To break through the human realm to the earth realm, or to ascend from the divine state to the Golden Elixir realm, one needs a Golden Elixir as the foundation of their cultivation.
The method of cultivating a Golden Elixir begins with combining resources from a pill recipe that matches one’s cultivation technique, refining an external elixir full of spirituality. The cultivator then consumes the external elixir, which is dissolved in the body by the spiritual fire in the dantian, allowing the medicinal power to disperse within the dantian and assist in condensing an internal elixir.
Chen Su set up the alchemy furnace, preparing to refine an external elixir for Chu Liang. Her alchemy furnace was not large, with a pattern of red and green, decorated with floral and bird paintings, devoid of any fiery aura, but rather exuding elegance, clearly a girl’s exclusive. She then placed four pieces of fire spirit paste under the furnace, a material that can support various divine fires to burn powerfully, economical and practical, the most commonly used fuel for alchemists.
This was Chu Liang’s first time observing alchemy, so he took the opportunity to learn. If he could master the technique of alchemy himself, that would be the best. Chen Su skillfully arranged several materials on the side, with a gold plate on the rack specifically for holding them. She then ignited the Five Spirits Divine Breath Fire under the alchemy furnace.
This divine fire was not the hottest, but it was the most stable, used for refining external elixirs. As the five-colored divine flame ignited, the color of the alchemy furnace instantly became brighter, the surrounding paintings emanated a spiritual light, and the flowers and birds seemed to be moving like a carousel. With the roaring flames, Chen Su immersed herself in the process, skillfully handling all the materials, placing them in the alchemy furnace at the most suitable temperature, manipulating the qi with both hands, and occasionally changing the position and direction of the medicinal materials inside. Finally, when it seemed about right, she closed the lid of the alchemy furnace.
“Phew…” She let out a sigh of relief, wiping the sweat from her forehead,
“Just one more step to go.” With a flick of her finger, the flame under the furnace suddenly surged up by five points, starting to bake continuously. After precisely waiting for a moment, Chen Su immediately stopped, removing the flame. The colorful alchemy furnace instantly stopped glowing and returned to silence.
“Is it done?” Chu Liang immediately stood up, clearly having been looking forward to this for a long time.
“Wait a moment.” Chen Su raised her hand to signal him not to rush, “Let it nourish for a while.”
“Okay.” Chu Liang nodded. Although he didn’t understand alchemy, he had cooked rice before and thought it made sense.
After a while, Chen Su finally lifted the lid of the alchemy furnace, and the fragrance of the elixir filled the air. Chu Liang’s heart automatically sounded a drumroll, and a golden elixir the size of a longan was held up by the colorful glow.
“Is this a top-grade Golden Elixir?” Chen Su also let out an astonished exclamation.
“This is the first time I’ve refined a top-grade Golden Elixir… and probably the last.” She took out a brocade box, put the Golden Elixir in it, and handed it to Chu Liang:
“With the Ascension Grass inside, the stability of the Golden Elixir is greatly enhanced, and the success rate of forming the elixir is extremely high. I would like to congratulate you in advance, Chu junior brother, on achieving the rare top-grade Golden Elixir!” It was reasonable that Ascension Grass could increase the success rate of forming the elixir.
Otherwise, with the high failure rate of normal elixir formation, such rare materials could only be attempted once, and it might take thousands of years to have a top-grade Golden Elixir.
“If I succeed, it will be thanks to senior sister’s superb alchemy skills.”
Chu Liang responded with a smile. As he left Chen Su’s alchemy room, a tall man in a white robe was coming towards him. He had an ordinary face, with nothing particularly striking about his features. Chu Liang didn’t know him, so he would have just passed by. But he noticed that when the man in the white robe saw him, his pupils suddenly contracted, as if he was shocked. But he didn’t say anything and quickly concealed his emotions. Chen Su, who was behind Chu Liang, greeted him:
“Brother Gu.”
“Hmm.” The man nodded and continued to walk away. Chu Liang caught that slight change in emotion, furrowed his brows, and thought for a moment. He turned back to Chen Su and asked:
“Sister, who is that brother?”
“He is the ninth disciple of Elder Dan Ding, Brother Lu Xun. He holds a high position in our Dan Ding Hall.” Chen Su explained.
“Oh…” Chu Liang took another look at the retreating figure before leaving the Dan Ding Hall. Just as he stepped out of the Dan Ding Hall and arrived at the square of Tongtian Peak, he heard a surprised greeting from behind:
“Big brother!” He turned around to see Shang Ziliang with his two followers, just coming out of the Sword Transmission Hall, and happened to see Chu Liang.
Shang Ziliang’s eyes widened, and he ran over excitedly, clearly unable to put much strength into his waist… so much so that his upper body was running ahead, and his lower body was lagging behind.
