Divine Elegance and Immortal Cohesion

After leaving the library, Qin Ran immediately ran to ask the Island Lord:

"When do you need the Dragon Breath Pill?"

"The sooner the better, of course!" replied the Island Lord.

Qin Ran hesitated, then asked again: "Could the Island Lord please give a specific timeframe..."

After thinking carefully, the Island Lord replied: "How about one or two years? I'm in my prime, with abundant vitality, so I can wait a year or two."

He looked at Qin Ran, "Does the gentleman have any difficulties?"

"Well... To be honest with the Island Lord, a fourth-grade Dragon Breath Pill is quite challenging for me," Qin Ran said seriously. "So I need more time to prepare, to ensure a higher success rate."

Hearing that Qin Ran found the fourth-grade pill difficult, the Island Lord smiled instead. He said to Qin Ran: "Fourth-grade pills are indeed very challenging."

He gave Qin Ran some advice, "Why don't you go seek out Mr. Zhai? He has extensive experience in refining Whale Breath Pills. If you discuss with him, it might inspire your understanding of refining Dragon Breath Pills."

Mr. Zhai has extensive experience in refining Whale Breath Pills...

Qin Ran fell silent upon hearing this. It was just as he had guessed - the Island Lord had already attempted to refine Dragon Whale Pills many times before.

In other words, several alchemists who tried to refine Dragon Breath Pills may have already died.

He sighed inwardly, realizing this job was truly not easy to accept.

However, it just so happened that he wanted to ask Mr. Zhai about clues regarding the Divine Essence Condensation.

"The Island Lord makes a good point..." he agreed, then asked, "May I know where Mr. Zhai is?"

"Mr. Zhai usually stays on the third floor of the library. You can go find him there," the Island Lord replied. "If he's not in the library, he must be in the alchemy room."

The third floor of the library?

Qin Ran was stunned. There were people in the library, but he had stayed there for so many days and hadn't noticed at all!

After bidding farewell to the Island Lord, Qin Ran went straight back to the library.

He suddenly realized that now he seemed more like a cultivator. Not needing sleep or food, living an extremely pure life, hustling every day just for cultivation resources, researching, finding clues, scheming and plotting.

This extremely dark life... But, strangely, he enjoyed it. Once he eliminated the fear in his heart and no longer feared death, he felt he belonged to such a world.

With a smile on his lips, he casually pushed open the door to the third floor of the library.

The third floor wasn't large; Qin Ran estimated it to be about a hundred square meters. There were two rows of bookshelves on each side of the room, holding about a thousand books; the middle was empty, and directly opposite the door by the window was a desk with a chair on each side.

At the moment, a person was sitting in the left chair. He was dressed as a scholar, wearing a headband, with a light beard, exuding an elegant demeanor.

He was reading a book.

On the table in front of him were incense for calming the mind, tea, and fruit.

Qin Ran's entrance startled him. He turned his head, saw Qin Ran, smiled, and greeted him: "Brother Li! Please, come sit."

"Mr. Zhai." Qin Ran cupped his hands in greeting and sat down in the chair to the right of the desk.

"Come, Brother Li, have some tea." Mr. Zhai put down his book and poured tea for Qin Ran.

"How is it that Brother Li has time to come to the library?" he casually asked.

"I too am a lover of books," Qin Ran smiled.

"Hehe, I heard from others that Brother Li is a cultivator from the Seven Islands region..." Mr. Zhai chatted casually while pouring tea, "In my youth, I once visited the Seven Islands region. But that time I barely set foot on the Tiangang Continent, finished my business and hurried back, without a chance to appreciate the demeanor of the cultivators on the Tiangang Continent. This has been a regret of my life. After all these years, I still often think that if I have the chance, I must visit the Seven Islands region again."

"Mr. Zhai has been to Tiangang Island?" Qin Ran's expression was surprised as he spoke, "To be honest with you, I was born on Tiangang Island and grew up on Origin Island. My Li family clan is on Tiangang Island..."

Tiangang Island and Origin Island were two of the islands in the Seven Islands region, which he had learned about from reading earlier. Because the islands were so large, they were sometimes referred to as continents.

As he spoke, his expression became sad, "But when I was using a teleportation array, there was a problem with the array that injured my divine soul, causing me to lose many memories. Now I can't remember what the Li family was like. I can't even remember if my parents are still alive."

