Almost in the same moment that Meng Hao’s Divine Flame Immortal meridian exploded with power, Fang Yanxu sat in the Medicine Immortal Sect, and his face suddenly flickered. He rose to his feet, vanished, and reappeared next to Fang Shoudao in the ancestral mansion.

“That little punk actually does understand the threshold of the Dao Realm!” he said. “He's figured it out too early! Without sufficient wisdom, it's not a good thing.”

When Fang Shoudao heard this, he stared in shock.

“You mean...?”

Fang Yanxu looked over at Fang Shoudao and then coolly said, “I mean that he CAN concoct the Sea Cleaving Heaven Defying Pill after all.”

Fang Shoudao’s expression flickered, and then he frowned.

“Why do you have to make things so hard on him?” said Fang Yanxu, shaking his head. “Loving memories are what makes our journey along the path of cultivation beautiful.”

“The Li Clan was an auxiliary branch of Lord Li’s clan,” replied Fang Shoudao, “and the reason why the Ji Clan has no choice but to leave them be is that, just like the w.a.n.g Clan, the Li Clan did not originate in the Ninth Mountain and Sea.

“The benefit to the clan as a whole is secondary when it comes to forming a marriage alliance with the Li Clan. The most important thing about it is for Hao’er himself. Once he steps into the Dao Realm, being in that marriage would provide him with unexpected benefits.

“He is now the only hope of my bloodline. How could I possibly allow him to fool around w.i.l.l.y-nilly?” Fang Shoudao sighed and then made a grasping motion, causing a jade slip to appear in his hand.

“If Hao’er gets angry, then I’ll just have to bear the brunt of that anger,” he concluded. Eyes filled with determination, he sent some divine will into the jade slip.

Back in the Dao of Alchemy Division, everyone watched as Meng Hao stood in front of the Pill Pavilion’s second drum, hair and robes whipping about. He swished his sleeve, and the medicinal plants flying about him blurred as he rapidly grafted them.

He was to use 99 medicinal plants to graft 100,000 variations. That was the first step to concocting the Sea Cleaving Heaven Defying Pill.

An expression of concentration could be seen on his face, and his eyes flickered with the glow of augury. More and more medicinal plants appeared around him.

3,000. 7,000. 10,000!

That wasn’t the end. Meng Hao lifted his hand and waved a finger, causing all of the medicinal plants to split apart as he started new grafts. In accordance with the pill formula’s requirements, he continued to create more and more medicinal plants that all harmonized with each other.

Doing something like this required incredible skill with plants and vegetation, skill that could only be described as terrifying. It was something that, in the entire Dao of Alchemy Division, only Pill Elder could also do.

No one else in the Dao of Alchemy Division could come close, the reason being that such a level of skill with plants and vegetation required that someone pa.s.s the eighth level of the Medicine Pavilion by un-grafting at least 500,000 medicinal plants.

Even in the Medicine Immortal Sect, only Fang Yanxu was qualified to do such a thing.

Time pa.s.sed. Meng Hao's hand was in constant motion as more and more grafted medicinal plants appeared around him.

20,000. 30,000. 40,000....

It was a dazzling sight, and all of the surrounding members of the Fang Clan were shaken inwardly. They had never seen someone concoct pills in such a way. To them, this was not a matter of simply concocting pills. This was a Dao!

The Dao of alchemy!

The alchemists were all moved, and Pill Elder stood on his mountain peak, watching intently.

50,000. 60,000. 70,000....

Meng Hao’s hands moved faster and faster, and the flash of augury sparkled in his eyes. All of his attention was focused on deconstructing, then grafting medicinal plants. Boundless light rose up, and only continued to grow brighter and brighter.

An intense aroma of medicinal plants and vegetation wafted about. It grew stronger and stronger until it filled the entire Dao of Alchemy Division. All of the cultivators who caught a whiff felt enlivened.

Time pa.s.sed by slowly. Soon, a day had gone by, and Meng Hao was still deconstructing medicinal plants. During the process, he couldn't make a single mistake. If he did, if he missed out on a single characteristic of a single plant, it would influence the deconstruction of all the other plants and vegetation.

80,000. 90,000.... On the second day, Meng Hao’s hands suddenly stopped moving. Shockingly he was now surrounded by... 100,000 medicinal plants!

From 99 plants, he had deconstructed and grafted 100,000 new, unique medicinal plants!

The surrounding members of the Fang Clan, including the alchemists from the Dao of Alchemy Division, were in shock. What they had seen was like something out of a legend. It was like observing a Dao, a type of pill concocting in which refuse was turned into a divine item!

However, n.o.body spoke. They only looked on, panting. Interrupting someone who was concocting pills was the highest taboo, and considering that Meng Hao was now immersed in the Dao of alchemy, the members of the Fang Clan maintained complete silence. They didn't want to disturb him. However, their eyes were filled with excitement and approval that bordered on madness.

Meng Hao closed his eyes, then opened them a few moments later. A brilliant gleam could be seen as he extended his hands and pinched down with his fingers.

“Sea!” he barked.

As soon as the word left his mouth, the 100,000 medicinal plants which surrounded him all collapsed into pieces. All of the leaves and branches shattered into dust as if being squeezed dry and dying.

The sight of it caused everyone to gasp. However, the cultivators with strong skill in the Dao of alchemy were instantly astonished.

A wind picked up, gathering up the dust that was the remnants of the 100,000 medicinal plants, leaving behind... something formed from the sap of 100,000 plants... an emerald sea!

