CHAPTER 266: CHAPTER 261: SELF-REFINED LIFE-BOUND MAGIC TREASURE!_1

The Bizarre-Suppressing Main Alliance headquarters in the Western Wasteland Domain was located behind Eastern Forest Market City, devoid of opulent palaces or towering edifices.

A colossal tower stood tall, surrounded by an extensive array of courtyards built around it.

Jia Ren’s gaze pierced through the distance of dozens of miles, landing upon that immense tower.

This tower was known as the Demon-Sealing Tower. Its body was pitch-black and lusterless, seemingly capable of absorbing the light of day. The tower stretched ninety-nine measures high and comprised nine levels, sealing the Bizarre Demons collected from all over the Western Wasteland Domain.

Apart from the Town Demon Alliance in the Western Wasteland Domain, no one knew how many Bizarre Demons were sealed inside the Demon-Sealing Tower.

Jia Ren didn’t quite trust the Town Demon Alliance. Such matters couldn’t be managed personally, so it was best to entrust them to his Insect External Incarnation.

The Insect External Incarnation left Eastern Forest Market City and arrived at the Town Demon Alliance headquarters.

An invisible enchantment emerged, blocking him from entering.

A plethora of Bizarre Demons were sealed inside the Demon-Sealing Tower. Should they leak out, it would undoubtedly result in a terrifying disaster.

"Fellow Daoist, are you looking to join the Town Demon Alliance?"

Two Guards walked out from the Town Demon Alliance headquarters, not surprised in the least.

Each year, a large number of Foundation Establishment Cultivators joined as Bizarre-Suppressing Guards, and some old ones left.

The Town Demon Alliance is a loosely structured power. Besides its self-recruited Bizarre-Suppressing Guards, cultivators from other sects are not hindered from joining.

Loose Cultivators, families, Sect Disciples—it was a real mix of all sorts.

"An ally of the Town Demon Alliance, from Star Pole Island."

The major sects could be said to have a cooperative relationship with the Town Demon Alliance. Even if Star Pole Island was small, it was still an ally of the Alliance.

With the Town Demon Alliance Command Token in hand, the invisible barrier no longer restricted his movements, permitting him to smoothly enter the headquarters.

The Insect External Incarnation walked step by step towards the distant Demon-Sealing Tower, observing this tall, great tower.

If it had been before, he would not have had many ideas regarding the form of his Life-bound Magic Treasure.

After getting a close-up view of the Demon-Sealing Tower, an idea began to take shape in his heart.

Life-bound Evil-Repelling Magical Treasure: Demon-Sealing Tower!

A perpetually running magical treasure that could transform the power of Bizarre Demons using the Wicked Flame.

A Life-bound Magic Treasure that could transform the Wicked Flame and refine itself autonomously.

His proficiency with the Corpse Fire Sacrificial Technique was improving swiftly; in just over a year, it had just barely reached the Grandmaster Level.

With deeper insights into the Corpse Fire Sacrificial Technique, he understood the true essence of the Corpse-Ritual Fire: refinement.

The secret technique was modified into the Sacrificial Fire Technique, from which he created the Inscription of Fire Sacrifice.

The Bizarre Demons sealed in the Demon-Sealing Tower continuously transformed the undying Wicked Flame into Sacrificial Fire. This fire unceasingly refined the magical treasure day after day.

There was no need to spend time each day refining and nurturing the magical treasure. The more Bizarre Demons sealed within, the more would assist in its refining process, and the faster the treasure would improve.

A mature magical treasure should advance on its own...

The Demon-Sealing Tower was going to become a magical treasure with immensely high growth potential. There would be no problem for it to eventually evolve into the legendary Immortal Artifact...

The Inscriptions of Magical Treasures upon the Demon-Sealing Tower were vitally important to him!

Jia Ren couldn’t help but control his Insect External Incarnation to get closer, in hopes of observing more details of the Demon-Sealing Tower, becoming captivated by every flickering inscription.

"Halt, stranger."

The Insect External Incarnation was less than ten steps away from the Demon-Sealing Tower when a Golden Core Cultivator emerged from within the tower, coldly fixing his gaze on Jia Ren.

Within the Demon-Sealing Tower, the Insect External Incarnation sensed an overwhelmingly powerful presence. It wasn’t only Golden Core Cultivators guarding the tower; there were also hidden Nascent Soul Cultivators.

"Junior is merely curious about the Demon-Sealing Tower and means no harm..."

The Golden Core Cultivator remained unmoved, speaking in an icy tone, "Leave immediately, or do not blame me for being rude!"

The guards were overly cautious; too many Bizarre Demons were sealed within the Demon-Sealing Tower to afford even a hint of carelessness.

