Chapter Thirty-Nine: Wanted

Zhou Qi hurriedly left the place, afraid that Long Chengye would come after him again. The Gate of Life and Death was a place he could not return to; it was a place of heartbreak, and perhaps he was better off not going back at all.

He wandered into a dense forest, killed a bear, took over its den, roasted its meat for food, and began to recover by absorbing spiritual stones. Earlier, he had forced himself to use the Divine Steps, exhausting all his spiritual energy. Fortunately, the tempering of his body kept him from collapsing.

It was time to seriously improve his strength, but he dared not take out the Medicine Immortal's Sanctuary. If he could cultivate inside, it would certainly be far better than this mountain cave. After circulating the Xuantian True Art for half a month, Zhou Qi finally recovered, and his cultivation reached the peak of the ninth layer of the Qi Refinement stage. At last, the True Lord of Xuantian awoke.

Upon learning of Zhou Qi's recent ordeals, the True Lord was no longer surprised. If not for Di Yi's intervention, Zhou Qi would have perished. The True Lord felt some guilt and vowed henceforth to always leave a wisp of his consciousness outside. Now with two souls, he could perform some forbidden arts, though at great cost, but that was preferable to Zhou Qi's death.

After some discussion, they agreed that Zhou Qi's chief priority now was to improve his cultivation. Wandering about was unwise. He still had a few lower-grade spiritual stones left, and there were many treasures inside the Medicine Immortal's Sanctuary, but those were all upper-grade and supreme-grade stones, even some immortal essence stones—none of which Zhou Qi could use yet.

If he used upper-grade stones to enhance his cultivation, the vast power would rupture his dantian.

He cultivated for more than another three months, exhausting all his lower-grade stones, yet he was still stuck at the peak of the ninth Qi Refinement layer. Without spiritual stones, relying on the world's spiritual energy alone, who knew how many years it would take to reach the peak of the tenth layer?

Ending his seclusion, Zhou Qi decided to find a way to earn some spiritual stones. Fortunately, he had a craft—alchemy. He lacked neither herbs nor knowledge, only experience.

He took his alchemical cauldron from the Medicine Immortal's Sanctuary and devoted himself to refining pills. He quickly gained experience making the Rejuvenation Pill, and soon he had crafted a thousand of them.

He looked over the recipes for other pills. For now, limited by his cultivation, he could only make third-grade pills at most. But for a Qi Refinement stage cultivator to sell third-grade pills was courting death. After much consideration, he decided on the Stamina Pill.

Stamina Pills were second-grade pills, divided into two types. The medium-grade could instantly restore ten points of stamina, while the high-grade could restore twenty at once.

Though cultivators relied mainly on spiritual power in combat, stamina could not be ignored, especially for those who fought up close. Stamina Pills, like Rejuvenation Pills, were popular among lower-level cultivators.

To craft them required rootgrass, blue rockwood, and vermilion bloodfruit—all of which Zhou Qi had in the Medicine Immortal's Sanctuary. After over a dozen failures, he finally succeeded. Over the next two months, his skill improved greatly. Aside from rare failures, he now succeeded in eight out of ten attempts—a rate that would amaze even professional alchemy masters.

He ultimately made a thousand Stamina Pills and decided to try to exchange them for spiritual stones.

However, going out meant risking an encounter with people from the Celestial Lovers Sect, which could be trouble. The sect might be hunting him across the land. Was Long Chengye truly convinced he was guilty, or was it all because of Long Feiyu's death? Zhou Qi couldn't guess.

The True Lord of Xuantian knew a spell to change one’s appearance, but it was too advanced for Zhou Qi to use. In the end, the True Lord modified it so Zhou Qi could wield it—though only for twenty-four hours, after which he’d need a twelve-hour cooldown before using it again.

A cooldown? Zhou Qi muttered inwardly, but something was better than nothing. The spell, called Illusory Form, would change his figure, features, and even temperament. Anyone below the Fusion stage would be unable to see through it. As long as Zhou Qi avoided those twelve cooldown hours, even Long Chengye would not recognize him face to face.

He transformed into a burly, bearded man, his cultivation now showing as the seventh layer of Qi Refinement, and swaggered toward a nearby town.

Luan Mountain City was a medium-sized city under the control of the Sword-Hiding Villa, a force on par with the Zhengyi Sect. Its strongest warrior was an elderly Nascent Soul cultivator. Its parent sect, the Immortal Sword Sect, ranked alongside the Gate of Life and Death and the Celestial Lovers Sect, and all were under the authority of the Heavenly Dao Sect.

In Luan Mountain City, cultivators and ordinary folk mingled, making for a lively atmosphere.

This was Zhou Qi’s first time seeing a great city of the human race. Hearing vendors hawking their wares, watching the bustling crowds, he felt for the first time that this was the real world. Cultivators usually trained in great sects or remote mountains, far from commoners. Only in these cities did one feel a trace of worldly dust.

He found an inn, ordered a couple of simple dishes—not out of greed, but to experience mortal life. Endless cultivation was tedious. Even high-level cultivators trained their hearts amidst the dust of the world. Zhou Qi was not such a high-level cultivator, but as a modern man, months without seeing another living soul were unbearable.

“Have you heard? They say Zhou Qi, the personal disciple of the Gate of Life and Death, killed the sect master’s son from the Celestial Lovers Sect. Now Long Chengye, the sect master, has placed a massive bounty within the Heavenly Dao Sect’s domain: five thousand lower-grade spiritual stones for information, five thousand middle-grade stones and a middle-grade spiritual artifact for capturing Zhou Qi,” someone said.

No sooner had Zhou Qi sat down than he overheard news about himself, and he pricked up his ears. Long Chengye truly would not rest until he achieved his aim.

“A disciple from the Gate of Life and Death killed the Celestial Lovers Sect master’s son? Then why aren’t the two sects at war?” another asked.

“They’re hardly at peace. It’s said they’re close to fighting. Long Chengye claims a master from the Gate of Life and Death rescued Zhou Qi and demands they hand him over. But the Gate of Life and Death has no one to surrender. If not for the Heavenly Dao Sect’s pressure, they’d have gone to war already. If Zhou Qi isn’t found soon, fighting is inevitable. The Gate of Life and Death has posted a bounty too, but nothing compared to the Celestial Lovers Sect’s,” another chimed in.

“I thought high-level cultivators were indifferent to family. Who’d have thought someone would raise such a storm over a son?” someone wondered.

“No one really knows. Rumor has it it’s related to some Immortal Sanctuary.”

Related to the Immortal Sanctuary? Could it be that Long Chengye knew I’d obtained the Medicine Immortal’s Sanctuary? Impossible. Only Jiang Yiyi could know I received its legacy, and she would never harm me, with no reason to do so.

“What a pity. They say Zhou Qi is only a seventh-layer Qi Refinement cultivator. If only I could run into him, I wouldn’t have to work so hard for spiritual stones,” a cultivator sighed.

Silently, Zhou Qi adjusted his displayed cultivation to the eighth layer of Qi Refinement.