After passing through several villages and towns and crossing a few mountain peaks, what came into view was a deep and secluded valley. This place was called Dusk Valley, and it was the seat of the Bai family.
Chen Sanshi still chose not to reveal his true identity. He had even deliberately delayed coming to the Bai family, worried that someone might guess who he was.
One must not harbor intent to harm others, but one must guard against the harm of others.
When he was still about 2 miles from Dusk Valley, two guards responsible for watching the mountain gate came forward to question him.
"Brother, what brings you here?"
"Oh."
Chen Sanshi replied honestly, "I am a wandering cultivator from the mountains. While passing through, I noticed your family's notice. I happen to be a second-rank alchemist, so I came to see whether there might be a chance for cooperation."
"I see."
The young man's tone immediately softened. He introduced himself, "My name is Bai Ange. I am a junior of the Bai family. Come with me—I will take you to meet the Patriarch and the family heads!"
"Much appreciated."
Chen Sanshi nodded slightly and followed him into the valley.
Inside the valley, the scene of the Bai family differed somewhat from what he had imagined. Unlike the Li family's strict discipline, this place carried a strong atmosphere of mortal life.
Along the way, he saw children playing, elderly men playing board games beneath tree shade, young women whispering intimate secrets to one another. In the distance, within the spiritual vein area, groups of men practiced martial arts. Patrol members greeted clansmen returning while carrying the corpses of spirit beasts.
According to the information Chen Sanshi had gathered, the Bai family had roughly 200 martial cultivators spanning 4 or 5 generations. The current leadership was divided into five branches.
Bai Linxun, with whom he had previously had some dealings, was the head of the second branch and was known as Second Master Bai.
As for Bai Ange, who was guiding him, he was the eldest son of Third Master Bai.
The two chatted casually along the way until they reached a lake halfway up the main peak. Ahead stood a tall pavilion named "Lake-Viewing Pavilion."
"Please wait a moment, Senior. The Patriarch is currently receiving guests. Allow me to report your arrival first."
In less than half the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Bai Ange returned and made a welcoming gesture. "This way, Senior."
Chen Sanshi then ascended to the top floor.
It was a scenic tea pavilion. At this moment, two people sat in the main seats. One was Second Master Bai—Bai Linxun. The other had short whiskers and appeared to be around 50 years old. From Chen Sanshi's qi observation technique, this man was at the middle stage of the True Force Realm.
Seated in the guest position was a cultivator with a goatee and graying hair, his cultivation around the middle stage of Foundation Establishment.
"Haha, I am Bai Liangbi!"
The middle-aged man in the main seat stood to greet him. "I am the current Patriarch of the Bai family. May I ask your honored name?"
"I am Xiao Feng."
Chen Sanshi gave his name.
He had lived on Little Bamboo Peak for quite some time. His reputation as an alchemist was fairly reliable.
This was important. No one was willing to cooperate with someone whose background was unknown—especially someone without a fixed residence.
At present, many families, including the Li family, were at odds with the Bai family. They refused to rent them shops, but they had not gone so far as to forbid wandering cultivators from interacting with them.
That old fellow Mo Zhu often sold talismans to the Bai family.
"I shall take my leave first."
As they exchanged pleasantries, the goateed cultivator rose to depart. Before leaving, he cast Chen Sanshi a meaningful glance.
"Daoist Xiao Feng, please sit."
Patriarch Bai Liangbi ordered tea to be poured and went straight to the point. "Daoist Xiao Feng, are you willing to become an alchemist in service of the Bai family?
"Most of the pills we require are martial pills. If cooperation proceeds smoothly, the fire vein, pill furnace, and materials will all be provided by us. You need only handle the refinement.
"Before formal cooperation, you will need to refine a test batch so that we may observe the quality. I hope you do not mind."
"That is only natural."
Chen Sanshi agreed without hesitation.
"Second Brother."
Bai Liangbi called out, "Take Daoist Xiao to the fire vein and have him refine a test pill."
"Very well."
Bai Linxun rose. "Daoist Xiao Feng, please follow me."
Leaving Lake-Viewing Pavilion, the two headed north.
Chen Sanshi took the opportunity to observe the core area of Dusk Valley.
Though not large, Dusk Valley had everything it needed. There were not only medicinal gardens, but also a forging workshop, alchemy rooms, and a spirit beast breeding area.
Bai Linxun emphasized in particular that the medicinal garden was a forbidden zone. Without permission from the Patriarch or the Ancestor, trespassers would be treated as thieves.
It was well known outside that the Bai family possessed an excellent medicinal garden. It was said that it could cultivate second-rank spiritual plants, which formed the core asset of the Bai family.
