NOVEL NEXT Chapter 66: The Good Show
The night breeze was cool, and the furnace burned brightly. Atop a hundred-meter cliff, a figure hurried back and forth, appearing very busy. Ten medicine furnaces were neatly arranged in a row, the clear and roiling medicinal liquid boiling inside the cauldrons. As time passed and it simmered, the color of the medicinal liquid deepened, revealing a faint golden hue.
Rushing among these ten medicine furnaces, Qi Xiu carefully inspected the changes in the quality of the liquid in each cauldron. Wafting the air with his right hand, Qi Xiu smelled the gradually enriching and pure medicinal fragrance, a smile forming on his lips.
With this Ten Suns Qiankun Great Tonic Soup, I can return to the True Intent Realm! This Song Tingye really does have a profound foundation: seven hundred and sixty-five kinds of herbs, with at least thirty-nine kinds extinct and two nearing the Initiate Realm. He actually found them all without fail. This fellow's backing must be even more colossal than Yuan Baiyi's. Yet, his sincerity and forthrightness, in turn, make me feel somewhat embarrassed.
Sitting on an elevated rock, Qi Xiu propped his chin with one hand, lost in thought. I need to find an opportunity to repay him. Perhaps, give him two Martial Talismans? Developed from the Ziyang True Purple Golden Skill, the Purple Golden Skill greatly enhances one's physique; my physical and mental strength have made considerable progress, and the recovery speed is very fast. As long as I don't use Martial Talismans at high intensity continuously, my body can completely bear it. And I've also discovered the method to create Martial Talismans. Using one's fresh blood as ink, inscribing the Martial Talisman on Hundred Refinement Fine Steel, the Martial Talismans can then be preserved like Suppression Talismans for a long time, with an effective period of up to a month. However, the power of Martial Talismans is quite formidable. Thus, even though I have a means to preserve them, I have never leaked any Martial Talismans.
Giving him Martial Talismans is indeed not a bad idea. Yet, the Purple Golden Skill's power is too great and must not be shown lightly. Shadowless and Formless would work; it's a perfect method for him to protect his life, and as his Protector, I would not have neglected my duty.
Quietly nodding, Qi Xiu had a plan in mind. After this breakthrough is over, I'll return and craft two Shadowless and Formless Martial Talismans for Song Tingye. As the saying goes, courtesy demands reciprocity; that's how one maintains long-term business.
CLATTER! CLATTER!—
On the other side, the lids of the ten cauldrons banged from the steam.
Immediately standing up, Qi Xiu transformed into an afterimage, swiftly pouring the medicinal liquid from all ten cauldrons into prepared white porcelain bowls. The golden medicinal liquid shimmered in the white porcelain bowls, resplendent like liquid gold.
"Finally, it's complete."
Gazing at the golden medicinal liquid in the bowl, Qi Xiu grinned. To gather these ingredients for the Ten Suns Qiankun Great Tonic Soup, he had been busy for over half a month. From the initial boiling and refining of herbs to continuously adjusting and purifying their properties, he had slept for less than four hours each day during this period. Thankfully, the payoff was finally here.
Picking up a white porcelain bowl, the golden medicinal liquid rippled, exuding a strong fragrance. Before even drinking, Qi Xiu felt the Qi Spring in his Dantian begin to stir.
Tilting his neck back, he drained the golden liquid in one gulp. The sweet and fiery liquid flowed down his esophagus into his stomach. For a moment, Qi Xiu felt as if all one hundred twenty-nine thousand, six hundred pores on his body opened simultaneously. Rolling heat emanated from within him, unceasingly turbulent. An endless surge of warmth was released, seeping into his limbs and bones, blood and tendons.
Inside his Dantian, the Qi Spring resembled a rotating nebula. An endless stream of warmth flowed through his body and converged there, continually invigorating this ancient cloud-like mass.
The medicinal strength seems to be too potent. His face flushed and veins bulged as Qi Xiu exerted himself to circulate his True Cultivation Power, digesting the medicinal strength.
Initially, I was worried the medicinal effect wouldn't be enough, insufficient to break through Qi Condensation and return to the True Intent Realm. But now it seemed the herbs Song Tingye procured were too good in quality. The medicinal effect surpassed my expectations, exceeding the parameters I had set.
