Evil Venerable of the Sword Dao-Chapter 602 - 038 Hou Chen and Zhou Sisi

The formation of the Elixir is a process of fusion and transformation of the essence within the Immortal Herbs.

This Tao is, in fact, nearly identical to how a human body devours medicine to undergo transformation. It is precisely for this reason that the Alchemy Skill can bestow various insights to its practitioner.

Zhou Yan imparted the Alchemy Skill to Hou Chen, mainly to allow him, in his future cultivation, to settle down and advance more stably.

Compared to other cultivators who spent countless years reaching the Sword Void Realm, Hou Chen’s cultivation time was very short, and his increase in combat power was particularly terrifying. Even if this rapid and powerful realm were to merge with Hou Chen’s youthful and immature heart, there would still be some deficiencies in his character.

This is best exemplified by Hou Chen’s act of urinating in the Evil King’s Secret Realm Holy Land.

It might seem satisfying, but if it hadn’t been for the pressure from Jiang Tianling and the truth of this Breeding Ground world, the consequences for Hou Chen would definitely not have been good.

Once a Saint came to bear a grudge against a cultivator of the Void Realm, the end of that cultivator would undoubtedly be very tragic!

Looking at it from another angle, if someone else did this in his Secret Realm, Zhou Yan himself thought that, without practicing or seeking Enlightenment, he would still brutally kill such a person to vent his profound resentment.

The principle is the same, Hou Chen’s realm is powerful, yet his character is too immature. Letting the representative Tao of Alchemy Dao and Artifact Dao settle his frivolity is undoubtedly the best choice.

Zhou Yan appeared extremely strict; what was more important was to leave a lasting impression in Hou Chen’s mind with this incident, so that every time he practices alchemy in the future, he would become incredibly focused, never frivolous again.

Such a mindset was something that Hou Chen might not understand in the short term, but in the future, he would certainly come to comprehend it.

...

Hou Chen practiced alchemy intently, his expression extremely solemn and his attitude very serious, completely settling the earlier frivolity in his character.

Zhou Yan silently observed, and at this scene, he finally felt satisfied.

The Moon Worship Immortal Spirit Grass was an extremely precious Holy Medicine. This Spirit Grass was very rare, requiring very stringent growth conditions; finding even one was somewhat unbelievable to Zhou Yan himself.

Now, with no Saints competing and the Sword Ancestor not likely to appear soon, cultivators of the Sword Tribulation Realm dealing with their heavenly aging are also rarely seen traveling; thus, this place was exceedingly safe for the time being.

Zhou Yan refined a batch of elixirs from the Moon Worship Immortal Spirit Grass.

This batch of elixirs was not numerous,"only exactly nine.

The quantity of nine elixirs was naturally far from enough to consume, but Zhou Yan was already very satisfied; everything had gone much better than he expected.

Zhou Yan placed each elixir into nine separately refined Jade Bottles and then took out some Holy-level Combat Armor from the Yuan Ci Secret Realm, gradually smelting them with Purple Flame into unique Refining Materials.

Afterward, while Hou Chen was grasping the mysteries of alchemy, Zhou Yan chose a location and began Artifact Refining.

This time, because the Golden Fragment was continuously being burned and absorbed by the group of Purple Flame in the Purple Flame Void, Zhou Yan thus continuously gained insights into the Ancient Runes, raising his standard in both Alchemy and Artifact Refining. Now, his grasp of Tai Chu Runes had reached a remarkable level.

Not only had the speed of Artifact Refining increased, but the quality of the weapons and Combat Armor he refined had also improved further.

However, even in such a state, combined with Holy Artifact Materials,"Zhou Yan still felt that the quality of the weapons and Soul Armor was only at the level of top-grade Soul Artifacts, without breaking through to the level of Holy Artifacts.

Zhou Yan pondered for a long time, yet still could not find the answer. It was as if he knew there was a barrier there, but simply could not step over it, which felt very abrupt.

Time and again, with each Artifact Refining session, Zhou Yan could comprehend Ancient Runes and then combine Netherworld Runes to form the linguistic mysteries of Tai Chu Runes. Gradually, Zhou Yan came to understand the real linguistic environment inside the world of Tai Chu Runes, truly mastering a very ancient language.

This language, as Zhou Yan came to understand it, led him to realize that the profound and extensive changes behind it were far more complex than he had imagined.

Even a single rune could extend endless meanings, a combination of runes could display different meanings due to differences in aura or momentum.

Just a single word formed from runes could vary so much; combinations of all the runes together were even more infinite and unimaginable.

The more he understood, the more Zhou Yan felt that he was drowning in a vast ocean of language, unable to extricate himself.

Initially, when he had learned fifty percent of Tai Chu Runes, Zhou Yan thought he had mastered much, as if he were a canal filled halfway with lake water.

Now, having learned a lot of Tai Chu Runes, Zhou Yan realized he was indeed a canal, but that lake, which he had thought he had seen, was merely the tip of the iceberg. It wasn’t a lake or even an ocean or river but rather the starry sea, the Cosmic Primordial.

