Overwhelming, that was the single, distinct impression Su Min now gave Kong Hui. She had been in deep seclusion for two full years now, and the soul tempering she underwent beneath the Bodhi Ancient Tree was no trivial matter.
Having endured the process for two full years, her Nascent Soul had undoubtedly reached an extraordinarily refined and dense state. The formidable barrier to the Divine Transformation stage, something countless Nascent Soul cultivators could never break through in multiple lifetimes, would no longer hinder her in the slightest when she decided to attempt it.
Moreover, as a master alchemist, Su Min's soul power had always been her greatest strength, already surpassing that of many mid to late stage Divine Transformation cultivators. Now that she had advanced further after the Bodhi Tree's tempering, the depth of her spiritual presence made even Kong Hui shudder slightly.
"Although my cultivation level has only progressed a single minor step, the benefits I have gained are definitely not small," Su Min stated, her voice calm and measured. "The reputation of realizing reincarnation under the Bodhi tree is indeed well deserved. Let us prepare the materials. I need to refine a large quantity of pills to stabilize my new realm. I can give most of the pills from this session to your sect. Such opportunities for mutual benefit are rare."
"Do not worry, Benefactor. Our Buddhist sect has some resources to spare for this."
Kong Hui smiled warmly upon hearing Su Min's words. While fifth grade pills were of little direct use to him personally, they held immense value for the entire sect, especially for their many Nascent Soul and Golden Core disciples.
Su Min, too, understood the situation perfectly. The opportunity to meditate beneath the Bodhi Tree came only once every hundred years. Even those who had experienced it in past lives could not partake again. Since she had gained such tremendous benefits, it was only right to reciprocate with her skills.
After all, cultivation was not just about solitary battles and slaughter, it was also about building connections and fulfilling obligations.
Now that her soul power had reached sufficient new heights, what she lacked was practical refining experience. Her own sect was still young and lacked the vast material resources to let her accumulate that experience freely. The ancient, resource rich Buddhist sect, however, was the perfect place for that.
By sharing a portion of the successfully refined pills with them and keeping some for herself and her sect, neither side would lose out. It was a symbiotic relationship. No wonder Kong Hui was so pleased when he heard her proposal.
The Alchemy Room
Soon, Su Min sat cross legged inside a dedicated alchemy chamber. The gains from her seclusion were immense. Beyond the clear improvements in cultivation base and soul power, she had also absorbed trace energies from the divine Nectar of Enlightenment, allowing her Eastern Azure Wood to accumulate even more power. The azure ancient tree within her dantian had now grown to over twenty meters tall, significantly enhancing her wood attribute abilities and life force.
When she had first obtained the tree, it was less than a meter tall. Even after nurturing it for a hundred years within the Golden Core Avenue, it had only reached seven or eight meters. Yet in just two years here, nourished by the sacred spring, it had grown tremendously. Each additional meter required exponentially more energy from heaven and earth, making this progress truly remarkable.
She was more than satisfied. As for the fact that the Azure Dragon had once drained nearly all the energy stored in the Eastern Azure Wood, she bore no resentment. Without that prior depletion, she would never have been able to claim and bond with it in the first place.
"The Buddhist sect is truly wealthy," she mused, looking around the chamber. "A low grade Earth tier cauldron, handed over for my use without so much as a blink."
Su Min eyed the dark green cauldron, which stood even taller than her, with mild surprise. But since it was freely offered, she would accept it. Her old low grade Mystic tier furnace was no longer sufficient for fifth grade refinements. Even if they had not provided one, she would have needed to forge a new one soon.
"The materials are plentiful too." Her gaze swept over the neatly organized spiritual herbs and monster cores. "The Buddhist sect has also commissioned me to refine some of their specialized pills."
She picked up a jade slip containing the recipe for the Vajra Pill.
[Vajra Pill (Fifth grade Mid tier): When consumed by those cultivating the Vajra Sutra, it tempers the body and temporarily boosts physical attributes.]
After reviewing the recipe, Su Min closed her eyes to absorb the complex information. With a wave of her hand, spiritual energy lifted all the required materials, over a dozen sets worth, and floated them into the massive cauldron.
"Are they worried I will fail with a new recipe? They are overthinking it."
Muttering to herself, Su Min ignited crimson Nanming Lihuo flames within the cauldron. The materials hissed and melted under her precise temperature control, dissolving into the necessary purified medicinal essences.
"Merge!"
With a low, focused shout, she guided the essences to fuse together. A moment later, a single, golden pill streaked with red flew out, hovering brilliantly before her.
"First attempt, success. Only one pill, though. I will need more practice to increase the yield." She was not disappointed. "Fortunately, there is no rush, I have plenty of materials."
