Chapter 232: Bedevilment Pill!
“600,000!” cried Fatty, leaping to his feet. “Who dares to contend with his superiors?! These three pill bottles are mine!” His voice reverberated like thunder throughout the auction stadium.
However, these three bottles of Foundation Establishment Day were not like the Barrier Breaking Pills from before, in which Fatty’s bids caused others to give up. These three bottles represented a chance that might come only once in ten years, perhaps even one in a hundred!
Considering the East Pill Division’s lofty status, they could afford to not care about such a thing. But other Sects lacked the East Pill Division’s deep stores of knowledge. Clearly, there were many Sects present who were determined to win this chance to study the interactions contained within the pills.
Regardless of great Sect or small Sect, the eyes of all the Cultivators in the stadium were red. These medicinal pills were just too important, not just to the Cultivators, but to their Sects as a whole.
By fully researching the plant and vegetation interactions within the pills, a Sect could gain significant advancements in their Dao of alchemy. As such, the bids in the stadium continued to flow out, even from the three great Clans and the other great Sects.
Meng Hao watched on from within the pavilion, his eyes wide, almost as if he couldn’t comprehend the scene. His eyes began to shine as the price for the pills climbed higher and higher. After this Pill Auction, Li Tao’s name would definitely become known throughout the Southern Domain. Soon, all Cultivators would wish to make his acquaintance. Considering he was able to produce such pills while still just a master alchemist, it mean that… he definitely was qualified to become a Furnace Lord in the future!
There were only around one hundred Furnace Lords in the East Pill Division. Any one of them could cause a huge sensation in the Southern Domain, and would be sought after by countless Cultivators. Their position and status invoked solemn respect of the highest order.
Fatty continued to make bids in the auction for the Foundation Establishment Day. However, eventually he had to give up as the price eventually reached the incredible height of 4,000,000 Spirit Stones!
This was the highest price offered for a lot in the Violet Fate Sect’s Pill Auction in the past one hundred years!
It was hard to use words to even talk about such a price. Every participant in the auction was panting heavily, and deathly still filled the air.
The winner of the auction was one of the great Clans, the Li Clan!
Only three people had come from the Li Clan. One was Clan Elder, and the other two were Chosen. Of course, each of the great Clans had their own Dao of alchemy. Although theirs were different from the East Pill Division’s, comparatively speaking, they were also similarities. These three bottles of Foundation Establishment Day would give them an incredible opportunity to discover new plant and vegetation interactions.
As such, the auctioneer hesitated a moment. However, the East Pill Division was filled with deep reservoirs of knowledge, and as such, they could afford to disregard a leakage of information about plant and vegetation interactions. For these medicinal pills to end up in the hands of the Li Clan showed how incredible they were.
In the past thousand years during which the Violet Fate Sect Pill Auction had been held, the Violet Fate Sect itself had never purchased one of its own auction items. The Eastern Pill Division never withheld items from auction, or prevented them from being sold. Such a matter was unheard of throughout the thousand year history of the auction.
In fact, Violet Fate Sect disciples were prohibited from purchasing items from the auction. It didn’t matter how rare a given item was, bids were not permitted.
It was a thousand-year-old rule that had never changed!
After the three bottles of Foundation Establishment Day were sold to the Li Clan, the Li Clan Elder immediately extended an invitation for Li Tao to come for a visit to the Li Clan [1]. This in turn caused Li Tao to gain even more prestige.
Discussions regarding Li Tao spread throughout the auction stadium. The master alchemists sitting around Meng Hao in the pavilion were all amazed, and began to talk about Li Tao with admiration and envy.
By now, the auction had already been underway for two days. The auctioneer pulled out another medicinal pill, but considering what had just happened, it was impossible for him to arouse the passion of the crowd.
Few people were paying attention, and the bidding was no longer intense. The next few hundred pills all sold within the space of ten or so breaths. Things were selling so quickly that it hardly seemed an auction anymore….
It reached the point that some people began to leave.
After the wonderment of the Foundation Establishment Day, the hundred thousand or so Cultivators participating in the auction seemed to have come to the conclusion that even though there might be some amazing items yet to appear, none of them would be able to match the astonishing Foundation Establishment Day pills.
To many people a bid of 4,000,000 Spirit Stones was something that wouldn’t be seen again in the next hundred years. The three bottles of Foundation Establishment Day were nothing less than a miracle.
Therefore, interest in the remainder of the auction was waning. The auctioneer was well aware of this. He was still a bit excited. To have officiated over the sale of an item at such an astounding price was something he had never experienced before in his life.
Even he didn’t think that the remainder of the auction would feature anything that could possibly outmatch the Foundation Establishment Day. As such, he could understand the feelings of the rest of the hundred thousand Cultivators, and was willing to let the rest of the hundreds of medicinal pills be auctioned off at a relatively rapid rate.
It was in such a fashion that Meng Hao’s Bedevilment Pill finally came up for auction, on the evening of the third day. Few of the Cultivators present were very interested. Most of them were still wrapped up in regretfully recalling the events surrounding the Foundation Establishment Day and sending messages about it back to their various Sects.
