Liu Yu Tong, who had been standing at the side, was already speechless, her eyes wide.
Thank goodness she wasn’t an alchemist and so did not really have much of an understanding of this profession. Otherwise, if she had known that the lowest requirement for an alchemist’s cultivation level was the seventh layer of Body Refining Tier, then she would definitely be even more shocked.
Then again, she was already shocked enough by now. A few more times and she might pass out due to extreme shock.
The higher the temperature of the flames, the more Origin Power the alchemist had to use. Very quickly, Ling Han felt that he was nearing exhaustion, so he quickly tossed a Return Origin Pill into his mouth, chewed it up and immediately felt Origin Power enter his body bit by bit, allowing him to continue the process.
Time passed slowly, and Ling Han continuously took Return Origin Pills. After two hours, Ling Han suddenly gave a loud shout and bit his tongue, fresh blood spilling. Under the power of the Lone Wolf’s Blood, his origin power suddenly rose up to another level, causing the heat level of the flames to rise up to about six hundred degrees.
“Pill completed!” He suddenly retracted the flames. The final surge of the flames was the finishing touch that increased the effects of the alchemical pill by about five percent.
Unfortunately, the four hundred degree temperature was his limit. He could only injure himself to stimulate the Lone Wolf’s Blood if he wanted to release a heat of six hundred degrees.
He lifted the lid of the furnace and a faint medicinal fragrance instantly wafted out.
Liu Yu Tong could not help coming closer to peek into the furnace. There were exactly seventeen round vermilion-colored pills inside. The surface of the pills sparkled temptingly, appearing almost translucent. Although she herself did not know anything about alchemy, she was certain that Ling Han had succeeded in concocting the pills.
“You really are a freak!” She said, a strange expression in her eyes.
Ling Han laughed loudly, and said, “You’ll get used to it soon.”
Liu Yu Tong wasn’t sure whether she would become crazy or grow numb under the continuous assault of these miracles.
Ling Han took a Little Cloud and Water Pill, swallowed it in one mouthful and immediately began cultivation.
“Hong!” The Little Cloud and Water Pill was like calcium oxide, whereas the environmental Qi was like water. The encounter between the two immediately gave rise to a powerful reaction, leading to the assault of a terrifying amount of Spiritual Qi. The Five Elements Mix Chaos Lotus within Ling Han’s Dantian stirred lightly, accepting the incoming Qi and absorbing it at a frightening speed.
‘Only an Immortal Grade Spirit Base would be able to withstand such intensity,’ Ling Han thought while circulating Five Elements Heaven Grade Skill to transform the incoming Spiritual Qi into his own Origin Power, filling his limbs and veins with it.
An hour later, the medicinal effects of the first Little Cloud and Water Pill were used up. Ling Han swallowed a second pill and continued cultivating.
However, by the time the medicinal effects of the third Little Cloud and Water Pill were used up as well, Ling Han’s tolerance level had also reached its limits. He felt extremely tired, and the upper half of his body immediately toppled over as he fell asleep on the floor right where he was.
Liu Yu Tong, who had been beside him all the while, could not help shaking her head. She then helped Ling Han onto the bed and attentively took off his shoes and covered him with the quilt. She then exited the inner chamber and fell asleep on a chair in the outer chamber.
She was a very responsible follower whose main duty was to protect Ling Han.
The night passed. When Ling Han opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the canopy of his bed, which caused him to be slightly surprised because he had no recollection of climbing onto the bed last night.
But this was not important.
He smiled, because his cultivation level had once again risen to a new level as he broke through to the fifth layer of Body Refining Tier.
The reason why he could break through two layers yesterday was because the past cultivation rate of this body was too slow. The first time the Five Elements Mix Chaos Lotus was active at full power naturally led to a one-time eruption. Of course, this would not happen again in future.
“You, you’ve broken through again!” When Ling Han stepped out of the internal chamber, Liu Yu Tong immediately looked as if she had seen a ghost. She was even stumbling over her words, her eyes fixed in a stare directed at Ling Han.
“This is only the Body Refining Tier, this speed is normal,” Ling Han said, completely calm.
‘Hell, it’s normal!’
Liu Yu Tong was about to go crazy. In any case, as someone who had a Heaven Grade Spirit Base, she spent ten days to break through to the second layer of Body Refining Tier once she stepped onto the path of a cultivator. As for breaking through from the fourth layer to the fifth layer of Body Refining Tier, it took her twenty five days.
How could twenty five days’ time compare to a single night?
“You’re not going to break through to the sixth layer of Body Refining Tier tomorrow, are you?” Liu Yu Tong asked suddenly.
Ling Han thought for a moment, before he shook his head and said, “No.”
Hearing this, Liu Yu Tong finally released the breath she was holding. If Ling Han said “yes”, she really might have gone crazy.
“I should be able to the day after tomorrow,” Ling Han continued after a slight pause.
Monster! He had to be a monster!
Liu Yu Tong stared at him resentfully, determined that she would never try to guess this guy’s cultivation speed again. Anyways, she decided she would just pretend that he’s a monster, so that no matter what speed he cultivated with, she would not think it strange in any way.
