Accepting Disciples, Ten-Thousandfold Returns: Starting from Battle Through the Heavens, Part 20

Zi Yan sensed the aura emanating from the pills and medicinal pellets within, and an incomparably excited look appeared on her face.

She was practically itching to move, unable to wait to pour all of them into her mouth.

"Zi Yan, you can't swallow these pills and pellets like you used to! It's best to take one pellet a day, while the interval between pills must not be less than ten days!

"Also, during this time, you can't run around everywhere like before. You must enter seclusion and refine their energy. Otherwise, the effects of these pills and pellets will be greatly reduced, and more than half their medicinal potency will be wasted."

Seeing this, Qin Hao hurriedly warned her. Given Zi Yan's bloodline and physique, even if she swallowed all these pills at once, she would not explode and die.

However, the vast medicinal power was likewise not something Zi Yan, currently only at the Dou King level, could fully refine. In his view, she would be doing well to absorb thirty percent of it; the rest would naturally go to waste, and that was not something Qin Hao wanted to see.

As for Zi Yan's talk of growing up, Qin Hao simply chose to ignore it. Although there were quite a few pills and pellets, and their quality was not low, having read the original work, he knew perfectly well.

Relying on these pills and pellets to completely awaken Zi Yan's bloodline and evolve her into the form of "Big Zi Yan" was clearly still far from enough.

Still, he did not expose her fantasy.

"Is that so... Fine, I understand! I'll cultivate properly in seclusion. I absolutely won't leave until I've completely refined the medicinal potency of these pills and pellets!"

After hearing Qin Hao's warning, Zi Yan did not argue. Instead, she spoke with a determined expression.

Although she did not enjoy cultivation, Zi Yan was clearly willing to go all out in order to grow up faster. In her heart, nothing was more important than growing up.

Leaving Canaan Academy! Instructor Ruolin!

After settling all matters in the Inner Academy, Qin Hao stopped hesitating the next day. He rode the Twin-Winged Scarlet Qilin King out of the Inner Academy, while the young Twin-Winged Scarlet Qilin Beast was left behind in the Inner Academy under Elder Huo's temporary care.

Having consumed the Primordial Beast Spirit Pill refined by Qin Hao, the Twin-Winged Scarlet Qilin King's injuries had now recovered seventy to eighty percent. At most, it would take another ten days for it to fully recover to its peak state.

When Qin Hao arrived at the Outer Academy's plaza, he found that quite a few people from Canaan Academy had already gathered there. They were none other than the academy's recruitment teams.

Because Canaan Academy recruited students from the entire Northwestern Region, the scale of the recruitment teams was rather staggering.

There were dozens of nations, large and small, throughout the Northwestern Region. Even if each nation had only one recruitment team, there would still be dozens of teams in total.

Each team was led by an instructor and accompanied by many academy students and guards. The total number was naturally enormous.

"Whoosh..."

Qin Hao's arrival naturally caused quite a stir. Since Canaan Academy was not close to the Northwestern Region, the recruitment teams needed to travel on flying Magic Beasts.

These flying Magic Beasts had all been tamed by Canaan Academy itself. Even the weakest were second-tier Magic Beasts, and there was no shortage of third-tier flying Magic Beasts among them.

Qin Hao had arrived riding the Twin-Winged Scarlet Qilin King, a peak sixth-tier Magic Beast. Its arrival naturally stirred up many of the flying Magic Beasts.

Every one of them was silent as a cicada, their bodies trembling violently. Several weaker flying Magic Beasts even lost control of their bowels and bladders.

The hierarchy among Magic Beasts on the Dou Qi Continent was incomparably strict. Even though the Twin-Winged Scarlet Qilin King had not deliberately released its aura, it was still more than these low-tier flying Magic Beasts could bear.

Qin Hao naturally noticed this. Without wasting words, he patted the Twin-Winged Scarlet Qilin King on the head, signaling it to completely restrain its aura. Only then did order return to the plaza.

At that moment, nearly everyone's gaze was fixed on the Twin-Winged Scarlet Qilin King and Qin Hao on its back. Their eyes were filled with fervor and reverence.

"Elder Qin Hao, you're here!"

At that moment, a figure came forward to greet him.

"Director Lü, apologies for the disturbance!"

Qin Hao recognized him as one of the Outer Academy's academic directors in charge of recruitment.

"You're too courteous, Elder Qin. With you accompanying us, we couldn't ask for more!"

