Immortal Mortal

Wen Hou asked in pleasant surprise, "Brother Tan, someone really managed to refine a 100% purity medicinal solution?"

Tan Liang nodded, "The residual fluids within this pill furnace is definitely of 100% purity. Of course, no matter what tier a pill refiner is, it is definitely impossible to purify a herb and leave it completely free from dregs. But to a pill refiner, as long as the medicinal solution exceeds 99% purity, it would be deemed as 100% purity.

My skill in alchemy is limited, I’m unable to judge the exact purity of the medicinal solution that was in this pill furnace. But from the dregs that were left behind, I can tell that the medicinal solution’s purity has definitely exceeded 99%, and it is infinitesimally close to reaching 100%. I don’t know this person’s ability with pills, but based on his skills in drug refining, he is enough to be my master."

Wen Hou’s mouth went agape; only after some time did he speak."Brother Tan, you’re too modest, you’re a Tier 4 Immortal Pill King."

Tan Liang shook his head, "Brother Wen, I’m not talking nonsense. The reason why I said that has many reason. For one, this person merely used a Grade 1 pill furnace. Secondly, this person had used an ordinary fire in his purification; he did not even use earth fire. There’s no need to talk about me, even a Tier 6 Pill King might not be able to purify and extract medicinal solutions of such a high purity. Since this person was able to produce medicinal solutions of such high quality, the pills concocted would definitely be top grade pills. No other pills of the same tier could compare to it."

"Wen Tian, quickly, find out who used this pill furnace and tell me," Wen Hou could no longer hold in his emotions as he cried out with urgency.

A middle-aged man heard these words and he hurriedly bowed and said, "These pill furnaces were purchased by Qian Shan under the little miss’s orders. Recently, the little miss has also been searching for expert pill and drug refiners."

This middle-aged man was the manager of the castellan’s alchemy lab, Manager Wen Tian.

Wen Hou’s expression immediately went warm; he knew why his daughter did such things. It must have been because she saw his constant worry-stricken face, and wanted to quell his concerns. He spoke in a gentle tone, "Get the little girl and Qian Shan over then."

"Yes." After a quick response, Wen Tian hurriedly left the alchemy lab.

Seeing that Tan Liang was still examining the pill furnace excitedly, Wen Hou asked with a bit of uncertainty, "Brother Tan, is this person’s purification of medicinal herbs so impressive?"

Tan Liang uttered a long sigh, "Perhaps, he might be even more impressive than I imagined.. Brother Wen, if you can find this person to represent you, even if he’s unable to concoct high tiered immortal pills, just based on his purification of medicinal herbs, he would definitely be able to earn a ranked spot. Brother Wen has never tried pill refining, so you naturally don’t know how hard it is to improve when it comes to purification."

As he said this, Tan Liang paused momentarily. Then, he said, "Let me make an analogy. If a person is able to purify a spiritual herb to 90%, then for him to reach 91%, he would need an additional fold of effort. Moreover, his understanding towards the herb must also increase by at least a fold. Following this logic, do you know how difficult it is to attain 99% purity? Moreover, the residual fluids here all exceed 99%. If this person isn’t a supreme genius, then he must be an avant-garde pioneer of a new alchemic method."

As a Tier 4 Immortal Pill King, Tan Liang was experienced and knowledgeable. Mo Wuji’s skills with alchemy came from the wordless pill manual, but ever since he created his reverse Immortal Mortal Technique, his alchemy had also been modeled after his own self; it was no longer related to the wordless pill manual.

His alchemy was independent and it matched his cultivation technique. What it aimed for was for a medicinal solution at 100% purity, not merely something that was infinitesimally close.

Wen Hou inhaled a breath of cold air; he completely understood the meaning behind Tan Liang’s words. Using a Grade 1 pill furnace, coupled with an ordinary flame, this fella was still able to refine a 100% purity medicinal solution. Clearly, this fella was heaven defying.

At this moment, he was resolute; no matter who this person was, he would spare no expense to invite this person to Water Ying Immortal City.

"Dad, you’re looking for me? Mom is here too." A girl in a violet dress walked in, a middle-aged attendant followed behind her.

