"Mr. Zhai, how have you been lately?"
On the third floor of the Island Lord's Mansion's library, Qin Ran pushed open the door and greeted Mr. Zhai with a smile, who was sitting by the window.
Mr. Zhai had been reading when he heard the movement. The book in his hands fell onto the table as he turned his head. Seeing Qin Ran, his eyes showed unmistakable shock that he struggled to conceal.
He hadn't expected Qin Ran to actually escape from Divine Essence Mountain's sealed space; even more surprising was that Qin Ran dared to come to Dragon Whale Island to find him afterward.
Such boldness, such arrogance!
After taking considerable effort to calm his racing heart, he finally managed a smile and returned the greeting: "Brother Li, you've returned."
Though they had faced each other in a life-or-death situation in that cave, now they both pretended nothing had happened, exchanging pleasant smiles.
Mr. Zhai's thoughts raced quickly. Once his initial shock subsided, he immediately realized that Qin Ran's escape from the sealed space likely meant he had obtained the ancient demon's legacy from Divine Essence Mountain. Moreover, Qin Ran's boldness in returning suggested either he desperately needed something from the Island Lord's Mansion, or his powers had grown so significantly that he feared nothing.
If he truly obtained the ancient demon's legacy... then his strength must have increased dramatically...
Understanding dawning, he gestured to another seat by the window and said with a smile, "Please, Brother Li, have a seat."He then asked, "Did you find any opportunities during your journey? Perhaps learn new alchemy techniques?"
"Regarding alchemy, I have indeed made some progress," Qin Ran replied politely as he sat across from Mr. Zhai. "Given my modest abilities, I had to work extra hard for the Island Lord's Dragon Whale Pill."
Mr. Zhai poured a cup of hot tea and pushed it toward him, saying, "The Island Lord would surely be pleased to know how dedicated you are to his matters."
This comment subtly alluded to how Qin Ran had consumed all of the Island Lord's Demon Soul Evil Blood in one go.
"I assume you've come to see me about crafting the Dragon Whale Pill?" he inquired.
He was trying to probe Qin Ran's true purpose for returning to Dragon Whale Island.
Qin Ran took the tea without hesitation and drank it in one gulp.
"Mr. Zhai's tea ceremony skills are truly admirable," he praised first, then continued, "The Island Lord's Dragon Whale Pill is a crucial matter that cannot afford mistakes. We must discuss it thoroughly beforehand. The more preparation we do, the higher our chances of success. This matter requires our utmost attention."
So Qin Ran truly intends to craft the Dragon Whale Pill... Could he want it for himself? Or does he wish to help the Island Lord break through?
Mr. Zhai pondered this while noting how Qin Ran unhesitatingly drank his tea, which made him regard Qin Ran with even more gravity.
For someone to carelessly drink an alchemist's offerings, they must either be foolish or supremely confident in their abilities. Since Qin Ran was an alchemist himself, it meant he was very confident in his strength.
"Brother Li speaks wisely!" he nodded, pouring more tea. "Alchemy requires strength, luck, and preparation - all three are essential. Strength is set and cannot be changed quickly; luck is fickle and beyond our control; only through diligent preparation can we make a real difference."
"I've attempted the Dragon Whale Pill several times and gained some experience." The green gemstone ring on his middle finger flashed, and a thin book appeared in his hand, which he passed to Qin Ran. "These are my insights about the Dragon Whale Pill. Please take a look."
Qin Ran accepted the book, flipped it open for a quick glance, and confirmed it contained insights about crafting the Dragon Whale Pill. He closed it and smiled, "I'll study this first, then return to discuss pill harmonization with you."
The Dragon Whale Pill was crafted by combining the Dragon Breath Pill and Whale Breath Pill. The better these two pills harmonized before crafting, the higher the success rate of creating the Dragon Whale Pill.
The harmonization process involved two alchemists checking each other's skill levels and crafting habits to ensure maximum compatibility between the two pills during creation.
"If you have any questions, feel free to ask," Mr. Zhai said. "I'm always here on the third floor of the library."
Always on the third floor?
