Chapter 23

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Seeing that the conversation seemed to be going off-topic, the Yan family wanted to say something, but no one had the courage to speak up.

No one could afford to offend the people sitting there.

In the end, it was Yan Zhongshan who spoke, and the meeting continued.

His gaze swept across Yun Yuhan and Yan Xi’s faces. He sighed internally, but his face remained dignified. “Can you tell me in detail about the exploration of the Misty Forest?”

Yun Yuhan’s brows furrowed slightly. He seemed to be in a bad mood and did not want to speak.

“Let me do the talking.” A warm voice broke the silence.

“Li Qingming…” the students behind him called out to him softly, their tone reverent, as if they trusted him very much.

The one who spoke was a handsome young man in green. The corners of his mouth were curved into a gentle smile.

Ji San, Yun Yuhan, and he were the only three people from Imperial College who did not wear the same uniform.

Apart from Ji San, who was an exception and sat far away from the other students of Imperial College, he was the one who sat closest to the head of the table behind Yun Yuhan. It was clear that he held a high position among the crowd.

Yan Xi glanced at him and could not help frowning. Although the other party looked handsome and gentle, she did not know why his aura had a trace of Qi that made her feel uncomfortable.

It felt like he was secretly wicked.

Li Qingming seemed to have noticed Yan Xi’s scrutinizing gaze and looked over with a gentle smile at the corner of his mouth.

Yan Xi lowered her eyes, hiding the expression.

Li Qingming did not mind. He looked away and said slowly, “Master Yan, let me explain. We passed through the Misty Forest on the way from the Longyuan Empire to Muyun, and we felt an extremely strong spiritual energy fluctuation coming from the depths of the forest.”

“Is this the birth of a heavenly treasure?” Yan Sheng’s eyes were filled with excitement. He did not even care about Yan Zhongshan’s presence as he exclaimed.

As everyone knew, the birth of a heavenly treasure would cause a tide of spiritual energy.

Li Qingming nodded. He smiled gently and said, “Yes, the teachers guessed that it might be a very high-level heavenly treasure.”

The hall was once again filled with gasps.

Li Qingming continued, “The teachers went to investigate in the direction of the spiritual energy tide and encountered a fog. Not long after, they encountered a barrier made of spiritual energy. We couldn’t open it even after working together.”

After Li Qingming finished speaking, the entire meeting hall was filled with surprise.

Every year, the teachers sent by Imperial College were all at least at the fifth level of the Mystical King Realm, and some were even at the level of the Mystical Grandmaster Realm.

How could such powerful people not be able to break that barrier?

Yan Xi ate some fruit and quietly listened to their conversation. She dug out the information about the Misty Forest in her mind.

The Misty Forest was a magical beast forest near the Muyun Kingdom. Usually, it was no different from an ordinary magical beast forest.

However, there had always been a legend in the kingdom that every hundred years, a mysterious fog would appear in the depths of the Misty Forest, and a treasure that could allow one to reach the Mystical Supreme Realm was hidden in it.

“The Longyuan Empire is very far away from the Misty Forest. It’s too late to ask for backup from the empire now. In order to prevent losing the location of the spiritual energy barrier, the teachers stayed in the Misty Forest. We first came here to discuss with the heads of the great families to open the spiritual energy barrier and explore the Misty Forest together.”

Although there were not many experts in the Muyun Kingdom, each family still had one or two Mystical Kings.

Yan Zhongshan hesitated. The heavenly treasure was tempting, but the appearance of one also meant danger.

Li Qingming seemed to see Yan Zhongshan’s hesitation. He smiled and said, “We don’t need you to do anything. We just need your help in breaking the spiritual energy barrier. The spiritual energy tide from the birth of the heavenly treasure will accelerate the maturity of the spirit herbs. All the items obtained by the families in this expedition will belong to their respective families. Even if they can’t break through the barrier and get the treasure, the Alchemist Grandmaster of Imperial College will make a level seven pill for free for the families.”

Alchemist Grandmaster? The people in the hall almost exploded in excitement.

Alchemists were of noble status, and alchemy was one of the most respected professions on the continent. An Alchemist Grandmaster was even scarier than a Mystical Emperor.

Even the continent’s top experts would need medicinal pills. Moreover, the longer one lived, the more they cherished their life. Medicinal pills that could help them prolong their life was covered.

The Muyun Kingdom’s Royal Alchemist was only a Master Alchemist, but even the emperor had to be respectful to him.

Duanmu Rou’s lips curled into a faint smile. Her eyes were filled with pride. That Alchemist Grandmaster was her teacher!

Yan Xi quietly looked at everyone’s shocked or expectant eyes and touched her chin. There seemed to be no ranking of alchemists in the medical book she had received. She did not know which level Alchemist Grandmaster was.

“Worthless. Only those who are not strong enough need such worldly possessions. As long as the enemy can’t hurt you, you don’t need any pills.” Chi Li’s voice suddenly sounded in Yan Xi’s mind, as proud and arrogant as ever.

Yan Xi was rendered speechless.

She replied in her sea of consciousness, “Since you’re so strong, how could you only have a remnant soul left from back then? And why did you have to possess the bracelet to keep your soul from dissipating?”

Chi Li fell silent. After a long while, he snorted unhappily. “What do you know, ugly girl? I was just careless back then.”

As soon as he spoke, Yan Xi’s mind suddenly filled with the image of a fiery red bird with its feathers standing up.

Yan Xi quickly dispelled the images in her mind.

The image of the phoenix that she had seen that day had taken root in her mind, so much so that she could not help but think of birds when Chi Le spoke.

Although she was communicating with Chi Li with her divine sense, Yan Xi pretended to be eating snacks and did not forget to observe her surroundings.

She could vaguely feel several gazes landing on her. Just as she was about to look up to see who it was, she heard Chi La gasp in confusion.

He did not expect that in this lower realm, there would be someone who was actually able to vaguely detect his existence. And there was more than one person like this.

“Ugly girl, I don’t know if you’re lucky or not. Those who can sense my existence are all people with extraordinary talent. There are only a few of them in the entire continent. These people are blessed by the heavens. However, those with extraordinary talent are bound to have trouble around them. You’re clearly a good-for-nothing, but you’ve still managed to meet so many geniuses.”