For Jiang Chen, refining the Taiyi Heaven-Mending Pill was a first even in this lifetime. In terms of grade, this pill ranked slightly above the Pine and Crane Pill — it was nearly a Myriad Heavens-level concoction.
Were it not for the million years of memories from his previous life, Jiang Chen wouldn't have dared claim he could successfully refine it.
After all, pills of this caliber required an extraordinarily complex process where not a single detail could go wrong. Even the tiniest slip could cause catastrophic consequences, reducing the entire effort to nothing.
Having obtained the materials, Jiang Chen didn't rush to begin.
Instead, he completed every preparatory step, then sat cross-legged before the pill cauldron and settled into quiet meditation.
Jiang Chen had always maintained an excellent habit when practicing alchemy — and when it came to a pill he had never refined before, he was all the more cautious.
Through meditation, he would simulate the refinement process repeatedly within his divine sense, familiarizing himself with every step and attending to each detail. This helped him maintain complete control over every aspect of the procedure.
After cycling through the mental simulation three or four times, Jiang Chen finally adjusted his mindset and technique.
Then he began refining the Taiyi Heaven-Mending Pill.
Ever since breaking through to Heaven Rank in his martial cultivation, every aspect of Jiang Chen's abilities had been perfectly elevated — and alchemy was no exception.
Breaking through to Heaven Rank brought Jiang Chen's alchemy work ever closer to perfection. If this were the Jiang Chen of his Sovereign realm days, even if he had forced himself to attempt it, the results likely would have been subpar.
Even during his Emperor realm stage, refining the Taiyi Heaven-Mending Pill — while there had been a decent chance of success — his odds were far from one hundred percent. And even if it succeeded, the number of pills produced wouldn't have been encouraging.
Once he had broken through to Heaven Rank, however, those problems simply ceased to be problems.
Alchemy and martial cultivation were, in a certain sense, interconnected. A great alchemist wasn't required to possess heaven-defying martial cultivation, but a corresponding level of power was still necessary.
It was unrealistic to expect someone at the Emperor or Sovereign realm to unconditionally refine Heaven Rank-level pills.
After entering the Heaven Rank realm, Jiang Chen found that his emotional control and his command of fine details had improved markedly.
Even while refining something as critical as this pill, his heart remained perfectly tranquil. No matter that this pill was tied to his entire chain of plans ahead, nothing could cause violent fluctuations in his mood.
Igniting the flame, heating the cauldron, adding the materials…
A series of movements flowed together seamlessly.
…
While Jiang Chen sat within his secluded chamber, his heart still as water, the man waiting outside — Ziche Min — was far less composed. One could say he was more nervous than Jiang Chen himself.
First, he understood what this pill meant to the young man.
Second, he understood what this pill meant to the entire Eternal Sacred Land.
This was a refinement that could not be allowed to fail. If it did, all of the young man's plans would fall apart, and the situation could spiral dangerously out of control.
For that reason, Ziche Min desperately wanted this young man to succeed.
If this pill was truly produced, it would send shockwaves through the alchemy world of Myriad Abyss Island — an earth-shaking upheaval on a scale never before seen.
"Shao Yuan, since entering the Eternal Sacred Land, you've already created countless miracles. This time, the miracle must continue."
Ziche Min prayed silently.
Still, he hadn't entirely abandoned himself to idle waiting. At the same time, he was using his personal connections to gather materials for the Dingtian Pill from across Myriad Abyss Island.
The materials for the Taiyi Heaven-Mending Pill could be supplied by the Eternal Sacred Land's own reserves.
But the materials for the Dingtian Pill could not be fully sourced from the Eternal Sacred Land — they had to be collected from across all of Myriad Abyss Island. Fortunately, Ziche Min had built a fair number of connections in the island's alchemy community. He couldn't quite match the late Elder Zimu's influence, but he wasn't far behind.
More importantly, Ziche Min was a skilled judge of character and a natural at working with people — something the proud and aloof Elder Zimu had never possessed.
This had earned Ziche Min a respectable reputation and a solid network within the alchemy world of Myriad Abyss Island, giving him a reasonable shot at gathering the materials for the Dingtian Pill.
…
None of what transpired within the Eternal Sacred Land was known to the outside world.
Deep within a secret realm belonging to the Xiahou Clan, a young man sat submerged in a warm spring. Mist and vapor swirled around him, and drifting white fog lent him an air of profound mystery.
This was none other than the foremost prodigy of the Xiahou Clan's younger generation — Xiahou Zong.
He had been secluded in this hot spring, cultivating in isolation, for many years.
At this moment, his eyes suddenly snapped open. They blazed like stars in the depths of night, radiating a piercing, crystalline brilliance. His gaze carried a sense of unfathomable depth.
"Hmm… how many years has it been… how many years?" Xiahou Zong opened his eyes, spread his arms wide, and drank in the warmth of the spring, reveling in the pleasure the world offered him.
Yes — after so many years of closed-door cultivation, when he finally opened his eyes, the colors of the entire world seemed brighter and more vivid than before.
"Who would have thought — before my seclusion, I was pressing toward mid-stage Heaven Rank. The heavens did not forsake me. Not only did I break through to the fourth level of Heaven Rank, I surged all the way to the fifth. It seems even the imperial heavens themselves watch over me, Xiahou Zong."