Chapter 226: Three Years After Arrival

Time flies, two or three years have passed.

Lu Changan, who has just arrived in the Jing Kingdom's cultivation world, practices quietly and peacefully in the "Qingshawan Xia Clan" of the Wufu Chamber of Commerce. Apart from his main job of refining pills, he rarely interacts with outsiders.

He stays in the Qiufeng Island Dojo all year round and rarely goes out.

Unconsciously, the cultivators of the Xia family have become accustomed to him, a middle-aged alchemist in the foundation-building period from a neighboring country.

Compared with the first one or two years, the Xia clan's high-level officials have reduced their vigilance and supervision of Lu Changan.

A few months ago, the Xia clan's high-level officials invited Lu Changan to participate in important discussions within the clan.

Lu Changan decisively refused, on the grounds that this had nothing to do with the alchemy duties of signing a spiritual contract.

Lu Changan came to Jing Kingdom to seek a stable cultivation dojo, to safely transition to the peak of the late foundation-building period, and to seek to form a pill.

Lu Changan lacks interest in the Wufu Chamber of Commerce and the internal affairs of the Xia clan.

Moreover, the invitation from the Xia clan's high-level officials is likely just a test.

"Get up!"

On this day, in the alchemy room of Qiufeng Island, Lu Changan pinched his fingers and performed the furnace opening method.

Buzz!

The double-eared copper alchemy furnace in front of him was about ten feet high, with spiritual patterns flashing and emitting a hot breath. The lid of the tripod suddenly trembled and was smoothly opened by a spiritual cloud.

Accompanied by a strong medicinal fragrance, three crystal clear and full purple pills flew out of the heat wave and fell into Lu Changan's palm.

Lu Changan examined the three pills in his hand. Two of them had four Dao patterns on the surface, representing the second-level lower-grade pill grade.

The remaining one had three and a half Dao patterns, which was an inferior pill.

Of course, inferior pills are not unusable, but the efficacy is worse, there are more impurities, and they may also contain certain pill poisons.

"Xiao Ming, you take these three Zhenxin pills to the warehouse."

Lu Changan handed the medicine bottle filled with pills to the square-faced boy with fair skin who was dressed as a medicine boy beside him.

Xia Mingcheng was one of the two medicine boys who assisted Lu Changan in alchemy.

Alchemy is not only a technical job, but also a continuous physical job.

Many high-quality pills cannot be made in three or five days.

Therefore, the medicine boy who assists in alchemy is indispensable for every full-time alchemist.

Only in this way can the alchemist have time to practice and will not be significantly delayed.

When Lu Changan refines some pills that are not too difficult or valuable, he will hand over the stable steps in the middle and those boring times to the medicine boy.

In this way, he can save energy and the medicine boy can also get guidance and training.

"Yes, Master Wu."

The medicine boy Xia Mingcheng took the pill and retreated respectfully.

Although Xia Mingcheng is a medicine boy in name, he is actually a first-level middle-grade alchemist, and can be regarded as half a disciple of Lu Changan.

In terms of alchemy talent, Xia Mingcheng also surpasses Lu Changan.

"In the past two or three years, the accumulated alchemy opportunities and experience have surpassed the past twenty years of closed-door research."

Lu Changan's alchemy skills at this time have improved a lot compared to before he came to Jing State.

Many years ago, he became a second-level alchemist.

Due to his limited talent, he had fewer opportunities to practice than a full-time alchemist, and his alchemy skills were almost stagnant for many years.

After arriving at the Xia family, Lu Changan had too many opportunities to practice, and the materials were all provided by the Xia family or the Wufu Chamber of Commerce.

The types of elixirs he refined were also more than before.

In this environment, Lu Changan's alchemy skills finally improved.

It is still difficult to be promoted to the second-level middle-grade, but at least he can feel the improvement of his skills.

Lu Changan mainly helps the Xia clan to make elixirs, and secondly, some alchemy tasks for the Wufu Chamber of Commerce.

In name, Lu Changan is a member of the Wufu Chamber of Commerce, and the spiritual contract he signed is also the same.

In essence, he is an external cultivator of the Xia clan.

After all, the dojo, spiritual rice and alchemy fees required for Lu Changan's practice were all provided by the Xia clan.

Moreover, three years ago on the spirit ship of the Jiuchen Chamber of Commerce, the Xia clan signed a spiritual contract with Lu Changan and paid a sum of spiritual stones to the Jiuchen Chamber of Commerce.

