Chapter 610: Madam Zi Yan
These were carefree days as Li Qiye spent his time recovering and researching the Death Scripture in Shi Hao's room.
Today, he woke up early and left the room to see Shi Hao watering half of the Jadeblood Bamboo. He couldn't help but nod approvingly after seeing Shi Hao's busy and diligent figure.
Shi Hao paused his task after seeing Li Qiye and went up to give his greetings: "Good morning, Brother Li."
Li Qiye saw the boy watering the bamboo, so he said with a smile: "I see you watering this large group of bamboo three times a day. It's very rare to see someone so hardworking."
Shi Hao revealed an awkward smile and said: "I have to water them three times a day. I have to hand over a group of bamboo stalks in half a year, and they have to be above two transformations to be considered adequate. If I don't do my best, it would be too difficult to grow a bunch of them that had transformed twice."
He was not the county envoy only for the money, it was also to earn some merits. He yearned for the day he would be able to enter the county court and find an alchemist to apprentice under.
The Jadeblood Bamboo stalks were ingredients for alchemists. Although they grew in the wild, they were very rare, so most sects had to personally grow them in order to refine low-level fate pills.
The alchemic materials needed to undergo transformations, just like the stalks of these bamboos. The higher the number of transformations, the more precious it would be, but it wasn't easy for these bamboo stalks to transform.
Li Qiye looked at the fertilizing water in the big tank and asked: "You made this fertilizing liquid?"
"No." Shi Hao shook his head and replied: "I am only a newbie Junior Alchemist so how could I have the skill to make this type of fertilizing water?"
For alchemists, cultivating plants was a profound field of study. This field was vast and difficult; for example, outside of picking the right location for this type of bamboo, the fertilizing water was also very crucial.
Each sect had their own secret formulas regarding plant cultivation that were not passed onto outsiders. The majority of alchemists would not reveal their secrets.
Shi Hao was a new Junior Alchemist, so he naturally didn't know how to make fertilizing water for the bamboo.
Li Qiye sniffed the water then dipped his finger in before licking a little bit and said: "Burn Autumn Grass down to ashes then add a bit of Charred Mind Mud to it — this is only a common formula."
Shi Hao noticed that Li Qiye knew the formula after just tasting it so he startlingly asked: "Brother Li knows how to cultivate medicines?"
"Not too much." Li Qiye responded with a grin: "In the past, I had a friend who liked to keep a medicine garden. I would occasionally help him so I picked up a thing or two. However, my hobby isn't related to this field; I can't be considered knowledgeable."
"Oh, I see." Shi Hao was an honest person and Li Qiye's explanation made sense, so he didn't suspect anything at all.
He didn't know that the friend Li Qiye was referring to was the Alchemy God who created the laws for the alchemy dao. However, this trivial matter was nothing to Li Qiye. In the past, he and the Alchemy God didn't only refine unbelievable pills, they also grew countless medicinal herbs. A few soulgrasses were even created by them.
"I know a method to cultivate Jadeblood Bamboo." Li Qiye said: "Catch some Tiny Earth Scorpions and stew them completely. Afterward, gather a little excrement from a Jackal-Elephant, then burn Flowertree, Negative Goldgrass, and Wailing Bloodvine into ashes. Mix them together with a 1:30 ratio of water to create this fertilizer — it is very beneficial to Jadeblood Bamboo."
"Is… this for real?" Shi Hao was a bit doubtful after hearing Li Qiye's formula.
Li Qiye patted his shoulder and reassured him: "Don't worry, I won't mess it up for you. If you want to earn some merit, then follow my instructions. In the past when I was bored, I also planted Jadeblood Bamboo, and the effect was amazing."
After hearing this, Shi Hao quickly responded: "Okay, I'll give it a try then!"
One week later, Shi Hao ran into Li Qiye's room and couldn't speak properly due to his overwhelming excitement: "Brother Li… It was really successful! The bamboo stalks transformed within just a week. This… is… a miracle!"
"I didn't trick you, right?" Li Qiye replied with a smile.
Shi Hao excitedly rubbed his hands together and said: "It's too amazing. If it goes on like this, then I can hand over bamboo stalks that have transformed three times. I've never grown them to such a level before!"
