## AST: Chapter 24 – Miraculous Pill or Forbidden Medicine?

“What sort of pill could that be..? What pill could be so miraculous, to the point of defying the heavens!?”

Qing Shui felt that this was just too incredible, just what kind of pill could forcibly raise the level of one’s cultivation by an entire realm? An entire realm that may not even be reachable after a period of 10 years, 20 years, or even an entire lifetime spent in cultivation!

The art of alchemy was too terrifying… It could even beget the creation of such a pill that defies the order of nature, seemingly proclaiming to be in opposition to the heavens!

“The name of this pill is known as the ‘Crippling Divine Pill’!” Traces of complexity filled Qing Yi’s eyes, as if she had many things in her heart, but was unsure of how to tell them to Qing Shui.

“Mother, why does such a miraculous pill have the name of ‘Crippling Divine Pill’? This name gives the impression that it is a trash pill instead of a divine pill.” Qing Shui curiously asked.

“Solely on the basis that this pill can elevate one’s level of cultivation by an entire realm, the grade of this pill would already classify as a Saint Grade concocted spiritual pill. However, one truly had to consider all avenues and carefully weigh their options before making the decision to ingest this pill as the side effects caused by it are irreversible and the consequences too horrifying!” Qing Yi sighed, sadness and helplessness was evident on her face.

“Side effects?” although Qing Shui looked young, he understood the connotations behind the meaning of the more beneficial something was, the worse its side effects would be. After all, he had the experiences of 2 lifetimes. Qing Shui had already vaguely sensed that this pill was too good to be true, but he just could not put his finger on what the side effects could be.

“Yes, and the prerequisite for ingesting this pill is that the cultivator must have already broken through to 10th Grade Martial Warrior, and the cultivator can be no older than 30 years of age. Depending on one’s potential and talent, the Crippling Divine Pill will at least forcibly raise one’s level of cultivation to 10th Grade Martial General realm. For stronger individuals, they could possibly even breakthrough straight into the different grades of the Martial Commander realm! However, there is a limit. Users of this pill will never, in their entire life, ever be able to break through to the peak of Houtian realm. The highest level they can reach will be the 9th Grade of Martial Commander realm. Those who use this pill are forever doomed to make no breakthroughs in their cultivation, destined to be stuck at Houtian stage forever.” Qing Yi softly explained as she studied Qing Shui’s expressions.

Qing Shui felt relief in his heart as he heard Qing Yi’s explanation. If such a powerful pill had no side effects, it would be a tragedy. Tyrannical cultivators would be as common as the clouds, ravaging the land as they pleased. Luckily, the future ramifications of taking this pill limited many cultivators from doing so, and at the same time, also restricted those who had taken the pill to be stuck on the 9th grade of Martial Commander.

To be at the realm of 10th Grade Martial Warrior while at the age of 30 years or less, cultivators who could fulfil this conditions would not choose to use this sort of forbidden methods. Not only is the Crippling Divine Pill expensive, the possibility of reaching the Xiantian realm was completely severed by ingesting this pill. The majority of cultivators would never choose this method to increase their strength, for it is tantamount to destroying their future path in cultivation.

Looking at Qing Shui, Qing Yi actually felt astonished. Regardless, she continued saying:

“Reaching the Xiantian realm is the dream of all of mankind, but how many can reach it? That 0.1%, no, 0.01% of hope of breaking through to the Xiantian realm was the only source of motivation which prevented the majority of cultivators from ingesting the Crippling Divine Pill. Even if they wanted to digest it, the ingredients needed to concoct the Crippling Divine Pill were extremely sparse. thus it was expensive to manufacture. Even with money, there was no guarantee that one could purchase it.”

“Mother, you mean that our clan members consumed this Crippling Divine Pill, right?” Qing Shui thought of the question he had asked before, about why there was no Martial Generals in the Qing Clan.

“Other than your 2nd uncle and your grandpa, the rest of the 2nd generation including myself have all consumed the Crippling Divine Pill.” Qing Yi mumbled softly, with traces of helplessness and unwillingness in her voice.

“Does this mean that the rest of the 2nd generation will never have the chance to break into the Xiantian Realm? Qing Shui frantically asked, with a little sympathy and distress in his voice.

