[The True Spirit Extreme Transformation Pill was a recipe passed down from the ancient era. If successfully refined, the assistance it provided in condensing a Nascent Soul would be a notch above even the Nascent Soul Formation Pill and the Heavenly Infant Fruit.]
[It offered the absolute pinnacle of Nascent Soul assistance.]
["It uses the monster core of a beast king with a True Spirit Bloodline as the primary ingredient, supplemented by numerous heavenly materials and earthly treasures..."]
[You marveled inwardly.]
[Which beast king with a True Spirit Bloodline didn't dominate a region? Their strength far exceeded that of a normal Nascent Soul True Monarch.]
[Trying to obtain the monster core of such an existence... was far too difficult.]
[Killing one was hard enough, but beast kings with a True Spirit Bloodline were also exceptionally rare. Just finding one would be difficult.]
["However... isn't there a beast king with a True Spirit Bloodline growing in the depths of the Myriad Beast Mountain Range?"]
[Your heart stirred slightly.]
[You were nothing more than a Golden Core Stage true person, while the depths of the Myriad Beast Mountain Range were home to beast kings. Throwing a beast king with a True Spirit Bloodline into the mix... even if all the true lords from the surrounding regions threw their lives at it, they likely still couldn't do anything to that creature.]
["This pill..."]
[You shook your head privately. Only the ancient era could have birthed such an unimaginable recipe.]
[You continued browsing the recipe.]
[At the end of the recipe, the alchemists who had previously held this formula had left their evaluations.]
["The True Spirit Bloodline has endless wondrous uses. Unfortunately, ever since the end of the ancient era, True Spirits have vanished, and their bloodline descendants are exceptionally rare..."]
["In the near-ancient era, the environment of heaven and earth underwent a drastic change, making it no longer suitable for True Spirit immortal beasts to survive."]
["It is said there is another recipe called the Five Saints Ultimate Transformation Pill. It requires gathering the monster cores of five beast kings with a True Spirit Bloodline, supplemented by numerous exceptionally rare heavenly materials and earthly treasures. Once refined, it can provide slight assistance for breaking through from the mid to late Nascent Soul Stage..."]
[Looking at the numerous evaluations at the end of the recipe, the corner of your mouth twitched.]
[Especially the one regarding the Five Saints Ultimate Transformation Pill... Just one monster core from a beast king with a True Spirit Bloodline was incredibly rare to find, let alone five.]
["Provides slight assistance for breaking through from the mid to late Nascent Soul Stage..."]
[You were secretly shocked.]
[The difficulty of cultivation at the Nascent Soul stage far exceeded that of the Core Formation Stage.]
[The vast majority of Nascent Soul True Monarchs stalled at the early stage, unable to advance even an inch for six or seven hundred years.]
[Upon reaching the Nascent Soul Stage, a so-called spiritual root, along with the vast majority of dao bodies and treasure bodies, no longer provided any extra boost to cultivation.]
[Which true lord capable of stepping into the Nascent Soul Stage wasn't a heaven's proud child of their era? A heavenly spiritual root? Possessing several dao bodies and treasure bodies? Among true lords, such traits were commonplace.]
[As far as you knew, the Nascent Soul True Monarchs overseeing the multiple nearby regions—including the Taiyuan Region, Jiuyou Region, and Zixiao Domain—were still stuck at the early stage.]
[The last true lord to step into the mid Nascent Soul stage had done so several thousand years ago. When the true lords of the surrounding regions heard the news back then, they all went in person to offer their congratulations.]
[You thought to yourself.]
[Then, you stored the recipe away.]
[Although you felt you wouldn't use this pill in the current simulation, keeping a record of it couldn't hurt.]
[Who knew if it might come in handy during a future simulation?]
["Perhaps only a true lord in the mid Nascent Soul stage would have the capability to hunt a beast king carrying a True Spirit Bloodline..."]
