Chapter 2273: One Hundred Thousand Sacred Pills
Apart from divine stones, Zhang Ruochen only selected materials for setting up a Space Teleportation Array, primarily using Space Sacred Jade.
The Heaven Hunting Battlefield was too vast. If he could freely traverse the starry sky and leap between various planets using a Space Teleportation Array, he could seize the greatest initiative.
Returning to the Mingxi River Basin, the leaders of the ten major tribes of the Undying Blood Clan—Dao Yu Huang, Feng Hou, Jin Kun Great Saint, Zhang Ruochen, and the other ten—gathered together to discuss their strategy for the Heaven Hunting Battlefield.
Although the ten tribes were in competition with each other, their interests were tightly bound together.
In the end, the leaders of the ten major tribes unanimously decided to head to their home planet first.
They were still unclear about the situation on their home planet. However, the Undying Blood Clan members on the home planet were targets of the Heavenly Slaves' attacks, as well as targets of cultivators from other clans attending the feast.
If the home planet were destroyed, the total points would be cut in half, with disastrous consequences.
Dao Yu Huang's gaze fixed on Zhang Ruochen. "If Chen Great Saint is a master of time and space, his speed is undoubtedly extremely fast. How about this: we lead the Undying Blood Clan cultivators at top speed to the home planet to establish a battlefield base. You go and launch a surprise attack on the home planets of the other nine clans?"
Jin Kun Great Saint showed a look of interest. "That's not a bad strategy! It's best to strike the home planets of the most powerful clans, such as the Underworld Clan, Yama Clan, Death Clan, and Shura Clan."
If they could wipe out all living beings or undead on those planets before cultivators from other clans arrived, it would naturally be the best outcome for the Undying Blood Clan.
However, Zhang Ruochen was well aware that if he did that, for the next hundred days, he and the Blood Heaven Tribe would become the target of everyone's hostility.
Cultivators who originally had no enmity with him would also be provoked.
Dao Yu Huang was digging a pit for him.
Zhang Ruochen said, "If we destroy the home planets of the Underworld Clan, Yama Clan, Death Clan, and Shura Clan now, those four clans will surely regard the Undying Blood Clan as a thorn in their side. How long can the Undying Blood Clan's home planet be protected?"
Feng Hou shook her head. "I believe what If Chen Great Saint says is reasonable. The Undying Blood Clan has no need to provoke a war and make enemies for now."
An hour later.
Just as the Fortune Black Robe High Priest was about to announce the start of the Heaven Hunting Grand Feast, a half-god from the Yama Clan, holding a three-foot-tall alchemy furnace, flew in from beyond the heavens and descended upon Fate Divine Mountain.
Fortune Black Robe High Priest clasped his hands. "Why has the Alchemy Attendant arrived at the Divine Mountain only now?"
The half-god, addressed as "Alchemy Attendant," smiled. "To celebrate the hundredth Heaven Hunting Grand Feast, the Tai Shang spent eight hundred years refining a furnace of Sacred Intent Pills, intending to reward these juniors. Unfortunately, the furnace opened a bit late, missing the main feast."
Upon hearing the name "Tai Shang," Fortune Black Robe High Priest's expression immediately turned solemn. He glanced at the alchemy furnace in the Alchemy Attendant's hand, a mix of surprise and envy in his eyes.
A Sacred Intent Pill refined by the Yama Clan's Alchemy Tai Shang was no ordinary item!
It was worth noting that many gods had sought pills from him and returned empty-handed.
The cultivators attending the feast in the Mingxi River Basin were all excited, as if a blessing had fallen from the heavens.
"I was just wondering why, at every Heaven Hunting Grand Feast, the Yama Divine Hall provided the best feast food, but not this year. So this is the reason."
"A Sacred Intent Pill personally refined by the Tai Shang—what grade is it? Heaven, if I could swallow one, maybe I could even condense a fifth-grade Sacred Intent."
...
For Great Saints in the Indestructible Realm and Hundred Shackles Realm, the most important things were breaking shackles and condensing Sacred Intent.
Among these, condensing Sacred Intent was crucial for future achievements, making it the top priority.
Generally speaking, pills that assist in condensing Sacred Intent were at most of the King grade, and they were scarce. But with an Alchemy Tai Shang at work, the grade of Sacred Intent Pills that could be refined was likely far beyond the King grade.
Including Lan Ying, Yan Huangtu, Luo Shengtian, Wujiang, and Yan Wushen, all cultivators showed expectant expressions.
The Alchemy Attendant announced loudly, "This furnace of Sacred Intent Pills refined by the Tai Shang can be taken into the Heaven Hunting Battlefield. Among them are one hundred thousand top-grade Heavenly Sacred Intent Pills, ten thousand King-grade Sacred Intent Pills, ten quasi-Emperor-grade Sacred Intent Pills, and one Emperor-grade Sacred Intent Pill."
"The pill spirits of the top-grade Heavenly Sacred Intent Pills have combat power comparable to Nine-Step Saint Kings."
"The pill spirits of the King-grade Sacred Intent Pills vary in combat power from the Indestructible Realm to the Great Perfection of the Hundred Shackles Realm, depending on their medicinal potency."
