Prologue

Lingshan, the very core of the Nine Provinces, is filled with spiritual energy that connects heaven and earth, vast and boundless. From afar, the central mountain range pierces straight into the clouds, as if it stands above the clouds themselves. Within a million miles around, there are ten great mountains, with countless smaller ranges on the outskirts. The spiritual energy on each of these ten great mountains is far more abundant than below. It is said that cultivating atop the main peak of Lingshan, in the Cloud Palace, is a thousand times faster than below—one day of cultivation up there equals a year down below.

At this moment, in a remote mountain range billions of miles east of the Cloud Palace, the surrounding tens of thousands of miles were suddenly shrouded in thunderclouds. Then, tribulation lightning struck down furiously, and in the blink of an eye, more than half of a thousand-zhang-high mountain had vanished. Yet within, a force stubbornly blocked the tribulation lightning.

"Boom..." At this moment, the strongest bolt of tribulation lightning exploded, the sound shaking the heavens, and then a beam of light shot up, piercing the sky and earth.

"Wahaha!! I did it! Damn it! After three hundred years, I finally refined an immortal pill! Even though it's only a lower-grade one, at least I made it! All the alchemists of the Nine Provinces are trash compared to me!" At this moment, a wildly arrogant and unrestrained laugh rang out from within the light.

"Unbelievable... Someone actually managed to do it. I never thought anyone in Lingshan could really refine an immortal pill..." At this moment, space suddenly tore open a few kilometers away, and a giant man a hundred zhang tall, carrying a massive axe, stepped out.

"Big oaf, I didn't expect you'd be willing to sacrifice a dao artifact to be the first to arrive." As she spoke, space above not far away tore open again, and an incomparably enchanting woman appeared with a smile.

"This isn't your demon clan's territory. For you to arrive so quickly, you must have paid a hefty price. As for me, I just took advantage of being local." At this moment, a man in daoist robes, holding a horsetail whisk, appeared riding a giant beast wreathed in flames. He hadn't torn through space, but had simply rushed over on his sacred beast.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..." At this moment, countless beams of light flashed across the sky as one powerful figure after another arrived. In an instant, there were several hundred people, each exuding a terrifying aura, but all of them stared dumbfounded ahead upon arrival.

"A bunch of little brats..." The giant man looked at some of the newcomers with clear displeasure. Normally, a single word from him would send these people fleeing in terror, but now he could only grumble to himself.

"It's really an immortal pill. I've never heard of anyone being able to refine one before."

"I thought only immortals could refine immortal pills. This is simply defying the heavens."

"Damn it, just the other day, our sect lost over a hundred people fighting for a top-grade dao pill, and now today we get to see an immortal pill."

...

At this moment, the light atop the small mountain gradually faded, revealing a pill furnace nearly a kilometer wide. Atop it sat a young man who looked just over twenty, not exactly handsome but with a delicate, refined appearance. As he saw the crowd arrive, he smiled with a hint of devilish charm, sitting arrogantly atop the cauldron. In his hand, he held a pill exuding an endless fragrance—just a whiff would clear the mind and open all the meridians.

"An immortal pill, it's really an immortal pill..."

"It looks exactly like the legends say. Just smelling it, the bottleneck I've struggled with for years is starting to loosen."

"That's William Clark, the most eccentric, arrogant, and domineering among the top ten alchemy masters of the Nine Provinces."

...

"Who says only immortals can refine immortal pills? I can do it too!" William Clark arrogantly raised the immortal pill in his hand. "See this? All those so-called ironclad rules of alchemy, all those masters who say it's impossible to refine an immortal pill—I'm here to tell you, I, William Clark, have done it. The very first immortal pill of the Nine Provinces was refined by me."

"Master Clark, our alliance possesses the most powerful resources and the deepest wealth in Lingshan. We are willing to trade all our stockpiled medicines for this immortal pill. This is the accumulation of a million strong members of our alliance over ten thousand years." Someone, unable to hold back any longer, finally spoke up as he gazed at the immortal pill. Normally, let alone an immortal pill, even a divine artifact found in some ancient ruin would have everyone fighting to the death for it. But this immortal pill was in William Clark's hand, and he had refined it himself. His reputation preceded him—among the top ten alchemy masters of the Nine Provinces, William Clark was the most domineering and difficult to deal with.

"I have here the supreme technique passed down from the ancient emperors, the 'Sole Sovereign of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths'." At this moment, someone else shouted excitedly.