Di Jiu broke through the restriction and entered the grand hall. He stood beside Ji Ming and observed for half a stick of incense's time, confirming that Ji Ming had died from poisoning. It was somewhat ironic that an eighth-grade Pill King had died of poison. However, in the cultivation world, anything could happen—Di Jiu was not surprised.
No, that's not right. When Di Jiu's divine sense landed on Ji Ming's brow, he sensed a faint trace of vitality—or rather, it was not vitality, but a kind of primordial spirit aura. Di Jiu had once fought a powerful primordial spirit female cultivator beneath the snowy mountain, so he was very sensitive to the existence of primordial spirits.
Ji Ming's physical body was ruined by poison, but his primordial spirit was still alive.
Di Jiu ignored Ji Ming's primordial spirit and walked over to the pill cauldron. He touched the cauldron—it seemed to be an ordinary spiritual artifact, appearing to be of lower grade, but felt a bit better than ordinary low-grade ones.
Di Jiu could refine top-grade spiritual artifacts, but that didn't mean he could make a top-tier pill cauldron. Although not everyone could use a pill cauldron, among artifacts of the same grade, the value of a pill cauldron was still the highest.
Refining a pill cauldron requires specific materials—the better the materials, the higher the grade of the cauldron. Moreover, those who understand the Dao of Alchemy can produce cauldrons of greater value than ordinary artifact refiners.
When Di Jiu's hand touched the cauldron, a strong wood attribute aura surged forth, startling him. This was the first time he'd ever seen a wooden pill cauldron. There were indeed some top-grade woods in the cultivation world, but with fire overcoming wood in the Five Elements, and pill refining requiring fire, no matter how good the wood, it shouldn't be suitable for making a pill cauldron.
"Young man, if you like this pill cauldron, I don't mind giving it to you." As Di Jiu expected, a weak voice came from Ji Ming's brow.
Di Jiu withdrew his hand from the cauldron, turned to Ji Ming, and asked, "Your primordial spirit is hiding in your Purple Mansion. Aren't you planning to possess someone? Why speak up voluntarily?"
Ji Ming's primordial spirit fell silent for a long time before saying, "So you already knew my primordial spirit was still here. I, Ji Ming, never intended to possess anyone—it's just that there are things I haven't passed on, and I feel unwilling."
"Go ahead and tell me. If it's not too troublesome, I'll help you." Di Jiu felt a bit of goodwill toward Ji Ming for not choosing to possess someone.
He despised possession more than anything. If Ji Ming had dared to try possessing him, Di Jiu would have made sure Ji Ming's primordial spirit would never have a chance at reincarnation.
Ji Ming spoke slowly, "You came to Dingdan Mountain, surely to ask me to refine pills for you? In fact, you're two months late. Although I have attained the rank of ninth-grade Pill King, unfortunately, I am about to perish..."
"You're a ninth-grade Pill King?" Di Jiu didn't mind Ji Ming calling Yun Dan Mountain 'Dingdan Mountain' again, but he was surprised that Ji Ming was a ninth-grade Pill King. Don't be fooled by the difference of just one grade between eighth and ninth—many Pill Kings can never cross that gap in their lifetime.
Ji Ming sighed, "But what use is it? I've reached the rank of ninth-grade Pill King, earning countless pill debts from the outside world, yet I still can't revive Dingdan Mountain or even change Yun Dan Mountain's name."
Di Jiu asked, "Pill King Ji, one of your conditions for pill refinement is that the person owes you a favor. Was this so you could call on those who owe you when you tried to restore Dingdan Mountain?"
Ji Ming replied, "That's right, that was indeed my intention. Unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to revive Dingdan Mountain before my own demise."
Di Jiu chuckled, "Pill King Ji, if you trust me, I'll tell you the truth."
"Please speak, Daoist friend," Ji Ming said with a low tone. In fact, he had a good impression of Di Jiu. Di Jiu had called out several times outside before coming in. After entering and discovering his death, he hadn't ransacked the place or even searched for his ring.
Most cultivators who came here, upon seeing a Pill King had fallen, would immediately search for his ring. A Pill King's ring was surely a small world, containing not only spiritual herbs but countless pills.
"Your wish can't be fulfilled. If you want to revive Dingdan Mountain, you have to rely on your own strength—not on others. Actually, as a ninth-grade Pill King, you have that power, but you didn't use it in the right way. The favors you earned through pill refinement—few would truly help you. In other words, even if you rebuilt Dingdan Mountain, it would quickly become Yun Dan Mountain again. A sect is built on heritage and foundation, which is why I don't think you'll succeed," Di Jiu said honestly.
Ji Ming sighed again, "You're right. I realized it a little too late."
After a pause, Ji Ming suddenly asked, "What pill do you need me to refine for you?"
"I want to refine two furnaces of Kun Cheng Pills. Sigh..." Di Jiu also let out a sigh.
"You're actually at the peak of the Sea Opening Realm?" Ji Ming exclaimed in surprise. From his perception, Di Jiu was still young. To reach the peak of Sea Opening Realm at such an age showed how extraordinary Di Jiu's talent was.
Di Jiu did not hide it. "That's right, I've indeed reached the peak of the Sea Opening Realm."
