The Azure Dragon Clan.
"This will never be settled..."
Leaning on her staff, Xuan Tugu gazed at the Heavenly Ranking high above, then slammed her sandalwood scepter down. The ground cracked, and even her frightening hooked nose trembled from the shock.
The Heavenly Ranking concealed itself in the sky, but anyone could view its rankings with a mere stir of the mind.
"Utterly useless!"
Xuan Tugu spoke with the frustration of one who hated that iron would not turn to steel.
Qu Jiangxuan was too ashamed to speak. Suddenly, he seemed to remember something, and his gaze gradually grew cold and resolute. "Grandmother, we still have a chance! As long as my bloodline concentration increases a little more, my ranking will definitely rise!"
Xuan Tugu nodded inwardly. "You mean that forbidden land? Yes, it was meant as a supplementary source of energy after your tribulation crossing, but time waits for no one. We can make use of it now.
"Using the Ancestral Dragon Great Dao Bone together with the fortune of a hundred-thousand-year-old forbidden land to strengthen my grandson's bloodline-good!
"However, I intend to visit the Azure Luan Clan. Let the Azure Dragon King take you."
Qu Jiangxuan cupped his hands. "Your grandson obeys!"
The Heavenly Sword Holy Land.
As the Heavenly Ranking gradually faded, Mu Shuangling withdrew his gaze. His face remained expressionless, but a measure of bitterness lingered in his heart.
A Sword Patriarch of his generation, brimming with ambition fulfilled, he had thought he could take first place. Who could have known that one figure after another would tower above him? Even someone who considered himself peerless could not help feeling somewhat disheartened.
Moreover, he occupied the very bottom of the Heavenly Ranking. Who knew how many eyes were watching him! Still, even if anyone came looking for trouble, the Heavenly Sword Holy Land had no fear of them.
The surrounding swordsmen wanted to console him, but feared Mu Shuangling would turn his anger on them. They merely stood at a distance, not daring to utter a sound.
Seeming to think of something, Mu Shuangling dismissed everyone and paced alone. He was waiting for someone.
"Lord Sword Patriarch!"
Before long, a voice rang out. A figure swept over from afar, arriving before Mu Shuangling in an instant.
The man wore luxurious robes, his imposing frame radiating might. His high cheekbones and hawklike eyes displayed extraordinary pride and ferocity.
It was Liu Zhen, the Heavenly Sword Holy Land's Second Venerable!
The Heavenly Sword Holy Land had eight venerables in total, beneath the Sword Patriarch but above all others, each possessing extraordinary prowess. Their numbers reflected their strength: the lower the number, the stronger they were.
As his title suggested, this Second Venerable was a powerhouse second only to the First Venerable!
Seeing Liu Zhen hurry over, Mu Shuangling immediately grew attentive. He straightened his back, and his gaze suddenly took on a somewhat overbearing edge.
Mu Shuangling asked urgently, "Did you find her?"
"She's already dead. Her remains have turned to dust!"
"What about the Sword Source, then?"
"The shattering of her Sword Source was precisely what killed her!"
"What a pity... No, this cannot be so simple. Where did she die? I must see it with my own eyes!"
"In the forbidden land, the Land of Blood Slaughter!"
The mountains behind the Xuanji Sect stretched in rolling waves for hundreds of li. Halfway up the mountainside lay an enormous medicinal garden, lush with vitality and fragrant with medicinal herbs.
Outside the medicinal garden was a sizable lake. Xie Feng and Sushang walked to its shore. Holding apples in her arms, Sushang tilted her head and looked at the seemingly unfathomable jade-green water, unable to help feeling a little frightened.
"Master, who are these fruits for?"
"Toss them into the lake."
"Oh, okay."
Sushang nodded and tossed the few fruits in her arms into the lake. The apples floated on the surface. Blinking her big, limpid eyes, she cupped her apple-like little face in both hands, seeming to wait expectantly for something.
Xie Feng called, "Mung Bean."
Ripples spread across the tranquil water. A gale howled, sweeping the apples down to the lakebed and leaving only a turtle-shaped pattern on the water.
Sushang crouched beside the lake and let out a "Wow." Xie Feng said, "There's an old turtle in this lake. It used to be my master's mount, but later my master left it to me."
Understanding dawned on the little girl. "So Mung Bean is the old turtle's name!"
Xie Feng smiled. "Mung Bean loves fruit. From now on, feeding it will be your job. It's terribly lazy and usually just likes sleeping at the bottom of the lake."
The little girl puffed out her chest and stood at attention, her voice crisp. "All right! I promise to complete the mission!"
