Chapter 123: First-Rank Spirit Pill
“What is it?” Bajiao turned around. A flicker of unease crossed his face, but he still raised his usual smile. “Senior Brother Guangbai, did you need something?”
This Senior Brother Guangbai had an exceptionally deep cultivation level, enough to give off a faint sense of pressure. His bearing did not resemble that of a pill cultivator at all.
Yu Qingtang shrank behind Qingzhu. Knowing that some experts were unusually sensitive to being watched, he did not dare stare.
Still, he suspected this “Guangbai” might not actually be a pill cultivator, but rather some sort of guardian. After all, few pill cultivators liked hanging curved sabers from their waists.
“You smell of blood.” Guangbai stared at Bajiao. “What happened?”
For an instant, Bajiao looked stifled. Then he laughed. “Oh, that. I wondered what you meant.”
He arrogantly lifted one foot and patted it, then ground it against the floor as he said with a smile, “A junior brother was misbehaving. As his senior brother, I naturally had to teach him a lesson.”
“Just now...”
He raised his head and gestured. “I kicked the thing into a wall. Must’ve gotten a little blood on me.”
Guangbai frowned. “Fire Cauldron Sect has a Discipline Hall.”
“I’m well aware.” Bajiao waved him off. “I’ll drag him over there later.”
“What I mean,” Guangbai said, staring at him and enunciating every word, “is that since Fire Cauldron Sect has a Discipline Hall, any disciple who violates the sect rules should be judged by the Discipline Hall.”
“You took it upon yourself to punish a junior brother. You should report to the Discipline Hall and accept punishment as well.”
Still holding the food box, Bajiao slowly turned his head. The smile vanished from his face as he casually remarked, as though making small talk, “Senior Brother Guangbai has already reached the Integration stage, hasn’t he?”
His lips smiled, but his eyes did not. “An ordinary Integration-stage cultivator could already establish a sect of his own. Senior Brother Guangbai may not know how to refine pills, but you’re still one of Fire Cauldron Sect’s finest fighters. By rights, you shouldn’t still be merely a ‘senior brother.’ You ought to be an elder by now.”
Guangbai said nothing.
Bajiao sneered. “Unfortunately, you can’t control that mouth of yours. Otherwise, how would you have fallen so far as to stand guard at a door?”
He flicked his sleeve and shoved the door open with a bang, then swaggered straight into the old Pill King’s chambers.
Guangbai immediately gripped the hilt of his curved saber and started to turn, only for the senior brother beside him to seize him tightly.
“Senior Brother Guangbai!”
The man lowered his voice in warning. “Don’t act rashly! Remember why you’re stationed here!”
Guangbai clenched his teeth so hard that veins bulged across his forehead. In the end, he merely stared deep into the room, drew a long breath, then turned away and closed his eyes, apparently deciding that what he could not see could not anger him.
“Ah.” The other senior brother shook his head and looked at him regretfully.
Years ago, Senior Brother Guangbai had caused some trouble in another province. Fortunately, the old Pill King had appreciated his talent and taken him into Fire Cauldron Sect.
But Guangbai was blunt-tempered and did not get along particularly well with his fellow disciples. After the old Pill King entered seclusion, he had clashed several times with disciples under the Tianyuan Pill King...
Even now, he was the only stubborn fool in all of Fire Cauldron Sect who still insisted on calling the Tianyuan Pill King the “acting sect master.”
Had he not been so powerful, so indifferent to rank, and willing to volunteer as the guard outside the old Pill King’s door, he might have ended up like the other former disciples of the old Pill King—gradually reassigned to one insignificant post after another.
Yu Qingtang cautiously poked his head out.
He had thought Senior Brother Guangbai had discovered them just now and had nearly gone weak at the knees.
Even now, however, Qingzhu did not let down his guard.
He glanced at the two men outside and signaled for Yu Qingtang and Ye Chenyan to hold their breaths. Only then did he slip inside behind Bajiao before the door closed.
At last, they saw the legendary old Pill King.
He sat cross-legged in the center of the room. Before him stood a golden incense burner shaped like a dragon’s head.
