Chapter 689: Born Proud!

Soon, Ling Feng noticed a tall young man dressed in a light golden robe approaching alone.

This man held a golden spear, and his aura was imposing, like a towering pillar standing proudly. His gaze remained fixed ahead as he strode confidently into the Tiandan Pavilion, entirely ignoring Ling Feng and his group, as if they were not even there.

"Another formidable talent!"

Ling Feng's eyelid twitched slightly. This man radiated an intense pressure, even more than Feng Yan.

However, while Feng Yan's aura was calm and contained, like a return to simplicity, this golden-robed man's energy was brash and domineering—the polar opposite of Feng Yan.

"Who would have thought there were so many prodigies from other great empires, even stronger than Yan Jinghong."

Yue Yunlan also looked on with astonishment. Despite being the daughter of the Cangqiong Sect's sect leader, she realized that the world she hadn't yet seen was vast.

"The golden robe, golden spear... this person must be Murong Wu from the Murong Family that Brother Feng mentioned," Ling Feng muttered, his expression becoming serious. "Murong Wu's talent is said to rival Brother Feng's within the Tiansheng Empire. Fortunately, he doesn't seem interested in us; otherwise..."

Ling Feng discreetly wiped a bead of sweat. His strength was still too lacking. Even though he had his trump cards, the Asura's Eye and the Chaotic Rebirth, once he used them, he would lose control and become a mindless killing machine.

It was not ideal to rely on such powers with his companions around.

Moreover, the power of Chaotic Rebirth had been sealed by the mysterious "Kong" in the Ancient Cave of Time. Even if he wanted to use it, he wouldn't be able to.

"I must breakthrough the hundred meridian limit soon!" Ling Feng clenched his fists, suppressing the urge to directly break into the Transformation Realm.

If he broke through now, he could indeed gain more strength in the short term, but it would be a waste of his potential. It would be foolish to jeopardize his future just to compete with someone like Yan Jinghong. To Ling Feng, Yan Jinghong was simply a stepping stone—a reminder that he must continually grow stronger.

About half an hour later, Li Bufan finally opened his eyes and slowly stood up. Thanks to Ling Feng's healing and his own efforts, his injuries had largely healed, at least enough to regain most of his combat strength.

"Sorry for making everyone wait," Li Bufan said, looking at them with an apologetic smile.

"

Haha...

" Jiang Xiaofan walked up, squinting his eyes playfully. "Big Brother Li, never knew you knew how to apologize!"

Li Bufan's face showed a hint of embarrassment as he looked at Jiang Xiaofan, saying gratefully, "Xiaofan, earlier... thank you."

"It's nothing. I'm tough as nails anyway," Jiang Xiaofan grinned, showing his white teeth.

"Thanks again," Li Bufan replied, quickly reverting to his usual cold demeanor.

This guy was, without a doubt, born proud!

"Since everyone's fine now, let's go into the Tiandan Pavilion and see if we can find any ancient top-grade ancient medicinal pills," Ling Feng said with a faint smile, then led his five companions inside.

After entering, the group chose one of the branching paths and proceeded together.

Soon, they found an alchemy room. It seemed untouched, covered in dust and cobwebs, and even the central alchemy furnace was cracked, clearly out of commission.

"Wow, look at all those pills on the shelf!" Jiang Xiaofan, with his sharp eyes, immediately rushed inside, blasting through layers of cobwebs with his true qi and grabbing a bottle of pills off the rack.

But when he opened the porcelain bottle, a foul stench filled the air, making Jiang Xiaofan quickly toss the bottle aside in disgust. "

Yuck,

what kind of pill is this? Is it even edible?"

"Jade Marrow Pill," Ling Feng explained, pointing to the label on the pill rack. "Originally, this was a seventh-tier spirit pill, an excellent choice for body refinement. Unfortunately, it lost its potency after so long. That awful smell is the result of the medicinal properties turning into foul gasses. But, it might still have a bit of a residual effect."

Ling Feng touched his nose and added, "If you're willing to risk your life, you can give it a try."

"I think I'll pass," Jiang Xiaofan chuckled sheepishly, then frowned. "But hang on—if these pills have all degraded after countless years, aren't we just wasting time here?"

"Pill degradation is indeed a reality," Ling Feng said, shaking his head and tapping Jiang Xiaofan on the head lightly. "You're forgetting your lessons from Mentor Su already? A well-trained alchemist knows how to prevent the loss of spiritual essence in medicinal pills."

"

Er...

" Jiang Xiaofan scratched his head, embarrassed. "I've just been focused on the Five Courts' Sword Team Grand Competition and training, so class...

hehe...

"

Ling Feng rolled his eyes at the big guy and explained, "Under normal circumstances, a Jade Marrow Pill can last for over a thousand years. Since it doesn't require a protective array, it was left exposed. However, some of the more valuable pills might have protective formations. Let's search carefully."

"

Mm-hmm,

" Jiang Xiaofan nodded quickly and resumed clearing the cobwebs.

Meanwhile, the others also started searching around the room to see if they could find any pills protected by an array.

"Star Essence Pill..."

"Burning Blood Pill..."

"Dragon Marrow Pill..."

Ling Feng sighed with regret. Any of these pills would be priceless, even causing top-tier experts to fight over them. But now, they were nothing but useless residue.

Nonetheless, Ling Feng didn't mind, casually tossing the pills into his storage spirit ring.

"Mr. Ling..." Yue Yunlan looked puzzled. "Why are you collecting those expired pills? Aren't they worthless now?"

"For regular martial artists, they're indeed useless. But I might be able to research the ingredients from these degraded pills and complete some ancient pill formulas. That would be priceless," Ling Feng said with a faint smile.

"You can even reverse-engineer them?" Yue Yunlan stared in disbelief. She had witnessed Ling Feng's alchemy skills, but to deduce the ingredients of a pill was already impressive, let alone doing so with a pill that had lost all its essence.

"Just giving it a shot," Ling Feng replied. He had a slight chance, as long as he used himself as a test subject.

Of course, he wasn't entirely unprepared. The day that Wei Wuyan from the sacred land had given him a Vermilion-Eyed Ice Silkworm, a creature capable of absorbing any poison, he had the idea of testing pills on himself.

If not without the Ice Silkworm, even if Ling Feng's constitution was nearly immune to poisons, he wouldn't have dared to consume these "ancient expired pills."

After all, the higher the tier of herbs, the more dangerous the toxins within them. The crazy Yan Cangtian was a living example of what could happen.

At that moment, a startled cry echoed from a short distance away, followed by a piercing screech that reverberated through the alchemy room.

It was unmistakably the cry of the black cat, Ye Yi!