Chapter 44: The Supreme and Invincible Imperial Guest (Part 2)
After a whole night of exhausting labor, everything was finally over. Yang Hao was so tired he could barely lift his hands anymore. For him, the events of tonight had been more colorful than the past twenty years of his life combined.
Inside the imperial pharmacy, which was many times larger than a warehouse, Yang Hao had worked busily throughout the night. His two newly made pill cauldrons had already been brought here by royal guards. Even though materials and tools were fully available, he had ruined no fewer than thirty batches of pills.
Thirty batches—this might sound like a simple number, but for Yang Hao and Hun Yuanzi, it was simply heart-stopping. The Ice-Fire Nine Heavens required extremely rare ingredients: the Fire Child and the Frostfish. These two components had taken Hun Yuanzi a thousand years to search for without success. Yet Yang Hao had casually ruined thirty sets of them in one night. The cost was simply unimaginable.
Fortunately, Yang Hao eventually grasped the secret of pill refining. The following attempts were all successful, and finally, ten sets of the Ice-Fire Nine Heavens were produced.
Each set of the Ice-Fire Nine Heavens contained nine Yang pills and nine Yin pills. A man would take the Yang pills and a woman the Yin pills. After intimate union, the balance of Yin and Yang would be achieved. No matter how damaged one’s body might be, the Ice-Fire Nine Heavens would still elicit a response. Once the Yang pill enters the stomach, even if the Emperor’s body had truly been irreparably ruined, it could still regain its former vigor.
Moreover, the aphrodisiac effect was merely an external function of the Ice-Fire Nine Heavens. The most important function of this medicinal set was to regulate and improve a man’s body. The Emperor’s body, which had developed resistance to aphrodisiacs, would gradually change its constitution and expel toxins. As long as all nine sets of this medicinal formula were consumed within a month, the resistance to aphrodisiacs could be completely cured. From then on, any kind of aphrodisiac would have double the effect.
Yang Hao handed most of the Ice-Fire Nine Heavens over to the royal guards, and following Hun Yuanzi’s instructions, he emphasized that once the medication was taken, no other drugs could be consumed until all nine sets were completed—otherwise, it could be life-threatening.
The guards hurriedly carried the medicine toward the palace. Feeling bored and listless, Yang Hao casually placed the extra set into his own pocket.
“You think…” Yang Hao asked Hun Yuanzi, “where are they taking the medicine?”
“Do I even need to answer that?” Hun Yuanzi chuckled, “Of course the old man will be the first to test it. Right now, he and one of his concubines are probably waiting eagerly for our miracle medicine.”
“Do you think it will work?”
“What kind of question is that!” Hun Yuanzi sounded insulted, raising his voice, “Could the pills from our Pill Cauldron Sect possibly fail? Hasn’t every one of our formulas been like divine medicine?”
“Whatever,” Yang Hao retorted sarcastically, “but every time there are tons of side effects. I’m not doubting the effectiveness of the Ice-Fire Nine Heavens—I’m just worried about what will happen to us afterward. Once the Emperor takes the medicine, how do you think he’ll deal with us?”
“He’ll set us free!” Hun Yuanzi said confidently.
“Why?” Yang Hao couldn’t understand, “Wouldn’t someone of his status just kill us to cover up everything?”
“Oh, my apprentice, my apprentice,” Hun Yuanzi spoke with deep meaning, “You’re still young and don’t understand the dynamics here. Actually, the most important thing we did today wasn’t even making the miraculous medicine for him…”
“Then what was it?”
“You killed Jin De!” Hun Yuanzi said excitedly, as if he had killed Jin De himself.
“But Jin De was the deputy commander of the Royal Swordsmen. I’ve committed murder, and by any standard, I should be sentenced to death!” Yang Hao was completely baffled. Why would killing someone result in no consequences?
“Haven’t I mentioned it before?” Hun Yuanzi, with his cunning wisdom, quickly grasped the crux of the matter, “The so-called Royal Swordsmen are actually surveillance forces stationed on various planets by the Galactic Empire. Although they are nominally under the royal family, in reality, they are thorns in the Emperor’s eyes. Now that you’ve eliminated a deputy commander and weakened the Swordsmen’s strength, if the Emperor punishes you, who else will be willing to remain loyal to him?”
“That actually makes sense,” Yang Hao’s spirits lifted, “and with our medicine being so effective, once he takes it, he’ll want more. He won’t want to kill us at all.”
The two of them chatted happily, completely forgetting all their previous worries. At that moment, they felt less like fugitives who had sneaked into the palace and more like heroes of the royal family.
Their excitement lasted until the iron door of the pharmacy was suddenly smashed open. Yang Hao’s smile froze instantly as he saw the door practically torn apart. Then stormed in a group of ferocious royal guards, fully armed with swords drawn. They roughly seized Yang Hao and dragged him outside.
Yang Hao had already exhausted his inner energy that day, and after the night’s pill refining, his stamina was completely drained. He had no strength left to resist. Helplessly, he was dragged away while cursing nonstop, “You said we wouldn’t die, but look at them—they obviously think the medicine didn’t work.”
The current situation also greatly surprised Hun Yuanzi, “Could the medicine really have a problem? Could it be that after thousands of years, I’ve remembered the formula incorrectly?”
“Hey, old man, you’re only saying that now?!” Yang Hao was furious, practically being carried off with both feet in the air.
Surprisingly, the royal guards took a quiet, secluded path instead of bringing Yang Hao to the Emperor’s sleeping quarters. They ran quickly, taking him to a palace that gleamed like silver. The entire palace seemed to be constructed of something akin to platinum, radiating a mesmerizing glow under the moonlight. As soon as the guards shoved Yang Hao inside the palace, they themselves dared not enter.
Yang Hao hadn’t stopped cursing the entire way, “Damn Pill Cauldron Sect! Damned Pill Cauldron Sect! What kind of formula was that? It’s all fake, every bit of it…”
Hun Yuanzi, probably feeling guilty for possibly misremembering the formula, unusually kept silent, not uttering a word.
This palace was completely different from any Yang Hao had seen before. In his memory, wherever the Emperor appeared, there was always a golden brilliance, a warm feeling like sunshine. But this place was cold and gloomy, as if the silver walls themselves exuded a chill that made one feel submerged in icy water.
Yang Hao’s entire body broke out in goosebumps. Without thinking, he tried to circulate his inner energy to warm himself. However, his energy was completely depleted today. Not only did he fail to draw any energy from his dantian, but instead, a surge of fire erupted from it, instantly scorching his internal organs with searing heat.
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