Chapter 4966 — The Sea-Nurturing Pill

"Fine then, I'll call you Brother Lin. But since we're doing that, you can drop the 'President Zhuang' business too—we're equals now, so just call me Brother Zhuang. I'll take the liberty of presuming on our friendship, how about it?" Zhuang Yifan seized the opening at once.

"You were already my elder brother to begin with," Wei Zhao said with a hearty laugh.

Both of them were eager to draw closer, and within a few exchanges they were already addressing each other as brothers. Though Zhuang Yifan's true age was immeasurably greater than Wei Zhao's, he had always maintained the appearance of a young man—and truth be told, standing side by side, the two really did look rather like brothers.

Now that the ice was broken, Zhuang Yifan finally stopped hedging and spoke outright: "Brother Lin, there's something I've wanted to ask since last night, but I feared it might be too abrupt. Now that we're friends, I'll speak my mind bluntly—how confident are you, if I may ask, of breaking through to a second-grade Profound Rank alchemist?"

"That's hard to say. I feel about seventy or eighty percent sure, but before it's actually done, no one can say for certain. Wouldn't you agree, Brother Zhuang?" Wei Zhao said with a faint smile.

"That's true enough." Zhuang Yifan nodded again and again. Hearing such confidence from Wei Zhao, he was secretly overjoyed—seventy or eighty percent, was that not a very strong chance indeed?

Had anyone else made such a boast, Zhuang Yifan would certainly have scoffed. But Wei Zhao was different. The Earth-Sealing Pill had already proven his alchemical skill, and what was more, he was the closed-door disciple of Zhang Lifeng, the Pill God. Advancing to a second-grade Profound Rank was merely a matter of course—nothing to be astonished at.

"From the way you put it, Brother Zhuang, could it be that you need a second-grade Profound Rank pill?" Wei Zhao asked in turn.

"Exactly. To be frank with you, after taking your Earth-Sealing Pill, I've recovered to the very peak of my condition. I'm now just one step away from the peak of the late Earth-Splitting stage—and beyond that lies the great perfection of Earth-Splitting." Zhuang Yifan admitted candidly.

"That's good news. Once you reach the great perfection of Earth-Splitting, Brother Zhuang, you'll be able to set your sights on breaking through to the Sea-Splitting stage." As Wei Zhao said this, he could not help feeling a stir of eagerness.

Reaching the Sea-Splitting stage would mean being not far off from the Five-Poison Flood Dragon and the giant electric eel he had encountered. It was a pity that Wei Zhao himself was still only at the early Profound Ascension stage—to say nothing of Sea-Splitting, even the Mountain-Opening stage was still a long road away.

"Quite so, quite so. But to break through to Sea-Splitting, relying on one's own strength alone is very difficult—one also needs the aid of pills," Zhuang Yifan said with a slight frown.

"What kind of pill? As far as I know, once one reaches the Nascent Soul stage, pills can no longer be used to force a breakthrough into a major realm, can they?" Wei Zhao asked, puzzled.

"Mm, the pill I mean is called the Sea-Nurturing Pill. It isn't for battering at a barrier—it's actually just a supplementary pill, much like the Thunder Mystic Pill." Seeing that Wei Zhao did not quite follow, Zhuang Yifan explained further: "When you break through to Profound Ascension, you need the Thunder Mystic Pill to withstand the thunder tribulation, but it isn't strictly necessary—if your strength is great enough, you can tough it out on your own. The Sea-Nurturing Pill works on the same principle. It isn't essential, but it can make the breakthrough go more smoothly. That's all."

Only then did Wei Zhao begin to understand. In other words, the Sea-Nurturing Pill itself could not be used to break through to the Sea-Splitting stage; the whole process still depended on one's own strength. The Sea-Nurturing Pill was simply like the Thunder Mystic Pill—it provided a better environment for the breakthrough, nothing more.

"In that case, does breaking through to Sea-Splitting also bring a thunder tribulation or some such heavenly punishment?" Wei Zhao pressed further.

"Not at all. One thunder tribulation is quite enough—why would it come every single time? Otherwise wouldn't the heavens be worked to death?" Zhuang Yifan chuckled, then explained: "The Sea-Nurturing Pill isn't for resisting any heavenly punishment. It's a wondrous elixir for remolding our physical bodies. It can transform our dantian into a broader pill sea, and that pill sea is the first step toward breaking through to the Sea-Splitting stage."

"I see. So does this pill sea absolutely require the Sea-Nurturing Pill to take shape?" Wei Zhao asked again. Old Ghost had been in secluded cultivation all this time, so there was no one else he could ask—he could only latch onto Zhuang Yifan and pester him.

"Not necessarily. In fact, even without the Sea-Nurturing Pill, one can gradually remold it bit by bit through one's own strength. It's just that the process is exceedingly arduous and drawn out. If one's innate talent is a little lacking or one's perseverance a little short, success is basically out of the question. Some people, even if they do persevere and succeed in the end, drag it out so long that they miss their window for breakthrough and can never advance another level in this lifetime. Taking the Sea-Nurturing Pill saves you that long, drawn-out phase." Zhuang Yifan answered every question with great patience.

"Thank you for clearing that up, Brother Zhuang. I'd guess this Sea-Nurturing Pill must be a second-grade Profound Rank pill?" Wei Zhao ventured.

"Exactly. Pills like this are basically impossible to buy anywhere in the Yellow Rank Sea Region—one can only gather the materials and ask someone to refine them. But second-grade Profound Rank alchemists are very hard to find; even in the Profound Rank Sea Region they're exceedingly rare, let alone here in the Yellow Rank Sea Region. So I can only pin my hopes on you, Brother Lin." Zhuang Yifan smiled bitterly.

Looking across the whole Yellow Rank Sea Region, Zang Zili was the only first-grade Profound Rank alchemist to be found—and now Wei Zhao had beaten him half to death. Zhuang Yifan had no one else to turn to. As for seeking someone in the Profound Rank Sea Region, that was not altogether impossible, but the key was that he simply did not know any second-grade Profound Rank alchemist. Why on earth would a stranger refine pills for him?

And so Wei Zhao, on the verge of breaking through to second-grade Profound Rank, had become his one and only lifeline. This was the real reason he had been so courteous to Wei Zhao. Otherwise, as a mighty expert of the late Earth-Splitting stage, even if he was being gracious to a man of talent, he would never have lowered himself so far—certainly he would never have called a young junior like Wei Zhao his brother.

"Since Brother Zhuang thinks so highly of me, I mustn't let you down. One day, when I've succeeded in breaking through to second-grade Profound Rank, you can leave the Sea-Nurturing Pill to me," Wei Zhao promised at once.

He was confident that with the Divine Farmer's Cauldron at his disposal, refining the Sea-Nurturing Pill would not be difficult. First the Earth-Sealing Pill, then the Sea-Nurturing Pill—with that, Zhuang Yifan would surely value him all the more. By then, Zhuang Yifan might well already be an expert of the Sea-Splitting stage, and that would be a truly top-tier outside ally. How could Wei Zhao let such a thing slip through his fingers?