Li Qiye smiled after seeing Shi Hao jumping around happily. Li Qiye's formula was the finest when it came to Jadeblood Bamboo. It took a while for him and the Alchemy God to come up with it, but it was still no big deal to these two.
For Li Qiye, this was an insignificant formula, but for Shi Hao, it was an incredible matter; it was capable of changing his fate!
Shi Hao hesitantly spoke while rubbing his palms together and asked: "Brother Li… Umm… Can I keep on using your formula?"
The honest Shi Hao wanted to become an alchemist, so he knew that there were some rules. For example, formulas were not to be disclosed to others without permission. Without permission from the owner or the sect, secretly giving a formula to someone else would end with a manhunt.
Li Qiye smiled and said: "It is no problem, you can keep using it. It is just for fun after all, I have no interest in growing medicines."
Shi Hao bowed to Li Qiye and said: "Thank you, Brother Li!" This had the possibility to change his life, so how could Shi Hao not be appreciative?
"We're no strangers, yeah? This is how it should be." Li Qiye said as he patted Shi Hao's shoulder.
In the following days, while Li Qiye was recovering and cultivating, Shi Hao was watching his Jadeblood Bamboo grow. He was ecstatic to see the process of them transforming.
Meanwhile, a meeting was convened by the royal lord of the Giant Bamboo Country.
The Giant Bamboo Country was not considered a big lineage in the Medicine Domain of this world, and its influence was far below the first-rate great powers.
It was once powerful back during the era of its progenitor, an expert who made many great powers came to offer their respects. At that time, it was not due to the country's power, it was because their progenitor was worthy of respect from all the sects and even the entire Nine Worlds.
The past of the Giant Bamboo Country was not recorded in detail. Future royal lords only knew that when their progenitor established the country, many sects and even imperial lineages from all over the Nine Worlds came to congratulate its founding.
Even behemoths like the Medicine Kingdom and the Jianlong Clan came to celebrate along with many other giants of the Nine Worlds.
Each time the successor royal lords read these writings, they became incredulous. The Giant Bamboo Country never produced an Immortal Emperor so it was quite strange when so many great powers came to celebrate its official creation.
It was a country of demons, and the succession process was not hereditary. After establishing his country, the Giant Bamboo Progenitor established a creed that allowed the most virtuous and talented to rule.
At this minute inside the palace of the Giant Bamboo Country, the current royal lord was Madam Zi Yan; others also referred to her as Her Majesty Zi Yan.
A woman was sitting on her throne with a violet aura and flickering shadow. Her beauty shamed even the flowers and the moon with her mature allure. However, her sensuality did not diminish her noble elegance, especially her calm and natural demeanor that accentuated her beauty even more.
This was Madam Zi Yan, the current Giant Bamboo Royal Lord. She was called madam not because she was married to someone, but because it was a title of respect. 1
She was originally a violet bamboo who finally succeeded in the dao. With a great dao foundation, she was able to take the form of a human. She was a virtuous ruler; she was both adept at strategy and adored talents. She was also very humble and benevolent.
Although she was not the oldest Demon Monarch in the country, she was loved by the other monarchs and citizens, so they choose to call her Demon King.
Keep in mind that it was not easy for a royal lord to be addressed as Demon King or Mortal King. These were titles of respect; only royal lords of the Heavenly King level carried titles such as these.
Today, she called for a meeting with all the other Demon Monarchs to discuss an important matter.
Madam Zi Yan sat on her throne, overlooking all the other demons and subjects to say: "Not long from now, the Alchemy Conference will begin. Our country will participate this time as well."
Her declaration caused these demons and subjects to look at each other. One subject stepped out to voice his concern: "Your Majesty, alchemy is not our strong point, so it is very difficult to participate. The finances are not an issue, but it won't be good if we damage our reputation."
Madam Zi Yan replied: "Victory and defeat are part of life. With lineages like the Alchemy Kingdom and the Bailian Clan participating, it isn't shameful for any other participating sects or countries to lose. This conference is very important to us as well, so we must participate." 2
One Demon Monarch pondered then asked: "Where do we go to find candidates?"
