Chapter 447: Alchemic Arena?

The competition rules have been changed…

"I don't particularly care where the tournament is held…"

But the Sect Master and some of the younger disciples seem to care a lot.

The Alchemy Ancestor withdrew his gaze and turned to Seeing Hong Zun: "By the way, I heard Friend Ningfu recently entered seclusion to seek breakthrough?"

Ningfu is one of the few among Seeing Hong Zun's consorts who has comprehended the Dao's apex and is about to knock on the Immortal Gate.

Seeing Hong Zun paused: "Why are you asking about this?"

"Just mentioning it offhand." The Alchemy Ancestor remained calm. "Since she's in seclusion, the handover should be handled properly—this year's 'Transformation Condensate' is already a month late."

Transformation Condensate is a refining auxiliary material requiring direct harvesting by a True Insight cultivator, and its yield is low.

It is typically used only for extremely high-grade pills.

But since it involves someone on the verge of knocking on the Immortal Gate—and moreover, Seeing Hong Zun's consort—the junior disciples responsible dared not act on their own initiative.

In the end, it was their own disciple who notified him.

Now that I think of it, I might as well bring it up.

Seeing Hong Zun: "…"

This guy's mind is filled with nothing but pills.

"I'll assign someone to take over soon and deliver this year's quota as quickly as possible, but there won't be any next year."

She's in seclusion; naturally, you can't drag her out to keep harvesting.

Besides, the Transformation Condensate was merely a byproduct she gathered and refined while seeking a thread of opportunity for her Immortal Gate breakthrough.

As long as it doesn't interfere with her main goal, fine—but deliberately assigning a True Insight cultivator, one of the mainstays on the Starry Front battlefield, to do such a task? That's pure brain damage.

"Understood."

After getting the answer, the Alchemy Ancestor didn't dwell on the topic.

Such matters require only one sentence.

"I wonder which of those several who've touched this threshold will be the first to take the next step."

Will it be those few who've been in seclusion for a long time with no word?

Or Friend Ningfu, or your disciple?

Or perhaps someone like Gu Mo, who's slightly behind but not by much, and might overtake them?

Humanity hasn't produced a new True Immortal in many, many years…

"It could also be… the Cang Clan." Seeing Hong Zun suddenly said.

"…" The Alchemy Ancestor fell silent for a moment. "Perhaps."

Though the Cang Clan suffered countless casualties back then, one fact was hard to deny—many among them who reached the peak of True Insight still remain.

"But they're not worth fearing; after all, we won back then."

"Indeed."

Back then, one misstep meant total defeat—and yet we made it through.

How much more so now?

…

…

As the pale gray of the horizon fully faded, the entire world suddenly brightened.

Aside from the first few, the remaining participants of the Xian Sect Tournament who sought to test the strength of their pursuers also had their chance during this period.

The number wasn't large; including the swordsman Jiang Zheng happened upon and casually eliminated, there were only five.

Adding the previous seven, this year's Xian Sect Tournament's Soul Transformation division now has twelve fools who ventured out of the safe zone.

Aside from the Taoshang Dao Sect's Gou Dao cultivator, who was simply being 'cautious,' the vast majority of other participants sought to earn a ranking.

Naturally, they wouldn't add risk without cause…

But interestingly, though twelve fools acted recklessly, only one was eliminated—the other eleven remained unharmed…

In such a vast world, to run into another contestant hiding nearby? She's had terrible luck.

On the other side.

Among the mountains, Lin Mu cast deep shade.

Wind rustled through the leaves, occasionally accompanied by one or two bird calls.

The narrow path wound unevenly; perhaps because few passed through, Jian Ye Cao had nearly overtaken it.

Boom~!

A thread of true flame swept across, instantly burning all the weeds covering the path to ash.

Yet not a single spark flew outward, nor a trace of excess flame landed beyond the path.

Clearly, the fire-controller's technique was extremely refined.

"You're sure you won't learn?"

The voice echoed through the forest, and two figures emerged from around the bend.

It was Chi Jiuyu and Ye Zhiwei; after a night of recuperation, the two had returned to the safe zone early.

"Nope, nope, I'm a swordsman—why would I learn alchemy?!" Chi Jiuyu said sincerely.

Indeed, no one is perfect; though Jiuyu Laozu possesses peerless talent and supreme wisdom, she still has weaknesses.

For instance, alchemy—a skill that's utterly unglamorous—is very unsuited to her.

All that talk about medicinal properties and balancing this and that? It gave her a headache!

"Alright." Ye Zhiwei said nothing more.

