Immortal and Martial Dual Cultivation

by Fiery Moon

  These two men were the most influential, and part of the highest echelon in the Xiao Clan. One of them was the Xiao Clan First Elder, Xiao Qiang. The other was the reclusive Xiao Clan clan head, Xiao Xiong.

  Xiao Xiong knelt down and casually flipped the corpse over, “When was he discovered?”

  The corpse had already been rotting for a period of time, as proven by the faint stench of decay in the air. Xiao Qiang wrinkled his nose, “Ten days ago. When the guards were out on patrol, they found him. You’ve been in secluded training all this time, which is what made it inconvenient to bring the body over to you.”

  After pausing for a while, Xiao Qiang continued, “This fellow died from the Poinsettia’s poison. I asked Yulan about this, and confirmed her involvement. She also told me about what happened.”

  Xiao Xiong got up and carefully listened to Xiao Qiang’s depiction of recent events. When he heard about the mysterious Martial Saint in blue, his expression changed slightly, but it recovered almost immediately. After listening to the whole thing, there seemed to be a teasing expression on his face, “This old fellow was always so hung up on going against us, but this time, he died at the hands of a junior in the Martial Master realm. I wonder how he felt about that?”

  Xiao Qiang laughed with second-hand embarrassment. He did not continue Xiao Xiong’s topic, but instead asked with concern in his voice, “Are you not worried at all about that mysterious Martial Saint coming to Mohe City?”

  Xiao Xiong’s expression changed greatly as he revealed a bitter smile, “Ever since the Xiao Clan established itself in this tiny Mohe City, those fallen supreme clans did not manage to survive a day beyond. The elders of the Xiao Clan believed that we benefitted, so what is the point of me worrying?”

  “If these dancing clowns want to target my Xiao Clan, as long as I , Xiao Xiong, still have a breath in me… even if I turn to ash, I will take my revenge.” With the change in topic, Xiao Xiong’s eyes had a resolute gleam that easily inspired a sense of conviction in people.

  Xiao Qiang naturally understood what Xiao Xiong meant by his words. Ever since he became the First Elder, he knew how strong the enemies of the Xiao Clan were in the past. It was not easy for the Xiao Clan to survive to today. At the end of the day, their enemies now, compared to then, were not even worth mentioning in the same breath.

  “From Yulan’s description, the Martial Spirit of the person in blue should be a rock. Within Qizi County, there is only one Martial Saint with this Martial Spirit. The Third Elder of Qinghe City’s Leng Clan.”

  The Leng Clan: they were fully deserving of their title as the number one clan in all of Qizi County. With the backing of the Misty Sword Sect, they had expanded very rapidly in the past few years, and their influence reached all the way to Heishui City... a city very close to Mohe City. It made sense if they allied with the Zhang Clan to deal with the Xiao Clan.

  Xiao Xiong did not seem interested in these news; without changing his facial expression, he spoke with mild bemusement, “All they want is our Xiao Clan’s Seven Horn Mountain. The Promise of Ten Years was established by the City Lord of Mohe City, so even if the Leng Clan had the Misty Sword Sect backing them, they would not dare to make any careless moves. How is the thing I asked you to investigate earlier today going?”

  “The Martial Spirit of the Second Young Master is indeed an extremely strange purple fire that is relatively tyrannical,” although Xiao Qiang had his suspicions regarding Xiao Xiong’s overt concern about Xiao Chen’s Martial Spirit, he still spoke truthfully about what he knew.

  Xiao Xiong revealed a trace of a relaxed expression, “Then has he agreed to participate in the Promise of Ten Years?”

  Hearing Xiao Xiong ask this question, Xiao Qiang’s usually stern face revealed a trace of a relaxed smile, “He agreed. This fellow is very crafty. He actually managed to rip off a Spirit Weapon from me.”

  ……

  At this moment Xiao Chen, who was still in Bao`er’s room, naturally did not know that the two greatest authorities in the Xiao Clan were talking about him.

  After he took his leave from Bao`er’s room, Xiao Chen put his emotions in check and proceeded with the second attempt at refining the Fasting Pill. After the experience from the first time, Xiao Chen was able to refine this smoothly and easily.

