Chapter 390: 390. Chapter 386: Ignorance Is Truly Terrifying

390. Chapter 386: Ignorance Is Truly Terrifying

"Master, Ding Huan has arrived; I've escorted him to the Guest Hall and left him waiting." Mu Changlao's voice came from outside the cave dwelling.

Reminding Reminding Shen Yi was startled, then stood up with great delight: "Good, good, I'm coming right away."

After stepping out of the cave dwelling, Reminding Reminding Shen Yi clapped Mu Xing on the shoulder, his mood excellent.

Mu Xing was equally thrilled; since he had reported Ding Huan's arrival last time, he had been promoted from Mu Zhishi to Mu Changlao.

Yet after Ding Huan borrowed the sect's array plaque, he vanished without a word, leaving Mu Xing anxious and uneasy.

What he hadn't expected was that Ding Huan had returned to Immortal Mist Alchemy Gate—clearly, the Master had not misjudged him; this Ding Huan was a man of integrity.

……

Ding Huan had not waited long in the Guest Hall when he heard Reminding Reminding Shen Yi's hearty laugh: "Hahaha, Dao Friend Ding, long time no see."

Reminding Reminding Shen Yi walked into the Guest Hall behind him.

Seeing Reminding Reminding Shen Yi enter, the attendant disciples quickly took their leave.

Ding Huan stood up and handed the array plaque to Reminding Reminding Shen Yi: "Thank you, Master Shen. I've come specifically to return the array plaque—thank you for lending it to me."

Reminding Reminding Shen Yi pretended to casually take the plaque: "No need to thank me, it's just a small thing, nothing to mention…"

Then he sensed something was off—the array plaque had not been used.

"Dao Friend Ding, this array plaque hasn't been used?" Reminding Reminding Shen Yi picked it up in surprise and examined it closely.

Ding Huan smiled: "I happened to meet a friend who brought me in, so I didn't need to use the array plaque."

"Ah, this…" Reminding Reminding Shen Yi, seeing Ding Huan hadn't used the plaque, was at a loss for how to ask for his favor.

"Master Shen, these two friends of mine have just arrived in the Fourth Immortal Realm; they have nowhere to go…"

Before Ding Huan could finish, Reminding Reminding Shen Yi waved his hand: "As long as the two of you don't look down on Immortal Mist Alchemy Gate, you may join us."

"My Danxia Peak is short on disciples—why not join my Danxia Peak? My alchemy is decent, though my Dao arts are average…"

Qi Yonghan and Mu Zhen were no fools; they knew this was a rare opportunity.

Reminding Reminding Shen Yi was the sect leader of the Immortal Mist Alchemy Sect, inviting them to join the sect and become disciples of Danxia Peak.

This clearly meant he intended to take them as his own disciples.

Qi Yonghan and Mu Zhen quickly bowed deeply: "Qi Yonghan and Mu Zhen pay their respects to Master."

Reminding Reminding Shen Yi laughed again: "Good! My Zongzhu Peak doesn't take disciples lightly—I'll hold a formal initiation ceremony in a few days. You two will be my seventh and eighth disciples."

Ding Huan hadn't expected Reminding Reminding Shen Yi to take Qi Yonghan and Mu Zhen as disciples—it completely exceeded his plans.

He had thought it would be enough if they became inner-disciples of Immortal Mist Alchemy Gate; now they were becoming the Master's disciples.

A Master taking someone as a disciple meant he truly intended to care for them.

For those who cultivate the Dao, lineage is paramount.

If he takes them as disciples, he will surely pass on his own Dao.

"Mu Changlao…"

Reminding Reminding Shen Yi had called Mu Xing by that title so often, he didn't realize Mu Xing hadn't arrived yet.

What he hadn't expected was that Mu Xing immediately entered in response—it turned out Mu Xing had followed them to the Guest Hall and was waiting outside.

Reminding Reminding Shen Yi nodded inwardly; Mu Xing was sharp-witted and quite capable. Though his cultivation was weak, promoting him to Changlao was still a good decision.

"Mu Changlao, take Qi Yonghan and Mu Zhen to Danxia Peak, arrange their lodging, and begin preparing for the Zongzhu Peak's disciple initiation ceremony."

