1039 A Batch of Good Pills

Was there only a one-in-three chance? Furthermore, Aiolos had to go through the layers of defense that the White Bone Throne had put up…

This was something that could not possibly be completed[a].

But this was precisely why it was significant.

Aiolos took a deep breath and exhaled. He charged towards the bone demon. This was his first active attack in this battle.

This was also his only opportunity to attack. The bone demon, who was pulling out a bone sword, stopped the continuous rain of bone arrows for a moment. When Aiolos rushed out, the bone arrows shot out once again. However, Aiolos used all his strength for this last attack. He did not try to dodge or deal with these arrows. Instead, he suddenly rolled on the ground. A few bone arrows had pierced through his body, but they did not hit his vital points. Aiolos rolled and slid towards the bone demon at an even faster speed.

On the White Bone Throne, Briesis was like a deity. He lightly stretched out his bony arm, which was covered in defensive armor, and raised it slightly. Rise!

Crash. The surface of the ground immediately exploded, and massive white bone pricks broke out from the ground, fiercely piercing through Aiolos. Meanwhile, Briesis had descended from the throne. The four upright bone shields hovered in midair while still maintaining their four directions. No surprise attack could be effective in the face of such defense. Perhaps being invincible was an exaggeration from his fans, but this was a truly invincible defense. Massive bone pricks pierced through Aiolos. Unless he stopped, his entire body would be pierced by these bone pricks!

Briesis had pulled out his bone sword. If Aiolos slowed down, this sword would slash him. There was a thin layer of white things wriggling on the blade of the bone sword. As long as he made a small cut, he would be able to slaughter his opponent. These were the reproducing bone insects of the bone demon, which penetrated their enemy's blood and flesh through the smallest injuries. Then, they would grow in those bodies until they broke out of them. Many races had powerful outer defenses, but they were so ordinary on the inside that experts felt that they were boring. For example, Sweeper Troussiyer, who had been defeated by Aiolos, had this weakness. However, it still dared to open its mouth and eat during a battle without putting up any defense.

Aiolos did not slow down!

Plop!

However, another Aiolos suddenly appeared behind him. His body dazzled with colorful lights.

Tsarilorhuan widened his mouth. "Lightning doppelgangers!"

This was an advanced combat technique from the Silver Heart. Titans could control their lightning power and immediately create a powerful lightning doppelganger.

To Tsari, this was a technique that Aiolos definitely should not have been able to replicate. Only Titans who had been blessed by the supreme gods could control this technique.

But Aiolos had actually done it! The power he released was not lightning, but the combat abilities within his body!

Briesis focused all his attention on Aiolos, who was in front of him. Even though he immediately reacted and terrifying black pricks exploded from his bone armor, Aiolos's multicolored doppelgangers were even faster. They targeted Briesis's lower abdomen. The waves there controlled all the white bones. His lowest abdomen was the vital point and the core of this terrifying white bone fortress.

As a human, he had never believed in perfection. As long as one did not break away from this world and its rules, the greater one's combat level was, the more obvious one's vital parts would be, especially for this kind of natural race!

His golden fist fiercely slammed into the bone armor. Half of its power was stripped away by the cushioning, but it still had enough killing power. When his fist penetrated the bone armor of the bone demon, the bone demon's soul let out a terrifying shriek. Within the powerful shell was the weakest soul.

A white soul soared into the sky in shock. Closely after, there was a loud crash, and the massive White Bone Throne broke apart like collapsing toy bricks.

Had Briesis fled?

It was so quiet that they could hear the sound of the wind blowing the sand.

After a long time, there was no sign of the White Bone Throne on the ground reassembling.

He had actually fled!

"Aiolos!" There was a single voice that trembled.

Closely after, it was as if the button for silence had been released. Cries reverberated throughout the circular fighting arena like a tsunami. They shouted the name of the victor —— "Aiolos!"

Tsari rushed out and hurriedly supported Aiolos. He looked at the massive bone that still pierced through Aiolos's stomach. Then, he dragged Aiolos and rushed into the corridor.

