Chapter 18: Improving Strength

Watching Ye Yuan's smooth and fluid needle technique, Tang Yu gained a bit more confidence. He now realized that Ye Yuan was by no means as worthless as the rumors suggested.

"Father, how are you? Feeling any better?" After the acupuncture was done, Tang Yu asked impatiently.

At this moment, Tang Zonghuai's complexion seemed much rosier, and his coughing was not as violent as before: "Young Master Ye truly has a miraculous hand. I feel much lighter now."

He was still somewhat out of breath, but much better than before.

Ye Yuan's acupuncture technique was naturally no ordinary one; it was a top-tier technique he had created himself, called the "Seventy-Two Great Circulation Acupuncture Technique." This technique had once caused a sensation in the Divine Realm, possessing unfathomable abilities.

Of course, at his current level, he could not fully unleash the power of this technique; he could only control Tang Zonghuai's condition.

"This acupuncture can only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. I will deliver the pill tomorrow. There's no time to lose; I'll take my leave now." With that, Ye Yuan departed.

...

Ye Yuan went to the Fragrant Herb Pavilion to procure the herbs for refining the Explosive Yuan Pill, and along with the three six-leaf grasses, he entered the alchemy room.

The Explosive Yuan Pill was merely a first-grade low-grade pill in the Divine Realm, but it was just right for Ye Yuan to refine now. He had better first-grade pills for improving strength, but he could not refine them yet; once his strength improved, he could naturally refine higher-grade pills.

For Ye Yuan, the refining method for the Explosive Yuan Pill was very simple. Three hours later, Ye Yuan emerged from the alchemy room carrying several medicine bottles.

Next came seclusion. He found a quiet room, instructed the servants not to disturb him, and began his seclusion.

Looking at the row of medicine bottles before him, Ye Yuan frowned slightly. He was very dissatisfied with this alchemy session. With three sets of ingredients, he had only managed to refine twenty-six Explosive Yuan Pills. Among these pills, there were fifteen medium-grade Explosive Yuan Pills, eight high-grade Explosive Yuan Pills, and three top-grade Explosive Yuan Pills.

Pills were classified as inferior, low-grade, medium-grade, high-grade, top-grade, and supreme-grade. In the past, when Ye Yuan refined such low-level pills, the worst he got was top-grade. Now, he could only refine a bunch of junk, which naturally made him very uncomfortable.

Of course, if Ye Yuan's thoughts were known to the few great alchemists of the Qin Kingdom, they would surely find a crack to crawl into. If they were to refine the Explosive Yuan Pill, they would be grateful for even one top-grade pill. Ye Yuan had refined three at once and was still unsatisfied. Top-grade pills were a rare and unpredictable occurrence for them, only possible when luck was good.

Ye Yuan sighed, knowing there was no help for it. This body had not yet practiced alchemy much, and his technique was still lacking. The main issue was that his strength was too weak; he had to split one unit of primal energy into three, so naturally he could not refine top-grade pills.

Ye Yuan picked up the bottle containing the top-grade Explosive Yuan Pills, took one out, and swallowed it directly.

As soon as the pill entered his abdomen, it transformed into rolling primal energy that surged forth, the surging energy continuously washing through Ye Yuan's meridians. Ye Yuan dared not be careless; he immediately activated the "Lingzhe Nine Yang Divine Art" to guide the chaotic energy through his meridians. Under the guidance of the "Lingzhe Nine Yang Divine Art," the originally狂暴 primal energy became docile. After circulating through a major cycle in Ye Yuan's body, the energy finally converged into his dantian. After being refined by the "Lingzhe Nine Yang Divine Art," the originally impure primal energy became extremely pure.

The "Lingzhe Nine Yang Divine Art" was divided into three chapters: Heaven, Earth, and Man. Ye Yuan was currently cultivating the introductory chapter, the Man Chapter. The Man Chapter also had three stages, each with a matching martial technique, which was the strength of the "Lingzhe Nine Yang Divine Art." The martial techniques specifically powered by the "Lingzhe Nine Yang Divine Art" were immensely powerful.

The reason Lingzhe Divine King was invincible in the Divine Realm was that he had mastered the ultimate technique of the Heaven Chapter of the "Lingzhe Nine Yang Divine Art": Nine Yang Burning Heaven. When this technique was unleashed, it could incinerate everything within thousands of miles into nothingness, truly terrifying.

