Chapter 142 - 142: 5th Stage Earth Realm

"Finally out of the forest. The battles of the last ten days had been really beneficial though as I have gained more control over my physical strength and achieved a breakthrough in cultivation. I am a 9th Stage Gold Realm Cultivator now. It will be my sixteenth birthday in a few months. It would be so amazing if I could achieve another breakthrough" Long Chen muttered with a smile as he walked towards the city.

He used his regular method of entry in the city as he crossed the boundary using his Heavenly Demon Wings after finding an empty spot through his divine sense instead of going through the official entrance. He crossed the walls as he entered the city. The name of this city was greyfall city. It was the city at the edge of Shui and was only a day's travel from the boundary of the Huanji Kingdom. 

"It feels so good to be walking on a crowded street again" Long Chen muttered with a smile as he finally got somewhat cheerful at the sights of streets of the city filled with people. The streets were bustling and the sound of chatting and laughter could be heard everywhere. Long Chen continued walking through the Main Street of greyfall city. He saw many large shops and places. One of these places was what attracted his attention. 

"Alchemy Hall" The words were written in large and beautiful words on a beautifully crafted board hanging on top of the place. 

Alchemy Hall was something almost everyone in this kingdom knew about. It was one of the biggest forces known in all the kingdoms. Alchemy Hall had a branch in almost every prominent city in the nearby kingdoms. Although it was said to be a fearsome force, it never involved itself in the affairs of the outside world that didn't affect it directly.

The Alchemy Hall had many of the top alchemists affiliated to their branches. Even the best alchemist of Shui, Master Qian, was affiliated with the dragon city branch of the Alchemy Hall. It was said that the branches of the Alchemy Hall in the stronger kingdoms contained even higher ranking alchemists. 

Not much was known about the Origin of Alchemy Hall. Many things about it were a complete mystery. No one knew where the Core branch of Alchemy Hall was situated. It was only assumed that the Core of Alchemy Hall was established in an empire but that was only an assumption as no one exactly knew about Alchemy Hall and it's backing. 

The alchemists of Alchemy Hall were proficient in Refining medicinal plants, spiritual herbs, minerals, and other substances into medicinal pills and elixirs which had all sorts of effects from boosting cultivation, healing wounds, curing poisons, purifying and strengthening the body and much more.

The Alchemy Hall mostly dealt with two things. One was to sell the medicine pills created by alchemists of its branches. They had a wide variety of pills and elixirs they could provide and a large chain of support in the form of other branches to get pills that their members weren't able to make. 

The second business of Alchemy Hall was to purchase things. The Alchemy Hall bought everything from medicinal plants, spiritual plants, minerals, beast materials and other substances that could be used in alchemy. 

What Long Chen wanted to do was exactly that. He wanted to sell the bodies of beasts that he had killed throughout his journey. The bodies of strong beasts were considered a treasure as they contained many things that were a necessity in many alchemy recipes. It was said that the stronger the beast, the better its effects in alchemy. That's why the Alchemy Hall bought bodies of beasts from hunters. This practice helped in two things. Firstly, the Alchemy Hall got the materials they needed. Secondly, the Beast population and their strength in nearby areas were kept in control.

"My age is the real problem" Long Chen muttered as he thought about things carefully. He was too young to sell such a large number of beasts he had collected in his storage ring. He couldn't show his actual age and storage ring either as his young age along with the things he was carrying might cause unwanted eyes to focus on him. If possible, he didn't want to cause a commotion in Alchemy Hall as then Long Chen didn't know much about its background.

"Looks like I will need to create an even bigger commotion to hide my real identity," Long Chen thought about something as he smiled.

He walked to an empty street as he used his mask of mischief to change his face to a different one. Later, he continued looking through the street and finally found a shop that was selling masks. He bought three masks of different colors and designs that could cover his complete face and left. He again found an empty street as he ended the effects of the mask of mischief and wore the normal mask he had just brought. He also changed his clothes to more luxurious ones as he walked out. 

Long Chen walked through the street with the mask attracting quite a number of eyes on him. Everyone around him could feel intimidated as they saw Long Chen and felt his aura that was spreading nearby. 

Long Chen had used 'Heaven's Shroud' again. Heavens Shroud was a skill Long Chen had learned which was able to fake his cultivation in the eyes of others, even the aura was faked to perfection making others unable to find the reality. It was a special skill that Xun taught him which was able to show cultivation ranging from two major realms lower to one major realm higher than the actual cultivation of the user. Long Chen had finally decided to use this skill for his benefit as he faked his cultivation. He wanted to test things out as he intentionally spread his fake Earth Realm aura for the ones who had a weak cultivation and couldn't see his fake Earth realm cultivation. 

"hahaha, You really like bragging, don't you?  How does it feel to be a 5th stage Earth Realm Cultivator? " Xun floated near Long Chen as she chuckled. 

"It's pretty good, though it's all fake. It's fine as I will soon reach the  Earth Realm Cultivation in reality. Think of it as practice" Long Chen muttered with a smile but his mask hid it. Long Chen walked for a while looking around the street. 

"Wait a minute!" Long Chen called out in a heavy voice as he stopped a person.