Chapter 353: Abnormalities

The sky in the north was darker than in the south, and dusk was the same.

It came quickly and went quickly, making way for the night.

Because white snow didn't like sunlight, because the firmament hated dusk.

So soon the sky was pitch black.

Because the length of the night was not as long as longing...

Xu Qing stood in front of the encampment's tent, gazing into the dark night, looking far off in the direction of the Nanhuang Continent.

This place was too far from the Nanhuang Continent.

"I don't know how Chen Feiyuan is, and how Tingyu is now. With them there, there won't be a lack of sacrifices before the teacher's grave." Xu Qing muttered and walked into the tent of the residence.

After sitting cross-legged, he sighed softly and closed his eyes.

For a long time, the undulations of his mind calmed down, and only then did he take out the small mud tile bottle.

"Hope it can be useful." Xu Qing placed the small mud tile bottle aside, took out the black iron skewer that had accompanied him for many years, and gently stroked it with his right hand.

He knew every bit of sharpness of this iron skewer, and he mastered every detail.

The teacher in the slums once said that the older a person is, the more nostalgic they are. Xu Qing felt that this was not very absolute, because he was not old, but he was also very nostalgic.

Whether it was old people or old things, as long as they had helped him, he would not forget them.

Carrying such emotions, Xu Qing lowered his head and opened the small mud tile bottle, put the black iron skewer into the bottle mouth, and emanated perception to fuse into the iron skewer to feel the changes within.

Soon, Xu Qing felt a wisp of golden mist emanating from the small mud tile bottle.

This mist swayed, drilling into the black iron skewer, but more of it wandered and circled on the iron skewer, wrapping around it circle by circle, slowly nourishing it.

This process was not short, lasting a full night, until the sky outside was dim, and all the golden mist wrapped around the iron skewer dissipated.

They all fused into the iron skewer.

Xu Qing took out the iron skewer and observed it in front of his eyes. He looked at every inch very seriously. Until he completely probed it, a happy smile appeared on Xu Qing's expression.

The several gaps that had appeared on the black iron skewer were repaired by more than half overnight. Most importantly, its own material seemed to be somewhat different from before.

It was as if it had been re-refined once.

On this point, the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor had more say, so after Xu Qing summoned him, the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor saw this scene and also felt it very seriously, finally speaking with certainty.

"Master, I can feel that the material of the iron skewer is changing. Like a cultivator promoting, it is also promoting. If it goes on like this, it will undergo transformation, changing from a heavy treasure to a magic weapon, and because it was blessed by me before, once it becomes a magic weapon, its power will not be inferior to a spirit weapon at all!

It can even be said that it is a spirit weapon, but it needs more nourishment."

Xu Qing nodded, brilliance appearing in his eyes.

This Shangzhang Gengjin Qi was very expensive, but being able to be purchased was naturally the simplest way to obtain it. However, Xu Qing felt that the quantity sold outside shouldn't be very large.

"Find it first. In addition, I will go to the Taichu Liyou Pillar recently to see if I can obtain this kind of Shangzhang Gengjin Qi within."

Xu Qing made up his mind, carefully put away the iron skewer, closed his eyes, and sat in meditation.

Soon the sky was bright. Xu Qing opened his eyes, walked out, and searched for Gengjin Qi in the markets of the entire city.

It was indeed as he judged. This kind of peculiar Qi emanating from the Taichu Liyou Pillar, although not without sales, the quantity was indeed very small. Xu Qing searched for a day and only collected three wisps.

According to his analysis, to complete the promotion of the black iron skewer, he needed at least thirty wisps.

With this thought in mind, as dusk approached, on his way to the encampment, Xu Qing saw that Dao altar again, saw the old man sitting cross-legged upon it, and heard the Dao of vegetation from his mouth.

"Night Corpse Leading Cow, also known as Poison Mountain Root Spotted Pigeon Chrysanthemum, is the vine stem and root of the Asteraceae plant fine-veined spotted pigeon chrysanthemum, a woody vine, growing in corpse-yin mountain gullies, cold streams, or jungles..."

The voice was vicissitudinous, echoing in all directions, but the number of loose cultivators outside the Dao altar was even less than yesterday. Today there were only a dozen people.

Xu Qing listened for a while, then left silently. This time, before leaving, he paid a spirit stone.

Just like this, time passed, and soon half a month passed.

In this half month, more and more disciples of various human sects came to the Taichu Liyou Pillar, making Taichu City even more lively, and quite a few cultivators climbing the Taichu Liyou Pillar also increased.

It was just that the one ranked first was still Li Ziliang of the Taisi Immortal Sect. His height had reached nearly eight hundred zhang. The higher he went, it seemed the more difficult it was.

During this period, this person issued three more challenge letters to the Alliance, challenging Xu Qing again.

Xu Qing ignored it. During this period of time, besides occasionally collecting some Gengjin Qi, the vast majority of his time was placed on the Dao altar. His stopping by when returning every day had become a habit of his.

Until he heard the old man start lecturing on alchemy, he simply sat by the Dao altar to listen.

Back then, Master Bai only taught him plants and trees, and didn't teach much about alchemy techniques, all of which Xu Qing learned slowly by himself later and self-taught.

Although he had some achievements, overall, Xu Qing was still lacking in alchemy. Thus, he listened very seriously. Such days carried calmness, making Xu Qing feel somewhat dazed many times, as if he had returned to the scavenger camp.

