Outside of the Violet Fate Sect, several 300 meter long airs.h.i.+ps shot through the sky. On one of the airs.h.i.+ps, Dharma Protector Tang s.h.i.+cang stood with Grandmaster Eternal Mountain, looking off into the distance.

Tang s.h.i.+cang hesitated for a moment, then finally spoke out the question that was gnawing at his heart. “Grandmaster Eternal Mountain, are you really going to give them that ancient Entrancement Pill so easily?”

Eternal Mountain was silent for a long moment, then gave a very faint smile. “The Entrancement Pill is defective, and I studied it thoroughly long ago. Besides… do you really think that with all the resources the East Pill Division controls, they don’t have an Entrancement Pill already?”

Tang s.h.i.+cang’s eyes glittered. After a moment, he nodded.

“Besides,” continued Eternal Mountain, “my purpose for visiting the Violet Fate Sect has been accomplished. A trifling Entrancement Pill was well worth it.” His eyes shone with a strange light.

“Oh?” Tang s.h.i.+cang said, surprised. He still didn’t quite understand. “But Grandmaster Pill Demon didn’t show his face. Grandmaster Eternal Mountain, how exactly did you accomplish your purpose?”

“Who ever said I went to the Violet Fate Sect to pay respects to Master?” he replied, his voice archaic and filled with wisdom. “Master would never agree to see me. My medicinal pill was just an excuse. The true purpose was to get a look at Grandmaster Pill Cauldron!” Eternal Mountain laughed.

Anyone who had Cultivated the Dao of alchemy to the realm he had, would of course possess extreme powers of insight.

Tang s.h.i.+cang stared in astonishment. “Grandmaster Pill Cauldron? He’s…” He was about to continue speaking, but stopped. His pupils constricted, and suddenly, his eyes filled with disbelief. He looked over at Eternal Mountain. “Don’t tell me….”

“Grandmaster Pill Cauldron is none other than that young man!” said Eternal Mountain in a voice that could chop nails and sever iron. The words. .h.i.t Tang s.h.i.+cang like a thunderbolt. He immediately began to breathe heavily.

He had no reason whatsoever to doubt anything Grandmaster Eternal Mountain said about the East Pill Division. However, the matter of Grandmaster Pill Cauldron was just too shocking, and he found it hard to believe.

“An Zaihai obviously knows,” said Eternal Mountain. “Considering his powers of perception, he was surely told by Master. As for Elder Brother Lin, his skill in the Dao of alchemy hasn’t made any progress for hundreds of years now. He will never pa.s.s through the door to become a Grandmaster. He naturally was unable to see Fang Mu’s skill in pill concoction, especially the ambiguous final method he used to achieve victory. Fang Mu is clearly brilliant.”

“The boy is so young, and yet he is Grandmaster Pill Cauldron. This matter….” Tang s.h.i.+cang took a deep breath, and a strange light filled his eyes.

“For now, the t.i.tle Grandmaster is out of the question for him. However, he is a truly rare seed…. If you want to offend him, go ahead and spread word of his ident.i.ty. But don’t forget, a true grandmaster of the Dao of alchemy, is also a grandmaster of the Dao of poison. Wiping out an entire Sect would be as easy to him as blowing some dust off of a table. He became famous because of his Bedevilment Pill, and the mad, devilish will within it. Even though I didn’t get to see the pill with my own eyes, the images branded on the jade slip were enough to cause my hair to stand on end.” His words were spoken calmly, but they stabbed like ice into Tang s.h.i.+cang’s heart.

“He obviously doesn’t want to reveal his ident.i.ty,” continued Grandmaster Eternal Mountain, “so you would do best not to cause problems. What I am most interested in knowing is… will he become the third forsaker?” He smiled. His words were a question, but in his eyes, he seemed to already know the answer.

At the same time that the people from the Golden Frost Sect were calling upon the Violet Fate Sect, far off in the Southern Domain, near the Rebirth Cave, was the corpse which had fallen from the sky years before. Currently, several dozen Cultivators were shooting toward it at top speed from a very far distance away.

They all wore black clothing. The auras which emanated from their body was sinister and cold. It was as if they could turn the hot summer air into the frostiness of the yellow springs of the underworld.

The Cultivation bases of these Cultivators were unstable. Sometimes they were at the Foundation Establishment stage, sometimes Core Formation, sometimes Nascent Soul. Occasionally, they would even explode with the aura of the Spirit Severing stage.

The so-called Immortal’s Corpse had caused many waves to pa.s.s through the heart of the Sects of the Southern Domain over the past years. It seemed that the five great Sects and three great Clans still had not given up on their investigations. The scale of activity was not as great as it had been before, but all of the Sects had reaped some benefit throughout the years. Right now, it was possible to get very close to the corpse.

It was easy to predict that in the near future, this corpse would cause an even greater stir, a true commotion within the Southern Domain. Then, vast amounts of Cultivators would come to approach it. The people here now were simply feeling things out.

However, the Cultivators which were now shooting toward the corpse were very bizarre. Black smoke filled the air as they pa.s.sed, as if their bodies contained, not one soul, but two. Apparently, they weren’t even alive, but rather, puppets whose bodies contained discarnate souls.

They moved quickly, and were almost immediately upon the corpse. Suddenly, the smoke emanating out from them twisted and warped, transforming into a sickle of black mist. The sickle seemed capable of slas.h.i.+ng through anything. It cut directly toward the neck of the corpse.

It was a few days after the Golden Frost Sect left the Violet Fate Sect when suddenly the so-called corpse emitted a ma.s.sive roar, the likes of which hadn’t been heard since the day it fell from the sky.

