Chapter 234: Grandmaster Pill Cauldron

　　Throughout the history of the Violet Fate Sect Pill Auction, a one hundred percent consummate pill had never before appeared. In fact, when it comes to such pills, a pill of eighty percent concocted by a Violet Furnace Lord would be considered a supreme level pill. Even something like that had never been seen before.

　　A medicinal pill that could employ more than eighty percent of the strength of the plant ingredients was considered supreme! Something ninety percent or higher… such pills were referred to as consummate pills!

　　A ninety percent pill was considered consummate; a one hundred percent pill, though generally referred to as consummate, could actually be considered sub-celestial!

　　Throughout the tens of thousands of years that encompassed the history of the Violet Fate Sect’s East Pill Division, very few people had ever been able to concoct supreme pills. Every single one was a Violet Furnace Lord, and every single one had a name which could rock the Southern Domain. As for one hundred percent consummate pills….

　　In the tens of thousands of years of the history of the Violet Fate Sect’s East Pill Division, only two people had ever been able to concoct such pills. One was the founder of the Sect itself, Reverend Violet East. The other was Grandmaster Pill Demon.

　　Only those two people had ever been able to concoct consummate pills. Consummate pills were not only a defiance of the Heavens, but also a watershed mark in the Dao of alchemy. They were the watershed mark for promotion to Grandmaster!

　　Only people who could concoct consummate pills could be called Grandmasters! In all the Southern Domain, other than Grandmaster Pill Demon, there were only two other Grandmasters who were capable of concocting consummate pills. However, their consummate pills were only ninety percent, not one hundred.

　　In all the Southern Domain, only Grandmaster Pill Demon… could concoct one hundred percent sub-celestial consummate pills!

　　It is therefore obvious how valuable a pill like the Bedevilment Pill would be, and why its appearance in the Pill Auction would send everyone into a wild frenzy.

　　One hundred thousand Cultivators all stared with red eyes. The Foundation Establishment Day had caused a stir, but that was far removed from this development. One hundred thousand people, one hundred thousand pairs of eyes. Their minds swam with the shocking sight of… a one hundred percent consummate pill!

　　Fatty panted as he stared fixedly at the pill; everyone was the same. In the pavilions on the top level of the auction stadium, the master alchemists from the East Pill Division who had come to observe the proceedings, also were completely shaken, their faces filled with shock and disbelief.

　　It wasn’t just them; the apprentice alchemists who were present were in an uproar. Even the disciples from the Violet Qi Division were filled with massive waves of shock.

　　The entire Pill Auction seemed as if it might boil into collapse.

　　The auctioneer stood there trembling, his mind filled with thunderous roaring, his breathing agitated and his eyes bloodshot. He had never imagined that he would ever be able to touch a one hundred percent consummate pill.

　　When he thought about how he had personally shaved off some powder from the pill, his heart filled with intense regret. In his mind, such an action was essentially blasphemy.

　　A one hundred percent consummate pill could be considered a sacred object to any alchemist, a truly precious treasure. His reaction, his madness, might be difficult for an outsider to comprehend. But as an alchemist, his greatest dream in life was to one day concoct a consummate pill.

　　The ten Furnace Lords stared blankly at the Bedevilment Pill floating in front of them. Their eyes shined with religious fervor, and their breath came in ragged bursts. They seemed to have forgotten everything else except for this pill.

　　As Meng Hao watched all of this happening, his heart began to pound. All of a sudden, he was getting the feeling that maybe this wasn’t such a good development after all…. He had never imagined that the Bedevilment Pill would lead to such a frantic uproar.

　　“That pill… it….” murmured Bai Yunlai. He seemed to almost be in a daze. He slowly looked over at Meng Hao, and he seemed as if his soul had vanished into thin air.

　　Before the auctioneer could even set a price, the frenzied crowd began roaring out bids. “5,000,000 Spirit Stones!” someone cried. “I’ll get this one hundred percent consummate pill even if it reduces me to poverty!”

　　“10,000,000 Spirit Stones!! I’m from the Mount Dao Sect, and I’ll spend all the resources of my entire Sect to buy this pill!”

　　As people began shouting out prices, the atmosphere in the auction stadium grew even more frenzied. Naturally, most of the people participating in the auction knew at least something of the Dao of alchemy. It had been easy to establish the value of the Foundation Establishment Day, a forty-five percent pill with a variety of plant and vegetation interactions. But as for a one hundred percent consummate pill….

　　The mysterious plant and vegetation interactions made its value hard to determine. The Cultivators here, regardless of which Sect they came from, obviously knew that. Any Sect who could unlock a tiny bit of the secrets of this pill would be able to make unprecedented advancements in their Dao of alchemy.

　　It was no ordinary pill, but rather a one hundred percent consummate pill, something that no one in the entire Southern Domain except for Grandmaster Pill Demon could concoct.

　　The Cultivators here knew that anyone who acquired the pill and studied it on a daily basis, were they to achieve complete enlightenment, would be able to found their own alchemic Sect!

　　This pill was a rarity in the modern world!

　　Even without complete understanding of the pill, any Sect who possessed it would have a precious treasure!

　　The explosive atmosphere in the auction stadium continued to rise. It seemed chaos would soon break out; some people seemed to be preparing to fight for the pill. Unfortunately, the appearance of the pill seemed to have incited the potential for frenzied struggle.

　　The auctioneer was incapable of keeping the situation under control. Were he to dare to say that the pill was not for sale, killing intent would surely fill the auction stadium in an instant.

