Martial Peak – Chapter 675, Invitation
Five hundred kilometers away from Grand Boulder City, at the very edge of the Snow Mountain Range, there was a beautiful temperate landscape that seemed to be in a perpetual state of spring. In the midst of this landscape was a great valley that was dotted with a large number of buildings stood. From time to time, powerful cultivators would fly in and out.
This place was the foundation of a great force.
At this moment, in a secluded secret room, an old man who normally sat in meditative retreat year to year suddenly opened his eyes, a brilliant spark flashing across them. A curious expression surfaced on his face as he turned his gaze in the direction of Grand Boulder City and stared.
Just now, he had felt a vague energy fluctuation coming from that direction that was somewhat familiar.
After thinking about it for a moment, the old man formed a series of profound hand seals and gathered his energy at his fingertips.
A moment later, the old man reached out and stroked the air in front of him. A series of ripples appeared as the void seemed to split and at the center of this distortion a vague figure emerged.
The old man stared at this figure suspiciously, his expression becoming more and more puzzled. Silently recording the general characteristics of this figure, he was about to push his strength slightly more to get a clearer view when the void trembled slightly and the figure he was observing suddenly turned its head towards him, a look of vigilance and doubt appearing on its face.
“Such strong vigilance!” The old man was surprised.
The old man could tell the age and cultivation of this individual were not very high and yet even though he had used a powerful divine ability to spy on the latter from a few hundred kilometers away, he had actually still been noticed.
The next moment, the ripples in the air settled and the figure disappeared.
“Interesting,” The old man grinned, calmly calling out, “Cang Yan.”
The door to this secluded room was soon pushed open and a man with a reserved aura walked in, respectfully asking, “What is ancestor’s command?”
“Go to Grand Boulder City and invite this person to see me!” The old man reached out his finger and shot a thread of Divine Sense into Cang Yan’s mind, showing him a fuzzy figure.
“Yes, ancestor,” Cang Yan nodded solemnly.
“Good, treat him politely,” The old man purposefully reminded.
Cang Yan’s expression became a bit strange but he did not ask anything more, turning around leaving to prepare for his trip to Grand Boulder City.
Alchemist Guild.
Mi Na, who was consulting Yang Kai about the Alchemic Way, suddenly asked, “What’s wrong?”
Yang Kai’s brow wrinkled as he stared at a certain place in the air. Just now, he had faintly sensed that someone was spying on him and could not help shiver slightly.
However, when he tried to investigate, he found nothing.
“It’s nothing,” Yang Kai shook his head, though still puzzled in his heart. With the current strength of his Divine Sense, even if the one trying to spy on him was a Transcendent, he would still be able to trace them. Only if a Saint Realm master was secretly observing him would he not be able to find them, but why would such a master be staring at him?
Since he came to Tong Xuan Realm, Yang Kai had not contracted any enmity with anyone besides the Charm Monster, but she was already dead.
“Oh,” Mi Na stopped asking about it and continued her discussion about Alchemy with Yang Kai instead. Yang Kai also didn’t try to hide his ability by remaining silent and answered her questions as best he could.
Of course, he did not speak about some of the more profound secrets of the True Alchemic Way.
The True Alchemic Way was very likely a legacy left behind by the Great Demon God, revealing too much about it would only bring harm to himself.
After having stayed in the Alchemist Guild for more than half a month, whether it was Old Man Du, Ye Xiong, or Mi Na, all of them treated him like family, which warmed Yang Kai’s wayward heart.
However, Yang Kai noticed that, Mi Na aside, both Old Man Du and Ye Xiong often treated him a bit too casually, not having the attitude or demeanor a senior should have towards a member of the younger generation, making him feel out of place.
These days, Yang Kai had also been immersed in Alchemy, and the materials he had purchased were being rapidly consumed.
Before, in Demon God Citadel, Li Rong had provided all of the herbs he had used, so Yang Kai didn’t feel anything about it, but now that he was preparing his own materials for Alchemy, he suddenly realized just how astonishing this consumption was.
Even though he had a lot of Crystal Stones on hand, at the rate he was spending them it would not be long before he ran out.
However, in order to continue improving his skill in Alchemy, he had to constantly keep practicing.
“Mi Na, how do you ensure that you have enough materials to practice Alchemy?”
“Who asked you to be such a freak?” Mi Na rolled her eyes, “You’re rate of Alchemy is simply too fast. When my master refines Spirit Grade pills, he normally spends at least half a day, so at most he can refine two per day.”
Yang Kai was stunned.
“But I digress; the pills we refine can be sold for Crystal Stones which we can then be used to buy materials to continue practicing Alchemy.”
A light suddenly went off in Yang Kai’s head. The whole time he had been practicing Alchemy, he had never once sold his own pills, so he had completely forgotten about this option.
Because until now, Yang Kai had never had to worry about maintaining his own finances, he had never thought about how to make money.
Most of the pills he had on him now were Spirit Grade and whether it was in terms of quality or grade, they were well aligned with the needs of most cultivators, so he would certainly have no trouble selling them.
Under the leadership of Mi Na, Yang Kai came to the shop operated by the Alchemist Guild. The old shopkeeper who he had previous met gave Yang Kai a favourable price and the Crystal Stones he had spent before were not only fully recovered but he also made a significant profit.
After purchasing enough materials, Yang Kai returned to Alchemist Guild again.
Time flew by and another month passed.
After confirming that the people from the Alchemist Guild really had no malicious intentions towards him, Yang Kai decided to have a chat with Old Man Du.
