Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Ling Han instantly felt much more at ease after receiving Alchemist Zi Cheng’s promise.
Otherwise, he and the Empress would have to suppress their cultivation after reaching the peak stage of the fourth severance. They wouldn’t be able to advance an inch further.
In just one year, he had to both master the First Refinement and also reach the peak stage of the fourth severance. This… was fairly difficult!
However, this was a good and interesting challenge.
Ling Han was filled with ambition, and he started to ask Alchemist Zi Cheng all kinds of questions regarding Spirit Refinement.
To Celestials, resting was almost not needed. Thus, the master and disciple completely lost track of time. The master was fully focused on teaching, and the disciple was fully focused on learning.
Fortunately, they were inside the alchemy room which could speed up time by 100-fold. After half a year, Ling Han finally had some slight grasp of Spirit Refinement. Meanwhile, only a mere two days had pa.s.sed in the outside world.
“I can lead through the door, but what you achieve is completely up to yourself,” Grandmaster Zi Cheng said with a serious expression. “If there’s anything you’re unsure about, come over to ask me. However, if you want to surpa.s.s me, it’s best that you learn how to ponder questions by yourself. If you can resolve them yourself, then it’s best that you resolve them yourself.”
Grandmaster Zi Cheng had learned this through experience. His first disciple had also been a prodigy in alchemy, and he had viewed him as a great treasure. If his disciple had any questions, he would immediately answer them. In the end, however, his first disciple turned out to be the least skilled among all of his disciples.
When teaching his two later disciples, Grandmaster Zi Cheng changed his teaching method slightly. Instead of directly answering their questions, he would guide them to independently resolve their problems. However, he had still interfered too much. Even though the achievements of these two disciples surpa.s.sed those of his first disciple, he still hadn’t unlocked their maximum potential.
Thus, he was going to teach Ling Han differently. He was going to force him to think by himself and resolve any problems by himself. He didn’t want Ling Han to overly rely on him.
After bidding farewell to Alchemist Zi Cheng, Ling Han left the mansion and returned to the fourth level.
Outsiders couldn’t stay in the fifth level, and this was a strict rule. This was unless Ling Han gave up his status as disciple, and became an alchemy apprentice instead. If he did so, he could indeed stay in the fifth level.
No one knew who had made this rule, but it had already existed for countless years. Even Alchemist Zi Cheng abided by it.
Ling Han didn’t think too much about this. Anyhow, there were also alchemy rooms that could speed up time by 100-fold in the fourth level of the Alchemist Pavilion. Thus, staying here wouldn’t affect his pill refinement. Moreover, he spent a large majority of his time cultivating under the Reincarnation Tree anyway, so this didn’t matter too much.
Creak…
He walked over and pushed the gates open.
“Ah!” Alchemy Apprentice Mo exclaimed upon seeing him. He was currently standing guard outside the gates, and he naturally didn’t dare to enter the mansion without Alchemist Zi Cheng’s permission.
Perhaps Alchemy Apprentice Mo appeared extremely high and mighty in the eyes of others. In reality, however, he was nothing more than a measly guard. However, there were no outsiders here, so no one could see Alchemy Apprentice Mo in such a state. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have feared him so greatly.
Alchemy Apprentice Mo stared at Ling Han, and it was as if he were looking at a ghost. His eyes were wide and bulging.
‘What’s going on?
‘How is Ling Han walking out unscathed?’
Grandmaster Zi Cheng had summoned this brat twice, and Ling Han had directly flicked his sleeves and left the first time. Although he had accepted the invitation the second time, he had also forced Grandmaster Zi Cheng to wait for an extremely long time. Thus, Alchemy Apprentice Mo was certain that Ling Han would definitely be cut into eight pieces and ground into fine powder.
Was he hallucinating?
He was definitely hallucinating!
A wide smile stretched across Ling Han’s face. With a wave, he said, “Oi, this isn’t a hallucination!”
“Impossible!” Alchemy Apprentice Mo exclaimed, jumping nine meters into the air. It was as if someone had stepped onto his nonexistent tail. His face was filled with shock and terror, and his voice was shaking as he pointed at Ling Han and said, “No, no, no, this is definitely my internal demon. There’s no way that you’re a living person!”
Pa!
Ling Han slapped him across the face, saying in a calm voice, “Can an internal demon slap you?”
“No, this must be a test from my internal demon!” Alchemy Apprentice Mo exclaimed. His gaze was resolute, yet his expression was dazed.
Pa, pa, pa!
Ling Han slapped him several more times. However, Alchemy Apprentice Mo remained staunch in his belief that this was an internal demon. His resolution was truly admirable.
‘Has he gone stupid?’
