Chapter 1109: The Influence of the World Spirit
The mountain was a full thousand zhang tall. At its summit, a cauldron over ten zhang high stood on the edge of a cliff, with blazing flames burning beneath it. From within the cauldron, seven-colored radiance emanated, making the place appear exceptionally sacred.
Everyone had already arrived at the foot of the mountain, staring intently at the crimson cauldron.
Above the cauldron, strands of purple lightning began to coalesce, crackling and bursting through the air.
No Pill Tribulation had formed.
Only phenomena similar to a Pill Tribulation had appeared, still one step short of actually forming one.
It was well known that a sacred pill capable of drawing a Pill Tribulation was undoubtedly an extraordinary elixir, belonging to a very high grade among sacred pills.
The fact that this batch of pills could attract phenomena akin to a Pill Tribulation indicated that its grade was already astonishing, far surpassing the Sacred Essence Pill.
"Once the sacred pill emerges, it will surely elevate our overall strength by a significant margin. We must not fail in the refining process."
Sun Dadi was extremely excited.
He had been waiting for this batch of sacred pills for a long time, full of anticipation, and did not want it all to come to nothing at the final moment.
Xiao Hei's eyes flickered with uncertainty, not holding much hope. After all, it was the first attempt, and the failure rate was extremely high.
"Everyone, don't get your hopes up too high. It's very possible that no solid sacred pill has been formed. It would already be quite good if we managed to produce some pill liquid," Zhang Ruochen said in advance.
Gradually, the cauldron stopped emitting the seven-colored radiance and began to cool down.
Grand Minister of Works sniffed the air, looking tense, and said, "What's going on? Why has the pill fragrance disappeared too? Could it really have failed?"
Everyone's brows furrowed, a sense of disappointment washing over them.
If the sacred pill had successfully formed, the radiance would only grow stronger, the fragrance more intense, and clouds of pill vapor would even appear.
Now, the entire cauldron had fallen silent, gradually cooling. There was no need to guess—it had clearly failed.
Sun Dadi stared at Xiao Hei, itching to rush up and give him a beating, and said, "The sacred flower and divine dew were rare heavenly treasures. I said from the start that we shouldn't let this cat blindly refine them. Now look—a whole batch of sacred medicine wasted."
"Monkey, what are you implying? Are you blaming me? I only wanted to maximize the medicinal effects of the sacred flower and divine dew. I didn't deliberately fail."
Xiao Hei was quite furious, his sharp cat claws glinting coldly.
Sun Dadi retorted, "Not blame you? The sacred flower is incredibly valuable, representing eight slots to compete for the World Spirit. Now that you've ruined it, where are we supposed to find another sacred flower? Are we just supposed to watch as the World Spirit of the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm is taken by others?"
Xiao Hei and Sun Dadi moved closer, on the verge of a fight.
Zhang Ruochen quickly stepped in to separate them, saying, "Since the refining has failed, we must accept that fact. Besides, we haven't come away empty-handed. At least all of you managed to absorb the pill vapor and successfully cross the Quasi-Saint Tribulation, reaching the First Tribulation Quasi-Saint realm."
Zhang Ruochen's words carried weight, calming Sun Dadi and Xiao Hei, and soothing everyone's emotions.
He continued, "Right now, the issue isn't about assigning blame. We need to leave the Scroll World and focus on finding Sacred Source Spirit Springs and seizing other sacred flowers."
Sun Dadi, unwilling to accept defeat, had bloodshot eyes. He rushed to the mountaintop and stood beside the cauldron.
"Even if it's just dregs, I'll eat them."
Sun Dadi pressed both hands on the cauldron's lid, straining with all his might to open it.
But something strange happened...
Sun Dadi lifted the entire cauldron, yet couldn't open the lid.
"Fat cat, what's going on? Is it because your cauldron's quality is too low that the refining failed?"
Sun Dadi was furious and slammed the cauldron back to the ground.
As the cauldron hit the ground, a peculiar sound came from within.
Hearing this sound, Xiao Hei's furry ears perked up. With a whoosh, he dashed to the mountaintop, shouting, "Be careful!"
Sun Dadi was startled, freezing in place, and asked, "What do you mean?"
Xiao Hei landed beneath the cauldron, his round cat eyes emitting two streams of black light, staring intently at the cauldron's wall. Then, he pressed his ear against it, listening carefully.
Seeing Xiao Hei so tense, everyone else at the foot of the mountain also came to the summit.
"What's happening? Did it not fail?"
Grand Minister of Works licked his lips, looking especially nervous.
The others also wore expectant expressions, eager to know if there was a turnaround.
After a long moment, Xiao Hei pulled his ear back, looked at everyone, and burst into laughter: "I understand! Haha! So that's it."
Sun Dadi's eyes lit up, and he said joyfully, "Did the sacred pill succeed?"
Xiao Hei shook his head. "No."
"Then why are you so excited? Damn it... Amitabha."
Grand Minister of Works roared, blurting out a curse, then realizing how inappropriate it was, clasped his hands together, closed his eyes, and began chanting, pretending nothing had happened.
At that moment, several people were furious, tempted to team up and give Xiao Hei a beating.
