Chapter 196 Ninth-Level Inheritance?
Zhong Cai was stunned for a moment, still somewhat unable to react.
Wu Shaogan noticed Zhong Cai's reaction, raised his hand, and placed it on his shoulder.
"Ah Cai, snap out of it."
Zhong Cai subconsciously looked up at Wu Shaogan.
Wu Shaogan smiled slightly: "Congratulations, A Cai, your alchemy skills have improved."
Zhong Cai took a deep breath and finally came to her senses!
Really?
He refined so much, so much, so much!
Finally! I've reached the highest level of perfection!
At this moment, Zhong Cai felt an overwhelming joy that was almost impossible to contain.
He knew very well that no matter what kind of pill it was, producing a top-grade pill already showed that he had mastered the pill formula, the timing of the fire, and the reaction of the medicinal materials very well. The more top-grade pills there were, the higher the degree of completion.
However, as long as it hasn't reached the level of a fully-grade, top-quality pill, it hasn't reached the upper limit of this type of pill.
It is not "flawless".
Now, Zhong Cai can refine six top-grade Vortex Pills, which means he has no room for further improvement in this type of pill.
It is "true perfection".
Zhong Cai slowly exhaled.
Well...
That was awesome!
Zhong Cai couldn't help but grab Wu Shaogan's hand and squeeze it to express her joy.
【Ahhh, I'm so happy, Lao Wu!】
Wu Shaogan was equally delighted and offered enthusiastic praise.
【Ah Cai is the best!!】
The two smiled at each other, one with a radiant expression, the other brimming with pride for her lover.
·
After his initial excitement, Zhong Cai placed all the top-grade Vortex Pills on the leaves and fed them to the Pill God Tree.
He said in a low voice, "There is still no ninth-level inheritance, but it is said that a fourth-level alchemist has obtained it in the past. I think it may be because my alchemy skills were not good enough before."
Wu Shaogan listened quietly.
Zhong Cai quickly smiled brightly again: "But that's alright. If the Divine Pill Wood isn't satisfied, I'll refine it until it is!"
Wu Shaogan smiled gently and said, "A-Cai will definitely do it."
·
After consuming six Vortex Pills, the Dan Shenmu once again released a large expanse of azure light.
This one seems brighter than the previous ones.
Zhong Cai took a deep breath, walked forward, and reached out to take the resources.
He had become somewhat numb to many things before, but this breakthrough in alchemy brought back the initial trepidation he had felt.
Zhong Cai first took out a jade tablet and handed it directly to Wu Shaogan.
Wu Shaogan examined it and found it to be an eighth-level movement technique.
Zhong Cai then took out another jade tablet.
Wu Shaogan had seen it; it was an eighth-level secret technique, archery, that matched the previous eighth-level movement technique.
This set of skills is actually not as good as the inheritance brought by the Sun-Shooting Bow that Wu Shaogan is currently majoring in, but they are quite novel and Wu Shaogan can extract some essence from them.
Wu Shaogan had obtained similar results before, so there was nothing new about them.
Zhong Cai then took out a third item.
It is a teleportation array disk.
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan went closer to observe and saw that there were three rings of black stone grooves on it, which could hold eighteen, twelve and six black stones respectively.
Having studied array formations briefly, Wu Shaogan confidently stated, "Remote teleportation arrays are divided into three levels."
What follows will all be transmitted through telepathy.
[The outermost ring consists of eighteen low-grade mystic stones, capable of teleporting up to tens of thousands of miles away. It allows for approximately eighteen consecutive teleports, each consuming one-eighteenth of the total energy.]
Each teleportation is undirected.
Zhong Cai thought for a moment.
I remember that the speed of a Spirit Transformation cultivator is about two thousand miles per breath, but since it's unpredictable, I should be able to shake them off by teleporting a few more times.
Wu Shaogan nodded and continued transmitting his voice.
[This middle ring requires twelve mid-grade mystic stones, and the teleportation distance is at least 300,000 li. It can teleport twelve times in total.]
Zhong Cai was taken aback.
[Did it jump directly from tens of thousands of miles to hundreds of thousands of miles?]
Wu Shaogan nodded.
[The minimum is 300,000, and the maximum can even reach one million.]
