Chapter 21, Alchemy and Artifacts

Translator: Raznick

 

Mu Xuanfeng, though polite, was asking Zhou Chun to leave the Mu Clan.

 

But Zhou Chun was no fool; he understood the implications of this “request” and dared not oppose her kind intentions.

 

Upon his return to the Mu Clan, he hadn’t even had time to settle in or say hello to Mu Ziying, Mu Yunshan, and other relatively amicable cultivators from the Mu Clan—let alone make a proper introduction. Before he could react, Mu Xuanfeng personally escorted him to Nine Peaks.

 

After arriving at the Nine Peaks, Zhou Chun, a cultivator from the Zhou Clan, ended up being left waiting outside the Central Palace.

 

And after waiting for nearly half an hour, he saw Zhou Daoyi, the Clan Leader, smiling as he escorted Mu Xuanfeng out of the hall and all the way to the base’s perimeter before returning.

 

After returning to Central Palace, Zhou Daoyi summoned Zhou Chun—who had been waiting—and spoke of his plans.

 

“Regarding the affairs within the Mu Clan, Mu Xuanfeng has informed us of what transpired. Zheng Chun, you indeed endured much this time. The entire clan will remember your efforts; they will not be forgotten

 

“Take my token to Medicine Peak and find High Elder. Retrieve one vial of Spring Sun Pills and three vials of Beast Spirit Pills; this serves as your clan’s reward for this mission.

 

“Next, you will stay within the clan and work hard on your training. If there are any other tasks in the future, I will call you again.”

 

This arrangement did not catch Zhou Chun off guard; it was a fairly normal arrangement.

 

And the rewards given to him were also very good, all things he needed.

 

At that moment, he bowed hurriedly and thanked him, saying, “Thank you, Clan Leader, for your generous gift.”

 

Then he left Pagoda Peak with the token given to him by Zhou Daoyi.

 

After that, Zhou Chun wasn’t in a hurry to head to Medicine Peak, where the High Elder was staying, to pick up the pills. Instead, he returned to his residence on Ganoderma Peak.

 

More than a year had passed since Zhou Chun’s last visit, and his quarters were cluttered with dead leaves and broken branches. Dust had settled thickly on the furniture.

 

Upon seeing the room now clean and bright, Zhou Chun nodded in satisfaction. He carefully secured the windows and doors again, then began sorting through his haul.

 

He opened the storage bag that Mu Xuanfeng had given him and emptied everything.

 

To Zhou Chun’s surprise, the inside had quite a lot of items—more than he had anticipated.

 

Besides the artifacts he was interested in, there were also talismans, scrolls and books, spiritual coins, clothing, and various other items that cultivators usually carried with them.

 

“This showed that Mu Xuanfeng hadn’t even touched a thing inside the storage bag.

 

“Indeed, as the head of the Mu Clan, these things are no more than a mere trifle to him. Why be so petty and stingy? It’s just ridiculous.”

 

After thinking it through, Zhou Chun couldn’t help but chuckle, realizing he’d been too suspicious.

 

He immediately shook his head and began counting the pile of items on the ground.

 

Besides the artifacts, there were seven talismans lying on the ground. Five of them were inferior first-grade talisman, and two were average first-grade talisman.

 

In addition to the scrolls, one was a cultivation manual and personal journal. The others detailed knowledge of spirit herbs and demon beasts.

 

“And there are fifty-seven spirit coins as well.”

 

As for the artifacts, there were four in total: the bamboo leaf flying item Zhou Chun had seen before, a jet-black iron shield, a gleaming silver dagger, and a black longsword.

 

Among these four artifacts, the bamboo leaf fliying item  was equivalent to a average first-grade artifact. The iron shield and short sword items are both average first-grade artifacts as well. However, the black longsword was merely a first-grade low magical item.

 

After examining the items, Zhou Chun immediately proceeded to bind three artifacts.

 

For cultivators wishing to control their artifacts at will, they had to first imprint their divine sence onto the items and refine them with their spiritual power.

 

The three artifacts in Zhou Chun’s possession had their Divine Sense imprints erased, likely by Clan Leader Mu Xuanfeng. This spared him a great deal of trouble.

 

Otherwise, with his cultivation at Seventh Layer of Qi Refining, it would take at least several days of focused effort to obliterate the Divine Sense imprint left by that middle-aged man in yellow.

 

At this point, all he needed was to use the techniques of refining items within them, imprinting his own Divine Sense and infusing his spiritual power to cleanse the lingering aura left by the previous owner.

 

In this manner, after just two days, Zhou Chun successfully completed the refining process of three artifacts.

 

The effectiveness of the newly acquired artifacts was particularly satisfying to Zhou Chun.

 

That silver short sword was exceptionally sharp; when wielded, it could unleash a sharp, gleaming blade of energy to strike enemies. It was not easily countered by artifacts of comparable grade.

 

The black iron shield possessed intricate properties, enabling it to orbit around its owner after refinement, flying and protecting them as they move. Though it couldn’t fully cover the body, its defensive capabilities far surpassed those of an average first-grade artifact, such as the Metal Shield.

 

The key point was that artifacts could be used indefinitely provided they remain undamaged. On the other hand, mystical arts and talismans all have a time limit.

 

As for flying artifacts, Zhou Chun hesitated to fly too high due to how eye-catching they were. Instead, he chose an open space outside the courtyard and practiced flying in circles a few times, finding it incredibly enjoyable.