"Doctor!"

He roared angrily, making the candle demon stand up straight. The maids immediately surrounded them with deathly pale faces. Then, they started to chant faintly. Healing powers turned into green lights on their gentle hands and fell on Aiolos's body.

"You can't pull them out."

The oldest maid stopped Tsari, who was about to pull out the massive bone. "The bone of a bone demon is a kind of curse. If you pull it out, his soul will leave his body."

"If I don't pull it out, won't he die?!"

Tsari roared angrily but knew that the maid was not lying. He turned and saw the blood on the bone that had slowly turned black. The lightning on his head let out angry popping sounds. "Why isn't the doctor here yet?"

At this moment, the candle demon shook his head. "It is a pity, but there are no doctors who can heal the curse caused by the bone of a bone demon. He is as good as dead."

Tsari stretched out his hand and grabbed the throat of the candle demon. The pitiful insect that had only been manufactured to serve others did not beg for mercy at all. In fact, he did not even show any expression of pain. Tsari knew that when the Machinery race had manufactured them, they removed a part of their brain and nerves. Thus, although they could feel pain, they would not experience any negative emotions from this pain.

Tsari let go and watched the candle demon cough with a genuine smile. It seemed extremely tragic. Then, he threw himself at Aiolos's body.

Aiolos had stopped breathing. Very quickly, his heartbeat would stop before all the organs in his body declined and stopped. Finally, it would end with his shocked brain.

"That damned bone demon!" Tsari cursed in a low voice, but he could not do anything.

At this moment, a gentle voice rang out. "Let me do it."

Tsari looked up, and a graceful Seductress was standing there. Her beautiful eyes were sparkling and dazzling.

Undine!

Tsari immediately moved away and looked at her without saying anything.

Undine stroked her hand lightly across Aiolos's face, and a Seductress contract fell on his lips. It was a simple and bewitching rune with power swirling above it. Tsari could see this rune but could not remember what this rune looked like in his mind. This was a rune that could not be remembered and only existed in Seductress contracts. This was a secret technique of the Seductresses.

Undine looked at this rune that represented the life and death of a Seductress. She took a deep breath and opened her lips before kissing Aiolos's lips. She pressed her lips tightly against it. She did not seem to care about the attention from the people around them. This kiss slowly became passionate and more.

She shared her life with him and used her soul blood to heal him. There would no longer be any barriers between them. The Seductress contract connected them tightly.

In the distance, Zoena, who watched this scene, covered her mouth. Her eyes were filled with fear for the future.

It was over… This result was even more terrifying than the human she had fallen in love with. She had violated the iron rules of the Seductress race. This was treachery!

...

As for the remaining 19 portions of Vitality Supplement Pill ingredients, other than the second portion which had failed because his attitude had been too relaxed, he had successfully refined them.

His experience and techniques rapidly progressed at a visible speed. He continued pill refinery for a full five days without stopping, and Nini did not see Lao Wang repeat the same mistake twice! His extremely powerful rectification skills and summary skills made him like an intricate instrument!

At the same time, he had the creativity, imagination, and intellect that only truly intelligent beings had. Even Nini, who had high ratings for her master, could not help but redefine Lao Wang in her heart again and again.

Being able to produce pills on his first try at pill refinery was already impressive enough, but he had been able to produce 17 batches consecutively as well! Furthermore, he was able to ensure high quality in each batch. This kind of success rate was simply unthinkable. Even an orthodox level-7 alchemist could only have this kind of success rate when refining level-9 pills. This was only Master's first time refining pills…

An alchemist with such a high rate of success was definitely above level-9.

Master was not just a genius. He was a demon who had been born just to refine pills! Even the Shell race back then could not compare to him!

As his competence increased and he became more adept in his techniques, the quality of the pills also increased steadily. In general, he was able to keep the quality of the pills stable at 70% to 90%. However, he was unable to achieve the last 10% of effects and get a perfect batch. In Nini's words, this did not just rely on one's methods, but also luck and whether the heavens were cooperating. Achieving perfection was not easy and could not be forced.

