Chapter 2227: Baiye Qinghong

No wonder he had always felt that he could refine at least a dozen pills, but only four appeared in the end. It turned out that all the remaining medicinal power was concentrated in this Pill King!

Not only that, this Pill King possessed even stronger sentience and had intelligence comparable to a human.

When the other pills rushed out earlier, this one had hidden inside the cauldron, making it undetectable. Taking advantage of the moment Zhang Xuan relaxed after grabbing the other pills, it escaped!

Its timing and patience both showed extraordinary qualities.

And once it succeeded, it would mean that this pill refinement, though completed, would have lost its most valuable item.

"Can it escape?"

Unwilling to be outsmarted by a mere pill, Zhang Xuan stomped his foot in mid-air, and his True Qi instantly erupted from his body.

The air rippled, and he shot straight towards the direction the pill had disappeared.

He pushed his 'Mortal Dust Sky-Treading Steps' to their limit. The pill's speed was incredibly fast, but his was even faster!

"A peak High-tier Celestial God... can fly?"

Fu Jiangchen's eyes widened.

Only Divine Kings could fly; this was an unchangeable law in the God Realm. Yet, the person before him not only took away a pill with combat power comparable to a Divine King with a single sword strike, but also flew, and his speed was no slower than his own at full effort...

How was this possible?

For a moment, Fu Jiangchen wondered if he was seeing things.

The escaping Pill King also hadn't expected that this High-tier Celestial God could not only fly, but also fly so fast. Seeing that it would soon be caught, it stopped fleeing, turned sharply, and with a slight movement, transformed into a fierce-faced young man and struck out with a palm!

The winds and clouds changed, and power surged.

The power controlled by this pill had actually reached the Divine King realm, and was in no way weaker than Fu Jiangchen!

"Hmph!"

His expression grim, Zhang Xuan stopped, dodged the attack, and at the same moment, met it with his longsword.

Although the Path of Heaven True Qi in his body had been completely depleted by the gray airflow, he discovered through his previous flight that his combat power had not diminished in the slightest, but had become even stronger.

It was just that his True Qi reserves were too low, making it impossible to fight recklessly as before without worrying about depletion.

Therefore...

He had to finish this quickly!

It wasn't just a matter of his True Qi. More importantly, the escape of this Pill King had caused too much commotion. In just a few breaths, dozens of divine senses had already probed over. If he didn't resolve this quickly, complications could easily arise.

Like a silkworm giving its last thread of silk before death, or a candle shedding its last tear as it turns to ash!

The sword move and sword intent he had comprehended at the Celestial God realm erupted with a roar. A thin line shot out from a minuscule point, like a candle burning its last drop of flame, or like a silkworm spitting its last thread of silk before death, carrying infinite profoundness. In an instant, it reached the young man transformed from the Pill King and bound him tightly.

"You..."

The Pill King was stunned, filled with disbelief.

The difference between a Divine King and a Celestial God was like that between two different life forms, immeasurable. It had thought that by simply turning back and using all its strength, it could easily kill him. It had never dreamed that it would be sealed before even completing a single move.

"Are High-tier Celestial Gods... all this powerful?"

"Collect!"

Knowing that his True Qi wouldn't last long, as he had just flown at full speed and used two sword moves, consuming a significant amount, he didn't waste words. The ropes formed by the sword technique tightened abruptly.

"Ah..."

With a miserable cry, the young man transformed from the Pill King shrunk and reverted into a spherical pill, its self-born sentience disappearing.

Grabbing it, Zhang Xuan finally let out a sigh of relief. He flicked his longsword, and the sword qi enveloped the pill, bringing it straight towards him. Just as he was about to reach out and grab it, his body suddenly stiffened. The flying Pill King stopped in mid-air, and even the True Qi within him felt disobedient, rendering him unable to move.

"What's going on?"

His pupils constricted. He then saw a beautiful woman walking step by step through the air from afar.

With her slender, fair hand, she gently pinched, and the Pill King, enveloped by sword qi, was held between her fingers.

"Friend," she said, "this pill was refined by my Green Grass Pavilion at immense cost. It just escaped. Thank you for helping me catch it; I am immensely grateful!"

She looked over and smiled faintly.

"Green Grass Pavilion?" With a thought, True Qi burst forth from the acupoints within his body, and the power restraining him completely dissipated. Zhang Xuan's eyes narrowed.

A Pill King, moreover one that could help someone break through to Divine King, was simply too tempting. He had been worried just now that someone would come to snatch it. He hadn't expected it to actually happen.

To openly claim something stolen with such righteousness... As expected of the God Realm, where there are no rules, and everything is decided by strength.

"Indeed!" The woman raised her eyebrows, and with a flick of her wrist, a jade token appeared in her palm. "This is a token from my Green Grass Pavilion. You helped me catch the pill, so I can't let you do it for nothing. With this, you can go to my Green Grass Pavilion and choose any cultivation technique as your reward!"

The jade token vibrated gently and slowly flew towards him.

"Are you trying to seize it by force?" With a gentle sweep of his longsword, the jade token immediately shattered into two pieces. Zhang Xuan looked over, his eyes narrowed. "If you want to snatch my property, do you know the consequences?"

It was one thing for her to restrain him and snatch the pill he had just bound, but to directly claim it as her own was utterly shameless.

"Snatching your property?" The woman sneered and flicked her sleeve. "This pill was refined by me at immense cost. Can a mere High-tier peak Celestial God refine something like this? Is it capable of refining this? Ridiculous!"

"I naturally cannot refine it," Zhang Xuan said. "This pill was refined by Master Fu Jiangchen. I provided the medicinal ingredients and the refining technique. It just escaped after being refined, which is why I chased after it... You claim you refined it. Do you know what medicinal ingredients were used to refine this pill, and what steps it went through?"

"Fu Jiangchen?" The woman sneered. "So you know it's him. I commissioned him to refine this medicine and provided the ingredients. How did it suddenly become yours? Don't speak nonsense... How about this, I won't bully you. I'll have him come over now and prove whose pill this is!"

After speaking, the woman lowered her head and looked in a certain direction. "Fu Jiangchen, hurry up and come over!"

Her voice was like a thin thread, quickly transmitting downwards.

Zhang Xuan didn't speak, his eyes narrowed.

Although there were no other people nearby, there were dozens of divine senses present. The moment this woman spoke, she claimed it as her own. Her singular goal was to establish moral high ground and thus appropriate the Pill King for herself!

Otherwise, her reputation would suffer.

From this alone, it was clear that the person before him held a significant position in Linglong Imperial City.

"Stealing my pill so righteously, without even blushing..." Zhang Xuan snorted and asked, "May I know your name?"

"You know of Green Grass Pavilion but not me?"

Without getting angry, the woman paused for a moment, looked over indifferently, and smiled faintly. "My name is Baiye Qinghong!"

"Baiye Qinghong?"

Zhang Xuan's expression darkened. "A Conferred Divine King?"