Chương 171: Dharmic pill

The aftermath of the beast tide was not pretty. No war ever is. Thousands have died, mostly before breaches could be plugged and millions of beasts entered the farms and fields sustaining the sect. Many more were wounded, but we could fix most injuries these days, even limb loss or other grevious harm that would have crippled cultivators in the past. On the other hand, our previous good prognostics about a conflict for the Army were curtailed abruptly.

The Flower Army was not ready, and if beasts could do so much harm, a war with demonic cultivators would be much worse. However, instead of just complaining and blaming people, I began writing. War is a science, and statistics win wars as much as fighting does. Perhaps equally as much, when directing the forces we had more efficiently. Petunia also had a good head for logistics, mostly because she handled the finances of the sect for many years. She sat beside me, copying my numbers and fact-checking them.

"The Saints you requested as reinforcements saved tens of thousands of our disciples. How did you know?" Petunia asked while comparing two Army lists, before and after the Saints arrived. I sighed inward. Gaming logic, mostly. Tian did have plenty of experience with beast tides, but he mostly plowed ahead and through the waves of beasts, polishing his sword. Even so, he had seen a dozen beast tides in action, and thus in our combined soul the data was there already.

"What we are doing now is statistical analysis. We are comparing Army units equipped with Tier 4 shields versus those with Tier 5 shields. Or units with Saint support versus those without. Loses over time, when engaged with equivalent numbers of enemies. Injuries versus deaths. If the number of injuries is higher in one place, it simply means the equipment was at fault." I answered with a sad smile. Petunia sighed and glanced back and forth from my face to the papers.

"So we need to buy more Tier 5 equipment?" she guessed, quite wrongly.

"Yes, but that's not a solution. In a big war, equipment does get broken and lost in higher numbers. We need production abilities, which in this case means rare metals, beast blood and bones, plus workshops, forges, Blacksmiths and Array Masters. As an example, this beast tide would be comparable to a single battle in a decent war. A large battle that we win easily. But in war, victories may come much harder, and battles can be lost too." I commented with a warning voice. Petunia took a deep breath.

"I'm not prepared for such a war, husband. A hundred battles like this, and my sect would lose, even if we win every battle. Which we probably would not, since we are fighting insidious demonic cults, not simple-minded beasts." she realized in a minute. I stretched my hands wide, releasing the tension in my shoulders. Petunia was right, but for the wrong reasons.

"We have plenty of spirit stones, my lovely wife. We can buy most of everything we need, except numerous artisans and weapon makers. Those we will need to recruit, either into an allied sect if male, or directly as Flower if female. A million such artisans would be ideal." I proposed with a wry tone. Bronze Petunia glanced at her storage ring, filled with trillions of spirit stones.

"I still feel that cultivating a thousand more Sages would be a stronger option. I saw what Tomoe did in front of the Outpost. She was a blade storm." Obviously, she was right on this. Sages were overpowered as hell.

"We will do that too. It's why we went after the Boar core after all. Luoli is working on the new cultivation array and the training simulator." I answered with a grin, then leaned close to steal a long kiss from my blonde wife. Petunia moaned as my hands grabbed and squeezed her breasts, then lowered her head to start sucking my dick. She felt so good I almost abandoned my plans to finish the Remake pill, but my willpower prevailed.

I couldn't stop my happy moans, but I still took out my cauldron and started my Alchemy, while Petunia's head bobbed up and down on my dick and slurped the milk gushing out. A few minutes of high focus and concentration, then my cauldron let out a whiff of amazing fragrance. Another Supreme-grade pill! Tier 7 Alchemy was very hard, and without the Purple Empress's memories, I would be still at the peak of Tier 5 or maybe the initial steps of Tier 6.

The blue lotus in my Dao Grotto glowed in encouragement and detached a petal for my next pill. Okay. If you think we are ready, we can try it. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Using the glowing petal, a tiny slice of Tier 8 liver and the Nether flame flower from the pyramid, I began crafting another Tier 7 pill, which combined the healing effect of the Remake pill with the body cultivation of a Tier 8 beast.

I was cheating a bit too, being guided by the Dao insight of the blue lotus, and not actually guessing my way towards a new recipe. I just had to make sure I didn't make a mistake, keeping the heat stable and the rotating convection currents inside the cauldron steady. The Tier 7 cauldron began to glow, and the sky above the Outpost lit up in golden waves and dharmic constructs of birds and flowers. Tian had seen such events happen as well, when a high-tier weapon or pill was being crafted by a true artisan.

It seemed I also reached that point, although guided by a sentient lotus, not only through my own efforts. Petunia stopped and gulped her milk, and just stared as the cauldron rang with Dao vibrations and divine smell. Ding! I fell on my back, my soul spent and squeezed by the immense effort. No wonder Alchemists had such strong souls. Without that, my soul would have been sucked dry by a single pill.

