Chapter 125: Retribution

One day, two days, three days... Eight days passed in the blink of an eye.

Xu Zhe was fully immersed in his cultivation. He operated the Righteous Sealing Demon Sutra, greedily devouring the spiritual energy from all directions, and supplemented his intake with spiritual herbs over a hundred thousand years old to solidify the energy he absorbed.

In just eight days, he had surged from the early stage of the Golden Core to the middle stage. Furthermore, this advancement was remarkably solid and stable. Such a meteoric rise would leave any ordinary cultivator dumbfounded. However, for Xu Zhe, the situation was not entirely optimistic.

He had underestimated the amount of spiritual energy required to raise his cultivation level. He had originally thought that it would take about ten days to step directly into the late stage of the Golden Core. Yet, he never expected that even with his five peerless Heavenly Spirit Roots pushed to their limits, combined with the dense spiritual energy of the Divine Pill Grotto and the additional consolidation from medicinal herbs, eight days had only brought him to the middle stage.

The efficiency was completely different from what he had imagined.

"Is this the potential of a Heavenly Pill cultivator?" Xu Zhe’s expression was complex.

Logically, four days should have been sufficient to reach the middle stage of the Golden Core, but during his cultivation, more than half of the spiritual energy had been absorbed by the Heavenly Pill, dragging the process out to eight days. By this calculation, the time required for his future cultivation would likely double.

The crucial issue was that despite absorbing so much energy, the Heavenly Pill seemed unchanged—it remained the same size, with the same color and appearance. Aside from the strength increase brought by the breakthrough to the middle stage, the Heavenly Pill hadn't provided any significant boost, leaving him feeling somewhat cheated.

"This doesn't make sense. According to the law of conservation of energy, the spiritual energy absorbed by the Heavenly Pill shouldn't just vanish into thin air," Xu Zhe frowned. No matter how many times he scanned the Heavenly Pill and his dantian with his divine sense, he could never find where that energy had gone.

"This is truly interesting. Perhaps this is the reason why the human race is powerful—it is filled with mysteries everywhere, which also implies infinite possibilities. Heavenly Pill... I will see just how much you can absorb." Xu Zhe rubbed his chin and smiled slightly.

Since he couldn't find the cause, he could only continue to cultivate. After all, the path of the Heavenly Pill was one that no one had succeeded on for a long time, and he had no experience to draw upon. Other than walking this path to the end, he had no other options. From start to finish, Xu Zhe had remained sitting in place. At this moment, he closed his eyes once more and entered his cultivation state.

...

Meanwhile, in the Divine Pill Grotto, several figures in black robes stopped in a herb field, their expressions gloomy and unsightly. Several sonic booms echoed from ahead, followed by a few more black-robed figures arriving from afar. When the groups converged and saw the expressions on each other's faces, their own countenances darkened even further.

"You didn't find anything either?"

"Not a single trace. Where exactly did that brat hide?"

"Could he have already left the Divine Pill Grotto?"

"Impossible. Eight days ago, people saw Gu Jia'er and Qu Hongxiu leave, but Xu Zhe did not."

"Moreover, for these past eight days, our men have been guarding the exit. Every person who left was carefully checked; none were Xu Zhe in disguise. So, he must still be inside."

"Then where could he have gone? We have searched several times over these past few days. Forget about Xu Zhe; we couldn't even find an ordinary Golden Core cultivator."

"Could he be hiding?" one of the black-robed men suddenly guessed.

As soon as he spoke, the others stared at him as if he were an idiot. They had long since received news that Xu Zhe had the ability to open the restrictions on the herb fields. Having finally entered the Divine Pill Grotto, would he ignore so many precious herbs just to hide? Was that necessary?

They believed their own tracks had been well-hidden and impossible to detect, so Xu Zhe had no reason to intentionally hide. Even if his tracks were exposed, or if he knew someone was out to get him, he shouldn't be hiding in the Divine Pill Grotto. Whether it was the Putuo Holy Land or the border battlefields of the Southern Heaven Continent, both were much safer than staying here. At the very least, it would be much harder for them to find an opportunity to strike in those places.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm making a logical deduction. Otherwise, with our strength, how could we have failed to find him for so many days?" the black-robed man said slowly. The others withdrew their gazes, though they did give it some serious thought.

If one discards all impossibilities and leaves behind an improbable guess, perhaps Xu Zhe really was hiding in the Divine Pill Grotto.

"If that is the case, then we don't have enough time to find him," the black-robed man said in a deep voice. "The Divine Pill Grotto will close in just two days."

"Most people have already left. Even if that brat is hiding, he should be looking for an opportunity to get out. Our focus has already shifted to the area around the exit."

"What if he doesn't leave? Don't forget, the key is in Gu Jia'er’s hands. If she gave it to him, he could stay as long as he wants."

"Wait, everyone, I think I understand," one of them suddenly exclaimed. All eyes turned toward him.

"You might be right. Xu Zhe might have obtained Gu Jia'er's key, and he is hiding to wait for the secret realm to close. Once everyone else is gone, he intends to harvest all the herbs in the Divine Pill Grotto," the man said.

The others' eyes brightened.

