Danxia Mountain, a makeshift alchemy room was built beside the Taoist temple.
Night fell, and the entire mountain range was silent.
"It's done!"
Little Man, who had changed into a Taoist boy's attire, rushed to Xu Ming'an, who was cooking a braised carp for his two disciples in the kitchen, and exclaimed, "Master, Master, I saw several pills taking shape in the alchemy furnace!"
"Ah!?"
Xu Ming'an hurriedly scooped the braised carp out of the pot, then added some water to the pot and said to Xiao Han, who was tending the fire, "Xiao Han, withdraw the fire."
The next moment, Xu Ming'an, with his two disciples, rushed into the alchemy room. They saw that the alchemy furnace, which was placed in the thatched hut, did not explode like the previous few times. Instead, amidst the still dark red furnace ashes, crystal-clear particles were emitting a rich medicinal fragrance. Yes, the pills had indeed been successfully formed!
Xu Ming'an was overjoyed. Although only four Zhenyuan Pills were successfully formed, it was a significant improvement. He quickly sat down, took out a piece of paper, and used a charred piece of charcoal to jot down the details of the fire control and the timing of circulating the mental pháp during the pill refining process. From now on, as long as he followed this path, the success rate of pill formation would greatly increase.
This batch was worth it!
"Master!"
Little Man carefully took out the four pills from the furnace with a small shovel and placed them on a clean plate, saying with a smile, "Are these the pills that the immortals on the mountain eat?"
"That's right."
Xu Ming'an dotingly patted the young boy's head and smiled, "According to the Danxia Manual, this type of Zhenyuan Pill should be considered a relatively common pill, used to help cultivators break through realms. It has its effects, but there is clearly a big difference from superior pills. Go fetch Master's brocade pouch; we need to put the pills away quickly."
"Yes, Master!"
The young boy quickly brought the brocade pouch, carefully collected the pills, and handed them to his master. Xu Ming'an gently patted the pouch and tied it to his waist.
"Master!"
The little girl blinked her big eyes and said, "Now that our Taoist temple can refine immortal pills, will we not have to eat coarse food every day from now on? Immortal pills should be very expensive, shouldn't they..."
"I don't know, but it should be about the same."
Xu Ming'an scratched his head and smiled, "Don't worry, don't worry. When Master refines another batch and produces more pills, we'll sell these pills for money. Once we have the money, we can buy lots of delicious food from the town, and we can also hire masons to repair the roof of the mountain. Then, when it rains, we won't be kept awake by the sound of leaks in the temple..."
Little Man and Xiao Han smiled with squinted eyes; the future was promising!
Meanwhile, Xu Ming'an secretly thought that Lin Zhao had mentioned before that as long as he could refine pills, Lin Zhao could help him sell them at a suitable price. Xu Ming'an was a bit worried, after all, Lin Zhao was just a guard swordsman for someone else. Did he really have such great capabilities? However, he trusted Lin Zhao's character, so after gathering another batch of pills, he would send them to Lin Zhao. Then, by earning legitimate money, there would be hope of reviving the sect!
...
Early morning, Tianran Ju.
Lin Zhao, having replenished his stamina through the game's sleep status, rolled out of bed. Liu Liying was already waiting outside, having prepared a basin of water for him to wash his face. Lin Zhao washed his face perfunctorily, splashing some water and wiping it dry with a towel. Liu Liying giggled. She actually felt he could have washed more thoroughly, but since he was a man, there was no need for him to be so meticulous about everything.
In the study, Lin Zhao, holding the Thousand Cavalry Rolls of Snow, wrote several Heavenly Thunder Talismans with bold strokes. After consuming most of his stamina, he put away the Heavenly Thunder Talismans. Then, he sprang to the side of the gourd vine and squatted down, observing it carefully. The stamen of the first red gourd had already withered, and it was now growing vigorously. The fiery red patterns on the gourd's wall were becoming clearer. He had already decided that the first Immortal Gourd would go to his senior brother. As a fourteenth-level swordsman, his senior brother had no problem taking first place. As for himself, he would take the second one, the orange gourd.
He began to examine the orange gourd closely. The gourd flowers were blooming vibrantly, and a bee was currently resting on one. Dewdrops shimmered, and the small gourd beneath the stamen was already about a finger's length. It was a tender orange-gold all over. Lin Zhao gazed at it with fascination. He casually summoned his flying sword, Red Leaf, and hovered it in mid-air. He then sat down on the Red Leaf, staring at the orange gourd blankly.
"Brother Lin Zhao?"
Beside him, Su Qingjiu also squatted down and leaned close to his cheek, smiling, "Are you perhaps enchanted? Have you been poisoned by the Immortal Gourd..."
"Little Jiu'er, you don't understand."
Lin Zhao grinned and pointed at the red gourd on the vine, "This red gourd is the first Immortal Gourd to be produced, and it belongs to Third Senior Brother. I'll take the second one, which is this extremely beautiful orange gourd. Look, this orange gourd is still very young, but in the future, it will hang at my waist and warm countless flying swords. So now, looking at this orange gourd, I feel like I have a child..."
"Have a child?"
Su Qingjiu rolled her eyes and then rested on Lin Zhao's shoulder, watching with him. Suddenly, Su Qingjiu's beautiful eyes narrowed and she smiled. She raised her hand and gently pushed aside a gourd leaf with the tip of her sword sheath, Lingxi. Immediately, behind the gourd leaf, a third flower appeared, and beneath the stamen, a small gourd about an inch long had already formed, a pale yellow all over.
