Du Neihao's voice, thick with sheer disbelief, echoed around the assembled group. The very name seemed imbued with a dark magic, instantly silencing the entire room.

“Is it truly the Elixir of Resurrection?” The Duchess’s eyes flashed alight, her voice brimming with sudden hope. The Elixir of Resurrection—since its inception, this potent draught had appeared in the Empire on only the rarest of occasions, primarily because gathering the necessary medicinal components was agonizingly difficult.

Some ingredients were inherently scarce, manifesting only under specific, extreme conditions; others grew so slowly that without a million years of careful cultivation, they were utterly useless. Yet, in stark contrast, should one manage to assemble these materials, fusing them through esoteric spiritual refinement techniques and exhausting every nuance of their inherent properties, the result was nothing less than a world-shaking miracle: Resurrection!

The Tenth-Tier, Ten-Category Elixir of Resurrection was the most challenging compound to formulate in Imperial Apothecary lore, and for millennia, it remained the most coveted, desired by the greatest number of people. The last known batch was completed by Du Neihao himself, an event that occurred tens of thousands of years ago, and that single vial had long since been consumed.

For nearly ten millennia, no one had managed to reassemble the complete formula for the Elixir, turning it into a legendary, unattainable masterpiece. Most in the Empire presumed the draught had vanished forever.

No one had anticipated that Yang Ying could simply produce it here with such casual ease. After his initial exclamation, Du Neihao leaned in for a closer inspection.

Finally, he confirmed: these were indeed the materials needed to craft the Elixir, the entire formula was present, ready to move straight into the phase of spiritual processing. As a master alchemist who had previously formulated the Elixir, Du Neihao’s word held immense credibility for Duke Anker’s family.

“Lord Yang Ying, are you suggesting that we take this complete set of materials for the Elixir of Resurrection?” the Duchess asked, regaining her composure. Of course, no one here dared to question the provenance of the ingredients; such inquiries were utterly irrelevant compared to the prize itself!

The Duke’s family cared only whether these materials could be used for the Duke. “Frankly, I think it would be better if I processed it into the draught first before handing it over,” Yang Ying replied, turning to Du Neihao.

“Lord Du Neihao, would you be interested in formulating another dose of the Elixir of Resurrection?” “If the opportunity arose, absolutely,” Du Neihao’s eyes gleamed with intense interest. “I am tremendously curious to see if my spiritual processing skill has improved since ten thousand years ago, and by how much.

Formulating the Elixir once more would surely reveal that answer.” Yang Ying could, himself, formulate the Elixir. However, he chose to yield this opportunity to Du Neihao.

For one, Du Neihao was allied, albeit loosely, with his own faction, and this was a perfect means of cementing loyalty—the impact might even be greater than handing over a finished vial. Secondly, Yang Ying had concocted the Elixir countless times; it was utterly routine for him.

He possessed vast stockpiles of every form of potion imaginable, and with his technology of ‘Silicate Ore to All Things’ conversion, his access to resources far surpassed that of any Imperial alchemist. If Du Neihao were to learn that Yang Ying had already brewed thousands of bottles of the Elixir of Resurrection, alongside countless other rare, tenth-tier compounds—not in a simulated laboratory, but in reality—the old alchemist might well feel his last ten millennia had been lived in vain.

Carrying the specialized briefcase, Du Neihao proceeded out onto the lawn surrounding the villa, followed by Yang Ying and the Duke’s family. Du Neihao opened the case, nodded once, and flung it upward, scattering the various herbs and components across the sky.

“Shatter!” Du Neihao unleashed a pulse of mental energy, instantaneously crushing all solid components into uniform powders. Many of the crystalline structures fractured into glittering motes, resembling stardust falling from a galaxy, a sight of breathtaking beauty.

“Unite!” Du Neihao pointed a single finger. The suspended powders, along with over a dozen viscous liquids, and several substances that seemed neither solid nor liquid—some like pure flame, others like flowing light, and others still unnameable, bizarre materials—all began to swirl together like a vortex.

This vortex grew to about five meters in diameter. Du Neihao extended his right hand, fingers splayed, and gave a slight twist, accelerating the spin until the diameter expanded to ten, then twenty meters.

The vortex grew thinner, but its surface area broadened considerably. During this process, hundreds of rare ingredients underwent intense spiritual reactions, probing the limits of material change, casting kaleidoscopic colors—crimson, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, violet—under the sunlight.

The multicolored vortex continued to shift: it cycled through nine colors, then eleven, then fifteen. Afterward, the colors gradually receded, settling back to eleven, then nine, then seven, before finally diminishing to five, and then three.

The difficulty and sheer tediousness of formulating the Tenth-Tier, Ten-Category Elixir of Resurrection were extreme. The expansion from the initial seven colors to fifteen consumed exactly two full hours.

By the time the colors had diminished back from fifteen down to three, the sun had long since set, and the moon hung high overhead. At this point, Du Neihao’s expression turned utterly serious.

