Chapter 9 Sacrifice
Zhong Cai pulled Wu Shaogan up to the altar and they arrived at the front of the "card pool".
The cluster of forty strands of colorful light and crimson hue floated about ten feet above the altar, resembling a rosy cloud.
Wu Shaogan suggested softly, "Shall we try offering ten strands of cinnabar essence first?"
Zhong Cai thought so too, so recalling how to use the altar, he pointed to Cai Xia, gestured towards the pit, and said, "Perform a sacrifice."
As if understanding Zhong Cai's words, Cai Xia split off ten beams of colored light from within, which suddenly descended and disappeared into the depression.
In an instant, the white flames in the crater swallowed the colorful light, and as the flames swirled, a ball of white light shot out, swaying and floating in front of Zhong Cai.
Zhong Cai looked closely and her expression turned strange.
Within the white light was a white seal slightly larger than an adult's palm, entwined with many strange patterns, exuding a mysterious aura that made one hesitant to delve deeper. But at first glance, didn't it look just like a card—was his altar really a card-drawing system?
Zhong Cai took the envelope over; it had a "启" (Qi) character written on it in a flamboyant style. It could be opened by injecting Xuan Qi into it.
Wu Shaogan leaned over to take a look.
Zhong Cai took a deep breath and infused it with a wisp of profound energy.
The next instant, the seal floated up and turned into smoke.
Floating in the smoke was a piece of... heavy gold.
In terms of weight, it is one gold.
Zhong Cai's face stiffened: "My luck is terrible, I only drew the most common one."
Wu Shaogan was taken aback: "The most common?"
Zhong Cai simply pulled Wu Shaogan to sit on the stone seat and began to explain in detail: "I only found out after I decided to choose the path of alchemy, I forgot to tell you. Look at that pit in front of you, there should be five kinds of flames in it. The white flame you see now is the lowest level, and each sacrifice yields ten strands of alchemical essence. After that are cyan, red, purple, and golden flames, and each sacrifice yields one hundred, one thousand, ten thousand, and one hundred thousand strands of alchemical essence, respectively."
"According to the altar's description, the most common reward for the lowest level of sacrifice is one gold. When the flame turns blue, the most common reward is one black pearl. The most common rewards for red flame, purple flame, and gold flame are low-grade black stones, mid-grade black stones, and high-grade black stones, respectively, all of which are one."
"In addition, if I make ten sacrifices at the same time, among the ten items I get, there will be the highest-level treasure that can be obtained from that level of sacrifice, which is a guaranteed resource. For example, if I put in one hundred strands of elixir and get ten seals, I will definitely get a level three rare herb. The Azure Flame Pool guarantees a level four rare herb, the Crimson Flame Pool guarantees a level six rare herb, the Purple Flame Pool guarantees a level seven rare herb, and the Golden Flame Pool guarantees a level nine rare herb."
Zhong Cai guessed, "It might be related to the alchemy department I chose. They always produce rare and precious herbs, which is a way of encouraging me to work harder at alchemy?"
Wu Shaogan understood: "Not bad. Even if it's only one gold, it's free, a profit." He smiled and comforted Zhong Cai, "One gold is enough to buy dozens of portions of medicinal herbs. If you had gotten a few top-grade rare herbs, or a few silver or copper coins, wouldn't it be better than this one gold?"
Zhong Cai thought about it and agreed. It's common, but this is shiny gold!
One gold in this world is roughly equivalent to ten taels of gold in my previous life, while one silver is still the same weight as one tael of silver. The exchange rate is also similar, so one gold in this world is roughly equivalent to one hundred silver. If it were in my previous life, it would be worth about fifteen thousand yuan.
That's not a small amount at all.
So Zhong Cai enthusiastically offered a second sacrifice.
It was still the white flame that emitted the white seal, which Zhong Cai opened, revealing a golden seal.
Zhong Cai handed the two gold coins she had obtained to Wu Shaogan, saying generously, "For pocket money. From now on, all the gold coins you draw here will be your pocket money."
Wu Shaogan chuckled as he took it, put it into his mustard seed bag, and asked, "Want to smoke?"
Zhong Cai casually offered up the last twenty strands of cinnabar energy and replied, "Look at those two seals, don't they look like they were drawn from the pool by that cinnabar energy? We can't talk about the altar, so let's not mention sacrifices anymore. But drawing seals... drawing seals sounds too awful, and seals do look like name tags. Let's just call it drawing name tags. That way, even if someone overhears a few words of our conversation, they won't understand the inside story. Isn't that an extra layer of cover?"
Wu Shaogan remained silent.
...Does it look like it?
But that doesn't matter, let's just draw the cards.
Wu Shaogan nodded, then suddenly remembered something and quickly reminded him, "A-Cai, you must be careful not to summon the altar even if you leave the Wu family home and are in a closed room."
