Everything was ready. Sun Liao's guards were all outside the Calamity Wing, in order to protect the refinement process. Of course, Sun Liao had made sure that they couldn't sense Cao Yun's presence at all. Indeed, Sun Liao was in charge of all the array formations, so it was extremely easy for him. Besides, they wouldn't try to send their spiritual senses inside. After all, if they were to somehow make the refinement fail, even offering their heads wouldn't be enough to atone for such a sin. The entire fate of the Hongchen Kingdom rested upon this Nine-Souls Calamity Ascension Pill.
Before the refinement process, everyone within the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute had been warned. This wouldn't be an easy refinement. In fact, it might take a few weeks or even more than a month. Apart from old records, no one had any experience with the refinement of a 5-star Spirit pill. Actually, Cao Yun had seen memories from Cleansed Asura, the Weaver of Souls and Axiu Qian. As such, he had indirect experience with it. Naturally, he was the one in charge of the entire refinement process.
Everyone was tense. All the alchemists knew how difficult and important this was. Even Spirit Masters Hua and Xiao were nervous. Of course, they were hiding it very well. But Cao Yun and Feng Yingyue could tell easily. Cao Yun was probably the only one who realized how delicate and difficult the refinement truly was. Besides, he also had to implant the poison within the pill without the other alchemists realizing it. Although they were all loyal to Director Hua, they were also loyal to the Hongchen Kingdom and to Emperor Weide. Neither Director Hua nor Cao Yun could take any chances by telling all of them the truth.
Cao Yun was not arrogant enough to claim that he could refine the pill alone, or even that he was a better alchemist than anyone else. In fact, Spirit Masters Xiao and Hua were probably better than he was. Feng Yingyue and Mei Hua were clearly better in some matters and worse in others. Considering their current level of expertise, it was honestly difficult to accurately rank them. Anyway, what truly mattered was that this pill was all about souls, both in its uses but also in its refinement. Thus, Cao Yun was the one who had the best chance of refining it.
Although he would lead the entire refinement process, Cao Yun wasn't in charge of every single detail. In fact, Spirit Masters Xiao and Hua, as well as Feng Yingyue and even Song Guixiang were all in charge of a group of alchemists with very specific tasks.
The Nine-Souls Calamity Ascension Pill's purpose was to help a Spirit Warrior break through to the Sage realm. It could also help increase a Spirit Warrior's cultivation level, but it was a secondary effect. This breakthrough to the Sage realm, also called the Dao Realm, was called the Greater Tribulation. During the Lesser Tribulation, one risked their life to form the Soul Embryo. But it was all inward. The Greater Tribulation was outward, it was almost a fight between one's soul and the Dao itself.
Indeed, the characteristic of the Dao Realm was the ability of one's soul to see directly into the Dao. As such, Sages could slowly understand and even bend the Dao. In order to see through the Dao, one had to first open their Soul Embryo's Third Eye, which was the 8th-grade Spirit Warrior stage. After that, they had to use the Bai Hui, the Gate of the Hundred Convergences, one of the Five Prodigious Gates, in order to align it with their Soul Embryo's Third Eye. This was the 9th-grade Spirit Warrior stage. A column of light would emerge as the Soul Embryo's Third Eye would try to pierce through the veil of the Dao. But the Dao would do everything to hide and keep its secrets.
The Nine-Souls Calamity Ascension Pill was meant to dramatically increase the strength of one's soul for a small amount of time. This sudden surge of strength would help break through the veil and allow the Soul Embryo's Third Eye to perceive the Dao. Just perceiving the Dao once was enough to become a Sage. From this moment on, the Sage could study lesser Dao in nature around them. They didn't need to study the Dao itself. By studying smaller parts of the Dao, easier forms of the Dao, the cultivator would eventually understand more and more of the actual Dao. Although the same word was used for the two, the Dao studied by Sages were all inferior to the actual Dao. In fact, some were even inferior to others. For example, the Dao of Time, the Dao of Space, and the Dao of Death were all great Dao. The Dao of Fire and the Dao of Water were a bit inferior, while being extremely important nonetheless. On the other hand, the Dao of Wind was less significant. Many other Dao existed. In fact, every part of nature could be considered a Dao in itself. It was why some called them Minor Dao and Major Dao. But those categories were not completely clear and could vary from cultivator to cultivator.
The refinement of the Nine-Souls Calamity Ascension Pill was separated into nine steps and one final step to complete it all. From the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu's body, one would extract waves of souls that they would imbue with various properties thanks to different materials and ingredients. There would be nine waves that would create nine circles on the pellet used as a basis for the pill. At each wave, the pill could collapse. Of course, each wave was harder than the previous one. In fact, the waves, separately, were somewhat as easy to handle as the others were. What made the difficulty increase was the fact that each wave had to be grafted into the pill without disturbing the others. Actually, they had to harmonize with the others. Obviously, it became increasingly difficult.
Finally, the last step was to finalize the pill. It was the most delicate phase of the refinement process since everyone was already exhausted and the pill was almost sentient at this stage. Indeed, as the souls would slowly enter the pill, it would gain awareness. According to Cao Yun's knowledge, it would become as sentient as a savage beast. It wouldn't understand its condition, but it would try to escape. It would lash out and even try to kill anyone nearby.
As the pill would become increasingly dangerous, it would actively work against the alchemists. For that reason, array formations were absolutely necessary. While Cao Yun would focus on the refinement itself, Dian Mo would observe the array formations. In practice, Sun Liao was the one in charge, but Dian Mo would still monitor everything to keep Cao Yun informed and make sure nothing was going wrong. For Cao Yun, it was important to have the full picture at all times. However, it was hard for him to watch everything simultaneously. Dian Mo's help was more than welcome.
