Ye Xiwen had perfectly followed the steps for concocting pills with the help of the mysterious space. Therefore, as long as he had sufficient ingredients, he could easily refine that so-called Divine Longevity Dan, which could increase lifespan by a thousand years.
Moreover, as a result of his nearly perfect technique, Ye Xiwen had refined thirty-six Longevity Dans. For most people, it would be simply impossible to match his level.
Ye Xiwen had burned a total of a hundred thousand Ling Dans (1) in order to perfectly carry out the alchemic process of concocting pills. It was absolutely impossible for other masters to pay such a price by burning this big an amount of Ling Dans at once, mainly because they would not have gotten an opportunity like this, only a capable individual like Ye Xiwen could.
At the rate with which Ye Xwien was burning Ling Dans, even the amount of Ling Dans which he had obtained recently wouldn’t suffice to match his consumption rate. Fortunately, he wasn’t going to follow the Way of Dan (2), so he did not need to grasp all sorts of methods to prepare Dans. Even if he had the need to grasp some methods, he was capable enough to afford the consumption rate.
However, if Ye Xiwen wanted to embark on the Way of Dan, then the associated consumption rate would definitely drive him crazy.
Even the most experienced alchemists could refine only 12 Longevity Dans on an average, and for that they were considered extraordinary.
It was impossible to refine 36 Longevity Dans like Ye Xiwen did, and that too in one go.
Wang Jingtian profusely thanked Ye Xiwen and left after obtaining a Longevity Dan. Ye Xiwen also didn’t engage him any further and let him go.
However, as soon as Wang Jingtian had left, Ye Xiwen immediately began the closed door training, so that he could consume those Longevity Dans. (3)
Not to mention, each of the Longevity Dans could increase one’s lifespan by a hundred years, and Ye Xiwen had thirty five of them; together, these many Longevity Dans were more than sufficient for him.
However, even though these lifespan increasing drugs and medicinal herbs were of fine quality, they could increase one’s lifespan, at most, by only 50%. In other words, regardless of how many Longevity Dans he would swallow, his lifespan could increase up to 750 years, at the very most. Even if some legendary individual possessed the lifespan of a millennium, then too his lifespan could only increase by 500 years. (4)
A person’s lifespan could increase naturally if he could have a breakthrough from one realm to the other. Otherwise, they would have to rely on these kinds of foreign objects for increasing lifespan and that too only by 50% of their total lifespan. For the past millions of years, no one had been able to break this rule; the so-called ‘dead line’.
If more than half of one’s lifespan had already expired and one still had not managed to have a breakthrough to the next realm, then nothing could really be done.
Of course, half-lifespan was different for different realms. (5)
In addition to that, these Longevity Dans were very expensive, and to refine such kind of Longevity Dans with the help of very sparsely found ingredients was something extremely rare. They were so scarce that it was impossible for experts to have enough Longevity Dans to fully increase their lifespan by 50%. In fact, the most an ordinary person could obtain was a Longevity Dan which could add merely 5 years to his lifespan.
However, Ye Xiwen was not like others. He did not want to increase his lifespan. He merely wanted to replenish his life essence which he had exhausted, and besides, there were no other restrictions on him. He had just used up his life essence to a critical degree, but in reality he was only about 20 years old.
However, Ye Xiwen didn’t have a long term supply of Longevity Dans. And though in the long run, Phoenix Regeneration technique would not only become his biggest ally, but also become an important factor towards restricting his development. (6)
Therefore, although there were thirty five Longevity Dans currently in his possession, he must save them for the future.
Ye Xiwen sat on the bed with his legs crossed, and the Tianyuan mirror began circling above his head. It put layer upon layer of curtains of light in order to give protection to Ye Xiwen. (7)
Ye Xiwen swallowed one Longevity Dan, and it turned into a clear stream of energy as it started circulating throughout his body. Even though Ye Xiwen’s body had aged, the very moment he swallowed the Longevity Dan it began to restore his youth. Soon, a massive amount of efficacies were absorbed by him and were transformed into life essence.