Yang Kai didn’t plan on studying Alchemy in Alchemist Guild for a lifetime. His goal in approaching them was to obtain the distinguished identity of Alchemist in order to help him realize his goal of finding Su Yan and his Little Senior Sister.
“Little friend is looking for someone?” Old Man Du was surprised to hear Yang Kai’s words.
“En, my two Senior Sisters and my Martial Uncle,” Yang Kai nodded, not daring to reveal any news about Old Demon. Meng Wu Ya was Xia Ning Chang’s master so he could naturally be counted as his Martial Uncle.
Old Man Du eyes flashed as he suddenly thought that along with Yang Kai there were actually three successors to the latter’s great Alchemy Master, and obviously the identity of these two women was not simple as there was even an Elder accompanying them. On top of that, this Elder was likely even more accomplished than Yang Kai.
“If little friend wants to find someone, the guild can provide you with some help. This old man will send a letter to the other branches of the guild, if there is any news, I’ll be sure to inform little friend as soon as I receive it. However, the guild has many matters to attend to so the old man can only guarantee that the other branches will keep any eyes out for your Senior Sisters and Martial Uncle. If little friend really wants to find them, it would probably be best to find your own solution.”
“Many thanks, Senior, even that will be a great help,” Yang Kai replied sincerely.
Old Man Du hesitated for a moment, mulling over something for a while before finally proposing, “If little friend wishes to take a more active approach, this old man suggests relying on one of the nearby forces to help find them. As a Spirit Grade Low-Rank Alchemist, I don’t believe any Sect would refuse your, wherever you go you would be courteously received as a guest.”
“I also had this idea, but I am not familiar with the nearby forces and don’t know which one I should choose. I hope Senior can offer me some guidance!”
Yang Kai really wasn’t familiar with any of the nearby Sects so if he were to hire himself to one that had unscrupulous intentions, it would be difficult for him to later withdraw safely. If he wasn’t forced to by the situation, Yang Kai would not even have considered such an idea.
“I see,” Old Man Du nodded slightly, “Of the nearby forces, Bright Thunder Spirit Religion, Soaring Heaven Sect, Ancient Moon Cave, and Luo Sheng Sect are those with the greatest influence and strength. If you want to hire yourself to a force, you should pick from one of these four; however, I don’t suggest looking for Luo Sheng Sect, those people aren’t easy to get along with. As for the remaining three… En, this old man has some slight friendship with each of them, if you want to choose from among them, it really is a bit difficult for me to recommend one.”
“Can I choose any of these three forces?” Yang Kai asked spiritedly.
“These three Sects’ reputations are all quite good. Give this old man a few days to think about it before giving you an answer, alright?”
“Then I shall have to trouble you Old Man Du.”
“Little friend is too polite.”
The next few days passed by uneventfully, Yang Kai still practiced Alchemy every day and Mi Na would often come to him for advice.
One day, Old Man Du suddenly summoned him so Yang Kai put down what he was working on and went to the former’s room.
Yang Kai thought that Old Man Du had come to a decision about which of the local Sects he should look for but when he opened the door, Yang Kai found that there was actually an unfamiliar face present as well.
This man’s aura was restrained and a strong light could be seen in the depths of his eyes. When Yang Kai entered the room, this man immediately stared towards him with a look of intense interest.
A Transcendent Realm master! Yang Kai immediately thought, and judging from the faint pressure he felt he estimated that this man was at least a Second Order Transcendent.
“Old Man Du,” Yang Kai greeted.
“Little friend Yang, please sit,” Old Man Du smiled.
“This is the new member of the Alchemist Guild?” The man swept his eyes over Yang Kai curiously and asked.
“En, he is a Spirit Grade Alchemist with excellent aptitude,” Old Man Du answered seriously.
“Spirit Grade?” The man’s face changed abruptly, now staring at Yang Kai with some disbelief.
“This old master wouldn’t lie.”
“Naturally I trust Old Man Du,” The man replied hurriedly.
“Little friend, let me introduce you, this is Elder Duan Hai of Bright Thunder Spirit Religion.”
Yang Kai nodded politely, offering his greetings.
“This old master has some friendship with Elder Duan, and I don’t know where Elder Duan heard the news but he recently learned about you staying in the guild and quickly came here today to invite you to go to Bright Thunder Spirit Religion to serve as an Honoured Guest.”
Duan Hai smiled and said, “I haven’t been monitoring your Alchemist Guild or anything, it was just that when my Junior Brother came to Grand Boulder City the other day he happened to see Mi Na and this friend enter the guild together. My Junior Brother knew that Old Man Du and I share some friendship so he quickly pushed me to act, lest we move too slowly and allow him to be won over by someone else.”
Old Man Du let out a light chuckle.
Since Yang Kai first entered the Alchemist Guild, he had really only gone out once. It quite unexpected that this one outing allowed him to be discovered by someone interested in recruiting him. This could only be said to be a coincidence.
“Would this friend be willing to come to my Spirit Religion?” Duan Hai showed an expectant look to Yang Kai and asked. A Spirit Grade Alchemist was already a valuable asset, but what was especially noteworthy was that this person was very young so obviously his aptitude was extraordinary. If Duan Hai could truly recruit him into Bright Thunder Spirit Religion, in time it might be possible to cultivate him into a top Saint Grade Alchemist. This level of Alchemist had never once appeared in Bright Thunder Spirit Religion before.
This was a long-term investment.
But Duan Hai had such vision and boldness!