Deep within the Tianyan Sect, the Transmission Hall stands like an ancient star fortress, constructed entirely of deep "meteorite black stone," its surface flowing with mysterious defensive runes, exuding a heavy, ancient, and inviolable majesty. This is the core of the sect's lineage, housing numerous core inheritances, including the "Zhou Tian Xing Chen Jue," and is heavily guarded.
Lin Yuan stood alone beneath the towering gate of the Transmission Hall, a gate that seemed to lead to the stars, feeling as insignificant as a speck of dust. Before the hall's entrance, two guards clad in star-patterned armor, their auras as cold as ice, stood like statues, their gazes sweeping over Lin Yuan like tangible blades, carrying undisguised scrutiny and... a hint of contempt.
A mere Qi Refining Realm cultivator? They dare to come to the Dharma Transmission Hall?
Lin Yuan took a deep breath, suppressing the surging anger in his chest and his worry about Feng Qinghuang's injuries, and strode forward, trying to straighten his back.
"Halt! This is the sacred ground of the Dharma Transmission Hall. Unauthorized personnel are not allowed to trespass!" The guard on the left spoke coldly, his halberds crossed, blocking the way.
"Disciple Lin Yuan, Peak Master of Starfall Peak, has urgent business to discuss with Elder Guardian!" Lin Yuan announced loudly, trying to make his voice sound steady and powerful.
"Peak Master of Starfall Peak?" The guard on the right sneered, his contempt growing even stronger. "Peak Master Lin, the Transmission Hall has its own rules. To obtain cultivation techniques, you must exchange them with sect contribution points. If you do not have contribution points, or have not received special approval from the sect master or the supreme elder, please leave!" He directly invoked the rules, clearly not taking Lin Yuan, the "Peak Master," seriously.
Lin Yuan had anticipated this and immediately said, "This disciple has not come empty-handed! Last night, our Starfall Peak was ambushed by the Spirit-Eroding Powder, and many disciples are in critical condition! We urgently need the 'Zhou Tian Xing Chen Jue' to heal our first disciple, Feng Qinghuang, from her Dao Foundation injuries, and to prepare an antidote! This disciple is willing to exchange it for a newly developed pill formula from the Starry Sky Pill Dao! The value of this formula is enough to..."
"Enough!" A dignified yet clearly impatient voice echoed from within the hall, interrupting Lin Yuan's words. An elderly man in a dark purple robe, with a stern face and sharp, hawk-like eyes, slowly stepped out. His aura was profound, clearly indicating he was also a Celestial King Realm expert. He was none other than Wu Zhen, the Hall of Punishments Elder on duty for the day!
Wu Zhen's gaze swept over Lin Yuan like lightning, carrying a condescending scrutiny and a hint of barely perceptible coldness: "Peak Master Lin, sect rules are paramount! The Transmission Hall is not a place for you to bargain! The 'Zhou Tian Xing Chen Jue' is the foundation of the sect, an Emperor-level cultivation technique. How can it be exchanged for a mere pill formula? Stop making trouble here and leave immediately!"
He deliberately emphasized "mere pill formula" and "nonsense," his bias and obstruction blatantly obvious. Lin Yuan instantly understood that Zhao Hao's influence had already extended here! This Wu Zhen must be a member of the Zhao family, or at least have received benefits from them!
"Elder Wu!" Lin Yuan suppressed his anger and argued forcefully, "A life is at stake! Feng Qinghuang is our peak's top disciple, the prodigy who triggered the 'Phoenix Cry and Starfall' phenomenon! Her Dao foundation injury concerns the future of the sect! What I seek is not the cultivation technique itself, but the authority to repair her Dao foundation! I am willing to swear a solemn oath to my inner demons, never to divulge even a fraction of the technique, using it solely for healing! Furthermore, the Star Pill formula is definitely not..."
