God-Slaying Blade

"Just say what you have to say," Qin Jue said calmly.

Seeing that Qin Jue still refused to show himself, Xie Yunyuan's expression grew even more sorrowful. She said, "Within the Yunshan Secret Realm, there is a crimson mountain with an extremely high temperature. On the eastern side of the mountain, about a hundred feet high, there is an entrance that leads to the heart of the mountain. Hidden within that heart of the mountain is a ball of celestial spirit fire. If you can obtain it, it will surely greatly enhance Young Master Qin's strength. The main objective of the Lingshan Sect in entering the Yunshan Secret Realm this time is this ball of celestial spirit fire."

Inside the room, Qin Jue narrowed his eyes slightly.

The spiritual fire of heaven and earth—that's a wonderful thing.

To become a powerful alchemist or weapon refiner, unless one is born with a fire spirit body, the only way is to refine the power of spirit fire.

Liu Qingxue possessed collections of alchemy and weapon-crafting techniques, but unfortunately, Qin Jue's talent lay not in these two areas.

Without a fire spirit body, even if one manages to cultivate alchemy and weapon crafting, one can only refine low-level pills below the level of spirit pills, which is of little significance.

Just like Huang Qiuyun, being able to refine a Heaven-grade Mortal Pill, the Martial Spirit Pill, would be the greatest achievement of one's life, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

Therefore, Qin Jue has always only cultivated swordsmanship and has never been involved in alchemy or weapon crafting.

If he could obtain this ball of celestial fire, he would possess the prerequisite to become a true alchemist.

"What do you want to exchange for this information?" Qin Jue asked from inside the room.

Xie Yunyuan pursed her lips and said, "I want to exchange the Xie family's freedom. I hope Young Master Qin can agree to let us leave Fengzhou City and go elsewhere."

Although Qin Jue did not completely wipe out the Xie family, the Xie family members did not dare to leave without Qin Jue's permission.

Nowadays, the Xie family is a laughing stock whenever they go out.

Although they are alive, they are living a miserable life.

Therefore, Xie Yunyuan wanted to lead the Xie family to a new place and start over.

Qin Jue said calmly, "Let's talk about it after I return from the Cloud Mountain Secret Realm."

Xie Yunyuan said, "Okay."

Xie Yunyuan turned and left, while Qin Jue remained inside the house the entire time.

Fate is fickle; since things have changed and people are no longer the same, there's no need to dwell on it any longer...

Qin Jue originally planned to consume and refine the ground-grown spiritual ginseng in the remaining days, but now that he has the hope of obtaining the spiritual fire of heaven and earth and becoming an alchemist, he is no longer in a hurry to use the spiritual ginseng.

Refining the ginseng into elixirs will have at least twice the effect of taking it raw.

Otherwise, the profession of alchemist would not be so sought after.

Half a month later, Zhao Qingmeng returned to Fengzhou City with twelve members of the Suyun Sect.

Of these twelve people, six were elders of the Suyun Sect.

Two of them were at the Grandmaster level, and the other four were at the peak of the Grandmaster level.

The rest of the group consisted of disciples of the Suyun Sect who were all under the age of thirty.

The Suyun Sect has a total of eight Grandmasters, so the Suyun Sect can select eight people from among those who meet the requirements to enter the Yunshan Secret Realm.

Each sect must report its quota for entering the Cloud Mountain Secret Realm to the City Lord's Mansion six months in advance. Once the number is confirmed, it can only be reduced, not increased.

Otherwise, with Qin Jue's cultivation level, as long as he joins the Su Yun Sect, he can secure an extra spot for the sect without having to take up someone else's spot.

There is no age limit for entering the secret realm; however, the rule set by the Wu Dynasty is that one must be thirty years old.

Firstly, it's to give the younger generation a chance to gain experience, and secondly, it's to prevent Grandmasters from entering and engaging in excessive competition within the secret realm, which would not only damage the secret realm's resources but could also cause casualties among Grandmasters.

The strength of a dynasty's military power is often indicated by the number of Grandmasters.

While the Wu Dynasty is reluctant to interfere in personal feuds, it can try to avoid casualties caused by treasure hunting in secret realms.

Moreover, a uniform time limit is fair to everyone.

Zhao Qingmeng led the people from Suyun Sect into the Qin family. Qin Jue naturally had no objections. After some pleasantries, he settled everyone in the mansion.

After settling the others in, Zhao Qingmeng approached Qin Jue alone, saying apologetically, "Little Jue, I brought people from the sect into the Qin family without your permission. Are you angry?"

Qin Jue laughed and said, "Sister-in-law, the Qin family is also your home. Besides, I am now an elder of the Suyun Sect. When people from the Suyun Sect come to Fengzhou City, it is only right and proper for them to stay at the Qin family home."