Qin Ran gave him a knowing smile - who was it then that had pursued him to Divine Essence Mountain to reap the benefits?
But he didn't bother with subtle sarcasm.
He simply nodded with a smile.
"While practicing my alchemy, I discovered many interesting things..." he changed the subject, making casual conversation.
Qin Ran and Mr. Zhai chatted at length in the library's third floor. Mr. Zhai even brought out a chess board, and they played several games, with Qin Ran losing every match.
As evening approached, Qin Ran finally took his leave.
Mr. Zhai watched through the third-floor window as Qin Ran walked away, book in hand, occasionally slapping his thigh. His expression turned gloomy.
"You obtained the legacy, fine, but why did you have to come back?" he muttered. "Are you showing off?
"Or are you so arrogant that you think I can't kill you?"
After leaving the library's third floor, Qin Ran went straight to see the Island Lord.
The Island Lord was eating, or rather, feasting.
On his dining table, to the left was a steamed blue-fin tuna weighing over two hundred pounds, its fragrant steam filling the entire room;
To the right sat a golden lobster with claws as thick as his arms;
What he was currently eating was some kind of raw marinated meat. The terrifying blood essence contained within told Qin Ran this was no ordinary meat.
Seeing Qin Ran arrive, the Island Lord took two more big bites of the marinated meat, barely chewing before swallowing. He accepted a towel from a maid and wiped his mouth, saying, "Master Li, you're back? Come, join me for dinner."
"My Lord, I'm fasting," Qin Ran bowed, declining the Island Lord's kind offer.
"Fasting?" The Island Lord smirked with slight mockery, "That's the problem with you qi practitioners. All this talk about keeping your spirit pure, avoiding the five grains. Cultivation, cultivation, until you're barely human anymore. You've cut yourselves off from all the world's delicious foods. In my opinion, body tempering is the most orthodox way to cultivate. The more you eat, the stronger your physical body becomes."
While Qin Ran agreed with the Island Lord's mockery of qi practitioners, he didn't quite agree with his assessment of body tempering.
Cultivation through eating... that was the path of pursuit of wind. It was the most primitive way - the way of magical beasts.
"Body tempering relies too heavily on natural talent," Qin Ran shook his head and sighed, "Without good talent, one can't go far. Just look at my frail body - I'm clearly not suited for body tempering."
The Island Lord glanced at Qin Ran but said nothing, accepting his words.
He casually tore off one of the golden lobster's large claws, crushed it open with one hand, and poured the meat into his mouth.
Watching the Island Lord eat like Zhu Bajie devouring a ginseng fruit, Qin Ran felt slightly uncomfortable.
He quickly spoke with a smile: "My Lord, during my journey, I gained some new insights into alchemy. I just met with Mr. Zhai, and we confirmed that we can choose a date to craft the Dragon Whale Pill."
The Island Lord calmly finished the claw meat, and just as Qin Ran was thinking his composure was impressive, he threw the claw onto the floor with a "bang" and stood up abruptly. His eyes widened as he stared at Qin Ran, asking, "Do you speak truly?"
Though Qin Ran's nominal strength now exceeded the Island Lord's, the latter's intimidating gaze still made him inwardly shudder, marveling at the vitality of body tempering practitioners.
"Of course," he replied. "After a few more harmonization sessions, our success rate should be quite high."
"Bang!" The Island Lord was overjoyed, punching the table so hard he left a large hole.
"Excellent! Wonderful!!" he laughed heartily. "You truly are my lucky star!"
He had been facing setbacks recently, with nothing going his way. This was the first piece of good news he'd heard in quite some time.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but laugh even more wildly.
He grabbed the tuna and offered it to Qin Ran, saying, "Have some fish."
"My Lord, I'm fasting," Qin Ran reminded him.
"Hahaha... right, you're fasting, I forgot." The Island Lord laughed awkwardly, taking the fish back. "I'll eat it myself."
The Island Lord had a huge appetite, poor table manners, but excellent teeth. He stood there with one foot up on the table, head tilted back, holding the tuna with both hands. Chomping away noisily, bones and all, he managed to stuff the hundred-pound fish into his stomach in no time at all.
