Chapter 1247 The World of Great Powers

The distortion of the spatial passage was more intense than ever before. Liu Yang felt as if his body was being pulled by countless hands, his immortal power churning violently in his meridians. If it weren't for the lightning-patterned defensive armor automatically protecting him, he would probably have been torn apart by the spatial turbulence long ago. He didn't know how much time had passed when the darkness before his eyes was suddenly replaced by a blinding red light. He crashed heavily onto the hard ground, surrounded by a thick stench of blood and burnt smell.

"Cough...cough cough!" Liu Yang pushed himself up from the ground, and was immediately shocked by the sight before him—it was a dark red world. There was no sun or moon in the sky, only countless enormous alchemy furnaces floating there, their mouths spewing golden flames that dyed the sky an eerie orange-red. The ground was covered with black chains, the other ends of which were locked to iron cages, which imprisoned creatures from different worlds: there were winged angels, dragons covered in scales, and humans similar to Earth's superhumans. They were all pale-faced, their eyes filled with despair.

"This is... the world of powerful beings?" Liu Yang gripped the Ice-Fire Immortal-Slaying Sword tightly, cautiously observing his surroundings. He noticed that each iron cage had a wooden plaque hanging above it, indicating the "grade of alchemy materials"—the angels' plaques were marked "superior," the dragons' were marked "excellent," and the human-like creatures' were marked "medium."

"So this is the 'Pill Realm,' and we are all 'medicinal herbs' waiting to be refined." Liu Yang's heart sank, and he instantly understood the true purpose of the ranking stone tablet—the so-called "screening device" was simply a tool for powerful alchemists in the Pill Realm to capture materials for alchemy. He immediately used his spiritual power to investigate, but found that the space here was sealed by a powerful force, and he couldn't even use teleportation. He could only barely sense the auras of Li Mengting and the others, who were in an iron cage not far away.

"Don't move!" A cold voice suddenly rang out. Liu Yang turned around and saw a group of people dressed in black robes striding towards him. They wore skull masks and held chains that shimmered with black light. The aura emanating from them was that of someone at the early stage of the Nascent Soul Realm. The leader of the black-robed men raised the chains and said coldly to Liu Yang, "Newcomer? If you know what's good for you, surrender obediently, or don't blame us for being impolite!"

A cold glint flashed in Liu Yang's eyes. He was about to make a move when he suddenly sensed an aura far surpassing his own locking onto him—an aura as heavy as Mount Tai, making it difficult for him to even mobilize his immortal power. Clearly, it belonged to a powerful figure from the Alchemy Realm. He gritted his teeth and ultimately put down the Ice-Fire Immortal-Slaying Sword—making a move now would not only fail to save Li Mengting and the others but would also expose his strength and invite even greater danger.

Seeing his obedience, the black-robed man immediately bound his wrists with chains. The black light on the chains instantly invaded his body, suppressing his immortal power. "You're smart enough to know what's good for you." The leader of the black-robed men sneered and led him toward the huge alchemy furnace in the distance. "The Alchemist Master is currently in need of materials for the Ascension Realm. You've come at a good time."

"Dan Zun?" Liu Yang memorized the name, calmly observing his surroundings. The ground of the Pill Realm was composed of black rock, beneath which magma seemed to flow, with bubbles rising from time to time, emitting a pungent sulfurous smell. The iron cages along the way grew increasingly dense, and the screams of the creatures within echoed one after another, sending chills down one's spine.

Soon, they arrived before a pill furnace thousands of feet tall—the largest of all, its surface inscribed with intricate runes. The golden flames erupting from its mouth were far more intense than those of the other furnaces, and one could even see medicinal herbs swirling within the flames. Li Mengting, Su Xiao, Chen Dan, and the others were imprisoned in the iron cage closest to the furnace. When they saw Liu Yang, their eyes were filled with joy, but this joy was quickly replaced by worry.

"Liu Yang! How did you get arrested too?" Li Mengting shouted through the iron cage, her voice choked with sobs.

