The sky in the north darkened earlier than the south. Dusk was the same.
Night came and went quickly, because the snow did not like the sun, because the sky hated the yellow.
So the sky was soon pitch black.
But the night was not as long as longing.
Xu Qing stood in front of his tent and gazed into the night, looking in the direction of Southern Phoenix.
This place was too far away from Southern Phoenix.
"I wonder how Chen Feiyuan and Tingyu are doing. With them around, there will be no lack of offerings at Teacher's grave," Xu Qing muttered as he walked into his tent.
After sitting down cross-legged, he sighed and closed his eyes.
After a long time, his emotions calmed down and he took out the small clay bottle.
"I hope it works," Xu Qing put the small clay bottle to the side and took out the black metal skewer that had accompanied him for many years. He gently stroked it with his right hand.
He knew every bit of this metal skewer's sharpness and grasped every detail.
The teacher in the slums once said that the older a person got, the more nostalgic they became. Xu Qing felt that this was not absolute because he was not old, but he was also nostalgic.
Whether it was old people or old things, as long as they helped him, he would not forget them.
With such emotions, Xu Qing lowered his head and opened the small clay bottle. He put the black metal skewer into the bottle and sent his perception into the metal skewer to feel the changes within.
Soon, Xu Qing sensed traces of golden mist emanating from the small clay bottle.
This mist drifted and entered the black metal skewer, but more of it moved around the metal skewer, slowly nourishing it.
This process was not short. After an entire night, when the sky outside was just starting to brighten, all of the golden mist around the metal skewer had dissipated.
It had all merged into the metal skewer.
Xu Qing took out the metal skewer and carefully examined every inch of it. After he finished examining it, a happy smile appeared on Xu Qing's face.
The few cracks that had appeared on the black metal skewer were mostly repaired overnight. Most importantly, it seemed to be made of a different material than before.
It seemed to have been refined again.
The Vajra Sect's old ancestor had the right to speak on this point. So when Xu Qing summoned him, the Vajra Sect's old ancestor looked at this scene with incomparable seriousness and finally spoke with certainty.
"Master, I can feel that the material of the iron skewer is changing. Just like a cultivator's advancement, it is also advancing. If this goes on, it will transform from a treasure to a magic tool. Because it has been blessed by me before, once it becomes a magic tool, its power will not be any less than a spirit tool!
It can even be said to be a spiritual weapon, but it needs more nourishment. "
Xu Qing nodded, a thoughtful look in his eyes.
The price of this Gengjin Qi was very expensive, but being able to be bought was naturally the easiest way to obtain it. However, Xu Qing felt that the amount sold outside should not be much.
"Let's look around first. In addition, I'm going to make a trip to the Taichu Secluded Pillar to see if I can obtain this kind of Hepta Metal Qi."
Xu Qing made up his mind. He carefully put away the iron skewer and closed his eyes to meditate.
Soon, the sky was bright. Xu Qing opened his eyes and walked out of the city to search for Gengjin Qi.
Indeed, it was as he had deduced. Although it wasn't that this strange Qi from the Absolute Beginning Void Pillar wasn't for sale, the quantity was indeed very small. Xu Qing searched for an entire day and was only able to purchase three more strands.
According to his analysis, in order to complete the upgrade of the black iron skewer, he needed at least thirty strands.
With this thought in mind, as dusk approached, Xu Qing once again saw the altar on his way to the station. He saw the old man sitting cross-legged on the altar and heard him talk about the Dao of Plants.
"Night Corpse Petunia, also known as Poison Mountain Root Dove Chrysanthemum, is a plant of the Compositae family. Dove Chrysanthemum's vines and roots are woody vines.
The old voice echoed in all directions. However, the number of itinerant cultivators outside the altar was even fewer than yesterday. Today, there were only a dozen people.
Xu Qing listened for a while and silently left. This time, he paid a spirit stone before he left.
Time flew like this, and soon, half a month had passed.
During this half a month, more and more disciples from various sects and clans came to the Taichu Secluded Pillar, causing the Absolute Beginning City to become even more lively. The number of cultivators climbing the Taichu Secluded Pillar had also increased.
However, the first one was still Li Ziliang from the Taisi Immortal School. He had already reached a height of nearly eight thousand feet. The higher he climbed, the more difficult it seemed to be.
During this period, he sent three letters of challenge to the Alliance, and the one he challenged was still Xu Qing.
Xu Qing ignored him. During this period of time, apart from occasionally purchasing some Geng Metal Energy, he spent most of his time at the altar. It had become a habit for him to stop every day when he returned.
When he heard the old man begin to talk about the art of alchemy, he simply sat down by the altar and listened.
Back then, Grandmaster Bai only taught him plants and trees. He didn't teach him much about the art of alchemy. Xu Qing had learned it all by himself.
Although he had some achievements, in general, Xu Qing was still lacking in alchemy. Therefore, he listened very carefully. The peaceful days like this made Xu Qing feel as if he had returned to the scavenger camp.
At the same time, he also felt that the ordinary-looking old man had extremely high attainments in the art of alchemy. Because of many key points, Xu Qing would be enlightened with just a few words from the old man.