  "Hu!"

  Without any mishaps, after two hours, the Fasting Pill successfully formed its shape and solidified. In one breath, Xiao Chen placed the pill back in the Azure Dragon medicinal cauldron. After simmering for ten minutes, Xiao Chen extinguished the Purple Thunder True Fire.

  "Ka!"

  There was a flash of brilliance as a glowing pill came out from the other dragon head with a ‘plop’, falling into the bottle that Xiao Chen had prepared earlier.

  Wiping away the sweat dotting his forehead, Xiao Chen revealed a smile laced with a trace of contentment. The Fasting Pill was finally a success. However, this was only just the beginning. The Fasting Pill may be mystical, but it had no practical uses for cultivating. He only made it to familiarize himself with the art of refining medicines.

  Next, he intended to refine the Essence Nurturing Pill and Qi Returning Pill. These were the pills that he wanted to have.

  As for the Qi Returning Pill, after consuming it, the Spiritual Energy one had exhausted would begin to rapidly recover. Its effects were similar to the Essence Returning Pill of the Tianwu Continent. If a situation arose where a cultivator had exhausted all of his Essence, or had a great expenditure of Essence, the perk in having a pill to recover Essence (regardless of it being in battle or refining medicines) would yield tremendous help in a pinch.

  As for the Essence Nurturing Pill, it was of even greater use. It could increase the cultivation speed of a low realm cultivator. This was something Xiao Chen needed in order to quickly cultivate to the 2nd layer of the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation. Similar pills in the Tianwu Continent would require at least a grade five alchemist to refine.

  If Xiao Chen did not have the Compendium of Cultivation the fact that the recipe and alchemy methods were different from this world, let alone with his current cultivation realm being so low, would make it impossible for him to refine a pill like this.

  However, Xiao Chen was not in a rush to make these two pills. Instead, he continued to refine the Fasting Pill. In the Compendium of Cultivation, these two pills were of similar grades to the Fasting Pill, but the difficulty in refining them was much greater. If he attempted to refine one of them without careful consideration, his chance of failure was enormous. Furthermore, Xiao Chen was only able to get Bao`er to purchase one set of ingredients for these two pills, as he did not have enough money.

  Yes, he indeed had too little money. Every month, Xiao Chen received an allowance of a thousand silver taels from the Xiao Clan. This was sufficient to purchase plenty of materials for the Fasting Pills. However, it was difficult to purchase large amounts of materials for the Qi Returning Pill and Essence Nurturing Pill. If he factored in the rate of failure, then the amount of money needed was multiplied.

  With regards to his lack of money, Xiao Chen had already thought of a solution, and therefore, was not very worried. His gaze was currently fixed on the Fasting Pill within that jade bottle. The most important thing now was improving his familiarity with alchemy.

  Taking out the ingredients as outlined in the recipe for the Fasting Pill, Xiao Chen began to tirelessly refine one after the other. Time flew by without him realizing it, and only when his mind was completely exhausted did he cease refining the pills.

  Glancing toward the jade bottle filled with Fasting Pills, Xiao Chen revealed a contented smile. This bottle contained twenty Fasting Pills. With all of the continuous practice, he had grown more and more familiar with the intricacies of alchemy. He only failed once as a result of a mistake.

  Sitting down cross-legged, he observed his Dantian and circulated the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation. Xiao Chen began to slowly re
cover the exhausted Essence. Threads of Essence in the room, now saturated with a medicinal fragrance, slowly entered his body before finally merging with the three white clouds beside the Azure Dragon Martial Spirit.

  While in cultivation, Xiao Chen lost all concept of time. And when he opened his eyes once again, the sky was already bright. He stretched his body, causing his stiff joints to pop into place with a cracking sound. His body felt incomparably relaxed as, in fact, the exhaustion from the previous night had completely vanished.

  “Young Master, can I come in? I have brought water for you to wash up with,” Bao`er’s voice called out from outside the door.

  Xiao Chen hurriedly got up to open the door. Seeing Bao`er’s face filled with a smile, Xiao Chen felt relieved. It seemed that Bao`er had already forgiven him for last night’s matter.

