Jia Ma Qing's efficiency was truly impressive. In just two short days, he had brought members of the imperial delegation along and finalized the negotiations.
The Emperor of the Chu Yun Empire, Nan Gong Yu, was extremely aggrieved. Although he controlled the Chu Yun Empire's four hundred thousand troops, standing before two Dou Zongs and more than twenty Dou Emperors was practically like an egg smashing into a rock.
Now that the Ten Thousand Scorpion Gate and the Misty Cloud Sect had merged, their combined forces, working together with the Jia Ma Empire's five hundred and thirty thousand troops, left Chu Yun no room to fight back. Even the envoys secretly sent to other countries for aid were captured one after another. In the end, Chu Yun could only be forced to sign a surrender agreement and become a vassal state of Jia Ma.
Such a massive upheaval terrified the Mu Lan Empire and the Yan Luo Empire. The emperors of both countries repeatedly sent envoys to secretly discuss how to resist Jia Ma's rise to power.
The atmosphere of an imminent war spread throughout the four countries, making the leaders of the various factions in the Mu Lan Empire hotheaded. They all began entertaining thoughts of defecting at the last moment.
Meanwhile, Ye Qianqian, who was on Misty Cloud Mountain, had been rather troubled lately. Every time she bluffed someone these past few days, her heart pounded with fear because she was terrified that her Dou Master strength would be exposed.
If she did not find a way to become stronger, she might one day be exposed by some reckless fool who did not fear death.
"Looks like I have to find a way to improve my strength."
Thinking this, she entered the system space.
There were many ways to become stronger, and the system recommended more than thirty options.
Some involved taking pills to become an immortal or god, some involved consuming a large number of Shock Points to raise one's realm, and some involved dual cultivation to become a god.
"The yuri method is great!" Ye Qianqian casually opened several books and looked through them.
The Girls' Joyful Method 5,000,000 Shock Points. Effect: She feels good, and so do I.
The Male Friendship Formula 1,000,000 Shock Points. Effect: Full of friendship and fast upgrades.
The Dragon-Phoenix Blissful Meditation 250,000 Shock Points. Effect: The next generation will be smarter.
"Too expensive. I can't afford it."
At present, she had only a little over four hundred thousand Shock Points left from bluffing people. She could not afford the cultivation method for rolling around in bed with girls. As for the cheaper dual-cultivation method for men and women, she truly did not want to exchange for it. Although she had become a woman, deep down she still possessed the soul of a man!
Even if she threw away her dignity and wanted to find a boy to do shameful things with, could she really go all the way?
After filtering for a long time, only bloodline exchanges remained.
On the Dou Qi Continent, everyone placed great importance on the quality of their bloodline, because it was the key factor determining a person's fate throughout their life.
Take the Dou Di Bloodline, for example. Those with such a cheat-like bloodline cultivated at an astonishing speed, much like VIPs who had paid money. Their upgrade speed was three or four times that of ordinary people.
Thus, Ye Qianqian focused her thoughts on upgrading her bloodline.
It had to be said that the system had quite a wide variety of bloodlines.
The Otsutsuki Bloodline and Six Paths Bloodline from the Naruto world, the Asura Bloodline, and the Indra Bloodline,
the Olympian God Bloodline from Greek mythology,
the Norse God Austin Bloodline from the Marvel world,
the Saiyan Bloodline from anime,
the Earth Immortal Bloodline, Golden Immortal Bloodline, Grand Unity Golden Immortal Bloodline, Jade Emperor Bloodline, Tathagata Bloodline, Wutian Buddha Bloodline, Pangu Bloodline, Nuwa Bloodline, and Hongjun Bloodline from the cultivation world...
the Paul Bloodline, Moses Bloodline, Jesus Bloodline, and God Bloodline from the Bible...
These bloodlines were practically all-inclusive. The merchandise left Ye Qianqian's eyes dazzled.
But she still could not afford them!
The cheapest Asura and Indra Bloodlines cost at least a million. Wasn't this just making her stare helplessly?
No, she still had to find a way to obtain more Shock Points.
After thinking for a long time, she finally came up with a good idea.
