Chapter 671: Tie Yi's Secret
"This time, I was entrusted a task by Young Noble Ye to find materials for a refinement batch." At this time, the Golden Leopard Prince's voice deepened: "Young Noble Ye's prestige runs far and wide, and he has the support of the entire Stone Medicine World. The material gathering process has been quite successful so far as all the sects in the world were willing to lend Young Noble Ye a hand. Even if Alchemist Li is not willing to sell it to me, how about you sell it for Young Noble Ye? In the future, this prince is willing to put in a good word for you to Young Noble Ye."
The "Young Noble Ye" the prince was talking about was the supreme celestial being, Ye Qingcheng. This was an awe-inspiring name since he was not only famous, the rest of the world treated him with respect, either due to their desire to support him or fear. In short, very few people in the Stone Medicine World wouldn't give the name Ye Qingcheng some face.
Even people from the previous generation would show him some consideration. Yes, in the Stone Medicine World, countless people were willing to support him, including young geniuses, older experts, and even sect masters and rulers; these great characters were willing to work under Ye Qingcheng's banner as well.
It was clear that the Golden Leopard Prince was using the name of Ye Qingcheng with the intention of threatening Li Qiye. Even if Li Qiye didn't give him face, he had to give Ye Qingcheng some. Not to mention, a prince like him asking a nobody such as Li Qiye to sell him the Young King Medicine was already quite considerate.
In fact, the prince was very confident that when he stated the great name of Ye Qingcheng, very few people wouldn't give him face, especially a junior like Li Qiye.
"Not for sale." However, in Li Qiye's view, Ye Qingcheng's name was no different from a random dog on the street. Not to mention the prince using his name, even if Ye Qingcheng himself was here, Li Qiye still wouldn't give him any face.
His answer left the prince with an unsightly expression. He felt he was doing Li Qiye a favor by not simply snatching it from him. But now, after bringing up Ye Qingcheng's name, Li Qiye still didn't give any face, so the prince's eyes turned cold while flashing a murderous glint.
"Golden Leopard Prince, Brother Li also needs this Young King Medicine, so it is a bit inconvenient. I hope you can understand." Yuan Caihe spoke at this time in order to help out Li Qiye.
After hearing Yuan Caihe, the prince withdrew the murderous glint in his gaze. He didn't care for a little character like Li Qiye, but Yuan Caihe was someone he didn't dare to offend. A person like Yuan Caihe would have countless great powers willing to work for her the moment she made the request.
"In that case, I won't ask anymore." The prince clasped his hands together once more towards Yuan Caihe and said: "Fairy Yuan, I'll be going then." With that, he left with the other experts.
Li Qiye gave a faint smile after the prince left and said: "You didn't have to help me, earlier. I actually wanted to see if he would dare to rob me or not." He licked his lips after he finished speaking.
Yuan Caihe gave off a wry smile and shook her head to say: "There is no need to give him a hard time, Brother Li. Ye Qingcheng, his backer, is not easy to mess with. Many people in the world are quite apprehensive of him."
"I've never cared for the master when I beat the dog." Li Qiye smiled and said: "Even if that Ye Qingcheng guy comes and dares to provoke me, I'll kill him all the same."
If other people were to hear this, they would definitely laugh at Li Qiye for not understanding the immensity of the heaven and earth and how he was simply courting death. Who would dare to say such a thing in the Stone Medicine World? Not even the previous generation would dare to utter these words.
Yuan Caihe couldn't help but glance at Li Qiye again. In the end, she didn't say anything and only smiled, the same calm and natural one as always.
"Still not crawling out yet?" After the prince left, Li Qiye stamped the ground, causing the terrain to shake.
With a crashing sound, Old Demon Tie Yi crawled out from the ground and carefully looked around before nervously asking: "Did they leave yet?"
Yuan Caihe didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this scaredy cat Tie Yi and said: "Don't worry, the prince has left already. Plus, they only came to say hi, there were no other intentions."