She stored the Vajra Pill, a pill coveted by countless Buddhist body tempering cultivators, in a small jade vial and immediately began the next batch. With half a year left until the Water Land Dharma Assembly, she had ample time to practice.
First, she would solidify her mastery of fifth grade mid tier pills before attempting the high tier ones. Her massive gains in soul power had brought her to the very threshold of sixth grade alchemy. But crossing that final line would require a small, elusive opportunity or insight.
A Week Later
When Su Min finally emerged from the chamber, her spatial ring was filled with various bottles and jars, each carefully labeled.
"Fifteen Vajra Pills, seven Glazed Serenity Pills, and five Nascent Soul Pills," she reported to the monk guarding the door.
The guarding monk, a Nascent Soul cultivator himself, could not help but inhale sharply. Even for him, the wealth represented by those pills was enough to shake his composure. But he quickly steadied his breathing and mind. Buddhist techniques were most vulnerable to inner demons, if greed took hold, his cultivation could backfire instantly.
"Amitābha. This humble monk thanks the Benefactor for her hard work."
"Enough. Deliver these fifth grade mid tier pills to Elder Kong Hui. Do not disturb me for the next month, I may attempt a breakthrough to a higher tier."
Su Min paid no further mind to the monk's reaction. If a Nascent Soul monk of the Great Thunder Temple could not handle the temptation of a few pills, then the sect had bigger problems. Her own harvest from the session was substantial. While the Vajra and Glazed Serenity Pills were useless to her personally, she had also refined twenty Nascent Soul Pills for her own sect. With her enhanced soul power, fifth grade low tier pills like the Nascent Soul Pill were now foolproof. Each batch yielded two or three pills, and she had produced several batches.
These would be reserved for her sect's treasury. By the time she returned, many disciples would be ready to attempt the Nascent Soul stage, and demand for these pills would soar. Now that her foundation in fifth grade mid tier was rock solid, she aimed for the high tiers, and perhaps even sixth grade. Success would be glorious, failure, an acceptable learning experience. After handing over the commissioned pills, she returned to seclusion without delay.
This time, her target was fifth grade high tier pills, many of which would benefit her directly.
She examined one, the Tempering Spirit Pill.
[Tempering Spirit Pill (Fifth grade High tier): Condenses and refines spiritual energy, removing impurities. Suitable for all cultivators who have never consumed it before. Effects diminish with repeated use.]
"A foundation strengthening pill with no side effects. Good."
She popped one into her mouth to test it, and immediately grimaced.
"Ugh! This damned thing is spiritual torture! It is useful, but not much for someone at my level of purity." The process of having her spiritual energy forcibly compressed was intensely uncomfortable. "This is better suited for kids just starting out, not me."
Grumbling internally, she tossed the rest of the batch into a vial. Fifth grade high tier pills were now within her grasp, but true sixth grade remained slightly out of reach, a barrier she could feel but not yet cross.
Two Months Later
BOOM!
A muffled explosion rocked the chamber, and Su Min stumbled out, her face and robes covered in soot. Three consecutive failed batches. Even the most basic sixth grade Healing Pill recipe eluded her. If she could not master these foundational sixth grade pills, true sixth grade alchemy was beyond her for now.
"No choice. Time is up. I will hand over half of these fifth grade high tier pills. After burning through so many of their materials, it is only fair."
She split the newly refined pills evenly, one pile for the sect, one pile for herself.
"Benefactor, how were your gains?" Kong Hui smiled as he watched Su Min sip spiritual tea later. The Buddhist sect had received a small trove of fifth grade pills, enough to last them a century or two. The trade of materials for her labor and a share of the pills had been more than worth it.
"Sixth grade remains just out of reach," Su Min admitted frankly. "I am still missing something, a final insight. My cultivation has only just reached mid stage Nascent Soul, so a major breakthrough before the Dharma Assembly is unlikely."
"That will more than suffice. Here is the information on your two opponents for the assembly."
Kong Hui handed her two jade slips. Infusing them with a thread of spiritual energy, two lifelike figures materialized in the air before her.
"One Divine Transformation mid stage, one early stage. Both are reincarnators, and both are fifth grade alchemists."
Su Min frowned. As expected, they were all veteran Divine Transformation experts. Reincarnation did not guarantee they were the same people, but their accumulated alchemical experience carried over. That alone was significant pressure.
"Have they both received parts of the Pharmacist's Legacy before?"
Her main goal was the complete Pharmacist's inheritance. If these two had already obtained significant portions of it, things would get complicated.
"No need to worry on that front. The true Pharmacist's Legacy is unique and complete. They have only grasped fragments after multiple reincarnations. The true inheritance is most suited for the first generation, for a soul experiencing it for the first time. Otherwise, they would not be stuck at the fifth grade level after so long."
