Chapter 301 - 289: Miao Kefa
The lecture was still half an hour away, but the plaza was already packed with people.
The cultivators gathered in small groups, chatting idly. The topic of conversation was, naturally, related to today’s main attraction—Miao Kefa.
"If I’d known that mastering a magic skill to perfection could make you a Sect Elder, I would’ve spent more time practicing magic back in the day."
"Heh, Brother Zhang, you’re only in your early thirties. It’s not too late to start now."
"Sigh... After a long day of alchemy by the furnace, I’m too exhausted to even speak when I leave the lab. Where would I find the energy...?"
With nothing better to do, Zhao Lin focused his hearing to eavesdrop on the cultivators’ conversations. He glanced in the direction of the voices he’d just heard.
Not far ahead stood several cultivators in brown robes with the character for "Alchemy" embroidered on their chests. They were clearly alchemists from the prefecture.
’Come to think of it, I also once considered becoming an alchemist,’ Zhao Lin mused. ’That way, I could refine my own pills instead of going to great lengths to accumulate merit to exchange for them.’
But after he looked into it more deeply, he quickly dismissed the idea.
’Those who wear the finest silks are not the ones who raise the silkworms... An Alchemist getting to keep a share of the pills they refine? That’s just wishful thinking.’
The sect didn’t lack Alchemists; it lacked Spirit Grass.
Take the Foundation Establishment Pill, for example. It required over a hundred types of Spirit Grass, and more than twenty of those were rare varieties with strict age requirements. If they weren’t old enough, they simply couldn’t be used in the medicine.
It was difficult to find these Spirit Grasses in the wild, and even if you found some, you could never gather them all. Only the sect’s few ancient herb gardens, passed down for a thousand years, had a fixed annual yield.
If you became an Alchemist, you’d most likely end up as a mere pill-making tool, enduring the searing heat of the furnace day in and day out, endlessly refining low-grade pills for the daily consumption of sect cultivators or for sale in the market.
The alchemy labs had dedicated supervisors. All refined pills had to be handed over, and even the failed dregs were collected.
Thinking of sneaking a taste like a chef in the kitchen? Impossible.
Of course, the benefits for a truly skilled Alchemist were also excellent.
However, to succeed on the path of alchemy, one had to master over a dozen magic skills like herb sifting, fire control, cauldron flipping, and pill congealing.
Although Zhao Lin had the Spirit Cultivation Map to help him learn magic, he couldn’t just use all nine of its slots to practice Fire Attribute Skills.
Putting all his eggs in one basket wasn’t his style.
The alchemist who had spoken first had a large beard—it was hard to tell if it was natural or a result of being scorched by smoke and fire next to a furnace. His face was flushed red, and his beard was a tangled, curly mess.
The big-bearded man sighed and continued, "My Dust Filtering Skill reached Minor Achievement long ago. I might reach proficiency in the next couple of years. Maybe I should put in more effort and cultivate it to perfection?"
A tall, thin Alchemist standing next to him chuckled lightly. "Brother Zhang, you also graduated from the Spirit Dao Institute. Don’t you understand the principle that when practicing magic, the final stretch is the hardest?"
"Going from proficiency to major achievement takes far more time and energy than going from novice to proficiency!"
"Besides, we’re Alchemists. Even if we mastered two magic skills to perfection, we’d never become Sect Elders."
The big-bearded man was not happy to hear that. His face fell as he retorted, "What kind of reasoning is that? We’re all sect cultivators. Why can’t we Alchemists make it?"
The tall, thin cultivator shook his head. "Miao Kefa cultivates combat magic. It’s different from what we do."
The big-bearded man frowned. "Combat magic is magic. Is the magic used for alchemy not?"
The other Alchemists chimed in, "Yeah, Brother Li, aren’t you looking down on the art of alchemy by saying that?"
"Pills, talismans, artifacts, and formations—we represent one of the four great arts!"
The tall, thin cultivator said, "Miao Kefa cultivates two offensive magic skills, giving him combat power comparable to a cultivator at the mid-Foundation Establishment Realm."
The big-bearded man pursed his lips and sneered, "So what if his combat power is comparable to a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator? The sect isn’t exactly short on late-Foundation Establishment cultivators, is it?"
The tall, thin cultivator retorted, "Then how come we don’t see them becoming Sect Elders?"
The big-bearded man was struck speechless.
Now the other alchemists grew curious as well.
"Brother Li, hurry up and tell us why."
"Yeah, don’t keep us in suspense..."
The tall, thin cultivator had a black mole on the corner of his mouth with a tuft of long hair growing out of it. He stroked the long hair on his mole twice, a hint of smugness on his face.
"Miao Kefa becoming a Sect Elder... mastering a magic skill to perfection was only one part of it. More important were the great deeds he performed."
