Chapter 1189: Jadeflame Immortal Orchid
The Nine Cauldron Alchemical Sect became the focus of attention the moment it arrived. Pavilion Lord Si also went forward to personally welcome them. As the organizer of the Grand Alchemical-cum-Medical Meet, Pavilion Lord Si felt a sense of pride for being able to get the Nine Cauldron Alchemical Sect to actually show up. He knew that, although the Myriad Immortal Pavilion was extremely rich, it was at times belittled by sects with long histories, considered as nothing more than a mere company. For the Nine Cauldron Alchemical Sect to attend the meet, it could be taken as a form of acknowledgment of the Myriad Immortal Pavilion.
A faction needed to grow and mature step by step. Similarly, a long heritage needed time to accumulate. Perhaps in the future, the Myriad Immortal Pavilion would become an empyrean or immortal sect with a deep heritage, earning the respect and admiration of others. Of course, it would need to start by being in full control of the Myriad Divine Territory.
"Skyfire Sacred Hands, I am truly honored by your appearance here and your gracious presence. I organized this Grand Alchemical-cum-Medical Meet in order to resolve Myriad City’s plague. I’ll be completely relying on Sacred Hands. In addition, I have brought some alchemists from my sect here with me, hoping to gain some pointers and advice from you." Pavilion Lord Si said as he cupped his fists.
"Pavilion Lord Si, I came to this meet in order to resolve this plague. Simultaneously, I have brought some juniors to give them some experiential training," Skyfire Sacred Hands said lightly. Soon, the members of the Nine Cauldron Alchemical Sect were led to seats of honor.
Immediately following that, a bevy of female attendants with excellent figures brought out plates of fruit, spirit food, and fine wine, placing them on the table in front of the Nine Cauldron Alchemical Sect.
The Myriad Immortal Pavilion was a rich sect, so every plate held top-grade spirit fruits or ambrosia. Such delicacies could not be afforded by ordinary warriors. Not only did these dishes have fabulous flavors, but just one meal was enough to match years of arduous cultivation.
"I never expected this Myriad Immortal Pavilion to serve an actually decent meal. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to know that this Purple Dragonfruit should not be eaten directly. Instead, it should be dabbed in Spirit Heartdew. That way, it will taste even sweeter and more fragrant. Also, it will release all the essence of Purple Dragonfruit itself which is very beneficial to the body. Nouveau riche are indeed nouveau riche. What a waste of such good items."
The red-dressed girl held a Purple Dragonfruit and shook her head while saying this to her senior brother.
Her senior brother appeared to be in his twenties. He was dressed in a long purple robe. His eyes were bright and he had straight teeth. Strangely, both of his hands had six fingers each, for a total of twelve fingers. Furthermore, all twelve of these fingers were long and slender like a woman’s.
He replied, "Junior Sister Yue’er, Purple Dragonfruit and Spirit Heartdew are rare to begin with. So how would they know to combine the two together? Just eat it silently."
After all the spirit food for the Nine Cauldron Alchemical Sect had been served, the female attendants served spirit food to the alchemists and herbalists of the other factions.
However, the quality of that spirit food was a lot worse. There were ten thousand alchemists and doctors present. It was impossible to serve everyone with top-grade spirit food as it would cost too much. Even the Myriad Immortal Pavilion could not afford it.
As such, the treatment the Nine Cauldron Alchemical Sect received stood out. The other alchemists, doctors, and even a number of relatively unknown ones were not given a seat. They ended up being drowned in the crowd.
The preferential treatment the Myriad Immortal Pavilion gave displeased many alchemists.
One such young man sat beside Yi Yun. He came from the Paradise Chapter.
Although Yi Yun was an alchemist invited by Princess White Fox, his status did not earn him any special treatment from the Myriad Immortal Pavilion. In terms of seating, he was placed with the other ordinary alchemists.
