As the sun rose and set, Fu Mingxu slept soundly, oblivious to the passage of time.
When he woke up, the sunlight was bright, and he felt refreshed.
He felt full of power and energy, as if he had taken a powerful tonic and could go three days without eating or drinking.
A powerful tonic?
Wait! He noticed that the door looked a little different than before, and his outstretched hand stopped abruptly.
Memories from last night began to resurface, and a blush rose on his face.
Good heavens! What has he done?!
Han Tao kindly gave him phoenix blood to eat, and not only did he sit on the dragon's tail and arm, but he also shamelessly licked his lips.
Even if it was because of the smell of dragon blood, it was not a reason for him to seize the opportunity to cling to the other party.
Why didn't Han Tao kill him with a single blow? It would have been better than being in this awkward situation.
Fu Mingxu was so angry he wanted to bang his head on the ground. He beat his chest and stamped his feet for a long time before he could finally calm down.
"Master Fu, are you there?" Han Zhengzhi called out from outside the courtyard, "I've brought the Boundless Buddha Branch!"
Fu Mingxu peeked out and saw him standing there alone, holding a jade box in his hands.
He breathed a slight sigh of relief when he realized that Han Zhengzhi was alone.
"I'm coming!" Fu Mingxu straightened his clothes, suppressed his awkwardness, and walked out calmly. "Thank you for your hard work."
He noticed that the other person's clothes were still covered in mud, which must have been due to traveling day and night to get there so quickly.
Han Zhengzhi smiled and said, "I was lucky. The monk Wuchen from Kuchan Temple happened to have one. When he saw that I was asking for it for the city lord, he gave it to me without hesitation."
This is because Han Tao's injury was sustained during the battle between good and evil, and was caused by helping the common people, which is in line with the Buddhist principles of a Buddhist disciple, hence the smooth progress.
Fu Mingxu immediately understood the reason, but the awkwardness he felt when he thought of Han Tao resurfaced.
He composed himself and finally couldn't help but ask, "Where is the city lord?"
Oh well, in the end I was the one who took liberties with him. He's the one who should be angry and upset; he should feel guilty.
"Your medicine is indeed effective!" Han Zhengzhi gave him a thumbs up, praising him without reservation, and replied, "The city lord was unconscious for many days, and there were many things piling up in the city lord's mansion that needed to be dealt with. When I came here just now, I saw Dao Heng Zhenren from Tianxuan Sect, so the city lord has probably gone there."
"Do you need to see the city lord? I'll go find him right now."
"Hey, wait!" Fu Mingxu hurriedly called out to him. Seeing his puzzled expression, he then said seriously, "Now that we have obtained the Boundless Buddha Branch and have the other spiritual plants, I will start refining pills right away."
He hadn't figured out how to face Han Tao yet. Should he say, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," or just say, "Go ahead and hit me"?
Neither seemed like a good solution, and with his mind in turmoil, Fu Mingxu decided to focus on refining the Yangpo Pill first.
Hopefully, the other party won't mind because of the Yangpo Pill.
Fu Mingxu took the Wuji Buddha Branch back to the alchemy room. The alchemy furnace had already been warmed up, so there was no reason to waste any more time.
Once Han Tao has fully recovered and it's confirmed that he won't succumb to demonic possession in his pursuit of greater power, he should leave the city lord's mansion.
Before his father left, he had revealed that he would be going to a place called Wuwang City. Although he had not had the opportunity to leave Yunhan City over the years, he had made a point of inquiring about many things.
Unfortunately, no one knows about the City of No Return.
Before his rebirth, he had been inquiring about Yunhan City, but at that time he was unable to cultivate and had very little access to more distant and expansive places.
This place definitely exists, otherwise Father wouldn't keep mentioning it. Now that he has a cultivation level equivalent to the Foundation Establishment stage in humans, he can go to even more places.
Things must be done step by step. The most urgent task now is to successfully refine the Yangpo Pill.
The inherited memories gradually unfold as the phoenix blood is absorbed, but unfortunately, it does not reveal its own "species" during this process.
My mind was a jumble of thoughts, and I only calmed down after deciding what to do next.
The door to the alchemy room opened and closed repeatedly. Fu Mingxu finished processing all the necessary spiritual plants before he began refining pills.
In the front hall of the city lord's mansion, Dao Heng Zhenren's brow twitched slightly as he looked at the tall man standing in front of him.
He stroked the handle of the floating dust before speaking: "Lord Han, I have come here today because of the matter of your dragon body undergoing tribulation two days ago."
"Oh?" Han Tao's expression remained unchanged upon hearing this, but his eyes narrowed slightly, revealing a fierce glint. "What's the problem?"
He slammed down on the main seat with a commanding air, exuding an imposing presence.
Dao Heng felt the oppressive aura emanating from the divine beast of heaven and earth. He flicked his whisk to dispel the pressure and laughed, "That day's tribulation seemed unusual. I wonder what kind of tribulation the city lord was undergoing?"
After that day, Daoheng always felt uneasy. The Fu family kept bringing up the idea of him taking Fu Shanqing back to the clan, making him feel that the Fu family and the Dragon Clan had some unspeakable secret.
Otherwise, why would such absurd things as marriage by substitution for good luck occur?
Moreover, the substitute bride was an ordinary person, and this ordinary person was the former head of the family's own son.
