Ninth In the World

Chi Yuanqing was desperate. Di Jiu was indeed the most formidable Alchemy Master that he had ever seen. Although he would still kill Di Jiu if he failed to refine the elixir, he knew deep inside that he would probably not be able to find another Alchemy Master to refine the Seven-Orifice Soul Condensing Elixir besides Di Jiu.

“Alchemy Master Di, this Seven-Orifice Soul Condensing Elixir is for my daughter, Xun-er. Her soul is torn and her Principal Spirit is incomplete. I only have two Seven-Orifice Cloud Annulus, one of which was spoiled by a second-rate alchemist whom I had misplaced my trust in. I will never be able to save my daughter ever again if I lose this one as well.” Chi Yuanqing sounded extremely sincere.

However, the deeper meaning behind his words was that he would have to kill Di Jiu if he spoiled the remaining cloud annulus because it was the only one left.

Di Jiu continued to speak ever so calmly. “As an Alchemy Master, I will do my utmost to refine this cauldron of elixirs. I am confident that I will succeed. However, I have to tell you that I have never thought of giving up my life for the sake of refining this cauldron of elixirs. If my life is at stake, I will feel pressured, which will make this an unfair deal. This is not beneficial to either the development of my alchemy skills or the cauldron of elixirs. We will begin if you think it is okay. Otherwise, I will leave now.”

Chi Yuanqing gritted his teeth. “Okay, I agree to your suggestions. You have to start refining this cauldron of Seven-Orifice Soul Condensing Elixirs right away.”

What Di Jiu said made him feel pressure. When Di Jiu said that this would not be beneficial to the refinement of the cauldron of Seven-Orifice Soul Condensing Elixirs, he immediately made up his mind. He was sure that Di Jiu was an expert negotiator. It only took one sentence from Di Jiu and he had no choice but to agree to his proposition.

“No problem.” Di Jiu slapped his hands together and produced two agreements, the contents of which were exactly what he had just said.

Chi Yuanqing didn’t say anything else. Instead, he immediately put his imprint down as a signature on the agreement.

Di Jiu put away one of the agreements as he said, “Take the medicinal herbs out now. I will start refining the Seven-Orifice Soul Condensing Elixir.”

Chi Yuanqing handed a ring carefully over to Di Jiu. “Please take a look. The things are inside. I will wait for you here.”

He wanted to remind Di Jiu that this was the last cauldron of medicinal herbs for the Seven-Orifice Soul Condensing Elixir that he had. However, when he recalled that such a reminder would make Di Jiu feel pressurized, he forced himself to swallow the words.

Di Jiu nodded, took the ring, and entered his restriction once again. He believed that Chi Yuanqing would not disturb him while he was refining unless he was stupid.

There were more than 100 kinds of immortal spirit herbs in the ring. In particular, there was a white jade box in the center that was oscillating gently. Its oscillations seemed as if they were able to make the soul resonate.

Di Jiu knew that this box contained the Seven-Orifice Cloud Annulus.

On top of all this, there was also a jade slip with the elixir formula for the Seven-Orifice Soul Condensing Elixir. Its description was very detailed. However, the elixir formula wasn’t the hardest part about refining the Seven-Orifice Soul Condensing Elixir. The hardest part was the purification of the Seven-Orifice Cloud Annulus.

Di Jiu looked through the elixir formula one more time before he opened the jade box.

The Seven-Orifice Cloud Annulus looked like a piece of tofu. It was milky-white in color and oscillated very slightly in the jade box.

After Di Jiu cleaned the Creation Cauldron, he took out his Dao fire as his Spiritual Force put the Seven-Orifice Cloud Annulus into the cauldron.

The Seven-Orifice Cloud Annulus went out of control as soon as it got into the Creation Cauldron. This was different from the other immortal spirit herbs. The other immortal spirit herbs could be brought under control by Alchemy Art. Thereafter, they would be turned into elixir liquid and then get purified.

The Seven-Orifice Cloud Annulus was, in itself, a top-notch priceless treasure related to the soul. Di Jiu knew that it couldn’t be purified with ordinary methods once it got into the Creation Cauldron.

On one hand, Di Jiu used Alchemy Art to encapsulate the Seven-Orifice Cloud Annulus. On the other hand, he permeated it with his alchemy laws. The mighty life-force aura in the Creation Cauldron and the Dao fire’s all-rounded control allowed Di Jiu to have command over the Poison Dispelling of the Seven-Orifice Cloud Annulus.

This made Di Jiu feel elated. The purification of the Seven-Orifice Cloud Annulus was several times harder than he had imagined. Fortunately, he had the Creation Cauldron and Dao fire. Moreover, he also had a firm grasp of the Foundation Order and had used the Golden Dao Law to perfect his alchemy. If he had lacked any one of these things, he would have failed to refine this cauldron of elixirs.

The Seven-Orifice Cloud Annulus was indeed very difficult to purify. Di Jiu didn’t believe that there was anybody else besides him who could purify it. His price for this cauldron of elixirs had been too low.

Once he had control over the Seven-Orifice Cloud Annulus, all the impurities in it were squeezed out by Di Jiu’s Alchemy Art. It took four hours before Di Jiu managed to finish purifying the Seven-Orifice Cloud Annulus and extract all the impurities. The Seven-Orifice Cloud Annulus in the Creation Cauldron was crystal-clear and looked extremely pleasing to the eye.

The Alchemy Art encapsulated the Seven-Orifice Cloud Annulus while the rest of the immortal spirit herbs were put into the cauldron. The purification of the rest of the immortal spirit herbs was much easier compared to that of the Seven-Orifice Cloud Annulus.