The old demon got out from the mud and cheerfully smiled, saying: "The Young Nobles, especially those from the great powers, treat human lives like insects. If they don't like the way you look, then they'll kill you instantly as if it was no different from crushing an ant."
Li Qiye gave him a look and said: "Where is your courage as a bandit? Someone who dares to act as a robber is still afraid of a single prince?"
After being exposed again by Li Qiye, the old demon couldn't help but blush. He cleared his throat to say: "Young Noble, please don't tease me. Earlier, I was just kidding; I only wanted to scare a few people, I wasn't going to do it for real. I am a cultivator who adheres to moral codes, a man of culture, so how could I be a robber? I was only messing with you two."
"Really?" Li Qiye glanced at him and said: "If you are what you say, then why did you crawl underground the moment you caught sight of someone? That is something a suspicious person would do."
The blushing old demon coughed and quickly responded with a grin: "It is all a misunderstanding, Young Noble. I am only a nice little demon with nothing to be suspicious about, right? I only crawled underground because it is part of my instinct, yes, my instinct. I am an ant who reached the dao and loves to crawl underground daily, it has truly become a habit."
"Is that so?" Li Qiye smiled while looking at Tie Yi and said: "Then what type of ant are you? There are fire ants, earth ants, ghost ants… Which one are you?"
"Oh, just like my name, I am an iron ant who has reached the dao." Old Demon Tie Yi quickly answered: "As an iron ant, I am a bit special and rare, so because of this, I was able to reach the dao." 1
"Iron ant?" Li Qiye gave a carefree smile and said: "I have seen iron ants before. However, I know that they do not crawl underground. You say you were an iron ant before you reached the dao, but you don't even know the habits of one?"
After hearing Li Qiye's question, the old demon scratched his head and wryly smiled: "Haha, just like I said earlier, I am a relatively special iron ant, so it is not too strange to like crawling underground."
Li Qiye only smiled and didn't comment on this answer.
Old Demon Tie Yi noticed Li Qiye's skeptical expression and quickly explained: "Young Noble, don't misunderstand! I was really an iron ant before I reached the dao. Although iron ants do not like crawling underground, Young Noble, you are a grand character while I am but a little character; you don't know how hard it was for someone as insignificant as me to reach the dao."
At this point, the old demon revealed a sentimental and tragic demeanor while saying: "Young Noble, as you can imagine, I am an ant, no, an iron ant without any backing — just a little nobody. In the eyes of all the big shots, I can be killed with a single stomp of their foot, so how could I have reached the dao so easily? Because of this, for my own survival, I had no choice but to crawl underground each day and hide in order to stay alive…"
The more he talked, the more miserable he appeared. After saying the last sentence, he even shed two drops of tears, resulting in a very sympathetic image.
"Brother Li, don't make it hard for the old demon. After all, everyone has their own problems." Yuan Caihe smiled elegantly and gently shook her head, saying: "Let us move on. We might miss out on a good chance to watch the Draco-Bulls going to the river if we are late."
The group resumed their journey. However, Li Qiye purposely let Yuan Caihe lead the way this time and created some distance between them. At the same time, Old Demon Tie Yi slowed down as well after seeing Li Qiye's glare.
When Yuan Caihe was in front of them, Li Qiye finally leisurely looked at the old demon and slowly spoke: "Not a bad actor at all, but we all know in our minds, don't we? Caihe is a good girl, but I'm not so nice. I am the type who murders people without batting an eye."
"I…" The old demon was going to say something, but Li Qiye interrupted him with a wave of his hand. Li Qiye gave him a look and nonchalantly said: "I don't care if you were an iron ant or a fire ant or whatever the hell else. I also don't care if you came for me or for Caihe or whatever you are thinking. You just need to know that when I am in a good mood, I am quite easygoing, but when I am not, then I can be quite difficult."
At this point, Li Qiye's eyes narrowed as he gazed towards the old demon and slowly declared: "Remember well, do not carry any crooked ideas about me or Caihe. I will not ask for your origin or your goal any longer, but it is best that you do not have any thoughts about me or Caihe. If not, I trust that I can show you what the most horrifying death in this world is."
