“Damn it, even you are going against me. What use are you?”
Elder Monkey was furious and kicked the door to pieces with one foot.
Seeing this, Elder Sheep advised, “Old Monkey, why take it out on a door? You have broken it, and you will have to repair it yourself later.”
Yes, this palace has no guards at all. This room is an important place for storing pill formulas. I cannot let those little demons come in. If I do not repair it, who will?
Bloody hell, I have screwed myself over.
Elder Monkey was so angry he nearly spat blood. He rushed out quickly, deciding to get some fresh air first.
As soon as he left, Elder Sheep said, “Brother Ye, I have been in the demon clan for so long, and I have never seen Old Monkey like this.”
“You are too amazing.”
“Now thinking about it carefully, it is still the Lord who is farsighted.”
Elder Sheep said, “The Lord asked you to first follow Elder Monkey to refine pills. He must have known your alchemy talent inside out and calculated that you would gain huge benefits from Elder Monkey.”
“I have to say, the Lord is really good to you!”
Ye Qiu smiled. “Little White Fox is good to me. Later, I must thank her properly.”
“There is no rush to thank the Lord. You should first look at the heaven-grade spiritual pill.” Elder Sheep said, “I wonder what spiritual pill Old Monkey gave you?”
Ye Qiu looked at the wooden box, feeling some curiosity and some excitement inside.
This was his first time seeing a heaven-grade spiritual pill.
“Elder Sheep, it is said that powerful spiritual pills can develop spiritual intelligence. If I open the wooden box rashly, will the spiritual pill fly away?” Ye Qiu asked.
Elder Sheep replied, “Brother Ye, you are worrying too much. I have never seen a pill that can develop spiritual intelligence. It must be at least a saint-grade pill. As for heaven-grade pills, apart from their powerful effects, they are similar to ordinary pills in other ways.”
“I see.” Ye Qiu no longer hesitated and directly opened the wooden box.
The next second, a rich pill fragrance rushed towards him, then filled the entire room.
Instantly, Ye Qiu felt energised.
Following that, he looked inside and saw a black pill in the box. It had six pill patterns on its surface, uneven and rough-looking. If not for the extremely rich pill fragrance, he might have thought it was a waste pill.
Vital Energy Pill!
Ye Qiu recognised it at a glance.
“Old Monkey is really stingy. He actually gave you a low-grade heaven-level Vital Energy Pill.”
Elder Sheep said, “Although it is only low-grade heaven-level, the effects are still good.”
“Brother Ye, if you take this Vital Energy Pill now, you can break through to the Nascent Soul realm in one go.”
Ye Qiu closed the box and threw the Vital Energy Pill into his Qiankun bag.
“Brother Ye, what do you mean by this? Are you not planning to take the Vital Energy Pill?” Elder Sheep felt surprised.
Ye Qiu smiled. “I am now at the extreme of the Cave Heaven realm. As long as the timing is right, I can break through to the Nascent Soul realm.”
“Taking this heaven-grade pill now would be too wasteful.”
“I will keep it for now and take it later!”
Elder Sheep nodded. “That is good too. In any case, this Vital Energy Pill can improve cultivation. Below the Spirit Severing realm, taking this pill is effective.”
“Brother Ye, let us go see Old Monkey!”
At that moment, the two left the room.
As soon as they came out, they saw Elder Monkey in the courtyard gulping down wine. The wound on his forehead from hitting the door had completely disappeared.
“Old Monkey, do not drink alone. Give me some.” Elder Sheep said, “Let us celebrate for Brother Ye together.”
Celebrate my arse.
He won so many of my spiritual herbs and even got a heaven-grade pill from me. I feel like dying. How could I be in the mood to celebrate?
Elder Monkey took a fierce gulp of wine, suppressing his depression, and asked, “Kid, how did you manage to memorise one hundred thousand pill formulas in such a short time?”
Ye Qiu smiled. “My memory has been good since I was young. Anything I see, I can remember with just one glance.”
“You are talking nonsense.” Elder Monkey did not believe it at all. “Even if you can remember each pill formula with just one glance, you could not memorise one hundred thousand in one night.”
“Kid, I am in a bad mood.”
“You had better be honest. Do not force me to get rough.”
“Alright, I will tell the truth.” Ye Qiu said, “I once encountered a master by chance. He imprinted many pill formulas in my mind, far more than one hundred thousand. I have long been able to recite backwards the pill formulas in that room.”
Who are you fooling?
Why did you encounter a master, but I did not?
This must be your excuse.
Elder Monkey said, “No matter how you did it, I am too lazy to ask. Anyway, everyone has secrets.”
Having said that, Elder Monkey remembered he was not human and added, “Demons are the same. They have secrets too.”
Elder Sheep pressed, “Old Monkey, what is your secret?”
“Mind your own business.” Elder Monkey glared at Elder Sheep.
Ye Qiu asked, “Elder Monkey, does this mean I have passed the second stage?”
“You have passed.” Elder Monkey said, “Ye Changsheng, passing two stages in a row shows your talent is good.”
“However, you must not become arrogant.”
“You need to know that pride leads to downfall, while humility leads to progress. Understand?”
Ye Qiu said, “I understand.”
“Very good.” Elder Monkey said, “Now I will take you to a place.”
Having said that, he grabbed Ye Qiu’s shoulder and flew into the air.
“Old Monkey, where are you taking Brother Ye? Wait for me.” Elder Sheep said this, then shot into the sky and chased after them.
Not long after.
Elder Monkey, Ye Qiu, and Elder Sheep appeared on a mountain peak.
The peak was about ten thousand zhang high, majestic in momentum, with beautiful scenery.
“Look down below.” Elder Monkey pointed with his hand.
Ye Qiu looked down and saw dense canyons at the foot of the mountain, at least several hundred, stretching out endlessly as far as the eye could see.
Each canyon was filled with mist, making it impossible to see clearly what was inside, but Ye Qiu could distinctly sense a towering wave of heat in every canyon.
Elder Monkey explained, “Smelling to identify herbs is the first step.”
“Memorising pill formulas is the second step.”
“As for the third step in pill refinement, it is mastering fire control techniques.”
“And the prerequisite for mastering fire control is to obtain a strange fire.”
Ye Qiu asked, “What is a strange fire?”
Elder Monkey said, “The so-called strange fires: some are carried by falling meteors from the sky, some are born at the intersection of extreme cold and extreme heat places, some are condensed from the starry universe with the power of stars… In short, they are extremely rare.”
“Each strange fire is nurtured by heaven and earth. It is difficult to find a second similar fire in the world.”
“These strange fires are immensely powerful. Some even possess special abilities. Using them for pill refinement achieves twice the result with half the effort. Especially for refining high-grade pills, alchemists must rely on the help of strange fires.”
Elder Monkey pointed at the canyons below and said, “There are nine hundred and ninety canyons down there in total.”
“Each canyon has a strange fire sealed within it.”
