Chapter 0386: Ancient Garden

Chapter 0386: Ancient Garden

The banner formation Qin Yun created not only made it convenient for Yuan Yanying to water the spiritual herbs but also greatly benefited the Nine Extremes Profound Sect!

Elder Two said, "The sect leader will recover soon, and he’ll surely be thrilled! For many years, he’s been hoping that I could create such a banner formation."

"Despite all my efforts, I never managed to succeed, while Xiao Yun, who just joined our Nine Extremes Profound Sect not long ago, managed to do it. That’s amazing!"

Elder Two felt even more that taking Qin Yun as a disciple was like finding a treasure.

Qin Yun smiled and asked, "The sect leader is an alchemist. What level is he at?"

"He’s a Profound Alchemist! Many of the resources in our Nine Extremes Profound Sect were accumulated through his hard work in alchemy! We elders haven’t been much help, and that’s on us." Elder Two said with shame.

A Profound Alchemist, like a Runes Master, is extremely important to a Profound-ranked sect.

Elder Two is also at the peak of the Spirit Martial realm and is already an intermediate Runes Master, which is pretty impressive.

Yuan Yanying walked through the herb field, delighted by the flowers and plants bathed in nine-colored spiritual energy.

Suddenly, a beautiful white bird flew towards Yuan Yanying, chirping away.

Yuan Yanying held the little bird and frowned, "Elder Two, there’s a messenger pigeon outside, probably here to deliver a message!"

"Alright, I’ll grab the message from that pigeon!" Elder Two hurriedly left.

Qin Yun checked the banner formation and also taught Yuan Yanying how to use it.

After learning how to use the banner formation, Yuan Yanying went to clean up a grimy bird.

"Yanying, what’s your Martial Soul?" Qin Yun asked curiously.

"I’m not sure! My Martial Soul is just this red blob, but it allows me to cultivate strong inner energy. The Dao power is strong too, but I still don’t know what attribute it is!" Yuan Yanying shook her head.

"Is your Martial Soul why you can talk to animals?" Qin Yun asked curiously.

"Probably! My Martial Soul used to be different, but it changed." Yuan Yanying also felt a bit puzzled and nodded.

Qin Yun thought of Feng Honglan’s Hong Lan Martial Soul, which was also red.

If it’s not a common Martial Soul color, it’s considered exotic.

"Let me check!" Qin Yun placed his hand on Yuan Yanying’s abdomen and probed, quickly seeing a red Martial Soul within her Dao core.

He said, surprised, "There’s a flame aura, but it’s suppressed!"

"Really? So I could create flames?" Yuan Yanying asked with delight.

"Probably!" Qin Yun nodded.

Yuan Yanying happily laughed, "The sect leader said I have a talent for growing spiritual herbs and a special feeling for them, which makes me perfect for alchemy and medicine. But I don’t have a fire Martial Soul, which is a shame, otherwise I could learn the art of alchemy from him!"

Qin Yun thought that by using the art of soul refinement to refine a fire soul into Yuan Yanying’s body, he could fix that for her.

However, he also considered that Yuan Yanying’s Martial Soul was quite special and still in a state of growth. If we’re not careful, it could mess her up.

Elder Two returned, holding a small piece of paper, and handed it to Qin Yun, saying, "Xiao Yun, this message is for you!"

Qin Yun took it, glanced at it, and looked surprised.

Turns out, it was Hong Yan, the ninth prince of Hongwu Country, who sent the message!

Hong Yan made it into the royal-level sect, the Fire King Sect. There’s gonna be a big celebration banquet at the Hongwu Royal Palace in a month!

The Fire King Sect is also hosting a pill competition, but it’s only open to pill Xuan masters.

Hong Yan mentioned that if Wei Zhongzheng recovers, he can join the pill competition—the rewards are huge!

“We’ve got a month—think the sect leader can pull it off?” Qin Yun asked Elder Two.

“He should be fine! Gotta admit, Hong Yan’s got some serious chops to get into the Fire King Sect!” Elder Two laughed. “Usually, to get into a royal-level sect, you’ve gotta hit the fifth level of the Martial Dao realm, then compete with Xuan-level sect disciples and make the top eight to even qualify for the assessment.”

“Is there an age cap on this?” Yuan Yanying asked.

“You’ve gotta be under fifty and at least at the fifth level of the Martial Dao realm!” Elder Two smiled. “Keep pushing! If you guys make it into a royal-level sect, our Nine Extremes Xuan Sect will have some serious clout!”

“Jian Xuan Mountain’s strong because they’ve got two disciples in royal-level sects—both in the Xuan Martial realm and they got in early.”

Qin Yun heard from Hong Yan that if you join a royal-level sect, your original sect will still back you up with resources.

Since the competition’s brutal in royal-level sects, you’ll need your original sect’s support to make a name for yourself.

So, joining a royal-level sect still ties you back to your original Xuan-level sect.

“If the sect leader’s not healed by then, I’ll head to the Hongwu Royal Palace too!” Qin Yun still needs to get the Demon Beast crystal egg, and Hong Mengshu’s already got someone on it.