Yang Ying knew that from here on was the final, most critical phase of the Elixir’s creation. Du Neihao faced the vortex and commanded, “Five and—” The vortex shuddered violently, its center sinking inward to form a funnel shape.

Wei Shan quickly seized the moment, tossing out a crystal vial that appeared precisely at the funnel’s bottom to catch the merging fluid. The liquid collecting in the vial manifested a color utterly alien to this cosmos, as if it condensed the very root mysteries of the universe—a sight so captivating that one could not tear one’s gaze away.

Those who had never witnessed this hue could never adequately describe the sensation. Du Neihao sealed the cap and approached the Duchess.

“My task is complete. I have succeeded in the formulation.” “Congratulations, congratulations!” Yang Ying offered warmly.

“Marquis Du Neihao, your reputation is well-earned. To formulate the Elixir of Resurrection with such seeming ease.” “Lord Yang Ying, the fact that you could gather every material for a single dose suggests profound mastery in the path of Apothecary yourself.

I might very well have been making a fool of myself,” Du Neihao said, clearly elated after successfully brewing the Elixir. After a few pleasantries, he returned with the group to Duke Anker’s chambers.

The Duchess dismissed all the servants, keeping only Du Neihao, Yang Ying, and the Duke’s son and daughter. She carefully plucked a single strand of hair from the Duke’s head, then twisted open the vial of the Elixir and dropped the hair inside.

The moment the hair touched the surface of the liquid, a peculiar event unfolded. The entire vial of medicine seemed to come alive, behaving like a glob of living gel, instantly enveloping the hair within.

A trace of arcane information radiated outward. Yang Ying sensed this data entering the shadowed aspects of the spiritual world.

A subtle resonance emanating from the hair was actively summoning soul-energy possessing matching fluctuations within that shadowed realm, compelling them to recongeal. The medicinal gel surged out of the vial and suspended itself in the air.

While everyone in the room possessed keen eyesight, Yang Ying could clearly observe the process of its effect taking hold. The hair dissolved within the gel.

The information of life was extracted, splitting like cellular division—one becoming two, two becoming four—forming an embryo at the core of the gel. This embryo then began to develop.

Initially shapeless, like a mere lump of flesh, it gradually molded itself into a recognizable human form as development deepened. It first resembled an infant, which then continued to grow into a child, then an adolescent.

Development ceased only when the figure reached the apparent age of an eighteen-year-old youth. Comparing this figure to Duke Anker’s corpse, one could vaguely discern the features of the Duke in his prime, though the result looked roughly the age of his own son—perhaps even slightly younger.

The Duchess blushed deeply and drew a blanket around the newly formed young man. “In a way, this misfortune has brought a blessing,” Du Neihao stepped forward to examine the youth, speaking with satisfaction.

“The Resurrection brought his physical body to an eighteen-year-old state—it reversed his aging. Furthermore, this new body naturally formed into a perfect vessel, supremely suitable for future cultivation, making advancement much easier.

Although Duke Anker’s spiritual power was already at the Third-Tier Limit, his chances of breaking the bottleneck toward the Fourth Tier were slim. But having experienced this death, perhaps one day he might truly ascend to the Fourth-Tier realm.” The Duke’s family gathered around to observe Anker’s condition just as Duke Anker slowly opened his eyes.

“What happened to me? I felt as if I fell into an abyss, traversing the other end of the spiritual world.

There was no sense of time there; it felt like centuries had passed.” Duke Anker’s eyes were still unfocused, appearing utterly bewildered. After a moment, his clarity returned.

“Yes, I was pulled back by a certain power.” He looked down at his hands, his eyes snapping into focus, radiating vigor. “I’m alive!” He surveyed his surroundings, seeing his wife, his children, his trusted friend, and a stranger.

His family members, upon seeing him whole, wept tears of joy and rushed forward to embrace him. “Du Neihao, did you save me?” Duke Anker asked while hugging his family.

“You pulled me back from the realm of death. Could it be the legendary ultimate potion, the Elixir of Resurrection?

Do you have any stored? Unlikely.

Did you just brew a new batch?” The Duke was clearly not lacking in wisdom; as a master at the Third-Tier Limit, he deduced most of the situation instantly. “This is Lord Yang Ying; you must have heard of him.

He is the one who provided all the materials for the Elixir this time, allowing me to save you,” Du Neihao introduced Yang Ying to Anker. “I see.” The Duke patted his family members, stood up, and performed a deep bow.

“My deepest gratitude to Lord Yang Ying for saving my life.” He then bowed to Du Neihao. “And my thanks to you too, my old friend.” Du Neihao repeatedly waved off the thanks.

“Not at all, not at all. Your death, in a manner of speaking, was partly our responsibility,” Yang Ying stated.

“Because of Sandvold?” The Duke nodded grimly. “Watch this.

I am not finished with him! Tomorrow I will host a grand banquet to celebrate my resurrection and ensure Sandvold eats dirt!” A weak postscript: there are two chapters today.

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