Chapter 558
San Cheng, that is the return left to Qing Mu Zong by Zheng Fa and Jiu Shan Zong.
It is also a case of "spending a fortune to buy bones"—a reward for the insight of Master Song.
"Ultimately, we at Jiu Shan Zong believe that Master Song is quite suitable for the position of the guild leader."
Master Song was momentarily taken aback, clearly surprised.
A group of sect leaders began to murmur among themselves.
Currently, the two major guilds had Sister Zhang as the leader of the Talismans Guild, and naturally, Madam Xuanhua was the leader of the Alchemists Guild.
In other words, Master Song was the only leader who was not from Jiu Shan Zong.
Everyone understood the implications of this.
"What does Master Song think?"
"I will dedicate my life to it!"
Master Song knew that this was not the time to refuse; Jiu Shan Zong clearly wanted to shape Qing Mu Zong into a model of allegiance.
As everyone watched Master Song's retreating figure, they couldn't help but acknowledge: the Master of Qing Mu Zong had once knelt low in their eyes, and now stood tall.
Sister Zhang nodded at Master Song, then turned to the others and said:
"As for what Master Song mentioned about offering techniques for modification, Jiu Shan Zong does not insist."
A collective sigh of relief swept through the assembly.
Clearly, this group feared becoming a precedent.
Master Song, however, couldn't help but smirk slightly; these fools had no idea what Jiu Shan Zong was really doing...
If they didn’t offer their secret methods now, once Jiu Shan Zong truly absorbed Qing Mu Zong's alchemical practices, they would no longer need these people's techniques.
They thought Jiu Shan Zong was being merciful, but Master Song understood... Jiu Shan Zong no longer cared.
In the realm of alchemy, there was no place for secret methods in Jiu Shan Zong!
"Does anyone have any objections?"
Sister Zhang asked with a smile, her tone warm and inviting.
Who would dare to object?
The last suggestion from Master Song had frightened them half to death.
Seeing that there were no objections, Sister Zhang handed over the preparations for the meeting to Master Song, allowing him to discuss the upcoming details, while she hurried off to Gong Kai Island.
Though the matters of the Alchemists Guild were important, the most pressing issue now was still with Zheng Shidi...
She flew over the Rainbow Bridge and landed on Gong Kai Island, where she found Madam Xuanhua standing in front of a sugar-coated gourd-shaped alchemical cauldron.
Zheng Fa, along with Elder Xiong and others, held their breath as they gazed at the external elixir within the cauldron.
"Yang Five Elements taking shape!" one disciple shouted.
"Spirit Elixir!" Elder Xiong flicked his hand, and a crystal-clear, water-blue gem-like pill flew into the burning cauldron.
"Yin Five Elements beginning to condense!"
"…"
"Yin Five Elements taking shape!"
The scene fell into silence, with only the crackling sounds of the external elixir in the cauldron.
This external elixir radiated a platinum light so bright that it was blinding, yet Sister Zhang and everyone else were transfixed, unable to tear their eyes away.
"Master..." Madam Xuanhua's voice was hoarse, as if squeezed from her throat:
"The Divine Yuan Great Elixir has been verified."
"The 'Jiu Shan Golden Elixir Method' has been successfully researched."
Zheng Fa seemed at a loss for words; he simply smiled and nodded at Madam Xuanhua, then at all the disciples of the "Golden Elixir Project," before turning back to Sister Zhang and saying just two words:
"It’s done."
Sister Zhang looked back at Zheng Fa with gentle eyes.
The Divine Yuan Great Elixir was the new name given to this unknown elixir by Elder Xiong and the others.
She understood well the significance of the Divine Yuan Great Elixir for Jiu Shan Zong and for Zheng Fa.
The "Jiu Shan Golden Elixir Method" was related to the "Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend Transformation"; without this Divine Yuan Great Elixir, even if Zheng Fa achieved the Yuanying stage, he would still lack a complete method.
Let alone the development of Jiu Shan Zong.
During this time, Jiu Shan Zong had almost set aside all other matters; they were aware of the small moves made by the Reclusive Sect, but no one cared.
All resources had been poured into the research of the Divine Yuan Great Elixir.
Hundreds, even thousands of alchemical experiments had nearly exhausted the accumulated spiritual energy.
Not to mention, even with the transformation of spiritual materials to save resources, after so many experiments, Madam Xuanhua had still used up most of Jiu Shan Zong's market resources.
Others were unaware of Jiu Shan Zong's accounts.
But Sister Zhang clearly remembered—Jiu Shan Zong's foundation was already shallow, and such large-scale experiments had gone on for too long; their accounts had long been in the red.
Only then did Sister Zhang understand the importance of this achievement.
She also understood the joy contained in Zheng Fa's two words, "It’s done."
