"Second update for today! It's the middle of the month. Asking for a few monthly tickets. Should have an explosion tomorrow, hehe..."

As for the limitations, just like with the Tongyuan Pill, the old saying holds: high rewards are always accompanied by high risks.

Speaking of which, everyone should have realized by now that Jun Moxie, this cultivation simpleton, hasn't grasped that this Juyuan Pill is essentially what was called a 'Juling Pill' in cultivation novels of his previous life, though in terms of effect, it's far more potent than the Juling Pill!

Tianyuan Pill!

This particular medicine, besides boosting power, offers absolutely no other benefit! It can be considered an upgraded version of the Ten-Year Pill. Ingesting one can increase pure internal energy by fifty years! However, its restrictions are slightly higher than those of the Ten-Year Pill; it can no longer be consumed by just anyone—only those above the Tianxuan level are eligible.

Jun Moxie was gesturing wildly and laughing heartily inside the Hongjun Pagoda. Damn it! What is hard work paying off if not this? Indeed, effort yields reward. Under this young master's diligent cultivation, he had finally found these three types of elixirs! This was truly a moment of finding a new village after passing a mountain range—a complete turn of fortune!

However, Young Master Jun still had some confusion. In his mind, which simply equated strength with everything, the Tianyuan Pill seemed far superior in effect to the Tongyuan and Juyuan Pills, instantly adding fifty years of cultivation! How respectable and terrifying was that! Why, then, were the restrictions for the Tianyuan Pill so low?

Furthermore, the other two required a minimum level of Shenxuan to consume, while the Tianyuan Pill only required the Tianxuan level. The gap between them was too vast! It simply made no sense!

If any cultivator were to know of his confusion, they would probably first land a fistful of punches on his face, leaving him seeing stars, his head swollen like a pig's, his backside resembling an elephant’s, ensuring at least that his face would turn as red as a flower... After that, they might even scream in anger and spit out dozens of ounces of blood from sheer frustration!

Idiot, cultivation idiot... Such an idiot who could defy the very laws of heaven and earth had reached a level that would render even the Jade Emperor speechless—how could such good fortune, such phenomenal items, fall into the hands of this simpleton? Good, prime cabbage being rooted up by a pig...

With nothing else to stop him, Jun Moxie decided to stay put in the Hongjun Pagoda, cultivating and concocting pills. When thirsty or hungry, he would simply swallow the "ordinary" medicinal ingredients he had on hand. Although it was a bit wasteful, items like thousand-year-old Solomon's Seal could quench thirst and hunger, and most importantly, he had plenty of stock. Since time was tight, he wouldn't quibble over the minor details...

Compared to certain heaven and earth spirit herbs that only existed in a single specimen, this item was clearly beneath Young Master Jun’s notice... Young Master Jun’s extravagance and wastefulness were truly an offense to nature! If any member of a medicinal herb family on the Profound Profound Continent witnessed this, they would suffer heart-wrenching pain, die, be revived, and be tormented all over again!

These were all top-tier spiritual herbs that could only be gathered deep within the Heaven’s Punishment Forest! This was the terrifying accumulation of thousands of years within that forest! And how many people in this world could safely reach its core? Even masters at the level of the Eight Sovereigns would worry about entering with their lives and leaving without them!

Currently, if a Solomon's Seal reached a hundred years old on the market, it was considered remarkable, yet this Young Master Jun was gnawing on millennia-old specimens as if they were radishes... And he kept sighing: "No flavor, no saltiness, tasteless, it’s awful... This young master is practically being abused..."

If these words ever got out, countless white-haired divine physicians or heads of herb families would surely rush forward, breaking their heads to compete: "Please, sir, let us be abused too... We beg you, representing the descendants of eight generations of ancestors, we sincerely beg you, please just abuse us once..."

Or perhaps Tang Fatty, that miser who treated money like his life, were to see this. Fatty would certainly weep and cry out: "Brother, you are my true brother! Please abuse me once, ten times, a hundred times, I'm willing! You aren't eating medicine; you are consuming mountains of gold and silver! It’s killing me..."

Once again using a thousand-year-old Solomon's Seal as sustenance, Young Master Jun’s face glowed, his surging vitality overflowing with nowhere to vent. He first calmly circulated his energy for a while, then practiced his fist and foot techniques with loud shouts for half a day, before grunting and practicing his saber and sword forms. Finally, he returned to alchemy.

The art of alchemy was something Young Master Jun was now quite proficient at. After all, his previous frenzied refinement of Bone Tempering Pills and similar items had given him immeasurable experience. Facing these three newly researched elixirs, Young Master Jun naturally began with what he considered the easiest ones first. Only after accumulating experience would he attempt to refine the more difficult and highly valuable Tianyuan Pill. After all, these were all top-grade ingredients; it would be a terrible waste to fail.

His first choice was naturally the comparatively "simpler" Tongyuan Pill.

Young Master Jun felt utterly magnificent. He struck a ridiculously cool, swaggering pose, then chanted something like the rambling prayers of the eccentric Holy Monk Ji Gong: "Oh~~~ Mommy Mommy Hong... Mommy Hong!"

He then pointed his finger like a sword!