After that, he didn't even burp, wiped his mouth and hands before sitting down, and laughed heartily: "Wonderful!"
He then ordered his attendants, "Give extra rewards to today's chef!"
Seeing that his excitement had mostly subsided, Qin Ran bowed again and asked, "Island Lord, when I returned, I heard rumors that Captain Tie met with an accident. Is this true?"
Whether Tie Ruonan had met with an accident or not, he knew best. After all, he was the one who killed her and disposed of her body.
He asked this now to gauge how much the Island Lord knew. At this question, the excited smile on the Island Lord's face instantly froze, and he looked up at Qin Ran with murderous intent in his eyes.
Seeing this reaction, Qin Ran still wasn't entirely certain, so he quickly put on a sorrowful expression and sighed, "Back when I was stranded on that deserted island, it was Captain Tie who took me aboard her ship and gave me shelter. Otherwise, I would still be lost at sea. She showed me great kindness. When I heard about Captain Tie's accident, I couldn't bring myself to believe it."
His eyes showed grief, almost brimming with tears, as he sought confirmation from the Island Lord, "Island Lord, the rumors outside must be false, right?"
The Island Lord stared at him for a while before slowly shifting his gaze away. Though still filled with murderous rage and fury, at least it wasn't directed at him anymore.
He looked at the completely darkened sky outside for a long while before grinding out through clenched teeth, "Tie Ruonan is indeed dead. There's no point hiding it!"
Qin Ran took a deep breath, appearing so overcome with grief that he was about to cry.
In reality, he was relieved because he confirmed that the Island Lord knew almost nothing. He probably only knew that someone had attacked his setup at Divine Essence Mountain, killed Tie Ruonan, and stolen his "Demon Soul Evil Blood." He was unaware of the other inside details.
This made him feel relieved, as there would be fewer obstacles and schemes to worry about in his quest for the dragon blood.
"How could this happen?" he asked in apparent disbelief, his voice low, "How could this happen?! How did it come to this!"
Looking at the Island Lord, he said sorrowfully, "When I left the island, Captain Tie shared drinks with me to bid me farewell. She even knocked down five drunk troublemakers with one punch. Island Lord, what exactly happened to make someone as powerful as Captain Tie lose her life?!"
The Island Lord turned back to look at him, taking a while to compose himself before saying coldly, "This is not something you should concern yourself with. Don't ask too many questions. Just focus on your pill refinement."
Qin Ran's expression grew solemn as he put away his grief and bowed to the Island Lord, saying, "Yes, Island Lord."
After leaving the Island Lord's presence, Qin Ran didn't go anywhere else but returned directly to his quarters in the Island Lord's Mansion.
Afterward, he stayed indoors and seriously studied the Dragon Whale Pill.
The Dragon Whale Pill was a fourth-grade medicinal pill.
For him before going to Divine Essence Mountain, it would have been quite challenging, but for him after returning from Divine Essence Mountain, it was child's play.
Even handling dragon blood and whale essence was a minor issue for someone who possessed the Divine Essence Condensation.
However, his study of the Dragon Whale Pill wasn't aimed at actually refining this pill - where would he get dragon blood from? He was merely preparing for the upcoming pill combination, so that later the Island Lord would confidently bring out the dragon blood.
Time flew by, and a month passed.
On this day, in the most luxurious pill refinement room of the Island Lord's Mansion, Qin Ran, Mr. Zhai, and the Island Lord stood in different positions.
Qin Ran and Mr. Zhai each had a pill furnace in front of them and a cabinet of spiritual medicines behind them; the Island Lord stood between the two furnaces, holding two boxes.
The medicine cabinets contained all the auxiliary spiritual medicines for the Dragon Breath Pill and Whale Breath Pill; the boxes contained the main ingredients - dragon blood for the Dragon Breath Pill and whale essence for the Whale Breath Pill.
"Gentlemen, I'm entrusting my future cultivation, wealth, and life to you both," the Island Lord's deep voice rang out. "Are you confident you can refine a Dragon Whale Pill for me?"
