Alex now had a demonic reputation in the divine realm.
Agatha and Verity were quick to back him, and the beautiful and passionate Fern also followed him around shamelessly. However, Alex largely ignored them.
He gave Verity the occasional pointer on cultivating her power, but most of the time, he had his head buried in the furnace room, working hard on creating pills.
He lit the furnace with the divine flames from his eyes, and now that he was more powerful, he could concoct the pills with his bare hands. Then he added herbs to the mix that he was currently working on while Verity stood beside him, watching his every move.
"What kind of medicine is that you're making?" she asked.
"A great medicine without equal," he answered. "Treasure pills!"
Treasure pills were stronger than spirit pills, so Verity was curious about them and wanted to learn more.
"A treasure pill is a rare thing. If you swallow one, your life will be your own, and no one will be able to control you." He smiled. "You would achieve a much higher level of power in no time, and nobody would be your equal." He paused. "Well, either that, or it will be too strong for you, and you'll explode."
Verity's mouth dropped open.
Alex winked at her, and she stuck out her tongue at him.
She was awestruck at the thought of a pill that could turn an ordinary person into a super power.
As the ingredients that Alex added became more and more obscure, his expression also grew more serious.
He took a cocoon of light from his magic storage space. Through it, Verity could see a human figure sitting inside. When she looked closer, she noticed that the person seemed to have a pair of wings.
She was puzzled. And then she was shocked when Alex pulled the water dragon out and forced it to spit its inner core into the cauldron.
The entire body of the dragon was a treasure that had taken a thousand years to grow, and its core energy was enough to help someone enter the Earth immortal realm. The strength of a pill created with that energy would be immense.
Verity watched in eager anticipation for the next addition.
Alex took out a fruit that was shining with light. He looked to the north with slight regret, and then he threw the fruit into the furnace.
Verity didn't know what it was, but an Earth immortal would have recognized it instantly. It was the legendary lightning fruit, which allowed entrance to the innate realm.
Alex looked up and said, "I wanted to go to the Snow Palace sect first and retrieve the snow lotus. It would make the medicine safer. But the divine realm will be on high alert, and I don't think it would be a successful mission with my current strength. I'll have to carry on without it and just hope it works."
Following that statement, the gold flames in his eyes began to burn. Then he clapped his hands together over the furnace.
It flew up into the air, and three different colored flames started burning all over his body. Alex had essentially turned himself into a huge fireball that covered the entire furnace.
There were many high-grade spirit medicines, but Alex wanted to create something uniquely and boundlessly powerful. If he succeeded, then there would be no one in the divine realm that could match him.
Within the pill furnace, thunder rumbled, and the flames burned red.
It had taken seven days and a lot of effort to get to the point Alex was at now. He waited anxiously for the furnace to finish burning. But instead of burning itself out, it burned even hotter. Above their heads, dark clouds formed and grew thicker and thicker, until they were like a black mist weighing down on the city. Thick snakes of lightning occasionally flickered within the dark clouds, and a sense of unease descended on those present.
"Why does it look like that?" Fern asked, her expression filled with wonder and curiosity.
Agatha answered in a voice that was crisp and clear. "According to the legends, when an Earth immortal breaks through to a new immortal realm, he'll encounter a tribulation that feels like the end of the world. Those who have tried have never been heard from again. However, a tribulation cloud is also created during the pill refining process, especially when attempting to create a treasure pill."
She frowned, looking puzzled. She had noticed that the black clouds above their heads were getting thicker and more intense, and that they now extended for miles in every direction. The entire sky had turned into a sea of lightning that was circling in the clouds.
Curiosity turned to fear that the lightning would descend and turn the entire city into dust. The lightning was the strongest over Alex's house, something that those nearby felt quite nervous about.
On the ninth day, the black clouds sat low over his roof, and every lightning strike could be seen clearly. It certainly felt like the end of the world was nigh.
On the tenth day, the pill furnace exploded, and a pill wrapped in lightning became visible. It was like a crystal-clear diamond bathed in white light and shining like the sun. Within the diamond was a human figure with wings on its back, and a fragrance emanated from it, filling the room with the scent of orchids.
Just by breathing in a tiny bit of it, Verity felt energized.
"Is the treasure pill done?" she asked.
Alex looked over at her with a serious expression on his face. "No, this is only the beginning," he said. He was aware that the terrifying thundercloud was still there and now nearly a thousand feet tall.
He continued, "Treasure pills, by their very nature, require a baptism of fire. That is what makes them great."
The blood pill he had previously refined had only been a semi-precious medicine, so Alex had managed to avoid the lightning clouds. But the effects of a true treasure pill would be greatly reduced if it didn't go through the lightning tribulation.
As he spoke, a fork of lightning as thick as a tree trunk descended. It split open the heavy stone room and shone down onto the precious pill.
The treasure pill emitted a brilliant white light that pushed back against the lightning. It was an amazing sight. Lightning bolts fell from the sky, one after another, and they held not just the pill, but the entire room, captive.
Fern and Agatha were now feeling somewhat concerned.
Each of the lightning bolts was stronger than the last, and in the end, there were even lightning dragons that descended from the sky.
Agatha's face turned pale, as there seemed no end to the trial by lightning.