I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times-Chapter 321Book 2: : Supreme Spirit Pill, Haori’s Scheme

Vol 2 Chapter 321: Supreme Spirit Pill, Haori’s Scheme

This was the first time Sect Master Song truly experienced what it meant to feel a thorn in his back.

If they weren’t currently on University Island in the Jiushan Realm, the group behind him would probably have erupted into chaos.

If looks could kill, his body might already be riddled with holes.

He sneered inwardly, silently musing: You only see me kneeling—but don’t realize I’m only afraid I didn’t kneel fast enough!

If I don’t kneel, I’ll really die...

Jiushan Sect is actually rewriting the foundation of alchemy!

The people behind him didn’t understand, but he had participated in the refinement of the spirit pill and knew how fast the project was progressing.

Though his alchemy skill wasn’t as deep as Elder Xiong’s, he was still one of the few Nascent Soul grandmasters in the Hundred Immortals Alliance.

Alchemy had long become second nature to him.

But…

Thinking back to one furnace after another—each producing pills of higher quality, richer spiritual energy, and less pill toxin—

It still felt like a dream.

Jiushan Sect’s measurement and analysis capabilities, combined with Qingmu Sect’s previous alchemical knowledge, had produced visible results in just over ten days!

And the improvements weren’t limited to the quality of the spirit pills.

The Jiushan disciples who were Foundation Establishment alchemists had advanced rapidly in their alchemical skill.

Even Elder Xiong and the Golden Core masters from Qingmu Sect felt like they had been reborn...

At first, they didn’t fully understand, or rather didn’t dare to believe. Later, after discussing it with Elder Xiong, they came to a conclusion:

Beginners always improve the fastest.

And once they began viewing alchemy through Zheng Fa’s framework, they returned to a beginner’s mindset.

Every step of pill refining could be optimized.

How much spiritual energy to use, how long to hold a technique, whether a spell was necessary at all—was there a better choice…

Countless questions were raised, analyzed, observed, and solved.

They had questioned these things before but never had a systematic way to resolve them.

But Jiushan Sect did!

Elder Xiong said it best:

Alchemy in the Jiushan Realm is a rapidly evolving monster.

At least to Sect Master Song and Elder Xiong, their Qingmu Sect’s alchemy—no, the entire Hundred Immortals Alliance’s alchemy—would either be crushed by this monster or become part of it. Ꞧãɴö𝐁È𝙎

Sect Master Song even believed that Taishang Dao, the sect best known for alchemy among the Five Sects, would eventually be steamrolled by Jiushan Sect unless they destroyed it first.

Qingmu Sect didn’t want to die, so of course they had to kneel. And not just kneel—they had to kneel with dignity, kneel in a way that was worth something!

Senior Sister Zhang looked at Sect Master Song’s firm expression, then at the bewildered, panicked, and flustered expressions of the other sect leaders, and smiled to herself.

What a sly one...

“Sect Master Song’s suggestion is, of course, welcome by Jiushan Sect.” She already knew Zheng Fa’s stance, so she handled it accordingly. “Qingmu Sect is offering its secret techniques selflessly. If those are submitted to the guild…”

She paused slightly, as if thinking it over, but spoke the conditions she and Zheng Fa had long agreed on:

“The fifty-year patent period belongs to Qingmu Sect.”

“Even after the techniques are modified, the patent rights remain shared between the guild and Qingmu Sect. Profit distribution will depend on the rarity and improvement of the technique, but Qingmu Sect, as the original provider, will receive no less than thirty percent.”

Hearing this, Sect Master Song finally showed some visible joy.

He understood this was the reward for his so-called ‘loyalty.’

Both he and Senior Sister Zhang understood that while Qingmu Sect still technically owned these secret techniques, the modified versions were already co-developed by Jiushan and Qingmu.

In fact, the more improvements there were, the smaller Qingmu’s contribution became.

