Chapter 25 (1/2)

“Hmm? Young Master, where did you get this mini cauldron? Why is it puffing smoke itself?” Lil Ruo asked in surprise.

“Hehe, it’s nothing. Let’s eat.” Xiao Chen smiled and said. He picked up a piece of vegetable with his chopsticks and put it into her bowl.

In the afternoon, Xiao Chen had washed the mini cauldron clean. He put it on the table and sized it up again and again. Just now, he tried to burn it, smash it with stone, and even slash it with Unsullied. But none of the actions dealt a trace of damage to the cauldron. He did not know what material it was made of. It looked like wood, yet it was incredibly hard.

He was now exactly in need of a cauldron to refine elixirs. He shook his head with a smile and said, “I might as well name you Wonder Wood Cauldron.”

Although his attainment in alchemy was not as high as that in formations, his elixir-refining technique was not bad. He took out some herbs that he collected in the mountain during the test several days ago, and adeptly split them into several batches.

Two hours later, the elixir was refined. He opened the lid as the fragrance of the elixir immediately suffused the room.

Xiao Chen was happy and surprised as if he had gotten the most precious treasure. The special material of the Wonder Wood Cauldron enabled his Divine Sense to easily penetrate the cauldron to control the duration and degree of heating; moreover, it took him much less time to refine an elixir. He really had run into a treasure.

The elixir he refined was called Energy Pill, an elixir used to restore True Qi. He had noticed a problem while he was fighting against that giant bear a few days ago—his True Qi was always insufficient.

His cultivation was only at Lv 1 Qi Refining Realm, so his True Qi storage was not big enough. However, it took a considerable amount of True Qi to play the Dragon Roar Palm. In a fight, his True Qi would run out after playing several moves of the Dragon Roar Palm.

But he also knew that the Energy Pill could not fundamentally solve the problem. The most important thing was to increase his cultivation as soon as possible. Otherwise, he could not even defeat Ye Shaochong, not to mention the Lv 9 Qi Refining Realm Mo Yu.

It was almost at dusk; Elder Wu was still worriedly gazing at the three big bags of medicinal materials. At this moment, Elder Song and Elder Liu finally came back. Upon seeing them, Elder Wu immediately stood up and growled, “Why do you two come back so late?”

Elder Liu forced a smile and said, “Something went wrong on the way.” He then noticed the three bags on the table and exclaimed. “What is this?”

Elder Wu sighed deeply, threw his hands up, and said, “Tell me about it. The Nine Provinces Swordsmanship Competition is coming. The elder of the Elixir Room wants more Energy-fortifying Pills. He said that we have to refine these three bags of materials by the end of the month.”

“There’s only 20 days left. It’s not enough!” Elder Song said hurriedly.

“Then what? The elder of the Elixir Room is a Rank Two pharmacist. Even the five major elders dare not to offend him. What’s your plan? Return these bags to the Black Dragon Peak?” Elder Wu turned the whites of his eyes up and said.

“Alas. We can’t even have a rest. And they didn’t pay us enough Spiritual Stones every month. What now? How about leaving them to the disciples?”

“Are you joking? If they fail to refine the elixirs, we, three miserable old men, will stay on the Sunset Peak for the rest of our lives!”

“Alas…” The three elders sighed in unison.

The next day, before dawn, Xiao Chen was already sitting cross-legged under a Snow Chaste Tree and was running the cultivation method to absorb the Spiritual Qi from heaven and earth. Thanks to the richer Spiritual Qi in this place, his Mystic Cyan Cultivation Method was working at a certain extent. If he were a ship, his home would be a pond-turned lake, it now could basically carry him but was unable to let him sail.

When he was concentrating on cultivating, he suddenly heard footsteps from the outside. This courtyard was quite remote, why were there people even before it was dawn? He listened attentively and then vaguely heard the conversation of two or three men.

“Have you heard? The Skygale Sect recruited a disciple with six Spiritual Meridians. She’s called Huangfu Xin or something.”

“Are you sure? Six Spiritual Meridians? How is it possible?”

“How is it not possible?” The Sect Leader, Tiangu Zi, had personally married her to his first disciple, Qin Xiu. It’s said that they will get married after this Nine Provinces Swordsmanship Competition. They will fete every sect with a grand wedding ceremony and show off their strengths.”

“That sounds fair. Qin Xiu is in the Foundation Building Realm. In the last Nine Provinces Swordsmanship Competition, none of the disciples from the Nine-cloud Sect or Cold-billow Sword Sect could defeat him. I think Mo Yu is nothing in front of him. Mo Yo can only put on airs in front of us.”

“All right, all right. Stop talking. Let’s go back now lest the elders notice us missing.”

As the footsteps fading away, Xiao Chen clenched his fists tightly, cracking knuckles. He then punched the Snow Chaste Tree as the petals rustled and fell to the ground.

“Skygale Sect… Qin Xiu…”

At the crack of dawn, Xiao Chen was holding a broken sword in his room. This was the very sword that Qin Xiu had broken in the Xiao Family, the Teal Blade.

A few moments later, the sun had risen. He went outside and found the sunlight a bit dazzling. The dews hanging on the grasses were glimmering under the sunlight.

Also, there was the palm print he left on the Snow Chaste Tree.

“Young Master, you’re up so early.” A door creaked open, and then Lil Ruo walked out. She was inhaling the fresh mountain air.

Xiao Chen nodded and smiled slightly, saying, “Yes. I have classes to attend to later. I’m leaving now. See you.”

“Well, come back early at noon, Young Master.”

On the way, he met the three princes and saw them looking listless with heavy dark circles. They looked as if they had over-indulged themselves. He said, “At such a young age, how can you be so listless? What have you done last night?”