Hearing Jian Sanshan’s admission, Chi Zimin was even more shocked. Who didn’t know about Jian Sanshan’s fame in the Grand Essence Realm? The Harmonious Heavenly Pill that Jian Sanshan developed was almost equivalent to a dao pill. A single Harmonious Heavenly Pill could give a Dao Transformation Holy Emperor a 20% higher chance of breaking out of Dao Confirming’s first step and entering the Dao Essence Realm.

  However, some reports said that the Harmonious Heavenly Pill wasn’t perfect and had significant side effects. Rumours also stated that any Holy Emperor who used the Harmonious Heavenly Pill to advance to the Dao Essence Realm would forever stop at the Dao Essence Realm.

  Regardless of the rumours, Jian Sanshan’s reputation resounded throughout the Grand Essence Domain. It was also no secret that many Holy Emperors had asked him for the Harmonious Heavenly Pill. However, those who could get Jian Sanshan to refine the pills were very few and far between. Asking Jian Sanshan to refine a pill was as tricky as climbing three mountains with no end in sight. The reason why Jian Sanshan was called ‘Three Mountains[1]’.

  “Three Mountains?” Ning Cheng repeated. He hadn’t been in the Grand Essence Realm for long and had spent most of his time either cultivating or fleeing, so how could he know anything about Three Mountains?

  Seeing that Ning Cheng didn’t even know about Jian Sanshan, Chi Zimin hurriedly transmitted his voice to Ning Cheng. He told him about Jian Sanshan before bowing to Jian Sanshan, “Thunder River Chi Clan’s Chi Zimin greets Senior Jian.”


  Jian Sanshan nodded to Chi Zimin and then turned his gaze towards Ning Cheng with a slight smile at the corners of his mouth.

  No matter what pills Jian Sanshan could refine, Ning Cheng wasn’t interested. He was just about to leave when he heard Jian Sanshan speak. “If I’m not mistaken, your senior apprentice sister must have undergone spiritual enhancement in the past before shattering her foundation. You should already know that healing such a condition is an almost impossible matter, especially after one’s spiritual roots or foundation had already shattered once before. If she had cultivated a bit carefully, she could have ascended to a supreme height in the future. Alas……”


  Ning Cheng himself was a Dao Sculpting Pill Deity, so he immediately understood that Jian Sanshan had a much better insight than him. He didn’t care about this Harmonious Heavenly Pill, but he felt very concerned about Yan Ji’s situation.

  “I’m Ning Cheng, and I would like to ask Brother Jian to explain it to me.” Ning Cheng immediately stopped and spoke.

  Jian Sanshan didn’t beat around the bush and stated it directly. “After your senior apprentice sister repaired her foundation, I don’t know why but she only absorbed spirit aura dregs. After experiencing spiritual enhancement and repairing her foundation, she should have cultivated by absorbing spirit aura, and it would have produced the best effects……”


  Ning Cheng felt shocked at those words. In an instant, he understood what had happened. Ning Cheng had been on Yan Ji’s back for several years. However, his essence spirit had felt a foreign and rich spirit aura scouring his body from time to time. His body couldn’t absorb spirit aura on its own, which meant that it was absorbed by Yan Ji and somehow got transferred to him.

  In other words, the essence of the spirit aura that Yan Ji had absorbed got absorbed by him., while the remaining dregs got absorbed by Yan Ji. After understanding this, Ning Cheng felt even more guilty.

  “With her foundation repaired, the most important thing for her should have been to absorb pure spirit aura to stabilise her foundation. Instead, she did the opposite, absorbing spirit aura dregs. Her repaired foundation ended up assimilating these dregs and filling up its gaps using those dregs. Although it allowed her cultivation level to advance by a level or two, she had, in fact, damaged her repaired foundation for the second time. An injury of such proportions is like water breaking through an already disintegrating dike, something almost impossible to recover from. I will be frank with you here; it’s pretty much the end of the line for her.” Speaking till here, Jian Sanshan shook his head with a sympathetic expression.

  Ning Cheng’s mood immediately crashed, as if someone had plunged him into an icy cave. He didn’t even question Jian Sanshan’s evaluation and knew that Jian Sanshan’s knowledge surpassed his, at least in this regard.

  Seeing Ning Cheng’s dumbfounded silence, Jian Sanshan spoke up once again. “Not all hope is lost though; I heard that the Great Spirit Pill Sect has a dao fruit called the Five-elements Heavenly Fruit. It’s primarily used to comprehend five elements’ spirit techniques by refining them into corresponding spirit pills. However, the Five-elements Heavenly Fruit also has another function: it can be taken directly to awaken a person’s slumbering spirit. In other words, this dao fruit can awaken your senior apprentice sister. However, it will only wake her up, not heal her or bring back her ability to cultivate in any way.”


