Chapter 243: Outstanding Horns!
Jiang Yun followed the same method, tossing all the ingredients into the sea of fire at once. Those who had missed the scene of him refining the Emperor Pill were utterly dumbfounded when they witnessed this for the first time.
Who refined medicine like this? The extraction of medicinal ingredients required different temperatures, and even the sequence was of critical importance. When to add which ingredient, when to raise the temperature—these were matters of meticulous precision. One wrong step, and the entire pill could be ruined.
And here Jiang Yun was, casually tossing everything in at once. It was simply too outrageous.
Oh. Jiang Yun was a Dou Di. Never mind then. With great strength came such incredible privilege.
In the time that followed, crackling and snapping sounds rang out from the sky, much like the sound of firewood burning.
This was the result of the ingredients being scorched by the high-temperature flames.
"Why do I feel like His Excellency the Heavenly Emperor is just burning firewood to cook a meal?"
"I have that same feeling."
"Ahem... the greatest truths are the simplest. His Excellency's alchemy has reached an unfathomably profound realm—a state of returning to natural simplicity. That's why it appears so... so ordinary."
"Ohhh..." Hearing this, everyone suddenly understood. They gazed at Jiang Yun with renewed awe. Refining an Emperor Pill with the same effortless ease as a first or second-tier pill—truly, this was an eye-opening experience.
Originally, everyone had hoped to watch Jiang Yun perform alchemy and perhaps glean a fraction of his technique. But now... they couldn't understand a single thing!
Faced with a technique that looked exactly like how a first or second-tier alchemist would refine pills, they had absolutely no idea where to even begin learning.
In under an hour, the ten-thousand-plus ingredients had all been completely refined by Jiang Yun. This was far faster than when he had refined the Emperor Pill. After all, these were only ninth-tier Golden Pills. With Jiang Yun's current strength, it was naturally a piece of cake.
"Condense—!"
With a resounding shout from Jiang Yun, endless natural energy surged in like tidal waves from the void in every direction. Seen from afar, it looked as if ten-thousand-zhang, world-ending waves had risen at the horizon, as if they intended to drown the entire world.
Under Jiang Yun's manipulation, the natural energy transformed into the purest essence and flowed into the pill cauldron.
Half a day passed in the blink of an eye. Suddenly, the surging of natural energy ceased. The sky began to warp, as if something was coalescing within it.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!
In the next second, thunderclouds formed in the sky. Although it couldn't compare to the spectacle when the Emperor Pill was born, the wild dance of the Nine Mysterious Golden Thunder still stunned the world.
Of course, no matter how vast or powerful the Nine Mysterious Golden Thunder was, it was still something at the Dou Sheng level. The current Jiang Yun couldn't care less about it.
With a grand wave of his hand, a wave of flames surged upward from before him, shooting straight toward the thunderclouds above. In the blink of an eye, the Nine Mysterious Golden Thunder in the sky was burned completely clean by the Samsara Demon Flame.
After everything settled, within the pill cauldron in Jiang Yun's hand, round, plump pills were revealed—six in total, all of them ninth-tier Golden Pills.
Seeing Jiang Yun halt his actions, Zhu Kun led Zi Yan and the others over at once. Looking at the miniature suns gleaming within the cauldron in Jiang Yun's palm, Zhu Kun couldn't help but swallow, almost beside himself with eagerness.
He stared with blazing intensity at the pills within. From the depths of his soul surged an extreme, intense stirring. That stirring told him that if he could consume these, his strength would inevitably break through.
"Worthy son-in-law, this pill..."
"Heh, Uncle, these were refined specifically for you. One Emperor Pill paired with six ninth-tier Golden Pills will be more than enough to push you to Dou Di in one go. When the time comes, we'll still need you to officiate the grand wedding between Zi Yan and me!" Seeing Zhu Kun's expression, Jiang Yun chuckled softly and handed over the pill cauldron. Waves of delicate fragrance wafted from it. Simply inhaling that sweet medicinal scent, Zhu Kun could clearly feel the strength that had stagnated for over ten thousand years actually showing signs of beginning to stir.
"Hahaha! Good! I approve! We'll pick an auspicious date and hold a grand, magnificent ceremony! But let me tell you—don't you dare bully her, or once I break through to Dou Di, you'll have me to answer to!" Zhu Kun hastily, almost clumsily, accepted the pill cauldron, laughing heartily.