"Don't be sad, Brother Li." Mr. Zhai quickly comforted him, "Although the cost of traveling to the Seven Islands region is quite expensive, as long as you're still alive, Brother Li will surely return to the Tiangang Continent one day."

"Thank you for your kind words, Mr. Zhai."

"Alas..." Mr. Zhai sighed again, "It's a pity that Brother Li has ended up in this harsh land."

"How can Mr. Zhai say that? The Tianlan Sea Region is a land of outstanding people and beautiful scenery..." The two exchanged some meaningless pleasantries.

During their casual conversation, Qin Ran noticed that the book Mr. Zhai was reading was about medicinal herbs. When the timing seemed right, he asked Mr. Zhai: "What book is Mr. Zhai reading?"

"Just a book on herbs," Mr. Zhai showed it to Qin Ran, smiling, "It talks about the peerless medicines that cultivators have obtained from the sea throughout history. Some are true, some are false. I'm just reading it as leisure reading when I have nothing else to do."

"Peerless medicines?" Qin Ran asked, puzzled, "What kind of medicine would be considered peerless? Would the Divine Essence Condensation be considered a peerless medicine?"

Hearing this, Mr. Zhai thought seriously for a moment, then shook his head: "Although the Divine Essence Condensation is powerful, it still falls short compared to immortal medicines like the Great Dao Coral or the Immortal Jellyfish.

"The power of the Divine Essence Condensation lies in its divine breath and immortal dew, which allow cultivators to gain the power, enlightenment, and aura of immortals and gods before actually becoming immortals. This is very helpful for cultivators who haven't become immortals yet, but if a cultivator has already become an immortal, then the Divine Essence Condensation would seem rather useless."

"The number of cultivators in the world is like sand on a beach, countless. But those who have become immortals, throughout history, can be counted on one's fingers," Qin Ran smiled. "From this perspective, the Divine Essence Condensation seems incredibly powerful."

"It depends on how Brother Li looks at it," Mr. Zhai said. "My point is that if there really were those with extraordinary talent, they would certainly not be interested in the Divine Essence Condensation.

"Do you know that the most recent cultivator to possess the Divine Essence Condensation was the Divine Essence Old Demon?" Mr. Zhai voluntarily brought up the Divine Essence Old Demon. "In fact, the Divine Essence Old Demon was one of those with extraordinary talent. If not for the Divine Essence Condensation, he might have had a chance to become an immortal and attain the Dao. But precisely because of the Divine Essence Condensation, he ultimately died of old age on Divine Essence Mountain, never achieving the Dao."

"Has the Divine Essence Old Demon already died?" Qin Ran asked.

"Without becoming an immortal, all is in vain," Mr. Zhai sighed. "Just like sand on a beach, no matter how brilliant or unparalleled in your era, there's no difference in the end."

Qin Ran's face showed sorrow as he let out a long sigh, "What a pity."

He paused, then asked, "Has the Divine Essence Condensation not appeared in the world again?"

"The Divine Essence Condensation was sealed by the Divine Essence Old Demon on Divine Essence Mountain..." Mr. Zhai replied, "The Divine Essence Old Demon called himself an old demon, but he was actually a righteous person. His chance of becoming an immortal was restricted by the Divine Essence Condensation, so how could he allow others to be restricted by it as well?"

"Has no one broken the seal?"

"The great Dao has fifty principles, heaven's calculations cover forty-nine, always leaving a glimmer of hope. Although the Divine Essence Old Demon sealed the Divine Essence Condensation, he still provided a way to break the seal..." Mr. Zhai answered, "One needs to refine seven completely different pills of a higher alchemy level than his to break the seal."

"But..." he shook his head, "The Divine Essence Old Demon himself was already a top-tier alchemist, he was only restricted by the Divine Essence Condensation and couldn't refine immortal pills. So, the meaning of this condition is that it requires seven completely different immortal pills to break the seal!"

Qin Ran fell silent upon hearing this.

"Is Brother Li interested in the Divine Essence Condensation?" At this point, Mr. Zhai finally asked Qin Ran.

Qin Ran shook his head: "I just feel regret for the Divine Essence Old Demon who was unrivaled in his era."

"As do I."