Inside Greenmount Courtyard, in a building wreathed with pill aura.
Ancestor Martin looked at Ian Song with deep admiration—this disciple’s soul strength already far surpassed Martin’s own at the same age.
Back then, when he first apprenticed under his master, he managed to deduce all 108 Pill Formulas from the stone pillars too—but it took him a full two hours.
Yet his own disciple hadn’t even used up a single hour.
“Master, there’s something you may not know—the young master has even created his own pill-refining Divine Ability!”
Uncle Yule spoke up again.
“Oh?”
Ancestor Martin raised his eyebrows slightly. “Disciple, show your pill-refining Divine Ability to your master.”
“Yes, Master!”
Ian Song nodded, took out several hundred Immortal Medicines, and activated his Pill Condensation Technique Divine Ability. Instantly, a mysterious force enveloped the medicines, melting them down in moments. Their essences fused rapidly under that power, forming pill after pill.
After just a few dozen breaths, Ian had already refined a hundred top-grade Immortal Yuan Pills.
Watching Ian’s pill-refining process, Ancestor Martin couldn’t help but show a flash of surprise—even for him, refining a batch of top-grade Immortal Yuan Pills took at least half a quarter-hour.
He said, “Your pill-refining Divine Ability really is extraordinary. Can you refine even higher-tier Immortal Pills?”
“I can!”
Ian nodded again and proceeded to refine a batch of top-grade Immortal Essence Pills, then a batch of top-grade Elephant-Origin Pills.
Seeing Ian’s Divine Ability could even produce top-grade Elephant-Origin Pills, Ancestor Martin’s face showed even greater astonishment.
“Can you refine even higher-tier Immortal Pills?”
Ancestor Martin asked again.
“I haven’t tried—I don’t have enough Immortal Medicines on hand,” Ian said.
“Take these. Give it a try!”
Ancestor Martin directly tossed Ian Song a Storage Ring. Ian probed it with his immortal sense and found it packed with Immortal Medicines—the weakest were sixth-grade.
No wonder he’s an Ancestral Immortal—he’s ridiculously wealthy.
With a thought, Ian took out five Immortal Medicines from the ring—four were sixth-grade, and the last was a seventh-grade Immortal Medicine.
Seventh-grade Immortal Medicines were extremely rare—any one of them could fetch over ten million immortal stones, and that’s if you could even find one for sale.
“Are you planning to refine a Law Pill?” Ancestor Martin asked.
Law Pills are a type of Immortal Pill taken by Profound Immortals. Consuming one rapidly accelerates absorption, fusion, and refinement of cosmic Laws, and increases Law affinity.
The hallmark of a true pill-refining grandmaster is the ability to refine Law Pills.
With a thought, Ian activated his Pill Condensation Technique again. Instantly, a mysterious force enveloped the five Immortal Medicines, melting them down over half a quarter-hour. The impurities were expelled as black smoke; then, the medicinal essence fused together, and in a blink, a golden pill the size of a dragon’s eye formed.
Ancestor Martin reached out and caught the freshly refined Law Pill.
After a close inspection, he declared with certainty, “This Law Pill is absolutely top-grade!”
“The young master truly has astonishing talent!”
Uncle Yule hurried to speak, his face full of joy.
After a brief silence, Ancestor Martin suddenly took out thirty-six Immortal Medicines, each radiating a formidable aura. Ian instantly identified twenty-seven as eighth-grade and nine as ninth-grade Immortal Medicines.
“Do you know what pill these thirty-six Immortal Medicines are used to refine?” Ancestor Martin asked.
“They’re for refining the Ancestral Dao Treasure Pill!”
Ian replied. The Divine Temple’s scripture repository contained many alchemy texts, so when Ancestor Martin produced the thirty-six Immortal Medicines, Ian immediately recognized them as the ingredients for the Ancestral Dao Treasure Pill.
Ancestral Dao Treasure Pills are taken by Ancestral Immortals. They increase Dao force and deepen Dao comprehension. Each pill is exceedingly precious—a single one can sell for tens of billions of immortal stones.
“Can your pill-refining Divine Ability refine them?” Ancestor Martin asked again.
Ian shook his head. “Master, I cannot refine them.”
He wasn’t hiding his skill—his soul simply wasn’t strong enough. Refining an Ancestral Dao Treasure Pill requires channeling Dao force into the pill, and as an early-stage Profound Immortal, Ian couldn’t yet guide Dao force.
Once Ian reaches the Ancestral Immortal realm, he’ll be able to use Pill Condensation Technique to refine Ancestral Dao Treasure Pills.
Ancestor Martin breathed a sigh of relief—if Ian could already refine Ancestral Dao Treasure Pills, that would be utterly heaven-defying.
Suddenly, Ian had an idea.
He took out a jade slip and respectfully presented it. “Master, this is a pill scripture I obtained by chance. My current cultivation isn’t enough to comprehend it, so I offer it to you.”
“You’re thoughtful!”
Ancestor Martin was pleased, though he didn’t think much of the pill scripture—his alchemy skill was already at the pinnacle of the Immortal World, matched by only a handful.
But when he examined the pill scripture, his expression changed—the contents were so profound that even a brief look loosened a bottleneck he’d faced for years in his pill Dao cultivation.
“Old Yule, I’ve had a revelation and need to enter seclusion for a while. You’ll handle Greenmount Courtyard’s affairs. Ian, here’s a jade slip with my lifetime’s alchemy insights—study it well. If you have questions, wait until I emerge. Also, have Uncle Yule take you to the artifact vault to select three Dao-Ancestral Artifacts.”
“Thank you, Master!”
Ian hurriedly bowed in gratitude.
“At your command!” Uncle Yule responded at once.
In the next moment, Ancestor Martin’s figure flickered and vanished.
Uncle Yule smiled at Ian. “Young master, you’ll decide who becomes the alchemy apprentices for our master.”
“Can I really?”
Ian asked hesitantly.
“Of course!” Uncle Yule laughed. “You’re the master’s only disciple and future successor. Picking alchemy apprentices is a trivial matter. Come, let’s announce the selections, then I’ll take you to choose three Dao-Ancestral Artifacts!”
Dao-Ancestral Artifacts surpass Law-grade Immortal Artifacts. Each one contains the Dao force of an Ancestral Immortal and, when activated, can unleash a portion of an Ancestral Immortal’s might.
Soon, Ian and Uncle Yule returned to the main hall.
When everyone saw Uncle Yule lagging a step behind Ian, astonishment filled the hall.
Uncle Yule announced in a deep voice, “This is the young master of Greenmount Courtyard, our master’s only disciple. The alchemy apprentices will be chosen by the young master!”
“What?”
“Impossible!”
When the crowd heard Ian had become Ancestor Martin’s disciple, shock swept through the hall—especially the white-robed Profound Immortal, whose face turned ashen.