Now that Jia Ma and Chu Yun were arming their forces for war and had gathered a seven-hundred-thousand-strong expeditionary army, intending to attack the nearby Mu Lan Empire in the coming days, the military departments of both countries were gathering provisions and medicinal herbs. Medicinal herbs were easy enough to prepare, but there was a shortage of alchemists. This gave her an idea for a grand bluffing plan.
"System, exchange the first volume of the Supreme Pill Dao for me." Ye Qianqian pointed at the alchemy book in the shop.
"Ding!"
Congratulations, Host. Exchange successful. 200,000 Shock Points consumed.
The Supreme Pill Dao was an alchemy technique written by Lao Tzu. It consisted of five volumes in total. Although the one in her hands was only the first volume, it recorded the methods for refining pills below the third grade, making it absolutely worthwhile for Ye Qianqian.
On the Dou Qi Continent, becoming an alchemist was a matter of bringing glory to one's ancestors.
Those alchemists relied on their ability to refine pills and walked around with their nostrils pointed at the sky all day, acting as if they were above everyone else.
Moreover, alchemists could use the pills they refined as payment to recruit fighters for their own use. If they disliked someone, they could take out a pill and settle the matter in minutes.
Besides, not just anyone could become an alchemist. Becoming one required extremely strict qualifications: one had to mix a thread of wood-attributed Dou Qi into fire-attributed Dou Qi. Many people lacked this innate talent. Thus, there was a saying on the Dou Qi Continent: "It is better to be killed by a powerful expert than offend an alchemist."
She gently opened the alchemy book. On the first page was a highly pretentious poem.
Gold pills are easy to refine, but immortality is hard to cultivate,
A thousand flowers and ten thousand herbs fill half the furnace with sorrow,
The banana fan stirs, and true flames dance,
How many remain upon the road to eternal life?!
This was Lao Tzu's lament over the cultivators of the world. It made Ye Qianqian seem to see those cultivators who, in pursuit of immortality and enlightenment, had ultimately turned into heaps of bleached bones.
After studying the pill book for a long time, the system forcibly instilled the knowledge into her, and she thoroughly grasped the experience needed to refine pills below the third grade.
"It's time to show my real skills."
She suddenly rose to her feet, puffed out her small chest, and wore an expression full of confidence.
Because the Ten Thousand Scorpion Gate had been swallowed up by the Misty Cloud Sect and successfully placed under its jurisdiction, Yun Shan and Yun Yun were busy figuring out how to incorporate the Poison Masters of the Ten Thousand Scorpion Gate. Thus, she could only call Na Lan Yan Ran and have her accompany her to the Jia Ma Empire's Alchemist Association.
Ma Fa was equally busy at this time. To prepare supplies for the armies of the two countries, he had summoned more than a hundred alchemists and five hundred apprentices. They were frantically refining pills, yet they still could not meet the required quota.
"Ah! This won't do. The number of pills can't keep up at all. If only we could be given another dozen or so days."
Inside the association, Ma Fa wore a deeply worried expression. Ever since that ancestor of the Misty Cloud Sect had appeared, the situation in the Jia Ma Empire had undergone earth-shaking changes. In just a few days, Jia Ma had annexed the Chu Yun Empire. It was practically impossible to process it all.
"Little Ma, why do you look so troubled? What exactly is bothering you?"
A young woman and a little girl suddenly entered from outside, leaving Ma Fa stunned. He immediately rose and respectfully went forward to welcome them.
"I did not know Senior would be visiting the Alchemist Association. Please forgive us for failing to welcome you."
Ma Fa did not dare show the slightest negligence toward Ye Qianqian's appearance. Although the little girl before him looked harmless, she was an ancestor of the Misty Cloud Sect! He absolutely could not offend her.
"No need for formalities." Ye Qianqian smiled. "I saw you frowning deeply just now. Could it be that you've encountered some difficult problem?"
Ma Fa smiled bitterly. "Senior's insight is indeed extraordinary. This junior does have a difficult matter that I cannot resolve."
"Tell me without worry. Perhaps I can help you!"
Hearing Ye Qianqian's words, Ma Fa began pouring out all the bitterness in his heart. He explained in detail how they were unable to gather enough pills for the expeditionary army.
If they only had to supply the Jia Ma Empire's legions, the Alchemist Association's stockpiles accumulated over the years would basically be enough. However, three legions of the Chu Yun Empire still lacked pill supplies, which made things rather difficult.