Xiao Hei puffed out his chest and said, "I've found the reason for the failure."
So what if he found the reason?
Everyone was only interested in the result, not the process or the cause.
"Tch, let's go. We've all been played by this fat cat. Never trust him again."
Sun Dadi knew he was no match for Xiao Hei inside the Scroll World, so he restrained his emotions, planning to settle the score later outside.
Xiao Hei watched their retreating figures and continued, "Don't you want to know the reason? Actually, this batch of sacred pills isn't a complete failure. There's still a chance to salvage it."
No one believed him, continuing down the mountain.
Only Zhang Ruochen and Huang Yanchen stayed behind.
Zhang Ruochen patted Xiao Hei's head and said meaningfully, "Xiao Hei, ruining a batch of pills isn't a big deal. Everyone makes mistakes. But from now on, you need to be more reliable."
With that, Zhang Ruochen and Huang Yanchen also prepared to leave and discuss their next plans.
Xiao Hei was so angry he felt like his lungs would burst. He blocked Zhang Ruochen and said, "The failure of the sacred pill is related to the World Spirit of the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm."
"What do you mean?" Zhang Ruochen stopped.
"The World Spirit can control everything within a world, representing the Heavenly Dao, fate, and karma. Even becoming a saint in the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm requires the World Spirit's approval."
Xiao Hei continued, "To successfully refine a batch of sacred pills is no different from a cultivator becoming a saint. It also requires the approval of the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm's World Spirit."
"Are you saying that the sacred pill didn't form because it didn't gain the approval of the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm's World Spirit?"
"Exactly."
Zhang Ruochen roughly understood Xiao Hei's meaning and said, "But this is the inner world of the Cosmic Divine Wood Map, not the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm."
Xiao Hei shook his head. "The sacred flower used to refine the pill contains a wisp of source energy from the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm's World Spirit. Without its approval, the sacred pill cannot take shape."
"Of course, if the World Spirit of the Scroll World were far stronger than that of the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm, it could sever the other's Heavenly Dao will and remain unaffected."
"But at this stage, the Scroll World's World Spirit hasn't grown that powerful. At best, it can only contend with the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm's World Spirit, not overwhelm it."
The World Spirit of the Scroll World was essentially the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree.
Xiao Hei's role was merely that of a messenger for the World Spirit.
Zhang Ruochen looked thoughtful and said, "I understand. You mean that if we had refined this batch of sacred pills in the Kunlun Realm, it might have succeeded. Because the Kunlun Realm's World Spirit is far stronger than the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm's, and nothing in Kunlun would be affected by it."
"Exactly that," Xiao Hei said.
Sun Dadi, Grand Minister of Works, and the others, who had already reached the foot of the mountain, were all eavesdropping on Zhang Ruochen and Xiao Hei's conversation, still holding out hope for that batch of sacred pills.
Zhang Ruochen asked further, "You said the sacred pill hasn't failed and can still be salvaged. What did you mean?"
Xiao Hei chuckled. "The sacred medicine inside the cauldron hasn't been destroyed; it's just gone dormant. If we enter the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm and make an offering to the World Spirit, there's a good chance the sacred pill will form."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go catch some savage beasts and make a blood sacrifice. If I take the sacred pill, I might even be able to cross the Second Quasi-Saint Tribulation, or even the Third."
Sun Dadi flew back to the summit, extremely excited.
Xiao Hei rolled his eyes. "Making an offering isn't simple. First, we need to find an ancient altar with a long history. Second, we need to locate the place closest to the World Spirit."
"The Azure Dragon Ruins Realm is huge. Where are we supposed to find that?" Sun Dadi scratched his head anxiously.
Zhang Ruochen narrowed his eyes and said slowly, "The Azure Dragon Dynasty."
Before entering the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm, Zhang Ruochen had carefully studied a scroll introducing the realm.
The largest indigenous civilization in the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm was the Azure Dragon Dynasty.
The Azure Dragon Dynasty's territory was vast, occupying most of the Azure Dragon Continent. It was glorious and prosperous, with saints emerging in succession, and had been passed down for over forty thousand years.
Over the past three hundred years, the Ministry of War had dispatched numerous strong forces into the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm, yet they had failed to destroy the Azure Dragon Dynasty, demonstrating just how powerful this indigenous civilization was.
Of course, it wasn't that the Ministry of War couldn't destroy the Azure Dragon Dynasty. It was mainly because they knew the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm was nearing depletion and didn't want to push too hard, fearing the World Spirit might self-destruct and take them down with it. So they hadn't gone all out, unwilling to suffer heavy losses.
Many younger members of the Ministry of War had already entered the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm for training, waiting for the realm to wither so they could gain an advantage and seize more heavenly treasures.
Clearly, the Azure Dragon Dynasty was a civilization favored by the World Spirit, and its royal capital was the place closest to the World Spirit—the very center of the realm's spiritual veins and fortune.
When the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm was completely destroyed, the World Spirit would likely emerge in the royal capital.
Whether it was the various human factions, the savage beast clans, or other beings, most had already gathered toward the Azure Dragon Dynasty. That place, blessed by the World Spirit, produced even more heavenly treasures than the Yinggema Desert, and the competition there was even fiercer.