Chapter 65
Wei Jing’s eyes looked around, smiling, "Relax—young ladies—young friend Qin Yu consented . I will—of course—abide by my promise . This Jade Salve is yours . "
This was the ability of a man with integrity . He didn’t state it, yet with a bit of thought, anyone could see the deeper meaning . It made them feel like Qin Yu's consent had a lot to do with the two of them . 'Young friend, I can only help you this much!'
Seeing this proud and satisfied look, Qin Yu's eyes twitched, 'Just what is this guy doing?'
Did he awaken his funny side?
Senior sister was incredibly happy but looked sideways when she was about to receive the bottle .
Qi Jiao's face was flushed red—and gazing at Qin Yu—she spoke in a soft voice, "Thank you . "
Qin Yu cupped his hands, "Young miss Qi needn’t thank me . "
As he watched the two girls leave, Wei Jing laughed, "Young friend's eyes aren’t bad, this young miss Qi's character is good and also rare . No need to explain, I shall take my leave . "
Qin Yu gave a bitter smile, ' Just what is this?!' He shook his head, avoiding the curious gazes of the neighbors and went back inside .
The second day, he received the respectful two juniors from the Wei clan but left soon after .
Qin Yu's storage bag was now five thousand spirit stones richer and a Heavenly Thunder Bamboo poorer . Although it was just a stalk, this price—for a ten-thousand-year-old Heavenly Thunder Bamboo—was definitely worthwhile .
Of course, what needed to be said was already said . If Wei Jing was smart enough, he wouldn't be meddlesome .
There was a sudden disturbance outside, immediately followed by a strong wave of power coming from far away .
Qin Yu's face paled . He opened the door with a brush of his sleeve, then flashed several times until he arrived halfway up the mountain .
He gazed towards the heart of the Ancient Immortal Valley, at the scarlet glow rising upward, shining the entire sky and releasing spiritual energy .
Three figures were having a hard time running away, while a black cloud chased behind them, accompanied by a dreadful buzzing of insect wings .
"Blue Winged Ants!"
"My god, so terrifying!"
"Those are three Golden Cores, with even the weakest being a late Golden Core . But they actually couldn't resist!"
In the wake of constant miserable cries, the three were drowned in the sea of Ancient Immortal Valley Golden Core cultivators then ripped apart and eaten by the Blue Winged Ants . Qin Yu's mind shook, as thoughts spun inside . He flipped his hand inside his robe and was now holding some golden and dazzling leaves, the Great Sun Tree leaves .
Far away, the Blue Winged Ants were returning after killing the three Golden Core . Suddenly, they ushered an excited cry and whistled over .
Qin Yu was shocked, never expecting the Blue Winged Ants to discover the Great Sun Tree's leaves over such a great distance . Their reaction was really fierce as if they were starved for countless years .
After he put the leaves away, Qin Yu faked a terrified expression as he ran away with the others . Yet the Blue Winged Ants already arrived, hovering around the area and constantly cried in anger . With such an astonishing speed, it was no wonder they caught the three Golden Core!
A silver-haired old man showed up in front of the ants . He made quick hand gestures and released a majestic power, causing earth-shattering rumbling .
The Blue Winged Ants shrieked on and on but flew away when they lost the connection and disappeared along with the scarlet glow .
The silver-haired old man turned around . His face was obscured by a mist, preventing anyone from seeing it, yet those two eyes like suns seemed to be able to penetrate everything . As the eyes descended, everyone's body froze and shocking them to the core . Luckily, it didn’t seem like he found anything, and disappeared with a single step .
Qin Yu was soaked in cold sweat . This old man was definitely a Nascent Soul cultivator, and even more powerful Seven Murdering Demonic Sect's Patriarch Tian Xingmo .
The Ancient Immortal Valley was indeed formidable!
The scarlet light was proof of Scarlet Radiant Tree’s existence, while the attraction of the Blue Winged Ants towards the Great Sun Tree's leaves exceeded his imagination . But how could he get close to the Scarlet Radiant Tree when the Ancient Immortal Valley was so formidable?
While Qin Yu was vexed about how to get near the Scarlet Radiant Tree, someone else was actually worried about him instead .
Qi Jiao was resting her chin on her hands, absent-minded . ‘If he truly likes me, why isn’t he coming to find me?’
Senior sister looked from afar, approaching hesitatingly, "Junior sister, what are you thinking about?"
Qi Jiao's face reddened, "Nothing . "
Senior sister sat down, pondered a bit, then, "Junior sister, I admit I despised Qin Yu . He made senior Wei regard him thusly, proving he isn’t ordinary . But he isn’t suited to you . "
Qi Jiao stared wide-eyed, "Why?"
Senior sister shook her head, "It’s what Master said . Qin Yu must have a reason since he was willing to hide and become unremarkable . There’s been a lot of buzzing regarding the Scarlet Radiant Tree recently . Perhaps this is why he is here . "
Qi Jiao let out a cry of surprise, "No, he can’t have any intention towards the Scarlet Radiant Tree . Those three Golden Cores were eaten by the Blue Winged Ants that day . Why would he risk it?!"
Senior sister covered her mouth, "Shh! Do you want everyone to know! This is just Master's guess, not necessarily true . "
There was more, but senior sister didn’t say . According to Master, Qin Yu didn’t have those any intention of getting close to Qi Jiao, as his help was related to the sword sheath . Senior sister didn’t believe at first—but if Qin Yu had any feelings for Qi Jiao—he would have already visited .
Senior sister wanted to tell Qi Jiao in order to avoid future sadness—but seeing her love-struck—no word came out .
The Radiant Scarlet Tree seemed just like a hundred cat claws . It scratched everyone's hearts—making them surge wildly—and also dashing all of their hopes . At that moment, the Ancient Immortal Valley opened its gates, giving everyone the chance of approaching the Radiant Scarlet Tree .
