Chapter 214

The first-grade incense was as thick as a fist. Unlike the third-grade incense which burned out quickly, the burning of the first-grade incense lasted for a long time. Now that the incense had burned out, the air was still filled with a rich medicinal fragrance.

Bathed in the medicinal fragrance, the vast majority of people had not yet recovered from their shock. They hadn't expected that Hua Changxi could really light the first-grade incense.

Not everyone was surprised that Hua Changxi lit the first-grade incense. Seeing Gu Xing wasn't, Gu Jinfan wasn't, and even Meng Qingyao had an "I knew it" expression.

Seeing Gu Xing had known that this girl had an extraordinary significance to the Alchemy Saint Hall ever since she pushed open the doors of the Alchemy Saint Hall and took away the ten wooden plaques of the Qihuang Pavilions. In his view, it was perfectly normal that she could light the first-grade incense.

Gu Jinfan's expression was somewhat complex. Watching Hua Changxi, who only survived because of her rebirth, light the first-grade incense, and thinking that she, who had returned through rebirth, was not even as good as someone who had died young in her previous life, she found it hard to let go.

On the Guardian family side, Meng Qingyao's expression was exceptionally solemn. She had come to the Medicine Department carrying the mission and expectations of her family and was to take over the Alchemy Saint Hall in the future. But at this moment, watching Hua Changxi, who had lit the first-grade incense, she had a strong premonition that this person might truly be her greatest opponent.

Because of the lighting of the first-grade incense, everyone's gaze toward Hua Changxi was no longer indifferent, but had become solemn.

Before this, for the people on the Medicine Department side, even if Hua Changxi could crack the secrets of the Qihuang Pavilions, even if she could refine a first-grade top-quality pill, she was powerless and without influence, so no one really took her to heart.

Everyone present knew that even if a lone wolf's strength was great, their influence was limited.

But now, Hua Changxi, having obtained a high-grade Divine Wood Secret Realm, was completely different from before, and her importance had instantly risen several levels.

For the people on the Guardian family side, before this, Hua Changxi was just one of eighteen Pavilion Masters. Even if she obtained a wooden plaque, she posed no threat to them.

But Hua Changxi, having obtained a high-grade Divine Wood Secret Realm, was equivalent to having received high recognition from the Divine Wood. This point alone could affect their layout and planning for the Alchemy Saint Hall.

Amidst the varied gazes of the crowd, Hua Changxi stepped back with a tense face. At this moment, she wasn't as happy as she had imagined; instead, her mood was somewhat heavy.

As soon as the Divine Wood leaf entered her dantian, she received all the information about the Divine Wood Secret Realm.

The Alchemy Saint Hall's Divine Wood Secret Realm had a total of nine grades, and what she obtained was an eighth-grade Divine Wood Secret Realm.

In a first-grade Divine Wood Secret Realm, only the spiritual herbs and plants needed by Qi Refining cultivators grow; in a second-grade secret realm, the spiritual herbs and plants needed for the Qi Refining and Qi Sea realms grow; in a third-grade secret realm, those needed for the Qi Refining, Qi Sea, and Golden Core realms...

By the same logic, the eighth-grade Divine Wood Secret Realm contains the spiritual herbs and plants needed for the eight realms of Qi Refining, Qi Sea, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Spirit Platform, Spirit Condensation, Out-of-Body, and Dao Integration.

Obtaining an eighth-grade Divine Wood Secret Realm that had never been extinguished was equivalent to Hua Changxi waiting for a huge medicinal resource library. She should be happy, but an eighth-grade secret realm was not easy to take.

The key to the secret realm was the Divine Wood leaf. From the moment she took the Divine Wood leaf, she had a connection with the Divine Wood.

When she successfully opened the First Qihuang Pavilion, she had no connection with the Alchemy Saint Hall, but at this moment, just because she had taken over the eighth-grade Divine Wood Secret Realm, she was truly a member of the Alchemy Saint Hall.

If the Alchemy Saint Hall encountered any crisis in the future, she would have to show up to save the day immediately.

