An Explanation

Several days later.

Fang Yu went to visit the True Person Jade Liquid.

"Senior brother, it's been a long time!"

True Person Jade Liquid looked at his smiling junior brother, but his expression tightened slightly. The man was still the same, but the faint killing intent emanating from him made him feel uneasy.

"Junior Brother Jiang, please come in!"

The two sat down inside the hall. Fang Yu looked Jade Liquid up and down and couldn't help but say, "Junior Brother seems to have gained a lot on this trip. I almost didn't recognize you."

"Hahaha!" Fang Yu laughed twice and sighed, "Senior brother is right. These three years of fighting outside have indeed been very rewarding. They have made me realize the cruelty of cultivation and also made me understand the Dao. After returning this time, I plan to refine the ' Golden Core Formation Pill ' and break through to the Golden Core stage. I hope senior brother can help me."

"You want to form your Golden Core!" True Person Jade Liquid was slightly surprised. "With your Dao of Alchemy, refining Golden Core Formation Pill should be no problem, but forming a Golden Core is not so easy. If you fail, at best your cultivation will regress, and at worst your meridians will be destroyed. Even if you have Golden Core Formation Pill, you can only save your life."

Fang Yu nodded and said, "Senior Brother is right. The risks of forming the Core are indeed very high. However, this trip has also made me realize my own insignificance. Not to mention those of us who have reached the Foundation Establishment stage, even those who have reached the Golden Core Foundation Establishment have no power to protect themselves. Only by constantly striving forward and reaching the Nascent Soul can we live a carefree life."

True Person Jade Liquid's body trembled slightly. He sensed that his junior brother was truly different. The decadent air of his past obsession with alchemy was gone, replaced by a sharp and ambitious spirit.

"Junior brother, please just tell me what you need!"

"Thank you very much, Senior Brother!" Fang Yu said happily, "I already have the main ingredient for forming the Golden Core Formation Pill, the ' Five Elements Spirit Fruit,' but I'm still missing some auxiliary ingredients. I would appreciate it if you could help me gather them. Also, I've collected some spiritual materials over the years, and I would like to ask you to help me sell them to exchange for third-tier spiritual materials."

He said that with a flick of his hand, he sent the Storage Bag containing spiritual materials to True Person Jade Liquid.

"Over the years, I've collected several sets of auxiliary materials for the ' Golden Core Formation Pill ' technique. I can give them to you in a bit!"

As True Person Jade Liquid spoke, he probed his Storage Bag with his Divine Sense, and was immediately surprised. "So much?"

"It's all Fairy Ruyan and the others taking care of me!" Fang Yu said calmly. "This is enough. If it's not enough, I'll use contribution points to make up the difference."

"That's enough, that's enough!" Jade Liquid said repeatedly, "Don't even mention one portion, three portions would be enough. Here's what I'll do: I'll give you one portion of auxiliary materials first, and after I finish processing these spiritual materials, I'll transfer the extra contribution points to you."

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Senior Brother!"

Upon emerging from the Jade Liquid cave abode, Fang Yu found himself with an additional set of auxiliary materials for Golden Core Formation Pill.

He tossed the Storage Bag containing auxiliary materials in his hand, his heart filled with emotion. He recalled how long he had toiled in the Western Extremity to refine the Golden Core Formation Pill, raiding mines and extorting money from the Mosquito Immortal City.

Now, I easily obtained a set of auxiliary materials from the Jade Liquid.

Unfortunately, he didn't use the refined Golden Core Formation Pill.

One month later.

Chen Tang arrived at the Cloud Mist Cave with immense excitement.

"Greetings, Senior Brother!"

"It's Chen Tang!"

Fang Yu smiled broadly at Chen Tang and arranged for him to sit down at a small stove.

At this moment, more than ten Dao of Alchemy disciples like Chen Tang had gathered in the courtyard in front of the cave abode.

These people were all handpicked by him. Although he had been away for the past few years, he had arranged for them to work with True Person Jade Liquid before he left. Now, they have all advanced to the Second-Tier Alchemist, and there is no problem for them to assist him in refining Golden Core Formation Pill. Even if there are some minor problems, he can solve them.

