Chapter 3495 — The Heavenly Tier Trial Begins

"Heavenly Dao Golden Pill." Carved across the top of the box were these four large characters.

Wei Zhao drew a deep breath, lifted the box, and carefully opened it.

Inside lay a small scroll. It was neither a disappointment nor a delight to Wei Zhao; he had dreamed that perhaps a finished Heavenly Dao Golden Pill might be inside. How wonderful that would have been.

But there was none. It seemed there was only a pill formula.

Wei Zhao carefully opened the box, took out the formula within, and slowly unrolled it.

"Heavenly Dao Golden Pill — Simplified Version"!

Those few large characters were written across the scroll. Wei Zhao read on, and saw the text continue: "The Way of Heaven is heartless; Heaven is not benevolent, and treats all things as straw dogs. Let heaven and earth change, the Way does not change—this Way is the Heavenly Dao! Yet Heaven rewards the diligent."

Having read through some tedious introduction, Wei Zhao formed a vague understanding of the Heavenly Dao. The Heavenly Dao was a struggle against heaven; beneath the Heavenly Dao lay struggles with others and with oneself, but above the Heavenly Dao it was more like true cultivation, already beyond the scope of body refining.

Once one set foot upon the Heavenly Dao, it was the beginning of the path of true cultivation; one's strength and lifespan could not be mentioned in the same breath as the present.

Of course, this was only one passage's description; what it was actually like, Wei Zhao was not quite clear.

Below that was a note recorded by Zhang Lifeng. Its general meaning was that the Heavenly Dao Golden Pill was a formula he had copied from the Record of Strange Tales and Marvels, but it was a Mystic-rank, first-grade formula, and he simply could not refine it.

However, after long study and revision, he had simplified the formula into a simplified version of the Heavenly Dao Golden Pill. The effects of this simplified pill were not as formidable as the genuine article.

It was said that the genuine Heavenly Dao Golden Pill could be taken effectively throughout the entire Heavenly Dao period, whereas the simplified version worked only during a single stage.

But the simplified Heavenly Dao Golden Pill had been downgraded so that even a fourth-grade alchemist could refine it.

A fourth-grade pill? Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback. This, now—he truly could attempt it. With Han Jingyi's divine alchemy artifact in hand, and inexhaustible stamina true qi, a fourth-grade pill should be refined successfully.

At this thought, Wei Zhao began reading the formula for the simplified Heavenly Dao Golden Pill: Dragon Dawn Grass, Heaven Medicine Root, Bitter Relief Fruit, Heart-Devouring Exquisite Grass, Chaiming Flower Leaf...

There were not many ingredients—only five in total—but every one was a medicinal herb Wei Zhao had never heard of. For all his wide experience with medicinal materials, he had never encountered these things, which made him faintly uneasy. Surely these were not the kind of extremely rare herbs that were simply impossible to obtain?

Next came the method of refining the pill, but Wei Zhao had not even gathered the ingredients yet; reading the refining method was meaningless.

With that thought, Wei Zhao stored the formula in his jade pendant space, left Zhang Lifeng's ancient tomb, returned to East Sea City, and went straight to Old Bai's residence.

Wei Zhao did not know the herbs listed on the formula, but Old Bai, a former top-grade alchemist, should understand them. So Wei Zhao intended to ask for guidance.

Old Bai was somewhat surprised by Wei Zhao's sudden visit, but after Wei Zhao explained his purpose, Old Bai nodded and said, "You brought the formula back? Let me see the herbs listed on it."

"All right." Wei Zhao hurriedly produced the formula. Old Bai took it and carefully studied it. After a while, seeing that Old Bai said nothing, Wei Zhao asked, "How is it, Teacher Bai? Can these alchemy materials be obtained?"

"Some can, but most cannot. Dragon Dawn Grass and Chaiming Flower Leaf are extremely rare, though they can still be obtained. Heaven Medicine Root—I have vaguely heard of it. But Heart-Devouring Exquisite Grass and Bitter Relief Fruit I have never heard of in my life. This formula of yours will not be easy to handle!" Old Bai said bluntly. "I advise you not to hold out too much hope. After all, herbs that existed back then may be extinct now—or perhaps they were already extinct back then, and Patriarch Zhang Lifeng obtained his small supply from some unknown place."

"I see." Wei Zhao was immediately somewhat disappointed. "So that means I have no way to refine it?"

"Hard to say, but I would not advise you to spend your energy on this," Old Bai said. "You can keep it as a backup, but your energy now should be on the heavenly tier trial, should it not?"

"I understand!" Wei Zhao nodded and put away the formula. Though still somewhat unwilling to let it go, he knew that if Old Bai had never heard of them, asking anyone else would be pointless.

Now only Old Man Wei remained. If Old Man Wei did not know either, then Wei Zhao would truly have to give up.

With that thought, Wei Zhao did not linger. He took his leave of Old Bai and returned to his home in East Sea City. Wang Xinyan had probably gone to school, and Han Jingyi was not home either—likely she had gone to school or returned to her own house.

Wei Zhao first called Old Man Wei; he wanted to find out whether there was any possibility of obtaining the materials for refining the Heavenly Dao Golden Pill.

But to Wei Zhao's disappointment, Old Man Wei's knowledge of these uncommon herbs was much the same as Old Bai's; of Heart-Devouring Exquisite Grass and Bitter Relief Fruit, he had simply never heard.

Those two things were probably already extinct—or at least, by Wei Zhao's present knowledge, he had no idea where such things might be found.

Helpless, Wei Zhao could only give up, for his time was limited—the heavenly tier trial was about to begin!

On this day, the Five Luminaries Sect issued a proclamation to all the great families, sects, and the ancient strata: the heavenly tier trial had officially begun!

All trial participants qualified to take part were to report to the Five Luminaries Sect's headquarters within five days of receiving notice. Latecomers would not be waited for!

Wei Zhao drove the Grand Cherokee, carrying Wang Xinyan and Han Jingyi, toward the Five Luminaries Sect. As for the secular world's medicinal cauldron business, Han Jingyi had left it entirely to Lai the Fatty and Kang Xiaofeng. In any case, the production techniques for first- and second-grade automatic medicinal cauldrons were already mature, and Han Jingyi had no intention of releasing higher-grade cauldrons.

She had never once intended to seize a share of the third-grade pill market.

At the same time, trial participants from other ancient sects who were qualified, as well as unaffiliated cultivators who possessed fragments of the Cloud-Tier Island map, all set out for the Five Luminaries Sect.

Within the Five Luminaries Sect, Ancestor Xuanchen was secretly plotting the details of this trial with Kang Jingming.

"Father-in-law, what is the main purpose of this trial? Tell me, please, or I will be completely in the dark. What am I supposed to do when I get there, and what if I run into Wei Zhao—I do not know any of it!" Kang Jingming said with some worry. (To be continued)