Su Xuan pulled Lu Zhiyi along, lecturing her the entire way. He finally made her understand that having no ill intent and having no purpose were two completely different things.
“Fine, fine. I’ll listen to Master from now on and stop talking nonsense,” Lu Zhiyi spoke, her small mouth pouting high.
Su Xuan sighed inwardly, hoping she truly meant it. He had discovered earlier that this disciple’s inner self was not as delicate as her outward appearance suggested; she was actually quite headstrong. For now, he could only find ways to change her slowly.
When they returned home, Lin Zhiwei had already finished cooking and was squatting in the courtyard washing clothes. Perhaps she was developing too well, but with her continuous pounding, the clothes were tight against her body. A small patch of her waist was wet, revealing her fair skin. Her movements carried a certain womanly fullness.
‘Looking at it this way, Zhiwei is much less of a headache…’
Su Xuan sighed as he watched her act like a virtuous wife and mother. Although she was cold toward him and seemed to have a rebellious streak, she was much more reliable compared to the trouble Lu Zhiyi caused. Her inability to learn swordplay meant she could only stay cooped up at home, which put his mind at ease.
“Senior Sister, Senior Sister, I broke through! I’m at Qi Refining Level 2!”
Upon seeing her, Lu Zhiyi clutched the food they had bought and ran over to her, speaking triumphantly.
Su Xuan was in no mood to listen to the pair’s whispering, so he ducked into his room. Although the issue with Wu Renyou was temporarily settled, there was no guarantee the man wouldn’t come up with more wicked ideas after returning—Su Xuan was unaware of what Lin Zhiwei had done.
Furthermore, his two disciples, whether intentionally or not, always managed to find trouble for him. Regardless of the situation, the Immortal World relied on cultivation strength; the most important thing was to be strong himself. Currently, he was only at Qi Refining Level 3. While he wouldn’t be conscripted, he was hardly a powerful Cultivator.
For instance, with his current Spiritual Power, he could only fully activate his sole offensive method, the *Ningnian Jue*, 2 times at most. After that, he could only lie down and wait for death. He needed to put more effort into increasing his cultivation.
Speaking of the *Ningnian Jue*, he pulled out the small booklet again. It only contained a few sentences, which he had finished reading two days ago. However, according to the system’s prompts, this was merely the basic introductory chapter of a certain Cultivation Method. If he had the chance, he needed to find a way to get his hands on the complete version.
Hmm?
Just as Su Xuan put the booklet away, he turned to find a jade plaque on the table, shimmering with a verdant green light. Right, that old man had given him a token.
After a moment of thought, he pulled another jade plaque from his robe. One was the Market Master token given by the old man, and the other was the token given by Shangguan Yu.
He held one in each hand. Upon a brief comparison, he found that the two jade plaques were almost identical. Both were carved with the name “Shangguan,” and even their size and material were similar. The only difference was that Shangguan Yu’s token featured a phoenix spreading its wings, while the Market Master’s featured a white crane. Comparing the two, it was easy to see whose status was more noble.
Was the transition of power between these two factions a peaceful handover, or a struggle between a powerful newcomer and a local authority?
Su Xuan looked at the two tokens, his brow furrowed. Both sides had extended an olive branch to him. If it was a peaceful transition, it would be fine, but if they truly started fighting, where would he stand? Based on his experience watching countless television dramas, once one was caught in a struggle between a main branch and a side branch, it was very difficult to escape.
Although he knew Shangguan Yu would eventually win, the game had never mentioned how dangerous the process was.
He carefully put the tokens away and decided to observe for a while. For the time being, he wouldn’t seek out either of them, nor would he exchange for a house in the Inner Market. He didn’t want to pick a side too early and lead himself into a trap. His priority was to improve his own strength as quickly as possible.
Thinking of this, Su Xuan grabbed his newly purchased black pot and took out the alchemy materials he had prepared, intending to refine several more batches of the Pill of Myriad Mysteries. With his aptitude, ordinary cultivation yielded almost no progress, but using Spiritual Stones to brute-force his way through worked quite well.
He skillfully set up the iron pot and, following his memory, added the Yanghuo and other materials from the pill formula one by one. The various powders tumbled and merged in the pot, gradually taking on a faint blue hue as they formed medicinal clumps.
Following his previous experience, he manipulated the flames, steadily increasing the temperature. Three light blue pills formed smoothly, without any hindrance.
“Did it go that smoothly?”
Su Xuan was slightly puzzled as he picked one up to observe it. He had thought his skills might have grown rusty since he hadn’t performed alchemy in several days, but when he opened the furnace again, not only was it not difficult, the quality of the pills was even better.
These pills were of a quality that a Rank 2 Alchemist could never produce. According to his game experience, one would need to be at least a Rank 3 Alchemist to have a chance at this quality.
“A coincidence?”
He took another set of materials and repeated the process. After several rounds, the new iron pot had developed several cracks and was clearly ruined. From a total of three batches, he had produced nine pills. Every single one was of perfect quality, and the refining process had actually become easier as he went along.
Only then did Su Xuan realize that the reason his alchemy was so effortless was that his control over Spiritual Power had improved. This progress was entirely due to practicing the *Ningnian Jue* and attempting to master his Spiritual Power.
Did the *Ningnian Jue* really have such an effect? Then what kind of power would the subsequent parts of the Cultivation Method possess? He found himself looking forward to it.
Twelve pills in total—if they were like the ones before, they would be worth a fortune of over 100 Spiritual Stones! This amount of money was enough for him to rent a good house in the Inner Market and live comfortably for several years.
It was no wonder Alchemists were so popular. If he had possessed the system’s prompts in the game and made some achievements in alchemy earlier, he probably wouldn’t have ended up so miserable.
Exhaling a long breath of turbid air, Su Xuan looked out the window. The waning moon was shaped like a bow, and the world outside was a dark, pitch-black expanse with very little light.
It was time to dig up that Broken Sword!
He stood up, stretched his stiff limbs, changed into a set of pure black clothes, and quietly slipped out the door.
Unlike the Inner Market, the Outer Market had no dedicated patrols. Once night fell, it was shrouded in darkness. Occasionally, Cultivators used to come out under the cover of night to absorb lunar essence and practice their methods, but for the past two days, there hadn’t been a soul in sight. It was deathly silent.
This gave Su Xuan the perfect opportunity to act.
Remaining alert the entire way, he reached the banyan tree he had seen during the day. He wrapped his palms in Spiritual Power and began digging down at the base of the roots.
As soon as he started, he realized something was wrong. The layer of soil beneath the banyan tree looked ordinary, but it was far harder than normal earth, even possessing a faint metallic texture. He endured the hard sensation and continued digging through the resistance. Soon, he had made a small hole, but he found nothing.
“How deep is this thing buried?”
Puzzled, he reached out forcefully, and a sharp, stinging pain immediately shot through him. He jerked his hand back and found a large gash on his finger despite the Spiritual Power protection. A faint red glow emerged from the soil; his blood was dripping onto it, causing it to shimmer.
Suddenly, a violent, bloodthirsty aura erupted. Su Xuan froze as his vision blurred, and countless images came rushing toward him.