novelraw Chapter 362: The Origin of the Little Medicine Boy
Chapter 362: The Origin of the Little Medicine Boy
Time flew by, and a month passed in the blink of an eye. On this day, the sky above the Sword Cleansing Pavilion was covered with dark clouds stretching for miles. Fierce winds howled, carrying sand and dust, while the oppressive might of the heavens permeated the air.
The sword cultivators of the Sword Cleansing Pavilion were stunned by the terrifying phenomenon. They all stopped practicing their swordsmanship and raised their heads in unison, staring blankly at the ominous clouds above.
The senior members of the pavilion were also alarmed and rushed out to witness the spectacle, their faces filled with shock as they looked up at the sky.
The Pavilion Master himself hurried out of a building, gazing at the heavens with excitement, his fists tightly clenched.
“This is the phenomenon caused by refining the Heaven-Defying Pill! Has it succeeded? This must truly be a genuine fourth-grade alchemist. It was worth the wait! Hahaha…”
The Pavilion Master burst into ecstatic laughter, completely losing his usual air of dignity and solemnity.
A pregnant woman with a slightly rounded belly walked up beside him. She looked at him tenderly and chuckled. “Do you still doubt that he’s a genuine fourth-grade alchemist? What could he possibly want to gain from you, or what reason would he have to deceive you?”
“Yes, yes, I was too petty,” the Pavilion Master replied, wrapping his arms around the pregnant woman and gently touching her swollen belly with affection. He said softly:
“The Sword Bone Pill not only enhances the probability of awakening sword bones but also cleanses the marrow and improves the child’s innate potential. It even has a stabilizing effect on the pregnancy.”
“This little one is indeed fortunate. After you take the Sword Bone Pill, he will undoubtedly be a genius at birth.”“All because he has a good father who didn’t hesitate to sell everything to gather the materials needed for refining the Sword Bone Pill. Thinking of how expensive those materials were makes my heart ache. Why didn’t I have such luck when I was born? Why didn’t I have such a good father?”
“You’re unbelievable! You’re already the Pavilion Master of the Sword Cleansing Pavilion, its strongest expert, and you’ve married the most beautiful woman in the pavilion. You’re clearly the winner in life, and yet you’re still not satisfied,” the woman teased him with a glance.
“Oh, by the way, I had someone check—I'm carrying quintuplets. One Sword Bone Pill won’t be enough for them all; we’ll need five. Do you think this mysterious fourth-grade alchemist can refine five Sword Bone Pills?” She looked worried.
The Pavilion Master, who had just been brimming with joy, froze instantly upon hearing this. After a long silence, he sighed deeply. “It will be difficult. The Sword Bone Pill is an incredibly heaven-defying elixir. While a perfect batch yields ten pills, getting three pills per batch is already considered very lucky.”
“And according to the rules of the alchemy world, the refined pills must be split evenly with the alchemist as a service fee. For us to get five pills, the alchemist must refine a perfect batch of ten pills.”
“That’s assuming he’s completely trustworthy.”
“Most alchemists would take more than their share, claiming fewer pills were produced. After all, we have no way of knowing how many pills were actually refined.”
“I can’t exactly have someone supervise him during the process. That would offend him and could even be seen as an attempt to steal his techniques. Sigh…”
He silently lamented how prolific his wife was. With quintuplets, they needed at least five Sword Bone Pills. Splitting the batch meant they required a perfect yield of ten pills, something almost impossible for the alchemist to achieve.
The phenomenon lasted a long time, and its wide-reaching scope caught the attention of numerous powerful factions.
Many realized this was caused by the emergence of a heaven-defying spirit pill, and greed surfaced in their eyes. However, seeing that the phenomenon centered on the Sword Cleansing Pavilion, they had no choice but to suppress their desires. The pavilion was not a force they could afford to provoke.
Eventually, the dark clouds in the sky began to dissipate, the winds subsided, and sunlight finally pierced through the gaps, restoring the world to its serene state, as if the terrifying scene had never occurred.
A large crowd of sword cultivators gathered outside the closed-door retreat of Long Xuan, their eyes brimming with anticipation. The Pavilion Master and his wife were the most anxious of all, nervously staring at the tightly shut door.
Before long, the door creaked open. Long Xuan, deliberately appearing fatigued, stepped out, his voice weak as he said, “I am honored not to have failed my mission. The Sword Bone Pills are finally complete.”
Seeing the pregnant woman’s belly, Long Xuan used his spiritual sight and noticed five unborn children within. He sighed inwardly at her fertility and retrieved five black pill bottles from his storage ring.