"Hahaha, Young Noble is really funny." The old demon awkwardly scratched his head and hurriedly replied: "I, I am only a little demon, so how could I dare to do anything against Young Noble or Fairy Yuan? Plus, Fairy Yuan saved my life before, all I want to do is repay the debt. How could I have any malicious thoughts against her?"
"Young Noble, you can rest assured." At this point, the old demon patted his chest in a heroic manner and stated: "Since Fairy Yuan saved my life, if anyone dares to make things difficult for her, it would be the same as causing trouble for me!"
Li Qiye interrupted the old demon and dismissively said: "Good, stop bragging though. Mark my words, otherwise, no matter who you are, even if you are an invincible Godking, I will show you a fate worse than death."
"Haha, for sure, for sure." Promised the old demon as he patted his chest.
671 Teaser"This time, I was entrusted a task by Young Noble Ye to find materials for a refinement batch." At this time, the Golden Leopard Prince's voice deepened: "Young Noble Ye's prestige runs far and wide, and he has the support of the entire Stone Medicine World. The material gathering process has been quite successful so far as all the sects in the world were willing to lend Young Noble Ye a hand. Even if Alchemist Li is not willing to sell it to me, how about you sell it for Young Noble Ye? In the future, this prince is willing to put in a good word for you to Young Noble Ye."
The "Young Noble Ye" the prince was talking about was the supreme celestial being, Ye Qingcheng. This was an awe-inspiring name since he was not only famous, the rest of the world treated him with respect, either due to their desire to support him or fear. In short, very few people in the Stone Medicine World wouldn't give the name Ye Qingcheng some face.
Even people from the previous generation would show him some consideration. Yes, in the Stone Medicine World, countless people were willing to support him, including young geniuses, older experts, and even sect masters and rulers; these great characters were willing to work under Ye Qingcheng's banner as well.
It was clear that the Golden Leopard Prince was using the name of Ye Qingcheng with the intention of threatening Li Qiye. Even if Li Qiye didn't give him face, he had to give Ye Qingcheng some. Not to mention, a prince like him asking a nobody such as Li Qiye to sell him the Young King Medicine was already quite considerate.
In fact, the prince was very confident that when he stated the great name of Ye Qingcheng, very few people wouldn't give him face, especially a junior like Li Qiye.
"Not for sale." However, in Li Qiye's view, Ye Qingcheng's name was no different from a random dog on the street. Not to mention the prince using his name, even if Ye Qingcheng himself was here, Li Qiye still wouldn't give him any face.
His answer left the prince with an unsightly expression. He felt he was doing Li Qiye a favor by not simply snatching it from him. But now, after bringing up Ye Qingcheng's name, Li Qiye still didn't give any face, so the prince's eyes turned cold while flashing a murderous glint.
[collapse] Tie Yi is iron ant. ↩Chapter 672: Water Outlet
After a while, Li Qiye caught up to Yuan Caihe and, of course, Old Demon Tie Yi volunteered to walk at the front to make way for them.
"What did you two talk about?" Glancing at the old demon ahead, Yuan Caihe smiled towards Li Qiye; this was a serene smile that was incredibly pretty.
Yuan Caihe never competed with others, so she was always quiet and amiable with a kind heart. However, this didn't mean that she was a fool. On the contrary, she was extremely intelligent, so it was not an easy task to hide things from her. It was just that she normally didn't want to make it difficult for others.
Li Qiye looked at the old demon and cheerfully replied: "Just some small talk." He didn't say anything, but not much could elude his gaze.
Yuan Caihe smiled quietly and didn't pry any further. She was not a meddlesome or talkative person.
Li Qiye couldn't help but look at her. He gently brushed the hair on her shoulder and said: "You are really a beautiful girl."
This type of action would be quite frivolous and offensive if done by others, but Li Qiye did it in such a natural and comfortable manner.
"In terms of beauty, we have to talk about the Alchemy Kingdom's Fairy Ming." Yuan Caihe replied with a smile.
Li Qiye only chuckled and didn't say anything else.
