Chapter 678 - Gold and Glitter (VI) (Patreon)

Lao Shun was grappling with his inner demons. These ones, however, had nothing to do with his actual Heart Demon, an aberration of smoke and ash that had been slowly eroding his soul, but with this damned man who sat opposite of him and whom he called 'Master'.

It happened again.

The shocks have slowed down recently, at least alchemy-wise and especially so ignoring the appearance of a literal Dao Mountain, so Lao Shun had relaxed somewhat. He was even slowly setting up a proper alchemy rooms on the mountain, having requested a whole side of it from Shufen as he had plans of opening an Alchemy School and taking in a few disciples to rear for the future. Days were spent in leisure, with him slowly writing down a book of recipes and slowly studying that codex that this damned bastard had slid among other rewards way-back-when in the Deathless Phoenix Sect.

However, as soon as he heard the summons, his heart faltered. It was as if his gut was telling him to prepare, that this visit wouldn't be one of friendship and drinking. And, just as he expected, he hadn't been here for a minute before the man handed him a small, thin booklet. He cursed inwardly, so much so that he scared himself a bit with how vile and clever some of the curses got, but maintained a placid expression outwardly.

Perhaps, this time around, it wouldn't be anything terribly serious. Especially because the man implied that it wouldn't necessarily be 'good enough', and that Lao Shun might even have something better.

... something better my fucking foot!

He had to use Qi to prevent his fingers from trembling as he read through the pages of defiantly named Myriad Toxins Suppression Pill Recipe. Had the recipe come from literally anybody else, including the ever-elusive true master of the Alchemy Tower, Lao Shun--as well as all other alchemists in existence--would have immediately burned the booklet for daring to even imply such heresy.

Anything with 'Myriad Toxin' in its name was one of two things--a complete fake that needed the death of its creator to be fully cleansed, or a product of one of the most nefarious sects of the Upper Realm, Pavilion of Myriad Deaths. Anyone moronic enough to attempt and mimic something from that sect would be lucky to simply be beaten to death by clubs, for if they fell into the sect's hands, they'd spend eons in eternal suffering.

However, Lao Shun knew well enough that this recipe did not come from the sect, for even if they could procure a pill like this, they never would as it was pointless. All Disciples of the sect have to cultivate a method that slowly erodes their bodies with poisons and toxins, building up resistance over time. As such, by the time they become Elders, they also become practically immune to all but the most deadly of poisons.

It is even said that the Sect Master has reached complete and total immunity to all poisons. For them, the pill wouldn't have any benefits; rather, it was a complete opposite. It completely and utterly negated their greatest strength.

Thus, this was not of Pavilion of Myriad Deaths. So, was it a fake? Of course not! Lao Shun would sooner douse himself in oil and set himself on fire than believe this bastard would ever procure something fake. This was as real as it got, and after reading through it, he actually did want to set it on fire out of sheer fear.

It was the kind of an item that, should it be known was in their possession, would make it so that they were hunted down by the entire Upper Realm for it--No, wait, didn't this bastard already show off literally tens of these things?! Forget the entire Upper Realm, it's entirely possible all dead ancestors would arise from their tombs to hunt us down!

He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose yet again as that damned bastard shuffled in his seat, appearing restless. It made sense; Alchemist Yuan was well-renowned as the most established alchemist in the world, though that was only on the surface. Lao Shun was well aware that there were at least two people in Alchemy Tower with at least comparable, but highly likely greater skill.

Nonetheless, any alchemist who reached the heights Alchemist Yuan did would know just as much about curing a body as they would about destroying it. Even Lao Shun was well versed in over a thousand poisonous plants and a thousand more poisonous and venomous beasts and animals. Though he never concocted poisonous pills as he considered them beneath him, that didn't mean he had no ability to do so.

Because of that, he himself had plans on concocting several batches of some of the anti-venom pills he heard were used most commonly on the island. This, however, went well beyond that.

The more he studied the recipe, the more he realized this wasn't so much an antidote as it was a quasi-method of sorts. Most anti-venom pills contained traces of the venom itself so that the purging parts of the pill knew precisely what to target. Though this made them quite good, it also meant they were only ever useable for one poison--not even one kind, but just one particular poison.

Even something as simple as black toad poison, most common type in the world, had as many as ninety original variants, and each variant needed its own antidote.

Myriad Toxins Suppression Pill was different--it sought to isolate any manner of 'harmful' substance within, and as such wasn't restricted just to one type of poison. It did mean, obviously, there was a chance it might fail with some unique poisons, but...

"So, it's good enough?" that bastard really was out to raise his blood pressure to insurmountable amount.

"If this isn't good enough, what the hell is?" Lao Shun spat out, procuring a gourd of wine from the spatial ring and taking a few mouthfuls. "There are a few things to note, though. Even if I empty my coffers, best I can do is one batch of level three pills and maybe three batches of level two pills. Level one needs relatively common materials so I can concoct as many as needed, but there's a good chance we'll need at least level five for the pills to be able to combat Alchemist Yuan's creations."

"Here," the man tossed him a spatial ring casually. "There's one batch of ingredients for level seven."

"... eh?" Lao Shun staggered, the mouthful of wine that he'd just emptied into his mouth trickling out as his lips parted into an expression of shock. "Did y-u j'st s-y--" he spat out the wine as he tried to speak. "Did you just say level seven?"

"Yes."

"..." Yes? This bastard said just 'Yes'?! Oh, I'm going to kill you!

He did a cursory read of all levels, but even level five ingredients were incomprehensibly difficult to obtain. In fact, he might have just been able to secure a single or two at most batches if he was allowed access to all of the Alchemy Tower's vaults and coffers. Level six? That was a pipe dream. More than half of the ingredients didn't even exist in this world and would have to be sourced from the Upper Realms.

... level seven? More than half of the ingredients listed didn't even exist anymore. At least six had been extinct since Epoch of Magic, and a good number of others having gone extinct sometime in the Imperial Era.

And yet, this bastard just casually said he had a batch of level seven ingredients? Thinking he was just playing a cruel prank, Lao Shun--extremely carefully--glimpsed into the spatial ring. He saw them, lined neatly, all seventy-six plants.

And as soon as he did, he felt his mind spin and break. For the first time since becoming a cultivator, he straight up fainted out of shock, toppling sideways like a statue.