Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 65 – Grand Alchemy Meeting

Two people pushed open the door and several eyes gathered on them. As the two Wei Family juniors saw Wei Jing’s smiling face, they were left stunned. As for the senior-apprentice sister and Qi Jiao, they tensed up a little. They hadn’t done anything at all, and in fact they didn’t know what they should do. Even if Qin Yu agreed to anything it wasn’t related to them at all.

Wei Jing’s eyes swept over. He smiled, “Two misses, feel relieved that little friend Qin Yu has agreed to an exchange. To keep with our previous promise, please accept this bottle of Condensed Jade Dew.”

This was the knowledge of an experienced man. Although the two young girls hadn’t said anything at all, Wei Jing was still able to read the moment and change his tone a little so that everyone thought that the reason Qin Yu agreed to him was partially to show some face to these two. Little friend, little friend, this is the most I can do for you!

Seeing this happy fellow’s eyes light up like a bonfire, Qin Yu’s eyes twitched. Just what was this fellow doing?

Could he have awakened some playful mode!?

The senior-apprentice sister was incredibly surprised and overjoyed. Just as she received the jade bottle, she paused for a moment and turned her head.

Qi Jiao was blushing red. She looked Qin Yu in the eyes and quietly said, “Thank you.”

Qin Yu cupped his hands across his chest. “There is no need to thank me, Miss Qi.”

After the two young women left, Wei Jing chuckled. “Little friend sure has good judgment. That young Miss Qi is kindhearted and gracious. It’s rare to find someone like that. Oh, you don’t need to explain anything to me, I’ll be on my way now.”

Qin Yu bitterly smiled. What was with all these insinuations? He shook his head and avoided the surprised looks of his neighbors as he headed back into his stone house.

The next day, the two Wei Family juniors respectfully knocked on the door. After a moment they quickly hurried away.

Qin Yu had 5000 more spirit stones in his storage bag and the Skythunder Bamboo was short a branch. Although it was only a tiny section, it was still part of a 10,000 year Skythunder Bamboo; the price was absolutely undervalued.

Of course, everything that needed to be said was said. If Wei Jing was smart he wouldn’t meddle in his business anymore.

Suddenly, loud noises rose up from outside and powerful fluctuations of strength transmitted from the distance.

Qin Yu’s complexion changed. He flicked his sleeves and pushed open the house’s doors. With several flickers of his body, he appeared halfway up the mountainside.

He looked towards the core valley with rapt attention. A divine red beam of light shot into the skies and illuminated the heavens. Rich spiritual strength spread outwards.

Three distressed figures rushed out with massive dark clouds chasing right behind. A horrifying buzzing sound from vibrating wings flooded the world.

“Purpleback Bluewing Ants!”

“My heavens, how could they be so terrifying!”

“Those are three Golden Cores and looking at their auras, the weakest amongst them is at the late Golden Core realm. But, none of them have the strength to resist!”

With miserable cries, the three Golden Core cultivators that snuck into Immortal Eclipse Valley’s forbidden land were soon torn apart and eaten up as food by the Purpleback Bluewing Ants. Qin Yu felt his heart shiver and his mind raced. With a wave of his sleeve, several golden leaves appeared in his hands. These were the leaves of the Greatsun Mulberry.

In the distance, the mass of Purpleback Bluewing Ants that killed the three Golden Cores were about to turn back and head home. But suddenly they cried out in excitement and turned back around.

Qin Yu jumped in fear. He never thought that even though he was so far away and he had just taken out the Greatsun Mulberry leaves, the Purpleback Bluewing Ants would still be able to discover them. Moreover, their reaction was incredibly fierce, as if they had been starving for countless years.

After quickly putting the leaves back into his storage bag, Qin Yu copied the other cultivators around him and started to scream in panic and retreat. But by this time, the Purpleback Bluewing Ants had already flown close by. They circled in the skies, constantly emitting angry screams. Their speed was extraordinary; it was no wonder they could overtake and kill three late Golden Core realm masters!

Shua –

A silver-haired old man appeared in front of the mass of ants. His hands constantly formed mudras as boundless waves of magic power erupted from him, as if mountains were crashing and thunder was roaring.

The Purpleback Bluewing Ants howled again and again. But after losing their target, they eventually flew away and disappeared with the divine red light.

The silver-haired man turned around. His face was covered in a veil of mist so that no one could make out his features, but his eyes shone like great suns that could see through all things. Beneath his gaze, everyone froze, and panic began to swell up from deep in their hearts. Luckily, he didn’t seem to notice anything and he disappeared as soon as he arrived.

