The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu-Chapter 511: Pavilion Master Fatty Qian

Led by the female attendant, Long Xuan quickly ascended to the third floor of the Myriad Medicine Pavilion.

The third floor was clearly far more luxurious than the first. Expensive decorations lined the walls, and in the center of the hall were rows of crystal display cases, each containing a jade box, all of which were highly valuable.

But compared to what was inside them, the jade boxes themselves were insignificant. Each jade box housed a spiritual herb or medicine, all of which were peerless treasures rarely seen in the outside world. Their worth was immeasurable—each one was either a once-in-a-decade treasure or a once-in-a-century rarity. Every item here was peak-grade.

The moment they entered, the Heaven-Devouring World Toad inside the Insect Bag on Long Xuan’s waist immediately started to stir, struggling to break free and devour all the spiritual medicines in sight.

Even this beast, which had witnessed countless treasures, could not suppress its overwhelming greed in the presence of such a rich concentration of treasure aura.

Startled, Long Xuan hurriedly pressed down on his Insect Bag, afraid that this glutton would actually break free. If it came out and devoured all the spiritual medicines here—he didn’t dare imagine the consequences.

Even he himself was stirred when he saw these spiritual medicines. He couldn’t help but wish he could sweep them all into his own pouch, which only proved how immensely valuable these medicines truly were.

Long Xuan sighed inwardly. As expected of the Pill Exchange Assembly held once every fifty years by the Qian Clan, the spiritual medicines here were truly heaven-defying—more than enough to attract a massive number of fourth-grade alchemists.

Sweeping his gaze around, Long Xuan indeed saw many fourth-grade alchemists roaming throughout the grand hall. Their eyes roved over the crystal cabinets, each of them revealing thinly veiled greed.

Where there are so many fourth-grade alchemists, there would naturally be even more third-grade ones. Almost every display case had a crowd gathered around it, whispering excitedly. Even second-grade alchemists weren’t qualified to enter this floor.

The Pill Exchange Assembly was already underway, and the scene was bustling with activity. Bargaining echoed throughout the grand hall.

Some had already taken out precious pill treasures they had hoarded for years to exchange for coveted spiritual medicines. Others, unable to offer pills of equal value, opted to refine pills on the spot, surrounded by crowds of curious onlookers.

Among those refining pills live were even prestigious fourth-grade alchemists showcasing their skills, drawing bursts of admiration and applause. Their demonstrations of pill-refinement further enlivened the event’s atmosphere.

Long Xuan couldn’t help but suspect these alchemists were deliberately showing off, using the public display to seek attention by refining high-grade pills.

There were just too many of them acting like they had come unprepared. Could it really be a coincidence?

He only took a glance and lost interest. Despite many of them being fourth-grade alchemists, Long Xuan found their techniques crude, especially compared to experts like Duan Tianwu or Feng Jiutian. Their skills were simply too inferior to watch.

He had already competed against those two alchemy masters—how could he possibly take this group of amateurs seriously?

Shaking his head, Long Xuan strode into the central hall.

The moment he entered, many gazes subconsciously shifted to him. When they saw the fourth-grade alchemist badge hanging from his chest, many alchemists furrowed their brows in confusion.

Fourth-grade alchemists were incredibly rare—rarer even than Gu Kings. As such, their circle was extremely small, and most were already acquainted with each other.

Now, a completely unfamiliar fourth-grade alchemist had suddenly appeared. How could they not be suspicious? Everyone began wondering where this person had come from.

Long Xuan, unfazed by the attention, stood tall and proud. He wore an aloof expression as he headed directly toward a crystal display case in the center of the hall. That particular case contained the Longevity Spring, and it was surrounded by many fourth-grade alchemists excitedly pointing at it and discussing.

After all, Longevity Spring, a heavenly-grade spiritual herb known for its life-extending effects, would tempt anyone’s heart.

But in order to obtain it, one had to offer a pill of equal value. As a heaven-grade spiritual medicine, the Longevity Spring was extraordinarily precious. Even these fourth-grade alchemists, who could refine formidable pills, found it nearly impossible to produce something of equal worth.

So although everyone’s eyes burned with desire, no one dared to make an offer. They could only look from afar.

Standing beside the display case was a stunning woman in a tight cheongsam, her graceful curves perfectly highlighted, making her very eye-catching. She wore a professional smile as she watched the crowd, clearly the attendant in charge of this cabinet.

