Death... and me

Back in the Alchemist Guild...

All these Foundation Establishment cultivators didn't see the previous phases, so they didn't know how good Roan was.

Werxa narrowed his eyes in the Alchemist Guild when he saw that none of the invited Foundation Establishment cultivators wanted to test the pill. In the end, he had to intervene.

"Usually, all of you wouldn't think twice before taking the neutral pill. After all, you have no way to even pay for that. But because you saw the effects of the elemental pills, all of you had become too greedy, wanting to have a batch of Elemental Cross-Realm Pills no matter what."

Werxa then laughed before saying.

"With my Alchemist Guild's network, it wouldn't take more than a few hours to find a replacement for all of you. That being said, if none of you accept it in the next three seconds, I will send all of you away and find other candidates. Now then. The three seconds starts now."

"There's no need."

Suddenly, an old man who was obviously far above his 100s stepped forward. One must remember that a Foundation Establishment's lifespan was around 150 years, and this guy was probably close to it already.

"Oh-ho... I thought I would need to countdown till the very last second. Why the sudden change of attitude?"

The man then looked at Roan's unworried expression.

"I trust my intuition. From the beginning up to now, this young man's eyes didn't even flinch. It's as if it wouldn't matter who will take his pill. Although it's hard to believe what he said about three or four pills being enough for any of us, I've decided to try it out. There are many more cultivators here than there are batches of Elemental Pills anyway, so my chances of receiving one of the bottles were low, to begin with."

One of Roan's eyebrows rose a little in surprise. He didn't expect the old man to pay attention to him in this situation. Although he was the one who made the pills, everyone else was watching the guild leader instead.

'Old geezer, you lucked out.'

Thought Roan.

All the other cultivators around the guy sighed in relief. If that guy hadn't offered to take the Neutral Pill, they would be forced to take it. They all wanted the Elemental Pills for their affinity, after all.

"Hahaha! Good, we finally have a volunteer. Oligan, have this friend here test Roan's pills."

Oligan then brought the man to the stage, where he sat down and took Roan's first pill. In an instant, a surge of Spiritual Energy and medicinal properties rushed through his meridians into his Dantian. Werxa even put a hand on the man's shoulder so that he could watch the process closely with his own Spiritual Energy and Sense.

Werxa quickly noticed how good the pill was. The medicinal properties were very clear, which helped pass through the man's meridians a lot easier than the other pills. However, at the very moment that the pill had completely dissolved, all the medicinal properties in the man's meridians seemed to come to life.

A burst of Light and Dark Elements came out of the pill. The Light Element immediately covered the entire network of meridians inside the old man in the blink of an eye. From outside, the old man's body looked more like a lantern. Following that, the Dark Elemental power attacked the same meridians the Light Element was covering.

"Argh!"

Sure enough, there was a lot of pain. Nevertheless, Werxa's eyes widely opened as he observed what was happening inside the old man's body. Roan's Dark Element was destroying all the damaged paths and impurities present in his meridian pathway.

As one could imagine, the Light Element began to heal the path, making them look as if they were new! However, Light Element alone wouldn't be able to do it. It was here that the Cross-Realm Pill's medicinal properties took place. It was used as materials for the Light Element Healing.

And just like that, the old man's damaged meridians or meridians that possessed any bad parts were reformed in a matter of seconds!

'This... Is this really a Cross-Realm Pill? How come it's not being used for breaking through then?'

Or so he thought... However, when the meridians were finally restored, the remaining medicinal property and Spiritual Energy surged into the old man's Dantian as well. Finally, the pill began to work as a real Cross-Realm Pill.

Roan knew very well what was happening, so he said from a distance.

"Your meridians had sustained too much damage during the years, so it couldn't receive the medicinal properties correctly. Take two more pills now that the meridians are healed. With the meridians fixed, you should be able to use the energy of the next two Cross-Realm Pills to succeed in your breakthrough."

Werxa was shocked by what he had heard. So Roan's pill wasn't just a Cross-Realm Pill, but a healing type pill as well! Of course, the Alchemist Guild had pills capable of doing such a thing, but they were even more expensive than normal Cross-Realm Pills.

'So that's why his fused Light and Dark Elements were acting independently inside the pill. They were there to do something different to start with!'

The old man could obviously tell the condition of his body and meridians better than anyone else. Seeing how his old and tattered meridians had gained a new chance at life, his eyes lit up. Following Roan's orders, he immediately swallowed the two pills without hesitation.

Once again, the pills burst out with Light and Dark Elements. However, they didn't have much to do with the meridians anymore, so they quickly disappeared after fixing a few more parts that weren't previously fixed. After all, the man's Elemental Affinity wasn't Dark or Light to start with. He couldn't use those two elements to help with his breakthrough.

However, it didn't matter anymore. Roan's Cross-Realm Pill was far above ordinary Neutral Pills. It was really close to normal Elemental Pills. With 'new' meridians for the passage of the medicinal properties and spiritual energy, the old man's Dantian swallowed it all without any blockages. His Dantian's Pool overflowed with those energies. The best part was that Roan's pills had very few impurities compared to the other pills. It allowed the man to control those energies and properties much better for his breakthrough.

*Boom!*

Not long after, a burst of Spiritual Energy came out of the old man's body as his cultivation quickly increased. Not only that, but his appearance seemed somewhat younger as well. He gained another 50 or so years of lifespan with that breakthrough, so it was expected. Well, he still looked pretty old anyway.

After some time, the old man's cultivation stabilized at the Initial Stage of the Core Formation Realm.

Everyone looked at that, shocked.

Three pills! That's all Roan's pills took to make that man have a breakthrough.

Oligan was also surprised. After all, he still remembered how Roan said that this batch was the 'bad one.' His second batch was even better! Still, he quickly got a hold of himself and announced.

"Roan Larks, Three Cross-Realm Pills for a breakthrough."

The room went in an uproar. Roan had just trashed the best result of five pills with a neutral batch.

Roan then looked at the old man's hand.

"There are still five pills inside the bottle. You can keep it for yourself."

The old man was delighted as he laughed.

"Hahaha! Then this old Biol Guan shall not reject it."

All the other Foundation Establishment cultivators looked at Biol with their faces red. If they had only trusted Roan's declaration earlier...

Too bad there was no medicine for regret in this world. Also... their bad luck was only starting.