Chapter 84

After Long Xuan walked to the medicine garden and ordered the clone to pick all the mature spirit herbs, he hung the storage bag filled with spirit herbs on the Lin clone and casually drained his spiritual power, causing his cultivation to drop to the early Spirit Gathering stage.

He had always used this method to hide his cultivation. In his view, no matter what means are used to hide cultivation, it is not safe; only by truly becoming that cultivation level is it truly foolproof.

Long Xuan was very confident in his disguise, believing that even a Gu King wouldn't be able to see that he was hiding his cultivation, and then he sent the Lin clone to walk toward Old Long's thatched cottage.

The Lin clone knocked on the door, and when a voice inside called for him to enter, the Lin clone pushed the door open and entered with a nervous mood.

"Old Long, I'm here to deliver medicine to you!"

Old Long was still half-lying on the chair, looked at him sideways, and smiled: "Alright, stop hiding your cultivation. Your disguise can fool others but can't fool me."

Long Xuan's expression suddenly stiffened, and he was completely bewildered. What happened to the promise that even a Gu King couldn't see through it? How could he be slapped in the face so quickly? How exactly did he see through it? Is he cheating?

Damn! He has a cheat!

Old Long looked him up and down with great interest and exclaimed: "The external avatar created by the 'Sun Moon Heart Scripture' is truly perfect. Most people really can't see any flaws."

"Ever since the 'Sun Moon Heart Scripture' was brought out of the ancient tomb, it has been spread everywhere. Many people have learned it, but most of them have had problems."

"Many people had their external avatars killed by their own clones as soon as they were condensed, and then they were replaced, with outsiders unable to see any flaws at all."

"I have no interest in such a suicidal cultivation method, but your clone is very stable. I don't know how you maintain it."

Old Long looked him up and down carefully a few times, but he wasn't too curious. In his view, even if it could be stable, it was only temporary.

Little did he know that Long Xuan hadn't cultivated the "Sun Moon Heart Scripture" at all. Although his "Ten Extremes Scripture" borrowed a lot of content from that method, he added many of his own innovations, and even the number and attributes of the clones had changed. The original text had long been modified beyond recognition by him.

With the assistance of his cheat, the cultivation method he created was already very perfect, without any loopholes, and had eliminated the drawbacks of the "Sun Moon Heart Scripture" to the greatest extent.

As long as the clones are not left to roam free, it is absolutely impossible for any problems to occur.

It is precisely because of this that Long Xuan dared to use it boldly. Otherwise, with his cautious nature, he would have long ago locked all the clones in cages and let them cultivate in the cages. This is something he would absolutely do.

After Old Long looked him up and down a few times, he said again: "I really didn't expect that the 'Sun Moon Heart Scripture' could actually be compatible with the Ten Extremes Body! The Ten Extremes Body can actually cultivate the 'Sun Moon Heart Scripture'. This is truly beyond my expectations!"

Long Xuan knew he had misunderstood. After seeing that this was a clone and that the similarity to the clones created by the Sun Moon Heart Scripture was very high, he took it for granted that he had cultivated the "Sun Moon Heart Scripture" and misunderstood that the "Sun Moon Heart Scripture" was a cultivation method suitable for the Ten Extremes Body.

However, for this kind of misunderstanding, he would naturally not point it out.

A small scattered cultivator being able to create a top-tier cultivation method suitable for the Ten Extremes Body is truly too heaven-defying, and no one would believe it. Old Long's misunderstanding was reasonable.

Old Long looked into Long Xuan's eyes and continued: "If you were the previous you, I would definitely be too lazy to bother with you."

"But your Ten Extremes Body now has a compatible cultivation method, which means you have become a peerless genius and have the value of being focused on by the Long Clan."

"I cherish talent. From now on, follow me. I will definitely teach you everything I know and cultivate you into a powerhouse."

"You have good alchemy talent, so first follow me and start learning alchemy. I am currently preparing to try refining a Third Grade Spirit Pill. You come and be my medicine boy to help out, and I permit you to observe from the side."

"This is my Long Clan's famous Purple Demon Flame formula. Collect the materials and refine it as quickly as possible."

Old Long threw a formula at Long Xuan, and without caring whether he agreed or not, he forcibly took him in as a medicine boy.

Long Xuan was stunned again. He came in this time to bring up this matter. He didn't expect Old Long to have the same intention. It was truly a coincidence.

The plan to plant a nail in the Long family was unexpectedly smooth, completed without any effort. It was so simple that Long Xuan felt a bit unbelievable.

He took the Purple Demon Flame formula in a daze and was speechless. He had already had this thing for a long time; what does he need this for?

However, he was soon shocked. This thing is the Long Clan's non-transferable secret, belonging to the clan's treasure. It was taught to him so generously? How is this possible?

Long Xuan's expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly said: "Did Old Long take the wrong one? This is the Long Clan's unique secret method, and the junior is not qualified to learn it."

Old Long looked at him, chuckled, and said meaningfully: "Do you know that before the Long family stationed themselves in this village, there were no people with the surname Long?"