"The Yin-Yang Conversion Method is actually only one of its many profound alchemy techniques. So far, the human race has more than six thousand alchemy techniques."
"I don't recommend teaching these alchemy techniques, because they are only external techniques. At most, I will only teach you the Yin-Yang Conversion Method. Because of this, it is more of an application of plants and trees than an alchemy technique."
"You must remember that there are thousands of paths, and they will eventually lead to one."
"Therefore, the foundation of alchemy is the most important. You will need to figure out the appropriate technique yourself. After all, the simplest mixture is equally effective."
"And the so-called alchemy, in my opinion, is just a way to better stimulate and mix the medicinal effects of plants and trees."
"Although these methods are alchemy techniques, I hope that the human cultivators who listen to my alchemy techniques will understand the essence. Only then will they have future achievements."
Xu Qing listened to all this in a daze. For a moment, it was as if the old man in front of him had become Grandmaster Bai.
He instinctively sat up straight and remembered all this. At the same time, he gradually felt that he had a better understanding of alchemy and plants and trees.
His attainments in the art of alchemy had clearly improved, and he had a system to support it.
His foundation was built by Grandmaster Bai and was extremely solid.
His subsequent self-study gradually became chaotic. He relied on his previous foundation and his focus on the art of poison to barely maintain his alchemy system from collapsing.
And this time's learning was like removing the wheat from the chaff. It allowed Xu Qing to slowly have a direction in alchemy.
According to what Grandmaster Seven said when he brought Xu Qing to the Ghost King Mountain, Xu Qing's heart was now once again filled with a "god" that illuminated his alchemy path.
This made Xu Qing very happy. He hadn't been this happy in a long time.
That kind of increase in knowledge gave him a very fulfilling feeling, but accidents would always appear unexpectedly, interrupting Xu Qing's learning.
There was one thing he needed to deal with.
The cause of the matter was some minor conflicts. Several disciples of the Eight Sect Alliance, the Xuan You Sect, and the Seven Blood Pupils had conflicts with the Taisi Immortal School. In fact, this was more or less related to Xu Qing.
During this period of time, he had ignored the challenges of Taisi Immortal School's Li Ziliang many times, causing many rumors. These rumors naturally made the disciples of the Eight Sect Alliance uncomfortable.
Therefore, conflicts were hard to avoid.
This time, several disciples of the Xuan You Sect and the Seven Blood Pupils were detained by Taisi Immortal School's Li Ziliang, and he was very ruthless.
He also informed the Eight Sect Alliance that he wanted Xu Qing to come and apologize.
This was obviously to force Xu Qing to fight with him.
This matter spread quickly, and most of the disciples of the various sects around Taichu's Departing Pillar knew about it. They all paid attention to this matter with interest.
After all, Xu Qing's refusal to accept the challenges was obviously a cowardly behavior in the eyes of those who didn't know Xu Qing. Now that Li Ziliang had done this, they wanted to see if Xu Qing would continue to avoid the challenges.
"This is annoying." Xu Qing frowned when he heard about this. He was not annoyed by the disciples of the Eight Sect Alliance, but by Li Ziliang of the Taisi Immortal School.
Xu Qing could clearly see that Li Ziliang wanted to use him to establish his prestige and attract the attention of the sword bearers.
Li Ziliang's intention was not wrong, but detaining and forcing a fight to achieve his goal was a little too much. Once this matter was over, it meant that it was abnormal.
Xu Qing would think deeply about this abnormal matter.
For example, did Li Ziliang have some other purpose for challenging him so many times?
But no matter what the purpose was, Li Ziliang didn't seem to be ready. Therefore, Li Ziliang only wanted to force Xu Qing to accept the challenges instead of a life-and-death battle. This made Xu Qing think that Li Ziliang wanted to test his strength.
Whether it was in the slums, the scavenger camp, or the way of dealing with things that he had learned in the sect, Xu Qing only had one way to deal with such situations.
That was to not give Li Ziliang a second chance to attack. He had to kill the first time.
What he hated the most was not being able to kill after the fight. After all, according to his analysis, Li Ziliang probably had some malicious intent. Under such circumstances, hatred would definitely be formed.
If Li Ziliang could continue to grow, Xu Qing would think that it was a hidden danger.
Therefore, Xu Qing took out a jade slip and sent a message to the Great Ancestor.
"Great Ancestor, killing is not allowed within the range of Taichu's Serene Pillar. Does this range refer to the entire territory or this city?"
After a long while, the Great Ancestor responded faintly.
"Kid, forget about this city. Do as you see fit."
Xu Qing nodded and cupped his fists towards the old man who was talking about plants outside the altar. He knew that the old man would not pay attention to him, because during this period of time, the old man had only been talking about plants and trees.
However, Xu Qing attached great importance to etiquette. At this moment, after he cupped his fists, his body flashed and soared into the sky. He moved as fast as lightning and directly arrived outside the city.
He hovered in midair and said, "Li Ziliang, do you accept the life-and-death battle?" As soon as his voice came out, the disciples of all sects and clans in Taichu City went into an uproar.