Over the next few hundred years, there was nothing going on in the Blue Sky Sword Sea, and the sea of swords was extremely calm.
The entire Blue Sky Sword Sea became still and quiet. Occasionally there would be foreign cultivators who came to visit, to ask for advice on techniques and to see the elders.
For example, The Master of Yutai Mountain would often come to visit Chen Xia regarding the matter from hundreds of years ago when the old monster attacked Jade Terrace Mountain.
Every few decades, The Master of Jade Terrace Mountain would come to Chen Xia and ask about it again and again, tirelessly.
Chen Xia would also respond very politely each time, "Don't be impatient, I'm still looking for him."
When he said this, The Master of Jade Terrace Mountain would become even more anxious, because each time he asked, Chen Xia gave the same reply. This time, he couldn't help but say a bit more.
"Do you have any clues yet?"
"No," Chen Xia shook his head very decisively.
"But...but it's been hundreds of years already!" The Master of Jade Terrace Mountain was really getting anxious.
The reason he was so impatient was that he was afraid the old monster would come back and kill again someday, and by then the Blue Sky Sword Sea might be too preoccupied with other matters to handle it.
So The Master of Jade Terrace Mountain wanted to get rid of that old monster while the Blue Sky Sword Sea was still relatively strong.
But looking at Chen Xia's attitude now, it didn't seem like he had any intention of taking action at all.
The Master of Jade Terrace Mountain was hopeless now. He only regretted sending out those twenty thousand spirit stones.
It was like giving meat buns to dogs - not getting anything in return at all.
The Master of Jade Terrace Mountain left dispiritedly, and probably wouldn't come again.
After The Master of Jade Terrace Mountain left, Zhang DaoMing also came to see Chen Xia, walking slowly into the cave residence. He was in no hurry, first brewing a pot of wine and gently sipping a mouthful, laughing as he said:
"You've almost gathered all the materials for refining top-grade medicinal pills. When do you plan to start refining them?"
"Sometime later," Chen Xia replied casually. "First I'll spread the word to let other alchemists pay some observer fees. "
Chen Xia had just seen off The Master of Jade Terrace Mountain, and was currently pondering over books on mystic arts.
Zhang DaoMing took another gulp of wine and shook his head, "Are there really still alchemists foolish enough to pay money to watch you refine pills now?"
Everyone in the Blue Sky Sword Sea had heard about Chen Xia's pill refining with a wok. Even the alchemists in the Star Region had almost all caught wind of this news.
At first, some alchemists didn't believe it and paid the entrance fee to come take a look. After seeing it with their own eyes, they had no choice but to believe, and their evaluations of Chen Xia were strangely unanimous - just two words.
Mystifying.
It had already exceeded their scope of understanding.
After that, the alchemists came to an agreement that whoever paid money to watch Chen Xia refine pills was an idiot.
Of course Zhang DaoMing knew about all these things, so he voiced his doubts at this time.
"You're saying with refining half a supreme medicinal pill, wouldn't these people be interested in seeing my skills, even if just to see the great pill?" Chen Xia put forth his idea.
Zhang DaoMing held his wine jug and contemplated carefully for a moment. "That does seem feasible. I can help spread the word for you, but I'm not sure exactly how many people would be willing to come."
"Alright, we'll see when the time comes," Chen Xia nodded. He was in no hurry either.
The money he owed the elders was recorded under Old Fisherman's accounts, and had nothing to do with him.
The only debt he needed to repay was the 10,000 spirit stones to Li Yang.
As for the spirit stones from the auction house, Chen Xia planned to slowly pay them back through future pill refining.
Zhang DaoMing finished all the wine in his jug in one gulp, smacked his lips a couple times, and laughed, "Work hard, young one. If you can really become an emperor in the future, I'll still feel very proud of you even from the underworld."
"Then I'll be sure to personally go to the underworld and bring you this good news," Chen Xia also leaned his head and smiled.
"Good, I'll be waiting," Zhang DaoMing said with a laugh. He hung his now empty wine jug back at his waist. The clash of the white jade wine jug let out a crisp ding-dong sound.
A few months later, the news that Chen Xia would be refining half a supreme medicinal pill spread throughout the entire Blue Sky Sword Sea. The alchemists in the Star Region also received the news.
Some alchemists even travelled hundreds of thousands of miles to come just to watch Chen Xia refine the half supreme medicinal pill.
If he really succeeded, Chen Xia would be considered one of the top pill refiners in the Star Region, and could even be called a half-step Dan Dao Grandmaster.
Being able to be associated with the two words Dan Dao meant that Chen Xia was already at the Master level.
The observer fee was 50 spirit stones. They didn't need to see Chen Xia's skills - just seeing the half supreme pill would be worth it.
Chen Xia had also obtained the final material needed to refine the top-grade medicinal pill, so he set the pill refining time to be half a year later.
He didn't do anything related to medicinal pills during this period. In fact, it had already been 50 years since the last time he refined any pills.
Chen Xia roughly understood the pattern of accumulating fortune. It was accumulation.
When he hadn't refined any pills for 10 years, the medicinal pills he produced would be low or mid grade. Occasionally there might be a top grade pill, but only occasionally.
