Chapter 128: Chapter 127 Pill Furnace (Seeking Subscription)_1
"Where is the Island Master?"
Fang Xi sheathed the Green Barley Sword, but then suddenly asked a question.
Given his relationship with Ruan Xingling, she would have personally attended the celebratory banquet for such an occasion, rather than sending a young disciple in her stead.
"My master is entertaining an important guest and instructed me to inform you. She will arrive shortly..."
Ruan Dan bowed slightly, expressing Ruan Xingling’s apologies on her behalf.
"I see..."
Fang Xi appeared completely unperturbed, smiling, "Since the Young Island Master is here, you must drink a few more cups..."
"Alright..."
Ruan Dan, watching the serene and unattached Fang Xi, couldn’t help but feel regret.
She had offended many in her rash youth and had paid a bitter price for it. Now, when trying to make amends, she wondered if it was too late?
The twenty-year-old Peach Blossom Brew was fragrant and mellow, leaving a lasting aftertaste that could easily cause intoxication.
Especially Wei Yixi, this young girl, who without realizing it turned rosy with drink, laying her head on the table and mumbling incessantly.
Ruan Dan also had a few cups and her face was flushed like the glow of dawn, her gaze wandering.
"Ha-ha, today everyone should enjoy themselves..."
Fang Xi too had several drinks, feeling a youthful exuberance: "Wait while I go and invite the Island Master to join us..."
With that, he directly boarded the Black Feather Boat and flew toward Mirror Moon Lake.
The gale-force winds whistled by, yet his eyes remained clear, showing not a hint of drunkenness.
He was truly interested in Ruan Xingling’s important guest.
Inside the villa.
"Mr. Fang..."
Two cultivators saw Fang Xi and quickly approached to greet him.
"Where is the Island Master? Today is a significant celebration for me, and I’ve come specially to invite the Island Master for a cup of Water Wine."
Fang Xi said with a smile.
Not daring to neglect the second most powerful person on the island, one cultivator answered directly, "The Island Master is entertaining a guest in the Drunken Warm Pavilion, Mr. Fang might want to wait."
"Hmm, then I’ll just wait at the nearby Listen Rain Pavilion."
Fang Xi, nonchalant, asked for someone to accompany him, and he went to the Listen Rain Pavilion.
He was very familiar with the layout here; Listen Rain Pavilion was adjacent to the ’Drunken Warm Pavilion,’ a mere few tens of meters away!
And after breaking through to Great Perfection, his Divine Consciousness could reach up to ten Zhang, that is, approximately thirty-three meters!
Once he arrived at the Listen Rain Pavilion, Fang Xi tasted the Spiritual Tea while discreetly extending his Divine Consciousness.
Worried about possible prohibitions inside the Drunken Warm Pavilion such as ’Protection Talisman,’ Fang Xi didn’t dare to let his Divine Consciousness spread indiscriminately within it.
But just being in the exterior, he still heard some muffled conversations.
"...Ancestor of Zhong Family..."
"The downfall of the Thirty Six Islands is not far off..."
"Yu Lingzi is dead... Sir needs to think carefully..."
...
After a period equivalent to burning an incense stick, a middle-aged cultivator flew out of the Drunken Warm Pavilion.
With temples graying but a face that stirred a familiar sensation in Fang Xi,
"It’s that guest receptionist from Dragon Gate Attic years ago—Zhong Wangu!"
"Could it really be an emissary from the Zhong Family, trying to woo Peach Blossom Island?"
"If what he said is true, has the Qi Refining cultivator from Ling Kong Market - Yu Lingzi, died?"
"The Thirty Six Island Alliance has been eagerly trying to overpower the Zhong Family, yet suffered a blow right at the outset!"
...
After Zhong Wangu left with a sullen face, Ruan Xingling arrived at Listen Rain Pavilion.
"Island Master, I have three jars of twenty-year-old brew ready. How about a drink?"
Fang Xi extended the invitation cheerfully.
"Perfect!"
Ruan Xingling beckoned lightly, and she was surrounded by petals. Their Escape Lights merged, and they soared into the sky together.
