noffsinger Chapter 219 Prediction
Chapter 219 Prediction
a few days later.
Inside the cave.
Fang Qing sat cross-legged, his consciousness activating the Dao-Generating Pearl to check the progress of his Qi cultivation.
"So Sangji ultimately didn't choose to trick Senchen?"
"That's true... Although Mo Yunya was dissatisfied with the Secret Realm's move, he was still enduring it... After all, although the White Bone Path wanted to conquer the Shu region, in the end, they went to the east to fight the Joyful Union Sect... How could Si Chen possibly fight the White Bone Path to the death for the sake of the Joyful Union Sect?"
"Just from the battles between the Xuan Tu Sect and the Xuan Wu Sect, it's clear that... if Sen Chen truly doesn't want the White Bone Path to advance eastward, sending Purple Mansion True Persons to harass them... delaying them for ten or eight years would be a piece of cake."
"After all, the agreement between the Secret Realm and Moyun Cliff seems to carry a lot of weight. Apart from the White Bone Path, the other Secret Realm Dharma Kings really cannot enter the Shu region. Now that Baiyaotian has opened, Sangji sent the two Taras, Jixianglv and Fumohei, in... to collect some incense money and wait for an opportunity to act... Having received Fang Qing's warning, Sangji certainly wouldn't personally enter the cave heaven."
Even the two Taras, Kongque and Yueguangbai, were out in charge of the war.
The most dangerous task was naturally assigned to the two newcomers.
The previous promotion was precisely to fill the gap now!
"Forget it, the worst outcome is just the death of two Taras, so we can just keep promoting them..."
Fang Qing checked the situation of the Qi-absorbing method, then immediately stopped paying attention and turned his attention to himself.
During this period of time, he, under the identity of "Master Du Huodan", has been getting very close to Wan An and Zhan Hongxiu.
He also accepted a generous gift from Zhan Hongxiu and reluctantly agreed to instruct the woman in alchemy for a few days.
Just then, a sound transmission talisman flew in.
He casually pinched it, immediately smiled, and opened the cave's protective barrier: "Fellow Daoist, please come in."
Not long after, Zhan Hongxiu, dressed in a blue robe, entered, her face showing signs of fatigue, and her robe bearing slight traces of smoke and fire. Fang Qing sniffed and chuckled, "Another furnace explosion? Hmm... White Profound Fruit, Crimson Scale Flower... Fellow Daoist, are you refining the 'Three Profound Pill'?"
"Indeed... In the alchemical texts, what is the meaning of this phrase, 'Turning the handle of the Big Dipper, adding dragon and tiger'?"
Zhan Hongxiu quickly presented a gift box before asking questions.
The old tortoise in her sea of consciousness only knew how to use wood to start a fire, a secret technique used to disguise alchemists, but it was completely clueless about actually refining pills. Even though it possessed alchemical scriptures and alchemy inheritances... it still didn't understand many of the professional terms.
Fang Qing had also suffered a lot of losses back then, but at least he could attend the open classes on Dan Island. Zhan Hongxiu, being a rogue cultivator, didn't have that advantage. "Fellow Daoist's foundation... is indeed rather weak."
He explained for a few moments, then sighed, "Even with divine assistance, it's very difficult to break into the main competition in such a short time..."
"I have a compelling reason to go, and I would be grateful if you could lend me a hand."
Zhan Hongxiu solemnly said.
She harbors the ambition to condense a top-grade true core, and she cannot miss this top-tier spiritual item for core formation.
Even in the cultivation world of the East Sea, top-tier Core Formation spiritual treasures are extremely rare and precious, and are not something that a Foundation Establishment cultivator like her, who has not yet reached the Nascent Soul stage, can easily obtain.
"Alright... watch me refine it once first."
Fang Qing took out a bronze alchemy furnace.
This alchemy furnace has four legs and two handles, and its surface is engraved with animal head patterns. It is a fire-based alchemy furnace of the spiritual artifact level.