This roar actually exceeded that first one. It was like a gale force wind which swept across the entire Southern Domain, rumbling like thunder.

As the roar sounded out, the dozens of Cultivators nearing the corpse coughed up blood. Their bodies became indistinct, and they tumbled backward. A voice sounded out in their minds which they could hear, but no one else could.

“Screw off!”

The roaring words seemed to echo out to the heavens. Half of the group of dozens of Cultivators screamed miserably as their bodies exploded. Blood and flesh flew about in all directions. Discarnate souls appeared from within, but before they could flee, they began to disintegrate.

The ten or so survivors immediately fled at top speed. However, before they could get very far, their bodies began to tremble, as if they couldn’t control the discarnate souls within their bodies.

These people were of course from the Black Sieve Sect!

Even as they left, a new piece of news began to spread around the Southern Domain. A mark of blood had appeared on the neck of the Immortal’s corpse!

It looked as if someone had tried to cut off its head, but had only succeeded in leaving behind the mark.

As soon as this news reached the various Sects, large amounts of Cultivators emerged and headed toward the Rebirth Cave. They didn’t dare to approach too closely, but observed from a distance.

The news caused a stir in all the five great Sects and three great Clans.

The news reached the East Pill Division of the Violet Fate Sect, of course, as did the sound of the roar emitted by the corpse. However, they were located quite a distance away. Furthermore, Fang Mu had just been promoted to Furnace Lord. Therefore, the Sect didn’t pay too much attention to it.

Usually, the promotion of a Furnace Lord was a grand occasion for the East Pill Division, second only to the promotion of a Violet Furnace Lord. However, the unorthodox and relatively simplistic nature of Meng Hao’s promotion led to a much more muted reception.

Things were simple, but Meng Hao was still quite busy for several days. He got a new Immortal’s Cave and a new robe. Some people might be talking down the method by which he was promoted, but he still received the perks of the new position.

For example, his Immortal’s Cave. As of now, Meng Hao had an entire valley to himself, deep within the East Pill Division, far away from the master alchemists. It wasn’t large, but couldn’t be described as small either. And it belonged only to him.

His alchemist’s robe was black, interlaced with violet, and was equipped with a special function. It had a magical, short-range teleportation ability, which could be used to teleport anywhere within a 50 kilometer radius. After the ability was used three times, he could exchange the robe for a new one.

As for pill furnaces, like Meng Hao’s Blood Crane pill furnace, these would be provided to him by the Sect as needed. Before, if he wanted to concoct some high-value medicinal pills, he would often have to trade with others to acquire the necessary medicinal plants. Now that he was a Furnace Lord, though, such things would be provided by the Sect, free of charge.

Furthermore, there were some very expensive and rare medicinal plants that he was now able to buy on credit. Even more importantly, as a Furnace Lord, he was now allowed to enter the Violet Fate Celestial Land once per month! [1. The Violet Fate Celestial Land was introduced in Chapter 213]

There were many benefits, and they are difficult to describe in detail. It could be said that in terms of status and position, in everything, he was now far beyond a master alchemist. One was the Heavens, the other was the Earth.

There are a thousand master alchemists, but only one hundred Furnace Lords. As of now, Meng Hao could look down on all Inner Sect disciples. Even Conclave disciples of the Violet Qi Division would treat a Furnace Lord with utmost respect. In principle, Conclave disciples could request pill concocting from a Furnace Lord, but generally speaking, usually only Sect Elders would do so.

Outside in the Southern Domain, any Sect would attach extreme importance to any Violet Fate Sect Furnace Lord, in such a way that was far, far beyond master alchemists.

It could be said that becoming a Furnace Lord was like becoming a Conclave disciple of the East Pill Division. Unfortunately, becoming a Furnace Lord was predicated on gaining the approval of all the other Furnace Lords. Therefore, Meng Hao’s sudden promotion caused the other Furnace Lords to look at him with disfavor.

Meng Hao didn’t care, though. Almost the very first thing he did after being promoted was go borrow a copy of Violet Qi from the East. He had been waiting for a very long time to get a chance to do so. As soon as he finished reading it, he went into secluded meditation and began to practice cultivation.

Two months later, he emerged. He still had six Dao Pillars, only now they weren’t gold colored, but violet. Finally, he could heave a sigh of relief.

From now on, no one would be able to see the traces of the Sublime Spirit Scripture on his Cultivation base. As of now, the Cultivation he practiced was not from the Qi Condensation manual of the Sublime Spirit Scripture, but from… the Foundation Establishment manual!

Violet Qi from the East!

The manual wasn’t complete, but Meng Hao did possess the complete Qi Condensation manual. As such, he actually understood the technique better than the Cultivators of the Violet Qi Division. The benefits he acquired were vast. His Dao Pillars now emanated a threatening violet Qi. The pupils of his eyes glinted with a violet glow, and the aura emanating from his body was very different than from before.

Violet Qi from the East was extremely suited to Meng Hao, almost as if it had been prepared just for him. By continuing to practice this type of Cultivation, he would definitely be able to form a Violet Core.

With a Violet Core, he would have the foundation upon which to build the Perfect Core!

Before going into his two months of secluded meditation, he spread word that he was planning to rise to Foundation Establishment. After emerging, he revealed an early Foundation Establishment Cultivation base, which offered a perfect explanation for the violet hue to his pupils.

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This chapter was sponsored by Lenny Rann, David How, Ri Xin w.a.n.g, Colin Ding, Jiashen Chen, and Robert Zhang