"This fellow daoist from the Shenhou Palace makes sense. If the realm hasn't closed, Xu Zhe harvesting all the herbs would surely cause a huge stir and bring all sorts of trouble. But once it closes and the area is deserted, he can cast aside all caution and harvest everything to his heart's content."

"Then... what is everyone’s decision?" someone asked.

"The realm closes in two days. If we continue to ambush the exit, we might catch him. But since that brat holds the key, he might leave through the Putuo Holy Land's exit, or even some other exit we don't know about."

"The only safe method is for us to stay behind after the realm closes and wait for him to reveal himself..." As one of the black-robed men said this, the others fell into silence. They were hesitant. While staying behind was safe and likely to catch Xu Zhe, the problem was that if they were wrong and Xu Zhe hadn't stayed, they would all be trapped here for a full hundred years until the next Divine Pill Assembly. The price was too high.

"Fellow daoists from the Shenhou Palace, if you feel it's not safe, you may leave. My Mo family can stay behind to handle this," one of the black-robed men said. The others from the Shenhou Palace looked at each other. If they left and Xu Zhe actually stayed behind to be captured by the Mo family, the credit would have nothing to do with them.

"The head of the Mo family misunderstands. We don't think it's unsafe. Since this task was arranged by those noble guests from afar, we should naturally do our utmost. However, before that, we should also prepare some contingencies." Finally, one of them spoke up. The two parties stood together and began to discuss their plans.

...

Two days later, the Divine Pill Grotto closed. All cultivators departed; no one wanted to be trapped for a hundred years. Only the group of black-robed men remained, dispersed and hiding in concealed corners, keeping a constant watch over the herb fields.

Then, one day, two days, three days... A full ten days passed. The Divine Pill Grotto remained silent and tranquil. Not a single figure appeared in the herb fields. The dozen or so black-robed men hiding in the shadows felt their hearts sink to the bottom.

...

On the other side, in a cave halfway up a mountain, Xu Zhe opened his eyes once more, his body radiating wisps of dense spiritual energy. The late stage of the Golden Core was achieved!

As he expected, stepping from the middle stage to the late stage took even more time. During this period, the majority of the spiritual energy was still absorbed by the Heavenly Pill. But this time, the Heavenly Pill had changed. The moment he stepped into the late stage, the Heavenly Pill within his dantian expanded in size, and its surface began to appear translucent. Inside the Heavenly Pill, a tiny figure in a seated posture had vaguely appeared—it looked very blurry, but it was a prototype.

"A Nascent Soul? How is this possible?" Xu Zhe was surprised. The transformation from Golden Core to Nascent Soul was a metamorphosis that required passing through the Heavenly Tribulation. Yet now, having just entered the late stage of the Golden Core, a Nascent Soul prototype had formed within his Heavenly Pill, meaning he had already begun the transformation process into the Nascent Soul stage.

"This is truly a different path!" A smile slowly spread across Xu Zhe's face. He didn't know which path was the orthodox one, but the strength he had gained at this late stage of the Golden Core was immense. Even in the Cangtian Domain, his strength at this level could already be compared to a genius in the early stage of the Nascent Soul.

"If we rank it this way, it means that here in the Qingtian Domain, my late-stage Golden Core strength is roughly comparable to others in the Soul Formation stage," Xu Zhe thought, feeling quite satisfied.

All his efforts had not been in vain. He had been willing to self-detonate his original Golden Core to achieve the Heavenly Pill. Now, through eighteen days of tireless, non-stop cultivation—eight days longer than planned—he had seen the rewards.

"Although this late-stage Golden Core is comparable to the early Soul Formation stage in the Qingtian Domain, and I even have the power to fight those in the Spirit Severing stage without using magical treasures, I must not become complacent. I should continue to strive and push forward to the Nascent Soul stage!"

With this thought, Xu Zhe was filled with motivation and confidence. He moved his mind, took a pill bottle from his storage space, and poured out a "Nascent Soul Pill," swallowing it. He closed his eyes, then suddenly opened them again. After a moment of surprise, he smiled with relief.

"Right, my cultivation level has transcended so much that I shouldn't measure myself by past standards. One Nascent Soul Pill is enough for any cultivator to reach the Nascent Soul stage, so it's normal that I need two."

Xu Zhe muttered to himself and swallowed a second pill. A moment later, he opened his eyes again. "Since I am so strong, needing three pills is also within the normal range."

A few seconds later: "Four pills should be fine."

A moment later: "It seems I underestimated my potential; I need at least five."

Soon after, having swallowed a total of five pills, Xu Zhe opened his eyes again. This time, he was silent, looking at the medicine bottle and falling into deep thought. Is it the pills, or is it me? Five Nascent Soul Pills, how is it still not enough?

"I've always believed that people who smile often have good luck, ha-ha! Those who work hard will eventually be rewarded. This time, I'll take them all." Xu Zhe decided to go big and poured out all the remaining Nascent Soul Pills in the bottle. There were ten in total. Xu Zhe shoved them into his mouth and swallowed.

The next moment, the ten pills dissolved instantly within his body, turning into a majestic surge of medicinal power that rushed through his meridians and flowed into his dantian.

"Boom!"

Within his body, the long-silent Heavenly Pill finally reacted, shuddering violently before spinning rapidly.