The time formation ran at a ratio of one to a hundred. Only three days had passed outside, but inside the formation, nearly a year had gone by.
Xia Yunzhao had the time of his life practicing alchemy that year. Every day, he absorbed knowledge like a sponge soaking up water. He not only mastered every recipe in the Complete Collection of Level-One Pill Recipes, but also learned all the recipes in the Level-Two collection.
He now knew more than five hundred pill recipes. He had no idea how remarkable that made him. If other alchemists heard the number, it would probably frighten an enormous number of them half to death.
Even Level-Five or Level-Six alchemists often struggled to master a hundred recipes. Few people learned as quickly as Xia Yunzhao, of course, but there was another reason: pill recipes were genuinely hard to come by.
Xu Ziyu, for example, knew only a little over eighty recipes, and that already made him an outstanding Level-Three alchemist.
Nor was mastering the recipes his only achievement that year. He had combined the recipes with the handwritten insights left by True Lord Tongxin and his Dao companion, studying the medicinal properties and underlying principles of every spirit herb and medicinal plant that appeared in them.
Understanding not only what worked but why it worked: that was the true essence of the path of alchemy.
If word got out that someone without a formal master had reached this point by studying alone, even reclusive old experts might clutch their foreheads in regret. Why hadn’t they visited Liancui Mountain more often? They had missed the chance to take on an excellent disciple!
Now Xia Yunzhao was attempting his first Level-Three medicinal concoction: Nine-Turn Golden Core Liquid.
He had integrated the several hundred recipes in his mind into a coherent body of knowledge. If he could successfully refine this one medicine, he would advance to Level Three as an alchemist.
In fact, this was not his first attempt. His previous three attempts had failed at different stages.
Well, this was a Level-Three medicine. A little extra difficulty was only to be expected.
Xia Yunzhao was in excellent spirits and had not let those failures bother him in the least. All his attention remained on the medicinal ingredients in his hands.
Refining Nine-Turn Golden Core Liquid was exceptionally complicated. The primary ingredients alone called for nine spirit herbs, with roots, stems, flowers, fruits, and leaves taken as required. Then there was Hundred-Flower Spirit-Herb Dew, collected from droplets on the tender new leaves of a hundred kinds of spirit herbs. Without the Tongxin Spirit Herb Garden, even finding this supplementary ingredient would have been difficult.
The challenge became obvious from the ingredient list. The medicinal properties and spiritual power within nine herbs and a hundred drops of dew were extremely complex, yet he had to maintain a delicate balance among them throughout the refining process.
Apart from Xia Yunzhao, probably no one would have chosen Nine-Turn Golden Core Liquid as their first Level-Three medicine.
But Xia Yunzhao did not care. Alchemists were ranked by level, certainly, but he practiced alchemy because the medicines were useful and because he enjoyed it, not just to level up. Easier pills would make advancement faster, but then what? No one was paying him a salary for leveling up. Was a Level-Three alchemist’s title worth having just to look impressive?
Pfft!
One careless move, and three of the hundred drops of spirit dew evaporated in an instant. Another attempt had failed.
That was unusual for him. He rarely failed more than three times when learning a new pill recipe. Even he found the experience novel, never mind Xiao Qing.
“Interesting.” Xia Yunzhao raised an eyebrow, but a smile touched his lips. “Now that’s more like it. I knew the path of alchemy couldn’t be that simple. Little Furnace, clean yourself up. Let’s try again.”
Xiao Qing immediately bounced twice. Understood!
Cleaning itself was easy. It only needed to swallow the remaining medicinal liquid. The ruined dregs contained little spiritual power, but even a mosquito’s leg counted as meat!
Once Xiao Qing had swallowed the dregs and the lingering medicinal vapors, Xia Yunzhao started refining again.
He took out the nine spirit herbs one by one, plucking leaves and flowers and cutting pieces of root and stem. He had prepared these ingredients so many times that he could do it with his eyes closed.
