Cao Yun had stayed with his brothers and sister for several days. Although they were obviously busy working on the refinement process, they also talked about various things. Within Cao Yun's spatial ring, he had a lot of food and wine. As such, they also dined and had genuine fun. Of course, they all knew that the situation was extremely serious, but it was necessary to stay focused. After all, they had never been all together since Cao Yun had disappeared. It had been more than a decade. Besides, all this time had been plagued by death and destruction as the war was progressing.
Despite the mind cultivation Cao Yun had shared with them, it had taken a real toll on them. Clearly, Sun Liao had suffered more than his brothers and sister. In fact, Cao Yun almost saw him grow younger by a few months in a matter of days. Hopefully, the damage to his cultivation wouldn't hinder him too much. Moreover, Cao Yun and Dian Mo examined the array formations that Sun Liao talked about. Of course, Cao Yun was interested in the Imperial City's array formations, but he earnestly studied the ones that could help his cultivation.
Indeed, it was as Sun Liao had said. They would not be of great use to Cao Yun. Yes, they would help him a little, but no more than that. After all, he was already exceeding any expectation. However, they might actually help him stabilize his cultivation better. As such, Cao Yun integrated that knowledge into his own cultivation method. Slowly, Cao Yun was building his new method.
From time to time, he could feel the worry in his brothers and sister's eyes. They had all understood that Cao Yun was staking his life on that attack. Although Cao Yun had no intention of dying at all, he was fully prepared for it. After all, he wasn't delusional enough to think that everything would go smoothly. In the best case scenario, he would slay Emperor Weide with his human cultivation alone, save his sister, and the Hongchen Kingdom's situation would be stabilized by his seniors. But he hoped that in the worst case scenario, he would at least be able to wound Emperor Weide and save his sister, while leaving with his life. That being said, it could go way worse than that. Cao Yun's priority was to save his sister and ensure that she would stay safe afterward. For that, he had to survive, but he sincerely couldn't be sure of that.
Cao Yun was essentially working on his stealth. In that endeavor, he and Dian Mo studied the array formations of the Imperial City as much as they could. Indeed, they might save their lives. Cao Yun had already killed powerful cultivators thanks to array formations and preparation.
All that was well and good, but Cao Yun's plan required Emperor Weide to be poisoned first. As such, they had to be successful with the refinement of the Nine-Souls Calamity Ascension Pill. Mei Hua and Sun Liao were working on it with Cao Yun in order to optimize the refinement as much as they could. Ren Chao was thus painfully aware that he was completely useless. Although a blacksmith was useful in alchemy, it was only when it came to forging the cauldron and furnace. As such, Ren Chao had nothing to contribute. In fact, he would just hinder his brothers and sister.
Finally, they were ready, as ready as they could get anyway. Everyone in the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute was either talking about this incredible 5-star Spirit pill, or preparing for it. In fact, some people began to bet on the success of the pill and the actual quality and number of pills refined. Many students were publicly displeased with such a lack of tact. That being said, numbers didn't lie, most students had indeed bet on it. No one knew who had opened the bet, but that person would become extremely wealthy whether the pill was a success or not. If they had enough time, Xiao Xuefeng and Hua Fenfei would have found out the bookmaker was, but they were too busy with more important stuff.
Song Guixiang was probably the only man in the entire Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute who wasn't worried or busy in any way. The plump man was simply enjoying life like never before. Despite his demeanor, he could tell that something major was going to go down. As such, he decided to lose himself in food, wine, and women. While he was tasting the finest of meals surrounded by barely clothed beauties while enjoying great art performances, Song Guixiang thought to himself, "Best decision, ever!"
At last, Sun Liao left his seclusion. At least, that was what his bodyguard thought since he was convinced Sun Liao had been alone all this time.
"Tell Director Hua that I am ready. I am sure that Emperor Weide will soon receive some good news."
Sun Liao walked away without considering his bodyguard who had been patiently waiting for days in front of the secluded room. Suddenly, he stopped himself and finally looked at his bodyguard's face.
"By the way, what's your name?"
For the first time ever, Sun Liao's bodyguard was surprised. His young master didn't even know his name?! They had spent years together and he had always thought of himself as a very loyal man. Apparently, Sun Liao could not even tell whether he had been by his side for weeks, months or years. Unfortunately, the bodyguard was right. Sun Liao had never cared for them to begin with. Since Emperor Weide had given him bodyguards, Sun Liao had always thought of them as hindrances. Now, he had a completely new vision of them. In Sun Liao's mind, they were spies for his worst enemy, Emperor Weide. As such, he was now interested in them.
"My name is General Wei Zhenhai, young master."
"I see... Well, General, you can accompany me to Director Hua to announce the good news to her. However, you and your men will have to stay away during the actual refinement process. This will be a very delicate procedure and neither I nor the alchemists can be disturbed at all. If you want to guard something, guard the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute. General, before you even think about objecting, I won't change my stance on the matter. We're talking about the future of the Hongchen Kingdom here. If the procedure fails because someone distracted us, they won't have enough of their life to expiate this sin."
General Wei Zhenhai immediately thought about objecting again. But he realized that Sun Liao was not only adamant about the subject, but he was also perfectly right. If the pill could help Emperor Weide break through and become a Sage, this was the most important event since the Seven Treaties Era. With a Sage by their side, the Hongchen Kingdom would triumph. Moreover, it wouldn't be just any Sage, but also the strongest cultivator among all humans.
"I understand, young master. This humble one will instruct your other guards. We will work with the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute to secure the refinement process without causing any disturbance. I can assure you of that."