Zi Yan, hearing this, leaned blissfully against Jiang Yun, her beautiful eyes sparkling as she gazed up at him.
"The Taixu Ancient Dragon Clan is truly extraordinary. The sovereign of the magical beast world is about to usher in another era of great prosperity!" In the distance, as the experts of the Dou Qi Continent watched this scene, a single thought flashed through their minds.
Gu Yuan's gaze, in particular, was fixed unblinkingly on the pill cauldron in Zhu Kun's hands. The stirring Zhu Kun felt—he naturally felt it too. Thinking of this, he envied Zhu Kun beyond measure.
At the same time, he subconsciously glanced back at his own daughter, and then at Xiao Yan. A sigh rose in his heart. But soon, he pulled himself together. Xiao Yan wasn't bad either. He had already reached nine-star Dou Sheng, and it wouldn't be long before he too could break through to Dou Di. At that point, Gu Yuan would also be able to obtain an Emperor Pill.
Within the Pill Tower's camp, Xuan Kongzi withdrew his marveling gaze and looked at his disciple beside him, who was staring entranced at the figures of Jiang Yun and the Dragon Emperor. He couldn't help but sigh, his tone complicated as he said, "Ying'er, fate is a most mysterious thing and cannot be forced. What should be let go... let it go."
In the end, there was fate, but no destiny to be together.
Cao Ying's body trembled upon hearing Xuan Kongzi's words. She looked at that figure in the distance—the only man who had ever entered her heart—and said, her voice faintly quivering, "Yes... we are ultimately people from different worlds, aren't we?"
Jiang Yun was already a Dou Di. The women by his side were all experts at the Dou Sheng level. And what was she? A mere Dou Zun, not even a ninth-tier alchemist yet. A single session of secluded cultivation for them could be measured in years. They had always been people from two different worlds.
She had known the outcome long ago. Why force it? But still... why did her heart ache so much?
Cao Ying gazed at Jiang Yun from afar, her eyes revealing an unspeakably complex emotion. She looked at him for a long, long time, as if trying to imprint his image deep into her very soul.
In truth, it wasn't just Cao Ying who felt this way. Around her, Dan Chen, Yao Ling, Hu Jia, Yao Ye, Yao Yue, and others who had crossed paths with Jiang Yun all looked at him with equally complicated expressions.
It wasn't that they had all fallen so deeply for Jiang Yun as to be utterly devoted to him. But a heaven-blessed genius like Jiang Yun—with both looks and strength—was bound to stir ripples in their hearts.
One should never meet someone too dazzling in one's youth, for afterward, no one else can ever truly enter one's heart.
Barring any unforeseen events, after this occasion, the paths between them would be like two parallel lines, never to intersect again.
With Zhu Kun entering secluded cultivation, Jiang Yun found himself at leisure. Aside from discussing wedding plans with Zi Yan and the other women, he was able to enjoy some rare, leisurely days.
One day, Jiang Yun sat within a bamboo grove. He looked down at the jade bottle in his palm, within which rested a single drop of golden blood. The moment the blood appeared, the natural energy in the surroundings began to churn violently.
Centered on him, within a radius of a hundred zhang, it seemed as if all energy had fled far, far away.
This was the very same drop of Yellow Spring Demon Saint's blood essence from back then. After obtaining it, besides giving some to Medusa for her breakthrough, he had kept a portion for himself. At the time, he had thought that given the Yellow Spring Demon Saint's Emperor Realm soul—possessing the characteristic of being undying and indestructible—he could use it to study the Dao of Life and Death.
Regrettably, his strength had been insufficient before, and he had been unable to resurrect him. But now, having entered the Dou Di realm and gained new insights into the Dao of Life and Death, he was now capable of bringing the other back to life.
Having made up his mind, Jiang Yun raised a hand and pointed. A wisp of flame, interwoven with black and white and radiating a profoundly mysterious aura, slowly materialized. Under Jiang Yun's manipulation, the flame transformed into an object resembling a pitch-black coffin.
With a wave of his hand, Jiang Yun placed the Yellow Spring Demon Saint's blood essence and the demon saint's remnant soul—which he had extracted from the Yellow Spring Stone Tablet—into it.
In an instant, an ocean's worth of black and white radiance surged madly into the coffin.
Time slipped by quietly.
Seven days later.
Boom— After a burst of noise, a gaunt figure clutching his head sat up unsteadily from within the coffin. "Where... where is this?"