"The third one!?"
Lin Zhao was overjoyed, "Good omen, good omen! This one goes to Old Daoist Wang."
"Mm."
Su Qingjiu said, "Which number one is mine? Let me also experience the feeling of having a child."
"The fourth one."
"Alright, got it!"
Su Qingjiu squinted and smiled, "Breakfast is ready, shall we eat first?"
"Okay!"
After finishing a bowl of Eeel Noodle Soup, Lin Zhao patted his belly and let out a satisfied burp. But at that very moment, a pleasant bell sound suddenly reached his ears. The Spark, which had been nurtured in the third Sword Containing Lake, had been upgraded!
"Ding!"
System Prompt: Congratulations, your flying sword [Spark] (Immortal Grade) has been upgraded to Level 2, successfully awakening the divine ability [Ghost Cry]!
...
His second flying sword divine ability!
Lin Zhao took a deep breath and summoned the flying sword Spark from the Sword Containing Lake. With a flick of his hand, the detailed introduction to Ghost Cry appeared before his eyes.
[Ghost Cry]: Unleashes the power of the Flame Dao, dealing 1000% attack damage to the target, with a cooldown of 7 seconds.
...
Lin Zhao's mind buzzed a little. Spark's second divine ability, Ghost Cry, seemed average in stats, as it only dealt 1000% damage. The flying sword Mingyue's Moonfall also dealt 1000% AoE damage. On paper, Mingyue's attack output was higher than Spark's, but Spark was different because it also had the first passive skill, "Blazing Flame," which could significantly increase the next attack's power. Therefore, although Spark's Ghost Cry only dealt 1000% attack damage, the sword's inherent attack power was already much higher than Mingyue's. Combined with the overall attack bonus from the passive Blazing Flame, the damage dealt by this 1000% Ghost Cry was by no means comparable to Mingyue's.
Moreover, Ghost Cry was a single-target attack, meant for instant kills!
As long as Lin Zhao did not control Spark to launch normal attacks, every strike of Ghost Cry could benefit from the passive bonus of Blazing Flame. Especially in large team battles, what Mingyue couldn't instantly kill, Spark could!
Furthermore, there was no point in comparing the two flying swords. After all, if Mingyue finished attacking, Spark could attack again. They were both his own flying swords and indistinguishable.
Holding Spark in his palm, Lin Zhao felt a surge of ambition. It had been a long time since he had a good warm-up. He hadn't gone out to kill monsters and level up, and he was starting to fall behind the players' progression. Now, with Spark in hand, he felt invincible. Who should he fear?
Thus, he sent a message to Chen Xue: "Ah Xue, have there been any PKs recently? For example, has any guild been bullying our Crimson Moon Knights? Or perhaps our Crimson Moon Knights were PKed in a leveling spot, and our people were ambushed and had a Boss stolen?"
"No."
Chen Xue smiled, "For the past few days, it's been peaceful and prosperous. No one has caused trouble. Even guilds like the Azure Knights detour when they encounter our leveling teams. What? You want to PK?"
"No, no."
Lin Zhao smiled, "I'm not fond of fighting. I only like..."
"Enough, enough..."
Chen Xue said with a hint of disdain and a smile, "Stop mocking Lu Bu. When we really encounter a PK situation that we can't handle, we'll naturally call you. You should focus on your cultivation."
"Alright."
Lin Zhao nodded, closed the communicator, and then looked at the fiery red flying sword Spark in his palm, suddenly feeling a sense of "What's the use of this iron rod?"
Speaking of which, the Barbarian Abyss died in the battle in the Nichang World. His Sun-Moon Water-Fire Staff was taken back to the demon race by Liu Bai. Its whereabouts later were unknown. Such a treasure would surely not be disposed of casually. Perhaps a great demon wielding the Sun-Moon Water-Fire Staff was being nurtured again in the ancestral mountain of the demon race.
He still needed to become stronger!
He took a deep breath. Only with a multitude of strong cultivators in the human race's mountains could the four northern tribes truly be deterred!
...
The next day, early morning.
The northern domain, the Great Wilderness, was shrouded in mist.
On Danxia Mountain, the young Taoist Xu Ming'an, carrying a Zhenwu Sword, descended the mountain with his two disciples. It was simply because Xiao Han had mentioned in the morning that he hadn't had wontons in a long time, and there was no meat left on the mountain today. Xu Ming'an, not being very good at making wontons, had no choice but to take his last few copper coins and lead his two disciples down the mountain for a hearty meal.
At the foot of the mountain, a wonton stall was opening. The owner was a lean man who catered to passing merchants and mountain cultivators. Xu Ming'an sat down at a small table with his two disciples and ordered three bowls of wontons. As the three of them were eating, sweating profusely, two guests arrived at the next table. They were a young brother and sister. The brother wore a blue robe, dressed as a Jianghu cultivator. The sister wore a dark blue long dress and was quite beautiful, but her eyes were red, as if she had just been crying.
As soon as they sat down, the sister started crying again and said, "Brother, since childhood, Grandpa loved us two the most. I don't want Grandpa to die..."
"Yue'er."
The brother frowned, "Birth, aging, sickness, and death are natural phenomena. Moreover, Grandpa lived for three hundred years. He only died because his lifespan ran out..."