Chapter 415 - 382: Never So Close

Chapter 415: Chapter 382: Never So Close

Late that night, the True Understanding Pavilion’s annual exchange meet drew to a highly successful close.

A wide smile on his face, Chu Mu personally escorted each of the attending cultivators to the gates of the True Understanding Pavilion.

His smile was genuine. Chu Mu didn’t know if the others considered the exchange meet a success, but for him, it had been an absolute triumph.

"It seems you got everything you wished for this time, Brother Chu. This is the first time I’ve ever seen you so enthusiastic."

The young woman stood before the door, her cheeks still tinged with a faint blush.

"Hahahaha..."

Chu Mu let out a hearty laugh.

"Brother Chu, are you about to reach the Fake Pill Realm?" the young woman asked cautiously.

"Just planning ahead. It’s still a long way off."

Chu Mu smiled. He wasn’t lying.

His aptitude was poor, making cultivation much more difficult for him than for an ordinary cultivator. On top of that, he cultivated Essence, Qi, and Spirit, so even though he currently had abundant resources...

But for the sake of the seemingly unattainable Golden Core Realm, he had no choice but to deliberately slow his consumption of elixirs. He had to strengthen his foundation as much as possible, avoiding the hollow and unstable cultivation base that came from relying purely on pills.

Because of all these factors, his current cultivation progress was anything but fast.

The young woman gave a sweet smile. After a few more words of small talk, she too departed gracefully.

Watching her leave, Chu Mu chuckled and returned to his courtyard. As his Divine Sense swept over the harvest inside his Storage Ring, he found it difficult to suppress the smile spreading across his face.

With a wave of his hand, three Jade Boxes appeared on the table.

With a mere thought, the seals on the Jade Boxes lifted, and three Spiritual Objects came into view.

At the cost of eight Tier Two Two-Patterned Flawless Pills, he had obtained a section of a Celestial Bull Horn, a portion of Deep Sea Musk, and a vial of Red Flame Spirit Liquid.

When refined into an elixir, the Celestial Bull Horn was a top-grade Spiritual Object for assisting with Core Formation.

The Deep Sea Musk could calm one’s mind and fend off Outer Demons, making it an excellent aid for overcoming the Heart Demon tribulation during Core Formation.

The Red Flame Spirit Liquid, however, was a fair bit inferior. From what he understood, it was only suitable for Fire Attribute cultivators, and its effect wasn’t to aid in Core Formation.

Instead, it was used to prevent the repercussions of a failed Core Formation.

Whether advancing from Qi Cultivation to Foundation Establishment, or from Foundation Establishment to Core Formation, failing to cross any Grand Realm would have dire consequences. A light failure would result in severe injuries that could take years to heal. A heavy failure could mean one’s cultivation would never advance another inch, and Heart Demons would begin to fester.

The Red Flame Spirit Liquid formed a barrier during Core Formation. If the attempt failed, it could resist a portion of the resulting backlash.

Though it only resisted a portion, if the failure was catastrophic, it could be a life-saving treasure!

Chu Mu’s gaze settled on the Celestial Bull Horn. Of the three Spiritual Objects, the one he valued most was this treasure, born and nurtured by heaven and earth.

A pill made from the Celestial Bull Horn would be on par with the likes of the Foundation Establishment Pill or the Immortal Embryo Pill.

And as for a Tier Three Middle Grade Spiritual Object, he had one of those too—one that happened to perfectly suit his needs.

A Thousand-Year-Old Spirit Medicine that the True Understanding Pavilion had recently acquired was, coincidentally, a Fire Attribute one.

The Blazing Sun Blood Ginseng!

As if handling a supreme treasure, Chu Mu carefully took out the Jade Box containing the Blazing Sun Blood Ginseng. When he undid the seal, a ginseng about a foot long came into view.

The entire ginseng was crimson, with fine, blood-red filaments that looked just like blood vessels running all over its body.

As the seal was undone and the surrounding Spiritual Qi rushed in, the ginseng seemed to come alive. Its rootlets twitched, and its body contracted and expanded, inhaling and exhaling the ambient Spiritual Qi.

