285: Chapter 285 Immense Pressure

"Wood Spirit," Elder Qingmu said. "Two Wood Spirits were found; the Alchemy Hall kept one for other arrangements, and the remaining one can be given to you."

"Choose one of the two, you decide."

Su Cheng stood there, his mind racing.

The realm-breaking pill unconditionally raises a Cultivator's Realm by one minor stage, as long as they are below the Foundation Establishment Peak.

If a Middle Stage Golden Core Cultivator took this pill, they could step directly into the Late Golden Core Stage; if a Late Stage Golden Core Cultivator took it, they would reach the Golden Core Peak.

For Su Cheng, taking it would allow him to step directly into the Foundation Establishment Mid-stage, saving him three to five years of bitter cultivation.

But this was not the optimal solution.

Su Cheng's cultivation Bottleneck was not in the accumulation of Spiritual Qi, but in the conversion efficiency of the Qi of Creation and the absorption limit of his Spiritual Root.

Forcing a Breakthrough to a higher minor Realm might mean his Foundation couldn't keep up, and it would be a waste of a supreme treasure that could change the fate of a Golden Core True Person.

And the Wood Spirit...

A Wood Spirit could help a Foundation Establishment Peak Cultivator cross the chasm to the Golden Core stage.

Su Cheng couldn't use it now, but for his father Su Chengyuan and his sister Su Yunling, it could be something that changed their fates.

Then again, the realm-breaking pill would be of even greater use to his Revered Master.

Elder Qingmu was at the Middle Stage of the Golden Core; taking the realm-breaking pill would allow him to step directly into the Late Golden Core Stage.

The status of the Late Golden Core Stage within the Danding Sect was completely different from the Middle Stage; the resources he could be allocated, the Pill Formulas he could access, and the Sect decisions he could participate in would all go up a level.

If his Revered Master's status rose, Su Cheng, as his Personal Disciple, would naturally benefit as well.

Su Cheng looked up at Elder Qingmu. "Revered Master, the realm-breaking pill is of greater use to you."

Elder Qingmu's hand holding the tea paused for a moment.

"I choose the realm-breaking pill for Revered Master's use," Su Cheng said directly. "If Revered Master breaks through to the Late Golden Core Stage, your voice in the Sect will carry more weight, and it will be more convenient for me to act in the future."

Elder Qingmu set down his teacup and looked at Su Cheng for a long while.

Taking this Disciple hadn't been in vain; his mind was truly sharp. But Elder Qingmu shook his head.

"No need."

"Revered Master..."

"I said no need," Elder Qingmu's tone left no room for negotiation. "I am only over two hundred years old now. With the lifespan of a Golden Core Cultivator, I still have several hundred years to live; plenty of time to slowly grind it out. Saving those few decades of bitter cultivation with a realm-breaking pill doesn't mean much to me."

Elder Qingmu stood up and patted Su Cheng's shoulder. "I am gratified that you have this heart, my boy. But I am your Revered Master; how can I take advantage of my Disciple? What would people say if word got out?"

Su Cheng wanted to say more.

"Don't dawdle," Elder Qingmu interrupted him. "Choose the Wood Spirit; this thing is more useful to you at your current stage."

Su Cheng was silent for two breaths, then nodded. "Then I will choose the Wood Spirit."

Elder Qingmu gave an 'en'. "Fine, I'll go to the Alchemy Hall now to bring it back. Wait in your Immortal Cave; don't run off."

Su Cheng stood at the entrance of his Immortal Cave and watched his Revered Master's figure fly toward Zixiao Peak. Then he went back inside and sat down, continuing the Alchemy review he had just interrupted.

After about half an hour, the Formation outside the Immortal Cave was triggered again.

Su Cheng got up to open the door. Elder Qingmu stood outside, holding a spirit wood box about half a foot square. The walls of the box were covered with spirit-sealing Formation Inscriptions, and wood-attribute Spiritual Qi seeped through the cracks.

"Take it," Elder Qingmu handed the box over. "Keep it safe and don't let anyone see it."

Su Cheng took it with both hands and bowed in thanks.

Elder Qingmu waved his hand, didn't stay any longer, turned around, and left.

Su Cheng closed the door, walked to the stone table, and set the spirit wood box down.

The spirit-sealing Formation Inscriptions on the box walls glowed slightly at the touch of spiritual power, and the lid popped open automatically.

The box was lined with a layer of emerald-green spirit cotton, and in the center sat a palm-sized humanoid sprite.

It was entirely emerald green, its features were faintly discernible, and it was surrounded by a faint green glow. Its little head was nodding, as if it were dozing off.

