119: Chapter 119 Taking My Disciples to the Central Plains Alchemy Conference!

The emperor grade flying vessel ascended into the sky.

The hull cut through the morning mist, with pitch-black Emperor Runes flowing across its surface, their spiritual light restrained and contained.

This vessel, gifted by Jiang Taixu, was named "Tianheng." It was a thousand feet long with three decks, and its speed was double that of a Pseudo-Emperor traveling at full power.

Lu Chen stood before the helm, activating the formation runes to set the course for Holy Pill City in the Zhongtian Domain.

Ye Qingxian squatted at the bow, her twin tails fluttering backward in the wind as she looked around excitedly.

Ji Ziyue stood three paces behind Lu Chen, her purple flowing immortal dress swaying gently in the breeze, looking quite well-behaved.

Everything seemed very harmonious.

Until the vessel reached ten thousand feet in the air, a figure suddenly darted out from the clouds below.

Nangong Ziyi.

She was stepping on a spiritual sword, but compared to the emperor grade flying vessel, her speed was like a bicycle trying to chase a high-speed train.

Yet she gritted her teeth and followed for fifteen minutes, her face turning red from the exertion.

“Wait! Wait for me!”

Lu Chen glanced back, but the vessel didn't stop.

Nangong Ziyi grew anxious, raising her voice.

“Emperor Yun! If you don't stop, I'll fall from here! At the Half-step Sendai realm, I won't die, but I'll be crippled! My aunt will come to settle the score with you!”

Lu Chen's hand paused on the helm.

Three breaths later, the vessel slowed down.

Nangong Ziyi scrambled onto the deck, panting with her hands on her knees, the Fire Spirit Jade Pendant swinging at her collar.

Once she caught her breath, she looked up and flashed a bright smile at Lu Chen.

“I want to participate in the Alchemy Convention too.”

“Who let you come?”

“I did.”

Nangong Ziyi tidied her hair, patted the dust off her robes, and walked over to sit in the center of the deck with poise.

“I have the Heavenly Yin Fire God Physique, and my Alchemy talent is second to none. My aunt said before she left that I should see more of the world.”

Lu Chen stared at her for two breaths.

“When did your aunt say that?”

“Just now,” Nangong Ziyi said without blinking.

“I asked her via sound transmission.”

Lu Chen didn't bother to expose her lie.

He swept his gaze across the deck.

On the left, Ye Qingxian was squatted at the bow munching on a spiritual fruit.

In the middle, Nangong Ziyi sat cross-legged, organizing her storage ring.

On the right, Ji Ziyue stood behind him with a tea tray, a smile playing on her lips.

One was his disciple.

One was his ex-girlfriend's niece.

And one was a Pseudo-Emperor who had clung to him after being whipped a dozen times by his small leather whip.

Lu Chen closed his eyes.

[This isn't going to an Alchemy Convention; this is like taking an aircraft carrier for a royal tour with my concubines.]

---

The first day of the voyage.

Lu Chen decided to do something productive.

He set up a stone table on the deck and took out three spiritual medicines: a Rank Two Fire Spirit Grass, a Rank Three Star-Moon Orchid, and a Rank Five Blood Jade Ginseng.

“Come here.”

Ye Qingxian immediately bounced over, her large eyes shining.

“Is Revered Master going to teach me Alchemy?”

“Mhm.” Lu Chen picked up the Fire Spirit Grass and rubbed it with his fingertips. Spiritual power permeated the stem, causing the patterns on the leaves to emerge clearly.

“The first step of Alchemy isn't lighting the fire, it's identifying the medicine. Touch the third leaf of this Fire Spirit Grass and tell me how it feels.”

Ye Qingxian reached out and touched it.

“It's rough, a bit prickly.”

“That's called medicinal leakage. It means this grass was harvested at least half a year ago, and its medicinal power has begun to dissipate.”

“When refining, you must first seal the medicine with spiritual power to lock in its properties before putting it into the furnace.”

Ye Qingxian listened intently, counting on her fingers as she memorized the words.

Nangong Ziyi was sitting three yards away, her ears perked up high.

She held back for fifteen minutes.

But she couldn't help herself.

Nangong Ziyi spoke up in a casual tone.

“Fire Spirit Grass is yang in nature. Using a Heavenly Yin Fire Seed to seal the medicine only takes a breath and a half, doubling the efficiency.”

Lu Chen looked over at her.

Nangong Ziyi met his gaze and raised an eyebrow.

“My aunt taught me that. She's an emperor grade Alchemist; I still understand these basics.”

Lu Chen said nothing.

Nangong Ziyi waited for two breaths, and seeing that he didn't refute her, she grew bolder. She stood up, walked over, and sat down right next to Lu Chen.

Not across from him.

But right against him.

Her shoulder pressed against Lu Chen's arm, and half her body leaned into him.

The body temperature of the Heavenly Yin Fire God Physique was on the lower side, and a chill seeped through his robes.

“Continue your lecture, I'm just auditing.” She looked up at Lu Chen, her eyes appearing quite innocent.

Lu Chen shifted half an inch to the side.

Nangong Ziyi followed him by half an inch.

Lu Chen shifted again.

Nangong Ziyi followed again.

Ye Qingxian, watching from the opposite side, felt her lips twitch.

“Nangong Ziyi! Can you stay a bit further away from my Revered Master!”

“I'm learning,” Nangong Ziyi said righteously.