"The ten quasi-Emperor-grade Sacred Intent Pills are extremely precious and can help fuse Sacred Intents. However, their pill spirits possess combat power equivalent to early Thousand Questions Realm Great Saints. Indestructible Realm Great Saints should not attempt to collect or consume them, as it would be life-threatening."
"The single Emperor-grade Sacred Intent Pill is the most extraordinary. Even the Tai Shang did not expect to successfully refine it, because Sacred Intent Pills should not be able to reach the Emperor grade. It was a pleasant surprise."
"The pill spirit of this Emperor-grade Sacred Intent Pill has combat power comparable to a Supreme Realm Great Saint. The Tai Shang knew you are no match for it, so he sealed its power. Now, the pill spirit's combat power is roughly at the peak of the Thousand Questions Realm."
"Boom!"
As his words fell, the entire venue erupted.
In the Divine Bone Jade Tower, the Great Saints of the Thousand Questions Realm and the Ten Thousand Deaths One Life Realm were all mad with envy and jealousy.
If they had known earlier that the Tai Shang was refining Sacred Intent Pills for the Heaven Hunting Grand Feast, they would have definitely suppressed their cultivation and not broken through.
With the aid of Sacred Intent Pills, they could surely condense a higher-grade Sacred Intent.
Lian Xi, Zhou Zhen, and the other cultivators from the Heavenly Court were all stunned. With just one furnace of pills, the Tai Shang had refined one hundred thousand Nine-Step Saint Kings and ten thousand Great Saints.
What kind of existence was that Alchemy Tai Shang?
One furnace of pills could rival the combat power of a powerful realm.
Zhang Ruochen's mind was also turbulent. He finally understood what a Tai Shang represented. It was an existence beyond the cognition of ordinary cultivators, reaching a level that even Great Saints could not comprehend.
Of course, refining such a furnace of Sacred Intent Pills required astronomical resources, likely stripping all the medicinal herbs from several major worlds.
Yi Xuan Great Saint quietly walked to Yu Huang's side and transmitted his voice, "Yu Huang, you have already fused a third-grade Sacred Intent, but I have not. Help me seize a quasi-Emperor-grade Sacred Intent Pill, and I will owe you a favor. From now on, whatever you say, I will do anything for you."
Yu Huang knew very well that being able to fuse a third-grade Sacred Intent was already her limit. Even if she consumed a better Sacred Intent Pill, it would not make much difference.
However, she did not immediately agree to Yi Xuan Great Saint. Instead, she looked at Zhang Ruochen and asked, "Do you need help?"
Zhang Ruochen knew that Yi Xuan Great Saint was seeking Yu Huang's help. "Collecting pills is not that difficult. Go help Yi Xuan Great Saint."
"Hmph! Arrogant fellow. Be careful you end up with nothing."
Yu Huang was somewhat annoyed, dissatisfied with Zhang Ruochen's ungrateful attitude.
Feng Hou had not cultivated a third-grade Sacred Intent, so she was determined to get a quasi-Emperor-grade Sacred Intent Pill. However, this time she did not approach Zhang Ruochen but instead contacted Dao Yu Huang and Bai Yu Feng Shi.
Dozens of Great Perfection Hundred Shackles Realm powerhouses present all set their sights on the ten quasi-Emperor-grade Sacred Pills. Only Lan Ying, Yan Huangtu, Luo Shengtian, and Wujiang were extremely interested in the Emperor-grade Sacred Pill.
Of course, only they dared to be interested.
A pill spirit at the peak of the Thousand Questions Realm was enough to stop all other cultivators.
"A Sacred Intent Pill reaching the Emperor grade is too abnormal. What do you think—if we swallow it, could we condense a single Dao into a third-grade Sacred Intent?" Luo Shengtian asked.
Lan Ying, Yan Huangtu, and Wujiang all had similar speculations.
That was why they were determined to seize it at all costs.
It was worth noting that condensing a single Dao into a third-grade Sacred Intent meant that after becoming a god, one could obtain twenty-five percent of the Profound Meaning of that Dao.
They could completely become the main god of that Dao.
Lan Ying smiled sinisterly. "The pill spirit's combat power has reached the peak of the Thousand Questions Realm. Can you take it down?"
Wujiang said, "How will we know without trying?"
"It seems that the Underworld Clan's Supreme Sacred Artifact is in your hands," Lan Ying said.
Wujiang said, "That's right, it's in my hands. I will definitely take that Emperor-grade Sacred Intent Pill."
Luo Shengtian looked at Yan Huangtu. "Your Yama Clan's Alchemy Tai Shang refined such a good thing. Didn't he keep any for you and Yan Wushen?"
Wujiang interjected, "Existence at the Tai Shang level views all things equally. How could they have selfish motives?"
"Wrong!"
Yan Wushen walked over and stood beside Yan Huangtu. "That's because the Tai Shang knows we will definitely take that Emperor-grade Sacred Pill. How could it fall into the hands of outsiders?"
"That's the logic," Yan Huangtu said with a smile.
Wujiang said no more, his expression very unpleasant.
