Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Soon, Xu Sheng walked in. He respectfully bowed and said, “Subordinate greets master!”

Qin Yu lightly said, “I have some matters for you to do.”

A month later, a travel-worn Tuba returned to the Black Demon Sect and gave Qin Yu a storage ring. After listening to him, there were indeed people secretly paying attention to those that purchased the materials listed within the jade slip. Luckily, with Qin Yu’s warning, he realized that something was wrong and stopped his purchases. Only after running tens of thousands of miles away did he quietly complete the task.

“You have done well. It must have been hard on you. You can rest well for now.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

After Tuba left, Qin Yu inspected the materials in the storage ring. He nodded in satisfaction. Unfortunately, it wasn’t easy to obtain the souls and blood of high level monster beasts, otherwise if Tuba was able to purchase all of this at the same time it would have been even more perfect.

Shaking his head, Qin Yu put away the storage ring. He stood up and walked deeper into the main hall. Since he had gathered all the materials, now was the time to begin refining them.

Several days later, Qin Yu looked at the Purpleback Bluewing Ants flying in front of him. As he felt the potent aura coming from their bodies, he smiled happily.

These were truly worthy of being pills recorded in the Monster Raising Mystic Art, specifically used to cultivate the foundation of monster beasts. After using them, the aura of the Purpleback Bluewing Ants had doubled from how they were before, and he also had many pills left in hand. While the increase wouldn’t be as great as it was this time, it would still be beneficial.

With a thought, all of the Purpleback Bluewing Ants were led by the ant king as they flew back into the imperial spirit bag. Qin Yu looked down and felt that this imperial spirit bag seemed a bit too poor. If he had a chance in the future, he needed to find a higher level imperial spirit bag magic tool that was more advantageous to the growth of the Purpleback Bluewing Ants.

He placed the cultivating pills into the imperial spirit bag and ordered the ant king to swallow them as needed. Until he found the souls and blood of high level monster beasts, he would put this matter on hold.

As Qin Yu was in thought, he stood up and walked towards the alchemy room. Recently, cultivators from the Black Demon Sect had visited without end. They all wanted to exchange the various precious spirit plants and seeds they had, and as a result Tuba and Tutou weren’t left with many more pills to exchange. He needed to refine another batch to supplement the supplies.

Time passed a day at a time. The ‘purchasing’ actions of Grandmaster Yao didn’t seem to end. Most of the spirit plant materials within the Black Demon Sect had been received by him. Invisibly, this seemed to touch upon the benefits of a certain person.

For instance, within the Alchemy Division, there was the third ranked Jiang Taishou, otherwise known as Grandmaster Jiang. In the Black Demon Sect he was the only alchemist who had proficient skills in alchemy using spirit plants. In the past, most of the spirit plants purchased ended up in his hands. Compared to demonic path pills, the pills formed from spirit plants might be weaker in terms of medicinal efficacy, but they were far gentler and the side effects were similarly smaller. They could be sold at a reasonably high price.

Of course, Grandmaster Jiang only ever sold 30% of the spirit plant pills he refined in the Black Demon Sect. The remaining pills were shipped out from the sect using secret channels and sold in other places. Thus, on the surface, it looked like even though Grandmaster Jiang was undercutting others when purchasing their spirit plant materials, he actually wasn’t making a profit. In truth, only he knew how much he was really making.

When Grandmaster Yao first swept through the market and took all of the spirit plants out of circulation, Jiang Taishou didn’t care much at all. In the past, some people had thought of sharing in some of his soup, but they had inevitably been beaten black and blue. This surname Yao was said to have mysterious origins, but so what? Spirit plant pills weren’t that easy to refine!

But this time, something unexpected happened. As time passed, a significant number of spirit plant pills began to appear among Grandmaster Yao’s exchanged goods.

Grandmaster Jiang obtained some. After inspecting their quality, his heart sank. The quality of these pills were extremely good, even much better than the ones he refined.

Although he didn’t know why the originally low-key and common Grandmaster Yao would undergo such an immense change and gain such powerful spirit plant pill refining methods, there was one thing he was sure about. If he continued to freely allow this to continue, the potential great wealth he should have obtained would be taken away by others!

“Honorable master, we cannot wait any further, we ask you to make a decision as soon as possible!” One of his alchemy disciples anxiously said.

