Douluo: In an extraordinary world, with unparallel understanding!

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After obtaining some information from Feng Kuang, Huo Yuhao decided not to return just yet.

Rather than settling down, the internal situation in the Sun Moon Empire seemed to have intensified over the past four months.

Since Xu Tianran's rise to power, he had not sought stability. Instead, he continued engaging in external wars, repeatedly clashing with the two great empires, the Star Luo Empire and the Heavenly Soul Empire. In fact, he even swallowed large portions of Heavenly Soul Empire territory.

Tianjia City had become the real frontline.

"Wasn't Xu Tianran already firmly established before he ascended to the throne? Why, after taking power, did he not consolidate his position and instead act so recklessly?" Huo Yuhao did not understand Xu Tianran's behavior.

While purging forces within the empire, Xu Tianran had also launched continuous wars.

This led to both internal and external conflicts erupting simultaneously. Though it seemed like he had achieved significant victories against the Heavenly Soul Empire, the situation within the Sun Moon Empire was becoming dire.

Two major princes had rebelled, raising armies of thousands of Soul Masters within the Sun Moon Empire, and even several royal bloodline descendants were supported by factions.

"He probably wants to secure his position more thoroughly," Su Yu said.

Understanding Su Yu's underlying message, Huo Yuhao sucked in a sharp breath.

Xu Tianran was planning to eliminate all those with divided loyalties? Not just the royal bloodline princes, but also the nobles and others within the empire who were dissatisfied with him, all would be purged.

"The Sun Moon Empire is powerful, and Xu Tianran is well aware of this. He knows that as long as the empire is not destroyed, he can be as ruthless as he likes," Su Yu added, fully understanding the depth of the empire's foundation.

Huo Yuhao, on the other hand, wasn't entirely familiar with the empire's power and could hardly imagine the scene of countless level-nine fixed soul guidance cannonballs stacked together.

Since the Sun Moon Empire was still in turmoil, Huo Yuhao naturally chose not to return.

During the four months on the Phoenix Continent, neither he nor Su Yu had slacked off in their cultivation. They collected numerous spirit herbs and medicinal materials, though they hadn't consumed them yet. Instead, they had only managed to increase their soul power by one level.

"Let's find a place to digest this harvest. With so many spirit herbs and medicinal materials, we should refine them into pills to maximize their effectiveness," Su Yu suggested.

The perfect place for alchemy was, of course, the recently secluded Xuanming Sect.

The Xuanming Sect was famous for producing Xuan Shui Pills, and its alchemy facilities were among the best.

Of course, it was still not comparable to the conditions where Huo Yuhao had previously refined the Qiankun Zhaohua Pill in the original work.

However, it was more than sufficient for practice.

They would begin by refining low-level spirit herbs and medicinal materials, perfecting their technique before attempting to refine higher-level ingredients into pills.

"This time, you're in luck," Su Yu said with a grin. "The hardest period for cultivating an Ultimate Martial Soul is between levels thirty and seventy. If we refine these materials into pills and you take them, not only will your soul power rapidly increase, but the residual medicinal energy will also accelerate your future cultivation speed."

When Su Yu practiced alchemy, he didn't make pills to forcefully stimulate potential. Instead, he focused on drawing out the full potency of the herbs, especially preserving the nourishing qualities that could reinforce the foundation.

Xuanming Sect

"Once again, you two have come to my Xuanming Sect. May I ask what brings you here?"

Xu Yang greeted Su Yu and Huo Yuhao once more, but his tone wasn't overly warm.

Although they had tacitly agreed to cooperate with the Sun Moon Empire, it didn't mean they held no grudges. This so-called alliance was ultimately forged through threats.

"Sect Master Xu, Huo Yuhao and I have recently acquired some medicinal materials and need to refine them into pills. We've heard that your sect is famous for refining the Xuan Shui Pill, so we thought that your sect's alchemy facilities must be among the best in the Douluo Continent."

