Yuan’s Ascension

"My foundation is too weak?" Wu Yuan was taken aback, then smiled bitterly. His foundation in pill refining was indeed very poor, practically zero!

"What are the requirements to pass this trial?" Sovereign Kua Chi inquired.

"For pill cultivation, the requirement is to refine ten types of Archimmortal-level medicinal pills. Any pills will do, but each type must be successfully refined three times in a row," Wu Yuan replied.

"For equipment cultivation, the requirement is to forge ten low-grade celestial artifacts. For talisman cultivation, the requirement is to craft ten Archimmortal-level talismans, with no restrictions on type."

Whether pill cultivation, equipment cultivation, or talisman cultivation, all of them required Wu Yuan to reach the Archimmortal level.

Even for low-grade celestial artifacts, one typically had to be an Archimmortal equipment forger to forge them easily.

"Any single requirement wouldn't be too difficult for you, but having to meet all three simultaneously poses a challenge," Sovereign Kua Chi said. "I don't know the passing requirements for other Archimmortals and Archdeities, but if they're all this challenging, then at the trial ground you're in, forget about three thousand people passing – it would be difficult for even a thousand to succeed."

"That difficult?" Wu Yuan was slightly shocked.

It was worth noting that there were nearly twenty thousand Archimmortals and Archdeities in his trial ground, generally of considerable strength. Logically, they shouldn't be too weak in other areas. Yet supposedly less than a thousand could meet the standards?

However, these words came from Sovereign Kua Chi. They carried significant weight.

The only thing Wu Yuan wasn't clear on was whether the passing requirements for other Archimmortals and Archdeities were more or less difficult than his own.

"Master, please wait a moment while I inquire," Wu Yuan said. His qi refiner self immediately began to check with Archimmortal Li Shu.

Very quickly, Wu Yuan obtained a wealth of information from Archimmortal Li Shu.

…

Inside the highest-grade pill-refining ground of the Cang Feng Eldritch World, Wu Yuan's body refiner self turned to Sovereign Kua Chi: "Master, this disciple has learned that the passing requirements for other Archimmortals and Archdeities are basically the same as mine. They all require reaching the Archimmortal level, with only some differences in quantity.”

“In that case, there's no need to rush," Sovereign Kua Chi smiled. "Sharpening the axe will not delay the chopping of wood. I shall first explain the basics to you in detail."

"Yes," Wu Yuan nodded.

Although he had never studied pill cultivation or equipment cultivation methods, he understood this couldn't be accomplished in just a year or two. It might take at least a hundred years, or even up to a thousand. There was no need to hurry at this moment. Listening to his master and building a solid foundation was the right choice.

"Pill cultivation, equipment cultivation, talisman cultivation, and even array cultivation, are all essentially about studying the natural order or operation of all things," Sovereign Kua Chi said. "But that's something one can only say when approaching the ultimate end of these paths, usually only Sovereigns can reach that level. For the vast majority of cultivators, these three paths have enormous differences.

Since those Archimmortals and Archdeities haven't broken through after such long years, it shows their talents aren't that extraordinary. They may have great potential in one path, such as pill refining or equipment forging. But for them to simultaneously achieve a high level of mastery in two or even three paths? The probability of that is exceedingly low! One in ten thousand!"

Wu Yuan nodded in agreement.

Pill cultivation, equipment cultivation, talisman cultivation, array cultivation and the like were not fundamentally different from comprehending Laws.

With the corresponding talent, comprehending laws would be twice as effective with half the effort, allowing one to quickly grasp a path. Without talent, even expending a hundred or thousand times more effort might not lead to a breakthrough.

"So, you needn't worry about being quickly left behind," Sovereign Kua Chi said. "Even if you don't obtain two or three Black Devil Tokens, ultimately passing the second trial shouldn't be difficult."

"Yes," Wu Yuan felt more at ease. After all, he was starting from zero, so he didn't dare hope for too much. Just passing the second trial would suffice.

…

Wu Yuan and Sovereign Kua Chi stood before an enormous pill furnace.

"Disciple, do you know why I said the Great Dao of Creation is most compatible with pill refining?" Sovereign Kua Chi smiled.

Wu Yuan shook his head.

