Chapter 234 : Heaven-and-Earth Origin, Power of the Medicinal Cauldron

Chapter 234: Heaven-and-Earth Origin, Power of the Medicinal Cauldron

The so-called external incarnation did not mean that Chu Huaixu truly possessed a second physical body.

It had no independent consciousness.

This technique wasn’t advanced enough to reach the level of One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones, which allowed one's will and consciousness to fully enter a separate form, essentially becoming another functioning body capable of operating in the mortal world like a normal person.

This type of incarnation could only house a small portion of consciousness and carry out some relatively simple tasks.

Otherwise, this technique wouldn’t cost merely a little over a million experience points to learn.

“Strictly speaking, it’s essentially an extra Battle Champion.”

“What sets it apart from a puppet is that this so-called incarnation is capable of basic cultivation. It can train.”

“Under normal circumstances, the prior cultivation level of this body can also be directly inherited.”

But Chu Huaixu wasn’t entirely sure whether Ye Kongxuan’s body met that criteria.

After all, when he finally killed him, he had used the Accursed Pill.

His entire cultivation had been devoured by the Accursed Pill, leaving behind only the Spirit Root—all other power had been absorbed into the pill, consumed by Baleful Aura.

“It’s still too early to think about all this.”

“After all, I’m still missing one ingredient among the required Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures to refine the external incarnation.”

“And I don’t have that much spare experience points either.”

“Many conditions are still unmet.”

But Chu Huaixu felt this path might still be viable.

Just not right now.

“If I really manage to pull this off, then I’ll essentially have a Battle Champion with the power of a cultivator by my side!”

Just the thought made him a little excited.

As for whether Ye Kongxuan’s corpse would be properly preserved, Chu Huaixu wasn’t worried at all.

“What a perfect research specimen.”

“Dao Gate will surely keep it safe.”

“I just wonder if they’ll end up a little...『short on parts』?”

A dignified Nascent Soul True Lord, just like that, became a 『Cadaver Professor』.

To contribute to my Xuanhuang Realm, if this Old Nascent Soul Mutt were aware in the afterlife, he’d probably... die with lingering resentment, right?

—

The next morning, after breakfast, Chu Huaixu accompanied Big Ice Block to the Scripture Pavilion to exchange for the Third Realm Cultivation Method she needed.

After exiting the Dao Ancestor Inheritance Secret Realm, Han Shuangjiang seemed to have gained some profound insight.

Her cultivation was becoming harder to suppress—she urgently needed a new method to break through to the Third Realm.

But as everyone knew, this cold-faced girl was a... complete broke-ass.

After the Eastern Continent Grand Competition, she did manage to accumulate some wealth. The Dao Gate also valued her highly, gifting her various resources and taking great care of her daily needs.

However, thanks to Chu Huaixu constantly telling her to focus all her energy on cultivation and not to be stingy with money, she ended up “splurging” what was actually a decently large asset.

In truth, before becoming a True Disciple, resources for Dao Gate disciples were extremely scarce. They had to find ways to earn them—this too was part of their trials.

History had proven that pampered disciples raised under the sect’s protection, even with high talent, often ended up as trash in the end.

People needed to grow on their own.

But Chu Huaixu didn’t see it that way.

He wanted Han Shuangjiang to remain forever in debt to him.

As for so-called experience and trials... since she was the World Protagonist, such ordeals would come knocking on their own. No need to seek them—they couldn’t be avoided anyway.

What’s more, Big Ice Block was the Daughter of Destiny. She could fall into secret realms just by walking around—there would be no shortage of tests in the future!

Hence, the hefty price of the Third Realm Heaven-rank Cultivation Method, as well as the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures required to get started, were all covered by Chu Huaixu.

Of course, Han Shuangjiang was the same as always. Even though they had confirmed their Dao Companion relationship, she still kept things clear, saying she would definitely pay it all back. One matter was one matter.

Dao Companion was just Dao Companion, not marriage.

What kind of woman falls in love and suddenly thinks everything the man owns is hers?

Even if they got married, it would still be: “What’s yours is mine, and what’s mine is still mine.”

As someone holding the script of the Main Female Protagonist, she had her own pride and dignity.

She didn’t hold a fake script, pretending to be the Main Female Protagonist while still relying on men to solve every little issue or borrowing their resources indirectly.

If Chu Huaixu insisted on acting out 《Overbearing CEO’s Forced Love》, then she’d accept it!

But she’d silently keep a ledger of every single favor.

Besides, Han Shuangjiang always thought: “Chu Huaixu works hard refining pills every day. He must be exhausted.”

See? This is the downside of not living together—distance makes you idealize men!

—

Back at the bamboo house, Chu Huaixu said, “Go back inside and start cultivating.”

“Mm.” Big Ice Block nodded.

Once inside, she sat cross-legged.

She first refined the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures needed for cultivation, then began to circulate her energy.

The Third Realm Heaven-rank Cultivation Method, 《Deceive Heaven Art》, posed no obstacle to her. She succeeded on the first try!