"When a cultivator of the Secret Realm reaches the third level of the Enlightenment Realm, their three souls and seven spirits are completely condensed into a primordial soul, thus generating soul thoughts. These soul thoughts sweep across all directions, and everything they pass through is clearly visible to them. However, a power like the Wu family would set up an array throughout the entire residence to block soul thoughts. Once a soul thought sweeps over, it is considered an offense, and the clan's strong members will step in, making it much safer."
Zhong Cai's expression was serious, and she honestly replied, "I will be careful."
Seeing his expression soften, Wu Shaogan said, "Don't worry too much. In the future, we can buy something that can block soul thoughts, whether it's an array plate or a talisman. We can set it up in the room and then summon them at will."
Zhong Cai smiled brightly again.
The two looked at the last two envelopes with good spirits.
Zhong Cai handed one to Wu Shaogan and said, "Why don't you open one and have some fun?"
Wu Shaogan did not refuse and took it.
Zhong Cai placed her finger on the character "启" and enthusiastically suggested, "Come on, let's take it apart together!"
Wu Shaogan still did not refuse and placed his finger on the word "Qi".
The two looked at each other, and then together poured their profound energy/power into each other.
In that instant, both sealed items flew out, and subtle changes occurred.
The envelope in Zhong Cai's hand suddenly became coated with a layer of golden light, shimmering dazzlingly; while the one in Wu Shaogan's hand had golden light flowing around the edge of the envelope, quickly spinning once.
Immediately afterwards, both seals turned into smoke.
What appeared in front of Zhong Cai was a small bottle.
What appeared in front of Wu Shaogan was a rock the size of a fist.
Zhong Cai grabbed the small bottle, opened the stopper, and saw a surge of energy emanating from it, causing him to hiss involuntarily. He quickly sealed it back in.
Wu Shaogan observed the stone for a while and then said, "Acai, give me a dagger and a small bowl."
Zhong Cai instinctively did as he was told, and then saw Wu Shaogan suspend the stone above the small bowl, infuse his dagger with profound energy, and slowly cut the stone open.
A faint, sweet, and slightly fishy smell wafted out, and thin streams of juice flowed from the cracks in the rocks, all of which fell into the small bowl.
It has a reddish hue, a slightly pungent odor, and is extremely energetic...
The old Zhong Cai would never have recognized it, but the current Zhong Cai knew immediately and exclaimed in surprise, "Old Wu, this seems to be the second-grade rare medicine, Crimson Scale Blood? Let me think, each drop of this stuff costs one gold coin, and there must be more than thirty drops left on the bottom of the bowl."
Wu Shaogan said, "I counted, thirty-seven drops."
Zhong Cai gave him a thumbs up, then beckoned mysteriously and said, "Although you were very lucky this time, you'd never guess what I drew!"
Wu Shaogan glanced at the small bottle Zhong Cai was holding, raising an eyebrow. "I guess it's a pill." He pretended to ponder, then smiled and said, "And it might even be a level three pill?"
Zhong Cai's eyes widened immediately.
Wu Shaogan crossed his arms and laughed, "Looks like I guessed right." He said smugly, "Your envelope is completely gold, while mine only has a single ring of gold. It's obvious that yours is of a higher grade."
Zhong Cai punched Wu Shaogan in the chest and said viciously, "You're not stupid after all!"
Wu Shaogan couldn't help but laugh out loud.
The two of them playfully pushed and shoved each other for a while before going to look at the small bottle together.
Zhong Cai took out a small bowl and poured the pill into it.
Wu Shaogan was stunned for a moment: "Tiger and Leopard Breathing Pill?"
Zhong Cai nodded: "That's it. It's used to weaken the pain of soul fusion when you're in the Enlightenment Realm. Taking one of these pills can suppress the pain of an entire minor realm down to just one-third."
Wu Shaogan said, "Keep this safe. You can use it when you reach the Enlightenment Realm. This kind of pill is not common. Most of the time, you can only get it at auctions. The market price is 100,000 gold, but to actually get it, you'll need at least 150,000."
Zhong Cai hesitated for a moment, then said, "I want to take it back to my cheapskate father."
Wu Shaogan was taken aback.
Zhong Cai said, "Old Wu, look closely, this is just a low-grade pill."
Wu Shaogan knew, of course, that it was a low-grade pill, and he quoted the price of a low-grade pill. However, he quickly realized what was going on, and his expression softened: "A-Cai, do you mean that you can refine better ones in the future?"
Zhong Cai immediately laughed: "As expected of my buddy, you really understand me." He cleared his throat, "I'm not a self-deprecating person. I think I'll definitely be able to refine a lot of higher quality pills in the future, and my inheritance is quite extraordinary. It contains the formula for the Tiger and Leopard Breathing Pill. If I can really cultivate to the Enlightenment Realm in the future, I think I can at least refine a mid-grade one."
