The First Immortal of Destiny

In the alchemy competition segment, Zhao Lingyin was urged on by the crowd and had no choice but to show off her alchemy skills.

With her proud personality, she didn't want to seek unnecessary attention.

Her true ambition was to advance further on the Alchemy Path through relentless dedication.

However, her "fans" were too enthusiastic, and Zhao Lingyin wasn't good at handling such scenes. So, she had to start the furnace and fire, spending over an hour to concoct a batch of Grade I Minor Yuan Cultivation Pills.

Three pills reached an extraordinary level!

The other Elixirs in the same furnace were also of excellent and perfect quality.

This immediately elicited the admiration and praise of numerous Alchemists and observing cultivators.

Of course, with Zhao Lingyin's proficiency in the Alchemy Path, she was fully capable of refining top-quality Grade II Elixirs.

However, refining a Grade II Elixir takes quite a long time, often needing three to four Shichens.

Hence, Zhao Lingyin chose to refine Minor Yuan Cultivation Pills.

Facing the flood of praise, her expression remained placid, though a hint of frustration could be seen in her slightly furrowed willow brows.

I still can't reduce the time it takes to refine the Minor Yuan Cultivation Pill to less than an hour.

How did that person achieve it?

Recently, Zhao Lingyin had been trying to surpass "Mo Shen's" record.

However, after trying for a long time, the results were minimal!

Thus, she offered a reward of two thousand Spirit Stones, wanting to discover Mo Shen's true identity and see what kind of extraordinary person he was.

Upon hearing that the Ascending Pill Shop sold the Elixirs he refined, she arrived there immediately.

Unfortunately, things did not go as she wished!

Let alone Master Mo Shen, she didn't even get to see his disciple.

Little did she know, Shen Mo, concealed under two aliases, was mingling among the onlookers, witnessing her pill refining process throughout.

She has extraordinary talent!

This was Shen Mo's evaluation of Zhao Lingyin.

Her mastery of the medicinal properties of spiritual medicinal materials and her methods during the melting, shaping, and spirit enlightenment processes were all astonishingly remarkable!

Under the observation of his Bright Vision.

Shen Mo even faintly saw that Zhao Lingyin possessed an exceptionally abundant and profound vitality.

During her alchemy, this vitality surged, continuously reinforcing her.

Clearly, she possessed some kind of special innate talent!

Shen Mo guessed in his heart that Zhao Lingyin, like Lu Ming, might possess a Spiritual Body.

Could it be a Wood Spirit Body? This type of Spiritual Body is most compatible with Alchemists, granting a natural superiority in identifying spiritual medicines and spirit fruits compared to ordinary people.

Not to mention the heaven-defying enhancement it provides to the medicinal properties of various pills during the melting of spiritual medicines, spirit enlightenment, and pill condensation phases.

Coupled with her own diligent study and practice, along with close tutelage from a Grade IV Alchemist, it's no wonder that, despite being not yet twenty, her alchemy proficiency is already approaching Grade III.

Such a Favored Daughter of Heaven indeed lives up to the title of the number one prodigy in the Alchemy Zone!

In Shen Mo's perspective, Zhao Lingyin's biggest shortcoming was that she didn't have a Destiny Panel.

She couldn't, like him, max out the proficiency of a certain type of Elixir!

After Zhao Lingyin finished refining the Minor Yuan Cultivation Pills, she was surrounded by Alchemists and led into the Ascending Pill Shop. Shen Mo then squeezed out of the crowd.

The possibility that this Favored Daughter of Heaven possessed a Wood Spirit Body was a reminder for Shen Mo.

To maximize the power of the Big Dipper Sword Array.

He needed to collect seven extreme elements, forge them into the seven Dao sword embryos, and let them take shape one by one.

And the extreme Wood element was one of them.

Shen Mo was not as pedantic as other cultivators. If he encountered an evil cultivator or someone truly villainous who possessed a Wood Spirit Body, he wouldn't mind killing them with a single strike.

He would use the flesh, blood, and soul of the Wood Spirit Body to refine the Big Dipper Sword embryo!