Qing Yi grimaced, “Qing Shui, back in the days, the Qing Clan was nothing. Your grandpa ventured here to establish his roots, our Qing Clan then began to slowly build up its foundations, and after 20 years of toil it could be considered a relatively small clan. Back then, only the potential of your 2nd uncle could be considered above average. Your 2nd uncle had already broke through to the 2nd Grade of Martial General at a young age, while the rest of us were stuck at the peak of Martial Warrior, sorely unable to breakthrough to the 1st Grade of Martial General!”

Qing Shui noticed that Qing Yi slowed down and guessed that there were still plenty of stories behind this, so he stayed silent and inclined his head to continue listening.

“Before that, we were being greatly suppressed by the clans in Hundred Miles City. However, after your grandpa broke through to the peak of Houtian realm, the 4 great clans of Hundred Miles City actually conspired to disable your grandpa! They were afraid that the Qing Clan would somehow adversely affect their standings in the Hundred Miles City.”

“Luck was on our side, your grandpa discovered their plot ahead of time and took out all of his treasured spiritual pills. He wanted the Qing Clan to have a ray of hope to look forward to, the possibility of reaching the Xiantian realm, and as such he did not allow your 2nd uncle to consume the pill. However, although your grandpa had the cultivation level of peak Houtian, he was only a one man, he could not fight against the combined efforts of the four great clans of Hundred Miles City alone.”

“Without a choice, other than your 2nd uncle, the rest of us in the 2nd generation consumed the Crippling Divine Pill and broke through to the realm of Martial Commanders. After realizing what we had done, the members of the four great clans retreated without attacking, but it was too late, the damage had already been done. In the 2nd generation, all of us were stripped of the hope of cultivating to the Xian Tian realm with the exception of your 2nd uncle! So do you see how important the 3rd generation is to our Qing Clan? We would never willingly allow any of you to consume the Crippling Divine Pill.”

“No wonder it is called the Crippling Divine Pill, the beneficial properties of it can be classified as mystical, almost godlike, but at the same time it is nothing but a trash pill! Especially in a large clans, there is no way the clan head would willingly allow his progeny to consume this type of medicine, thereby severing their paths to the realm of Xiantian. In addition, those who consume the pill to forcibly break into the realm of Martial Commander, are absolutely no match for those who cultivated by scratch to reach the same level. The reason behind this is that those who took the shortcut would never have the opportunity to experience that moment of epiphany and the tempering of their dao heart, compared to breaking through with efforts.”

“So the main users of this pill will be those cultivators with limited potential, since they already know that they will never reach the Xiantian realm in their lifetime, they will not mind sacrificing their entire fortune just to exchange for a single pill.”

The ultimate grouse of the poor was that the things they needed to work so hard for, was taken for granted by those born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Just like in cultivation, those who spent their backbreaking efforts in cultivating, would find himself outdone by a rich young master who had a single Crippling Divine Pill.

“In the World of the Nine Continents, with a population of more than 10 million people, how many are able to successfully breakthrough to the Xiantian realm? This is why, even though the Crippling Divine Pill is a trash pill, it is still fiercely hoarded by large clans. That year, because of some fortuitous events, your grandpa managed to obtain 7 Crippling Divine Pills. We have used four of them, now there are only three remaining. Thus, the three remaining Crippling Divine Pills can be considered as a treasure of our Qing Clan.”

“Mother, if in the past, the 2nd generation members did not consume the pill, would you all have the chance to step into the Xiantian Realm now?” Qing Shui could hear the disappointment when Qing Yi spoke.

Looking at his expression, Qing Yi understood what Qing Shui was thinking.

“Silly child, how could it be so easy to breakthrough to Xiantian? Breaking through to Xiantian depends on an individual’s karma and destiny. Xiantian means gaining insight into the way of Heavens. Without a sudden flash of insight, without entering that special state of enlightenment, one will never be able to break into the Xiantian realm! Your grandpa spent 60 years! A whole 60 years at the boundary of the Xiantian realm, yet he is still unable to take that single step and break through!”

“Gaining insight, into the way of the Heavens?” Thoughts were spinning in Qing Shui’s mind as he heard this.