 

The effectiveness of this item to him was actually more significant than that for any Qi Refining Stage cultivator.

 

Because other cultivators did not risk depleting their spiritual power by flying to travel outside.

 

While he could casually meditate in the wilds to restore his spiritual power without worrying about its depletion.

 

Certainly, using such a contraption to fly and travel did make one stand out. Before Zhou Chun had even reacted, he realized that his current cultivation likely wasn’t enough to instill fear in those bandit cultivators.

 

So, his thoughts on how to use it were similar to those of the yellow-robed middle-aged man—only employing it during emergencies.

 

After binding and testing the newly acquired artifacts, Zhou Chun suddenly remembered an unfinished task. He quickly attended to it.

 

He carried a stone jar filled with purified Spiritual Water into the courtyard and fed half of it to the Rock Turtle dozing by the gate.

 

It was rather amusing to consider, Rock Turtle rarely drank, relying solely on eating tree bark and leaves for hydration.

 

But the Spiritual Water was an exception. Zhou Chun couldn’t detect any flavor when he drank it, but somehow, it seemed to discern tastes that he himself couldn’t perceive. Essentially, it welcomed everyone without discrimination.

 

Zhou Chun was equally delighted to see it unfold.

 

While senior cultivators’ comparative research suggested that demon beasts were influenced by Savage Qi to a lesser extent than cultivators, they weren’t immune.

 

If no cultivator feed them alchemical items, those demon beasts raised in areas without Savage Qi grew much faster than those in the wild, their temperaments were far milder, and even more intelligent.

 

In such cases, beast tamers who had spirit pets would usually try to prevent their pets from absorbing the natural Qi in the wilds to avoid them picking up Savage Qi.

 

However, demon beasts differed from cultivators in terms of control over their abilities. Even low-grade demon beasts, despite having received orders from their masters, would passively absorb the Nature Qi to replenish their spiritual power once they expend it through the use of magic or art. This was an instinctual, deeply rooted in their bloodline, one they struggled to control even if they wanted to.

 

Zhou Chun’s Rock Turtle had previously fought in the wild and naturally absorbed the Qi tainted with Savage Qi from those battles.

 

Even though the amount of Savage Qi was relatively small, he still didn’t want his companion, Rock Turtle, to be affected by it. So he gave it the Spiritual Water to remove the Savage Qi from its body.

 

Once Zhou Chun ensured that Rock Turtle’s Savage Qi was completely purified, he patted the beast’s head, which conveyed his own happy and satisfied emotions. He then left the courtyard.

 

It was time for Zhou Chun to head to Medicine Peak and claim the reward offered by Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi for his achievements.

 

Medicine Peak was located four miles south of Pagoda Peak, a mountain peak rich in spiritual aura, second only to Pagoda Peak.

 

Compared to the other peaks of Nine Peaks, Medicine Peak’s soil was more suitable for cultivating various herbs. After the Zhou Clan took over Nine Peaks, they designated this peak as their clan’s future herb garden and stationed High Elder Zhou Mingshan there to oversee it.

 

As the High Elder of the Zhou Clan, Zhou Mingshan was a highly respected figure, surpassed only by Grand Elder Zhou Mingde in terms of rank and cultivation.

 

Furthermore, he was the best at alchemy in Zhou Clan, and most of the pills consumed by both cultivators and spirit pets from Zhou Clan were crafted by him.

 

Thus, unless it was an unusually significant event, the Zhou Clan rarely saw this elder depart Baiyao Peak.

 

Alas, as Zhou Chun knew, this elder of their clan had little time left. His lifespan was almost at its end, and it was very likely that he would pass away before long—within the next decade.

 

Zhou Chun arrived at Medicine Peak and informed them of his purpose. A disciple training in alchemy received him and relayed the message to High Elder Zhou Mingshan.

 

While waiting outside, he also instinctively surveyed the peak.

 

When they first began clearing the medicinal fields, Zhou Chun had also worked here, helping preparing the soil.

 

Two years had passed, and the fields of herbs that had been cultivated were now planted with herb seeds. In many of these plots, fresh green shoots could already be seen emerging from the soil, and some of the faster-growing varieties had reached over a foot in height.

 

At first glance, Zhou Chun easily identified ginseng, Solomon’s seals, fallopia, and hoelen—common herbs in the area.

 

These herbs appeared no different from those sold in regular pharmacies, but in reality, they were superior spiritual plants cultivated and selected by cultivators. They were nurtured from premium century-old strains.

 

After growing in the medicine fields for about two to three decades, they could be used as medicinal herbs. By the time they reached a century old, they became extremely valuable centennial herbs.

 

For any cultivating sect with a long-standing heritage, the medicine garden was one of their most prized and essential treasures.

 

When the Three Absolute Sect evacuated Feng Kingdom back then, the millennium-old spirit medicine garden was prioritized for relocation.

 

But Zhou Chun now gazed upon the tender shoots in every medicinal garden on Medicine Peak, realizing that the rare precious spirit herbs from the Three Absolute Sect had likely been relocated—only to be divided among the other three powerful factions led by cultivators at the Golden Core Stage.

 

From this perspective, although the Zhou Clan claimed to be a thousand-year-old cultivation clan, in reality, they were no different from a newly established clan when it came to spiritual resources and ore veins—aside from their inherited beast-taming techniques and some cultivation records. Everything had to start from scratch again.