The man hurriedly replied. With an expert like Qin Hao among them, their safety while crossing the Black-Corner Region would naturally increase greatly.

Although Canaan Academy held an exceptionally lofty status in the Black-Corner Region, and few were willing to provoke its people.

The Black-Corner Region was one of the most chaotic areas on the entire continent, and it never lacked desperate criminals. Recruitment teams had been attacked before.

Now, with Qin Hao present and the Twin-Winged Scarlet Qilin King by his side, even if they truly encountered an attack, they would be able to protect everyone.

Under Director Lü's lead, Qin Hao briefly acquainted himself with several instructors present. He also spotted Instructor Ruolin, who had appeared in the original work.

Compared with her description when she appeared in the original work, Instructor Ruolin looked somewhat more youthful now.

Half an hour later, everyone in the recruitment teams had arrived. The massive group immediately set off, and the sight was truly grand.

The outermost perimeter consisted of Canaan Academy's law enforcement guard squads. Every one of them radiated a powerful, murderous aura, clearly seasoned elite warriors.

Before leaving the Black-Corner Region, all the recruitment teams traveled together. Only after leaving the Black-Corner Region would they split up and head toward their respective assigned areas.

Even with the speed of flying Magic Beasts, it still took the group a full five days to leave the Black-Corner Region.

Along the way, Qin Hao truly witnessed the cruelty of the Black-Corner Region. It was no exaggeration to say that, apart from a few cities with basic order, every other place was filled with slaughter.

Over those five days, Qin Hao's group witnessed at least ten fights every day. Yet the battles they had imagined never fell upon them.

Qin Hao soon understood why. Their group was so imposing that they were simply not something ordinary people could handle.

The Black-Corner Region was indeed chaotic and full of desperate criminals, but being desperate did not mean being brainless. No one would come seeking death when they knew they could not win.

Most attacks on recruitment teams happened when they were returning.

Unlike when they set out, each recruitment team was assigned to a different region, so the time they took naturally varied greatly. Thus, they returned in separate batches.

Even though they were still escorted by the academy's law enforcement squads, their scale was nowhere near what it had been at departure.

Moreover, when returning, the new students in the teams were like burdensome deadweight, naturally giving certain people an opening to exploit.

After leaving the Black-Corner Region, the recruitment teams began to split according to their assigned regions. When they learned that Qin Hao's destination was the Jia Ma Empire, the several teams sharing his route were naturally delighted.

Besides getting acquainted with Qin Hao, the most important thing was naturally safety.

After all, leaving the Black-Corner Region did not mean they were absolutely safe.

The happiest of all was naturally Instructor Ruolin, who was in charge of recruitment for the Jia Ma Empire.

Several instructors even approached Instructor Ruolin because of this, promising considerable benefits in hopes of exchanging recruitment regions with her.

Some of those regions belonged to powerful empires, and the quality of potential students there was generally much better than in a backwater like the Jia Ma Empire.

The quality of students was directly tied to the instructors' benefits.

Unfortunately, Instructor Ruolin was no fool and naturally did not agree to their terms.

After leaving the Black-Corner Region, nearly another half month passed before Qin Hao finally entered the territory of the Jia Ma Empire. By then, only Instructor Ruolin's recruitment team remained with him.

The journey had gone fairly smoothly, and they had encountered no one foolish enough to cause trouble. In the Northwestern Region, Canaan Academy's name still carried considerable weight.

Furthermore, aside from the academy's guards, the recruitment teams contacted the local imperial authorities whenever they passed through the territory of a major empire.

Within an empire's borders, its official forces would send people to escort the recruitment teams all the way, ensuring their safety. This showed just how much influence Canaan Academy wielded in the Northwestern Region.

The Commotion Caused by a Sixth-Tier Alchemist! An Invitation from the Imperial Family!

After Qin Hao's group entered the Jia Ma Empire, they immediately contacted its authorities. The Jia Ma Empire directly dispatched an elite hundred-man unit to escort them all the way to the capital, Jia Ma Sacred City.

The arrival of Canaan Academy's group naturally caused quite a commotion. After all, anyone admitted into Canaan Academy was bound to achieve extraordinary things in the future.

Although the Jia Ma Empire had powerful sects such as the Misty Cloud Sect, joining a sect and entering an academy were vastly different matters.