The green sea surrounded Meng Hao, and pulsed as if with waves, sending tremors out in all directions. It almost looked like real seawater, and although it wasn’t a boundless expanse, it was truly a sea!

The sea of plants and vegetation rotated ceaselessly around Meng Hao as he extended both hands and then violently shoved them downward.

“Congeal!”

Rumbling filled the air as the sea of plants and vegetation began to boil, then condense inward. In the blink of an eye it transformed into an enormous ball of sap in front of Meng Hao.

Almost in that same moment, Meng Hao's Immortal meridians exploded with power. 33 Heavens appeared, and the secret magic of the Immortal Realm Paragon was unleashed. Instantly, all of his Immortal meridians transformed into Divine Flame Immortal meridians!

123 Divine Flame Immortal meridians surged with power, causing 123 beams of glowing Divine Flame light to shoot toward the sphere of sap.

They merged into each other, and Essence power emanated off of Meng Hao. His entire body trembled, and beads of sweat broke out on his face. His eyes gleamed with determination as he reached out and manipulated the sphere of sap with both hands.

It began to boil madly. Bulges and depressions rose and fell on its surface, and numerous magical symbols flickered. It was almost as if there were some Earth-shaking Heaven-shattering power inside of it.

It seemed like it might explode at any moment, but Meng Hao was constantly suppressing it.

Rumbling sounds echoed out from inside of the sphere of sap, which was now the complete focus of all attention.

The sphere grew smaller and smaller as Meng Hao suppressed it, until finally it was the size of a fist....

Unable to push the sap down any further, Meng Hao cried out, “Sea Cleaving!”

An incredible force burst out from within the sphere, causing his hands to recoil. Blood oozed out of the corners of his mouth, and he backed up. At the same time, the fist-sized sphere of sap directly exploded.

A huge boom echoed out in all directions as endless amounts of sap splashed out in all directions. It was as if the entire sky... was suddenly stained the green color of plants and vegetation!

“Did he fail?” That was the question floating in the minds of all the onlookers.

“Heaven Defying!” Meng Hao threw his head back and roared, unleas.h.i.+ng the full explosive power of his Divine Flame Immortal meridian.

The splatters of sap suddenly stopped in place, then began to move in reverse. In the blink of an eye, all of the sap had returned and reformed in front of Meng Hao!

This sight caused the minds of all onlookers to reel. They had clearly seen the sky stained green when the sap exploded. But now, there was a defiant reversal! The Heavens changed color again as the sap completely went in reverse.

Shockingly, the sap congealed together, becoming a green medicinal pill which floated in front of Meng Hao!

The powerful, intense medicinal aroma exploded out, filling the entire Dao of Alchemy Division, reaching the Fang Clan ancestral mansion, and spreading out across roughly half of Planet East Victory.

Planet East Victory was completely shaken!

If that were all there were to it, it wouldn't be enough to see how valuable the pill was. However, in the exact moment that the Sea Cleaving Heaven Defying Pill appeared, all of a sudden, shocking winds swept out through the sky above Planet East Victory as countless Tribulation Clouds appeared.

This was not true Immortal Tribulation, but rather... Pill Tribulation!

From ancient times until now, whenever shocking pills appeared, it would stimulate the power of Heaven and Earth and cause Pill Tribulation to appear, to attempt to eradicate the pill!

The scene caused shock to rise up in the hearts of the members of the Fang Clan. Fang Danyun’s eyes glowed brightly, and Fang Yanxu was clearly moved.

The Pill Tribulation formed in the blink of an eye, creating boundless Tribulation Clouds that caused all of Planet East Victory to tremble. The cultivators were shaken as they watched a lightning bolt descend from the roiling clouds.

“Trifling Pill Tribulation!” said Meng Hao, his expression indifferent. He had transcended Immortal Tribulation, so to him, Pill Tribulation wasn’t even worth glancing at. Even as the lightning bolt descended, Meng Hao extended his hand. All 123 Immortal meridians then transformed into the Blood Demon Grand Magic.

123 Blood Demon heads charged up. The entire sky turned bright red as the Blood Demon heads fused together, becoming a gigantic 3,000-meter head with a horn sticking out of its forehead. The ma.s.sive head surged toward the lightning bolt.

A huge boom echoed out. Everyone was astonished to see the lightning bolt collapse into pieces, completely incapable of doing anything to the Blood Demon head. After that, the head continued onward, whistling through the air toward the Tribulation Clouds!

The Tribulation Clouds... were destroyed!

When that happened, the Sea Cleaving Heaven Defying Pill in front of Meng Hao burst out with brilliant light that shot up into the sky. Simultaneously, the Dao bell appeared in midair above the ancestral mansion and began to toll, shaking everything.

It was not one toll or two, but rather two sets of nine tolls each!

In total, 18 tolls rang out into the minds of the members of the Fang Clan, leaving them completely shaken!

For years and years, the Dao bell had never tolled so many times. The result was that everyone in the whole Fang Clan was left completely flabbergasted.

Meng Hao stood outside the Pill Pavilion, his hair whipping about, his eyes s.h.i.+ning brightly. The surrounding cultivators and alchemists of the Fang Clan had looks of unprecedentedly wild reverence on their faces as they clasped hands and bowed deeply.

When they straightened up, they found that Meng Hao had not left the Pill Pavilion. Instead, he had walked forward... toward the third drum!