Chapter 391: Pill and Poison are of the Same Origin

"How about that? Did I successfully master it?"

"This thing you've learned..." The Immortal Fairy sorted through her impoverished vocabulary, finding it rather difficult to answer Lu Yang’s question.

"It could be considered the Universe in the Palm, though the size is slightly off."

The Immortal Fairy gestured with her hands. "It's only about the size of a village. This move of yours should be called the Village in the Palm."

Lu Yang peeked at the miniature space within his palm; it was indeed not very large.

Village in the Palm sounded terribly uninspired, so he argued his case righteously. "How can it be called a village? Although the space is a bit small, it's still a miniature universe nonetheless. Look closely, there are even stars rotating. It should be called the Miniature Universe in the Palm!"

The Immortal Fairy sneered at Lu Yang's rhetoric. "Come off it. A handful of spinning sand particles pretending to be stars."

She blew a gentle breath into Lu Yang's palm, and the starry grains scattered, vanishing into thin air.

Seeing that his bluff had failed, Lu Yang had no choice but to admit defeat. "Fine, Village in the Palm it is. At least it's still a space spell."

Lu Yang quickly tossed the matter of the spell's name to the back of his mind, shifting his focus to exploring how exactly to unleash the Village in the Palm.

"The Universe in the Palm can collapse an entire world down, making it impossible for anyone to contend against. The Village in the Palm should be capable of the same!"

Imitating the Immortal Fairy, Lu Yang pressed his right hand downward.

"Village in the Palm!"

Rumble—

A massive hand descended from the heavens, the size of a village, carrying an immense sense of oppression. The spiritual shock it delivered was far greater than its actual physical impact!

Yet, before the great hand could fully land, it gradually faded away and vanished.

"Pant, pant—"

Lu Yang gasped heavily, opening his mouth to swallow the ambient spiritual energy, like a drowning man just pulled ashore, desperately breathing in the air.

He had not deliberately dismissed the Village in the Palm just now; rather, his own spiritual power was simply insufficient to maintain its existence.

This single strike alone had completely drained him of his spiritual energy.

"This move is still far too difficult for the current you." The Immortal Fairy shook her head. Even an infant-level version of the Universe in the Palm was not something a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator could execute.

But then again, if this move could be fully unleashed, no one in the Golden Core stage would be able to withstand it!

Even a peerless genius of the Golden Core stage could forget about blocking it!

Lu Yang quickly found a solution. "Perhaps I can consume medicinal pills while simultaneously unleashing the Village in the Palm."

He sat cross-legged, taking half a quarter of an hour to recover his state, adjust his mindset, and start anew.

He produced a medicine gourd, which was filled entirely with Great Restoration Pills. He had grown up eating these things since childhood and was thoroughly familiar with them.

Lu Yang poured out a single Great Restoration Pill from the gourd, held it in his mouth, and unleashed the Village in the Palm once more.

Just like before, the palm blurred and vanished before it could even descend, leaving Lu Yang so exhausted that he slumped flat on his bottom onto the ground.

"No good, one Great Restoration Pill isn't enough."

Another half a quarter of an hour passed. Lu Yang swallowed three Great Restoration Pills and unleashed the Village in the Palm.

The great hand faded and vanished mid-air.

"Even three pills aren't enough?"

Lu Yang bared his teeth. Exactly how many Great Restoration Pills would he have to eat to succeed?

Five pills, six pills, seven pills, eight pills, nine pills, ten pills...

Ultimately, Lu Yang reached a conclusion—his mouth would have to be entirely stuffed with Great Restoration Pills for it to work.

But that triggered another problem—stuffed full, he couldn't swallow them, and swallowing them in batches wouldn't replenish his power fast enough.

"Right, I can ask Elder Seven for help!"

Elder Seven was a premier master of alchemy on the Central Continent; he would surely be able to refine a pill that rapidly restored spiritual power!

Furthermore, because Lu Yang had gifted Elder Seven an intelligent Mutian Grass, the elder had proactively offered to help Lu Yang refine pills three times!

No sooner said than done!

Lu Yang found Elder Seven, who happened to be opening a furnace to refine pills. A rich medicinal fragrance greeted his nose, and one whiff alone was enough to tell it wasn't poisonous.

"Haha, the Realm-Breaking Pill I meticulously refined is finally complete!"

Elder Seven laughed heartily. Refining a type of pill that had never existed before gave him a tremendous sense of accomplishment.

