Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 179 Mentor Madam Ye

Lu Xingzhou, who had been kept behind by the old woman, stood obediently in front of Ye Tinglan.

Even though Ye Tinglan was sitting while he was standing, giving him a superior perspective, Lu Xingzhou still felt as if she were looking down on him and stepping on his chest.

Hmm... but from this angle, it's quite spectacular...

"They asked about your leg, and I already told them I treated it," Ye Tinglan said calmly. "You hid it for so long, but in the end you couldn't even catch Chen Yu. You were exposed for no reason. Isn't that a pity?"

Lu Xingzhou said, "This just proves that our current enemy is no longer vulnerable to surprise attacks. Hiding is pointless and not a loss."

"You've certainly let go of that." Ye Tinglan said expressionlessly, "Do you know why I made you stand as punishment?"

Lu Xingzhou tried to say, "Did I disappoint you, sir, because I failed to refine the pill?"

The two had previously agreed that the results of this trial would be used as a reference for Madam Ye in choosing her disciples. However, Lu Xingzhou failed miserably, seemingly not appreciating Madam Ye's guidance at all. It's understandable that the old woman was unhappy.

Ye Tinglan said, "Back then, the one-day deadline hadn't passed yet, and you could have refined pills on the spot and handed them in. With what you'd gained at the second level, getting first place in the trial would have been a piece of cake. Was it worth giving it up just to trick Chen Yu?"

"Who said I did it to trick him? It's true that I took out the mushroom, picked the second to last one, and stomped it down to the last one to trick him, but not refining pills has nothing to do with him." Lu Xingzhou sighed: "Sir, I've been in the limelight too much. I was targeted by the team leader, my classmate was followed and died, and I stayed on the second floor for so long. Just imagine how much I've made... If you were my classmate, what would you think of me?"

Ye Tinglan sneered: "A person who isn't envied is mediocre. You're actually avoiding such a thing?"

“However…” Lu Xingzhou hesitated for a moment before saying, “What’s the point of showing off in front of my classmates, making more and more enemies and losing all my friends? I came to the Dan Academy to learn real skills and to take revenge on the Huo family, not to engage in this kind of pointless competition.”

Ye Tinglan paused, then suddenly realized: "So even when you were shamefully punished by standing in the corner, it was all on purpose, to make your classmates think you were down-to-earth?"

"Yes. Uh, no." Lu Xingzhou forced a smile. "Since it's the master's order, I'd go even if it meant standing in the middle of a mountain of knives or a sea of ​​fire, wouldn't I?"

"Stop being so glib," Ye Tinglan said leisurely. "In that case, you can stand for all my classes from now on."

Lu Xingzhou: “…”

Ye Tinglan was too lazy to joke with him, and casually pointed to the table: "Take out everything you got from the second level of the Demon Subduing Domain and let me see it."

Ah Nuo brought out a bunch of mushrooms of various shapes and sizes.

"Heh... With such a harvest, no wonder you looked down on the rewards from the Pill Academy trials." Ye Tinglan leaned back lazily in her chair: "Now, let's see how you mix these ingredients and what kind of pills you make. Are you just good at using succubus techniques?"

Lu Xingzhou said, "If we don't have to be so rigid, we can use common medicinal materials from outside the market to make the formula, and the effect will be even better."

"Whatever," Ye Tinglan said lazily. "It's not trial time now, so there are no requirements. I only care about the results."

"Alright." Lu Xingzhou released the alchemy furnace with a "thud" and quickly and deftly took out various herbs from his ring.

His ring was basically filled with spirit stones and herbs, with very few other miscellaneous items. The herbs were some of the best ones selected when he destroyed the Incense Burning Pavilion, and some were also part of the "compensation" from the Huo family recently. There were many of them of the third and fourth grade level, which made Ye Tinglan's eyelids twitch.

This is a young man's personal collection... like he'd robbed an entire sect. Oh... he did rob a sect.

Lu Xingzhou turned to A Nuo and gave her a few instructions. A Nuo nodded, and the master and apprentice quickly divided the work of picking the herbs, creating several different piles.

Ye Tinglan said, "Among these combinations, at least two are grade three pills. Are you sure you can refine them?"

