Wu Tianjun stepped out of the main hall to find everyone already gathered: the eight spirit bodies and the ten old fellows.
"So, everyone is here," Wu Tianjun said casually.
"Young Master!" everyone greeted him in unison. The spirit bodies gazed at Wu Tianjun with immense excitement. Over the past few days, they had come to realize exactly what Wu Tianjun had done for them. According to those powerful experts, Wu Tianjun had paved a path to the heavens for them, and all they had to do was take the first step!
Wu Tianjun smiled as he looked over the crowd. These were the people he intended to nurture. Although activating the bloodlines of the spirit bodies had slightly damaged his Divine Vein Origin, he had gained several powerful subordinates in return. His Divine Vein Origin would eventually recover; all things considered, he had benefited immensely.
"Over the past few days, have you grasped the steps of cultivation?" Wu Tianjun asked the spirit bodies.
"We have, Young Master!" At this moment, the spirit bodies felt nothing but absolute reverence and admiration for Wu Tianjun. They swore to themselves that they would never disappoint him.
"Haha, since you understand, let me tell you something else. You have likely already received your bloodline inheritances!" Wu Tianjun said with a chuckle. "The technique I am going to impart to you is the Orthodox Divine Vein cultivation method! Until you have opened eighty-one meridians, you are not to condense your origin energy! For now, this is my sole requirement for you." He had mapped out their meridians based on his own Divine Vein, making his bloodline inheritance cultivation the absolute best fit. After all, the eight major branches were merely offshoots of the Divine Vein Origin, so there would be no conflict. He was confident that his cultivation technique was far superior to the inheritances of the eight major branch veins.
"Opening eighty-one meridians..." the old experts muttered among themselves. To speak so casually of opening eighty-one meridians—perhaps no one in the world besides the Young Master would dare make such a claim.
"We will not disappoint you, Young Master!" the spirit bodies declared in unison.
"Good! From now on, you will be known as the Eight Great Spirit Sons, designated according to your unique physiques. When you travel the world, you shall use this name," Wu Tianjun said solemnly. This was merely the seed of his future faction. He believed that once they grew stronger, their titles would spark speculation across the lands, and by then, Wu Tianjun's influence would rise to prominence!
"Yes, Young Master!"
"As for the rest of you! As I mentioned before, you will be the Twelve Protectors, and your rankings will remain unchanged. When Jiang Wu arrives, have him bring Wu Zixuan back here. If Wu Zixuan is smart, he should consider himself fortunate; otherwise, whether the Wu Family can even survive in the future remains to be seen!" Wu Tianjun said to the old men. He believed that with the impending merger of the star domains, no faction or race would be able to remain neutral. When that time came, a great war would be inevitable; it was merely a question of scale. He was confident that before that day arrived, he would no longer have to fear anyone. Anyone who crossed him would face their worst nightmare, no matter who they were!
Having already learned from Mo Lian and Chi Danzi that Wu Zixuan was waiting outside, the old men were not surprised by this. However, what did his next words imply? Wu Shen was a peak expert of the star domains; how could the Wu Family and the Wu Shen Academy be so easily destroyed?
"There is no need to doubt my words. With the merging of the star systems, this era will inevitably see the rise of powerhouses who surpass the Saint Ancestors—it is only a matter of time," Wu Tianjun said indifferently, sweeping his gaze over them. Given his vast experience, he knew they would understand soon enough. For now, he simply did not want them to know about the existence of the Primordial Beings.
"Very well! I shall now impart the Divine Meridian Cultivation Technique to you all. How much you can comprehend will depend entirely on your own fortune. As for the Eight Great Spirit Children, if you find yourselves unable to cultivate the technique I impart, you may stick to your own inheritances! I will not force this upon you," Wu Tianjun announced. Even if some of them could not cultivate it, they could still use it as a valuable reference.
"..." The experts trembled. The Young Master was truly cut from a different cloth. A cultivation technique of this caliber was something even the true Primordial races would covet. In this day and age, it was something others would not even dare to dream of, yet he was giving it away so casually. What kind of magnanimity and confidence was this?
Wu Tianjun tossed out several jade slips. "Time was short, so I only managed to record these few. Take your time studying them," he said, rubbing his nose in slight embarrassment.
The old geezers' faces instantly darkened. They had just been filled with reverence! What did he mean, "time was short"? He was clearly just being lazy!