He activated the Earthfire Art and put the herbs into the pill furnace. Then came the Hundred-Flower Spirit-Herb Dew, one drop, two drops… This was the hardest part. Two of his previous attempts had failed at this stage.
Too little flame would not refine the medicinal properties sufficiently. Too much, and the spirit dew would evaporate, making the whole effort worthless.
Fortunately, his previous failures had given him a general sense of what to do. Even when faced with this difficulty, he felt no tension.
Thinking about it, that was rather remarkable. He had never been afraid of failure, not even as a child. Partly, he simply had a carefree temperament, but his family had also been extraordinarily open-minded.
Failed an exam? So what? Nobody could do well every single time. Work harder next time! Lost a competition? Perfectly normal. That’s what competitions were: sometimes you lost, sometimes you won, and either person could be the winner…
He had heard remarks like these countless times growing up. Instead of turning him into someone who gave up on everything, they had made him intensely curious and exceptionally good at facing challenges.
The Hundred-Flower Spirit-Herb Dew went in drop by drop. Ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine… It was working!
The instant the last drop entered the furnace, Xia Yunzhao changed his hand seal and swiftly sent a stream of spiritual power inside. The translucent liquid turned golden at once! As the color slowly deepened, he extended his divine sense fully, examining it closely until the gold shone at its most brilliant. “Open!”
The furnace burst open with a roar. A fresh fragrance poured out, and the liquid, gleaming like molten gold, floated into the air.
Xia Yunzhao smiled easily and caught it in a jade bowl he had prepared. “Success! High-grade!”
He turned and saw Shang Shuangze seated in meditation in the adjoining chamber.
Shang Shuangze was the one who was both gifted and hardworking. When Xia Yunzhao got tired of alchemy, he could play with Xiao Qing and take a break. Shang Shuangze, however, had not stopped cultivating for a moment since they entered the cave. A Golden Core cultivator at twenty-nine years old indeed lived up to his reputation.
With that thought, Xia Yunzhao picked up the bowl, smiled, and hurried off to see his Dao companion.
* * *
On the fourth day of the City Lord’s seclusion, the rumors that had briefly circulated through Qingxi City were already quiet. Thirty-odd cultivators responsible for spreading them had been locked in the City Lord’s residence dungeon. They had something in common: their cultivation was low, no higher than the third stage of Qi Refining. Most had been born mortals themselves and only half understood cultivation. Yet becoming cultivators had made them think themselves above everyone else, and they looked down on mortals even more than other cultivators did.
More than half of these people had been brought down by Qingxi City’s mortals.
Inspired by the teahouse proprietor, the residents had figured out where the rumors were coming from. They became vigilant immediately and began cooperating with remarkable coordination.
If they spotted someone loudly spreading rumors, for instance, they would not rush to argue. Instead, they exchanged looks, surrounded the person, and kept them talking while the others hurried to fetch members of the city guard.
That was how all thirty-odd people were caught in less than a day. Several of the arrested cultivators were baffled and kept asking Ying Yanyu how she had found them. They had heard their accomplices were being arrested, so they had deliberately gone to the refugee settlement in the north of the city to spread the rumors! It was such a remote place. How had the guards found them so quickly?
Ying Yanyu looked toward the sky. You might have lasted a little longer in the wealthy eastern district. But the north? How many people there have eaten Qingming Pavilion’s porridge, worn its padded winter coats, or taken its Lingwei Pills? You go there to slander our City Lord, and you might as well be asking for death…
After questioning the prisoners for ages, the guards learned almost nothing. It was not that the captives refused to talk. They genuinely knew nothing!
All they could establish was that a cultivator dressed in black had given them plenty of spirit pearls and told them to spread rumors in Qingxi City. Causing a bit of chaos while they were at it would be even better.
Who was the black-robed person? They did not know. What was the person’s goal? They did not know that either.
By the end, Jing Ruyun was so angry she almost laughed. “You fellow Daoists are really something. You knew nothing at all and still took money to do the job. Weren’t you mortals yourselves once? Weren’t you afraid these rumors would throw Qingxi City into chaos and get innocent mortals killed?”