Lu Xingzhou smiled ingratiatingly: "If I were to refine it myself, I would be somewhat confident, but I am indeed a little apprehensive. Isn't it because Mr. Ye is here?"

Ye Tinglan ignored these words, leaned back, crossed her arms, and crossed her right leg over her left, adopting a boss-like posture of observation, unsure whether she would actually lend a hand.

Lu Xingzhou didn't dwell on it, put in a portion of medicinal herbs, and snapped his fingers.

There's no earth fire here; you'll need your own fire magic.

Flames rose up, and Ye Tinglan let out a silent "hmm" and sat up slightly straighter.

This fire is strange... It's not the Destruction Golden Flame from the second floor. This is a fire that Lu Xingzhou himself possesses... His leg?

The essence of fire... was formed year-round in a beautiful environment, with extremely rich spiritual energy and a terrain where water and fire coexisted. It was created simultaneously with another crystal of spiritual water in the Yin-Yang Eye and is considered a first-class natural treasure.

The essence of flame naturally possesses fire attributes, making it far superior to ordinary fire. However, Lu Xingzhou's cultivation limitations prevented him from fully utilizing it, making it appear similar to ordinary flames. But Ye Tinglan, being a remarkable individual, recognized at a glance that this was no ordinary fire, possessing extraordinary potential.

But no matter how much potential there is, the current limitations in cultivation are still limitations. For alchemy, the most fatal thing is that the flame temperature is not high enough, so some high-quality medicinal power cannot be dissolved!

Seeing Lu Xingzhou seriously adjusting the medicinal properties, and the herbs in the alchemy furnace already starting to spin, Ye Tinglan watched with great interest as he worked on the process.

Lu Xingzhou knew that his biggest obstacle to refining third-grade pills lay in his fire ability. Even if the temperature increased, he might not have enough strength to sustain prolonged pill refining. But the fire provided by the ham wasn't hot enough; there was the Destruction Golden Flame…

The fire in the stove suddenly began to change color, turning from its usual yellow to red.

The once steady fire in the furnace began to leap and rage violently.

"You used the Destruction Golden Flame to refine pills?" Ye Tinglan asked expressionlessly. "Is this your answer?" Lu Xingzhou continued to activate the fire seed.

The destructive power of the Destruction Flame is certainly unsuitable for alchemy; it would blow up the furnace...

But as Ye Tinglan watched, a look of amazement gradually appeared in her eyes.

Under Lu Xingzhou's control, the Destruction Golden Flame precisely scorched only a very small part of the furnace bottom, and only the Lava Mushroom in the furnace would turn to that position to withstand the high temperature, while all other medicinal materials avoided it.

His control over the flames and the medicine in the alchemy furnace is truly remarkable for someone his age; it's nothing short of genius.

Seeing the lava mushroom gradually melt away, Lu Xingzhou suddenly withdrew the Annihilation Golden Flame, and the original flames burned fiercely.

The elixir in the furnace began to melt into a ball and slowly rotate.

Large drops of sweat dripped from Lu Xingzhou's forehead, and A Nuo quickly took a silk handkerchief to wipe them away.

The force of the flames and the mental strain involved were far more exhausting than a battle.

The biggest problem is that he can't sustain such a high intensity of flame for very long.

A fifth-grade cultivator, without using earth fire to refine a third-grade pill, is ultimately going too far.

"You haven't integrated the flames on your leg into your body yet. Your cultivation remains your own, and the immortal bone flames remain immortal bones. You're merely using the energy of the immortal bone as an energy reserve in your prosthetic limb. That's wrong." Ye Tinglan's voice came: "Don't you have the relevant inheritance and know how others do it after adding immortal bones to their bodies?"

Lu Xingzhou said with some difficulty, "Please give me your guidance, sir."

“Since the immortal bones have been refined and fused into your body, they are your own bones, and the energy within them should flow throughout your entire skeleton. Even if your body cannot withstand the release of energy from these bones for a while, you should release some of it first to form an overall cycle. In other words, you should not only have water and fire legs, but all the bones in your body should be a balance of water and fire. The only difference between your leg bones and other bones is the material.”