Of course, Sun Liao really didn't want any disturbance. But more than that, he wanted the spies of Emperor Weide away while Cao Yun would participate in the refinement process. And they couldn't let them see it, no matter what. Indeed, they had to inject poison into the Nine-Souls Calamity Ascension Pill. Although Sun Liao's guards weren't alchemists, they were bodyguards. Most likely, they knew about poisons, at least enough to protect other cultivators from them to some extent.
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After months of preparation, the day had come. The entire Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute was locked down. No one could tell how long the refinement process would take. Director Hua had already warned Emperor Weide that everything was going smoothly and that she and Spirit Master Xiao would personally preside over the refinement process. In fact, it was a complete lie. Cao Yun was the one who presided over the refinement process. He was the one who had the most intimate knowledge of this Nine-Souls Calamity Ascension Pill. And he was also the one who would put the Shattered Soul Hellbloom poison in it. As such, he had to be the one in charge of overseeing everything. No one else would see the full picture but him.
Many guards and students were surrounding the Calamity Wing. Within this wing was an innermost pavilion with the largest cauldron in the Hongchen Kingdom, short of the legendary Eight-Heavens Seizing Cauldron. It was the Thirteen Celestial Pyre. Hundreds of alchemists were gathered around this incredible cauldron. Sun Liao had been active for several days already, setting up array formations and preparing the Core Earthly Life Master. In fact, Cao Yun had secretly helped, along with Dian Mo.
Apparently, Dian Mo was now extremely happy to have a young disciple. Even though Sun Liao didn't know about Dian Mo's presence within his friend's sea of consciousness, after listening to Sun Liao praising him indirectly, Dian Mo liked the young man. For Dian Mo, all the cultivators in the Hongchen Kingdom were young brats of course. But this Sun Liao was a great array formation master and he had considered Dian Mo as his teacher. Every alchemist and array formation master summoned by Director Hua was listening to Sun Liao as though he was Director Hua in person. They didn't dare question any of his orders even when they didn't understand it fully.
Dian Mo was impressed when he saw Sun Liao at work. Through Cao Yun, he gave a few tips and was elated to see that Sun Liao was able to not only use them correctly, but even improve upon them. A few times, Sun Liao had better ideas than Dian Mo. Even Cao Yun could tell that it stung Dian Mo. But he was able to cope with it.
"No wonder such a bright kid thinks of me as his master...! One day, I won't have to hold his hand for him to achieve great things..."
Cao Yun had not intentionally hidden Dian Mo. However, he was sincerely worried about an actual meeting between Sun Liao and Dian Mo. He wasn't sure Dian Mo's ego wouldn't be crushed and obliterated by Sun Liao's. His brother had fought this flaw in himself several times already. Unfortunately, such an arrogance was difficult to get rid of. Apparently, learning the truth had humbled Sun Liao a little, but it probably wouldn't last very long, especially if they were successful.
The Thirteen Celestial Pyre was made from Celestial Inborn Bronze. As such, it made manipulating Qi that much easier. For great alchemists, the difference was very noticeable, especially when it came to very delicate pills. For days, Cao Yun had sunk his spiritual senses within the cauldron. Even though the furnace was cold and the ingredients were still stored, Cao Yun had already begun the refinement. Indeed, he was following the Five Golden Elixir Principles. Ingredients Preservation had been successful and Cao Yun was absolutely certain of the quality of the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu's body. Everything had been processed and prepared specifically with his goals in mind. Besides, he was also confident in the other ingredients prepared by the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute.
Now, Cao Yun was working on Cauldron Maintenance. Cauldron Maintenance wasn't just about cleaning and maintaining one's cauldron, it was also about preparing it thoroughly for any refinement process. Cao Yun could literally create a perfect copy of the entire Thirteen Celestial Pyre in his sea of consciousness. At this moment, he had finer control and perception over this giant cauldron than anyone else in the Hongchen Kingdom. He could even perceive how the temperature was changing within the Celestial Inborn Bronze. The only way for Cao Yun to have a better perception of it would be for the cauldron to be part of his own flesh.
While Sun Liao was finishing the preparation, Cao Yun imagined the refinement process over and over again in his head. After a few dozen attempts, Cao Yun had only failed a handful of times. As such, he was very confident. Moreover, he would have the assistance of the best alchemists across the entire Piaolu planet.
Suddenly, Director Hua and Xiao Xuefeng appeared by Cao Yun's side. They didn't say anything and also began to inspect the Calamity Wing. They took note of Sun Liao's array formations and were impressed. Not only had he thought about the actual refinement process, but he had also prepared for the pill itself. Spirit pills were difficult to handle even when one could successfully refine one.
After that, they imitated Cao Yun and thought about the refinement process. Unlike Cao Yun, though, they tried dozens of times and always failed. Only Xiao Xuefeng almost succeeded, but still failed by a short margin. Despite being called Spirit Masters, they had not refined many Spirit pills. First of all, they had never refined a pill above the 1-star Spirit grade. And even then, they had failed almost as much as they had succeeded. Of course, even succeeding once was deemed incredible. However, what they were attempting was simply insane. Even with Cao Yun's help, they weren't convinced they could pull it off. Thankfully, they had the help of many talented alchemists.
All the alchemists around the Thirteen Celestial Pyre were in deep meditation and didn't even perceive Director Hua's arrival. Each one had a very specific task. As such, they were all focusing on that task and that task alone. Unlike Cao Yun, Director Hua and Spirit Master Xiao didn't imagine refining the pill as they didn't want their thoughts to be in disarray. Instead, they imagined performing their task and they were all successful. However, they didn't want to just be successful. They had to be better than ever before, to ensure that the entire process would be a success.
Soon, they would begin.