With nearly a month left until Nate Shee’s Immortal Fruit Gathering, Joe Di decided to enter seclusion once more. This time, he planned to extract Graysky Essence and see if he could develop the Mindweave Pill.
At this moment, Quentin Pooler came to see him. Ever since Joe Di had rescued him, Quentin had been recuperating. Even though he was an Immortal King, being pinned to Cauldron Haven’s Liberty Array for years had left him gravely weakened. His daughter, Shirley Pooler, was in an even more dire state, her life force nearly spent.
If Joe Di hadn’t come to Cauldron Haven, Quentin Pooler and Shirley Pooler would have been doomed to die.
“Brother Di, if not for you, this world would have lost both Quentin Pooler and my daughter Shirley Pooler.” As soon as Quentin Pooler entered Joe Di’s room with his daughter, he bowed deeply, expressing his heartfelt gratitude for saving their lives.
At first, he had only wanted to befriend a top-tier Pill Master, which was why he approached Joe Di. Only now did he realize just how wise that decision had been.
Joe Di quickly invited Quentin Pooler and Shirley Pooler to sit, saying with some embarrassment, “To be honest, this all happened because of me. If not for my involvement, you wouldn’t have suffered so much.”
Quentin Pooler shook his head. “No, if not for you, Shirley and I would’ve been killed outright. I went out searching for a Starspire Tea Tree for you, and also tried to find news about my father, Shane Pooler. By chance, I learned that my father’s disappearance was closely connected to Gavin Jet of Cauldron Haven.
Unfortunately, after I discovered this, Gavin Jet found out too, though I didn’t realize it at the time. I returned to Cauldron Haven intending to deliver the tea tree to you, then take my daughter to Moon Ruins to seek an Immortal Lord’s opportunity. But as soon as I arrived in Cauldron Haven, that beast Gavin Jet captured me.”
Joe Di sighed. In this world, weakness truly was the original sin. He took out two rings and handed them to Quentin Pooler and Shirley Pooler. “These contain enough cultivation resources for you both—use them well…”
“Brother Di, I can’t accept this. You’ve saved my daughter twice and me once. How could I possibly…”
Quentin Pooler hadn't finished speaking when Joe Di waved his hand to interrupt, "I killed Gavin Jet, so your belongings are probably with me now. In the ring I gave you, there are two Exalt Will Pills. Once your vitality is fully restored, you can try to break through to Immortal Exalt..."
"Ah..." Quentin Pooler was so excited upon hearing about the Exalt Will Pills that he abruptly stood up and bowed deeply to Joe Di again. "Thank you, Brother Di, for your generous gift. I truly cannot refuse such a pill. If you ever need anything in the future, I, Quentin Pooler, will never decline."
Exalt Will Pills—let alone Quentin Pooler, even when his father Shane Pooler was alive, obtaining one was no easy feat.
Just one of these pills was worth more than his original ring. Now Joe Di had given him two at once—it was obvious that the other was meant for his daughter, Shirley Pooler.
Joe Di smiled, "Since we're friends, there's no need to fuss over these things. Go recover first. By the way, if you have time, you can gather some people to reopen Peace Inn. And one thing you must remember: never go to Moon Ruins again. That place is no good."
Moon Ruins was actually someone's River Mountain Vessel, a legendary artifact. Even Joe Di had no idea where to begin refining it. Who knew if Zach You would one day reclaim his artifact? If he did, every cultivator inside would perish, with no chance for reincarnation.
As Quentin Pooler left, he made up his mind to help make Peace Inn flourish.
He had only stopped running his shops because his daughter had fallen ill; before that, he had operated two businesses in Cauldron Haven.
...
After seeing Quentin Pooler and his daughter off, Joe Di focused on his closed-door cultivation, researching how to purify Graysky Essence.
Back then, he relied on the spatial ripples within the Giant Footprint to instantly separate Graysky Essence from the Violet Skyvine. Moreover, the extracted Graysky Essence had to be consumed immediately, and its effects were rather harsh—cultivators with weaker Spiritual Seas could easily have their Spiritual Sea torn apart by the Graysky Essence.
Not to mention others—even Joe Di himself had nearly had his Spiritual Sea torn apart by Graysky Essence once.
Now, Joe Di intended to purify Graysky Essence using temporal laws. If it still didn’t work, he would have to let it go. After all, his divine sense was already at Ninth-Rank Immortal Sense—even an Immortal Emperor’s divine sense might not surpass his own.
Joe Di took out three Violet Skyvines. He was already highly skilled at purifying Violet Skyvine, expertly removing all impurities except for the Graysky Essence. Previously, he would use a spatial law fluctuation at the moment of separating the impurities and medicinal liquid, sending the extracted liquid straight into his mouth.
The moment Graysky Essence was purified from the Violet Skyvine, it would immediately dissipate. This time, as the medicinal liquid and impurities separated, Joe Di unleashed a temporal law technique.