Of course, he knew himself. Nini's comments would not cause Lao Wang to become arrogant.

His rate of success was high and surpassed that of many extremely experienced alchemists. This was not just because he was impressive, but also because he had benefited from two factors.

Firstly, he had benefited from Celeste's prescription. With the mature and simplified steps, as well as the perfect arrangement of supplementary ingredients, it became even easier to refine this beginner-level Vitality Supplement Pill. At the same time, it minimized anything that would cause a risk as far as possible and took few detours. There were countless prescriptions for the same pill, but anything from the Shell race would definitely be one of the best-quality goods.

Secondly, he had benefited from his own medicinal ingredients… Thanks to the nurturing and supplementation from his fragment world, the medicinal ingredients he had used to refine these Vitality Supplement Pills were all the best and most precious items. Frankly speaking, there was no doubt that using them to refine Vitality Supplement Pills was extravagant and a waste.

As for Lao Wang himself, he was good at thinking from a young age. He spent more time experiencing and sensing things. Thus, this allowed him to cross the most important step in becoming an alchemist.

With a first-class prescription, first-class ingredients, a first-class assistant, a good pill furnace, and the fact that he was only refining a beginner-level pill — all of these assured that he would be able to form pills easily. Lao Wang did not feel that this was completely because of his efforts, let alone think that pill refinery was actually this easy.

He had made 19 batches of pills, but the number of pills produced each time was not fixed. In the end, he had refined a total of 320 Vitality Supplement Pills. As he had refined pills for five consecutive days, he had to keep replenishing his spiritual power. Thus, Lao Wang ate the pills while refining them. This seemed like a normal consumption of spiritual power, but surprisingly, every time his spiritual power ran out and he had to replenish it with the Vitality Supplement Pill, Lao Wang felt that his spiritual power, which had remained stagnant for a very long time, had started to break through its limits and advance. Furthermore, the speed at which it improved was not slow either.

The Vitality Supplement Pill was not simply used to replenish spiritual power. To Foundational Stage Practitioners, it was also a powerful tonic that could stimulate one's Spiritual Sea. However, although his Spiritual Sea continued to grow, there was no sign of it forming his Core. Even though he sensed the details of forming his Core throughout the process of refinery and experienced a few things, it was evident that this kind of thing was not something he could achieve overnight. In short, he had not accumulated enough knowledge, and his comprehension was not deep enough.

Wang Zhong was not anxious either. Firstly, he was slowly interacting with the feeling of accumulating his Core. Furthermore, the actual progress that he felt in terms of his spiritual power was his greatest success. He would first gain a firm foothold and continue to grow his spiritual power. If he could fight, he could survive, and if he could survive, he would have a chance. This time, he had to consume about half of these pills throughout the process of refining. His foundation was too weak, but he had too many desires. However, he would definitely not miss any opportunities to progress.

Furthermore, the detailed regulation and control when controlling the furnace fire, as well as using his left hand to hold the handle while using his right hand to carry out the arrangement of ingredients, control, and other details were all actual cultivation. He most obviously felt his control of the Devouring Heaven Technique rapidly increasing, and it had become even easier to control his divine cells. Furthermore, the Vitality Supplement Pill continued to stimulate and break through the limits of his Spirit Sea. As a result, when he used the Devouring Heaven Technique, the speed at which he absorbed spiritual influence from the world would be faster.

The pill refinery process that had lasted for five days did not just result in the more than 200 Vitality Supplement Pills that he had obtained. Besides that, every step was full of gains. While Lao Wang was extremely fatigued, he was also extremely satisfied. However, he had been slightly stunned at the final bill.