In fact, Lu Xingzhou was aware of this as well. He usually used the energy from his legs to participate in his cultivation cycle. This was because it was a hard requirement of the Yin-Yang Extreme Intent Technique. Essentially, he used his legs as a battery for storage. The energy from the legs participated in the circulation of the meridians, but it did not connect with other bones to form a unified skeleton.

Because I don't know how to do it, and no one teaches me. What kind of cultivation method works by circulating energy through the bones? That requires special techniques.

Ye Tinglan said, "This kind of method is commonly used by many ancient and prestigious sects. It's nothing special. I will teach it to you."

He casually snapped his fingers as he spoke.

There was no need to even touch his forehead with a finger; with just a flick, that nonchalant attitude made Lu Xingzhou feel as if he had been stepped on by a high heel, and a soft light had already shone into his brow.

A method for forging bones entered his consciousness. Lu Xingzhou closed his eyes and reviewed it. The power of water and fire in his legs began to enter his thigh bones, and then gradually permeated his entire skeleton. In the end, the power of water spirit also entered his fire legs, and the power of burning flames also entered his water legs, so that all the bones in his body were in harmony with water and fire.

Strangely, this method, which is supposed to be a bone-forging technique, should be very painful, but it wasn't painful at all.

On the contrary, it felt quite comfortable, as if it should have been this way all along, as if this was what a healthy body should be like.

This is truly healthy; before, it was just a prosthetic limb, but now it's a complete transformation.

"Boom!" Ah Nuo watched in horror as his master's cultivation surged forward, directly breaking through the fourth rank barrier.

That's the energy accumulated in his legs, which hasn't been fully released yet. Lu Xingzhou's cultivation will continue to grow rapidly in the future.

That's it, now Master and Anuo are at the same level. No more wheelchair pushing, no more cultivation...

Lu Xingzhou had no idea what the little girl was thinking at that moment. He had just been distracted during his breakthrough, causing his flames to scatter and his core to become chaotic. He quickly focused his mind to stabilize the flames.

After breaking through to the fourth rank, refining a third-rank pill would be much less stressful. Lu Xingzhou steadied himself for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, and the pill was finished.

Ye Tinglan stared intently at the pill that flew out of the furnace: "This is a Grade 3 Breakthrough Pill, and it seems to be highly targeted, highlighting the metal element in the pill, as if it was specially made for a swordsman to break through... And it contains a gentle fire element, what is the purpose of that?"

Lu Xingzhou rose and bowed: "This is a thank-you gift for Miss Dugu of Tianyao Holy Land, to thank her for intercepting Wang Yueshen's sneak attack in the Demon Subduing Domain. I saw that she was on the verge of breaking through to the third rank, and I thought this would be beneficial to her. The fire element contained in this pill was because I was worried that her ice attribute was too excessive and too extreme, which might hinder her breakthrough. If this gentle fire element is used to temper and neutralize it, it should be somewhat helpful. Please judge, sir."

Ye Tinglan really didn't expect that this was a pill made for her own good disciple. She blurted out that she would make a pill for her, so why did it have to do with her?

She then remembered that in Lu Xingzhou's eyes she was merely Madam Ye, "from the Cloud Hidden Immortal Sect," not the Imperial Preceptor Ye Tinglan, and had no relation to Dugu Qingli. She then said, "Miss Dugu is the Imperial Preceptor's beloved disciple; she has her own resources. What kind of pills do you need to refine?"

Lu Xingzhou said, "Tianyao Holy Land has abundant resources, and I can't think of anything she lacks. We can't just not express our gratitude because of this."

Ye Tinglan examined the pill for a long time and had to admit that it was indeed very beneficial to Qingli's breakthrough. It was tailor-made for her, and if she were to refine it herself, she would probably choose to refine a pill with similar effects.

Unexpectedly, this person is quite grateful and loyal. Ye Tinglan was very satisfied and nodded, saying, "It is unprecedented in the past hundred years for a student of the Pill Academy to be able to refine a third-grade pill so soon after entering the academy. Based on this alone, I will take you as my disciple."

Lu Xingzhou bowed deeply and said, "Thank you, sir. Based on what you just taught me, you are already my mentor."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

P.S.: Happy 520 everyone! May you also stay late to wear high heels!
(End of this chapter)