Chapter 35: The Secret of the Pill King's Ruins

Sitting cross-legged on the bed in the inner chamber, Du Fei did not make any movements. Instead, he squinted his eyes and stared at the ancient wooden box in front of him, his mind filled with countless thoughts.

The wooden box was made of agarwood, and despite its age, it showed no signs of damage. The beeswax sealing the opening was pitch black, clearly indicating that it had not been opened for many years.

"Does this really contain the secret of the Pill King's ruins? Can I trust that woman's words?"

Compared to his state in front of Yun Yuqing, Du Fei was now much calmer. However, this calmness only made his doubts grow. After all, anyone would go mad over the legendary Heaven-Earth Primordial Pill. Du Fei did not believe that Yun Yuqing had no interest in it, as she claimed.

Considering all the possibilities, Du Fei came up with two scenarios. The first was that the so-called Pill King's ruins might not contain the Heaven-Earth Primordial Pill at all. Yun Yuqing's lack of interest in the alchemy texts inside was understandable. The second scenario was that the Pill King's ruins did indeed contain the Heaven-Earth Primordial Pill, but obtaining it required an alchemist. However, a too powerful alchemist would be difficult for Yun Yuqing to control. Someone like himself, on the other hand, would be easier to control, and because both of them were "nervous," even if she killed him to cover her tracks, no one would know!

If this were the case, then the woman likely had some trump card that made her unafraid of Eighth Rank Martial Masters. However, she might not have obtained this trump card yet, and it would take about half a year to become effective. Otherwise, they would have gone to search for the Pill King's ruins immediately, rather than waiting half a year. "Indeed, the most venomous heart belongs to a woman!" Du Fei sneered slightly, muttering to himself.

Regardless, now that he had a lead on the Pill King's ruins, he would not give up. In half a year, he could do many things!

After sorting out the key points, Du Fei let out a slight sigh. Half a year was crucial for Yun Yuqing, but it was equally important for him. If he only had this level of strength, he would likely be devoured by that woman even if he went to the Pill King's ruins.

Taking a deep breath, Du Fei placed his palm on the wooden box. After a moment, the true qi in his body trembled slightly, and the beeswax sealing the box was shattered by the true qi. What appeared before Du Fei was a rather dark box bottom.

The smell of age seemed to waft out from the box. After a moment, the dark feeling slowly faded, and Du Fei finally saw what was inside the box.

"A ring..."

Furrowing his brow slightly, Du Fei slowly took out the ring and placed it in front of him. The ring was ancient in design, resembling a coiled dragon with its head and tail connected, slightly twisted. Apart from its ancient appearance, there was nothing peculiar about it.

However, it was precisely this "ordinariness" that made the ring extraordinary. After all, such careful preservation could not be for just an ordinary ring.

After a moment of thought, Du Fei still could not figure out the key point, but he did not want to waste time here. He quickly gave an order in his mind.

"Xiao Bai, is there a way to test this ring?"

"Beep..."

"Command received, testing procedure initiated, testing in progress... Results available, do you want to read them?"

"So fast? Read them!"

"Detected as a spatial container, with approximately several dozen cubic feet of storage space. To open it, a soul imprint is required... Do you want to open it?"

"Is this a storage ring?" Du Fei's lips twitched, and his face showed a hint of disbelief. However, he had no complaints about this result. After all, storage rings were rare, and no one in the Du family possessed one. Getting this ring was a pleasant surprise.

"Help me open it!" After a moment, Du Fei quickly gave the order.

"Command received, original soul imprint erased, new soul imprint left, owner can use it freely!"

As the cold electronic voice sounded in his mind, Du Fei suddenly felt a subtle sensation, as if he could vaguely sense the space inside the storage ring.

After a moment of hesitation, Du Fei subconsciously put the storage ring on his left hand and ran his fingers over it. Instantly, a small medicine bottle appeared in front of him.

"This is... a pill!" Du Fei was delighted. After a moment, he did not hesitate to run his fingers over the storage ring again. This time, an ancient and tattered scroll appeared in his hand.