The three of them eventually made it to the Celestial Peak River. The moment they arrived at the outlet of the river, they found that there were many cultivators ready and waiting.
The Celestial Peak River(1) was also known as the Celestial Peak Great River(2) as it crossed the entire Celestial Peak Mountain Range. Its surging stream crossed this land and spanned for millions of miles. 1
When standing at the outlet of this great river and looking further ahead, one would find a wide, flat expanse with beautiful, well-nurtured water grasses. It could be said that this was the most suitable place for Draco-Bulls to come to.
"This is a good location." The old demon sighed while standing at the outlet and taking a look around. Then, he chose a good location for Li Qiye.
When the group settled down and took another look, only a huge but faint river could be seen before them. The old demon excitedly said: "We came at the right time, the Draco-Bulls still haven't left the water yet."
Li Qiye looked at him and asked: "Are you here for the Immortal Sulfur as well?"
"No, I'm just here to watch the fun." The old demon quickly smiled and replied: "This little demon will watch Fairy Yuan and Young Noble show your might while I cheer on the sidelines."
Li Qiye gave him a look and ignored whether he was telling the truth or not. He simply looked at the surging river ahead.
A Draco-Bull was a type of ferocious beast, but others also referred to them as auspicious beasts. Legend states that Draco-Bulls were the offspring of a True Dragon and an Impetuous Bull. Because they carried the bloodline of a True Dragon, they were called Draco-Bulls.
In fact, one could no longer find the bloodline of True Dragons in present day Draco-Bulls, not even the thinnest strand.
If a Draco-Bull contained even the slightest sliver of a True Dragon's blood, then even if it was the most insignificant amount, this bull would grow up to be a king among its herd. The legend went on to say that such a bull, once it became more powerful, would have a chance at atavism and eventually turn into a True Dragon or Divine Bull.
Of course, people didn't come today for the bulls with this bloodline because everyone knew that there might not be even one with such a bloodline out of ten million Draco-Bulls.
They all came for the Immortal Sulfur droppings from these bulls because they could be sold at an exorbitant price. Sulfur of excellent quality could even reach a sky-high price.
This kind of Immortal Sulfur came from a particular type of bull, Bull-Kings. Of course, the sulfur from a Bull-King was much better than those from an ordinary Draco-Bull. It had great effects, such as detoxification and the ability to dispel evil energy. When combined with other alchemy ingredients, it would have even more amazing effects.
Of course, not all bulls would have Immortal Sulfur. Among one thousand bulls, it was still not likely for one to have Immortal Sulfur. Because of this, its extremely high price was justified.
Moreover, to tell whether a Draco-Bull had Immortal Sulfur or not required an experienced alchemist. They had to look at the colors, demeanor, mane, and horns in order to tell if a Draco-Bull had Immortal Sulfur or not.
One only had the time of a blink of an eye to determine whether a Draco-Bull had Immortal Sulfur or not, so this required rich experience. Only highly skilled alchemists were able to gauge it accurately due to their heightened sensitivity towards alchemy properties. The extremely skillful ones were able to tell an item's alchemy properties just by looking at its colors.
Due to this reason, many cultivators at this time chose to bring along and work together with an alchemist to obtain the Immortal Sulfur.
Draco-Bulls were very fast. They would come out of the river with extreme speed. At the same time, they were quite powerful, so capturing one with Immortal Sulfur was generally not a task that could be accomplished alone.
At this moment, many cultivators looked towards the group of Li Qiye. Of course, they didn't look over here due to any of Li Qiye's outstanding aspects or lack of, it was because of Yuan Caihe.
As one of the four prodigies and someone who frequented imperial lineages as an esteemed guest, Yuan Caihe's status in the Stone Medicine World was quite high. Many experts and big shots came to greet her after noticing her presence.
Of course, these people didn't pay attention to Li Qiye. Although humans were a rare sight in this world, no one really took note of him when Yuan Caihe was by his side.
The Golden Leopard Prince was also here with his group of experts taking up an entire peak that held an advantageous terrain. His cold eyes fell upon Li Qiye.
