Advancement to Fifth-Rank Alchemist, Pill Successfully Completed!

Lin Yuan's expression gradually darkened.

Even his current strongest offensive method couldn't scratch the surface of this silver thunder bamboo.

He felt like a Mortal facing a steel fortress piled high with gold, yet unable to even push open the main gate.

Afterward, Lin Yuan tried several other methods, but ultimately had to give up in frustration.

With his current Cultivation, he could not take this Divine Wood.

A massive sense of loss surged in his heart, but immediately afterward, he saw hope.

Scattered on the ground of the bamboo forest were many bamboo leaves.

Lin Yuan bent down and picked up a leaf; it felt heavy in his hand, metallic in texture, completely silver-white, with a faint trace of thunder light lingering around its edges.

He collected all hundred-plus silver bamboo leaves from the ground, his gaze finally resting beneath the two gold thunder bamboos.

Lying quietly there were two fallen leaves.

They were entirely golden, looking as if they were carved from gold.

Just holding them, Lin Yuan could feel a vast and pure power of thunder.

He had previously killed a Thunder Cultivator and obtained a Cultivation Technique named "Purple Firmament Divine Thunder" from his Storage Pouch.

He could not Cultivate using this Cultivation Technique, but he could craft the Divine Thunder Talisman and refine the evil warding divine thunder pill recorded within it.

The former could summon Heavenly Thunder, destroying all evil and darkness in the world.

Taking the latter could cleanse the Physical Body, making it impervious to all evil.

Refining these two items requires Spiritual Materials containing pure thunder power as the main ingredient, and the silver thunder bamboo leaves in his hand were excellent Materials.

"evil warding divine thunder pill..."

Lin Yuan's thoughts spun rapidly in his mind.

"If this Medicinal Pill can eliminate the poisonous miasma of the Demon Falling Valley, wouldn't I be able to..."

If he could truly ignore this omnipresent poisonous miasma, this desperate land that everyone feared like a tiger would become a back garden he could traverse freely!

He instantly suppressed the surging thoughts in his heart, no longer hesitated, immediately sat down cross-legged, and took out his Pill Furnace.

A silver bamboo leaf was tossed into it.

As soon as the bamboo leaf touched the high temperature inside the furnace, the silver thunder light circulating on its surface suddenly flared up!

An extremely violent aura instantly exploded inside the Pill Furnace!

"Buzz—"

The Pill Furnace emitted a dull tremor, and the body of the furnace shook violently, looking as if it might explode at any moment.

Lin Yuan's expression became serious. He fully activated his Divine Sense, attempting to soothe and guide the savage thunder power.

However, this power was far more difficult to control than he had imagined.

Enveloped by his Divine Sense, it dashed wildly, and every collision intensified the shaking of the Pill Furnace.

Fine beads of sweat gradually seeped from Lin Yuan's temples.

He couldn't recall how long it had been since he felt such immense pressure while performing Alchemy.

After more than ten breaths.

"Boom!"

With a loud bang, the lid of the Pill Furnace was blown off by an overwhelming force, tossed high into the air, and then crashed heavily onto the ground, emitting a harsh thud.

A wisp of black smoke curled up from the furnace opening.

Lin Yuan looked at the mess before him.

"Tsk, this silver thunder bamboo leaf is truly fierce, just like those little Fairies who just left their Sect and don't understand charm—they flare up if you touch them. Looks like I need to use a gentler approach."

As he thought this, his gaze finally fell upon the small golden characters at the bottom of his vision.

[Sixth-Grade Alchemist: 1/400 (attribute points available)]

The small characters flickered slightly before his eyes, then began to blur and refresh.

In an instant, the numbers and characters reconstructed.

[Fifth-Grade Alchemist: 0/500 (attribute points available)]

An unimaginably vast amount of Alchemy experience and insight transformed into a sea of stars of information, instantly pouring into his mind.

This time, the feeling was incredibly clear, no longer just vague theory. He felt as if he had personally experienced thousands of failures and successes, countless variations in medicinal properties, endless details of fire control, and the deduction of innumerable Pill Formulas... Among these was a section of Grandmaster insights specifically on how to handle Spiritual Materials possessing the extremely Yang and extremely rigid thunder attribute!

It was as if a Grandmaster of the Dao of Alchemy had imprinted all of their lifelong experience and understanding deep within his Soul without reservation.

Lin Yuan's closed eyes trembled slightly.

A moment later, he opened his eyes again.

The confusion and obscurity in his eyes were swept away, replaced by a clarity and confidence that saw through everything.