We actually got in!
Yu Qingtang had no idea whether his good fortune had played a part. He hurriedly surveyed the room, taking in as much as possible in hopes of finding some clue.
The old Pill King did not look old at all, much less like a man nearing the end of his lifespan whose vitality was about to run dry.
His hair and beard were both black, and he looked no older than middle-aged. His face was slightly round, and even with his eyes closed, he seemed good-natured. It was easy to imagine that when he smiled, he must have looked exceptionally amiable.
Bajiao appeared somewhat nervous in the old Pill King’s presence. He carefully placed the food box on the table before him, lingered in the room for a while, then turned to leave.
If they wanted to come and go without anyone noticing, they ought to follow him out now. But...
Yu Qingtang stole a glance at Qingzhu, unsure whether he intended to leave.
Qingzhu shifted aside and watched the oblivious Bajiao step out of the room and close the door behind him. He clearly had no intention of following.
Yu Qingtang grew nervous, but did not dare make a sound. He could only shoot Qingzhu meaningful looks.
I should’ve prepared some paper beforehand so we could communicate at times like this.
Qingzhu withdrew his gaze and calmly said, “You may speak.”
Yu Qingtang’s eyes widened. He first looked cautiously toward the door, then lowered his voice.
“The man outside...”
Qingzhu nodded. “His cultivation is respectable, and his senses are sharp.”
“But there is a barrier around this room. So long as the door remains closed, those outside cannot hear what happens within.”
“That arrogant disciple was holding a key.”
Yu Qingtang froze.
He had not dared look around earlier. All he had seen was Bajiao rudely barging through the door. He had not noticed whether the man was holding a key.
Ye Chenyan asked, “How are we getting out afterward?”
Qingzhu paused, then raised his eyes calmly.
“We’ll deal with that when the time comes.”
Yu °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° Qingtang fell silent.
You truly leave yourself no escape route whatsoever.
Qingzhu was already standing before the old Pill King. He bent slightly, cupped his hands, and murmured, “Pardon me.”
Then he reached out and pried the old Pill King’s eyelids open.
Yu Qingtang’s mouth fell slightly open.
Ye Chenyan had already planted his forepaws on the table. Without the slightest hesitation, he pulled the lid off the incense burner with his teeth to see what was inside.
Yu Qingtang fell silent again.
Traveling with you reckless brutes makes me look unbelievably timid.
But I firmly maintain that I am merely a cautious, normal person.
“There isn’t incense inside.” Ye Chenyan alerted the other two, sounding puzzled. “It looks like a pill?”
Perhaps his protagonist physique, which naturally attracted rare treasures, was acting up again. The moment Ye Chenyan entered the room, his attention had gone straight to that incense burner.
Qingzhu had finished his cursory examination of the old Pill King’s face. Expressionlessly, he closed the man’s mouth, then turned toward the pill in the dragon-headed burner.
He narrowed his eyes in surprise.
“Its pill radiance is fully restrained, and it has returned to unadorned simplicity. Could this be... a legendary first-rank pill?”
The three exchanged looks.
Yu Qingtang answered honestly, “Don’t look at me. I usually take pills that don’t even have a rank. I can’t tell.”
“A first-rank pill is like a first-rank spiritual artifact. Supposedly, it can no longer be considered an ordinary pill and is almost always imbued with spirituality. After all, it stands only one step below the legendary immortal grade.”
Qingzhu knew more than they did. He studied the pill thoughtfully.
“Even Fire Cauldron Sect possesses only a handful of first-rank pills, and each has its own extraordinary properties.”
“As for this one...”
He examined it closely.
“If pills are not preserved properly, their medicinal potency gradually fades with time. This does not look like an ancient first-rank spirit pill. It seems to have been refined in recent years.”
“And in recent years, only the old Pill King has been capable of refining first-rank spirit pills.”
“Yunzhou borders Jinzhou. Before the old Pill King entered seclusion, he maintained a fairly close relationship with my Heavenly Music Sect. He once spoke with our sect master and said that, after gaining enlightenment from Buddhist teachings, he believed he could refine a Reincarnation Pill.”