Ling Han stroked his chin in thought. ‘So be it. Who cares about this kind of measly person. It’s beneath me to worry about him.’
Ling Han flicked his sleeves and left. Meanwhile, Alchemy Apprentice Mo wore a dazed expression as he continued to stammer, “This is an internal demon, this is definitely my internal demon…”
After returning to the fourth level, Ling Han headed to the Alchemist Pavilion once again. He remained calm, and he also kept a low profile.
However, his reappearance sent giant waves through the Alchemist Pavilion.
Ling Han had beaten up Alchemist Zi Cheng, and he had then gone to visit Alchemist Zi Cheng. Yet, he had actually returned safe and sound!
T-t-this… This was far too unfathomable!
However, there were also many smart people, and they immediately came to a conclusion—Alchemist Zi Cheng greatly appreciated Ling Han, so he had forgiven him for his act of “disrespect”.
Since this was the case, they definitely had to seize this opportunity!
Numerous powerful clans dispatched their most skillful members to convince Ling Han to join them. He was a rising star, and his future was incredibly bright and limitless. If they could recruit him, their clan would definitely enjoy glory for countless generations to come!
However, it was a shame that none of them could even see Ling Han.
He had already started to cultivate in seclusion.
Meanwhile, Lu Xianming, Qin Guyu, and the others all wore extremely dark expressions. Ling Han’s performance was far too freakish. Not only was he a prodigy in both cultivation and alchemy, but he had even reached a pinnacle in both of these areas. This caused them to feel immense apprehension.
Following Ling Han’s rise in cultivation level, who could still defeat him and dispose of him in the future?
Thus, they had to act as soon as possible!
However, Ling Han was currently residing in the Alchemist Pavilion, so how could they a.s.sa.s.sinate him? If they could, what would be the use of the Alchemist Pavilion?
That being the case, they could only silently bide their time.
In fact, they were still unaware that Ling Han had already become Alchemist Zi Cheng’s disciple. If they learned of this, they would either lose all fighting spirit, or they would take even greater risks, putting everything on the line.
Under the Reincarnation Tree, Ling Han was currently digesting what Alchemist Zi Cheng had taught him about Spirit Refinement.
Each branch of alchemists had its own unique Spirit Refinement Technique. One couldn’t help but admire the wisdom of the founders of these different branches. With their understanding of Celestial medicines, and with their comprehension of the great dao, they had managed to forcefully elevate the level of Celestial pills!
It was said that through enough Spirit Refinements, one could even transform a failed alchemical pill into a genuine alchemical pill!
Right now, Ling Han didn’t possess any foundation. Thus, his only option was to learn. However, learning alone wouldn’t allow him to surpa.s.s the peak of Alchemist Zi Cheng’s achievements. At most, he would only be able to reach the same height.
Back then, Alchemist Zi Cheng had surpa.s.sed the peak level of his own master. Even though he was still a Four-Star Alchemist, he could reach the Seventh Refinement instead of the Sixth Refinement.
According to rumors, only by reaching the Ninth Refinement could one push open the doors to becoming a Five-Star Alchemist.
In other words, Spirit Refinement was of utmost importance.
Ling Han was in no hurry to start. Instead, he cultivated and pondered for a whopping 10,000 years. Only then did he conclude his cultivation.
Spending 10,000 years under the Reincarnation Tree meant 100 days had also pa.s.sed in the outside world. This was quite a long time.
At this moment, the Empress was also cultivating. She was incredibly confident in Ling Han, and she was convinced that he could definitely obtain the Natural Peach Seals. Thus, her current task was simply to advance to the peak stage of the fourth severance as soon as possible. She would then refine the Heavenly Dao Jade to enter the realm of Monarch Tier.
Meanwhile, the Heavenly Phoenix Divine Maiden could only wait for an opportunity to advance to the Severing Mundane Tier. However, there were two infants in the Black Tower, and this brought her some comfort. At the very least, she wouldn’t feel bored.
These were Spirit Infants that had been born from the Source Power of heaven and earth. They were intrinsically close to Dao, and when they grew up, they would definitely become kings among kings.
Thus, the Heavenly Phoenix Divine Maiden was filled with energy and vigor. She couldn’t achieve great heights herself, so wouldn’t it feel extremely satisfying and accomplis.h.i.+ng to raise two outstanding prodigies?
Ling Han was also happy to leave her to this. When these two infants grew up, he would take them as his disciples.
Even though he would offload their education and guidance to others, taking disciples was still a fairly fun matter.
The Empress continued to cultivate in seclusion, while the Heavenly Phoenix Divine Maiden took the two infants out for a breath of fresh air. Elsewhere, Ling Han entered an alchemy room, beginning his difficult path of mastering the First Refinement.