Chapter 133: Second-Grade Alchemist

Hua Changxi was delighted to unexpectedly gain a portable village, but at the moment, she was more concerned about the black fish pattern.

The black fish pattern on the back of her hand had already vanished. She wanted to confirm whether the appearance of the black fish pattern truly represented the degree of the black flame burning inside her body.

Hua Changxi sat cross-legged, sinking her consciousness into her dantian's qi sea, "watching" the wisp of black flame burning at the chest of her nascent soul, constantly recalling the scene when she had felt the urge to kill Gu Jinfan.

Sure enough, when the killing intent was awakened, the black flame began to flicker and sway, and at the same time, pain returned to the back of her hand.

Hua Changxi withdrew her consciousness and opened her eyes, just in time to see the black fish pattern slowly fading on the back of her hand.

"The awareness pattern..."

Hua Changxi roughly understood the function of the awareness pattern—it should be a tool to help her better perceive the changes in her seven emotions and six desires.

When emotions ran high, she often couldn't control herself. With this awareness pattern, it really could help her better manage her seven emotions and six desires.

"This awareness pattern is actually quite useful."

Previously, even when she felt the urge to kill someone, she could sense it, but it was mostly an instinctual reaction. With the reminder of the awareness pattern, it allowed her to be clearer about her own thoughts.

When her thoughts were clear, she could make better decisions.

Certain that the awareness pattern was beneficial and harmless, Hua Changxi felt relieved. She took out her alchemy furnace and medicinal herbs and began to focus on refining pills.

[First-Rate Alchemist (Perfect-Grade Pills): Refined Pills 9816 Furnaces (9816/)]

She needed to raise her alchemy rank quickly.

Nanxiang County.

Wei Zhenjie led Chu Junyi and the Demon-Suppressing Army and, upon exiting the Jiuyou Gengmen Pass, came directly under the archway of Lingguang Hall.

Gazing at the towering and majestic Lingguang Hall, Wei Zhenjie's eyes flickered: "Send more men to the Five Finger Mountain. We must find out the true identity of the Fire Lotus Immortal."

Chu Junyi nodded in acknowledgment: "Yes." After a pause, "Master, the Prince of Fu has ordered the blockade of all roads leading to Lingguang Hall."

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhenjie let out a snort that was half-smile, half-scorn: "What do you make of this?"

Chu Junyi: "Cultivators have many tricks up their sleeves. The imperial court cannot stop them."

Wei Zhenjie smiled: "The royal family certainly knows that too. The Prince of Fu is merely declaring the court's stance." As he spoke, his smile faded and his expression turned serious.

"Right now, the spiritual energy revival has only just begun. The imperial court still controls the Great Jin, and all forces dare not openly oppose the court. But this situation probably won't last long."

"Once the imperial court weakens and can no longer fully control the situation, an era of chaos will arrive."

Wei Zhenjie looked at Chu Junyi and the Demon-Suppressing Army behind him: "You must hurry and improve your strength. Otherwise, in the future, you won't even be able to protect yourselves, let alone guard the peace of the realm."

Seeing Wei Zhenjie speak so seriously today, Chu Junyi frowned: "Master, you seem very wary of Lingguang Hall, don't you?"

Wei Zhenjie looked at him: "Do you know what the manifestation of Lingguang Hall represents?"

Chu Junyi shook his head.

Wei Zhenjie gazed at the distant palace: "Lingguang Hall is the preaching dojo of the Vermilion Bird Emperor Lord in the Central Continent. Everyone who comes here to receive teachings and cultivates the techniques left by the Vermilion Bird Emperor Lord shares a common name—they are called the Vermilion Bird Army by the world."

After hearing this, Chu Junyi and the Demon-Suppressing Army present were all shaken.

Vermilion Bird Army...

So it was the designation of an army. Such a force indeed had the power to shake the foundation of the imperial court.

Chu Junyi: "Does the royal family know about this?"

Wei Zhenjie gave him a sidelong glance: "What do you think?"

