Chapter 70 Fragrance from the Depths of the Mountains to the City

Zuixia Tower is very popular; all the tables are full. The topic of the Thunderfire Alchemy Hall is extremely popular, and almost all the new students are talking about it.

After all, the time is fast approaching, less than half a month away, it will be over in the blink of an eye.

“I look forward to the melting of ice and snow, the thunder of spring, and the sprouting of grass and trees. This year, I, Old Zhao, am prepared to give it my all. I am already seventy-two years old, and I would have no regrets even if I died there. But if I succeed in refining my body with thunder and fire, I will be reborn!”

“May Old Zhao be reborn, baptized by the light of thunder and fire, and have another son next year.”

“That makes me want to go for it too. How many times in life can you take such a gamble? Thirty years from now, when I’m seventy-two, I’ll also walk into the Thunderfire Alchemy Hall and give it my all!”

Qin Ming then noticed that the new recruits in Zuixia Tower were mainly young adults, with some being quite old, and those under twenty like him and Wu Zheng were relatively few.

Xu Sheng said, “Most of the new students who come here are considered’self-taught,’ not members of local organizations or sects, and not nobles.”

Of course, no one who becomes a newcomer is an ordinary person. Some of the experts here are very powerful and have a strong ability to rally people. When they encounter troublesome mutated creatures, they can call on a large group of people to go into the mountains.

Then, Qin Ming asked a question he was very concerned about: “Brother Xu, what level of newcomer can enter the Thunderfire Alchemy Hall?”

Obviously, if one were to receive the sunlight there, those who have been reborn three or four times would have a greater chance of survival than those who have been reborn once or twice.

“Anyone can go in. Generally speaking, if it’s a first-time rebirth, one strike of lightning and fire in the bronze hall is enough. For those seeking a second rebirth, two strikes of lightning and fire are about enough… However, depending on your level, after taking the corresponding number of strikes of lightning and fire, do you still expect to come out alive?”

Xu Sheng explained that even if someone outside the hall helped by preparing ropes in advance to pull the person out at a critical moment, it wouldn’t be of much use. The only difference was whether the body was more intact or completely mangled; in any case, the person was already dead.

Qin Ming figured that if he went to the Thunderfire Alchemy Hall, he would have to be baptized by at least four beams of heavenly light.

Wu Zheng shook his head and said, “It seems I need to follow the example of that old man and wait until I’m seventy or eighty years old before I go.”

Xu Sheng laughed and said, “Haha, that makes sense. I’ll go when I’m a hundred.”

Qin Ming asked, “If someone can withstand the baptism of thunder and fire, can they go again next time and still have the same effect?”

“Being baptized once is already a blessing from heaven, and you want to go a second time? But now that you mention it, I do remember there really are people like that,” Xu Sheng said.

He paused for a moment, thought for a moment, and said, “Decades ago, there was a young man who survived for two years in a row. He died in the third year. He was really a bit arrogant, thinking that he could still receive that kind of ‘divine grace’. As a result, he died tragically.”

Xu Sheng explained that the young man had a very important background and an unusual physique. Most importantly, his rebirth technique originated from some extremely rare secret manual. When he reached a high level of mastery, his fists could unleash lightning.

Wu Zheng was shocked, and suddenly felt that his own ancient book on the dual skills of spear and arrow was no longer appealing.

Xu Sheng was also incredibly eager to go, saying, “That’s a rare secret manual that can cultivate special abilities, and it’s related to lightning, which is why he dared to go. How could an ordinary person possibly withstand it?”

Qin Ming was also eager to try it after hearing this. Some top-level inheritances are indeed fascinating. It is no surprise that they are all controlled by some amazing lineages and mysterious organizations.

Xu Sheng added: “A hundred years ago, there was an even more ethereal person who survived two spring thunders. He wanted to try the violent summer thunder, and finally crawled out of the Golden Palace with a wail. However, he was severely eroded by the sunlight, and his head turned red. Then his brains were thoroughly cooked.”

“Brothers, something’s happened in the mountains. A spiritual creature that has undergone five mutations has appeared at Fire Cloud Ridge. Boss Liang Yukang is leading a hunt and has already severely injured the creature. But they themselves have also suffered heavy losses, and some are on the verge of collapse. They’ve called for help, saying that anyone who finds it will get a share!”

A middle-aged man ran up to Zuixia Tower and quickly delivered this message.

“Fire Cloud Ridge, isn’t that the territory occupied by the famous bird Fire Kirin Sparrow? How dare you go to such a dangerous place!”

“I didn’t explain clearly. It’s the forest outside Fire Cloud Ridge, an area where hunting is allowed!”

“Walk!”

With a whoosh, many newcomers rushed out from Yanxia Tower. They were all tempted. Since the mutated creature had been severely injured, they could go and see what was going on, and if the opportunity was right, they would join the fray.

