Ch 12 - Progress

On the top of a small peak, opposing giant sword like formations that rose thousands of metres into the sky.

"This is the Xinniang Sword Sect, a tier 1 sect of ancient heritage. Are you sure that the rat from the inheritance is here?", a somewhat perplexed voice came out of a robed man waving a fan to himself.

"Lu Bai, I wouldn't mislead you and the group like this. But even if you don't believe me, trust the words of the Divine Seer at least.", an old man of short stature slightly frowned and spoke.

"Oh well, it's not that I don't believe you or the Divine Seer, it's just that this is too much of a risk to take if we're not sure.", the man named Lu Bai stopped fanning and looked at the rest of the group.

"Rest assured, Lu Bai. The Divine Seer has never been wrong. Besides, the Ancestors of the Xinniang Sword Sect are at the Hanging Ruins at this moment. The only one we need to be wary of is the Hidden Protector, and we can still escape even if they find us.", another man spoke.

"That's right. I don't mean to interrupt, but you should take the opportunity when it's presented to you. After all, what's a plan if it isn't executed?", a youthful voice rang out from a young man.

The short old man's wrinkles eased and spoke, "Well spoken, well spoken. That's absolutely right. If that's the...."

Suddenly, everyone there backed off twenty metres from the young man.

"Who are you?", Lu Bai shouted at the young man with a strange expression.

The rest of the group were thinking the same thing in their heads.

I'm a distinguished Nascent Soul, but I actually didn't notice his presence here this entire time?

The short old man raised a short red saber to the youth and said, "Speak immediately, or die."

The group raised their weapons as well, and got closer to the young man.

"Me? I'm just a young man on his way to the Arcent frontlines, don't mind me.", the young man grinned to himself.

Casting a look at the group, the short old man nodded before saying, "Well, I believe that you're-"

The short old man didn't finish his sentence before he crossed his finger and materialised a cage made of strong purple metal, trapping the young man inside.

"Purple Art - Locket Imprisonment.", the old man chanted as it solidified.

At the same time, the group cast their Qi into a single array structure, shouting, "Combinational Attack - Guyi's Death Arrow."

A powerful orange arrow of about 3 metres long and 0.5 metres thick formed near the group, burning the surrounding plants into ashes, and raised the temperature, emitting a blinding light.

The group controlled the arrow to rush forwards with a woosh, almost instantaneously rushing into the cage and exploding with a tremendous boom.

The aftershock was huge - extending even as far as the sword peak mountains, uprooting lots of trees in the area.

All of this happened in a span of merely 5 seconds, before anyone could react to it.

Without missing a beat, the short statured man spoke, "Retreat immediately. The Hidden Protector must have been alerted. We can't allow our mission to be compromised."

After saying that, the rest of the group took out various talismans and activated them, making them disappear from the area in the blink of an eye.

The smoke from the attack was cleared instantly after they left, and the young man coughed as he scratched his head.

Just mere seconds after this happened, a sweet voice came from the sky.

"Who are you, and what happened here?"

Looking up to the source, the young man clicked as he saw a beauty dressed in a long blue skirt floating in the air.

The young man didn't waste a beat as he threw a token at the beauty, and then cleaned himself up.

The beauty glanced at the token, gasped audibly, and spoke, "My apologies, young master. I didn't think that someone like you would be in the area."

Then, she floated to the ground and bowed, saying, "Hidden Protector of the Xinniang Sword Sect, Leng Shui greets heir Zhou Ji."

The young man named Zhou Ji yawned, and helped up the beauty, and said, "That's not necessary. Be at ease."

"What happened was that as a responsible young man, I was just giving some advice to an angry mob plotting something when they attacked me with a combo like some professional bandits. I can't believe good deeds are punished so terribly these days. The absolute degradation of morals!", Zhou Ji spoke with a great conviction in his tone.

Leng Shui gave a wry smile at this eccentric young master and said, "Well, are you alright now?"

"Nothing could happen to me, don't worry. I advise you to tighten up your security so that random rats don't plot stuff right in front of your gates.", Zhou Ji said disdainfully.

Leng Shui frostily spoke, "Don't worry, young master. I'll make sure no one does anything like this again."

Zhou Ji said, "Well, that's good. I'll be going now though. I'm afraid I've got people to kill at the Arcent frontlines, so I can't entertain beauties like Divine Leng."

Leng Shui again just smiled and said, "Be safe, then, young master. If something were to happen to you, I'm sure the entire continent would not be peaceful for a few decades."

Zhou Ji didn't say anything and waved at her before teleporting, like he wasn't even there in the first place.

---

"Hand me the greybeard roots, and prepare the bluegills."