610 TeaserThese were carefree days as Li Qiye spent his time recovering and researching the Death Scripture in Shi Hao's room.
Today, he woke up early and left the room to see Shi Hao watering half the Jadeblood Bamboo. He couldn't help but nod approvingly after seeing Shi Hao's busy and diligent figure.
Shi Hao paused his task after seeing Li Qiye and went up to give his greetings: "Good morning, Brother Li."
Li Qiye saw the boy watering the bamboo, so he asked with a smile: "I see you watering this large group of bamboo three times a day. It's very rare to see someone so hardworking."
Shi Hao revealed an awkward smile and said: "I have to water them three times a day. I have to hand over a group of bamboo stalks in half a year, and they have to be above two transformations to be considered successful. If I don't do my best, it would be too hard to grow a bunch of them that had transformed twice."
[collapse] This was one of the things that doesn't translate very well. My first translation for this was Lady, but it didn't fit with this context very well, so I chose Madam. Mistress was another one I considered, but Mistress has too many other connotations that won't fit in this case. Matron was another one, but it doesn't have the marriage connotation described in the text. I think in English, most Madams are older/married, so maybe Madam is an okay choice. ↩ Bailian is Hundred Refinements Clan; Jianlong is Annihilating Dragon Clan. ↩Chapter 611: Teaching
Madam Zi Yan answered: "I have sent a message to the Qing Clan. They will represent the Giant Bamboo Country for this Alchemy Conference. However, we still need other candidates, so you all must find other young alchemists. It doesn't matter whether they are vagabond alchemists or already have a sect; as long as they are capable and willing to contribute to our country, then they will be greatly rewarded. Of course, if your lines have disciples who are willing to participate, then that will be even better."
All the subjects and demons quickly glanced at each other. Madam Zi Yan's command was easier said than done.
Although the Stone Medicine World had the most alchemists, the good ones were highly sought after no matter where they went. Those who were a bit talented would have already been snatched away by the big lineages, especially the young ones. Young alchemists were highly loved and always caused competitions for sects who wanted them to join.
Although the Giant Bamboo Country was a big country, it had no advantage over the leading ones.
Madam Zi Yan spoke: "I know this is not easy, but the conference this time is too important to our country. The Alchemy Kingdom has promised that if we do well this time, then we will have a chance."
A Demon Monarch voiced his opinion: "This is a huge matter to our country, so we monarchs will do our best to support Your Majesty to seize this chance at the conference."
The madam replied: "That would be best. Fellow Monarchs, try your best to recruit talented alchemists. We will begin our recruitment and train a group of alchemists. Even if we don't win anything this time, maybe we will have some improvement for the next one."
With her command, the subjects and monarchs agreed and immediately carried it out.
Back at the Jadeblood Mountain in Li Qiye's room.
At this time, he sealed the room with the pentagate again and took out one thing — a single stone.
To be more exact, this was the Immortal Stone that he had taken from the pond inside the Prime Ominous Grave's Water Realm. He finally found the time to take it out after so many battles.
He was quite relaxed when cultivating in this place, so he remembered this stone all of a sudden. Since it was in the middle of the pond, it surely was an amazing Immortal Item. Of course, it naturally was not a match for Lan Yunzhu's Night Era Flower.
He had researched this stone recently for a long time and finally figured out its mysteries. Li Qiye held a sharp knife and slowly carved along the runes on the stone. This Immortal Stone was initially very tough, but it became much more brittle when Li Qiye cut along the runic lines.
After going through many layers carefully, the things inside finally saw the light. They were six long swords. Each of them emitted a different color; six swords, six colors. When they hummed, different symbols appeared as well as strange images. Six swords, six different symbols.
Li Qiye was quite surprised to see this as he gently stroked them and murmured: "Although their inherent properties are not equal to the secret among secrets' Night Era Flower, with enough refinement, they are still quite promising."
Li Qiye propped up the six swords to look at them meticulously. After some time, he clearly understood their profundity. He searched inside his sea of memories before reaching a sealed recollection. He looked through it and whispered: "I have a sword art that is very compatible with these six swords; what a coincidence that it is also here in the Stone Medicine World…"
Li Qiye put away the six swords as well as the pentagate before stepping out of the room to take in a breath of fresh air. The moment he went outside, he could smell the medicinal fragrance. He followed this scent to find Shi Hao opening a cauldron in the yard.
