Chapter 133: Second Rank Alchemist
Hua Changxi was very happy to unexpectedly gain a portable village, but at this moment, she was more concerned about the Black Fish Mark.
The Black Fish Mark on the back of her hand had disappeared, and she wanted to confirm whether the appearance of the Black Fish Mark truly represented the burning degree of the Black Flame within her body.
Hua Changxi sat cross-legged, her consciousness sinking into her Dantian Qi Sea, ‘watching’ the wisp of Black Flame burning on her Nascent Soul’s chest, and continuously recalling the scene when she harbored killing intent towards Gu Jin Fan.
After recalling the emotional changes several times, when the killing intent was awakened, the Black Flame began to flicker and sway, and at the same time, pain was felt on the back of her hand again.
Hua Changxi withdrew her consciousness and opened her eyes, just in time to see the Black Fish Mark on the back of her hand slowly fading.
“Awakening Mark.”
Hua Changxi roughly understood the function of the Awakening Mark; it should be an auxiliary tool to help her better perceive the changes in her Seven Emotions and Six Desires.
When emotions got the better of her, she was often unable to control herself. With this Awakening Mark, it could indeed help her better control her desires.
“This Awakening Mark is actually quite useful.”
In the past, when she harbored killing intent towards others, although she could feel it, it was mostly an instinctive reaction. With the reminder of the Awakening Mark, it allowed her to more clearly capture her own thoughts.
With clear thoughts, she could make better decisions.
Confirming that the Awakening Mark was beneficial and harmless to her, Hua Changxi felt relieved. She took out her Alchemy Furnace and Spiritual Medicine and began to focus on Alchemy.
『First-Rank Alchemist（Supreme-grade Pill）: Alchemy 9816 furnaces 9816/10000』
She had to quickly improve her Alchemy rank.
Nanxiang County.
Wei Zhenjie led Chu Junyi and the Demon Suppressing Army, and as soon as they emerged from Nine Netherworld Genmen Pass, they arrived directly under the archway of Lingguang Hall.
Looking at the majestic and imposing Lingguang Hall before him, Wei Zhenjie’s eyes flickered: “Send more men to Five Finger Mountain. You must thoroughly investigate the identity of the Fire Lotus Fairy.”
Chu Junyi nodded in agreement, then paused: “Master, Prince Fu has ordered all the intersections leading to Lingguang Hall to be blocked.”
Upon hearing this, Wei Zhenjie let out a half-smile and snorted: “What do you think of this matter?”
Chu Junyi: “Cultivators have many methods; the Imperial Court cannot stop them all.”
Wei Zhenjie smiled and said: “The Royal Family must also know this. Prince Fu is merely showing the Royal Family’s stance by doing this.” As he spoke, his smile vanished, and his expression turned solemn.
“The Spiritual Energy Revival has only just begun. The Royal Family still controls Great Jin, and various forces dare not openly oppose the Royal Family. However, this situation may not last long.”
“Once the Royal Family’s power wanes and they can no longer fully control the situation, chaos will ensue.”
Wei Zhenjie looked at Chu Junyi and the Demon Suppressing Army behind him: “You must seize this time to improve your strength. Otherwise, in the future, let alone protecting peace in one region, you won’t even be able to protect yourselves.”
Seeing Wei Zhenjie speak so seriously today, Chu Junyi frowned and asked: “Master, you seem to be very wary of Lingguang Hall?”
Wei Zhenjie looked at him: “Do you know what the appearance of Lingguang Hall signifies?”
Chu Junyi shook his head.
Wei Zhenjie looked at the distant palace: “Lingguang Hall is the Vermilion Bird Emperor’s training ground on the Central Continent. Those who come here to receive training and cultivate the Cultivation Method left by the Vermilion Bird Emperor share a common name; the world calls them the Vermilion Bird Army.”
Upon hearing this, Chu Junyi and the Demon Suppressing Army present were visibly shaken.
Vermilion Bird Army…
It was actually the title of an army. Such power indeed possessed the ability to shake the foundations of the Imperial Court.
Chu Junyi: “Does the Royal Family know this news?”
Wei Zhenjie glanced at him sideways: “What do you think?”
Chu Junyi was silent for a moment: “Prince Fu and the others must be more eager than us to find out who opened Lingguang Hall.” After finding them, they would likely want to eliminate them completely.