Ji Ming suddenly said, "If you trust me, why not learn pill refinement from me for three months? I guarantee you'll become a seventh-grade Pill King within ten years."
Ten years later, everything would be irrelevant. Di Jiu asked curiously, "Why only three months of learning from you? Wouldn't a longer time be better?"
Ji Ming gave a self-deprecating smile. "I was poisoned by that traitorous disciple. In three months, even my primordial spirit will dissipate, so I can only teach you for three months. With your talent, you should be able to grasp the basics of the Dao of Alchemy in that time, and then, with some self-study, you could reach seventh-grade Pill King within ten years."
After saying this, Ji Ming completely agreed with Di Jiu. If he couldn't even avoid his disciple's scheme, what right did he have to revive Dingdan Mountain? He was fit for pill refinement, but perhaps not for revitalizing a sect.
"So your disciple plotted against you? What's his name? If I ever meet him, I'll help you take revenge," Di Jiu said immediately.
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Anyone who would plot against their own master is absolute trash. If Di Jiu ever encountered him, he would kill him without hesitation.
A jade slip landed beside Di Jiu. Ji Ming said, "His name is Wei Lun, a cultivation genius. Even with your talent, you may not be able to match his speed. When he left after harming me, he was already at the fourth level of Chengding, and he was not even a hundred years old. There may not be such a genius even in the True Domain. To reach Chengding within a hundred years—in the Small Central World, that hasn't happened in thousands of years...
What's more, he took my small world, which was piled high with cultivation resources. These are enough for him to reach the True Transformation Realm, so you don't need to avenge me. This jade slip contains my pill refinement insights. You can study alchemy here, and if you have questions, just ask me."
To reach Chengding before a hundred years old was truly impressive, but Di Jiu wasn't fazed. He was only a step away from Chengding himself, and he was barely thirty years old.
"Thank you, Senior..." Di Jiu picked up the jade slip and sent his divine sense into it.
Only then did Ji Ming say, "It's a pity my ring was taken by Wei Lun. Otherwise, it would contain a huge pile of alchemical herbs."
Di Jiu was completely absorbed in the jade slip. Only now did he realize that even with a vast golden lightning rule in his sea of consciousness, he was far inferior in alchemy fundamentals compared to the knowledge in this Dao of Alchemy jade slip.
Back on the Eternal Night Continent, Di Jiu had collected a pile of alchemy jade slips for Tree Brother. Now, seeing Ji Ming's jade slip, he understood that what he'd collected before wasn't real alchemy jade slips at all—they were complete trash.
If he had obtained this jade slip earlier, he wouldn't have wasted so many spiritual herbs and so much time, only to barely become a third-grade pill master. Moreover, refining third-grade pills still depended on luck—most of the time, he could only manage second-grade ones.
Now, lacking some low-grade spiritual herbs wasn't a problem—he could purchase them soon. In the Small Central World, herbs above grade five were rare, but those below grade five were as common as dirt.
"Junior Di Jiu, thank you for your generous gift, Senior." Di Jiu bowed to Ji Ming's withered body; this jade slip was truly priceless to him.
"There's no need to thank me. If it were someone else, I wouldn't want to take all my knowledge with me, either. Take this pill cauldron—it's yours. It was passed down from my grandmaster to my master, then to me, over countless years..." Ji Ming's voice grew softer, as if lost in memories.
After a long while, Ji Ming remembered that he should teach Di Jiu pill refinement. "When a person is about to die, they think of many things. Even if you don't understand, I'll still tell you my Dao of Alchemy. The reason there are so few Pill Kings in the cultivation world, many believe, is because spiritual herbs are scarce and there's not enough to practice with. Di Jiu, do you know how many ninth-grade herbs I used to advance from eighth-grade to ninth-grade Pill King?"
"It should be several hundred, right?" Di Jiu asked uncertainly. Ninth-grade herbs were extremely precious—even a few hundred was a lot.
To refine a ninth-grade pill, you didn't necessarily need all ninth-grade herbs, but the main ones had to be ninth-grade.
"No, I only had one set of True Spirit Pill herbs—just seven ninth-grade herbs in total. But I succeeded, and the pill was a superior True Spirit Pill. Unfortunately, my traitorous disciple took the pill, so I can't show it to you." Ji Ming replied very seriously.
"Ah..." Even Di Jiu found it hard to believe. No matter how talented a Dao of Alchemy cultivator was, it was impossible to succeed with a ninth-grade pill on the first try and advance from eighth-grade to ninth-grade Pill King, right?
Ji Ming said slowly, "I spent one hundred and thirty-seven years deducing for that one batch of pills. In the end, I comprehended a Dao of Alchemy law. If I hadn't died, my future in alchemy would have been smooth. Unfortunately, I fused that Dao law into the pill cauldron..."
Di Jiu instinctively looked at the wooden pill cauldron before him, puzzled. Since this cauldron was used to refine ninth-grade True Spirit Pills, why was it still here?
Wei Lun had even poisoned Ji Ming—Di Jiu didn't believe he would leave behind a cauldron capable of refining ninth-grade pills, especially one with a Dao law inside.