After settling Consort Dan and
This time, however, he was not cultivating — he was refining Pine Crane Pills. The delivery of two Golden-Crowned Cloud Cranes last time had greatly alleviated the urgent shortage of raw materials.
These two Golden-Crowned Cloud Cranes were enough for Jiang Chen to refine two or three batches of Pine Crane Pills. By his conservative estimate, the output would exceed twenty-five pills and might even surpass thirty.
That would depend on his performance and mastery of the flame control.
Jiang Chen had great confidence in his alchemical abilities. Moreover, this was different from last time. His previous attempt had been his first time refining such a high-difficulty, highly technical pill since his rebirth, and his technique had not reached perfection.
Now, for his second attempt, his experience had undoubtedly improved considerably. He was confident that this time he had a far better grasp of the Pine Crane Pill refinement, and the yield would be higher as well.
Most importantly, these two Golden-Crowned Cloud Cranes were fully grown, unlike the last one, which had still been a juvenile.
As for the pine nuts of the Thousand Illusion Concealing Cloud Pine, Jiang Chen had no shortage on hand.
This time the refining took far longer than the last, because he was working on two consecutive batches.
When he opened the pill furnace and saw each Pine Crane Pill glowing with vitality — like pill-spirits ready to dance at any moment — Jiang Chen was filled with satisfaction.
"This time the quality of the Pine Crane Pills has improved even further. It seems I've truly grasped the essence of refining them."
He admired each and every pill, thoroughly pleased with his work.
He had originally wanted to press on and refine the Emperor Ling Pill as well. But after running the numbers, he realized the process of refining the Emperor Ling Pill would be no easier than the Pine Crane Pills.
So he decided to wait until after visiting the Moon God Cult before attempting the Emperor Ling Pill.
Of course, the other reason was that he only had two stalks of Heaven and Earth Lingyun Herb on hand. If he had a few more, he could have refined a batch of Emperor Ling Pills in advance.
"Never mind. As long as the ingredients haven't gone anywhere, alchemy can wait. Mother is enduring each day like a year at the Moon God Cult — a son cannot afford to dawdle. A true man should act with resolve. If he hesitates and looks back and forth, every opportunity will slip through his fingers."
Jiang Chen didn't want to keep the wandering Great Emperors waiting any longer. Everyone's patience had its limits.
That day, Jiang Chen received replies from
On the same day, Jiang Chen secretly summoned all the Great Emperors of Glazed King City and informed them he would be leaving for a while. He instructed them to manage Glazed King City well and not allow outside enemies the chance to stir up trouble.
With Jiang Chen stationed in Glazed King City, virtually no one dared cause trouble. After all, when Emperor Danji of Pill Fire City had tried to start something in Glazed King City, he had ended up humiliated and slinking away in disgrace.
But if the outside world learned that Jiang Chen had left Glazed King City, someone might attempt to cause chaos in the shadows.
So Jiang Chen ordered the Great Emperors to maintain strict vigilance against any sign of disturbance.
After giving his instructions, Jiang Chen departed with his father. The only ones he brought along were the two Jiaos of Huaishan. Everyone else remained behind to guard the Young Lord's Manor.
"Gentlemen, if we all travel together, our entourage will be far too conspicuous. I suggest we split up and find a way to regroup once we enter the Crescent Moon Upper Region's territory. What do you say?"
Jiang Chen gathered all the wandering Great Emperors and proposed his travel plan.
"No objections. Traveling separately will keep us out of the spotlight."
Everyone agreed with Jiang Chen's proposal.
Jiang Chen's party departed in secrecy. Along the way, although they could sense the delicate state of affairs in the Upper Eight Domains, things were not so tense as to be paranoid.
That day, Jiang Chen's group successfully skirted around Pill Fire City's territory and entered the Crescent Moon Upper Region's domain.
One by one, the wandering Great Emperors appeared, gathering at the border.
It had not been particularly long since his last visit to the Crescent Moon Upper Region, but to Jiang Chen it felt like an eternity.
Last time, he had formed connections with people from the Moon God Cult — Third Master Jing,
However, this time Jiang Chen was here to propose a marriage on his father's behalf, so he didn't intend to engage in any elaborate pretenses.
In Frost Moon City, all the important figures Jiang Chen had invited finally gathered.
Jiang Chen immediately called everyone together and distributed his arrangements along with various specific tasks. Everyone had come to give Jiang Chen face, so they naturally followed his lead.
...
The Moon God Cult had not been having the easiest of times recently. Ever since the Third Cult Master had taken several geniuses to attend the Dragon
This gave the Grand Cult Master no end of headaches.
As the Grand Cult Master, she had to consider the interests of the entire sect. Faced with Pill Fire City's overt and covert suppression, she as the Grand Cult Master had to bear even more.
That day, the Grand Cult Master was handling sect affairs as usual.
Someone delivered a calling card: "Cult Master, outside the mountain gate, someone has sent a visiting card. It reads, 'Han Qianzhan of the Xia Yu Heavenly Sword Sect pays his respects.'"