"Alright, hurry up and get to cultivating, all of you! Chi Danzi, I will begin learning alchemy from you now!" Seeing their strange looks, Wu Tianjun waved his hand dismissively. "Is your Young Master some kind of spectacle for you to gawk at?"
"Understood, Young Master!" the others replied with a chuckle. They did not actually dare to tease him; if he truly lost his temper, they would be the ones to suffer. After all, their Young Master was quite the mischievous one.
"Young Master, let us head to the alchemy chamber," Chi Danzi said. It would not be long before he truly understood what an all-powerful monster of a genius was. Wu Tianjun's Grand Purity Divine Flame was actually a Soul Flame! This was the ultimate dream of every alchemist in existence! Did this guy want to leave any room for ordinary mortals to survive?
Wu Tianjun spent three days absorbing all of Chi Danzi's alchemical knowledge, from God-Venerate grade pills and their formulas on down. He then spent another seven days learning to identify various medicinal ingredients. Ten days after he began his studies, drawing upon his new knowledge and the memories of the Old Master of Demon Dragon City, Wu Tianjun officially attempted his first refinement. Naturally, his starting point was far from ordinary—the very first pill he tried to refine was of the Earth grade!
"Boom..." Wu Tianjun's first cauldron exploded.
"Boom..." The second attempt met with a similar fate.
"Ah, so that's why. The medicinal properties are actually repelling each other. Yet Chi Danzi's method for refining this pill seemed perfectly standard," Wu Tianjun muttered, pondering the cause of the explosions. "Could it be due to uneven flame control? Let's give it another try!" It was only on his third attempt that he barely managed to succeed. However, the resulting pill could not even be considered a low-grade Earth-grade pill. Just like a cultivator's realms, medicinal pills were divided into strict grades. It was said that Saint-grade pills even possessed a form of sentience, truly defying the natural order!
Chi Danzi stood dumbfounded nearby. Up to this point, Wu Tianjun had only been learning alchemy for eleven days. In just eleven days, he had already refined an Earth-grade pill. Although it was ungraded, it was still an Earth-grade pill. Some people couldn't achieve this even in a hundred years. For example, Chi Danzi himself had needed nearly ten years to refine an Earth-grade pill. Back then, he was considered to have a rare alchemy talent seen only once in ten thousand years. Compared to Wu Tianjun, however, he was barely passable. Even though Wu Tianjun possessed a Soul Flame, Chi Danzi couldn't deny his heaven-defying comprehension. *No wonder he is so powerful!* Chi Danzi thought to himself.
"Chi Danzi! I feel like this pill formula isn't quite perfect. The ingredient used to balance the conflict between the two main herbs is insufficient..." Wu Tianjun mused, looking at the three newly refined pills.
"..." Chi Danzi's pupils contracted! This pill formula had been refined over generations and verified by countless alchemists. Wu Tianjun had only refined pills three times, yet he already wanted to overturn all that accumulated experience? Improving and creating new formulas required extraordinary, peerless talent. Wu Tianjun was indeed that kind of person, but he still needed more experience! Chi Danzi thought to himself.
"Young Master! I must admit that not only do you possess the innate advantage of the Supreme Purity Divine Flame, but your comprehension is also astonishing. However, now is not the time for you to improve this formula. Wait a while longer until you have enough experience; it won't be too late then," Chi Danzi sighed. Compared to him, those darlings of heaven and earth, the Spirit Bodies, were still far, far behind!
"Hmph! Alright then, let's do as you say. Leave the formula with me; we'll discuss it later," Wu Tianjun said. After all, his theoretical knowledge of alchemy was already solid; what he needed now was practical experience in refining pills.
"Sigh! I will go cultivate then." Chi Danzi didn't want to disturb him further and left to cultivate. After all, what Wu Tianjun needed most right now was hands-on experience in pill refining.
"Ah, take this and distribute it for your cultivation. I hope you quickly reach the Saint Ancestor realm." Wu Tianjun tossed over a jade bottle, which, of course, contained Thunder Tribulation Fluid.
"Yes, Young Master!" Chi Danzi was incredibly excited. The Young Master had quite a lot of this stuff! Their future cultivation would likely be incredibly fast. As long as their soul power continuously grew stronger, they would only need to comprehend world power and delineate the world. This was already much simpler than for ordinary people; the stronger the soul power, the easier the comprehension!
"Go on," Wu Tianjun said. After Chi Danzi left, Wu Tianjun spent his subsequent days refining pills until his strength was exhausted, then cultivating, and then refining pills again!
Time passed very quickly!