Compared to a pond’s water, a canal can indeed hold half its water. But compared to the starry sea, a canal is minuscule like a grain of sand in the vast ocean.

This was how Zhou Yan felt after grasping the transformation of runes, the more he knew, the more he realized how truly insignificant he was.

That sense of achievement from making even the Saints back off because of the Immortal Spirit Grass, and slaying a Saint in front of all Saints by using some hidden cards, was instantly crushed by the vast knowledge of the rune world.

That little bit of superiority vanished instantly, completely eradicated.

One set, two sets.

Eight sets, nine sets, ten sets...

A large number of refining materials within the Yuan Ci Secret Realm were all within Zhou Yan’s Purple Flame Void.

Zhou Yan gradually became engrossed in refining, while grasping the secret techniques of the Tai Chu Rune, gradually settling into a profound internal essence, so much so that his speed of refining reached a terrifying degree.

From the initial half an hour to less than ten minutes now, then to less than five minutes, a set of top-level soul artifact battle armor and weapons were refined.

This time, Zhou Yan still refined the modified version of the Spiritual Lotus Armor and the Broken Worry Sword weapon mode. Once Zhou Yan found a Tao, he pushed forward, refining this type of battle armor and weapons to an extreme. Because he deeply understood the characteristic that the Three Thousand Great Paths lead to the same end, once he became proficient in the same weapons and armor, mastery over others wouldn’t be difficult.

Indeed, this was the case, after Zhou Yan refined a whole twenty sets of corresponding battle armor and soul devices, he finally started subtle changes. Among these subtle changes, his speed was still increasing, and the quality of the artifacts he refined was even higher.

In every aspect, Zhou Yan had a sense of perfect achievement that fell into place naturally, a feeling of chaos well-understood and unlimited control that deeply resonated, enthralling him.

...

Finally, after finishing alchemy, Hou Chen relaxed a bit.

His master was everything to him. Now that his master was angry, he was very scared and uneasy. Seeing that he finally exceeded his master’s expectations and produced the Spirit Pills, he was naturally very pleased.

He wanted to immediately show his master the Elixirs he had refined and then see his master’s rewarding gaze and appreciatory look.

However, when he stood up, holding his own Elixirs that had reached the low Soul Level, he immediately noticed his master’s astonishing refining methods and speed.

Hou Chen felt like he had been struck by lightning, standing there petrified, and then just stared, no longer able to turn his gaze away.

Subconsciously, Hou Chen engraved the Sword Illusion Realm, capturing this scene to later analyze and comprehend.

The excitement and anticipation in his heart also disappeared along with it.

Compared to his master’s refining skills, he felt deeply struck.

To achieve such changes, such complex movements, let alone the movements that carried the ancient essence of the Tai Chu Rune, any of them seemed out of his reach for possibly ten, or even eight years.

"Master... is really amazing. Compared to him, what’s so special about my trivial skills? My achievements are far from enough! I once vowed to solve all the puzzles for my master, to help master find a better Tao... How can I achieve these now? If I continue my ignorant ways without my master’s care, I would have died long ago, let alone anything else..."

"Hou Chen, oh Hou Chen, from beginning to end, you’re just a waste. Although you’re quite good compared to some cultivators, when compared with real geniuses, you’re really nothing!"

"Think about it, with such skills as those of my master, even in the competencies of Southern Desolate Alchemy and Artifact Dao, he didn’t dominate the first place with an overwhelming advantage, which shows others’ skills are indeed formidable. I struggled in vain against Ji Wu, while master only needed one move facing Ji Wu... The path I need to walk is still very long, I can’t continue to blunder through!"

In that moment, Hou Chen thought a lot and finally managed to calm his restless heart and solidify his determination towards the Tao.

With a decision made in his heart, he finally raised his head and saw Hou Ling and Feng Lingqing walking over, along with the child Feng was carrying; they were clearly attracted by Zhou Yan’s refining actions. Hou Ling and Feng Lingqing, absorbed in watching Zhou Yan refine, unconsciously kept walking forward, ignoring the array in front of them and the Void that edged towards the Cold Pond.

"Lady Hou Ling, Lady Lingqing."

Hou Chen called out respectfully, and his voice woke the three people still immersed in the process of Zhou Yan’s refining.

Hou Ling gradually got used to being called that by Hou Chen, not minding it, but it was the first time Feng Lingqing had been addressed that way by Hou Chen, and she immediately blushed.

At the sound of Hou Chen’s voice, Sisi in Feng’s arms suddenly became excited, waving her chubby hands and kicking her legs.

"Brother, hug."

Sisi reached out with her chubby hands, looked at Hou Chen, suddenly her round eyes showed a natural smile, and she reached out wanting Hou Chen to hold her.

Seeing Zhou Sisi, Hou Chen felt an inexplicable stirring in his heart, feeling that the child was truly adorable, his heart instantly filled with joy, and he ran over, lifted Zhou Sisi from Feng Lingqing’s arms, and gently rubbed her nose, saying, "Little Sisi, you really are adorable."