Qin Ran looked at the boxes in the Island Lord's arms, his eyes burning with eagerness as he smiled and said, "Rest assured, Island Lord. Mr. Zhai and I have combined pills many times, and we have an 80% success rate with the Dragon Whale Pill."
He had waited so long for this day, and now the dragon blood was just one step away, within reach.
As long as he got the dragon blood and then dealt with Mr. Zhai...
He turned to look at Mr. Zhai, only to see his eyes were calm as still water, quietly meeting his gaze.
Seeing Mr. Zhai's calm expression, Qin Ran's heart skipped a beat, as that look made him very uncomfortable.
It wasn't about other issues... he had long known Mr. Zhai would make some move... rather, this gaze made him realize his own problem.
Those calm eyes - he should have had the same expression and gaze.
His eyes, his mindset, should have been as calm as Mr. Zhai's. They were the same type of person.
But now he wasn't - he could feel his heart boiling with excitement for what was about to happen; his eyes were eager, almost shooting flames as he looked at the dragon blood.
His mental state had become problematic!
Although he had been careful about cultivating his character, his mental state had still deteriorated!!
The immense power granted by the Divine Essence Condensation was slowly affecting him, making him lose the coolness he had relied on for survival for decades.
And most terrifying of all was that now, his mind had become aware of this fact. Yet, he subconsciously dismissed it, not feeling there would be any problem.
He tried to stir up a sense of crisis within himself, but his heart remained indifferent.
His heart, made powerful by the Divine Essence Condensation, didn't sense any danger.
"Something's going to go wrong."
His brain coolly recognized this fact, but his heart, his blood, were gradually beginning to boil.
"Rest assured, Island Lord, we will do our utmost to refine this Dragon Whale Pill for you," Mr. Zhai said with his usual gentle smile.
"Good!" The Island Lord barked, "Gentlemen, catch!"
Then, with a box in each hand, he threw them to Qin Ran and Mr. Zhai respectively.
Qin Ran's eyes were bloodshot as he watched the box approach him, feeling the powerful force within it grow stronger as it got closer—dragon blood!
The dragon blood made his blood boil more intensely! He could feel the power of the Divine Essence Condensation surging and restlessly stirring within him!
"Thump!"
He caught the box. In that moment, his heart stopped.
The powerful dragon blood was in his hands.
His brain seemed to stop as well. He forgot all his plans, forgot that the dragon blood was meant for researching the immortality pill.
He heard a call, urging him to open the box.
He didn't resist the call, opening the box directly.
Instantly, a powerful, divine, yet violent aura exploded from the box.
The box had been restraining the dragon blood, and now, he had opened it.
This aura directly invaded his brain, and he offered no resistance, welcoming it completely.
His eyes grew redder, and gradually gained a blue tinge.
He looked down at a crystal bottle inside the box, containing a single drop of blood-red liquid with golden highlights.
Dragon blood!
The legendary blood of dragons!
In this drop of blood, Qin Ran sensed the divinity of a sacred beast, the violence of a demon beast, the transcendent nature that rose above the mortal realm, and...
The temptation that came with overwhelming power.
Looking at the dragon blood, the blue pupils in Qin Ran's blood-red eyes fully formed.
At this moment, his entire being craved this drop of dragon blood, craved its immense power!
His body issued a command, fighting for control with his brain, and he heard a voice telling him: "Possess it, consume it, become stronger."
From a fundamental perspective, no living being can resist the urge to become stronger.
Qin Ran had originally been able to resist - he had spent over twenty years at the pill peak, enduring loneliness and monotony, painstakingly building his foundation, choosing not to pursue power in order to go further.
But now he couldn't resist anymore.
His mental state had already been broken by power.
His recent efforts at cultivating his character were completely swept away by the dragon blood's influence.
"Eat it!"
"Possess it!"
He heard it - his own voice.
"There's nothing that can't be solved with one punch," he found his excuse, "and if there is, then use two punches!"
"Crack!"
He squeezed his hand, instantly crushing the box.
He raised the crystal bottle containing the dragon blood, holding it up to the light and looking up at it. The golden-red dragon blood, refracted through the crystal, looked like a work of art.