That thirty percent was Zheng Fa and Jiushan’s way of rewarding Qingmu Sect—

A gesture of goodwill, acknowledging Sect Master Song’s insight.

“Lastly, as for the duties of the guild leader… Jiushan Sect believes Sect Master Song would be a fine choice.”

Sect Master Song froze, clearly caught off guard.

The other sect leaders also began murmuring.

Currently, the guild heads of the two major guilds were Senior Sister Zhang for the Talisman Master Guild and Madam Xuanhua for the Artificer Guild.

Which meant Sect Master Song was the only non-Jiushan figure to head a guild.

Everyone understood what that implied.

“What does Sect Master Song think?”

“I shall serve with every drop of my blood!”

Sect Master Song knew this wasn’t the time to refuse. Jiushan Sect clearly wanted to turn Qingmu Sect into a model of loyalty.

As the others looked at Sect Master Song’s back, they had to admit:

The lower he had seemed to kneel earlier, the higher he now stood.

Senior Sister Zhang nodded toward him, then turned to the others and said:

“As for Sect Master Song’s offer to submit techniques for refinement, Jiushan Sect will not impose this on anyone else.”

A collective sigh of relief swept through the room.

Clearly, the others were worried they’d be held to the same standard.

Sect Master Song, however, sneered quietly to himself. These fools didn’t even understand what Jiushan Sect was doing...

If they didn’t offer up their secret techniques now, once Jiushan fully absorbed Qingmu Sect’s alchemy, why would they need anyone else’s?

They thought Jiushan Sect was being merciful—but Sect Master Song knew… Jiushan Sect no longer cared.

There is no place for secret techniques in Jiushan Sect’s alchemy!

“Anyone else have comments?”

Senior Sister Zhang smiled warmly as she asked.

Who would dare speak up now?

Sect Master Song’s “comment” had scared the life out of them.

Seeing no objections, Senior Sister Zhang handed the rest of the meeting over to Sect Master Song to work out the remaining details.

Then she hurried toward Engineering Island.

The Alchemist Guild was important, yes—

But what mattered most now was Zheng-shidi.

She crossed the rainbow bridge and landed on Engineering Island, where she saw Madam Xuanhua standing in front of a sugar-gourd-shaped pill cauldron.

Zheng Fa stood with Elder Xiong and the others, holding their breath as they watched the external pill forming inside.

“Yang Five Element formation complete!”

A disciple shouted.

“Spirit pill!”

Elder Xiong flicked his finger, and a translucent, water-blue pill flew into the burning cauldron.

“Yin Five Element starting to condense!”

“……”

“Yin Five Element formation complete!”

The room went still.

Only the sizzling sound of the external pill in the cauldron could be heard.

The pill glowed with platinum light so bright no one could keep their eyes open—yet no one, including Senior Sister Zhang, could look away.

“Sect Master…” Madam Xuanhua’s voice was hoarse, the words squeezing out of her throat:

“Shenyuan Supreme Pill, verification complete.”

“The Jiushan Golden Core Method has been successfully developed.”

Zheng Fa didn’t seem to know what to say.

He just smiled and nodded at Madam Xuanhua, smiled and nodded at all the disciples of the Golden Core Project, then turned back to Senior Sister Zhang and spoke just two words:

“It’s done.”

Senior Sister Zhang gazed back at Zheng Fa, her eyes soft.

Shenyuan Supreme Pill — the name Elder Xiong and the others gave to this previously unknown pill.

She understood exactly how important this pill was, to both Jiushan Sect and Zheng Fa.

The Jiushan Golden Core Method was closely tied to the Heavenly Gang and Earth Fiend Transformations.

Without this Shenyuan Supreme Pill, even if Zheng Fa reached Nascent Soul stage, his core technique would be incomplete.

Let alone developing Jiushan Sect further.

Over this period, Jiushan Sect had all but abandoned every other matter.

