Wu Qi's heart raced when he heard Yuyao's words, and he wondered what the golden light that burst out from her eyes was. It actually made him feel threatened.
He dared not to stay even a little bit longer. With a twist of his body, he transformed into a stream of yellow mist and went away. In the next moment, the golden light that shone from Yuyao's eyes penetrated the ground and nearly caught him.
After spending some time wandering aimlessly underground, Wu Qi found an isolated courtyard filled with many abodes and resurfaced. Quietly, he circulated his cultivation base and forced out sweat to drench his clothes, then sprinkled some dust all over himself and messed up his hair so to make him look like a sorry figure. After that, he waved his hands and summoned a few thunderbolts to smite his head. Now, he looked a few times more miserable than a beggar on the street.
Then, he fished out a storage bracelet he found in a random disciple's residence in Cang Ao Immortal Abode, shoved some rare metal ingots which could last for a very long period of time, along with some pill bottles and pills formulae he found in the Spirit Pills Pagoda into it. With that being done, he broke the restrictive spells found in a few rooms within the abodes, took out a huge amount of explosive talismans and some other lower grade talismans, and began to throw them around randomly.
Suddenly, a lightning bolt streaked through the air above the abodes, followed by a vast immortal energy that crushed and shattered all restrictive spells densely covering the surroundings of the abodes. It was from Patriarch Jiang Yun, as he had arrived with the other Heaven Immortals and the great array of emperors and ministers of six dynasties.
Upon their arrival, they immediately saw Wu Qi, who looked dirty and sorry, and exuding a very pungent smell of sweat. He was jumping about insanely while throwing one after another talisman in random directions, yelling and screaming while unleashing numerous fireballs and lightning strikes to attack various restrictive spells found in the abodes. However, as the restrictive spells in the abodes were very powerful, the talismans could only cause small ripples and faint gleams on them, and did not inflict any actual damage.
Patriarch Jiang Yun cleared his throat and cried out at the top of his voice, "Wu Qi!!"
Wu Qi's eyes looked dull, almost remote, and seemed like his mental state was at the point of breakdown. He turned around with a vacant look on his face, forgetting that he still had an explosive talisman held in his hand, which exploded right before his chest. A fireball burst out and smashed him, messed up his clothes and threw him into utter confusion. With mouth coughing blood, he struggled to his knees, rolling and crawling to draw himself closer to Patriarch Jiang Yun. Then, he pulled Patriarch Jiang Yun's sleeve and wailed aloud, "Master, this filthy place is haunted by ghosts! No matter how I tried, I just can't get out from this courtyard! Also, after wasting many, many talismans, I managed to open up a few rooms and found these things!"
He raised his trembling hand up, and handed the pale-blue bracelet over to Patriarch Jiang Yun. Before this, using the methods he learned from the Scroll of Stealing, Wu Qi had cast a few tiny and ingenious restrictive spells on the bracelet, yet the power was the maximum of what a Gold Core cultivator could cast.
Patriarch Jiang Yun took over the storage bracelet and glanced through the restrictive spells with his divine will, and was shocked. "Eh? The restrictive technique from the time of great antiquity? Amazing! This Cang Ao Immortal Abode is indeed a place studded with many mighty existences, as even the restrictive spells on a little bracelet are genius in design! It has given me some inspirations!"
He then gave the bracelet to Bai Xia, Qing Wu, Qing Xin, and the other Heaven Immortals to let them have a look, who were murmuring with admiration. The restrictive techniques found in Scroll of Stealing were ancient and magical, as they were the products of a system completely different from the restrictive techniques that the Patriarch and the others were used to. Although they were just a few little restrictive spells which Wu Qi cast without much effort, they had made Patriarch Jiang Yun and the others marvel, and through them, they were able to gain some inspirations.
In the presence of everyone, Patriarch Jiang Yun unleashed an immortal energy into the bracelet. Although the restrictive spells cast by Wu Qi were brilliant in design, they were not very strong, and were immediately destroyed by Patriarch Jiang Yun's immortal energy. Patriarch Jiang Yun turned to smile at Wu Qi and said, "The restrictive spells are indeed profound, which is why you cannot break them. Now, let's see what you have found here!"