"What the heck. The Myriad Immortal Pavilion has only invited us here to play second fiddle. From the beginning, they’ve only been placing their hopes on the Nine Cauldron Alchemical Sect. We are just here to make up the numbers. How disgusting."
Upon hearing the young alchemist grumble, Yi Yun smiled. The young man looked like he had cultivated for a few centuries. An alchemist of a few hundred years old was already pretty good compared to ordinary warriors. Of course, the disguised Yi Yun looked a lot older on the surface.
"How should I address you? You don’t look familiar." The young alchemist noticed Yi Yun.
"Lin Yun." Yi Yun replied casually. He used Lin Xintong’s surname.
"So it’s Alchemist Lin. Did you come by invitation of my Paradise Chapter? My name is Zhang Xiaotian. I grew up in the Paradise Chapter."
As Zhang Xiaotian spoke, he picked up a spirit fruit and chomped on it as though he was venting his anger on the fruit. He had quite a frank character and plainly wore his emotions on his face.
In fact, among the ten thousand alchemists and herbalists present, there were many that shared the same sentiments as he.
Warriors were all proud. Alchemists and herbalists were basically warriors with special expertise, so they were even more prideful. They always enjoyed a lofty existence. Countless people would beseech their services. Even a lesser alchemist would be fawned over and desired by small sects.
They had, of course, heard of the Nine Cauldron Alchemical Sect and the Candle Cauldron Divine Territory. Indeed, both of them had a storied history in alchemy, but one cannot always trust what they hear. They must see it with their own eyes. Many of the alchemists were unconvinced and wanted to probe the supposedly high-level sect.
After a few rounds of wine, the mood became a lot more vibrant. An elder from the Guiyuan family suddenly stood up and said, "Everyone! I’m Guiyuan Zhen from the Guiyuan family. I would like to ask Pavilion Lord Si a question. You previously mentioned that you invited the masters from the Nine Cauldron Alchemical Sect to advise the young alchemists of the Myriad Immortal Pavilion. I wonder if an old person like me can be given some advice?"
The elder spoke with a slow tone which sounded humble and polite. Pavilion Lord Si nodded and naturally did not reject it. "What question do you have? Feel free to ask."
"I would like to ask Skyfire Sacred Hands: Out of all spirit herbs, there is a renowned herb known as the Jadeflame Immortal Orchid. It has many effects, and direct consumption can result in the increasing of one’s cultivation level. It would also be very beneficial to one’s physique and lifeblood. Unfortunately, trying to infuse its essence into a pill is impossible. I wonder if Skyfire Sacred Hands knows of any solutions to this problem?"
Guiyuan Zhen enunciated his words slowly with his eyes flickering. Jadeflame Immortal Orchid could not be infused into a pill because it was fire-elemental by nature. It contained an extremely volatile fire-elemental Yuan Qi which would burn the Jadeflame Immortal Orchid to ash once it made contact with alchemical flames.
But in fact, many years ago, Guiyuan Zhen had chanced upon a method of infusing Jadeflame Immortal Orchid into pills. First, he switched from fire refinement to water refinement. Secondly, he used Desolate Heaven techniques to prepare the Jadeflame Immortal Orchid ahead of time. As such, he was able to barely extract a third of the medicinal essence of the Jadeflame Immortal Orchid. Being able to accomplish this was quite an impressive feat.
Guiyuan Zhen already knew the answer. He was not seeking advice from Skyfire Sacred Hands, but sought to test him instead.
He knew that the Nine Cauldron Alchemical Sect had a deep heritage in alchemy, something that his Guiyuan family could match. However, no matter how great the Nine Cauldron Alchemical Sect was, they couldn’t be invincible in every aspect.
The Jadeflame Immortal Orchid alone had taken him a hundred years of study. He believed that no one else was more of an expert than him when it came to this herb. After all, there were so many herbs available to an alchemist. Very few people would waste so much effort on one herb.
Guiyuan Zhen only wanted to use it to take the Nine Cauldron Alchemical Sect down a notch.