Chapter 313: Choice

“Senior Brother Chen, the next time you come, you must do some Elixir business with me. Any Elixir will do, but the quantity can’t be too small!”

‘This crafty merchant feels the profit was too little and wants to make it up elsewhere,’ Chen Qingyang thought.

Chen Qingyang didn’t hesitate. “Alright. The next time I return, I’ll definitely do business with you.”

Shopkeeper Wang added, “Is there a specific date, if I may trouble Senior Brother Chen?”

“Within the month. It won’t even take a full month. In short, it will be very soon.”

Hearing this, Shopkeeper Wang’s face lit up with a smile. “Ah, that’s wonderful… By the way, how many Elixirs are we talking about?”

Chen Qingyang thought for a moment. He would have to bring some Five Elements Essence to trade next time, so the number of Elixirs couldn’t be too small. He said, “At least twenty.”

Shopkeeper Wang pondered for a moment, then cupped his hands in a bow. “That will do. In the future, Senior Brother Chen must remember to visit Gentle Breeze often!”

Chen Qingyang naturally agreed readily. “Don’t worry, don’t worry.”

‘If I let him know I’m coming to trade for Five Elements Essence again, would he still be this happy?’

‘Probably not.’

He used the remaining Spirit Stones to exchange for alchemy ingredients, making a show of carrying them out in a cloth sack right in front of Shopkeeper Wang. Only after leaving the premises did he store them away using Universe in the Sleeve.

Otherwise, if Gentle Breeze found out, it would be the same as the entire Tai Xu Sect knowing, which would make things very difficult.

After leaving, he stored the items in his Universe in the Sleeve, traveled via Wind Control, and landed outside his small courtyard on Cyan Bamboo Peak.

Pushing the door open, he was immediately greeted by Hong’Er. “Senior Brother, a senior sister who says she’s from Sun-piercing Peak is waiting in the house. I saw she was very pretty and seemed close to you, so I invited her in.”

Chen Qingyang shot her a light glare. “If you keep talking nonsense like that, aren’t you afraid she’ll hear you?”

“I’m not afraid. It’s not like I’m saying anything bad. Senior Sister Xu is inside talking with her now.”

“Alright, I get it. Don’t spout nonsense in the future.”

Hong’Er giggled and left.

Chen Qingyang had already spotted the figure in cyan. It was Jing Shu.

‘She came so quickly, and I haven’t even sorted out the Elixirs she needs.’

Beside the long table, Jing Shu sat with one leg crossed over the other, her fair ankle exposed. Her slender waist supported her upper body as she held a teacup, taking a delicate sip. Then, she smiled and looked at Chen Qingyang.

“Junior Brother Chen, so you’re hiding a beauty in a golden house. This is much more blissful than when you were on Sun-piercing Peak with Li Qianxue. If she were here, you definitely wouldn’t dare to do this, would you?”

She was referring to Xu Baoling.

Xu Baoling lowered her head and quickly excused herself. Chen Qingyang sat down across from Jing Shu. “Senior Sister, you jest. My connection with Li Qianxue was from a time of ignorance, an arrangement by our parents through a matchmaker. There wasn’t much romantic affection between us. She did me a great favor by introducing me to the Immortal Sect, and she looked after me a lot when I was on Four Golden Peaks, but that’s all it was.”

Jing Shu spoke again, “Is it really that simple? After all, back then, everyone wondered who that old menial disciple beside the heaven’s chosen daughter was.”

Her smile was gentle, yet held a hint of mischief.

“Ah, Senior Sister, please stop making fun of me. When you look at all the relationships under the heavens, which one doesn’t involve matching social standing? If she’s a cloud in the sky, then I’m mud on the ground. I would never dare to entertain such thoughts.”

Jing Shu shook her head. “I don’t see it that way. You walk slowly, but your strength is in your stability. She walks quickly, but she’s prone to stumbling. Perhaps by the time she wakes up, your Cultivation will have caught up to hers.”

‘She really overestimates me, catching up to a Master of the Life Light Realm,’ he thought. “Senior Sister, you do love to joke!”

Jing Shu continued, “Sigh, let me tell you something you don’t know. According to the Jingling Peak Master’s deductions, the Heaven Repairing Glaze Pill is an item of Immortal Grade Tier Six or higher. The Sect only learned of it through years of studying the Lost Secret Realms of the Divine Court. As for what it looks like, no one has ever seen it.”

“The Sword Master dotes on her disciple and even sent out Masters of the Life Light Realm to search for it beyond the heavens. Several years have passed, and one has finally returned, but with nothing to show for it.”

