by Fang Xiang
But now they were hearing that a lingdan that didn’t surpass second-grade lingdan, it could make Golden Crow fire. It was like hearing a joke. If the person who said it wasn’t Old He, the most skilled in dan-making among them, everyone would have thought that he was insane.
“This is a first-grade lingdan,” Old He wasn’t rushed and slowly said, “It contains a sliver of essence of the sun. This essence of the sun, after the dan was made, is warm and easy to manipulate. Theoretically, it has a possibility of forming Golden Crow fire. Of course, only theoretically.”
Only now did everyone release a breath, and they gave “it ought to be so” expressions.
“This amount, of sun essence, is too little. To form Golden Crow fire, if there wasn’t tens of thousands of pills, it probably wouldn’t happen. But even if this sun essence cannot form Golden Crow fire, but it is extremely yang and pure. It is perfect for adding into other fire seeds. Everyone here naturally doesn’t need it, but it is a very good present for the next generation,” Old He said with a smile.
Hearing this, everyone nodded. Without an exception, they were all jindan. If this could make Golden Crow fire, they would be interested. But if it was just essence of the sun, it wasn’t very attractive to them. Those seated here were not roaming xiu and they had many disciples, even if they were roaming xiu they would still have disciples. The grade of Golden Crow pill was low, but that bit of sun essence, it could be added to all kinds of fire seed and elevate the grade of those fires. It is a very useful lingdan, and would be perfect to use in rewarding disciples.
“With Old He’s words, this is pretty good. Where can we buy this Golden Crow pill?” Hearing that the lingdan contained a sliver of essence of the sun, she couldn’t help but ask. The other people also waited to hear expectantly.
“Ha ha, it’s a little sect called Wu Kong Sword Sect,” Old He turned to ask Tian Song Zi, “Are you familiar with the sect?”
Tian Song Zi was surprised to hear about Wu Kong Sword Sect. Hearing Old He’s question, he hurriedly answered, “Wu Kong Sword Sect is usually low-key. If it wasn’t for a recent incident, I wouldn’t have noticed that there is a local sect this strong.”
“How so?” Yuan Li asked curiously. As a jindan xiuzhe, Tian Song Zi’s cultivation wasn’t weaker than them. And his branch had always held power in Dong Fu. To be called a strong sect by him, the sect’s power couldn’t be underestimated.
Seeing everyone show curiosity, Tian Song Zi slowly narrated, “Speaking of Wu Kong Sword Sect, we have to mention the recent apparition. In this generation of Wu Kong Sword Sect, there is an amazing genius called Wei Sheng. This person is of low birth but is obsessed with the sword. To be able to cultivate the sword, he was willing to be a sword servant. After working and studying hard, he finally reached zhuji. In his zhuji, the sword essence flew into the heavens and rang into the surroundings. I personally saw it and went to look in the deep of the night. Only then did I discover that this Wu Kong Sword Sect merits great fame. Has anyone heard of [Ice Dragon Sword]?”
Wen Tie sanren’s expression changed, “The [Ice Dragon Sword] that shocked all of Yao Hunt in the past?”
The others also gave shocked expressions.
“Just the person,” Tian Song Zi nodded, “I’m ashamed to admit it. If it wasn’t that there had been an apparition when Wei Sheng entered zhuji, I wouldn’t have known such an able person was in our Dong Fu. The Golden Crow pill that Old He is speaking about was made by Wu Kong Sword Sect’s Shi Feng Rong. She is of jindan cultivation, and the most skilled in dan-making of Wu Kong Sword Sects four jindan .”
Yu Bai was better informed on the topic than Tian Song Zi, and he immediately followed, “Master might not know, this Golden Crow pill wasn’t made by Elder Shi, but her disciple Zuo Mo. Supposedly, it was an accident when he was just starting to learn.”
“This disciple has pretty good talent in dan-making.” Old He couldn’t help but praise.
Tian Song Zi’s expression couldn’t help but change and suddenly blurted, “This Wu Kong Sword Sect is really going to rise!”
Seeing the other people look at him, he explained, “Everyone may not know, this Zuo Mo was unknown before but he managed to achieve a spring sprout jade medal with lianqi cultivation, his talent is astounding. And in lianqi, he also managed to comprehend sword essence. This talent is exceptionally amazing. I hadn’t thought he would be so talented in dan-making. The heavens have really blessed Wu Kong Sword Sect!”
