...…
After the smoke from the dazzling pill furnace explosion subsided, a pill that looked like nothing short of a mesmerizing piece of gold shot out into the hands of a young man.
"So this is a Golden Core Formation Rank Pill—something that's even capable of assisting those in the Golden Core Formation Realm."
Azmodeus was put into a trance while staring down at the pill.
He eventually snapping out of it and muttered, "This pill in particular is a Gold Core Conjuring Pill—a pill that will help me advance straight into the Early Golden Core Formation Realm with a perfect cultivation foundation."
He had noticed something peculiar while refining pills, and that was the fact that no matter the quality or shine of the pill, there were never any impurities in the pills.
It was almost as if it were impossible for there to be imperfections on something created by him…
He didn't understand it himself, but after pondering the matter for a while and receiving no mention of this happening to anyone in the Alchemy's Essence manual, he ultimately discarded the matter altogether.
Even so, the formation of this Golden Core Formation Pill meant great things for him. After all, he not only became a Low-Sky Rank Alchemy Master, but he also become something akin to an anomaly or an aberration when it came to Alchemy as well as cultivation!
Speaking of cultivation, he managed to progress his own cultivation into the Peak Stages of the Half-Step Golden Core Formation Realm after nearly two months inside the Pill Cauldron of the Evil Cultivator.
On a side note, Azmodeus expected them to have already reached their destination by now. But for some reason, it seemed like they had stopped somewhere.
He had not an inkling of an idea why they had abruptly paused in their tracks, and the Evil Cultivator stopped talking a while ago, so he truly was left in the dark…
However, it wasn't all so bad, as he had plenty of time to cultivate and hone his mastery over Alchemy without interruption.
But he would soon realize that not everything goes as planned in life…
...
Two months later, a young man who looked to be around 18 years old with chiseled facial features and an aura oozing of regality—possessing a body to match—cultivated inside a dimly lit space with nothing but a pill cauldron in front of him and sweat beads raining down his face.
Over these last two months, Azmodeus's cultivation base had progressed into the Middle Golden Core Formation Realm, while his skill in Alchemy had reached the Middle-Sky Rank. In other words, it essentially meant that he could confidently concoct Middle and Late Golden Core Realm Pills!
Despite his achievements, after such a long period of time inside the Evil Cultivator's pill cauldron, he was beginning to think something was up.
Furthermore, his speculation wasn't based on nothing, as there had not been the slightest vibration happening in and around the pill cauldron since the moment he broke through to the Golden Core Formation Realm.
Azmodeus had no clue what was going on outside the pill cauldron. However, at this point, he was confident that he could contend with the Evil Cultivator, so that's exactly what he planned to do.
WAAA!
A divine sense was emitted from the confines of the Sky Rank Pill Cauldron as Azmodeus attempted to discern what was happening outside of said Pill Cauldron.
However, the moment his divine sense touched the outer layer of the cauldron, it was unable to go even an inch further.
"Hmm…?"
He wore a confused look on his face, as his power should've definitely been great enough to accomplish such a thing.
After getting up off his spot and touching the now visible edges of the cauldron's interior, he immediately understood where the problem lay.
"Some form of sealing formation… But why would there be a sealing formation on an active cauldron??"
He could still feel the blazing heat even with his fire resistance passive, so the cauldron was undoubtedly still active.
So what exactly is going on here…? Did something happen to the Evil Cultivator? Something that would cause him to seal his own cauldron with an active heating process using his Qi…
What could it be…? What caused him to leave behind his pill cauldron and the 'pill material' that he needed for his Heaven-Defying Dan Pill??
No matter how Azmodeus thought about it, he just couldn't understand what could cause a Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm Cultivator to flee.
At least, that was until he recalled a particular rumor that spread around Yellowcreek City and the Frontier like wildfire.
"The righteous faction," Azmodeus muttered, a flash of realization passing through his fiery red eyes.
He, along with most people in the Fire Nation, had heard of the battles constantly occurring between the Righteous Faction, the Evil Faction, and all of their affiliated organizations, sects, and places of notice.
For as long as anybody in the Fire Nation could remember, there had been a never-ending blood feud between those on the 'Righteous' side of things and those on the 'Evil'.
This was the brittle cohabitation that prevailed for all who lived in this war torn country.
It were these two very different factions that battled each other in the dark and in the light. Of course, they had their own selfish goals in mind, as those deemed 'Evil' were sometimes kinder than those who thought of themselves as 'Righteous' and vice versa.
Furthermore, there were hundreds of millions of people involved in this 'Ever War', as the bloodshed had never once ceased. Thus, leaving all the commoners and low-level cultivators as the only true losers of these pointless exchanges of d*ck sizes.
However, it wasn't like the commoners had an opinion to voice in this everlasting war...
If they resisted the will of the strong, just like ants, they would be subjected to the whims of any unexpected foot that may come crashing down on their world at any given moment.
This was all to say that the Evil Faction and the Righteous Faction were absurdly powerful and possessed forces that were even said to extend beyond the Fire Nation.
But did that matter for Azmodeus Crimson...? Nah, not in the slightest bit.
...…