Hearing the Master's words, Mu Xing was stunned.

The Master's regard for Ding Huan could not be explained by ordinary logic.

The Zongzhu Peak of Immortal Mist Alchemy Gate was not easily entered—in the past few centuries, the Master had taken only six disciples.

Adding Qi Yonghan and Mu Zhen, that made eight disciples total.

"Yes." Though shaken, Mu Xing quickly led Qi Yonghan and Mu Zhen away.

"Dao Friend Ding, you may also stay on Danxia Peak," Reminding Reminding Shen Yi invited Ding Huan again after everyone had left.

Ding Huan smiled: "I'm leaving the Fourth Immortal Realm…"

Hearing Ding Huan planned to leave the Fourth Immortal Realm, Reminding Reminding Shen Yi felt a pang of disappointment.

But before he could speak, Ding Huan added: "I will leave the Fourth Immortal Realm, but not yet."

"I've gained some insight into locating Immortal Spirit Springs—if you don't mind, I'd be willing to help Immortal Mist Alchemy Gate search for a few Immortal Spirit Springs…"

Reminding Reminding Shen Yi leapt to his feet: "Dao Friend Ding, I've long wanted to ask you to find Immortal Spirit Springs for my sect—I only feared I'd be too abrupt. How could I possibly refuse such a favor?"

Ding Huan stood up: "Then let's not delay—Master, please lead the way now."

Reminding Reminding Shen Yi said solemnly: "Dao Friend Ding, the moment I saw you, I felt a deep kinship. Let us address each other as brothers. My Dao name is Mu Dan—calling me 'Master' is too formal."

Ding Huan accepted without hesitation: "Then I shall not refuse your kindness, Brother Mu Dan—lead on."

……

Immortal Mist Alchemy Gate appeared smaller than Baihe Immortal Dao.

But as Ding Huan entered the cluster of peaks of Immortal Mist Alchemy Gate, he immediately sensed the sect's aura was stronger than Baihe Immortal Dao's.

Reminding Reminding Shen Yi brought Ding Huan to the peaks behind the sect and sighed: "Once, there was an Immortal Spirit Spring here—but it was repeatedly ravaged by Immortal Thieves, and now the spring has long dried up."

"Our Immortal Mist Alchemy Gate now lacks Immortal Spirit Qi most of all—I've been stuck at the Third-Rank Immortal Alchemist level for years."

"Some of the sect's fourth-rank Immortal Spirit herbs have all been used by me to brew fourth-rank Immortal Pills—but after all these years, I've never succeeded. Instead, I've consumed vast amounts of the sect's Immortal Spirit Springs and stacks of fourth-rank Immortal Spirit herbs."

Hearing this, Ding Huan's heart stirred.

Could the sect cultivate fourth-rank Immortal Spirit herbs?

Did that mean this place could enable one to transcend the Xuan Immortal realm and ascend to higher levels?

If so, why had Reminding Reminding Shen Yi never broken through to Fourth-Rank Immortal Alchemist?

"Brother Mu Dan, can Immortal Mist Alchemy Gate's Immortal Spirit Qi cultivate mid-rank Immortal Spirit herbs?" Ding Huan asked one more question.

If it really is possible, then my guess is wrong.

Because if fourth-grade immortal herb can grow here, it means the heavenly and earthly laws here are not limited to cultivation up to Xuan Immortal as I imagined.

The heavenly and earthly laws are profoundly mysterious; if fourth-grade immortal herb can grow, it means I can advance to Fourth-Grade Immortal Array Master.

Reminding Reminding Shen Yi nodded: "Yes, fourth-grade immortal herb can indeed be cultivated, but besides the Immortal Spirit Spring, you also need higher-grade Immortal Crystals for cultivation."

"Such Immortal Crystals do not exist in the Fourth Immortal Realm—they mostly come from the Fifth Immortal Realm."

"Brother Mu Dan, do you have any of these Immortal Crystals? Could you show me one?" Ding Huan bowed.