"Shut up!" Wu Zhen roared, his Immortal King aura crashing down on Lin Yuan like a mountain! "So what if you're a prodigy? Before the sect rules, everyone is equal! Without a million sect contribution points, you think you can even touch the 'Zhou Tian Xing Chen Jue'? Wishful thinking!" He threw out an astronomical figure! A million contribution points! Even if Lin Yuan completed a hundred high-difficulty sect missions, it would take him decades to accumulate that many! This was clearly an attempt to completely block Lin Yuan's path!
Lin Yuan's bones creaked under the oppressive force, his face deathly pale. His Qi Refining Realm spiritual power was like a candle flickering in the wind before a Celestial King. But he gritted his teeth, his eyes defiant, refusing to retreat even a step! The pale face of Feng Qinghuang and the pained expressions of Zhang Shan and the others flashed through his mind.
"Elder Wu, rules are rigid, but people are flexible! Is refusing to help someone in distress really a rule of the sect?!" Lin Yuan roared hoarsely.
"How dare you!" Wu Zhen's eyes flashed with murderous intent. "How dare you question the sect rules and defy the elders! It seems your Starfall Peak truly lacks discipline! Guards! Seize this culprit who disrupted the order of the Dharma Transmission Hall! Take him to the Punishment Hall to await his judgment!"
"Yes!" The two guards' eyes turned cold, and with a flick of their halberds, the gleaming tips were about to lock onto Lin Yuan!
At this critical moment!
"Wait a minute!!!"
An extremely anxious shout, even with a cracking voice, came from afar like a gust of wind!
Elder Gu Chen came running, panting heavily and with disheveled hair, clutching a jade slip with still-wet ink and a small jade bottle tightly in his hands! He had clearly been running so fast that he had even lost a shoe!
"Elder Wu... Elder Wu! Show mercy!" Gu Chen rushed forward, disregarding all decorum, and knelt before Wu Zhen with a thud. He held the jade slip and jade bottle high in his hands, his voice trembling violently from excitement and running: "This is... this is the new Star Pill Dao formula created by Peak Master Lin of Starfall Peak—'Star Gathering Spirit Pill'! And... and one finished pill! Please take a look, Elder! This pill... this pill is invaluable! It's enough to offset contribution points! Please, Elder, have mercy and allow Peak Master Lin to exchange it for the right to comprehend the 'Zhou Tian Star Scripture'!"
Wu Zhen frowned, looking at the disheveled and seemingly insane Gu Chen with eyes full of disgust and impatience: "Gu Chen! You, an elder of Dan Ding Peak, have also lost your mind? What Star Gathering Spirit Pill? I've never even heard of it! Get out of here at once! Otherwise, you too..."
"Elder Wu!" Gu Chen suddenly raised his head, his eyes bloodshot, like a fierce beast protecting its cubs, his voice filled with unprecedented determination and fervor: "Just one look! Please just one look at this jade slip! One look at this pill! If after you've seen it, you still think it's not worth it, this old man... this old man will shatter his own heart on the spot to atone for his sins! I only beg you to give Peak Master Lin a chance! Give those poisoned disciples of Starfall Peak a chance to live!!!"
Gu Chen's resolute decision stunned Wu Zhen and the two guards. Shattering his own heart? Has this old man gone mad?
Lin Yuan stared in shock at Gu Chen, who was kneeling on the ground, threatening to kill himself for the sake of Starfall Peak. A warm feeling welled up in his heart. This medicine-obsessed elder... he's truly a man of character!
Wu Zhen's expression shifted between anger and uncertainty. Gu Chen was, after all, a senior elder of Dan Ding Peak, and held considerable prestige in the world of alchemy. If he were to truly commit suicide here, things would escalate, and it wouldn't benefit Wu Zhen either. He snorted coldly, snatched the jade slip from Gu Chen's hand, and roughly scanned it with his divine sense.
At first, his face was full of disdain. Using the power of stars as the main fire, fusing with the vitality of plants… absurd! But when he saw the revolutionary extraction theory, the energy balance formula, and the final description of the pill's effects, his pupils suddenly contracted!