The bruised and battered cultivators looked at one another. One muttered, “Haven’t cultivators always been like that?”
“Exactly. Cultivators have never cared what happens to mortals.”
“We finally became cultivators through all sorts of lucky chances. If we still have to worry about every little thing, what was the point of cultivating at all…?”
The more timid prisoners kept quiet, but their expressions showed they agreed. Back when they were mortals, they had trembled before cultivators. Now that they had cultivated themselves, if they still had to tiptoe around mortals, what had all their effort been for?
Jing Ruyun and Wei Xuening exchanged glances, both looking grim. Before coming to Qingxi City, neither would have so much as frowned upon hearing such opinions. Now they could no longer bear to hear them.
Jing Ruyun’s fists itched to give the whole lot a beating, but just then Zhuo Lingling ran inside, her face radiant. “Senior Sister! Senior Sister! The City Lord has come out of seclusion!”
Jing Ruyun froze. “So soon?”
Golden Core cultivators often secluded themselves for more than ten years. Even with a time formation, surely it ought to take at least ten days or half a month outside? Why was he already out? Had something gone wrong?
Her expression changed at the thought. “Where is he? Take me to him, quickly!”
Like a delighted little butterfly, Zhuo Lingling fluttered toward the door. “In the garden!”
It had only been three days, but she had missed the City Lord terribly. The residence had not been empty while he was away, yet it had felt too quiet, as though everyone had lost their energy.
Jing Ruyun, Wei Xuening, and the other guards followed her to the garden, where Zhong Yundu and Du Yan had already arrived.
Inside the garden pavilion sat two figures, one in blue-green and the other in white, at a stone table. Who else could they be but their City Lord and his Dao companion?
A closer look at their auras reassured Jing Ruyun. Xia Yunzhao looked much as before, but his aura was steadier and the medicinal fragrance characteristic of an alchemist had deepened noticeably. He had clearly gained a great deal. She did not dare examine Shang Shuangze too closely; she only sensed that the pressure he exerted was greater than before, while his sharp sword aura was more thoroughly hidden. He must have made considerable progress as well.
The pair were in the middle of a lively little exchange. Their City Lord held a bowl of something and was grinning rather slyly as he tried to make Senior Shang drink it. Shang Shuangze looked at him helplessly, pressing two fingers to the rim of the bowl as if to say, Not even if you feed it to me yourself.
As they approached, they heard their City Lord persisting. “Just taste it! It really isn’t bad! It’s only a tiny bit sour!”
Jing Ruyun wondered what on earth he was trying to feed him. Given Senior Shang’s feelings for the City Lord, even a bowl of poison would probably have gone down his throat by now!
Once they entered the pavilion, everything became clear. Ying Yanyu cried out, “It’s sour-rice soup! City Lord, where did you buy it? The shop in the eastern district makes the most authentic version!”
“Really?” Xia Yunzhao turned around. “So there’s an even more authentic one?”
Ying Yanyu giggled. “There sure is. The eastern district’s sour-rice soup is both stinkier and more sour. Even lots of locals can’t drink it!”
Another glance into Xia Yunzhao’s bowl revealed a thick soup with a truly dreadful appearance and a strange, unsettling smell.
It was a local specialty of Qingxi City, supposedly available for only a month or two after New Year. Legend had it that long ago, a wealthy but miserly gentleman could not bear to throw away leftover rice porridge after the festivities. The porridge turned sour, but he still could not bring himself to waste it, so he gritted his teeth and drank it. To his surprise, not only did he avoid falling ill, his digestion actually improved. Ever since then, people had deliberately prepared this fermented soup to drink.
Made by fermenting rice broth, the soup smelled both rancid and sour but tasted pleasantly sour and salty, stimulating the appetite and helping digestion. It could only be made during these cooler months. When the weather grew warmer, too many unwanted microorganisms would multiply in it, making it unsafe to drink.