Chu Mu was extremely cautious, his Power of Divine Sense already blanketing the Jade Box. A thousand-year-old ginseng was practically a spirit. If it were allowed to continue growing and an opportunity arose, it wasn’t impossible for it to gain Spiritual Wisdom and transform from an inanimate object into a living creature.

Chu Mu felt a pang of reluctance. Even though acquiring this Thousand-Year-Old Spirit Medicine had been a complete windfall, he couldn’t bear to just use it all up like this.

’What if I only use the rootlets...?’

A sudden idea struck Chu Mu. The more he thought about it, the more he liked it.

The rootlets alone wouldn’t have enough medicinal power, but he could supplement them with other Tier Three Spiritual Materials. In this pill recipe, the Celestial Bull Horn wasn’t the main ingredient in terms of quantity, but it was the absolute core of the pill’s effect. Only the horn could provide the necessary aid for Core Formation.

’In that case, I’ll have to modify the Pill Recipe...’

Chu Mu took out the Jade Scroll Pill Recipe he had received along with the Celestial Bull Horn and began to ponder it.

His ambition soared. ’Since a pill using the Celestial Bull Horn is a superior aid for Core Formation, what if I refine it into a One-Patterned, or even a Two-Patterned, Celestial Bull Pill...?’

The mere thought made Chu Mu tremble with excitement. The medicinal effects of a Pill Pattern Elixir were far greater than those of an ordinary elixir.

If a normal Celestial Bull Pill could increase the chances of Core Formation by twenty percent, a One-Patterned version would at least double that!

A Two-Patterned pill would mean a success rate of at least sixty to seventy percent!

The Pill Patterns, a creation of heaven and earth, completely transcended the inherent medicinal properties of the Spirit Medicines used!

He had been an Alchemist for many years and had refined countless Pill Pattern Elixirs. He had even recorded his research and experiments on them in several Jade Scrolls; he understood them extremely well.

A One-Patterned Celestial Bull Pill, a portion of Deep Sea Musk, a vial of Red Flame Spirit Liquid... if he could find other Core Formation aids like the Immortal Embryo Pill...

Chu Mu took a deep breath, his face flushing with excitement.

The once-distant Golden Core Realm... was suddenly so close!

...

For several nights, he didn’t sleep. Aided by his Spiritual Radiance Blessing, Chu Mu worked tirelessly, focusing all his energy on the Celestial Bull Horn Pill Recipe.

He already had ample experience with modifying, and even creating, Pill Recipes.

Thanks to his Spiritual Radiance Blessing, ever since he first came into contact with the Immortal Dao Techniques, he had never been constrained by the conventional systems of Alchemy or Artifact Refining.

In Artifact Refining, the vast majority of the Magical Artifacts, Spiritual Artifacts, and Puppet Artifacts currently for sale in the True Understanding Pavilion were the products of his own design; only a very small number followed the formulas of others.

As for his Alchemy Skill, although it had progressed more slowly than his Artifact Refining, it too had never been bound by convention.

Within the system of using demons to create pills, the elixirs he used himself all came from Pill Recipes he personally designed to suit his specific needs.

Each one was perfectly tailored to his own Immortal Dao Cultivation, maximizing the elixir’s effects and minimizing its side effects right from the source.

What other Alchemists and Artifact Refiners would consider an impossible task—creating their own Pill Recipes and Artifact Formulas—was, for him, a simple, everyday affair.

He worked for days without rest. One modified version of the Celestial Bull Horn Pill Recipe appeared after another, only to be revised or discarded time and again...

This smooth, flowing process came to an abrupt halt on the sixth day.

"Senior, Elder Fu of the Yun Xiao Business Alliance has arrived. He says he has an urgent matter to discuss with you."

Chang Er stood before Chu Mu, trembling with fear, terrified that Chu Mu would be angry with him for the interruption.

Chu Mu glanced down at the Jade Scroll in his hand, which recorded the Pill Recipe. His brow furrowed in clear displeasure.

Then, with a sweep of his hand, a Sound Transmission Order appeared. Sure enough, several messages were blinking on it, all from Elder Fu...

...