Elixirs and Magical Artifacts

Chapter 21 Elixirs and Magical Artifacts

Although Mu Xuanfeng spoke politely, he was actually asking Zhou Chun to leave the Mu family.

But Zhou Chun couldn't understand what the word "please" meant, and dared not object to its "good intentions".

So, before he could even settle into the Mu family and had a chance to greet Mu Ziying, Mu Yunqing, and other Mu family cultivators with whom he had a fairly good relationship, he was personally led by Mu Xuanfeng to the Zhou family of Jiufeng Ridge.

Upon arriving at Jiufeng Ridge, Zhou Chun, a cultivator from the Zhou family, was instead left waiting outside the Zhongping Hall.

He waited for nearly half an hour before he saw Zhou Daoyi, the head of the Zhou family, escort Mu Xuanfeng out of the main hall with a smile, and then return only after seeing him off outside the mountain gate.

Upon returning to the Zhongping Hall, Zhou Daoyi summoned Zhou Chun, who was waiting outside, and brought him inside to discuss his future plans.

"Fellow Daoist Mu Xuanfeng has already told me about what happened in the Mu family. Zheng Chun, you have indeed worked hard this time. I and the family will remember your contributions to the family."

"Later, take my token to the Grand Elder at Hundred Herbs Peak to receive a bottle of Spring Sun Pill and three bottles of Beast Spirit Pills as the family's reward for your mission."

"From now on, you should stay in the family and cultivate diligently. If there are any other missions, I will summon you again."

This arrangement was not unexpected for Zhou Chun; it was a perfectly normal arrangement.

Moreover, the rewards he received were excellent, containing exactly what he needed.

He immediately bowed and thanked the clan leader, saying, "Thank you for the generous gift, clan leader."

Then he left Pagoda Peak with the token given to him by Zhou Daoyi.

Afterwards, Zhou Chun did not rush to Baiyao Peak, where the family's Grand Elder resided, to collect the pills. Instead, he returned to his residence on Baozhi Peak.

Having not returned for over a year, Zhou Chun's residence was now filled with fallen leaves and branches, and the tables and chairs were covered in a layer of dust.

Seeing this, he opened the doors and windows, made a hand seal, and used a "dust removal spell" to shake off all the dust that had fallen on the tables, chairs, and benches, which was then blown out into the courtyard by a gentle breeze.

Seeing the room now much cleaner and brighter, Zhou Chun nodded in satisfaction, closed the doors and windows again, and began to take stock of his spoils.

He opened the storage bag that Mu Xuanfeng had given him and poured out all the contents.

To Zhou Chun's surprise, there were actually quite a lot of things inside.

Besides the few magical artifacts he was interested in, there were also various items that cultivators use, such as talismans, books, spirit coins, and clothing.

This shows that Mu Xuanfeng really didn't touch anything in the storage bag.

"Indeed, given the status of the Mu family patriarch, this little bit of money is nothing to him. Why be so stingy and make a fool of himself!"

After Zhou Chun figured it out, he couldn't help but chuckle, realizing that he had been a bit petty.

He shook his head and immediately took stock of the pile of things on the ground.

Besides the magical artifacts, there were seven talismans on the ground, including five low-grade first-level talismans and two mid-grade first-level talismans.

The other books include a cultivation technique and personal cultivation notes, as well as several classic texts containing knowledge about related spiritual herbs and demonic beasts.

There are also fifty-seven spirit coins.

As for the magical artifacts, there are four in total: the bamboo leaf flying artifact that Zhou Chun had seen before, the jet-black iron shield artifact, the silver-white short sword artifact, and a black longsword artifact.

Of these four magical artifacts, the bamboo leaf flying artifact is equivalent to a mid-grade first-tier artifact, the iron shield artifact and the short sword artifact are both mid-grade first-tier artifacts, and the black longsword artifact is only a low-grade first-tier artifact.

After inspecting the magic artifacts, Zhou Chun immediately began refining three mid-grade first-tier magic artifacts.

To wield the magical artifacts used by cultivators as they wish, they must first imprint their own divine consciousness within the artifacts and refine them with their magical power.

The three magical artifacts in Zhou Chun's hands had their original owner's divine imprints erased, which should have been done by Mu Xuanfeng, the head of the Mu family. This saved him a lot of trouble.

Otherwise, with his cultivation at the seventh level of Qi Refining, it would have taken him at least several days of focused effort to erase the divine imprint of the middle-aged man in yellow.

At this point, all he needs to do is leave his own divine imprint on the artifact using the incantation for refining the artifact, and then inject his own magical power to cleanse the artifact of any remaining traces of its former owner.

In this way, it only took Zhou Chun less than two days to complete the refining of the three magical artifacts.

Zhou Chun was also very satisfied with the power of the new magical artifact.

That silver short sword was exceptionally sharp. When wielded, it could unleash a sharp sword light to kill enemies. It was difficult to withstand the sharpness of any magic weapon of equal quality.

The jet-black iron shield is even more mysterious. After being refined, it can fly around and protect the body according to the master's will. Apart from not being able to provide full-body protection, its defensive power is much greater than that of the first-tier mid-grade spell "Diamond Shield".

The key is that as long as the magical artifact is not damaged, it can be used indefinitely, while spells and talismans have a limited lifespan.

As for the flying artifact, because it was too conspicuous, Zhou Chun didn't dare to fly high into the sky to try it. He just found an open space outside the courtyard and flew around a few times, which felt very good.