"Interesting!"

A voice seemed to emerge from within; he had the sensation of being sized up by someone.

The Insect External Incarnation retreated a hundred measures, watching the Demon-Sealing Tower from a distance, as if facing a formidable enemy.

The sensation came swiftly and disappeared even quicker, as if the previous feeling had all been an illusion.

A Nascent Soul Cultivator?! Or a Bizarre Demon?!

With no more disturbances from the Demon-Sealing Tower, Jia Ren pushed aside his thoughts and continued to observe the tower.

As long as he didn’t come too close to the Demon-Sealing Tower and didn’t make any dangerous moves, the cultivators guarding the tower wouldn’t act.

Jia Ren focused intently on the Demon-Sealing Tower, striving to memorize the Inscriptions of Magical Treasures he saw.

Just then, hurried footsteps came from behind him.

"Fellow Daoist, are you Island Master Xu from Star Pole Island?" The Internal Affairs Director approached swiftly after receiving the news.

The Town Demon Alliance Command Token also had the effect of revealing one’s identity. Not long after the Insect External Incarnation entered the Town Demon Alliance headquarters, they had already discerned his identity.

"Island Master Xu? What brings you to the Town Demon Alliance?"

The Internal Affairs Director was a middle-stage Golden Core Cultivator, devoid of the Golden Core arrogance commonly shown to Foundation Establishment Cultivators, with a friendly demeanor.

"I am He Yuan, the Internal Affairs Manager of the Town Demon Alliance. Are you here to exchange for treasures, Island Master Xu?"

Many smaller sects and forces rushed to exchange their contributions for treasures at the Town Demon Alliance.

He was accustomed to seeing such incidents and thought nothing of it.

Star Pole Island, not being a strong power and lacking a Golden Core Cultivator, certainly must be intending to exchange for a Golden Core Formation Pill.

"I wish to exchange for the Qilong Pill Prescription," Jia Ren said, reluctantly drawing his gaze away from the Demon-Sealing Tower.

The Qilong Pill Prescription? Why would he be interested in the Qilong Pill Prescription?

He Yuan thought of the substantial Town Demon Alliance contributions one could earn by handing over Qilong Pills and couldn’t help but let out a wry smile. Is he planning to obtain a large amount of contributions through Qilong Pills to exchange for a Golden Core Formation Pill? If the matter were that simple, Qilong Pills would not be in constant shortage.

"Island Master Xu, does Star Pole Island have a Third Order Alchemist? If not, let me remind you to consider another option."

"Could it be that the Town Demon Alliance has stopped accepting Qilong Pills?"

Jia Ren’s understanding of the Qilong Pill was limited; he had only obtained the information recently and could not guarantee that the Town Demon Alliance would constantly be in need.

Without Qilong Pills, it would be difficult to gather enough contributions within a year by exchanging other elixirs and talismans...

"The demand for Qilong Pills is high; they are always in short supply."

"The difficulty in concocting Qilong Pills is extreme, with a very high failure rate. It’s a big loss to exchange substantial Town Demon Alliance contributions for the alchemy recipe."

If concocting Qilong Pills were easy, there wouldn’t be any need to buy them from the Great Sects.

The Town Demon Alliance had Alchemists capable of concocting Qilong Pills, but these Alchemy Grandmasters were also required to concoct even more precious elixirs.

Ordinary Alchemy Masters were not skillful enough, and the high failure rate made it very easy to incur losses.

"If Island Master Xu is adept in alchemy, there are several other good pills that would earn Town Demon Alliance contributions, albeit at a much slower rate."

"I’ll choose the Qilong Pill Prescription."

Jia Ren had looked at other elixirs, and the most expensive among those of the same rank was only a third of the price of a Qilong Pill.

If that wasn’t the case, he wouldn’t stubbornly choose the Qilong Pill.

This was the easiest way to rapidly accumulate a large amount of Town Demon Alliance contributions, other than offering Bizarre-Suppressing Treasures.

"Island Master Xu seems quite confident in his alchemy skills; I won’t dissuade you any further."

"I have two methods for you, and it wouldn’t hurt for Island Master Xu to hear them out."

"Firstly, 50,000 Town Demon Alliance contributions can be exchanged for the Qilong Pill Prescription."

"The second is to cooperate with the Town Demon Alliance by signing a contract. The Town Demon Alliance can provide you with the Qilong Pill Prescription, under the condition that you, Island Master Xu, can guarantee a success rate of forty percent and concoct at least five hundred Qilong Pills."

