Nine Star Hegemon Body Art - Chapter 5068: Pill Valley’s Methods
Everyone walked out of the Ten Thousand Dragon Nest to see thousands of Pill Valley disciples below them, distributing tablets to everyone. These tablets were the keys to enter the Heavenly Flame Devil Domain, and anyone entering the Heavenly Flame Devil Domain had to be carrying one.
Now, they had to place a drop of their essence blood in their tablets to carry out the binding ceremony.
Long Chen had been worried about this move. After all, if Pill Valley gathered his blood, that would instantly expose him.
After Long Chen voiced his concern to the Earth Cauldron, it refined a drop of his essence blood that wouldn’t expose him, allowing him to proceed with the binding ceremony.
His status plate lit up, displaying over a hundred different runes flashing in succession. This status plate was a thousand times more refined than those issued in Devil Fall City.
With the Earth Cauldron’s aid, Long Chen easily passed this step, but he wondered how Mo Nian would get through.
Having killed many experts from Pill Valley and even leaving behind his shovel as a taunt, Mo Nian was undoubtedly on their blacklist. If he were exposed, there would be no way to run.
During the past few days, Long Chen and the others had passed through dozens of barriers. This was the heart of the Glacial Heaven Domain. If the barriers were locked shut, this place would be a death trap, with no one able to escape—even three-vein Heaven Saints.
Although the white dragon race had brought many experts, the Brahma Pill Valley’s disciples were very efficient, and their attitudes were also good. Whether or not they were acting, the fact they could act so appropriately was worthy of praise.
Furthermore, the ones assigned to this task were different from the ones in the cities on the way. These disciples were mostly one or two star Doyens.
However, no one dared to look down on them because there were golden medicinal pills emblazoned on their sleeves and collars—a marker of an alchemist.
Alchemists had a particularly high status in the cultivation world. Any faction would treat them like a natural treasure because this profession was simply too rare.
In the Sovereign Emperor Heaven, alchemists were almost entirely monopolized by Pill Valley. While factions like the Long clan had their own alchemy halls with alchemists, these were all inferior practitioners. True first-rate alchemists aspired to join Brahma Pill Valley to advance their skills and pursue the Pill Dao.
The alchemists within the Long clan were those who had failed to pass Pill Valley’s trials. After years of rejection, they had aged beyond the recruitment standards. Thus, they could only find work in the outside world.
However, in this place, the great alchemists of the Pill Valley were tasked with handing out tablets, making even peak heavenly geniuses feel overwhelmed. The enthusiasm with which Pill Valley treated them was truly moving.
Those alchemists smiled warmly at them, creating an atmosphere reminiscent of a spring breeze. In this setting, no one dared to cause trouble, and everything went smoothly.
The woman who handed Long Chen his tablet said, “May Divine Venerate Brahma bless you with the fortune you desire in the Heavenly Flame Devil Domain.”
Long Chen smiled. If he were to receive all the fortune he wished for, Lord Brahma might instantly turn hostile!
“Here, we provide a pill for resisting the cold for free. While you might not need it, if the chill invades your body during cultivation, it will affect your condition. After all, you’re about to enter the Heavenly Flame Devil Domain, so it’s best to be prepared,” said the woman as she opened a case with over ten pearl-like pills inside.
Long Chen examined them. They weren’t bad. They were high-grade cold resistance pills with one ring around them. He was about to refuse when a thought crossed his mind. He took one, thanked the woman, and then passed through. After that, they all returned to the Ten Thousand Dragon Nest.
After they received their tablets, their next destination was the Glacial Heaven City. Once they arrived, Bai Yingxuan and Bai Yingxue were waiting for Long Chen. In front of them was a table with a basket of cold resistance pills.
Very few of their disciples had taken the cold resistance pills, as this was meant to avoid raising Pill Valley’s suspicions.
“Long Chen, I heard that you are also an alchemist. Do you see anything wrong with these pills?” asked Bai Yingxuan.
Long Chen took out the pill he had taken and applied some pressure on it with his thumb and forefinger. It was instantly kneaded like mud. After that, with a light pinch, he crushed it into medicinal powder.
However, these powders were under his control and didn’t dissipate. As the fragrance wafted into his nose, he didn’t notice anything particular about them.
Long Chen opened his hand, and flames enveloped the powders. Using his hand as the furnace, he started to refine the powders.
The medicinal powders quickly turned liquid and then condensed, forming another cold resistance pill. This casual action stunned Bai Yingxuan and Bai Yingxue. Although they didn’t understand alchemy, they knew that once a pill was destroyed, refining it again through its components was a thousand times harder.
Furthermore, the one-ring pill now had three rings. This was absolutely astonishing.
The medicinal pill floated above Long Chen’s palm, with flames swirling around it. Milky white divine light then drifted from it like threads of spider silk. Looking at those threads, Long Chen nodded.
“There was no problem with the refinement, but there is a trace of faith energy inside.”
“Faith energy? What is that for?” asked Bai Yingxue.
“If you eat it, it will neither affect the body nor damage the soul. However, it will inevitably make you feel closer to Lord Brahma. Pill Valley is very smart. It is extremely difficult to find something wrong with these pills. Even if you do find out about it, the problem is that… it isn’t a problem,” replied Long Chen.
“What does that mean?” asked Bai Yingxuan.
“When refining pills, if a disciple’s faith is rock solid, their faith energy will naturally bless the pill. It can’t be considered intentional. They can even claim this pill has received Divine Venerate Brahma’s blessing. No one can argue with that. As no one can say there’s a problem with this pill because of the faith energy, it can’t really count as proof of anything,” explained Long Chen.
Although Bai Yingxuan hoped there would be proof of something sinister—perhaps poison or compulsion to join Pill Valley—the reality was not so kind. Long Chen couldn’t lie to her.
As expected, Bai Yingxuan was a bit disappointed. Long Chen reassured her, “Senior, don’t worry. With my understanding of the Brahma Pill Valley, this is nothing more than the start of their schemes. They definitely have more planned. Keep these medicinal pills for now. They’ll definitely be useful in the future.”
Bai Yingxuan nodded, realizing she might have been rushing a bit. How could it be so easy to topple an existence like the Brahma Pill Valley?
The white dragon race’s Ten Thousand Dragon Nest was led to an area specially prepared for them. When Long Chen looked outside, he was stunned. That was because… he saw endless Ten Thousand Dragon Nests around them.