"Master Li?"
This sudden movement startled the Dragon Whale Island Lord, who looked at Qin Ran and noticed something was wrong.
He drew his battle blade, holding it ready, ensuring that if Qin Ran made any further moves, one slash would leave nothing of him.
That was his dragon blood.
Qin Ran sensed the Island Lord's movement and turned to look.
At this moment, his eyes had transformed—the whites had turned deep red, while his pupils became deep blue. He looked terrifying, violent, and otherworldly. "Island Lord?" he asked with a smile.
"You, right now! This instant! Put down the dragon blood!" the Island Lord commanded coldly, holding his blade with a stern voice.
"You want me to put down the dragon blood?" Qin Ran began to laugh, his smile both brilliant and maniacal.
Seeing his unusual state, the Island Lord didn't hesitate. He stepped forward with his blade, swinging it at Qin Ran.
And as the Island Lord took that step...
"Crack!"
The sound of breaking crystal echoed through the luxurious alchemy room.
The crystal vial of dragon blood that Qin Ran was holding fell, and both the vial and the dragon blood went into his mouth. His teeth, gleaming with red and blue light, crunched down as the crystal vial shattered and the dragon blood slid down his throat.
Or rather, the dragon blood merged with his physical form.
"Hahaha..."
He laughed madly as his thin frame began to expand. His limbs grew longer and thicker, his torso broadened, and muscles grotesquely intertwined across his body.
In an instant, he looked more like a body cultivator than the Island Lord himself.
"You thief!!!"
Seeing his dragon blood disappear just like that, the Island Lord's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. He roared in fury, his voice carrying hints of dragon's cry and whale's song. He brought his blade down, carrying the power of dragon and whale, striking directly at Qin Ran.
"Whoosh!"
The blade cut through space itself, making even the air seem to tremble.
But...
"Bang!"
Before the blade could reach Qin Ran's body, Qin Ran's fist had already struck the Island Lord.
The Island Lord, who had appeared before Qin Ran in an instant, was sent flying back in the next moment. He crashed through the alchemy room's wall and disappeared into the horizon.
"Too slow..." Qin Ran sneered, "And too weak!"
He withdrew his fist and turned to look at Mr. Zhai, who was standing calmly in front of the alchemy furnace across the room. Looking at the box in his hands, Qin Ran smiled eerily, "The whale essence, please and thank you."
Mr. Zhai raised the box toward Qin Ran.
But he spoke: "Do you know why you're finding it harder than usual to control yourself?"
"What?"
Qin Ran's crazed eyes were fixed on the box in Mr. Zhai's hands, unable to comprehend his words.
"This place has been poisoned by me," Mr. Zhai said calmly. "It's a very ordinary poison, one that makes people excited. With your temperament and alchemy skills, you should have noticed it long ago. But you didn't.
"I wasn't wrong in my guess—you received the Evil Demon's legacy. Your cultivation and power have increased tremendously. But your mental state can't handle them. You've gone into qi deviation!
"Everything has gone according to my plan. In the end, I still won."
"Hmph!" Qin Ran scoffed, "You won?"
He walked up to Mr. Zhai and reached for the box.
"If you hadn't gone into qi deviation, you wouldn't so carelessly reach for something in my hands," Mr. Zhai said.
With the whale essence right before his eyes, Qin Ran acted as if he couldn't hear a thing.
He reached out and snatched the box.
"So what if I take it?" he sneered, mocking Mr. Zhai, "You're nothing but an alchemist!"
"Crack!"
He crushed the wooden box.
However...
As the sound of the box being crushed rang out, a beam of red and black light shot down from above his head.
He was startled and looked up, seeing a disc-like object on the ceiling.
"What is that thing?" he asked.
"The Spirit Bewitching Disc!" Mr. Zhai explained patiently. "It can bewitch your primordial spirit.
"I knew your mental state was compromised, so I used poison to induce qi deviation, then used the Spirit Bewitching Disc to bewitch your primordial spirit."
If Qin Ran had been clear-headed, he would have recognized something very familiar about Mr. Zhai... something that reminded him of himself.