　　Nothing like this had ever happened throughout the long history of the Pill Auction. The auctioneer’s face was pale as he looked around at the frenzied one hundred thousand Cultivators. He didn’t even dare to speak.

　　“Who made this pill?” somebody suddenly shouted. It seemed many of the Cultivators realized that they had little hope of acquiring the pill, and so began to focus their attention on whoever had concocted it.

　　The question rang out like thunder, causing the hundred thousand Cultivators to suddenly grow deathly quiet.

　　The Cultivators were still in a frenzy, but they seemed to have recovered some of their wits. As they did, it seemed everyone was suddenly wondering about the same question.

　　“If I remember correctly, it was a master alchemist?”

　　“Master alchemist? What? This pill… was concocted by a master alchemist?”

　　“It… it surely was concocted by Grandmaster Pill Demon himself. How could it be a master alchemist? The only person in the entire Southern Domain who can concoct one hundred percent consummate pills is Grandmaster Pill Demon!”

　　The buzz of conversation filled the air, and everyone began to focus once more on the pill. The auctioneer’s face was pale, but he hurriedly said, “This pill was concocted by an anonymous master alchemist of the East Pill Division.” The man’s breathing was ragged, and even he seemed to be shocked by the words he had just uttered.

　　If he had such a reaction, how much more of a reaction would the surrounding hundred thousand Cultivators have? Upon hearing that the pill had been concocted by a master alchemist, the hundred thousand Cultivators immediately began to pant. They were dumbfounded, and their faces filled with astonishment and surprise.

　　After a moment of silence, the Cultivators once again exploded with conversations that buzzed even louder than before.

　　“A master alchemist…it really was concocted by a master alchemist!!!”

　　“Not a Furnace lord, not a Violet Furnace Lord, and not even Grandmaster Pill Demon. If it was concocted by a mere master alchemist, well, this is a hundred percent consummate pill! This master alchemist… he….”

　　“Such talent. Such skill in the Dao of alchemy! He concocted a one hundred percent consummate pill! Who is he? Who is this Grandmaster?!?!”

　　“Such a heaven-defying master alchemist exists in the Violet Fate Sect! Could he… could he be a personal apprentice of Grandmaster Pill Demon?

　　A one hundred percent consummate pill was well and good. The plant and vegetation interactions were important. All of it was hard to put a value on. But to compare that to the master alchemist who concocted such a pill, one was the Earth, the other was the Heavens!

　　It was impossible to describe how valuable such an alchemist would be to a Sect. In fact, few Sects would hesitate to spend any price to acquire such an alchemist. Present in the auction stadium were the three great Clans and the other four great Sects. All of them seemed moved; their disciples’ eyes glittered, and they all had produced jade slips to transmit reports back to their various Sects.

　　“Who is this master alchemist!!”

　　“If he becomes a Furnace Lord, or a Violet Furnace Lord, then the pills he concocts will surely be a defiance of the Heavens!”

　　“We want to meet this master alchemist!!”

　　As the frenzy in the auction stadium built, Meng Hao took a deep breath. He looked at Bai Yunlai, who appeared to be in a panic. Bai Yunlai seemed about to say something, but when Meng Hao’s gaze fell upon him, his heart calmed.

　　Meng Hao’s heart, however was racing. He could never have possibly predicted that the pill he had concocted would cause such a violent storm of a reaction. In fact, he felt a bit of regret. Thankfully, he hadn’t attached his name to the pill, but had only left the mark of the cauldron branded on its side.

　　“Maybe the master alchemist didn’t reveal his identity, but look at that cauldron. That’s his mark!”

　　“Cauldron… cauldron…. Don’t tell me that’s his alchemist name? Pill Cauldron!!”

　　“Grandmaster Pill Cauldron!” It was impossible to say who said it first. However, it only took an instant for the Cultivators to identify with the name Pill Cauldron. Thus began the rise of this name.

　　Meng Hao watched on blankly, blinking. He was still feeling unsettled, but at the same time, a proud sense of self-confidence began to fill him. For the pill he had concocted to garner such acclaim was a lofty honor for any alchemist.

　　It was at this moment that suddenly, a violet glow emanated from the glittering portal in the middle of the auction stadium. It filled the stadium, along with a massive pressure that immediately suppressed the racket.

　　As the auction stadium grew quiet once again, the violet glow rose up from the portal, and then two figures walked out.

　　The person in the lead wore a violet robe, the sleeves of which were embroidered with golden pill furnaces. His long, black hair flowed down his back, and his expression was one filled, not with anger, but with power. He looked to be a bit over fifty years of age, and yet, he also emanated an air of ancientness. It was unnecessary to state that this person had clearly had many years of experience.

　　He walked out slowly, and as he did, all of the hundred thousand Cultivators in the audience looked at him.

　　His appearance caused the ten Furnace Lords’ expressions to instantly change. They rose to their feet, looks of veneration covering their faces as they clasped hands in salute.

　　“Greetings, Violet Furnace Lord An,” they said in unison.

　　The words rang out, causing the hundred thousand Cultivators to suddenly gasp.

　　This shock was caused by the words, “Violet Furnace Lord.”

　　Meng Hao’s eyes glittered as his gaze came to rest on the violet-robed man and the incredible medicinal aura which emanated from him.

　　——-

　　Note from Er Gen: Many people have been wondering about the title of Book 3 “The Honor of Violet Fate,” and have come to the conclusion that it refers to the Violet Fate Sect’s honor within the Southern Domain. Actually, grammar in the title is a bit vague, making the subject and object unclear. It really should be “The Honor of Meng Hao in Violet Fate!”