Upon hearing this, Wu Shaogan agreed.
Zhong Cai explained her thoughts one by one: "My cheap father is now at the Palace Opening Realm. I tricked him a little before I left... well, not completely. Anyway, we're sure we'll stay in touch."
After repeating what he had said to his adoptive father, he continued, "I've been married to you for seven or eight days now, so it's time to go back and see him. While you're at it, give him this pill and say you got it from him. If he knows your family still has resources, he'll be more willing to maintain the relationship. It's best if we don't do anything through the Wu family's channels here, but my adoptive father still has some people on his side. If there are any medicinal herbs that we can't buy, we can ask him for help."
Wu Shaogan suddenly realized: "You want to tell him about your alchemy?"
Zhong Cai laughed and said, "That's right. But although my adoptive father has some feelings for me, it's not much. In order to maintain this relationship, I have to use benefits to win him over. I'll give him some sweetness first, and then tell him that I can learn alchemy. He will naturally be more patient."
“My publicly stated Yellow-grade low-level aptitude means my cultivation potential is at most to the Enlightenment Realm. However, alchemists have the opportunity to refine pills beyond their level, and my ‘Companion Pill Furnace’ is a top-grade item in the second level. You could say my aptitude is very close to Yellow-grade mid-level, so I still have a chance to become a fourth-level alchemist… Could you help me figure out how much inheritance I’ve received? It would be better to tell him.” He added quietly, “By the way, I currently have pill formulas for first- to fifth-level pills, divided into ordinary pill formulas and selected pill formulas.”
"Many common pill formulas have the same effect, but even among the same type of pills, there will be some differences in carefully selected pill formulas."
"Currently, I have over 1,800 ordinary first-level pill formulas and 168 carefully selected ones; over 1,700 ordinary second-level pill formulas and 128 carefully selected ones; 1,500 ordinary third-level pill formulas and 108 carefully selected ones; over 1,200 ordinary fourth-level pill formulas and 88 carefully selected ones; and around 1,000 ordinary fifth-level pill formulas and 68 carefully selected ones."
Wu Shaogan pondered for a moment and said, "Strictly follow the grade of the alchemy furnace. Let's say you obtained alchemy formulas from grades one to four..." His lips twitched slightly. "How about this, since the number of alchemy formulas for each grade all has 'eight' in it, you can arrange it like that too. Regardless of whether it's ordinary or selected, just say that there are twenty-eight grade one alchemy formulas, eighteen grade two and three alchemy formulas, and eight grade four alchemy formulas."
Zhong Cai found it interesting and readily agreed, "We'll do it your way."
Wu Shao chuckled dryly, "Although there aren't many people in Kunyun City who have opened up their alchemy furnace inheritance, there are still a dozen or so that are openly known, with varying numbers of accompanying pill formulas. I know someone with low-grade aptitude who, despite only having first, second, and third-grade pill formulas in his inheritance, has twenty-five first-grade formulas, ten second-grade formulas, and five third-grade formulas. Since your aptitude is higher than his, it's normal for you to have a few more formulas in your inheritance of the same level."
Zhong Cai nodded repeatedly and excitedly discussed with him, "Yes! Let's set the number of formulas at this amount first, enough to make a living in our Kunyun City. If anyone wants me to hand over my inheritance, I'll just write down the most common formulas. If I need to use other formulas to refine pills in the future, that's fine too. I'll just say I was holding back before."
Wu Shaogan smiled.
Zhong Cai suddenly lowered his voice again and said, "I found many kinds of life-extending pills in the prescription." He nudged Wu Shaogan, "You know what I mean, right? From level one to level five, they can extend life by ten years, thirty years, fifty years, eighty years, and one hundred years respectively."
"If I take more pills and work harder, I hope to break through to the Suspended Illumination Realm when I'm over two hundred years old. Then I can refine a level five life-extending pill. If all the pills are combined, I can extend my life by almost three hundred years! By then, my altar might be upgraded, and I might be able to produce more formulas, which could extend my life by several hundred more years?"
Wu Shaogan understood, of course, and couldn't help but feel a little touched, yet also a little amused: "If I could only maintain the strength of the Heavenly Guidance Realm and still live until then, wouldn't I be a burden to you?"
Zhong Cai waved her hand dismissively: "What's the big deal? We're like family. If that day ever comes, I'll put you in the altar and take you wherever I go. As long as I'm safe, you'll be safe too."
Wu Shaogan couldn't hold back and burst into laughter again.
“Okay, as long as you don’t mind, I’ll go wherever you go.”
Next, Wu Shaogan instructed Zhong Cai to collect the blood of the Crimson Scales for later use in alchemy.
Zhong Cai then pulled Wu Shaogan off the altar and yawned.
It was already daylight.
