It was only half a month ago that I broke through to level-eight of the Qi-Gathering, and even with the aid of the concentration elixir and qi-gathering elixir that increases sensitivity to qi a thousand percent, it will take at least half a year to break through to level-nine of the Qi-Gathering.
Zhou Donghuang lounged on his bed, his head on the headboard, his thumb sticking out, and his four other fingers curled up. He rubbed his chin between his index finger and thumb as the thought swirled in his head.
And from level-nine of the Qi-Gathering to Petty Consummation of the Qi-Gathering, it will take at least roughly a year.
Even if I managed to obtain a natural treasure with good fortune that could aid my practice, it would still take almost half a year to break through to Petty Consummation of the Qi-Gathering.
Now, even if I am not far from Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering… without the aid of any natural treasures, I must attain Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering!
…
Regarding his current stage of practice, even though Zhou Donghuang had a thousand years of memories from a thousand years before, he still felt as though he was in a dream.
No wonder so many adepts in my previous life were obsessed with practicing day and night… I’ve already progressed so far, even though I don’t know the technique to practice day and night. If I knew the technique, I could have an eighty to ninety percent chance of directly attaining the Connate stage this time!
After all, she is an adept of the Primal Core stage!
At this thought, the image of the lady in the pale green gown Zhou Donghuang and the sight of her devastatingly beautiful face rose unbidden in his mind and stayed put there.
Luo Qinghan…
She said she was from the planet Tianxuan
I don’t have any impression of the planet Tianxuan, and I’m certain that it is not anywhere in the region of space near the planet of Ziyun
Neither is it in the region of space near Earth.
Nevertheless, she is only about twenty years old but has already attained the stage of Primal Core… since that planet can produce such martial talent, it is proof that it is not a small backwater planet. After I leave Ziyun, I’ll ask around, and I should be able to find out easily.
That’s right… I almost forgot, I haven’t taken care of the grizzly bear’s gall bladder!
At the thought of the grizzly bear’s gall bladder, Zhou Donghuang immediately took up a pen and paper and wrote out a long list of herbs, passing it to Fu and instructing him to purchase them all.
These herbs, together with the grizzly bear’s gall bladder, could be used to formulate a kind of elixir called “qi-increasing elixir,” which could greatly increase the strength of qi in a short period of time and sustain it for about ten breath’s time.
Increasing the strength of qi would produce an increase of over a thousand jin of strength. Besides, the qi-increasing elixir that Zhou Donghuang could formulate was different from ordinary qi-increasing elixirs because it would not have any side effects.
Ordinary qi-increasing elixirs would always have some form of side effects, and they were less effective than the qi-increasing elixir that Zhou Donghuang could formulate.
Fu delivered the herbs that night.
With the gall bladder of the level-nine demon grizzly bear, Zhou Donghuang formulated ten bottles of the qi-increasing elixir and stuffed them into his pocket, ready to use in a time of need.
…
January 11, 1229 of the Ziyun Era.
It was the day of the banquet thrown by the tycoon Tang family of the Chu royal city, and invitations had been sent to all the grand families.
Of course, although the Tang family had sent an invitation to the Chu royal family to invite the king, he could not possibly attend and would at most send someone to represent him.
Even the patriarchs of the elite tycoon families could not possibly attend the banquet, and would at most send an elder of the family instead.
After all, the Tang family was at best a superior-level tycoon family.
“This banquet thrown by the Tang family seems to be just a show to thank someone?”
“Mm. I heard that about ten days ago, the patriarch, head elder, and second elder of the Tang family entered the Lost Forest and encountered a grizzly bear which almost killed them… and was saved at the crucial moment by that person.”
“Grizzly bear? From what I know, there is only one grizzly bear in the Lost Forest, and it has already come of age and is a level-nine demon. It is a powerful demon second only to the two golden-crowned eagles in strength in the Lost Forest.”
“That’s right! It’s that grizzly bear that those Petty Consummation adepts of the Qi-Gathering claim to be unable to kill.”
“To be able to save the three Tang family members from the grizzly bear, or even if he and the three Tang family members drove the grizzly bear off together, he must be at least a level-nine adept of the Qi-Gathering.”
“If the three Tang family members had died there, the Tang family would be demoted to a grand family… receiving such kindness, it is no wonder that the Tang family would put on such a banquet to express their gratitude.”
…
Such gossip was everywhere throughout the Chu royal city.
Obviously, the tycoon Tang family that was hosting the banquet had not revealed the details but only released some general information.
For example, the person who had saved the three Tang family members was only a youth, and the grizzly bear was killed, and not just driven off as most people had guessed.
Also, that grizzly bear had been killed by the youth alone.
The patriarch of the Tang family, Tang Liunian and the two Tang family elders who had been the protagonists had only revealed these details to those closest to them and had not spread the news.
…
The main entrance of the Tang family mansion.