“To learn, one needs to be close to the teacher to hear clearly.”

“Are you deaf? You could hear from three yards away!”

“But I couldn't see the patterns on the medicinal herbs from three yards away.”

As Nangong Ziyi spoke, she leaned even closer to Lu Chen. The movement of her body caused the collar of her dress to open slightly, and the Fire Spirit Jade Pendant slid to one side.

Her arm naturally rested on the hand Lu Chen was using to hold the spiritual grass, her soft skin brushing against the back of his hand through her sleeve.

“Which one was the third leaf of this Fire Spirit Grass again?”

Lu Chen looked down at the arm, white as a lotus root, resting on his own.

He pulled his hand away.

“Go sit on the other side.”

Nangong Ziyi pouted but didn't move.

A faint sound of laughter came from behind.

Ji Ziyue walked over carrying a plate of washed Amethyst Grapes. She stood behind Lu Chen and placed her hands on his shoulders.

“Emperor Yun has been lecturing for half an hour; your shoulders must be sore.”

Her fingers pressed precisely onto his Jianjing Points with just the right amount of force. Her Pseudo-Emperor Seventh Level spiritual power turned into a warm current, seeping through his Meridians.

It was comfortable... but Lu Chen didn't say a word.

Ji Ziyue's hands slid down two inches, moving from his shoulders to the back of his neck.

Her fingertips gently massaged the skin at the side of his neck with tender movements, but her lips leaned close to his ear.

“Would you like some grapes? Ziyue has peeled them for you.”

She picked up an Amethyst Grape and brought it to Lu Chen's lips.

Lu Chen opened his mouth and bit into it.

Ji Ziyue's fingertips touched his lips. She didn't pull back immediately, instead brushing against the corner of his mouth before slowly retracting her hand.

Ye Qingxian watched, dumbfounded.

Nangong Ziyi's eyes flickered as she watched.

The two young girls spoke simultaneously.

“Revered Master!” “Emperor Yun!”

Lu Chen chewed the grape and stood up.

“All of you, shut up and go Cultivate.”

[Who on earth did I save in my past life to deserve this?]

---

Three days later.

Holy Pill City.

Located in the east-central part of the Zhongtian Domain, it was an ancient city built atop a ten-thousand-foot peak.

The city walls were nine hundred feet high, constructed from Saint Grade Spirit Stones and densely carved with alchemical Dao runes on every brick.

An ancient cauldron hung above the city gate, its alchemical fire burning perpetually, radiating Spiritual Qi for a thousand miles around.

The decennial Alchemy Convention was held here.

The flying vessel landed at the spiritual field outside the city.

Lu Chen concealed his aura and led the three women off the ship.

He wore the most ordinary black robes, his hair tied with a wooden hairpin and a wine gourd hanging at his waist. No matter how one looked at him, he appeared to be a down-and-out Loose Cultivator.

But with the four of them walking together, it was hard to keep a low profile.

Ye Qingxian, Nangong Ziyi, and Ji Ziyue—three women with three different charms.

One was youthful and spirited, one was cold and enchanting, and one was mature and seductive.

Wherever they passed, countless Cultivators turned their heads.

Lu Chen quickened his pace.

The registration for the convention was located at the city's main square, where long lines had already formed.

Prodigies from the younger generations of various major forces were gathered, the spiritual light from the Pill Furnaces in their storage rings faintly leaking out, filling the air with a light medicinal fragrance.

Nangong Ziyi registered under her status as a direct descendant of the "Nangong Family."

Ye Qingxian used her status jade token as a direct descendant of the "Ye Family."

When the elder in charge of registration saw the Family crests on the two identity tokens, his hands trembled as he respectfully recorded them in the register.

Lu Chen leaned against a pillar waiting, and Ye Qingxian ran back to pull on his sleeve.

“Revered Master, we're all signed up!”

“Mhm.”

“Revered Master, aren't you going to sign up too?”

“Me?” Lu Chen yawned.

“I don't even perform Alchemy.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

“Watch you guys play.”

Ye Qingxian pouted.

The crowd surged, and the atmosphere was incredibly lively.

Lu Chen's gaze swept across the square, inadvertently passing over the judges' seats on the high platform.

The judges' seats were located on a nine-layered platform to the north of the square, with twelve jade chairs lined up, several of which were already occupied.

In the central-most chair sat a person.

She wore palace robes of plain white.

Her hair was tied high, with a green jade hairpin tucked in at an angle.

Her appearance was elegant and dignified, her eyes carrying a composure that came from the accumulation of years.

She was the former Holy Mistress of the Jade Lake, the emperor grade Alchemist Yu Yao.

She had her eyes closed, her fingers resting lightly on the back of the chair, a faint fragrance surrounding her as if she were resting her spirit.

Lu Chen took a second look, then retracted his gaze.

He showed no reaction.

But at the very moment he looked away.

On the high platform, Yu Yao's eyelashes fluttered.

She opened her eyes.

The moment her Divine Sense landed on Lu Chen, it stopped.

What she saw was not his aura.

It was that wooden hairpin.

A hairpin made from a branch of the Enlightenment Tree; there was only one in the world.

Yu Yao's hand, holding a teacup, froze mid-air.

“How can it be him...”

She set down the teacup, her gaze piercing through the layers of people to lock onto the black-robed youth leaning against a pillar and yawning.

Her lips moved slightly, silently uttering a few words.

“Lu Chen, this Little Demon Pill has come to the Central Plains again!”