Including the purchase of the second-level spiritual contract, it is also an expense.

"However, the alchemy materials provided by the Xia Clan and the Wufu Chamber of Commerce are mostly ordinary and not very precious."

For example, Lu Changan has never refined foundation-building pills and second-level breakthrough pills.

Without the corresponding practice opportunities, Lu Changan's success rate and quality in refining such pills are difficult to guarantee.

The Wufu Chamber of Commerce has a higher-level second-level top-grade alchemist, who is mainly responsible for refining important pills due to old age and lack of energy.

Ordinary second-level pills are handed over to Lu Changan or other family alchemists.

...

Lu Changan walked out of the alchemy room and stepped into the quiet garden courtyard.

"Master Wu, this is the information that the young master has recently collected from the Chamber of Commerce."

A soft girl's voice came.

Xia Wenyue, who was wearing a plain skirt, had just flown back to Qiufeng Island. She bowed and handed a jade tube to Lu Changan.

When he settled in Qiufeng Island, Lu Changan only asked for two medicine boys.

Xia Wenyue was another medicine boy.

She also served as a maid, taking care of the mundane affairs on the island, including receiving people.

She was sickly since childhood and had rich knowledge of pharmacology. She followed the path of a pharmacist, similar to Ye Fei of Wu Qishan.

The path of a pharmacist focuses on pharmacology, including medical skills and poisons, but basic alchemy skills are also indispensable, but not as specialized as an alchemist.

"Well, you go down and rest first."

Lu Changan took the jade tube and glanced at the pale, panting Xia girl.

She seemed exhausted just by flying a distance within the clan.

Two or three years after Lu Changan settled in Qiufeng Island, Xia Wenyue has always had a sickly and pale face, with light smoke hanging between her brows, giving people a sense of melancholy.

Even though she is physically weak, Xia Wenyue's appearance and temperament are unparalleled in the Xia family.

In order to stay on Qiufeng Island, Xia Wenyue was willing to be a maid.

In addition to assisting in alchemy, he also has to take care of many things on the island, including serving tea and water, doing odd jobs and running errands.

However, this woman is physically weak and has weak magic power, so she can't bear it.

One time, Xia Wenyue fainted while working on the island.

Lu Changan saw this woman's true nature, hard work and non-deviant temperament, so he had a good impression of her.

During a chat in a good mood, Lu Changan kindly mentioned:

"Xiaoyue, you are cold and weak, and you seem to have some root cause of the disease. Wu has some experience in medicine, so I can help you take a look."

Lu Changan's suggestion was not only partly out of good intentions, but also out of curiosity.

After searching with his spiritual consciousness, he could not find the root cause of Xia Wenyue's illness.

He couldn't help but wonder if this woman had a special physique.

That requires mana contact and an in-depth examination into the body.

Unexpectedly, Lu Changan's kindness was rejected by the girl.

"Thank you Master Wu for your kindness. The little girl's illness was brought from her mother's womb. My mother had a third-level pharmacist see her before she died, but she couldn't get a cure. She could only use medicine to stabilize the cold air and barely maintain her practice."

"Over the years, Wenyue has been content with this and has no more extravagant expectations."

At that time, Xia Wenyue glanced at the middle-aged man with a round face, a yellow beard and a slightly oily face, and politely declined the offer.

Lu Changan would naturally not be hot-faced and cold-hearted.

Even though I was a little curious and felt a little strange, I never mentioned this topic again.

He estimated that if it were Lu Changan's original appearance, the result might be different.

Lu Changan disguises himself as a Baihuan mask and inherits the appearance and temperament of others. His image is not ugly or vulgar, but has a bit of the greasiness of a middle-aged man.

…

"In the Liang Kingdom's Immortal Cultivation World, a quarter of the Spiritual Vein Dojos were captured by the Jinyang Sect's camp? Now, more Liang Kingdom monks have fled to the neutral Jing Kingdom..."

Back in the room, Lu Changan checked the intelligence information in the jade tube.

In the two or three years since he settled on Qiufeng Island, although he didn't go out much, he still paid attention to the Liang Kingdom's cultivation war.

The Jingguo Commercial Alliance has a wide range of information channels. The monks from the Wufu Chamber of Commerce go to Liangguo once or twice a year.

Lu Changan asked Xia Mingqu, the young master of the Xia clan, to bring him war information about the immortal world of Liang Kingdom.