A temporal law technique descended upon the Graysky Essence, and its instantaneous dissipation was halted, as if frozen in eternity. In that brief moment, Joe Di had already transferred the purified drops of medicinal liquid into an exquisite jade vial.
Did he succeed on the very first try?
After several minutes, Joe Di opened the jade vial again. As his divine sense swept over the medicinal liquid inside, he could still sense a powerful wave of energy—proof that the liquid hadn’t dissipated.
Without hesitation, Joe Di poured the Graysky Essence from the jade vial into his mouth. A faint warmth instantly surged through his Violet Palace.
As his divine sense tempered and circulated, Joe Di could clearly feel his divine sense gradually increasing.
His divine sense was already at Ninth-Rank Immortal Sense, and he could clearly feel it rising. For cultivators with weaker divine sense, even without divine sense tempering, they would still be able to sense a significant increase in their spiritual power.
This was the true Graysky Essence—Joe Di was overjoyed. To purify Graysky Essence from Violet Skyvine required temporal laws; only by freezing the moment of purification could the medicinal liquid be preserved. No wonder no one had discovered Graysky Essence in Violet Skyvine for so many years.
Or even if someone did discover it, they simply couldn’t purify it.
Now that Graysky Essence had been purified, the next steps were much simpler for someone like Joe Di—a Pill King of the eighth rank.
In just a few days, Joe Di combined the methods of Graysky Essence, divine sense tempering, and his knowledge of various immortal herbs to invent a new pill—the Mindweave Pill.
The key ingredient in the Mindweave Pill was Graysky Essence, which was actually only a sixth-rank immortal liquid. However, the auxiliary spirit herb for the Mindweave Pill was the rare seventh-rank immortal herb, Bluefrost Goldvine Flower.
Thus, the Mindweave Pill should be considered a seventh-rank immortal pill.
Bluefrost Goldvine Flower was extremely difficult to purify, and merging it with Graysky Essence was no easy feat. Without true skill as a Pill King, one could never refine such a pill.
The primary uses of the Mindweave Pill were to restore the Spiritual Sea, recover divine sense, condense spiritual power, and strengthen divine sense.
In terms of utility alone, the Mindweave Pill was perhaps the most precious seventh-rank immortal pill. Its value even surpassed that of the Aurora Pill.
The Aurora Pill, precious as it was, was ultimately just for advancing to Immortal King. The people who needed such pills were limited to those at Greatloft Immortal completion.
But the Mindweave Pill could be used by all cultivators, regardless of their cultivation level or the techniques they practiced. The Mindweave Pill was something everyone needed.
After refining all the Violet Skyvine he had, Joe Di turned them into Mindweave Pills. By then, Nate Shee’s Immortal Fruit Gathering was about to begin.
Joe Di tidied up his belongings and left his cave residence, preparing to attend Nate Shee’s Immortal Fruit Gathering with Zhong Ao.
Nate Shee had risen to prominence with remarkable speed—almost as soon as his name was heard, he’d become a force in this region of the void. To be called the strongest among the Four Immortal Continents was no empty title.
Someone like that would never invite Joe Di to the Immortal Fruit Gathering without absolute confidence.
It was just like back when he waited for others at Peace Inn—he was never afraid. Who could say if Nate Shee had the same intentions as he did?
That’s why Joe Di planned to invite Yin Wuchang as well. With both Yin Wuchang and Zhong Ao at his side, even if Nate Shee was formidable, he’d have to take Joe Di seriously.
"I figured you’d be coming out soon." As soon as Joe Di stepped out of his room, he saw Zhong Ao waiting outside.
Joe Di grinned and handed Zhong Ao a jade vial. "Old Zhong, try this. I just refined this pill—give me your thoughts."
Zhong Ao smiled, took the jade vial, opened it, and swallowed a Mindweave Pill without hesitation.
Joe Di was, after all, an eighth-rank Pill King. Inventing a few pill recipes was hardly surprising.
But as soon as the pill entered his mouth, Zhong Ao’s smile froze, and he exclaimed in shock, "Is this a pill for restoring and strengthening divine sense and condensing the Spiritual Sea?"
"That’s right. What do you think?" Joe Di asked proudly. Being able to discover Graysky Essence within Violet Skyvine was something he took great pride in.
"Excellent pill, truly excellent..." Zhong Ao gripped the jade vial excitedly. "This is absolutely the number one pill in the Immortal Realm! It’s just a shame the pill’s rank is a bit low—it can’t fully restore my divine sense..."
At this, Zhong Ao’s heart stirred. If Joe Di could now create a pill to restore the Spiritual Sea and divine sense, then surely he could develop even higher-grade pills for divine sense restoration in the future.
"Haha, Pill Emperor Di, I’m here to pay my respects again! I just heard Friend Zhong say ‘number one pill in the Immortal Realm’—what kind of pill is it?" Yin Wuchang’s hearty laughter echoed as he arrived.