The Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 1563 - Dragon Pill, One step into Heaven, One step into Hell

After thinking about these thoughts, Qing Shui had the impulse to quickly improve his strength. Now the Poison Dragon Flower had already matured and could be used, but sadly, Qin Qing was no longer by his side.

Right now, Qing Shui was planning to concoct medicine from with the Poison Dragon Flower. His experience bar at concoction had been stagnant for a long time. Initially, the reborn pellet gave Qing Shui great hope but now, everything had been transformed into froth and shadows.

Actually, during this month, Qing Shui didn't have the problem of not knowing what to do. Qin Qing had given him a recipe to use the Poison Dragon Flower and in there, there was a method to concoct the Dragon Pill.

It wasn't that Qing Shui didn't like this recipe, it was just that this recipe hadn't been proven before and he wasn't sure if it would work. Qing Shui was afraid of failure. If he really failed, it would turn his guts green with regret.

However, under Qing Shui's analysis, he determined that this recipe should have no problem under normal circumstances. Also, this was a pretty brilliant method but sadly, most alchemists would never understand this. To them, this would be like a castle in the clouds. They would only be able to garner a little precious info from this recipe. It would feel like they were reaching to grab stars but in reality, the distance was too large.

After all, the ratio of herbs combination of this dragon pill was simply too logic-defying. They were like fire and ice yet they could co-exist together. Originally, ice was formed from water, which directly contradicted fire. Yet for some reason, they could exist as one entity which was called Iceflames.

Qing Shui knew he only had one chance. If he failed, it would truly be depressing. All alchemists would face this problem, and this time he only had a single chance. Moreover, the failure rate was over 90%.

Encountering rare and valuable herbs was a happy thing, but failing the concoction was a depressing one. This was especially so when one had to use precious ingredients. There would always be a dilemma as to whether to use the herbs or to be stingy, leaving some for the future and not risk failing their current concoction.

Qing Shui wasn't someone who would shrink back from failure and Qing Shui always had immense confidence in his concoction abilities. As long as there was no problem with the recipe, he was confident he had a chance to succeed.

Qing Shui stared at the recipe and began the preparation of each ingredient. After that, he took out a crystal body and slowly enhanced them one by one.

This time, it could be said that Qing Shui was going all out and sparing no expense. These crystal bodies were all incomparably valuable but luckily for him, he could mine them. Although the speed was slow, it was still okay given the Violet Jade Immortal Realm's speed for producing them.

The Great Sacred Buddha Stone was immersed with water, spirit pool, spring of life… All these would increase the probability of success. The same goes for the Golden Snake Grass, Golden Flint Iron Cauldron, and Qing Shui's mystical spiritual sense. Qing Shui felt his confidence soaring.

Taking out the Poison Dragon Flower, Qing Shui used the force of rebirth and infused the energy within the flower. Although this didn't have much of an effect, it was better than nothing.

Before time was up, Qing Shui started to concoct. The ingredients needed for the Dragon Pill were extremely precious but fortunately, Qing Shui was wealthy enough to afford it.

He recovered his body to the peak state and started to concoct. His movements were extremely smooth and seemed very natural. He knew that if he intentionally tried to achieve that special state of mind, he would most likely fail. The best was to do everything naturally with no hints of forcefulness.

He hoped to be able to achieve the state of mind where he forgets everything else, as he was immersed in complete concentration. Only in this state of mind would he have a chance to succeed. During this period of time, Qing Shui always searched for this elusive state of mind when he concocted.

Sadly, this could only occur by happenstance and not by actively seeking it. Despite so, Qing Shui still wanted to try. Although this state of mind could only be achieved rarely, Qing Shui still believed he had a chance.

As time flowed by, Qing Shui entered a kind of state that seemed as though he lost his soul. Only in this special state could Qing Shui forget everything else.

Gradually, he was no longer forcing himself but was naturally able to tune out everything with the exception of concocting. Even so, this doesn't mean that the probability of successful concoction had increased. It just meant that it was a burden off his soul and he could concentrate fully.

Eventually, Qing Shui didn't even know that he was completely immersed within. This feeling was a complete immersion, way deeper in this state than he had ever been in the past.

Slowly, time continued trickling by. Qing Shui had forgotten everything but his spiritual sense suddenly became incomparably clear.

Qing Shui continued concocting in that marvelous state and he only awoke after hearing a crisp ringing sound in the cauldron.

Success?

Qing Shui stared at Golden Flint Iron Cauldron in front of him. There wasn't any sound of an explosion to indicate that it failed. In fact, the melodious sound of ringing rang out, causing Qing Shui to feel a little agitated.

Qing Shui didn't know how many days had passed. In any case, he felt a little fatigue and excitement now; he calmed his emotions as he slowly opened the cauldron.

Within his vision, five thumb-size black-white pills appeared, radiating an indescribable aura.

Dragon pills! Those were dragon pills! Qing Shui stared at these five pills. He knew there were many strange and unusual things in this world, but this was the first time he witnessed such a strange pill.

Thinking of the Poison Dragon Flower, Qing Shui wondered if this was a poison pill. To confirm his thoughts, he activated the Heavenly Vision Technique directly.

Dragon Pill!

This was a pill concocted with the Poison Dragon Flower as the main ingredient and had extremely powerful capabilities.

Effect: Has a certain chance to boost consumer's raw strength and power by one-fold. However, this pill is immensely toxic and the consumer needs to dissolve the toxins as he consumes it. It can also increase poison resistance but if one fails, the consumer would die. This pill is best used by those with special physiques.

Only false gods could use this. And everyone can only take one of such pill in their entire lives.

This was the first time Qing Shui saw a medical pill with such high requirements. Only false gods could use this and also, this pill had both benefits and troubles associated with it. If not careful, one might die from consuming it directly.

One step into heaven and one step into hell. The chance was 50-50. After all, it isn't easy to cultivate to the False God Realm and one must face the heavenly tribulation to experience life and death at the boundary. Now, by eating this pill, they must experience the boundary of life and death again. Only those from major powers and with great luck would be able to live after eating this.

Hence, the number of people who would choose to take the risk was limited but birds die for food and humans die for wealth. Thus, there would still be many people who wanted it. After all, if they didn't die, their strength would be elevated by a huge margin.