Hearing this, Long Xuan's spirit was shaken, and he showed a look of disbelief. Could it be that he really has the bloodline of the Long Clan?

Is he an illegitimate child left outside by some powerful Long Clan Gu cultivator? Does he actually have a strong background? It can't be such a coincidence!

No wonder, no wonder Old Long didn't find anyone else to take care of his medicine garden, but chose him.

No wonder he would give him such a high salary. He didn't think about it carefully before, but now thinking about it, how could Old Long share profits with him?

The salary Old Long gave him was that after handing over the specified amount of spirit herbs, all the extra spirit herbs produced would belong to him. It seemed to be motivating him, but once a year of big harvest was encountered, his salary would be ridiculously high.

One must know that mortals are the cheapest labor. Giving one spirit stone is already the limit. Why would Old Long share profits with him? Does he really have a big background?

But that's not right either. If he really has the Long Clan bloodline, how could the Long Clan ignore him? This is a bit unexplainable, and Long Xuan was confused.

"Could it be that the junior has a very strong background?" Long Xuan immediately asked in surprise.

"No need to doubt." Old Long looked at him and smiled: "You indeed have a big background, but this is definitely not a coincidence. To be precise, all the mortals with the surname Long nearby have a big background."

Knowing that his stomach was full of doubts at this time, Old Long didn't sell it short and continued to explain: "When Long Clan Gu cultivators were stationed in major villages, it was common for them to have relationships with women in mortal villages, and the outflow of bloodline was inevitable."

"Don't look at the fact that not many offspring were born, but as those offspring continued to multiply, after developing for I don't know how many generations, the Long Clan bloodline was everywhere."

"The Long Clan's resources are limited and cannot support so many people, so the Long Clan has had a clan rule for a long time."

"That is, all offspring mixed with mortals are not allowed to be brought back to the Long family, and they are not allowed to be helped, even the Long family's ancestors cannot violate this clan rule."

"Unless this child has good cultivation aptitude and can be brought back to the family for cultivation, otherwise no one can open this door."

"If it weren't stipulated this way, the Long family would be in chaos. Heaven knows how many descendants those guys have outside. Once they are all brought back, the consequences would be unimaginable."

Hearing this, Long Xuan was completely stunned. Are these Gu cultivators with the surname Long all animals? Sowing seeds everywhere, and after sowing them, they don't even care. It's truly too irresponsible.

"That is to say, the junior has already met the standard to be brought back to the Long family and can meet his relatives?" Long Xuan asked impatiently.

Old Long looked at him and smiled: "Where do you still have any relatives? The only one who has some blood relationship with you is that Long Lie. He is your grandfather's younger brother. You should call him Great Uncle."

"That branch that loves to court death only has you two left. I also gave you this lucrative position of medicine garden servant because of his face."

"Don't blame him for never caring about you. This is the Long Clan's clan rule. Immortals and mortals are forever separated. Clan members mixed with mortals cannot be cared for, unless you can show enough value to be recruited into the family for key cultivation."

Hearing this, Long Xuan was shocked. It was actually him? That drunkard? Could this be a top-tier relative?

Thinking of the scene when he first met Long Lie and thinking of his performance, Long Xuan frowned slightly. Is this person really reliable? He expressed deep doubt.

He felt that he was afraid he wouldn't be able to borrow any strength from this top-tier relative and might even be pitted by him later.

That is to say, in the Long family, besides having Old Long covering him, he actually has no backing? Long Xuan felt tired for a while, having looked forward to it for so long.

However, the upgraded Old Long belongs to the potential Gu, with the potential to become a Third Grade Alchemist. Since he has upgraded from a servant to his medicine boy, he can find ways to shorten the time for him to become a Third Grade Alchemist.

Once Old Long advances to become the only Third Grade Alchemist in the Far West, then as his disciple, he can really walk sideways, basically without fearing anyone.

This can also be considered as tuition for stealing so many things from him, and at the same time, it can be considered as repaying the favor of his special care for him.

It is simple to say that a Second Grade Alchemist advances to a Third Grade Alchemist, and it is also difficult.

Without the heritage of a Third Grade Alchemist, a Second Grade Alchemist will never become a Third Grade Alchemist even if he works himself to death. The heritage of a Third Grade Alchemist is not so easy to obtain.

If there is a Third Grade Alchemist heritage, then you only need to throw resources to constantly try and make mistakes, and sooner or later you will become a Third Grade Alchemist.

It just so happens that trying and making mistakes is what he is best at, and the Long Clan, a major clan, is not lacking in Third Grade Alchemist heritage. Shortening the time for Old Long to become a Third Grade Alchemist is really not too difficult for him.

The faster Old Long becomes a Third Grade Alchemist, the better. Having a Third Grade Alchemist as a backing, he will be much more comfortable in the Long family, and it will be much more convenient to steal and learn things without being afraid of being bullied. It saves him from having to pretend to be forced and slap faces later, which is troublesome.

However, plans don't change as fast as changes. His original plan was to infiltrate the Long family as a servant to steal and learn.

But now that he has been told that he has the Long Clan bloodline, he is now considered a root-red and seedling-straight Long Clan Gu cultivator. He can learn whatever he wants openly and honestly, without taking risks.