If it was 20 years since he had refined any pills, he could steadily produce mid and top grade medicinal pills.
Now that he wanted to refine a supreme medicinal pill, even half of one, he naturally needed to extend the time even more to slowly accumulate fortune.
Chen Xia didn't know what the accumulation limit was for this fortune over years. But he felt 50 years should be about right.
The time had also come for him to start refining pills.
Still dressed in plain green clothes, accompanied by Chen Xia's tranquil temperament, he walked unhurriedly toward the Sword Forest.
Without the 300,000 flying swords, the Sword Forest was an excellent place for Chen Xia to refine pills.
Nearly a thousand alchemists were waiting here, including some famous alchemists in the Star Region.
Lively discussions were nonstop.
"Can he really refine it? Chen Xia is taking half a step to become a Dan Dao Grandmaster!"
"If he really succeeds in refining it, he should be the most promising alchemist in the Star Region at this age. Quite monstrous indeed."
"..."
Chen Xia halted his steps and stood upright, facing the over a thousand alchemists. His expression was unmoved like still water. With a raise of his hand, the corners of his lips curled up in a faint smile. Pressing his palm down, he said:
"Ignite the cauldron."
A cauldron the size of a bowl floated in front of him, with golden flames burning beneath.
It wasn't an iron wok?!
The alchemists present widened their eyes in shock, extremely alarmed that Chen Xia had actually started refining pills using methods they could understand.
But soon they realized they were overthinking things.
Because the way Chen Xia added medicinal ingredients was no different than an iron wok - just dumping everything in indiscriminately without any consideration of medicinal properties.
Zhang DaoMing, standing to the side, also frowned the whole time. He couldn't help but ask, "What's the difference between this and an iron wok?"
Chen Xia rubbed his nose and chuckled lightly in response, "Atmosphere."
Indeed, it was purely for the atmosphere.
Chen Xia didn't understand alchemy, and he had never understood it. He only knew how to refine pills.
No one present, including Chen Xia himself, understood it.
Three hours later.
A purple-red pill thunder rumbled in the sky, circling like a thunder dragon in the clouds, bringing tremendous oppressive might.
The elders of the Blue Sky Sword Sea were the first to react. They gathered in the Sword Forest, frowning as they looked at the purple-red pill thunder in the sky. Their tones were surprised - they really hadn't expected this.
"He really refined it?!"
"I don't think 'refine' is the right word, although it's still his ability. But I don't think it should be called refining."
"..."
The purple-red pill thunder continued to circle more and more fiercely. The thunder dragon within it seemed to be gradually taking shape, bringing immense pressure as if staring down below.
"It's going to swallow the pill!"
Zhang DaoMing suddenly cried out.
The thunder dragon in the sky already surged down violently. A pillar of thunder that spanned thousands of feet instantaneously struck, annihilating an area of a thousand feet.
The alchemists fled in shock. As they looked back towards the center area, it was full of chaotic thunder streams. As it gradually dispersed, all that could be seen was a glint of golden light!
Dressed in brilliant golden light, Chen Xia stood at the very center of the thunder pillar. It looked as if there was a golden dragon coiling around his body.
In his hand he pinched a pure white medicinal pill covered in pill markings. From a distance, it looked like a dragon's head.
The pill gave off a rich dan fragrance that spread across the entire arena, and the patterns on it were constantly changing, lifelike as if it were a dragon's head.
A top-tier spiritual medicine, half a large pill!
The alchemists were still shocked when thunder rumbled loudly in the sky, seeming to collapse half the firmament.
Chen Xia raised his hand without a word, directly swallowing half of the large pill into his own stomach, then looking at the sky, disdainfully said,
"It's mine."
Thunder roared, thousand-zhang thunder pillars crashed down madly, and a purple-red thunder dragon fell straight down.
Chen Xia's eyes flashed with pure white light, and the golden dragon qi around his body extremely quickly turned into pure white with tremendous oppressive might, even bringing great bloodline suppression to everyone present.
The purple-red thunder dragon paused in midair.
Enveloped in golden and pure white dragon qi, Chen Xia charged forward first, grabbing the purple-red thunder dragon and smashing it down towards the ground.
The center of the Sword Forest crumbled instantly, and the already empty terrain became even more desolate.
Chen Xia and the purple-red thunder dragon wrestled in the center of the Sword Forest, clashing with a loud ringing of immortal swords.
The surrounding spectators didn't dare get close when they saw this scene, only dumbfoundedly exclaiming,
"Even the heavenly thunder is striking?!"
The nearly earth-shattering wrestling didn't last long before pure white dragon qi slowly emerged, enveloping the purple-red thunder dragon and Chen Xia.
Thus, unknowingly, between the rubble of the central craters of Sword Forest, a huge cocoon of pure white wrapped in purple thunder appeared.
Having gotten news, Big Yellow Dog hurried over, saw the huge cocoon, and jumped for joy,
"My brother is going to evolve!"
Hell has a collection of hellish jokes in his posts that interested brothers can go check out. I'll also steal good ones to share.