Shi Hao quickly reported after seeing Li Qiye: "I gathered enough materials for a fate pill cauldron just in time to increase my proficiency at refinement."
Having said that, he focused on turning on the flame of the cauldron. He was only a Junior Alchemist at the entry level, so he didn't have his own method of pill refinement. His cauldron technique along with flame control were all common, so he wasn't afraid of them being stolen; he had no qualms with Li Qiye watching at the side.
Because his skill was limited, after telling Li Qiye, he didn't dare to become distracted and focused on the pill cauldron.
He was very careful, or rather, nervous to the point of trepidation. He ignited the flame and carefully refined the medicinal ingredients.
It was not that his nature was careful, but rather he had no other choice. It was not easy for him to gather enough materials for a single attempt at fate pills.
One pill cauldron required a huge batch of ingredients. Even the ingredients for a single transformation fate pill was difficult to gather for Shi Hao. Because of this, he didn't want this cauldron to be ruined. He followed a strict order and abided by the guideline step by step.
Li Qiye only shook his head while watching Shi Hao's pill refinement technique. He couldn't help but give some pointers: "Increase the intensity of the flame."
Shi Hao hesitatingly said: "But…" He was afraid that the increase in flame intensity would ruin this pill cauldron.
"Quick, right now, increase the flame intensity three-fold!" Li Qiye raised his tone. His shouting carried a compelling force, causing others to listen without resistance.
Shi Hao palpitated as he increased the flame without much further thought. The smell of medicine began to permeate the air.
Li Qiye continued on: "Very good, do not use this technique when strengthening the fire. Use reverse fire manipulation."
Shi Hao inquired immediately: "What is reverse fire manipulation?"
Li Qiye personally taught him and passed him the incantation. The incantation was quite short and Shi Hao had some talent for alchemy. After Li Qiye's explanation, Shi Hao learned it right away and used it to fuel the fire.
Li Qiye pointed out: "Very good, you made a little progress. Pill refinement is not just about fueling the fire; these cauldrons have their own life, even the weakest ones are no exceptions. You need to communicate with your cauldron…"
Shi Hao's talent at alchemy was not of the peerless level. On top that, he was just a beginner. Teaching him well was not an easy thing.
If it was someone else with the same talents and current ability, Li Qiye wouldn't give a damn. After all, it would just be a waste of his time.
However, Shi Hao saved Li Qiye and his personality wasn't bad; he was both hardworking and had a persevering attitude, so Li Qiye decided to teach Shi Hao, leading him onto the path of an alchemist.
Li Qiye didn't always refine pills like other alchemists, but his pill refinement ability was without flaw. Many alchemy standards were created by him and the Alchemy God, so he possessed the best alchemy art in this world. Moreover, he also had the Alchemy God's Grand Canon — no other inheritance from lineages could compare to this.
With a great teacher like Li Qiye, as long as Shi Hao was not overly slow-witted and could learn a little bit, his future would be very bright.
"Boom!" Shi Hao finished the cauldron and one fate pill fell into the bottle, prompting him to cheer: "Success!"
Fate pills were the hardest things to refine for alchemists; it was a test of their abilities. Afterward, he took out the fate pill and looked at the single transformation pill's color with his eyes wide open.
He couldn't believe it as he exclaimed: "This… this has twenty percent purity!"
One hundred percent was the best possible purity for pills and was signified by a particular color. However, no one was able to reach this level. Single transformation pills needed ten percent purity to take shape and only required one transformation ingredients. These lower level pills had weaker spirits as well as corresponding medicinal effects.
With these ingredients, achieving ten percent purity for single transformation pills was already not bad, but the pill in Shi Hao's hand had twenty percent purity and also had a great color.
He was extremely emotional and tried to take a calming breath. He didn't believe that this pill had been personally refined by him: "Such purity can increase a cultivator's strength at the Provisional Palace level by twenty percent."
Cultivators below the Inner Longevity realm could use one transformation fate pills. Prior to this, Shi Hao had refined pills before, but he only reached ten percent purity — this was the norm. This type of pill would allow Palace Foundation cultivators to increase their current cultivation by ten percent — a very ordinary effect. This type of fate pill was only at an introductory level and was not worth much.
