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Chapter 160: The Last Alchemist, Part 1

The next day, after everyone was busy with their respective tasks, Li Xian ordered Cheng Jiming, the future air force general, to accompany him. They flew directly to the location where Ling Zhifeng had mentioned the discovery of oil, using a flying machine produced by Anyang.

Ling Zhifeng, facing the fierce wind, continuously observed and searched. The flying machine was open-air, and it was quite difficult for ordinary people to stand still.

The land receded beneath their feet, and many people who were flying for the first time shouted in joy, especially Xiao Tao, the maid next to Xia Qingqing.

Apart from Cheng Jiming and a few other soldiers and experts, there were also personnel from various departments, such as the research department, that Li Xian had reassigned. Of course, there were also two young children—Xie An and Zhao Fei.

These two little ones were almost considered half-disciples of Li Xian, especially Xie An, who had practically followed Li Xian every day to learn before Li Xian became the ruler of Anyang. As for Zhao Fei, he treated Li Xian almost like a second father.

On the small flying machine, the two children ran back and forth; to prevent accidents, they were each tied to a thick hemp rope around their waists, using it as a safety belt.

Li Xian, ignoring Xia Qingqing’s shyness, hugged her from behind and admired the scenery below. Occasionally, Ling Zhifeng turned his head to glance at these two improper individuals and muttered to himself, “It seems I’m a bit lonely…”

The distance from Anyang to their destination was expected to be no more than two hundred miles. The flying machine quickly arrived in a mountainous area. Ling Zhifeng looked around and began to point the way and search. When he had first passed by this place, he had only glanced at it briefly, and his impression was not deep.

After searching for a while, they finally found a small, silent valley. In the lush mountains, there was suddenly a barren patch, as if a scar, clearly visible.

The flying machine hovered in mid-air, and Li Xian observed from afar.

This patch of oil looked almost identical to what had been accidentally dug up at Cloud Peak Mountain—at least, Li Xian could not tell the difference. However, from the higher vantage point, things were clearer. The faint rainbow-colored light that flashed briefly in the wind made everyone sigh in awe. They all knew that it was spiritual energy; however, countless people had already proven with their lives that this spiritual energy was a beautiful bait, while the “underground foul air” could devour all life!

After observing for a while, Ling Zhifeng spoke again, urging, “Young master, let’s leave. This thing is too dangerous. Too many people have already lost their lives for this little bit of spiritual energy.”

Li Xian did not answer but continued to observe carefully. Apart from the spiritual energy, there was still grayish, barely noticeable death energy, and other unpleasant, uncomfortable auras.

Birds avoided the area from a distance, and even small animals that came near would hurry away in fear. On the rocky walls surrounding the valley, there were dark scars, and many dead animal corpses scattered around.

Suddenly, bubbles appeared in the center of this “black lake.” After the bubbles burst, numerous small black dots were scattered into the air.

Li Xian immediately ordered the flying machine to retreat and rise.

At this point, the sharp-eyed Cheng Jiming pointed to the distance, “Young master, someone is coming over there, and it looks like they’re carrying quite a lot of things!”

Li Xian looked over and indeed saw a plainly dressed person walking toward them, carrying a heavy shoulder pole, seemingly with something on it. The distance was too far, and without the ability of the Golden Core stage, Li Xian couldn’t make out the person’s appearance clearly.

The person seemed to not expect anyone to be “spying” from the sky and busily began working with caution. They familiarized themselves with the valley’s perimeter, placed the shoulder pole down, and took out a thick, clumsy “protective suit” made from unknown materials, wrapping themselves up like a bear. Then, from the shoulder pole, they took out a large iron ladle, attached it to a seven-foot-long wooden handle, and carefully entered the valley to scoop up a large amount of oil.

Afterward, the person left the valley, removed the protective suit, and surprisingly took out a bronze cauldron from the shoulder pole. They then took some bamboo charcoal and placed it beneath the bronze cauldron. Several simple formations were set up around the area using jade stones, including a spirit gathering formation, a protective formation, and a high-temperature flame formation.

He only opened the bronze cauldron lid last, pouring in about one-third of the oil. After closing the lid and starting a fire, he then performed some kind of Seven Stars and Bagua step, moving quickly. His eyes darted as he threw out some talismans, yellow papers, and so on. Finally, he sat down cross-legged, placed both hands on the bronze cauldron, and began to meditate.

This sequence of actions took about half an hour. Li Xian was left completely puzzled, “What is this?”

Ling Zhifeng seemed to be in thought, “I haven’t seen this before, but it looks like… alchemy? Is this person using oil to refine medicine?”

Xia Qingqing spoke up, “Husband, this person must be an alchemist. I’ve seen them in the royal palace.”

“Alchemist? Using oil to refine medicine?” Li Xian was sweating profusely, the idea seemed absurd.

It was Cheng Jiming who spoke up this time, “Young master, these days, there are no more rare treasures. This person is probably forced into using oil for alchemy because they had no other choice.”

“Now, even if an ordinary person gets a spirit herb, they wouldn’t dare use it for alchemy. They would eat it raw. First, because alchemists are few, and alchemy has a chance of failure; second, because they fear others might steal it.”

“The spirit herb you gave us last time, young master, we ate it raw.”

Uh… eating spirit herbs raw… Li Xian was speechless, “You didn’t boil it?”

“Boiling would cause the spiritual energy to dissipate. We can’t waste it!”

“Fine. Let’s keep watching this alchemist and see if they can succeed.”

Everyone waited in the sky, and after a while, finally something changed. The alchemy furnace suddenly trembled, and a soft wailing sound seemed to come from it.

The pre-prepared talismans the alchemist had suddenly began to circulate. Several small bolts of lightning struck the alchemy furnace, and faintly, a terrified shriek could be heard from inside the furnace. Several strands of black smoke shot out from the holes of the furnace.

These black smoke seemed to take the shape of skulls or the shadows of wild beasts, trying to attack the alchemist.

However, some yellow talisman papers nearby flashed, sealing these shadows into small orbs the size of a finger. The orbs immediately floated aimlessly in mid-air, while the alchemist calmly got up and placed them into a jade box.

Next, the alchemist did something that made Li Xian jump up in surprise. The person actually poured the refined oil out!

Then, they repeated the process. In the end, they captured several more black shadows and poured the oil out again.

After refining all the oil, and capturing around thirty or so black shadows, the person took out a small, three-inch red cauldron, throwing all the previously captured orbs into it. This time, instead of using charcoal, they held the small cauldron in both hands and used spiritual fire, created by true essence, to heat it.

The spiritual fire—this was a unique mark of a Golden Core stage expert. It’s not that all Golden Core experts have spiritual fire, but if one has spiritual fire, they must be at the Golden Core stage.

Suddenly, the small cauldron, wrapped in spiritual fire, began to slowly rise into the sky, and then… the person locked eyes with Li Xian.

However, this person seemed unconcerned, continuing to stoke the fire. Exactly at the hour of noon, the peak of Yang energy, they chanted a spell, and a golden light shot toward the small cauldron. It seemed as if an invisible force of utmost Yang and strength was gathering from the heavens and earth. About a moment later, the small cauldron shook and slowly descended. The alchemist opened the cauldron and took out a translucent bead, placing it into the jade box.

The person then looked up at Li Xian’s direction, packed up their “protective gear,” and the large and small cauldrons, discarding everything else. They lifted their carrying pole and prepared to leave.

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