Chapter 203: Test 188 Part 2

Looking at Zhang Rongfang at the door, Qingyou Daoist helplessly waved his hand.

“You… come in first, sit properly on the mat. We’ll talk after the pills are completed.”

Zhang Rongfang replied, entered, closed the door, and sat obediently on the mat.

His purpose in coming here was to find the Mysterious Qilin Jade Marrow type of pill.

If possible, he hoped to master the manufacturing method himself.

Additionally, observing the stance of Celestial Treasure Palace in Great Dao Teaching,

these days, during his martial arts practice, his keen senses often detected strong experts with powerful body techniques silently coming and going within the palace.

The frequency was quite high.

In just these few days, he faintly noticed that at least four Super Grade-level experts passed by around him.

The speed of their agile body techniques was far beyond that of Ninth Grade.

Among them, one person’s body technique even surpassed his own.

All this showed that the Ancestral Court of Celestial Treasure Palace was far more complex than he imagined.

This place obviously hid many secrets.

It made sense; how could an ordinary sect focused on Cultivation of Literature and health find so many experts for protection?

Either these experts were originally from the sect, or….

Zhang Rongfang gathered his thoughts and began seriously watching Qingyou Daoist’s alchemy technique.

Various herbs, metals, and minerals were thrown into the pill furnace, and unexpectedly, a live chicken was tossed inside as well.

The chicken squawked and struggled, thrown into the pill furnace, soon emitting a fragrant aroma as it was roasted with its feathers and flesh.

Through the holes, one could see it gradually turn yellow, then black, and eventually charred.

Zhang Rongfang shook his head internally.

Then Qingyou Daoist began explaining, detailing what kind of pill was just refined and the important points to note.

Beside him, the female Daoist disciple Chui Xi diligently took out paper and pen to record.

Zhang Rongfang also listened attentively.

No matter how absurd it seemed, at least this world’s alchemy could produce miraculous pills that stimulated the body to reach the Super Grade.

So he decided to learn first.

“This pill can be used for clearing the lungs and nourishing the spirit, elevating yang and steadying yin, and has good efficacy for patients with yin deficiencies and Red Robe Syndrome.

However, the consumption period should not exceed one month…”

Qingyou Daoist carefully explained, occasionally pausing to allow the two to comprehend and memorize.

“During alchemy, attention must be paid to the selection of the pill furnace, the control of the fire, and the method of harvesting. Each pill method corresponds to different pill recipes, and the timing before and after pill formation needs careful handling….”

Perhaps because Zhang Rongfang had just arrived, Qingyou Daoist explained the essentials of alchemy step by step from beginning to end.

He occasionally demonstrated specific methods.

This quickly allowed Zhang Rongfang to understand the general process of alchemy.

What he needed to do was to manage the fire and be responsible for blowing air, often referred to as the Fire Tonal Disciple.

Qingyou Daoist didn’t care whether he understood or not, narrating all the important points of mastering the fire, then handing him a booklet for him to learn on his own.

Zhang Rongfang wasn’t bothered; it was just alchemy. He planned to learn everything thoroughly and test whether the attribute panel reacted.

Logically, if the martial arts attributes panel could form skills, other skills should also form skills upon mastering the fundamentals.

So he planned to try.

Additionally, he planned to wait for a suitable opportunity to reveal his breakthrough to Nascent Soul, thus drawing attention from Great Dao Teaching’s higher-ups.

Being in Golden Core Stage at forty didn’t matter, but a Nascent Soul at forty? Surely it would bring good treatment, right?

Now that his age was set, information could be verified, so he didn’t believe that breaking through in front of people would go unnoticed.

Great Dao Teaching cherished Nascent Souls under thirty greatly, so a Nascent Soul at forty shouldn’t be too bad either.

Pitifully, at nineteen as a Nascent Soul, he had to compete with these older brothers and sisters for the same level of treatment….

*

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*

Dao Record Room.

Officer Zheng Yanqiu furrowed her brows, looking at the Dao record information found on the table, somewhat puzzled.

Today she reviewed a newcomer entering the inner hall of the Alchemy Hall and unexpectedly found something amiss.

“This person named Zhang Ying, from Tan Yang Mingjing Palace, but his age—how was it nineteen before and now it’s thirty-five?”

The information from before and after was completely inconsistent.

“What about his background? Did you find any information about his background?” asked another officer, Royal City, casually.

He had a pile of documents in hand, also reviewing other Daoists entering the palace.

“Checked it; he comes from a small mountain village that’s completely gone. No trace of his roots can be found.” Zheng Yanqiu shook her head.

“The key issue is, this person is still an active martial officer from Tan Yang Government. His registered strength is Third Grade. Now Fourth Grade should have been promoted during this period,” she explained.

“This background shows typical forged identity tactics; when civil service promotions are too slow, many people switch to Daoism and take the path of Dao positions.

Moreover, since Great Dao Teaching doesn’t rank individuals by martial arts, promotion becomes easier.

That’s why many come here for promotion.

Zhang Ying…. Let me take a look. Local officials of this type must have additional background in the Inspection Bureau.

In the Dao Record Room, another black-faced burly man lying on a bamboo chair scratched his head.

“Speaking of which…. It seems a new spiritual emissary from Golden Wing Pavilion just recently blasted a Sea Dragon’s Merfolk, also with this name, what a coincidence, hahaha….”

The other two shook their heads.

They had heard about it too, but one was at the peak of Ninth Grade and the other was at the fourth-grade Golden Core; there’s no way they could be the same person.