  “Ai! Young Master, your room is very fragrant.”

  As he had refined a large batch of Fasting Pills the previous night, the dense medicinal fragrance had not completely dissipated yet. The invigorating fragrance wafted over Bao’er, placating her nerves and improving her mood with a single whiff.

  As for Xiao Chen’s ability to refine medicines, Bao`er had already found out about it last night. It was now impossible to hide it from her, so he might as well just spill the beans, “I was refining medicines last night. That’s why the room is so fragrant. I temporarily do not want to let others know that I can refine medicines, so can Bao`er help me keep this secret?”

  Although refining medicine was not a big deal, letting people know about it would undoubtedly attract a lot of trouble. He could at present only hope that Bao’er was trustworthy enough to keep his secret. After all, towards this fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl, he did not have the heart to do something such as permanently silence her.

  Bao`er nodded her head very seriously, “Second Young Master, don’t worry. Bao`er will not tell anyone else. Young Master probably has not washed his face yet. Let Bao`er help you with it.”

  After Bao`er laid down her solemn promise, she picked up a wet cloth very naturally and brought it up to Xiao Chen’s face. Having the advantage in how cultivation promoted early growth spurts, Xiao Chen towered over Bao’er, and made it difficult for her to reach him. Even after Bao`er stretched her hand out, she had to go up on tip-toe.

  Seeing Bao`er struggle amused Xiao Chen. He stretched his hand out and grabbed hers, taking the cloth from her, “This Young Master still has hands and feet. This much I can do myself, so you don’t have to do this in the future.”

  After her hands were grabbed, Bao`er’s face went red as she asked in a soft voice, “Then what else can Bao`er do?”

  Seeing the lovable Bao`er mutter in a soft voice, Xiao Chen felt a ripple in his heart... an impulse to ‘attack’ her filled his veins with a throb.

  Xiao Chen shook his head vigorously before regaining his wits. He noticed the messy bed, “Help me tidy the bed up. Then later come and clean the room up, and that will be it.”

  Bao`er answered with an ‘En’ and proceeded to joyfully run over. As long as she had something to do, she was happy.

  After washing his face, Xiao Chen held and observed the jade bottle filled with the Fasting Pills, “I will be going into the city later. When you are done with all these, you can spend some time doing whatever you want. There is no need to stay here.”

  “Ok!” Bao`er answered somewhat helplessly. Earlier, she was afraid that Xiao Chen would want her to do something shameless, but now she knew that Xiao Chen was not that kind of person. Gradually, a feeling of having nothing to do began to overcome her.

  Leaving the Xiao Residence, Xiao Chen found an isolated area and wore a loose black cloak, covering up his entire body before heading towards Mohe City in a hurry.

  Chapter 27: Linlang Pavilion

  The three great clans of Mohe City: the Xiao Clan, Zhang Clan, and Tang Clan, all had large amounts of real estate and shops. The most profitable kind of business was the auction hall, but the three great clans never ventured into this market.

  This was because of the existing auction hall—Linlang Pavilion.

  Linlang Pavilion was the largest auction hall within the Great Qin Nation. There were branches in all of the 36 counties in the nine prefectures, and their backer was none other than the emperor's son-in-law, Nangong Lie. Being the relative of the emperor, as well as having the tremendous influence of the Nangong Clan behind him, naturally no one would dare offend him.

  Maybe in some of the larger prefecture cities, or the imperial capital, there might be some powers that were able to go against the Nangong Clan and were fearless enough to open auction houses. However, in this insignificant Mohe City, no one would risk slighting them by opening a second auction house.

  Linlang Pavilion was Xiao Chen’s current destination. If he wanted to earn some quick wads of cash without exposing his identity as an alchemist to the Xiao Clan, or selling the Moonstones in his room, he could only rely on the Fasting Pills he refined in his room the previous night.

  After he adjusted the cloak on his body and saw the lavish signboard of Linlang Pavilion, a smile played at Xiao Chen’s lips under the shadow of his cowl as he slowly walked inside.

  Due to the fact that there were fewer people here, Mohe City’s Linlang Pavilion could only hold a small-scale auction once every month, a medium-scale auction every three months, and a large-scale auction once a year. When the time came for the large-scale auction, Mohe City entered its busiest, most bustling state.