Sensing that familiar yet unfamiliar presence, though the other's strength was only at the one-star Dou Sheng level, Jiang Yun still chuckled softly. "Do you still remember me?"
"Senior Demon Saint, I have come to fulfill the promise I made back then." The Yellow Spring Demon Saint turned his head upon hearing the voice, and then, upon hearing Jiang Yun's words, his pupils suddenly contracted. He stared blankly at Jiang Yun's figure, speechless for a long, long time.
Half a year later.
The Dou Qi Continent suddenly began to tremble. Large swaths of the void collapsed. Following that, an energy tide that blanketed over half the continent surged forth between heaven and earth. Thick clouds of energy mist rendered the entire continent as picturesque as a fairyland.
From the sky, faint droplets of energy rain began to fall. As the raindrops descended, the countless plants below grew with frenzied vitality. And every living being bathed in that rain felt their bodies relax, their spirits lifted and refreshed.
From the ancestral grounds of the Taixu Ancient Dragons, a pillar of light suddenly shot up, seemingly piercing through heaven and earth itself. The pillar of light dominated the entire skyline of the Beast Domain.
"This is..."
"The phenomenon of becoming a Dou Di! The old Dragon Emperor of the Taixu Ancient Dragons has succeeded!"
On the Dou Qi Continent, as that heaven-piercing pillar of light appeared, numerous experts emerged. Sensing the changes in the world and recalling the huge commotion Jiang Yun had caused half a year ago, one and all cast envious, reverent gazes toward the direction of the Beast Domain.
And at the very instant this world-changing event occurred, the bloodline power within the members of the Taixu Ancient Dragon Clan began to boil.
Although no one knew how many generations separated Zhu Ming, Zhu Yu, Zhu Zhou, and the others from Zhu Kun, quite a few members of the Taixu Ancient Dragon Clan still basked in Zhu Kun's reflected glory, their strength improving to varying degrees.
The one who benefited the most from this was Zi Yan, the Dragon Emperor's own daughter. She leapt from her original level of seven-star Dou Sheng straight to peak eight-star Dou Sheng, saving herself several years of arduous cultivation.
This was a unique rule of the Dou Qi Continent: whenever someone broke through to Dou Di, their blood relatives would receive tremendous benefits. When one person attained the Dao, their entire clan ascended. This was precisely how the various imperial clans had been formed.
As for the Dou Di bloodline, the closer the blood relation to the one who achieved Dou Di, the greater the benefits received. For a Dou Di's own children, the benefits were immense—they could very likely directly become high-level Dou Shengs, possessing an absolute divine-grade bloodline, and reaching Half-Step Dou Di with ease.
Zi Yan was already a high-level Dou Sheng, and moreover, she was the legendary Supreme Dragon Phoenix. For others, a divine-grade bloodline would bring countless benefits. But for Zi Yan, whether it could truly compare to the nobility of the Dragon Phoenix bloodline was debatable.
Thus, at this moment, she had only broken through to peak eight-star, still a step away from nine-star Dou Sheng.
High above the Beast Domain, amidst the churning, shifting clouds, an enormous Taixu Ancient Dragon materialized. A dense, overwhelming Emperor's might radiated from its form.
"I, Zhu Kun, have become a Dou Di this day. Let heaven and earth bear witness together!"
The mighty, sonorous voice resounded in the depths of every soul on the Dou Qi Continent, filled with boundless majesty. The Dou Qi Continent had welcomed a new Dou Di—a Dragon Emperor.
"Congratulations to His Majesty the Dragon Emperor on returning as a Dou Di!"
By now, Dragon Island had become a sea of jubilation. Zhu Kun's return pushed the atmosphere to its climax, and one resounding dragon roar after another echoed through the void above the island.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty, on finally achieving your long-cherished wish!" Zhu Ming looked at Zhu Kun striding toward him, a smile from the bottom of his heart spreading across his face. His eyes were even slightly moist. This old relic who had lived for ten thousand years was now trembling slightly as he gazed at Zhu Kun.
"Hahaha! Zhu Ming, now that I've become a Dou Di, you're even more forbidden from dying. We still have to go and conquer the higher realms together!" Zhu Kun clapped Zhu Ming on the shoulder and laughed heartily.
"And this is...?" At that moment, Zhu Kun noticed the Yellow Spring Demon Saint in the distance. Although the other was merely a minor three-star Dou Sheng, the feeling he gave Zhu Kun... there was a certain Emperor's might within him. It was a quality Zhu Kun had only felt once before—from that Emperor-grade Prototype Pill.