They knew about Zhongxuan Sect’s little moves—

But no one cared.

All their resources had gone into researching the Shenyuan Supreme Pill.

Hundreds, nearly thousands of pill refinement experiments had nearly depleted their stock of incense power.

Even with spiritual material conversion to conserve ingredients, the repeated experiments had consumed most of the sect market’s inventory.

Outsiders didn’t know Jiushan Sect’s financial situation.

But Senior Sister Zhang knew—Jiushan Sect had shallow foundations to begin with.

This large-scale experimentation had lasted too long.

They were already deep in the red.

Which was precisely why she understood how monumental this result was.

And understood the joy behind Zheng Fa’s two simple words.

Elder Xiong didn’t fully grasp all that. He just stared at the cauldron, muttering dreamily:

“Supreme spirit pill…”

“Eighty percent supreme-grade pills in a single furnace…”

He looked at his own hands, almost unable to believe he’d accomplished this.

By now, everyone understood what supreme spirit pill meant...

In the Xuanyi Realm, pills were ranked in four grades—Heaven, Earth, Mystic, and Yellow—based on difficulty and rarity. Each type of pill was further divided into high, mid, and low quality.

Supreme spirit pill wasn’t even an official classification—because it was considered pure luck.

Most pill masters might refine one supreme pill once—then never again.

If someone could consistently produce supreme pills, it meant their skill had reached a godlike level for that specific pill.

Such pill masters were one in ten thousand.

Elder Xiong certainly wasn’t one of them…

Until now.

And now, he realized—he was!

Even more, Elder Xiong could foresee that with Jiushan Sect’s improvement methods, supreme spirit pills would no longer rely on luck.

His chest swelled with pride. Though his feet were on the ground, it felt like he was floating.

“Sect Master, Zhenren Jiao said—no pill toxin was detected in this Shenyuan Supreme Pill!”

A disciple came running to report to Zheng Fa.

Zheng Fa nodded and took out a Shenyuan Supreme Pill, turning to Senior Sister Zhang.

“Senior Sister, I wish to form my core.”

Everyone turned to Zheng Fa.

Jiushan Sect disciple or not, they all knew this Sect Master’s past.

He had only been cultivating for just over nine years!

And now he was forming his core?!

Sect Master Xiong could only feel his knees go weak and collapsed onto the ground with a thud.

Forming a Nascent Soul in ten years?

Who could possibly act arrogant in front of someone like that?

Meanwhile, Zheng Fa was still troubled:

“My spiritual energy accumulation has long been sufficient. If not for waiting on this Shenyuan Supreme Pill, I could’ve attempted core formation half a month ago.”

Elder Xiong’s expression stiffened—so it was his fault things were delayed?

But thinking about it, that was probably true. If he had listened to those Foundation Establishment disciples earlier, they really could have finished sooner...

Now, not only could he not float from pride—he wanted to dig a hole and bury himself.

No, wait—wasn’t it Zheng Fa who was just too fast?

Zheng Fa continued, “From what I observed in Madam Xuanhua’s experiment, during the Yin Five Element’s condensation, when yin and yang merged and the five elements circulated, it was exactly like the scene when you formed your core back then, Senior Sister Zhang...”

Senior Sister Zhang immediately understood. “You can’t suppress it anymore?”

“Yes. If I take this Shenyuan Supreme Pill, I fear I won’t be able to suppress my cultivation any longer.”

“What’s more, now that the Jiushan Golden Core Method is complete, I have no reason to wait.”

Senior Sister Zhang slowly nodded. “You go ahead and form your core in seclusion. Jiushan Sect is safe with me.”

“Seclusion?” Unexpectedly, Zheng Fa shook his head and said something no one expected, “I don’t plan to go into seclusion.”

“……”

Everyone else was puzzled, but Senior Sister Zhang suddenly understood: “You want... to use yourself as the experiment?”

