Put away your magical powers now!.

Chapter 243 [Beauty in the Clouds] (6800)

Chapter 237 [Beauty Xia] (6800)

Chen Yan smiled and said, "Thank you for your guidance."

The senior brother surnamed Kong patted Chen Yan on the shoulder: "No problem, no problem. You are in the weapon refining hall, and I am in the tool hall. We will have plenty of opportunities to interact in the future."

Chen Yan immediately understood the other party's intention to befriend him, and deliberately added a smile to his face.

After Kong left, Chen Yan stood outside the door for a while. Seeing that Yue, the senior sister, was still writing and painting on the table and showed no intention of looking up, he decided not to wait any longer and walked over to her and stepped inside.

As soon as he stepped into the building, Sister Yue, who was behind the table, sensed his presence and looked up at Chen Yan.

The woman looked to be around thirty years old, with a beautiful and glamorous face, and her looks were quite good. However, her expression and gaze were very cold. If she were in the real world, she would probably be what people online call a "world-weary face".

She wore a black robe with no decorations, making her look very plain. Moreover, the robe was too loose, making it impossible to see her figure.

This outfit, combined with that world-weary face, gives off a feeling of detachment and asceticism.

"Greetings, Senior Sister Yue." Chen Yan, thinking that it was never wrong to be polite, took the initiative to bow.

Senior Sister Yue said calmly, "You are an outer court disciple, how can you come in here?"

Chen Yan took off his token and placed it on the table: "My name is Zhao Shanhe, a newly accepted disciple of the Weapon Refining Hall. I've just joined and haven't even changed out of my outer courtyard disciple's uniform yet..."

"Understood, they've come to collect the new disciples' attire and magical artifacts."

Senior Sister Yue casually picked up the token, infused it with a wisp of Yuan Qi, and the token reacted, emitting a silver light. Senior Sister Yue's eyes immediately calmed down.

After verifying that everything was correct, she thought for a moment, then clapped her hands without speaking to Chen Yan. A wooden puppet quickly emerged from behind her, carrying a wooden box in its hands, and came to her.

Senior Sister Yue opened the wooden box and turned to Chen Yan: "New disciples can choose a set of items for new disciples."

One storage artifact, and three sets of outer disciple's uniforms—these uniforms have defensive runes that can resist some low-level magical attacks.

Well, if you are a disciple of the Alchemy Hall or the Weapon Refining Hall, you can receive an extra item—a disciple of the Alchemy Hall receives either an alchemy furnace or a medicinal hoe reinforced with a magic array.

"Since you're a disciple of the Weapon Forging Hall, why don't you take a piece of refined iron anvil?"

Chen Yan nodded readily: "I'll follow Senior Sister's arrangements."

The box contained several items scattered haphazardly, mostly jade pendants, jade plaques, or rings.

So Sister Yue took out a jade ring from inside and tossed it to Chen Yan.

"This is a storage artifact. My servants and utensils are all inside. You can take this one with you."

Chen Yan took the jade ring, casually channeled a wisp of his vital energy into it, and then probed into it with his primordial spirit. The storage ring wasn't very large, only a few dozen cubic meters—about the size of an ordinary room.

However, having an extra storage device is always a good thing.

Chen Yan took it and immediately slipped it onto his left middle finger. Then he looked at Senior Sister Yue and said, "Senior Sister, I would also like to buy a jade slip for engraving, so I can copy the contents of other jade slips."

Senior Sister Yue nodded, casually rummaged through the box, and pulled out a jade bead that Chen Yan had seen before, something like a glass marble.

This is a one-time use storage device; Chen Yan had seen it before in the materials shop at Xueya Pass.

"How much?" Chen Yan immediately took it and held it in his hand.

Senior Sister Yue said calmly, "Disposable storage jade beads are worthless, and the jade slips for recording cultivation techniques are the lowest grade, only having simple copying and input functions, so they're not worth much either. I'll just charge you five hundred coins in total."

It wasn't expensive at all, but Chen Yan still asked, "Senior sister, I'm a beginner and don't have any savings yet. Could you give me a discount?"

He's completely broke now, where would he get five hundred coins?

Senior Sister Yue then glanced at Chen Yan again, frowned slightly, and slowly said, "The price wasn't set by me; it's the sect's official price. If you think it's too expensive, you don't have to buy it."

