Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit-Chapter 359: Pavilion of Alchemy
Lu Ping was surprised. "Great Ancestor Chong Xuan was North Ocean’s number one Grandmaster Smith. He fled to the East Ocean after Fei Ling Sect’s annihilation. Did he forge this mystic treasure?"
"You’re quite knowledgeable."
Xuan-Huo praised, then shook his head. "Not him, but his official disciple, a Late Core Forging Realm Enlightened Master who was also a Grandmaster Smith. He was a powerful figure and just a fine line away from achieving the Avatar Realm. His name was Jiao Yu-Qiang."
Immediately, Lu Ping was left speechless as he recalled the underground basement in Fei Ling Island’s Pavilion of Smithery. On the basement walls, one of the engraved phrases was "Surpass Jiao Yu-Qiang!"
And at last, Lu Ping knew who Jiao Yu-Qiang was. A talented figure who dominated his generation of cultivators four thousand years ago, and one whose name had not been forgotten by the cultivation world.
Seeing Lu Ping’s flabbergasted expression, Xuan-Miao assumed he’d never heard of the name before. But the name obviously held great significance to Xuan-Huo as he continued to explain.
"The Water Manipulative banner is the first spirit nurturing mystic treasure that Jiao Yu-Qiang forged after becoming a Grandmaster Smith. Naturally, it is considered his most cherished and symbolic mystic treasure. During the annihilation of Fei Ling Sect, Jiao Yu-Qiang single-handedly killed five Late Core Forging Realm Enlightened Masters on his own, and even used the Water Manipulative Banner to withstand the attacks of a Great Ancestor, ultimately using it to kill the other.
"The death of this Great Ancestor terrified the cultivators to their cores; two Great Ancestors were forced to work together and besieged him. After a series of exhaustive battles, despite his depletion of true energy and divine revelation, Jiao Yu-Qiang managed to severely injure one of the Great Ancestors before he succumbed to death. The Water Manipulative Banner was also damaged and downgraded into a spirit emerging mystic treasure."
Xuan-Huo had a look of fascination and admiration as he explained, while Lu Ping asked concernedly, "Junior Uncle, can it still be repaired?"
But immediately after, Lu Ping realized he had asked a foolish question.
Sure enough, Xuan-Huo rolled his eyes and answered, "Why else was it left untouched inside the spatial dimension for four thousand years?"
Lu Ping smiled back awkwardly, wondering why it couldn’t be repaired. The Water Manipulative Banner was broken, but it wasn’t beyond fixing. Although the Master Smiths might struggle to get the job done, surely it wouldn’t be a problem for the Grandmaster Smiths, right?
At the very least, he knew that the sect’s Great Ancestor Tian-Bao was a Grandmaster Smith and also the nominal pavilion master of the Pavilion of Smithery.
Xuan-Huo looked at Lu Ping, as if he could see through his thoughts, and he explained, "Jiao Yu-Qiang forged it with a special method. Even his teacher, Great Ancestor Chong Xuan, admitted that he couldn’t replicate it. He even openly voiced out that Jiao Yu-Qiang would be the new number one Grandmaster Smith after he advanced to the Avatar Realm. This shows how outstanding that special smith method was."
Lu Ping was disappointed to hear that, while Xuan-Huo continued, "It was rumored that other than his teacher’s tutelage, Jiao Yu-Qiang’s special smith method was also inspired by Fei Ling Sect’s great protective formation which had been set up and enhanced by the sect’s True Spirit predecessors. Their legacies had led to its creation.
"After Fei Ling Sect’s annihilation, the North Ocean sects naturally didn’t want to lose his special smith method and searched all over the place. In the end, they couldn’t find a single word about it. Then, the sects tried to study Fei Ling Sect’s great protective formation, but not even the Great Ancestors could grasp the legacies left behind by the True Spirit predecessors.
"In the smith society, it was said that Jiao Yu-Qiang must have possessed the formation chart or chassis which enabled him to study the great protective formation in depth. However, these items have never been found, so that theory remains unproven. And so, the rumors remained as rumors."
Lu Ping looked fascinated on the surface, yet his right hand quietly and naturally swiped across the interspatial ring on his left hand.
After that, he left the Pavilion of Smithery with a calm and steady expression.
The Fei Ling Sect was obviously not something that his current level could be involved in, and there was nothing he could do other than secretly gather more information about the sect. As the former number one sect in the North Ocean, which had taken the entirety of the North Ocean sects to barely annihilate, its legacy was likely the wealthiest source of treasure in the area.
Hence, before he possessed the strength to protect himself, he mustn’t openly show anything related to the Fei Ling Sect.
After leaving the Pavilion of Smithery, Lu Ping continued heading for the Pavilion of Alchemy.
Just like the previous place, the Pavilion of Alchemy extracted the spirit fire underground.
But unlike the Pavilion of Smithery that unleashed the underground fire’s explosive and vibrant power, the one at the Pavilion of Alchemy was more sharply controlled.
Apart from that, the biggest difference between the two pavilions was the crowd. The Pavilion of Alchemy had a steady flow of disciples visiting for pellets, either by conducting favors for the alchemists or with monetary compensations.
Hence, the Pavilion of Alchemy was one of the most important pillars for the Zhen Ling Sect to accumulate wealth.
Lu Ping’s arrival was quiet at first, and he blended in perfectly with the crowd. But as time passed, people started to notice him and after realizing who he was, they quickly gave way, gradually clearing a pathway for him to walk.