Ling Han laughed. After having breakfast, he once again began cultivating behind closed doors.
However, there were limits to one’s vitality. He could not possibly cultivate without end. Thus, even if he had started cultivation during daytime, in truth, it did not really increase his cultivation speed by much. However, he was now fighting against time, so it’d be good even if there was only a minuscule increase in his cultivation speed.
Meanwhile, Liu Yu Tong’s progress was also extremely rapid. With the aid of a Heaven Grade cultivation skill, she would be able to reach the peak period of the ninth layer of Element Gathering Tier within two months at most, and even she herself was in a state of disbelief over this kind of cultivation speed.
Chapter 22
Translator: _Dark_Angel_ Editor: Kurisu
Liu Yu Tong had once believed that she had to be nineteen or even twenty years old before she could break through to Gushing Spring Tier.
This was already quite fast. In the whole history of Rain Country, there were very, very few that could compare with her. But now, she had a very high chance of breaching this gap at the age of eighteen!
Even though it was only the difference of two years, just how old was she? It would be shocking enough for a cultivator of her age to speed up his or her breakthrough by a few months, but she had sped up her breakthrough by two whole years!
This was all because of Ling Han.
However, when you compare this kind of progression rate with Ling Han’s own, then it really was nothing worth mentioning.
From the second layer to the fourth layer of Body Refining Tier, he spent one night. From the fourth layer to the fifth layer of Body Refining Tier, one night. From the fifth layer to the sixth layer of Body Refining Tier, two nights.
When others talk about cultivating, they’d be talking about months or even years spent cultivating. But for Ling Han, his cultivation rate was counted in days–he was such a freak.
Ling Han only laughed and said, “This cultivation speed can’t really be considered fast. There are some demonic beasts that are already Element Gathering Tier at birth, some are even Gu
shing Spring Tier. These creatures are an existence that have been blessed by the heavens.”
“Are there really such demonic beasts?” Liu Yu Tong’s beautiful eyes widened. There were actually demonic beasts that were even stronger at birth than she was now?
“Of course!” Ling Han nodded. He paused, then continued, “I have seen historical records depicting that some demonic beasts, which are already extinct, were even at Heaven Tier at birth. They were born invincible.”
Liu Yu Tong did not believe him. She asked, “Since they were already in Heaven Tier at birth, then why would they become extinct?”
“The world has its own rules. Who would be able to fight against time?” Ling Han shook his head. In his last life, it was because he did not want to just die and rot that he had resolutely stepped onto a dangerous path, seeking a way to break through to Shattering Void Tier. “There are too many mysteries on this land that can easily erase even those in Heaven Tier.”
In his previous life, when he had been a powerful existence of Heaven Tier, there were many places that he dared not venture to, fearing that he could fall from the sky at every turn there.
***
After two days of hard cultivation, Ling Han exerted more effort to complete accumulating in the fifth layer of Body Refining Tier. He then easily reached the sixth layer of Body Refining Tier.
Because he had already walked this familiar path in his last life, the comprehension of his cultivation was a problem that he needed not think about.
“However, from the sixth layer to the seventh layer of Body Refining Tier, this is a tiny, little leap. Three days won’t be enough, I’d need four days, or maybe even five days’ time,” Ling Han gave a sigh. He’d just have to continue working hard at cultivation for another four or five days.
Beside him, Liu Yu Tong, who had been listening to Ling Han’s resentful complaints, experienced a sudden impulse to go crazy.
‘This freak!’
One day later, Ling Han had reached the early period of the sixth layer of Body Refining Tier. On the second day, he had already reached the middle period. On the third day, he was in the late period. On the fourth day, he had achieved the peak of the sixth layer of Body Refining Tier.
He did not drag it into the fifth day. Ling Han began to break through and, less than an hour later, he had stepped into the seventh layer of Body Refining Tier.
A sixteen-year-old with the cultivation of seventh layer of Body Refining Tier… in Rain Country, such a cultivator would be considered “acceptable”. Moreover, if anyone was told that Ling Han had been in the second layer of Body Refining Tier and spent eight days to break through to the seventh layer of Body Refining Tier, they would definitely not believe it.
Thus, even Liu Yu Tong, who had observed the whole process, was absent-minded, her expression distant. When she walked, her movements made it look like she was floating on air.
She had truly been shocked.
“I can finally go out,” Ling Han stretched. Now that he had a youthful body, his mentality too became youthful. After being confined to his chamber for seven days, he felt as if he was a fierce tiger that had been imprisoned.
“Let’s go see Father, the Cheng Clan should have acted by now,” he murmured.
It was quite coincidental. Although Ling Dong Xing had been so busy that he was nowhere to be found these few days, today he happened to be sitting in his study. However, his mood appeared to be very bad, his brows wrinkled in a deep frown.
“Father, I guess the Cheng Clan has made their move?” Ling Han asked directly.
Ling Dong Xing did not raise his head to look at him. He only gave a nod, continuing to write something on a piece of paper.
“Is the situation very bad?” Ling Han asked.