However, she looked into Chen Yan's eyes and smiled: "But you are already an outer disciple, and you can receive two hundred coins a month from the sect as your salary for serving the sect. If you don't have the money, you can have this month's salary deducted first. As for the rest... you can sign a contract and I will help you get an advance on the salary for the next two months, which will be enough."

Can I get an advance on my salary?

But two hundred coins a month seems like a very low salary.

Chen Yan couldn't help but feel a little resistant.

But then he thought about it again, and realized that he might have been misunderstanding the prices in the realm!
Killing a ferocious beast and cutting off its head will only earn you two hundred and fifty coins.

Two hundred coins seems like a small amount, but it's just the head of a ferocious beast.

But the Ferocious Beast Clan has a forest of evil spirit trees surrounding the Badlands Mountain.

Not only is that place bitterly cold, but it also suppresses spiritual artifacts. Even the most itchy cultivators will lose all their magic power if they go there. If you want to cut off the head of the ferocious beast race, you have to abandon your best methods and use your worst physical strength to fight the ferocious beast race, whose physical bodies are like monsters, head-on.

From this perspective, the head of a ferocious beast can be exchanged for more than two hundred coins, which is quite a lot of money.

"New disciples can only receive an advance of three months' wages." Seeing Chen Yan lost in thought and not speaking, Senior Sister Yue became somewhat impatient: "Do you want it or not?"

"want!"

Chen Yan took a deep breath and nodded in agreement.

I'll just take three months' advance—I don't even know when I'll be able to return to this sect.

Senior Sister Yue turned around and waved to the puppet, making a complex gesture.

The puppet immediately turned around and went to the back storeroom, where it quickly produced a contract.

Chen Yan took it, glanced at it, and immediately pressed his handprint on it.

Sister Yue put away the contract without even looking at it and tossed it into the puppet's hand.

Chen Yan didn't hide anything and took out the jade slip containing the Nan family's weapon-refining inheritance. He then used another spell to copy and inscribe the contents of the Nan family's weapon-refining inheritance into the new jade slip.

Throughout the entire process, Senior Sister Yue didn't say anything. Only after Chen Yan finished casting the spell did she casually ask, "Junior Brother, what cultivation technique did you acquire that you're recording?"

Chen Yan's heart stirred, and he smiled and said, "I happened to get a copy of a weapon refiner's notes. I was curious, so I decided to copy it down and keep it to study later."

Senior Sister Yue gave Chen Yan a deep look, waved her hand, and Chen Yan understood, then took his leave.

Only after Chen Yan walked out the door and quickly left did a strange look appear in Senior Sister Yue's eyes.

"Used Transfiguration? Impressive skill, but it's a pity..."

She spoke coldly, muttered half a sentence to herself, then lowered her head and continued to write and draw in front of her, though it was unclear what she was writing or drawing.

·
Unaware that his transformation technique had been seen through, Chen Yan then went to the northwest corner of the outer gate, which was the location of the outer gate of the Weapon Refining Hall. The Weapon Refining Hall and the Pill Refining Hall were divided into inner and outer halls within the Heavenly Demon Yin Yang Joyful Union Sect. There was one outer gate on the ground mountain and another inner gate on the immortal mountain in mid-air.

Chen Yan's current identity is that of an outer disciple, a low-ranking member. This identity disqualifies him from entering the inner sect territory of the Immortal Mountain to seek out Nangong Sheng.

He arrived at the outer gate's weapon-refining hall, took out his token to reveal his identity, and took out a jade slip containing a recording of the Nan family's weapon-refining tradition, along with a letter he had written himself.

The letter was very simple. Chen Yan only said that he had met a prospective disciple of the outer academy named Nan Qiao. Nan Qiao presented him with a copy of his family's weapon-forging experience. After reading it, he was quite moved and presented it to Nangong Sheng for correction.

Chen Yan didn't say a word more. With Nangong Sheng's intelligence, he would naturally understand the meaning of his recommendation after receiving the letter. However, whether Nangong Sheng would take a liking to this letter or appreciate Nan Qiao because of it was beyond Chen Yan's control.

By doing this, he has completed the deal he requested with Nan Qiao.

The Refining Hall occupies a much larger area than the Tool Hall, which is a hall for distributing supplies and trading simple weapons—and its status within the sect is also vastly different.

There were many disciples in the weapon-refining hall, but they were all very busy. Chen Yan could faintly hear the sounds of various tools being hammered coming from the backyard of the hall, and even the temperature in this place seemed to be a bit higher than elsewhere.