For the purpose of lifting the flag against the Demonic Faction's invasion on Southern Nation, and to raise the morale of the Alliance, the Ancient Immortal Valley held an Alchemy Gathering . In this gathering, both Golden Core and Foundation Establishment were welcome . The first ten were allowed to cultivate before the Radiant Scarlet Tree for a month . This was only related to Alchemy and was independent of one’s cultivation .
The ancient spiritual Radiant Scarlet Tree gathered huge amounts of spiritual energy forming a natural Domain . Cultivating inside the Domain for one day equaled a month outside, adding to that a miraculous effect of aiding breakthroughs . This was the information sent by the Ancient Immortal Valley .
The Southern Nation and the Northern Dynasty boiled .
Some say that the Ancient Immortal Valley's aim was to show that the Radiant Scarlet Tree belonged to them . Furthermore, from the mouth of the winners of the Alchemy Gathering, they would hear about the tight defense and scare any who had ill thoughts . Whichever the case was, as the information spread, winds began blowing!
Participants were many, but not all could join as the Ancient Immortal Valley issued three tests .
Choosing ingredients, selecting the right pill recipe and refining an eligible pill . According to a standard check, Qin Yu was allowed a smooth entry .
A while later, the Alchemy Gathering began . The place the Ancient Immortal Valley was using, was the Alchemy Mountain . It was cleared earlier of all disciples that were using it to practice Alchemy .
The Alchemy Mountain was around three hundred zhang tall and filled with densely packed, zhang tall round caves . These were all made by the Ancient Immortal Valley's cultivators in preparation for today .
The one in charge of the Alchemy Gathering was a late Golden Core elder from the Ancient Immortal Valley by the name of Zhao Xin . He had a solemn and severe expression, "In this Alchemy Gathering it is forbidden for anyone to cheat . Any violation will be severely punished . Today you have to refine a pill eligible for advancement in two hours . Any who fails is disqualified . Begin!"
The cultivators who had their identity checked and waited for a long time rushed towards the Alchemy Mountain . When talking about refining pills, two hours was rather short, so they mustn’t be one bit careless .
From the crowd, Qi Jiao searched with big eyes . She suddenly felt her body stiffen, as her eyes landed on a certain figure .
Qin Yu was actually an Alchemist!
She watched him fly along with others—eyes fixed on him—while thinking about what senior sister told her . She then bit her lip, full of worry .
Did he really come for the Radiant Scarlet Tree?
Qin Yu seems to have sensed it and turned his head . He met her eyes and after blanking a bit, nodded . He locked on a cave and then arrived at its entrance in a single step .
After entering the cave, Qin Yu wasn’t so eager to begin refining like the rest . He used his Divine Sense to search every nook and cranny, and after making sure all was in order, he grinned .
The Ancient Immortal Valley was playing by the rules . This made it safe for Qin Yu to acquire one of the ten positions with the help of Little Blue Lamp .
This was completely unfair to others, but where in this world was there true justice?
When Qin Yu sat cross-legged, a fifth of the time has passed already . His face was calm, however, as his eyes swept the ingredients laying in chaos before him .
Demon Face Flower, Withered Thunder Branch, Pure Scorched Grass, Hidden Venomous Parasite . . . There were many ingredients with different characteristics . Some of excellent quality, some withered and some even resembled creatures .
Take the Withered Thunder Branch for example . It was a dried branch from a willow that survived an attack from heavenly lightning, rare and expensive . To exploit this, the cultivators used lightning techniques to make the Withered Thunder Branch . Along with delicate control, it would be hard to differentiate the fake from the original .
It was very important for any qualified Alchemist to identify ingredients . Thus, this competition already started from the moment they chose ingredients . These ingredients—whether good or bad—all had different pairings for many types of pills . The choice came to each individual .
Qin Yu took six types of ingredients—all ordinary and simple—while completely ignoring the expensive ones, like the Withered Thunder Branch . The Ancient Immortal Valley's wealth wasn’t false—but even so—they won’t waste so many precious ingredients on all five hundred participants .
There might have been very few genuine Withered Thunder Branch, but what Qin Yu had clearly wasn’t among them . What he wanted to refine was the Spirit Increasing Pill . Yes, the most common pill that every Foundation Establishment was using . The Spirit increasing Pill that increased one’s cultivation .
This kind of common pill, even if successfully refined, it would still fall short of winning . But this test required one's pill to meet a certain level, with no mention of its quality .
Taking out the Mythical Fire Cauldron, Qin Yu injected it with his power and the fire was ignited, immediately releasing a scorching aura . After the cauldron finished warming up, he threw in the first ingredient .
Several hundred people began refining pills at the same time, releasing a strong medicinal fragrance . This was a scene that could only happen in the Ancient Immortal Valley . But speaking for the Alchemists, it wasn’t necessarily a good thing .
A muffled boom came from a cave, soon followed by a stench . The cultivator inside howled in grief, "Thousand Gold Grass is fake!"
Very quickly, another cave not far from him also suffered the same fate . The soot-covered cultivator rushed outside, cursing in rage, "The bastard who made me fail my refining, come out!"
That previous sound clearly made him fail .
A gloomy cultivator came out of a cave, "What are you yelling at! It blew up because if your mediocre skill!"
"Bastard! I will teach you today why the flowers are red!"
"I'm so scared!"
Right when they were about to strike each other, an Ancient Immortal Valley cultivator intervened and forced them to leave . This was one of Ancient Immortal Valley's unspoken rule . As long as you didn’t influence the refining process, you wouldn’t be stopped .
If you failed because of outside influence, it proved that your heart wasn’t calm enough or your skill wasn’t deep enough . There was no one to blame but yourself .