All-class Gu Immortal

Chapter 161 Heading to the Five Poisons Sect, Master and Disciple Meet Again
"It must be very difficult to refine this Yuanhun Golden Pill, right?"

Zhou Qing said in a deep voice, "Having the pill formula alone is useless."

“It is indeed very difficult.” Xuanzhu pondered, “Among the third-tier pills, the Yuanhun Golden Pill is very easy to refine, even less difficult than some second-tier pills.”

However, the difficulty in refining this elixir lies not in the refining process itself, but in finding a demonic inner core that suits one's own nature.

"You mean we also need to match attributes?" Zhou Qing realized.

Xuanzhu explained, "That's right. For ordinary martial artists, the early stages of cultivation mainly require innate talent, comprehension, and resources."

With enough resources, even those with poor aptitude and comprehension can break through the tendon barrier, though they may encounter some difficulties when breaking through the bone barrier.

However, if one's innate talent is too poor, no matter how many resources one has, it will be difficult to break through the major bottleneck of the Blood Exchange Realm.

Of course, people who don't lack resources usually have good natural talent and comprehension.

Everyone has hidden talents in their physique. Some people have terrible talent in physical cultivation, but they have a smooth journey when cultivating spirit cultivation techniques.

Some people are not good at physical or mental cultivation, but they can steadily improve their internal energy cultivation through persistent effort.

Or perhaps someone who can't do any of these things can progress rapidly while practicing certain poisonous techniques.

The demon race is a top-tier race whose strength surpasses that of the human race. Legend has it that in ancient times, it was only through the combined efforts of martial artists and Gu masters that they were able to defeat the demons at a great cost.

The demon race has now withdrawn from this world, but some of their bloodline has remained.

These bloodlines may contain the power of the Five Elements and the Three Wonders. You are currently cultivating internal energy based on the Water and Wood elements.

Even if I gave you a Flame Demon Inner Core and had you refine it into a Primordial Soul Golden Core, you still wouldn't be able to swallow it.

Because of the conflicting attributes, you will most likely be overwhelmed by the power of the Yuanhun Golden Pill.

The method for refining the Yuanhun Golden Elixir recorded on this prescription uses the Flame Demon Inner Core as the main ingredient.

The bloodline power of the Flame Demon clan clashes with the attributes of your cultivation technique, so it's more of a reference than a practical application.

"What a pity," Zhou Qing sighed.

Xuanzhu added, "There's nothing to regret. Even if you switch to fire-attribute cultivation techniques, you'll have to wait until you break through to the Blood Exchange Realm before you can access resources at that level."

Nowadays, most demons hide deep in the mountains; without sufficient power, they cannot be found at all.

Even if they were found, they would only become food and breeding tools for demons.

"Demons can mate with humans?" Zhou Qing was taken aback. Aren't there reproductive barriers?

"In the past, in order to maintain the purity of their bloodline, demons naturally would not reproduce with humans."

But now this world belongs to the human race, and for the sake of the continuation of the race, some demons do indeed intermarry with humans.

The Sima clan, the royal family of the Great Jin Dynasty, has bloodlines from a demon race.

It was precisely because of the power of their demonic bloodline that the Sima clan was able to maintain their rule for nearly a thousand years.

Xuanzhu explained.

"According to you, demon bloodlines are much stronger than human bloodlines?" Zhou Qing frowned slightly.

Xuanzhu continued, "That's not necessarily true. Obtaining the bloodline of the demon race can give a martial artist an overwhelming advantage over those of the same level in the early stages."

However, once one's cultivation level reaches a certain point, the gap between them and other high-level martial artists will narrow significantly, and they may even fall behind in some aspects.

The sheer violence and demonic nature inherent in the bloodline of demons make it easier to go astray and fall into demonic possession when breaking through a barrier.

Even the Yuanhun Golden Core cannot completely eliminate the violent energy and demonic nature within the inner core of a demon.

It's mainly a matter of trade-offs, since most people don't need to think about the future at all.

Even in ancient times, the Three Flowers Gathering at the Top realm would block over 90% of martial artists, let alone now.

"It seems that even if I successfully refine this Yuanhun Golden Pill, it won't be of much use to me." Zhou Qing shook his head inwardly. Once he breaks through to the Blood Exchange Realm, he might have other opportunities and might not need this Yuanhun Golden Pill.

Xuanzhu added, "If you can truly refine the Yuanhun Golden Core, it will significantly enhance your combat power. As for its future effects, you can completely remove the Yuanhun Golden Core from your body before attempting to break through to the Five Qi Convergence Realm."

This way, one can enjoy the powerful boost from the Yuanhun Golden Pill in the early stages and remain unaffected in subsequent cultivation.

Once I record Venerable Xuanzhu's insights on refining Gu and alchemy, I might be able to improve this Yuanhun Golden Pill.