The Yama Clan had many experts, with over eleven Great Perfection Hundred Shackles Realm powerhouses, two to three times more than other clans. More importantly, the Yama Clan had no factional divisions; it was a unified clan with no internal strife.
If they wanted to take that Emperor-grade Sacred Pill, no one could compete with them.
Hearing Yan Wushen and Yan Huangtu's words, even Lan Ying showed a contemplative expression, weighing the pros and cons.
Yan Wushen said, "You should go compete for the ten quasi-Emperor-grade Sacred Pills. Don't you want to fuse a second-grade Sacred Intent? Competing with the Yama Clan for the Emperor-grade Sacred Pill is just a waste of time."
Zhang Ruochen had been listening to their conversation, because their decisions would have a crucial impact on the pill competition.
"It seems Lan Ying, Luo Shengtian, and Wujiang will all withdraw from the competition for the Emperor-grade Sacred Pill and instead go for the quasi-Emperor-grade ones," Zhang Ruochen sighed softly.
In fact, he also wanted to compete for that Emperor-grade Sacred Pill, to try to cultivate a single Sacred Dao to the third-grade level.
Unfortunately, even if he mobilized the entire Blood Heaven Tribe to fight the Yama Clan, the probability of seizing it was extremely low.
The Yama Clan was too powerful.
"Yan Wushen, Yan Wushen, I'll let you have the chance to fuse a single third-grade Sacred Intent. I hope you don't disappoint me."
Zhang Ruochen looked down at the Purple Gold Gourd hanging at his waist, pondering. Collecting the quasi-Emperor-grade Sacred Intent Pills and fusing the Yin-Yang Five Elements Sacred Intent to the first grade was the urgent task.
In fact, the quasi-Emperor-grade Sacred Intent Pills also broke the conventional grade of Sacred Intent Pills. They were likely the only ten in the entire universe, the work of an Alchemy Tai Shang.
His Yin-Yang Five Elements Sacred Intent had already fused four Sacred Intents, with three remaining.
He had some confidence in fusing the fifth.
However, according to what the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree said, no living being had ever fused more than five Sacred Intents. That meant fusing the sixth and seventh would be extremely difficult. Using quasi-Emperor-grade Sacred Intent Pills as assistance would naturally increase the chance of success.
"I need at least two."
Of course, Zhang Ruochen wanted more than two. Because he had the Purple Gold Gourd, his ambition was great. His gaze turned to the Alchemy Attendant above, a sharp light flashing in his eyes.
All the cultivators present were rubbing their hands together, releasing powerful auras—some with ghostly energy soaring to the heavens, some with blood energy forming seas, some with death energy turning into clouds.
This competition, in a sense, concerned their futures.
Fortune Black Robe High Priest released a cloud of ghostly energy, enveloping the ten thousand cultivators attending the feast. He swept them up and flew through a Space Gate, exiting the Fate Divine Domain and arriving above the six-colored Wugui Forest.
The Alchemy Attendant stood shoulder to shoulder with him at the front.
The ghost cloud stopped, carrying the crowd, suspended in the dark, cold, empty, and silent universe.
Below them was the starry domain where the Heaven Hunting Battlefield was located.
It looked close, but in reality, it was still forty to fifty thousand miles away.
The Myriad Realms Divine Eye also flew out of the Fate Divine Domain and hovered above the Heaven Hunting Battlefield.
"Whoosh!"
Under the expectant gazes of the cultivators, the Alchemy Attendant opened the lid of the alchemy furnace. Instantly, a myriad of colorful, strange lights burst forth, illuminating this tens of thousands of miles of universe, making it look like a dreamland.
The fragrance of the pills drifted ten thousand miles away, forming a wide river of pill energy that extended toward the Heaven Hunting Battlefield.
Suspended within the river of pill energy were densely packed Sacred Intent Pills, over one hundred thousand in number.
The pill spirits of those Sacred Intent Pills all manifested, colorful and radiant. Surprisingly, they took on the forms of various sacred flowers.
The pill spirits of the ten quasi-Emperor-grade Sacred Intent Pills were enormous and very conspicuous. There was a "Emperor Sunflower" several thousand meters tall, a "Blood Picking Wei" as large as a cloud, a "Yin-Yang Gardenia" like the sun and moon, a crimson "Immortal's Finger"...
The pill spirit of the Emperor-grade Sacred Intent Pill was the largest, like a small planet, charging at the front, already twenty thousand miles away.
What surprised Zhang Ruochen was that the form of the Emperor-grade Sacred Intent Pill's spirit was actually a "Divine Illumination Lotus."
Fortune Black Robe High Priest announced, "The Heaven Hunting Battle begins."
The Alchemy Attendant said, "All one hundred ten thousand and eleven sacred pills have been released. How many you can collect depends on your abilities. I look forward to your performance this time."
"Swish, swish."
Like a swarm of bees leaving the hive, the ten thousand Hell Realm cultivators attending the feast, who had long been unable to contain their excitement, flew forward along the river of pill energy at top speed.
The higher the grade of the sacred pill, the farther it ran.
Whoever was faster had a greater chance of seizing a high-grade Sacred Intent Pill.