[At the very least, there was one True Spirit Bloodline beast king growing in the depths of the Myriad Beast Mountain Range. Once you stepped into the mid Nascent Soul stage in the future, you could try hunting it down.]
[For a beast king with a True Spirit Bloodline, it wasn't just the monster core that was precious—its entire body was full of treasures.]
[Year 107. You were 123 years old.]
[The large-scale auction concluded, and you busied yourself digesting your gains from it.]
[Year 108. You were 124 years old.]
[You received an invitation from Jiang Jixue and headed to the Jiang Family again to savor tea.]
[Even though the Jiang Family Patriarch had stepped into the Late Golden Core Stage, Jiang Jixue hadn't given up on winning you over.]
[You brought up your desire to view the former Supreme Elder's insights on breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage. Jiang Jixue looked troubled. She confessed that before her grandfather faced the Heavenly Thunder Tribulation, he had indeed left behind his notes on shattering the core to form the nascent soul, but those insights belonged to the Jiang Family, and she couldn't grant access to them on her own.]
[Hearing this, your heart immediately settled.]
[You weren't afraid that Jiang Jixue lacked the authority to share the insights; you had only feared that the Supreme Elder hadn't left any behind.]
[As long as the notes existed, you had a chance to obtain them. It was just a matter of the price you had to pay.]
[You believed that there is no wall in the world that does not let wind through.]
[Year 109. You were 125 years old.]
[Li Yan's musical arts smoothly stepped into Tier 3.]
[This shocked you inwardly. Tier 3 musical masters were exceedingly rare in the surrounding regions.]
["Master, would you like to try... Yan'er's current musical arts..."]
[Li Yan's stunningly beautiful face was also filled with extreme joy.]
[Once any of the hundred cultivation arts reached Tier 3, it produced a qualitative change in the cultivator themselves.]
["Alright..."]
[You nodded solemnly.]
[Across four simulations, you had never interacted with a musical master before.]
[It was said there was a sect in the Zixiao Domain that focused primarily on music, and the female disciples within it held a very high status.]
[Soon, the melodious sound of the zither began to drift through the air.]
[Under the soothing zither melody, you felt an unprecedented tranquility, completely free of distracting thoughts.]
[Several hours later.]
[You slowly opened your eyes.]
["Yan'er's musical arts... are too crucial for me..."]
[You spoke with emotion. Soothed by the zither just now, all your anxiety, unease, and distracting thoughts had vanished, leaving behind only the heart of a newborn child.]
["Yan'er is very happy to be able to help Master..."]
[Li Yan's voice was somewhat weak. She had exhausted all her mental energy just to play a single Tier 3 score.]
[After all, ordinary Tier 1 and Tier 2 scores could hardly affect someone like you in the Mid Golden Core Stage.]
[Year 110. You were 126 years old.]
[Ever since Li Yan's musical arts reached Tier 3, you would listen to a Tier 3 score every so often.]
[Boosted by an incomparably tranquil state of mind, your cultivation speed increased slightly.]
[Year 111. You were 127 years old.]
[You learned some news: the resource mine controlled by the Jiang Family in the savage lands had been sneak-attacked and breached by True Person Chishe teaming up with several other Great True Persons.]
[Within the mine, all the Jiang Family cultivators were slaughtered, and the Jiang Family Patriarch's whereabouts were unknown.]
[When the matter reached the Jiang Family, it caused massive shockwaves. Had the Jiang Family Matriarch, Jiang Jixue, not immediately stepped forward to declare that the patriarch was still alive and would return soon, it likely would have triggered an even worse fallout.]
["True Person Chishe allied with several other demonic path Great True Persons... So this is the source of the Jiang Family Patriarch's 'great omen of calamity' hexagram?"]
[You calculated internally while performing another related Divination. "Because that mine holds crucial resources for True Person Chishe's spirit pet to advance to the late Tier 3 stage, therefore..."]
[A look of realization washed over your face.]
[In the art of Divination, the medium was very important.]