At the same time, he wanted to know if the news about the ancient ruins had been leaked.

Lu Changan couldn't ask directly, so he made an excuse, saying he was concerned about the situation around Huanglong Fairy City, and asked Wufu Chamber of Commerce to help pay attention to it.

"There is still no news about the ancient ruins. We can be sure that at least the news about the ruins has not been leaked on a large scale."

"Shi Xianzi has become a third-level formation master for several years, and she is still safe and sound. Before she left the ruins, she should have dealt with the beginning and the end, and did not expose the core secret..."

Lu Changan came to a basic conclusion.

The mysterious gourd and vine on his body involves major opportunities above the Nascent Soul level.

If such core secrets are really leaked, Shi Xianzi's identity as a third-level formation mage will not be preserved.

If it were an ordinary cave, it would be a ruin.

Master Shixianzi was promoted to the fake elixir and became a third-level formation master. His status was comparable to that of the real elixir and he could completely cover it.

Nowadays, Master Shixianzi is considered the number one figure in the world of immortality cultivation in Liang Kingdom.

A year ago, in the information brought back by the Wufu Chamber of Commerce, there was a brief mention of this newly promoted third-level formation master around Huanglong Immortal City.

It is worth mentioning that.

Wufu Chamber of Commerce has some business dealings with the Zhou family of Liang Kingdom.

Some of the information was provided by monks from the Beast Control Zhou family.

"There has been no news of a reward for the 'Turtle Talisman Master' from the Jinyang Sect in the Feng Kingdom. Could it be that Mu Jiuan and his group concealed the matter back then and did not lead to the Jinyang Sect's investigation? "

Lu Changan also paid attention to another hidden danger.

He could only be sure that a small turtle talisman master had not entered the sight of the Jinyang Sect's senior officials.

If you are an important bounty figure, you will be offered a cross-border bounty by Nascent Soul-level sects.

"At present, it seems that these two hidden dangers are not a big problem."

Lu Changan thought:

"In the future, if one of me or the Earth Rock Rat succeeds in forming the elixir, there will be nothing to worry about. We don't even have to hide our identity, and we can practice normally in the Jing Kingdom as Lu Changan."

After reading the information, Lu Changan became more and more stable.

In the three reports provided by the Wufu Chamber of Commerce, the "Turtle Talisman Master" was never mentioned.

The name of Wugui Talisman Master is only slightly famous in the Immortal Cultivation Circle of Liang Kingdom. Once he crosses the Immortal Cultivation Kingdom, basically no one knows this person.

Unless it is a figure like Zhenren Huang Long, who has a certain degree of "legend", he will be known to some monks even in neighboring countries.

Or a third-level formation mage like Shi Xianzi will be paid attention to by the intelligence of Fengguo’s senior officials and Jingguo’s business alliance.

Lu Changan guessed that the monks of the Xia family must have checked the identity of "Wu Fan" in the past two years.

The results of the investigation may lead to suspicion that Lu Changan used a pseudonym.

But it doesn't matter anymore.

As long as Lu Changan has no bad intentions towards the Xia clan and just makes elixirs honestly. How much trouble can a person sneak into and take refuge in the middle stage of foundation building create?

In the short term, Lu Changan is not worried about his true identity being exposed.

First, in cross-border investigations, the influence of the Wufu Chamber of Commerce is very limited.

There were not a few monks who fled to Jing Kingdom. In the chaotic background of war, it is not normal for a foundation-building period to disappear.

Secondly, no one outside the world knew that Lu Changan had the qualifications of a second-level alchemist.

Even if someone is interested in thinking of the Turtle Talisman Master, Lu Changan can be ruled out as a second-level alchemist and mid-stage Foundation Establishment master.

Normally, it would be difficult to hide one's cultivation from the Xia clan's fake elixir ancestors during the foundation building stage.

…

The night is very dark.

Lu Changan dismissed Xia Wenyue and went to the basement under the Qiufeng Island mansion alone.

On Qiufeng Island, two drug boys live in a house built on the outskirts.

Lu Changan's mansion and the deep pool behind it are within the coverage of the quasi-third-level formation.

Underneath the basement, there is a secret tunnel that is connected to the deep pool behind the mansion.

This tunnel was secretly dug by the rock rats in the first few months after arriving on Qiufeng Island.

The Black Water Turtle usually lives in the deep pool at the other end of the tunnel. It comes out to bubble when no one is around, and dives underneath when monks come over.