Cultivators had extraordinarily sharp senses. To put it plainly, some of their noses were keener than a dog’s! The soup’s sour, rotten smell carried a tremendous distance. It resembled socks that had gone rotten after stewing in sauce, a remarkably complex and unpleasant aroma. Since the soup had appeared in the city, several people at the City Lord’s residence had become reluctant to go shopping.
Jing Ruyun, Wei Xuening, and the others came forward to salute the two men, privately shedding tears of sympathy for Senior Shang. He had only just enjoyed a sweet, intimate seclusion with his beloved, and the moment he emerged, he was being made to drink sock soup.
Xia Yunzhao waved them up and leaned back against his own personal backrest. “I hear you’ve arrested a lot of people lately. Tell me all about it.”
Jing Ruyun looked up just as Shang Shuangze shifted his posture to make Xia Yunzhao more comfortable, then lifted his hand and wiped it carefully with a silk handkerchief.
Jing Ruyun: “…”
For a moment, she was struck speechless by the sight of one hopeless romantic so willingly indulging another. Wei Xuening hurriedly took over and explained everything that had happened.
Wei Xuening was uneasy. They had learned almost nothing from interrogating Bu Zuoren last time. This time, after questioning a handful of Qi Refining cultivators, they had once again come away empty-handed. She blamed herself terribly. Qingxi City treated them very well, giving them spirit pearls and access to formations, and letting them choose pills and magical artifacts for themselves. Yet they could not even handle a small matter like this.
It was not just Wei Xuening. The other guards felt they had fallen short too.
Xia Yunzhao saw things differently. When he came into the city today, he had deliberately looked around. Even without him present, Qingxi City remained orderly and had a distinctly peaceful, thriving atmosphere. The mortals lived more securely, and even when cultivators passed through the streets, they no longer swaggered around bullying people.
Considering how few guards they had, Xia Yunzhao was already more than satisfied with their work.
Nor did he mind that they had failed to catch the mastermind. Their opponent had come prepared. It would have been strange if the guards had been able to catch them so easily.
Still, ambition was a good thing. After offering some reassurance, he told them to investigate patiently, without rushing. Then he turned to a topic that interested him more and asked Jing Ruyun, “I hear you asked Zhong Yundu to set up a Heart-Discernment Dharma Seal all the way around Qingxi City. Now that’s ambition!”
Jing Ruyun was much more composed these days, but she still blushed. “I was anxious at the time. I spoke presumptuously to Elder Zhong.”
Zhong Yundu, who had said nothing until now, glanced at Xia Yunzhao and immediately knew he was plotting something. “What? You want one too?” he snapped.
“What sort of question is that? Find me a City Lord who wouldn’t want one.” Xia Yunzhao leaned forward to pour him tea and offer water. “Really can’t be done?”
Zhong Yundu snorted. “What do you think it is, sour-rice soup? Something you can have whenever you please?” He pointed to the bowl that had gone cold on the table. “If Shang Shuangze drinks that soup, I’ll put a seal around the whole city. How about it?”
Shang Shuangze glanced at him.
Zhong Yundu grinned. “I knew you wouldn’t…”
Shang Shuangze straightened. Shang Shuangze picked up the bowl. Shang Shuangze drank every last drop in a single gulp.
Zhong Yundu: “…”
Xia Yunzhao tried to hold back his laughter, but he simply couldn’t. He collapsed against Shang Shuangze’s chest, laughing so hard he could hardly breathe, yet still managed to pull a bowl of golden medicinal liquid from his Hundred-Compartment Pouch. “Quick… ha ha ha… drink this to get the taste out of your mouth…”
Zhong Yundu: “…” Then he burst out, “Did you seriously use Nine-Turn Golden Core Liquid as a palate cleanser? You two set this up to trick me, didn’t you?”
Still furious, he pointed at Shang Shuangze. “Go on, keep spoiling him! Sooner or later he’ll climb right over your head!”
Shang Shuangze finished the Nine-Turn Golden Core Liquid from his Dao companion’s hand, leisurely wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, and replied with three words: “I like it.”