But Zhao Lingyin was a cultivator from the Riverside Sect's Alchemy Zone and a direct disciple of the Grade IV Alchemist, Alien Minister Wu.

Moreover, she spent most of her time refining pills in the Alchemy Zone. She had likely killed very few demonic beasts, if any at all. She was certainly not a blood-soaked person who deserved to be killed!

It was therefore inappropriate to use her to consecrate his sword!

Finding Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures embodying other extreme elements was not easy either.

Typically, when they appeared, it was at auction houses.

After fierce competition from many cultivators, they would be auctioned off for an astronomical price.

The trouble was, recently, even the auctions in Jiyun Town had not featured such Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.

Shen Mo had also posted a bounty mission at the Deacon Hall, but so far, there had been no leads.

「Back at the Riverside Sect's cave mansion.」

Shen Mo had intended to continue his alchemy, hoping to max out his proficiency with the four Grade II Elixirs as soon as possible.

This was so he could go to the Alchemy Tower and freely claim the generous rewards!

However, as night fell, a beauty he hadn't seen in a long time appeared at his door.

"Senior Sister Chen, what brings you here?"

Opening the door and seeing Chen Mengze standing gracefully outside, Shen Mo was somewhat surprised.

Since he entered the Inner Door, he had not seen his childhood sweetheart.

Even during the celebration for establishing his new cave mansion, she was in seclusion and did not attend.

"Here! This is a gift to congratulate you on entering the Inner Door and achieving second place in the Newcomers' Competition."

Chen Mengze took out a box of Elixirs from her Universe Bag. It contained two bottles with a total of ten Minor Yuan Cultivation Pills—which was already a considerable gift for a cultivator who had just entered the Qi Gathering Realm.

"Thank you, Senior Sister Chen."

Shen Mo gratefully stowed the box of Elixirs away.

Although he could make a considerable amount of Spirit Stones through alchemy and talisman making, his consumption was even greater.

These Minor Yuan Cultivation Pills were only Grade I, and their quality was merely excellent, far from perfect. Still, every little bit helped.

Moreover, this represented Chen Mengze's heartfelt sentiment!

"Have you thought about going down the mountain for experiential training recently?" Chen Mengze casually asked.

Hm?

"Ruins of a Ghost Nation have appeared near the Ghost Corpse School and the Heaven Sword Sect. I plan to go in for some experiential training!"

There was a dark period in the history of the Red Flame Country.

During that time, ghostly fiends and monsters roamed everywhere, truly making it a Ghost Nation on earth.

Even though it was later destroyed, many ruins remained, containing ghostly fiends and rare treasures.

Occasionally, they would appear and were considered good places for experiential training.

Shen Mo was slightly intrigued. Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures containing the extreme element of darkness, needed to forge the Big Dipper Sword embryo, were often found in the ruins of Ghost Nations.

Seeing his interest, Chen Mengze continued, "If you want to go out for experiential training, you can come with me. With me around, it will be safer."

"Senior Sister Chen, um... is Senior Brother Guo... going too?"

"I don't know if he's going! He wasn't the one who invited me this time." Chen Mengze was slightly annoyed, feeling frustrated that her good intentions were being unappreciated.

Shen Mo was puzzled.

Last time Chen Mengze invited him on a mission, she had used him as a third wheel.

This time, for the experiential training in the ruins of the Ghost Nation, Guo Zhao wasn't involved.

There wasn't a need for a third wheel, was there?

Perhaps sensing Shen Mo's puzzled expression, Chen Mengze stamped her foot and grumbled, "I heard from Father that you refined a Thunder Transforming Pill for him. So, I thought I'd return the favor and invite you to go out for some experiential training together."

Oh... So that's how it is!

Poor Senior Brother Guo Zhao, he had gone to great lengths to help obtain the Jade Water Pearl, the main ingredient for the Thunder Transforming Pill.

However, Chen Mengze didn't appreciate his effort at all.

She directly credited the favor of refining the Thunder Transforming Pill to Shen Mo.

However, as Shen Mo had already settled his accounts with Senior Brother Guo,

he saw no need to continue putting in good words for Senior Brother Guo or to recklessly squander Chen Mengze's goodwill.