  Looking at the calendar, it was almost the end of the month. There were a lot of people looking at the goods in the great hall on the first floor. Undoubtedly, these people were not of high status in Mohe City. Amongst them, there were many from the three great clans. Xiao Chen noticed many familiar people from the Xiao Clan, but this was not the time to fraternize with kin.

  Xiao Chen suddenly sensed danger incoming from behind him, and a palm strike struck out towards him shortly after. Reacting quickly and stepping forward, Xiao Chen turned around almost instantly and made his move.

  “Pu Chi!”

  With a deft hand, he grabbed the wrist of some unfamiliar stranger. Xiao Chen applied some force to his wrist, causing the individual to wince in pain. With a stern expression, the assailant shouted, “You bastard! Let me go!”

  This person was dressed in martial robes with alternating colors of blue and white, seeming to be about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, and his cultivation realm appeared to be in the Medial Grade Martial Disciple. There was a yellow daisy embroidered on his collar. When Xiao Chen saw it, he immediately understood that this person was a guard of Linlang Pavilion. However, despite this, he had no intentions of letting go.

  He instead increased the strength in his hand and asked coldly, “Why did you make a move against me?”

  The person in question shouted out in pain once again and scolded, “You Bastard! Let go quickly or forget about walking out of Linlang Pavilion!”

  The sound of these two people attracted a crowd, most beholding Xiao Chen with a certain amount of ridicule in their gazes. It was obvious to these people that his cultivation was only in the Inferior Grade Martial Disciple realm. Merely an insignificant Inferior Grade Martial Disciple and he dared to come and cause trouble at Linlang Pavilion. How reckless.

  Very soon, a large group of people wearing similar blue and white robes came running over, each and every one of them with a yellow daisy embroidered on their collar. Under the command of a Martial Master, they surrounded Xiao Chen.

  The Martial Master among them had thick eyebrows and big eyes, while his body was robust and sturdy. The expression on his face now was incomparably cautious. He did not look angry or irritable. After looking at Xiao Chen he frowned slightly, looked at the man restrained by Xiao Chen and asked in a cold voice, “Gao Long, what’s going on?”

  Gao Long, who was restrained by Xiao Chen, had an expression of exceptional pain on his face. There
were currents of electricity continuously flowing from Xiao Chen’s hand into his body. He was unable to gather his Essence due to this; when his Essence encountered the electrical current it would immediately disperse without a trace, making him incapable of releasing himself from Xiao Chen’s grip.

  “Captain! This person is dressed in a suspicious manner. After he entered the great hall, he looked around with shifty eyes. I was afraid he had some wicked motives and I wanted to detain him for questioning,” Gao Long’s voice trembled as he spoke.

  He was a Medial Grade Martial Disciple, yet he was being restrained by an Inferior Grade Martial Disciple. Even if he was in the right, he had lost face in front of the Linlang Pavilion patrons. The captain’s punishment was inescapable. Thinking of the inevitable suffering awaiting him, Gao Long could not help but tremble.

  The Superior Grade Martial Master who was addressed as captain looked at Xiao Chen’s attire and also felt suspicious in his heart. The people who entered their pavilion were typically either dressed in bright, colorful clothes, or in top-notch satin clothes… Just who would dress up as strangely as this person did? Covered completely in the subterfuge of a cloak, he had the appearance of someone with secrets to keep.

  “My friend, I am Jiang Qi, the commanding officer of the guard on the first floor of Linlang Pavilion. I wonder what business you have here? Are you here to purchase anything?” Although he had already formed his own opinion about Xiao Chen, Jiang Qi still maintained a cautious attitude and made his inquiries with sobriety.

  “No,” the cloak completely covered Xiao Chen’s face in shadows, so his appearance was a mystery.

  When the restrained Gao Long heard this, his expression turned to one of joy. This man was not here to buy anything, which naturally meant that he must be here to cause trouble. Since that was the case, this fellow would not leave here alive. He laughed sinisterly in his heart, and the pain from his hand began to feel less intense due to the solace he found in this statement.