“Using the Jiushan Golden Core Method to form the Nascent Soul—this firsthand experience is precious. I could recall it later, yes, but with you all observing and measuring beside me, perhaps you’ll notice details I miss.”

“With this record, future disciples will have a reference when they form their cores.”

Elder Xiong opened his mouth. Though he wasn’t from Jiushan Sect, even he understood what Zheng Fa meant.

Personal experience was ultimately unreliable—especially with the Inner Demon Tribulation, which could cause hallucinations.

Zheng Fa wanted to form his Nascent Soul under spiritual energy monitors, even the Void-Gazing Spiritual Eye, to collect data.

But... that carried some risk.

Senior Sister Zhang frowned—clearly, she thought the risk was too great.

“We’ve poured so many resources into this. If we can’t do it perfectly and gather more data, that would be the real loss.”

“Compared to the pill refinement experiments, this core formation experiment is far rarer. If we want to cultivate more Nascent Soul cultivators in the future, the value of this data is immeasurable.”

“This concerns the First Fifty-Year Plan, Senior Sister. I’m willing to take this risk.”

“Besides, within the Jiushan Realm, what danger could I possibly face?”

Elder Xiong stood to the side watching. This Alliance Leader Zheng, long known for his caution—

Was now acting completely out of character.

He suddenly felt... even if he failed to refine supreme-grade pills, joining Jiushan Sect might not be such a bad idea.

“I’ll guard you.”

Just like before, Senior Sister Zhang once again tolerated Zheng Fa’s “impulsiveness.”

“And you—wait a few more days first...”

“Hmm?”

Senior Sister Zhang turned and looked at Madam Xuanhua and Elder Xiong in the hall, and with a tone that allowed no doubt, she began assigning homework: “All cultivators in the Jiushan Realm at Nascent Soul or above must write a core formation summary. I’ll start drafting some contingency plans.”

“……”

…

Senior Sister Zhang wasn’t just burdening Madam Xuanhua and Elder Xiong—she even assigned homework to Sect Master Song, not to mention Jiao Wuji, Ancestor of the Blood River, and others...

Oh, and also her master, Zhenren Huang, who was currently sighing, racking his brains, and cursing under his breath.

Senior Sister Zhang then led a team to set up Zheng Fa’s core formation venue, arranged various observation instruments, and worked on the contingency plans.

Zheng Fa, with nothing to do for the moment, simply took out the Creation Jade Tablet and shared the good news with his online friends:

“Fairy Xiao, we’ve refined the spirit pill. I’m about to form my core.”

Xiao Yuying had traveled a great distance to explore a secret realm for his sake. Though the results hadn’t been vital, Zheng Fa appreciated the gesture.

More importantly, Jiushan Sect’s current supplies could really use this “tomb raider captain” to restock the treasury.

…

Xiao Yuying picked up the Tongjian and looked at the message Zheng Fa sent, smiling softly.

Behind her, the Jiushan Sect disciples riding her artifact war chariot looked well-behaved and composed.

As Jiushan Sect’s archaeology instructor, she had personally trained these disciples.

They hadn’t caused any trouble during the secret realm expedition—and even helped quite a bit.

She had not failed in her teaching.

Now that Zheng Fa had successfully refined the spirit pill, she planned to bring the disciples back and study their harvest along the way.

Halfway back, Xiao Yuying suddenly stopped the chariot and cast out a green silk veil from her hand.

The veil enveloped the chariot, concealing her and the Jiushan Sect disciples.

From the outside, it just looked like a small, grassy hill.

Overhead, a powerful aura flashed past, seemingly unaware of anything below.

“A grand cultivator...” Xiao Yuying looked up, thinking silently, “That direction... is Haori Mountain?”

She also knew that Haori Mountain had become an unstable factor in the Hundred Immortals Alliance.

But did that sect even have a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator?

She was sure Haori only had two Nascent Soul cultivators, and at most at the mid-stage.