The disciple who received Chen Yan did not have a friendly expression, but after Chen Yan revealed his identity and specifically asked to report something to Nangong Sheng, the other party's attitude became much more friendly.

Clearly, Nangong Sheng, as an inner disciple and holding a high position in the weapon-refining hall, commanded considerable respect among these outer disciples.

The other party earnestly accepted Chen Yan's request, telling Chen Yan that today the document would be sent to the immortal mountain above his head along with his daily affairs using a special array that connects the inner and outer sects of the sect. Only then did Chen Yan nod and leave.

Before leaving, the man stopped Chen Yan, glanced at him, and suggested, "Since you are a newly initiated disciple, it would be best to change into the outer disciple's robes. If people see you walking around in the outer academy's preparatory disciple robes, they will think that we people from the Weapon Refining Hall do not know the rules of the outer sect."

Chen Yan nodded his thanks, then found a room in the outer sect's weapon-refining hall to change his clothes before leaving.

Having completed the transaction, Chen Yan felt relieved and had more free time on his way back.

He surveyed the outer area, the buildings, courtyards, and halls. These were places he hadn't visited in the past few days.

Now that he is an outer disciple, and since he is under the tutelage of a sage sect, he naturally has a greater curiosity about this place.

After walking a few steps, he looked at a towering building in the distance and a thought struck him.

He recognized that it should be the "Library".

As the name suggests, it is likely a place where the sect stores its inherited cultivation techniques, supernatural spells, and secret manuals such as notes from past generations.

Of course, the outer gate's scripture repository doesn't store anything too profound; the more advanced items are naturally on the celestial mountains in the heavens.

However, since it is a sect of saints, it must have inherited a lot of things, whether it is magic or talisman techniques, it should have its own unique features.

Chen Yan's heart stirred. He might not necessarily want to steal anything—now that he was a disciple, even if he didn't steal, he could go over openly and perhaps borrow something to look at.
Learning one or two applicable spells or talismans is a worthwhile achievement.

With this thought in mind, Chen Yan didn't need to return to the outer courtyard immediately, but instead turned and walked towards the Sutra Repository.

He was wearing the clothes of an outer disciple, and he encountered several outer disciples on the way. However, since they saw that he was wearing the clothes of an outer disciple, no one paid any attention to him, and they didn't even give him a second glance.

Even the outer sect of such a sect, with its lineage passed down by sages, is still a sect with the lineage of sages! Its authority is immense, and it even has a protective array around its mountain. No one would have imagined that someone could possibly sneak in. Chen Yan swaggered towards the Scripture Pavilion, but after passing through a long corridor, he suddenly smelled the fragrance of medicine wafting from a nearby courtyard.

He looked up and saw that the place should be the location of the alchemy hall in the outer courtyard.

He didn't intend to go to the alchemy hall, but he saw a pond in this direction with dozens of brightly colored flowerpots on the surface.

The flower head was quite large, and its shape was very similar to the lotus flower of my senior sister in real life. However, the color was not the pink of a lotus flower, but a variety of colors. From a distance, there was a misty aura, mixed with a faint fragrance, which made people feel refreshed and relaxed.

This feeling was not an illusion, but the real thing—Chen Yan recognized that the dozens of brightly colored flower heads on the pond were a unique and rare flower plant found only in this realm.

Its name is "Beauty's Glow," and it has five colors like the glow of the sunset.

Chen Yan had seen records of this before; it was a rather extraordinary plant.

Dried and specially treated flower heads can be used in medicine and alchemy, and are the material for several kinds of medicines that replenish vital energy and treat damage to the spirit.

What's even more remarkable is that the places where these 'Beauty Roses' are planted naturally attract the vital energy of heaven and earth, which gathers and doesn't disperse!

Because of this characteristic, this thing can barely be considered a rare and precious treasure. Not only does it not exist in the real world, but it's also quite uncommon even in other realms!

Being able to attract and gather the spiritual energy of heaven and earth can increase the concentration of spiritual energy, which is related to the cultivation efficiency and speed of cultivators. In the realm, ordinary small sects and families can only dream of such a thing. If they could plant a patch of it, they could slowly transform their own spiritual energy gathering—and also enhance the effect of the spirit gathering array!

Over time, it can even transform a place with ordinary vitality into a blessed land with abundant vitality!
—In the shops at Xueya Pass, Chen Yan remembered seeing it listed in the product list, where a dried flowerpot cost over a hundred coins!
The seeds of this thing were priced at 10,000 coins per seed in the shops!
This thing is so effective, yet it's not easily obtained!