Xu Sheng spoke up: “Liang Yukang and his ilk have a good reputation.”

“Shall we join in the fun?” Qin Ming’s eyes gleamed with excitement.

“Xiao Qin, aren’t you in a bit too much of a hurry? You haven’t even found an inn yet, and you haven’t even put down your luggage, and you’re already rushing off to go hunting in the deep mountains?”

Although Xu Sheng said that, he was also intrigued and asked, “How many times have you been a freshman?”

“Twice,” Qin Ming replied, somewhat reserved.

Xu Sheng nodded and said, “Alright, you can stay far away and watch from there to broaden your horizons. Even if that mutated creature is about to die, you can’t get close.”

Wu Zheng was also envious, but he knew he wasn’t strong enough. As a freshman, he didn’t even have the right to watch the excitement.

A large group of people left the north gate, trudging through knee-deep snow, and quickly entered the forest in the mountains.

In the early night, Crimson City was as bright as day. As they entered the mountains and forests, some people took a moment to adjust to the darkness before speeding up their journey.

Outside Fire Cloud Ridge, a giant blue bull, its entire body wreathed in flames, was enraged and was indeed severely injured, going berserk.

“So it was this old bull. I heard that more than ten newborns have encountered it in the mountains recently and all of them died under its hooves, trampled to pieces.”

“Killing it today will be like eliminating a scourge!”

Many people say this, but none of them actually participate, wanting to wait for others to make the first move.

“This cow is so big it must weigh several thousand kilograms. There’s enough flesh and blood to go around. Let’s all go together, lest we attract other monsters!” someone shouted.

With a loud crash, an old tree that would take several people to encircle was smashed to pieces by the blue ox. Its eyes were bloodshot as it pierced through another newcomer with its horns.

“As expected of a spiritual creature, it has more than a dozen iron spears stuck in its body, yet it has not fallen, and it is getting more and more ferocious.”

“Brothers, if you make your move now, you can get a piece of the Green Ox’s flesh in no time. If you wait until it falls before you join the fray, you won’t be eligible to get a piece!” Liang Yukang shouted personally, his fine gold armor shattered, and his arm was cut by the ox’s horns with a deep wound.

Immediately, many people couldn’t hold back anymore, because the blue ox was seriously injured and might collapse at any moment.

Some threw spears, some shot arrows, and some experts tried to get close to it.

“puff!”

Qin Ming also shot an arrow from a distance, hitting the blue ox right in the corner of its eye. Although its skin was thick and its flesh was tough, the arrow did not penetrate deeply, but it was precisely its vulnerable spot, almost piercing its eyeball. It roared in pain, and blood entered its eye.

“Attack quickly! Its left eye is blurred with blood, take this opportunity to kill it!”

“Remember, this arrow was shot by my brother Xiao Qin. He’ll get an extra piece of beef later!” Xu Sheng shouted, and rushed over as well.

“puff!”

Finally, a huge bull’s head fell to the ground, personally severed by Liang Yukang. The carcass of the blue bull, weighing thousands of kilograms, crashed to the ground, causing the forest to tremble slightly, and blood stained the snow red.

Liang Yukang was panting heavily, the gleaming longsword in his hand gleaming with a terrifying light, stained with the blood of mutated creatures. Coupled with his shattered armor and disheveled hair, he was quite intimidating.

He shouted, “Brothers, line up and get your share of the meat! Everyone gets a piece, no one should grab it, or my long knife won’t just be used to cut down mutated creatures!”

“Brother Liang is really generous. There’s no need to fight over such a big ox; everyone can get a share. Brothers, be considerate.”

Instantly, the forest became lively, and everyone was happy, especially those who arrived later, who gained something without much effort.

Half an hour later, after the beef was completely divided up, some people couldn’t wait to grill a piece on the spot.

“What’s going on? The beef looks glossy and translucent, but it seems to lack vitality after being cooked. What’s going on?”

“We’ve been tricked! All the essence of this green ox is in its gallstones; Boss Liang must have secretly pocketed them!”

Where is Liang Yukang?

“He said he was feeling unwell and that his injuries were quite serious. He left half an hour ago.”

Immediately, the forest erupted in chaos as a group of people, enraged, began searching for Liang Yukang.

Everyone was swearing, including Qin Ming, who couldn’t help but curse a couple of times.

That day, a large group of people, filled with rage, cursed all the way from the mountains to the city. When they broke into Liang Yukang’s residence, they found that he had indeed not returned and had completely run away.

A group of people cursed, especially the newcomers who had entered the mountain to besiege the Green Ox from the very beginning. They were furious and all of them were seriously injured. In the end, Boss Liang swallowed the spiritual matter and escaped.

