Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
It had to be said that Su Mo got things done extremely efficiently.
On the second day, he sent Zhou Donghuang all the herbs that he required and even brought all the equipment that Zhou Donghuang needed to formulate elixirs.
“Very efficient.”
Seeing Su Mo put all the herbs and equipment on the table, Zhou Donghuang nodded in satisfaction, and immediately rose and got off the bed and went to the table.
“Master, you … you are about to begin formulating Connate elixir?”
Seeing Zhou Donghuang pick up the equipment and inspect it, and glance towards the pile of herbs, Su Mo’s eyes lit up, but then immediately dimmed as he turned and prepared to leave. “Master, I’ll take my leave now.”
“Who gave you permission to leave?” Zhou Donghuang asked casually.
“Hmm?”
As the youth’s words reached him from behind, Su Mo stopped in his tracks and turned to face the youth again. “Master, you … you mean that I can observe you formulating the elixir?”
At this, Su Mo’s eyes shone brighter than ever, full of hope.
It must be stated that when most medicine masters, including him, formulated their elixirs, they did not allow anyone to be present to observe other than their own disciples.
One reason was fear that the formula would be learned and stolen, and another was that their proprietary methods of formulating elixirs would be stolen.
“Mm,” Zhou Donghuang casually acknowledged again, and then proceeded to ignore Su Mo, taking up the equipment and herbs and beginning to formulate the Connate elixir that he needed.
At first, Su Mo felt that the youth’s movements were nothing extraordinary.
But as time passed, he noticed that the youth’s speed was a quick as lightning. His hands seemed to have become a blur, causing even him, a late Connate adept, to feel dizzy just watching.
If it was an ordinary youth who claimed that he could brew Connate elixir, Su Mo could not possibly believe him.
However, this youth before him could not be compared to any ordinary youth. Which youth had the ability to defeat him, a late Connate adept, and force him to acknowledge him as master?
Because of this, when the youth said he intended to formulate Connate elixir, he did not even doubt whether the youth could do it, but was surprised at the herbs the youth wanted him to gather.
There were a good number of herbs among those which had conflicting medicinal properties, and even an ordinary heaven-level medicine master would find it difficult to maintain the balance in the process.
However, although Su Mo did not doubt the youth’s capabilities, he was still shocked by the youth’s skill in formulating. Completely shocked!
It was the first time he had seen such speedy and mysterious methods, as though each kind of herb had come alive in the youth’s hands.
About fifteen minutes later, Zhou Donghuang stopped, having made twelve bottles of Connate elixir from the herbs that Su Mo had brought.
“You’ve finished formulating it?”
Su Mo stared agape. Had it only been fifteen minutes?
Even he, an earth-level medicine master, needed at least six hours to be able to formulate Connate elixir, under the best conditions.
And now, this youth before him had only taken fifteen minutes.
Moreover, in the process of formulating this Connate elixir, he had used several kinds of herbs with conflicting medicinal properties, as though balancing their medicinal properties was child’s play.
“I won’t take advantage of you.”
Zhou Donghuang took a bottle of Connate elixir, poured it into his mouth and swallowed it, then put nine bottles into his pocket, leaving two on the table. “In the future, each time you provide me with this amount of herbs, I’ll give you two bottles of Connate elixir.”
Without waiting for Su Mo to reply, Zhou Donghuang returned to the bed to practice.
Waves of golden light reached out from his body, illuminating not only himself but extending all the way out to illuminate Big Gold, the golden-crowned eagle practicing outside the wooden house.
Of course, it only illuminated him and Big Gold, and did not illuminate Su Mo.
Within the cavern in the cave, the walls of the cavern in all directions were mounted with luminous pearls, so that even though the cavern was located in the mountainside, it was still bright and well-lighted.
Of these luminous pearls, the big ones were about the size of a fist, and the small ones were about the size of a chicken egg. They were extraordinarily valuable, but here they were used only for illumination.
The light from the luminous pearls combined with the power from the Buddhist essence, producing waves of golden Buddhist light.
“Master, I’ll take my leave now.”
Although he was doubtful about the golden light radiating from Zhou Donghuang’s body, Su Mo did not dare to ask too many questions and retreated after taking the two bottles of Connate elixir from the table.
Once he arrived back at his accommodation, the first thing he did was to consume one of the bottles of Connate elixir and begin practicing.
Shortly after closing his eyes to practice, Su Mo suddenly opened his eyes which were full of shock and incomprehension.
“Forty … forty percent? After consuming that bottle of Connate elixir, the efficiency of preservation of qi when I practiced increased by an additional forty percent! Impossible! Impossible!”
Although Su Mo had been psychologically prepared, he had all along assumed that the Connate elixir formulated by the youth would only increase the efficiency of preservation of qi by at most thirty percent.
Now he realized that he had underestimated this youth.
