Chapter 65
Baek-Cheong struggled as she swung the old, shabby Five Elements Banner back and forth.
However, even after dozens of attempts, all that returned was the swish-swish sound of the Wooden Staff cutting through the air and the dust falling from the faded Five-Colored Cloth.
Let alone being worth ten High-Grade Spirit Stones, it was an artifact worse than a cheap talisman sold at a street Stall.
“Ah, did I really get scammed?”
Her patience soon ran out, and she irritably tossed the Five Elements Banner onto her bed.
But she quickly composed herself and rationalized it to herself.
“No, Banner-type artifacts are usually used as a Formation eye or a medium when deploying a Formation. If I look up some things related to Formations and research them again, I should be able to use it.”
She believed it was an artifact that the ascended Dao Friend had sold for a reason.
However, perhaps because a part of her felt she had been scammed, she couldn’t muster the same interest as when she delved into the Baekju Dharma Tool.
Trying hard to soothe her bitter feelings, she shoved the Five Elements Banner into the deepest part of her Storage Platform and sealed it away.
‘Let’s put out the urgent fire first.’
Baek-Cheong stood up and headed to her Personal Pill Refining Room.
Just as Dao Friend (237.309) had warned, in order to suppress the phenomenon of the Unified Spiritual Root in its latent state ruthlessly draining the Five Elements Spirit Root’s nutrients, she constantly needed Inscribed Pills devoid of pill toxicity.
It would be nice to live off her overflowing supply of Top-grade Medicinal Pills, but she had heard the concerning talk about pill toxicity.
In the end, she had no choice but to be self-sufficient by Refining 1st-Grade Attribute Pill-type Inscribed Pills herself.
Entering the Pill Refining Room, Baek-Cheong familiarly heated the Pill Furnace and laid out the spirit herbs needed to make a 1st-Grade Attribute Pill.
After consecutive experiences of realm-crossing Pill Refining that required profound, complex, and demanding principles, like the Five Elements Pill or the Foundation Establishment Pill,
The process of Refining a mere 1st-Grade Attribute Pill felt as easy and simple as eating a meal.
“It might also be thanks to the Training Dharma Tool.”
The Training Dharma Tool on her wrist reliably stabilizes her qi meridians.
Baek-Cheong operated the Formation carved inside the Pill Furnace, leisurely controlling the Taiji while diverting her spare Divine Sense elsewhere.
She used that spare Divine Sense to connect to the Nameless Forum.
“This is more doable than I thought?”
Perhaps thanks to several overlapping factors, she had leeway even while making an Inscribed Pill at the level of a 1st-Grade Attribute Pill.
“Oh, my Five Elements Pill promotional post still got over a hundred replies.”
The crucial moment arrived: a clear pill fragrance rose from the Pill Furnace as the principle of Water Overcomes Fire was applied to harden the exterior.
‘They’re throwing a fit at me just because they’re too poor to buy the Five Elements Pill.’
Even while enjoying the Nameless Forum, Baek-Cheong retracted her Divine Sense and opened the lid of the Pill Furnace right at the moment the pill was completed.
A 1st-Grade Water Attribute Inscribed Pill, vividly engraved with a Silver Cloud Pattern, rolled out.
“Good, one pill is complete. Next is the Wood Element.”
Baek-Cheong placed the freshly refined Inscribed Pill into a jade bottle, immediately connected to the Nameless Forum to write a batch of delayed replies or throw out a new shitpost.
Then she dove into Pill Refining for the next pill, repeating this eccentric cycle of Pill Refining and forum surfing.
However, Baek-Cheong did not realize.
The Inscribed Pills she was churning out like a pastime were heaven-defying products that went against the providence of the Heavenly Dao.
Rumble!
Pitch-black dark clouds stealthily began to gather in the sky above the Yeonha Baek Clan.
Lightning flashed threateningly within the dark clouds, blatantly expressing its displeasure toward the one disturbing the providence of the Heavenly Dao.
“Another Heavenly Tribulation is coming!”
“Just what on Earth is happening in the Clan!”
At the sudden appearance of the Heavenly Tribulation cloud, the Clan’s Warriors and Family members freaked out and prostrated themselves on the ground.
And Baek Mu-Yeong stomped his feet, looking around with a pale face.
However, the Heavenly Tribulation cloud only rumbled with loud thunder a few times and flashed its lightning as if to threaten.
It seemed to severely lack the justification to strike down a thunderbolt.
Compared to the Inscribed Five Elements Pill refined by Yak-seon, the heaven-defying standard of the 1st-Grade Attribute Inscribed Pills that Baek-Cheong was churning out was strangely ambiguous - not quite enough to call down a Heavenly Tribulation.
“As expected of the Five Elements Pill, the drama never ends.”
The actual culprit of the commotion, Baek-Cheong, was so busy Refining pills and enjoying her forum surfing inside her Personal Pill Refining Room that she was completely unaware of the fact that a Heavenly Tribulation cloud had gathered outside to threaten them.
* * *
And so, peaceful days of churning out Inscribed Pills like a factory and trolling on the Nameless Forum continued for nearly ten days.
Having stockpiled a sufficient amount of Inscribed Pills, Baek-Cheong returned to her Abode with a pleased heart.
‘Is it because it’s an Inscribed Pill?’