The other people also had expressions of agreement on their face. Of the three points that Tian Song Zi mentioned, just one was enough for a person to be considered exceptional, but to have all three qualities in one person? That definitely was a once-in-a-hundred-years genius. Wu Kong Sword Sect, with an accomplished master like Ice Dragon Sword and geniuses like Wei Sheng and Zuo Mo in the next generation, it was almost certain to have a hundred years of prosperity.
The people seated thought of their own sects and had different thoughts.
“Since Ice Dragon Sword is actually in Dong Fu, why don’t we pay a him visit and order a batch of Golden Crow pills while we are at it, ha ha. What does everyone think?” Old He said. In this group of people, he had the greatest interest in Wu Kong Sword Sect.
The others all agreed. Everyone seated here was cunning. To build good relations with a sect that was going to prosper, the benefits in the future didn’t need to be stated.
———
Zuo Mo was seated in front of the dan cauldron with his two hands on the eight-trigrams plate. His expression was focused. A clear gold colored light came down and landed in his hand before deflecting towards the dan cauldron.
He had reached the limits of what he could do with [Art of Crimson Flame], and he reduced the li fire seal formation to the smallest it could get. Inside the cauldron, a ball of medicine was enveloped by the golden light, boiling relentlessly as it floated in the air. The li fire seal formation below released heat.
Feeling the essence of the sun slowly merge into the liquid, Zuo Mo suddenly increased his awareness. He knew that the most crucial time had come.
The speed that the sun essence merged at was extremely slow at the beginning, but after entering the liquid, it would suddenly increase. It was important to carefully control the power of [Art of Crimson Flame]. If he wasn’t careful, he would lose everything. Zuo Mo had failed many times at this crucial juncture.
Poof!
A grey smoke suddenly appeared out of the boiling liquid.
Zuo Mo mentally thought it was going wrong but before he could react, the liquid turned into a ball of ash.
“Damn it!”
Zuo Mo sat dispiritedly. After continuously making dan, his ling energy was almost exhausted. His eyes were bloodshot and his expression tired. The dan room was filled with the remnants of failed dan, the smell was nasty.
Up until now, he hadn’t succeeded once.
However, it wasn’t as though he hadn’t learned anything. Today, just in this last attempt, he finally found the problem.
In the various kinds of materials for the fasting pill, there was one material that couldn’t tolerate such a high intensity of sun essence. Sun essence might look light and small, but it was much stronger than the li fire seal formation. This ling grass called Thousand Jade Grass, it couldn’t endure being processed by such a strong flame.
He needed to find a ling grass that could endure the increase in the essence of the sun, with similar attributes to Thousand Jade grass. Zuo Mo couldn’t help but have a headache. This was the problem that he was most worried about encountering. When it came to the attributes and the theory of the medicine, he was totally blind.
He gave a sigh. It seemed that his idea would have to be realized in the future, but he was still unsatisfied inside. He decided to take a good look in Master’s record room to see if he could find a ling grass similar in effect as thousand jade grass.
As he pondered, he walked out of the dan room.
“S
hixiong!” Xu Qing saw Zuo Mo walk out of the dan room and her eyes brightened. She hurriedly came over, “That big ship has come to our sect!”
“Big ship? What big ship?” Zuo Mo’s mind was scattered and asked instinctively.
“Doesn’t Shixiong remember? The big ship that had flew above us before!” Xu Qing reminded.
“The big ship that flew over!” Zuo Mo suddenly shook and was startled away. That extremely intimidating ship had left a big impression on him. He hurriedly asked, “What’s the ship doing here?”
“Don’t know,” Xu Qing shook her head, “They seemed to be conversing very well with the shibo, but I heard that they were here investigating the Stars in Daytime.”
“Stars in Daytime?” Zuo Mo felt his throat tighten. He suddenly thought of this term that the pink paper crane had also said to him. For some reason, he seemed to feel that this Stars in Daytime was connected to him.
“Did Shixiong forget? Oh, right, I remember! Shixiong had been in zhuji that day!” In a piteous tone, she said, “Pity that Shixiong hadn’t seen it. Stars coming out in daylight, it’s very rare!”