[In this way, with just two or three teleportations, even Nirvana cultivators will be unable to track the direction.]
[I've found information about this ancient teleportation array disc; it's a level nine treasure that can be used for teleportation. The three rings of inlaid mystic stones represent three different levels. From the outside in, they represent levels seven to nine, with significant differences in the teleportation distances between them.]
However, the higher the level, the more difficult it is to control. If six high-grade mystic stones are inlaid, it will be different from the previous two types.
[The teleportation distance will remain at least a million miles, then change direction several times in different directions ahead, making the teleportation location unpredictable. This can prevent tracking by powerful beings with extraordinary abilities.]
However, for this reason, the inner circle's teleportation capacity is depleted after each use. If you wish to continue teleporting, you must replenish your Xuan Stones promptly.
Zhong Cai listened carefully and then smiled knowingly.
[In other words, a life-saving artifact!]
Wu Shaogan added a sentence.
You need to spend enough money to unlock it.
Zhong Cai didn't care at all.
As long as this formation is in place, we have enough Xuan Stones to spend money on in-game purchases many times over!
Wu Shaogan smiled and nodded again.
That's true. The two of them do have a lot of Xuan Stone reserves, and they can continue to collect more Xuan Stones later.
When he needs to escape, he will take A-Cai directly into the ancient city, while he himself will control the array plate, which allows him to adapt flexibly.
It certainly gave them a new way to save their lives.
Wu Shaogan couldn't help but laugh and said, "It seems that Dan Shenmu is quite satisfied with both of us."
Zhong Cai understood his meaning and said smugly, "Of course! Giving us this is to ensure that we can absolutely keep our lives!"
·
Wu Shaogan carefully put away the array plate.
Zhong Cai then continued to explore within the blue light.
This is the fourth treasure; it's cool to the touch and feels like silk.
Zhong Cai took it out and examined it carefully.
In his hand, he was holding a pale yellow, very old book, made of some unknown material.
Zhong Cai slowly turned a page.
Wu Shaogan also gathered around him to observe.
Inside the book... lies the lineage of Daoist alchemy.
The content is all-encompassing, including but not limited to various elixir formulas, alchemy techniques, alchemy strategies, medicinal materials involved, related rare and precious herbs, the most suitable wood and fire for each type of elixir, the form and effects of the refined elixir, which elixir can be substituted for each other, and which elixir may seem to have similar effects but cannot be taken consecutively to avoid poisoning...
There are many different kinds of things, quite a lot.
Once each prescription is listed, it forms a network, with countless threads extending outwards, each "spider web" leading to countless more points of knowledge.
By following the clues and exploring these points, you can memorize all the information required for the entire level.
It's very strange, but the potential gains are obvious!
·
Zhong Cai blinked, not daring to look closely, only roughly observing the levels of alchemy involved.
Levels one through nine... all of them are available.
This is the ninth-level alchemy inheritance!
Zhong Cai nudged Wu Shaogan, her heart pounding with excitement.
[Old Wu! There really is a level nine inheritance! I got my hands on it!]
Wu Shaogan was naturally very happy for Zhong Cai and put his arm around his shoulder.
Zhong Cai's fingers flew across the pages, her joy evident...
However, after he carefully and quickly flipped through it again, his expression became somewhat strange.
Wu Shaogan was taken aback.
[A-Cai, what's wrong?]
Although Zhong Cai was still very happy, she was also a little disappointed.
I told you it wouldn't be that easy.
Wu Shaogan: "..."
Actually, judging from A-Cai's various behaviors, it doesn't seem that easy.
Zhong Cai knew her husband well, and seeing his subtle expression, she explained to him.
[Oh dear! It's because I'm only level four! To obtain the level nine inheritance, the trials will definitely be much more rigorous. After all, there's such a big difference between the intermediate levels, and alchemists often encounter unexpected events during their training. There are also various reasons why alchemists might not be able to break through due to insufficient cultivation comprehension... The Pill God Tree will definitely have to take this into consideration.]
[Furthermore, I reckon that the Pill God Tree also knows that my aptitude is currently only at the top of the Earth grade. If I can't continue to level up, I can only reach the Nirvana Realm at its peak, and I'll have to refine pills beyond my level to produce level nine pills.]