Chu Junyi was silent for a moment: "The Prince of Fu and his people must want to find the one who opened Lingguang Hall even more than we do." Once found, they would likely want to uproot the source.

Wei Zhenjie said nothing, obviously tacitly agreeing.

"Let's go. Back to the Heavenly Division."

On the way back to the capital, the Demon-Suppressing Army was astonished by the changes in Nanxiang County.

"This is too absurd. The area of Nanxiang County is now dozens of times larger than before."

Chu Junyi turned back to look at the towering Lingguang Hall: "As those sealed ruins gradually reappear, our world will undergo earth-shattering changes."

Meng Ziyu quietly said to his comrade beside him with a laugh: "Many places are expanding now. If this continues, one day we might not even be able to reach the borders of Great Jin."

After hearing this, Chu Junyi's eyes flickered. The Great Jin had been founded for nearly a thousand years, unprecedented and likely without successor. Now that spiritual energy was reviving, the Great Jin still wanted to unify the world—difficult!

Perhaps in the future, the Great Jin dynasty might no longer exist.

Meng Ziyu added, "Nanxiang County is now almost as big as an average prefecture. The court will probably send more officials to govern this place."

At this, Ye Jingzhou spoke up: "The original officials of Nanxiang County have all been replaced."

Meng Ziyu was startled: "How do you know?"

Ye Jingzhou: "As soon as I left the Nine Abysses, I received a message from a colleague in the Heavenly Department. The Lingguang Hall appeared in Nanxiang County, and since it's so close to the capital, the imperial family won't let it go unchecked. Now all the officials in Nanxiang County are trusted appointees personally sent by Prince Fu."

Meng Ziyu: "What about the original officials of Nanxiang County?"

Ye Jingzhou shrugged and said nothing.

Those with some connections might have gone to other government offices; those without connections were either waiting for vacancies or directly dismissed.

Meng Ziyu clearly understood these inside stories. He sighed and said nothing.

Chu Junyi listened silently to his subordinates' conversation. Suddenly he saw Wei Zhenjie waving at him from the carriage ahead. He quickly rode up: "Master, what is it?"

Wei Zhenjie: "I heard that among this batch of confiscated artifacts, there is a storage artifact that even Jiang Yanyi couldn't open?"

Chu Junyi nodded: "It's a Buddhist bead."

Wei Zhenjie: "Show it to me."

Chu Junyi took out a string of Buddhist beads from his chest and handed it to Wei Zhenjie.

Wei Zhenjie took it, looked at it, and laughed: "This is something a young lady would wear." As he spoke, he gathered spiritual power and tried to forcibly erase the imprint on the beads.

"Master, be careful!"

The moment Wei Zhenjie's spiritual power touched the beads, a fire lotus flew out.

The fire lotus not only resisted Wei Zhenjie's spiritual power but also burned his palm.

"Master, are you alright?" Chu Junyi looked at Wei Zhenjie with concern.

Wei Zhenjie expended a great deal of spiritual power to extinguish the fire lotus. Being injured in front of his disciple, he felt a bit embarrassed, but what he felt more was fear.

A mere essence blood imprint could injure someone—one could imagine how powerful the owner of the beads was.

Although Wei Zhenjie still had ways to erase the imprint on the beads, he did not do so. He threw the string of beads back to Chu Junyi: "Put these beads away safely. They very likely belong to that Fire Lotus Fairy."

Chu Junyi had already guessed this when he saw the fire lotus fly out from the beads. He carefully put away the string of beads.

[Second-grade Alchemist (Lower-grade Pill): Alchemy 1 cauldron 1/10]

After three days and nights of focused alchemy, Hua Changxi finally raised her alchemist rank to second-grade.

Looking at the second-grade Yuanling Pill in her hand, Hua Changxi did not continue. Instead, she left the Medical Division and went to the Shennong Pharmacy in Feng'an Ward.

The fields of the grey bead were lying fallow like that—she thought it was too wasteful.

Upon arriving at the pharmacy, after checking on the shop's situation with Pucao and Aniu, Hua Changxi went to find the Green Ox Demon: "Green Ox, I'm taking you to a place."

