“`

With no other choice, Su Changkong could only reel in his emotions, stabilize his mood, rest a bit, and nurture his spirit to its peak before he again began refining the second batch of Monster Life Pills.

“Boom!”

Three days later, an ear-splitting roar echoed from the Pill Refining Room, and thick, ink-like black smoke billowed out, dissipating into the air through the ventilation.

“Failed again…”

The second batch of Monster Life Pills failed.

The third and fourth batches also ended in failure!

“What’s going on? I’ve executed every step perfectly, so why do I keep failing?”

Time flew by, and a month later, Su Changkong’s face looked awful.

It was because, over the course of the month, Su Changkong failed ten times in a row, each time at the very last moment.

In other words, aside from the Spiritual Medicine, just the precious Demon Monster Crystal Cores alone amounted to ten wasted pieces, a colossal loss!

And Su Changkong discovered that even though his steps were correct and his alchemy technique was flawless, the result was still failure!

It was as if an invisible force was guiding and hindering him, causing his failure.

Su Changkong faintly realized that refining such life-extending Pill Medicine wasn’t just difficult, it was difficult beyond an ordinary person’s imagination.

Su Changkong had the feeling that if he continued on like this, following the previous methods, and tried several more times, he would still fail.

Now, Su Changkong only had three Demon Monster Crystal Cores left. If all failed, his loss would be extremely severe, and it would be very difficult to gather the materials again and prepare Monster Life Pills within the next few years.

“Perhaps… I should change the materials!”

Su Changkong took a deep breath, with a hint of hesitation in his eyes, and took out a Demon Monster Crystal Core.

This was an exceedingly unique Demon Monster Crystal Core, split into two colors, half crimson and half deep blue, as if the sun and the moon were merged into one.

It was the only intermediate-level Demon Monster Crystal Core he had acquired after slaying the Wind Sun Moon!

The gap between a lower-level and an intermediate-level Demon Monster Crystal Core could not be overstated. To draw an analogy with Martial Artists, the former were like those who hadn’t reverted to the Innate realm after the Acquired, while the latter were akin to Innate Martial Artists capable of refining Essence into Spiritual Energy and opening the Heavenly Pulse!

Out of a hundred Monster Warriors, more than ninety fuse with lower-level cores.

Yet, the potential, Immortal Body, and Demon Art of those who fuse with an intermediate-level core are far greater than those who fuse with the lower-level ones.

Within the Life Extinguishing Association, someone like Wind Sun Moon who has fused an intermediate-level core already holds the rank of an officer, possessing great strength and a range of powers difficult for ordinary people to counter!

Even Su Changkong, who had stepped into the Earth Flower Realm and wielded Blade Intent, had sustained serious injuries in a fierce battle before he could bring him down.

An ordinary Earth Flower Realm Martial Artist facing the undying and incredibly strong Wind Sun Moon would struggle even with several allies working together!

This demonstrated just how precious the intermediate-level Demon Monster Crystal Core was!

As for the higher-level cores, within the Life Extinguishing Association, most successful fusions were accomplished by the actual leaders.

Monster Warriors with higher-level cores are so powerful that perhaps only those beneath the Martial Saint could pose a threat to them.

After consecutive failures ten times over, all perfectly executed yet still ending in failure, Su Changkong felt that continuing to use lower-level cores would most likely be futile, and he thought about changing his approach, something that differed from his previous alchemy attempts, using this intermediate-level core as the ingredient for the Monster Life Pill.

If he failed, naturally, Su Changkong’s loss would be devastating!

But at such a critical juncture, no one would give up. If he gave up now, all prior investments would truly go to waste!

“Monster Life Pills, these life-extending medicines, seem to be obstructed by some force from becoming pills in the dark… but even so, I cannot be discouraged and give up!”

Su Changkong’s eyes filled with determination.

The eternal life he sought was far more difficult to obtain than refining life-extending Monster Life Pills, by hundreds or even thousands of times; giving up now was not his style!

Even if he did fail and his entire investment went down the drain, Su Changkong could bear it!

“Let’s do it again.”

Su Changkong calmed his emotions and started the furnace again. This was the eleventh attempt, and what differed this time from the previous ones was that he was going to use the infinitely precious intermediate-level Demon Monster Crystal Core.

No matter how precious the intermediate-level core was, to Su Changkong, it was just a means to enhance his power!

Su Changkong wasn’t nervous or anxious, but completely focused, with only alchemy on his mind. He carried out each step meticulously.

“Insert the Demon Monster Crystal Core.”

Two days later, flames surged under the Alchemy Furnace. Su Changkong knew the time had come; he added the last ingredient, the intermediate-level Demon Monster Crystal Core from Wind Sun Moon.

“Huff!”

As the core was introduced to the furnace, Su Changkong manipulated the fierce flames beneath to intensify.

“Hm?”

Su Changkong was somewhat surprised because, as time passed, the whole Star Pattern Gold Alchemy Furnace seemed to be tainted, its left side turning crimson and its right side turning deep blue as if Yin and Yang had fused into one.

“Whoosh!”

In the air, a massive amount of nature’s spiritual energy was drawn in, entering the furnace.

Inside the Pill Refining Room, the Spiritual Energy surged as the Star Patterned Gold Pill Furnace shone brightly!

“Could it be… success is near?”

This extraordinary sight made Su Changkong’s heart skip a beat, but he didn’t allow himself to become distracted, aware that the closer he was to success, the more likely he was to fail at the last step.

As time elapsed, three more days passed.

“Pop!”

The Alchemy Furnace shook gently, an invisible force spread out, extinguishing the blazing fire, and from within the furnace, a great amount of black smoke emerged, forming stars and constellations that seemed as eternal as the cosmos itself.

“`

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Madara Web Novel