“After all, it’s an Immortal Grade Elixir, and one that repairs the Divine Soul at that, which is incredibly rare. That’s why it’s so difficult for Li Qianxue to awaken. They could use the Bridge of Longevity to make her open her eyes, but if they did that, all her past memories and innate talent would vanish into nothingness. The Sword Master would never agree to that.”

He had never asked about this Elixir in detail before. Hearing about it today, he realized it had to be Immortal Grade Tier Six. The elixirs he was refining now were probably Mortal Grade Tier Six. The gap was immense.

“Then… what will happen if they can’t find it?”

Jing Shu said, “Right now, she’s being preserved on an Ice Bed, with a Soul-Stabilizing Nail ensuring that last bit of her Divine Soul in her heart doesn’t dissipate. If they can’t find a way to awaken her after several decades, or even a Hundred Years, they’ll have no choice but to give up… We who pursue Immortal Cultivation, how can we still be bound by mortal sentiments? The Sect has always been this way. When they decided to abandon the thousands of disciples in the Yong Kingdom, they just did it.”

When she spoke these words, she sounded completely devoid of emotion. He figured she must have seen more than enough of such things over the years.

“Senior Sister is right. We can only take it one step at a time.”

Jing Shu suddenly smiled again. “Your study of the Alchemy Dao isn’t related to this, is it?”

Chen Qingyang replied, “No. At that time, I was in an extremely difficult place, facing mortal danger at every turn. To survive, I had to have a skill. It was under those circumstances that I chose the Alchemy Dao.”

“As for Senior Sister Li, I am indebted to her. If I truly have the ability in the future, I will certainly save her, as a way of repaying that favor… Of course, if I don’t, then I can only attribute it to the will of heaven, which is beyond human power to defy!”

Jing Shu pondered for a moment. She didn’t laugh at Chen Qingyang’s wild fantasy. “That’s how it should be. Do what you can, and if you can’t, let it be.”

That was all idle chatter. Only now was Chen Qingyang getting to the point. “Senior Sister, regarding the Elixirs, please give me two more months. I have the Pill Formula now and am in the middle of preparations. How about I deliver twenty of them all at once in two months?”

Jing Shu didn’t hesitate. “Of course, that’s not a problem. I’ve waited for years; what’s a little longer? I wonder what the Pill Formula looks like. May I have a look?”

Chen Qingyang took it out from his sleeve and handed it to her. Jing Shu only glanced at it before handing it back. “Junior Brother really did get it! You weren’t tricking me!”

‘What kind of thing is that to say? So she was worried I was just trying to fob her off.’

After speaking, Jing Shu flicked her sleeve, and a few items landed on the long table.

Chen Qingyang looked closely. Two pieces of Fire Element Essence and four pieces of Wood Element Essence. Given the speed at which she found things, she must have given him everything she had.

“It seems Senior Sister spent quite a bit of effort in the Five Elements Cave?”

Jing Shu remained gentle. “It was alright. There were some fortunate encounters. Otherwise, I would have had a very hard time finding this Fire Element Essence. At most, I would have only found some earth-type.”

Don’t be fooled by her current appearance, speaking so gently. Back in the cave, she had revealed a ferocious side and almost got into a fight.

Chen Qingyang cupped his hands in a bow. “Thank you, Senior Sister. How many Elixirs does Senior Sister need for her realm breakthrough?”

Jing Shu thought for a moment. “Twenty for now. If I need more later, I’ll come ask Junior Brother for them.”

Chen Qingyang nodded. “Of course. You can count on me in the future.”

After chatting for a while, Jing Shu stood up as if to leave. Just before she did, she added, “Junior Brother, you must be careful of that Yao Jingzhi in the future. Master Miaoyou can’t be bothered with a junior like you, but that man has always loved grand achievements and being the center of attention. Don’t let someone use you as a stepping stone.”

Chen Qingyang thanked her again. “Thank you for the reminder.”

He saw her to the door. A flash of cyan light passed, and she was gone.

Immortal Cultivation was just something practiced by a group of mortals who had obtained great power. They were no different from the common folk in the Red Dust.

Those in high positions needed only a glance, a hint of preference, to let the flies around them smell opportunity, to smell blood in the water.

‘If he doesn’t come looking for me, I’ll go looking for him,’ Chen Qingyang was thinking. ‘Who would pass up a free Immortal Seedling?’

He returned to the room and sat down. Only then did Xu Baoling come in from outside.