[I'm currently in the Suspended Illumination Realm, and I haven't yet attempted to refine pills beyond my level. Therefore, I need to demonstrate a perfect level of skill at this stage so that the Pill God Wood can confirm that I do possess the ability to refine pills beyond my level.]
·
Come to think of it, the day the Divine Tree returns to spring just happened to fall at this exact moment.
Even if it were just ten years later, Wu Shaogan would definitely have reached the Fusion Realm, and Zhong Cai would definitely have become a Level 5 Alchemist who had accumulated many kinds of Level 5 pills. During this time, in order to learn more kinds of pills, he would reduce his cultivation time and would probably be stuck at the peak of the Suspended Illumination Realm, refining Level 5 pills beyond his level.
In that case, the test of the Divine Pill Tree should not require Zhong Cai to reach the level of a fully-grade, top-quality pill.
·
Let's get back to the present.
Zhong Cai flipped through a few pages of the book for Wu Shaogan to see.
Wu Shaogan doesn't have much talent in alchemy, but he has an alchemist partner who has helped him process medicinal herbs along the way, so he also knows a lot about alchemy and can now roughly understand it.
He said, somewhat surprised, "Incomplete?"
Zhong Cai nodded.
·
Both of them could see it clearly.
The lineage of alchemy from the first to the fifth level is complete. Once the network is laid out, it can be seen that the corresponding system has been explained perfectly and clearly.
By level six, the formulas were still complete, but the expanded knowledge points were noticeably lacking. Some were clearly expanded upon, but the expanded content was missing; some techniques were mentioned, but no detailed explanations could be found; some formulas clearly stated "a certain elixir involves certain medicinal materials, and which materials are substituted," but the substitutions were not specified…
With such keen eyesight, Zhong Cai certainly wouldn't fail to see it.
This inheritance is indeed a level nine inheritance, but it is only the "prelude".
Judging from the extent of this "missing content," there should be a middle part and a final part to follow.
Zhong Cai sighed and said, "I reckon that we need to refine a few more top-grade pills to demonstrate sufficient stability and strong alchemy talent before Dan Shenmu will release the next batch."
Wu Shaogan carefully observed Zhong Cai's expression.
Although he seemed to show a hint of disappointment, he was mostly excited and eager to try.
It seems that he is looking forward to continuing the challenge!
Wu Shaogan smiled and said, "Then I'll wait for A Cai to collect all the inheritances."
His words were full of trust.
Zhong Cai was invigorated and said matter-of-factly, "I can definitely do it, just you wait and see!" As he spoke, he smiled secretly, "My safety depends on you, Lao Wu!"
Wu Shaogan was also confident: "Don't worry, A-Cai."
·
Zhong Cai then took out two more resources from within the blue light.
They are two identical grade-eight rare medicinal herbs.
Zhong Cai understood somewhat; this must be because his alchemy skills had satisfied the Alchemy Godwood, who, although not immediately giving him the full inheritance, rewarded him with high-grade rare herbs.
That's good.
Wu Shaogan put away the precious medicine.
Zhong Cai then sat cross-legged in front of the alchemy furnace once again.
He's already got the Vortex Pill sorted out; now he needs to refine another kind and get it to a similar level.
A genius alchemist, but the pills he produces are too limited in variety; they probably can't completely satisfy the Pill God Tree...
Wu Shaogan stood solemnly to one side, a hard bow in his hand.
He can't let A-Cai down.
·
For a top-tier alchemist, once they successfully produce a perfect, top-grade pill, the difficulty of achieving the same level with other pills is halved. There is an unseen, intuitive connection between them.
This time, Zhong Cai chose the Flying Feather Pill and began to work relentlessly on it.
Refining it time and time again...
Each time, he felt he was making small progress, and he could sense that his control over the medicinal herbs was approaching perfection... However, it was not yet absolutely perfect, and there was still room for improvement.
Zhong Cai wasn't in a hurry at all.
The feeling of gradually improving one's alchemy skills is actually quite pleasant.
·
Wu Shaogan focused intently on slaughtering the wooden beasts, preventing any of them from breaching his defenses.
Indeed, no single one could accomplish it.
But suddenly, Wu Shaogan's gaze turned cold as he looked to his right.