Wei Zhenjie remained silent, clearly tacitly agreeing.
“Let’s go, back to the Heavenly Department.”
On the way back to the Capital City, the Demon Suppressing Army was shocked by the changes in Nanxiang County.
“This is too outrageous. The area of Nanxiang County now is dozens of times larger than before.”
Chu Junyi looked back at the towering Lingguang Hall: “As those sealed ruins are revealed one after another, our World will undergo earth-shattering changes.”
Meng Ziyu whispered with a smile to his comrade beside him: “Many places are expanding now. If this continues, we might not even be able to reach the borders of Great Jin in the future.”
Chu Junyi’s eyes flickered upon hearing this. Great Jin had been established for nearly a thousand years, an unprecedented feat. Now with the Spiritual Energy Revival, if Great Jin still wanted to unify the world, it would be difficult!
Perhaps in the future, there would be no Great Jin Dynasty.
Meng Ziyu added: “The current Nanxiang County is almost larger than a typical prefecture. The Imperial Court will likely have to send more officials to govern this area.”
As soon as he said this, Ye Jingzhou spoke: “The original officials of Nanxiang County have all been replaced.”
Meng Ziyu was stunned: “How do you know?”
Ye Jingzhou: “As soon as I left Nine Netherworlds, I received a message from a colleague in the Heavenly Department. Lingguang Hall appeared in Nanxiang County. It’s so close to the Capital City, the Royal Family won’t ignore it. The current officials of Nanxiang County are all trusted confidantes personally appointed by Prince Fu.”
Meng Ziyu: “What about the original officials of Nanxiang County?”
Ye Jingzhou shrugged and said nothing.
Those with some background connections might have been assigned to other government offices; those without connections were either waiting for vacancies or had been directly dismissed.
Meng Ziyu clearly understood these inside stories and sighed without saying anything.
Chu Junyi listened to his subordinates chatting silently. Suddenly, he saw Wei Zhenjie in the carriage ahead waving at him. He quickly rode his horse forward: “Master, what is it?”
Wei Zhenjie: “I heard that among the Magic Tools confiscated in this batch, there is a Storage Magic Tool that even Jiang Yan Yi could not open?”
Chu Junyi nodded: “It’s a string of Prayer Beads.”
Wei Zhenjie: “Bring it to me to see.”
Chu Junyi took out the Prayer Beads Bracelet from his embrace and handed it to Wei Zhenjie.
Wei Zhenjie took it and looked at it, smiling: “This is something a Young Woman wears.” As he spoke, he condensed Spiritual Power, intending to forcibly erase the imprint on the Prayer Beads.
“Master, be careful!”
As Wei Zhenjie’s Spiritual Power touched the Prayer Beads, a Fire Lotus flew out.
The Fire Lotus not only resisted Wei Zhenjie’s Spiritual Power but also burned his palm.
“Master, are you alright?” Chu Junyi looked at Wei Zhenjie with concern.
Wei Zhenjie consumed a large amount of Spiritual Power to extinguish the Fire Lotus. Being injured in front of his disciple, he felt somewhat ashamed, but he was more filled with dread.
An imprint of Essence Blood alone could injure someone; one could imagine how powerful the owner of the Prayer Beads was.
Although Wei Zhenjie still had means to erase the imprint on the Prayer Beads, he did not do so. He tossed the Prayer Beads Bracelet back to Chu Junyi: “Keep this Prayer Beads Bracelet safe. It is very likely the Fire Lotus Fairy’s.”
Chu Junyi had guessed this when he saw the Fire Lotus fly out from the Prayer Beads. He solemnly put away the Prayer Beads Bracelet.
『Second-Rank Alchemist（Low-grade Pill）: Alchemy 1 furnace 1/10』
After three days and three nights of dedicated Alchemy, Hua Changxi finally managed to raise her Alchemist rank to Second Rank.
Looking at the Second-Rank Spirit Origin Pill in her hand, Hua Changxi did not continue. Instead, she left the Medical Affairs Department and went to Shennong Apothecary Shop in Feng’an Ward.
The fields within the gray bead were left barren, and she felt it was too wasteful.
Upon arriving at the apothecary shop, after understanding the situation of the shop from Pu Cao and A Niu, Hua Changxi went to find the Green Ox Demon: “Green Ox, I’ll take you somewhere.”
