On the seventh level of the Medicine Pavilion, Meng Hao stood in front of the tomes for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, thinking. Then, his eyes opened, and he waved his hand, causing the Cla.s.sic of Plants and Vegetation to rapidly flip open to a certain page. Instantly, a medicinal plant appeared and floated up into the air.

More pages flipped in quick succession, nine of them, and nine more medicinal plants appeared. Meng Hao made a grasping motion, causing all nine plants to appear on the blank tome’s first empty page.

Next, the plants followed his line of thought. Some were stripped of their bark, others had flowers removed. In the end, they formed together within Meng Hao’s divine sense, where he used the techniques of mutual augmentation and suppression to graft them together.

The medicinal plant on the first page glittered brightly, whereupon the book seemed to a.n.a.lyze and judge it. After the blink of an eye, the page slowly turned, indicating that Meng Hao had successfully created his first medicinal plant.

He once again waved his left hand over the Cla.s.sic of Plants and Vegetation, pulling out more medicinal plants and using his divine sense to transform and graft them together, continuing to create different medicinal plants according to his desires.

Time pa.s.sed. To cultivators who didn’t understand the Dao of alchemy, this examination seemed somewhat boring. However, to the cultivators of the Dao of Alchemy Division, it was an unprecedented opportunity for good fortune.

Even the tier 7 alchemists looked on with strange lights glowing in their eyes. As Meng Hao created his medicinal plants, they gained more enlightenment, and were continuously shocked. In fact, their own skill with plants and vegetation was slowly creeping upward.

“I can’t believe that you can make cold-type plants that way…. After adding nine hot elements, the original formula was to add one cold element. But instead, he added nine cold elements. According to the law of mutual augmentation and supression, you would think that the result would be neutral. And yet, the result is like that!”

“That Moonspirit Flower can actually turn into Sunsplendor Leaf through grafting! What an outrageous line of thinking, and yet, it works!”

Even the old woman stared with wide eyes. Subconsciously, she began to imitate Meng Hao, and her own skill with plants and vegetation gradually began to increase.

The tier 5 and 6 alchemists were incredibly excited. When it came to plant and vegetation grafting, they were just in the initial stages of learning. As they watched Meng Hao at work, they committed everything they saw to memory.

To them, this was an extremely rare opportunity.

As for the lower level alchemists, this was a realm far removed from them. However, they all understood that if they wanted to travel far along the path of the Dao of alchemy, then they would eventually have to learn how to graft plants and vegetation. Therefore, they also did as much as they could to take advantage of the situation.

The apprentice alchemists were even less clear about what was happening. However, seeing the intent expressions on the faces of the higher level alchemists, they also realized that what Meng Hao was currently doing with grafting techniques was astonis.h.i.+ng. Therefore, they kept their eyes glued on Meng Hao and did their best to try to remember what sort of grafting techniques he used.

The world outside the Medicine Pavilion was completely quiet. Even the two old men who stood guard outside had opened their eyes and were looking at the screen up in midair.

The tier 8 alchemists stood there silently, watching Meng Hao and observing his grafting techniques. All of them were filled with antic.i.p.ation.

Meng Hao once again lost track of time as he absorbed himself in the grafting of plants and vegetation. His left hand sped over the first volume of the Cla.s.sic of Plants and Vegetation, seemingly flipping pages nonstop.

Time pa.s.sed. Meng Hao created more and more medicinal plants. 10. 100. 1,000….

Seven days later, Meng Hao finally created 10,000 medicinal plants. He took a deep breath, but he wasn’t finished. Instead, he focused inwardly for a moment, experiencing a similar feeling regarding plants and vegetation to that which he felt when practicing cultivation. He could clearly tell that as he created more medicinal plants, his understanding of plants and vegetation grew more refined.

Although it had been a long time since he had concocted medicinal pills, he could also sense that his pill concocting skill… was becoming stronger.

“My hand is the pill furnace, and I will blend all Heaven and Earth together in my palm to create an almighty medicinal pill!” His eyes shone with a light that originated from his Dao, with his Dao of alchemy. With this Dao, he could corroborate his heart, and then use that heart to concoct pills.

Seven more days pa.s.sed. By now, Meng Hao had created more than 15,000 medicinal plants. Everyone outside was shaken, and their admiration for Meng Hao had reached the pinnacle.

Even the old woman had to ask herself whether her own skill with plants and vegetation was equal to Meng Hao’s. In the end, she had to sigh and admit that people like Meng Hao were exactly what the Dao of Alchemy Division lacked, and in fact, desperately needed.

As for her… if she continued to comply with the wishes of those in the main clan who wanted her to target Meng Hao, perhaps she would fall out of harmony with the Dao of Alchemy itself.

“Forget it,” she thought, her eyes s.h.i.+ning with determination. “After all… I am a member of the Dao of Alchemy Division!” She took a deep breath, and dispelled all thoughts of targeting Meng Hao. All of a sudden, it felt as if a great weight had been lifted off of her. She focused on the screen, and on contemplating plants and vegetation.

15,000. 20,000. 30,000….

A month pa.s.sed by, during which time Meng Hao created 30,000 medicinal plants. More people gathered outside. By now, there were over 500,000, spread out in all directions.

Everyone was watching Meng Hao create medicinal plants. Occasionally, people seemed to go wild with joy at what they were seeing, and at other times they looked confused. However, in the end, everyone watching was able to gain something.

