FVN Chapter 154 You've lost weight, you've gotten darker.
Chapter 154 You've lost weight, you've gotten darker.
After everything calmed down, Du Fan, panting heavily, finally walked out of the alchemy room with a livid face.
An hour later, Du Fan pushed open the door again, took out a newly purchased alchemy furnace, and put in spiritual herbs.
Once everything was ready, Du Fan, with a solemn expression, took a deep breath and carefully opened the lid of the earth fire slightly, and a tiny flame suddenly appeared.
Seeing this, Du Fan breathed a sigh of relief and began his alchemy journey with continuous adjustments.
……
Du Fan stayed in the alchemy room for a whole month. During that time, except for necessary trips to collect materials, he basically did not leave the room at all. Even his daily cultivation was carried out in the alchemy room.
During this month of alchemy, under Du Fan's cautious approach of seeking no merit but avoiding mistakes, there were no more explosions in the furnace. However, what frustrated him was that he had not successfully refined a single Qi Refining Pill.
However, he didn't really intend to refine pills, so after feeling frustrated, he got back to doing serious work.
Ensuring that the alchemy furnace wouldn't explode and the medicinal herbs wouldn't dry out, Du Fan began practicing various movements and expressions. Now, his every move exudes the charm of a master alchemist, and at first glance, he really does look quite convincing.
Du Fan continued practicing here for another half month. When he felt confident that he could fool some people, he put away the alchemy furnace, left Yanshang Palace with a satisfied expression, and returned to his courtyard.
……
Du Fan had stayed in Yanshang Palace for nearly two months, which made his skin slightly darker and his eyes brighter. He had lost some of his youthful weakness and naivety and gained more maturity and determination.
Since he has not yet passed the stabilization period of the fifth level of Qi Refining, he still does not focus on cultivation, but instead devotes a lot of time and energy to the spiritual herbs in the medicine field.
Du Fan decided to head directly to Jizhou after participating in the Alchemy Competition. With less than two months until the competition, he needed to make thorough preparations before his long journey.
In future cultivation, there will be no need for ginseng essential oil as a transitional substance; one can directly consume ginseng qi pills. Therefore, he plans to prepare as much of this essential oil as possible during this period.
At the same time, he also focused on cultivating some spiritual herbs that might be used in the future, as well as the rare spiritual items obtained from Hundred Flowers Valley, and he would take some of each of them with him when he went to Jizhou.
Previously, Xiao Yan had allocated him 10,000 spirit stones as research funding, and given his own considerable number of spirit stones, his wealth could already be described as astonishing.
However, one must still consider unforeseen circumstances while out in the world. After all, Ruoxi and Xiaohu's information is somewhat outdated, and it's difficult to determine how long they will stay in Jizhou. Therefore, these high-value spiritual herbs can be exchanged for some spirit stones at crucial moments.
As for the risks, he didn't need to consider them at all, because if he intended to sell the medicinal herbs, he could simply entrust the matter to a branch of the Seven Star Merchant Alliance.
Of course, in addition to these, special fertilizer is also indispensable. This time, he directly ordered the inner sect servants to bring thirty baskets of magical beast dung. Once fermented, they can start making special fertilizer in large quantities.
In fact, he shouldn't have encountered too many setbacks on this trip, and he should be able to return in six months at most. But it's always good to make more plans.
More than twenty days later, when a large batch of special fertilizer was produced, Du Fan felt that the rest of the matter was not a big problem, so he changed into a clean set of blue clothes and went to the main hall of the main peak.
Even Du Fan himself didn't realize that the clothes he chose, both in style and color, were subconsciously imitating Chu Liantian from that day. This might be an expression of his inner feelings towards the person he admired.
At the main hall on the summit, Du Fan met with the Maple Leaf Sect Master and discussed the Pill Dao Competition with him. He also mentioned his agreement with Xiao Yan, subtly indicating his impending journey.
The Maple Leaf Sect Master frowned and pondered for a moment, but didn't say much. He simply told him that the Qixia Sect would also be attending the Seven Star Merchant Alliance's internal alchemy competition, and that they could go together.
After leaving the main hall, Du Fan teleported directly to the North Peak and headed straight for Chen Ru's cultivation place.
Because of Chen Ru's special status, her cultivation place was located at the top of the North Peak. Even with Du Fan wearing a speed talisman and running at full speed, it still took him two hours to get there.
Du Fan sought out this woman for several months because he missed her, but the most important reason was that he learned from the Maple Leaf Sect Master that he did not intend to take her with him on the Seven Star Merchant Alliance's ceremonial trip in about a month.
This means that once Du Fan leaves Qixia Sect, he will be separated from Chen Ru for a long time, so it is very necessary for him to come and see her once.
An hour later, dusk faded and the moon hung high in the sky.
In a place where the bright moon shines among the pines and a clear spring flows over the rocks, the two silently face each other, their eyes gazing at each other.