Xie Feng smiled, then entered the medicinal garden and began selecting ingredients. Refining the Nine Luminaries Restriction-Dissolving Pill required around a hundred medicinal ingredients, including several rare ones. Fortunately, every one of them could be found in this garden.
With all the ingredients assembled, it was time to prepare for pill refining!
Xie Feng found a clean room and instructed the little girl to fetch the stove, coal hook, and fan from his room.
Xie Feng normally used that stove to light fires and keep warm, but it was actually a pill furnace!
"M-Master, it's so heavy!"
Sushang carried the coal stove and the other items in both arms. Their immense weight made her round, apple-like face flush scarlet with exertion. Fine beads of sweat seeped from her forehead, and black coal-dust smudges stained her clothes and chin.
Seeing this, Xie Feng could not help feeling astonished. The little girl's physical strength was truly formidable! Although this furnace was only three or four feet tall, his master had once used it for pill refining. It was no ordinary object and weighed over ten million jun!
Even someone in the Nascent Soul Realm would struggle to lift it easily!
As expected of the White Tiger Physique!
The girl was already this strong with her power restrained. Once the seal broke, how terrifying she would be was easy to imagine!
Bang!
The furnace landed with a heaven-shaking crash.
"Master, huff, huff, you must be... huff, huff, a hidden expert. You have so many extraordinary things..."
Exhausted, Sushang slumped beside the furnace and sat cross-legged. Wiping away sweat, she picked up the battered folding fan that had fallen to the floor and fanned herself furiously, blowing her bangs into a wild mess. Her already rosy little face grew even redder.
Xie Feng curled a finger and lightly scraped Sushang's forehead. "These are all treasures your master's master left behind. Naturally, they're extraordinary. Girl, go fan the flames. You can watch me refine pills while you're at it."
Xie Feng could control the pill flame perfectly well himself, but seeing how interested the little girl was, he let her participate. If she learned pill refining in the future, this would also give her a better understanding of flame-control techniques.
Sushang gave a delighted "Oh!" Smoothing her bangs with one hand, she clambered to her feet and picked up the battered fan, ready for action. Her bright eyes kept watching Xie Feng, waiting for his orders.
Xie Feng raised his palm, and a ball of flame sprang up.
The flame was jade-green throughout, its form shifting unpredictably. Upon appearing, it emanated both utterly cold and utterly hot Qi, profoundly mysterious, like a dream or an illusion.
The Northern Nether Illusory Flame!
It was an extremely rare heaven-grade flame.
Flames also differed, broadly divided into four grades: heaven, earth, profound, and yellow.
Yellow-grade flames were the most ordinary, the fires used in everyday households. Heaven-grade flames were the strongest, and some powerful ones could even be traced back to ancient times.
The flame in Xie Feng's hand was a companion manifestation of his Chaos Sacred Body.
It was an innate flame!
Once this heavenly flame reached a certain realm, it would transform into an even stronger flame. Above heavenly flames... there were still divine flames!
Channeling Qi into his palm, Xie Feng lightly touched the stove. In an instant, the pitch-black, hideously ugly stove rapidly expanded, only stabilizing when even the 1.9-meter-tall Xie Feng had to look up at it.
Xie Feng prepared the medicinal ingredients portion by portion. As he directed the flame into the pill furnace, he closed his eyes and recalled the pill formula imprinted in his mind.
Under his master's guidance, he had previously attempted to refine eighth-rank pills, but his best success had only been at the early eighth rank. Reaching great perfection was truly no small challenge.
However, when he tamed Solar Zhuzhao, the power of creation it released had not only increased his cultivation but also quietly strengthened his soul!
Now, Xie Feng was already an advanced eighth-rank alchemist!
"Master, I'm ready~" Sushang tilted her head beside him, clenched both fists, and called softly like a kitten.
"Fan the flames!"
"Yes!"
"Keep the force even. We need a strong flame now."
"Yes!"
"Slow the flames down. Keep a gentle flame."
"Yes!"
Holding the fan in both hands, Sushang looked up at the enormous pill furnace and fanned with all her might. A violent surge swept forth, making the flames roar. Clear beads of sweat emerged on her fair face, then evaporated with a hiss in the terrifying heat.
The Northern Nether Illusory Flame was a heaven-grade flame. Ordinary people would be burned merely by approaching it, yet this girl showed no fear whatsoever. An innate physique was truly powerful.
A smile appeared on Xie Feng's face.
The pill furnace had finished preheating.
"Spirit-concentrating grass, essence-securing fruit, heaven-veiling dust..."
Amid the jade-green flames, Xie Feng calmed his mind, took out the basic medicinal ingredients, and began refining the pill!
Time went uncounted during pill refining.