Heavy breathing could be heard coming out of Gu Jiacheng's nose and mouth. It would not be a sign if a normal person was in such a state, but the case was entirely different when the old man suddenly breathed heavily while he was on the verge of his death.

The eyes of Ou Yangming and the others lit up. They looked forward to the outcome and were overjoyed.

In the Spiritual Realm, Eternal Pills had disappeared for far too long. Even in ancient books, only legends about them could be read. Besides, those legends also did not seem too reliable.

In actuality, there were many spiritual pills or treasures in the Spiritual Realm that could prolong one's life, but they shared a similarity, which was drug resistance.

The more one consumed such treasures, the stronger one's body's resistance against them, and the weaker the spiritual medicines' effects.

At the end of the day, once the resistance of one's body against the consumption of those things reached a limit, no matter how many spiritual medicines one consumed, the outcome would be the same. They would not be effective anymore.

However, the legendary Eternal Pills were different.

It was said that this type of pill was the Phoenixes' spiritual medicine, and it was a supreme medicine that could only be refined by a Heavenly Phoenix Fire.

Instead of prolonging one's life using certain properties from the spiritual medicines involved, this kind of pill adopted the theory of rebirth through fire. The potential in the deeper part of a living being's body would be ignited, and the universe's spiritual power would be guided into one's body, causing one's old self to be cast away so that one could be revitalized.

Only such a magical type of pill could achieve the unbelievable effect of prolonging one's life.

Being the chief alchemist in the Beast King Sect, Gu Jiacheng had seen all sorts of spiritual medicines.

Although Gu Jiacheng had not consumed all of the life-prolonging items in the Spiritual Realm, the resistances of the spiritual medicines that he had consumed had reached his body's withstandable limit. Even if he were to consume more kinds of life-prolonging items, they would be ineffective.

Not only Gu Jiacheng, but the old macaque and the powerhouse from Mount Wuzhi were also facing the same problem.

In a way, their bodies were nearing the end, where they were too weak to be replenished anymore, hence they could only slowly wait for their deaths.

Nonetheless, judging from the changes that were happening to Gu Jiacheng's body at the moment, it seemed like there was a drastic change.

Yuqi the Venerable One shook his hands to help Gu Jiacheng sit up with his legs crossed, then he channeled a surging power into his body.

The Venerable One was not a doctor but given his cultivation base, a human body's structure and secrets were no longer secrets to him. With the help of his power, the Eternal Pill could break down faster and assimilate into Gu Jiacheng's body.

Even so, the Eternal Pill was not an ordinary spiritual pill. A Venerable One might have offered his help, but the medicinal efficacy could not be borne so easily.

Gu Jiacheng's face twitched as though he was suffering immense pain.

Yuqi the Venerable One had a grave look on his face. He released his power carefully and dared not relax at all.

He was a Venerable One, but he was extremely cautious as he transferred power to an Advanced Spiritualist. Apart from this situation, such a case would likely be hard to come by.

Lingfeng the Venerable One and the old macaque did not do anything, but they also looked grim and were not much more relaxed than Yuqi the Venerable One was.

The Eternal Pill was also incredibly important to them, thus they were more concerned about its efficacy.

"Eternal Pill—rebirth through fire…" The old macaque mumbled, "Sure enough, as told in legends, a certain risk comes with consuming the pill. If one's willpower isn't strong enough, heh, one might be killed instead…"

Ou Yangming's heart tensed up. He had read about the Eternal Pill in ancient books, but he never came across anything like that.

"Senior, what do you mean?" He asked sincerely.

The old macaque looked at him and explained, "The Eternal Pill's a life-prolonging spiritual medicine, and it's also known to be the greatest one, but everything has two sides. The spiritual pill must ignite one's potential on a deeper level and absorb the universe's spiritual power to let one have a new lease of life. Throughout the process, the consumer must have notable willpower to be able to persevere to the very last moment or…" It had a scornful smile on its face as it continued, "One might not be able to prolong one's life by consuming an Eternal Pill."

Ou Yangming was dumbfounded. His mouth twitched as he felt like it was absurd.

He was only so eager about wanting to refine Eternal Pills not because he wanted to let the old macaque or anyone else consume them.

Old Craftsman—this was the person that he cared about the most.

Nevertheless, after hearing what the old macaque said, the young fellow was speechless.

Even if he were to successfully refine more Eternal Pills, would he still let Old Craftsman consume one of them?

The old macaque blurted, "Master Ou, is there something dear to you that you'd like to give an Eternal Pill to?"

Ou Yangming nodded after some hesitation. He did not find it strange that the old macaque guessed the truth; he made it too obvious just now.