Xu Ming immediately grabbed a herb from the table and threw it at Elder Qin, who grabbed it and threw it into the alchemy cauldron.

Then, he took a small grey container and opened it, taking out a small amount of the blue roe like substance, and put it into a small mixer. After that, Xu Ming took a bottle of liquid white snow essence, and mixed it in with the roe using the mixing machine. After mixing, Xu Ming toasted the result with a small alchemical flame, and then handed it to Elder Qin, saying, "Elder, the bluegills are ready."

"Alright, that's enough.", Elder Qin said, and then proceeded to process the contents of the alchemy cauldron, forming three small golden pills.

Elder Qin put those pills into a small wooden case and said, "That's how you make basic water affinity pills, Xu Ming."

Handing the pill case to Xu Ming, Elder Qin said, "Good work today, Xu Ming. I'll have to trouble you to deliver these pills to the Peak Leader."

Xu Ming cupped his fists and took the pills, and headed out of the alchemy peak, heading to the main hall.

It had been roughly 4 weeks that he'd been under Elder Qin's tutelage and cultivating. Slowly learning the ropes under both Elder Qin's patient tutelage as well as his self study sessions, Xu Ming was slowly becoming more skilled at alchemy and was even praised by Elder Qin at one point.

"You can become an alchemy trainee in a year's time if you keep your learning up, Xu Ming."

Xu Ming didn't have plans to act otherwise. He may not have Lin Feng's fortunes or talent, but he had one thing from his previous life - his perseverance and tenacity. When he put his mind to something, Xu Ming didn't quit halfway. And more importantly, Xu Ming didn't solely rely on his experiences but actively sook to improve on his mistakes.

On his way to the Peak Leader's abode, Xu Ming took the time to greet his senior brothers and sisters, and some of his fellow cultivators. A few of them had taken their time to make themselves known to Xu Ming, like the radiant Senior Brother Pou and the charming Senior Sister Gui, while most of the cultivators had just happened to have been occasional acquaintances.

Only 15% of the cultivators of Longevity Peak were usually seen roaming about or outside of the sect, and these were usually outer peak disciples fulfilling their mission quota or those that were new to the peak. The rest of the 85% were indeed nowhere to be seen as they'd be in their cave abodes, either cultivating or resting.

A case like Xu Ming's was rare, where a cultivator of the Longevity Peak would take the initiative to seek out cultivation and be so proactive in their missions. Of course, this wasn't prohibited - just highly unusual.

The sound of the humming comprehension frog was interrupted by the slow footsteps of Xu Ming, who apologetically looked at Senior Sister Mei Ji.

"Oh, little Ming, what brings you here?", Mei Ji got up and asked.

Tossing a bottle of pills, Xu Ming said, "A delivery from Elder Qin."

Mei Ji received it and said, "Oh! Thanks for your hard work, Junior Brother Xu Ming. Unfortunately, Peak Leader Bingyue isn't here at the moment, but I'll pass them on to her when she's back."

Xu Ming nodded and said, "Thank you, Senior Sister Mei Ji."

Mei Ji looked at Xu Ming and asked, "If you don't mind, could you tell me how your cultivation is coming along?"

Xu Ming didn't think much of it and said, "I've only got 263 strands of Qi in my Dantian at the moment."

Clasping her hands, Mei Ji looked happy as she spoke, "Congrats! You're officially in the first level of Qi Refining! You truly have the right to call yourself a cultivator now."

Xu Ming also smiled and said, "Thank you, Senior Sister Mei. I couldn't have done it without the support of the Peak, you, and Elder Qin."

"Being in the first level of Qi Refining within a month of cultivation is actually pretty good, don't be so humble! If nothing goes wrong, you have two years until you reach the limit of Qi Refining and will need to break through. That's really good for a young child like you!"

Right, Xu Ming was indeed a child. He'd almost forgotten the fact. It should be about his 8th birthday in a couple months, if he wasn't mistaken. Being so mature, his mentality and behaviour made even Elder Qin mistake him for an adult with dwarfism sometimes.

Mei Ji sat down and spoke, "When you're in the Foundation Establishment realm, you'll be ready to take on the Inner Sect's Test. I'll be rooting for you!"

Xu Ming talked for a while with Mei Ji about various topics before heading down the Peak, and towards his abode. There, he opened a door to a small room on the side of his cave. This room wasn't here before, but he'd obtained permission from Elder Qin and the abode in charge to make this room for practicing his alchemy.

With the aid of Elder Qin, he'd made a makeshift cauldron and copied a few arbitrary runes on it, and practiced the contents of the alchemy books to make a few rank 0 pills, for practice.

Cranking his neck, Xu Ming got ready for the long practice session up ahead.