The Creation Furnace hummed, rising into the air, hovering steadily. As it spun, it cast out a thousand rays of auspicious light and ten thousand streaks of colorful radiance!

The black chaos fire, burning smoothly as if it possessed substance, rose silently, soaring high. It enveloped the body of the Creation Furnace with flame, the black flames resembling ten thousand ghostly tongues of fire, reaching toward the heavens, burning dimly. Within the Creation Furnace, black flames also rose, and amidst the five-colored brilliance of the furnace, these black flames were astonishingly dazzling!

Jun Moxie revealed a proud smile, filled with ambition and absolute confidence. He made a grabbing motion with his right hand in the void, and the twenty-one prepared medicinal ingredients floated up as if guided by an invisible force, fluttering like moths to a flame, entering the Creation Furnace in single file.

Jun Moxie rapidly shifted his hand seals. With a loud clang, the lid of the Creation Furnace automatically flew up and rejoined the body of the furnace. The chaos fire exploded with a sound at that instant, surging rapidly and enveloping the entire furnace within its embrace.

Following the requirements of the Pill Art, Young Master Jun stepped out the Seven Star Pattern, moving rapidly around the mass of black flame. His hand seals changed in intricate patterns, and his spiritual power surged out of his body, sustaining the burning of the chaos fire.

Time passed swiftly. Young Master Jun suddenly sensed that something was amiss!

Damn it, this pill refining has taken quite a long time—at least ten times longer than any previous attempt! Why is there still no sign of completion? In the past, even ten batches of Ten-Year Pills would have finished refining by now, yet there's nothing happening now. What’s wrong...?

After a while longer, Young Master Jun finally felt he couldn't hold on much longer. His head felt dizzy, his steps unsteady, and he was covered in cold sweat. His internal spiritual power was nearly depleted, yet the Creation Furnace, shrouded by the dark flames, showed no reaction whatsoever...

"Hold! I must hold on! I absolutely cannot fail at this critical juncture!"

Jun Moxie gritted his teeth and, amidst the chaos, pulled out a handful of Ten-Year Pills and threw them into his mouth. Even if they couldn't boost his cultivation, they could at least restore his spiritual power.

...

Finally, just as Young Master Jun was completely exhausted and unable to continue, Lady Luck favored him once more. The Creation Furnace emitted a crisp chime, and its lid shot up. The chaos fire silently receded into a small pile, and the Creation Furnace slowly descended.

"Oh my heavens! That was arduous! How could it be so difficult...? It’s just a medicine comparable to the Bone Tempering Pill! How could it be so hard to refine! It almost sucked the life right out of this young master..." Jun Moxie gasped for breath, wiping sweat profusely. His legs trembled like noodles for a moment, and then he finally collapsed onto the ground. He felt as exhausted as if he had performed the intimate act all night without rest, or like a warhorse galloping a thousand li without stopping. He stuck his tongue out, panting heavily for a long time, before shakily managing to stand up and peer into the Creation Furnace.

"How can this be?" Jun Moxie cried out in astonishment, rubbing his eyes in disbelief before looking again intently.

—A pile of black ash lay quietly at the bottom of the Creation Furnace.

Young Master became like a punctured balloon, completely deflated. He slumped onto the ground, the physical exhaustion, the depletion of his power, and the cruel blow from full confidence to utter failure—all the effort expended had ultimately resulted in failure. Why was his fate so bitter...

"Damn it, I don't believe in this evil! I'm going to battle you head-on! I refuse to believe I can't manage you!" Jun Moxie sprang up, his face contorted with ferocity. He pointed one finger at the heavens and the other at the earth, closed his eyes, and once again channeled the Heaven-Opening Creation Art with all his might!

A slight warmth rose in his Dantian, followed by a gentle leap. A wisp of pure spiritual energy flew up and circulated through his meridians. The vast spiritual energy of the Hongjun Pagoda poured into Jun Moxie's body like a typhoon meeting the sea—a convergence of a hundred rivers!

After a very long time, Jun Moxie snapped his eyes open, light flashing fiercely! His physical strength and spiritual power had completely recovered. But upon testing his body, Jun Moxie was shocked to discover that this extreme exertion had pushed him beyond any previous limit!

And the result of this overexertion was that the progress of the Heaven-Opening Creation Art had advanced another significant step! Just from the spiritual energy absorbed, he could clearly sense that it was several times greater than before!

"How strange!" Young Master Jun scratched his scalp, utterly perplexed. He quickly peeked out and came to his small courtyard, realizing that this entire session—the refining process plus the recovery time—had actually lasted a full day and night!

He had continuously stayed inside the Hongjun Pagoda for over ten days. The snow-white robe he had been wearing was now utterly unrecognizable, filthy and stained. His hair was even messier, like a bird's nest, and black streaks marred his face from dried sweat... He looked more wretched than a beggar.

Giving a few quick instructions, Jun Moxie stripped naked and stepped into the large bathtub. While scrubbing himself clean, he pondered what exactly had happened.

The truth was, this fellow didn't realize he was quite lucky. He had only chosen the Tongyuan Pill, the second hardest to refine. If he had chosen the Juyuan Pill, the process would have been even more miserable... Of course, if he had been truly lucky and chosen the Tianyuan Pill, he might have succeeded by now...