Chapter 291: A Thousand Pills Form a Cauldron! (1/2)
Chapter 291: A Thousand Pills Form a Cauldron!
Bitterness arose from deep within Chu Yuyan’s heart. She thought about everything that had happened within her world of illusions. Then she looked up toward the two trial by fire candidates who were at the peak of the mountain.
One was Fang Mu, whose presence, she felt, was somewhat of an accident. For some reason, though, she also felt like she had known all along that it would happen like this.
Then there was Ye Feimu, Chosen of the Dao of alchemy. Were he not there, she would have been surprised.
“I lost…” she said with a sigh, then turned and began to walk down the mountain. This mountain could be ascended, but not descended. One step back signified forfeiture, and departure from the Celestial Land.
As her foot descended, her vision blurred. When everything grew clear again, she was back on the peak of Eastern Emergence mountain. She looked over at the alchemists of the East Pill Division, and then the Cultivators from the visiting Sects. Finally, she understood; these people could not see what had happened inside her world of illusions.
This was because as she turned her head to look at the screens projected by the pill furnace, all she could see was Fang Mu’s thoughtful expression, not the world he was in.
“Welcome back,” said Pill Demon with a slight smile.
Chu Yuyan suddenly wanted to weep. The realism of the world of illusions had lasted until the moment she returned to reality, and it was still hard to tell one from the other. Wordlessly, she walked over to stand next to Pill Demon.
After Chu Yuyan, the old man and the middle-aged man appeared in quick succession, also having admitted defeat. Their eyes were vacant as they walked toward the other alchemists and then sat down cross-legged. They seemed as if their souls had been lost, and all they could do was stare blankly.
Hushed discussions immediately sprang up.
“Just what exactly did they experience in the final test in the world of illusions? Why do they all look so confused?” Even the majority of the master alchemists of the East Pill Division were unclear about the details and began to make various speculations.
Seeing the questioning looks on their disciples’ faces, the sub-Patriarchs from the various Sects began to discuss the matter.
“The world of illusions in the Violet Fate Sect’s Celestial Land uses the heart as a seed upon which to grow illusions. Under the influence of this art, no one would be able to tell the true from the false, not even someone with a Nascent Soul Cultivation base. You can never come to your senses within the illusion; therefore, it is really another life.”
“Yes, exactly. While inside, previous and future lives don’t matter, because it’s a dreamland. As for telling the difference between reality and the dream, between the past lives and the future… well, few people nowadays could do that.”
“Upon waking, the illusions will shatter, and that is when they wake up. That’s why they look so confused.”
It seemed as if they were simply discussing the matter, however, what they were actually doing was taking advantage of this East Pill Division trial by fire to train their disciples about the difference between reality and illusion.
After all, it wasn’t often that a spectacle such as this could be observed; any enlightenment derived therefrom was nothing more than good fortune.
Li Shiqi muttered to herself for a moment and then quietly asked, “The illusion shatters the moment they wake up? What happens if someone gains enlightenment, but the illusion doesn’t shatter? Would it be possible for them to gain even deeper enlightenment?”
Next to her, Tu Luo coolly responded, “For the moment, don’t even contemplate the value of such enlightenment. If someone becomes clearheaded, and is able to prevent the world of illusion from collapsing, well… that would require incredibly powerful Spiritual Sense. In fact, it would require Dao enlightenment! Therefore, something like that can only happen serendipitously, and not by choice. In my entire life, I’ve only seen one person do such a thing.”
Off to the side, the second Swordlord of the Solitary Sword Sect heard their interchange and added, “Furthermore, doing such a thing is incredibly dangerous. The more time that passes, the more likelihood by the time that person came to their senses, they would be lost, and never be able to emerge.”
As everyone engaged in their discussions, a rippling buzz filled the air as people noticed that Ye Feimu had awoken. They watched the screen as he looked over at Meng Hao. A dark look washed across his face. However, in the end, he chose to retreat, leaving the world of the Celestial Land and returning to the peak of Eastern Emergence Mountain.
The moment he appeared, calls of welcome could be heard coming from the mouths of the various alchemists he was close to.
“Congratulations in your efforts to secure the win, Furnace Lord Ye. Your rise to Violet Furnace Lord will bring about a true golden age for the East Pill Division!”
“Furnace Lord Ye, as Grandmaster Pill Cauldron, your efforts to secure the win are simply a formality. I’m just afraid that the visitors from the outside Sects might still be curious about the details of everything.”
“Congratulations Furnace Lord Ye….”
As one person after another spoke out from the crowd, Ye Feimu’s expression was no longer proud. With a slight smile, he clasped hands to the crowd. As for the title of Pill Cauldron, he hesitated, neither endorsing it, nor offering any explanation. This, of course, created a feeling of tacit approval.
While everyone was looking at Ye Feimu, Furnace Lord Ye Yuntian gave a hearty laugh. He stood and looked approvingly toward Ye Feimu.
“Feimu, why don’t you take out your pill furnace so everyone can see that you are qualified to be a Violet Furnace Lord!” Immediately, the eyes of the surrounding alchemists began to glow brightly.
An Zaihai’s brow furrowed, but he didn’t say anything.
Ye Feimu took a deep breath, and then once again, a proud expression covered his face. He smacked his bag of holding with his right hand to produce the pill furnace. It was none other than the one he had acquired within the world of the Mother of Furnaces. It had started out white, but was now violet, and emitted a violet glow which caused the glimmers of violet to reflect within the eyes of all the observing Cultivators.
Ye Yuntian looked at the violet furnace and immediately let out a loud laugh. He turned toward Pill Demon, clasped hands, and bowed deeply.
“Congratulations, Master,” he said excitedly. “It appears that this Violet Furnace Lord promotion has resulted in you acquiring a new apprentice, and that we have acquired a new Junior Brother. Feimu, why haven’t you bowed to your new Master yet?”
A glow of excitement also appeared in Ye Feimu’s eyes. He took a deep breath, and was just about to walk forward, when An Zaihai spoke up. “Junior Brother Ye,” he said coolly, “this is somewhat incongruous with protocol.”
The interchange between the two immediately caused the expressions of the six other Violet Furnace Lords to flicker. However, they didn’t reveal what they were thinking. The expressions of the Furnace Lords, however, all changed; naturally they could pick up on what was happening.
Ye Yuntian’s goal was all too obvious. That having been said, the Furnace Lords generally didn’t favor Fang Mu, and most of them liked Ye Feimu. Each and every one of them watched with various thoughts and ideas running through their heads.
As far as the ordinary master alchemists, not many of them understood what was going on. However, they could pick up on some of the clues. They watched on, speechless, waiting to see what would happen. The sub-Patriarchs from the other Sects were all experienced and astute; how could they not see what was going on?
In fact, they had begun to expect this development some time ago. Of course, they were more than happy to watch such a scene unfold.
Fatty watched on wide-eyed. He glared at Ye Feimu, and had long since begun to curse him inwardly.
Pill Demon was the big exception. From the very beginning, he hadn’t said a single word. It was as if he hadn’t heard or seen anything that had transpired.
As all eyes came to fall upon the scene, Ye Yuntian gave a slight smile. “Oh?” he said, a strange note in his voice. “Elder Brother An, Junior Brother doesn’t really understand what you mean. Would you mind clearing up my confusion?”
“Ye Feimu wasn’t the only person to step foot onto the peak of the mountain,” replied An Zaihai calmly.