Chapter 360: Chapter 345: Xiao Ying Advances to Purple Mansion, Zhouyang’s Fury! [3 Updates, Please Subscribe]
Xiao Ying is an Upper-Grade Spiritual Root Cultivator. Her chances of opening the Purple Mansion were already not low, and besides, Zhouyang prepared the "Purple Heart Jade Marrow" for her, which greatly increased her success rate of opening the Purple Mansion.
After using the "Purple Heart Jade Marrow," she successfully opened the Purple Mansion, becoming a Purple Mansion Stage Cultivator with ease.
That year, she was 113, and Zhouyang was 142.
After Xiao Ying opened the Purple Mansion, Zhouyang immediately gifted her the Tier Four Top-Grade Alchemy Furnace, "Black Gold Hundred Treasures Burner," which he obtained from Duanmu Yong, as a congratulatory gift for opening the Purple Mansion. He also gave her dozens of pill formulas and a large number of alchemy manuals.
Some of these pill formulas and alchemy manuals were trophies Zhouyang acquired from enemies he had slain, but most were given by Xu Song.
In life, Xu Song was an Eighth-Layer Golden Core Cultivator. Although he was not very knowledgeable in alchemy, he had collected many pill formulas and alchemy manuals.
Now that he had become Zhouyang’s ghost servant, all these items naturally belonged to Zhouyang.
If Xiao Ying could master all the pill formulas Zhouyang gave this time, her alchemy skills would not lose out to the alchemists specially trained by major sects like the Profound Sun Immortal Sect.
Of course, having pill formulas and the pill furnace alone is not enough to refine spirit pills; she would still need spirit elixirs.
Fortunately, Zhouyang currently had a large number of spirit elixirs on him.
Therefore, while giving the pill formulas and furnace, he also handed over to Xiao Ying the storage ring containing various spirit elixirs and alchemy materials.
"Inside this ring, there are six Tier Four Demon Pills, eight Yuan Condensing Fruits, twenty-nine types of Tier Four Spirit Elixirs, one hundred and eighty-six plants, thirty-seven types of Tier Three Spirit Elixirs, more than six hundred plants, and one Tier Four Barbaric Beast Heart, along with twelve Tier Three Barbaric Beast Hearts."
"Ying’er, check these things for yourself later and see which spirit pills can be refined from these elixirs. Determine what auxiliary elixirs you need to buy, and give me a list. I’ll go and purchase them for you."
Surprise!
Even though Xiao Ying had long known about the experiences Zhouyang had over the years, she was still amazed when she saw the storage ring handed to her by Zhouyang.
Over the years, she had assisted the Profound Sun Immortal Sect in alchemy and handled many precious spirit elixirs, but compared to what Zhouyang gave her, those Tier Three Spirit Elixirs were not worth mentioning.
Instantly, she felt like a bear that had fallen into a honey jar, her face full of happiness.
In the following period, Xiao Ying even temporarily set aside the cultivation techniques and divine techniques she should be practicing after opening the Purple Mansion, putting all her focus on researching the pill formulas Zhouyang gave her.
Meanwhile, Zhouyang entered the Seclusion Chamber where she previously secluded herself and began to break through to the Fourth-Layer of the Purple Mansion.
He had been able to attempt breaking through to the Fourth-Layer of the Purple Mansion as early as the Wilderness Jungle, but he suppressed it back then to avoid making Jiang Fengxian suspicious of his rapid cultivation growth.
Now, nobody within the Profound Sun Immortal Sect knew precisely when he advanced to the Third-Layer of the Purple Mansion. Breaking through to the Fourth-Layer now raised no suspicions.
Even if Xu Zhengyang asked about it later, he could explain it away as a fortuitous encounter.
Advancing from the Third-Layer to the Fourth-Layer of the Purple Mansion is just a minor realm breakthrough. Zhouyang had already prepared the Tier Four Middle Grade Spirit Pill "Chongxuan Pill" for the breakthrough, so this time, advancing to the Fourth-Layer of the Purple Mansion went smoothly and without dangers.
However, after reaching the mid-stage of the Purple Mansion, the refining cultivation spirit pills he used before became less effective. He needed to use higher-quality and better-grade spirit pills instead.
Although he had found a few bottles of spirit pills suitable for mid-stage Purple Mansion Cultivators on people like Duanmu Yong back then, the total number added up to only a dozen, which was far from enough to last until he reached the late stage of the Purple Mansion.
Therefore, after the breakthrough, Zhouyang kept this matter in mind and planned to ask Xu Zhengyang after exiting seclusion, to see if he could purchase or exchange some high-grade spirit pills from the high-tier alchemists of the Profound Sun Immortal Sect for cultivation.
He currently possessed many high-tier spiritual artifacts, high-tier spirit talismans, and high-tier spirit elixirs that could be exchanged for items to enhance cultivation.
Yet, upon exiting seclusion, he did not see Xiao Ying in the cave dwelling.
After inquiring with Li Yuhua, he learned that Xiao Ying had gone to Profound Pill Peak to consult with an alchemy master she was acquainted with.
Unlike Zhouyang, Xiao Ying had a passage order that Xu Zhengyang specially arranged for her, allowing her to freely enter and exit some less important places within the Profound Sun Immortal Sect.
Although Zhouyang possessed the "Profound Sun Order", without a passage order, he still needed an Inner Sect Disciple of the Profound Sun Immortal Sect to accompany him to move around within the sect’s mountains.
