With the name card given by Elder Bao from the Dao Field, Ye Zhen finally stepped smoothly into the resplendent mansion of the Black Water Pill King, gaining an opportunity to meet with the Black Water Pill King himself.
It must be said, as the foremost alchemist of the Black Water Kingdom, the Black Water Pill King’s status could almost rival that of an emperor.
When Ye Zhen arrived, there was a long line at the entrance of the mansion, reportedly all there to meet the Black Water Pill King.
The gatekeeper’s eyes were loftier than his head, and a hefty gold ingot of ten taels passed his way didn’t even get him to blink an eye.
This just goes to show how sought-after powerful alchemists really are.
However, even though his cultivation had not yet entered the Spirit Summoning Realm, Ye Zhen had no interest in learning alchemy.
Ye Zhen’s goal was to advance further in the martial arts, to gallop freely among the blue skies and white clouds.
As for something like alchemy that took up a vast amount of time and energy, Ye Zhen absolutely would not engage in it.
Under the guidance of Fum Qing, the Black Water Pill King’s senior disciple, through corridors and pavilions, it took a full quarter of an hour to arrive at a secluded courtyard filled with the thick fragrance of medicinal herbs.
"Please come in!"
After asking for permission to enter, accompanied by Fum Qing, Ye Zhen stepped into the Pill Chamber of the Black Water Pill King.
"Ye Zhen meets the Black Water Pill King!"
You don’t realize until you see it, and it’s startling when you do.
The Black Water Pill King was an unkempt, disheveled old man, but his hands were long and delicate, pure as jade, and his tiny eyes sparkled with brilliance!
"Old Bao introduced this talented young man as you?"
The Black Water Pill King didn’t even lift his head, merely discerned Ye Zhen’s aura with a slight fluctuation of his spiritual power, and frowned.
"So, you want to make pills, huh? Tell me, what pill are you intending to make? Are all the materials for the pill prepared? I’ll say this first, if it’s to make anything at the Earth Rank or lower, don’t even mention it. I don’t have the energy for that, nor the interest."
It appeared that the Black Water Pill King had sensed Ye Zhen’s cultivation and assumed that the grade of the pills Ye Zhen intended to make wouldn’t be too high, hence his previous statement.
"Senior Pill King, this junior intends to make Mid-grade and Low-grade Earth Level Demon Spirit Essence Elixirs. The only materials are Mid-grade and Low-grade Demon Cores."
"A Mid-grade Earth Level Demon Spirit Essence Elixir?"
The Black Water Pill King looked at Ye Zhen somewhat amazed. A Mid-grade Earth Level Demon Core was already highly valuable, each capable of significantly boosting a martial artist’s cultivation, even those in the Spirit Summoning Realm.
"Yes, Senior Pill King!"
"The grade of a Mid-grade Earth Level Demon Spirit Essence Elixir is indeed high, but the other medicinal ingredients needed to refine it are not so hard to find; I can provide them all here."
"So, for a Mid-grade Earth Level Demon Spirit Essence Elixir, including the other ingredients, it’s two hundred Low Grade Spirit Crystals! For a Low-grade Earth Level Demon Spirit Essence Elixir, fifty Low Grade Spirit Crystals for each pill!" the Black Water Pill King declared the price.
Ye Zhen’s expression subtly changed, the price for the alchemy was high.
Just the labor cost of making a Mid-grade Earth Level Demon Spirit Essence Elixir was a hundred Low Grade Spirit Crystals, equivalent to two hundred thousand taels of gold, or two million taels of silver.
However, the price was still within Ye Zhen’s acceptable range; even if it were higher, Ye Zhen would still need to proceed.
After all, resources were meant to enhance cultivation, and sitting on them was of no use whatsoever.
"Alright, no problem!"
Ye Zhen’s response astounded the Black Water Pill King and Fum Qing once again.
Given Ye Zhen’s cultivation and age, having such wealth was not simple.