But now, as Mr. Zhai spoke, his mind gradually became muddled. His consciousness slowly became turbid and heavy. His brain felt like it was sinking into mud, unable to think clearly anymore.
He had become a frenzied fool.
"Farewell!"
Mr. Zhai smiled faintly, everything indeed within his control.
He circulated his internal arts and extended his hand, forming a blade of condensed water.
"Soul-Severing Ice Blade, specially designed to cut primordial spirits! I prepared this just for you."
As he spoke, he slashed forward with the ice blade, cutting diagonally from Qin Ran's cheek to his shoulder, pulling outward to slice him diagonally in half.
"Did you really think I couldn't kill you?" The ice blade slowly disappeared from Mr. Zhai's hand. "You were too arrogant!"
"Hmm?" Suddenly, Qin Ran responded sluggishly, "I... don't... know..."
"What?!" Mr. Zhai was shocked and quickly looked at Qin Ran. "You're not dead?"
"Dead?" Qin Ran tilted his head to look at him. "Why... would... I... be?"
He spoke slowly, but his hand moved with extreme speed. Though his primordial spirit was controlled, his physical body wasn't.
"Bang!"
One punch!
His fist pierced through Mr. Zhai's heart.
"You..." he said, "Die!"
Red and blue light glowed on his arm, and Mr. Zhai began to dissolve, starting from where Qin Ran's arm had pierced his chest.
Looking down at Qin Ran's arm, then up at his strange eyes, Mr. Zhai slowly understood. He spoke one word at a time: "Divine... Essence... Condensation!!"
He finally understood what it meant to be completely outmatched. Everything had been within his calculations, but he had no way of knowing just how overwhelming the Divine Essence Condensation truly was.
In truth, he had already won.
But even in death, he had one last scheme.
He opened one hand, shooting a beam of light from his palm through the ceiling, which burst like fireworks in the sky.
Then, his entire body was vaporized by the Divine Essence Condensation, disappearing completely.
Mr. Zhai had died, killed by an overpowered ability.
With Mr. Zhai's death, the Spirit Bewitching Disc above Qin Ran's head lost its control, the red and black light beam vanished, and what little intelligence he had returned.
He looked at the whale essence in his hand, hesitated briefly, but still ate it. His entire body grew even larger as a result.
At this moment, he sensed more than ten powerful auras approaching from the distance.
"More experts?"
He jumped forcefully, breaking through the roof to stand atop the alchemy room, looking into the distance.
There, more than ten people were using movement techniques to surround him.
He roughly knew that these were the people summoned by Mr. Zhai's final firework signal.
Looking down, he saw countless people from the Island Lord's Mansion also surrounding him.
He sneered, then jumped forcefully toward the ten-plus powerful auras.
These dozen or so people were all at the third-rank cultivation level, but none were his match. With just three punches and two kicks, he dispatched them all.
Then, as he prepared to return to the Island Lord's Mansion for a satisfying killing spree, something unexpected happened. From the bodies of the third-rank cultivators he had killed, beams of light shot out, flying into the distance.
Qin Ran was stunned. Sensing something wrong, he quickly chased after the dozen or so light beams, but they were too fast—he only managed to intercept four or five.
The lights were actually jade pendants that were glowing.
Qin Ran held one up to look at it and saw the character "Yuan" clearly inscribed on it.
Instantly, Qin Ran became more clear-headed.
He wasn't completely foolish; he had just been overwhelmed by the powerful force of the Divine Essence Condensation. Now, the Yuan Organization finally brought some clarity to his mind.
"The Yuan Organization?!!"
This was a taboo carved into the depths of his soul when he had still been calm and clear-headed. This terrifying organization that spanned three domains was enough to make his arrogant heart grow cold.
He looked back to see people from the Island Lord's Mansion forming battle formations to attack him, and in the distance, the furious figure of the Dragon Whale Island's Island Lord was charging toward him.
"Forget it..."
"I actually don't have any real grudge with you all, I'll let you live."
Thinking this, he made a diving motion and plunged from mid-air into the sea.
Then, deploying "Time Like Flowing Water," he vanished into the vast ocean.
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