  “Many thanks, Brother Jian, for pointing it out.” Ning Cheng bowed. Jian Sanshan’s information was indeed crucial to him right now.

  Jian Sanshan also returned the gesture with respect and said, “It’s just a mere trifle. However, I also want to remind Brother Ning that if you go to the Great Spirit Pill Sect like this, I’m afraid that you will not get the Five-elements Heavenly Fruit. Each and every one of those dao fruits is very important to the Great Spirit Pill Sect. Therefore, they will not casually be handed over to outsiders.”


  Ning Cheng fell silent. He understood that even if he had become a Dao Sculpting Holy Emperor, he was ‘just’ a Dao Sculpting Pill Deity. Ning Cheng still couldn’t compete with the full might of many of the large sects in the Grand Essence Realm. In a head-on disagreement, he could potentially escape from a Dao Essence Holy Emperor using some posturing. But if the force behind that Holy Emperor called his bluff, he might not be able to escape unscathed, especially not with Yan Ji.

  “Fortunately, I have a way to help Brother Ning reach the Great Spirit Pill Sect’s alchemy masters. However, if you want to exchange for the Five-elements Heavenly Fruit, it would have to depend on Brother Ning’s means.”


  After Jian Sanshan finished speaking, he didn’t wait for Ning Cheng to speak and continued. “That friend of yours also spoke about attending the Grand Essence Domain’s Alchemy Discourse. I would also recommend attending it as people from the Great Spirit Pill Sect would definitely be at the Alchemy Discourse. In other words, Brother Ning, you will have a much better chance of striking a deal with them at the discourse.”


  Ning Cheng understood that Jian Sanshan wouldn’t help him for no reason. So he looked at Jian Sanshan and spoke straight to the point, “Brother Jian. I’m not qualified to participate in this discourse; also, I’m quite lacking in alchemy. So how do you expect me to participate in the Alchemy Discourse?”


  Jian Sanshan showed a faint smile. “If Brother Ning’s alchemical talent was so poor, you wouldn’t have obtained the famous No Furnace and that pill flame. To be able to find the central refining point of No Furnace and put it away in such a short time, you need to be at least a Dao Sculpting Pill Deity.”


  Ning Cheng’s eyebrows twitched a little, and his tone turned calm, “Brother Jian is a Dao Transformation Pill Deity. So even if I refined No Furnace a step before you, I believe that Brother Jian obtained a harvest at least comparable to mine.”


  Ning Cheng had thought of this matter for a long time. That pill sage’s heritage wouldn’t just be the No Furnace and the Nameless Flame and would definitely involve more than those things. Moreover, this Dao Transformation Pill Deity had also sensed the focal refining point of No Furnace. But he didn’t have the time to rush over and refine it, which meant that he must have found something of equivalent value or better.

  Jian Sanshan replied with an equally calm tone, “It’s just a matter of fate for each person. Besides, you might not want what I obtained even if I gave it to you, but it’s incredibly vital to me. As for the pill furnace and the pill flame, I don’t need them as I’m not used to changing what’s mine. All in all, everyone gets what everyone requires.”


  After briefly unveiling the opportunity he just mentioned, Jian Sanshan’s tone turned somewhat cautious. “The preliminary round for this Alchemy Discourse requires a two-person team. However, only those with the status of Pill Emperors and above can participate. I’ve always been alone and never got the chance to partner up with any of my peers. So I feel that it would be most appropriate to team up with Brother Ning. Therefore, if Brother Ning is willing, we can form a team to participate in the preliminary round. I believe that with Brother Ning Cheng’s attainments in alchemy, you can definitely obtain at least a Pill Emperor’s status card.”


  Only then did Ning Cheng understand what Jian Sanshan wanted. He replied with a faint smile, “Brother Jian feels so highly about me, but I’m still curious to know why Brother Jian chose me. Also, I had already mentioned that I killed Man Jiuren. So, does Brother Jian still want to team up with me while risking offending Man Huishan?”


  Jian Sanshan laughed, “Maybe it was because Brother Ning obtained the No Furnace and the pill flame. Or the fact that Brother Ning didn’t kill everyone inside the No Furnace after obtaining them. Those two things alone tell me that Brother Ning has high attainment in alchemy and is also a trustworthy character. As for Man Huishan, hehe, it’s not like I went and messed with his Barbarian Dragon Clan. Plus, I believe that even if he saw us together, he wouldn’t do anything to me. As for how he treats Brother Ning, that’s between you and him.”