A Ninth Grade at the Golden Core Stage and only thirty-five years old? Isn’t that absurd? Even if one started practicing martial arts from the womb, it wouldn’t reach this level.

Unless they are those few reincarnated Buddhas, born with Dao Bodies, outside sect Holy Sons, who might have such possibilities.

But those few are already famous worldwide and known by everyone.

“Then I’ll leave this Zhang Ying to you,” Zheng Yanqiu said solemnly.

“No worries, no worries.”

The dark-faced man stood up and walked to a corner bookshelf, carefully searching the books and pamphlets on it.

As the second-largest Daoist sect under heaven, the Ancestral Court of the Great Dao Teaching naturally had numerous secret intelligence channels.

And Eastern Sect, Western Sect, Zhenyi Sect, Celestial Lock Teaching, Sensing Sect, Black Ten Sect, etc.

All the notable forces had experts from the Inspection Bureau responsible for screening here.

To prevent ill-intentioned people from infiltrating the sect.

Of course, the Great Dao Teaching doesn’t have its own independent intelligence agency; it entirely relies on the Spirit Court’s intelligence agency for operations.

And the intelligence agency of the Spirit Court… is the government’s household register investigation, and the forces supported by the Snow Rainbow Pavilion—the Inspection Bureau.

If Golden Wing Pavilion is the sharp claws under Eastern Sect, then the Inspection Bureau is the real national secret organization monitoring the world.

The Inspection Bureau is responsible for affairs of secret sects, while the Inspection Bureau handles miscellaneous investigations.

“But going from here to Tan Yang to investigate, at least two months round trip. For now, let’s observe,” the dark-faced man said lazily.

“That works. After all, no one dares to act unruly in Dao Palace,” Zheng Yanqiu nodded knowingly.

Others might not know the horrors of Celestial Treasure Palace, but he knew very well.

In this place, let alone ordinary evil-doers, even super-grade experts or Grandmasters would find courting trouble here a dead end.

After all, for so many years, there’s never been any major incident at Celestial Treasure Palace.

*

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*

Outside Celestial Treasure Palace.

Inside a small inn in Yangshuo City.

Hongyan carefully fitted the saddle on his little mule and grabbed some beans, placed it in the feeding trough below the mule’s mouth.

“Master, Cyan Horn is dead, Second Brother is crippled, Sea Dragon King doesn’t care about us at Butcher Mountain. We did so much for them, yet we receive this kind of treatment… might as well quit.”

By the wooden pillar in the back stable, a long-haired muscular man was angrily stretching his wrist.

“It’s my oversight…” Hongyan slightly shook his head.

“They’re busy encircling Eastern Sect, dividing the spoils, and have no time for our affairs here.”

Previously, after suffering a setback, he immediately went back and mobilized some of Sea Dragon’s manpower to investigate the situation of Great Dao Teaching.

As expected, he discovered something strange about it.

In the intelligence, Great Dao Teaching was still the Daoist organization that only specializes in the Cultivation of Literature.

But for some reason, in recent years, the Spirit Court has increasingly valued this sect, continuously sending reinforcements to deploy spiritual guards and vein guardians, to protect the upper echelons of Great Dao Teaching.

“Unexpectedly, everyone thought Eastern Sect was in decline and it was time for Western Sect to rise, but this Daoist sect was silently making such a big scene, intending to pick peaches?”

Hongyan didn’t believe that the upper echelons of the Sea Dragon didn’t know.

Someone must have noticed.

But having personally acted once, he experienced it more deeply.

“Master, someone is using us at Butcher Mountain as a knife…” the long-haired muscular man said, furrowing his brow.

“That Zhang Ying has the identity of Golden Wing Pavilion, and superficially has the identity of Great Dao Teaching. Truly tricky, but not worth continuing blindly.”

In Hongyan’s mind, his thoughts churned, and soon he figured out a solution.

“Send a few disciples, around to expose the true identity of Zhang Ying.” He said gravely.

“Expose? I understand,” the long-haired muscular man immediately understood. “This is to make Great Dao Teaching believe that Zhang Ying is an Eastern Sect plant in Celestial Treasure Palace, and let them force that guy out themselves?”

“A mere Zhang Ying is not worth worrying about. As long as Great Dao Teaching doesn’t intervene, the current Golden Wing Pavilion, Cheng Hui is already overwhelmed; several spiritual envoys killed, even the deputy pavilion master was slain by the Dragon King. Have you seen him take action?”

Eastern Sect can no longer afford them…” Hongyan said calmly.

He turned around and looked at his last disciple.

“The key is Great Dao Teaching’s attitude.

After dealing with this person, I don’t care what you do, remember, don’t cause any more trouble.

In such changing circumstances, hidden forces with other intentions like Great Dao Teaching are too many.

Eastern Sect is about to fall, and all types of sinister forces are surfacing to try and grab a share.”

“Master, anyway, you won’t die, what’s there to fear?” the long-haired muscular man said disdainfully.

Hongyan didn’t reply.

“I’m naturally not afraid, but if the Sea Dragon King has any thoughts, no one knows, just in case…”

He paused.

“Forget it, that kid hasn’t come out for quite some time, he might have sensed something. Find an opportunity, bribe some people, lure him out from within.

Once he’s out, strike with a killing blow; directly kill him. If he doesn’t come out, we will wait at most one month; if time drags on, it will surely lead to changes. We must retreat.”

Otherwise, under the crush of these great forces, the people at Butcher Mountain are no match at all.

“Alright, alright,” the long-haired man replied impatiently, nodding.

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