NOVEL NEXT Chapter 627: The Last Ingredient
The First Generation Sword Spirit appeared as a woman in her thirties, with a warm smile.
She first glanced at Fang Zhou a few times before her attention shifted to Xiao Yan.
"My surname is Su, you can call me Sister Su."
Su Yin'an said with a cheerful smile.
Xiao Yan, being an honest child, was very excited upon meeting Su Yin'an and earnestly called her Sister Su.
Fang Zhou, on the other hand, couldn't bring himself to say it. Su Yin'an was the Sword Spirit of the founder of the Heavenly Sword Sect, living for at least thousands of years now, yet she unabashedly pretends to be young?
However, Fang Zhou had seen others who pretended to be young similarly; wasn't Ling Xiaoyue the same, always claiming to be seventeen despite being thousands of years old? Su Yin'an is even more brazen.
Su Yin'an was humble and approachable, yet Fang Zhou couldn't discern her realm, causing him to be taken aback.
He was currently at the Golden Core Realm, so for him to be unable to see through someone's realm, they must be above Golden Core Realm; Su Yin'an was highly likely in the Divine Soul Realm.
Fang Zhou had a new understanding of the depth of the Heavenly Sword Sect. On the surface, Qin Yunzhu was the Sect Master, and the strongest was only at the Golden Core Realm, yet behind them was a hidden elder in the Divine Soul Realm.
In addition to the Cloud Jiao guarding the forbidden land in the Cloud Sea Mountains, and three real experts, the Heavenly Sword Sect could easily gather a group of masters.
This was just one of the Five Undisputed Greats; the other five surely also had hidden cards.
Although there appeared to be no Divine Soul Realm experts in the Cultivation World now, these people may not have all left the Cultivation World, possibly hiding like Su Yin'an, away from the public eye.
Initially, after cultivating to the Golden Core Realm, Fang Zhou had become somewhat inflated, but upon meeting Su Yin'an, he swiftly became humble.
The foundation of these Five Undisputed Greats was indeed formidable; to pose effectively, one must wait until reaching Divine Soul Realm.
Su Yin'an chatted with Xiao Yan without belittling her for not being from the Heavenly Sword Sect, discussing matters related to alchemy.
Xiao Yan attentively and excitedly consulted Su Yin'an, who shared all she knew, appearing pleased.
Fang Zhou couldn't understand any of it, so he just continued sipping tea.
"Hmm, may I take a look at your ring?"
Su Yin'an's attention suddenly fell on the ring on Xiao Yan's hand, and she asked with a smile.
Xiao Yan hesitated; she had a very good impression of Su Yin'an, but the ring contained the Medicine Lady, which was too important to her to casually show others.
Su Yin'an chuckled again: "No need to take it off; just extend your hand and let me take a quick look."
Xiao Yan instinctively glanced at Fang Zhou, who slightly nodded towards her.
Su Yin'an was the sect's founder and a Divine Soul Realm master, as well as an alchemy expert; it was improbable for her to harm an Innate level junior.
Only then did Xiao Yan slowly extend her hand, displaying the ring to Su Yin'an.
Su Yin'an glanced down at it and suddenly said with a smile: "How long are you going to hide?"
This statement puzzled Fang Zhou, but Xiao Yan's expression changed slightly.
In the next instant, a shadow flew out from the ring and landed on the ground, transforming into a woman in her thirties.
Fang Zhou was taken aback; could this be Xiao Yan's portable grandma?
My goodness, truly the protagonist!!
Fang Zhou couldn't help but look at Xiao Yan; although she was only at the Innate Realm, her future was undoubtedly terrifyingly limitless.
Is it still time to cling onto someone influential?
"Medicine Lady?"
Xiao Yan let out a small exclamation, surprised that the Medicine Lady would reveal herself in front of outsiders.
The Medicine Lady gave her a reassuring glance and then turned to Su Yin'an, smiling wryly: "I was hiding so well, but you still found me."
Su Yin'an laughed happily: "I'm very familiar with your creations; others may not recognize, but can I not?"
This startled Fang Zhou and Xiao Yan; could it be that Su Yin'an knew the Medicine Lady? From their conversation, it seemed more than just a simple acquaintance.
Feeling slightly bewildered, Xiao Yan was comforted by Su Yin'an: "No need to worry, I am good friends with your elder."
Xiao Yan calmed down a bit, curiosity sprouting like weeds.
She only knew the Medicine Lady was a figure from over a thousand years ago, surprisingly acquainted with the Sword Spirit of the Heavenly Sword Sect.
"I thought we'd meet again soon after that day of separation."
Su Yin'an lamented: "But now, a thousand years have passed since that farewell."
The Medicine Lady shook her head and smiled wryly: "I was plotted against by an enemy, unluckily couldn't escape, leaving just a thread of Divine Soul inside the ring, clueless until awakening three years ago."
The two elders started reminiscing, while the juniors Fang Zhou and Xiao Yan could only listen.
From fragmented words, it seemed the Medicine Lady was also a brilliant character in her lifetime, an exceptionally rare alchemy expert.
They soon discussed her proudest creation—Nine Yang Marrow Cleansing Pill.
This elixir had no earth-shattering effects, merely allowing males unable to cultivate to cleanse and refine their bones, naturally generating yang energy, to meet the standards for cultivation.
The effect was not strong, yet it shook the Cultivation World at that time. Then, due to monumental changes and yin-yang imbalance, males hadn't been able to cultivate for ages.
Numerous alchemists attempted to solve this issue, not due to gender, but driven by the ideal of overcoming the challenge as alchemists.
Creating an elixir for a male to cultivate was simple, but using a single elixir to address the cultivation issues of countless males was nearly impossible.
Because each individual had subtle differences, the elixir needed extremely broad applicability to adapt to various situations.
The Medicine Lady fulfilled her master's dying wish, spending half a lifetime to finally create the Nine Yang Pill formula.
Sadly, before she could gather all the ingredients, she perished.
Upon hearing them discuss this matter, Fang Zhou immediately perked his ears, focusing to avoid missing a word.
Su Yin'an asked the Medicine Lady: "Is your current disciple good enough to concoct the Nine Yang Pill?"
The Medicine Lady shook her head: "Only missing the last ingredient."
Su Yin'an smiled: "Feel free to say whatever you need."
Looking at her, the Medicine Lady said: "Do you think I would be polite? That last material I've searched throughout the Cultivation World but couldn't find, perhaps it simply does not exist."
Talking about it, the Medicine Lady's gaze seemed somewhat dazed, fearing that the last ingredient might not exist, halting her formula.
While Fang Zhou was listening, suddenly "ding," a system task popped up again.
[Trigger Main Quest—Change the male-dominant societal atmosphere, realizing the great dream of gender equality]
[Search for the last ingredient of Nine Yang Marrow Cleansing Pill]
[Difficulty: Legendary]
[Reward: Masculinity*50 Golden Card*1]
[Failure: Reputation -20 points]
Upon seeing the mission prompt, Fang Zhou was somewhat surprised because the difficulty finally changed to legendary.
Looks like finding this last ingredient won't be easy.
He pondered for a few seconds, then asked the Medicine Lady: "What material is missing?"
Medicine Lady looked at Fang Zhou; she had a good impression of this junior who was entangled with Xiao Yan, and she smiled slightly: "It is a flame full of hope."