Chapter 2730: Trading Life for Pills

Boom!

Suddenly, a thunderous boom echoed through the silent heavens, sounding even louder in the stillness. More than ninety percent of the people were startled, their hearts trembling as they instinctively looked up toward the vast sky. What they saw was dark clouds gathering thickly, blotting out the daylight and shrouding the world in gloom.

"Is that the pill tribulation already?" Someone exclaimed in surprise, for the churning clouds in the sky resembled the omens of a catastrophe.

"It's only been a short while since the pill refining began; it's impossible for the pill tribulation to appear now."

"In my view, it's the unseen forces of the universe shifting." The elder cultivators pondered, their aged eyes flickering with profound wisdom.

"Why do I have such a bad premonition?" Many muttered to themselves. The clear day had turned dark in an instant, as if a shadow had fallen over their hearts, creating an oppressive atmosphere. Such unprovoked changes in the weather often signaled something ominous.

"On what should be an auspicious day, we've ended up with signs of great disaster." Zao Hua Shen Wang narrowed his eyes slightly, casually grasping his creation force, intending to use it to reverse the cosmic order.

However, creation force was not all-powerful and could not overcome the unseen forces.

Or perhaps, innate creation differed from human creation. Even a great emperor might not be able to defy the heavens through sheer will, for even emperors, who stood above the Dao, remained bound by the unseen forces.

"Auspicious days turning into great disasters—Heaven isn't cooperating!" Tian Lao shook his head with a sigh.

"So what if it's a great disaster? With Ye Chen's pill refining skills, there's no reason he can't produce the Jiu Zhuan Huan Hun Dan." Di Lao rubbed his hands together. "Pill refining shouldn't depend on the date. Why all these complications?"

"You don't understand a thing." Tian Lao said leisurely, "That's a nine-marked pill. Refining it on an auspicious day can imbue it with creation forces, potentially avoiding the need for a human spirit to become the pill's spirit. But refining on a day of great disaster brings ominous signs, requiring a sacrifice to offset the pill's malice—a human spirit in exchange for the pill's spirit."

"There's such a detail to it?"

"Then what do you think Ye Chen was waiting for all those two years?"

"So, does that mean someone has to die for the pill today?"

"The choice is up to Ye Chen." Tian Lao took a deep breath. "There are three possibilities: First, stop now and abandon the refining; second, continue and find someone to sacrifice; third, try to refine the Jiu Zhuan Huan Hun Dan without anyone serving as the pill's spirit."

"The third option sounds more reliable." Di Lao stroked his beard.

"You're thinking too simply." Tian Lao said flatly, "Without a sacrifice for the pill's spirit, Ye Chen absolutely can't refine the Huan Hun Dan. Today is a day of great disaster, so even if he manages it, the pill will be cursed, its effects greatly diminished. If given to Mu Liu Qing, it might not revive her."

"If I were him, I'd just pick an ordinary day and avoid all this hassle."

"Are you out of your mind? Does that mean no pill spirit is needed on a regular day?" Tian Lao scolded, "Haven't you figured it out yet? Ye Chen planned it this way because he doesn't want anyone to die for the pill."

"Scold all you want, but don't spit on me!"

"Get over there! Seeing your old face just makes me angry. Scram."

Ah!

Listening to their bickering, Ren Wang let out a sigh. As fellow inheritors of the Zhoutian lineage, he understood Ye Chen best. By choosing an auspicious day, Ye Chen had hoped to borrow the unseen forces to avoid needing a human spirit for the pill. But the path of emperors was full of variables, turning what should have been a fortunate day into one of great disaster.

"Damn it." Ye Chen cursed inwardly, his eyes turning a shade redder.

He had waited two full years for this perfect day, only for it to end like this. The twist came so suddenly, catching him off guard. All his careful plans were no match for a single variable.

In that moment, he hesitated, unsure whether to stop or continue. Without a pill spirit, he couldn't refine the Jiu Zhuan Huan Hun Dan; with one, it meant trading lives for the pill.

The materials for the Jiu Zhuan Huan Hun Dan were incredibly rare. Many of the immortal herbs already in the furnace were likely extinct in the world. If he stopped now, he might never gather them again in his lifetime.

"Cang Lan." His thoughts were interrupted by a chorus of sharp calls—from Mo Yuan, Qin Guang Wang, Di Xuan, Donghuang Tai Xin, Yue Huang, Di Ji, and many others.

Before he could fully snap out of it, a graceful figure descended like a ghost.

It was the demon, Cang Lan, a great god of the chimei clan. With a leap, she jumped into the pill furnace, offering herself as the pill's spirit. She had long been prepared for this madness, driven by love.

That sight moved everyone deeply. Many female immortals instinctively covered their mouths.

What is love in this world? It makes people pledge life and death for it. That single word held a strange, magical power, compelling a woman to exchange her life for a pill.

Ah!

Sighs echoed from all directions, even from the elder quasi-emperors. Entering meant certain death.

Before the furnace, Ye Chen stood silently, saying nothing. Cang Lan had moved too quickly, too fast for even him to react. By the time he looked again, her delicate form was disintegrating inch by inch.

"Please." A soft, laughing voice emerged from the furnace—it was Cang Lan's final words to the world.

She was speaking to Ye Chen, hoping he would succeed in refining the pill and revive her beloved.