  Jian Sanshan was very straightforward in what he said. Although Ning Cheng guessed that the reason wasn’t the primary one, he still felt satisfied. He nodded and said, “Good, in that case, I will go with Brother Jian to this Alchemy Discourse.”


  He had a Tier 8 Pill Emperor’s identity tag on him, but it belonged to Ji He. Fortunately, they only cared about having an identity tag for the Alchemy Discourse, so it didn’t matter who it belonged to.

  When the two talked about cooperation, Chi Zimin respectfully offered Ning Cheng and Jian Sanshan a goodbye and left……

  The Alchemy Discourse took place in the Heaven Essence Sacred City, the number one sacred city within the Grand Essence Domain. Therefore, after reaching an agreement with Ning Cheng, Jian Sanshan took out an airship. Boarding the airship, they then flew towards Heaven Essence Sacred City.

  Ning Cheng had been to the Heaven Essence Sacred City once before during the Grand Essence Great Meet that was also held there. It was also in that city that he had given ten bottles of Empyrean Consciousness Transmutation Pill to Star Stepping Tower’s master in exchange for protection against Man Huishan.

  Of course, Ning Cheng didn’t think that he spent the ten bottles of Empyrean Consciousness Transmutation Pills in vain. If it wasn’t for the Star Stepping Tower Master’s promise, he couldn’t have completed the spirit essence transformation in the Extraterritorial Spirit Spring. He also wouldn’t have comprehended the Law Break Spirit Technique or successfully stepped into the Dao Sculpting Realm.

  Now that he had a Dao Sculpting cultivation and a powerful spirit technique, he didn’t have to disguise himself when going to the Heaven Essence Sacred City. Not to mention that Man Huishan might not have even come out yet; even if Man Huishan did come out, he wouldn’t dare do anything to him. But, taking a step back, even if Man Huishan were to do something to him, he wasn’t afraid.

  He could already escape from Man Huishan’s pursuit as an Eternal cultivator. But now, he was more than a thousand times stronger than he had been in the Eternal Realm.

  “Brother Ning, if I’m not wrong, you should be Ji He, right? I heard that Dragon Emperor Man Huishan had chased you into the Land of Broken Laws and hasn’t come out even now.” Jian Sanshan and Ning Cheng stood side by side on the prow of the airship and spoke with a smile.

  Man Huishan had long known that he, Ning Cheng, was Ji He. So now, when Jian Sanshan asked about it, Ning Cheng didn’t hide it and admitted it directly. “That’s right, I am Ji He.”


  “Then, the Empyrean Consciousness Transmutation Pills also came from you?” Jian Sanshan spoke with a slightly excited tone.

  Ning Cheng also directly admitted, “Yes, the Empyrean Consciousness Transmutation Pill came out of research by me and another pill sage. Once we go through the preliminary round, I will give that formula to Brother Jian.”


  “Many thanks, Brother Ning. But I can’t accept such a precious pill recipe.” Jian Sanshan knew that he couldn’t accept it, but he also couldn’t refuse the temptation.

  What kind of medicinal pill was the Empyrean Consciousness Transmutation Pill? It was a supreme spirit pill for expanding the Sea of Consciousness and cultivating spiritual consciousness. He couldn’t find an excuse even if he wanted to refuse such a medicinal pill. He wasn’t yet a person who had transcended everything. As for why Ning Cheng wanted to wait until after the preliminary round and then give him the pill recipe, Jian Sanshan also understood it very well.

  Ning Cheng wanted to use this pill recipe to exchange with the Great Spirit Pill Sect for the Five-elements Heavenly Fruit. It would indeed be an excellent bargain for the Great Spirit Pill Sect.

  Ning Cheng nodded with a smile but didn’t say anything. What kind of a person was Jian Sanshan? A Dao Transformation Pill Deity. If someone said this Dao Transformation Pill Deity willingly brought him to the Alchemy Discourse because of his ‘trustworthy’ character, even Ning Cheng wouldn’t believe it.

  Now that Jian Sanshan talked about the Empyrean Consciousness Transmutation Pill, how could Ning Cheng not know what the other party meant? Perhaps to Jian Sanshan, all he needed was a few Empyrean Consciousness Transmutation Pills. So Ning Cheng might as well be ‘generous’ and give the recipe to him directly. In any case, without Divine Chalcedony, the Empyrean Consciousness Transmutation Pill’s recipe was nothing but a piece of waste paper.

  [1] Sanshan = Three Mountains. It’s both the name and the title of Jian Sanshan.