Grandmaster Jiang took a deep breath. “Grandmaster Yao has an unusual status. Even if something is wrong with this, I still need to give him a bit of face. Purple Spring, take my visiting card to Grandmaster Yao. After that, this matter should come to an end.”

His expression was filled with indifference and confidence. After his first brief bout of anger, Grandmaster Jiang soon calmed himself, because within the Alchemy Division, he was the third ranked grandmaster.

And among the demonic path, they forever revered powerhouses!

The disciple named Purple Spring confidently took the visiting card to Grandmaster Yao’s residence. But, just after indicating his purpose for coming, before he could even posture himself, he began to violently tremble. He looked up to see that the two originally warm and kind big fellows were now glaring at him with eyes as cold as the deep winter.

“Since when did a pathetic mess like you dare to convey a message to our grandmaster. Immediately screw out of here, otherwise us brothers will send you on your way!” Tuba viciously said. He clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking and popping.

Purple Spring was enraged. “How insolent! I have brought my honorable master’s visiting card here, representing my master’s dignity! He is the Alchemy Division’s third ranked Grandmaster Jiang! How could you two lowly servants insult him!? Today, Grandmaster Yao must give my honorable master an explanation for all of this!”

Tutou diabolically grinned. He reached out his hand and picked up Purple Spring who was stamping his feet. “If it weren’t for the grandmaster saying that we couldn’t casually kill people, I could have already eaten three of you little brats! Now get out of here!”

With a slap of his palm, several teeth were sent flying out. The originally handsome young man now had a face swollen like a pig’s head.

“You…how…just wait…” Purple Spring covered his face as he staggered away.

Soon, news of this event rapidly spread throughout the entire Black Demon Sect like a hurricane. Grandmaster Yao’s barbarian servants had slapped one of Grandmaster Jiang’s disciples. And the reason this all occurred was because there was a conflict of interest concerning the spirit plant materials!

“I already knew that Grandmaster Yao buying spirit plant materials at such a high price would leave others unhappy!”

“Grandmaster Jiang is the third ranked alchemy grandmaster of my Black Demon Sect. Now that he’s lost face, he will never let this go!”

“I heard that Grandmaster Yao also has a considerable status in the sect. The higher ups all tolerate his actions.”

“Rumors are just rumors. Grandmaster Jiang is a true and proven powerhouse. Grandmaster Yao is likely in trouble this time!”

As the entire Black Demon Sect was in a noisy uproar, Qin Yu had just finished refining pills. He heard Tutou and Tuba’s explanation and rubbed his head a bit before saying, “It's fine. I already expected that some people would not be happy with me. Let them all jump out at once.”

He tapped his fingers, calculating the time. There was roughly more than a year left until the Demonic Path’s Demon Ascension Gate opened. Even if the Black Demon Sect was one of the 13 subordinate branches of the Demonic Path, that didn’t mean all their cultivators had the chance to participate. He might as well use this opportunity to drum up some fame and obtain a good standing so he could have the qualifications to participate in the Demon Ascension Gate.

Qin Yu’s eyes flashed. He was anticipating just what sort of retaliation Grandmaster Jiang would attempt.

Purple Spring returned with a face that was black and blue. He fell to his knees, sobbing, “Those two barbarians clearly knew I was bringing your visiting card and yet they were so ruthless to me. They clearly don’t place honorable master in their eyes. It doesn’t matter if this disciple is wronged, but master’s reputation cannot be blasphemed like this.”

Several disciples in the main hall all huffed with indignation. A large youth stepped out and said, “Honorable master, how could two mere barbarians be so insolent after learning of your identity? I believe that this was all something instigated by Grandmaster Yao. He must have some ill intent in mind!”

“That’s right, this surname Yao must have caused those two people to purposefully shame master’s honor!”

“To step on master’s name, that surname Yao is too brave! He cannot be easily forgiven!”

“Honorable master, we need the other party to pay a sufficient price for this matter!”

In the seat of honor, Grandmaster Jiang had no expression. He lifted his hand and the entire hall fell silent. He lightly said, “In the end, we are both alchemy grandmasters of the same sect, so we have some workplace sentiment and relations. In light of that, I don’t want to push things too far. However, since Grandmaster Yao hasn’t left me any room to move, I have no choice but to suppress him a little.”

