Chapter 535 - 351: Heaven-Ascending Pill, Frenzied Cultivation

The child's parents both came from prominent, noble families. How could they tolerate such a monstrous child in their lineage? They forcefully ordered the parents to kill the Stone Infant, reasoning that since he was going to die sooner or later, it was better to die early and be reincarnated. What was the point of keeping such a freak?

But a parent's love is universal. There may be cruel children, but what mother or father is truly cruel?

Naturally, the couple couldn't bear to kill their innocent child. Hearing that the Shushan Sword Sect possessed the elixir's formula, they went with lavish gifts to beg for their help.

In truth, most requests for on-demand alchemy were ignored. If a Pill Master were to handle every single matter, he would have no time for his own cultivation and would spend all day refining elixirs for others. However, the child's parents begged repeatedly, and that ancestor from Shushan relented, agreeing to refine one pill for them. He held out no hope for its success, though.

The agony one experienced after consuming the elixir was so immense that even he, a Cultivator, found it terrifying just to think about—let alone a baby a few months old. It would be a miracle if the little child could endure it!

However, seeing the parents' earnest devotion and the lavish treasures they brought, he reluctantly agreed to refine the elixir.

The legends about the Stone Infant stated they could not live past the age of eight. After obtaining the elixir, the child's parents didn't give it to him right away. Instead, they found a place to live in seclusion. In the Cultivation Realm, time flies, and several years passed in the blink of an eye.

Even the Shushan ancestor who refined the elixir had forgotten the incident. Six years later, the child's parents appeared at his door once more, bringing with them a six-year-old at the Nascent Soul Stage, begging him to accept the boy into the sect!

This incident caused a massive uproar throughout the entire Cultivation Realm! Upon hearing the news, the families of both parents even stormed to Shushan to demand the child be returned.

A six-year-old at the Nascent Soul Stage! That wasn't a genius, that was a prodigy of monstrous proportions! And yet, what family or sect wouldn't kill to have more prodigies like that?

Although the Shushan Sword Sect was very powerful at the time, it wasn't as commanding as it would be in later eras. Faced with this situation, they had no choice but to let the six-year-old child decide for himself.

The child's intellect was as monstrous as his cultivation. He calmly told a story.

He said that ever since he was old enough to understand things, around the age of one, his parents had told him the same thing every day: "Son, you must be sensible, and you must persevere! No matter how great the pain, you have to endure it. If you can't, you will only live to the age of eight. We brought you here, and we have to hide from the two families hunting us down…"

As the six-year-old child recounted this story with a calm expression in front of everyone, the representatives from the two families lost all face, turning and leaving in utter shame.

And that child, in just over one hundred short years, successfully overcame his tribulation, achieved Ascension to the Immortal Realm, and became one of the revered Shushan ancestors in the Immortal Realm!

The records of the Heaven-Ascending Pill were in the Alchemy Collection, while the records of that Stone Infant ancestor were in the Shushan "Biographies of Figures Who Achieved Ascension to the Immortal Realm," where he was described in great detail.

Back in his past life, Ling Xiao's greatest hobby was reading the stories of these ordinary yet extraordinary ancestors, using their experiences to motivate himself. 'If they could do it,' he would think, 'there's no reason I can't!'

That was why, in his later era when Spiritual Qi was scarce, Ling Xiao had managed to break through to the Golden Core Stage within fifty years, earning him the title of a genius Cultivator even within his own sect.

But what many people didn't know was how much effort Ling Xiao had poured in to earn the title of "genius."

The Innate Cold Qi from the Urgently Cold Treasure Cauldron itself was immensely beneficial for successfully refining the Heaven-Ascending Pill! This was because Ling Xiao had read a passage in the Alchemy Collection's section on refining the Heaven-Ascending Pill that said: "If refined in a pill furnace of an extremely cold nature, the elixir's medicinal properties will be thirty percent stronger!"

On the strength of that sentence alone, Ling Xiao was determined to use the Urgently Cold Cauldron, even if it meant exhausting all of his True Essence!

「Three days and three nights later.」

Ling Xiao was visibly dazed. Having gone three full days and nights without sleep, maintaining such high-intensity concentration the entire time, even with his Nascent Soul Stage cultivation base, he couldn't help but feel an immense wave of exhaustion!

Meanwhile, all the members of the Ling family who were preparing to consume the Heaven-Ascending Pills had prepared their own seclusion chambers right within the Shushan Sword Sect. With the Mist Array active, no one could force their way inside.

Therefore, their seclusion chambers were essentially their own rooms.

The six Grand Elders of the Sword Sect were scheduled to be the last group to take the Heaven-Ascending Pills, as there were still countless disciples in the sect who required their oversight.

On the fourth day, Ling Xiao finished preparing all the Heaven-Ascending Pills and Soul-Stabilizing Pills everyone needed. He also stored a large surplus in his ring. 'It's not easy to go through a refining session like this,' he thought, 'how could I not make a few extra?'

After handing the elixirs to Shangguan Yutong and explaining how to distribute them and what to be aware of, Ling Xiao dazedly stumbled back to his room, collapsed onto his bed, and was instantly fast asleep, snoring deeply.

It was truly rare for a Cultivator to reach such a state of utter exhaustion. Even a life-or-death battle against a Tier Five Sword Venerable wouldn't have been this draining!

For one, Ling Xiao was already unconscious. For another, no one wanted to turn the atmosphere into a dramatic, life-and-death farewell. So, everyone took their elixirs and resolutely entered their rooms.

When Ling Xiao finally awoke, another full day had passed!

Upon waking, Ling Xiao felt his entire body brimming with powerful True Essence once more, and his Spiritual Power had also returned to normal. At the same time, he could clearly sense that both his True Essence and his Spiritual Power had seen a significant increase!