Ling Dong Xing heaved a sigh before finally putting his pen down and saying, “It’s very bad! Though our Ling Clan has numerous properties, there are only two that are most profitable to the clan. One is the mine, the other is the medicine shop.”
Ling Han knew that the Ling Clan owned a copper mine. The ownership of this mine fell into the hands of the Ling Clan only thirty years ago–the Ling Clan had paid an extremely heavy price to obtain this mine as many powerful warriors of the clan had died in the process.
As for the medicine shop, it would purchase lower grade medicinal pills from Heaven’s Medicine Pavilion and resell them to customers at a price a little higher than the original price. Although this was only a simple purchase-and-resale trade, because there was an enormous market for medicinal pills, this was a major source of income for the clan. The actual profit from selling each pill might have been small, but the number of transactions more than made up for it
The weakness of the medicine shop was that it completely relied on the Heaven’s Medicine Pavilion. However, because the Heaven’s Medicine Pavilion wanted to maintain a mutually beneficial relationship with the locally influential parties, the two Great Clans of the town could each obtain some pills to sell.
“Five days ago, our mine had been attacked by an unknown party, leading to quite a few casualties. Now everyone is in a state of anxiety. Even though we increased wages, there are not many who are willing to enter the mine.”
Ling Dong Xing continued to say, “Furthermore, Alchemist Ma from the Heaven’s Medicine Pavilion had suddenly started making things difficult for us. He said that the batch of medicinal pills sent from Headquarters this time has been delayed on the road for some reason and the delivery will be late. Now, our stock of pills in the warehouse is close to being completely sold out. If the situation continues and we still aren’t able to restock, then the medicine shop can only be temporarily closed.”
Once the medicine shop closed its doors, the shop’s reputation would definitely be affected. Even if it once again opened its doors to do business in the future, some customers would definitely be lost.
“These two days, our finances are already a bit tight. We must figure out something as quick as possible,” Ling Dong Xing sighed.
Although the Ling Clan was a large existence with various properties, their expenses were also very large. There was a saying, the poor practice cultural arts while the rich practice martial arts. Cultivation was an extremely expensive endeavor. And now, the two key businesses of the Ling Clan were hit at the same time, thus the clan funds immediately became tight. If things went on like this, there would be big trouble. In fact, they may even be forced to sell off some of their less important businesses.
“It’s done by the Cheng Clan!” Ling Han said immediately, very certain.
Ling Dong Xing nodded. Their two greatest businesses encountered difficulties at the same time, there could never be such a huge coincidence in this world. He tapped his finger once on the table, and said, “There’s also a traitor.”
Ling Han’s eyes became cold, and he said, “Ling Zhong Kuan?”
“That’s right!” He did not plan to conceal anything from his own son. He scoffed, “Once something happened to the mine, I immediately increased the numbers of the patrolling party, yet they didn’t even spot the enemy. Unless someone had leaked the patrolling routes beforehand, how could this be possible?”
It was likely that once Ling Zhong Kuan heard that Cheng Xiang and his brother had both been thrashed, he had secretly met with Cheng Wen Kun and reached some kind agreement with the latter–most likely it was to have Cheng Clan aid him in snatching the position of Clan Head. Though only he himself knew what kind of humiliating terms he’d agreed to in exchange for their assistance.
“I’ve made a lunch appointment with Alchemist Ma of the Heaven’s Medicine Pavilion. I ‘d definitely have to give him some benefits. Otherwise, the clan would really be in a big trouble,” Ling Dong Xing continued to say.
Alchemist Ma…. Ma Da Jun?
Ling Han could not help the strange expression on his face, as he said, “I’ll accompany you, Father.”
“Your duty now is to concentrate on cultivation, unless you reac
h the seventh layer of Body- pu!” Ling Dong Xing finally raised his head to look directly at Ling Han. This one look caused him to choke, his expression slack.
Had Liu Yu Tong seen his reaction, she would definitely feel very comforted. She couldn’t very well be the only person to be shocked by Ling Han’s cultivation speed, right?
Chapter 23
Translator: _Dark_Angel_ Editor: Kurisu
“Han, Han’er, you, you, you, you… you’ve already reached the seventh layer of Body Refining Tier!” Ling Dong Xing stammered. If someone had told him in the past that one day he would be shocked speechless by someone in the seventh layer of Body Refining Tier, he’d definitely give the speaker a good, solid slap. But now, it was himself he wanted to give a good, solid slap–to make sure that the sight before him was real and he wasn’t merely dreaming!
“Yes, so you do not have to worry anymore, Father,” Ling Han smiled.
Ling Dong Xing’s face twitched, but after a while, he could not stop himself from laughing long and loud. It was as if all the worries that had troubled his mind these few days had evaporated. His son had shown such promise–what else did he need to worry about?
“Good son, good son!” He was unbearably excited. He finally believed that his son truly had the ability to help him rescue his wife!
“Then, tonight we’ll head to the dinner together,” Ling Dong Xing said with a nod. Now that his son was showing more and more promise, the position of Clan Head definitely would be passed down to his son in future, thus it’d be good to have Ling Han follow by his side and learn through observation.
Alchemy Emperor of the Divine Dao c1-1294 Page 15