Apart from these two items, the storage ring was empty. However, even so, it was a pleasant surprise.

After a moment of hesitation, Du Fei opened the medicine bottle, and a rich medicinal aroma wafted out. Although he only smelled it, Du Fei instantly felt a surge of energy.

"This is... the Bone Washing Pill... No, although the effects are similar, the medicinal power contained within suggests that this is a higher-grade pill... Is it an Eighth Rank pill?" He sniffed the medicine again, carefully poured out a pill, and examined it closely before hesitating.

"This is not a Ninth Rank Bone Washing Pill, but an Eighth Rank Spirit Condensing Pill. Its effects are similar to the Bone Washing Pill, but the power is vastly different." As Du Fei was in a daze, Xiao Bai's cold voice sounded.

Du Fei was slightly stunned by the unreliable system's first active response. He knew very little about the system and did not know how to react. After a moment of hesitation, he said in his mind, "Xiao Bai, how do you know this is an Eighth Rank pill?"

"The system records contain the information. The shape, smell, and medicinal power are all correct. The owner can take it with confidence!" Xiao Bai's cold voice sounded again.

"How do you know all this?"

"Beep... Owner's permission level is insufficient, unable to answer..."

"Ah... permission again..." Sighing helplessly, Du Fei quickly put the question aside and, with a look of someone who had found treasure, quickly poured out all the contents of the medicine bottle.

"One, two, three... nine in total? Looks like I hit the jackpot this time!" He put the medicine bottle back into the storage ring, his expression vivid.

With these nine pills, even if he swallowed them raw, he could become a Ninth Rank Martial Master. And with true qi, combined with the pill formulas he knew, mass-producing Bone Washing Pills would not be a big problem.

"Alright, let's see what the other item is!" He clapped his hands and slowly unrolled the ancient scroll in front of him.

What met his eyes was a chaotic tangle of lines, so dense that it made his head spin. However, after a moment, Du Fei realized that these lines likely represented the location of the Pill King's ruins.

The reason he could not understand it was probably because the map was only half complete. Unless he obtained the other half, no one could know the exact location of the Pill King's ruins.

If he had the system record this and then destroy the scroll, wouldn't that mean that no one else could find the Pill King's ruins except him?

In that case, even Yun Yuqing would not be able to take any action against him.

With this thought, Du Fei wasted no time. He quickly gave the order for the system to record the information, then closed his eyes and entered the consciousness space to carefully compare it. Finding no errors, he confidently destroyed the tattered scroll.

Squinting his eyes, Du Fei watched the ancient scroll burn slowly. He felt no regret. No matter how precious the scroll was, destroying it this way would bring him countless benefits! Regardless of Yun Yuqing's other plans, now that he had destroyed it, she would have no way to think of him!

After watching the ancient scroll burn for a while, Du Fei was about to leave when he suddenly frowned. He saw that most of the scroll had turned to ashes in the flames, but a palm-sized section remained unscathed. As it burned, the lines on it disappeared, replaced by ancient characters with a faint luster.

"This is..."

Du Fei did not know what to feel about this change. After a moment of hesitation, he quickly extinguished the flames and grabbed the still warm golden fragment, tracing the characters slowly... "Pill Technique, Pill Reversing the Heavens and Earth!"

The seven characters appeared, and Du Fei's face changed slightly. After a moment, he could not help but throw his head back and laugh heartily!

Pill Technique was different from martial techniques. It was a skill that only alchemists could cultivate. The key difference was that the energy used to activate the skill was not true qi, but pills!

As everyone knew, pills contained extremely powerful energy. Pill Technique harnessed this energy to form attack techniques similar to martial techniques.

However, the power of a Pill Technique depended not only on its rank but also on the pill used as the catalyst. With a high-grade pill as the catalyst, even the most ordinary Pill Technique could unleash unimaginable power!

Pill Technique was one of the reasons why alchemists held such a prominent position on the Xuanwu Continent!

As long as there were pills, there was power. If one had an endless supply of pills, few could stand against them!