A broad leaf slowly appeared there, no different from the one on this side.
However, the leaf there was much thicker and more solid than the one here, at least several feet thick—it's easy to imagine that it would be very stable.
Once the blades collide, the one on this side will inevitably be no match for the one on the other.
·
Wu Shaogan drew back the bowstring and fired several arrows, which circled around the area and killed two powerful wooden beasts that appeared from different directions at the same time.
At the same time, he also saw the scene on the leaf next to him very clearly.
Amidst the leaves over there sat a level four alchemist.
The alchemist was concentrating intently on refining pills, while a tall martial arts cultivator stood guard beside him.
The martial arts cultivator was covered in a murderous aura, as if his whole body was soaked in a blood-red color, making him look somewhat ferocious.
He held a broadsword with many blood grooves and thick layers of blood grime on its blade.
It is obvious that this martial arts cultivator killed many people.
Wu Shaogan narrowed his eyes, a hint of coldness flashing in them.
This person's intentions are not good.
·
The martial arts cultivator over there is called Zong Jinhai, and the alchemist is called Ning Xuran.
Ning Xuran was only a disciple of a seventh-level alchemist, but he was the grandson of a Nirvana cultivator. Moreover, the eighth-level force he belonged to had five Nirvana cultivators, making the entire force quite powerful.
Because of his grandfather, he had spent some time studying and honing his alchemy skills within the forces of two level-nine alchemists.
However, Ning Xuran's talent in alchemy is only above average. He is now over a hundred years old and is still only a fourth-level alchemist.
Ning Xuran was very fond of alchemy and aspired to become an outstanding alchemist. However, since he lacked the natural talent, he would diligently study and practice. He believed that as his knowledge grew, his refined learning and practice would lead to breakthroughs in his alchemy skills.
Therefore, he had thoroughly studied the alchemist lineages within his own faction, and he was also willing to exchange resources with high-level alchemists for guidance from other factions.
Gradually, Ning Xuran's alchemy skills also became quite good.
Having heard about the Day of Return to Spring, Ning Xuran was determined not to miss it. The ancient books he consulted recorded that once the Day of Return to Spring was opened, all alchemists who could participate could make great progress. Even those who lacked talent could make breakthroughs through the gift of the Alchemy God Wood and thus reach a higher peak in alchemy!
Ning Xuran valued this highly, so he made careful preparations and brought his guardian senior brother with him.
·
Zong Jinhai, on the other hand, was a penniless man.
In order to obtain sufficient resources from Ning Xuran, Zong Jinhai was extremely obedient to him.
Zong Jinhai was born an orphan and was once taken in as a servant by a small family.
Zong Jinhai wasted decades in that family. Later, the small family offended someone and was wiped out. Zong Jinhai happened to be out on a mission as instructed by the head of the family, which saved his life.
Zong Jinhai was no loyal servant. After his master's death, he became a rogue cultivator, struggling in the low-level cultivator circle, honing his combat skills to acquire resources, and spending any resources he could get his hands on without hesitation. And he was quite lucky; after some years, he obtained some opportunities that improved his aptitude.
Later, he used this talent to join a sect and became one of the more outstanding disciples because of his hard work.
However, before Zong Jinhai could find a suitable master and become his disciple, the sect's enemies came and destroyed the sect.
At that time, Zong Jinhai was also gaining experience abroad.
To avoid perishing with his sect, and also to avoid being targeted by his enemies for having some fame within the sect, he spent a lot of time and all his savings traveling across the ocean to other major states.
Fortunately, he had good aptitude and combat ability, so he joined the sect that Ning Xuran belonged to.
They finally settled down.
Later, when Ning Xuran needed protection from her fellow disciples, Zong Jinhai overcame numerous obstacles and finally became one of Ning Xuran's guardian senior brothers. After further struggles, he became one of Ning Xuran's more trusted disciples.
As the day of spring's return approached, Zong Jinhai engaged in numerous battles with other competitors and underwent many life-or-death trials before finally earning the qualification to protect Ning Xuran as she refined pills on the Pill God Tree.
During this period, Zong Jinhai understood the level of Ning Xuran's alchemy skills, and he also understood his own position, as well as what he could do and gain from the Alchemy Divine Wood.