With a casual wave of his hand, a huge array of items immediately burst out from the bracelet: rare metal ingots that glinted with dazzling gleams and piled up into a small hill, and nearly one hundred pill bottles of excellent quality, also emitting gorgeous and vibrant halos that took everyone's breath away. But those were not the best of all, as there were also a few pill formulae mixed among the significant treasures, which were thrown into the bracelet by Wu Qi after he memorized them. All that made Patriarch Jiang Yun's eyes ablaze!
The pill formulae were recorded on ten thousand years old green leaves. Patriarch Jiang Yun reached out to them and snatched them over with one swift move, then immediately gave them a quick glance. At that moment, he could no longer restrain himself, and had his right hand moving in the air, performing some gestures. Everyone around him dared not to make a noise, and were carefully watching Patriarch Jiang Yun. Even Qing Xin and the other old Daoists did not make a sound, as they knew Patriarch Jiang Yun was the best Alchemist in Liyuan Galaxy. If he could find a few excellent immortal pill formulae here, Tranquil Vimalā Sect would also gain a tremendous benefit in the future.
After fifteen minutes of complete silence, Patriarch Jiang Yun finally exhaled heavily and said, "Too wonderful for words, and very thought-provoking. Here are seven immortal pill formulae, no matter it is the ingredients or the methods to concoct them, they are completely different from the techniques used by today's alchemy. Tsk, although Cang Ao Immortal's cultivation base is not worth mentioning, he actually possessed such marvelous pill formulae. I bet he must be a disciple of some almighty Immortal."
Daoist Qing Xin looked at Patriarch Jiang Yun and asked, "What about the medicinal strength?"
Patriarch Jiang Yun turned to look at Daoist Qing Xin, smiled and said, "If I can successfully concoct one or two spirit pills, we will be able to have a few more Heaven Immortals in both your sect and mine. At that point in time, both our sects will be considered one of the few rare powerful immortal sects in the Minor Heavenly Circle Realm!"
Daoist Qing Xin and his brothers were seized by wild joy, while Bai Xia and Qing Wu were smiling and looking at Wu Qi, nodding their heads.
Patriarch Jiang Yun even reached out to Wu Qi and helped him up, then gave him a few bottles of healing spirit pills which he personally concocted. "My good disciple, you've contributed a great merit once again! Hehe, among so many disciples, your loyalty to the sect is the most outstanding."
Patriarch Jiang Yun glanced through the emperors and ministers of six dynasties standing aside coldly, breathed out a long sigh, and said, "Well, well, I'll not force you to hand over those spirit pills and immortal herbs. Here I say it and it will be my final decision: Once White Cloud Immortal Sect and Tranquil Vimalā Sect establish our foundation here in Myriad Immortals Planet, all of you will become our outer sect disciples! When any one of you makes the breakthrough and steps into Heaven Immortal realm, you can leave as you please and establish your own sect!"
Patriarch Jiang Yun had a very complicated expression when he said that. In the meanwhile, the emperors and ministers of six dynasties had very unsightly expressions as well. They looked at each other, then bowed deeply to Patriarch Jiang Yun and Daoist Qing Xin together, yet none of them said anything.
Wu Qi looked at Patriarch Jiang Yun with 'bewilderment', then he turned to look at Yan Dan and the other. He blinked and asked with a low voice, "Master, what is going on?" Patriarch Jiang Yun shook his head and did not answer. Daoist Qing Xin sighed and said no words as well, while the other four Heaven Immortals did not open their mouths either.
Pretending that he just realized something was not right, Wu Qi sneaked into the crowd of Great Yan's ministers and came beside Lu Chengfeng, then whispered some words into Lu Chengfeng's ears. Carefully, Lu Chengfeng gave the people around them a glance, then began to transmit his voice over at Wu Qi, explaining what happened before they came to this courtyard of abodes.