"So-called medicinal pills, whether they enhance talent, restore mana, accelerate cultivation, poison one slowly, heal bodily injuries...or cause all sorts of effects, they essentially cannot escape the two concepts of ‘life’ and ‘death’," Sovereign Kua Chi said. "They either cause life or cause death.

Between life and death, that is pill cultivation."

Wu Yuan listened in awe. This was the first time he had heard such an explanation of pill cultivation.

"Pill cultivation is about combining countless matter in heaven and earth, especially living matter, in hopes of producing all sorts of wondrous changes, ultimately forming medicinal pills," Sovereign Kua Chi said. "The process of studying pill cultivation will gradually reveal the profundities of heaven and earth, making it easier to comprehend Laws afterward.

So, the first step on the path of pill cultivation is to analyze and study the myriad beings and things of heaven and earth.

The Great Dao of Creation is most adept at this path," Sovereign Kua Chi said. "Followed by the Law of Life."

Wu Yuan suddenly understood.

So that was it. The Dao was the foundation. If one's comprehension of the Great Dao of Creation and Law of Life were extremely deep, then learning pill cultivation would naturally be much easier.

But so-called ease was only relative. Sovereign Kua Chi must have invested enormous effort to become the number one pill refiner in the eldritch world.

"Normally, if your comprehension of the Creation Dao reaches the Dao Field stage and progress slows, I would also recommend you study pill cultivation, or even equipment cultivation, array cultivation and the like, enabling you to make progress through related fields," Sovereign Kua Chi said.

"However, since you've now crystallized the Great Dao’s True Intent, achieving Astral Monarch-level comprehension, studying these minor cultivation paths early may also lead to marvelous effects."

Wu Yuan inwardly marveled at the cultivation plan his Master had already prepared for him.

"Regarding pill cultivation, I've prepared two training routes for you.

The first is the fast track," Sovereign Kua Chi said. "That is to specifically choose ten types of Archimmortal-level celestial pills. You'll focus on learning the corresponding pill refining techniques, sparing no expense to practice them repeatedly, gradually increasing your proficiency until you ultimately succeed.

The advantage is speed. With your comprehension of Creation True Intent, combined with your understanding of Space and Time, you should be able to succeed in as little as a few decades, and at most two to three hundred years.

The disadvantage is that when you later research other celestial pills, you'll still encounter great difficulties, because you'll only know the ‘how’ but not the ‘why’," Sovereign Kua Chi said. "It also won't be of much help when you learn equipment cultivation and talisman cultivation."

As little as a few decades? At most two to three hundred years? Wu Yuan thought to himself, then asked, "Master, what about the second route?"

"The second is to progress step by step, starting with refining the most basic medicinal pills, and gradually leveraging Creation True Intent to analyze the fundamental profundities of all things in heaven and earth, understanding the inherent rules behind the operating principles of all things," Sovereign Kua Chi said.

"So-called pill formulas and pill refining techniques are essentially summaries of Laws, with nothing particularly special about them.

This method of cultivation will be very slow at first, but your accumulation of insights will grow as you go on, and you’ll become a true master alchemist.

If you analyze the profundities of all things, you’ll be able to overcome the equipment cultivation and talisman cultivation tests more quickly as well," Sovereign Kua Chi said. "It will also be of great help when you comprehend the Great Dao of Creation in the future.

The main disadvantage is that it's slow, extremely slow, since analyzing all things and beings to understand their fundamental nature is very difficult.

It could take as little as a thousand years, or as long as tens of thousands of years. It really depends on your talent," Sovereign Kua Chi said. "And this is based on your Astral Monarch-level comprehension.

If you only had Archimmortal-level comprehension, then studying for hundreds of thousands or millions of years without much progress would be quite normal."

Wu Yuan nodded slightly.

One path was easy at first but difficult later; the other was difficult at first but easy later.

Several breaths went by.

"Have you decided?" Sovereign Kua Chi asked.

"Master, I choose the second path," Wu Yuan said solemnly.

"Oh? Tell me your reasoning," Sovereign Kua Chi said curiously.

"First, I believe in myself. As Master said, my Dao comprehension level is high enough," Wu Yuan said seriously. "Second, given how Sovereign Black Devil set up this inheritance trial, I believe his intention is not for us to find shortcuts just to pass the immediate test we’re facing.