“Increasing the rate of preservation of qi by an additional forty percent … the Connate elixir I formulated can only increase the rate of preservation of qi by sixteen percent. Does this mean that with an uninterrupted supply of this type of Connate elixir, my rate of practice in the future will be almost two hundred percent faster in the future?”
At this thought, Su Mo exhaled a cold breath of air, and his eyes began to glitter with dazzling light and his expression was so excited that he began to twitch slightly.
“He said earlier that each time I give him that amount of herbs, he will formulate twelve bottles of Connate elixir and give me two bottles.”
At this thought, Su Mo stopped practicing, walked out of his room, and convened a meeting of the few elders who held the real power in the Valley of the Medicine Masters and issued them orders to gather the herbs that the youth needed from outside with free rein.
Although there was still no shortage of those herbs in the Valley of the Medicine Masters, he felt that there was nowhere near enough, and he wanted more!
“Over the next few decades, if I continuously use that kind of Connate elixir in my practice … I have over ninety percent confidence that I will be able to break free of the shackles of the Connate stage, attain the Primal Core stage, and become a Primal Core adept!”
Su Mo was extremely emotional.
To him, nothing could be more important than attaining the Primal Core stage and becoming a Primal Core adept.
If he managed to become a Primal Core adept, his lifespan would be extended to three hundred years, which was an additional two hundred years for him to use. That was his life’s goal!
“It seems that I have chosen to serve the right master.”
If it was said that Su Mo had previously been forced to acknowledge Zhou Donghuang as master, then now he felt that he had chosen rightly.
When he had relied on the Connate elixir that he had formulated himself, he had less than ten percent confidence that he could attain the Primal Core stage and become a Primal Core adept.
And now, with the Connate elixir formulated by his master, he had over ninety percent confidence of becoming a Primal Core adept!
…
To Zhou Donghuang, giving Su Mo two bottles of Connate elixir mainly created some sense of urgency for Su Mo to gather the herbs he needed.
Now, with the Connate elixir in addition to the aid of the Buddhist essence, Zhou Donghuang’s stage of practice was advancing at an even greater pace.
“At this stage of practice… I will be able to attain the late Connate stage in over a month at most!”
Zhou Donghuang was extremely satisfied with his current rate of practice.
Of course, when completely devoting oneself to practicing continuously, there would always be times when one would feel drained, and continuing to practice at these times would not produce any meaningful results, and might even affect practice in the future.
As someone who possessed a thousand years of memories from his previous life, Zhou Donghuang naturally knew how to solve this problem.
Taking a walk outside then resuming practicing when his emotions were completely relaxed would produce better results than continuing to practice.
“It has been some time since coming to the Valley of the Medicine Masters. I still have not been out to look around.” At this thought, Zhou Donghuang left the mountain retreat and walked out of the cave.
As for the golden-crowned eagle Big Gold, although he noticed that the Buddhist light that could help him increase his rate of practice had disappeared, he was still absorbed in his practice, working hard to attain the Connate stage and become a Connate-stage demon.
After walking out of the cave, Zhou Donghuang followed the path in front of the cave and came to one of the main roads in the Valley of the Medicine Masters, and continued onwards.
At first, he did not see anyone as he walked.
This place in the Valley of the Medicine Masters was rather secluded.
Gradually, as he walked out of the secluded corner of the valley, he saw some disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters passing through the various crossroads.
Among these disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters were youths, young men and women, as well as middle-aged men and women.
Occasionally, he saw a few old people.
Of course, the old people might not necessarily be elders of the Valley of the Medicine Masters; they could also be disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.
In the Valley of the Medicine Masters, being old only meant that one was advanced in age, and did not indicate one’s status in the Valley of the Medicine Masters. Status was something that one gained based on his martial prowess.
“Hey! I don’t recall seeing you before… have you just been inducted into the Valley of the Medicine Masters?”
Zhou Donghuang had originally been walking quietly by himself, when suddenly a voice came from nearby, followed by a youth who looked about sixteen or seventeen years old who walked towards him.
The youth was wearing a blue robe, and although he could not be considered handsome, he could still be considered pleasant and delicate looking. He approached familiarly. “I’m called Huang Mingfeng; how about you?”
Zhou Donghuang merely swept a casual glance over him before looking away, ignoring his overtures, continuing to follow the main road as he walked onwards.
“Hey, I’m talking to you. Why are you so rude? Didn’t you hear me talking to you?”
Huang Mingfeng caught up with Zhou Donghuang and turned towards him as he spoke with displeasure.
“Do you know where Chen Dandan stays?” Zhou Donghuang asked, glancing at Huang Mingfeng.
“Chen Dandan?”
Huang Mingfeng was stunned at first, but then he shook his head. “Although you are not bad looking, I fear that pursuing sister Chen Dandan is not very realistic.”
“Who says I intend to pursue her?” Zhou Donghuang gave a start, following it up with a derisive smile.
To say that Chen Dandan was fit to be pursued by him?
Laughable!
