes. This frenzied skirmish compelled these power streams to unleash their utmost potential. Victory meant absorbing others, while defeat equated to being devoured.
As there were too many streams of energy, the battle was incredibly intense. Long Chen’s Spiritual Strength was rapidly exhausted.
Suddenly, the Earth Cauldron quivered, and Long Chen"s soul eased. He couldn’t help but sigh with relief, realizing that his Spiritual Strength was now down to thirty percent.
Even without a prompt from the Earth Cauldron, Long Chen hastily consumed a soul nouris.h.i.+ng pill to swiftly replenish his depleted Spiritual Strength.
Long Chen’s Spiritual Strength had barely recovered to eighty percent when the Earth Cauldron could no longer prevent those energies from fighting, and the intense battle started once more.
Left with no other choice, Long Chen had to stop recovering and use his Spiritual Strength to help the Earth Cauldron control these energies.
As they devoured each other and merged, they were eventually reduced to just a few streams of energy. However, each of those energies grew gradually stronger.
The stronger they grew, the greater the burden they placed on his Spiritual Strength. It was his first time feeling that his Spiritual Strength was severely lacking.
Fortunately, the Earth Cauldron would take control when Long Chen felt like he was about to run out of strength, giving him time to recover.
Several times, he felt like his head would split open, and he would faint. But fortunately, he managed to hang on.
Eventually, those streams of energy were reduced to just two. They crazily fought each other, and after countless clashes, they finally merged into one.
Once they merged into one, Long Chen let out a sigh of relief. He felt powerless now.
“You don’t have that much time to rest. I will stall the condensation of the pill, and you have to recover to your peak as fast as possible,” urged the Earth Cauldron.
Hearing this, Long Chen took a deep breath and consumed a soul nouris.h.i.+ng pill again. His Spiritual Strength rapidly recovered. The condensation of the pill was the most challenging phase, with success or failure hinging on this critical step.
Six hours later, a booming noise startled Long Chen out of his meditative state. Looking up at the sky, he was shocked to see that the world had darkened.
Tribulation clouds covered the sky, charged with lightning. An ominous aura of destruction permeated the air, causing Long Chen"s hair to stand on end. He didn’t know how many times stronger this tribulation was when compared to his World King tribulation.
“What kind of heavenly tribulation is this?!” inquired Long Chen.
“It’s peerless grade heavenly tribulation,” answered the Earth Cauldron.
“Peerless grade heavenly tribulation?! Are you saying…?” Long Chen looked inside the cauldron. Nine pills spun rapidly inside, and each of them was covered in profound lines. They were like nine stars containing unimaginable power.
“Impossible! There can only be one peerless grade pill of its own kind in the world!”
The term “peerless grade” inherently suggested exclusivity, signifying that no other pill could attain its level.
For example, if a person had a peerless grade Sacred Light Snow Lotus Pill, then no one could refine a second peerless grade Sacred Light Snow Lotus Pill.
However, if a person really did have some heaven-defying power and managed to refine a second peerless grade Sacred Light Snow Lotus Pill, then the moment it formed, the first peerless grade Sacred Light Snow Lotus Pill would fall apart.
Thus, peerless grade pills were essentially legends, and almost no one had ever seen one before. Yet, the legends about them were so common that almost everyone knew of them.
Inside the Earth Cauldron were nine pills in the process of formation, yet they had already surpa.s.sed the confines of a top-grade golden pill. There was a qualitative distinction.
Having witnessed the peerless grade pill refined by Yu Qingxuan, Long Chen recognized that these nine pills were also of peerless grade. This revelation left him utterly flabbergasted, toppling his understanding of alchemy.
“Saint lightning has appeared to destroy these nine pills. Have Lei Linger come out to enjoy their baptism. Also, you should prepare yourself. Awakening the spirits of these pills demands your full Spiritual Strength. Success or failure will depend on this,” instructed the Earth Cauldron.
Long Chen called out Lei Linger, and as the Earth Cauldron quivered, Long Chen slammed his hands on it, channeling his Spiritual Strength into it without restraint.
The nine pills inside suddenly lit up as if they had been bestowed with life. At the same time, a bolt of lightning came cras.h.i.+ng down from above the nine heavens.
BOOM!
Lei Linger charged into that bolt of lightning. Following that, a shocking scene unfolded before Long Chen—Lei Linger was blasted to bits by that bolt of lightning.