Due to the cover-up of the light and dark formations, the secret tunnel and the Xuan Water Turtle have not been discovered by the Xia Clan monks so far.

Moreover, Lu Changan asked it to disguise itself as an ordinary spirit turtle.

Zhizhi!

A rat demon with yellow hair opened the secret door of the tunnel and led Lu Changan from the front.

The spotted yellow rat demon, judging from its physical appearance, is a common species called "yellow rock rat" and is a close relative of the earth rock rat.

This is the result of the Earth Rock Rat practicing the art of shape-changing.

Due to their similar bloodline, it is not easy for even a beast master to see through.

On weekdays, as a Huangyan rat with a mid-second-level cultivation level, it stays in the mansion on Qiufeng Island, responsible for working and guarding.

With the formation covering it, as long as the Earth Rock Rat doesn't go out and bump into "Xia Hongyu", the leader of the Xia clan, there will be no problem.

After a while.

Following the tunnel, Lu Changan came to the deep pool at the other end.

In the deep pool, there is a stone house covered by a formation and isolated from the water flow.

Wow!

The black water turtle carried Lu Changan and the rat demon, blocked the water flow, and entered the hidden stone house at the bottom of the pool.

Inside the stone house, there is moderately dry and wet soil under your feet.

A huge porcelain jar stood on the surface of the soil.

The porcelain jar is filled with soil of five colors, and a withered gourd vine is planted there.

It was the Xuanmu Gourd Vine that Lu Changan brought out from ancient ruins.

A hole was opened at the bottom of the porcelain tank; the five elements soil at the bottom of the tank was in contact with the soil at the bottom of the lake, connected to the "earth energy", and was no longer a rootless tree.

Although it is not really taking root, it has a similar effect.

Lu Changan naturally had some considerations when he placed the Xuanmu Gourd Vine here to grow.

First, this deep pool is connected to the earth's veins, with active spiritual energy and strong earth energy.

Secondly, by taking advantage of the natural geography of the deep pool, combined with the dark formation of the quasi-third-order formation, and the isolation material made of the shadow stone, the concealment is good.

Third, the black water turtle lives in a deep pool and can be taken care of all year round.

When Lu Changan was busy, Xuan Shui Turtle used the cloud and rain technique to help water the Xuanmu Gourd and maintain its vitality.

The Black Water Turtle is more than happy to do this job.

"Putting the Xuanmu Gourd Vine here to grow will make it more hidden and harder to find than if I took it out with me."

Based on his previous life experience, Lu Changan had repeatedly considered Xuanmu Gourd Vine and even made some calculations.

As a result, he came to a conclusion.

Xuanmu Gourd Vine has the ability to shield heavenly secrets and make calculations.

Of course, Lu Changan was not proficient in calculations in his previous life, and he only had a superficial understanding of it. The calculations initiated with late-stage foundation building cultivation were very useless.

Lu Changan approached the withered gourd vine, observed it for a moment, and couldn't help but shake his head.

After the gourd vine connected with the earth's energy at the bottom of the pool, there was no obvious sign of growth.

Ever since the Xuanmu Gourd Vine was taken out of the ruins, all Lu Changan could do was to keep it alive.

If you spend your longevity and use the Evergreen Secret Technique, you can feel the vitality of Xuanmu Gourd Vine increase slightly.

Perhaps, if you invest a lot of longevity, it is possible to reverse growth.

However, how could Lu Changan be willing to use a large amount of longevity to gamble on an unknown outcome?

Even if you have to give it a little try, you have to at least be promoted to the true elixir and your lifespan will be greatly increased.

…

"Let's go."

Lu Changan waved his hand and put the large porcelain jar filled with gourd vines and five elements soil into a storage bag, temporarily cutting off the connection with the earth's energy.

Next, he was going to go out to plan a pill formation for the Earth Rock Rat.

Although the Xuanmu Gourd Vine is placed here for concealment, subjectively it feels more secure to carry it with you.

As long as it is nourished by the five elements of soil and the power of evergreen, the gourd vine can be kept from dying.

"It took three years to gain Xia's initial trust. It's not appropriate to delay it any longer..."

Lu Changan patted the rock rat on the head.

Afterwards, he returned to the ground of Qiufeng Island Mansion through the secret tunnel.

The next morning.

Lu Changan took the initiative to visit Xia Mingqu, the young master of the Xia clan, and told him his purpose.