The rental fees for a five-day pill-house rental cost 5,000 Silver Star Stones. Even after the six-eyed goblin gave Lao Wang a 10% discount, it amounted to 4,500 Silver Star Stones. He did not mind this as he was already aware of the cost. However, this did not include the use of Fire Quartzes. When Lao Wang was refining in the pill house, he did not calculate them carefully. Continuous success also made Lao Wang "arrogant", and he did not feel any heartache when he used low-leveled Fire Quartzes that cost 50 Silver Star Stones each. He did not mind the cost at all, but when the fees were calculated…

Thirty-two Fire Quartzes… He used an average of 1.5 Fire Quartzes per batch. This was also the result that Lao Wang had achieved after becoming adept in controlling the furnace fire. During the first few batches, two to three Fire Quartzes were barely enough for a refinery process that did not even take four hours. His unfamiliarity with fire controlling techniques and Vitality Supplement Pill refinery was the main reason for the waste of fire. In the end, he was able to form pills in three hours. Most of the time was spent on waiting for the pill furnace to heat up, handle the medicinal ingredients, and so on…

In the end, the total was 6,100 Silver Star Stones!

He had brought 1,000 Silver Star Stones when he came to the Heavenly Gates, borrowed 500 from Shannali, and received 5,000 from Old Cow. Recently, Wang Zhong had been saving up in the Heavenly Gates and even cadged meals from Jhonas. If not, he would not have been able to pay up today…

As expected, pill refinery was a game for the rich. He had only spent five days refining pills, but over 6,000 Silver Star Stones had disappeared without a trace. This was not including the money he had spent on preparing the medicinal ingredients and the Vitality Supplement Pills he had eaten to replenish his spiritual power throughout the process of refinery!

When Lao Wang paid, he could not help but swallow his saliva. Luckily, he had been able to refine pills. The over 200 Vitality Supplement Pills he had were extremely valuable. If not, if he had not been able to refine these pills, he would have wasted 10,000 Silver Star Stones just like that. Lao Wang estimated that he would have to draw an unwilling full stop in his path towards pill refinery for now.

No wonder it was said that alchemists were hard to nurture. Unless they were superpowers and had found one who was a talent in pill refinery, small schools and Factions would not be able to dabble in this. They did not even have the means to try this out. After all, to nurture a normal and ordinary alchemist, even if they had natural endowments and a teacher, without experience in using the furnace, they could only dream of forming pills. This referred to mature Pill Factions like the Cloud Mist Faction. For nameless wanderers like Uncle Sea from the Heavenly Treasures Street, it was definitely normal for him to cause a few hundred furnaces to explode before forming pills.

Nini, who had stuck to Lao Wang for five days, returned to the Spirit Flower Garden. Over the past few days, she gave detailed guidance for the first half, but there was pretty much nothing to do towards the end. Her master's learning ability was too terrifying. After he became skilled in refining the Vitality Supplement Pill, he did not make any mistakes. Instead, Nini stuck to Lao Wang more. She helped to wipe his sweat, cheered him on, and hugged or massaged him after a successful completion. When she left, there did not seem to be any conflict either. Lao Wang clearly saw that when Nini was returning to the Spirit Flower Garden, her eyes were green, and she looked so excited as if she could not wait. It was obvious that she could not wait to boast to her sisters.

Lao Wang was also speechless at this. The elemental spirit messenger that was deemed number one in the divine territory had such vile interests. Furthermore, it seemed like Nini was not the only one with this habit. Back then, when he signed the contract with Nini, the large group of elemental spirits in the Spirit Flower Garden all displayed shameful behavior!

This seemed to be hereditary. The interests of races and social competition were very intense. It was very difficult for him to imagine the rest of the elemental spirits in the divine territory as possessing integrity and perfection.

"Boss, I haven't seen you for five days. I miss you a lot! Look, I became thin because I miss you so much!"

When he returned to the mushroom house, Jhonas threw himself at him and started to croak. He was rather tactful and did not ask Lao Wang about pill refinery. After all, this was his first time refining pills. He had only refined pills for five days and only prepared 20 portions of ingredients. It was extremely normal to bring back a pile of soot. Boss would definitely be unsatisfied with wasting a large pile of medicinal ingredients and the expensive pill-house rental fees. Was there a need to rub salt into his wound? Of course, on the inside, Jhonas badly wanted to ask him about his results. As a standard curious child, the only thing that could shove his curiosity back into his stomach was Lao Wang's fist.

[a]defeated?