This girl was the one who was previously prepared to invite Mo Wuji to help concoct pills - Wen Lianxi. It was just that she didn’t have a veil over her face today. Her beautiful features were no less than Han Qingru’s; her posture and grace demonstrated her noble upbringing.

A warm expression emerged on both Wen Hou and his wife’s face; this was their daughter. Even though they weren’t able to have a son, this daughter of theirs was enough to make them proud. Not only was Wen Lianxi’s beauty the top in the entire Water Ying Immortal City, it was also hard to find anyone prettier than her in the entire Yong Ying Immortal Domain. Most importantly, Wen Lianxi’s talent was exceptional. Not only was her cultivation far superior than others of her age, she was also unmatched when it came to the four arts. [1]

"Lianxi, I heard that you were looking for some pill refiners recently?" Wen Hou’s tone was genial; he didn’t immediately ask his daughter about the pill furnace.

Wen Lianxi said softly, "Yes, dad. Two years ago, I went to Lu Jie Immortal City for a gathering. Suddenly, a pill king whose mind was slightly delirious appeared in Lu Jie Immortal City. Someone had him concoct pills on the spot and he was actually able to concoct Tier 5 immortal pill. Moreover, they were all at the unique-grade. Many people estimate that he was at least a Tier 6 Pill King. During the gathering, there were ten over young castellans from the various immortal cities, and there were also some ladies that had the same status as me.

Because this was a Tier 6 Pill King, coupled with the fact that the Grand Alchemy Competition was coming soon, everyone wanted to bring this mentally unstable pill king away. Eventually, the young castellan of Lu Jie Immortal City proposed an idea; before the Yong Ying Immortal Domain Grand Alchemy Competition, a small scale pill competition would be organised. Whoever was able to get first place, would bring that Tier 6 Pill King away. Moreover, the competitor must be a newbie, someone that no one else knew. The reason why I didn’t tell Dad of this matter, was because I knew that my chances were very slim."

Wen Hou and Tan Liang both exhaled a breath of cold air. A person that was able to concoct unique-grade Tier 5 immortal pills might not necessarily be a Tier 6 Pill King, he could even be a pill emperor.

"Then where’s that pill king?" Wen Hou seemed to forget the reason why he called his daughter over.

Wen Lianxi answered, "That pill king is now in an immortal estate outside of Lu Jie Immortal City. That immortal estate has 23 array flags; everyone that was present at that gathering has one array flag. When the time comes, all 23 of us need to gather and bring out out array flags. Only then, would the immortal estate be opened."

"Let me see the array flag," Wen Hou said urgently.

Wen Lianxi brought out a dark red array flag and passed it to Wen Hou. After examining the array flag, he said to Tan Liang, "Brother Tan, this is a blood seal array flag. Indeed, all the array flags must be gathered before the immortal estate can be opened. If anyone tried to forcefully open the immortal estate, it might even cause the space to collapse. The person who installed this blood seal array is an impressive array master."

Tan Liang nodded, "That is indeed the case. However, Lu Jie Immortal City is a high grade immortal city. Even if Lianxi is able to achieve victory, it might be very hard to bring that pill king away."

The meaning implied in Tan Liang’s words was very clear: this suggestion by the young castellan of Lu Jie Immortal City was a mere pretext. He simply didn’t want to be too tyrannical and overbearing with his actions.

Wen Hou reacted. He didn’t call his daughter here to ask about that pill king. He passed the array flag back to his daughter, then asked with slight excitement, "Lianxi, there’s a pill furnace here. Wen Tian told me that you were the one who brought it here. Where did you get it from?"

Tan Liang had already handed the pill furnace in his hands to Wen Lianxi.

Wen Lianxi grabbed the pill furnace, glanced at it, then muttered in doubt, "I bought this pill furnace from our own Water Ying Immortal City. Then, I purchased two Grade 1 pill furnaces, one Grade 2 pill furnace and one Grade 3 pill furnace. Why?"

"That’s impossible. Before the pill furnace was sold, why wasn’t it cleaned?" Tan Liang frowned.

Wen Lianxi finally understood; she explained, "I gave this pill furnace to someone before. During that time, I was urgently looking for pill refiners, so I was scammed by him. When I got back, I wasn’t in a good mood, so I had Qian Shan throw the pill furnace in the alchemy lab."

[1] The four arts are: the lyre, chess, calligraphy and painting.