Because it was a dinner banquet, it was evening when guests began arriving at the main entrance of the Tang family mansion, showing their invitations before entering the mansion.
At first, the guests arrived in a trickle.
But soon, more and more guests began to arrive and even began to form a small group.
“The Shi family members are here!”
Someone in the group recognized two guests who had just gotten off their carriage and were walking towards the main entrance of the Tang family mansion. “It’s the second master of the Shi family, Shi Yan. The young man beside him is the first young master of the Shi family, Shi Yu.”
Shi Yan was a middle-aged man who was dressed in a silver robe with gold trimmings, with a determined expression and a small goatee, his eyes sparkling with energy. He looked extremely shrewd.
Shi Yu was dressed in a long grey-white robe and walking beside Shi Yan, his expression looking much better than before.
“Second Master Shi, Young Master Shi!”
The Shi family was the first tycoon family to arrive, and the people in the small group were all only members of the grand families. Seeing the two Shi family members arrive, they all stepped aside and allowed them to go to the front.
This was the power of tycoon families; even elite grand families could not match.
“The patriarch of the Wei family is here! With him is the first young master of the Wei family, Wei Hongtao. This Wei Hongtao is also the first among the young generation of the Chu royal city!”
Not long after the two Shi family members had entered, the elite grand Wei family arrived. The patriarch of the Wei family arrived in person with the first young master of the Wei family.
Obviously, the banquet hosted by the Tang family was important to the Wei family.
However, this was normal; after all, the Wei family was only a grand family and had to accommodate the Tang family in many aspects.
“Is that… the Ouyang family’s carriage?”
However, even the Shi and Wei family and members could not even begin to compete for attention with the carriage that was making its way over in the distance.
Two large characters were embroidered on the curtains of the carriage, and it caught the attention of the group of onlookers at the entrance of the Tang family mansion from far away.
Ouyang.
Obviously, it was the Ouyang family’s carriage.
There was only one Ouyang family in the Chu royal city, and that was the tycoon Ouyang family.
The Ouyang family had three level-nine adepts and almost ten level-eight adepts, and it was one of the only three elite tycoon families in the Chu royal city.
Now, the onlookers standing at the entrance of the Tang family mansion were all not from any grand family or above, but were passers-by who were there just to soak in the atmosphere.
“I wonder who from the Ouyang family is attending.”
“The patriarch of the Ouyang family will surely not come… in my opinion, it should be the head elder or third elder of the Ouyang family who is here.”
…
The Ouyang family had three level-nine adepts. They were the patriarch, head elder, and third elder of the Ouyang family.
Soon, under the gaze of the crowd, a strong and sprightly old man in a grey robe stepped out of the cabin and leaped lightly off the carriage, walking towards the Tang family mansion.
Almost immediately, someone recognized the old man. “It’s the third elder of the Ouyang family, Ouyang Zhen!”
Ouyang Zhen was one of the only three level-nine adepts that the Ouyang family had, and he held an extremely high position in the Ouyang family.
Level-nine adepts, even in the entire Western Ridge of the Chu King, were people of great stature. It was not unexpected that Ouyang Zhen’s presence had attracted everyone’s attention.
“Elder Ouyang Zhen!”
Even the Tang family juniors who were guarding the main entrance were far more respectful when they saw Ouyang Zhen compared to any of the people who had already entered.
This was the power of a level-nine adept.
…
The main entrance of the Zheng family mansion.
“Hurry! Hurry!”
A middle-aged man led a gaudily dressed young lady hurriedly up a carriage that had been waiting at the main entrance, and the carriage moved off towards the Tang family mansion.
“Qiuhe, you’re too slow… the Zheng family is only an inferior-level grand family; if we are late, the Tang family will have a bad impression of us.”
In the cabin of the carriage, the middle-aged man who was the patriarch of the grand Zheng family Zheng Donglai, frowned slightly as he spoke to the young lady seated opposite him.
The young lady was his daughter, the third young mistress of the Zheng family, Zheng Qiuhe.
“Hehe… father, isn’t it just because I want to dress up to make myself a little prettier?”
Zheng Qiuhe giggled. “Didn’t you tell me last night that today the Tang family is throwing a banquet as a show of gratitude to their benefactor, who is a youth?”
Zheng Donglai was momentarily stunned but immediately laughed. “So, after all, Qiuhe, this is your intention… fine, fine, fine!”
“Qiuhe, if you can make a good impression on that youth, even if you can only be his concubine, we can look forward to the meteoric rise of our Zheng family!”
Zheng Donglai was close to a side relative to the Tang family.
Earlier, he had found out from the side relative that the benefactor that the Tang family was throwing the banquet for was only a youth who had not yet come of age.
Moreover, this youth possessed the ability to kill the grizzly bear.
Right then, Zheng Donglai realized that if this was true, that youth had to be someone of superlative caliber, and the power behind the youth could be even greater than the Valley of the Medicine Masters!
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