"I'm here to save you," Liu Yang said in a low voice, in a volume only the two of them could hear. "Don't worry, I'll find a way out."

Hearing their conversation, the leader of the black-robed men kicked the iron cage impatiently: "Shut up! Tomorrow, the Pill Master will be refining the 'Myriad Spirits Tempering Pill.' You are all just medicinal herbs in the furnace. You still want to escape?" After he finished speaking, he pushed Liu Yang into the iron cage next to him, locked the chains, and then left with the other black-robed men.

The bars of the iron cage were made of a special metal that could absorb immortal power and supernatural abilities. Liu Yang tried to mobilize his immortal power, but found that as soon as he did, the power was absorbed by the bars. Helpless, he sat down and began to think of a way to break the deadlock—the Pill Master possessed strength far exceeding that of the Ascension Realm, so a direct confrontation was definitely not an option; he could only devise a long-term plan.

“The spiritual energy here is strange.” Li Mengting leaned closer to the railing and whispered, “Although it carries the smell of blood, it can be transformed into superpowers. I just tried absorbing a little and I feel my superpowers have recovered somewhat.”

Liu Yang's heart stirred, and he began to carefully sense the spiritual energy around him—the spiritual energy of the Pill Realm was indeed different from that of other worlds, carrying a trace of "alchemy" attributes. Although it was impure, it contained enormous energy. He tried to circulate the "Meteorite Immortal Technique" to remove the impurities from the spiritual energy and absorb only the pure energy—sure enough, his immortal power was not only not absorbed by the railing, but it was also slowly recovering.

"Everyone, absorb spiritual energy with me," Liu Yang said to the women. "Let's recover our strength first, and then we'll figure out how to escape tonight."

Li Mengting, Su Xiao, and the others immediately followed suit, beginning to circulate their supernatural abilities to absorb spiritual energy. Outside the iron cage, the golden alchemy furnace was still burning, the flames reflecting off their faces. Although they were in dire straits, their eyes shone with hope—as long as Liu Yang was there, they believed they could definitely leave this terrifying alchemy realm.

As night deepened, the dark red sky over the Pill Realm grew even darker. The suspended pill furnaces continued to spew golden flames, but the patrols by the black-robed envoys that had been there during the day were gone. Only the occasional roars of demonic beasts echoed in the empty pill furnace area.

Liu Yang leaned against the iron cage bars, his immortal power had recovered to thirty percent—he had used the "Meteorite Immortal Technique" to purify the spiritual energy of the alchemy world, not only avoiding the energy-absorbing effect of the bars but also discovering that this spiritual energy, with its alchemy properties, had a slight nourishing effect on his immortal power. He glanced discreetly at Li Mengting in the next cage and saw her using her mental abilities to soothe Su Xiao, who was trembling with fear. Although their abilities had recovered somewhat, they were far from enough to break the iron cage.

"We can't wait any longer." With a thought, Liu Yang channeled his immortal power to condense a thin golden thread. The thread, like a serpent, slithered through the cracks in the iron cage and landed precisely in Li Mengting's hand. Sensing something amiss, she immediately concealed her aura and, under the cover of night, quietly slipped the thread into her palm.

“It’s the immortal power imprint of the Gathering Immortal Pill and Immortal Marrow Liquid.” Li Mengting understood instantly. She looked up at Liu Yang, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes. Liu Yang nodded slightly to her, then closed his eyes, seemingly meditating, but actually channeling more immortal power into the silk thread—he intended to use this thread to secretly transfer the remaining Gathering Immortal Pill and Immortal Marrow Liquid in his storage bag to the women in the form of immortal power.

Half an hour later, Li Mengting finally received the first batch of immortal energy packages—containing three Gathering Immortal Pills and a small bottle of Immortal Marrow Liquid. She didn't consume them immediately, but instead used her mental abilities to divide the packages into dozens of portions, which she then passed on to Su Xiao, Chen Dan, and the others in the iron cage in the same way.