Upon ascending the Dan Shen Tree, Zong Jinhai showed no impulsiveness, focusing solely on protecting Ning Xuran.
Ning Xuran's skill in refining pills is not bad, but it is far from being very high. It takes several attempts to produce a high-grade pill, and only on very rare occasions can she barely produce a top-grade pill.
Such abilities naturally failed to win the favor of the Divine Wood, nor could they withstand the test of attacks from the wooden beast.
Gradually, Zong Jinhai stopped making any moves, but some of his "neighboring" blades began to attack.
Zong Jinhai repelled the attack, and the opponent fell to the ground.
The other leaf floated over, thickening Zong Jinhai's leaves.
Zong Jinhai's leaf position has also risen one level.
·
Before long, Ning Xuran finished making the pill and found that among the benefits she had taken out of the cyan light, besides being useful to Zong Jinhai, the contents related to her alchemy were actually slightly better.
Perhaps... if the accompanying martial arts cultivators are strong enough to repel more attacks, it would also be of some help to the alchemist.
Ning Xuran made a decisive move and gave Zong Jinhai the order to continue to raise the position of the leaf and take the initiative to attack other alchemists!
Zong Jinhai obeyed the order, but did not attack blindly. Instead, he carefully observed and selected martial arts cultivators who were easy to deal with before attacking them!
Over the years, Zong Jinhai has honed his combat skills to an exceptional level, and he doesn't care much about saving face. He's willing to use any means necessary to win.
As long as Ning Xuran doesn't mind—in Zong Jinhai's view, the means don't matter, as long as enough benefits are obtained.
Ning Xuran indeed didn't mind.
As the leaves rose higher, as the guardian cultivators of other alchemists were knocked down by Zong Jinhai, and as other alchemists were forced to leave the Pill God Tree... Ning Xuran gained a lot of alchemy experience provided by the Pill God Tree.
Ning Xuran himself already possessed a great deal of inherited knowledge and had a wealthy family background with no shortage of medicinal materials. For him, experience in alchemy was the most suitable.
Therefore, Ning Xuran let Zong Jinhai do as he pleased.
·
Zong Jinhai rose through the ranks, committing numerous murders along the way.
Those martial arts cultivators fought to the death with Zong Jinhai several times in order to protect the alchemists or their own interests. However, their experience was indeed not as rich as Zong Jinhai's, and Zong Jinhai had a sharp eye and could easily select opponents that he could handle. As for those who were not easy to deal with, he would not take any action against them, but would quickly leave them behind.
In this way, Zong Jinhai and Ning Xuran quickly rose in rank.
The higher they float, the easier it is for Zong Jinhai to make his selections—the alchemists at higher altitudes have higher levels of alchemy skills, and they are usually attacked by wooden beasts while refining pills!
Zong Jinhai took advantage of the other martial arts cultivators' defense against the wooden beast to launch a sneak attack.
Admittedly, when Zong Jinhai began to fight them, the wooden beast would suddenly disappear, leaving the battlefield to the two martial arts cultivators. However, the wooden beast would still be present the moment Zong Jinhai seized the opportunity to strike.
Many martial arts practitioners failed to react in time and were caught off guard by Zong Jinhai's sneak attack. They were either killed or put at a disadvantage.
Of course, if he happens to encounter a martial arts cultivator with extremely rich experience, and Zong Jinhai's sneak attack fails, he will carefully assess the strength of both sides. If he realizes that he cannot easily defeat the opponent, he will manipulate the blade to change direction and drift out of the opponent's attack range.
The leaves on the Dan Shen Tree thickened as martial arts cultivators fought, and the cultivators gradually gained some control over them, allowing them to evade some battles.
The primary task of the attacked martial arts cultivators was not to fight, but to protect their own alchemists.
Once Zong Jinhai abandons his attack, the wooden beast will reappear, and the martial arts cultivators will have no choice but to continue fighting it, unable to actively pursue Zong Jinhai.
·
And so, Zong Jinhai proceeded cautiously all the way.
He actually managed to catch up to several hundred floors, reaching the highest level he has reached so far!
That's how I met Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan.
Zong Jinhai observed quietly, without taking immediate action.
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