It was rare to offer free basic instruction—since she herself didn't want to learn, she couldn't blame anyone else.

But someone like her, naturally restless and unable to sit still, isn't suited for alchemy at all.

As she was thinking, Ye Zhiwei suddenly paused, looking up in one direction; Chi Jiuyu did the same.

It wasn't another contestant they'd encountered.

But rather, several airship artifacts, like floating fortresses, entirely black, cast massive shadows on the ground as sunlight struck them.

At this moment, the airships pierced through the clouds, racing swiftly toward one direction.

Soon, the two retracted their gazes and exchanged a glance.

"Should we follow them and see?" x2

Both spoke at nearly the same moment, then both paused after speaking.

"Heh heh! I knew we still had great synergy!" Chi Jiuyu grinned.

"... Let's go."

After reaching consensus, the two instantly dispersed into ethereal qi and swiftly followed the departing artifact airship.

…

…

【Zhitui Xiancheng】, one of the Xianchengs under the jurisdiction of the Tianji Palace.

It was built upon the skull of a Return-to-Void cultivator defeated by the Ancestral Master Ancestor Xuan Qi.

Its scale is much larger than 【Zhide Xiancheng】, and even in normal times, three Soul Transformation Immortal Lords reside here; now, with chaos escalating, five Soul Transformation Immortal Lords are stationed within the city!

Every year, the offerings of talisman skins, blood essences, and Dao marrow must first be delivered here, where the "defective" ones are sorted out, and only the high-quality "premium" ones are sent to the Tianji Palace.

There's considerable room for manipulation here—it's a truly lucrative post.

Coincidentally, the date set by the Tianji Palace is just a few days away, so people from all the major "Xianchengs" are rushing here with their resources.

"This city doesn't look like anything good at all."

Above the horizon's clouds, two faint ethereal figures, as if they'd vanish at the brush of a breeze, were now gradually solidifying.

They were none other than Jiuyu and Ye Zhiwei, who had trailed the artifact airship here.

"It really doesn't look like anything good," Ye Zhiwei asked, gazing downward, "Should we go in and investigate?"

When they attacked the 【Soul-Fruit Domain】, Chi Jiuyu followed her orders; afterward, their mutual agreement to wait outside the safe zone was settled.

Now, with this skull-like city, it was her turn to give the orders.

Hmm…

As long as her orders aren't too insane.

Chi Jiuyu scratched his head.

Yet he saw caravans and airships pouring in endlessly from all directions into the skull-shaped 【Zhitui Xiancheng】.

From afar, it looked like a giant buried skull, its mouth wide open, ready to swallow everything around it.

The longer you stared, the more unsettling it became…

"Let's observe first."

Though his injuries had eased somewhat, they weren't fully healed—he couldn't act rashly.

"Mm."

The two descended and landed beside the road, observing the cultivation teams arriving from various Xianchengs, bringing offerings.

They activated their spiritual senses, their eyes shimmering with divine light.

Soon, they clearly saw what these cultivation teams were escorting as "offerings."

Talisman skins were the skins of cultivators who practiced skin-refining arts.

Blood essences were the blood of cultivators who practiced flesh-strengthening arts.

Dao marrow was the same.

In addition, there were "Five Senses Pills," "Seven Soul Liquids," and other products extracted from souls and spirit cores.

"..." Chi Jiuyu fell silent for two seconds, "Isn't the Tianji Palace supposed to be 'orthodox'?"

"Mm."

"Damn it!"

Can't this world just be normal for once? Why is everything like this everywhere?!

Since we've run into it, we can't just ignore it.

Besides, we need to replenish our spiritual items—much of our previous supply was used up healing injuries.

After all, the spiritual items she brought back weren't all suitable for healing…

Yet, just as the two carefully observed and pondered how to investigate and resolve this…

They failed to notice a tiny, unremarkable weed among the tall grass, its leaves dusted with grime, swaying slightly in the wind.

Then, suddenly, an eye sprouted on the dusty leaf—black and white, clear as a deep pool.

It was a beautiful eye, yet the sight was horrifying!

The eyeball turned.

When it saw Ye Zhiwei, it showed caution and surprise, but when it looked at Chi Jiuyu beside her, it froze—stunned.

Indeed, though it was merely an eye growing on a weed, it was profoundly human-like.

It seemed astonished that the two had come together.

After hesitating two seconds, the weed with the eye ultimately chose not to act rashly, remaining still to observe.

The entire plant remained hidden among the weeds, emitting no spiritual energy whatsoever.