“A perfect batch of ten pills. According to the rules, five are yours, and five are mine. Please verify them.”
With that, Long Xuan tossed the five bottles containing the Sword Bone Pills toward the anxious Pavilion Master.
He dared not shortchange them. If there weren’t enough pills for the quintuplets, the Pavilion Master might very well be tempted to seize the remaining pills.
The Pavilion Master hurriedly caught the bottles and quickly opened them, pouring the pills into his palm. He sniffed them lightly and used his spiritual sense to examine them. Confirming their authenticity, his joy was immeasurable.
He had never expected this fourth-grade alchemist to truly achieve a perfect batch.
Initially, he had planned to use treasures to buy the other five pills if needed. If that failed, he would have had to gather more materials and request another round of refining.
Now, it seemed he had underestimated this alchemist. Long Xuan’s alchemy skills far exceeded his imagination, leaving the Pavilion Master wondering about his origins.
“Hahaha! These are indeed Sword Bone Pills, and their quality is exceptional. Alchemist Elder Dan, your skills are undoubtedly among the best of all fourth-grade alchemists.”
The Pavilion Master’s eyes gleamed as he tossed a small, translucent blue sphere toward Long Xuan and said, “This is the Sealed Spirit Pearl. I’ve sealed five strands of Free and Unfettered Sword Intent within it. You’ll have five opportunities to comprehend this Sword Intent.”
Long Xuan took the Sealed Spirit Pearl and extended his soul power into it. Inside, he saw five streaks of sword intent flying back and forth. In an instant, his soul power was shredded to pieces. Startled, he quickly withdrew his soul power.
Such terrifying offensive power was undoubtedly genuine. Satisfied, he placed the Sealed Spirit Pearl into his storage ring.
“Pavilion Master Ren, you are indeed generous. I originally only wanted one streak of Free and Unfettered Sword Intent, but you’ve given me five. I’ll shamelessly accept them.”
“I’ve already been here for a month. The time spent has been long enough. Since our transaction is complete, it’s time for me to leave.”
Now that the sword intent was in his possession, Long Xuan had no reason to stay any longer and prepared to leave immediately.
“Elder Dan has been in seclusion refining pills for a month. He looks exhausted. Why not rest here for a day or two before leaving?”
Pavilion Master Ren quickly spoke to persuade him to stay. A formidable Grade-4 Alchemist like Long Xuan was someone he wanted to build a rapport with and wasn’t eager to let go easily.
“No, I have matters to attend to at home.”
“Pavilion Master Ren, we shall meet again.”
Long Xuan clasped his hands in a gesture of farewell and walked away, showing no intention of staying.
Pavilion Master Ren looked regretful but did not insist further. He followed to see him off. The other Sword Kings of the Sword Cleansing Pavilion also followed to escort him out.
As they reached the entrance of the Sword Cleansing Pavilion, a sudden surge of energy at the peak level of a Gu King rapidly approached from the distance.
Sensing this aura, everyone stopped talking and turned their gazes forward, their expressions slightly grave.
Before long, a man in silver robes descended from the sky.
Seeing all the Sword Kings gathered at the entrance, he immediately retrieved a silver token engraved with the words “Demon Extermination Order” from his storage ring.
He raised the token for everyone to see and said solemnly, “This is a Demon Extermination Order issued by the Gu Emperor City. All Sword Kings of the Sword Cleansing Pavilion are commanded to gather at the Great Buddha Temple immediately to participate in a demon-cleansing mission. No one is permitted to disobey!”
With that, he tossed the Demon Extermination Order to Pavilion Master Ren in front.
Pavilion Master Ren caught it, carefully examined the token, and, finding it genuine, couldn’t help but sigh deeply, his expression heavy.
The Demon Extermination Order was only issued when the Gu World faced an existential threat, such as the appearance of a Forbidden Gu Refiner or a super demon cultivator who frequently slaughtered entire cities. Such an order summoned all nearby experts to annihilate the threat.
A demon cultivator warranting a Demon Extermination Order was undoubtedly a formidable figure, nearly impossible to kill even with a group of Gu Kings. These missions were never easy.
Only a handful of demon cultivators throughout history had possessed such overwhelming combat strength. Even so, the Demon Extermination Order was rarely issued—perhaps only once in several centuries.
However, every time the order was issued, countless Gu Kings participating in the mission would perish. Without exception, many of these missions ended in total annihilation, with none of the Gu Kings surviving.
As the greatest force in the Gu World, the Gu Emperor City’s orders were absolute. There was no way to refuse. Master Ren couldn’t help but wonder how many Sword Kings of the Sword Cleansing Pavilion would fall during this mission—or if he himself would survive. He sighed heavily.
