First of all, the fact was that this arcane effort was an alchemy technique, and every detail of this alchemy technique was integrated into cultivation. It could be said that cultivating this arcane effort was the same as becoming a grand alchemist!

This was a pill, not a pill-elixir. Xu Yangyi could already imagine that as long as he refined a medicinal pill, the issue of fuel absolutely wouldn’t become a major problem! During the End of Days, it would be the only medicinal pill! Only he would be capable of concocting medicinal pills!

Pill-elixirs were subject to medicinal leakage, and in the End of Days, spirit plants were few in number. Modern technology was unable to stimulate the unique growth environment of real heavenly treasures by any measure. Moreover, science couldn’t decipher the immaterial self-cycling system of heavenly treasures. To use one plant symbolized one plant less. Regardless of whether it was the pill-elixir injection faction or the capsule administration faction, medicinal leakage had always been a problem that both sides were unable to avoid. 

If a true medicinal pill was brought out… Xu Yangyi could send any modern cultivator into a frenzy! But, he had to be terribly careful as well. Under such enticement, there was no doubt that the Core Formation masters wouldn’t mind braving tremendous hazards and more, all over a medicine slave.

However, this would be fine if he was able to train in this arcane effort. 

Besides, he simply couldn’t escape the enticement of max resistance and magic immunity. He was a person that followed the heart! There was also the possibility that this was the only arcane effort in the entire world that could cultivate the body to such a perverted boundary. He understood why the box has expanded his qi sea as well. If he cultivated the Eternal Alchemy Canon, all his bodily meridians would correspondingly enlarge! 

What to do?

His gaze sunk into the cigarette ash in his hand which had accumulated more as time went by. Xu Yangyi mumbled to himself.

It was rather simple to begin cultivating the Eternal Alchemy Canon. The first matter that had to be accomplished wasn’t to cultivate, but rather refine pills! He required large quantities of low-grade spirit items! Yet this represented an ocean’s worth of capital! Regardless of whether it was Chinese dollars or spirit stones!

The Dao of Pills had its own techniques, and these techniques were a process of constructing oneself as “furnace and cauldron”. The first pill’s refinement symbolized the completion of furnace-cauldron construction. One could then draw in Spirit Fire and “fuel” to start cultivating.

At the same time… one would be able to feel the Vermilion Bird Fire’s true location! Although it was only a general scope, an area of a thousand square kilometers, this was already serious progress!

“This really is fucking cruel…” He exhaled and went straight to lie down on the floor. If any cultivator cultivating this arcane effort knew of the Vermilion Bird Fire’s location, was there a possibility that they wouldn’t go seize it?

If he retreated from this question of right or wrong now, then what was there to even talk about defying the heavens? What was there to discuss about cultivation? Like so, Xu Yangyi gazed at the ceiling. Once an hour had passed, he finally stood up. His eyes carried an indescribable determination. 

“In that case… first, I have to find a plot of spirit plants.” Lighting another cigarette, he puffed out smoke and cracked his neck. “Afterwards, I still need an external furnace and cauldron before my body becomes one.”

“Money, eh…” After several minutes, he tossed the cigarette in his hand aside. “Looks like I’m going to have to enroll as soon as I can.”

“Since I’ve made up my mind to cultivate this arcane effort, I’m going to have to refine a pill first. Otherwise, not to even mention cultivating, I won’t even have the supplies to gather.”

His gaze flashed and he pushed open the basement door. “Anyways, as long as I can produce the first pill, the accumulation of my supplies… will definitely increase lightning fast!” 

In all of China, only he would be able to refine pills! With this reputation, he could guarantee that while he may not have the greatest wealth, he would only be richer! Everything would originate from this first medicinal pill, this first endeavor!

At nearly the same moment, at the branch master’s office in the Featherwood Guard, an old man looked coolly at all the employees in front of him, not uttering a single word.

No one dared to meet his gaze, and everyone’s heads were hung low. They were silent, not speaking.

“Thirty days, a whole thirty days…” The old man’s left hand gently caressed a teacup lid. “Where is the person?”

“Branch Master…” A man smiled bitterly, “Since the cultivation hacker disrupted our internet positioning, the account that sir wanted to find hasn’t appeared again… Furthermore, the positioning disturbance came from the Hidden Dragon Legion. W-We could’ve possibly investigated this incorrectly…” 

“Alright then, speak, what do you think is a ‘decent’ inference?” The old man smiled.

“Yes…” The man pursed his lips and responded in fear and trepidation. “I suspect… that Commander Chu interfered with our search…”

“What is there to suspect, it’s definitely him.” The old man stroked the teacup lid neither slowly nor hurriedly, not lifting his eyelids. Suddenly, the entire teacup lid noiselessly fragmented in his hand! It seemed to be knocked firmly into the air by a large hand! Among all the shards, there wasn’t a single one that managed to break away from this invisible basket-ball-sized parachute! Every drop of tea inside oddly floated in the air! 

“I gave respect, but you had no desire for it.” His eyes revealed cold light. “You dare resist that authority’s command…”

“So, you’re borrowing Deputy Minister Chu’s power to openly hinder me?” He casually waved, and the tea and all the fragments were like bullets, striking behind everyone with a series of thuds, and forming a concentrated bullet hole!