"That’s good, then. Leave the Demon Cores and Spirit Crystals, and come to collect the pills after half a year!" the Black Water Pill King said.
"Half a year?"
Just about to take out the Demon Cores and Spirit Crystals, Ye Zhen suddenly paused; he had specifically come to the Black Water King’s City to find the Black Water Pill King for alchemy in hopes of a speedy process, looking to enhance his cultivation within a short period using the Demon Spirit Essence Elixirs.
"Senior, could this timeframe be...."
"Ye Zhen, my master has already favored you enough. To come and collect the pills after half a year, that’s already fast. Even princes have to wait half a year to a year for their pills," Fum Qing interjected.
"It’s not that, Senior Pill King, I urgently need these pills, this timeframe...."
p>As the Black Water Pill King was handling a few medicinal herbs, his face suddenly soured, and he became very impatient, "That’s the timeframe. If you don’t like it, leave!"
"Senior Pill King..."
"Fum Qing, show him out!"
"Please!"
Even though Fum Qing said ’please,’ his actions were clearly ushering people out.
Ye Zhen instantly felt frustrated.
He gritted his teeth and accepted it.
Half a year it is, then.
After all, only the Black Water Pill King could make the Mid-grade Earth Level Demon Spirit Essence Elixir. During this half-year, Ye Zhen would think of other ways to improve his cultivation.
"Alright, Senior Pill King, I’ll do it, I’ll do it!"
While speaking, Ye Zhen took out the Demon Cores and Spirit Crystals and offered them up, but the Black Water Pill King wouldn’t accept them, snorting coldly, "You want to make it, then make it. I’m not interested in making it!"
"Now go, stop wasting my time," the Black Water Pill King said, looking very impatient.
p>Ye Zhen was infuriated; he had always been respectful to the Black Water Pill King since entering, but for his own cultivation, Ye Zhen still clenched his teeth and accepted it.
"Senior Pill King, I was presumptuous earlier, please forgive me and give me another chance!" Ye Zhen bowed deeply in apology to the Black Water Pill King, even though deep down, Ye Zhen felt he hadn’t been at fault at all.
The Black Water Pill King was too domineering and too proud, almost unable to tolerate even a moment’s hesitation from others.
After all, the few hundred Spirit Crystals that Ye Zhen had could make him highly esteemed anywhere outside.
But faced with a sincere apology, the Black Water Pill King acted more directly this time.
With a wave of his hand, he yelled angrily at Fum Qing, "Why aren’t you driving them out? What are you stunned for?"
"Drive them out!"
The last three words were almost roared.
"Get out, get out quickly!"
Fum Qing grabbed Ye Zhen and started pushing him towards the door.
This time, Ye Zhen became thoroughly enraged.
"What are you doing? Stop pushing, let go, I can walk by myself!"
Seeing Ye Zhen getting angry, Fum Qing glared at him and scolded angrily, "You dare to lose your temper? Do you know where you are?
Do you believe that just one word from my master and no one in the entire Black Water Kingdom will dare to refine pills for you?"
"A little guy at the True Essence Fifth Realm, what are you flaunting? Get out!" Fum Qing slapped the bamboo basket on Ye Zhen’s back.
"Roar!"
A tiger head suddenly protruded from within the bamboo basket behind Ye Zhen, and a terrifying tiger roar immediately resounded throughout the area.
This sudden tiger roar frightened Fum Qing into falling on his butt.
Suddenly, an illusion shot out from the Pill Chamber of the Black Water Pill King and aimed a palm strike at the bamboo basket behind Ye Zhen.
Feeling the attack, Ye Zhen instinctively executed the Chasing Star Step, causing the palm strike to miss entirely.
The Black Water Pill King, who had just dashed out from the chamber, looked perplexed and even more astonished.
The palm strike missing its mark, the Black Water Pill King anxiously asked, "Is it the Cloud Winged Tiger? Don’t lie to me; I’ve already recognized it."