As for the few who died in the mountains, that was even more tragic.

All day long, many people in Chixia City were talking about this matter, and many people were cursing Liang Yukang for being disloyal. It turned out that all the good reputation he had built up over the past two years was for the final “pitfall”.

In the evening, the fire springs were not very active to begin with, and with everything covered by stone slabs, the brightness of the entire city immediately decreased, making it somewhat hazy.

In some areas, it was completely dark. This adjustability allowed Crimson Cloud City to have a distinction between day and night.

Qin Ming and Wu Zheng checked into an inn. He grilled his share of beef and invited Wu Zheng to taste it together.

“The taste is not bad, but that Liang Yukang is a total rip-off!” Qin Ming said.

Xu Sheng brought wine and sighed, “For a higher level of transformation and rebirth, even fathers and sons can break apart, and husbands and wives can turn against each other. Anything can happen. Be more careful in the future.”

The next day, Qin Ming went into the mountains again. This time, Xu Sheng organized the trip. He had learned from his master, an old traveling merchant, that there was a nest of white apes deep in the mountains, guarding several snow lotuses that contained rich spiritual energy.

“It’s a pity that only one plant is left; the others had already ripened and been eaten by those white apes!” Xu Sheng said regretfully.

“A spiritual substance that can give a person four lives, its value is extremely high!” The speaker was a woman with a fiery gaze; she was a friend of Xu Sheng’s who had come to speak.

“Trigger an avalanche to scare away the white apes, then we’ll quickly harvest them. This nest of white apes is very troublesome. If we fail, we’ll flee immediately and not waste any time.”

However, after they successfully scared away the nest of white apes, a gray-clad man with a veiled face appeared, snatched the crystal-clear snow lotus first, and disappeared into the mountains with incredible speed.

Xu Sheng was furious. He had set up a game as soon as he received the news, and it was about to succeed, but it was intercepted by a man in gray.

Qin Ming was also seething with anger. Although there was only one snow lotus, and he estimated that even if he got a portion, it wouldn’t be enough for him to be reborn four times, the fact that it was taken away by someone else still made him want to smash that person’s face with a hammer.

“Don’t fall into my hands, and don’t let me find out who you are!”

Even the woman couldn’t stand it and kept swearing at him the whole way.

This time, Qin Ming followed local customs and, like them, spoke fluent and foul language all the way from the mountains to the city.

He felt that making a living in Crimson Cloud City wasn’t so easy; the newcomers here were both cunning and malicious.

“Sigh, overall, I’m still not strong enough. I hope the spring thunder will sound soon!”

…

Just five or six days later, a strange sight began to appear outside the city: the ground was filled with light, and the dark forest suddenly became bright, with bursts of light raining down.

That was the underground springs reviving, beginning to emit radiant light towards the surface, nourishing all things, and the accumulated snow began to melt slowly.

Many nobles would go out of the city to enjoy the scenery. Every year at this time, the mountains and forests would be especially splendid, and the snow-covered mountains and rivers would be on full display, looking particularly magnificent in the mist and haze.

“Spring may come earlier this year,” Xu Sheng predicted.

“Brother Xu, take me to check out the Thunderfire Alchemy Hall on Crimson Cloud Mountain.” Qin Ming was preparing to scout the location in advance, as the spring thunder could arrive at any moment.

“Let’s go together. I also want to see that golden palace,” Wu Zheng said, but he soon regretted it.

Because they witnessed what a sea of ​​people looked like. After the earth began to steam, not only did the nobles in the city travel by carriage, but ordinary people also took their children out of the city.

A famous scenic spot like Chixia Mountain, with experts stationed there, is unlikely to have any outliers; it would be incredibly crowded.

Even if nobles came, it was no use. No one paid them any attention. The crowd surged, and the strange beast carriages were useless. Some noble ladies got off the carriages and walked, and were squeezed so hard that they screamed. They were in a sorry state, and even their hairpins fell off.

Qin Ming followed the crowd up the mountain, but he couldn’t see the specific beauty of the mountain; he was swept up by the flow of people.

Before he could get a good look at the various buildings on the mountaintop, he was pushed forward again. At the crucial moment, he finally managed to break free and enter the Thunderfire Alchemy Hall.

Wu Zheng looked dejected. He was someone who had gone through a freshman year, and yet he had lost one of his shoes in the crush.

He said angrily, “I didn’t even get a good look at what the Thunderfire Alchemy Hall looks like before I came in!”

“I didn’t look closely either!” Qin Ming said, standing in the Thunderfire Alchemy Hall, his mind highly focused, carefully examining the scene, and touching the walls with his hands.

“Boom!” He staggered and almost fell to the ground because he felt an incredibly intense emotional fluctuation. How could this ancient temple resonate with his spirit? He was very shocked.