Very soon, Ye Xiwen had completely absorbed the Longevity Dan. Consequently, he appeared a lot younger than before.
Thus, Ye Xiwen, without stopping for a moment, went on to swallow the second, third, and fourth Longevity Dan. After he had consumed the fourth Longevity Dan, his countenance was completely transformed. Now, his appearance once again had changed to that of a twenty-year-old guy from that of a middle-aged man. He once again looked like the same carefree and uninhibited young genius that he was before.
“I can finally try to have a breakthrough into the half-step legendary fifth stage!” Ye Xiwen sighed and said. He had been at the half-step legendary fourth stage for quite some time now, and because of the lack of life essence, he had been unable to have a breakthrough.
Now that his life essence was finally replenished, he could try to have a breakthrough.
And since he must have a breakthrough, he would have to face the heavenly tribulation. However, he chose not to do it in the city, for it might alarm the City Lord.
Ye Xiwen, therefore, flew out of the city for hundreds of miles, and stopped in a valley.
Finally, over the valley in the sky, he released his imposing aura in an absolutely unrestrained manner.
“Bang!” A thunderous sound reverberated and many layers of thick clouds began to appear in the sky from a distant place, building up above Ye Xiwen’s head.
Ye Xiwen looked serious and did not dare to underestimate this heavenly tribulation.
Finally, the heavenly tribulation was ready to descend upon Ye Xiwen. But this time, it was not an ordinary heavenly tribulation. On the contrary, there were pure lightning and thunder weapons, including blades, swords, spears and halberds. Almost eighteen kinds of weapons which were condensed out of lightning rushed straight down towards Ye Xiwen like a heavy rain of weapons, bombarding his body.
“Boom!”
“Boom!”
“Boom!”
These weapons bombarded Ye Xiwen’s body, but only a puff of bluish-black smoke came out of his body, as if it had caught fire.
The attack of these weapons caused countless wounds on Ye Xiwen’s body; but his Phoenix regeneration technique soon started healing his wounds. In any case, these small cuts weren’t an issue at all.
“Crash-bang!” More weapons started appearing in the sky and, thus, the intensity of weapons raining down on him increased drastically; but there was no way to shake Ye Xiwen’s willpower.
It seemed the heavenly tribulation did not have any method to seize Ye Xiwen. But this time, the lightning in the sky no longer condensed into weapons; it instead condensed into demon beasts which began to launch long-ranged raid towards him from all sides, causing the entire sky to tremble in the process.
Ye Xiwen simply sneered, but did not run away. Instead, he advanced like a golden lightning and finally rushed towards the group of lightning demon beasts.
“Bang!” Ye Xiwen clenched his fist and flourished it directly towards the lightning beast and smashed it. The lightning beast immediately turned into the purest form of lightning energy which was then absorbed by Ye Xiwen, thereby making his ‘gilded tyrant form’ even more formidable.
Just then, another lightning beast took advantage of this opportunity and arrived in front of Ye Xiwen. And in an attempt to bite his arms, it opened its bloody mouth which appeared just like a sacrificial bowl.
Ye Xiwen immediately shoved his fist forward towards his target.
“Bang!” Ye Xiwen’s fist passed through the mouth of the lightning beast and smashed its head. The head of the lightning beast immediately exploded, and it turned into lightning energy which was absorbed by Ye Xiwen.
“Bang!”
“Bang!”
“Bang!” Ye Xiwen flourished his palm successively to kill those lightning beasts. As a result, they immediately transformed into lightning energy which was absorbed by him.
“Roar!” Soon a loud roar of a beast emerged from the clouds. While Ye Xiwen was busy killing the other lighting beasts, a strange and terrifying beast appeared in the sky. Crouching in the sky, it looked just like a small mountain; it also resembled the king of ten thousand beasts. It stared at Ye Xiwen from above, and immediately a killing intention as well as a cold aura swept out everywhere.
As a result of that loud roar, the entire sky seemed to be crumbling down.