But now, his new pill with fine coloring could boost a Provisional Palace cultivator's strength by twenty percent. In just a short amount of time, Shi Hao's pill refinement level had increased by two to three levels. He himself couldn't believe it!
Li Qiye looked at the pill and encouraged him: "Not bad for now, keep trying. In the future, even if it is only a one transformation pill, you can still reach thirty percent purity."
Shi Hao calmed down and slightly bowed towards Li Qiye: "Thank you, Brother Li, for teaching me this pill refinement technique."
Li Qiye raised him up and said with a smile: "I only pointed out something by chance, it is nothing. This is the reaping of your own efforts."
Shi Hao looked at him respectfully and asked: "Could Brother Li be a Grand Alchemist?"
Li Qiye chuckled and replied: "What Grand Alchemist, I only occasionally refine pills."
The path of alchemy had several classifications. From lowest to highest, they are Junior Alchemist, Grand Alchemist, Alchemy Master, Alchemy Grandmaster, Profound Alchemist, Alchemy Saint, Legendary Alchemist, and Alchemy Emperor.
Chapter 612: Void Imperfection Physique
Shi Hao couldn't help but scratch his head after hearing this and said: "I guess so, I didn't think you were an alchemist either. In the Stone Medicine World, there are very few humans and human alchemists are even rarer."
Li Qiye smiled in response. It was indeed true that there were very few humans in this place; this was a world of golems and demons.
Li Qiye handed some refined jades over to Shi Hao and said: "Go buy some more training ingredients, it will be good for you."
Shi Hao shivered while holding the refine jades in his hand. At his age, he still hadn't seen jades of such a high level. This prompted his startling response: "But…"
Li Qiye commanded: "Go. If you don't utilize this time well, then maybe I won't have time to teach you later."
Shi Hao understood that Li Qiye wanted to teach him so he gratefully bowed to him. He put away the refined jades and quickly went to the city to buy more ingredients.
Li Qiye grinned while watching Shi Hao leave. He suddenly remembered training talents back then and showing them a path. For millions of years, Li Qiye had done this many times. Many invincible alchemists and array-masters had come from Li Qiye's tutelage.
Li Qiye went back to his room while Shi Hao went to the city to shop. At this time, Li Qiye had opened thirteen palaces and no longer needed to stay in the Ancient Saint realm. This was his time to reach Heavenly Sovereign.
Everyone knew the importance of this realm; this was the grand path towards the golden throne! It was the realm where cultivators from different rivers all came together to the same ocean. At this level, following the dao of someone before them was no longer relevant. This was the time for cultivators to derive and form their own dao to pave their future path.
However, this was only true for other cultivators. For Li Qiye, this realm was no different from the other ones. With thirteen palaces, supreme profundities and grand dao mysteries were simple in his eyes.
The crux of this realm was to communicate with the grand dao and derive their mysteriousness. When Li Qiye's thirteen palaces emerged with an explosion, layers of divine rings appeared around his body.
For others, each time they derived a dao, it meant the appearance of one divine ring. The more they could derive, the more divine rings they would have which would further increase their cultivation.
However, derivations of the dao and understanding its heavenly mysticisms was not difficult to Li Qiye. He was above the heavens with his palaces, so which heavenly grand dao could challenge him?
Because of this, with a single glance, he could see through all mysteries of any dao. As he carefully focused his mind and saw through the dao, divine rings pulsed around his body.
Anyone would be shocked at this scene since countless cultivators required many years just to understand one grand dao. Even geniuses were not exempt from this rule. But now, Li Qiye was comprehending grand dao as easily as flipping his own palm while divine rings continued to stretch around his body.
How could others not be moved by this speed of comprehension? Even the most supreme geniuses couldn't exceed Li Qiye. However, this was understandable because the thirteen palaces rendered everything trivial.
He channeled a cycle of release and recalling blood energy for a while before putting away his palaces. His Life Wheel then began to create a new Inner Physique.
At this moment, Li Qiye's chest contained two Inner Physiques; one was the Hell Suppressing Inner Physique and the other was the Soaring Inner Physique. Both of them were at minor completion.