Since arriving at Zhengyang Peak, he had not ventured down the mountain because it was too troublesome.
Originally, according to his plan, after Xiao Ying opened the Purple Mansion, the two would leave the Profound Sun Immortal Sect and head to the real holy land of cultivation in the Liuyun Continent — "Liuyun Immortal City."
After experiencing and traveling around "Liuyun Immortal City," the two of them could roughly return to the Boundless Desert Sea Cultivation Realm.
However, since Xiao Ying now wanted to advance to a Tier Four Alchemist, he had to modify the plan slightly and wait for a little while longer.
So, after waiting for a few days, Xiao Ying returned from Profound Pill Peak.
But Zhouyang keenly noticed that upon her return, Xiao Ying had a gloomy expression and seemed unhappy as if something was bothering her.
"Ying’er, what’s wrong? Why are you so gloomy after coming back? Can you tell me about it?"
Zhouyang held his dao companion in his arms, looking at her with a concerned expression and asking softly for the reason.
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Xiao Ying shrank her head, her face tightened as she hurriedly said, "No, nothing, husband, don’t overthink!"
"Don’t overthink? Ying’er, if you don’t explain the matter clearly, how can I not overthink as your husband?"
Zhouyang frowned, cupped his dao companion’s head in his hands, and looked at her seriously, saying, "Tell me then, what happened that made you so unhappy? Don’t lie to me!"
He rarely spoke to Xiao Ying in this tone, so upon hearing this, Xiao Ying panicked and hurriedly confessed everything.
This time, the story had to start from when she first entered the Profound Sun Immortal Sect.
Back then, when she first joined the Profound Sun Immortal Sect, Xu Zhengyang arranged for her to work on the Profound Pill Peak to help with alchemy, where she was assigned as an assistant to a Tier Four Top-Grade Alchemist, responsible for refining some common Tier Three Spirit Pills.
Xu Zhengyang’s intention was for her to earn rewards through alchemy while gaining some guidance from a Tier Four Alchemist to improve her skills.
After all, her previous alchemy master only had skills at Tier Three Top-Grade, and his experiences and insights could no longer help Xiao Ying, who had also advanced to Tier Three Top-Grade Alchemist.
It should be said that Xu Zhengyang’s plan was good, and that Tier Four Top-Grade Alchemist indeed taught Xiao Ying many alchemy techniques.
But neither Xu Zhengyang nor Xiao Ying expected that from the beginning, the Tier Four Top-Grade Alchemist had ulterior motives while guiding Xiao Ying in alchemy.
This time, when Xiao Ying successfully opened her Purple Mansion and went to seek further alchemical guidance from that Tier Four Top-Grade Alchemist, he finally revealed his true intention.
The reason he was so eager to teach Xiao Ying alchemy was because he wanted to pursue her, hoping she would become his dao companion!
Of course, Xiao Ying could not accept his confession, and her rejection made him furious, threatening to expel Zhouyang from the Profound Sun Immortal Sect, disclose Zhouyang’s whereabouts to the Beast Taming Sect, and make Xiao Ying watch Zhouyang die at the hands of the Beast Taming Sect cultivators!
It was due to this worry that Xiao Ying had been gloomy upon returning, feeling she had implicated Zhouyang.
"Outrageous! Simply outrageous!"
Zhouyang was furious, like a raging lion, his hair standing on end as he let out a thunderous roar.
After roaring, he abruptly turned, pulling Xiao Ying outside the cave dwelling, angrily saying as he walked, "Let’s go, we first find Elder Li and Elder Xu, they must give us a satisfactory explanation for this, or else—I’ll alert Elder Qingyang, and I, Zhouyang, will make that scoundrel understand the severe consequences of threatening me!"
Is he angry because he is threatened?
He’s angry because someone tried to steal his counterpart!
Thus, he stormed out of the cave dwelling, furiously seeking Li Yuhua to clarify the situation, directly stating he needed an explanation.
When Li Yuhua heard about this matter from Zhouyang, she was also stunned, as it was her first time hearing of it.
Seeing Zhouyang’s face full of anger, she instantly realized the severity of the matter.
Before Zhouyang left, he entrusted his dao companion to Xu Zhengyang for care, and Xu Zhengyang agreed promptly.
Yet now Zhouyang returns to find someone nearly stole his counterpart, and he was threatened with death by that person!
Li Yuhua, as a woman herself, understood how infuriating such matters could be for a man.
"Young friend, don’t be agitated. Once you’re agitated, you could get misled. You don’t have a Passage Order on you, once you leave Zhengyang Peak, you’ll easily be caught and held accountable by sect rules, then even if my husband himself intercedes on your behalf, it won’t be easy to exonerate you."
"I will now send a Communication Flying Sword to my husband, asking him to take leave to handle this matter."
Li Yuhua said, immediately sending a Communication Flying Sword to Xu Zhengyang, explaining the situation in front of Zhouyang.
She was Xu Zhengyang’s dao companion, so Xu Zhengyang quickly received her sent Communication Flying Sword and soon replied.
"There, my husband says he will immediately take leave to come and deal with this matter, so young friend, rest assured."
Li Yuhua looked at Zhouyang after reading Xu Zhengyang’s reply with a relieved expression, telling him the content of the message.
"Thank you to both elders."
Zhouyang nodded slightly, his face still dark and somber.
Understanding he was in a rage, Li Yuhua didn’t mind his impoliteness at this moment.
Thus, the three of them sat at Zhengyang Peak, waiting for more than two hours before Xu Zhengyang returned.