At this moment, the beautiful woman beside him also cast a worried glance in his direction.
Long Xuan frowned slightly. He suspected that the reason behind the Demon Extermination Order was the little medicine boy who had been slaughtering villages and cities.
“Has he already grown so strong?” Long Xuan thought. “Could he really warrant the Gu Emperor City mobilizing so many Gu Kings to deal with him? Has he reached such a terrifying level in just one month of my seclusion? What on earth happened during this time?”
Puzzled, Long Xuan turned to Master Ren and asked, “Is it that demon cultivator who’s been collecting unique organs everywhere?”
“If I recall correctly, a month ago, he was only at the peak of the Spiritual Sea stage, wasn’t he? Are you, a peak Gu King, unable to deal with him? Is he truly so powerful as to warrant a Demon Slayer Order?”
Pavilion Master Ren wore a bitter smile and sighed deeply. "Do you really think he’s just at the peak of the Spiritual Sea stage? He’s Deceitful Heaven Patriarch Duan Tianwu, once the strongest in Central Lands, perpetually at the peak of the Gu King realm."
"His combat power is terrifying. Back in the day, even before refining the Demon Devouring Gu, he had already defeated all rivals in Central Lands."
"This time, he has developed a heaven-defying and evil technique capable of assimilating the unique organs of all beings into one body. He’s already collected an unknown number of powerful organs, making him far more terrifying than ever before."
"The body he uses now is what you can consider an external clone, which can perfectly replicate his original cultivation level. As long as he continues absorbing power with the Demon Devouring Gu, he’ll soon return to the peak of the Gu King realm."
Pavilion Master Ren continued with a grim expression, "During your month of seclusion, he has slaughtered countless sects and cities. He has absorbed a vast amount of spiritual energy from powerful cultivators, and his current strength has already reached the mid-stage of the Gu King realm. But don’t forget—his true realm is still at its peak."
"Moreover, his cultivation technique is unique. It allows him to store all the spiritual energy absorbed by the Demon Devouring Gu. His energy reserves are several times greater than that of a normal peak-stage Gu King. How could I possibly contend with him?"
"He’s now grown to the point where we must activate the Demon Extermination Order. Thankfully, Central Lands has numerous teleportation formation connected to the Central Region. Powerful experts from the Central Region can quickly provide reinforcements. Perhaps we can eliminate him before he fully grows to the peak of the Gu King realm."
"Otherwise, if he’s allowed to reach that level, it won’t just be the Central Lands at stake. No one in the entire Gu World will be able to stop him. At that point, the Gu World will face an unprecedented catastrophe." Ren’s face was filled with deep dread.
Upon hearing this, Long Xuan was greatly shocked. The little medicine boy was actually carrying the Demon Devouring Gu—one of the ten Forbidden Gu, ranked ninth.
The Demon Devouring Gu's terrifying trait was its ability to forcibly absorb the spiritual energy of others.
Even if Duan Tianwu hadn’t already been at the peak of the Gu King realm, starting from the Spirit Gathering stage and cultivating to the Gu King peak using the Demon Devouring Gu’s power wouldn’t take long—perhaps not even a decade.
Such was the absurd speed of cultivation with the Demon Devouring Gu. No one in the world could rival the cultivation pace of someone who possessed this Gu.
The restriction of the Demon Devouring Gu was that it could only absorb spiritual energy from those with a cultivation level equal to or lower than its host.
But even so, within its domain, the Demon Devouring Gu could extract the spiritual energy of all living beings over a wide area, with the power to annihilate entire cities or even nations.
No wonder the Gu Emperor City was in such a rush to deal with this individual. If he were allowed to grow to the peak of the Gu King realm, even an army of peak-stage Gu Kings wouldn’t suffice to challenge him. At that point, this demon would become truly invincible.
He had to be eliminated before reaching the peak, or the consequences would be unimaginable.
Long Xuan’s expression grew increasingly grave as he realized he had encountered yet another Forbidden Gu.
After finishing his conversation with Long Xuan, Pavilion Master Ren turned to the enforcer from Gu Emperor City and asked, “My wife is pregnant. Could she be exempted from participating?”
The enforcer glanced at the visibly pregnant woman and replied, “Pregnant women are, of course, exempt.”
He then turned his gaze to the fourth-grade alchemist who had just spoken and said, “Since she cannot go, her spot will be filled by you.”
“I do not care about your background. Defending the path of righteousness is the duty of all. Every Gu King in this region must participate in the demon extermination mission. No one is exempt, not even foreign Gu Kings merely passing through.”