Chapter 83: Chapter 83 - The Corpse-Chill Backup and the Gateway Upgrade

The Nine-Severing Frost Pill was finished, but Su Bai did not stop.

He carefully placed the translucent pill into a jade bottle, then turned his attention to the second recipe.

The Corpse-Chill Yin Pill.

Su Bai read the recipe once, then nodded.

This pill was easier, and of course, "easier" was only relative.

It still took him nearly an hour.

Liu Meng stood quietly beside him.

She had watched Su Bai create the Nine-Severing Frost Pill, and her eyes had not dimmed since.

When Su Bai began refining again, her attention became even sharper.

This time, Su Bai’s Cold-Forging was different again.

The Nine-Severing Frost Pill had been precise and layered.

The Corpse-Chill Yin Pill was silent and heavy.

It did not feel like forging a blade. It felt like sealing a tomb.

Liu Meng watched without blinking.

To ordinary people, this scene would feel sinister.

To her, it was terrifying alchemy. And because it was different from everything she had learned, it made her mind stir again and again.

Finally, Su Bai pressed the last strand of Yin essence into the pill.

A dull sound rang out. The flame faded.

A gray-white translucent pill floated above his palm.

It was not beautiful like the Nine-Severing Frost Pill.

It looked quiet like something that had already died and was simply waiting for others to notice.

Su Bai let out a long breath.

He took out another jade bottle and stored the Corpse-Chill Yin Pill inside.

Only then did he look at Liu Meng.

"Thank you, Meng. Wiping my sweat earlier helped a lot."

Liu Meng blinked.

Then she quickly waved her hands. "It was nothing, Senior Brother! I only did what I should. Compared to your Cold-Forging, that small action is not worth mentioning."

Su Bai smiled.

To him, it was genuinely helpful. During Cold-Forging, one mistake could ruin the entire batch.

Liu Meng had acted at the perfect moment.

’As expected of a corporate god.’

Liu Meng, however, did not notice Su Bai’s thoughts.

Her eyes were still glowing. She looked at the table, then at the faint frost left behind by the Ashen-Frost Blight Flame.

"Senior Brother," she said softly. "I think... I need to go back and think."

Su Bai looked at her.

Liu Meng’s expression was dazed, but excited.

"I feel like I understood something. Watching your Cold-Forging showed me that medicinal essence does not always need to be forced out with fire..."

Her voice grew softer. She was already half-lost in thought.

Su Bai immediately understood.

An epiphany.

For cultivators, sudden insights were precious. For alchemists, they were even more so. A single moment of understanding could improve years of technique.

"Then go," Su Bai said. "Do not delay."

Liu Meng quickly bowed.

"Thank you, Senior Brother!"

After saying that, she hurried out of the hut.

Her steps were light, but her mind was clearly no longer on the road.

Su Bai watched her leave.

Then he shook his head with a smile.

’Geniuses were truly unreasonable.’

He had merely refined two extremely dangerous pills, and she nearly gained enlightenment from watching.

Meanwhile, he had to rely on poison, curses, and suicidal artifacts just to grow normally.

The heavens were not fair.

Fortunately, Su Bai had long since stopped expecting fairness.

He looked down at the two jade bottles on the table.

One contained the Nine-Severing Frost Pill.

One contained the Corpse-Chill Yin Pill.

Su Bai’s smile slowly widened.

It was time to reap the harvest.

He pulled out his notebook and opened it to the page where he had recorded the two recipes.

[Item: Nine-Severing Frost Pill]

[Standard Effect: Violently targets the nine major meridian gateways in a human body. When swallowed, it releases a burst of absolute-zero Yin energy that flash-freezes these gateways, snapping them apart and crippling the cultivator’s circulation.]

Su Bai nodded.

Then he looked at the second entry.

[Item: Corpse-Chill Yin Pill]

[Standard Effect: Instantly extinguishes the victim’s Yang energy (life force), killing them and turning their body into a perfectly preserved frozen corpse.]

Su Bai fell silent.

After a long moment, he carefully picked up the bottle containing the Corpse-Chill Yin Pill.

If his guess was correct, this pill might be one of the best emergency healing medicines for him.

It extinguished life force. Which meant, after reversal, it might violently restore life force.

It turned the body into a preserved frozen corpse. Which meant, after reversal, it might prevent fatal deterioration and preserve his vitality at its peak.

This was a life-saving pill!

Su Bai carefully sealed the jade bottle and stored it away.