Unlike the Top-grade Medicinal Pills, the medicinal efficacy of the Inscribed Pill she had eaten right after making it still persisted.
At this rate, a single pill seemed easily capable of lasting up to a month.
“Well, the Unification Latent Spirit Root is nothing special either.”
Baek-Cheong lay down on her bed with a light heart and connected to the Nameless Forum.
And as soon as she entered the Nameless Forum, she happened to spot a review post for the Five Elements Pill.
“Dao Friend (237.309): The Heaven-Defying Pill was real.”
[The Heaven-Defying Pill called the Five Elements Pill or whatever I got from the Marketplace - its appearance was crude, but the profound principles contained within definitely harbored the logic of the Five Elements. I fed it to my cherished Five Elements Spirit Root test subject.]
Baek-Cheong swallowed dryly as she read the post.
[But perhaps because the quality wasn’t good, it didn’t exhibit as dramatic an effect as I thought. Fortunately, thanks to the test subject’s good capabilities, he only absorbed the Five Elements Qi from amidst the pill toxicity and safely transformed into a Four Elements Spirit Root aptitude. If it had been of a higher purity, I could have seen the possibility of it instantly elevating the aptitude to an Earth Spirit Root or even a Heaven Spirit Root. Of course, I presume the seller, Dao Friend (913.14), has already gobbled up the good quality Five Elements Pill and written that 5000 Spirit Root post.]
The contents of the post proved the effects of the Five Elements Pill.
With this, her standing in the Nameless Forum was likely to change.
However, she flinched while looking at the replies attached below.
[Dao Friend (11.23): Wow, it was real… But Dao Friend (237.309), are you a Five Elements Spirit Root Holder too?]
└Dao Friend (237.309): I’m a Heaven Spirit Root though?
└Dao Friend (11.23): Then why go out of your way to gather Five Elements Spirit Root Holders for such an experiment…
└Dao Friend (237.309): Just because.
“Crazy Old Monster…”
Goosebumps erupted all over Baek-Cheong’s body, and she hurriedly exited the review post.
She felt a renewed sense of relief and gratitude for the fact that a Realm Barrier existed in the Lower Realm.
For the most part, the chances of a Great Cultivator Dao Friend giving up her ascension to ask around and track her down in the Lower Realm were rare.
Anyway, thanks to Dao Friend (237.309)'s review, the Five Elements Pill she had sold off became a hot topic in the Nameless Forum.
The Chat Board was completely plastered with heated debates regarding the Heaven-Defying Pill.
“Dao Friend (78.3): To think a pill that raises spirit root aptitude actually exists!”
“Dao Friend (22.938): Even so, it can’t compare to the Immortal Pills of the Upper Realm.”
“Dao Friend (519.31): In the Lower Realm, the Five Elements Pill is the supreme majesty!”
[If Dao Friend (913.14) is watching, please release just one more pill!]
The attention pouring onto her was always thrilling and enjoyable.
She was preparing to dive into the dopamine feast in earnest.
“Alright, tonight I’m going to forum surf all night to make up for what I couldn’t do while Pill Refining…”
Baek-Cheong, who had been excitedly browsing the Nameless Forum, suddenly paused.
The heat of the Nameless Forum, which had been blazing with the Five Elements Pill drama just a moment ago, vanished instantly.
And it was because posts with completely unexpected and bizarre content was swallowing up the Nameless Forum at an insane speed.
“Dao Friend (12.33): The Nameless Pavilion is up!”
“Dao Friend (338.14): How long has it been!”
“Dao Friend (3.24): This is the first time since right before This Lord advanced to the Foundation Establishment Realm!”
“Dao Friend (44.2): The Marketplace is finally getting a real turnover after a long time.”
It was a rampage on a completely different level from the Nameless Forum’s usual firepower.
Thousands of posts poured in every second, plastering the Nameless Forum, and even rarely seen Dao Friends and others with unfamiliar Interface Numbers she was seeing for the first time were out in full force, going crazy with enthusiasm.
“Nameless Pavilion? What is that, that’s causing such a fuss?”
With a bewildered expression, Baek-Cheong skimmed the pouring posts until she spotted a post pinned at the very top of the Nameless Forum in bold letters, like an announcement.
“Nameless Pavilion: Announcement for the 32,047th Grand Auction of the Lower Realm Nameless Forum.”
Surprisingly, the author’s name was not the commonplace Dao Friend and Interface Number, but a Fixed Name proudly stamped there.
“A Fixed Name…? Could it be the Forum Admin?”
Baek-Cheong felt both interest and curiosity at the appearance of an unfamiliar Fixed Name.
In the Nameless Forum, which was usually filled only with Dao Friends who were practically anonymous, she was simply amazed by this unidentified entity who alone bore a Fixed Name and received a welcoming reception from countless Dao Friends.
‘I don’t think that’s it.’
However, they didn’t seem like a Forum Admin, judging by the atmosphere surrounding the Nameless Forum.
They just seemed like a named user who, for whatever reason, possessed a Fixed Name.
She thought they might be an entity from the Upper Realm, and she also felt a desire to have a Fixed Name herself, but amidst her countless thoughts, she became completely distracted by this new topic of interest.
“I’m going to join in on the drama too!”
Baek-Cheong entered the post with her Divine Sense reeling with excitement.