"You've lost weight..."
"You've gotten darker..."
After a long while, the two spoke at the same time, both with strange expressions, and finally burst out laughing at the same time.
"Since we parted ways last time, I have been in a period of asceticism, so it is normal for me to be a little thin."
Brother Du, then... what happened to you?
Chen Ru smiled sweetly, then her eyes flashed with interest as she asked.
"Actually, I'm not much more relaxed than you. You should have noticed that my cultivation has reached the fifth level of the Qi Refining stage."
Du Fan sighed and shook his head. Recalling those four months of relentless cultivation aided by ginseng essential oil, he couldn't help but feel a chill of fear; it was simply too insane...
"If it were someone else, no matter how amazing their talent, I wouldn't believe that they could break through from the initial stage of the fourth level of Qi Refining to the fifth level of Qi Refining within half a year."
But for some reason, I have a strong confidence in you, and deep down I also have a feeling that it's perfectly normal for you to be able to do these things, so I'm not surprised.
Chen Ru straightened her expression and spoke with utmost seriousness.
"You really think highly of me..." Du Fan shook his head, gave a wry smile, and then couldn't help but think to himself:
"Even hidden spiritual roots sound amazing to this girl, is it because she sees beauty in everything...?"
"But won't ascetic practices make you darker?" Chen Ru suddenly smiled, blinked her beautiful eyes, and asked in a sweet voice.
"Well... if I told you I've been in the Flame Palace for over a month, would you believe me?" Du Fan suddenly revealed a strange smile.
"Yan Shang Palace? Brother Du, could it be... you went to refine pills?" Upon hearing this, Chen Ru was finally moved, her eyes widening instantly as she asked in surprise.
Du Fan nodded with a hint of pride. He knew that alchemists were a scarce profession in the Qixia Sect, and therefore held a high, even noble, status, almost on par with those a generation above him.
"But Brother Du, didn't you say you looked down on elixirs? Besides, I've personally tried Spirit Gathering Oil, and it's definitely much better than Spirit Gathering Pills. Are you just having a passing interest?"
Chen Ru blinked her beautiful eyes, looked at Du Fan, and asked in surprise.
Hearing this, Du Fan's smug expression instantly fell, and he shrugged, saying, "Interest? Do you think I enjoy spending all day in the Flame Palace, turning myself into a roasted pig? It's all because Vice Alliance Leader Xiao forced me to..."
Next, Du Fan spoke with a helpless expression about the alchemy competition, ultimately becoming somewhat frustrated.
Although he knew that Xiao Yan would definitely do something to secretly help him, Du Fan couldn't help but feel less confident when he thought that his opponents were all old monsters at the level of alchemy masters or above.
"But...but the participants in the Alchemy Competition are all very senior figures, and...how can the art of alchemy be mastered in a short time!"
Upon hearing this, Chen Ru was naturally shocked. Her mind raced, and she quickly composed a few words, trying to phrase them as tactfully as possible.
"Why are you being so euphemistic? What do you mean by a group of extremely old seniors? This so-called Grand Alchemy Competition is nothing but a bottomless pit, using alchemy grandmasters as a stepping stone! And to make matters worse, Vice Alliance Leader Xiao is clearly trying to get me to jump in!"
Du Fan's forehead was covered in black lines, his fists were clenched, and he said through gritted teeth.
"Brother Du, besides the matter at Hundred Flowers Valley, is there anything else... that you've offended Senior Xiao?"
Chen Ru suppressed a laugh, glanced at Du Fan, and asked cautiously.
"Offend her? How dare I offend her! Even if I dared, I'd need the power to do so!" Du Fan suddenly jumped up and shouted, scratching his hair hard.
The thought of that beautiful and elegant woman filled Du Fan with a sense of powerlessness. He also had to admit that, regardless of what he had done or hadn't done, he felt an extreme sense of guilt and fear whenever he saw her…
Seeing Du Fan's exasperated expression, Chen Ru covered her mouth and chuckled, then suddenly said something that completely deflated Du Fan's temper: "Didn't you once tell me that since there are some things you can't resist, you should learn to enjoy them?"
"Enjoy! Okay, I'll give it a try." Du Fan let out a sigh of relief and plopped down by the stream.
Chen Ru smiled slightly, disregarding whether the ground was clean or not, and sat down close to Du Fan, resting her head on his shoulder. Looking at the bright moon in the sky, she softly said:
"Brother Du, you were just saying that out of anger. Senior Xiao is such a high and mighty being. Even if all the people in the entire Nine Provinces Continent were added together, there probably wouldn't be many cultivators who would even give her a second glance."
But she holds you, a Qi Refining stage cultivator, in extremely high regard. This is simply unimaginable. Which of the powerful elders in Zhongzhou doesn't know of her care and affection for you? Even I can feel it; how could you not know?