Elder Two nodded. “We’ll figure it out later! I’ve got stuff to do!”

He’s gotta forge weapons for the disciples and has a ton on his plate.

Meanwhile, Qin Yun hit up the Nine Extremes Xuan Sect’s library to dig up some info.

The Nine Extremes Xuan Sect’s library is pretty big—it’s in a multi-story tower.

It’s got records of Wuhuang’s history, legends, and stuff like that.

Qin Yun’s interested, but going through all those records would take forever.

He’s here to find books that’ll clear up his questions.

After wandering the first floor cluelessly, he went to find the library elder.

“Hey, old sir, ever heard of the Ancient Garden? Any idea where I can find books on it?” Qin Yun asked. He had found an Ancient Garden pass inside the pill Xuan scripture he obtained from the second bead of the Nine Sun Divine Soul.

The elder’s eyes went wide. “The Ancient Garden? That’s a scary forbidden land—it’s near the Demon Path!”

“Back in the day, the big shots from Demon, Monster, and Martial Wastelands teamed up to build a thriving area with their wasteland veins, so it was full of herbs and powerful beasts.”

“But then the big shots from the three wastelands fought and wrecked it! After that, the Spirit Wasteland crew sealed it up!”

Qin Yun frowned. “Spirit Wasteland?”

The elder nodded. “Legend has it that the Nine Sun Earth has nine great wastelands! The overall weakest are Martial Wasteland, Monster Wasteland, and Beast Wasteland.”

“Above these three weakest wastelands are Spirit Wasteland and Demon Wasteland! Later, some demons from Demon Wasteland entered Beast Wasteland and occupied it, turning Beast Wasteland into Demon Beast Wasteland, also commonly known as Demon Wasteland!”

Qin Yun got it—that’s why Demon Wasteland’s crawling with Demon Beasts; it’s been taken over by demons.

Now, although he knows about the Ancient Garden, he still doesn’t know what that token is for.

"Is the Ancient Garden still around?" Qin Yun asked.

"It’s probably still there, but it’s been sealed off. What’s going on inside, though, I have no idea," the elder shook his head and smiled. "I just heard stories from the old-timers!"

"Thanks, old man!" Qin Yun expressed his gratitude and hurried back to the medicinal field.

...

Yuan Yanying was meditating in the secret chamber, and Qin Yun did not disturb her.

He went into the secret chamber too, but not to meditate. Instead, he took out the Alchemy Scripture.

"I’ve got to make some alchemy tools!" Qin Yun looked at the alchemy tool blueprints in the Alchemy Scripture and pondered.

Making medicine and alchemy needs good tools.

"If I make those tools, even Yanying could use them for medicine!" Qin Yun also recalled that a senior had once told him that alchemy and medicine-making are closely related to the Way of Odd Patterns.

Looking at the blueprints, he saw that the hard part was carving Star Runes.

"If I can pull this off, I might even become an alchemist!" Qin Yun felt a surge of excitement in his heart.

There are two main types of alchemy tools: one for refining medicinal powder and the other for refining medicinal liquid.

The ones Qin Yun saw on the blueprints were all jar-shaped.

Just toss the herbs in the jar, add some inner energy, and it’ll turn them into powder. Making liquid medicine works the same way!

"For alchemy, mix the powder and liquid into a paste, put it in the furnace, control the heat to dry it, and form it into a pill. While it’s drying and hardening, keep adding liquid, powder, or energy."

After reading up, Qin Yun got the basics of alchemy and medicine-making.

Most alchemists need Runes Masters to make their tools, and the quality of the tools determines the quality of the medicine.

"The tools you buy are probably just engraved with basic runes."

Qin Yun checked the Alchemy Scripture, which had runes like Star and Moon Runes.

"The tricky part is carving Star Runes! I’ve got to give Star Runes a shot!" Qin Yun grabbed some paper and used the Lingxi Mystic Brush to channel Blood Soul Power, carving Star Runes.

The Star Runes he carved were spiritual-level alchemy runes.

The Star Runes looked like a kid’s scribbles or chicken scratches—totally random.

It was a mess at first look!

Even advanced runes have clear patterns, so they’re easier to learn.

Star and Moon Runes are all over the place. If you show a Runes Master Bright or damaged runes, they’d probably laugh at the mess.

Not many folks in Wuhuang know Moon or Star Runes.

Previously, when Qin Yun was at the Runes Hall, the Runes Master he encountered didn’t understand Moon Runes.

Qin Yun thought Star Runes would be tough, but when he tried, they came out easy.

Unconsciously, he mastered the smooth path of drawing Star Runes.

"These spiritual-level Star Runes seem easier to master than royal-grade spiritual runes. Could it be because I’ve cultivated the Star Yang Heart Scripture?" Qin Yun suddenly thought of this.

Previously, when he passed the Runes Gate assessment, the Star Yang Heart Scripture played a significant role!

It seems that after mastering the Star Yang Heart Scripture, learning Star Runes and Moon Runes becomes much easier!

Qin Yun was thrilled and grabbed materials to start making alchemy tools.