The female attendant who had led Long Xuan over now leaned in to whisper something in the cheongsam-clad woman’s ear.

The woman’s eyes immediately turned to Long Xuan. Smiling, she said:

“I am the person in charge of this booth, responsible for the transaction of the Longevity Spring. I heard from Yue’er that sir intends to exchange for it. May I ask—do you possess a pill equivalent in value to the Longevity Spring?”

Her words caused all the alchemists focused on the Longevity Spring to redirect their gaze toward Long Xuan, their eyes sparkling with anticipation and intensity.

To exchange for the Longevity Spring, one must offer a pill of equal worth.

But ordinary fourth-grade pills simply wouldn’t suffice—only those that can attract a lightning tribulation would qualify.

Such pills were incredibly rare. Their recipe were nearly extinct, and the ingredients even more so. Even if one obtained a recipe, gathering all the ingredients was nearly impossible. Not to mention, the difficulty of refining such a pill was astronomical, and surviving the tribulation lightning was even harder. Pills that survived tribulation—less than one in ten made it.

As such, pills capable of drawing lightning were legendary, with most alchemists having never seen one in their entire lives, or even heard of them.

Now, learning that someone might possess such a pill, how could they not be excited?

A pill that had survived lightning tribulation would be a dream come true for any alchemist. Just seeing one was already a once-in-a-lifetime moment.

Long Xuan was slightly surprised by the hungry wolf-like gazes directed at him. But with his intelligence, he quickly realized why they were staring—a tribulation pill was the only thing worthy of the Longevity Spring.

And such pills were virtually mythical. Most alchemists had only seen them in books.

For him, though…

Long Xuan sighed inwardly. He knew that today, if he didn’t make a dramatic display, it would be impossible to proceed. Once again, he’d be forced to put on a show.

If not absolutely necessary, he would have preferred to keep a low profile.

But for him, tribulation pills were not rare at all. He had refined many, drawn countless lightning tribulations, and carried multiple such pills on him.

In truth—he was a tribulation pill production machine.

It is worth mentioning, sir, that over all this time, the fourth level of the Purgatory True Demon Technique had already been half deduced by him. Apart from the Dharma Aspect Manifestation segment that remained incomplete, the portion concerning body refinement through tribulation lightning had already been fully mastered.

At present, his body refining training was being carried out through terrifying tribulation lightning.

However, the power of the lightning released by the Tribulation Gu was less than one percent of real tribulation lightning. Thus, in order to achieve the maximum effect in body refinement, he could only maniacally refine pills capable of attracting real tribulation lightning to repeatedly draw down genuine heavenly tribulation to temper his body.

Furthermore, the difficulty had to escalate from easy to hard, starting with Life-Destroying Lightning, followed by Reincarnation Lightning, and finally Life-Transformative Lightning.

Naturally, such body refining wasn’t something he handled personally, it was entirely delegated to his clone.

In order to refine his body with tribulation lightning at full force, the clone had no choice but to re-refine all of the pills originally developed by Long Xuan himself. So far, it had successfully produced one Heaven-Defying Pill and one Bone-Regrowing Blood-Merging Pill.

After the clone had broken through to the Gu King realm, it had gained the strength to refine pills of this level. With the Tribulation Gu present, there was also no need to worry about the pills being destroyed by tribulation lightning.

For someone like Long Xuan, producing such high-grade pills was not difficult at all, the only limitation was the materials.

Without the Repair Gu, let alone refining two furnaces of pill, he wouldn't even be able to complete one.

Now that he had the Heaven-Defying Pill and the Bone-Regrowing Blood-Merging Pill in hand, replacing the Longevity Spring was no longer an issue.

After a moment of consideration, Long Xuan finally decided to take out the Heaven-Defying Pill.

The lightning it attracted, Life-Destroying Lightning, was already sufficient.

“I have a Heaven-Defying Pill in my possession. When this pill was first refined, it attracted the tenth-ranked tribulation lightning, the Life-Destroying Lightning.”

“Its effect is truly against the heavens. The Heaven-Defying Pill can unconditionally elevate the aptitude of a Gu cultivator by one grade.”

“Even for cultivators with Heaven-grade aptitude, it is still effective — upon taking it, their talent can be upgraded to the mythical Divine-grade.”

“However, there is a restriction: only one pill per person in a lifetime, and since this pill is of fourth grade, it only takes effect below the Gu King realm.”