"Was it worth it?" Ye Chen said quietly, as if asking her or speaking to himself.

Back when the heavenly demons invaded, there were two women who, to help Dan City refine the Tian Ji Dan, willingly became the pill's spirits. They knew it was like moths to a flame, yet they charged ahead without hesitation.

Their state of mind must have been the same as Cang Lan's.

Boom! Boom!

In the ethereal void, thunder rumbled again, the rolling clouds like a raging sea.

The auspicious day had fully transformed into one of great disaster.

Ye Chen remained silent, gently raising his hand to add a few immortal herbs to the furnace. He steadily controlled the flames. He would fulfill Cang Lan's wish and revive the one called Mu Liu Qing.

From that moment, strands of lightning began to appear on him—pitch-black lightning.

It was the thunder of heavenly retribution, targeting this heaven-defying individual during his pill refining. Or perhaps, it was his inner self cursing the heavens for turning a perfect auspicious day into one of great disaster. That single variable had cost a woman her life.

"Don't provoke it further." Ren Wang shouted coldly, his words carrying the authority of an elder, his expression grim. He also hated the heavens, having cursed them before, but now was not the time. Cang Lan was already gone; he didn't want the half-step great Huang Gu Sheng Ti to suffer another catastrophe from heavenly retribution.

Ye Chen said nothing, only silently controlling the flames and adding the herbs.

Yet, the heavenly retribution on him grew stronger. Though silent on the surface, his soul was roaring. The killing intent he suppressed leaked out bit by bit, turning the air icy cold.

Boom! Boom!

His killing intent and fury made the thunder above the sky even more violent, with flashes of lightning and a pressure that made the heavens tremble. It was the will of the supreme heavens, now enraged, for a heaven-defier had challenged its authority.

The hearts of the people quaked, even the quasi-emperors. Weaker juniors couldn't help but kneel, unable to withstand the heavens' wrath. The unseen forces carried a hint of destructive power.

"Don't provoke it further." Dan Zong's cold voice rang out firmly. As Dan Shen's junior brother and a skilled refiner, he knew the intricacies of pill making. For Ye Chen to refine a pill while angering the heavens was like playing with fire—light consequences might destroy the furnace, severe ones could destroy him. Heavenly retribution thunder was no joke.

Ye Chen didn't glance sideways, blood already trickling from the corners of his mouth.

He continued to curse, enduring the retribution while raging against the heavens. From the moment the auspicious day turned disastrous, a seed of obsession had taken root and sprouted in his soul.

If there ever came a day when he could stand above the Dao, he would charge straight to the peak of the ethereal void and overthrow that detestable heaven.

Pfft!

Under everyone's gaze, his sacred body began to crack, torn by the retribution, golden blood spraying out.

Crack!

Then came the sound of bones shattering, also ripped apart by the retribution.

In just a few moments, his sacred body was left battered and bloody.

"Nonsense." Chu Huang bellowed, his voice full of imperial authority. He didn't want Ye Chen to be consumed by retribution before finishing the pill. They had already lost one demon; he couldn't bear to lose the Huang Gu Sheng Ti too.

Ye Chen's expression remained indifferent, silent and wordless.

However, his form changed. His dark hair turned strand by strand into blood-red, his deep eyes lost their pupils, becoming black voids. The fresh blood flowing from his body also turned pitch-black, with demonic energy surging like a vast ocean.

"Blood Succession Boundary?" Everyone was shocked, recognizing that dominant state, which was said to be indestructible and immortal.

"Angering the heavens and activating the Blood Succession Boundary—this..."

"I've seen people refine pills before, but this is the first time seeing someone do it in the Blood Succession Boundary state."

"With this, he's not afraid of the retribution anymore."

Discussions erupted from all sides, filled with novelty, sighs, shock, and tsking. The Huang Gu Sheng Ti, Ye Chen, had activated the Blood Succession Boundary while defying the heavens!

Crack! Crack!

The sound of bones breaking continued from Ye Chen. The Blood Succession Boundary made him unkillable and unwounded, mending his shattered bones one by one, while the flowing blood reversed back into his body.

It was a confrontation—one side the Blood Succession Boundary, the other the retribution thunder; one side in ultimate recovery, the other in ultimate destruction; one tormenting his body, the other reshaping it.

"Can cursing the heavens really activate the Blood Succession Boundary?" Long Ye murmured, glancing at the sky and then at Ye Chen.

He recalled that when Liu Ru Yan died years ago, Ye Chen had also cursed the heavens and then activated the Blood Succession Boundary. The situation now was eerily similar—someone dying, cursing the heavens, and activating the boundary. Was there some strange connection?

"How about we try it?" Long Yi touched his bald head, pondering whether cursing the heavens would work for him.

In fact, he was already cursing, heartily in his mind.

Then, the retribution came for him too, strands of black lightning tearing at his body.

Long Ye glanced sideways, scanning Long Yi up and down.

After a long while, he saw no change in Long Yi's form—no sign of activating the Blood Succession Boundary. He was being tormented by the retribution lightning, reduced to a bloody mess.

"You two are quite something." Xiu Luo Tian Zun said the same line again, his eyes on the void holding deep meaning. The so-called heavens weren't the true sky; it was a shackle, a will that couldn't be seen or touched but existed nonetheless. Even gods couldn't escape its vast power.