"That’s right, what do you want? Planning to snatch it?"
The accumulated fury, along with the sneak attack from the Black Water Pill King, made Ye Zhen lose all respect he had for the Black Water Pill King.
Without hesitation, Ye Zhen stimulated the Wind Cloud Sword Art, activating the sword momentum of his strongest sword technique, the Wind Cloud Sword Technique.
As Ye Zhen was engulfed by sword qi, the sword vein within him suddenly pulsed, and tens of thousands of strands of Spiritual Power Sword Light within the sword vein flickered in response, lighting up in unison.
Under the interaction between the sword qi and the divine power within his sword veins, Ye Zhen’s sword momentum surged, and the sword qi around his body suddenly expanded by three feet.
Instantly, it cut all the plants and grass around him to their roots.
Fum Qing and the Black Water Pill King’s expressions changed simultaneously.
The sword momentum around Ye Zhen was too powerful.
Even Martial Artists at the Spirit Summoning Realm couldn’t muster such powerful sword momentum, and this was still without Ye Zhen executing any particular sword move.
The Black Water Pill King narrowed his small eyes slightly and asked Ye Zhen, "Who did you learn from in the Qiyun Sect?"
A sense of extreme danger suddenly arose.
After briefly contemplating, Ye Zhen understood the reasoning behind it.
Given the high status of the Black Water Pill King, if he eliminated a disciple of the Qiyun Sect, it wouldn’t cause any significant trouble.
It would just be a matter of parting with a few precious pills.
The Qiyun Sect wouldn’t start an all-out war with the highly influential Black Water Pill King over an ordinary disciple’s death.
It wasn’t that the Qiyun Sect didn’t protect their own disciples, but everything was primarily for the greater good of the sect.
Just like the previous incident with Meng Chuan, they settled it rather casually under this overarching principle.
Even if they could win a fight with the Lishui Sect over the death of a disciple, the result would be a Pyrrhic victory, ultimately amounting to nothing consequential.
Ye Zhen guessed that the dangerous gleam flickering in the Black Water Pill King’s eyes reflected exactly this sentiment.
"I’m a disciple of Liao Feibai!"
After a brief thought, Ye Zhen declared Liao Feibai’s name.
As he announced the name of Liao Feibai, the sword qi around Ye Zhen intensified. If the Black Water Pill King made any suspicious move, Ye Zhen was ready to launch a full attack, even directly using the Origin Sword Vein from within his sword vein divine power.
With Ye Zhen’s Divine Soul Cultivation having broken through to the Capturing Realm, he was more than capable of activating the Origin Sword Vein once.
Regardless of whether it was the Black Water or White Water Pill King, if they dared to harm him, he would strike them down first.
"It’s that crazy woman Liao Rakshasa..."
With a faint mutter, a deep look of wariness appeared on the face of the Black Water Pill King.
People from Liao Feibai, the infamous Demon-faced Rakshasa, were not to be trifled with.
Unreasonable and completely disregarding any benefit exchange, if she knew that he, the Black Water Pill King, had taken something from her disciple, she would definitely stab a few holes in him before discussing anything else.
Although his cultivation was forcibly elevated to the Spirit Transformation Realm using pills, his combat capabilities couldn’t compare to his alchemy skills.
Moreover, the unreleased sword momentum from Ye Zhen actually made him feel genuinely intimidated.
Ultimately, the Black Water Pill King suppressed his slight greed.
"Snatch it? How could I, a Pill King, do such a disgraceful thing!"
"Kid, I’ll give you a chance! Just bring me a bowl of the saliva, the tiger saliva, from your Cloud Winged Tiger, and also some blood from its heart’s region, I’ll make an exception and refine the pill for you once again," confidently declared the Black Water Pill King.
Hearing this, Ye Zhen’s heart stirred, and he immediately sneered, thinking that just because you want it doesn’t mean you can have it so easily! (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to cast recommendation votes and monthly tickets at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)

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