[Mediums came in two forms: physical and informational.]
[Several years ago, you had absolutely no related information. That was why divining the specific details of the Jiang Family Patriarch's great omen of calamity had been difficult at every step, unless you sacrificed your lifespan for the reading.]
[But now? With the key intelligence that True Person Chishe had joined forces with several demonic path Great True Persons, and knowing the event had already occurred, you instantly divined his motives.]
["The Jiang Family Patriarch..."]
[You attempted to divine the Jiang Family Patriarch's life and death. "Dead?"]
[Your expression remained calm. Faced with several Great True Persons joining forces, the Jiang Family Patriarch—a Great True Person who had just recently entered the late stage—had a very high probability of not surviving.]
["Wait, no..."]
[Your expression changed slightly. You vaguely sensed that the Jiang Family Patriarch's hexagram had been obscured to a certain degree.]
["He didn't die? He's still alive..."]
[You repeatedly performed the divination dozens of times and faintly arrived at a general conclusion.]
[The Jiang Family Patriarch's heavenly secrets had clearly been concealed. This wasn't surprising; he was a Late-Stage Great True Person backed by the Jiang Family after all. It was perfectly normal for him to have a heavenly secret wondrous item protecting him.]
["Even if he didn't die, he won't be able to recover for decades."]
[You thought to yourself. That was just how a great omen of calamity worked—even if he luckily survived, he still had to pay a disastrous price.]
[Year 112. You were 128 years old.]
[You received Jiang Jixue's invitation and headed to the Jiang Family for tea as usual.]
[You vaguely noticed that Jiang Jixue was in a very poor mood.]
[However, since she didn't bring it up, it wasn't your place to ask directly.]
[After sipping tea for a while, Jiang Jixue locked her eyes—which resembled vast, misty lakes—onto you and suddenly asked, "Alchemist Wang, can Jixue trust you?"]
["If True Person Xue needs my help with something, please don't hesitate to speak..."]
[You immediately replied.]
[The more Jiang Jixue needed you, the greater the hope that she would voluntarily offer up those Nascent Soul insights in the future.]
[You were naturally happy to see this unfold.]
["Actually, my husband... has already fallen..." Jiang Jixue said softly.]
["Fallen?" You were slightly taken aback.]
[Over a year ago, when the resource mine controlled by the Jiang Family was breached by True Person Chishe and several demonic path Great True Persons, Jiang Jixue had immediately announced to the public that the Jiang Family Patriarch hadn't died and would return in a few days.]
[You had also performed a life-and-death divination on the Jiang Family Patriarch. Although his heavenly secrets were obscured to some extent, you were roughly certain he was still alive.]
[But now? Jiang Jixue was saying the Jiang Family Patriarch was dead?]
[Seeing the shift in your expression, Jiang Jixue sighed softly. "My husband's soul lamp went out long ago. For the sake of the family's stability, I secretly swapped in a new soul lamp to create the illusion that he hadn't died..."]
[As for why she was voluntarily bringing it up now, it was because over a year had passed since the incident. Since the Jiang Family Patriarch had yet to show his face, some clan members were already starting to suspect he really was dead.]
[The facade Jiang Jixue had woven was about to unravel.]
["His soul lamp extinguished..."]
[You fell into deep thought for a brief moment.]
[A cultivator's soul lamp was intimately tied to their life.]
[As long as the soul lamp was lit, it proved the cultivator was still alive.]
[But if the soul lamp went out... in a certain sense, it didn't definitively prove the corresponding cultivator had died.]
[If the cultivator chose to completely sever their own soul connection, it would also cause the soul lamp to extinguish.]
[However, given the Jiang Family Patriarch's current circumstances—his whereabouts unknown, combined with his extinguished soul lamp—it was no wonder Jiang Jixue believed her husband had fallen.]