That made sense. Alchemy demanded both immense soul power and profound spiritual energy control. Divine Transformation cultivators could theoretically refine seventh grade pills, yet these two were limited to fifth grade. Their soul power was clearly the bottleneck. In that case, she still had a chance.
"Benefactor, you may explore the outer grounds of the Great Thunder Temple today if you wish. Tomorrow at dawn, we depart for the Dharma Assembly."
Su Min nodded. She knew the true core of the Buddhist sect lay in the hidden Little Mount Sumeru. The grand, public facing Great Thunder Temple was more for worship and administration, with few real secrets left for her to discover.
At dawn the next day, Su Min stood at the temple's main gates. The delegation was ready, led by Kong Hui and two other Divine Transformation experts, accompanied by nearly ten Nascent Soul cultivators and over a hundred Golden Core disciples. This lineup alone could rival many major sects. But Su Min knew it was likely less than a tenth of the Great Thunder Temple's true strength.
The Buddhist sect's unique reincarnation techniques made their background and heritage extraordinary, allowing them to accumulate power across generations. Of course, there was a drawback, reincarnators often struggled to surpass the limits of their past lives. Once they reached the Enlightenment stage, the advantages of reincarnation faded. But for now, their displayed power was intimidating enough.
"All set? Our destination is the Pharmacist's Ruins in Yangguang Province."
As Kong Hui spoke, a massive, golden lotus platform materialized beneath the entire group, carrying them smoothly into the sky. To Su Min's senses, the world outside seemed to stutter and jump, like a lagging video game, each skip covering vast distances.
"Shrinking the Earth to an Inch." This was her second time experiencing this mystical travel technique.
But as she observed the flowing landscapes below, her body suddenly froze. A new, profound comprehension flooded her mind, the principles of the technique unfolding within her.
[You have learned the special technique: Shrinking the Earth to an Inch]
[Shrinking the Earth to an Inch: Allows for rapid traversal across the world. Due to its nature, it is only usable for travel and is easily interrupted in combat.]
"Not bad. A useful travel skill," she mused silently. Though she could not test it now, the technique's utility was undeniable. In less than half a day, they arrived. Su Min's eyes widened at the sight.
Before her lay a radiant land bathed in golden Buddhist light. A colossal, serene Buddha statue loomed in the distance, seated amidst the clouds as if gazing down with compassion upon all living beings. Even with her current cultivation, the sight and the emanating pressure were momentarily suffocating.
"That is the Pharmacist's Dojo, the main site of the Water Land Dharma Assembly and the entrance to the Buddhist Light Secret Realm, the prize our three sects have contested for generations."
Before she could formulate a response, an overwhelming, hostile pressure crashed down on her specifically, as if the heavens themselves sought to crush her into the ground.
"Future Maitreya, your reach exceeds your grasp."
Kong Hui's voice rang out, calm yet firm, dispelling the pressure with a wave of his sleeve.
"A half step Dao Comprehension expert… and he directly targeted me?" Su Min's mind raced.
The crimson flames of Nanming Lihuo that had instinctively flickered around her receded. Did they think mere aura pressure could make her submit?
"Kong Hui, have you forgotten our rules? Bringing an outsider to the Dharma Assembly, do you think our Buddhist sect has no talent left?"
A rotund monk materialized before them, his massive frame like a small mountain. Despite his jovial, smiling appearance, his eyes gleamed with an unsettling, almost sinister light. Su Min's heart clenched in recognition.
"Demonic Buddha?"
Her body tensed, ready for a fight. She recalled an ominous side plot from the game, one not part of the main storyline but just as expansive and dangerous.
It involved the fallen Buddha. Buddhist techniques were immensely powerful but demanded impeccable mental discipline and adherence to precepts. Once practitioners fundamentally broke their vows and descended into madness, they could become Demonic Buddhas, wielding corrupted divine power.
Among the three great Buddhist sects, the Great Thunder Temple and the Ancient Lamp Monastery were relatively orthodox. But the Future Maitreya Mountain was notorious for housing such corrupt monks.
In the game, the reason was hinted, The Ancient Lamp represented the past, fixed and unchangeable. The Tathāgata represented the present, the here and now. But the future? The future was endless, uncertain, unknowable. In their obsessive pursuit of an unreachable, perfect horizon, many lost their way, falling into depravity and madness. This monk before her was clearly one such case.
"Hmph."
Regardless of her internal thoughts, Su Min acted instantly. The Great Sun Tathāgata Sutra surged within her, cloaking her in a brilliant, pure golden Buddhist light, making her look like a divine Bodhisattva standing against the corruption.
Though she would never admit it out loud, her personal idea of a "Bodhisattva" was more akin to certain militant, justice delivering figures from her past life's internet culture than a passive saint.