Yu Qingtang cautiously asked, “A Reincarnation Pill as in—you take it and immediately set off for your next life?”
Qingzhu gave him a long look.
“You would not need a pill for that. Someone could simply kill you.”
“That’s true.” Yu Qingtang relaxed, then grew even more curious. “Did the old Pill King tell your sect master what this pill actually does?”
“I know roughly.” Qingzhu nodded. “He said the pill is not meant to be swallowed. It contains a pocket world within itself. Once activated, it sends a person into that world to experience an entire stretch of life, as though undergoing reincarnation.”
Yu Qingtang’s eyes widened in astonishment.
“A pill like that exists?”
Even Qingzhu’s eyes flashed with admiration as he regarded it.
“It could rightly be called a work of peerless genius.”
Ye Chenyan sniffed the pill.
“Then why did they put it here?”
Propping his chin on one hand, Yu Qingtang guessed wildly, “Maybe they’re trying to summon the old Pill King with something he likes?”
Ye Chenyan shook his head. “I don’t believe the Tianyuan Pill King is that kindhearted.”
Yu Qingtang scratched his head. “True... Wait!”
He suddenly looked up.
“Could it be that the old Pill King never entered seclusion at all, and his lifespan isn’t running out? Maybe he’s been inside this pill’s world the whole time, living through another life?”
The three stared at one another.
Ye Chenyan asked, “Did the old Pill King ever explain how to return from the Reincarnation Pill?”
Qingzhu slowly shook his head.
He turned again and opened the food box Bajiao had brought. Inside was indeed a bowl of pale yellow duck soup that carried a faint aroma of medicinal herbs.
Yu Qingtang smacked his lips.
“I remember he said today’s meal was old-duck eight-treasure soup.”
Qingzhu looked up at him.
“Want some?”
Yu Qingtang stared at him in shock.
“Can we drink that?”
Qingzhu picked up the bowl and sniffed it. “Of course.”
Yu Qingtang carefully ventured, “It isn’t the sort of thing you can only drink once in your life because it sends you straight into the next one, is it?”
Qingzhu gave him an amused look.
“It is ordinary soup. There is nothing remarkable about it. At most, the cook knew no one would actually drink it and cut a few corners.”
“The old duck is too young, the eight treasures are stale ingredients, and it was not cooked long enough. Everything else is normal.”
Yu Qingtang blinked.
“Senior, you even know this much about old-duck eight-treasure soup?”
“Yes.” Qingzhu made no attempt to deny it. “A little.”
“This soup cannot cry for help.”
“Then was that junior disciple so frightened that he started hearing things?” Yu Qingtang muttered as he tried to lift the second tier of the food box. “I suppose it’s possible. Fire Cauldron Sect’s atmosphere is awful enough that driving one or two disciples insane wouldn’t be surprising.”
Then his brows furrowed.
He pulled harder at the food box in confusion.
“Why won’t it open?”
Refusing to give up, he crouched down to inspect it.
“It looks like it has several tiers, but only one opens? They didn’t prepare any stir-fried dishes or rice?”
Qingzhu gave him a deep look.
“Stop thinking only about food.”
“He delivers a food box every day, yet yesterday’s box is nowhere to be seen... Does someone come to collect it each day?”
Ye Chenyan pawed at the food box as well, but could not pry it open.
“But he only orders junior disciples to deliver it. We never heard him tell anyone to retrieve it.”
“If he is too lazy to bring it himself, surely he would not be eager to collect it.”
Yu Qingtang looked utterly baffled.
“Then where did the boxes go?”
Before he could finish speaking, the Reincarnation Pill inside the dragon-headed incense burner suddenly began emitting wave after wave of light.
Yu Qingtang reacted instantly. Using the fastest reflexes of his entire life, he snatched up the burner lid and slammed it back into place.
Both Qingzhu and Ye Chenyan were a step too slow.
Yu Qingtang looked up and breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that this moment deserved a place among the greatest achievements of his life.
“That scared me to death. I thought—”
Before he could finish, the light burst through the dragon-headed burner and sucked all three of them inside, along with the food box on the floor.