1299 Loss and Gain
Alex arrived back in the Beast realm and told Bai Jingshen that he had done it.
"Alright, I will have beasts stationed and waiting for the people to come," he said. "Once there are enough for them, we can let them in."
Alex nodded. He looked to the side, trying to sense Pearl's connection to him, but perhaps because of what was happening to him, he couldn't sense it at all.
He felt like he had no need to ask what was going on with him, but he still did as hearing would help him feel relieved.
"You're going to return to the Crimson Empire?" Bai Jingshen asked.
"Yes, I have some tasks to complete there. Speaking of which, are the materials I asked for ready?" Alex asked.
"My wives should have the. I'll ask them to get it to you," Bai Jingshen said.
"Great," Alex said. "Do we know how the migration is going for the players in the north?"
"Hao'er came here yesterday and I've sent some beast to aid with the migration. I can't tell how long it will take, but it shouldn't take that long, maybe 2 weeks," Bai Jingshen said.
Alex thought for a bit. "2 weeks huh. I hope Pearl can get out by that time," he said.
"What will you do if he doesn't come out in time? Will you wait for him?" Bai Jingshen asked.
"No, I'll leave," Alex said nochalantly.
Bai Jingshen was a little surprised by that attitude. "I thought you cared quite a lot about Pearl," he said. "Why do you want to leave suddenly?"
"Because I can come back at any time to get him," Alex said.
"Hmm? How? Are you planning to ask the senior from Sky God's palace to send you here?" Bai Jingshen asked.
"I could do that," Alex said. "But I won't, since I have my own plans. Anyway, I think I will finish making the pills for you first, Brother Shen. I should be done in a week. After that, I can go back."
"I'll send your mother back first then," Bai Jingshen said. "She can go spend some time with her family."
Alex nodded. "I will get started with the pills then."
Alex quickly left for the alchemy room with the ingredients given to him by one of Bai Jingshen's wives and started making the pills.
A few minutes later, lightning bolts struck the palace multiple times. Bai Jingshen had seen it before, but he still was surprised to see someone in such a weak realm manage to form pill clouds.
He counted the number of lightning bolts that fell from heaven. Previously, after 5 lightning bolts, the pill clouds would disappear.
However, this time around, even after the 5th lightning bolt struck the palace, the pill cloud still hung around.
The White Tiger felt gleeful knowing that the next lightning bolt was coming down as well. As the 6th lightning bolt struck the palace, he was happy to know that most of his pills were going to have 6 pill veins.
The most a pill could have was 9 pill veins. As such, a pill with 6 pill veins was more than half as good as the most perfect a saint pill could be.
And his beasts were going to grow using these very pills.
However, as he thought that, the White Tiger's face changed as shock filled him. He quickly looked up in surprise as he realized the pill clouds hadn't disappeared at all.
"Another one? 7th pill vein?" the tiger looked flabbergasted.
7 pill veins were just 1 more pill vein than 6, but 1 pill vein was that much harder to get and made that much more impact. With 7 pill veins, the pill was that much closer to the perfection that was physically possible for a Saint pill.
The 7th lightning bolt struck the palace, surprising anyone that was keeping track of the numbers.
"That young man… just 10 days ago he was making 5 veined pills, and now he's making 7—"
The tiger's words stopped in his mouth when he slowly realized that the pill clouds had yet to disappear.
"What? How is this possible?" he could only say in surprise.
As far as he was aware, the strength required to stop the lightning bolts was either half of that realm or over that realm.
A Saint Condensation realm cultivator, if he formed a pill cloud, required the 5th realm of cultivation to stop a single lightning bolt. To stop the 2nd lightning bolt, he needed to reach the Saint Foundation realm.
Similarly, the 3rd lightning bolt required Saint Foundation 5th realm, and the 4th one required cultivation above the Saint Foundation realm.
Considering that, the 6th pill vein required a cultivation base higher than the Saint Core realm. The 7th pill vein required a cultivation base of Saint Soul 5th realm.
As for the 8th one, it required a cultivation base above the Saint Soul realm.
It required the Saint Transformation realm.
"How… how does the young man have a cultivation prowess of Saint Transformation realm?" the tiger couldn't help but ask himself. It simply didn't make any sense that someone who had just reached the Saint Core 5th realm could have such a high cultivation prowess.
There was no way Alex could just have an entire cultivation realm and a half with what he strength he had currently.
Then…
"His Blood aura?" Bai Jingshen wondered. That was the only possibility that remained, and after giving some thought to it, he came to the conclusion that that was indeed the case.
The 8th lightning bolt fell onto the palace and disappeared. A moment after, the pill clouds disappeared as well.
As long as the final lightning bolt had been stopped, Alex will have made an 8-veined pill.
In the absence of the very best, one couldn't find a pill greater than this.
* * * * *
Alex took a deep breath after he finished making the 8-veined pill. He sighed in relief after realizing that he hadn't made a mistake with the risk he had just taken.
On the 7th lightning bolt, he was already surprised that his Qi alone could stop it. So, he decided to give the next bolt a try with his Qi and Blood aura.
The combined power his Qi and Blood aura produced was barely enough to protect the pill. Had he not added the Qi, his blood aura alone wouldn't have been capable of stopping the bolt alone.
"I probably shouldn't try the 8th bolt if I end up making double lightning each time," he thought in slight fear.
Still, it was quite a surprise to learn that his blood aura had become this strong. After all, when he had first given the White Tiger's blood essence back, it had reduced to a point where it was barely any stronger than his Qi.
And now, it was reaching heights that calling its current power stronger than the peak of the Saint Soul realm wouldn't be a lie.
"The prophecy said that I would lose a power that someone else would gain. That was probably it talking about Pearl and me," he thought. "The prophecy makes it sound like I was going to come out of it worse than I started. However, I instead became stronger than ever."
"Maybe I shouldn't give the prophecies much thought at all. They probably aren't painting the full picture in the first place."
Alex felt a little better after thinking about it in that way. Even if the prophecy was correct, it most likely never held the entire truth in it.
He smiled and got back to work again.
For the next week or so, he continued making pills one after the other. The palace resounded with lightning bolts almost the entire time, with only a few long breaks between them when Alex had to cultivate.
The lightning bolts either dropped 7 times or 8 times, depending on whether only one lightning bolt was falling or two at once.
After the week had passed, Alex finally walked out from inside the room with a bag full of pills.
"Here," Alex handed the pills to the lady Tiger that seemed to have been waiting for him.
"How many did you make?" the tiger couldn't help but ask.
"Uh… I lost count," Alex said. "About 1200 pills I believe. About 30% of them are above 95% in harmony. Of the remaining, they have 7 and 8 pill veins. As for the number, it should be half and half."
"I see," the Tiger could barely show any emotion but surprise. She had barely ever produced a pill with pill veins, and here was a human child that wasn't even a century old and could make over 800 pills with pill veins.
"I will take them," she said. "You can go and meet our lord in the garden. He has the materials you were looking for."
Alex nodded and walked away from the underground to the garden where Bai Jingshen was staying with Scarlet. It had been over a week of cloudy days and nights, so they were ecstatic to find the sun shining bright in the sky.
"You're finally out?" the White Tiger asked.
Alex nodded. "I hear you have the materials I asked for," he said.
"Here," Bai Jingshen tossed it to Alex. "What are you going to use it for exactly?"
"I will keep it a secret for now since I'm not sure I can succeed or not," Alex said. "But if I do succeed, it will make things so much simpler for the both of us."
"Oh?" the White Tiger looked curious. "Alright, I'll wait for it then."
