Zuo Qiuming's dao heart took a heavy blow.
In pill refining, there is no such thing as luck.
Because he understood this clearly, Zuo Qiuming knew that Yang Cheng's pill dao mastery surpassed his own.
He had always claimed to be the number one pill dao genius of the Wasteland Realm, even believing that across all heavens and worlds, few could match his talent.
But now—forget about the heavens and worlds—he couldn't even dominate in the Wasteland Realm.
From then on, it became Yang Cheng's one-man performance.
The eighth trial: White Bone Heaven Pill.
This was already the highest tier under divine pills.
It was an Emperor Pill.
Yang Cheng finally grew a little serious.
To refine this pill, he spent half an hour.
Meanwhile, Zuo Qiuming, after failing once again, finally managed on his third attempt to produce a Seventh-Turn Purple Pill.
When Yang Cheng stepped into the ninth trial, the entire pill wall trembled.
This stage gave no prompts, only a boundless chaotic void.
Yang Cheng smiled. "Heaven and Earth empty? Then… let's refine a 'Heaven and Earth Pill.'"
The Heaven and Earth Pill used the qi of heaven and earth and one's own dao intent as ingredients, with the pill domain itself as the furnace.
Its effects resembled the Bodhi Pill.
Anyone who consumed it could comprehend the dao of heaven and earth—and the dao of the refiner.
With a wave of his hand, heaven and earth qi condensed in his palm, and the power of his pill domain quietly unfolded.
Hum!
Before Yang Cheng, currents of qi spun, first forming a whirlpool, then slowly shaping into a pill.
The pill masters of Divine Medicine Valley all stared wide-eyed, never having seen such an uncanny method of alchemy.
No herbs, no furnace, no flame—yet a pill was being made?
"Condense!"
After half a quarter-hour, a jet-black pill solidified.
The moment the pill was born, a profound, formless power spread outward, spilling beyond the secret realm of the pill wall.
Everyone outside instantly felt an extraordinary sensation, as if they were on the verge of enlightenment.
"A divine pill."
"This is a divine pill!"
"He actually refined a divine pill."
The Divine Medicine Valley crowd felt as though thunder had struck them.
Zuo Qiuming was hit like by a bolt from a clear sky. "I… lost…"
Yu Qiuyue stared at Yang Cheng, her thoughts unreadable.
"Chengcheng is still as incredible as ever."
Tang Xingyu's eyes shone like stars.
Cheng Junyi smiled faintly.
Yang Cheng's spiritual power returned to his body.
Ding!
[Zuo Qiuming was struck so hard by Host that he coughed blood on the spot, his confidence collapsing.]
[Though unclear why Host's refining of only a God-Peeking grade pill could crush him so, Host truly pushed Zuo Qiuming to despair.]
[Host's mission achievement has reached the 'outstanding' tier, reward: Six-Star Golden Dantian.]
[…]
Yang Cheng silently willed: continue the mission.
Then he opened his eyes and looked ahead.
Inside the pill wall, the tenth gate opened.
This was the Starfall Ancient Gate.
Within lay the inheritance of Pill God Gu Chen, and his strange flame, the "Starfall Iceflame."
Yang Cheng walked toward the ancient gate.
Zuo Qiuming, unwilling to concede, charged after him.
But a barrier of light formed at the gate, blocking him outside.
Furious, Zuo Qiuming punched the barrier, shattering his own finger bones.
To watch helplessly as such a supreme pill dao chance was seized by another—it was like having his heart ripped out.
At that moment, Yang Cheng's mission achievement reached the 'epic' tier, reward: Nine-Star Golden Dantian.
Inside the Starfall Ancient Gate—
Yang Cheng saw a skeleton.
Within its bones, a flame of blue and white burned.
This place wasn't hot at all. Instead, it gave off a bone-chilling cold.
"Younger one, since you've appeared here, it means you've passed my test."
An ancient voice echoed. "Next, you may gain my inheritance and my strange flame, but you'll also inherit my grudges.
I was fortunate enough to obtain the legendary Kunlun Pill Dao inheritance. When the 'Pill God Hall' learned of this, they came to hunt me down.
In the end, I'd rather die than let them take my fortune. I burned my divine soul, crossed through many worlds, and fell into this remote Wasteland Realm.
If you accept my inheritance, once the Pill God Hall discovers you, they will hunt you as well. Consider this carefully."
Pill God Hall!
Yang Cheng's heart tensed.
He had encountered disciples of the Pill God Hall before. Even a single disciple had terrifying pill dao mastery.
And in the future, Zuo Qiuming would be extremely fortunate, chosen by one of the elders of the Pill God Hall as a disciple.
But Yang Cheng would never reject such a great fortune just because of fear of the Pill God Hall.
"I accept the inheritance."
Yang Cheng spoke firmly.
As his voice fell, the skeleton before him crumbled to dust. A formless light shot into Yang Cheng's body.
Yang Cheng used Samadhi True Fire to block it first. After confirming it was harmless, he allowed it to merge with him.
In an instant, a flood of pill dao inheritance poured into his sea of consciousness.
The most precious among them was the Kunlun Pill Scripture, the absolute peak method of pill dao cultivation.
And Gu Chen's Starfall Iceflame was no less extraordinary.
Previously, every strange flame Yang Cheng encountered could be swallowed directly by his Samadhi True Fire.
But this Starfall Iceflame couldn't be consumed so easily.
Only after careful sensing did Yang Cheng realize—the Starfall Iceflame wasn't this powerful at first.
When Gu Chen received the Kunlun Pill Dao inheritance, a mysterious force from it merged into the flame, strengthening it.
If not for the Pill God Hall's pursuit that led to Gu Chen's fall, Gu Chen would surely have become a pill dao powerhouse known across the heavens.
In the end, neither Starfall Iceflame nor Samadhi True Fire could overcome the other.
They slowly reached balance, merging into a new flame, swirling like a Taiji yin-yang fish.
Yang Cheng stared at the flame before him.
Half of it was blue-white, the other half void.
Because the blue-white side gave off a bright glow, the void side revealed a deep black, like a black flame.
This new flame could no longer be called "Samadhi True Fire," nor was it just Starfall Iceflame.
Yang Cheng didn't bother to overthink. He simply said, "You'll be called Black and White True Fire."
Boom!
At that moment, the pill wall collapsed completely, and Yang Cheng's figure appeared once again before everyone's eyes.
"My fortune…"
Zuo Qiuming felt a hollow emptiness in his heart.
He believed all of this should have belonged to him, yet it had been taken away by Yang Cheng.
"Kill… if I kill him, I can take back my fortune."
Zuo Qiuming's eyes gleamed with icy intent.
Sensing his killing intent, Yang Cheng looked at him calmly.
"Valley Master, block Cheng Junyi for me. I'll kill him."
Zuo Qiuming spoke decisively.
"Impossible."
Valley Master Tan and others urgently objected.
Zuo Qiuming, trapped inside the secret realm, had no idea what had happened outside.
Yang Cheng was someone who had suppressed even a Twofold Martial Sovereign. How could Zuo Qiuming possibly contend with him?
Although Zuo Qiuming's martial talent was strong—having reached Threefold Martial Saint in his early twenties—that strength was still far from Yang Cheng's.
Zuo Qiuming's eyes went cold. "Valley Master Tan, you would stop me?"
He had expected Elder Qiu and others to oppose him, even that Yu Qiuyue might not cooperate.
But the one who first stood against him was Valley Master Tan, who had always been utterly loyal to him.