“Gulp…” It wasn’t known who it was that had swallowed. Soon after, everyone lowered their heads, drenched in cold sweat. 

“Get out.” He closed his eyes. “From today onwards, I wish to see none of you here at the branch again. This month was your last chance. I still don’t see ‘trust’ on any of you. All of you are fired.”

The inside of each person’s mouth dried up, but they still dared not say anything. After they saluted respectfully, they stepped out with their hearts brimming with grievance. 

“Have the personnel of the Heaven Listener, Wind Trace, and Tiger King Legions come in.”

Less than a minute later, two men and a woman stood before the old man. Although their auras were at the initial stage of Qi Condensation, they nevertheless carried an obvious baleful air. It was a tangible killing aura dyed with the long term slaying of demons.

They all wore black uniforms. Even if the men were wrapped in uniform, the swell of their muscles beneath could be felt. The woman was strong and supple as if she were a cheetah.

One of the men was bald and his face was smeared with camouflage. The other man sported a buzz cut and was slim, his expression like that of a wooden board. The sole woman likewise carried the distinction of a professional hunter. 

“We pay respects to Senior!” After the door closed, the three people collectively took a knee on the floor and greeted, as if they were well-trained to do so.

“Dispense the formality.” The old man slightly raised his hand. “Sit.”

None dared to sit. The old man didn’t give it any mind and pursed his lips to take a sip of his tea. “I want all of you to find someone. I’ve already had Heavens Law get a hold of the item he used.” The old man grasped at the air, and a plastic-wrapped item appeared on the table.

It was a gun.

“I want all of you to remember…” His gaze deepened over the trio. “In case he is found, immediately notify me. This matter cannot be known to any third party. If outsiders find out besides myself, kill them all. I’ll deal with the aftermath for you.”

“Yes!”

“You are each one of Mingshui Province’s most outstanding scouts.” The old man finished speaking and his face carried a bright smile again. “You’re different from those mortal technology department simpletons. I shall be awaiting your good news.”

“We hear and obey!” Once the three people bowed, the woman bowed again. “If I may, is this subordinate allowed to capture this person and bring him before Senior?!”

Capture?

A jest.

The old man gently sipped his tea and wished he could say: 

None of you are simply his opponent. It’ll be a merit for all of you to find him.

You want to rely on yourselves against someone that was able to survive from Vermilion Snow’s claws, caused an authority to mention him by name, and vanished without a trace from all of China for three years, unable to be found?

“Exercise at your own discretion.” He smiled. “But… it’s extremely inconvenient for myself to make an appearance concerning this matter. The most important thing is for you is to unearth and comeback with his information. Under the circumstances that he is left unaware.”

“Understood!” The man in camouflage bowed again and asked, “And what if he can’t be captured?”

The old man narrowed his eyes. “If he dies I want to see a corpse.” The three people left, and the old man calmly clasped his teacup. Eventually, he furrowed his brows. “It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other. Are you not planning on coming out?”

No one replied, and several minutes later, a man’s voice faintly echoed. “They are not HL-01’s opponent.”

The old man scoffed, set down his teacup, and said calmly, “You and I walked out of Mingshui Province step by step together that year. We were also considered brothers. Nowadays, I hack and cleave my way through all bristle and thorn in my path, and you say this?”

“Thousandedge, I…”

“I understand, I get it…” The old man made a gesture to stop and stood up. He walked over to the window, gently stroked the glass, and murmured, “What else is there to say? In human society and cultivator society, there’s nothing else but benefit, the two words ‘checks and balances’... Haven’t you come to find me because you fancy my power? On the contrary, I haven’t seen you in several decades, yet you’ve already reached the peak of the middle stage of Foundation Establishment. Will I be kneeling on the ground and hailing you as Dao Master in another forty to fifty years?”

The other man didn’t speak and only sighed after what seemed to be ages.

“There’s no need to say anything else.” The momentary sorrow died away from the old man in a flicker. He returned to sit down at his desk, his gaze sharp. “I’ve carried out the contract, and that Xu will be brought before you. Daomaster Floatingcloud shall take me in as a disciple, no?”

It was silent again, and the old man suddenly began to laugh hollowly. His laughter contained a dense fury. “You dare renege on the promise? I dare not provoke Daomaster Floatingcloud, but as for you…”

“No.” Before his voice even fell, the other man’s voice rang out from within the room once more. “The Dao Master’s words are to be followed as law.”

The old man said nothing but rather looked to a certain place, devoid of a single trace of emotion. 

“But a minor additional clause shall be added on…”

Swish!

 A black card flashed from within the void and nailed into the desk in an instant. It was written with a forceful hand, strong and bold in its strokes.

“A Black Kill Order?!” Once the old man caught clear sight of the card, he coldly gasped. “Death check?! Dead or alive, no time limit?!”

He glanced incredulously at the place from where the card had flown. An insignificant Qi Condensation cultivator was actually capable of rousing the authority that was Daomaster Floatingcloud to action?! One of China’s ten grand apex personages! The Black Kill Order he hadn’t even seen for over twenty years had been issued?!

This card was equal to a ticket to hell. The reverse side was red like dripping blood and the front side held the detailed information of the cultivator. Only cultivators above Foundation Establishment had the qualifications to receive this.

As for cultivators below Foundation Establishment… they fundamentally lacked the attainments to be on this card!

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