On his way over, he kept shouting, “Big brother! I’m so glad you’re okay! Big brother!”
“Huh?” Chu Liang was puzzled until Shang Ziliang came over and grabbed his hand, Chu Liang then confirmed he was calling him,
“Brother Shang, what are you calling me?”
“Big brother!” Shang Ziliang’s eyes were teary,
“If it weren’t for your life-saving kick, leaving yourself in the Immortal Marsh and kicking me onto the Golden Winged Eagle, I might have died there! You are my lifesaver, from now on, you are my big brother! Xu Ziyang is my sister-in-law!
I won’t fight with you anymore…”
“Eh, eh, eh?” Chu Liang quickly raised his hand to stop him. Goodness, his words were getting more and more outrageous. It was a good thing Xu Ziyang wasn’t nearby, otherwise, it would be hard to explain.
“Brother Shang, there’s no need for this.” Chu Liang quickly pulled away, explaining, “When I saved you, it was entirely out of the fellowship of the same sect. I do have some life-saving measures myself, so there’s no need to thank me too much. If you were in that situation and saw me in danger, I believe you wouldn’t just stand by and do nothing…”
“I would.” Shang Ziliang suddenly nodded… Chu Liang’s explanation came to an abrupt halt, leaving him a bit at a loss.
“I’ve always seen you as an enemy, wanting to compete with you for Sister Ziyang’s heart, and even secretly sabotaged you…” Shang Ziliang’s eyes were filled with tears,
“When you kicked me back then, I thought you were venting your anger at first, but then I realized you were saving me…” So that’s what happened.Only then did Chu Liang realize that Shang Ziliang had previously seen him as a love rival and had tried to harm him. Chu Liang couldn’t blame himself for being insensitive, as every time Shang Ziliang made a move, it ended up backfiring and causing him harm, while Chu Liang remained unaffected. The first time, it led to Chu Liang meeting Jiang Yuebai, and the second time, it resulted in Chu Liang and Di Nvfeng extorting a large amount of sword coins from him. His attempts to trip Chu Liang up had actually ended up benefiting him. Watching Shang Ziliang sobbing and reflecting on his actions, Chu Liang thought to himself that he should have kicked him harder. It was a pity that he hadn’t left him completely incapacitated.
After Shang Ziliang finished speaking, Chu Liang said, “There’s one thing I need to emphasize. I’m really not close with Junior Sister Xu Ziqing. You can say whatever you want about me, but don’t tarnish a girl’s reputation.”
“Really?” Shang Ziliang suddenly looked up, his tear-filled eyes shining brightly.
“Absolutely,” Chu Liang replied.
“Brother, from now on, you’re my real brother!” Shang Ziliang suddenly declared, “Junior Sister Ziqing… is like your real sister!” Chu Liang chuckled awkwardly. Shang Ziliang was overthinking things. He then waved to his two followers and said:
“From now on, I’m your boss, and my big brother is your big brother! Got it?” The two followers simultaneously shouted, “Big Brother!”
“No, no, no…” Chu Liang quickly waved his hands to stop them. This was getting more and more ridiculous.
“Brother Shang, there’s no need to be so formal. We can just call each other brothers as we did before.”
“Then let’s each do our own thing. You can call me Brother, and I’ll call you Big Brother.”
Shang Ziliang insisted. Chu Liang didn’t want to argue with him anymore, so he quickly excused himself and left, returning to Silver Sword Peak. As soon as he arrived, he found Xu Ziyang waiting for him at the foot of the hill.
“Brother Xu?” Chu Liang called out.
“I left with Master Bi this morning and didn’t have a chance to tell you something,” Xu Ziyang said.
“Your sixth realm battle spirit is here.” As he spoke, he handed over a jade pot. Xu Ziyang had actually taken Old Fei as well, and Chu Liang had almost forgotten about him. He quickly took the pot and said, “Thank you, Junior Brother.”
“You’re welcome.” Xu Ziyang shook his head lightly, then added, “Your battle spirit is rebellious. He’s been trying to persuade me to keep him and serve me. He didn’t want me to give this jade pot back to you.”
“Hehe.” Chu Liang chuckled, not surprised at all. If Old Fei’s ashes weighed ten pounds, nine pounds and eight ounces of it would be rebellious. It wasn’t surprising that he wanted to run away, considering that staying with Chu Liang was almost like working for free. At least this time he had really helped. Without him, Chu Liang might not have had the courage to save people. He then asked Xu Ziyang, “Did he tell you to light three soul saliva incense sticks to summon him?”
“Three?” Xu Ziyang shook his head.
“He said that each time you summon him, you need two soul saliva incense sticks.”
“Huh?” Upon hearing this, Chu Liang frowned. He was suddenly getting angry.