His instincts told him that this man was absolutely not simple.
"I am Huang Quan. Congratulations, Your Majesty the Dragon Emperor, on returning as a Dou Di!" The Yellow Spring Demon Saint cupped his hands in greeting, neither servile nor overbearing.
"Your Majesty, this is the Yellow Spring Demon Saint—a former Half-Step Dou Di expert who was resurrected and brought back by Jiang Yun half a year ago," Zhu Ming explained from the side.
The Yellow Spring Demon Saint's identity was no secret. Over the past half year, Zhu Ming had already become well-acquainted with this Half-Step Dou Di who had once dominated an entire era.
"So it is the Yellow Spring Demon Saint! Forgive my disrespect!" Zhu Kun's pupils contracted sharply upon hearing this. Even though he had now become a Dou Di, he would never look down on figures like the Yellow Spring Demon Saint, the Purifying Demonic Lotus Saint, or Xiao Xuan—Half-Step Dou Di experts who had reigned supreme over their respective epochs.
The talent of such individuals was in no way inferior to that of Dou Di experts. They had simply lacked a source of Origin Qi.
"Congratulations, Father (Uncle)... on becoming a Dou Di!" Just then, Jiang Yun arrived with Zi Yan and the others, stepping forward to offer their congratulations.
"You've come at the perfect time! Now that I've become a Dou Di, it's time to arrange your grand wedding. This time, we must hold a truly magnificent celebration!" Zhu Kun was in what might have been the best mood of his ten-thousand-year life, his face brimming with enthusiastic excitement.
"Alright. This matter should indeed be put on the agenda. I've already discussed it with Zi Yan, Medusa, and the others..." Jiang Yun nodded and began to speak gently.
"Hold it right there—!" But before Jiang Yun could finish, Zhu Kun raised a hand and cut him off. He stared at Jiang Yun with a stern expression and said, "Just how many do you plan to marry?"
Jiang Yun smiled calmly upon hearing this and replied, "Naturally, all four together. We've already discussed it..."
"You scoundrel—!" Upon receiving the answer he least wanted to hear, Zhu Kun roared in fury and threw a punch straight at Jiang Yun's utterly infuriating face.
He had assumed that when Jiang Yun said "marry," he meant marrying Zi Yan alone. Naturally, he would have been perfectly happy with that. It wasn't that he was forbidding Jiang Yun from marrying Medusa and the others. But as Zi Yan's father, Zhu Kun had wanted to give her a perfect wedding.
And now, Jiang Yun was telling him they were going to do it all together?
This was practically slapping him, her old father, in the face! And Zi Yan had agreed to it? It must have been Jiang Yun sweet-talking and deceiving her! Zi Yan was too soft-hearted and could never handle that little bastard Jiang Yun. So, her old father would just have to step in himself.
Thump! Bam! Pow!
After a satisfying series of thwacks and thuds, Zhu Kun was ultimately moved by the depth of Jiang Yun's "affection" for Zi Yan and agreed to his plan for a joint wedding.
There was no helping it. Jiang Yun's sincerity had been far too great. He had bestowed upon Zhu Kun, his father-in-law, the title of "Outstanding Horns"—a title that resounded thunderously across all the myriad worlds.
--------------
Thanks for reading the chapter!
I started a new translation and I would be very happy if you decided to check out my new translation story. It's a crossover of Toaru and One Piece... Well, the only Toaru element here is one cute Misaka. This is all that came of my desire to translate a Toaru fanfic, but I'm not complaining—even though I've only just started reading and translating it, I'm really enjoying the story. It has plenty of slice-of-life elements, and the pacing is quite slow and detailed. It's written in a sweet, positive way—at least for now. There likely won't be any romance, as there were no tags indicating such, but I won't say for sure until I've finished reading it myself. I'd recommend it to those who aren't craving violence, carnage, or excessive cruelty. In my opinion, it's a worthwhile story, though it's definitely a matter of personal taste—especially since the protagonist is a girl, which isn't everyone's cup of tea (though it doesn't really matter for now—at least as of 30+ chapters in, Misaka is still 6 years old). Anyway, I hope you enjoy this story as much as I do.
One Piece: Railgun Misaka Misaka https://www.webnovel.com/book/one-piece-railgun-misaka-misaka_37195209600636405