“Your Qian Clan’s Chamber of Commerce has the Golden Eyes, so you should be able to verify the authenticity of this pill, right?”

With that, Long Xuan took out a pill bottle and smiled at the woman.

As soon as the pill appeared, as expected, the hall was immediately filled with heavy, rapid breathing. Everyone’s eyes were filled with fiery excitement as they looked at the pill, their faces flushed red.

In the great hall, all conversations abruptly ceased. Even the fourth-grade alchemists who had been showing off their pill-refining techniques lost focus, all turning to look this way with uncontainable excitement in their eyes.

The room was silent for just a moment before exploding in discussion. All the fourth-grade alchemists present went absolutely mad.

“Someone really brought out a pill that once summoned tribulation lightning! The Heaven-Defying Pill, capable of unconditionally improving one’s aptitude by a full grade, this is truly heaven-defying. Just witnessing such a divine pill with my own eyes has made my entire life worthwhile!”

An elderly fourth-grade alchemist said, choking back tears.

“So this is the pill that once summoned Life-Destroying Lightning. Its form is truly extraordinary! I never thought I’d live to see a pill of this level, I can die with no regrets.”

Another aged alchemist exclaimed, his eyes reddened with emotion.

“What a sacred aura this pill carries. No wonder it once attracted tribulation lightning. I’ve heard of the Heaven-Defying Pill before. It supposedly appeared in a remote area, a city known as Sin City. It caused a huge stir back then and even led to the deaths of many over it. I never imagined I’d see a second Heaven-Defying Pill in my lifetime. I’ll have tales to tell when I return!” Yet another highly respected fourth-grade alchemist said, staring at the pill with burning eyes.

At this moment, all the alchemists in the hall lost their composure, acting like they'd never seen the world before, making the hall erupt into chaos.

Then, a fat Gu cultivator in luxurious robes rushed over, eyes red and voice loud with excitement:

“It truly is the Heaven-Defying Pill! Our Qian Clan’s was fortunate enough to auction a Defy-Heaven Pill in Sin City once. We recorded it in great detail!”

“This pill matches our records exactly, not a single discrepancy! It seems today I’ve met the very person capable of refining such a divine pill!”

He stared at Long Xuan like he wanted to devour him whole.

As soon as those words were spoken, everyone’s attention shifted from the pill to Long Xuan.

Compared to the pill, the person who could refine such a pill and shield it under tribulation lightning was even more fascinating.

Everyone was eager to know, who exactly was this mysterious expert capable of such a feat?

Seeing all eyes turning toward him, as if looking at a god, and many elders staring with admiration and reverence, Long Xuan felt a chill deep in his heart. He had never liked being in the spotlight. Being too prominent meant danger, and as someone innately cautious, he would never admit to being the refiner of the Heaven-Defying Pill.

He quickly denied:

“You misunderstand. This Heaven-Defying Pill wasn’t refined by me. As you can see, I’m merely at the early stage of the Gu King realm.”

“With such a low cultivation, how could I possibly refine a pill of this level? Even if by some miracle I did manage to refine it, how could I have protected it from the power of tribulation lightning?”

“To tell the truth, I found this pill on a corpse. I’m not the one who refined it. Sorry to disappoint you.”

Long Xuan wasn’t certain if his explanation could fool everyone, but this was something he had to say. Most people would believe it, and that was enough to save himself a lot of trouble.

Sure enough, Long Xuan’s words calmed the crowd, and disappointment began to show in their expressions.

Indeed, he was just a newly advanced Gu King. His aura indicated he had only recently broken through. With such a short time to study fourth-grade alchemy, how could he possibly have the capability to refine such a divine pill?

And just as he said, even if he had miraculously succeeded in refining it, with his low cultivation, he’d have been obliterated by the tribulation lightning trying to protect the pill.

They had simply let excitement cloud their judgment. Upon reflection, they refused to believe that this young man was the pill’s refiner.

At this moment, almost all Gu Kings present believed Long Xuan’s story, all except the fat Gu cultivator, who looked at him with a meaningful, knowing gaze, yet said nothing.

“Young friend, I am the Pavilion Master of the Myriad Medicines Pavilion. You may call me Fatty Qian. I have full authority over all transactions in the pavilion.”

“This Heaven-Defying Pill has truly heaven-defying effects. It is more than enough to exchange for our Longevity Spring. Shall we make the trade now?”

Fatty Qian rubbed his hands together, staring at the pill with burning eagerness, clearly unable to wait.