Elder Xiong, however, was somewhat confused; he merely stared at the cauldron, mumbling as if in a dream:
"Top-tier spirit elixir..."
"In one furnace, eighty percent of it is top-tier spirit elixirs..."
He looked at his hands, seemingly unable to believe he had this capability.
In recent days, everyone had come to understand the concept of a top-tier spirit elixir...
In the Xuan Wei realm, elixirs were generally classified into four tiers—Heaven, Earth, Xuan, and Huang—based on the difficulty of refining and their rarity, but each type of spirit elixir also had three grades: upper, middle, and lower.
Top-tier spirit elixirs were not an official designation—because they relied purely on luck.
Most alchemists might refine a top-tier spirit elixir this time, but fail to do so next time.
If one could consistently produce top-tier spirit elixirs, it would signify that the alchemist had reached an extraordinary level of mastery in that particular elixir.
Such alchemists were one in ten thousand; Elder Xiong certainly was not one of them...
But now he realized he was!
Moreover, Elder Xiong could foresee that with Jiu Shan Zong's improved approach, top-tier spirit elixirs would no longer be solely reliant on luck.
He felt a surge of pride swelling in his chest; though he stood on the ground, it felt as if he were floating in the air.
"Master, the Jiao Shang Ren said that this time’s Divine Yuan Great Elixir showed no signs of elixir poison!"
A disciple rushed in to report to Zheng Fa.
Zheng Fa nodded at the disciple, took out a Divine Yuan Great Elixir, and said to Sister Zhang:
"Sister, I wish to condense my Yuanying."
Everyone immediately turned to Zheng Fa.
Whether or not they were disciples of Jiu Shan Zong, they all knew the past of this Master Zheng.
This person had only been on the path for just over nine years!
And now he was about to condense his Yuanying?
Master Xiong felt as if he had just fallen to the ground with a thud.
Ten years to condense Yuanying?
In front of such a person, who could keep their head up?
Zheng Fa was still troubled:
"My spiritual energy has long been sufficient; if it weren't for waiting for this Divine Yuan Great Elixir, I could have attempted to condense my Yuanying half a month ago."
Elder Xiong's expression stiffened—so it was my delay?
But thinking about it, it seemed that if he had listened to those foundation-building disciples earlier, he might have been able to speed things up...
Now, he not only felt unable to rise but also wanted to dig a hole and bury himself.
No, was it not that Zheng Fa was too fast?
Zheng Fa continued, "Now that I see Madam Xuanhua's experiment, when the Yin Five Elements condense, the Yin and Yang merge, and the Five Elements cycle, it resembles the atmosphere of your Yuanying condensation that day, Sister Zhang..."
Sister Zhang immediately understood: "You can't hold it back anymore?"
"Yes, if I take this Divine Yuan Great Elixir, I fear I won't be able to suppress my cultivation any longer."
"Moreover, with the 'Jiu Shan Golden Elixir Method' perfected, I no longer need to wait."
Sister Zhang slowly nodded: "You can rest assured and enter seclusion to condense your Yuanying; Jiu Shan Zong has me, and nothing will go wrong."
"Enter seclusion?" Unexpectedly, Zheng Fa shook his head, surprising everyone as he said, "I don't plan to enter seclusion."
"…"
The others were puzzled, but only Sister Zhang suddenly understood: "You want to... use yourself as an experiment?"
"Using the 'Jiu Shan Golden Elixir Method' to condense my Yuanying, this experience is invaluable... While I could recall it later, having you and the others observe and measure by my side might help discover some details I might overlook."
"With this record, future disciples condensing their Yuanying will have a reference."
Elder Xiong opened his mouth; although he was not from Jiu Shan Zong, he understood Zheng Fa's intention.
Personal experience is ultimately unreliable, especially with the Heart Demon Tribulation that can induce illusions in cultivators.
Zheng Fa wanted to condense his Yuanying under the spiritual energy measuring instrument, even under the洞虚灵眼 (Dong Xu Ling Yan), to collect data.
But... this carried some risks.
Sister Zhang frowned, clearly disapproving; she felt the risks were a bit too high.
"If Jiu Shan Zong has invested so many resources, it would be a loss if we cannot achieve perfection and gather more data."
"Compared to alchemical experiments, this kind of Yuanying condensation experiment is even rarer; the value of such data for cultivating Yuanying in the future is unparalleled."
"This concerns the 'First Fifty-Year Plan,' Sister; I am willing to take this risk."
"Besides, within the realm of Jiu Shan, what danger could I face?"
Elder Xiong watched from the side; this Zheng Mengzhu was known for his caution.
Now, however, he was acting out of character, and Elder Xiong suddenly felt... even if he couldn't refine a top-tier spirit elixir, joining Jiu Shan Zong seemed like a good choice.
Table of Contents
