Heaven’s Tribulation

A beautiful flame bloomed in Sheng Tians hand that glowed blue, green, and purple. It was the Tri-colored Flame. What he was going to concoct was a rank 1 Essence Refining Pill.

Wasting no time, he heated the cauldron for a minute before throwing in a stalk of bright green grass. Smoke came out as the impurities were forced out and as the Meridian Clearing Grass was being liquefied.

Shen Tians Qi was being drained rapidly but he held on before using Nine Dragon control that enveloped the green liquid in mental energy from the sea of consciousness and directed it into a bottle that was quickly sealed.

Sheng Tian gasped for breath. ”To think that merely purifying herbs would drain all my Qi reserves ”

Sitting in a lotus position, Qi gathered near Sheng Tian as he absorbed everything like a dehydrated beast quenching its thirst. It didn take long as his Qi reserves can compare to a real cultivators but its just enough to concoct a few low ranked pills as long as he rests every so often.

He then repeated this process with several other herbs and rested after each purification.

”Phew, that was exhausting. Though expending all my Qi and then resting tempers my meridians and can allow me to hold more Qi. My current Qi reserves are double what I had before I started purifying these herbs ”

Unexpectedly, he got many benefits just from using Qi though its still not much compared to an actual cultivator. Cultivators would spend hours absorbing Qi to advance to the next level and Sheng Tians current Qi is pitiful compared to even a Qi gathering cultivator. His body, on the other hand, is many times stronger.

Resting completely, he prepared to concoct his first pill. He heated the cauldron and then poured in all of the liquid from the Meridian Clearing Grass. He then started pouring in all the other liquids in chronological order. Azure Essence Flower, Purple Spirit Ginseng, Blood Qi Grass, Refined Essence Fruit. One by one the herbal liquids were poured in. All of them were then separated into many parts using Nine Dragon Control.

Sheng Tian daringly poured in more herbal liquid than required and sought to form multiple batches of pills at once.

10 masses of liquid formed and condensed. His mental energy started being drained at a rapid pace. Sheng Tian grit his teeth at the massive headache that hammered his head and continued. If he gave up now, all the materials would go to waste and his efforts would be for nothing.

5 minutes… 10 minutes… 20…

30 minutes passed, though to Sheng Tian, it felt like an eternity. He didn bother checking the pills and simply put them all in a bottle. He barely got back to his room before passing out entirely.

When he woke up it was early in the morning and not a single soul was awake. He went down to a creek and washed up, changing into clothes that weren soaked and dried in sweat and dirt.

Within his spatial pouch he found a bottle that contained 30 pure white pills. It was the Essence Refining Pills he had concocted last night.

Despite being a rank 1 pill, these Essence Refining Pills had rank 2 Refined Essence Fruit in it unlike normal rank 1 pills. This upgraded pill is effective enough to be placed next to rank 2 pills and would cause a war between sects if found.

Of course, this pill recipe was one of many imparted from his master and is a lost recipe to others.

Without hesitation, Sheng Tian swallowed 5 at once and sat down in a lotus position. The effect of this pill was simple yet greatly desired. It would refine ones Qi, making it purer as well as increasing how much Qi one can hold. Furthermore, it can clear and temper ones meridians and force out impurities. These effects combined would make it the most desired pill even when placed next to peak rank 2 pills and even some rank 3 ones.

His Qi churned and became less murky, and as it flowed through his body, his meridians enlarged and black goo was pushed out.

But he didn stop there. Sheng Tian swallowed another 5, then again, and again. When he finished eating the priceless pills like candy, he found himself covered in a layer of black substance. He jumped back in the creek and cleaned up once again and dried himself using the Tri-colored Flame.

”My Qi has become abundant and the amount is comparable to a high level qi gathering cultivator! Not only that but the flow of Qi has become smoother and my body feels light. If I were to compare myself with a Qi condensing cultivator I might not lose ” he analyzed.

After going to hunt again and eating another rich meal, Sheng Tian brought out several vials of blood and a brush.

Thanks to being tempered by alchemy, Sheng Tian had no trouble attempting to inscribe several inscriptions on himself.

Within minutes one was finished on his leg, and a few minutes passed before another appeared on his other leg. 2 Flowing Wind Marks were completed like that. Sheng Tian stood and jumped around, testing the effects of the marks.

”My speed has almost tripled thanks to the 2 marks placed on my feet ”

Where one inscribes the mark is important, as it determines what part it would strengthen the most.

Then, he proceeded to inscribe as many Golden Scale Body marks on him as humanly possible. If anyone saw what he was doing they would spit blood in anger. Would normal people have the resources and money to hire an inscriptionist? Even the wealthy would have to spend a fortune to hire one and there is always a chance of failure.

When he finished he had dozens of marks all over his body. If he activated them all at once it wouldn be an exaggeration to say he would be invincible at the same level and incredibly hard to kill by those above him.

He poked a few spots on his body and the marks all went invisible. They would serve as a hidden card kept hidden in his sleeve.

Now he doesn have much to do except hunting and training his sword until his master shows up in a few days.