He lifted a hand and took out a jade slip. “Grandmaster Yao likes to purchase spirit plants, in particular precious spirit plant seeds and other such things, right? Then, I will give him a chance for an enormous harvest. Purple Spring, take this jade slip to the sect’s Internal Affairs Division and tell them that I want to use this as a gambling stake against Grandmaster Yao. With both sides using our own respective techniques, we will determine victory and loss using our alchemy skills!”

A cold light flashed in his eyes. He continued to say, “Also, tell the Internal Affairs Division that if I somehow manage to win, Grandmaster Yao must abide by a condition I set. For the rest of his life, he cannot refine any more spirit plant pills!”

Purple Spring was overjoyed. He received the jade slip with both hands and ran out of the hall in excitement. “Surname Yao, you dare to strike my servant? You are done for!”

Soon, with some people deliberately spreading out the news, it was known that Grandmaster Jiang had challenged Grandmaster Yao to a gambling bet through the Internal Affairs Division. This information spread through the Black Demon Sect at a mind-boggling speed. This caused the demonic cultivators paying attention to the situation to be shocked. With Grandmaster Jiang making such a counterattack so quickly, he clearly must be moved to anger.

Not long after, the gambling stake in this bet was spread out through unknown channels from the Internal Affairs Division. 17 kinds of spirit plant seeds, including those of the heavenheart lotus, nine nether grass, unnamed flower, and other precious and nearly extinct spirit plants. All of these were valuable things that could only be found through a stroke of serendipity!

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call these 17 seeds priceless. If exchanged for spirit stones, they would be worth hundreds of millions or even a billion! Because they were too scarce, if someone really needed them, they could only bear the pain and purchase them no matter how high the price.

The gambling fight rules of the Black Demon Sect were as follows: the person who raised the bet, if they lost, would have to turn over the entire gambling stake to the cultivator they challenged. If the person who was challenged was defeated instead, they had to agree to a reasonable condition from the other party as well as paying half the amount of the gambling stake. In other words, if Grandmaster Yao lost, not only would he not be able to refine spirit plant pills in the future but he would need to compensate with spirit stones worth half the amount of those seeds!

As for why no one really cared how much Grandmaster Yao could benefit if he won…this was because he was facing the third ranked alchemy grandmaster of the Black Demon Sect, the fabled ruthless and unfathomably deep Grandmaster Jiang. The hopes of Grandmaster Yao winning were far, far too low. At the very least, this was what most of the cultivators of the Black Demon Sect thought.

The Black Demon Sect also opened an internal betting ring. Grandmaster Jiang was given a rate of 10:1 and Grandmaster Yao was given an astonishing rate of 1:5.

Deep within the Black Demon Sect, in a heavily guarded hall, several Elders that presided over the day-to-day affairs of the sect were holding their regular meeting.

Some people opposed and some people approved. Although there were a few arguments, the atmosphere remained relatively good. Besides a conflict concerning a personnel appointment that led to a fierce debate and was thus put on hold temporarily, over a dozen issues were addressed and passed in less than an hour.

“That is all for today. I’m sure fellow Elders are exhausted. If there is nothing else, we can disperse.” At the end of a long table, an Elder wearing brown robes and covered in aging spots smiled.

An Elder to his left spoke. “Chief, there is something. A gambling fight was announced today in the sect. The initiator is the Alchemy Division’s Jiang Taisho, and the one he challenged is Yao Bin. The gambling stake is astonishing. Once victory and defeat is decided, the loser will suffer serious losses. Do we need to interfere in this?”

The several other Elders had calm looks. It was clear they had already learned of this before. At this moment, they all revealed curious looks.

Jiang Taishou was extremely strong. Although he was only the third ranked alchemist in the sect, they actually knew it was because he was keeping his depths hidden. This person’s true alchemy skills were formidable and he had refined seventh-grade pills more than once. Even the Sect Master had secretly invited him to refine some pills before.

As for Yao Bin…in truth, even though he was an Elder within the sect, and although he had a high position, not many of them knew any details about this person. But through the years, the way the Chief Elder, Sect Master, and others treated Yao Bin made them all cautious towards him.