The big-bearded man asked in confusion, "What great deeds? Was it something that only a Qi Refining Realm cultivator like him could do?"
The tall, thin cultivator smiled faintly and said, "You all seem to have forgotten that there are some minor worlds that only Qi Refining Realm cultivators can enter."
"Miao Kefa entered the Yin Kui Realm and the Profound Evil Realm several times to obtain precious Spirit Grass needed for the Dragon Ascending Pill for the sect. That’s how he earned such an honor..."
At this point, the tall, thin cultivator fell silent. The other alchemists, however, had looks of sudden understanding on their faces.
Zhao Lin also understood now. ’So that’s how it is,’ he thought.
The Chenghua Sect governed nine minor worlds, referring to the nine that were heavily populated and had formed civilizations. In reality, there were many other desolate and uninhabited minor worlds within its territory.
Some minor worlds were completely empty, devoid of all life. Others were filled with Evil Qi and overrun with vicious beasts. And there were still others shrouded in yin energy, teeming with wandering souls...
Although uninhabited by people, these minor worlds were not useless. They also grew some rare flowers and exotic herbs.
Pills are formulated based on a hierarchy of ingredients. Many breakthrough pills require supplementary Spirit Grass grown in places filled with yin and evil qi.
These types of Spirit Grass were difficult to cultivate in the sect’s herb gardens.
For this reason, the sect needed to send people into the minor worlds to search for them.
But each minor world was its own domain, with Heavenly Dao Laws that were vastly different from those of the Xuanyuan Continent.
To the Celestial Dao of those places, cultivators were "foreign objects," so the suppression they faced from the Celestial Dao was extremely harsh.
The higher the cultivation level, the harsher the suppression.
When a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator entered, their Dao foundation would be eroded, which was extremely detrimental to their cultivation. If they dared to use offensive magic, the Celestial Dao would strike back with several times the force.
In some minor worlds, a Purple Mansion Realm cultivator would be struck down by Celestial Thunder the moment they entered.
Qi Refining Realm cultivators, due to their low cultivation level, faced very little suppression from the Celestial Dao. On the contrary, they were like fish in water, basically unaffected.
On the other hand, the vicious beasts and Yin Souls in the minor worlds were not restricted by the heavens and earth, and their power was often immense. An ordinary Qi Refining Realm cultivator would be walking to their death by entering.
This required that any Qi Refining Realm cultivator who entered must possess combat power far beyond their peers at the same level—and the stronger, the better. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to survive there.
For this reason, Qi Refining Realm cultivators with high combat strength had always been highly valued.
Zhao Lin’s senior from the Xingyun Sect, Lu Yuanxiu, had also relied on his formidable strength as a Martial Cultivator, surviving several life-and-death situations to accumulate enough merit to take a Foundation Establishment Pill and successfully break through.
Although Zhao Lin wanted to reach Foundation Establishment peacefully, it now seemed likely that he would have to walk the same path as Lu Yuanxiu and Miao Kefa.
After hearing the tall, thin cultivator’s words, the group of alchemists fell silent.
While they knew one or two offensive magic skills, their proficiency was only at the novice or skilled level, and these were just the mandatory skills they had learned back at the Spirit Dao Institute.
They had neglected them for many years, and it would be difficult to pick them back up now.
Seeing their expressions, the tall, thin cultivator smiled faintly and said, "Actually, there’s no need for us to be envious. Miao Kefa has performed many great deeds, but his cultivation has been stuck at the Qi Refining Eighth Layer."
"The official story is that his cultivation injured his foundation, but I find that hard to believe. I’ve heard a rumor, though, that might be closer to the truth."
The others quickly asked, "What rumor?"
"He was actually ambushed by Yin Souls in the Yin Kui Realm and suffered grievous injuries. Although he managed to escape with his life, he has been unable to recover, no matter what miraculous pills or medicines he uses."
"Otherwise, with all the merit he’s accumulated, what kind of injury couldn’t he heal?"
Upon hearing this, the alchemists’ envy subsided.
"Sigh... ’If you walk by the riverside often enough, you’re bound to get your shoes wet.’ It seems that credit isn’t easy to earn!"
"Yeah, we should just stick to our alchemy. Accumulating merit might be slow, but at least it’s safe and steady."
"Exactly. Everyone has their own path; there’s no need for us to be envious. Someone like Miao Kefa might accumulate merit quickly, but he’s in constant danger of losing his life. Besides, even if we don’t reach Foundation Establishment, we Qi Refining Cultivators can still live for over a hundred years. Why risk our lives for it?"
...
The crowd waited until the third quarter-hour of the Dragon, when Miao Kefa finally appeared and walked onto the lecture platform.