Chapter 814 - 403: Demon Race Will Never Be Slaves (4)

Chapter 814: Chapter 403: Demon Race Will Never Be Slaves (4)

The old man paused in surprise. "Have you thought it through?"

Cheng Zongyang shook his head slightly and stood up resolutely. "Let’s go. I also want to see if your great Elixir can succeed with me as the medicine."

His posture was upright, and his eyes revealed a trace of determination and fearlessness.

The old man frowned, seemingly disturbed by Cheng Zongyang’s calmness. He then snorted angrily. "Posturing! Don’t think I’ll let you off! Two hundred years of Lifespan is enough to let me take another step forward!"

After speaking, the aura around him rippled slightly, fully displaying his greed.

Inside the room, a large three-legged Alchemy Tripod stood proudly in the center. Beneath the tripod, flames burned fiercely without any firewood.

The flames were a deep, ghostly blue. As they danced, they seemed to possess a rudimentary sentience. The heat was so blistering that it faintly warped the very space around them. Yet, all of this was constrained beneath the Alchemy Tripod by an invisible Power, with no sign of leaking out in the slightest.

The old man looked at the Alchemy Tripod, his expression growing increasingly arrogant. The wrinkles on his face smoothed out in smugness as he laughed aloud.

"Inside this Alchemy Tripod is a collection of various Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures I’ve gathered over the past two or three hundred years. There’s also the harvest from this past year! You should consider yourself lucky to have so many Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures fused into your body.

"These Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures are all rarities in this world. There are thousand-year-old Spirit Insects taken from the deep sea’s Spiritual Abyss, containing vitality so rich it is almost tangible.

"There are Starfall Divine Crystals brought out from ancient ruins, radiating a mysterious and mighty Star Force. There’s also Lingxi Grass that grew on the edge of a Spirit Realm rift, capable of connecting to Spirit Veins and gathering Spiritual Power... Hmph!"

Seeing that Cheng Zongyang was completely ignoring him, the old man scoffed coldly and stopped showing off.

With a sudden wave of his hand, the lid of the Alchemy Tripod flew up instantly, bringing with it a sharp whistling sound that echoed like a summons from the grim reaper. Cheng Zongyang merely stared quietly at the Alchemy Tripod, his expression remaining as placid as an ancient, rippleless well.

The next moment, Cheng Zongyang was grabbed out of thin air by the old man and tossed into the Alchemy Tripod like an ant.

With a loud BANG, the lid fell back into place, sealing Cheng Zongyang inside. Following that, the old man flicked his finger at the flames, and the fire instantly roared to life.

As soon as he entered the tripod, Cheng Zongyang felt a terrifying heat surge toward him, threatening to incinerate him in an instant. Under the high temperature, the surrounding Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures rapidly liquefied, transforming into a multicolored Spiritual Liquid that slithered and coiled toward him like spirit snakes.

With his entire Cultivation sealed, Cheng Zongyang was completely unable to resist.

The Energy contained within this Spiritual Liquid was far too overwhelming. In a matter of moments, it began to seep into his body and meridians, strand by strand. Intense pain immediately wracked his body. It felt as though millions of needles were piercing every inch of his skin, and his meridians felt as if they were being scorched by hellfire.

Meanwhile, the external heat burned away all the hair on his body into nothingness. After his hair vanished, his skin and muscles followed suit, gradually reducing his body to a blood-red humanoid figure.

Cheng Zongyang forcibly endured the agonizing pain.

As time passed, he realized that the Spiritual Liquid fusing into his body was beginning to be absorbed and Refined by him. Nourished by this Energy, his meridians gradually grew tougher, and his internal organs were enveloped by a faint spiritual glow. It was as if his body was being repaired.

But in the next moment, outside the tripod, the old man altered the temperature of the flames, removing the terrifying, scorching heat. However, this continuous and stable temperature was like boiling a frog in warm water, keeping the interior of the Alchemy Tripod at a constant, moderate threshold.

Consequently, a sense of pressure emerged as the thermal pressure within the Alchemy Tripod steadily climbed.

Cheng Zongyang understood why. The old man was doing this to ensure that the Spiritual Liquid absorbed into his body wouldn’t lose its medicinal properties to the extreme heat, which would result in Alchemy failure. It proved that the old man’s Alchemy techniques were exceptionally skilled.

Cheng Zongyang gradually found it hard to hold on. His consciousness began to blur. The Spiritual Liquid within his body thoroughly merged with him, seeping directly into his heart. Finally, he lost consciousness. His body, too, was gradually being Refined, slowly shrinking in size.

An unknown amount of time passed. An irregularly shaped Elixir, resembling the size and appearance of a human heart, hovered within the Alchemy Tripod, rotating slowly.

This Elixir emitted a soft radiance. Bizarre patterns faintly flickered in and out of sight on its surface. Inside, its Energy surged wildly, yet it was completely restrained by a binding Power.

But the process was far from over. As the Elixir continued to be forged by the Pill Fire, the impurities and ashes within it were continually purged. Its size steadily shrank, and its shape gradually morphed toward a perfect, rounded sphere.

Outside the tripod, the old man was already overwhelmed with excitement, his eyes brimming with greed and ecstasy. He couldn’t wait to swallow this Elixir—the culmination of his countless efforts and expectations—to realize his ambition of gaining two hundred years of Lifespan and taking another step forward on his path.

But it wasn’t time yet. He could only continue to stabilize the refinement within the Alchemy Tripod to prevent any accidents that might cause his efforts to fall short at the final hurdle.

As time slowly flowed by, the Elixir finally took its definitive shape. Cheng Zongyang had been entirely transformed into an emerald-green Elixir no larger than a thumb. Its luster was as warm and smooth as jade. Its glow was restrained, yet it exuded a profound sense of mystery, as if the quintessence of heaven and earth had been concentrated into this tiny square inch.

Seeing this, the old man could no longer suppress the wild joy and avarice in his heart. He opened the lid and seized the Elixir.

Staring at the Elixir floating before him, his hands trembled violently. The instant his fingers brushed against it, a peculiar fluctuation of Energy spread from his fingertips throughout his entire body, causing him to shudder involuntarily.

He impatiently popped the Elixir into his mouth. It melted the moment it touched his tongue, and a majestic surge of Energy galloped through his body like a raging tide.

The old man’s face first revealed an expression of extreme satisfaction, but it quickly contorted as the Energy proved to be overwhelmingly potent. His body began to convulse violently. Waves of red light flushed across his skin, as if a roaring inferno had been ignited within him. Under the relentless impact of this Energy, his meridians emitted CRACKLING sounds, like overburdened zither strings on the verge of snapping.