In his chest, the Hell Suppressing Inner Physique was as heavy as a mountain and as dark as night; it sat there imposingly as if nothing in this world could move it. Meanwhile, the Soaring Inner Physique emitted a pulsing immortal ray like an undulating ripple on the water's surface. Each time this Inner Physique moved, time itself was affected.
Li Qiye was not in a hurry to push these minor physiques into grand completion because this was not an easy feat. It required the empowerment of a huge amount of blood energy as well as a great cultivation. Otherwise, those who rushed for them would die from the physique tribulation.
Normally, grand completion Immortal Physique users were all Virtuous Paragons. It would be impossible without this realm's power backing them to surpass the tribulation.
Because of this, many geniuses with incredible natural physiques, such as intrinsic Saint Physiques, were able to cultivate an Immortal Physique extremely quickly. At a young age, they were able to reach a grand completion Saint Physique only to die in the end from the tribulation. The reason was very simple; although they cultivated their physique very quickly, their cultivation couldn't catch up.
At this moment, Li Qiye was creating the third Inner Physique in his chest. With the experience from creating a second one, he was very familiar with adding one more.
This third one already had an initial form created. It emitted an extremely pure light without any stains and mundane flaws. It was transcending as if someone had grown a pair of wings to become an immortal.
Anyone who saw this holy light would have all of their impure thoughts erased. Nothing in this world could taint this light.
Void Imperfection Physique — one of the twelve Immortal Physiques! In the Physique Scripture, the Void Imperfection and Soaring Physiques had the same origin; both were born from the word "Pure", the purest of pure.
Because they shared the same origin, Li Qiye was able to cultivate the Void Imperfection Physique very quickly and easily.
This extremely pure physique was untouched by myriad dao while myriad laws avoided it. It could be said that, in this world, very few merit laws could hurt this physique.
Prior to this, Li Qiye had already cultivated the Hell Suppressing and Soaring Physiques, allowing his body to become the most terrifying of weapons. Just imagine, when he successfully cultivates the Void Imperfection Physique as well, how formidable would his power be?
With a swing of his hand, three Immortal Physiques would activate all at once with devastating potency. If the opponents counterattacked with a divine saber technique, it would be useless against the untouchable Void Imperfection Physique. The shockwave of the saber wouldn't be able to get close!
If the saber technique and merit laws became useless, then even the strongest cultivator's blade slash would lose the majority of its might. Li Qiye would then unleash an extremely fast and heavy punch to destroy the divine saber and slay his foe.
Defenses were also useless against Li Qiye's three physiques since the most fortified merit law would become useless against the Void Imperfection. Therefore, Li Qiye could swiftly rush through all defenses and use his limitless momentum to kill his cowering enemies in an instant.
The Void Imperfection Physique was a good addition to the Hell Suppressing and Soaring Physiques. He would be able to avoid all merit laws and bypass all defenses and offenses, allowing the destructive power of the other two physiques to reach their maximum potential.
When facing Li Qiye's attacks, any powerful enemy would immediately activate their strongest barrier. However, what if this barrier was useless against Li Qiye? The unsuspecting enemy would then suffer the impact from the physical physiques and suffer terrible consequences!
For all of the reasons above, Li Qiye chose the Void Imperfection Physique after much deliberation to create a perfect system.
After recovering for a period of time, his wounds had nearly healed completely. Only a bit more time was required before he would be able to reach his former state. Meanwhile, he was also teaching Shi Hao how to refine pills. The boy was very hard working and didn't dare to make mistakes during Li Qiye's guidance.
Li Qiye's alchemy dao was peerless, so with only a little bit of teaching, Shi Hao already gained enough for a lifetime. With the combination of Li Qiye's teaching and his own effort, Shi Hao's pill refinement ability soared forward.
Li Qiye was very satisfied with Shi Hao's progress. He was a firm believer of effort being able to make up for insufficient talent; a lazy person would be worthless even if he was the most talented genius in the world.
Time quickly passed. Half a year went by before anyone knew it. It was also time for Shi Hao to harvest his Jadeblood Bamboo stalks.