The wind rushed against them as Ruan Xingling looked at Fang Xi with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, "Does Sir Fang wish to ask something?"
"Since the Island Master has reforged the Green Barley Sword, I’ve understood the Island Master’s intentions, but..."
Fang Xi’s face showed hesitation: "All I wish for in this life is to forge swords into ploughshares; I’d rather not fight and kill anymore..."
"Unfortunately in the Cultivation World, if you do not kill, others will want to kill you. The Top Three Families are coveting fiercely, seeking to fully integrate the Alliance into a Sect, even to monopolize the Thousand Island Lake..."
Ruan Xingling spoke with resentment: "For that, they do not hesitate to ally with outsiders and to sabotage my Foundation Establishment..."
’This time, could it be that we’ll heart-to-heart?’
Fang Xi tentatively asked, "Does the Island Master prefer the Zhong Family?"
"The Zhong Family, they’re wolves too!"
Ruan Xingling shook her head further, "Don’t you know, the Silver Armored Demon seven years ago was surely supported by the Zhong Family! How could I ever side with them..."
Fang Xi fell silent.
He had just witnessed Zhong Wangu acting as an envoy!
And even disclosed crucial information, from which it seemed the Zhong Family should be holding the upper hand.
In such a circumstance, Ruan Xingling seemed disinclined to ally with them.
Could it be... that there was a third power intervening in Thousand Island Lake?
That wouldn’t be impossible!
’Just don’t know... which power it is? And how did Ruan Xingling come to make contact and trust them?’
Fang Xi suppressed his curiosity.
In truth, he didn’t care who ruled Thousand Island Lake, as long as they didn’t disturb his tree planting, all was negotiable.
Presently, he joined Ruan Xingling at Jadeite Cliff, imbibing the fine liquor together, the host and guest thoroughly enjoyed themselves...
...
Night fell.
Everyone from Jadeite Cliff dispersed, leaving only Fang Xi sitting quietly under the peach tree.
The large Qing fish in the pond shrank to the bottom, not daring to even show its head.
Even though it had achieved the body of a Fish King and had become a cunning creature, it was still filled with a profound fear of its master, who never showed his emotions.
"The death of Yu Lingzi, even if the Top Three Families want to hide it, cannot be concealed forever..."
"The Thirty Six Island Alliance initiating a conflict this time was unwise!"
"The Zhong Family has made their capabilities clear, it’s uncertain how this will end... but what can be foreseen is that the Foundation Establishment cultivators will definitely make a move."
"Then, the intensity of war will be on a completely different level!"
Although Fang Xi has achieved Great Perfection in both Qi Refining and Body Refining, priding himself on having few rivals at the Qi Refining Stage,
Even standing under the Monster Tree, he could be considered invincible among Qi Refiners, and even dares to battle with those at Foundation Establishment... but that’s all it would be, just one battle...
He has always advocated for overwhelming opponents through his own level, rather than being suppressed by others!
Even with the strength of Foundation Establishment, one must be extremely cautious when fighting against cultivators of the same stage, let alone the fact that he himself is not at Foundation Establishment!
It would be foolish to engage with such formidable enemies for the sake of someone like Ruan Xingling.
’If I truly encounter a formidable enemy and a Foundation Establishment cultivator makes a move against Peach Blossom Island, I should flee, even if it means abandoning the Monster Tree!’
’After all, I still have over a hundred years of life left. I can go to Great Liang to find another Monster Tree and get some seeds to plant elsewhere!’
’Using Qi Refining to face Foundation Establishment may be heroic, but it’s not my style!’
’To aim for a long life, one must be cautious and prudent!’
Life is the only thing one has; once it’s gone, everything is truly lost.
Beyond that, there is nothing that cannot be abandoned!
Fang Xi has always been unwavering in his inner convictions.
’However, I can still try to strengthen myself as much as possible!’
Thinking of the Monster Tree, he looked at his own fist.
Fang Xi could now feel the terrifying blood energy hidden beneath his muscular body.
This was the benefit of nearly thirty years of planting trees and daily augmentation of his blood energy!