Lu Ping didn’t remark on this and walked straight into the pavilion, where he saw several Enlightened Masters inside the hall. Some of these Enlightened Masters recognized him and nodded at him with a smile; Lu Ping also nodded back.
However, a few older Enlightened Masters glanced at Lu Ping strangely. But when asked by the others, they refrained from elaborating.
Lu Ping entered the main hall of the Pavilion of Alchemy and saw an acquaintance who was welcoming and attending to the Enlightened Masters that came to visit.
The acquaintance was also surprised to see Lu Ping. He was the Enlightened Master who supervised Lu Ping’s alchemist qualification test back then.
The Enlightened Master didn’t immediately step forward to attend to him. Instead, after a moment’s deliberation, only then did he walk up to Lu Ping and said with a smile, "Master Lu Xuan-Ping, how can the Pavilion of Alchemy help you?"
Lu Ping noticed that the Enlightened Master didn’t closely address him as a martial disciple of Zhen Ling Sect, instead referring to him in the more general and distant title of fellow alchemist. This immediately hinted to Lu Ping that the Pavilion of Alchemy wasn’t friendly, which was within his expectations.
Lu Ping directly showed him the Heritage Token and said, "I’m here for the Pavilion of Alchemy’s place of inheritance."
The Enlightened Master was surprised to see the token, then with a more solemn expression, he tilted his body to the side and gestured. "This way, please."
At the back hall, in front of a secret room, the Enlightened Master cautiously knocked on the stone door.
Even just standing outside of the room, Lu Ping could feel the heat emanating through the tightly shut stone door. Furthermore, there was a trace of spirituality and a special aura within the wave of heat.
Clearly, there was an alchemist concocting pellets behind the door, who was using a spirit fire in their alchemy.
Suddenly, the stone door slammed open and a burst of heat rushed out of the room directly onto their faces. It was scorching hot, enough to burn a mortal into ashes, or injure an ordinary Blood Condensation Realm disciple.
Lu Ping frowned but didn’t say anything. Before the heat wave reached him, it suddenly cooled down rapidly into a stream of cool air that immediately removed the hot and humid atmosphere.
A middle-aged cultivator with a sullen face came out of the room, he ignored Lu Ping on the side and instead, said in annoyance at the Enlightened Master.
"Junior Brother Xuan-Dian, what’s wrong with you? Didn’t I tell you not to disturb me from my alchemy? I told you, you can make any decisions on your own."
Xuan-Dian smiled weakly and said, "This is Master Lu Xuan-Ping. He has the Heritage Token to enter the place of inheritance. So, I brought him to Senior Brother Xuan-Yan since I can’t disturb Teacher for this, right?"
"Master Lu?"
Xuan-Yan hummed unhappily, heating up the atmosphere in the back hall by a few degrees. He was clearly disdainful of Lu Ping as he said, "Kid, I’m in the middle of some important alchemy. Go home and come back next time."
After that, he immediately turned back to the alchemy room, when suddenly a mocking voice said from behind him.
"Black Cloud Pellets?"
"If a simple pellet that barely reaches the rank of Mid Core Forging Realm can be considered important, then Zhen Ling Sect’s Master Alchemists have certainly failed to uphold their titles."
Xuan-Yan stopped short and turned abruptly, staring down at Lu Ping with his eyes widened like saucers. Lu Ping was neither intimidated nor affected by his Late Core Forging Realm divine revelation. Instead, he smiled sarcastically as if Xuan-Yan was an object of ridicule.
After a moment of silence, Lu Ping waved the Heritage Token in front of him and said, "Looks like Master Xuan-Yan is not in a hurry to concoct those important pellets anymore. In that case, shall we go? I’d like to know if Zhen Ling Sect’s Heritage Token actually works in the Pavilion of Alchemy."
After bringing up the sect’s name, Xuan-Yan could hardly reject him again, or else the Pavilion of Alchemy could be accused of defiance.
Xuan-Yan’s face turned gloomier, he swung his sleeves heavily and opened a hidden basement in the back hall. All while ignoring the alchemy going on inside the alchemy room.
In fact, the moment he swung his sleeves, the sound of popping crackers could be heard from inside. Then, a blend of something burnt and fragrant found its way into their noses.
Xuan-Yan didn’t even turn back to look at the failed pellets. With a mocking glance, Lu Ping followed him down the basement, while Xuan-Dian hesitantly looked at the alchemy room, the corners of his mouth twitching ruefully.
As Lu Ping walked into the basement, he paused imperceptibly for a split second and gave a furtive glance to the left. He then continued walking like nothing had happened.
Xuan-Yan stood at the center of the secret basement, staring angrily at Lu Ping walking down the stairs. He said in annoyance, "Kid, I trust you already know the Chong Hua Palace and Liberal Palace are not welcome here. I will open the place of inheritance for three days, and that’s all the time you get. Don’t blame me if you can’t find anything good."
Ignoring him, Lu Ping activated the Heritage Token and a door of light emerged inside the basement.
Just as he lifted his foot to walk through, he suddenly stopped. Turning to look at Xuan-Yan, he sneered, "Disciples of Zhen Ling Sect aren’t welcome here? Huh, since when did the Pavilion of Alchemy belong solely to Great Ancestor Tian-Lu? Did he say this himself?"
Xuan-Yan’s face changed drastically. Even Xuan-Dian, who just walked down, looked grim after hearing that.
However, Lu Ping was already walking through the light door, disappearing from the secret basement. The only thing left behind was the echo of his cold laughter.
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