Unfortunately, Meng Hao was completely absorbed in what he was doing, and had no idea what was going on outside. If he did know, he might well have gone nuts. After all, this was a prime opportunity… to charge merit points.

If at this moment he stepped out of the Medicine Pavilion and bellowed out that he demanded payment, virtually everyone in the audience would instantly pay what he asked.

From the moment he had entered the first level until now, a full four months had pa.s.sed. Although cultivators had a long lifespan, and often a single meditation session might last years, to them, four months would still seem to pa.s.s by slowly if they weren’t meditating.

Despite that, no one grew impatient. Instead, they continued to make gains by watching.

Meng Hao immersed himself in grafting, and he was happy. There was no other place like this Medicine Pavilion, with 1,000,000,000 medicinal plants inside that he could choose from.

Although they were all illusory, that didn’t really didn’t matter to Meng Hao. They could still help him advance to a higher level in his skill with plants and vegetation.

Another month pa.s.sed, and Meng Hao’s eyes were bloodshot. He had now created 50,000 medicinal plants.

In the beginning, it had been relatively simple. However, the further along he progressed, the more difficult it became. Were he content to do a perfunctory job, this level would have been simple. However, he placed high requirements on himself. The medicinal plants he was creating now all were composed of at least one hundred other medicinal plants.

In fact, the past 10,000 he had created were grafted from at least five hundred other medicinal plants!

Exhaustion swelled up within him. The fifth, sixth, and seventh levels had all been quite a mental strain on him. In fact, as a result, he had even unwittingly grown a great deal in terms of divine sense.

Even more amazing to Meng Hao was that over the past months, his cultivation base was nearing ninety percent of the power of a true Immortal.

As the sixth month arrived, Meng Hao trembled. His mental energy was almost completely depleted, and his head felt as if it were swollen. Piercing pain occasionally stabbed through his temples, and even his thinking had slowed.

However, he had now created nearly 70,000 medicinal plants.

Not a single one was a repeat, and any of them that appeared in the outside world would certainly cause a huge stir. That was especially true of the last 5,000…. Each one of those contained more than a thousand different grafting elements.

Medicinal plants like that could be refined into a pill just by adding a few minor ingredients.

The spectators outside were entranced and deeply moved by Meng Hao’s skill with plants and vegetation. Another half a month pa.s.sed. Finally, Meng Hao’s energy was spent. His face was ashen, and he seemed to be on the verge of collapsing. Even his Eternal stratum couldn’t keep up with the mental strain.

He let out a long sigh and finally ceased working.

He had created over 75,000 plants.

“My mind isn’t up to the task,” he thought. “If I keep going, I might injure my foundation. Most important of all… my mastery of plants and vegetation isn’t good enough, at least not in terms of grafting.

“I think perhaps 10,000 more would be my absolute limit.

“Furthermore, considering my current skill with plants and vegetation, creating an almighty medicinal plant composed of 10,000 grafts, would be too difficult.” He took a deep breath and then slowly rose to his feet, his eyes s.h.i.+ning with a gleam of obsession.

“I must deeply study the Fang Clan’s way with plants and vegetation!” With that, he turned and vanished. When he reappeared, he was outside the Medicine Pavilion. When he saw the packed crowd of 500,000 cultivators, he gaped in shock.

Although he had a.s.sumed some people would come to observe, he had never imagined that so many people would show up. He even saw that all sorts of full alchemists were present, many of them still not fully awakened from the reveries of enlightenment they had fallen into while watching Meng Hao.

He was too tired to say anything. The only thing he wanted to do was return to his Immortal’s cave and rest for a few days. He immediately flew into the air, transforming into a beam of light that shot off into the distance.

As soon as he flew into the air, the crowds began to come to their senses. They looked at Meng Hao making his way off into the distance, and then went completely crazy.

“That was Fang Hao!!” someone shouted. “He came out!!” More people came to their senses, and when they realized that the screen was gone, they understood that Meng Hao had already emerged from the Medicine Pavilion.

“75,000 medicinal plants, huh. He’s a Grandmaster of plants and vegetation! He fully deserves to be called an apothecary!”

“With Grandmaster Fang Hao’s skill in plants and vegetation, if he wanted to simply pa.s.s through the Medicine Pavilion, I wouldn’t dare to say he could pa.s.s the ninth level, but the eighth level would definitely be no problem!”

Everyone was in a tumult as they watched Meng Hao leave. Their eyes shone with fanaticism and reverence. In the world of cultivation, the strong are respected, and it was no different in the Dao of Alchemy Division.

“He stopped on purpose this time, but in a few months, he’ll definitely keep going!”

The surrounding alchemists watched Meng Hao leave, and they all sighed emotionally. This was especially true of the tier 8 Elders, whose faces were filled with hope and excitement.

Deep in the inner mountains, Pill Elder Fang Danyun had been watching Meng Hao the entire time. Finally he sighed, and a smile appeared on his face. “There is finally a successor for the Dao of Alchemy Division….”

He waved his right hand, within which appeared an ancient book, upon which were written the words “Cla.s.sic of Plants and Vegetation.”

“Give this to Fang Hao,” he said softly, waving his hand again. A mysterious light appeared, covering over the book and taking it away.

Meng Hao flew out of the Dao of Alchemy Division, not even fully aware of his surroundings. However, a moment later, he suddenly stopped in place, and his eyes went wide. His mind felt as if it had just been struck by lightning.

“Dammit! How could I have forgotten to charge merit points!? There were more than 500,000 people there just now! How many months was I in the Medicine Pavilion!? This… This….”