Qin Yu was covered in a cold sweat. This man was absolutely a Nascent Soul cultivator; his strength was even above that of the Seven Slaughter Demon Sect’s Sect Master, Heavenstar Demon.

Immortal Eclipse Valley was truly terrifying!

The red divine light proved the existence of the Radiant Divine Wood, and the temptation that the Greatsun Mulberry leaves held for the Purpleback Bluewing Ants was far greater than he had imagined. With Immortal Eclipse Valley being so dreadful, how could he approach the Radiant Red Wood?

As Qin Yu was worried about how to approach the Radiant Red Wood, there were also some people wondering about him.

Qi Jiao rubbed her chin, a bit distracted. If he really liked her, how come he didn’t come looking for her?

As the senior-apprentice sister saw this, she hesitated for a moment before walking over. “Junior-apprentice sister, what are you thinking about?”

Qi Jiao blushed, “Nothing.”

The senior-apprentice sister sat down. With a thoughtful look, she said, “Junior-apprentice sister, I will admit that I underestimated Qin Yu. If he can have Senior Wei place him in such high regard then there must be something extraordinary about him. But, this person is absolutely not a good match for you.”

Qi Jiao’s eyes widened. “Why?”

The senior-apprentice sister shook her head. “Honorable master said that if Qin Yu is so extraordinary and yet is willing to hide himself amongst the people and appear ordinary, then he must have some plan in mind. With the recent matter of the Radiant Divine Wood being spread everywhere, it’s likely he came here for that reason.”

Qi Jiao cried out in alarm. “That’s not good, he cannot have any plans about the Radiant Red Wood. Just today, three Golden Cores were torn apart and eaten by those Purpleback Bluewing Ants, so how could he even think about it!?”

The senior-apprentice sister covered Qi Jiao’s mouth. “Hush! Do you want everyone to know? This is only honorable master’s guess, it isn’t necessarily the truth.”

There was also something else that the senior-apprentice sister didn’t say. According to their honorable master, Qin Yu had no romantic affection towards her at all. Rather, the reason he helped them was because of the scabbard. Originally, the senior-apprentice sister hadn’t believed this, but if Qin Yu really did have intentions towards Qi Jiao it would have been impossible for him to not appear for so many days.

The senior-apprentice sister wanted to inform Qi Jiao about this so that she wouldn’t be further saddened in the future, but as she saw her heavyhearted and morose appearance, she couldn’t bring herself to say it.

…..

The Radiant Red Wood was like a devilish temptation that wrapped itself around the hearts of all, causing their innermost feelings of desire to surge outwards. Even so, they were left suffering without any way to get close. But at this time, Immortal Eclipse Valley opened a door on their own initiative to allow people a chance to approach the Radiant Red Wood.

The demonic path was still rampaging through the Southern Empire. In order to rouse the morale of the cultivator alliance and help lift the banner of resistance against the demonic path, Immortal Eclipse Valley decided to hold a Grand Alchemy Meeting. Foundation Establishment and Golden Core cultivators were all able to participate, and the top ten participants were allowed to cultivate beneath the Radiant Red Wood for a month. This competition only compared one’s alchemy skills and not their cultivation.

At the same time, news spread out from Immortal Eclipse Valley that the ancient Radiant Red Wood was gathering a massive amount of elementary heaven and earth strength. This created a natural domain, and within this domain a single day of cultivation would equal a month of cultivation outside. And, there was also the mysterious effect of breaking through bottlenecks.

The Southern Empire and Northern Dynasty began to seethe with excitement.

Some people said that Immortal Eclipse Valley’s true goal was to formally declare ownership of the Radiant Red Wood. Taking advantage of the Grand Alchemy Meeting they wanted to warn everyone so that factions from all over would forget any ill intent they had. But no matter what the situation was, as the news spread out, dark undercurrents began to form.

There were far too many people registering and it was impossible for all of them to compete. Immortal Eclipse Valley set up three screening methods and only by passing all three could one register.

These were to choose the correct alchemy materials, choose the right pill recipe, and then refine a basic level pill that met all standards. With Qin Yu’s performance he was able to smoothly register.

Half a month later, the Grand Alchemy Meeting began as scheduled. Immoral Eclipse Valley cleared out all their alchemist disciples from Alchemy Mountain to use the place as the competition field.

Alchemy Mountain was 3000 feet tall and countless holes were carved into the surface. All of these holes were caves that were opened by previous cultivators of Immortal Eclipse Valley, and it was one of the inheritances that helped Immortal Eclipse Valley reach the level they were at today.