Thinking of the demon race she encountered at the center of the Artifact Saint Palace's formation eye, and thinking of Baili Changfeng who sacrificed himself and turned to stone to plug the crack in the formation eye, Hua Changxi felt a heavy stone pressing on her shoulders.

Obtaining the eighth-grade Divine Wood Secret Realm made her happy, but becoming a member of the Alchemy Saint Hall gave her a feeling of being trapped.

At this moment, Hua Changxi had never so clearly realized what it meant to "gain and lose"—everything has a price!

Because Hua Changxi didn't show much excitement, everyone felt they couldn't understand it. Even Seeing Gu Xing looked at her with a strange expression many times.

"Although Hua Changxi lit the first-grade incense, looking at her appearance, the grade of the secret realm shouldn't be too high."

Mu Qingying, Yuan Tianchou, and Shen Qianfan, who had obtained Divine Wood leaves, looked at each other silently after hearing the discussions of the people around them.

After receiving the Divine Wood leaves, they all understood the situation of the Divine Wood Secret Realm.

The three grades of incense correspond to three grades of secret realms. Lighting the third-grade incense can obtain one of the first, second, or third-grade secret realms; lighting the second-grade incense can obtain one of the fourth, fifth, or sixth-grade secret realms; lighting the first-grade incense can obtain one of the seventh, eighth, or ninth-grade secret realms.

The lowest grade Hua Changxi could have obtained was a seventh-grade secret realm. The spiritual herb resources in a seventh-grade Divine Wood Secret Realm could supply a cultivator up to the Out-of-Body realm.

Hua Changxi wasn't unhappy; she was probably so happy in her heart that she was about to fly, but because she was in front of people, she couldn't show it.

"Little Friend Hua, what grade of secret realm did you get?"

This question was asked by Xia Zhen. As an old-school cultivator, Xia Zhen knew that inquiring about others' opportunities was a taboo, but he really couldn't help it. He couldn't understand why Hua Changxi could light the first-grade incense. Could it be that she was the one who lit the alchemy fire on the first street of the Alchemy Saint Hall?

Hua Changxi looked at Xia Zhen and asked with a smile: "Senior Xia, I heard that the Guardians are searching for fated people everywhere. May I ask, besides the Medicine Department, have you planted people in other Holy Land ruins?"

Hearing this question, Xia Zhen's expression sank immediately: "Little Friend Hua, what the Guardians do is not for you to ask."

Hua Changxi also put away the smile on her face and looked straight at Xia Zhen: "Senior Xia, you are not the Lord of the Holy Land. What grade of secret realm I obtained is also not for you to ask."

Xia Zhen really didn't expect that he would be contradicted by a junior multiple times in one day. It was the first time he had encountered someone who didn't give him face like this. He smiled without warmth and said: "Little Friend Hua seems to have a lot of hostility toward this old man?"

Hua Changxi also smiled without warmth: "Senior Xia, before today, we didn't know each other. Why would I have hostility toward you? Isn't this hostility something you stirred up? Why are you asking me instead?"

Xia Zhen stopped talking, looked deeply at Hua Changxi, and was the first to look away.

Before coming to the Medicine Department, based on the information collected by his subordinates, the impression Hua Changxi gave him was: rebellious against elders, arrogant and unruly, not close to family, and having no friends. Even if she had some talent for alchemy, she was just an unlikable and unsociable young lady.

Similar to those martial artists who liked to fight alone in the past, this kind of person who didn't know how to cooperate or develop their own power couldn't stir up any big waves and couldn't enter his eyes at all.

But after meeting and talking in person, Xia Zhen found that his judgment of Hua Changxi was too one-sided. This was a person who was not bound by secularity. The sharpness she displayed made him, a Spirit Platform realm expert, feel a deep sense of wariness.

This wariness came inexplicably, making Xia Zhen feel somewhat absurd and ridiculous. At this moment, he just shook his head and smiled, casting the thought aside. It wasn't until the day the Alchemy Saint Hall reappeared and he saw Hua Changxi take the Holy Land's Alchemy Seal that he realized it was the destructive nature she carried, as if rules were nothing, that had caused his wariness.

This was a person who broke the rules!