"...Drawing upon the celestial energy of the universe to gently temper and refine spiritual power, significantly enhancing the spiritual power condensation and recovery speed of cultivators at the Qi Refining and Transformation stages. Long-term use also has a slight effect of widening meridians and stabilizing the nascent Dao foundation?! This... how is this possible?!" Wu Zhen exclaimed in shock, his hand holding the jade slip trembling slightly! Enhancing spiritual power condensation? Stabilizing the nascent Dao foundation? For lower-level disciples, this effect is simply a heaven-defying treasure! Its value far surpasses ordinary breakthrough pills! Because this concerns the foundation! It concerns the future!
He suddenly looked at the jade bottle in Gu Chen's hand, snatched it, and uncorked it.
Buzz—!
A fragrance even richer and more powerful than the "Starlight Tempering Powder" from the previous night, containing the pure vitality of stars and the gentle scent of herbs, instantly filled the air! With just one inhalation, Wu Zhen felt his already solidified spiritual power being stirred and activated slightly! What astonished him even more was that the pill at the bottom of the bottle, the size of a longan, entirely azure, with what seemed like a swirling nebula inside, emitted a Daoist aura and pure energy far surpassing any other pill of the same grade he had ever seen!
This...this pill...is real! This formula...is real too! And its value...is immeasurable!
Wu Zhen's face instantly became incredibly complex, alternating between pale and flushed. He held the jade slip and jade bottle as if they were hot potatoes. The value of this pill formula and the pills far exceeded one million contribution points! It was even enough to cause a storm in the sect! If he forcibly suppressed it, the consequences of its leakage would be unimaginable! And the Zhao family... would be difficult to explain as well.
Just as Wu Zhen was caught in a dilemma and struggling internally—
Boom!!!
An indescribable, vast, and ancient pressure descended upon the Hall of Dharma Transmission without warning!
The pressure was far stronger than that of the sect master, Immortal King Xingyun! It was as if the entire sky above the Tianyan Sect had suddenly lowered! The defensive runes flowing in the Transmission Hall instantly erupted with unprecedentedly brilliant light, emitting a hum that seemed unable to bear the weight! Wu Zhen, Gu Chen, the two guards, and even Lin Yuan, were all pressed to the ground like ants under this pressure, unable to move! Even breathing became incredibly difficult!
An aged thought, seemingly emanating from the endless river of time, carrying a hint of surprise and inquiry, exploded like thunder in everyone's consciousness:
"Stars...gathering spirits? Stabilizing...the foundation of one's Dao?"
"Where did this elixir... this elixir formula... come from?!"
"And...the Dao wounds...and the Seal of Annihilation on that girl's body?!"
This thought, as if it were tangible, instantly pierced through the many restrictions of the Transmission Hall, precisely locking onto the jade slip and jade bottle in Wu Zhen's hands, and... far away in the Starfall Peak cave, where Feng Qinghuang was struggling to suppress her injuries!
The Emperor's might! A true Emperor-level ancestor! Has been alarmed!
Lin Yuan lay on the ground, his heart filled with turmoil! The Ancestor had actually intervened personally? And… he mentioned Feng Qinghuang's Dao injury and… the Annihilation Seal? That dark red thing, was it the seal?!
Wu Zhen was terrified, his back soaked in cold sweat! An Emperor-level ancestor! He had actually been alerted! How could he dare to harbor even the slightest thought of making things difficult for him?
"Reporting...reporting to the Ancestor!" Wu Zhen's voice trembled, filled with extreme fear and awe, "The pill formula and the pills...were...presented by Lin Yuan, the Peak Master of Starfall Peak! This disciple...this disciple was just about to grant him entry into the hall according to the rules..."
"allow!"
The aged mind held only one word, yet it carried the undeniable will of heaven and earth!
boom!
The heavy stone door of the Dharma Transmission Hall, which seemed to be sealed off from the stars for eternity, slowly opened inward with a dull rumble, revealing a deep, star-studded passage inside!
At the same time, a gentle yet irresistible force lifted Lin Yuan up.
"Young Lin Yuan, carrying the pill formula and the elixir, enter the hall to pay your respects!"