Reminding Reminding Shen Yi pulled out two Immortal Crystals and handed them to Ding Huan: "These Immortal Crystals are strategic resources of my immortal sect, entirely dependent on supply from the Fifth Immortal Realm."

"Cultivating immortal herbs with these Immortal Crystals requires care—many immortal herbs have Five Element attributes, so the Immortal Crystals used for cultivation must differ accordingly."

"For example, these two I give you—one is Wood attribute, the other is Earth attribute. Wood-attribute Immortal Crystals can only cultivate Wood-attribute immortal herbs, and Earth-attribute Immortal Crystals can only cultivate Earth-attribute immortal herbs…"

While Reminding Reminding Shen Yi was still explaining, Ding Huan's heart was in turmoil.

The moment these two Immortal Crystals entered his hands, he sensed their purity was lower than his own refined ones, but the Dao rhythm and cosmic laws contained within them were vastly superior to his own Immortal Crystals.

Ding Huan casually pulled out one of his own refined Superior-grade Immortal Crystals and placed it beside Reminding Reminding Shen Yi's two for comparison.

Clearly, his refined Immortal Crystals had far higher purity than Reminding Reminding Shen Yi's.

But even more obvious was that his refined Immortal Crystals were only higher in purity—far inferior in the Dao laws and heavenly principles they contained compared to Reminding Reminding Shen Yi's.

At lower cultivation stages, using his Immortal Crystals would accelerate progress faster.

But once cultivation reached a certain level, using his own Immortal Crystals would be vastly inferior to Reminding Reminding Shen Yi's two.

"Huh? Ding Huan, this Immortal Crystal of yours is a high-purity Low-grade Immortal Crystal? Where did you get it?" Reminding Reminding Shen Yi exclaimed in surprise.

Ding Huan felt a faint bitter smile rise within him.

Ignorance is truly terrifying.

He had seen the Immortal Crystals used by others in the Fourth Immortal Realm—they were unquestionably Low-grade. So he had always assumed his refined ones were definitely Superior-grade.

Because his refined Immortal Crystals, whether in purity or cultivation effectiveness, were incomparably superior to Low-grade Immortal Crystals.

The gap was several tiers—what else could they be but Superior-grade?

Now, seeing the Immortal Crystals Reminding Reminding Shen Yi produced, he realized his own refined ones were still Low-grade.

The only difference was that his refined Low-grade Immortal Crystals had purity far beyond ordinary Low-grade Immortal Crystals.

"Brother Mu Dan, are there tiers within Low-grade Immortal Crystals?" Ding Huan asked.

Reminding Reminding Shen Yi said: "There are no tiers, but there are purity levels. The Low-grade Immortal Crystals used in the Fourth Immortal Realm are worthless in the Fifth Immortal Realm—they're all extremely low-purity junk."

"Your kind of Low-grade Immortal Crystal is what circulates in the Fifth Immortal Realm—it's considered high-purity Low-grade."

Ding Huan fell silent. If so, then the purity of Immortal Qi in the Fourth Immortal Realm must also be low.

No wonder, when he cultivated, he had to use the Great Cosmos Technique to construct a Zhou Tian, filtering out the muddled Dao rhythms from the Immortal Qi to refine its purity.

He had cultivated on the Three Heavens Star Continent before—he had never sensed that Immortal Qi needed refining at all.

Immortal Qi was only ever thin or dense—how could it contain muddled Dao rhythms and laws?

Here, Immortal Qi does contain muddled Dao rhythms and laws.

Thus, even in the Fourth Immortal Realm, no matter how extraordinary one's talent, ultimate achievement is limited.

Or rather, here, Xuan Immortal is the absolute limit.

Ding Huan did not understand why Reminding Reminding Shen Yi was still striving to become a Fourth-Grade Immortal Alchemist.

But he was certain that no matter how extraordinary Reminding Reminding Shen Yi's talent, he could not brew a Fourth-Grade Immortal Pill within the Fourth Immortal Realm.

It was not that Reminding Reminding Shen Yi's talent was insufficient—it was that the heavenly and earthly laws of this realm were insufficient for Reminding Reminding Shen Yi to comprehend the brewing of a Fourth-Grade Immortal Pill.