Even those in the Medicine King Valley who were said to make a living from pill refinement would probably not have half the talent that Xia Ningshang possessed.
"What kind of physique does Senior Sister have?" Yang Kai turned his head and asked.
Meng Wuya said in a deep voice, "The Medicine Spirit Sacred Physique!"
"Related to pill refinement?"
"Exactly." Meng Wuya nodded. "This physique is extraordinarily rare — perhaps not a single one appears in a thousand years or more. A person who possesses the Medicine Spirit Sacred Physique can take any pill without suffering any side effects. You should know that every medicine carries some degree of poison. Although there are many pills now that can aid cultivation and even vastly boost one's strength, there are still limits to how many a person can consume. But the Medicine Spirit Sacred Physique is different. You could say that this physique is, in itself, the finest pill furnace under heaven. Once a pill enters the body, any harmful substance within it can be completely refined away. Your Senior Sister has only been cultivating for five years, yet she has already reached the peak of the Separation-Union Realm. If I hadn't deliberately suppressed her cultivation, she would long since have advanced to the Zhenyuan Realm."
Yang Kai was stunned. Five years to reach the peak of the Separation-Union Realm — Xie Hongchen was only at this level, and how long had he been cultivating? Over a decade, at least. And this was after her progress had been suppressed. If not for that, wouldn't she be even more powerful than Su Yan?
Yang Kai felt thoroughly ashamed. Compared to the Senior Sister standing before him, his own aptitude was practically heaven and earth.
She was Lingxiao Pavilion's greatest genius, without question!
Still, Senior Sister Xia's rapid growth was inseparable from the vast quantities of spiritual pills and medicines she had consumed.
Meng Wuya continued, "The Medicine Spirit Sacred Physique offers more than just these benefits. If the owner cultivates a divine technique specifically matched to it, then anything under heaven — as long as it contains energy — can be refined into a pill. Even the spiritual qi of heaven and earth can be refined into pills, if the disciple is willing."
Anything under heaven, so long as it contained energy, could become a pill! If even the spiritual qi of heaven and earth could be refined, then Three Yang Fruits would naturally pose no problem whatsoever.
Yang Kai could already foresee that this Senior Sister Xia would absolutely become the finest alchemist in the world. With this one-of-a-kind physique alone, no one could hope to compare.
"This time, Ningshang needs to advance to the Zhenyuan Realm. But before that, she must refine a certain substance into her body — something she cannot obtain on her own." Meng Wuya looked at Yang Kai with a serious expression.
"So that's why you need my help?" Yang Kai asked.
Meng Wuya nodded.
"What substance?"
"Nine Yin Essence Condensation Dew. It's immensely beneficial for condensing true essence. If I didn't want Ningshang to refine it, I wouldn't have suppressed her cultivation in the first place."
When advancing from the Separation-Union Realm to the Zhenyuan Realm, the yuan qi within one's body would be transformed into true essence, upgrading its quality by countless orders of magnitude. This was a process every martial artist had to undergo, but if one supplemented it with rare heavenly treasures during the process, the quality of the resulting true essence would be significantly superior.
The so-called Nine Yin Essence Condensation Dew was evidently one of those rare treasures — and quite possibly the finest one there was.
"The Nine Yin Essence Condensation Dew possesses a degree of spiritual awareness on its own, making it extremely difficult to acquire. If someone who doesn't meet the right conditions touches it, it will instantly disperse into spiritual qi and vanish. Only someone who cultivates yang-attributed yuan qi has a chance of controlling it — and the yang yuan qi within that person's body must be pure to a sufficient degree. That is why I'm asking you."
"What exactly do I need to do?" Yang Kai asked.
Meng Wuya immediately grew impatient. "Why ask so many questions? I'll tell you when the time comes."
Yang Kai rubbed his nose, unsure why the old man was so irritable.
"Where is this substance? When do we leave?"
"It's deep within Black Wind Mountain. There is a place called the Nine Yin Gathering Place. On the seventh day of the seventh month, the yin qi converges, and only at that moment will the Nine Yin Essence Condensation Dew appear as it absorbs the yin qi of heaven and earth."
"That doesn't leave many days." Yang Kai did a quick calculation and realized there were only a dozen or so days until the seventh of the seventh month. If they needed to penetrate deep into Black Wind Mountain, the journey alone would eat up a fair bit of time.
"Exactly. So if you have nothing pressing, I'd like to set out as soon as possible. Miss this window, and we'll have to wait another year." Meng Wuya's expression was solemn.