Desolate Devouring Art - Chapter 1039 - Blue Pill Runes

Chapter 1039 – Blue Pill Runes

Shi Yuan suddenly appeared, and a heavy silence fell over the representatives of the Heavenly Dao Society.

“The Spirit Jade Pavilion’s stance isn’t clear, and they might pose an obstruction to us,” Liu Wuxie said, after a brief pause.

“What should we do now?” Fan Zhen asked anxiously.

If the Spirit Jade Pavilion turned against them, wouldn’t all their preparations for today go down the drain? It wasn’t that Fan Zhen doubted the quality of the pills produced by the Heavenly Dao Society, but he understood that the final decision rested in the pavilion’s hands.

“It won’t affect us even if we can’t secure a partnership,” Liu Wuxie replied, shaking his head. “We’re not here to strike a partnership with the Spirit Jade Pavilion. Our actual goal is to use this opportunity to showcase the quality of our products.”

He knew relying on the Spirit Jade Pavilion to facilitate their sales wasn’t a long-term solution. It would be beneficial if they could strike a partnership, but the Heavenly Dao Society wouldn’t suffer even if they couldn’t.

The reason they had difficulty selling their products wasn’t a lack of quality, but because no one knew about them. Once their name spread, buyers would naturally seek them out. At that point, they wouldn’t be short of partners.

In the world of cultivation, profit drove everything. When prices were equal, who wouldn’t choose the better product? The Heavenly Dao Society’s strength lay in its superior quality.

Liu Wuxie was never one to stake everything on a single outcome. He had made multiple preparations in advance to ensure they wouldn’t be affected, even if they failed to strike a deal with the Spirit Jade Pavilion.

“Wuxie, why didn’t your senior brothers show up today? Could it be…” Fan Zhen trailed off.

He had noticed Liu Wuxie’s senior brothers had left the Heavenly Dao Society in a hurry after helping to set up a defensive spiritual array.

Liu Wuxie responded with a mysterious smile and said nothing. The status of his three senior brothers was far from ordinary. Elder Madman had suppressed them for only five years.

Take Shen Rong, for example. He carried the bloodline of the Kunpeng. Though his clan wasn’t among the Four Great Clans, they still couldn’t be underestimated. Jiang Le and Yu Zhibai also came from prominent families. After all, gaining entry into the Heavenly Spirit Celestial Academy without any background was nearly impossible for most.

In the Heavenly Spirit Celestial Academy, a formidable force supported every disciple.

While they conversed, Elder Long Chen had already concluded his opening remarks. Following the routine of the previous years, all 101 representatives began to showcase their goods.

Those who earned the highest points would be eligible to form a partnership with the Spirit Jade Pavilion.

The Yuan Clan excelled in forging artifacts, while the Wang Clan specialized in talismans. Each faction focused on its domain, striving to outshine its competitors.

More than five hundred distinguished guests served as judges for the commerce fair, invited by the organizers to evaluate each submission. However, in reality, their role was primarily symbolic. The Spirit Jade Pavilion relied on specialized tools for assessment: crystal spheres to analyze pills, puppets to test weapons, and talismans could be verified simply by infusing them with true essence.

As for spiritual arrays, the Spirit Jade Pavilion had few reliable partners in this domain. For years, the Liao Clan had maintained an exclusive partnership with them in this field.

The fiercest competition, however, lay in the categories of artifacts and pills.

“Let’s not waste any more time. We’ll begin with the first segment. All participants, please bring forth your pills for testing,” Elder Long Chen announced.

Several deacons from the Spirit Jade Pavilion stepped forward, pushing a massive crystal roughly the size of five large vats.

Detection crystal spheres were scarce and notoriously difficult to forge. Crafting one demanded immense resources and manpower, and no one knew just how much the Spirit Jade Pavilion had invested to create such a powerful tool.

Soon, participants from various factions stepped forward, each carrying their pre-prepared pills. The first to approach was an elder from a second-tier clan, holding a porcelain bottle as he steadily made his way toward the crystal sphere.

Liu Wuxie glanced at Bi Gongyu, who nodded and stepped forward to represent the Heavenly Dao Society.

“The quality of pills is categorized into red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple, with red being the lowest, and purple the highest,” Elder Long Chen announced. Although most people already understood the classification, it was customary to repeat the explanation before each test. “Let the test begin.”

Hundreds of thousands of cultivators hovered in the air, their gazes locked on the massive crystal sphere.

An elder from a second-tier clan stepped forward, uncorked a porcelain bottle, and gently rolled a pill into the crystal sphere.

A dazzling display erupted as the pill entered. Swirling colors began to rotate within the crystal, each hue shifting and blending as the sphere evaluated the pill’s quality.

After about a minute, the swirling lights began to settle. A faint streak of yellow-green shimmered across the surface. This was the pill rune, indicating a quality between yellow and green.

In this system, red represented the lowest acceptable grade, yellow the standard, green indicated intermediate quality, and cyan denoted high-grade pills.

Blue and purple were exceedingly rare. In the entire history of the commerce fair, records showed only a single blue-grade pill, and that was five hundred years ago.

Each year, most pills fell into the yellow, green, or cyan range. However, yellow-grade pills had no hope of passing.

The elder from the second-tier clan smiled at the result, satisfied. He collected his pill and stepped aside.