The voice of the auctioneer sounded out, “This pill was concocted by an anonymous master alchemist of the East Pill Division. Even I don’t know who this person is. The name of the pill is… Bedevilment Pill, a poison pill.” He placed the pill bottle in front of him.
Meng Hao’s spirits instantly lifted, and he took a deep breath. He stared at the pill bottle, which of course contained the pill he had concocted.
When the pill bottle appeared, most of the surrounding Cultivators were still discussing the Foundation Establishment Day matter in hushed tones. Only a few people looked down, mostly because of the words “poison pill,” which managed to arouse a bit of interest.
The auctioneer spoke quickly. In his opinion, even though this pill was a poison pill, it wasn’t likely to attract much attention. Other than a Foundation Establishment Day pill, nothing else would be able to cause much of an excited bidding. Despite the pill in front of him having obviously been created by paying a Heaven-defying price, he still doubted that it would sell for much more than ten thousand or so Spirit Stones.
Therefore, he didn’t spend much time introducing the pill. Looking out, he saw that the vast majority of the hundred thousand Cultivators weren't paying attention at all. He cleared his throat, and decided that the time was coming to wrap up the auction. It didn’t seem that this auction would last seven days, but rather four at the most. There was really no other alternative. After the shock of the Foundation Establishment day, all other auction items would really pale into insignificance.
Having come to the decision to end things quickly, the middle-aged auctioneer called over one of the Violet Qi to the West disciples. He poured the black pill out of the bottle and, not seeing anything strange about it, quickly scraped off some powder and gave it to the Violet Qi to the West disciple.
Few of the Cultivators were paying attention to all of this, and in fact, only a handful of people seemed interested in purchasing the pill. After all, it could really only attract the attention of the few Cultivators who studied the Dao of poison.
Meng Hao noticed all of this, and kept his expression calm.
Only Bai Yunlai seemed to be nervous. He sighed; clearly he felt the whole situation was unfair. In his opinion, Meng Hao’s Dao of alchemy was far above that of Li Tao’s. They weren’t even on the same level!
That much was evident from the fervor with which the Inner Sect disciples of the Violet Qi Sect contended for his pill concocting services.
As for the Violet Qi to the West disciple, he was a young man of about thirty years of age with an expressionless face. Despite the lack of interest on the part of the surrounding Cultivators, he earnestly accepted the powder from the pill and then consumed it without hesitation. His Cultivation base rotated, causing the powder to dissolve into his body. He became translucent, allowing everyone to see the results inside of him.
Despite the fact that this was a poison pill, the man didn’t hesitate in the slightest.
As soon as he consumed the powder, his body began to transform.
As he did, Meng Hao quietly looked at him and murmured, “Pierce the Qi passageways throughout the body, chop them like mincemeat. Turn the body into a treasure, split open the chest. Crush the mind, consolidate millions upon millions of murderous intentions. Explode the Dao Pillars within the Core Sea, killing intent can exterminate spirits. Use the mortal soul to fuse with spirits. Use the power of killing to subvert consciousness. The mind and the Core Sea, fused into nothing in the blink of an eye. This Devilish will shall transform into a suicidal heart, which will cause the Cultivation base to climb to the skies!
“It is not a burning of the soul, it supersedes that! This pill… will be called Bedevilment Pill! That is because, this will, can only belong to devils!” With every sentence Meng Hao uttered, the Cultivator’s body changed, almost as if it were under Meng Hao’s control.
His expressionless face immediately changed. Sweat began to pour down his forehead, and his whole body shook. Veins popped out on his forehead.
He could clearly sense that the powder which he had swallowed had been immediately absorbed by his body and then transformed into an indescribable stimulating force. His body filled with pain, and spiritual energy exploded out. It felt as if his Qi passageways were being slashed to pieces by countless swords!
As this happened, a roaring sound emanated inside of him, as if the unrestrained power of his very life force were shooting out. The intensity of this power exploded out of his chest, transforming into a frenzied desire for murder, which completely shattered his three Dao Pillars!
As his Dao Pillars fell to pieces, his Core Sea evaporated, and his Cultivation base was smashed. The power flooded into his mind, pulverizing his soul, erasing his mind, filling it with a devilish will which would end his life!!
It seemed all of his consciousness had disappeared and he had gone completely mad. He lifted his head to the sky and let out a shocking howl. The howl echoed out, containing indescribable desire to murder, which then transformed into killing intent that emanated out from him in booming waves.
A shapeless Flame Sea enveloped his body, burning it, burning his soul, filling him with a frenzied, devilish insanity. His breathing became ragged, and his Cultivation base…. suddenly exploded upward. He had no Dao Pillars, and yet his aura was so powerful that it rivaled the late Foundation Establishment stage!!
His roar, filled with killing intent, slammed down onto the hundred thousand Cultivators who were discussing Foundation Establishment Day. Instantly, all of their eyes fell upon the Violet Qi to the West Cultivator.
Meng Hao stood there, his expression calm, his eyes calm. He seemed like… an alchemist devil!