The lightning tribulation struck again, but the result was the same.
The Alchemy Dragon Pillars blocked everything, so the lightning could not harm Xu Zimo.
“Looks like it’s a ninth-grade pill,” Green Cloud muttered.
The ending seemed already set.
The pill thunder fell again and again, while the azure flames churned violently.
It was clearly reaching its finale.
The lightning was beginning to disperse, and the pill was nearly formed.
Just then, Xu Zimo suddenly waved his right hand.
He forcibly pulled the half-formed pill out of the azure fire.
On this pill, the phantom of a golden dragon and the Nine-Lives Cat Demon were halfway merged.
It had become a strange creature, neither dragon nor cat.
Its head was feline, but dragon horns sprouted from its skull. Most striking of all were its eyes, merged into a pair that was both shadowy and majestic.
Its body bore both dragon scales and cat fur, with razor-sharp dragon claws extending outward.
“Has he gone mad?!” Green Cloud exclaimed in shock.
The pill was almost finished, but doing this would destroy it completely.
Xu Zimo stepped into the air, leaving the protection of the Alchemy Dragon Pillars.
Now unshielded, he faced the heavenly lightning head-on.
He tossed the unfinished pill into the void.
The tribulation had been about to fade away, but with the pill reappearing, the lightning grew fiercer than ever.
It gathered in the heavens, as if provoked, intent on destroying the pill instantly.
The silver-white lightning turned into black thunder, descending with the aura of world-destruction.
Yet Xu Zimo remained unmoved, watching calmly as his pill was engulfed.
Only then did he slowly extend his right hand.
Azure spiritforce of the Supreme-Primordial Cloud-Hands condensed in his palm.
When he stretched his hand upward, that azure energy suddenly erupted.
It became a towering beam of light, surging with immense power, stabbing into the heavens as though to tear apart the tribulation above.
The endless azure aura surged.
It plunged into the storm, and the skies turned pitch black.
Everyone looked upward, only Xu Zimo stood there, alone.
His black robes fluttered in the wind, his gaze calm, with endless lightning flashing in his eyes.
His presence suppressed all beneath heaven.
Facing the boundless thunder alone.
A single man’s power could shake the heavens.
“What is he trying to do?”
“I’ve never heard of this kind of pill-refining method.”
Even the Alchemy Sage of the Alchemy God Tower frowned deeply.
He had spent his whole life in alchemy, in the Mortal Ascension Heaven, if not invincible, then close to it.
Few in the world surpassed him.
His breadth of knowledge was unmatched.
And yet this youth’s pill refinement, he could not understand it at all.
There could only be one explanation: this pill-refining method was not of the Mortal Domain.
The Nine Heavens were vast and boundless, only that could explain it.
At this moment, Xu Zimo’s solemn, mysterious voice resounded from the void.
“Thirty-Eight Tribulations of the Alchemy Dao. Chaos moves infinitely, mirroring the heavens.
Numbers, collisions, divergence! Image, calculation, separation! The meaning of Primordial Alchemy responds to heaven. Heaven, earth, and man, none can contain it! Primordial Alchemy, that is the true Alchemy Dao. When the Primordial Alchemy God-Scripture is inscribed, the Celestial Wheel takes form!”These words were the preface of the Primordial Alchemy God-Scripture, its prologue.
“Primordial Alchemy… Primordial Alchemy…” the Alchemy Sage muttered below.
As he repeated Xu Zimo’s words, his eyes glazed over, losing all focus, as if entering a trance.
“Alchemy Sage, what’s wrong?” Ghost Buddha asked nearby.
But the Alchemy Sage did not respond, he only murmured those words again and again.
After some time, he suddenly lifted his head, his eyes snapping wide open, as if a realization had struck him.
“Alchemy Sage, are you alright?” Ghost Buddha pressed.
“The Primordial Alchemy… the Primordial Alchemy, that is the Primordial Alchemy God-Scripture...!” the elder whispered, his face pale, shaken with both excitement and despair.
As his words fell, the heavens had already reached a conclusion.
The vast tribulation clashed with Xu Zimo for half a moment, then obliterated the pill completely before vanishing without a trace.
The pill tribulation came swiftly, and left just as swiftly.
The sky cleared, instantly, the sun shone bright again.
As if nothing had happened.
“The lightning’s gone,” the crowd murmured.
“What about his pill?”
“Looks like it was destroyed by the lightning.”
“Tch, I thought he had something amazing, turned out to be all bark and no bite.”
“Could it be he knew he was going to lose, so he staged this spectacle on purpose?”
In the stands, Ghost Buddha’s face lit with excitement. He turned to the Alchemy Sage, saying with a laugh:
“What ‘Primordial Alchemy God-Scripture’? Elder, just announce the results. His pill was destroyed. Green Cloud’s pill is a supreme ninth-grade pill, he should take first place. As expected of one trained by the Alchemy God Tower, young and promising.”
He continued to offer congratulations, but the Alchemy Sage remained motionless, his gaze fixed solely on Xu Zimo.
Xu Zimo descended from the void.
With a wave of his right hand, at the distant horizon, an Immortal Dragon emerged, stirring the clouds as it flew toward him.
This dragon bore true spirit, it coiled through the air, shining with endless radiance.
With a flick of Xu Zimo’s hand, the dragon turned into a pill, floating toward him.
Another wave, and the pill turned back into a dragon, soaring once more.
“What kind of pill is this?” Green Cloud asked.
“The Nine-Lives Immortal Dragon Pill,” Xu Zimo smiled.
“I’ve heard of pills with spirit, manifesting in physical form,” Green Cloud muttered.
“Legend says that the 34th Supreme Alchemy God once refined such a pill. At that time, the Primal God Race and the Ten Primordial Bloodlines were at war. When he produced this pill, it too had spirit, transforming into a colossal ancient giant. On that battlefield, it was invincible, slaughtering the Primal God Race until none remained. That battle made his name resound across the world. Later generations called such pills Imperial Pills.”
At this, Green Cloud exhaled deeply, filled with awe.
“Most people see alchemy as an auxiliary path. Yet they do not realize that when cultivated to its peak, pills too can decide the fate of the world, unstoppable. Among the three thousand Grand Daos, why should the Alchemy Dao fear any other?”
“This can’t be considered a true Imperial Pill, at most... a Pseudo-Imperial Pill,” Xu Zimo smiled.
“But your pill is clearly ninth-grade. How could it step into Pseudo-Imperial rank?”
At these words, Green Cloud bowed deeply to Xu Zimo.
“Please, enlighten me, guide me.”
Xu Zimo chuckled, pointing toward the sky.
He asked, “What is the purpose of a Pill Tribulation?”
“The Grand Dao does not permit certain pills to exist, so heaven sends down tribulation to destroy them,” Green Cloud replied.
“Then you’ve taken the wrong path, my friend,” Xu Zimo said, patting his shoulder with a smile. “If a mere ninth-grade pill is not tolerated by heaven, then what of Imperial Pills, or even stronger pills? Wouldn’t they be beyond heaven’s laws?”
Green Cloud frowned slightly.
“Without a storm how can there be a rainbow? Without the baptism of Pill Tribulation, how could an Imperial Pill be forged?” Xu Zimo replied.
“Think on it. Carefully taste it.”