"This alchemical text only lists the main ingredients and auxiliary ingredients... without strictly specifying the proportions and quantities... making it truly difficult to refine."
Zhan Hongxiu smiled bitterly.
"This is to be expected. After all, the medicinal properties of spiritual herbs vary from place to place, and even those from the same place of origin have slight differences in their medicinal properties. How can we generalize? We can only rely on the alchemist's own judgment to adjust the dosage. The way to use them depends on one's own mind..."
Fang Qing picked up a snow-white spiritual fruit, about the size of a thumb, with delicate silver patterns on its surface. "For example," he said, "this White Mystic Fruit has different medicinal properties than the one next to it… therefore, alchemical texts don't mention the quantity, only yin and yang, water and fire… it depends on the alchemist's judgment." He thought to himself, "If we consider the alchemical methods of the Qi-cultivation path, this fruit belongs to the [Doumu] category… [Doumu] signifies the moon hanging in the planting position, representing sowing and harvest… it also has the appearance of the moon setting over a bridge, hence the alternative name [Bridge-Sinking Wood]…"
Fang Qing circulated his innate true fire and casually raised his hand.
A flame appeared and burned fiercely in the alchemy furnace.
The "Phoenix Seeking Phoenix" Dao Foundation naturally activated, allowing Fang Qing's fire control technique to be as nimble as his own, and he refined the White Profound Fruit in an instant.
"This fruit contains both yin and yang properties. The alchemical texts say that in the month of Jianzi (建子), the handle of the Big Dipper points north, and the moon is in its new phase; yin reaches its extreme and yang is born… therefore, 'red scale flowers' should be added. However, in the month of Jianwu (建午), the handle of the Big Dipper points south, and the moon is in its full phase; yang reaches its extreme and yin is born. In this case, 'red scale flowers' should not be added, but rather 'cold silk water'…?"
Fang Qing wrote freely, occasionally offering Zhan Hongxiu a few words of advice.
Flames roared all around, and somehow, crimson fire snakes appeared, crawling, writhing, and rolling on the ground...
Zhan Hongxiu looked engrossed, seemingly completely absorbed in this alchemy lesson.
The speed of fire-based alchemy far surpasses that of water-based alchemy.
"Alright, start!"
Fang Qing activated his magic technique and immediately opened the furnace.
Then a red light flashed, filling the room with rosy light and the fragrance of cinnabar filled the air, and it seemed as if fiery snakes were leaping out.
Even the fiery serpents grew wings, resembling Yinglong!
He activated his pill-collecting technique, and like pearls falling onto a jade plate, countless crimson pills filled the pill bottle to the brim. "Ten pills in one batch, all of the highest quality?!"
Zhan Hongxiu stared wide-eyed and murmured.
"Sigh... It's been a long time since I've refined pills, so I'm a little rusty. Otherwise, I should have been able to produce a few more high-quality ones..."
Fang Qing sighed.
"With your alchemy skills, you should be able to sweep through the Foundation Establishment arena. Why didn't you participate in this Pill Refining Conference?"
Zhan Hongxiu asked in confusion.
"My master, who taught me the art of alchemy, once said that we alchemists should refrain from engaging in such mundane affairs..."
Fang Qing had an inscrutable expression.
"This kid's alchemy skills are not bad, perhaps even at the near-third rank... His master must be a third-rank high-grade, or even fourth-rank, alchemy grandmaster, and most likely knows the tricks of the Xuanzhong Sect. How could he possibly walk into the tiger's den?"
Within Zhan Hongxiu's mind, the old turtle scoffed.
"Then may I ask, fellow traveler, with my current skill level, is there any hope of qualifying?"
Zhan Hongxiu looked at Fang Qing expectantly, but Fang Qing remained silent...
"Alright, let's clean the alchemy furnace and move on to the next round..."