The old macaque chuckled. "If I'm guessing this right, that person's from the lower realm, right?"

Lingfeng the Venerable One was staring at Gu Jiacheng, but he could not help but glance at Ou Yangming at this time. 'This young fella from the lower realm is too lucky to be favored by the Phoenixes.'

Ou Yangming giggled. "That's right."

The old macaque nodded. "I have a suggestion." It paused for a while before it continued, "There are many life-prolonging spiritual medicines and treasures in the Spiritual Realm, so you can give them to that person first. Hehe, once his body reaches its drug resistance limit, he can then consume an Eternal Pill."

Ou Yangming's eyes gleamed. "Thanks for your pointers, senior."

The old macaque grinned with its eyes squinted. "As far as I know, the Eternal Pill is more effective if one consumed it right before one's fire of life goes out. If one still has obvious potential left, the success rate won't be high instead."

Ou Yangming nodded seriously and remembered those words well.

Since such a risk came with the consumption of an Eternal Pill, he naturally had to be more careful. At the very least, he must not let Old Craftsman suffer an undeserved accident.

"Phew…"

All of a sudden, Gu Jiacheng, who was sitting with his legs crossed, exhaled deeply.

The second the others heard him, their eyes glowed. Ordinary people would not be able to tell anything from that exhalation, but they were sharp enough to sense robustness and vitality.

Gu Jiacheng might have shown a momentary recovery right before his death when he refined the pills, and he was on the brink of death after the pills were refined. As he exhaled this time, the situation overturned like a comedy.

Everyone paid attention to Gu Jiacheng while he slowly opened his eyes and looked like he was dazed as if he had forgotten where he was. Despite that, the alchemist soon focused and slowly recognized everyone present.

Gu Jiacheng's body shivered a little, and he was about to get up when Yuqi the Venerable One exerted force through his wrist and said in a deep voice, "Don't move. How are you feeling?"

Being oppressed by a forceful power, Gu Jiacheng could not move an inch. Having said that, he was not frustrated at all because he knew Yuqi the Venerable One was doing it out of good intention.

Gu Jiacheng sensed his body seriously for a long time before he responded with a trembling voice, "Sir Venerable One, I'm… Great. I'm feeling great—great like never before." He sounded elated, and he almost could not control his emotions.

Being the Beast King Sect's chief alchemist, Gu Jiacheng had a profound level of attainment in medical skills. He had been taking various life-prolonging medicines for years, so he knew his body inside out.

Therefore, he knew very well how terrible of a situation his body was in.

When he checked his body again this time, he realized that he was full of vigor, and there were no longer signs of old age.

Gu Jiacheng had only sensed such a healthy body when he was younger, but that feeling seemed to have become an unreachable memory, where it was almost forgotten. When the feeling appeared again at this moment, the alchemist was so shocked that he only wanted to yell to express his joy.

That said, Gu Jiacheng was an experienced old man, after all. Even when he was almost losing control, he managed to control his emotions and did not embarrass himself in front of the Venerable Ones.

Lingfeng the Venerable One suddenly took a step forward and placed his hand on Gu Jiacheng's forehead.

The faces of Yuqi the Venerable One and the old macaque darkened slightly, and they looked displeased. Nonetheless, they did not stop him; they only had discontent written all over their faces.

After a brief moment, Lingfeng the Venerable One withdrew his hand. He looked delighted because Gu Jiacheng was right—his body was full of life as if he had just gotten 100 years younger.

"Hehe, haha…" Lingfeng the Venerable One laughed out loud, but he was embarrassed when he looked at the 2 other Venerable Ones, so he quickly apologized, "I couldn't help it—I'm sorry." He paused for a moment before he continued, "It's not that I don't trust you and him, but this is a serious matter where no mistake is allowed, so please forgive me."

Yuqi the Venerable One scoffed. "Brother Ling, don't worry, we're not narrow-minded, so we won't get angry over such a small matter."

Lingfeng the Venerable One smiled apologetically but cursed internally.

"If you're not angry, why do you have such a long face? Hmph, you say one thing and mean another.'

Nevertheless, since he was seeking help from Yuqi the Venerable One, he dared not make vicious remarks.

"Brother Ou, since the Eternal Pill's effective, can I…" Lingfeng the Venerable One pointed at the other pill and asked carefully.

Yuqi the Venerable One chuckled before he answered, "Since we agreed before this, the other pill's naturally yours."

Lingfeng the Venerable One was delighted. He could not be bothered to be reserved, so he reached out to retrieve the pill and kept it carefully.