The assistance of some of these Alchemist not only brings them fame and recognition, but also corroborates the origin of their "Golden Core Formation Pill, ensuring a smooth political review process when they advance to become True Disciple.

Once everyone had arrived, Fang Yu immediately sealed the cave abode and announced the start of alchemy.

"Chen Tang, distribute these spirit medicine to your fellow disciples!"

"Yes!"

Fang Yu handed over the spirit medicine that had already been divided to Chen Tang, instructing him to coordinate the others in handling the low-grade spirit medicine, while he began to process the third-grade spiritual materials, as well as the most important ' Five Elements Spirit Fruit '.

*****

Star-Splayed Peak.

Fairy Ruyan stepped into her grandfather Elder Tianyan's garden, she saw from afar that her grandfather was drinking tea with two elders, and behind those two elders stood Zhang Zhonghu and Yang Zhan respectively.

"Ruyan greets the two elders!" Fairy Ruyan approached, bowed to the two elders, and then went to Elder Tianyan's side to ask:

"Grandfather, did you call Yan'er here because of something good?"

"Nothing good is happening today!" Elder Tianyan's tone was somewhat unfriendly.

"I've come to ask you, why was the Moonshadow Mountain mission canceled halfway through?"

Ruyan glanced at Zhang Zhonghu and Yang Zhan with suspicion. "Didn't Yan'er tell Grandfather long ago that Junior Brother Jiang, who went with us, had a bad feeling and was afraid of an ambush? Just in case, we returned to the sect. Has something happened?"

Elder Tianyan continued, "So, you canceled the Moonshadow Mountain mission because of the Jiang Yao from Five Elements Peak?"

Liu Ruyan was even more puzzled, "That's indeed the case!"

"Where are you two!" Elder Tianyan's gaze swept over Zhang Zhonghu and Yang Zhan, who were standing behind the two elders.

Zhang Zhonghu respectfully replied, "It is indeed as Senior Sister said."

Yang Zhan nodded obediently and said, "Yes, it was indeed Jiang Yao's intuition."

Upon hearing this, Tianyan looked at the two elders and asked, "What do you two junior brothers think?"

Ding Yue, Zhang Zhonghu's master, said, "The intuition is indeed true; it must just be a coincidence!"

Yang Qing, an elder of the Yang Zhan clan, said, "This Jiang Yao must have had some luck, allowing them to escape this calamity!"

Tianyan shook his head and said, "This kind of talk might fool the younger generation, but how can you two junior brothers be so naive? Do you really think ' Black Python ' would believe it?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Ruyan couldn't help but ask, "Grandfather, Elders, what exactly happened?"

Tianyan said in a deep voice, "After you abandoned the mission at Moonshadow Mountain, Feng Lin's group took on the mission, but they were ambushed by Mo Long, and all four of them were killed."

"Suck..."

Liu Ruyan gasped, "Feng Lin has been killed, so how could Elder Black Python possibly let this go so easily...?"

She suddenly realized what she was saying and raised her voice several octaves, "... Elder Black Python wouldn't blame us for ' Feng Lin's ' death, would he?"

"Sigh!" Ding Yue sighed and said, "Black Python really won't let this go. The news that just came back is that he has razed the Primordial Devil Sect's mountain gate to the ground and killed Old Devil Yuan. Now he's searching everywhere for Long Mo. Once he kills Long Mo, it will be your turn."

A hint of fear flashed across Liu Ruyan's face, but the next moment she looked at Tianyan, "With Grandfather and the two elders here, would Elder Black Python really bully the weak?"

"Heh!" Elder Yang Qing said with a wry smile, "If the people of Giant Spirit Peak followed the rules, would it still be Giant Spirit Peak? If it were an ordinary disciple Black Python would give us elders some face, but this time it was his chosen True Disciple, ' Feng Lin,' who died. If we don't give him a satisfactory explanation..."

"Confess!" Liu Ruyan suddenly exclaimed upon hearing this, "Does Elder Yang mean we should pin everything on Jiang Yao?"