At the same time, he also felt that the unremarkable old man had extremely high attainments in alchemy, because many key points were often one sentence from the other party, and Xu Qing would have a feeling of sudden enlightenment.

"The method of Yin-Yang two-pole conversion is actually just one of them. The Dao of alchemy is broad and profound. To this day, the human race has more than six thousand kinds of alchemy techniques."

"I don't advocate teaching these alchemy techniques, because this is just an external method, so at most I only teach the Yin-Yang two-pole conversion technique. Therefore, this method is more about the application of plants and trees rather than refining."

"You must remember, there are thousands of paths, and the Dao eventually returns to one."

"So the technique of the Dao of alchemy, the foundation is the most important. Afterward, you need to ponder suitable techniques by yourself. After all, the simplest mixing together is also equally effective."

"And the so-called refining, in the old man's view, is all a method to better stimulate and allocate the medicinal effects of plants and trees."

"These methods, although they are alchemy techniques, I hope that the human cultivators who listen to my alchemy method can know the essence, so that they can have future achievements."

Xu Qing listened to all this, his expression dazed. Faintly, the old man in front of him became Master Bai.

He instinctively sat upright, instinctively remembered all this, and at the same time, in this learning, he gradually felt more transparent about the Dao of alchemy and plants and trees.

His own attainments in plants, trees, and alchemy had obvious improvement, and he had a system as support.

His foundation was built by Master Bai, which was extremely solid.

Subsequent self-study was mixed and messy, gradually becoming chaotic. It was because he relied on his previous foundation and focused on the Dao of poison that he could barely maintain his own system of the Dao of alchemy from collapsing.

And this learning was like removing the dross and selecting the essence, making Xu Qing gradually have a direction in the Dao of alchemy here.

According to the statement of Seventh Uncle when he took Xu Qing to the Ghost Emperor Mountain back then, in Xu Qing's heart, a "God" was moved in again today, a "God" that illuminated his direction of the Dao of alchemy.

This made Xu Qing very happy. He hadn't been this happy for a long time.

That kind of growth in knowledge gave him a feeling of being very fulfilled, but accidents always appeared unexpectedly, causing Xu Qing's learning to be interrupted.

There was one thing he needed to deal with.

The cause of the matter was some not-very-serious conflicts. Several disciples of the Xuanyou Sect and the Seven Blood Eyes of the Eight Sect Alliance had friction with the Taisi Immortal Sect respectively. In fact, this matter had a little bit to do with Xu Qing.

His repeated ignoring of Li Ziliang's challenges during this period of time made the gossip very much. These remarks naturally also made the disciples of the Eight Sect Alliance feel uncomfortable.

Thus, the appearance of friction was hard to avoid.

This time it was like this. Several disciples of the Xuanyou Sect and the Seven Blood Eyes were detained by Li Ziliang of the Taisi Immortal Sect during the friction with the Taisi Immortal Sect, and the action was very ruthless.

And he informed the Eight Sect Alliance, specifically asking Xu Qing to come and apologize to lead the people.

This was obviously forcing Xu Qing to fight with him.

This matter also spread quickly, making the disciples of various sects here at the Taichu Liyou Pillar all pay attention to this matter with the mentality of watching the fun.

After all, Xu Qing's previous refusal to accept challenges, in the eyes of those who didn't understand Xu Qing, was obviously an act of avoiding battle and cowardice, and now Li Ziliang did this, they wanted to see if Xu Qing would continue to avoid it.

"A bit annoying." Xu Qing frowned after knowing this matter. What he was annoyed about was naturally not the disciples of the Alliance, but Li Ziliang of the Taisi Immortal Sect.

The other party's intention to use him to establish prestige and attract the attention of the Sword-Holders was seen clearly by Xu Qing.

This intention couldn't be said to be wrong, but detaining and forcing a fight to achieve the goal was a bit too much, and once things were too much, it represented abnormality.

For abnormal things, Xu Qing would ponder deeply.

For example, did the other party's repeated challenges have other purposes?

But no matter what the purpose was, the other party didn't seem to be ready, so he just forced himself to accept the challenge, rather than a life-and-death battle, which made Xu Qing feel that the other party was likely trying to probe his strength.

And no matter if it was the slums or the scavenger camp, or the way of handling things he learned in the sect, when encountering such a situation, Xu Qing's method of handling it was only one.

That was not to give the other party a second chance to take action, but to kill them the first time.

What he disliked most was not being able to kill after fighting. After all, from the analysis, the component of the other party's malice was likely to exist. In such a situation, hatred must be formed.

If the other party could still continue to grow, Xu Qing would feel it was a hidden danger in his heart.

Thus, Xu Qing took out the jade slip and transmitted sound to the Ancestor to inquire.

"Ancestor, within the range of the Taichu Liyou Pillar, killing is not allowed. Does this range refer to the entire territory, or this city?"

After a while, the Ancestor responded gloomily.

"This city, you kid... forget it, you handle it yourself."

Xu Qing nodded. Outside the Dao altar, he clasped his fists toward the old man who was lecturing on plants and trees. He knew the other party wouldn't pay attention, because during this period of time, this old man only lectured, and never inquired or paid attention to anyone below.

But Xu Qing attached great importance to etiquette. After bowing at this moment, his body swayed and he rushed toward the firmament, fast as thunder, arriving directly outside the city, standing in mid-air, and spoke calmly.

"Li Ziliang, life-and-death battle, do you accept or not."

As soon as the voice was spoken, the entire Taichu City, disciples of various sects, were instantly in an uproar. ===== CHAPTER 354 =====