Fang Qing took out spiritual water to clean the alchemy furnace and laughed, "Improving one's alchemy skills takes time... but there are ways to stand out. For example, some alchemists tamper with their furnaces, secretly hide pills... or prepare pills in advance in their sleeves... those are all crooked methods!"
Zhan Hongxiu was unusually a little embarrassed.
She was also preparing to use this underhanded method of cheating...
"To truly qualify, you still need to predict the exam questions!"
Fang Qing's expression changed, and the aura of someone who had survived countless exams naturally emerged from his body: "I have meticulously studied the past exam questions before the Dan Yuan Conference and predicted eight different pill formulas... This preliminary selection of the Dan Yuan Conference should not be able to escape one of these eight, at most with slight variations, but the essence remains the same! If you want to advance, you'd better refine these eight pill formulas to the point of exhaustion!"
In reality, he couldn't be bothered to study it; these were all test questions derived from divination...
As Zhan Hongxiu walked out of the cave, her consciousness was still somewhat drowsy.
Although she had reached the late Foundation Establishment stage and possessed powerful spiritual sense, she was not particularly skilled in alchemy and had to devote more of her spiritual sense to observing the changes within the alchemy furnace. Over time, this made her more prone to fatigue.
Fortunately, Elder Gui gave her a "Hundred Fires Forging Mystic Technique," which allowed her to temper her divine sense using the fire of the alchemy furnace; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to persevere. "This Fellow Daoist Du, I wonder if his predictions are accurate... we should probably prepare for the worst."
As Zhan Hongxiu secretly made her plans, she arrived at the cave dwelling she had rented. She saw that the restrictions on the cave dwelling next to her had been lifted, and Wan An had come out.
"Fellow Daoist Wan..."
She greeted him politely.
These days, Zhan Hongxiu is busy refining pills and participating in the Pill Refining Conference, while Wan An goes out every day to acquire medicinal herbs and make connections with other alchemists. Both seem to have bright futures ahead of them…
"Fellow Daoist Zhan..."
Wan An smiled and said, "I've contacted a 'Luo Dan Master' who has a stockpile of 'Mysterious Wood Pills,' which are quite suitable for Foundation Establishment cultivators... Could I save a few bottles for you?"
"No need..."
Zhan Hongxiu waved her hand: "Fellow Daoist, please make yourself at home..."
The quality of the pills sold by these itinerant cultivators and merchants depends entirely on luck, with the poison level being a matter of chance.
She even avoided encountering malicious alchemists who might poison her pills or plant malevolent restrictions... She always refused such offers. However, watching Wan An's retreating figure, Zhan Hongxiu lowered her eyes and asked, "Old Turtle... how is he?"
"That's about it. When the time comes, you can use the puppetry techniques I taught you to steal the 'Jingfeng Pearl' without anyone noticing, and you won't have any karmic consequences... Even if there are any tricks or tampering with the pearl, they won't be able to find you."
The tortoise spirit took on everything.
He might not be good at alchemy, but he's very knowledgeable and can use all sorts of secret techniques with ease...
"I've been really lucky lately, making several helpful connections..."
Wan An was in a good mood and almost wanted to hum a tune like he did back then.
He just came from Master Luo Dan's place, where he bought a batch of pills at a low price. He can make at least several hundred spirit stones by reselling them!
"Please, senior, have mercy..."
As Wan An walked down the road, he saw an old Taoist priest with missing limbs, a crooked mouth and eyes, who seemed to be begging.
"This Tianquan Island truly has everything... I've learned something new."
"Could this person have offended someone? Has his cultivation been directly crippled, leaving him only able to beg for a living?"
He was in a great mood, so he casually took out a few fragments of spirit, tossed them over, and then quickly left.
The old beggar, holding the broken spirit charm, repeatedly bowed and said, "Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!"
Holding the broken bowl, he limped to a dark corner of the market. In his mind's eye, a strange nascent soul opened its eyes, gazing at Wan An's departing figure: "Interesting lad... he actually possesses a nascent magic weapon? Judging by its quality, it seems quite extraordinary..."