The Anti-Demon War's Yin Yang Sect campaign, on its third day, saw its first casualties among the Tribulation Transcenders and Demon Marshals.
Upon seeing their demise, Qiong Ku ceased dispatching powerful figures towards the teleportation array, fearing the natives might possess further hidden tactics.
However, he intensified the pace of the assault below.
Meanwhile, the disciples of the Yin Yang Sect, grief-stricken by the death of the kind old man, were filled with righteous fury, their courage ignited, and they resisted the demon race with even greater desperation.
As time wore on, the intensity of the war escalated.
Qiong Ku, who had initially planned a surprise attack, realized it would be a protracted positional battle after witnessing the enemy's reinforcements. He ordered the Liu and Huo families, along with the Kaitian Sword Sect, to transport war vessels and other large-scale supplies to the area.
At this juncture, the Tribulation Transcenders within several families played their part, relaying this intelligence piece by piece to the Thunder Emperor Hall.
Upon learning of these developments, Xi Ren immediately organized small detachments to intercept, seizing whatever supplies they could and destroying what they couldn't carry away.
In any case, the battle on the front lines was already arduous; they could not allow these supplies to fall into enemy hands!
In their bid to launch this surprise attack, the demon race had deployed almost all their elites from the three families, leaving their rear supply lines vulnerable and weak. With the current stalemate, any further diversion of troops to protect supplies would destabilize morale.
The war had entered a phase of attrition…
Thunder Emperor Hall, Alchemy Room.
Since borrowing the nanmu wood from the Old Matriarch, Sui Xiao Hang, along with Qi Man Yao, had been busy refining pills in the alchemy room.
Currently, besides Qi Man Yao, he trusted no one. Qi Man Yao's role here was to shield Sui Xiao Hang from everyone outside.
Five full days had passed, and Sui Xiao Hang had failed eighteen times!
At this moment, Sui Xiao Hang's eyes were bloodshot, his eye sockets sunken, giving him a deranged appearance.
This was a clear sign of severe mental exhaustion.
These five days had drained his entire essence, spirit, and vitality. He ignored everything else, thought of nothing else, and dedicated himself entirely to the alchemy furnace, pouring all his focus into refining the Myriad Life Dao Pill!
Sui Xiao Hang's wife, Feng Si Lu, knew nothing of this. Sui Xiao Hang had not told her at all.
It wasn't a matter of mistrusting Feng Si Lu, but rather understanding her too well.
He knew this alchemy attempt would inevitably result in numerous failures and leave him mentally shattered. If Feng Si Lu were present, she would undoubtedly worry and try to dissuade him, and he could not afford any interruptions. Therefore, he simply didn't tell her.
The only ones aware of this matter were Sui Xiao Hang, Qi Man Yao, and the Fang family's Old Matriarch.
Sui Xiao Hang took a deep breath, closed his eyes in contemplation for a long moment, then opened his bloodshot eyes and meticulously cleared the dregs from the alchemy furnace.
The herbs for alchemy were incredibly precious, and even the Heavenly Pill Pavilion had limited reserves. Now, only the last batch of herbs remained. If he failed again, Wan Lei would truly be beyond saving.
If Wan Lei died, the Yin Yang Sect battlefield would receive no support, the Lei Feng Realm would be defeated, and everyone in it would perish.
It could be said that the fate of hundreds of millions of beings in the Lei Feng Realm rested within this small alchemy furnace.
The pressure on Sui Xiao Hang was immense.
After a moment of contemplation, Sui Xiao Hang took out this final batch of herbs, ignited the Doushuai Purple Gold Bagua Furnace with his life essence dan fire, and began his final attempt at alchemy.
Mystic Star Grass, Violet Dew Flower, Rootless Wood, Nine-Leaf Cluster…
One by one, the precious medicinal herbs were fed into the alchemy furnace by Sui Xiao Hang. As the life essence dan fire burned, the herbs quickly turned into dregs, retaining only their most vital medicinal properties.
Qi Man Yao stood at the doorway, looking back at Sui Xiao Hang with concern in her eyes.
She did not know if Sui Xiao Hang could succeed this time, as he had already failed eighteen times. Even though she didn't know alchemy herself, she understood the immense difficulty in refining the Myriad Life Dao Pill, otherwise, no one would have succeeded in thousands of years.
If this pill could be refined, it would not be an exaggeration to call it the number one divine pill in the Lei Feng Realm; its difficulty was unimaginable.
Though Qi Man Yao was unwilling to admit it, her heart was already prepared for the final failure.
It was just that she couldn't accept it.
As the scent of medicinal pills grew stronger within the room, both Qi Man Yao and Sui Xiao Hang's hearts were in their throats.
The extraction of medicinal properties was complete; now came the fusion process.
Suddenly, Sui Xiao Hang's expression changed dramatically.
"The medicinal power is unstable again!"
With a gritted resolve, Sui Xiao Hang's vast spiritual power surged towards the dan furnace, forcefully suppressing the chaotic medicinal energy.
As he exerted his control, the medicinal power gradually stabilized.
Sui Xiao Hang continued to channel his spiritual power with all his might. Half an hour later, his eyes blazed with joy.
Immediately after, the dan furnace emitted a radiant glow.
Suddenly, Sui Xiao Hang spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed onto the ground.
The prolonged tension had completely depleted his mental energy; he was now at the end of his strength.
"How are you?"
Qi Man Yao immediately rushed to Sui Xiao Hang's side.
"Don't worry about me… get the pill… go save Wan Lei!"
With that, Sui Xiao Hang fainted on the ground.
Qi Man Yao cast him a worried glance, then with a determined sigh, opened the furnace lid and carefully retrieved the golden pill.
The moment the pill touched her hand, Qi Man Yao felt a surge of boundless vitality being infused into her body.
This brief moment of vitality alone gave Qi Man Yao a premonition of her cultivation breaking through.
She had broken through to the Nascent Soul stage just two years prior. After two years of diligent effort, she had finally advanced her cultivation to the peak of the early Nascent Soul stage.
Compared to her peers, such as Wan Liuchuan, Qian Duoduo, and Ba Er Nu, who had long since reached the Nascent Soul stage, her progress was agonizingly slow.
While progressing from Foundation Establishment to Nascent Soul in ten years was considered extremely rapid for ordinary cultivators, many individuals remained stuck at a single realm for decades or even centuries.
However, Qi Man Yao knew her own aptitude was at best average to above average. Each breakthrough in her cultivation felt like it cost her half her life.
And the shackles that caused her such torment miraculously loosened the moment she held this pill.
This was merely by holding it, not even swallowing it yet.
What potent medicinal power!
Qi Man Yao was stunned for a moment, then quickly placed the pill into a phial.
This was the very item that could save Wan Lei and Fang Xiao Yu's lives, and she couldn't afford to waste even a speck of its medicinal power. The thought of having absorbed even this minuscule amount filled her with regret.
What if that tiny bit of medicinal power was crucial for saving them?
Holding such an ancient divine pill, Qi Man Yao harbored no selfish thoughts, not even a hint of keeping it for herself.
Her heart was filled only with joy.
Wan Lei would be saved!