"I was wondering what sort of difficult matter it was. So you're troubled by such a minor issue?" Ye Qianqian shook her head and smiled.
Ma Fa's face twitched. Such a minor issue?
Preparing enough pill supplies for Chu Yun's legions within two days—was that a minor issue?
"Little Ma, go call all the alchemists in the association right now. Bring plenty of medicinal herbs as well, and accompany me to Chu Yun's military camp."
"Yes, Senior. I'll take care of it immediately." Completely puzzled, Ma Fa had no idea what Ye Qianqian meant, but he still made all the alchemy masters in the association stop their work.
And so, an army of more than a hundred alchemy masters followed closely behind a little girl, surrounding her as they headed toward Chu Yun's military camp.
"Commander, why are we attacking the Mu Lan Empire alongside Jia Ma?"
"How should I know? Go ask Emperor Gama."
Inside the Chu Yun Empire's military camp, Commander Feng Ling was extremely troubled. After Chu Yun had been swallowed up by Jia Ma, the military authorities had issued an idiotic order: to attack the Mu Lan Empire together with the Jia Ma army.
Feng Ling, who had spent many years fighting on the battlefield, knew very well that this military strategy was highly unreasonable.
The Mu Lan Empire was not easy to attack. If they launched an assault rashly, then even with the numerical advantage gained by merging with the Jia Ma army, they would still suffer heavy casualties.
The more Feng Ling thought about it, the angrier he became. He truly did not know whether those high-ranking officials had feces in their heads. They had not even considered the soldiers' casualty rate after launching the attack.
"Reporting to the commander, more than a hundred alchemy masters have arrived outside the military camp. They say they are from the Jia Ma Empire's Alchemist Association and wish to enter the camp." A guard hurried over to report.
"Oh?" Feng Ling grew curious. What did these alchemists intend to do here? However, he did not dare neglect them and hurriedly ordered his subordinates to invite these alchemy ancestors inside.
All the Chu Yun soldiers looked over curiously, only to see the alchemists collectively following behind a little girl of five or six years old. They had none of their usual arrogant swagger.
"Little Ma Fa, bring out more medicinal herbs for Qi Gathering Powder. Oh, right—let me have a look at your pill cauldron as well."
After walking onto the elevated platform of the training ground, Ye Qianqian looked at the tens of thousands of Chu Yun soldiers below and began preparing her bluffing plan.
Following Ma Fa's orders, he immediately flicked up his middle finger and pulled a small black cauldron from his Storage Ring.
Three ferocious beasts—a lion, a tiger, and a bear—were carved into the cauldron. It was a treasured item Ma Fa had acquired in his early years: the Three Beast Fury Cauldron.
"The cauldron isn't bad." Ye Qianqian held it in her hands and toyed with it for a while. Then she tossed it onto the ground. In an instant, the Three Beast Fury Cauldron began rapidly expanding.
The many alchemists and Chu Yun soldiers were completely baffled. What was this little girl planning to do? Could she be intending to refine pills in public?
Ye Qianqian had Na Lan Yan Ran find some wood. She slowly lit it beneath the pill cauldron, then had Na Lan Yan Ran stuff the mountain of medicinal herbs piled before them into the cauldron all at once, making a single gigantic stew.
At this point, none of the alchemists could bear watching any longer. How was this refining pills? She was clearly wasting medicinal herbs!
If the person before them had not been an important figure, they would have already gone up and berated her.
"Senior, you can't do this!"
As an alchemist, Ma Fa valued medicinal herbs more than his own life. How could he endure watching so many herbs being squandered?
When alchemists refined pills, they first used fire-attributed Dou Qi to heat the pill cauldron, then extracted the essence from the medicinal herbs one piece at a time, and finally condensed the pills. But what was this important person doing? She was simply fooling around!
Hearing this, Ye Qianqian shook her head. She pretended to be dignified, clasped her hands behind her back, and put on the imposing air of an alchemy grandmaster.
"Little Ma Fa, the world is full of strange and wondrous things. If you wish to raise your alchemist grade, you must listen and observe more. Today, I'll let you see what it means for ten thousand pills to gather as one."
Before you continue