If you can refine a Yuanhun Golden Core with the blood of a fourth-tier Ice Soul Mystic Spider, you can use this Golden Core indefinitely in the future without needing to discard it.

Because the power of the Ice Soul Spider's bloodline will at most affect you by making your mind too calm, which may cause you to lose some of your emotions.

However, for most cultivators, this is actually very helpful for their cultivation.

The less emotion you have, the lower the chance of breaking through major bottlenecks and going astray.

Since the Ice Soul Spider has plenty of essence blood, you can try refining the simplified Yuan Soul Golden Pill using the diluted essence blood.

"It's too dangerous for you to take the Golden Elixir yourself. You can have the Wood Spirit Corpse and the Gu worms try it, or try the Corpse Worm Gu King that I'm possessing."

"I understand," Zhou Qing nodded. As the saying goes, "Having an elder in the family is like having a treasure."

Some of Xuanzhu's suggestions were indeed things he hadn't fully considered.

Now that the next steps were clear, Zhou Qing only needed to follow them.

"Your alchemy skills need improvement, but your cultivation of the Soul Refining Scripture cannot be neglected. Improving your soul realm will greatly enhance your alchemy learning," Xuanzhu said solemnly.

"Let's stay in the county town for a while longer," Zhou Qing replied. The whisk weapon had sold for 25,000 taels of silver, enough for his alchemy needs over the next few months.

With the [Alchemist] class bonus from the Jade Tablet, coupled with such relentless alchemy, one can easily elevate their alchemy skills to a certain level.

Now, just by refining the Qi-Nourishing Pill, we can barely maintain a balance between income and expenditure.

Even if you spend those 20,000 taels of silver, you can still earn a considerable amount back.

In the evening, the Shangguan family's steward came to the door and delivered 25,000 taels of silver notes to Zhou Qing.

At the same time, he also presented a prescription for Huanglong Dan, saying it was a gift from Shangguan Hong.

Zhou Qing asked the butler to thank Shangguan Hong on his behalf, and then escorted him all the way to the gate.

"Shangguan Hong is a man of principle. I'll repay this favor another time."

Zhou Qing watched the steward's carriage depart, pondering to himself.

The Shangguan family is small in number. If they don't cultivate the Divine Ape Technique, the Blood Exchange Realm Grand Martial Masters in the family won't have the strength to stand out among their peers. If they cultivate the Divine Ape Technique generation after generation, the number of descendants in the family will decrease, and problems will inevitably arise sooner or later.

No matter how large a family fortune is, it needs someone to guard it.

When a family lacks an invincible expert to uphold its prestige, it needs outstanding descendants to enhance its standing. This is precisely the problem the Shangguan family is currently facing.

Zhou Qing doesn't like to suffer losses, but she also doesn't like to take advantage of others.

He did indeed make a profit from this deal.

The Five Poisons Sect is one of the most powerful forces in the Southern Frontier, and together with the Giant Kun Gang, the Witch God Sect, and the Su Family of the County City, it is known as one of the four major forces.

However, the Su family ranks last.

In its early years, the Five Poisons Sect was considered the most powerful force in the Southern Frontier. However, in recent years, with the old sect leader Wan Shentong going into seclusion and an internal strife a few years ago, the once-famous Poison Demon and Ghost Hand left the sect one after another. Among the peers and the new generation of disciples, no top experts capable of standing alone have emerged. Therefore, the Five Poisons Sect has gradually declined and lost its status as the hegemon of the Southern Frontier.

Of course, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse, not to mention that the Five Poisons Sect hasn't reached that stage yet.

The Five Poisons Sect's mountain gate is located at the foot of Tianzhu Mountain in the eastern part of Nanli County.

The founder of the sect, Wan Guiyuan, initially established the sect in Tianyun Town at the foot of Tianzhu Mountain. Over the years, Tianyun Town has been continuously expanded and has long since become a mountain town of considerable size.

One-third of Tianyun Mountain City's urban area is built against the mountain.

This northern district, built against the mountain, is the headquarters of the Five Poisons Sect.

Most of the disciples of the Five Poisons Sect live in the northern district of Tianyun Mountain City, and many of them bring their families with them.

The development of Tianyun Mountain City is also inseparable from the permanent residents brought by these disciples.

After entering Tianyun Mountain City, Zhou Qing went straight through the main road and headed towards the northern district.

I've been in the county town for twenty days now, and I haven't visited Wei Sheng yet. If I continue to stay behind closed doors refining pills, and become so engrossed in it, it might be a month or two before I can visit him. That would be against the proper relationship between master and disciple.

When Zhou Qing arrived in the North District, the architectural style of the surrounding buildings changed noticeably.

The buildings here are arranged neatly, but vary in age, suggesting that they were later rebuilt after detailed planning.

