Chapter 67: Plundering the Alchemist

Xu Yang retrieved a palm-sized spirit boat from his storage space. He tossed it into the air, and a white glow enveloped the boat as it rapidly expanded. Within seconds, it grew from palm-sized to roughly half the size of a house.

"Master, that's amazing! What is it?" Liu Qing stared at the spirit boat floating in mid-air, her face filled with wonder. Although she had seen many immortals at Yaoshan Manor, this was her first time seeing a spirit boat. Wang Fangcui was also greatly astonished, muttering to herself, "Immortal techniques are truly profound and unfathomable."

"Come aboard," Xu Yang said. "There's no need for us to stay here. I'll take you to Tianlan Sect."

Wang Fangcui hesitated, then said, "I'll go tidy up the house..."

"There's no need to tidy anything," Xu Yang said calmly.

"But it would be a shame to throw those things away... they cost a lot of silver!" Wang Fangcui still grumbled.

Xu Yang directly threw out a pile of silver ingots that stacked as high as a person. "Is that enough?"

Wang Fangcui froze for a few seconds, then unconsciously nodded and said, "Yes, it's enough..."

"They're all yours," Xu Yang said. "But you can't move them now, so I'll hold onto them for you." With a wave of his hand, the tons of silver on the ground instantly vanished again.

Wang Fangcui had experienced too many shocks in one day. She couldn't process it all, and her mind was buzzing.

The three boarded Xu Yang's spirit boat, and he swiftly took them towards Tianlan Sect.

***

The spirit boat traveled incredibly fast, covering vast distances and returning to Tianlan Sect in just over ten minutes. Without delay, Xu Yang found a spacious courtyard house in the back mountains of Tianlan Sect for Wang Fangcui to live in. He then gave her the tons of silver.

Wang Fangcui couldn't handle the shock; she went limp and nearly fainted. Xu Yang could only give a wry smile and instructed two Foundation Establishment disciples to attend to Wang Fangcui. As the mother of his two disciples, Xu Yang naturally couldn't neglect her.

After settling Wang Fangcui, Xu Yang took Liu Qing and Liu Ming to the alchemy room.

***

"From today forward, you will be cultivators and alchemists," Xu Yang said calmly, standing by the alchemy furnace. "The cultivation process is incredibly dull and arduous, and alchemy will involve countless failures. But I hope you won't give up; otherwise, you would be wasting your talent." He had said these words to every one of his disciples.

"Yes, we understand, Master." Liu Qing gazed at everything in the alchemy room, her hands irresistibly stroking the alchemy furnace. Although she had never seen these objects before, she felt a strong sense of familiarity.

Xu Yang took out several bottles of elixirs and gave them to Liu Qing and Liu Ming. "These are elixirs, the very things you will learn to refine. Of course, I'm not asking you to refine them yet. I want you to consume these elixirs; they will enable you to become cultivators."

Under Xu Yang's guidance, Liu Qing and Liu Ming consumed the elixirs, bottle after bottle. In just one day, Liu Qing and Liu Ming reached the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment cultivation.

Once again, his disciples had reached the Foundation Establishment stage. While Xu Yang was pleased, he also felt a deeper melancholy. He himself had been stuck in the Qi Condensation stage for a hundred thousand years, yet his disciples could go from having no cultivation to the Qi Condensation stage in a single day and then rapidly break through from Qi Condensation to Foundation Establishment.

With their cultivation and spiritual energy, Liu Qing and Liu Ming could now begin alchemy. For the next few days, Xu Yang tirelessly taught his two disciples how to refine elixirs. His two disciples didn't disappoint him. Liu Qing had already mastered the refining of low-grade elixirs with exceptional skill. Although Liu Ming hadn't reached Liu Qing's level, he was close.

***

The sky was deep blue, and the sun shone brightly. Xu Yang reclined in an armchair, with Ling Qingshu massaging his shoulders and legs. In front of him, his two newly accepted alchemy disciples busily fumbled with their elixir refining. Everything seemed so peaceful.

This tranquility lasted until Fang Yan's arrival.

"Hey, why do you go out and have fun without me?" Fang Yan burst in, declaring the moment he saw Xu Yang. Although he knew Xu Yang was the Ancestor of Tianlan Sect, he showed no restraint, unlike a junior meeting an elder. This, of course, had something to do with Xu Yang's appearance. Although Xu Yang was now a hundred thousand years old, his current appearance was still that of a teenage boy. If Xu Yang looked like a white-haired old man, Fang Yan probably wouldn't be so carefree. Xu Yang didn't mind, of course. Despite being a hundred thousand years old, he still had the heart of a teenager.

"I wasn't out having fun, alright? I was so busy, I nearly ran my legs off," Xu Yang said with a chuckle.

"By the way, what have you been up to outside? You've been put on a wanted list again," Fang Yan suddenly remarked.

Xu Yang nearly choked on his own saliva at the news. He immediately looked curious and said, "Which suicidal person is trying to put a bounty on my head this time?" Xu Yang believed that given all he had done, even if some lower-level cultivators didn't recognize him, it was impossible for slightly higher-level cultivators not to know him. He was so infamous, yet someone still dared to put a bounty on him. Did they find their heads too heavy on their shoulders?

"Hehe, it was a place called Yaoshan Manor. The first day they issued the warrant, and the very next day, they sent out all their disciples to retract it," Fang Yan said, unable to help but burst into laughter.

Xu Yang also found it rather amusing. Suddenly, a thought struck Xu Yang, and an idea came to mind.

***

The next day, Xu Yang appeared at Yaoshan Manor. When the Yaoshan Manor disciples saw Xu Yang, they looked as if they had seen a ghost. After a flurry of urgent reports, Yaoshan Manor's Grand Elder quickly emerged.

"Esteemed Sir, to what do we owe the honor of your visit to Yaoshan Manor?"

The Grand Elder's name was Zhou Tian, a cultivator at the late Golden Core stage. He had been enraged when he learned that the Yaoshan Manor Sect Master had been killed by someone, and he had furiously issued the wanted warrant. However, the very next day, he discovered that the person he had put a bounty on was Xu Yang. He had nearly died of fright then. For the past two days, he had been living in anxiety. And now, his greatest fear had come true. Xu Yang had indeed come to their doorstep.

He felt like crying; who had he offended to be so unlucky? Thinking of the factions Xu Yang had annihilated, he trembled with fear. Yaoshan Manor wouldn't be next, would it?

"I'm here simply to invite alchemists," Xu Yang said.

"Invite alchemists?" Zhou Tian was momentarily stunned, unsure of what Xu Yang meant.