At last, they began. The entire Calamity Wing was silent. Such an eerie silence was unnerving, but no one seemed to care. Indeed, they were all completely focused on their task. Even if the entire Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute came crashing down around them, they wouldn't notice. Tension was high.
From Cao Yun's spatial ring, the first batch of ingredients came out. It was a head from the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu. Despite all the preparations Cao Yun had performed, it was still exuding an aura of death and desolation that assaulted the nearby alchemists. Immediately, Sun Liao activated his array formations. Dozens of array formation masters were listening to him and altering the array formations in real time. Dian Mo was observing it all, and he became incredibly proud of Sun Liao. Since Sun Liao had recognized him as a teacher, Dian Mo had mellowed out. Cao Yun saw Dian Mo as an old grandpa proud of his descendant. Honestly, it felt strange...
Anyway, the large head was carved with many runes and characters channeling Death Energy and Ghost Energy. None could escape the carcass yet.
The first group of alchemists led by Song Guixiang was ready. In that situation, Song Guixiang's face was severe and serious. No one could recognize the plump man always running after food, wine, and women. In fact, several women thought he was some kind of hero from legend. His certainty and confidence were great. Deep down, he knew how difficult the task would be for the other groups. If the first step was lacking, it would make their work even more difficult. Each step had to succeed as well as it was possible in order for the other steps to be easier. Song Guixiang knew exactly what part of the pills the souls had to go to.
Before Song Guixiang's group, there were many ingredients. They had prepared them personally, ensuring complete familiarity with every property and reaction. In silence, Song Guixiang sent a signal to the first team in charge of the Core Earthly Life.
All of a sudden, the furnace opened. A black and emerald flame surged forth, licking the underside of the Thirteen Celestial Pyre. It was the first sound in hours. In an instant, the temperature rose dramatically.
Song Guixiang sent the prepared ingredients into the Thirteen Celestial Pyre and assigned part of his group to form the basis of the pill.
The pill itself rested upon two core ingredients.
The first, and by far the most important, was Netherstill Soul Steel. It was an extremely rare metallic alloy, one that even most blacksmiths regarded as useless. Ren Chao had been fortunate enough to acquire a small quantity. In some respects, it resembled Void-Nurtured Platinum, as souls would naturally sink into it. The crucial difference, however, was that Netherstill Soul Steel did not trap them permanently. Instead, it released them slowly over time. For weapons or artifacts, such a property made it almost worthless. For this pill, it made it irreplaceable. The metal would allow the souls of the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu to sink into the core and remain stable throughout the refinement.
The second ingredient was Ninefold Warm Spirit Grass. This herb was infamous for its violent nature. When ingested directly, it caused intense internal heat, fever, and eventually damage to the soul itself. Yet, when properly refined and fused into Netherstill Soul Steel, it served a different purpose entirely. Upon ingestion of the completed pill, the two ingredients would clash. Their opposing properties would annihilate one another completely, destroying the core from within. In that instant, all accumulated medicinal essence, along with the bound souls, would be released at once.
The remaining ingredients existed for only one purpose, to stabilize this confrontation. They would keep the Netherstill Soul Steel and the Ninefold Warm Spirit Grass bound together until the moment of consumption, while simultaneously protecting the cultivator's body and soul from the catastrophic backlash of their mutual destruction.
The core of the pill wasn't a huge problem, to be honest. The Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute had a lot of experts able to form it without any problem. The only real issue was that the two ingredients were literally meant to destroy each other. So they had to use several ingredients to mix them without causing any destruction. While a part of Song Guixiang's group was working on that, the others were all dealing with the head of the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu. Under Cao Yun's guidance, Song Guixiang approached the head from the lid of the Thirteen Celestial Pyre.
Immediately, all the alchemists heard a screech. It was low, but their senses were all great. Cao Yun recognized it with no problem. Indeed, it came directly from the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu. Afterward, though, another screech echoed this one. This time, no one recognized it, although they knew what it was. That second screech had come from the cauldron itself. Everyone knew that this cauldron had been made from a Thirteen Calamities Vulture, a 3-Pearl Immortal Beast, a creature of legend during the Forsaken Dao Era.
It was as if the two beasts responded to one another beyond the grave.
Anyway, it only lasted an instant. Song Guixiang followed Cao Yun's instructions, and gave commands to his group. They threw several powders into the fire as Sun Liao was controlling the Core Earthly Life Master. Thousands of tongues of fire erupted. They danced upon the surface of the Thirteen Celestial Pyre. Like a flower, they bloomed and then closed upon the head of the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu. It was as if a second cauldron made of pure fire had engulfed the Thirteen Celestial Pyre. However, the heat within the cauldron had not changed.
From above, Cao Yun was using all of his expertise to help control the flames. In fact, his Solar-Orchid Flame was reacting and making the flames much more docile.
Slowly, the flames began to devour the head. As the runes were burned one by one, a golden fire emerged and melded with the tongues of fire. As each tongue became golden, Song Guixiang guided them into the cauldron. The core of the pill was almost fully formed already. Obviously, it couldn't be finished before the nine circles were imbued into it. The finishing part of the refinement would finalize the core of the pill. But the basis was there and it could already accept its first soul.
With incredible precision, Song Guixiang began to inscribe the pill with specific runes and characters. He was literally using the tongues of fire both as a brush and as ink. Indeed, the golden tongues of fire were becoming the very first circle of soul around the pill. For hours, Song Guixiang stayed focused on the pill. Among his group of alchemists, a couple of them fell from exhaustion. But Song Guixiang endured. He had to make sure that the first circle was as perfect as he could manage.