Along the way, although Tianyun Mountain City is far smaller than Nanli County City, it is still several times larger than Ping'an County City. The one-third of the city that belongs to the Five Poisons Sect is larger than Ping'an County City.

"Are they arranged according to the levels of the White Cloud Palm Technique?"

As Zhou Qing walked down the street, he noticed that the surrounding buildings were mostly white-walled and black-tiled, but the further north he went, the taller the buildings became, and small flags were stuck on their roofs.

The colors are clearly gray, white, black, and purple, corresponding to the four levels of the White Cloud Palm Technique.

Although this is the headquarters of the Five Poisons Sect, outsiders are not prohibited from entering.

However, the city gates of the northern district of Tianyun Mountain City are strictly controlled by the Five Poisons Sect.

Because once you leave the North Gate, you'll be on the mountainside of Tianzhu Mountain.

That is the true mountain gate of the Five Poisons Sect—Dragon Soul Swamp.

Legend has it that the swamp was formed many years ago when a venomous dragon died, and its decaying body was corroded by its poisonous blood.

The martial artists who can cultivate there are all high-ranking members of the Five Poisons Sect, as well as the elites of the new generation.

The naturally occurring marsh gas in Dragon Soul Swamp contains highly toxic substances, which would be deadly to ordinary people.

However, the Five Poisons Sect is famous for its poison skills. Cultivating poisonous creatures, refining poisons, and practicing poison skills all require a specific environment.

However, with a large number of people and limited land, such a special cultivation environment is naturally given priority to high-level martial artists, as well as disciples with status, background, excellent aptitude and comprehension, or wealthy families.

"This is the Five Poisons Sect's mountain gate. Outsiders are not allowed to enter without permission. Please stop here."

When Zhou Qing arrived at the foot of the North Gate tower, he was stopped by two black-clad disciples guarding the gate.

The two were of different heights and builds, one tall and one short, one fat and one thin.

"If you wish to join the Five Poisons Sect, you may first register at the Purple Robe Tower. If you are visiting relatives or friends, you may present a visiting card, which will be delivered to the mountain by a designated person."

Seeing that Zhou Qingnian was young but well-dressed and had an extraordinary demeanor, the two dared not show the slightest contempt or disrespect.

"Greetings, senior brothers. My name is Zhou Qing. My master's surname is Wei, and his given name is Sheng. Please convey my greetings to him."

Zhou Qing bowed respectfully.

"Surname Wei, given name Sheng? Disciple of Uncle Wei?!" Both of them were surprised upon hearing this.

"Junior brother, no! Senior brother! Do you have any token to prove your identity?"

The short, stout man on the left clasped his hands in a respectful gesture, his expression quite deferential.

Although they were more than a decade older than Zhou Qing, Wei Sheng's status as a disciple was something that ordinary disciples like them could not compare to, so they naturally dared not call themselves senior brothers.

"Here is the token. Thank you both." Zhou Qing took out a round, cyan jade pendant from his robes.

This was given to him by Wei Hongyu before he left.

Tell him that if he goes to the county town, most people will give him face if they see this jade pendant.

If you go to the Five Poisons Sect, you can also use it as a token to meet Wei Sheng.

"Senior Brother Zhou, please wait a moment while I go and inform them."

The tall, thin man on the right looked at the character 'Wei' carved on the jade pendant and accepted it with both hands.

He carefully put the jade pendant into his pocket, bowed respectfully to Zhou Qing, and then flew through the city gate towards the mountainside.

"Junior Brother Wang will be right back. Senior Brother Zhou, you can go to the Purple Robe Pavilion to rest for a while," the short, stout man said with a smile, carefully inviting Zhou Qing to rest.

Few disciples in the sect were unaware of Wei Sheng's story.

If it weren't for the internal strife within the sect in its early years, during which Wei Sheng's disciple Chen Hong betrayed the sect and caused enormous losses to the Five Poisons Sect, Wei Sheng would have been the undisputed next sect leader.

Even though Wei Sheng has been nominally expelled from the Five Poisons Sect and is no longer a disciple, the old sect leader still favors Wei Sheng very much.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have insisted on keeping him in the gate to recuperate after he was injured, and would have given him the best area in the Dragon Soul Swamp.

The old sect leader's favoritism towards Wei Sheng was obvious to everyone.

Now that Wei Sheng's personal disciple has come to visit, it's a good opportunity to make friends.

Therefore, the short, stout man was very polite throughout the entire process, even humbly trying to please Zhou Qing.

In a short while, a tall figure dressed in black appeared outside the north gate. However, his figure was extremely robust and was not the tall, thin man who had gone to announce the arrival earlier.

"Uncle-Master Wei?!" The short, stout man stared in astonishment at the tall figure before him, his words stammering.

He never expected that Wei Sheng, while recuperating in seclusion, would personally come down the mountain to see Zhou Qing.

(End of this chapter)