It was already comparable to consuming one or even several second-tier blood-enhancing treasure pills!
’Soon... no, I can set aside the daily longevity cultivation and the cultivation of the Wood body. I will focus on amplifying my blood energy to sprint towards the realm of ’True Gang refining’.’
This martial arts realm, legendary in Great Liang, was comparable to the fourth level of cultivation arts like the ’Ten Thousand Beast Body’ of the Immortal Path, equivalent to a body cultivator at the initial stage of Foundation Establishment!
Even though he might be somewhat inferior to Foundation Establishment cultivators in terms of methods, he would at least have some self-protective power.
With that thought, Fang Xi went to the underground cavern and saw the Monster Tree growing downwards, now over six zhang in length, and couldn’t help but take a deep breath, "Jia Yi!"
The puppet wearing a vine mask immediately emerged from the darkness and came before Fang Xi.
"Go to the vicinity of Mirror Moon Lake, watch every move Ruan Xingling makes, and report to me immediately if she leaves the villa!"
Fang Xi ordered, and Jia Yi immediately set off towards Mirror Moon Lake.
After a short while.
By the lakeside, in the peach forest.
Jia Yi arrived at the edge of an ordinary peach tree, extending a palm with countless tendrils emerging from the center and merging with the tree.
In the next moment, his entire body eerily merged into the tree trunk, his face concealed inside a tree hollow, his lifeless eyes staring in the direction of the villa.
This was one of Fang Xi’s minor discoveries, this type of wooden puppet had a strange Wood Escape magic spell that allowed it to merge with trees and have an almost undetectable presence.
It was perfect for use as a scout!
This action by Fang Xi was not out of suspicion towards Ruan Xingling, but rather out of curiosity about that third-party force.
After all, anyone daring to interfere with Thousand Island Lake must at least be a Foundation Establishment power!
If he unwittingly invited a wolf into his home, he wanted to be prepared for it!
...
One year later.
Inside the pill chamber.
Fang Xi flipped through a pill book while starting to concoct pills.
What he was now refining was a recently acquired pill recipe from an exchange meeting—the Qi Restoring Pill!
This pill was quite interesting, with lower, middle, and upper grades.
The lower-grade Qi Restoring Pill could only restore about sixty to seventy percent of a Qi Refining cultivator’s magic power in a short amount of time.
Whereas an upper-grade, first-tier Qi Restoring Pill could restore about forty to fifty percent of the magic power for a cultivator at Qi Refining Great Perfection within a short time!
’Beyond the upper-grade of the first tier, whether it’s pill recipes or medicinal ingredients, it becomes quite inconvenient to collect...’
As Fang Xi released his Divine Consciousness, he could feel the changes in the medicinal properties of the semi-transparent pill liquid in the pill furnace as if with ease.
In the next moment, he lightly tapped the pill furnace, projecting a series of magic spells.
Humming sounds filled the room!
The pill furnace opened wide, and a fragrance filled the air.
Globs of pill liquid solidified and flew out, with many impurities actively peeling off and reentering the furnace.
Five pearl-like flawless pills appeared in Fang Xi’s hand, all upper-grade Qi Restoring Pills!
"Let’s do it again!"
After storing the pills properly, Fang Xi continued to project the pill collecting magic spells towards the pill furnace.
Soon, the fragrance enveloped the area.
One by one, slightly smaller pills emerged and landed on a jade plate—eight middle-grade Qi Restoring Pills!
At this point, the flames at the bottom of the pill furnace were still not extinguished!
When Fang Xi used the pill-collecting magic spell for the third time, sixteen lower-grade Qi Restoring Pills flew out!
"The impurities of upper-grade spiritual pills might serve as the main ingredients for middle-grade pills... My ’Triple Wave’ pill-collecting technique can reuse the remnants of upper-grade pills to refine again. In this way, the material utilization rate of a batch of pills approaches ninety percent..."
Fang Xi looked at the Purple Copper Pill Furnace with a hint of regret, "If only this pill furnace were of better quality, I could have gotten a few more middle or lower-grade pills..."