Xu Yang snorted coldly in response.

"My Xuanming Sect has secluded itself from the world. Apart from the daily operations of the sect, we do not deal with any outside matters."

"Sect Master Xu, don't be in such a rush to refuse!"

Su Yu pulled out a medicinal herb that resembled a serpent.

Xu Yang's gaze was immediately drawn to it, and his breathing became rapid.

"Is that a Snake Spirit Grass?"

Many serpent-type soul beasts had perished, and their souls had been consumed by the grass. Through a fortunate twist of fate, it had become the rare Snake Spirit Grass. This herb was extremely effective in stabilizing the foundation of snake-type martial souls.

Especially for the Xuanming Sect's Xuanming Turtle Martial Soul, while they could awaken a phantom serpent soul during the awakening ceremony to temporarily enter the awakened state of the Xuanwu, it was not stable in the long term.

If this Snake Spirit Grass could be consumed, it would stabilize the serpent soul, and perhaps the awakened state could be permanently solidified.

"Yes, but unfortunately, it has already become a soul beast. Its cultivation is only around a thousand years. When it was slain, its spiritual energy began to drain steadily."

Only then did Xu Yang notice the faintly flickering light at the root of the Snake Spirit Grass. Each flash made his heart ache for a second.

Every flicker meant that some of the herb's spiritual energy was dissipating.

"How long do you need to borrow the pill furnace?"

Xu Yang directly asked, clearly considering the Snake Spirit Grass as payment for the request.

"Not long. We will return it within six months."

Alchemy was a time-consuming process, and since both Su Yu and Huo Yuhao were beginners, they couldn't estimate how long it would take to refine all of the spirit herbs they had. They decided to rent the furnace for six months.

Xu Yang, in consideration of the value of the Snake Spirit Grass, did not refuse their request. Though it would delay the refining of the Xuan Shui Pill, the Xuan Shui Pill was made in batches every four months. With a slight adjustment, they could free up the pill furnace for half a year.

Su Yu then took out the medical treatise he had obtained from the Icefire Yin Yang Eye and began studying the medicinal pairings.

Su Yu had already memorized the properties of the medicinal materials from the alchemical book, but he had not thoroughly studied the medicinal property pairings and combinations.

Huo Yuhao didn't know the significance of the alchemy book Su Yu was using. While Su Yu operated the pill furnace and refined the pills according to the book, Huo Yuhao assisted as a helper.

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

"Tsk, tsk, it finally looks different," Su Yu remarked as he opened the pill furnace. Inside, he saw a batch of round, full pills radiating with a spiritual glow, their rich fragrance filling the air. A satisfied smile appeared on his face.

He hadn't just produced this batch of pills in one month.

It was just that this batch was the one he was most satisfied with, meeting the standard he had set in his mind for the first time.

Refining pills was a serious matter. If one couldn't perfectly activate the medicinal properties during refinement, making the effects at least double that of direct consumption, then there was no point in making the pill at all.

"Yuhao, try this latest Yuan Cultivation Pill."

There were more than ten perfectly refined pills in the large furnace. Su Yu took one out and handed it to Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao took the pill and swallowed it immediately.

Over the past month, he had endured both pain and pleasure.

After consuming a large number of pills, his soul power had directly increased by one level.

As for the impurities and poison within the pills, since they had only recently accumulated in his body, all of it had been purified by the cleansing power of Su Yu's second soul skill.

The purification process was painful, but the sensation of rapidly increasing soul power was still very enjoyable, and Huo Yuhao had no complaints.

An hour later, Huo Yuhao opened his eyes.

"Brother Yu, this time, the pill has almost no impurities. As for the soul power boost, maybe it's because I've consumed too many, so the effects aren't as good as expected, but it's still better than the last batch. If compared to the first batch, and excluding the resistance to the medicine, the effect is at least three times better."