This item was actually more effective for him than for any Qi Refining stage cultivator.

Other cultivators in the Qi Refining stage are worried about consuming their magical power when they are out, so they dare not use this thing to fly and travel.

However, he can meditate in the wild at will to restore his mana without worrying about mana consumption.

However, using this thing to fly and travel is indeed quite conspicuous, and Zhou Chun's current cultivation level is probably not enough to deter those bandit cultivators.

Therefore, his understanding of how to use this item was similar to that of the middle-aged man in yellow: to use it only in certain emergency situations.

After refining and testing the newly acquired magical artifact, Zhou Chun suddenly remembered that there was something he hadn't done yet, so he quickly went to do it.

He carried a stone jar filled with purifying spiritual water into the courtyard and fed half a jar of the purifying spiritual water to the rock tortoise that was sleeping next to the courtyard gate.

Interestingly, rock tortoises generally don't drink water; they rely on eating tree bark and leaves to get their water.

However, the purifying spiritual water was an exception. This water, which Zhou Chun could not taste at all, seemed to be able to taste flavors that Zhou Chun could not perceive, and it was basically indiscriminate in its consumption.

Zhou Chun was happy to see this happen.

Although, according to the research and comparison of previous cultivators, demonic beasts are not as greatly affected by the turbid evil energy as cultivators, they are still affected.

Therefore, even without cultivators feeding them various pills and spiritual items, demonic beasts that grow up in places free from turbid and evil energy are faster than those in the wild, and their temperaments are much gentler, and they are even more intelligent.

In such cases, cultivators who tame spirit pets will generally try to prevent their spirit pets from absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in the wild, so as to avoid them being tainted by turbid and evil energy.

However, demonic beasts do not have the same control over this aspect as cultivators. Even if a low-level demonic beast has a master's command, once it uses magic and consumes its magic power, it will more or less passively absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to replenish and restore its magic power. This is their bloodline innate instinct, which is difficult for them to control.

Zhou Chun's rock tortoise had fought in the wild before, and naturally absorbed the spiritual energy that was tainted by the turbid and evil energy.

Although the amount of that turbid evil energy was relatively small, he still didn't want the rock tortoise to be affected, so he gave it purifying spiritual water to remove the turbid evil energy from its body.

After ensuring that the turbid and evil energy inside the rock tortoise was completely purified, Zhou Chun patted the rock tortoise's head, which conveyed his joy and satisfaction, and then left the courtyard.

Next, it's time to go to Hundred Herbs Peak to collect the pills that clan leader Zhou Daoyi has rewarded him with.

Baiyao Peak is located twelve miles south of Baota Peak. It is a mountain with a very rich spiritual energy, second only to Baota Peak.

Compared to the other peaks of Jiufeng Ridge, the soil environment of Baiyao Peak is more suitable for planting various spiritual herbs. Therefore, after the Zhou family occupied Jiufeng Ridge, they designated this peak as the family's future spiritual herb garden and had the family's eldest elder, Zhou Mingshan, oversee the peak.

As the eldest elder of the Zhou family, Zhou Mingshan is the second oldest member of the Zhou family in terms of seniority and cultivation, second only to the Supreme Elder Zhou Mingde, and holds an extremely high position.

Moreover, he is currently the most skilled alchemist in the Zhou family, and most of the various elixirs consumed by the Zhou family's cultivators and pets are made by him.

Unfortunately, according to Zhou Chun, this elderly man from the Zhou family was nearing the end of his life and would likely pass away within ten years.

Therefore, unless it is something particularly important, the Zhou family members rarely see this elder leave Baiyao Peak.

When Zhou Chun arrived at Hundred Herbs Peak, he explained his purpose, and an alchemy apprentice who received him relayed the message to the Grand Elder Zhou Mingshan.

While waiting outside the door, he also took the opportunity to look around at the Hundred Herbs Peak.

When the medicinal herb fields were first established, Zhou Chun also came to Baiyao Peak to work and turn the soil.

Two years have passed, and the newly opened medicinal fields have been planted with medicinal herb seeds. In many fields, lush green seedlings can already be seen sprouting from the soil, and some fast-growing varieties are even more than a foot tall.

At a glance, Zhou Chun easily recognized common medicinal herbs such as ginseng, polygonatum, he shou wu, and poria.

These medicinal herbs look no different from those with the same names in ordinary people's pharmacies, but in fact they are superior spiritual seeds that have been selected and cultivated by cultivators. The mother plants are all high-quality, century-old spiritual herbs.

After growing in the medicinal field for twenty or thirty years, they can be used as medicinal herbs. If they grow for a hundred years, they become highly valuable century-old medicinal herbs.

For any long-established cultivation faction, the Spirit Herb Garden is one of its greatest treasures and one of its most important locations.

When the Three Absolutes Sect withdrew from Feng Kingdom, the Spirit Medicine Garden, which had been passed down for thousands of years, was a priority for relocation.

However, looking at the tender seedlings in the various medicinal fields on Hundred Herbs Peak, Zhou Chun knew that the rare spiritual herbs that had been transferred from the Three Absolutes Sect were probably divided up by those three forces with Golden Core cultivators in charge.

From this perspective, although the Zhou family is nominally a cultivation family that has been passed down for more than a thousand years, apart from the family's inherited beast taming techniques and some cultivation manuals, in terms of spiritual herbs and mineral resources, they are no different from a newly established family. Everything has to start from scratch and accumulate again.

(End of this chapter)