Five seconds passed, and Chi Jiuyu and Ye Zhiwei still hadn't moved—yet the eye on the weed began to feel inexplicably uneasy.

Wrong!

Something's wrong!

How could we have noticed nothing at all for this long?

"Hey! Demon, where are you running?!"

With a soft cry, a hand reached out from the side and gripped the tiny blade of grass with perfect precision.

The "Chi Jiuyu" left behind dissolved; the real Chi Jiuyu grinned triumphantly and yanked the grass straight out of the weeds.

"You really thought we didn't notice you?!"

"…"

Careless.

"How about it, Little Ye? Can you tell what this thing is?"

The "Ye Zhiwei" left behind also dissolved; the real her appeared beside Chi Jiuyu, staring at the grass in her hand.

Yet after staring intently for a long while, the eye simply stared back at her, unafraid.

"I can't tell—looks completely ordinary, not at all like a grass spirit that has attained enlightenment,"

Chi Jiuyu's eyes glowed faintly with Jin Guang: "Me too…"

Under the Grand Void Illusion-Piercing Golden Eyes, not a single flaw could be detected!

No matter how you look, it's just an ordinary blade of grass…

"Hey, can you talk? If you don't, I'll kill you right now!" she threatened bluntly.

Then she raised her hand, preparing to poke the eye on the grass blade.

Growing right next to a place like this—how could it be anything good?!

"It's me."

Suddenly, a pair of lustrous, glistening lips appeared on the grass blade, emitting a voice Chi Jiuyu recognized.

Huh?!

"Little Zhao?!"

"Mm."

"Holy shit! What kind of divine art is this? Looks pretty interesting."

Saying this, she shook the grass blade again.

Now that it had a mouth, it looked even stranger.

"…" Zhao Ruohan pressed her lips together, "I'll give you the coordinates. Come find me. Don't let that tea seller follow."

That signature little gesture.

It's definitely Little Zhao!

Tea seller… Little Zhao…

Ye Zhiwei narrowed her eyes and recognized the person's identity.

That pervert's sister.

The two stared at each other; a faint, almost imperceptible hostility hung in the air.

"Uh… actually, we've all misunderstood—Little Ye isn't Dog Brother's online love interest."

On this matter, Chi Jiuyu felt she still needed to explain to Little Ye…

"…" Zhao Ruohan fell silent for two more seconds, "Come here first. I don't trust her."

Whether or not it's true, she doesn't trust her at all.

Chi Jiuyu looked helplessly at Ye Zhiwei.

Sigh~

What can you do? My charisma is just that strong—Little Zhao only trusts me.

"It's fine. Go ahead. I'll wait here," Ye Zhiwei suddenly said.

"Then… I'll go take a look?" Ye Zhiwei's understanding made Chi Jiuyu feel a twinge of guilt, so she added, "Don't worry—I'll explain everything clearly to Little Zhao."

"Mm, go ahead. I'll keep watch here."

Saying this, she turned around and continued gazing toward the direction of the 【Five Senses Zhitui Xiancheng】.

"…"

Chi Jiuyu wanted to say something, but ultimately said nothing, clenching the grass in her hand and turning to walk deeper in.

At the same time, a message reached her—coordinates of Zhao Ruohan's true location.

…

…

After following the coordinates for some distance, the silent Zhao Ruohan finally spoke.

"You seem to trust her a lot?"

"I wouldn't say 'a lot,' but I feel Little Ye is actually quite a good person…"

"Didn't you just meet for the first time?"

"It's basically the same—we trusted you the first time we met too!"

Zhao Ruohan: "…"

The first time we met, you literally gave me cold boiled water and broke my leg…

"Relax, relax—our relationship is definitely still better."

After saying this, Chi Jiuyu suddenly felt something was off.

Hss~

This scene feels strangely familiar…

Wait!

Had she just experienced the legendary 'Bloodfield'?

The moment this thought arose in her mind, she dismissed it internally.

No, no!

What even is this?

But... she now somewhat understood her aunt's feelings.

After teasing her aunt with a playful remark, she asked, "By the way, how's it going over there? How many points did you get?"

I've only got one point.

"..." Zhao Ruohan pressed her lips together. "I was injured by this world's Void Return cultivator and haven't earned any points yet."

Oh~

Chi Jiuyu instantly straightened her posture: "It's not your fault—the rules this time are like this. We've only managed one point so far too."

"So during this time, we've always felt the title 'Greatest Prodigy of the Ten Thousand Worlds' is undeserved."

You'd better really think that. (End of Chapter)