Zhao Qingmeng smiled and said, "That's what I think too. Although you're just a nominal elder, it's always good for the Qin family to have more close allies since they're based in Fengzhou. Besides, I only learned this time when I went back that not long ago, Su Youmou, the second elder of the Lingshan Sect, actually wanted to unite with the other three sects to deal with you. At that time, the sect didn't know your intentions, but still decisively rejected Su Youmou."

Qin Jue already knew about this.

Leng Yuqiu probably saw that Leng Xuanting's plan had failed and was worried that he would retaliate if he found out, so she hurriedly deposed Leng Xuanting from his position as sect leader in order to sever ties.

Qin Jue smiled and said, "The Sect Master of Suyun Sect is a man of great wisdom."

Zhao Qingmeng teased, "If the sect leader knew that you, a junior, were praising him like this, I don't know whether he would be happy or embarrassed."

Qin Jue smiled faintly. In the path of martial arts, strength is the ultimate measure, not age.

Before we knew it, the day to set off had arrived.

After giving a few instructions to Hong Tiehu and Han tide, Qin Jue left the Qin residence with Su Yunzong and his group, heading towards the official road outside the city.

Hong Tiehu did not disappoint Qin Jue. The day before Qin Jue set off, he successfully broke through his realm and entered the Grandmaster realm.

Ten miles outside the city, under a giant tree beside the official road, fifteen figures sat cross-legged.

Sima Xiang, Huang Qiuyun, Huang Gang, and Ling Heng, the son of Ling Tianxiao, were all among them.

Fifteen other nebula steeds with dark silver coats stood quietly to one side. For long journeys, these people naturally wouldn't rely solely on their own two legs.

Although the City Lord's Mansion is not as well-established as the Lingshan Sect, as an important city under the rule of the Wu Dynasty, it is natural that the City Lord's Mansion would be equipped with some special horses with strong bloodlines.

This Nebula Steed, while not capable of traveling a thousand miles a day, can certainly travel five hundred miles a day.

Suddenly, Huang Gang's eyes lit up, and he excitedly stood up: "Grandpa, my older brother and the others are here!"

Huang Qiuyun glanced at Huang Gang and snorted, "Don't be so impulsive, like a monkey."

Huang Gang scoffed, "Being like a monkey is better than being like a grandson. If you're so capable, then all of you should be tougher in front of my brother later and order him to come with us."

Huang Qiuyun's face darkened, and she angrily cursed, "You wretched child!"

Sima Xiang laughed and said, "This journey is a thousand miles long, and we will have to pass through dangerous places like Duanlong Valley. It will be beneficial for both of us to travel with Young Master Qin."

Huang Gang curled his lip and said, "Duanlong Valley is only a dangerous place for us. For my elder brother, if those bandits dare to come down the mountain, they are just delivering food to my elder brother's spirit beast."

Sima Xiang's face stiffened, and a bitter smile appeared on his lips.

Huang Gang hasn't been with Qin Jue for very long, so why has he already stopped considering himself a member of the City Lord's Mansion?

Qin Jue and the others naturally also noticed Huang Qiuyun and her group.

When the two groups met, Sima Xiang stepped forward to greet them, laughing heartily, "Young Master Qin, Elder An, Elder He!"

"Mr. Sima." The two Grandmaster-level elders of Suyun Sect returned the greeting with smiles and clasped hands.

These past few days, while spending time with Qin Jue, the two of them had always felt like they didn't have much of a presence. Now that someone was finally taking them seriously, they were actually a little excited.

"Big brother! Big sister-in-law!" Huang Gang grinned.

Zhao Qingmeng was taken aback, her face flushed slightly, and she coughed lightly, saying, "You should just call me Sister Zhao."

She is Qin Jue's sister-in-law, so it's not wrong for Huang Gang to call her sister-in-law after Qin Jue! But calling her and Qin Jue together can easily lead to misunderstandings for those who don't know the situation.

"Hehe, okay, then I'll call you Sister Zhao from now on," Huang Gang chuckled.

Qin Jue rode on the back of the white horse without dismounting, and simply smiled at Sima Xiang: "Mr. Sima, we've only gone ten miles out of the city, why are you resting here?"

Sima Xiang chuckled and cupped his hands, saying, "Let's not beat around the bush. We've been sitting here waiting for you, firstly because we wanted to travel with you, and secondly because we have a favor to ask."

Qin Jue's eyes flickered slightly, and he said with a faint smile, "Then why didn't you go to the manor to discuss this earlier, instead of waiting here?"

Sima Xiangqian smiled and said, "The city lord didn't want to trouble Young Master Qin, so he didn't go to the manor. But after leaving the city, both I and Elder Huang felt that without the help of Young Master Qin and Su Yunzong, the city lord's request might not have been fulfilled with our strength."

Qin Jue chuckled, "The city lord doesn't want to trouble me, but Mr. Sima is quite impolite. Perhaps I haven't killed enough people, making Mr. Sima think I, Qin Jue, am a benevolent man?"