The matching martial technique for the first stage of the Man Chapter was called Absolute Yang Finger, which could propel primal energy from the fingertip. When mastered, it could shatter stone and sever iron, with tremendous lethal power.

Two hours later, the medicinal power of the Explosive Yuan Pill was fully absorbed by Ye Yuan after being refined by the "Lingzhe Nine Yang Divine Art." Ye Yuan sensed the primal energy in his body; he was still a sliver away from entering the second level of the Qi Realm.

Without hesitation, Ye Yuan threw the second top-grade Explosive Yuan Pill into his mouth and continued refining primal energy. Another two hours later, Ye Yuan swallowed the third one as well.

After finishing the top-grade Explosive Yuan Pills, Ye Yuan continued to swallow high-grade Explosive Yuan Pills, but their effect was far inferior to the top-grade ones. Moreover, as he consumed more and more Explosive Yuan Pills, the medicinal effect continued to diminish for him.

As dawn approached, Ye Yuan felt a slight swelling pain in his meridians and dantian. He knew that the primal energy he had absorbed had reached its limit. If he continued absorbing, he would explode and die. Sensing the primal energy in his body again, he was surprised to find that he had already reached the peak of the third level of the Qi Realm, just a sliver away from entering the fourth level. By this time, Ye Yuan had consumed three top-grade Explosive Yuan Pills and six high-grade Explosive Yuan Pills—an undeniable extravagance.

The third level to the fourth level of the Qi Realm was a small bottleneck. In a mortal kingdom like the Qin Kingdom, many people were stuck at this bottleneck, some unable to break through for their entire lives.

However, this bottleneck did not exist for Ye Yuan. In his previous life, he had a very high realm, so the small bottleneck of the Qi Realm naturally could not trouble him. As long as his primal energy accumulation was sufficient, Ye Yuan could cross this threshold at any time.

Yet, rising two small realms in one night had made Ye Yuan's foundation somewhat unstable. With his insight, Ye Yuan naturally would not do something that would gain nothing. Although he craved strength, he did not want to drink poison to quench his thirst; only by being down-to-earth could he go further.

In the following days, his main task was to digest the暴涨 strength and solidify the foundation of the first stage of the Qi Realm before considering entering the second stage.

Of course, because Ye Yuan cultivated the "Lingzhe Nine Yang Divine Art," his primal energy was much denser and purer than that of an ordinary third-level Qi Realm cultivator. If someone else took the Explosive Yuan Pill, one top-grade and two high-grade pills would be enough to propel a first-level Qi Realm cultivator to the third level.

In other words, Ye Yuan's primal energy was now three times denser than that of an ordinary third-level Qi Realm cultivator! No wonder Lingzhe Divine King had such strength; if one cultivated the "Lingzhe Nine Yang Divine Art" to a very high level, they could even exhaust their opponent to death by consuming their primal energy.

Calculating this way, although his strength was not yet great, his primal energy was sufficient to refine first-grade medium-grade pills of the Divine Realm.

"It's getting late. Time to refine the Ink Jade Heart-Returning Pill for Uncle Tang." Ye Yuan stood up, stretched his limbs, and pushed open the door.

As soon as he stepped out, he saw Lv'er flitting about like a spirit, smiling: "Young master, you're out of seclusion?"

"Mm. Eh, you've reached the first level of the Qi Realm?" Ye Yuan smiled and replied, inadvertently sweeping his perception over Lv'er. He found that Lv'er, who had been completely devoid of primal energy, had now reached the first level of the Qi Realm, and it had only been a day since he taught her the "Heavenly Illusion Ice Soul."

Lv'er nodded obediently, timidly saying: "Young master, am I cultivating too slowly?"

Ye Yuan laughed: "You silly girl, don't say that outside, or you'll infuriate others. Your cultivation speed is too fast, fast enough to make everyone feel ashamed."

Lv'er had just stepped onto the path of cultivation and had no concept of cultivation speed. Hearing her young master's praise, she was very happy: "Really? Then can I help you in the future, young master?"

"Haha, of course. Our Lv'er is the best. Come, accompany me on some errands. Tomorrow we'll set off for the Danwu Academy. I want to recommend you for entry." Ye Yuan said with a smile.