Chapter 57: Heart Demon, Special Mark

【Under Bai Wuxi’s lead, you arrived outside the city!】

【“The Nascent Soul Breaking Pill is unlike other pills. I cannot refine it openly within the Bai family.” Afraid you might misunderstand, Bai Wuxi explained.】

【“I understand.” You knew this was something the Six Great Powers strictly forbade.】

【“I just don’t understand why this Nascent Soul Breaking Pill has such a miraculous effect, actually increasing the breakthrough chance by thirty percent!” You asked Bai Wuxi, this alchemist.】

【”Yes, yes, Senior Brother, why exactly is that?” Beside him, Bai Ruoxi was equally curious.】

【“Ahem, does Fellow Daoist know what one must face when breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage?” Bai Wuxi did not immediately clear up the confusion, but instead asked you.】

【“Heavenly Tribulation, and the Heart Demon!” Regarding this, you had naturally done quite a bit of homework.】

【“Correct! As the saying goes, the Heavenly Tribulation is easy to cross, but the Heart Demon is hard to guard against!” Bai Wuxi began to explain.】

【“Since ancient times, how many brilliant and talented Golden Core cultivators have been tormented by the Heart Demon? Even if they successfully crossed the tribulation and stepped into the Nascent Soul stage, in the end they were still taken over by the Heart Demon, their bodies controlled.”】

【“All that cultivation, in the end, amounts to nothing!”】

【“So…” You had just begun to say something, but were cut off by Bai Wuxi.】

【“So, this Nascent Soul Breaking Pill can help you safely pass the Heart Demon Tribulation!”】

【Your eyes widened in sudden understanding. You knew where that extra thirty percent chance came from, and you also understood what Daoist Outrageous had said that day.】

【“But if one does not experience the Heart Demon Tribulation, won’t there be worries about subsequent cultivation, about an unstable Dao heart?” You raised the question.】

【“Heh.” Bai Wuxi let out a self-mocking laugh at that, then said to you: “Being able to break through to the Nascent Soul stage is already good enough. Who cares about cultivation after that!”】

【“Who knows, one day we might get caught in the aftershock of a battle between great cultivators and die, our bodies and Dao extinguished!”】

【Your heart stirred, and you asked: “Is this sort of thing common in Central State?”】

【“Common? It’s more than common! They’ll smash Central State apart at the drop of a hat!” This time, it was Li Wuyou who answered you.】

【“So-and-so cultivator, today arrived carrying an immortal artifact… worst comes to worst, smash Central State apart!”】

【“I’ve heard that kind of phrasing in Central State for a thousand years now, countless times.” Li Wuyou complained to you.】

【Hearing this kind of phrasing, you only felt it was very familiar, but for a moment you couldn’t recall where you had heard it before.】

【As they talked, the group arrived at a cave residence.】

【Bai Wuxi split off a strand of divine sense, unsealed the cave residence, and led you inside.】

【You scanned the cave residence. The furnishings were extremely simple: a stone table, a bed, a medicine rack, and a pill furnace in the very center.】

【Before formally beginning the pill refinement, Bai Wuxi solemnly declared to you: “Fellow Daoist, all pill refinement carries the possibility of failure. If the subsequent refinement fails…”】

【“I will bear the responsibility myself!” You guaranteed. You understood this very well; after all, when you set up formations, you had also made quite a few mistakes and wasted no small amount of resources.】

【“Hmph, it’s the spiritual medicine I found that’s being used, yet you’re not the least bit heartbroken.” Beside you, Bai Ruoxi muttered under her breath.】

【Bai Wuxi drew a deep breath and said: “Very well, I will begin refining the pill now. Fellow Daoist, please make yourself comfortable.”】

【“After you, Fellow Daoist.”】

【Bai Wuxi went to the side of the pill furnace. As hand seals were formed one after another, a formation emerged, surrounding the pill furnace on all sides.】

【“This is a sound-dampening formation. To avoid interference from others, Senior Brother set it up specially.” Bai Ruoxi explained from the side.】

【You nodded to show you understood. This kind of first-tier formation, you could set up casually.】

【You walked over to the stone table and sat down, poured yourself a cup of tea, took two sips, and asked: “In recent years, have there been any cultivators who broke through to the Nascent Soul stage without using the Nascent Soul Breaking Pill?”】

【“Ah?” Bai Ruoxi looked completely baffled.】

【“As far as I know, no.” Li Wuyou replied. Regarding the questions you asked, Li Wuyou basically answered whatever was asked. After all, it was just a couple of words; it didn’t cost him anything.】

【Besides, Li Wuyou still wanted you to hire him for a couple more days! After all, this kind of job with lots of money and little work was not easy to find!】

【“Then what about you? You took the Nascent Soul Breaking Pill. Has it affected your subsequent cultivation?” You continued asking.】

【“Affected?” Li Wuyou thought for a moment, then shook his head. “For now, I haven’t felt any effects.”】

【The entire cave residence fell silent once more.】

【Watching Bai Wuxi, who was deeply focused on refining the pill, you began to think, wondering whether or not you should take the Nascent Soul Breaking Pill.】

【After thinking it through again and again, you always felt this matter was very wrong. Extremely wrong!】

【Take the Nascent Soul Breaking Pill, and your Dao heart would become unstable, affecting subsequent cultivation.】

【But if you did not take the Nascent Soul Breaking Pill, once the Six Great Powers discovered it, you would be erased!】

【Leaving aside how contradictory this was, how did the Six Great Powers even distinguish whether a cultivator had taken the Nascent Soul Breaking Pill or not?】

【There were countless Nascent Soul stage cultivators in the world. How could the Six Great Powers possibly sort through them all?】

【You voiced your doubts to Li Wuyou once more.】

【Li Wuyou’s figure immediately appeared. He came before you, extended an arm, and laughed bitterly.】

【“Look. Any cultivator who has taken the Nascent Soul Breaking Pill will have a special mark on their hand.” Li Wuyou circulated his spiritual power, and a mark immediately appeared on his palm.】

【You looked up, and saw a humanoid creature with a pair of horns on its head slowly emerge.】

【When Li Wuyou stopped circulating his spiritual power, the mark vanished.】

【“This…” For a time, you didn’t know what to say. In your heart, you thought, does this thing really have no effect? Who would believe that!】

【“Oh, I’ve seen this mark on the Ancestor’s hand too. I thought it was something exclusive to our Bai family.” Bai Ruoxi spoke up from the side.】

【“In Central State, any cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage or above, no matter which faction they join, must verify this mark.” Li Wuyou continued to explain.】

【Hearing this, you fell silent. You didn’t know whether this kind of thing could be inherited, but it most likely could not. After all, every time you died, you didn’t inherit the body you had left behind either.】

【But you didn’t dare gamble. What if?】

【This kind of thing clearly was not anything good at a glance. You did not want to cut short your path of cultivation because of it!】

【“So ugly. I don’t want that kind of mark on my body at all. Just thinking about it is disgusting.” Bai Ruoxi complained from the side.】

【“Once you take the Nascent Soul Breaking Pill and break through, I can help you register at the Immortal Treasure Pavilion.” Li Wuyou did not say much more about the mark, but instead brought up another topic.】

【You were silent for a long time, and finally asked: “If I break through without using the Nascent Soul Breaking Pill? Will you kill me?”】

【This time, it was Li Wuyou’s turn to fall silent.】