Xia Yunzhao burst into laughter again. Shang Shuangze had such an entertaining personality, so why did everyone else think he was as cold as ice? Watching him tease people was hilarious every single time!
Zhong Yundu ground his teeth in anger. One day, while Xing Wenyu and Shang Shuangze were both away, he would lure Xia Yunzhao out and give him a good beating! He would have to do it soon, though. That brat’s cultivation was improving so quickly that before long, Zhong Yundu might not even be able to beat him!
As he considered whether the plan was feasible, someone patted his shoulder. He turned to find Du Yan giving him a consoling pat.
Zhong Yundu thought Du Yan was about to offer sympathy and had just started to nod when Du Yan said, “You really did get tricked!”
Zhong Yundu: “…You get out too!”
Once the laughter had died down, Jing Ruyun earnestly asked what they should do next.
Xia Yunzhao said, “Sometimes there are things you simply can’t uncover no matter how hard you investigate. Instead, you need to work out what the other side is trying to achieve.”
Jing Ruyun frowned in thought. “Their goal…” Her eyes gradually brightened. “Do you mean the person behind this actually wants us to investigate who is responsible?”
Xia Yunzhao smiled. “At least, that’s how it looks to me. Think about it. Suppose we never found the person behind this. Suppose we didn’t even discover the rumors and simply let them spread throughout Qingxi City. What would happen?”
Everyone tilted their heads in thought. “Er… perhaps nothing much?”
Forget mere rumors. Even if they were true, what could mortals do? Few cultivators actually used mortals to cultivate, but plenty killed them casually. Several city lords were like that too. Mortals who could no longer survive under such rulers might flee the city. What else could they do?
Band together and overthrow the City Lord? In this world, that was a fantasy. Anyone powerful enough to serve as a City Lord was at least at Foundation Establishment. How many mortals would it take to kill a Foundation Establishment cultivator?
Fundamentally, then, these rumors were ineffective.
At last, Jing Ruyun understood. “I see! This person wants to tie us up and waste our attention!”
Xia Yunzhao nodded approvingly. He had confidence in Jing Ruyun’s abilities. “So I suggest paying more attention to other places within Qingxi City’s territory, especially the remote areas. Something may be about to happen there.”
Jing Ruyun nodded solemnly. “Yes, City Lord!” Then she marched off with the others, full of fighting spirit.
As the saying went, soldiers took after their commander. The people of the City Lord’s residence were beginning to resemble their City Lord more and more in how they did things.
After they left, Zhong Yundu also stood up.
Xia Yunzhao quickly asked, “Where are you going, Brother Zhong?”
Zhong Yundu snorted. “Where do you think? Off to turn the millstone like a donkey!”
His words were disgruntled, but there was no anger on his face, only a faint smile.
Xia Yunzhao really was suited to being a City Lord. Zhong Yundu suddenly found himself curious how far the brat would go. The higher one climbed on the immortal path, the harder it became. When he reached Nascent Soul, Spirit Transformation, Void Refining… would he still be so warm and full of life? Or would he become another cold, ordinary cultivator?
Behind him came the brat’s voice. “Brother Zhong! I was joking! You only need to put a Heart-Discernment Dharma Seal at the city gates. You can leave everywhere else alone!”
Zhong Yundu raised a hand in acknowledgment and strode away. Well, fine. He might as well lend the brat a hand.
* * *
With the Heart-Discernment Dharma Seal in place, the city settled down again. The person behind the scenes also stopped causing trouble.
Jing Ruyun expanded the guard force once more and, following the City Lord’s advice, began sending additional personnel to remote villages and towns across the territory.
Stories about Qingxi City’s remarkable City Lord gradually spread beyond its borders…
Xia Yunzhao, meanwhile, found that he scarcely had to do anything as City Lord.
That was the thing about work: if everything was running properly, why interfere? And so young City Lord Xia felt entirely justified in slacking off.
He pulled his Dao companion away to study the Hundred-Refinement Landscape Scroll they had recently obtained.