"All medicinal ingredient expenses for your concoction of Qilong Pills will be covered by the Town Demon Alliance. You will bear any excess losses. As for the successfully concocted Qilong Pills, how about we price each at one thousand Town Demon Alliance contributions?"

"May I know what Island Master Xu thinks?"

This was a cooperative method sponsored by the Town Demon Alliance for Pill Masters. It provided both the pill formula and the necessary ingredients for alchemy, on the condition that a corresponding number of elixirs be concocted within a given timeframe.

Without using contributions to exchange for the Qilong Pill Prescription, this was indeed a good method.

The advantage was that there was no need to worry about the prescription and ingredients and one could focus solely on alchemy.

This would allow me to concoct a large number of Qilong Pills and improve my proficiency.

Jia Ren was not sure how long it took to concoct a single Qilong Pill. If the alchemy efficiency was too slow, it might be impossible to accumulate enough Town Demon Alliance contributions within a year.

I would also be restricted to concocting five hundred Qilong Pills and couldn’t act freely, effectively working for the Town Demon Alliance for an extended period.

There’s no such thing as unmotivated kindness in this world; unexpected favors from others always raised suspicion.

"Thank you, Senior He, but I shall exchange for the Qilong Pill Prescription."

He decided to proceed with his original thought of purchasing the recipe.

"Alas, I bear a grudge against the Corpse Demon Sect Master. Since you snatched his Corpse Refiner, I’ve granted you this convenience. Are you truly going to let this opportunity slip?"

The Internal Affairs Director had a grudge against the Corpse Demon Sect Master? He had gone out of his way to open doors of convenience exclusively for me. There always seemed to be a catch...

Jia Ren didn’t waver, and with a smile, he said, "I appreciate your kindness, Senior, but I prefer to refine the pills myself."

He Yuan’s expression turned a few shades uglier as he entered the inner storage, took out a Jade Slip, received the Insect External Incarnation’s Town Demon Alliance Command Token, and deducted 50,000 Town Demon Alliance contributions.

"Is there anything else Island Master Xu would like to exchange for? If not, it’s best you leave the Bizarre-Suppressing Main Alliance soon, to avoid suspicions concerning the Demon-Sealing Tower."

His voice had cooled, losing the warmth it held before.

The Insect External Incarnation confirmed that the Qilong Pill Prescription was genuine. Before leaving, it took another glance at the Suppressing Demon Tower and hurried away from the Bizarre-Suppressing Main Alliance with the Jade Slip.

"Senior, I will procure the Incarnation Secret Technique for you," He Yuan respectfully saluted the Demon-Sealing Tower.

"Notify them; the Town Demon Alliance needs to stockpile Spiritual Medicine. Go buy up all these types of Spiritual Medicine from Eastern Forest Market City and the other nearby markets."

The Internal Affairs Manager had considerable authority, controlling part of the procurement rights of the Town Demon Alliance. Buying up the main ingredients for Qilong Pills was within his rights and not an abuse of power. The orders were passed down and executed by his subordinates.

If Jia Ren were here, he would recognize the Spiritual Medicine He Yuan purchased as the main ingredients for concocting Qilong Pills.

A Pill Master? He must be aiming to exchange for the Thousand-Year Snow Lotus in a year.

You’ll come back begging me for it!

His smile turned cold, chilling to the bone.

This move was like pulling the rug out from under one’s feet, cutting off the main ingredient for Qilong Pills and making their concoction almost impossible. Thus, the recipe obtained in exchange for 50,000 Town Demon Alliance contributions would become useless.

To avoid even more significant losses, Xu Yi would ultimately return to sign the alchemy contract.

As Jia Ren had speculated, the cooperative concoction of Qilong Pills was indeed a trap.

The difficulty in concocting Qilong Pills far exceeded expectations, and achieving a forty percent success rate was extremely difficult; many Pill Masters from the Great Sects couldn’t meet the criteria.

How could a Pill Master new to Qilong Pills ever manage?

The task of concocting five hundred Qilong Pills within a decade was highly challenging, and few could accomplish it.

An overconsumption of ingredients would only sink one deeper and ultimately lead to a massive debt.

Failing to fulfill the demand for Qilong Pills meant violating the contract...

Nobody dared to default on a debt owed to the Town Demon Alliance.

The Nascent Soul senior guarding the Demon-Sealing Tower likely had an eye on an Incarnation Secret Technique of no low quality... He could take advantage to gain substantial benefits; Star Pole Island would become his own, and all five Flying Stiffs would be used to repay his debt. A bloodless victory to obtain the desired treasures.

He Yuan was well-practiced in this approach, having employed it many times before.

Though things hadn’t gone as expected, after his adjustments, they would eventually return to their intended course.