The Arrogant Immortal
Chapter 462 - 461: Eighth-Rank Alchemist

Chapter 462: Chapter 461: Eighth-Rank Alchemist

Thus, half a year passed by.

For the mighty ones at the boundary, six or seven months was but a flick of the fingers. During this period, there were no changes at the boundary, save for the occasional harassment from the Demon Clan.

Including Xie Jiuniang, who arrived with vengeance in her heart.

It seemed as though, during this time, she had put aside her grudges and settled into a very regimented routine.

Residence and the frontlines.

She was either at her residence or on the frontlines.

Lord Qiansha had personally come to see her once, and finding no signs of demonic possession, he left without a word.

Following the clues provided by Xie Jiuniang, Lord Qiansha did not blindly report the information but instead arranged for people to monitor the movements of the Demon Clan’s strong ones. After half a year, they finally found some traces.

Only then did he inform the Alliance Council.

The higher-ups in the Cultivation World took this very seriously, and had secretly changed their strategy, deploying more than ten Divinity Transformation masters to the central battlefield, positioning them at various locations to keep watch.

They could relay messages back at any moment.

Xie Jiuniang was indifferent to all of this and immersed herself in learning alchemy.

One day, the entire camp was suffused with the scent of elixirs.

"Eh, is that an Eighth-Rank Elixir?" asked an Elder from the Tianxu Sect at the camp in surprise, "Is Muhong in the camp?"

"I don’t think so, I heard he’s in closed-door cultivation."

"But this scent is surely that of an Eighth-Rank Elixir, right?"

"Let me smell, and indeed it is! Could it be that Muhong’s closed-door cultivation is a ruse, and he actually came to the camp to craft elixirs? But how come we were not informed?"

Those discussing here were all Sect Elders.

True Lord Muhong’s arrival could be concealed from the average disciples, but it was impossible to hide from them, who were always concerned about the camp’s security.

In the Law House of the Medical Cultivators,

There were more than ten disciples from the Sect’s Danfeng, who had come one after another to provide support over time. There had been no harassment from the Demon Clan in the past few days, so none of their fellow disciples had been injured.

They were gathered together, idly chatting.

And just happened to catch the scent of elixir in the air.

Someone exclaimed in surprise, "Xing Luan, your master is crafting elixirs in the camp, why didn’t he call you to assist?"

"This isn’t crafted by my master," Xing Luan denied everyone’s speculation.

When a master crafts elixirs, disciples observe by the side.

This is a rare learning opportunity for disciples.

When True Lord Muhong crafted elixirs, he would always have Xing Luan there to assist. Therefore, Xing Luan could confidently say, the Eighth-Rank Elixir is real, but the one crafting it was not Muhong.

Xing Luan’s words were like throwing a large stone onto the calm surface of a lake.

They caused quite a stir.

"Really? It’s not Elder Muhong?" a Golden Core disciple from Danfeng asked, astonished, then exclaimed in shock, "Has our Tianxu Sect produced another Eighth-Rank Pill Master? Who is it?"

"I want to know too, who is it?"

"Same question, I also want to know!"

"So curious, besides us, which other Elder secretly came to the boundary?"

Coming without showing oneself was indeed strange.

Of course, these doubts were only expressed in their minds, for they dared not speak them aloud. If heard, they might end up facing the consequence of disrespecting their elders.

Some curious individuals followed the scent of the elixir, hoping to find the person crafting it.

Unexpectedly, Lord Ying’an raised his hand and summoned a gust of wind with his technique, sweeping away the elixir scent lingering in the camp, leaving those who had come out to find the source of the scent utterly baffled.

Lord Sujin couldn’t help but chuckle upon seeing this scene, "With everyone stirred up by you like this, their curiosity will only grow."

"Let them be curious,"

Lord Ying’an said with a mischievous tone, "No matter what they guess, they’ll never figure out the origin of this elixir."

"If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe it either." Lord Sujin might appear calm now,

but the instant she smelled the eighth-rank elixir, she was shocked.

Earlier, it was said that the other party was a sixth-rank pill master.

How much time has passed since they’ve become eighth-rank?!

Lord Sujin reflected, "Advancement in alchemy has become so easy to achieve, Ying’an, why don’t you also delve into it? I remember you studied it for a while."

"Pfft—"

Lord Ying’an, who had just taken a sip of tea, spat it out, "No, thank you for having such high regard for me."

Such breakthroughs were the devil’s work; the Four Arts of Cultivators placed the greatest emphasis on talent.

Lord Ying’an happened to be one of those without a talent for alchemy; after studying for several hundred years, he still only vaguely understood it, barely managing to concoct a few fourth-grade elixirs.

Compared to a certain monstrously talented youth, it was like they were from two different worlds.

Unaware of the commotion caused by the fragrance of the elixir in the camp, Xie Jiuniang was in her quarters.

At that moment, she was taking two eighth-rank elixirs out of the alchemy furnace and placing them into a high-grade potion bottle.

"Congratulations, Master, you’ve finally become an eighth-rank alchemist!" Jian Lingyan said excitedly, "It wasn’t easy; it has been more than half a year, sob sob."

Xie Jiuniang responded with a faint hum.

That damned thing, it definitely hadn’t finished speaking.

As expected, Jian Lingyan continued with the newly acquired information, "True Lord Muhong has failed for the second time and has now given up on attempting alchemy for the third time to break through to Divinity Transformation."

"Oh."

Xie Jiuniang’s reaction was indifferent.

During this period, she fully understood how difficult it was to break through to an eighth-rank alchemist. Even with her heaven-defying abilities, plus knowing the detailed alchemy procedures, it still took her over seven months to succeed once.

In her foresight, she had failed no less than ten thousand times.

It was only by continuously summarizing her failures that she finally succeeded once.

Of course, in the process of failing, Xie Jiuniang still learned a lot, especially the knowledge that a seventh-rank alchemist lacked; she had now fully consolidated it.

Now, she was not only able to concoct seventh-rank Xuanmai Pills but success with other seventh-rank elixirs came effortlessly to her, with a success rate as high as ninety-nine percent.

She didn’t claim a hundred percent success rate because Xie Jiuniang was that modest.

At this time, Jian Lingyan asked in surprise, "How come you’re not at all curious?"

"To attempt a ninth-grade breakthrough is to fail only twice, so what?" Xie Jiuniang thought of the tens of thousands of times she failed at the eighth rank and didn’t even want to speak.

Without a way to cheat, how many Spirit Plants would be wasted?

Just from that standpoint, Xie Jiuniang was aware that her talent for alchemy fell far short of true alchemy masters like True Lord Muhong. Her greatest reliance was her precognitive ability granted by the Time Leaf.

Without that ability, the idea of her breaking through to an eighth-rank pill master in such a short period would be nothing short of fantasy.

Keep in mind that high-grade Spirit Plants are limited.

Gathering a full set of materials for an eighth or ninth-rank elixir recipe is no easy feat.

That’s why high-grade Spirit Plants can’t be supplied indiscriminately for alchemists to frivolously waste. Like True Lord Muhong, who after each attempt at concocting high-grade elixirs, had to prepare for a very long time.

And the reason for True Lord Muhong’s two failures wasn’t inadequate alchemy skills but insufficient Divine Sense.

Why is it so hard to break through to a ninth-rank alchemist?

First and foremost, the barrier of Divine Sense halts all Nascent Soul alchemists.