Of course, this was not because Li Qiye was charming but because he had a Young King Medicine on him — the prince only wanted this medicine. However, he didn't dare to try a more forceful method with Yuan Caihe traveling with Li Qiye.
Naturally, if Yuan Caihe were to leave, then it was an entirely different matter. As long as Li Qiye was alone, the prince would definitely rob him of it.
"There are quite a lot of people here now, not bad, not bad. At least no imperial lineages are here, otherwise there won't be anything to see." Old Demon Tie Yi took a look around and heaved a sigh of relief as he patted his chest with a cowardly look.
At this time, several thousand experts were gathered next to the outlet. The majority consisted of golems and demons that were in all shapes and forms. Some golems kept their rocky bodies while there were also those who had complete flesh and blood bodies. Of course, the demons were even more varied; some had the body of a serpent and the head of a human while others were in a humanoid form with antlers…
Among the experts here, some took control and claimed their own peaks while others seized the shorelines. There were also those who hovered high in the sky… Most of the cultivators here all had an alchemist with them as they waited.
Although Immortal Sulfur was very precious and rare, the source was not limited to just the Celestial Peak Great River. Because of this, only a few of the great powers came here for it.
Li Qiye lightly said after seeing the cowardly appearance from the old demon: "Since you are so afraid of imperial lineages, did you do something unforgivable?"
"Young Noble, you are misunderstanding me again." The old demon immediately explained himself as if he was making a vow and said: "Think about it, Young Noble. I am but a little demon, so how could I afford to offend imperial lineages? Hahaha, this little ant demon has never seen the world before, so I only got a bit nervous after bringing up imperial lineages."
Of course, whether Li Qiye believed it or not was unknown since he only responded with a grin.
However, the moment the old demon finished his words, a huge ship directly landed from the sky. It was extremely domineering as it forcefully took the most advantageous shore.
This shore was initially occupied by a big sect, but the ship directly landed without any regard for the cultivators below.
"Get back!" The experts from the sect that were occupying this area were both frightened and furious. Among them, one great master carried all of his disciples away with haste.
"Boom!" The ship landed on the sandy shore and, just like that, it easily occupied this area.
This style was extremely overbearing and completely disregarded everyone, easily enraging others.
In fact, the sect that used to occupy this shore was uncontrollably furious. Their seniors all wanted to come forward and demand an explanation from the other side, but the moment they saw the flag on the ship, they had no choice but to swallow this anger.
"The Radiant-Sea Sect…" The experts from this sect couldn't help but become astounded after seeing the flag that hung on the ship.
At this time, many people stared at this giant ship and saw that there was a group of people standing above in an extremely mighty manner with surging blood energies. They all came from the demon race; there was an eagle, a tiger, a snake…
They all stood around a woman with quite a beautiful and charming appearance; she was slim and graceful with many different colors. Her waist resembled a snake as it gently moved back and forth, causing quite an alluring scene.
"Radiant-Sea's Dragon Princess!" Many changed their expressions at her sight. Although the giant ship was extremely overbearing, no one dared to say anything.
"It seems that I am not late." The woman called the Dragon Princess smilingly said as she looked at the surging river.
Although they were extremely aggressive without any care for courtesy, no one dared to accuse them of such at this time.
The reason was quite simple, the Radiant-Sea Sect was a famous imperial lineage in the Alchemy Realm. Its force was quite mighty after being established by Immortal Emperor Yu Xian! With more than ten countries under its wing, its territory was vast, thus one could easily imagine its strength. 2
This part is a bit awkward to translate to English for etymological reasons. In Chinese, (1) 河 refers to the majority of rivers. (2) 江 is reserved for very few bigger rivers. There are more than 2000 main rivers in China, but only a handful of them use (2) 江. Do note that the north and south use these words differently as well. I believe the author's intent here with using (2) 江 was to create a sense of grandeur for this river with this alternative name. If I used stream or creek for (1), then it would make more sense for the translation, but it would be inaccurate in terms of the word and context. ↩ Yu Xian = Radiant Jade. ↩