Su Cheng stared at it for several breaths. This thing... was actually quite cute.

Su Cheng extended a finger and tentatively poked the Wood Spirit's head.

The Wood Spirit wobbled, its tiny emerald eyes opened a crack, glanced at Su Cheng, then closed again as it continued its nap.

"..."

Su Cheng withdrew his finger, closed the lid, and put the Wood Spirit into the deepest part of his Storage Pouch.

He would keep this thing; whoever reached the Foundation Establishment Peak first, his father or his sister, would get to use it.

As for Su Cheng himself, the uniqueness of the Qi of Creation determined that his path to the Golden Core would not follow a conventional route; a Wood Spirit might not be suitable for him.

After putting away the Wood Spirit, Su Cheng sat back down before the Pill Furnace. He transformed the wanbao mirror into its Pill Furnace form, and the Abyssal Purple Fire flickered within the furnace chamber.

There were three and a half months left until the Alchemy Hall Competition.

...

The news spread faster than Su Cheng had expected.

Early the next morning, before Su Cheng had even opened his furnace, Chen Yuan came running over.

"Junior Brother!" Chen Yuan's voice came from outside the Immortal Cave. "Did you get a Wood Spirit?"

Su Cheng opened the door and looked at his gossip-hungry Senior Brother. "The news spread that fast?"

"The whole Sect is talking about it." Chen Yuan squeezed into the Immortal Cave and familiarly poured himself a cup of spirit tea. "Twenty days ago, the Alchemy Hall and the Law Enforcement Hall jointly dispatched six Foundation Establishment Peak experts to the Monster Beast Mountain Range's Soul-Severing Ravine to slay two Foundation Establishment Peak Nether-molt Pythons, and they brought back two Wood Spirits. This kind of thing can't be hidden; someone saw Revered Master going to Zixiao Peak yesterday."

Chen Yuan took a sip of tea and lowered his voice. "Then early this morning, the Alchemy Hall released news saying that because you, Su Cheng, provided key intelligence, you were specifically rewarded with a Wood Spirit."

Su Cheng: "..."

He knew it; how could something like this possibly be kept secret?

"Senior Brother, did you come just to confirm this?"

"Of course not." Chen Yuan set down his teacup, his expression turning more serious. "I came to tell you something."

"What?"

"The Alchemy Hall just announced that the remaining Wood Spirit will be the reward for the first-place winner of the Alchemy Hall Competition."

Su Cheng was stunned for a moment.

"First place? A reward of a Wood Spirit?"

"Yes, first place." Chen Yuan nodded. "As soon as the news came out, the whole Sect went crazy. Think about it—a Wood Spirit, a heaven-and-earth sprite that can help someone at the Foundation Establishment Peak cross into the Golden Core stage. In what Sect would such a thing not be a treasure? Now they've brought it out directly as a competition reward; those older Disciples who didn't plan to compete have all emerged."

Su Cheng didn't say anything. The Wood Spirit was the reward for first place, while the spirit nurturing pill formula could be obtained by placing in the top ten.

In other words, if Su Cheng could take first place, he would not only get the spirit nurturing pill formula but also another Wood Spirit.

With two Wood Spirits in hand, both his father and sister would have one.

But first place...

"How many people have signed up now?" Su Cheng asked. The registration deadline for the Alchemy Hall Competition was three days before it began.

Chen Yuan smiled bitterly. "As of this morning, two hundred and thirty-seven people have already signed up. Among them are sixty-two Alchemy Hall Disciples, and one hundred and seventy-five from the other Peaks. And that number is still rising."

"Who should I look out for from the Alchemy Hall?"

Chen Yuan's expression became solemn. "That's the main point I wanted to tell you. Because of the stimulus of the Wood Spirit, several veteran Disciples who became famous in the Sect years ago and have been in closed-door cultivation studying the Dao of Alchemy all these years have all come out."

Chen Yuan counted them on his fingers. "There's Zhou Mingyuan from the Alchemy Hall, Foundation Establishment Peak, entered the Sect ninety-seven years ago; fifty years ago, he could already stably refine second-grade High Grade pills."

“Then there’s Lin Ruoshui, Foundation Establishment Peak, entered eighty-two years ago. She also has a Water Spirit Body, which gives her a natural bonus when refining pills.”

“And then there’s Zhao Qingshan, Foundation Establishment Peak, entered seventy-one years ago. He has a precious artifact pill furnace in his hands...”

Chen Yuan rattled off seven or eight names in one breath, each of them a veteran Disciple who had been in the Sect for decades or even a century, with profound Foundations.