Danyang Gate's Alchemy Hall.
Lu Heng stood in the somewhat quiet hall. It was much quieter here than the places he had passed earlier. Not to mention the practitioners coming and going in the outer sect, the other two paths within the inner sect were also bustling.
But as soon as he stepped into the territory of the alchemy path, Lu Heng clearly felt the desolation.
He only occasionally saw a few living people walking around. Other than that, the residences of the entire alchemy path did not feel the lively atmosphere of other places.
At this moment, Wu Chenzi asked Lu Heng to look around the hall first, saying he would find someone to arrange Lu Heng's accommodation.
The entire hall was lined with various sorted and dried herbs. In the center of the hall was a furnace, whose fire was extinguished, and there was quite a bit of wood ash beneath it.
"Hahaha, sorry to keep young friend Lu waiting." Just as Lu Heng continued to look around the hall, Wu Chenzi's hearty laughter was already heard.
Lu Heng turned his head and saw Wu Chenzi stepping through the main entrance of the hall, followed by a middle-aged man.
"This is my disciple Du Feng, who is currently in charge of this alchemy path. I've asked him to arrange your accommodation. We've also been on the road for over ten days. Young friend Lu, you should wash up and rest first, and we'll have a small gathering tonight." 138 Reading Network
"Then I'll trouble you," Lu Heng nodded at the two, imitating their manner.
Du Feng walked forward with a smile, then stepped aside and extended his hand towards Lu Heng, saying, "Brother Lu, please come with me to the residence to rest."
Then Lu Heng followed behind Du Feng. Du Feng's words were not as talkative as his master's. He simply introduced the layout of their alchemy path's residences, and before long, they arrived at a quiet courtyard.
"There's a hot spring behind this courtyard. Brother Lu can go there to soak first and relieve the fatigue from the journey," Du Feng said as he led Lu Heng into the courtyard and stopped there.
"Mm, thank you." Lu Heng nodded thankfully. After all, it was a bit awkward for an elder of a sect branch to personally escort him to his accommodation.
After seeing Du Feng off, Lu Heng walked around the courtyard. The courtyard looked very ancient and tranquil. Then he went directly to the hot spring behind it.
The temperature on the mountain was already low. It was estimated that there were not many hot spring sources. Being specially arranged a courtyard with a hot spring was probably mostly due to Wu Chenzi's favor.
Since he was in this异世 (otherworldly realm), Lu Heng had to follow local customs. He first soaked in the hot spring to wash away his fatigue. Then he returned to his space to change into new clothes. He couldn't manage the hairstyles here yet, so it was more convenient to let his space handle it.
These past few days, while traveling with Wu Chenzi, he had to find various excuses to leave Wu Chenzi's perception range and return to his space. Fortunately, time in the space city was not synchronized with the outside world, which reduced some unnecessary trouble.
In the apocalypse base, no one had come to the villa to find him these past few days. However, it seemed to be reaching its limit. One couldn't stay cooped up in the villa every day.
Therefore, if it was convenient in the next few days, he would have to find time to leave here and go back to check.
At dinner, Du Feng came to the courtyard again. Lu Heng was very curious. Was an elder of a sect branch so idle?
Following Du Feng, Lu Heng was led to a grand hall. This did not seem to be the location of the alchemy path, as the hall was filled with people of all sorts.
Some of them looked refined, while others looked very robust.
It was likely that these were all magic cultivators or martial cultivators.
Lu Heng was led all the way to the front of the hall. Wu Chenzi pointed to the seat next to him and said to Lu Heng with a smile, "Hahaha, how was your rest, young friend Lu? Tonight, I'll introduce you to some elders of our Danyang Gate. They are also very eager to meet the peerless talent I brought back today."
Lu Heng smiled and said nothing, then sat in the arranged seat.
As soon as Lu Heng sat down, a middle-aged man in the front row of the hall cupped his hands and smiled at Lu Heng, saying, "Yes, I was fortunate enough to witness Brother Lu's talent test in the outer sect today. He is a rare talent that is hard to find in ten thousand years."
"Oh? What kind of talent could make Elder Fang praise him so highly?"
"You didn't see it. At that time, the spirit stone for testing directly turned from purple to black. This has never happened before, and there's no record of it even in the ancient texts of our Shen Yuan Continent."
"Black? Purple already means one can cultivate multiple elements. What does black signify?"
"I'm not sure either. At first, I thought the testing spirit stone was broken. But after Brother Lu's hand left the testing spirit stone, the stone returned to its original color."
Upon hearing this, everyone turned their gaze towards Lu Heng. Even Wu Chenzi only showed gold during his talent test.
In the Shen Yuan Continent's talent test, the different colors displayed during the test indicate different talents, namely: Level One Purple Spirit Root, Level Two Gold Spirit Root, Level Three Green Spirit Root, and ordinary people whose spirit stones show no color during testing.
The better the talent, the faster one comprehends during cultivation. Those with good talent easily manifest multiple elements when their attributes are stimulated, or they may manifest multiple elements again during later cultivation.
However, in their Danyang Gate, only the Sect Master and Wu Chenzi possessed the Purple Spirit Root.
Many elders present only had Gold Spirit Roots, and among the disciples, Green Spirit Roots were more common, with only a few having Gold Spirit Roots.
It wasn't that they couldn't recruit them, but that the number of exceptional talents tested each year was too small. Major sects competed for them. Although their sect was not weak, with an exceptional alchemist like Wu Chenzi present, many people were willing to join.
But people with Purple Spirit Root talent were truly too few, with perhaps one appearing every few years.
Lu Heng's mouth twitched as he listened to the discussions. It was because he had already contracted several异能 (supernatural ability) animals that he possessed multiple abilities. But was this truly the reason his test showed black?
He remembered that the last time he tested in the ancient city within his space, it was purple, but the color was a bit dark, leaning towards black. But later, he unintentionally contracted that little blood wolf, so this time the test directly turned black?
"Uncle 'Liao Wu', may I ask which sect Brother Lu belongs to? What is his cultivation level in Wudao?"
"Young friend Lu has not joined any sect, and he is accustomed to a free and unrestrained life, so he has no intention of joining any sect for the time being. I can see that young friend Lu possesses both Wudao magic cultivation and martial cultivation, and he is already at the fifth level of Wudao. However, I am not sure about the specific types of magic cultivation and martial cultivation," Wu Chenzi said, stroking his beard and smiling at Lu Heng.
When he was chasing Lu Heng in the Misty Forest, he had already seen Lu Heng's attainments in martial cultivation. Otherwise, a magic cultivator would not have been able to reach that level of speed.
And since Lu Heng's tested talent was a black manifestation, he must be a cultivator of multiple elements.
Everyone understood. Indeed, with such rare talent, it was natural for him to establish his own sect, and there was no need to join any existing ones.
It's just that cultivating multiple elements requires too many resources. It must have been very difficult for this Lu Heng to cultivate to the fifth level of Wudao.