"Pef Tian! What pill is that?" Petunia asked in awe, staring at the sky above singing me praise for a wonder pill.

"For Willow. It doesn't have a name yet, I just invented it." I spoke in a tired voice. My Dao King wives appeared one after another, and stared at the glowing cauldron.

"I sense Yin and Yang, plus the vitality of a Tier 8 beast. Hubby truly outdid himself." Blue Rose whispered and poked the still-hot cauldron with a curious finger.

"Eat the pill, Willow. Husband made it especially for you." Petunia said with a soft voice, and hugged me from behind. A bit hesitant, Willow opened the lid and took out three pills, one of them covered in a golden cloud, while the other two were simple blue-patterned pills with a lotus symbol on them. The little lotus inside my grotto felt tired too, but sent an image. One pill for me and another for Luoli.

"Eat the golden one, Willow. Petunia, feed me a blue pill. The last one is for Luoli." I demanded in a spent voice. I did feel extremely tired, as if my soul was depleted. Willow ate her pill with a grateful look towards me, and sank to the floor to digest its energy. I also ate my blue pill, curious what it could do. Pain mixed with warmth and pleasure inside me, as my entire body began evolving into its next form. My bones broke and reformed, as did my muscles and veins and especially my nerves.

It hurt far too much to explain, and yet it felt like a warm bath taking away my tiredness. An hour later, I opened my eyes and clenched my fist. Strong. That was all I could feel. I was now a beast in human form, likely around Tier 6 in strength, durability and stamina. Somehow, I breezed through the Tier 5 ascension and reached Tier 6, although I did have most of the prerequisites of body cultivation completed anyway. Plus, I gained a Sage level too.

And remember, that Tier 8 Boar was pretty much invulnerable to anything we could throw at it, except a rare and dangerous toxin from the bottom of the ocean. Only I took that durability, and via Alchemy and lotus insights transformed it into a magical pill that could work on humans. Thus, a Tier 7 Blue Dharmic pill. See, I found a name for it, eventually. Luoli appeared beside me and placed her hand on my forehead.

"Pef Tian, you're such a genial man, that I can't imagine how you could be that stupid too. This much pain could have killed you. Ascending twice in a row is very dangerous." she berated me in a loving voice. I nodded, then stood up and tested a few punches in the air, without any qi. The air bent and caught fire, and I had to use my Domain to prevent sonic shockwaves from demolishing the entire Outpost. I must be 100 times stronger than before, and could likely stop a Tier 6 beast with one hand.

Willow opened her eyes too, and observed me as if I was moving in slow motion.

"Husband... I think I can kill a Tier 7 beast without using any qi now." she spoke in a gentle voice. It seems the golden cloud around the Blue Dharma pill made it that much stronger, granting the pill user a Tier 7 body. Thus the special Dao manifestations in the sky. I nodded and pointed towards the Jade Forest outside.

"Go and bring me a dozen Tier 7 beasts then. Just remember I need their livers intact." Green Willow stood up, now on both feet as the crippled one had grown back.

"Come, Snowdrop. It's time to extract our payback from the damned beasts." she asked her white-haired sister, and they both vanished at speed from the Outpost. Luoli picked up her own blue pill, and glared at me for some reason.

"You better fill me up with love wine and use that damn thief plate. I am not eating this pill without pain mitigation, like a certain Sword idiot." Right! That's what I forgot... Could have avoided a lot of pain by being a bit smarter. Live and learn, right? A minute later, Luoli was moaning in pain and pleasure, digesting her blue lotus pattern pill while riding on my dick, while the room spun with Yin and Yang.

Petunia had returned to keep watch over the Flowers, but Blue Rose and Violet stood behind, to enjoy a bit of marital bliss with their husband. And thus, with a strange blue pill, and my milk filling her womb, Luoli ascended not only as a strong body cultivator, but also as a new Dao King, breaking all the records in the cultivation world by thousands of years. She really was an amazing cultivation genius, my reincarnated Purple Empress. Tian wasn't bad, but he just couldn't compare.

He never became a True Immortal, failing at the last step. An hour later, Luoli stood up and ruffled my hair, then placed Violet in my lap, then vanished, somehow ignoring the Yin and Yang Formation that was still active.

"She left the sect too." Blue Rose whispered while kissing my neck. Yeah, I knew she would. For someone like her, our Million Flowers Valley was a small sect with nothing of interest. Possibly, not even the big sects in top ten had anything to attract Luoli now, except perhaps several Dao Treasures. No, the only thing which held some interest for my purple-haired wife was her legacy with the Asgard Hall, built for a long-dead disciple of hers. A karmic link that had to be solved, one way or another.