"Immortal Marrow Liquid can enhance the purity of the spiritual body, and Gathering Immortal Pill can assist in breaking through realms. Everyone should first refine the Immortal Marrow Liquid to solidify the foundation of their supernatural abilities." Li Mengting's voice entered everyone's mind through mental power. "Liu Yang said that the spiritual energy in the Pill Realm is suitable for cultivation. When refining, try to absorb as much spiritual energy as possible from the surrounding area to increase the speed of improvement."

The women immediately sprang into action—Su Xiao absorbed the Immortal Marrow Liquid into her palm, slowly refining it using her ice-type ability, and a pale blue halo gradually emanated from her body; Chen Dan combined the Immortal Marrow Liquid with her fire-type ability, and a gentle flame rose in her palm, within which subtle patterns of increased spiritual purity could be faintly seen; the other ability users also refined the liquid according to their respective strengths, and although the iron cage area remained dim, dozens of faint lights appeared, like sparks in the darkness.

Liu Yang kept a close eye on his surroundings while simultaneously accelerating the recovery of his own immortal power. He noticed that as the women refined the Immortal Marrow Liquid, the spiritual energy of the Pill Realm began to converge towards them, forming tiny vortexes of spiritual energy—this convergence speed was several times faster than when he absorbed it alone, clearly indicating that the Immortal Marrow Liquid resonated with the spiritual energy of the Pill Realm.

"Perhaps we can use this opportunity to help them break through their cultivation levels." Liu Yang's heart stirred, and he suddenly remembered Bai Jingjing—when the spatial passage closed, Bai Jingjing and Li Qingyue stayed on Earth, and they should be trying to find their whereabouts right now. He secretly resolved to take the women out of the Pill Realm as soon as possible, otherwise, with the strength of a Pill Master, if they were to discover that they had secretly increased their strength, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Just then, faint footsteps sounded in the distance. Liu Yang immediately signaled the women to conceal their auras and pretend they were still asleep. A slender figure emerged from the shadows; it was a mermaid woman—she was a member of her clan who had stayed on Earth with the mermaid princess. This time, she had also been sucked into the Pill Realm because of her high ranking and was imprisoned in the outermost iron cage.

"Chief, I have something to report." The merman woman's voice carried a hint of urgency. "I just communicated with the water-based spirits of the Pill Realm through my water-based abilities. They told me that the Pill Master's 'Pill Mansion' is located beneath the Central Burning Heaven Pill Furnace, and within the furnace lies his core power, the 'Origin of Pill Fire.' The water-based spirits said that if the Origin of Pill Fire is destroyed, the Pill Master's strength will be greatly weakened!"

A glint of light flashed in Liu Yang's eyes—this was exactly the information he needed! He nodded slightly to the merman woman and responded with his mental power: "Thank you, this information is very important. Continue to keep an eye on the movements of the water-based spirits, and let me know immediately if anything happens."

The merman woman nodded and quietly retreated into her iron cage. Liu Yang looked at the women again and found that they had basically finished refining the Immortal Marrow Liquid. Su Xiao's ice-type ability showed faint signs of breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm, and Chen Dan's fire-type ability had also stabilized at the late Golden Core stage.

"Very good." Liu Yang was satisfied and began to plan the next step. "Tonight, let them absorb spiritual energy to consolidate their realm. Tomorrow, when the black-robed envoys escort us to the alchemy furnace, we will take the opportunity to strike—first kill the envoys and seize their alchemy artifacts, then go to the Burning Heaven Alchemy Furnace and look for an opportunity to destroy the source of the alchemy fire."

As night deepened, the spiritual energy of the Pill Realm continued to converge towards the Iron Cage area, and the auras of the women grew stronger. Liu Yang leaned against the railing, gazing at the enormous Heaven-Burning Pill Furnace in the center, a sharp glint in his eyes—Pill Master, it's time for me to take control of the rules of this game.