Having us study pill cultivation, equipment cultivation, and talisman cultivation likely has some connection to the final inheritance.

So this disciple would rather progress slowly but steadily," Wu Yuan paused for a moment. "Of course, if after decades or a century of study, I struggle to make progress on the second path, it's not too late to switch to the first."

"Very well. Since you've thought it through, let's begin," Sovereign Kua Chi said. "You've already obtained the ‘Black Devil Secret Codex’. I also have a ‘Pill Codex of All Things’, which is an extremely powerful pill cultivation teaching I've acquired.

With these two great teachings to cross-reference, your progress will be more stable."

Before long, Wu Yuan received the full ‘Pill Codex of All Things’ from his Master. Comparing it to the partial information obtained from the ‘Black Devil Secret Codex’, Wu Yuan could perceive the differences between the two.

The ‘Black Devil Secret Codex’ focuses more on techniques. It contains more advanced pill refining methods. Wu Yuan pondered. While the ‘Pill Codex of All Things’ approaches pill cultivation more from the perspective of analyzing all things.

The two great teachings weren't superior or inferior to each other, just two different approaches. But both were unfathomably profound.

Pill cultivation is also a great path in itself. Wu Yuan marveled more and more at the two teachings as he pondered and contemplated them, and grew increasingly in awe of their creators.

No wonder countless cultivators choose to immerse themselves in pill cultivation. This too is an ultimate path. If one deduces all things to the endpoint, one could probably use all of heaven and earth as a pill furnace, refining all things in heaven and earth.

That was the ultimate level, the pinnacle of pill cultivation.

Studying the two teachings also gave Wu Yuan a deeper understanding of the pros and cons of the two approaches.

I want to take both paths. Wu Yuan's heart was filled with longing. First study the profundities of all things, analyze all things, then cultivate various pill refining techniques, striving to improve my pill refining skills.

…

"To deduce the fundamental nature of all things and beings, you must first analyze the fundamental nature of life.

Pill cultivation primarily uses spirit herbs. So what you need to do first is to analyze and understand the medicinal properties and basic units of life of these fifty-five thousand spirit herbs," Sovereign Kua Chi began explaining to Wu Yuan.

The first step was not understanding the operating principles behind esoteric Dao profundities, or practicing impressive pill refining techniques.

The first step was to recognize spirit herbs. The second step was to analyze spirit herbs.

These fifty-five thousand spirit herbs encompass all the basic units of life collected by the eldritch world over billions of years? Wu Yuan listened in awe.

These spirit herbs contain a total of 5.5 million basic units of life, and countless lifeforms are combinations of these basic units of life?

If one could analyze the life essence of all these spirit herbs, would that mean unraveling the natural profundities of the Law of Life?

With Sovereign Kua Chi's explanation, Wu Yuan became aware of another aspect of the Law of Life – the origin and basic building blocks of countless lifeforms.

However, it was easier said than done. As Wu Yuan delved into the actual comprehension and deduction, he truly felt the difficulty involved.

5.5 million types of basic units of life, each with only subtle differences, combining in countless ways. It was truly endless.

Even the tiniest lifeform, the most ordinary spirit herb, was composed of hundreds of trillions of these basic units of life. It was extremely complex.

It takes at least an Archimmortal or Archdeity to reach a level of insight and observation required to perceive it. And even so, they can just barely observe. Wu Yuan quickly realized.

Analyzing all things sounded simple, but it was an incredibly difficult path that ordinary cultivators were not qualified to tread. Only the powerful souls of Archimmortals and Archdeities barely reached the minimum criteria. Otherwise, forget about comprehension and deduction, even memorizing a small portion would be impossible.

Memorize? One can only remember a part. True understanding is necessary for combination. Wu Yuan was awed and captivated.

Each tiny basic unit of life seemed unremarkable on its own, but when countless units combined, they produced miraculous changes, imbuing them with infinite possibilities.

This was life!

Basic units of life, the essence of heaven and earth's evolution. Wu Yuan immersed himself, rapidly gaining insights.

He had already crystallized Creation True Intent, the so-called Creation’s essence, which inherently contained the essence of the evolution of life.

Thus, with just a bit of contemplation, Wu Yuan's progress was astonishingly swift.