Zuo Mo felt that his body was slightly cold. If before, he had just felt that it was connected to him, then now he was certain that this Stars in Daytime was definitely connected to him! How could there be such a coincidence?
Just him, he definitely wouldn’t connect the apparition with himself.
He couldn’t, but Pu Yao could!
Thinking about it, he left Xu Qing and quickly went back into the dan room.
Entering the dan room, Zuo Mo entered his sea of consciousness. Pu Yao was idly listening to the sound tablet.
“Pu, that Stars in Daytime, did you cause it?” Zuo Mo felt his voice was trembling.
“Me?” Pu Yao didn’t even blink and crisply shook his head, “No!”
Zuo Mo instantly released a breath. Pu Yao might have many flaws but he never refused to admit what he did.
But Pu Yao’s following words frightened Zuo Mo half to death, “Not me, it was you!”
“Me?” Zuo Mo pointed at his own nose and asked dumbly.
“Humph, a certain dead ghost needed star energy and borrowed your body,” Pu Yao was clearly laughing at his misfortunes, “At that time, I already said, he went way over.”
Zuo Mo’s head was in the clouds. He stammered, “You mean, there’s someone else here?”
Before Pu Yao could reply, Zuo Mo heard someone knocking on the door, “Shixiong, the sect leader is requesting for you to go to Wu Kong Hall, there are guests that want to meet you!”
Chapter 73: Inspiration in An Emergency
Zuo Mo, finding inspiration in an emergency, gave a horrific wail and then collapsed on the ground.
Outside the dan room, the disciple heard Zuo Mo’s wail and asked panicked: “Shixiong! Shixiong! Are you alright?” There wasn’t a response. Xu Qing, who had been paying attention to the situation, hurriedly ran over and yelled across the door: “Shixiong! What is it? Are you alright?”
There still wasn’t a response from inside. Xu Qing instantly became extremely worried and, disregarding that she might be scolded, opened the dan room and saw Zuo Mo unconscious on the ground.
Xu Qing was shocked but didn’t mess up. She crisply yelled at the disciple who had come to ask for Zuo Mo: “Go tell the sect leader!” That disciple, frightened out of his wits, ran outside.
In Wu Kong Hall, Pei Yuan Ran and the others were attending to Yun Xia xianzi’s group. This group coming to visit Wu Kong Sword Sect really was giving face to Pei Yuan Ran and the others. Naturally, Pei Yuan Ran and the others were courteous and warm. Both guest and host were extremely amiable. So many jindan xiuzhe, not just in Dong Fu, but even in Sky Moon Jie, it was an extremely grand group of people.
For the disciples that were serving at the side, other than staring with wide eyes and a gaping mouth, they felt extremely honored. Before Wei Sheng had zhuji, Wu Kong Sword Sect hadn’t been known in Dong Fu. Now, even a group of the strong masters of Bright Wave Jie had lowered themselves to visit the sect. No other sect had received such honor in Dong Fu.
Maybe, in all of Kun Lun Jing, Bright Wave Jie wasn’t anything. But it governed thirty one small jie, including Sky Moon Jie. Even the strong masters from Bright Wave Jie were so respectful to Xin Yan Shishu. Only now did the disciples know the cold and taciturn Xin Yan Shishu was so strong. In their eyes, their sect became even more mysterious.
Conversation flowed across Wu Kong Sword Sect. After confirming Xin Yan’s identity, Yun Xia xianzi and the others deliberately started to attempt to win him over. They were very disappointed that Wei Sheng was unable to come out of the sword cave. Not being able to meet Wei Sheng, the one rumored to have created an apparition on zhuji, it still wasn’t a waste of time if they could meet the Zuo Mo who had so many talents. For some people, like Old He, their interest in Zuo Mo far surpassed their interest in Wei Sheng.
At this time, the disciple that had gone to call Zuo Mo scrambled in: “Oh no, oh no……”
Pei Yuan Ran’s brows furrowed in dissatisfaction. He asked in a deep voice: “What are you panicked about?”
Seeing the displeasure of the sect leader, the disciple was even more nervous and stammered: “Sect leader! Zuo Mo Shixiong……Shixiong fainted!”
Hearing this, Shi Feng Rong suddenly stood up.
“What happened? Say it slowly!” Pei Yuan Ran shouted. His voice carried “Clear Sound Incantation.” Everyone felt their minds become clear and couldn’t help but mentally compliment Pei Yuan Ran on his cultivation.