Zhong Cai stayed up all night refining elixirs last night, and before she knew it, it was already this late.
Zhong Cai quickly nudged Wu Shaogan and said, "Go take a shower, it's time to sleep."
Wu Shaogan was pushed into the bathhouse, and because he was caught off guard by Zhong Cai, he was pushed into the bathtub, and his body was immediately soaked.
Zhong Cai looked at his buddy, who was soaked to the bone, and burst into laughter.
Wu Shaogan didn't say much, he just stretched out his hand—and so the waste of the twelfth level of the Heavenly Guidance Realm pulled the weakling of the fourth level of the Heavenly Guidance Realm into the bath, turning him into a drowned rat in an instant.
Zhong Cai: "..." Watch my water-splashing technique!
Wu Shaogan: "..." He splashed it back.
They had a lively water fight, each occupying one side of the bath, stripping off their clothes, and enjoying a refreshing water battle.
Then they went back to the main house, lay down on the bed, muttered some more things to say to others, and then fell asleep.
·
Early the next morning, Zhong Cai returned to the Zhong family home under Xiang Lin's protection.
The gatekeeper of the Zhong family certainly wouldn't forget Zhong Cai so quickly, but as usual, he asked who Xiang Lin was.
Zhong Cai laughed and said, "I'm just a young master's bodyguard."
Xiang Lin took out a token from the Wu family.
Upon seeing this, the gatekeeper immediately allowed them to pass.
After entering, Zhong Cai led Xiang Lin to Yuehe Garden.
There's also a gatekeeper here, a burly old man.
Zhong Cai greeted him, "Uncle Qian, is my father here?"
The old gatekeeper, Qian Chun, hurriedly replied, "Sixth Young Master is back? Master is currently drinking in the courtyard and will ask you to wait a moment while I go and inform him."
Zhong Cai understood immediately and gave a subtle look: "Alright, then I'll trouble Uncle Qian to tell my father." He lowered his voice as he spoke, "But Uncle Qian, when you tell my father, please don't let any other 'elders' come along."
Qian Chun nodded and walked away quickly.
Not long after, he hurried back and opened the garden gate.
·
Zhong Cai still led Xiang Lin all the way to the main courtyard.
The courtyard still smelled strongly of perfume, the tables faintly emitted the aroma of wine, and the ground also carried the scent of alcohol.
Zhong Guanlin, his face still flushed and reeking of alcohol, sat on a brocade stool, propping his chin up with his hand. Seeing Zhong Cai approach, he waved and laughed, "Little Six, you've been married for so many days now, and only now do you remember your old father waiting at home? Indeed, a married son is like water spilled from a bowl; how pitiful your father is."
Zhong Cai, however, showed no intention of begging for mercy. Instead, she said with a grin, "If Father knew what I brought back for you, he certainly wouldn't be so pitiful."
Zhong Guanlin became interested: "Oh? What did you bring?"
Zhong Cai plopped down on the stool next to Zhong Guanlin and took a small bottle out of her mustard seed bag.
"Dad will definitely recognize him!"
Zhong Guanlin casually opened the bottle, glanced at it, and then quickly sealed it shut.
At this moment, he looked at Zhong Cai with some emotion, a hint of disbelief flashing in his eyes, and asked in surprise, "Tiger and Leopard Breathing Pill?"
Zhong Cai said smugly, "That's right." He added even more smugly, "Young Master Shao gave it to me."
Zhong Guanlin: "Why should I give it to you?"
Zhong Cai chuckled, leaned close to his ear, and whispered, "Let me tell you, I've gotten a huge advantage by marrying into this family. Young Master Shao was incredibly powerful before, and he still retains the twelfth level of the Heavenly Guidance Realm! He's not a useless person at all. And you know, on our wedding night, I saved Young Master Shao's life in the bridal chamber, and the next day I borrowed his luck to unlock the secret treasure..."
As previously discussed with Wu Shaogan, Zhong Cai spoke selectively and evasively, saying things like "Young Master Shaogan is broad-minded and remembered our friendship without holding a grudge," "His family's wealth is such and such," and "His current living conditions and servants."
Zhong Guanlin narrowed his eyes: "That alone isn't enough." He paused for a moment, then continued, "Your legacy—"
Zhong Cai calmly stated the number of pills in the formula, and then added, "Young Master Shaogan is indeed a man of noble character, but the reason he is willing to mentor me and give me his unused Tiger Leopard Breathing Pill is because there is a..." He deliberately whispered, "...a Level Three Life-Extending Pill. It can extend one's lifespan by a full fifty years."
Zhong Guanlin's pupils suddenly contracted.
Zhong Cai was beaming with pride: "I'm currently working very hard to master the Qi-replenishing pills. As long as I can provide enough pills, Young Master Shaogan will be able to unleash the peak strength of the Heavenly Guidance Realm at will!"
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