However, this time he did not rush to refine; instead, he held the Pill Formula and carefully simulated the process in his mind, comparing it with his previous failed experience.

After comprehending it more than ten times, Lin Yuan's eyes lit up.

"This thunder power is too violent. The Yin cold power of the Earth Core Nether Fire can neutralize it. When water and fire are balanced, and Yin and Yang are harmonized, only then can the pill be formed!"

Thinking this, he reached out again and tossed another silver-white bamboo leaf into the Pill Furnace.

This time, his movements were skillful and natural. The moment his Divine Sense entered the Pill Furnace, he no longer forcefully suppressed the power.

Instead, it transformed into countless fine threads, wrapping the savage thunder power layer by layer in an extremely delicate manner, slowly combing along its pathways.

The bamboo leaf gradually melted in the deep blue flame, turning into a pool of silver liquid.

Countless tiny electric arcs darted across the surface of the liquid, yet they were restrained by an invisible force and could not break free.

The greatest difficulty in refining this Medicinal Pill lay precisely here.

He had to both preserve the supremely Yang and rigid nature of the thunder while transforming its violent energy into gentle medicinal power, allowing it to be absorbed by the Physical Body rather than causing destruction.

Lin Yuan's ten fingers fluttered, and Hand Seals were struck into the Pill Furnace one after another.

The thunder light inside the furnace gradually receded, and the silver liquid began to spin and condense.

"Open!"

He shouted in a low voice.

The furnace lid opened in response, and three pill pellets shot up into the sky accompanied by a wave of scorching Qi.

The pill pellets were bright silver all over, with faint thunder light flickering on their surfaces, like three miniature stars.

"Three Low Grade evil warding divine thunder pills."

Lin Yuan stored the Medicinal Pills in a Jade Bottle, calculating in his mind.

Even with his newly promoted Fifth-Grade Alchemist standard, he could only refine Low Grade pills.

To refine a supreme grade Medicinal Pill, he would likely need to raise his Alchemist Rank to Second Rank, which was the legendary Pill Venerable Realm.

He glanced at the remaining six hundred-plus attribute points and shook his head.

The difference in efficacy between Medium Grade and Low Grade was not vast; exhausting all his trump cards for such a small improvement was not worthwhile.

He should save these attribute points for unforeseen needs.

He carefully put away the Pill Furnace, confirmed he hadn't missed anything, and only then took out one evil warding divine thunder pill and swallowed it directly.

As the Medicinal Pill went down his throat, it instantly turned into a warm current.

Immediately afterward, a fine tingling sensation spread throughout his body.

Lin Yuan's body involuntarily shivered.

It was an indescribably refreshing feeling.

He stepped out of the Silver Thunder Bamboo Forest and re-entered the grayish-green poisonous miasma.

Traces of toxic gas invaded his body, but they were instantly dissolved clean.

"As long as I stick to one direction, I can eventually walk out."

Lin Yuan steadied his heart and piloted the light feather boat, flying slowly close to the ground in one direction.

The spatial rifts here were far denser than in the outer regions, preventing him from daring to be careless in the slightest.

As he flew, he silently memorized the route in his heart so that he could find this bamboo forest again in the future.

Time passed during the monotonous flight.

Two days later, Lin Yuan slowly stopped the light feather boat.

He restrained his aura to the extreme, like an unmoving rock blended into the environment.

Not far ahead, he detected two faint life auras.

People!

This discovery lifted Lin Yuan's spirits.

Did this mean he was not far from the edge of the Demon Falling Valley?

But the poisonous miasma here was still thick, showing no signs of weakening. How could anyone appear here?

He suppressed all sound and quietly approached.

Through the heavy poisonous miasma, he vaguely saw two figures standing in front of a giant stone stele.

"Your Highness, we found it!"

A muffled voice rang out. The speaker was tall and burly, like an iron tower.

The other person was wearing a luxurious brocade robe, tall and straight, and even from just a back view, exuded a graceful presence typical of someone long accustomed to a high position.

He was gazing intently at the pitch-black stone stele, seemingly with a hint of barely concealed excitement.

Judging by the Golden Crow Totem embroidered on the luxurious robe, he should be a Cultivator from the Yan Yang Kingdom Royal Family.

Among the Six Kingdoms of the Eastern Domain, only the Yan Yang Kingdom was unique; there were no numerous Sects within the country, but rather the Imperial Family held sole dominance.

This person was likely a certain Prince of the Yan Yang Kingdom.

But what exactly was a Prince of such distinguished status risking his life to search for deep within the Demon Falling Valley?