Moreover, the relationship between the Misty Cloud Sect and the Jia Ma imperial family was extremely delicate. Therefore, compared to becoming an ordinary disciple of the Misty Cloud Sect, most people would rather join Canaan Academy.

Of course, someone like Nalan Yanran was an exception. She had joined the Misty Cloud Sect because its sect leader had personally accepted her as a disciple and was grooming her to become the future sect leader.

Ordinary people who joined the Misty Cloud Sect were far from receiving such treatment.

At the same time, news of Qin Hao's identity as a sixth-tier alchemist quickly spread. The moment this news emerged, it caused a tremendous uproar throughout Jia Ma Sacred City.

They all knew perfectly well what a sixth-tier alchemist represented. Gu He's reputation within the Jia Ma Empire showed the status held by sixth-tier alchemists.

Most importantly, Qin Hao was so young, only in his twenties. For a time, many people began harboring other thoughts.

The Jia Ma imperial family was undoubtedly the first to react.

Although Canaan Academy came to recruit students in the Jia Ma Empire every year, and the empire's authorities always offered sufficient support.

To be honest, the empire's true upper echelon did not personally appear. After all, the instructors leading recruitment teams were generally only Great Dou Masters, with the strongest at most being Dou Spirits.

Figures at that level naturally were not qualified to deal with the Jia Ma imperial family's true upper echelon.

But Qin Hao's appearance this time was completely different. He was a sixth-tier alchemist, and such a young one at that. In the Northwestern Region, almost no faction would overlook someone like Qin Hao.

That was still without them knowing that Qin Hao also had a peak sixth-tier Twin-Winged Scarlet Qilin King at his side. Otherwise, they would likely have gone even more frantic.

After leaving the Black-Corner Region, the Twin-Winged Scarlet Qilin King had completely restrained its aura and shrunk its body as it followed Qin Hao.

Unless the Twin-Winged Scarlet Qilin King took the initiative to reveal its aura, only someone with cultivation surpassing its own could detect anything unusual about it.

On the second day after Qin Hao's group arrived in the imperial capital, they received an invitation from the imperial family. A banquet would be held in the palace that evening to welcome their arrival.

However, anyone with discernment could tell that the banquet had actually been prepared specifically for Qin Hao.

Qin Hao did not refuse the invitation.

There were only two reasons for their invitation: either they wanted to win him over and befriend him, or they needed something from him.

Although Qin Hao was from Canaan Academy, he had no conflict of interest with the Jia Ma Empire. If they could truly offer a price that moved him, he would not mind making friends with them. It would not cost him anything, after all.

As for the second possibility, he was a sixth-tier alchemist. If they needed something from him, they naturally wanted him to refine pills.

At present, the Jia Ma Empire had two strongest combatants. One was the Jia Ma imperial family's ancestor, Jia Xing Tian, while the other was its guardian Magic Beast, the Nethersea Flood Dragon.

Jia Xing Tian possessed peak Dou Emperor cultivation. If he wanted to advance further, he would need to reach the Dou Ancestor realm, and what he needed most urgently was naturally a Sect-Breaking Pill.

As for the Nethersea Flood Dragon, according to the original work, it had guarded the Jia Ma Empire for several centuries. Years of battle had left it with terrifying hidden injuries, causing it to be able to exert at most fifty to sixty percent of its strength.

What it needed most was naturally top-grade healing pills.

The same still applied: if they could truly afford the price and offer compensation that moved him, Qin Hao would not mind refining pills for them. Even a Sect-Breaking Pill was not out of the question.

Of course, not now. He did not intend to refine a Sect-Breaking Pill just yet. It was not because he lacked confidence, but because once he refined one for Jia Xing Tian, it would inevitably cause some trouble.

A Sect-Breaking Pill was different from an Emperor's Extreme Pill. A Sect-Breaking Pill had a chance of allowing a peak Dou Emperor to break through to the Dou Ancestor realm, bringing a qualitative transformation in strength.

In a place like the Jia Ma Empire, a Dou Ancestor expert could influence and even change the entire empire's balance of power.

After all, the Jia Ma Empire also had the Misty Cloud Sect. If Jia Xing Tian made a breakthrough, the delicate relationship between the two sides would be completely shattered.

When that happened, he would inevitably be drawn in as well, and that was clearly not something he wished to see.

As for the Emperor's Extreme Pill, although it was indeed extremely precious, it could only increase the strength of Dou Emperor-level experts. It could not bring about such a world-shaking, reborn transformation.