This is because once planted, this plant cannot be transplanted; if it is moved, it will wither immediately.

If you want to get the seeds to plant, the seeds are hard to come by, because there is a huge problem in harvesting them.

This flower only produces a few lotus-like seeds in its flower head at specific times during each flowering season.

The flower head has five colors during its flowering period. Pink indicates shellfish, crimson indicates blooming, purple indicates seed maturity, then it turns white when it falls off, and finally black when it has completely finished flowering and the flower head withers and dies.

Seeds can only be harvested when the flower head turns purple.

However, collecting the seeds is not easy—when the flower head is in its purple blooming season, it only produces three to five seeds each time. The flower head itself seems to have a spirit; if someone touches the flower head, they can only pick one seed!
Once a seed is picked, the flower head will release a special toxin, causing itself to wither immediately, along with the other seeds, which will also wither and die instantly under the influence of the toxin!
Once this happens, you'll have to wait until the next flowering season to harvest it again, when its rhizomes will regrow and it will bloom again...

This thing is less like a divine plant and more like a flower spirit that has not yet fully awakened its intelligence.

This kind of spirituality is quite peculiar.

Not only can only one seed be picked at a time, but even if one seed is picked, it may not survive!
Although it can drop three to five seeds each time it flowers, only one of them is a true fruit, while the others are false seeds.

If you accidentally pick a fake one, then it's all for nothing!

The problem is that even highly skilled cultivators or experienced pharmacists cannot tell the difference between real and fake fruit seeds!

You can't use magic on it either. If you use any magic on it, it will die immediately—it will also secrete toxins and poison itself to death.

Therefore, its name "Meirenxia" also carries another meaning: it is like a beautiful woman whose nature is unpredictable, difficult to please, and whose intentions are hard to fathom.

When Chen Yan saw this patch of beautiful hibiscus planted in the pond from afar, his heart skipped a beat.

As expected of a sect of saints, they simply plant such rare and precious things in a pond for ornamental purposes.

He took a deep breath and saw that there were no disciples or followers guarding the area. He then noticed a large, purple flower in full bloom amidst the beautiful sunset clouds, in the season when it was releasing its seeds and juices.

·
Chen Yan looked around and quickly walked towards the pond. The pond was surrounded by jade railings and was shrouded in the misty aura of the sunset, like a fairyland.

The surrounding energy is so rich that it makes breathing feel incredibly refreshing!
Chen Yan walked to the fence and saw that the beautiful sunset was in the middle of the pond, only a dozen meters away from him.

Especially the one with a purple flower head as big as a washbasin, with a full flower head and petals that open when in full bloom, revealing several green fruits the size of fists in the flower head, which is like a sunflower!

Chen Yan was somewhat tempted.

If you can pick a seed of this and plant it at home, it will increase the concentration of your own vital energy!
Looking left and right to make sure there was no one else in sight, Chen Yan's heart pounded. Suddenly, he flipped over and jumped onto the fence. He quickly transformed into a bird, cutting through the surrounding mist and skimming towards the center of the pond!

Transformed into a bird, its small body easily landed on a flower leaf—this plant was enormous, with a flower head the size of a washbasin and leaves like a large fan.

The bird that Chen Yan had transformed into landed on a leaf, and the leaf only swayed slightly.

Chen Yan lightly leaped towards the purple flower head—other flower heads, as long as they weren't purple and didn't produce seeds, wouldn't annoy it by touching them, causing it to secrete toxins and wither quickly.

Chen Yan had already jumped onto the leaf under the flower head closest to the purple flower head.

He stared at the center of the purple flower plate, where there were five green fruits that looked exactly the same. He couldn't tell the difference between the real and fake fruits.

He remembered the records he had read and dared not test them lightly, much less use any magic—in fact, he did not know any magic to distinguish real from fake flowers and plants.

There was only one chance. Since he couldn't understand it anyway, Chen Yan was about to jump over—he had calculated in his mind that if he flew over like this, he could peck at the fruit seed with his beak and carry it away in one go! Then he could immediately fly to the shore, take the seed, and leave!

Just as Chen Yan flapped his wings to fly over, he suddenly felt a chill run through his body!
Then I heard a voice that was distinctly soft and sweet, yet its tone was light and playful, almost teasing.

"Greedy kid, do you want to be a thief?"

