chapter 158: 3rd grade alchemist

"The boy is the most talented disciple I came across in my whole lifetime.". The sect master looked at him. "I thought that bastard was the best disciple you taught."

He started rubbing his hands over his chest. It was as if an old wound had resurfaced itself." I am sorry to have reminded you of the past events."

"Some wounds are to be remembered, my dear. Until now you were the best student I had ever trained. Let's just say, he has the potential to dethrone you."

"You can't see his true cultivation, either right?" The sect master asked. Although she trained Long Tao in fire arts, she had no knowledge of his true cultivation level. She always wanted to inquire about his cultivation from her master, but the proceeding instances made her realize that even he doesn't know.

"He has some kind of powerful artifact masking his cultivation level. To be honest it is the reason I am insistent on teaching him without harboring any suspicion.". the sect master looked at the first elder and saw a smile appearing on his face.

"The artifact signifies how powerful his actual back-ground really is. If he still approached these backward regions to train in the pill hall, it means he is on travel to gain experience in the outside world. He didn't approach me with the intention of taking advantage of me. My means shouldn't be able to give rise to his greed."

"Let him end his seclusion. The end of the year draws near. We would be able to scourge his talent by then." Either of the figures moved towards the dwelling of the first elder.

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"What do you plan to do in the pill brewing competition?'

"The Pill Brewing competition is held by the pill valley to scout the top talents in the field of alchemy. Participants from both outer clans and pill halls, participate in it. Even some prodigies from the Pill Valley compete from time to time."

"It naturally attracts lots of attention. It would be the best time to resurface."

"Are you going to return to the valley?"

"We can't escape the inevitable. I need to go back and claim what was mine. The same goes for you. You need to prepare for the upcoming competition of outer elders. Your father would continue to suppress you otherwise."

"Won't I have an easy time, if you manage to return to your peak cultivation level."

The First elder looked towards the sky with a distant gaze. "Do you expect our enemies to be waiting for us to recover, doing nothing?"

"But you are a core member of the pill valley. They wouldn't just let you perish."

"It was the same reason behind me being alive until now. But the undercurrents have already managed to reach into the deepest corner of the pill valley. We need to prepare for war."

"Are you confident in reaching your peak level within six months.���

"Reaching my peak wouldn't be enough. Did you manage to find out where that treasure lies?" The first elder was waiting for a hopeful answer.

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"According to my survey, it should lie somewhere between the Jiao and the Chu country."

"Isn't it the place where a war recently took place."

"The Jiao country won. A general named Long Tao miraculously helped them out with his inventions. He seems to have taken control over the newly acquired area of the Jiao country."

"Long Tao, mm, that name does sound familiar." The first elder began to think hard, and finally, a bright light appeared in his eyes.

"Isn't he the martial brother of our disciple?" The sect master was shocked to know this. She knew that Lu Ming's had a martial brother, but she didn't expect to find one of them in Jiao country. "He seems to be less talented than our disciple."

"Its actually the opposite. Lu Ming once described the rankings in terms of power between those seven. The one stationed in Jiao country was presumably the strongest among them.".

"What is such a genius doing in that backward country.". Both were submerged in their thoughts for some time. The thought of recruiting him passed the minds of either of them, but they dropped it.

"Let the brat come out of seclusion. He could convey the information to his martial brother and help us survey that region."

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The Forest regions-

A team of three people was currently surveying the area around the south corner of the forest regions. It was one of the deepest and inaccessible regions of the forest.

"We will be spreading in these two directions. You are to keep the orders in mind and survey the locations. Don't attack any beasts and if you do find demons having the cultivation of king rank or even late general rank, evacuate immediately."

The search led one of the parties to a plateau region. "I didn't expect there to be a plateau in the middle of forests. You start at the bottom; I will do the same at the top. We will meet halfway to mark an end to this region."

One of the men started climbing up the plateau. It looked to be a normal one form the outside, but then it started to curve inwards, as one went up. There seemed to be an opening on this side of the mountain. 

"Where does this lead to?". The soldier entered the cave. A gush of energy hit his face, as a tyrannical atmosphere covered his presence. His body stiffed out, by the sight in front. A large lizard type monster was lying, eyes closed. The gush of energy came from his breathing.

For a moment the soldier was not able to move a limb. With extreme difficulty, he got hold of his body and rushed out, trying not to disturb the beast's sleep. 

"Where do you think you are going?"

Every single hair on his body stiffed out. He gathered his spirits to turn around, just to see a shiny sphere with a small lining of black in front of him. It took him some time to realize what it was. It was the eye of the monster he thought was asleep.

"A delicious meal after so many days' the beast opened his mouth and breathed out fire, which was soon accompanied by loud screams until silence reigned once again.

The soldier at the bottom saw the view from afar. He left every single belonging in there and dashed in the opposite direction.

"I need to inform the general regarding this being."

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Pill Hall-

Lu Ming was currently in process of making a third-grade beginner pill. If he was able to last until the end of the process, he would officially be a third-grade alchemist.

The blue leaf pill was a third-grade healing pill, which could help rejuvenate the cultivator with their lost Qi. Lu Ming managed to raise his rank by continuously concocting pills. This was his fifth trial at concocting a batch of blue leaf pill. No matter how hard he tries, he isn't able to concoct the pill.

"What is the deficiency here?'

"I think it is because of the strength of fire. Although you manage to obtain multiple beats flames, it remains true that your practice with those has not been long. You recently concentrated on pill brewing (For one month in the real-world). You already manage to rise to the level 2 peak. Have patience."

The hall master of pill hall in crimson lord world advised Long Tao. It seemed to have worked, as Long Tao let go of his haste to improve and calmed his mind down. He started consuming the soul healing pills simultaneously and also channeling soul power into Lu Ming. 

Days passed by as the pill brew reached a critical juncture. "Don't lose your focus now."

Lu Ming was barely holding up at the moment. There was a small barrier between himself and the third level of alchemy. He started channeling in more and more power, when finally, with a loud bang the oven blasted.

Lu Ming fell on the ground with an exhausted expression. "another failure.". he clenched his fists in desperation.

"I don't think so." The hall master propagated his thoughts into Lu Ming's head. "Look under the scraps of metal 5 feet from here in the north direction."

As Lu Ming lifted the piece of metal up, two small shiny balls came into view. 

"Congratulations to young master on becoming a third-grade alchemist."