Once Xia Yunzhao bound the scroll to himself as its owner, an explanation of its workings appeared in his sea of consciousness. Feed a certain amount of spiritual energy into the scroll’s spindle, and the image would change. Without any spiritual energy, the painting changed by itself every three days. True to its name, the Landscape Scroll only ever displayed scenes of mountains and waters.
Sometimes Xia Yunzhao waited three days for it to change on its own; at other times, he fed it spiritual power and cycled through images. The whole business felt rather like drawing cards. It all came down to luck.
They did have quite a few things they needed. First was Earth-Core Lava Essence, the material required to upgrade the Seven-Star Ring. Rumor had it that the essence formed deep inside underground lava flows. The scroll would not show it directly, but perhaps they could find a forest that looked scorching hot, somewhere near a volcano.
Xia Yunzhao also wanted many rare spirit herbs. The Tongxin Spirit Herb Garden had plenty of plants, certainly, but the cultivation world was vast. As his study of alchemy deepened, his search for new medicinal plants would never end.
Finally, there was the Heaven-and-Earth Qi-Governing Treatise! They knew only that it was kept in the Qianyuan Sect’s Scripture Pavilion. If the scroll happened to display a mountain forest near the pavilion, he and Shang Shuangze could jump inside, steal the method, and make their escape. What a splendid idea!
Of course, it was only a daydream. The Qianyuan Sect had existed for more than ten thousand years, and who knew how many ancient monsters lived within it? Two Golden Core cultivators sneaking into the sect would be no better than a pair of beetles. Forget stealing anything; they would be lucky not to be killed on the spot.
And so, although the Hundred-Refinement Landscape Scroll cycled through dozens of scenes, Xia Yunzhao still failed to find anywhere he wanted to visit.
Eventually, he treated the scroll like a scenic documentary, snacking as he watched. “This painting really is incredible. Have you noticed? There isn’t a single living creature moving around in any of the scenes. Only plants.”
Shang Shuangze peeled a spirit fruit for him as he replied, “These probably aren’t images of places as they are now. They were likely stored inside the scroll long ago.”
Xia Yunzhao thought about it and agreed. The artifact refiner had probably painted scenery they had seen themselves and stored the pictures in the scroll. If the images showed places in real time, the thing would practically be a surveillance camera.
“That artifact refiner must have been impressive, though, to have traveled to so many places… Hm?” Xia Yunzhao stopped chewing and leaned closer. “That tree is enormous. Look…”
Before he could finish, a sudden pulling force surged from the scroll and sucked him bodily into the painting.
Xia Yunzhao did not panic. Someone caught his other wrist firmly. His body spun with the spiritual energy around him, and by the time his feet touched the ground, sure enough, he was in Shang Shuangze’s arms.
Shang Shuangze did not let go. Instead, he tightened his embrace, pushed the last piece of spirit fruit into Xia Yunzhao’s mouth, patted him comfortingly, and said, “Don’t be afraid.”
Xia Yunzhao chewed his fruit with smiling eyes. He was already a Golden Core True Lord, and yet whenever anything unexpected happened, Shang Shuangze’s first instinct was still to tell him not to be afraid.
He knew that the dangers they had faced before had frightened Shang Shuangze badly. Whenever something sudden happened now, his Dao companion became a little alarmed. So Xia Yunzhao obediently remained in his arms and simply raised his head to survey their surroundings.
What he saw made him exclaim, “Wow! This place is incredible!”
Towering ancient trees surrounded them, with vines winding around their trunks and strange flowers and plants everywhere. Xia Yunzhao was extremely knowledgeable now, yet a single glance revealed more than ten kinds of spirit herbs he had never seen!
Even the herbs he did recognize were all at least Level Three!
The air was warm and humid. Sunshine streamed through gaps in the ancient canopy, casting shafts of warm light. A brook murmured nearby, where a small deer was lowering its head to graze. A closer look revealed that it was a spirit deer!
Xia Yunzhao clicked his tongue in amazement. “Don’t tell me we’ve stumbled into another illusion! Have we arrived in the immortal realm?”