Chapter 151: Nine Orifices Pills

　　Yunxiao was a little disappointed. The strength of the medicinal pill would be stronger if there were a thunder tribulation. But without one, it would still take shape. Under his control, the Cauldron of Five Elements began to slow down.

　　Bam!

　　Bam!

　　Bam!

　　He threw out three palms in a row, each slapping at the cauldron with a great sealing power. Before very long, the top of the cauldron slowly opened. A medicinal scent wafted out of it and quickly spread throughout the whole Mount Inch, refreshing the minds of those who inhaled it.

　　“So, this is a fourth-tier medicinal pill? I can’t believe its scent can spread so far! It feels like I’m smelling it from just a few feet away!”

　　All the alchemists looked incredulous, and their eyes were full of reverence and envy. ‘When will I be able to refine such a medicinal pill?’ Everyone was thinking the same question.

　　Meanwhile, Zhang Qingfan and Xu Han were frowning. As someone who had refined fourth-tier medicinal pills before, they felt that this time was slightly different. Although the refinement had been completed and the purple cauldron and the array had both stopped, Yunxiao still sat cross-legged, showing no signs of moving. They were puzzled, but they dared not to approach him.

　　Suddenly, a stream of light flashed out of his body. It whirled around him for some time before breaking into a cloud of golden specks and dissolving into the surrounding void.

　　“This is…He broke through!” Zhang Qingfan said in shock. “He broke through after refining the medicinal pill!”

　　“Why can’t I join the fun when so many people have broken through?” Yunxiao’s faint voice rang beside Zhang Qingfan’s ears, which gave him a fright. He hurriedly shook his head.

　　Yunxiao smiled. In fact, he had felt he was on the verge of breaking through when he used the Illusive Waves Technique, but he held it down and only released it when the pills were formed. He was pleasantly surprised that he had broken through directly into a six-stars Martial Master.

　　Zhang Qingfan and Xu Han jumped over from the distance, their faces excited. “Master Yunxiao, why is the energy wave of this medicinal pill so strong?”

　　Yunxiao laughed and said, “Look for yourself.” He gave the cauldron a slap and shrank it to the size of a teapot, holding it in his palm.

　　As soon as they gazed into the cauldron, both men sucked in a cold breath at the same time. Lying inside the vessel were sixteen perfectly round medicinal pills.

　　Zhang Qingfan felt a buzz in his head, and he cried out, “Sixteen pills! Heaven, we’ve refined sixteen strongest fourth-tier medicinal pills at a time! Am I dreaming!”

　　The alchemists in the distance all had strong divine senses, so they heard Zhang Qingfan’s words, which struck them dumb like a sudden thunderbolt. Even a fifth-tier alchemist would have a certain failure rate when he tried to refine the strongest fourth-tier medicinal pill. And yet, these three men had just produced sixteen pills at a time. That instantly froze them to the spot.

　　With a flip of his palm, Yunxiao put away the cauldron and the medicinal pills. Then, he smiled at both men and said, “Without your help, I couldn’t have refined even a single pill. Thank you, Masters! The refining method I used just now is called Illusive Waves Technique. It is a little bit difficult for you, but I think you can still comprehend something out of it. I will demonstrate it once again.”

　　He performed a single-handed incantation gesture. Suddenly, a shadowy figure appeared in the sky and began demonstrating the Illusive Waves Technique at an extremely slow speed. The figure was huge, so its every movement could be clearly seen by everyone down below.

　　Zhang Qingfan and Xu Han were startled at first, but then they quickly realized that Yunxiao had provided them the demonstration as a token of appreciation for their help. Like all other alchemists, they hurriedly sat cross-legged down and looked up at the figure in the sky, unblinking.

　　Very soon, the demonstration of the technique was completed. The figure in the sky smiled as he performed an incantation gesture and faded away.

　　The people down below were all unsatisfied. They widened their eyes, hoping to have a few more glances at the figure. But, the sky was bright and clear, and Yunxiao’s figure could no longer be found.

　　Zhang Qingfan sighed and exchanged a wry smile with Xu Han. The demonstration showed that the technique consisted of at least ten thousand variations, but they could not even find the way to learn it, let alone master one or two variations. Their only gain was that they seemed to have a new understanding of the art of refinement.

　　“Eh? Has Master Yunxiao left already?” Xu Han suddenly realized that Yunxiao had disappeared.

　　“I think he left a long time ago,” said Zhang Qingfan. “We were all so absorbed in the demonstration that no one noticed it. We have benefited greatly from the refining of the Nine Orifices pills and watching the Illusive Waves Technique. We must do our best to complete what Master Yunxiao has asked us to do. When the time comes, he will naturally reward us accordingly.”

