studiobondurri Chapter 342 – Set off
Chapter 342 – Set off
Chapter 342 – Set off
Time passed slowly, and Yan Sijing's alchemy session was nearing its end.
She activated a spell, extinguished the fire, and opened the cauldron.
As the lid of the black cauldron lifted, a rich medicinal fragrance wafted out. Inside, five crimson elixirs floated, emitting a strong wave of spiritual power far surpassing that of Foundation Establishment stage elixirs.
"Could these be Nascent Soul stage elixirs?" Yuan Ming was astonished.@@@@
The value of Nascent Soul stage elixirs was incomparable to those of the Foundation Establishment stage, and the difficulty of refining them was at least ten times greater. Yan Sijing's ability to refine such elixirs was far beyond his expectations.
Yuan Ming felt a surge of joy. Perhaps his soul had grown much stronger; even though he had only comprehended a single process, he had essentially grasped the method of refining these crimson elixirs and memorized the spiritual materials used.
Yuan Ming had a premonition that as long as he could gather those materials, his success rate in refining these crimson elixirs would not be low. If he had the chance to comprehend the process a few more times in the future, his alchemy skills would greatly improve.
The possession ended quickly, and his consciousness returned to his own body.
Yuan Ming did not immediately seek out materials to refine elixirs. The most important task at hand was the escort mission three days later.
He put away the Stealing Heaven Cauldron, released his first split soul, and sent it underground, heading towards the Hundred Elixir Workshop.
Three days later, Yuan Ming arrived at the Hundred Elixir Workshop at the appointed time. Before he even entered, he saw a maid in green waiting at the door.
"Senior Yuan, please follow me. The young lady and the other seniors are already seated upstairs."
Yuan Ming nodded and followed the maid upstairs, casually asking, "How many Daoist friends did your master invite for the escort?"
"Besides you, there are two other seniors who accepted the task. Including our workshop's enshrined and elders, there are five participants in total," the maid replied.
As they spoke, the maid led Yuan Ming to an elegant room on the second floor and opened the door for him. Hearing the noise, the people inside turned to look at the entrance.
Yuan Ming glanced around the room and saw Yan Sijing sitting in the main seat, nodding slightly at him. To her right was a female cultivator in green with a flower hairpin, a beauty mark at the corner of her mouth, and a late Foundation Establishment stage cultivation.
On her left was an unremarkable middle-aged male cultivator in a plain gray robe. Though nothing about him stood out, his cultivation was at the early Nascent Soul stage, and he scrutinized Yuan Ming with a piercing gaze.
As night fell, the Hundred Elixir Workshop's caravan set up camp to rest after a day's journey.
However, Yuan Ming grew increasingly suspicious.
The journey had been uneventful, with no sign of bandits or suspicious cultivators detected by his soul crows. But the caravan's slow pace was beyond his expectations.
Given the importance of the cargo and the potential threat of bandits, the caravan should have been moving faster, at least faster than the mortal caravan Yuan Ming had joined when he first arrived at the Black Wind Desert. When Yuan Ming voiced his concerns to Enshrined Ai, he received an unexpected answer.
"Please forgive us, Daoist Yuan. Our workshop suffered heavy losses in the last attack, losing several enshrined and many skilled mortals. Even the camels carefully selected for transporting goods were taken. This reorganization was rushed, and many people lack experience, slowing us down," Enshrined Ai explained with a bitter smile.
"Then why not have us take the important elixirs ahead and send the rest of the goods later?" Yuan Ming asked.
Enshrined Ai sighed, "After the last attack, the workshop had to allocate many people to other tasks. Even finding enough people to accompany the caravan was difficult..."
Yuan Ming understood. The Hundred Elixir Workshop was in dire straits, trying to get the most out of their resources by having late Foundation Establishment cultivators handle tasks meant for Qi refining cultivators.
Enshrined Ai gave the same explanation to Young Master Beiyan and Gan, who, though dissatisfied, did not complain further due to the promised reward.
That night, Yuan Ming sat in his tent, meditating and contemplating Enshrined Ai's explanation, feeling something was still off.
Reorganizing a caravan and taking the same route without knowing the bandits' origins was risky, even with late Foundation Establishment cultivators. Moreover, the Hundred Elixir Workshop, with its Nascent Soul cultivators and valuable elixirs, shouldn't be so weakened by a single attack.
As he pondered, the ground beside him shifted, and Hua Zhi emerged, standing before Yuan Ming.
"Master, there are eight cultivators approaching from the northeast, using earth escape techniques."
"What are their cultivation levels?" Yuan Ming raised an eyebrow.
"The leader seems to be a Nascent Soul stage cultivator. I didn't dare get too close," Hua Zhi replied.
Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
Yuan Ming nodded, stood up, and intended to inform the others in the caravan. But as he stepped out of his tent, he saw Elder Chai in his plain gray robe standing nearby, hands behind his back, gazing at the starry sky.