On this day, he was digging away across the mountain and was jubilated at the sight of his bag full of stalks.
This was the best harvest he ever had since he became a county envoy. In just a short half a year, seventy percent of the bamboo transformed three times, ten percent transformed four times, and the remaining twenty percent transformed twice. This truly astounded him! In fact, even he wouldn't have believed it if he didn't dig them up with his own hands. It was virtually impossible for them to transform four times in just half a year since normally, it would require at least five to ten years!
Four transformation Jadeblood Bamboo stalks were worth a lot of money! It was something he never dared to imagine before. He would have been satisfied with two transformation stalks since it was enough for him to gain some merits. Now, his contribution would skyrocket after this new development.
He rejoiced at the fact that just a few more batches of stalks would make it easy for him to enter the county's government.
Shi Hao gathered all of the stalks then asked Li Qiye: "Brother Li, I am about to go turn in the stalks in the city. Do you want to come along?"
Li Qiye thought about it and coincidentally, he had nothing else to do so he nodded and said: "Very well, I want to take a stroll anyway. I'm about to rust from staying in the house all day."
Before leaving, Li Qiye specifically told Shi Hao: "Never tell a third person about the alchemy formula and refinement method, not even those you are close to. Otherwise, it might get you killed."
Chapter 613: Golem Race
Since Shi Hao was an honest man, Li Qiye was worried that he might accidentally tell the truth, so Li Qiye especially warned him.
Shi Hao answered: "Don't worry, Brother Li. I am an alchemist that had been accepted through an official process. I will use a True Fate Oath to never tell anyone about the formula or the refinement process."
With that, he solemnly vowed using his True Fate. He was a true alchemist who had gone through the official qualification procedure and not a haphazard one. He clearly knew the laws of alchemists, such as not passing on formulas to other parties.
The Jadeblood Mountain was not that far from the Stonetreading County, so Shi Hao walked down. He also wanted to let Li Qiye take a look at the scenery of the town.
The Stonetreading County was not a big one in the country, but it was not very remote and rather prosperous.
On a big street, one could see stones rolling and golems of all shapes and sizes. Some stones only started to roll; the majority of them came down from the mountain for the first time and watched the world with curiosity and bemusement.
This was the Stone Medicine World, the world of golems and the demon race, so pedestrians were not surprised at all to see new golems since it was a common sight.
Outside of new stones that had only recently learned how to roll, there were all shapes and types of golems. The best ones were in the shape of humans while the worst had a human head with animal bodies made out of stones. The ones who didn't progress very far were just stone animals.
Those who had part of their bodies made out of flesh and blood were powerful golems or were mixed-race offspring. Those who were completely made of flesh and blood were even rarer, and they were definitely offspring from powerful bloodlines.
In other places, golems were considered part of the demon race, but the golems themselves did not embrace this classification.
In fact, this had some logic to it because the golems naturally had life. These were stones that finally gained intelligence and achieved the dao after millions of years. In this race, the majority of them were just little pebbles that suddenly were able to sense the heaven and earth and gained their own source of life to walk in this world.
It was a common occurrence for random stones to suddenly feel the world and gain life. Of course, some golems required a long time to gain a higher degree of intelligence to the point where they transformed to have flesh and blood — a sign of their strength. There were three different types of golems: celestials, progenies, and mixed-bloods.
In the golem race, celestials were those that were pure golems and gained life from sensing the world then continuously transformed and increased in strength. These were the first generation of golems.
Progenies consisted of the offsprings from the first generation. When a golem reached a particular power level to have flesh and blood, they were able to reproduce. The first generation needed to reach a particular level to have the physical requirement needed for having offspring.
Progenies were usually born with flesh and blood and also inherited the golem race's powerful strength. They normally were considered nobles and came from great clans or great lineages. Their ancestors were all powerful existences.
Mixed-blood were the product of golems taking a shortcut to reproduce. When golems reached a certain level of strength, they were able to come together with a human or someone from a different race that was capable of reproduction. Of course, the most ideal were humans. Their offspring were called mixed-blood. Mixed-bloods had flesh and blood, but they lost the natural advantages of golems, such as their innate strength.