One by one, representatives approached to test their pills against the crystal sphere. The crowd watched closely as the process repeated. Occasionally, the guests nodded in approval or frowned in disappointment at the results.

An hour passed. More than half the participants had completed their tests, and the highest result so far was cyan. Even then, the cyan was not pure, tinged faintly with green.

“Look! The Liu Clan is up next!” someone in the crowd cried out.

Liu Dazhi stepped forward and placed his pill inside the crystal sphere.

“I recall it’s been centuries since the Liu Clan last secured a partnership with the Spirit Jade Pavilion. I heard their alchemy isn’t even on par with some second-tier clans,” someone in the crowd scoffed.

After all, the Four Great Clans had once ranked the Liu Clan at the top, but now, they placed it at the bottom.

“The Liu Clan has already declined. In my opinion, we should downgrade them to a second-tier clan. Why are they still clinging to a seat among the Four Great Clans?”

More sneers followed from the onlookers.

Laughter rippled through the crowd as people mocked, “Let’s see how they make a fool out of themselves. I recall their pill tested red during the last commerce fair. That’s the lowest grade in the entire market!”

The competition in the True Martial Continent was merciless. When one clan declined, another would rise to take its place.

Mockery echoed across the plaza as many looked on with schadenfreude.

Liu Dazhi’s expression didn’t change. He calmly stepped back once the pill rolled into the crystal sphere.

Off to the side, Liu Xiucheng watched with his fists clenched. Over the past year, the Liu Clan had made considerable progress in their alchemy.

That progress was thanks to the Heavenly Dao Society, with whom they exchanged knowledge and resources every month to refine their craft.

The crystal sphere began to emit runes that flickered across its surface.

“What dense pill runes! What’s going on?” someone shouted. Many stood, their eyes locked on the crystal sphere in disbelief.

Most pills displayed runes across only a third of the crystal’s surface. Such a result was already considered quite good.

But the Liu Clan’s pill was different. Its runes covered nearly the entire crystal sphere, squirming and intertwining like earthworms, forming a densely packed web.

“This can’t be real! How can it contain so many pill runes?” The expressions of those who had mocked the Liu Clan earlier turned grim.

“There must be a mistake! The pills produced by the Liu Clan have always been of low quality!” someone protested, unable to believe what they were seeing.

Even the elders of the Spirit Jade Pavilion looked taken aback by the result.

“What’s impossible about that?” another voice countered from the crowd. “The Liu Clan’s pills once dominated the True Martial Continent. Even a dying camel is still bigger than a horse.”

No matter what, the Liu Clan had once flourished. Second-tier clans didn’t measure up to them.

Roughly a minute later, the crystal sphere revealed merging pill runes that formed a thick, radiant blue rune shining brightly across its surface.

“Blue! It’s a blue-grade pill! That’s the level of a supreme-grade pill!” someone exclaimed in disbelief.

Most of the pills showcased at the commerce fair were first or second-grade spiritual pills. A second-grade spiritual pill required a cultivator at the Earth Profound Realm to refine and was often considered a clan’s treasured asset, rarely presented in public.

“What dense pill runes! It’s practically edging toward purple!” gasped another.

Countless spectators stood up, staring in disbelief at the crystal sphere.

For the first time in five centuries, a blue pill rune had reappeared. The entire plaza erupted in astonishment.

“Congratulations, Patriarch Liu!” Members of neighboring clans rose from their seats, offering their congratulations one after another.

A blue pill rune emerged, nearly guaranteeing the Liu Clan a partnership with the Spirit Jade Pavilion.

“We’re just lucky,” Liu Xiucheng replied humbly. He understood it wasn’t the time to stand out. A blue pill rune would inevitably draw envy and scrutiny.

The guests began whispering among themselves. Blue pill runes were exceptionally rare, their potency dozens of times greater than that of yellow or green pills.

Until now, alchemy had been the domain of the Profound Cloud Sect. They had served as the Spirit Jade Pavilion’s primary alchemy partner for centuries.

But now, as the Liu Clan’s result spread across the plaza, the faces of everyone from the Profound Cloud Sect turned grim.

If the Liu Clan could consistently produce pills of this quality, the Profound Cloud Sect would lose its dominance in the alchemy market, dealing a severe blow to their profits. For them, it would be nothing short of a disaster.

“Damn it! I thought the Liu Clan’s alchemy techniques were long lost! How could they produce pills with blue pill runes?” snarled an elder from the Profound Cloud Sect, his arm lashing out in frustration.

As more factions stepped forward to present their pills, the crystal sphere returned most results as green pill runes.

“It’s the Profound Cloud Sect’s turn now!”

In past commerce fairs, the organizers usually scheduled the Profound Cloud Sect to appear last as the grand finale, thanks to the widespread popularity of their pills across the Central Plains. But everything shifted this year. The sudden rise of the Liu Clan made the Profound Cloud Sect feel threatened.

“Let’s see if the Profound Cloud Sect can surpass the Liu Clan. They’ve built an empire on alchemy for centuries. Without that, how else would they rise to such power?” murmurs spread throughout the crowd as everyone held their breaths, eyes locked onto the crystal sphere.

The crystal sphere began to spin once more as pill runes surfaced. But compared to the Liu Clan’s earlier brilliance, the Profound Cloud Sect’s result already felt underwhelming.