The rotund monk, Liao Jie, glared at her with undisguised malice before his figure shimmered and vanished.
"Be wary of the disciples from Future Maitreya Mountain during the assembly," Kong Hui warned quietly. "Their followers are prone to extremism, and many have fallen into outright corruption. That was Liao Jie, a powerhouse from the same era as me."
"I understand."
Su Min's brow twitched. Memories resurfaced clearly, she knew the Future Maitreya Mountain would eventually fall completely, becoming a den of demons. At a critical moment in the future, they would betray the other two sects. If players did not intervene in the game's storyline, the entire Buddhist faction would be wiped out.
But intervening now was far beyond her capabilities. That great betrayal would happen during the coming Dark Blood Era, when a huge number of fallen beings awoke from their seals, plunging the world into despair. The Future Maitreya Mountain believed that era, their long awaited "future," had arrived. They would embrace it, becoming part of the darkness that devoured all life. But Su Min could not reveal this knowledge. No one would believe her, and it might even paint a larger target on her back.
For now, she could only stay silent and vigilant. Without Divine Transformation strength, meddling in the affairs of these ancient powers would be suicidal.
The time for such revelations was not right.
"The Dharma Assembly consists of three parts," Kong Hui continued as they walked. "Scriptural debates, martial contests, and alchemy. You need not concern yourself with the first, but the latter two will be challenging. By the assembly's rules, competing alchemists must also participate in the martial contest for material gathering. You will be facing two Divine Transformation cultivators in that arena."
"The Ancient Lamp Monastery's representative likely will not try to kill you, but the Future Maitreya Mountain's early stage Divine Transformation alchemist is dangerous. That said, with your current strength and methods, he should not be able to do too much to you in a public contest."
Su Min's frown deepened. This was going to be more perilous than she anticipated. Why did the Future Maitreya Mountain despise her so immediately? She had never crossed them before.
"Did those bald donkeys trigger some kind of prophecy? They cannot act openly against me here, but..." She shook off the thought. She would deal with it when the time came.
She followed the others into the bustling assembly grounds. Though a Buddhist event, cultivators from all over the world attended. High level gatherings like this were prime opportunities for trade and networking.
Su Min was particularly interested in the market, freshly enriched from the Buddhist sect's resources, she had plenty of fourth and fifth grade pills to barter for things she needed. As for the hostile Divine Transformation monk? She would deal with him when the time came.
Their instant hostility likely stemmed from some twisted prophecy. While the other two sects generally ignored such things, the Future Maitreya Mountain was obsessed with peering into the future. But the future was not fixed. This world had no single "chosen one," everything could change. Glimpsing fragments of destiny was often meaningless.
Unless...
An entire sect, over millennia, had sacrificed countless lives and resources to carve a single, unshakable path to their one desired future.
Then it was a different story altogether.
Meanwhile, in a secluded Golden Hall within Future Maitreya Mountain
"Elder Brother, I saw it. The person in the prophecy, the variable, it might be her. She is the one destined to prevent the future from coming to pass."
Before Liao Jie stood a figure no less powerful than himself, surrounded by the projections of dozens of other Divine Transformation cultivators.
"We have pursued the Future Maitreya for countless years. Now, it is finally within our reach. All who stand in its way are our enemies."
"But she is tied to the Great Thunder Temple, the strongest of the three. After the incident back then, we cannot hunt her outside Yangguang Province. Killing a top ranked Golden Core genius would alert the hidden old monsters of the world. They might also interfere with the future's arrival."
"Then, Liao Kong," the lead figure said, turning to a fierce looking monk, "the only chance is during the Pharmacist's trial within the Buddhist Light Secret Realm. You must eliminate her there."
The monk named Liao Kong nodded fiercely, a savage aura radiating from him. He was at the Divine Transformation, early stage.
He was a genuine Divine Transformation expert, a being far beyond the Nascent Soul realm, tasked with killing Su Min.
"Just wait. In a hundred years, the Ancient Lamp will fade, the present will become the past, and our future shall descend, a world of absolute bliss."
"We will spare no effort to bring about that future."
As the solemn oath echoed, the hall fell silent. Most of the powerful projected auras vanished, leaving only a few behind. Clearly, most were projections, their true bodies elsewhere, conserving strength.
"Kong Hui... you cannot protect her forever."
Liao Jie sneered inwardly.
A mere mid stage Nascent Soul cultivator was nothing before true Divine Transformation power. All who dared obstruct their hard won future, the future they had sacrificed so much to secure, would perish.
And Su Min's shadow had appeared in their most recent divination. A fleeting silhouette, perhaps not directly causal to their grand design, but a variable nonetheless.
But even so, she had to be erased. Preemptively.