Upon hearing this sound, Chen Yan froze instantly!
Oh no! I got caught red-handed!
Just as his thoughts were racing and he suddenly turned his head to look around, the sound rang out again.

"Kid, feeling guilty?"

Chen Yan's heart pounded wildly. He looked around, but there was no sign of anyone in the misty fog, nor could he find the person who had spoken.

He stared wide-eyed, looking around, but found nothing.

"Little thief, are you looking for me?"

Chen Yan: "…………"

He took a deep breath. After all, this was a sect of saints, and he dared not be arrogant. He quickly took a deep breath and said slowly, "Senior, please don't be offended. I am not a flower thief. I just saw that the 'Beauty Clouds' flower was blooming so beautifully that I liked it. So I turned into a bird to get closer and admire it. I had absolutely no intention of stealing!"

After a moment of silence, the voice rang out again, this time with a chuckle.

Her laughter was charming, carrying an indescribable tenderness, followed by that teasing tone: "You little thief, you sure know how to lie! You can spout lies so easily."

"I dare not! This disciple truly dares not!" Chen Yan quickly lowered his head.

After a few more seconds of silence...

"Um, you little thief," the charming voice suddenly whispered again, "you...you just said I bloomed very beautifully, were you praising my beauty?"

Chen Yan was stunned!
...Holy crap?!

Chen Yan was utterly shocked!
Is that the beautiful Xia speaking?!
Chen Yan stared wide-eyed at the dozens of flower bushes, his mouth suddenly going dry.

The "Beauty Clouds" is just a plant, not a flower fairy!
Although this plant possesses some spirituality, according to the records of the realm, it has never evolved into a demon!
Chen Yan remained silent for a while, and the voice, after waiting for a while, finally grew impatient and said quickly with a hint of annoyance, "So, what you said earlier about my flower being beautiful was just a lie to me?!"

Chen Yan's heart skipped a beat. He couldn't worry about anything else and quickly said, "I wouldn't dare! What this disciple said just now is all true! Senior... ah, that Venerable... um, Flower Demon... no, that's not right either..."

He took a deep breath, suppressing his shock, and quickly said, "Your Excellency is indeed beautiful and charming, captivating me at first sight. It's such a beautiful sight during the flowering season, and I feel a pang of regret seeing that there's no one around."

Such vibrant beauty goes unappreciated; I was momentarily moved and dared to approach. Please forgive me.

If I have disturbed you, I will leave immediately!

After saying that, Chen Yan flapped his wings and was about to fly away, but a surge of powerful energy pressed down on him, pinning his body to the leaf and rendering him unable to move!
The voice said softly, "I really like hearing you say I'm beautiful... Back then, um, I remember the person who planted me said I was very beautiful..."

Chen Yan was unable to move due to the pressure of this energy, and he immediately realized that he could not possibly resist the power of this flower demon!

The voice seemed to carry a hint of confusion and hesitation. After muttering those two sentences to itself, it suddenly changed its tone and continued to speak.

"Little thief, your words may sound sweet, but I know you're just trying to deceive me. However, I won't make things difficult for you. If you're willing to do something for me, I... I can give you a fruit. How about it?"

Chen Yan had no room to refuse, and sighed helplessly, "Senior...please speak."

"You're not allowed to call me senior either. I was born from this place, and it's only been a little over ten years..."

The tone of that voice changed from charming and alluring to tinged with melancholy.

"I only remember what that person said when he planted me, but I can't remember it clearly—at that time I hadn't developed a clear consciousness yet. I just remember him saying that he would come to see me after I bloomed."

But I was born here and have been awake for over ten years, yet I have never seen him come…

At this point, its tone gradually became clear and resolute.

“Go find someone for me. He should be around here. Tell him that I have been blooming for more than ten years and I wait for him to come and see me every day.”

After a pause, the flower fairy said softly, "That person's name is... um, I remember, his name is Ji Shanxiang."

Chen Yan's vision went black!
Ji... Shanxiang!?

Venerable Shanxiang, Saint Shanxiang!

The founder of the Heavenly Demon Yin Yang Joyful Union Sect!

One of the venerable saints of the realm!

·
This is today's update~ I kept my promise~
Although my condition has fluctuated and my health has been inconsistent, I really don't want to repeat the mistakes I made before with this book, and I want to finish it properly.

This has almost become an obsession of mine. I just want to prove, just once, that I can do it.

·
(End of this chapter)