All the spirit herbs that grew in every single spirit herb garden in Cang Ao Immortal Abode were taken away by someone. When the six Heaven Immortals brought their disciples and broke into various regions in the immortal abode, no matter where they went, they did not find anything of value. However, the disciples from two immortal sects did find some valuable spirits herbs and items in other places. These Daoists were honest, as after they kept a portion that they deserved, they willingly offered the rest of the findings to their own sects.
On the other hand, the emperors and ministers of six dynasties only submitted very little spirit herbs and valuable treasures, which were nearly amounted to nothing.
Yan Dan, Ying Zheng, and the other emperors vowed solemnly that they did not find any spirit herbs and valuable treasures of excellent quality, and thus they did not have anything to offer to the immortal sects. The rest of the ministers of six dynasties were also giving similar statements, vowing they did not find anything valuable in the immortal abode. However, all the rare spirit herbs growing in the regions where these ministers were found had long been harvested by someone.
According to the Patriarch Jiang Yun's reckoning, with so many spirit herbs growing in the gardens found everywhere in the immortal abode, even if they were split equally among the emperors and ministers of six dynasties, they should still submit an incredible amount of spirit herbs and pills to their respective sects. But against his expectation, they did not offer anything.
Wu Qi shook his head silently, wearing a distressed and disgusted expression on his face. However, he was bursting with joy deep inside his heart, for the blame had now solidly been put on the heads of these people. Who would believe that it was Wu Qi who harvested all the spirit herbs in advance? After all, he was trapped in this place and could not go anywhere, so he could never be the person that harvested the spirit herbs!
Be it Patriarch Jiang Yun, the other Heaven Immortals, or even all the people here, they would only suspect that it was some dynasties or some powers who stole all the spirit herbs, then consumed them secretly or used them for some other purposes. No one would have thought that Wu Qi was the culprit. The spirit herbs left behind since the last two Great Apocalypses were considered very rare treasures even in Myriad Immortals Planet, and they were now Wu Qi's private belongings.
Noticing Wu Qi and Lu Chengfeng were whispering to one another, Patriarch Jiang Yun shook his head again. He exchanged a glance with the other Heaven Immortals, then repeated his decision, "Well, we come to the end of our mission here. In the future, all of you will be the outer sect disciples of White Cloud Immortal Sect and Tranquil Vimalā Sect. Once you've made the breakthrough, you can leave and establish your own sect. If your sect becomes flourishing and prosperous in the future, do not forget that you were once the disciples of our sects."
Patriarch Jiang Yun had expressed his thought and decision clearly and thoroughly. The emperors and ministers of six dynasties looked at each other, and once again bowed deeply but said nothing.
Wu Qi rejoiced secretly, as Patriarch Jiang Yun and the other was Heavenly Immortals who truly walked on the righteous path, and they felt ashamed to attack the emperors and ministers of six dynasties. If they were replaced with Zhen Mu Sovereign and the other evil Immortals, perhaps Yan Dan and the others would have long been killed, having their storage rings seized away.
Patriarch Jiang Yun and the others were Immortals of the righteous path. They would never be so cruel and merciless so to perform such a shameful deed. Therefore, they did not resort to extreme tactics. But, at the same time, they were not fools. They suspected that the emperors and ministers of six dynasties had secretly taken possession of the huge amount of spirit herbs, and although they would never violently force them to hand out the spirit herbs, they would never treat the people of six dynasties wholeheartedly again.
Outer sect disciples were disciples who merely carried the title, and would be cast aside to let them run their own course.
As for Wu Qi, since he had contributed great merits continuously, and submitted a great amount of rare metals, pill bottles, and pill formulae, his status in White Cloud Immortal Sect could even be compared to those core disciples, such as Jiangcheng Zi.
Looking at the silent outer sect disciples of six dynasties, Wu Qi's heart was bursting with joy. Now, Patriarch Jiang Yun would definitely be partial to him, and his foes would have to be extra careful in whatever they were going to do. How could outer sect disciples be placed at par with a core disciple?
A mild cough was heard, as Guigu'zi walked out from the crowd, cupped his fist and bowed, saying, "Disciple offers greeting, Immortal-Masters!"
Wu Qi's heart began to thump. What was this Old Mister going to say?