He had to make more of these later.

In this dangerous world, having one emergency healing pill was not enough. A proper man needed stock.

Then, Su Bai turned to the Nine-Severing Frost Pill.

His eyes immediately brightened.

This one was different.

The Corpse-Chill Yin Pill was for emergencies.

The Nine-Severing Frost Pill was for upgrading his foundation.

He picked up the jade bottle and poured the pill into his palm.

The translucent pill rolled softly against his skin. Nine faint frost lines circled inside it like sealed meridians.

Su Bai swallowed it directly. It was like eating frozen chocolate while standing in a snowstorm.

Then the pill entered his stomach.

For one breath, nothing happened.

Then—

Boom.

A terrifying burst of absolute-zero Yin energy exploded inside his body.

The power rushed toward his nine major meridian gateways like nine execution blades. But the moment the lethal power touched Su Bai’s body, his Reversal Body awakened.

The absolute cold did not seal his gateways... It blasted them open.

Su Bai’s body trembled. His eyes closed instantly.

Inside his meridians, nine critical gateways roared like ancient city gates being forced open by a flood.

The cold that should have shattered them turned into a violent reinforcement. Each gateway was widened to its limit, then coated with a dense layer of strange, frost-like energy.

Su Bai sank into meditation. His breathing became slow.

...

Time passed.

The Yin energy surged again and again through his meridians. Every obstruction that once slowed his Qi was stripped away.

By the time Su Bai opened his eyes, the light inside them had changed.

He felt it immediately.

His body was different.

Before, his meridians had been wide. Now, they were open.

In cultivation, meridians were like rivers that carried Qi through the body. But the nine major gateways were the locks and gates along those rivers.

Most cultivators spent years, even decades, slowly opening them one by one. Every opened gateway increased Qi circulation, recovery speed, spell release, and explosive output.

Su Bai had skipped the process.

All nine gates were now open.

Su Bai slowly raised his hand, then let his Qi flow.

The moment he willed it, Yin Qi rushed from his Dantian into his palm without delay.

A dark needle appeared instantly between his fingers.

There was no lag!

Su Bai stared at it, then he laughed.

The Nine-Severing Frost Pill had upgraded his internal pathways.

Su Bai immediately grabbed the sack of pill dregs Liu Meng before.

He took a handful and stuffed them into his mouth.

Crunch.

The familiar taste spread across his tongue.

Then he circulated the Void-Sunflower Supreme Method.

His expression changed.

The pill dregs dissolved. The toxic impurities transformed into energy. Then the energy rushed through the nine opened gateways like floodwater through a perfectly cleared canal.

Su Bai nearly lost control of the cycle.

It was far too fast.

Before, he needed Shattered-Soul Oblivion Pills to overclock his Spirit Root and push his refinement speed to this level.

Now?

This was his normal state.

Su Bai swallowed the remaining dregs. A soft shockwave of Qi spread from his body.

His cultivation rose to Foundation Establishment Fourth Stage, then to Fifth Stage!

Just like that!

Su Bai sat there in silence. Then he slowly lowered his head.

His shoulders trembled, and this time, he really laughed.

The sound echoed softly inside the hut.

The improvement was too great.

His Qi circulation speed had increased. His recovery had increased. His spell-casting speed had increased. Even his physical movements felt lighter because Qi could reinforce his limbs almost instantly.

Spells that required others to gather Qi for several breaths might now activate with a thought.

Needles that once needed careful timing could now form faster. Falling Leaf Substitution might trigger even more smoothly. Even Devouring Maw might be able to bite into denser energy now.

Perhaps...

Perhaps he could now directly absorb solid Qi from Golden Core cultivators without any problem.

Su Bai’s eyes moved.

That thought was dangerous, but also very tempting.

He shook his head and suppressed it for now.

Then, he took a deep breath.

Qi rushed through his body at high speed. The nine opened gateways no longer acted like checkpoints. They acted like open roads.

The feeling was indescribable. It was better than drinking coffee three times a day.

Su Bai closed his eyes and enjoyed it for a moment.

He was satisfied.

Then, suddenly, he froze.

There were still many ingredients left. He could make more Nine-Severing Frost Pills.

The first pill had opened his nine major gateways, but what would happen if he ate more?

Su Bai fell silent. He knocked his head.

"I should not be greedy."

He paused, then quietly took out the ingredients for another batch.

"I will only prepare stock."

Su Bai nodded, fully convinced by his own logic.