["Could it be that under the pursuit of True Person Chishe, the Jiang Family Patriarch had no choice but to completely sever his soul aura to escape, preventing True Person Chishe from tracking him via soul connection... and then obscured his heavenly secrets to create the illusion of true death so that True Person Chishe would choose to give up the hunt..."]
[Your thoughts raced, and you roughly unraveled the sequence of events.]
[True Person Chishe excelled at tracking via the soul, and his spirit pet, the Crimson Snake, excelled at soul attacks.]
[The Jiang Family Patriarch must have suffered a massive loss at the hands of True Person Chishe, which led him to completely sever his soul aura, thereby indirectly causing his soul lamp at the Jiang Family to extinguish.]
["Then what should be done now...?"]
[You looked at Jiang Jixue, who wore a phoenix hairpin and carried herself with noble grace, and asked tentatively.]
[Since Jiang Jixue had chosen to lay her cards on the table with you, she naturally had a countermeasure in mind.]
[You didn't reveal to Jiang Jixue that the Jiang Family Patriarch was actually still alive.]
[Doing so would be detrimental to negotiating your terms.]
["Jixue hopes to receive Fellow Daoist Wang's full support..." Jiang Jixue said directly.]
[Once news of the Jiang Family Patriarch's complete demise spread, her position in the Jiang Family would once again be in grave peril.]
[At a time like this, having the backing of a heavyweight figure like yourself would help stabilize the situation somewhat.]
["Fully supporting True Person Xue... isn't out of the question. I just don't know..."]
[You looked at Jiang Jixue and didn't finish your sentence.]
[However, the implication was obvious.]
[Your backing wasn't free.]
[As the Jiang Family Matriarch, what kind of price was she prepared to pay in exchange for your support?]
["Whatever Alchemist Wang wants, as long as I have it, I can give it to you..."]
[Jiang Jixue's tone carried a hint of frailty that made one instinctively want to cherish and protect her.]
["I am quite interested in the Nascent Soul insights... I just don't know if True Person Xue can bring them out for me to take a look..."]
[You immediately said.]
[You had long had your eye on the former Supreme Elder's Nascent Soul insights. However, when you asked earlier, Jiang Jixue had refused, stating that the insights belonged to the Jiang Family and she lacked the authority to lend them out.]
[In reality... Jiang Jixue hadn't lied. The Jiang Family had elders in addition to her, the matriarch.]
[For an item as important as Nascent Soul insights, there was no issue if the Jiang Family Matriarch viewed them herself. But if she wanted to spread or lend them to outsiders, she would face the elders' obstruction.]
[As for the matriarch reading it herself, memorizing it, and then telling you... that wouldn't work either.]
[Before viewing it, any Jiang Family member had to either swear a great heart demon oath or have a restriction planted on them... putting an end to any outward transmission.]
["The Nascent Soul insights..."]
[A look of sorrow surfaced on Jiang Jixue's face. Those Nascent Soul insights came from her deceased grandfather.]
["I can agree to that. However, it will have to wait a few years until the Jiang Family's situation stabilizes a bit..."]
[Jiang Jixue maintained her dignified grace. After careful consideration, she gave her promise.]
[It wasn't impossible to bypass the elders' obstruction; it merely required Jiang Jixue to make some sacrifices of her own.]
[Now that the Jiang Family was on the verge of turmoil, Jiang Jixue couldn't afford to worry about making sacrifices. As long as she could preserve her position as matriarch, it would be fine.]
["Then, Fellow Daoist Xue, here is to a pleasant cooperation..."]
[A smile surfaced on your face; your mood was quite good.]
[Year 113. You were 129 years old.]
[The matter of the Jiang Family Patriarch's demise could no longer be kept hidden. For a time, dark currents surged within the Jiang Family.]
[Fortunately, your expression of support for Jiang Jixue at a critical moment managed to stabilize the situation somewhat.]
[Year 114. You were 130 years old.]
[You finally received another invitation from Jiang Jixue to head to the Jiang Family and view the Nascent Soul insights.]
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