As Di Jiu threw away all the impurities, the medicinal liquid of the immortal spirit herbs became pure quickly.

It had taken Di Jiu four hours to purify the Seven-Orifice Cloud Annulus, while he only needed half an hour to purify the rest of the immortal spirit herbs.

After the medicinal herbs had been purified, the remaining steps for portioning the medicinal liquid and forming the elixir became much easier for Di Jiu.

One hour later, a cloud aura filled the cauldron. Di Jiu quickly executed the Elixir Concluding Art as he took nine pure-white elixirs out. Out of the nine elixirs, he put away five nine-patterned special-class Seven-Orifice Soul Condensing Elixirs into a jade bottle and then into his ring. Then, he put away the other four into a separate jade bottle for Chi Yuanqing.

By now, Chi Yuanqing was fluttering around anxiously outside Di Jiu’s restriction. Although he was getting impatient, he didn’t dare touch Di Jiu’s restriction.

The Seven-Orifice Soul Condensing Elixir didn’t exude any elixir fragrance. Therefore, Chi Yuanqing didn’t know at which stage of the refinement process the cauldron of elixirs was from the outside.

Fortunately, after six hours, Di Jiu finally opened the restriction.

“How is it?” asked Chi Yuanqing anxiously as he looked at Di Jiu. If they had not signed an agreement earlier, he would have dashed over to grab hold of Di Jiu.

Di Jiu waved the jade bottle that he was holding as he said, “I was lucky that I didn’t fail my mission. I have successfully refined the Seven-Orifice Soul Condensing Elixir.”

“Ah…” Chi Yuanqing was incredibly happy. To be honest, he hadn’t been very confident that Di Jiu would be able to refine the Seven-Orifice Soul Condensing Elixir. However, there would be no time left to save his daughter if he didn’t get the Seven-Orifice Soul Condensing Elixir.

Only god knew how many Alchemy Masters he had chased away and killed over all these years. Many Alchemy Masters knew that the remuneration he provided for refining elixirs was very good. However, few dared to practice alchemy there.

Now that he had met someone like Di Jiu, an alchemist who could refine special-class immortal pills, he had no other choice.

“Thank you very, very much…” Chi Yuanqing’s voice was trembling as he spoke.

Di Jiu replied coldly, “This was just a deal. You don’t have to thank me. However, it was really hard to refine this cauldron of elixirs. I think if anyone else had tried, they would have failed. Therefore, the price that you had offered for this cauldron of elixirs is relatively low.”

“I will increase my offer right away,” said Chi Yuanqing as he looked worriedly at the bottle of elixirs that Di Jiu was holding. He was an Immortal King. However, although he was confident that he could kill Di Jiu before he destroyed the bottle of Seven-Orifice Soul Condensing Elixirs, he didn’t dare to take the risk. He had witnessed Di Jiu’s Array Dao before and knew that Di Jiu was at least a level-five Immortal Array Great-Master.

Di Jiu shook his head. “No need. We will follow the agreement since this is something that we have already signed and agreed upon.”

“Okay, okay,” said Chi Yuanqing as he took out a title deed and removed his imprint from it. At the same time, he transferred the title and handed the deed over to Di Jiu.

Di Jiu only needed to make an imprint of his aura on the title deed and he would become the new owner of the house.

Di Jiu scanned it with his Spiritual Force and realized that Chi Yuanqing hadn’t faked anything about it. He took the title deed, handed the jade bottle over to Chi Yuanqing and said, “Here, take these elixirs. Thanks to a burst of energy, I refined by chance a six-patterned special-class immortal pill. This is definitely thanks to your luck, as this is the first time I refined such a special-class six-patterned immortal pill.”

Chi Yuanqing didn’t care what Di Jiu was talking about. He just opened the jade bottle as soon as he took it from Di Jiu.

“Goodbye.” Di Jiu quickly cupped his fists, turned around and left. He wouldn’t stay for even a moment longer now that he had gotten what he wanted. He stepped out of Chi Yuanqing’s shop with only a few strides. Chi Yuanqing’s level-six Confinement Array couldn’t confine him.

“Excellent elixirs, excellent elixirs… Two of them are three-patterned, and one is four-patterned. There is indeed a six-patterned special-class Seven-Orifice Soul Condensing Elixir.” Chi Yuanqing was so excited that his hands trembled. He knew that there was hope for his daughter now.

With a few steps, Chi Yuanqing stepped into a room. A pale-looking young lady was lying on a bed in the room. Chi Yuanqing’s hands trembled as he took out the six-patterned special-class Seven-Orifice Soul Condensing Elixir and popped it into the young lady’s mouth…

In just half an hour, the young lady’s complexion became rosy and her aura became stronger. After another half an hour, she opened her eyes and stared blankly at Chi Yuanqing. “Father, have I recovered?”

Chi Yuanqing rubbed his eyes as he replied, “Yes! You have recovered, Xun-er. You have really recovered!”

He had waited for too long for this Seven-Orifice Soul Condensing Elixir.

He had Alchemy Master Di to thank for this. If it had not been for him, where else would he have gotten the Seven-Orifice Soul Condensing Elixir?

“Alchemy Master Di!” shouted Chi Yuanqing subconsciously. Suddenly, his expression changed. Di Jiu was not in his house anymore!

This meant that Di Jiu hadn’t shown any regard for his level-six Immortal Confinement Array. He was a level-six Great Immortal Array Master.