Suffering the shout, the mind of the outer sect disciple suddenly cleared up. His voice became clear and words simple: “Zuo Mo Shixiong had been dan-making for a few days without rest and his mind was fragile. When this disciple was reporting to Shixiong, this disciple suddenly heard a shout from the dan room. There wasn’t a response when this disciple asked the next few times. Xu Qing Shijie opened the door and found Shixiong unconscious on the ground. When this disciple saw him, Shixiong’s complexion was terribly unwell. It must have been many days since he came out of the dan-room.”
Hearing this, Shi Feng Rong stood: “Everyone, please excuse me.” Finishing, she started to hurry towards Fragrant Ginger Yard.
At this time, Pei Yuan Ran raised his hands in an apology: “This one’s shimei is worried about her disciple and lost her composure. Please, excuse her!”
“Sect Leader Pei is too serious. If our sect had such geniuses, as elders, we would be the same.” Old He said. The others nodded in agreement.
“Yes, your sect really has good fortune! In my sect, the disciples are average and have no great accomplishment. Every time I think of it, I cannot sit still and fears that the fires of the sect will extinguish with my generation. Then it would truly be an unpardonable crime.” Yuan Li couldn’t help but add.
Everyone felt great empathy with Yuan Li’s words. Pei Yuan Ran had a joyful expression. In the beginning, he and the others had felt the same as Yuan Li.
“Sect Leader Pei.” Old He picked his words and said: “To be able to make Golden Crow pills just as he has started to learn dan-making, your sect’s disciple has great talent in dan-making. This old man has rarely seen anything like it in these many years.” He then sighed: “These many years, this old man has seen many outstanding talents. Growing older, this one has found that all things are the same. With talent, one always tried to extract things from it, and this causes many geniuses to falter and die early, their progress is troubled. Sect Leader Pei needs to take great care. I had to speak my mind. If I have offended, Sect Leader Pei, please bear with me.”
Hearing this, Pei Yuan Ran was shocked. He stood and gave a deep bow to Old He: “The concerned words of Old He, how can this one not know? This one will remember deep in the heart!”
Xin Yan and Yan Le also gravely stood and made a bow towards Old He.
The mood of Wu Kong Hall became tense. Old He’s worlds had stirred the thoughts of many people.
Every sect would have some outstanding disciples, but just like Old He had said, these talented disciples all had troubled fates.
After such an incident had occurred, everyone didn’t have the interest in conversing and after ordering a batch of Golden Crow pills, they made their farewells.
When Shi Feng Rong rushed back to Fragrant Ginger Yard and saw Zuo Mo’s pitiful state, she forcefully swallowed back the words of rage that had reached her mouth. But there was still barely disguised fury in her voice: “From today, for one month, you are not allowed to enter the dan room!”
Zuo Mo grimaced inside. Not being allowed to enter the dan room for a month meant that, for a month, he didn’t have any source of income. Almost all of his income right now came from making golden crow pills. The ling grasses and herbs in the ling fields, other than the kind of plants like snowy foxtail grass that could not be used in dan-making, he had planned on leaving the rest of the plants for him to use.
But thinking that he had temporarily managed to keep his life, Zuo Mo felt glad inside. Facing the furious master, Zuo Mo was very unconfident and could only mutter in agreement.
Coldly glancing over Zuo Mo, Shi Feng Rong left behind a few restorative lingdan before leaving. Zuo Mo was very moved. Master might be of many cold words and faces, but she really was concerned about him. Before, he had felt unfortunate that he had such a foul-tempered master, but he now felt that his luck wasn’t so bad.
When Shi Feng Rong rushed back to Wu Kong Hall, the guests had left. Pei Yuan Ran and the other two were sitting silently in Wu Kong Hall.
Having been waiting for Shi Feng Rong, Pei Yuan Ran repeated Old He’s words to her. Shi Feng Rong also had a worried expression.
“If it wasn’t for Old He’s reminder today, we have all missed this problem.” Pei Yuan Ran said gravely: “Thinking about it now, we were truly too impatient. It was the same for Wei Sheng entering the sword cave. And it happened for Zuo Mo’s dan-making.”
“I have already restricted him from dan-making for a month.” Shi Feng Rong suddenly said: “This matter, it was my fault for missing it.”