　　“You are right!” Xu Han said in a serious voice. “Master Yunxiao’s strength is beyond our imagination. It would be hard to believe if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. We must do our best to complete these little tasks Master Yunxiao had asked us to do!”

　　He stood up immediately and shouted, “I want everyone to return to your positions and do your best in the tasks you’ve been assigned. Master Yunxiao will not mistreat you if you do your jobs well. But if you did not do your best, I will kick you back to the alchemist association!”

　　If it had been a few days ago, many people would have been dying to go back. But now, after they had tasted the benefits of staying in the pill pagoda and watched Yunxiao refine pills, as well as the demonstration of Illusive Waves Technique, sending them back was harder than killing them, especially those who had broken through just now. So, each of them returned to their positions in high spirits and began to refine with all their hearts.

　　Yunxiao had left Mount Inch long ago and arrived at the cavern in the heart of the mountain.

　　Among all, Yian’s cultivation base was the weakest, but after entering the cavern,, he clearly felt that his bottleneck began to loosen. He accumulated Primordial Qi bit by bit and constantly widened his meridians, yet the bottleneck, which felt like just a thin sheet of paper, did not budge even after repeated attempts at breaking it.

　　After a few more failed attempts, he clearly felt that the meridians he had laboriously widened begin to shrivel. He was very upset. If he could not break through this time even with such an excellent opportunity, he did not know when he could do it again.

　　Suddenly, a soft voice came into his ear, “Focus your mind and try one more time.”

　　Yian was taken aback. He opened his eyes and saw Yunxiao, who was smiling at him and performing a few incantation gestures. As if guided by the gestures, the rich Primordial Qi in the cavern began to crazily pour into his body.

　　Shocked, Yian quickly closed his eyes and focused his mind. However, before he could inhale them, the energy that seemed to have liquefied poured directly into him from the acupoints all over his body, washing over every joint and meridian. That startled him; he hastily guided the energy and made it circulate inside him.

　　With that, the shriveled meridians widened once again. If all his previous attempts to break through were trickles of spring water, then the impact this time was like the rushing of a great river. Before he knew it, the tremendous force of Primordial Qi struck at his bottleneck.

　　Bam!

　　Yian had never felt his mind so clear before, and the whole world seemed to turn anew in his eyes. Tiny change began to take place in the meridians and bones in his body, which made him feel extremely comfortable and pleasant.

　　“Is this the power of a Martial Lord?” As he felt the brand-new power, Yian became so excited that his body began to shiver. “Young Master Yun, I…”

　　“Good, I have another Martial Lord among my men!” Yunxiao was very happy too.

　　“Please stop a moment, everyone! I have something to say.” His words spread far and wide in the cavern. The hollow was actually larger than it appeared; it stretched all the way to the depths of the mountain, and Xiao Qingwang and the others had already gone somewhere deep to meditate.

　　Soon after Yunxiao’s voice spread, one figure after another ran out of the depths of the cavern.

　　“What do you want? Do you know I was in the midst of breaking through?” growled Li Chunyang while frowning. “Say what you want to say quickly! I’ll definitely beat you to death if it is not something important!”

　　The others also looked unhappy. The rich Primordial Qi here made it an excellent place for cultivation, and they just wished they could spend every minute in meditation.

　　While smiling, Yunxiao said, “I’ve just refined some medicinal pills that will give your strength a boost. However, the side effects of this medicine are serious. It will kill you if your fleshly body is not strong enough. Therefore, only Martial Lords or above can take it. Each of you can try one, and Qingwang can try two, but the result of the second pill will greatly reduce while the pain will double.”

　　“Only Martial Lords or above can take it?”

　　Everyone was shocked. The side effect told them that it was not an ordinary medicinal pill. Soon, only seven of the sixteen Nine Orifices pills were left. Li Chunyang, Li Changfeng, Chen Dasheng, Luo Yunshang, Hong Bing, Yian and Ji Meng each took one pill, while Xiao Qingwang took two.

　　Yunxiao said, “You’d better take it when you are at your best condition. Grandpa, you can take it after you’ve made the breakthrough and stabilized your cultivation base. You might be surprised by the result. Yian, you’ve just broken through, so take it only after you’ve stabilized your new power. As for this witless beast, it should also be able to take two pills.”

　　He pulled Darkthunder over and shoved a pill into its mouth. The demon beast seemed to sense something and refused to take it, but Yunxiao forced the pill down. It angered the beast, who began to roar madly with a trace of fear in its eyes.

　　“Haha! It’s not poison, so stop crying. It’s just a little painful. You’ll know the benefits when you get over it!” Yunxiao laughed. Paying no more heed to Darkthunder’s furious roars, he carefully took out a pill, put it into his mouth, and swallowed it. After that, he sat cross-legged down and began to meditate.