If nothing went wrong, she would break through to the Third Realm today!

The Body of Profound Yin—terrifying indeed.

The power of this Spirit Embryo became even more pronounced in the later stages.

—

Meanwhile, Chu Huaixu also returned to his room and sat cross-legged on the Meditation Cushion.

Having just made a huge expense, he was more eager than ever to earn money.

But his life-bound beast of burden still couldn’t work full time—it was still refining that wisp of Origin Power.

“You’re really slow, huh?” he scoffed in his heart.

He could clearly refine Fragments of Xuanhuang Origin much faster than the Medicinal Cauldron.

—

Two days passed.

Suddenly, Chu Huaixu heard a system notification.

“【Ding! Congratulations! Your life-bound magical treasure has successfully advanced!】”

A look of joy appeared on his face.

“Has Dao Birth One finally finished refining it?”

He immediately poured his Divine Sense into the black bead.

Yet the Medicinal Cauldron looked no different from before.

As soon as his Divine Sense entered the black bead’s space, the cauldron behaved exactly as usual—its first reaction was to cry out from hunger.

“Master, hungry hungry, food food.”

Chu Huaixu: “...”

Where the hell did this starving ghost come from?!

A treasure ranked above Supreme-grade Spiritual Artifacts, and this was all the spirituality its spirit had?!

Still, he had no other choice. He could only infuse it with a large amount of Dao Canon Power from his own body.

Then, he relied on the system to inspect the changes in his life-bound treasure.

“It improved this much?” Chu Huaixu was a bit surprised.

Based on the system’s description, he roughly understood how the Medicinal Cauldron had evolved.

First of all—its Pill Refining Power.

The cauldron’s special trait was that, at the First Realm, it could automatically refine Grade One Spiritual Pills.

Once Chu Huaixu reached the Second Realm, it could refine Grade Two Spiritual Pills—automatically.

But the success rate wasn’t 100%; it dropped to 90%.

At the Third Realm, it would refine Grade Three Spiritual Pills, and the rate dropped to 80%, continuing this way.

This was already terrifying.

Why were Top-grade Spiritual Pills so rare?

Aside from the rarity of ingredients, refining success rates were extremely low.

Sometimes, even with great skill, it also required perfect timing and location!

Even before advancing, the cauldron’s success rate with Top-grade Pills could already stomp on any current Pill Refining Grandmaster, closing in on the Pill King!

Now, after refining this Fragment of Xuanhuang Origin, it could refine Grade Two Spiritual Pills with a 100% success rate!

That 10% gain might seem small—but it scaled!

Grade Three Pills: now 90%.

Grade Four: 80%.

...

Grade Nine: 30%!

That 10% improvement in Top-grade Pill success was absolutely insane!

Chu Huaixu beamed with joy.

“This means, as long as I keep up with my realm, people might even start calling me the next Pill King!”

Damn, I’m too good at pill refining!

And pill refining was only the first point.

“The Medicinal Cauldron is essentially a defensive and auxiliary-type treasure.”

“Its Defensive Attribute also received a huge boost.”

“Defense increased by 20%!” Chu Huaixu was quite satisfied.

The cauldron’s defense was already heaven-defying—so a 20% increase on top of a high base was very substantial.

Next, Chu Huaixu turned his attention to the final item.

This wasn’t an advancement—it was a New Unlock!

The wildest part? It seemed like sheer coincidence?

“Unlock condition: the Medicinal Cauldron must refine Baleful Aura, absorbing a portion of Devouring Power.”

“Then refine a Fragment of Xuanhuang Origin to absorb Origin Power.”

This newly unlocked ability: It can refine all things under heaven, extracting their power!

Chu Huaixu wasn’t entirely sure what that meant—so he decided to test it.

He stepped outside and looked at the Parasol Tree in the courtyard.

With a flick of his finger, a branch snapped off and fell into his hand.

“Refine,” Chu Huaixu ordered.

But soon, he received a system prompt:

【This item does not meet refinement standards. Extract essence from a Ten-Thousand-Year Parasol Tree to refine—Parasol Power.】

【Additionally, during refinement, a portion of current Origin Power will be fused into it. Current cost: 10%.】

Chu Huaixu’s brows furrowed slightly.

He understood now—ordinary items didn’t qualify.

But he hadn’t expected it would also consume Origin Power.

Or rather, it wasn’t consumed—it was fused into the result.

“In that case, the resulting power should be incredibly strong—high in Rank as well.”

Chu Huaixu turned to head back inside.

But halfway through, he suddenly froze—struck as if by lightning.

His neck stiffened, and he slowly turned to glance back at the Parasol Tree behind him.

In his mind, the system prompt echoed like thunder:

『To refine... Parasol Power?』

An eerie thought flashed through his mind.

Chu Huaixu looked up toward the blazing sun in the sky!

“Refine!” he commanded.

【Ding! You do not currently meet the requirements. Unable to refine the Power of All Things—Southward Sunlight!】