Chapter 517: Realm-Piercing Pill

“Yun Lan, what’s happened?”
After completely refining the remaining Qianhuan Pills, Lin Dong was about to ask Yun Lan how much to take the second time when he was startled by her expression.
“Elder, Senior Feng!” Yun Lan seemed to wake from a dream, her gaze shifting to Old Ding and Feng Yue. She asked, “Have you heard of a pill called the Realm-Piercing Pill?”
Feng Yue shook his head slowly, not quite understanding. Old Ding recalled for a moment before also shaking his head: “I’ve heard of the Realm-Transcending Pill, but what is the Realm-Piercing Pill?”
Yun Lan took a deep breath and said slowly, “A pill that aids in breaking through a realm.”
Hiss…
Lin Dong and the other two couldn’t help but gasp.
Pills that aided in breaking through realms were not rare in the Great Han Nation, with the Realm-Transcending Pill being one of the most effective. It belonged to the eighth-grade spiritual pill category; after taking it, warriors whose talent wasn’t enough to reach the Heart-Reversal stage could break through to that stage.
In other words, those warriors who, due to insufficient cultivation talent, had been stuck at the end of the Ninth Heart Stage for years or even decades, could break free from this limitation by taking the Realm-Transcending Pill and advance to the first level of the Heart-Reversal stage.
There were many other such pills as well. What made the three of them gasp was Yun Lan’s attitude.
If it were merely a pill for breaking through realms, with the strongest being at the level of the Realm-Transcending Pill, Yun Lan wouldn’t have been so solemn and cautious.
“Are you saying this Realm-Piercing Pill can help one break through from the Heart-Reversal stage to the Heart-Riding stage?” Lin Dong couldn’t help but ask. With his current strength at the seventh level of the Heart-Reversal stage, coupled with the imminent acquisition of various spiritual materials to aid cultivation, and Ren Qingsong’s plans at Tianwei Pavilion progressing smoothly, Lin Dong was almost at the threshold of becoming a top-tier warrior of the Heart-Riding stage. The only remaining obstacle was his talent.
Given Lin Dong’s cultivation talent, he naturally couldn’t break through to the Heart-Riding stage on his own. He had already made plans: he intended to rely on Old Ding and Feng Yue’s help, along with a bunch of spiritual pills that aided in breaking through realms and enhancing strength, to force his way to the first level of the Heart-Riding stage.

Taking elixirs like the Wind and Moon Pill, which can directly raise one’s strength to a level nearly equivalent to that of the Heart Riding Phase, using the Transition Pill to enhance cultivation talent in a short time, and with the help of the two peak experts, Old Ding and Feng Yue, who spare no effort to boost strength through spiritual energy, if Lin Dong already possesses strength nearly at the Heart Riding Phase level, forcing repeated attacks on the inner wall of his dantian does not rule out the possibility of success. Of course, the risks are also enormous. If he fails even once, his dantian will surely be shattered, leading to severe injuries.

For a warrior at the ninth level of the Heart Reversal Phase, having a shattered dantian without achieving a breakthrough is absolutely fatal. Even with a ninth-tier elixir for treatment, it can only ensure survival. To regain their previous strength, it’s utterly unrealistic to expect recovery without decades of gradual nurturing.

This method of breakthrough is an impossible risk for others, but not for Lin Dong. He has the medicinal dish of Braised Wind Spirit Grass, which can heal even the most severe internal injuries in a short time. The difficulty lies in the high cost of the Transition Pill, which is a rare and expensive high-tier elixir. Even with countless other cultivation aids, he can’t obtain many unless he can provide the necessary materials for its production. As for elixirs like the Wind and Moon Pill that supply spiritual energy, although Yun Lan can create substitutes, the materials remain a huge challenge, especially in the early stages of collection.

More importantly, even for the two peak experts, Old Ding and Feng Yue, forcing a warrior at the ninth level of the Heart Spirit Phase to break through to the first level of the Heart Reversal Phase would cause some damage to their own strength, let alone helping a warrior at the ninth level of the Heart Reversal Phase reach the Heart Riding Phase. Such losses cannot be compensated by any elixir. Moreover, the number of attempts cannot be too many, otherwise, Feng Yue’s progress toward the Heart Riding Phase could easily regress.

With such huge costs, according to Yun Lan’s calculations, the success rate is only about 50%.

If there were an elixir with effects even stronger than those of the Transition Pill, it would be an incredible boon for Lin Dong, as it could raise the success rate from 50% to 100%.

Furthermore, once the guard team of Lin’s Inn has sufficient cultivation materials, they will be able to produce more peak experts, rather than only selecting those with natural talent and relying on a few peak experts to risk their strength to force a breakthrough for them.

The difference lies in the fact that once Lin’s Inn gains the ability to cultivate multiple warriors at the ninth level of the Heart Reversal Phase, it can then advance to cultivating multiple peak experts at the Heart Riding Phase.