"Congratulations, Elder Seven!" Seeing this scene, Lu Yang raised his hands in congratulation. He had been standing a short distance away without disturbing the elder's refining process, stepping forward only after the pill was finished.

"Ah, it's Lu Yang. A pity you're only in the Golden Core stage, so you can't test this newly refined Realm-Breaking Pill of mine. This is a pill that has never existed before!"

Lu Yang hesitated slightly. From Elder Seven's tone, it sounded as though swallowing this pill would allow one to advance to the Golden Core stage. To his knowledge, such pills had already existed since ancient times.

Elder Seven waved his hand. "How can the pills refined by those vulgar masses compare to mine? The Realm-Breaking Pills of the outside world are crudely manufactured and possess absolutely no sense of aesthetic beauty."

Lu Yang asked cautiously, "Then the pill you've refined..."

"The Realm-Breaking Pills refined by the outside world are merely meant for Foundation Establishment cultivators to swallow so they can advance to the Golden Core stage. The effect is far too ordinary!"

"These few Realm-Breaking Pills of mine can not only allow Foundation Establishment cultivators to advance to the Golden Core stage, but they can also cause Nascent Soul cultivators to degrade back down to the Golden Core stage!"

Lu Yang: "......"

He felt that the poor reputation Elder Seven suffered in the outside world was certainly not without reason.

Although pills and poisons shared the same roots, and alchemists were all more or less proficient in the principles of toxicology,

it was rare to see someone like Elder Seven, who developed both pills and poisons with such balanced harmony.

Lu Yang still remembered his very first visit to Pill Cauldron Peak, where he had been knocked unconscious by the toxic fragrance of the pills. Under Elder Seven's leadership, every senior brother and sister of Pill Cauldron Peak was highly proficient in toxicology, and their skills in it were by no means inferior to their alchemy.

Of course, even if what they refined were orthodox medicinal pills, there was no guarantee they wouldn't contain poison, perfectly embodying the concept that pills and poisons shared the same roots.

"Meeting me is a twist of fate, so here is one for you." With a flick of his middle finger, a blue-patterned pill landed right into Lu Yang's embrace.

"What brings you to seek me out?"

"It's like this. I have just learned a spell that consumes an immense amount of mana. Halfway through its execution, my mana runs completely dry, forcing it to interrupt. I tried consuming Great Restoration Pills while casting, but the rate at which the Great Restoration Pill restores mana still cannot keep pace with the rate of my consumption. I would like to request that you refine a pill that can allow me to rapidly restore my mana."

"Hmm, there are precedents for your situation. Refining it isn't particularly difficult. Come, let me feel your meridians."

Elder Seven gripped Lu Yang's wrist and expressed a hint of surprise. "When I was at your realm, I didn't possess such a vast reservoir of spiritual energy. This shouldn't be happening. With your reservoir of spiritual energy, no matter what spell you cast, it shouldn't completely drain you."

"Oh, if you are unwilling to say what spell it is, that is perfectly fine. It's only normal for cultivators to have secrets. For instance, Old Nine has an ancient ferocious beast sealed within his body, and Old Four had a pile of erotic pictures hidden under his bed when he was a child."

Lu Yang felt that these secrets might not be exclusively limited to cultivators.

"It's not that I'm unwilling to say, it's just that explaining it is a bit troublesome. Let me demonstrate it for you once."

Lu Yang was not afraid of exposing the Immortal Fairy's existence; in any case, everyone would simply assume that his Eldest Senior Sister had taught him.

Lu Yang stepped out into an open area and struck downward with a palm. A colossal hand descended from the heavens, blocking out the sunlight and enveloping the mountaintop. The wind from the palm was astonishing, pressing the green grass flat against the earth.

The great hand vanished mid-air.

Seeing this scene, Elder Seven's pupils contracted slightly, visibly moved. He had never witnessed such a move before. Judging solely by the aura just now, this move was simply not something a Golden Core stage cultivator should be capable of unleashing. That Lu Yang could execute it at all already defied all conventional logic.

"What an incredibly powerful spell. What is the name of this technique!?"

Lu Yang said with utmost seriousness, "An ancient supreme technique, an inheritance of the immortals, an ultimate grand divine ability—the Village in the Palm."

The Seventh Elder turned his head to look at Lu Yang in surprise, wondering why the spell's name felt so utterly unworthy of its prefix.