Dao Heng, who grew up in the Tianxuan Sect and received endless pampering, and whose cultivation went smoothly, found this hard to understand.
After visiting the Shen family, the Shen family patriarch's hints about the Fu family's secrets only deepened his confusion.
A note from the author:
Fu Mingxu: Do not believe or spread rumors.
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 21
"What tribulation?" Han Tao leaned back in his chair, his eyes lowered, and said, "Probably a tribulation of inner demons."
Daoheng: About? Are you kidding me?
"You don't believe me?" Seeing his incredulous expression, Han Tao pretended to be deep in thought before speaking, "It is indeed a tribulation of inner demons."
If he weren't struggling with his inner demons, why would he willingly shield others from calamities?
Dao Heng then realized, "I suppose the city lord wouldn't lie to me."
Humans and dragons are inherently different, so it's normal that they undergo different tribulations. Besides, it's true that cultivators have inner demons.
"I wonder what the City Lord's inner demon is?" Dao Heng took out a pill with a surface covered with pill patterns from his storage bag and said sincerely, "This is my Tianxuan Sect's Cleansing Spirit Pill, which is effective against inner demons."
Han Tao sat up straight and said in a deep voice, "Can you give me the pill formula?"
"Since you want to..." Daoheng nodded, "then I'll deliver it..."
"Wait, do you need the formula for the pill?"
He doubted he had heard correctly.
Ke Hantao nodded firmly, his voice clear and resonant: "Exactly."
"What do you need the pill formula for?" Dao Heng asked, puzzled after realizing what was happening.
"They can be exchanged."
Dao Heng shook his head: "No, this is a creation of the Pill Peak of my Tianxuan Sect."
Han Tao remained calm: "One thousand top-grade spirit stones."
This price is enough to buy any grade of pill formula on the market, but the Cleansing Spirit Pill is unique to the Heavenly Profound Sect.
Top-grade spirit stones are rare, mainly because of their high intrinsic value. They contain extremely refined spiritual energy, and when a cultivator's spiritual energy is depleted, they can use them to set up a spirit-gathering array to replenish their spiritual energy, no matter where they are.
It has no side effects and is very popular among cultivators.
Unfortunately, the spiritual energy in the Cangling Continent is not what it used to be, and there are far fewer top-grade spirit stones now.
Dao Heng's face lit up with joy, and he took out the pill formula from his storage bag: "Deal!"
Anyway, the peak master of Danfeng is his biological father. Even if he sells one of the pill formulas, he can still refine the Qing Shen Pill. Besides, the pill formula is extremely complicated, so Han Tao is probably just doing it out of interest.
He had never heard of any dragon clan member who knew how to refine pills.
Daoheng felt there was no major problem.
With the Clear Spirit Pill in hand, Dao Heng left satisfied, carrying a thousand top-grade spirit stones.
As he walked out of the city lord's mansion, he belatedly realized a problem.
He came today to find out the secret between the Fu family and the city lord's mansion.
Inside the front hall, the priest clutched the pill formula with a pained expression: "This is it? City Lord, you don't even know how to refine it."
These are a thousand top-grade spirit stones! He picked them up one by one from Spirit Stone Mountain, afraid of picking up even one more than necessary. Every time he picked one up, his heart ached.
The city lord is too extravagant!
Han Tao pretended not to hear his wailing, casually took the prescription, carefully folded it and put it away, then left without looking back.
...
Seven days later, Fu Mingxu stared intently at the alchemy furnace, where dragon flames blazed brightly, and a refreshing and intoxicating fragrance of elixirs filled the alchemy room.
At first, he was able to rest as usual, but during the last two days of pill formation, he kept his eyes glued to the changes inside the furnace.
There is only one Wuji Buddha Branch, and he cannot afford to fail this time.
Although I had rehearsed the process in my mind countless times beforehand, I was still nervous when the moment actually arrived.
The Yangpo Pill is already a sixth-grade pill. Although its grade is not very high, it has miraculous effects on both demon inner cores and human golden cores. The main ingredient is the Lanpo Flower, and the other ingredients are extremely demanding. It also contains rare items such as the Wuji Buddha Branch. Once the pill is made, it is priceless.
Auspicious clouds appeared above the alchemy furnace, a sign that the elixir was about to be completed.
Fu Mingxu remained motionless, his hands forming a complex hand seal. Then, dragon flames enveloped the entire cauldron for the final purification.
After a few muffled thuds, the refreshing fragrance of cinnamon filled the room.
"Success!" He took a deep breath of the fragrant pill, ignoring the falling hairbands, and threw himself in front of the alchemy furnace.
Fu Mingxu took a deep breath and steadily lifted the lid of the alchemy furnace.
Nine pale gold pills were packed together in a round shape. He picked one up with two fingers and held it in front of him.
"one two three…"
I counted them, and there were seven pill patterns. Judging from the quality, they were top-grade, and the number was also an extreme number of nine.
"How come it's a little different from what's recorded?" Logically speaking, this Yangpo Pill should be a sixth-grade pill. Putting aside the success rate, the pill pattern should have six lines.
Fu Mingxu pondered for a moment, thinking that this might be related to the dragon flame he used. After all, the book recording the Yangpo Pill only said that it could be refined with ordinary spiritual fire, and other rare spiritual fires were even better.