The one managing the Grand Alchemy Meeting was a late Golden Core Elder of Immortal Eclipse Valley, a man named Eclipse Xin. He had a somber and humorless expression that was just a bit cold. “The Grand Alchemy Meeting prohibits any fraudulent methods; any offenders will be severely punished. Today, there is a limit of two hours. Those who create a qualified pill will pass and the rest will be eliminated. Begin!”

Whoosh –

Whoosh –

The participating cultivators had already been verified and were anxiously waiting. They quickly flew up Alchemy Mountain. For alchemy, two hours was too short a time period; none of them had the spare time to think of anything else.

In the crowd, Qi Jiao’s eyes widened. She suddenly froze as she saw a figure in the flow of cultivators.

Qin Yu was unexpectedly an alchemist!

At this time he was flying up with everyone else, seeming completely ordinary. As she thought of what her senior-apprentice sister had told her, she anxiously bit her lips.

Could it be that you really came for the Radiant Red Wood?

Qin Yu seemed to sense something. He turned his head and their gazes touched. He briefly smiled and nodded and then flew up into an alchemy cave.

After entering the cave, Qin Yu didn’t hurriedly start refining pills like everyone else. He slowly swept his divine sense across every inch of the room, and after making sure that nothing was wrong, he revealed a smile.

Immortal Eclipse Valley still kept to their rules. Like this, things would be absolutely safe for him. With the little blue lamp in hand, a top ten ranking was already guaranteed.

This wasn’t fair to others, but did true fairness exist in this world?

By the time Qin Yu sat down, a fifth of the time had passed. Still, his expression was calm and tranquil. He leisurely glanced at the materials in front of him.

Ghost Lotus Flowers, Dry Thunder Branches, Clear Roasted Grass, Fuxi Burl…there were many different types of materials of different quality. Some were of extremely good quality, some had withered, and some were even fake.

For example, Dry Thunder Branches. They were the result of heavenly thunder striking mulberry willow trees and then taking the surviving wood. Because of this process, the price was extremely high. Many cultivators tried to profit from this and attempted to manufacture fakes using their thunder techniques, and some methods were incredibly subtle, making it hard to identify if they were genuine or not.

For a competent alchemist, identifying materials was the most important basic knowledge and this was being tested at the very start of the competition. This pile of materials included all sorts of qualities and varieties and many different types of pills could be refined. As for what materials were chosen and what pill was refined, that was up to the individual.

Qin Yu grabbed six different materials. They were all ordinary types. Compared to precious materials like Dry Thunder Branches, one wouldn’t even glance at them. But, although it was true that Immortal Eclipse Valley was disgustingly rich, with over 500 cultivators participating in this competition it was impossible for them to waste precious materials like this.

Of course, there was likely an extremely small number of Dry Thunder Branches, but Qin Yu clearly didn’t see any. What he wanted to refine was the Essence Augmenting Pill. Yes, that was right, the most ordinary pill that all Foundation Establishment realm cultivators could use, the pill used to enhance their magic power and cultivation.

Even if one successfully refined this pill, there wouldn’t be any bragging rights at all. However, this competition only required that the pill meet the basic standards and didn’t specify a higher level of quality.

Taking out the Fleeting Flame Furnace, Qin Yu poured in his magic power. The fire elemental within was activated and a burning hot heat was immediately released. As Qin Yu waited for the Fleeting Flame Furnace to heat up, he flicked his sleeve, tossing the first material into the furnace.

Several hundred people were refining pills at the same time and the rich medicinal smell filled the senses. This sort of scene could only appear in Immortal Eclipse Valley, but to an alchemist it wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

Bang –

With a dull explosion, an odious smell rushed out from a cave. A cultivator howled out in pain and bitterness, “This Thousandgold Grass is fake!”

Soon, an explosion rang out from another cave. A disheveled cultivator rushed out, breathless with anger, “Which bastard caused me to fail in refining my pill? Come out and meet me!”

It was clear that the previous explosion had caused this person to fail.

The gloomy-faced cultivator walked out from his cave. “What are you shouting about? If your furnace exploded it’s because your level is too low!”

“You bastard, I will teach you today why flowers are red!”

“I’m not scared of you!”

Just as the two people were about to fight, the Immortal Eclipse Valley cultivators intervened and forced them to leave. According to the rules set down by Immortal Eclipse Valley for the Grand Alchemy Meeting, as long as one didn’t directly ruin another person’s pill refining process, then there would be no punishment.

If a cultivator was affected by external influences, leading to the failure of your pill refining, that only meant that your heart and mind weren’t calm enough and your skill wasn’t high enough. There wasn’t anyone to blame but yourself.