Something was off...

Xiao Yuying stared into the distance, unease creeping into her heart.

What exactly was happening at Haori Mountain?

…

“Master, are you saying that Haori Mountain is secretly supporting Zhongxuan Sect?”

At Tianhe Sect, upon hearing what Sect Master Yan seemingly let slip, Xie Qingxue grew anxious. “Didn’t they sign an alliance pact?”

“They did.”

“Then why would Haori...”

“All the Haori Mulberry trees at Haori Mountain have died recently—every one they plant dies.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Haori Mountain’s fundamental cultivation method relies on the Haori Mulberry.”

Xie Qingxue froze.

Of course she understood what that implied. With the emergence of Dao Fruits, any path to accumulating power required those foundational techniques.

Without the Haori Mulberry, the Dao Fruit at Haori Mountain couldn’t accept it.

Now that they couldn’t grow them, they were clearly eyeing Jiushan Sect.

“But what about the pact...”

“Of course the pact must be honored.” Sect Master Yan’s tone remained calm. “But that pact ties our hands—and Zheng Fa’s.”

Xie Qingxue thought for a moment, then realized, “Jiushan Sect’s foundation is too shallow.”

“Good student.” Sect Master Yan stood and looked out the door. “Dao Fruits may not fight one another, but we still have Nascent Souls—and Soul Formations.”

“Zhongxuan Sect was already under the Hundred Immortals Alliance... but it’s also a branch of Haori Mountain. In fact, they likely have more Nascent Souls and even Soul Formations now, ones whose origins we don’t know.”

Xie Qingxue instantly understood—just like Zhenren Tongming’s relationship with Taishang Dao.

Those so-called “unknown origin” Soul Formations and Nascent Souls were likely Haori Mountain’s secret disciples.

“Won’t people see through this…? Zheng Fa is a Dao Fruit—can’t he handle a mere Zhongxuan Sect?”

“There’s still Haori Mountain.”

“...Are they really planning to tear up the pact and go to war with Jiushan Sect?”

“Of course not. But protecting Zhongxuan Sect and using them to stall the Hundred Immortals Alliance’s development? That’s easy.”

Xie Qingxue understood. In the Xuanyi Realm, all sorts of tactics existed. With the backing of a major sect, they didn’t need to act openly to cause major problems for Zheng Fa and the alliance.

“We’re just going to sit back and watch this?”

Sect Master Yan looked at her. “Who isn’t afraid of another Ancestor being born?”

“……”

Xie Qingxue’s eyes widened.

“Zheng Fa’s Dao Fruit is full of mysteries,” Sect Master Yan said softly. “Even if he has Dao Fruit-level strength, his Golden Core stage is real. His weaknesses are obvious—his cultivation, and his influence.”

“The Hundred Immortals Alliance has weak foundations. If chaos breaks out within, every delay will snowball. How could it compete with Haori Mountain then?”

“And it doesn’t stop there. The goal is to wear Zheng Fa down—to keep him too distracted to cultivate…”

“When the pact expires, Haori Mountain can seize the Fusang Tree without resistance.”

Xie Qingxue stood frozen as Sect Master Yan added:

“To us, the Six-Sect Pact was always temporary. Whether we’ll be enemies or allies later is still unclear. And frankly, five sects dividing the Xuanyi Realm is better than six.”

“If Haori Mountain can drag down Zheng Fa and the Hundred Immortals Alliance’s growth… that serves the Five Sects’ interests.”

Xie Qingxue looked at her master.

Then Sect Master Yan said,

“To earn your place among the Six Sects… is no easy feat.” 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Xie Qingxue fell silent.

Sect Master Yan added, “Back then, our Ancestor was the same...”

“Ancestor?”

“After earning the title of strongest Golden Core in history, every step—Nascent Soul, Soul Formation… was paved with endless human obstacles.”

“Now it’s Zheng Fa’s turn.”