After learning all the Long Clan's heritages, he will sneak away again. After all, he has too many secrets, and the top-grade Gu worms on his body are not convenient to expose. Joining a force has too many concerns.

He still likes being a carefree small scattered cultivator, unrestrained.

After a brief deep thought, Long Xuan made a decision in his heart.

For the next half year, Long Xuan gloriously became Old Long's little medicine boy, responsible for helping Old Long when refining pills.

After refining the Purple Demon Flame, he had to pretend to be a newbie all day long, pretending to know nothing, and learning alchemy from Old Long.

He had already stolen and learned all of Old Long's alchemy techniques long ago; why would he need to learn them again?

Long Xuan pretended to be very tired every day, so he simply pretended to be an alchemy genius who learns very quickly, wanting to get rid of this life as soon as possible.

However, Long Xuan's actions made Old Long excited. He didn't expect that his unintentional actions would actually lead to him taking in a alchemy genius who is rare in a thousand years. It is truly heaven's favor! Old Long was ecstatic.

Heaven knows, the reason he wanted to take Long Xuan as a medicine boy was not because he had alchemy aptitude, nor because he was a Ten Extremes Body with cultivation value, but entirely because he cultivated the "Sun Moon Heart Scripture."

Cultivating the "Sun Moon Heart Scripture" will possess a bunch of clones. Taking someone who cultivates the "Sun Moon Heart Scripture" as a medicine boy can allow one person to be used for many purposes, allowing him to possess a bunch of medicine boys at the same time.

Only needing to pay one person's salary but being able to possess a bunch of medicine boys—where can you find such a good thing? It's truly too cost-effective. This is his good plan.

Therefore, he must take Long Xuan as a medicine boy, even if he doesn't agree. Such a good medicine boy is hard to find even with a lantern. Opportunity knocks but once.

If Long Xuan knew that he had this plan, he would vomit blood. His sincerity was wrongly paid.

This Old Long simply doesn't act like a human!

And so, Long Xuan, who pretended to be an alchemy genius, was upgraded by Old Long again, gloriously upgrading from a medicine boy to his registered disciple, with a very fast upgrade speed.

Half a year later, Old Long's crazy laughter came from the thatched cottage.

"Hahaha... Success! Success! Finally success!"

"I didn't expect that I, Long Aozhen, am a genius. I actually advanced to a Third Grade Alchemist in just half a year!"

"The old man is now the only Third Grade Alchemist in the Far West. Let's see who dares to come and urge for debt! Hahaha..."

Hearing this, Long Xuan was speechless. Being able to refine Third Grade Spirit Pills has nothing to do with him. Look at how excited he is. Why doesn't he have any self-awareness?

After he became a Third Grade Alchemist, the first thing he thought of was that he was not afraid of being urged for debt. He only has this bit of ambition.

"Long Xuan, what was the temperature you controlled for the flame just now? Tell the master quickly!"

After Old Long was excited, he looked at Long Xuan and asked expectantly.

Hearing this, Long Xuan showed a look of difficulty. How should he say this?

In this world, when talking about the temperature of a flame, they say high temperature, medium temperature, low temperature, or big fire, medium fire, small fire.

When talking about how much spirit herb to use, they say trace amount, medium amount, large amount, or appropriate amount.

How much is considered a medium amount? How big a fire is considered a medium fire?

There is no fixed standard; everyone has their own standard.

Including time, strength, and speed, they are all vague concepts in this world, and there are no precise units of measurement at all.

Heaven knows that the dosage on Long Xuan's pill formula is marked in grams, and the fire is marked in degrees Celsius.

No matter which link it is, he is precise to perfection in numerical values; a little more or a little less won't work.

It is precisely because of this rigor, coupled with the assistance of the cheat, that Long Xuan's pill success rate and pill yield rate can reach 100%.

And this world clearly does not have units of measurement like grams, degrees Celsius, one second, or one Newton.

The alchemists in this world cannot be 100% precise in any numerical value, which is one of the reasons why their pill refining failure rate is so high.

But now the problem comes. If Long Xuan tells him how high a temperature he used just now, he won't understand it at all. Long Xuan himself doesn't know how to explain it to him.

He can't spend another month teaching him modern mathematical knowledge and physical knowledge, right? Then who is the master and who is the apprentice?

Old Long also seemed to see his difficulty, so he put away his smile and looked at him seriously: "Let's try again. I will control the fire, and you control the temperature. This time I will use soul power to perceive your temperature."

Long Xuan nodded; this is the only way.

So half an hour later, another furnace of Third Grade Spirit Pills was successfully released. Old Long laughed wildly again with excitement: "Hahaha... The old man is really a genius! Actually successfully refined another furnace of Third Grade Spirit Pills. Let me ask, who else has this success rate?"

"Long Xuan! This time I will record a merit for you. From now on, you are my direct disciple!"

Good fellow, Long Xuan actually upgraded again and again and again, from a registered disciple to a direct disciple. The upgrade speed can be called god-speed.

Now he is only one last step away from being a closing disciple.

(End of chapter)