The Green Ox Demon knew Hua Changxi would not harm it and agreed without a second thought. Then it felt the world spin, and when it next felt solid ground beneath its feet, it found it was no longer in the pharmacy's backyard.

"Where is this?"

Hua Changxi: "This is a portable village I just obtained. As you can see, so many fields here are lying fallow—such a waste. You are an ox, and ploughing is your specialty. How about working the land for me here?"

The Green Ox Demon had been living with Aniu and Pucao at the pharmacy for so long that it had grown accustomed to human ways of life. It immediately started bargaining: "Then how much are you paying me?"

Hua Changxi looked at the Green Ox, which was seriously discussing wages with her, and found it oddly amusing: "One thousand low-grade spirit stones a month."

The Green Ox shook its head: "Ten thousand low-grade spirit stones."

"Ten thousand is too much. I'll add a bit—two thousand low-grade spirit stones. Can't go higher."

"Five thousand low-grade spirit stones. Can't go lower."

"Fine, five thousand low-grade spirit stones, deal."

Seeing Hua Changxi agree so readily, the Green Ox felt it might have asked for too little and quickly added: "I don't want low-grade spirit stones. I want supreme-grade spirit stones."

Supreme-grade spirit stones contained purer spiritual energy, making absorption smoother.

Hua Changxi didn't mistreat the Blue Ox in this regard either: “Fine, from now on your monthly wage will be five supreme spirit stones. But Blue Ox, since I'm spending this many spirit stones to hire you, you'd better farm the land well.”

The Blue Ox flicked its tail: “Don't worry, farming is my specialty.”

Having settled on the wage, the Blue Ox began to wander around the portable village.

“Changxi, if you want to plant spirit grains and spirit herbs, the spiritual energy here probably isn't enough.”

“Go ahead and reclaim the wasteland first. I'm going to transport some spirit ore in.”

Hua Changxi said a word to Ah Niu, took the Blue Ox off to work for her, then rode clouds to Five Finger Mountain, moving one spirit ore of each metal, wood, water, fire, and earth attribute into the portable village.

Seeing her actions, the Mountain Spirit didn't say much, only told her to remember to replenish them.

“Replenish what?”

“You moved spirit ores to another space. The overall spiritual energy of Five Finger Mountain and the Four Spirits Realm has decreased. Of course you need to replenish it.”

“But how am I supposed to replenish it?”

“Go bring some from the outside.”

“The outside? I can go to the outside?”

“Outside cultivators can come in. Naturally you can go out.”

“But how do I go to the outside?”

“How would I know? You have to find out for yourself.”

“You don't know, yet you tell me to replenish it.”

“You moved the spirit ore. Of course you need to replenish it.”

“On ordinary days, cultivators entering and leaving Five Finger Mountain absorb quite a bit of spiritual energy. Why don't you make them replenish it?”

“Because they are cultivators of the Four Spirits Realm. When they die, their spiritual energy will return to the Four Spirits Realm.”

Hua Changxi listened to the Mountain Spirit's words, lost in thought: “Do you mean that my portable village is not considered part of the Four Spirits Realm?”

Mountain Spirit: “Of course not. This is a Sumeru mustard seed space, an independent space. Even if the Four Spirits Realm is destroyed, it will merely drift to another place, not be destroyed along with it.”

Hua Changxi: “I see... But isn't Five Finger Mountain my Daoist sanctuary? I moved a few spirit ores away, why do I have to return them?”

The Mountain Spirit looked at her seriously: “Immortal, all things are part of an endless cycle. You can freely use the resources of Five Finger Mountain, but you cannot move them to other spaces.”

“The spirit ores you moved into the Sumeru mustard seed cannot cycle with the resources of the Four Spirits Realm. If you don't replenish them, you are a thief of the Four Spirits Realm.”

“Do you want to be a thief?”

Hua Changxi didn't want to talk anymore: “Fine, I understand. I will replenish them.”

The Mountain Spirit nodded like a teachable child: “That's more like it.”