After watching Ye Xiwen killing the last lightning beast, the lightning beast king finally made a move. Like a vast ocean, a formidable breath rushed towards Ye Xiwen. Its mountain-like body advanced and made a long-ranged raid towards him. It appeared as if the entire sky was cracking into pieces and the entire universe was trembling in general.
Ye Xiwen’s golden divine clothes fluttered as he shot his palm forward. This was a peerless attack; and a murderous intention surged out and it seemed as if the horizon itself was shattered due to the impact.
“Bang!” That huge lightning demon beast king immediately tore apart Ye Xiwen’s big hand that was made up of qi. The lightning beast roared as if to swallow the entire country. And, as a result of this, even the horizon started to sway fiercely.
In the blink of an eye, that huge lightning beast king arrived in front of Ye Xiwen and howled, spraying out a fishy smelling wind from its mouth. It seemed as if the entire sky would be severed any time now!
“Bang!” A terrible collision took place, and it appeared as if the space itself would explode and collapse!
Ye Xiwen’s hands directly tore apart the thighs of the lightning beast king. Although it didn’t give rise to a bloody scene, it was still an abnormally intense battle.
Ye Xiwen took advantage of this opportunity and pursued the lightning beast king. Both his hands turned into dragon claws and went forward to grab the head of the lightning beast king.
“Bang!’
“Bang!”
“Bang!”
Ye Xiwen and the lightning beast king launched their attacks on each other. This lightning beast king was truly extraordinary and an ordinary master would have met his death if he had encountered this beast. However, it was facing the ‘gilded tyrant form’ of Ye Xiwen and, therefore, it was becoming very difficult for it to injure him with its attacks.
However, on the other hand, Ye Xiwen’s every attack was seriously injuring the lightning beast king.
“Bang!” Ye Xiwen’s last strike finally rumbled and killed the lightning beast king at last.
The heavenly tribulation finally dispersed, and an enormous energy was released out of his body.
Finally, he had set foot on the half-step legendary fifth stage, and his combat power had also broken through from the level of ‘half-step legendary Small Complete’ to reach the level of ‘half-step legendary sixth stage’.(8)
Ye Xiwen looked towards northwest, where the True Martial University was located. After a very long time, it had finally started recruiting new students.
(To be continued)
………………….
Ling Dan: Also known as Spirit Dan. It is a type of elixir that contains highlyo concentrated spirit energy inside of it.
Way of Dan: Ye Xiwen isn’t going to follow the Way of Dan which can also be called as the Way of Alchemy. This means that he won’t be investing all his time and money into concocting all sorts of Dans. However, if he ever needs to grasp a new alchemical method to concoct a particular type of Dan, he should be able to afford the consumption of Spirit Dans, which are necessary to fuel the mysterious space while Ye Xiwen comprehends the alchemical method.
Longevity Dan: Its literal translation would be ‘Adding Life Dan’. There are all sorts of Longevity Dans, depending on the quality of ingredients used to concoct them. A Divine Longevity Dan can increase one’s lifespan by 1000 years. The ones concocted by Ye Xiwen can each increase one’s lifespan by 100 years.
For an expert with a lifespan of 1000, no matter how many Longevity Dans he consumes, his lifespan can at most go up to 1500 years.
Half-life span for legendary realm is ‘250 years’. Half-life span for Sage realm is ‘500 years’
Phoenix Regeneration Technique: This technique is also known as ‘Heavenly Phoenix Regeneration Technique’. It burns the practitioner’s life essence to regenerate his wounds, and the imminent lack of life essence hinders the breakthrough.
Tianyuan mirror: It can also be called ‘Heavenly Source Mirror’. It releases curtains of light which envelop Ye Xiwen from all sides, forming a protection screen all around him.
Half-step legendary Small Complete is a level sandwiched between Half-step legendary fifth peak and Half-step legendary sixth stage. When an expert reached Small Complete level, it basically means he is midway within the realm.
Half-step legendary fifth stage < Half-step legendary fifth peak < Half-step legendary Small Complete < Half-step legendary sixth stage