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Chapter 100: Chapter 79: Battle of the Filial Sons, I’ll Be the Judge

「Imperial Study.」

The moment Zhao Huan decided to make an exception, Eunuch Li tactfully dismissed all the eunuchs and Palace Maids. He even left the Imperial Study himself, pulling the doors shut behind him.

Zhao Huan looked at Zhao Ci, his expression quite solemn. ”Ci, what I am about to say must not be spread to anyone, especially not to the people from the Imperial Clan Court.”

”Yes!”

Zhao Ci nodded gravely.

Zhao Huan spoke slowly. ”Ci, do you know what the three strongest Body Refining Holy Medicines were before the Emperor Pill came into being?”

”I do not!”

Zhao Ci’s face was a mask of curiosity, but inwardly he was snarking, ’If I already knew, why would I be asking you?’

Zhao Huan didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he posed a new question. ”Among all beasts, which is the pinnacle of strength? Which is the pinnacle of resilience? And which is the pinnacle of toughness?”

Zhao Ci’s eyes lit up. ”Could it be that these three holy medicines are related to these three things? To temper the Flesh Soul, muscles, and bones, respectively?”

The essence of Body Refining lies in strength.

The essence of Muscle Refining lies in resilience.

The essence of Bone Refining lies in toughness.

These are the core principles of Cultivating the Body.

Zhao Ci’s current problem was that his strength was too explosive, but his sinews weren’t resilient enough and his bones weren’t tough enough. Since his muscles and bones couldn’t withstand great force, he could only execute basic spear moves. If he attempted anything more difficult or with a stronger burst of power, his frame simply couldn’t take it.

”Precisely!”

Zhao Huan nodded.

Zhao Ci pressed, ”Then what are the pinnacles of strength, resilience, and toughness?”

Zhao Huan stroked his beard and smiled faintly. ”The pinnacle of strength belongs to none other than the ant!”

”Huh?”

Zhao Ci looked bewildered. ”Ants? How could such a tiny thing be worthy?”

’In a situation like this, I have to play the part of the ignorant fool perfectly.’

’The more ignorant I pretend to be, the more awestruck I’ll appear.’

”Don’t you dare underestimate this little creature!”

Zhao Huan’s smile was rather self-satisfied. ”Any ordinary ant can drag an object a thousand times its own weight. Tell me, among all the beasts, or even the Human Race, who can do that so easily?”

”This...”

Zhao Ci looked dazed, as if his entire worldview had just been shattered.

Zhao Huan continued his lecture, ”The ant is the pinnacle of strength—that much is obvious. And within the Ant Race, the one with the strongest medicinal properties is the Shaking Mountain Ant. When this type of Ant Demon reaches full maturity, it is no bigger than a human infant, yet it can move mountains by itself.

A pill made using its flesh as the primary ingredient has a Body Refining effect comparable to a Top-Grade Imperial Extreme Pill.

As for the pinnacle of resilience, that would be spider silk. A strand of spider silk is minuscule, yet it can suspend a creature several times the spider’s own size. The silk of the Heaven-Suspended Spider is the finest of them all.

The pinnacle of toughness is, without a doubt, the Turtle Shell. The toughness of the Profound Turtle’s shell is enough to make the sharpest blades in the world sigh in despair.

Pills made with those two as primary ingredients are miraculous items for Muscle and Bone Refining.

The pills refined from these three are named the Mountain-Shaking Pill, the Heaven-Suspending Pill, and the Profound Bone Pill, respectively!

And the Body Refining pills from the Feng, Zhu, and Yang families are, in truth, merely based on incomplete formulas derived from these three. Their main ingredients are also ant flesh, spider silk, and Turtle Shell, but in terms of medicinal properties and the difficulty of alchemy, the difference is like that between the heavens and the abyss.”

Zhao Ci, feigning shock at this ancient knowledge, asked with confusion, ”If these three pills are so powerful, why have I never heard of them? It seems like no one has ever used them, either.”

Zhao Huan said with a sigh, ”Although less than a tenth of the historical records remain, we can be certain that in the past, this entire land was the territory of a previous dynasty. Not just the Human Race, but all the myriad demons were subjects of the Immortal Martial Dynasty.

Later, the Yun Dynasty collapsed, and the world returned to a barbaric state. The Human Race was Innately frail and was only fit to be slaves to the Demon Race. We only managed to gain a foothold by relying on the ruins of the previous dynasty.

After that, the Great Yu was founded. Relying on the three great holy medicines, we produced many fierce generals with invincible bodies. We retook the Human Race’s territory and employed a strategy of dividing and conquering the myriad demons, nearly defeating them one by one.

However, a Great Sage appeared among the Demon Race. With lightning-fast methods, he unified almost all the demon clans.

In the end, he signed a treaty with our Great Yu, promising that after establishing clear borders, neither side would invade the other. Any who crossed the border could be dealt with according to the other party’s rules and laws.

But the precondition was that the Human Race had to seal away the Pill Formulas and Alchemy Techniques for the three great holy medicines. Furthermore, he insisted on taking the Shaking Mountain Ant, Heaven-Suspended Spider, and Profound Turtle clans with him to ensure their survival.”

Whoa!

’This Demon Race Great Sage sure had a grand vision.’

’Signing a non-aggression pact is one thing.’

’But protecting endangered species, too?’

Zhao Ci couldn’t help but ask, ”So, can these pills still be made now?”

Zhao Huan sighed. ”When the Court made the Southern Crossing, the Alchemy Techniques for the three great holy medicines were lost.”

Zhao Ci: ”...”

’They were lost? Then what the hell was the point of telling me all this?!’

Zhao Huan’s tone shifted. ”However...”

Zhao Ci couldn’t hold back. ”However what?”

’Why do you have to be so dramatic when you talk?’

Zhao Huan spread out a brush, ink, paper, and an inkstone. ”Although the Alchemy Techniques are lost, the Pill Formulas still exist. And even...”

He deliberately left him in suspense.

Then, he wrote down three medicinal formulas.

Zhao Ci stared at them for a moment. Aside from the three primary ingredients, the other supplementary ingredients, while expensive, weren’t that hard to find. As long as you had the money, it was doable.

But the problem was, the primary ingredients were missing.

And they didn’t even have the Alchemy Technique.

”And even...”

Zhao Huan continued, ”In my private treasury, I still have some silk from the Heaven-Suspended Spider!”

”Really?”

Zhao Ci was startled, but his excitement quickly faded. ”But what’s the use of having the spider silk if we can’t make the pill? Besides, that’s your personal property. With the Imperial Clan Court watching so strictly, there’s no way it could get to me!”

Zhao Huan’s smile froze for a second. He hadn’t expected the boy to be so thorough in his thinking when his own interests were at stake.

He had originally thought he could use this opportunity to display his magnanimity as a father, but it seemed the effect wasn’t very good. It looked like he wouldn’t get away without making a real sacrifice.

He gave a faint smile. ”That’s simple. Although it’s my property, it’s not impossible to place it in the estate competition’s Merit Library. I can set the price at twenty merit points. At that time, the only person who can and is willing to spend twenty merit points should be you.”