The young man stared at the elixir in Chu Ming's hand with wide eyes. His expression was still sad, but his words were very exciting.
"Do you want to sell? Then I'll buy it!"
"..."
He said such excited words in a tone of extreme lamentation. This strange sense of inconsistency really made Chu Ming feel a little frightened. He licked his dry lips and said in confusion.
"Do you always talk like this?"
"Little friend, you don't know something."
The young man sighed again.
"My name is Xu Shuai, and I practice the Tao of Sorrow."
"Mourning?"
Seeing Chu Ming's expression that seemed to turn into a black question mark.jpg, Xu Shuai sighed with sadness on his face.
"Sorrow is one of the seven emotions. People who practice this way cannot have its corresponding emotion, which is 'joy', otherwise they will go crazy."
"When I was breaking through the foundation building, I was excited for a moment, so I refining Cha Qi with a smile!"
"..."
Chu Ming was silent for a long time after hearing this, and for a while he didn't know where to start his complaint.
Mourn?
Can this kind of emotion also serve as a path of cultivation?
Then wouldn’t depression be an excellent gift for this way of spiritual practice?
The world is so vast and full of wonders...
"That bad brother..."
"Just call me Ah Shai"
Xu Shuai sighed softly, took out a bamboo book tied with a red ribbon from his arms and handed it to Chu Ming.
"Little friend, since you are interested in Bingxuan Flower, you must be an alchemist with wood spirit roots. I have the spells that can only be practiced by wood spirit roots. How about exchanging Bingxin Pills with you?"
"Spell?"
Chu Ming was stunned for a moment, then quickly waved his hands and smiled bitterly.
"I feel ashamed to receive such a valuable thing."
Do not make jokes.
No matter how valuable the Bingxin Pill is, can it be compared with a book of spells?
That's like exchanging car keys with a paperclip!
"My little friend, the prerequisite for practicing the Seven Emotions is to have innate spiritual roots without attributes."
Xu Shuai picked up Chu Ming's right hand and placed the bamboo book in his palm, then said quietly.
"So, for me, this spell is something external that I cannot practice. I don't feel like I'm losing much in exchange for the Bingxin Pill."
"Besides, I think the cultivation of connections is the most important. My friend is an extraordinary person at first glance, and the value of making friends with you is far higher than this spell."
"..."
Xu Shuai's eyes were blazing. At this moment, he seemed to be a different person. His temperament had changed drastically, and his expression was full of confidence and arrogance.
However, this appearance did not last long before he bowed his head again, took out a tissue to wipe his tears and begged.
"I'll be honest, I just don't have any spiritual stones, but I need the Ice Heart Pill urgently, otherwise I wouldn't exchange this spell!"
You could have said no earlier!
Chu Ming couldn't help but was speechless, and he didn't make too much pretense. He took a quick look at the spell, and after confirming that there was nothing wrong with it, he gave the three-line Bingxin Pill to Xu Shuai.
"Thank you, little friend! I wonder if I can ask you your name?"
"Chu Ming"
Chu Ming quickly put away the spell, coughed a few times to suppress the excitement of taking advantage of it, and then hurriedly said goodbye.
"Since Brother Xu has nothing to do, I will leave first and say goodbye!"
…
After bidding farewell to Xu Shuai and walking into the Holy Pill Hall, Chu Ming realized that the magnificent building he had just seen at the door was just the tip of the iceberg.
The dark gray brick walls inside are covered with various landscape paintings and portraits. The soft straw mats continue along the corridor until the end of the line of sight, and then the field of vision suddenly becomes bright.
"..."
After a brief silence, noisy voices gradually filled his ears. Chu Ming looked around, as curious as Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden.
In front of him was a huge square in the palace, densely packed with alchemy furnaces with uniform shapes. Many disciples of the Tianyan Sect were sitting in front of them, seriously refining alchemy.
Surrounded by layers of stands, people sat together in small groups, commenting on the square with great interest.
Is this where the alchemist promotion assessment takes place?
Why does it feel different from what I imagined...
Chu Ming's cheeks twitched slightly, and after asking around for a while, he found the place where the fourth-level alchemist was assessed, in the northwest part of the square.
Compared with the crowds of heads in the central area, there are very few people making alchemy here, and they are all middle-aged and elderly people with white beards and bald heads.
However, there were a lot of people in the surrounding stands, and everyone seemed to be waiting for something. Until Chu Ming arrived, doubtful eyes instantly focused on him.
What is this doing?
Interrogation?
Being watched by so many people, even though Chu Ming was thick-skinned, he couldn't help but feel a little cautious in his heart. He hurriedly asked politely to the deacon of the Holy Alchemy Hall on the side.
"Hello, is the fourth-grade alchemist taking the test here?"
"?"
After hearing Chu Ming's young voice, the deacon who was registering on the desk suddenly raised his head and looked at his young face with surprise.
"Are you testing a fourth-grade alchemist?"
"yes"
"..."
As soon as these words came out, Chu Ming clearly felt that the surrounding area suddenly became quiet, and his scorching eyes kept scanning him.
Of course, there is also the deacon in front of me.
He looked up and down, left and right, carefully looking at Chu Ming, then frowned slightly, with a hint of admonishment in his low tone.
"The assessment is not a child's play. If you actively disrupt order, you will be given a demerit."
"I'm really here for the assessment."
Chu Ming sighed softly. He knew that this would definitely happen, so he quickly took out his third-grade alchemy cultivation token and Master's letter.
"This is my assessment procedure, why don't you check it?"
"..."
After the deacon took it, he glanced at the envelope and found that it was famous for being drunk after dancing at Fuyu Peak. His expression became extremely shocked, and then gradually turned solemn.
"Okay, you are allowed to take the assessment."
Afterwards, the deacon recorded Chu Ming's name in the register, led him to the Yiding Dan Furnace, and gave him three copies of Qi Condensation Powder materials.
"Refining a second-line Qi Condensing Pill and dispersing it without losing its efficacy is considered a success in the assessment. There is no time limit."
After listening to the deacon's introduction to the assessment requirements, Chu Ming took a deep breath to calm his restless mood, carefully inspected the alchemy furnace, groped for the materials with his right hand and felt it with his spiritual consciousness.
With good materials, it should work!
A flash of light flashed in Chu Ming's eyes, and with his confidence greatly increased, he immediately started to work, processing materials, igniting wood spirits, filling them in batches, and controlling souls...
The movements were done in one go and extremely skillfully. This serious look made everyone in the stands hold their breath and put away their playful mentality.
However, with just a stick of incense, Chu Ming, who was sitting cross-legged on the straw mat, suddenly opened his eyes and quickly reached into the alchemy furnace with his right hand amid the exclamations of people in the stands.
What is he going to do?
Put your hand in during alchemy?
In an instant, a strong spiritual energy surged.
"Done!"
After extinguishing the green flames in the alchemy furnace, Chu Ming breathed a sigh of relief and slowly spread his right palm.
At this moment, a round, pale white elixir lay quietly in the palm of his hand, and the three elixir lines on its surface exuded astonishing fluctuations in spiritual power.