“Senior Brother, I just realized, our little courtyard needs a reception hall. I won’t mention how shabby it is, but it should at least be adequate, right? What kind of thing is it to receive guests in the Alchemy Room?”

She had a point.

Chen Qingyang hadn’t cared about this before, but now that he had seen the Dao Fields of so many Inner Sect Disciples, it really was a bit improper.

“We don’t lack Spirit Stones now. Let Zhang Ping handle this. Spend a little more, get a few miscellaneous task workers, and build a bigger one right next door. We can continue living here.”

He thought for a moment and added, “No need to be too extravagant. According to the Mountain and River Daoist Lord’s Method you’re practicing, we’ll have to move once you break through to Essence Condensation.”

“Alright. It can be completed within a few months then.”

Chen Qingyang gave another instruction, “These next two days, help me process as many ingredients as you can. I need to Refine the Soul Returning Pill. It’s time I went to see Master Yun Ci!”

Xu Baoling said, “Senior Brother, you should hurry. What Master dislikes the most is when people aren’t punctual.”

Chen Qingyang had learned that long ago. “Exactly.”

‘I also need to hurry up and remove the True Dragon Divine Soul from the Conscious Fish. That way, when I see the True Dragon again, it won’t be able to know what I’ve been doing lately.’

For the Conscious Fish, the best cultivation strategy was to stick close to the True Dragon and absorb its True Dragon Fire. Now, he would indeed have to wait a bit.

「As dusk fell.」

Sitting before the window, Chen Qingyang finally had a moment to take out the Pill Formula and study it carefully. After memorizing it completely, he burned it to ash, then summoned a gust of wind to blow it away.

He had refined many Tier Six Elixirs before, so this wasn’t very complicated for him. He took the ingredients, processed them, and threw them into the Pill Furnace.

By midnight, an Elixir had already formed.

Because the Green Fall Fruit of Eternal Life was used as the King Medicine, the Formed Pill was entirely green, perfectly round, and gave off a faint cyan-green luster.

The first batch yielded a Tier Two Elixir.

When he refined another batch, it came out directly as a Tier Three Elixir. Such a feat was due to many factors.

True Fire, Divine Soul, experience, and an even greater understanding and comprehension.

Trying to advance further after that wasn’t so easy, so he set it aside for now. Then, he started on the Tier Six Qianxue Soul Returning Pill.

He didn’t lack ingredients, and most of them were already processed. The initial preparations were extremely fast. He then put the ingredients—a portion for four pills—into the Pill Furnace.

He was now both certain and confident.

Flames flickered around the Pill Furnace. The warmth and light in the Alchemy Room lasted until dawn, and only when noon arrived did the process enter the “Late Fire” stage.

He checked the Elixirs. Their quality was excellent; not only had it not decreased, it had even improved.

He meditated and rested for a short while, then threw more ingredients into the Pill Furnace. This time, the Pill Formation yielded five pills. In this manner, he spent four days and managed to gather fourteen Elixirs. His efficiency was so high that Xu Baoling, watching from the side, was completely dumbfounded.

“I’ll leave these two for you. I’m taking the other twelve. Hurry up and break through to the next realm of your Cultivation. In the future, I will urgently need your skills as a Mountain and River Daoist Lord to help me cultivate Immortal Grass.”

Not to mention the future Qianxue Soul Returning Pill, and also that Profound Que Ascending Light Qi Breaking Realm Pill that could help one break through to the Realm of Life Light in a single go—they all had extremely high requirements for the quality of the Immortal Grass. Such grass could only be cultivated by themselves.

“Mm.”

After tidying up, he stored the Elixirs in his sleeve, activated Void Step Introduction, and headed towards Four Golden Peaks.

When Qingfeng saw it was Chen Qingyang, he led him directly up. Inside the house, Chen Qingyang saw Master Yun Ci.

Today, she had finally changed her attire. She wore a Treasure Lotus White Jade Crown on her head, looking solemn, elegant, and carrying a certain air of authority. She was dressed in a light cyan robe, with flowers embroidered on the lapels at her chest. It was slightly form-fitting, revealing her graceful figure, unlike the loose, snow-white Daoist Robe that usually enveloped her entirely.

The robe draped to the floor, her bare feet touching the ground lightly. She stood amidst flames, her gaze fixed outside the window.

“Disciple Chen Qingyang pays his respects to the Master!”

Hearing his voice, she finally turned and smiled at him. It was like ten-thousand-year-old ice melting, a moment of breathtaking grace. “No need for formalities. This time… you’re quite punctual!”