Whether for Lin Dong personally or for enhancing the overall strength of Lin’s Inn, such pills held a value that could drive Lin Dong mad. Under Lin Dong’s intensely eager gaze, Yun Lan nodded and explained, “If what the books say about the breakthrough pills is true, then they indeed possess such miraculous effects.” “If such miraculous pills really exist, why haven’t I heard of them?” Old Ding frowned. “Yes! They can’t be fake, right?” Lin Dong grew uneasy. It was one thing not to have heard of breakthrough pills, but to hear about them only to discover they were fake would be an extremely disappointing experience. “They probably aren’t fake!” Yun Lan shook her head and explained, “There are a total of 126 books, all of which describe pill formulas. They are divided into 13 major categories, containing as many as 100,000 pill formulas.” Taking a breath, Yun Lan looked at the thick stacks of books and said seriously, “For any formula whose production method I know, it’s recorded here—whether it’s the method or the material ratios—without any errors. In total, there are about 2,000 such formulas.” Compared to over 100,000, 2,000 might seem like a small number, but the fact that there are no mistakes at all is still quite convincing. Lin Dong’s mind became active, and he eagerly asked, “Are the materials needed to make these breakthrough pills easy to find?” Yun Lan thought for a moment before explaining, “It requires more than a dozen ninth-tier spiritual materials and spiritual beast inner cores. Among the eighth-tier spiritual materials and spiritual beast inner cores, several are also extremely rare. Gathering them is quite difficult, but…” Lin Dong naturally understood what came next. With advantages like a small garden and breeding pens beyond ordinary comprehension, not only could Lin’s Inn cultivate or breed these materials and beasts in bulk, but it also had a huge, incomparable advantage in terms of collection. Through bartering, as long as other sects had such materials or spiritual beast inner cores, Lin’s Inn could exchange them for ninth-tier auxiliary cultivation materials that those sects would find impossible to refuse.

“The original owner of these recipes is unknown. Putting aside the Breakthrough Pill, just for being able to research and collect so many alchemy formulas, this elder truly deserves to be honored as a Pill Sage,” Yun Lan said with emotion. “You don’t know—in my eyes, the value of other recipes even exceeds that of the Breakthrough Pill. Our Tianjian Sect has a history of a thousand years, yet there are only a little over twenty thousand alchemy formulas. Among these hundreds of thousands of formulas, there are nearly ten thousand I’ve never heard of, not to mention those whose preparation methods I don’t know. Their combined value is certainly no less than that of the Breakthrough Pill, which, if made public, would cause a tremendous stir. If my father were to know this, his greatest goal in life might shift from seeing all the ninth-tier spiritual materials and beasts in the Great Han Country to acquiring these formulas.”

“What good luck,” Old Ding and Feng Yue couldn’t help but look at Lin Dong. Throughout their lives, they had done many acts of bravery, but the benefits they received together were probably less than one millionth of what Lin Dong got this time.

Lin Dong beamed with joy. In his eyes, the value of an imperial card was not even one thousandth that of a Thousand Illusion Pill, and compared to the Breakthrough Pill’s formula, it was nothing but insignificant dust.

Having the face to get an imperial card from the princess showed strength, and encountering Hu Changyong in crisis while he possessed such a treasure meant his luck was absolutely extraordinary.

If the Breakthrough Pill were real, to be honest, Lin Dong didn’t know how to repay the princess and Hu Changyong. He didn’t like taking such a huge advantage from others, but faced with such a great benefit, he really couldn’t come up with a reward even one hundredth as much.

“Lin Dong, aside from the Breakthrough Pill, what about the other alchemy formulas…” Yun Lan hesitated.

“What’s mine is yours. If it’s yours, why do you need to ask if I can give it away?” Lin Dong replied cheerfully. He understood that Yun Lan wanted to share these formulas with Tianjian Sect or even Yun Cangqiong. For him, this wasn’t a difficult decision. Although he didn’t like the sect’s grand elder, it was just a personal grudge. Lin Dong didn’t want to fall out with Tianjian Sect, especially Yun Cangqiong. Even if he had planned to force a marriage through coercion, he only intended to use his overwhelming strength to intimidate the sect’s elders and disciples, never thinking of really harming Tianjian Sect. So, not to mention Yun Lan being the sect’s heir, even the knowledge she learned from Tianjian Sect had greatly helped him, so it was only right to repay her in some way.

Even if it were the Breakthrough Pill, Lin Dong wouldn’t care at all if Yun Lan handed it over to the Heavenly Sword Sect. Throughout the Great Han Nation, which force could compare to Lin’s Inn, which could cultivate or breed high-grade spiritual materials and beasts in large quantities as long as it had the most common spiritual stones? Not to mention sharing it with the Heavenly Sword Sect—even if all pill-making formulas, including the Breakthrough Pill, were made public, Lin Dong wouldn’t be too concerned. As long as it could develop steadily and avoid being targeted by the Heavenly Might Pavilion in the short term, it was almost certain that the future would belong to Lin’s Inn. Yun Lan didn’t respond right away. Instead, she took out a large wooden box, carefully placing each book inside before saying, “I’ll write a list later and hand the materials needed for the Breakthrough Pill directly to Ma Chun.” Lin Dong hesitated for a moment before slowly nodding. Needless to say, the Breakthrough Pill was a ninth-grade spiritual pill, and only someone who had reached the peak of strength could refine it. There was no urgency in gathering the materials for now. Although he was eager to try the Breakthrough Pill, he remained clear-headed enough to understand that the top priority was to integrate all branches into the inn’s system first. Even if he wanted to refine the Thousand Illusion Pill, he could only do so at his leisure, on the back of the Tianpeng Bird.