Having become skilled in refining pills and having gained experience in controlling the amount of materials and managing the heat, Su Yu began to add more precious medicinal materials.

Three months later...

"Great Recovery Pill, finally refined!"

Su Yu opened the pill furnace and took out his recent masterpiece, which he had spent a full month working on.

The pill was round and full, with a glossy sheen, its spiritual energy contained within. The fragrance it emitted was so strong that even Su Yu, a Soul Saint, felt his soul power accelerate just from taking a deep breath of it.

"Let a soul beast devour it directly. This Great Recovery Pill would be enough to increase its cultivation by a thousand years."

Generally speaking, soul beasts possessed soul power that surpassed that of soul masters of the same level, especially large soul beasts. Moreover, soul beasts rarely knew how to refine pills on their own.

Given these conditions, a single Great Recovery Pill could raise a soul beast's cultivation by a thousand years. For soul masters, even a Soul King could at least start with a boost of five levels of soul power.

For Su Yu, a Soul Saint, he estimated it would directly increase his soul power by one level.

The best part was that this batch of pills contained nine complete pills!

Of course, most of the spirit herbs and medicinal materials they had obtained from the Phoenix Continent had already been consumed.

"Given my conditions, taking this Great Recovery Pill, the effects of the first three pills should be maximized. After that, the effects may not be as noticeable," Su Yu said thoughtfully.

As for Huo Yuhao, he figured that after consuming three pills, the effect would be comparable to the theoretical effects of two pills.

The further he went, the weaker the effect would become.

In the end, the two of them decided that Su Yu would refine three pills, Huo Yuhao would refine three, and the remaining three would be kept for Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen.

If the siblings reached the level of Soul Emperor, a single Great Recovery Pill would likely raise their soul power by two or three levels.

After dividing the pills, Su Yu and Huo Yuhao began to refine them.

They didn't stay at the Xuanming Sect to refine the pills. After returning the pill furnace, they left the sect and found a place with a richer concentration of vitality.

Having returned the pill furnace early, Xu Yang was in a good mood and happily saw them off. The refining of Xuan Shui Pills was not greatly affected, and Xu Yang felt that he had made quite a profit.Su Yu had already memorized the properties of the medicinal materials from the alchemical book, but he had not thoroughly studied the medicinal property pairings and combinations.

Huo Yuhao didn't know the significance of the alchemy book Su Yu was using. While Su Yu operated the pill furnace and refined the pills according to the book, Huo Yuhao assisted as a helper.

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

"Tsk, tsk, it finally looks different," Su Yu remarked as he opened the pill furnace. Inside, he saw a batch of round, full pills radiating with a spiritual glow, their rich fragrance filling the air. A satisfied smile appeared on his face.

He hadn't just produced this batch of pills in one month.

It was just that this batch was the one he was most satisfied with, meeting the standard he had set in his mind for the first time.

Refining pills was a serious matter. If one couldn't perfectly activate the medicinal properties during refinement, making the effects at least double that of direct consumption, then there was no point in making the pill at all.

"Yuhao, try this latest Yuan Cultivation Pill."

There were more than ten perfectly refined pills in the large furnace. Su Yu took one out and handed it to Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao took the pill and swallowed it immediately.

Over the past month, he had endured both pain and pleasure.

After consuming a large number of pills, his soul power had directly increased by one level.

As for the impurities and poison within the pills, since they had only recently accumulated in his body, all of it had been purified by the cleansing power of Su Yu's second soul skill.

The purification process was painful, but the sensation of rapidly increasing soul power was still very enjoyable, and Huo Yuhao had no complaints.

An hour later, Huo Yuhao opened his eyes.

"Brother Yu, this time, the pill has almost no impurities. As for the soul power boost, maybe it's because I've consumed too many, so the effects aren't as good as expected, but it's still better than the last batch. If compared to the first batch, and excluding the resistance to the medicine, the effect is at least three times better."