Supreme Sword Exalt

Chapter 243 - Profound Pill Pavilion, Alchemist No. 1, Mo Huaiyuan, Grateful for Your Grace!

Upon stepping onto the last level, Gu Han’s eyes flickered in bewilderment. That strange feeling overwhelmed him again, even stronger than before. However, having been through it a few times already, he recovered in just a few breaths. Something unexpected seemed to be afoot!

The space itself wasn’t large. Even without using his divine sense, he could see every corner clearly at a glance. Several dozen zhang ahead lay the one and only pill chamber of this floor. The size was about the same as the others he had seen earlier. However, a layer of thin gauze seemed to cover the entrance, making it impossible to see the situation inside clearly.

Beyond it, he could make out a faint silhouette of a person. “Hmm?”

His heart churned like monstrous waves, shocked beyond words. The pill tower was at least over a million years old, perhaps even older. Even the Soul-Nourishing Lotus would have long turned to dust if not for that transparent crystal.

How would there be a person here of all places? Could he be still alive? How is that possible?!

For a moment, countless questions flooded his mind, almost overturning all his previous conjectures.

Go in! Go in quickly!

His instinct kept urging him forward. He felt he had to enter the pill chamber to clear up all his doubts, lest he regret it forever. After hesitating briefly, he finally couldn’t suppress his curiosity and walked toward that pill chamber.

On a closer look, the barrier faintly resembled the light mist shrouding the Profound Pill Camp, only far less overbearing and stern. The feeling it gave him was also very unique. Ethereal and mysterious, it felt as though it teetered between reality and illusion.

The moment he stepped inside, he was stunned. It was the cleanest and tidiest pill chamber he had ever encountered so far. Several rows of jade shelves shimmered with spirit light, sparsely arranged with a few pill bottles and some spirit herbs that he couldn’t name.

An ancient and majestic pill furnace stood at the center. Pill mist swirled within like rosy clouds, seemingly both real and illusory. One zhang away from it, a white-haired old man sat cross-legged with his eyes closed. His hunched back made his already scrawny frame seem even smaller.

What struck Gu Han as odd was that nothing moved in the room. Everything seemed frozen in an absolutely static state, as if it were merely a painting. He had never seen such a bizarre phenomenon.

What is going on here?

It seemed his arrival had broken some kind of balance. Everything suddenly began to move. The old man waved his hands mechanically, forming and sending one hand seal after another into the pill furnace. The pill mist rose and fell. A wisp of faint, indescribable fragrance emanated through the small holes in the furnace.

Just one whiff, and Gu Han’s pupils constricted sharply. It was actually the kind of great pill he had desperately sought but could not obtain! One that could enhance foundation and potential!

How can there be such a coincidence? Also, why is this place so perfectly preserved unlike the rest? Is it also the effect of time power?

He instinctively swept his divine sense over, only to discover something even more horrifying. Not only did the old man have no trace of life force, he emanated a thick aura of decay! He had clearly been dead for a long time!

Yet with the naked eye, he seemed to be sitting there properly. Apart from his aura being somewhat weak, there was no sign of him being a dead person. All of this was too bizarre!

“Cough, cough...”

Just as Gu Han was perplexed, a bout of violent coughing interrupted his contemplation. The seemingly feeble old man coughed up several mouthfuls of blood. After spitting blood, his face appeared even older.

Gu Han couldn’t help but speak. “Senior, you are—”

The old man slowly opened his eyes. They were murky, filled entirely with confusion. He didn’t seem to be fully there.

“Hmm? It’s you!” The moment he saw Gu Han, the confusion and bewilderment in his eyes were replaced by euphoria. “You’re back?!”

Back?

Gu Han was stunned for a moment, but immediately understood. Though the old man still retained some self-awareness, his current state wasn’t much better from the humanoid figure. He was acting almost purely on instinct. Clearly, he had also mistaken Gu Han for that mysterious person from back then.

“Actually—”

The old man seemed very nervous, saying with difficulty, “What happened? Did you win?”

He stared blankly at Gu Han with a trace of fear, expectation, and bewilderment.

Gu Han remained silent, feeling reluctant to tell the truth. He didn’t know what kind of state the old man was in now. All he knew was that the old man seemed to have died long ago. The only reason the old man could still stand here was an unfulfilled obsession—one that seemed even stronger than Dan Chen’s or the others’.

“Did we lose?” The old man seemed to mistake his silence for something. He stumbled back several steps, the aura of death fully erupting. “So we lost...”

Instinctively, he stared toward those dull, lusterless jade talismans placed to the side, the bewilderment in his eyes deepening. “Dead? They’re all dead? Tu Yuan is dead... Pan Yan is dead... Lin Shan is dead... Dan Chen... is dead too...”

A black mass of death aura erupted from within him, enveloping him entirely.

He slowly raised his hands and sighed softly. “So, I have been dead for a long time too...”

The old man began showing signs of dissipating. Wisp after wisp of dust continuously floated away from him, making him appear hazier.

Finally, Gu Han couldn’t bear it anymore and blurted out, “We won! I... won. The mastermind who brought disaster upon you, I killed him!”

All of them had already waited for a million years, maybe even longer, just to wait for news of victory. Now, all that was left in store for them was despair. Whether it was against his conscience or lying, these people shouldn’t leave with despair.

Gu Han said firmly, every word resounding with conviction, “I won!”

The old man’s eyes were tightly shut. His expression became increasingly hazy, impossible to discern clearly. Yet his tone had become immensely relieved. “Won? So we won... Then it was all worth it...”

Then, seemingly using the last of his strength, he pointed at the pill furnace. “Pill flame... 20 minutes... pill forms...”

With that, he disintegrated completely, turned to dust that slowly drifted down.

His final words lingered incessantly in Gu Han’s ears. “Profound Pill Camp, No. 1 Alchemist, Mo Huaiyuan is grateful for your grace...”