All three types had their own advantages and disadvantages, but the most advantageous were still second generation progenies. Celestials required a long time to sense the world and transform. There was a chance that they might die before reaching a flesh and blood form.
Because they could sense the heaven and earth, they were very close to its energy. However, this was offset due to their stone bodies; because there are no meridians, their merit laws were both limited and restricted to refining worldly energy for cultivation.
Due to this, it was a long and arduous process from when a celestial was born until that reached a powerful stage.
Progenies were the nobles among celestials, and their ancestors were already extremely powerful existences. The moment they were born, they already possessed a blood and flesh body for the most part. Moreover, they were still golem and had innate spiritual power with superb talents. They also retained natural advantages of golems, such as a strong body.
However, there was one weakness — atavism. If the offspring was not stronger than their ancestor, then atavism will occur and their natural advantages will weaken. If these progenies continued to grow weaker, then ultimately, they would cease the transformation process and revert into a stone.
Making mixed-bloods was the shortcut for reproduction, but these offspring lost the natural advantages of the golem race, and their bodies were quite weak in comparison. However, if they had a human bloodline, then their resonation with spirit energy as well as intelligence would be quite high.
All three types had their trade-offs, and no one dared to say which was the most ideal. However, it was undeniable that progenies held the greatest advantages within the golem race. The shortcoming was that these progenies required an extremely powerful ancestor of at least the Virtuous Paragon level. Therefore, among the three types of golems, progenies had the highest starting point but also the most stringent requirement. It made sense for them to become the nobles of the golem race.
As they walked along the big road towards the Stonetreading County, most of the pedestrians were mortal golems and some were cultivators. Among the golems, those who had life but haven't started to cultivate were called mortals. There was another type that consisted of descendants of previous great clans, but they stopped cultivating so they became mortals.
Outside of golems, there were demons as well. The Giant Bamboo Country was a demonic country, but very few demonic cultivators were walking on the streets full of golems. Only mortal demons were walking around in all shapes and forms; some had a bird head and a human body, others had a human head and a snake body, and some maintained their beastly appearance.
The starting point of demons was different from golems. The first step for golems was sensing the heaven and earth, but it was different for demons. Their roots date back to the ancient times.
Some said that demons were the oldest race in the Nine Worlds. This claim requires further deliberation and research, but the demon race was indeed very archaic.
As long as the world continued to exist, so would the demon race. The flowers and grasses, the flying birds and swimming fishes, the tall mountains and flowing rivers… All could give birth to the demon race.
A stone could give birth to either a demonic stone or a spirit stone that would be different from the rest of the golem race.
Demons were basked in the essence of the world. While enduring countless years, they eventually obtained intelligence and understood the heavens to finally communicate with the grand dao.
Golems were born by being able to sense the heaven and earth, and demons were born thanks to the incubation of worldly energy or from powerful cultivators' dao preaching and protection.
Due to their different origins, it made sense why the golems refused to be classified as part of the demon race for billions of years. The demons themselves didn't consider golems as part of their group.
At this time, Li Qiye and Shi Hao finally entered the Stonetreading County. This particular town was very crowded and was bustling with people coming and going. Some street hawkers were yelling to attract customers. Some mortals were going shopping with many cultivators walking among them. Weaker cultivators walked on the roads while stronger ones flew in the sky or rode the path underground.
The Stone Medicine World had existed for countless years as demons and golems took root in this place. Stonetreading was not a large county, but it still had several tens of thousands of mortal demons and golems living here.
In this lively city, meeting a human or a demon or golem in full human form that had full flesh and blood bodies was very difficult since very few experts walked by this place. In a bigger location, such as the Giant Bamboo's capital, one could see demons and golems in complete humanoid form.
Because of this, a regular human like Li Qiye appearing in the Stonetreading County attracted a lot of attention. Someone with a human head like Shi Hao was already quite rare, not to mention a human like his companion.
Many mortals and cultivators pointed at them as they gazed with curiosity. One mortal asked: "Is that a golem noble or a demonic expert? Could it be a human?"
One cultivator took a look and answered: "He's surely a human. His blood energy is not showing up and is without any aura; it seems that his cultivation is not strong at all. Having a humanoid form without a strong cultivation would surely make him a human and not a golem noble or demonic master."