The Green Ox Demon knew Hua Changxi would not harm it and agreed without hesitation. Then, it felt a dizzying sensation, and when it felt solid ground again, it realized it was no longer in the backyard of the apothecary shop.
“Where is this?”
Hua Changxi: “This is a portable village I just acquired. As you can see, there are so many fields lying idle here, it’s too wasteful. You are an ox, specialized in plowing fields. How about you plant crops here for me?”
Having lived at the apothecary shop with A Niu and Pu Cao for so long, the Green Ox Demon had gotten used to the human way of life. It immediately began to negotiate: “Then how much wages will you give me?”
Hua Changxi found it inexplicably amusing to see the Green Ox seriously discussing wages with her: “1000 low-grade Spirit Stones per month.”
The Green Ox shook its head: “Ten thousand low-grade Spirit Stones.”
“Ten thousand is too much. I’ll add a little, two thousand low-grade Spirit Stones, no more.”
“Five thousand low-grade Spirit Stones, no less.”
“Alright, five thousand low-grade Spirit Stones, it’s a deal.”
Seeing Hua Changxi agree so readily, the Green Ox felt its wages might be too low and quickly tried to compensate: “I don’t want low-grade Spirit Stones, I want supreme-grade Spirit Stones.”
The Spiritual Energy in supreme-grade Spirit Stones was purer and absorbed more smoothly.
Hua Changxi did not skimp on the Green Ox: “Alright, from now on, your monthly wage will be five supreme-grade Spirit Stones. However, Green Ox, I’m spending so many Spirit Stones to hire you, you must plant the fields well.”
The Green Ox flicked its tail: “Don’t worry, planting is my specialty.”
After settling the wages, the Green Ox began to wander around the portable village: “Changxi, if you want to plant spiritual grains and herbs, the Spiritual Energy here might not be enough.”
“You start by clearing the wasteland first. I’ll go move some Spirit Mines in.”
Hua Changxi left the gray bead and informed A Niu. She told him not to worry as she had asked the Green Ox to plant crops for her, and then she rode a cloud to Five Finger Mountain.
Upon arriving at Five Finger Mountain, she directly moved one Spirit Mine each of the Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth attributes into her portable village.
The Mountain Spirit saw her actions but said nothing, only reminding her to compensate for it.
“Compensate for what?”
“You moved the Spirit Mines to another Space, so the overall Spiritual Energy of Five Finger Mountain and the Four Spirit Realm has decreased. Of course, you need to compensate.”
“But how do I compensate?”
“Go to the outside world and move some.”
“The outside world? I can go to the outside world?”
“Outer Realm Cultivators can enter, so of course, you can go out.”
“But how do I go to the outside world?”
“How would I know? You’ll have to find out yourself.”
“You don’t know, yet you’re asking me to compensate.”
“You took the Spirit Mines, so of course, you have to compensate.”
“The cultivators who enter and exit Five Finger Mountain daily absorb a lot of Spiritual Energy. Why don’t you ask them to compensate?”
“Because they are cultivators of the Four Spirit Realm. After they die, their Spiritual Energy will return to the Four Spirit Realm.”
Hua Changxi listened to the Mountain Spirit’s words and mused: “You mean, my portable village is not considered part of the Four Spirit Realm?”
Mountain Spirit: “Of course not. This is a Sumeru Mustard Seed Space, an independent Space. Even if the Four Spirit Realm were to be destroyed, it would only drift to other places and would not be destroyed along with the Four Spirit Realm.”
Hua Changxi: “Is that so? But Five Finger Mountain is my dojo, why do I have to compensate if I move a few Spirit Mines?”
The Mountain Spirit looked at her seriously: “Fairy, the resources within a Realm are used repeatedly in a cycle. You can use the resources of Five Finger Mountain as you wish, but you cannot move them to another Space.”
“The Spirit Mines you moved into the Sumeru Mustard Seed cannot be cycled with the resources of the Four Spirit Realm. If you don’t compensate, you are a thief of the Four Spirit Realm.”
“Do you want to be a thief?”
Hua Changxi no longer wanted to speak: “Alright, I understand. I will compensate.”
The Mountain Spirit nodded with an expression of ‘a teachable student’: “That’s more like it.”