As the medicinal strength continued to be absorbed, the Qi Spring within grew, and the vague True Intent Diagram in Qi Xiu's mind became increasingly clearer. On his status panel, the proficiency value, like a train sounding its whistle, began to surge forward.
One more push! Qi Xiu felt himself drawing closer to the threshold of the True Intent Realm. He picked up the second bowl of Ten Suns Qiankun Great Tonic Soup and drank it down in one go.
「Midnight. The Song Residence.」
Song Tingye had a solemn expression as he sat before his desk, pen in hand, writing something.
Suddenly, a wind chime hanging above his desk started to ring without any breeze.
TING-A-LING—
Hearing the sound, he looked up to see the wind chime swaying endlessly. Sensing something, Song Tingye stood up and retrieved a greenish-bronze mirror from a bookshelf beside him. Muttering obscure incantations, Song Tingye's right hand formed a Daoist Incantation, its fingertips glowing with spiritual light.
"Spirit realm, manifest!"
In the next instant, ripples spread across the surface of the foggy bronze mirror as if it were water. Five Daoists appeared in the mirror. They wore Taoist Robes of different colors, had ugly features, unnaturally grayish-white skin, and blood-red eyes.
They've come quite quickly, he muttered softly, then called out to Sun Yueting, "Yueting, take that troop of armored soldiers to the city gate immediately, and also alert Ye Wen. The Blood Covenant is here."
"They want to launch a night attack? Which group is it?" Sun Yueting's expression darkened when he heard that the Blood Covenant had arrived.
"Five corpse-driving Demonic Cultivators. There are no Initiate Realm cultivators among them, but it's unclear how many zombies they control."
"Corpse-driving Demonic Cultivators." Hearing that corpse drivers had arrived, Sun Yueting felt a chill run down his spine. Corpse drivers weren't considered particularly powerful among Demonic Evil Cultivators. However, these Demonic Cultivators specialized in controlling corpses and favored overwhelming their enemies with numbers—not strong, but very troublesome.
「Later, outside Baoho County.」
"Senior brother, here we are, Baoho County. The Hu Brothers and the Li Family Twin Demons all fell here. The Hall Master has ordered us to thoroughly investigate this place; if the Flood Dragon Pool is truly here, he will come personally," a corpse driver with a black mole on his nose said, holding a map.
"Let's test the waters first." The corpse driver called senior brother shook his sleeve, pulled out a dark yellow bronze bell, and gave it a firm shake.
In the deathly silent and dark woods behind him, over a dozen towering zombies emerged—stiffly hopping, bloated, with blue-black skin, their bulky forms making the ground tremble. In life, each of these zombies had been a fierce man strong enough to lift a bull. They had been captured by this corpse driver, tormented to death, and refined into zombies. Each possessed the strength of an ordinary Tempering Power Realm martial artist, felt no pain, and fought without fear of death. A dozen or so such zombies could easily overrun a small town.
Just as the leading corpse driver was about to command the zombies to advance towards Baoho County, suddenly, gongs resounded from within the county town, and bonfires lit up the sky. A hundred or so yamen runners were shouting as they hurried along.
"Wake up, everyone! There are monsters!"
All the residents of the county were awakened by the sudden shouting. Rubbing their eyes, they poked their heads out. Upon hearing there were monsters, they looked shocked, hastily putting on clothes and gathering their families to quickly leave their homes.
Outside the city, watching as the entire county suddenly became noisy, the five corpse drivers looked bewildered. The corpse driver in charge of controlling the zombies was even more dumbfounded, completely at a loss.
What does this mean? We are Demonic Cultivators of the Demonic Path, here to kill, not to perform like monkeys! You—you people are being far too disrespectful!
「Meanwhile, atop the city gate tower.」
Looking down at the bustling county, with all eyes drawn to this spot, Song Tingye lightly swung his folding fan, a faint smile on his face.
The stage is set. The curtain is about to rise on a grand play.
THUD—
A towering figure sprang nimbly onto the city gate tower. Sun Yueting, with a grim expression, strode to Song Tingye's side and whispered, "Young Master, it seems Ye Wen is nowhere to be found. I've practically shattered the gong from banging it so hard, but he still hasn't shown up."
CLACK—
The folding fan fell.
Song Tingye's face filled with dark lines, and he remained silent. An almost inaudible sound, like the grinding of teeth, could be heard.