Unfortunately, while they had no shortage of herbs, they lacked their own alchemist.
Refining pills required mana.
Among the more than 200 members in Dusk Valley, only a handful possessed spiritual roots. Yet either their cultivation aptitude was poor and their divine sense insufficient to refine second-rank pills, or they were simply hopelessly inept at alchemy.
Thus, they had no choice but to cooperate with outsiders.
Aside from Chen Sanshi, there was currently another second-rank alchemist—the one from earlier in Lake-Viewing Pavilion, named Changsun Miao. He had lived in Dusk Valley for 2 years.
The so-called fire vein referred to the earth's vein fire. The Bai family possessed a first-rank top-grade spiritual vein, along with a second-rank subsidiary fire vein. This was how they had endured for several hundred years.
The alchemy workshop was not large, consisting of 7 or 8 stone houses, half of which stood empty.
Under Bai Linxun's guidance, Chen Sanshi entered one of the stone rooms. Inside, a young girl around 13 or 14 years old had already prepared everything in advance.
"Brother Xiao, allow me to explain the rules."
Bai Linxun said, "Next, my niece will assist you in refining the pill. She will place the ingredients into the furnace and inform you of each step's fire control. However, during the process, you must blindfold yourself and may not observe the materials."
Such an arrangement was meant to keep the pill formula confidential.
As an alchemist, Chen Sanshi naturally understood how precious a formula was—especially for second-rank martial pills unavailable elsewhere.
The Bai family's caution was entirely understandable.
However, doing so would inevitably lead to poor coordination between him and the attendant at the beginning, likely resulting in failed refinements and the waste of large quantities of materials.
Just thinking about it made his heart ache a little.
But since the other party did not mind, he had nothing to say.
Moreover…
This pill formula was probably impossible to conceal from Chen Sanshi.
"You may begin."
Chen Sanshi agreed to the conditions.
The pill the Bai family required him to test was a second-rank pill, the Nourishing Qi Pill. Its function was to rapidly restore True Force during battle and to strengthen the physical body.
As expected.
Working together with the young assistant, Chen Sanshi made 6 consecutive mistakes. Only on the 7th attempt did he finally succeed. After that, he was permitted to remove the ice-silkworm cloth that had been covering his eyes.
Above the pill furnace floated a vermilion pill.
Bai Linxun, who had been standing guard at the side, took the pill in hand and examined it carefully. He then brought it to his nose and inhaled lightly.
"Supreme grade."
At the same time, the formula for this Nourishing Qi Pill appeared clearly within Chen Sanshi's mind.
Next.
At Bai Linxun's request, they tested several other pills.
Among them was the Spirit-Cleansing Pill, used to accelerate cultivation for martial artists at the middle stage of the True Force Realm.
Chen Sanshi deliberately maintained an appropriate success rate. Occasionally, he would refine a few good-grade or even lower-grade pills.
This was inevitable.
No matter how powerful an alchemist was, it was impossible to guarantee that every pill would be good-grade or above.
Since that was the case, what he displayed was a first-rate standard.
"Excellent."
Bai Linxun praised repeatedly. "Daoist Xiao may be young, but your attainments in alchemy are no worse than Daoist Changsun's.
"If you do not change your mind, we may begin cooperation at once.
"As for compensation, aside from spirit stones, do you have any other requests? Our Bai family possesses magical artifacts, spirit beasts, and medicinal herbs from the garden. You may name your terms, and we can negotiate."
Chen Sanshi first inquired about materials for bowstrings. When told they had none, he then requested several precious medicinal herbs.
Among them were some of the rare ingredients required for refining the Spirit-Cleansing Pill—materials difficult to purchase outside.
These same ingredients could also be used for refining other immortal-path pills. As for one particular ingredient that could be purchased externally, he intended to buy it outside himself, so as not to arouse suspicion.
However, the materials for refining the Spirit-Cleansing Pill were indeed extremely precious. After calculating the value, Chen Sanshi could only obtain enough for 1 batch per month. The remainder of his compensation would mostly be paid in spirit stones.
The two parties reached an agreement. They set a fixed time each month for Chen Sanshi to come refine pills, with payment rendered accordingly. The cooperation proceeded quite smoothly.
After bidding farewell, he prepared to leave Dusk Valley.
Yet before he had gone far, he saw a familiar slender figure in the forging workshop next door.
Zinan.
Over a year ago.
Chen Sanshi had commissioned her to craft a bow. However, the 2 samples of material she had provided had not satisfied him. Since he had not urgently needed the weapon, he had asked her to wait for better materials.
He had not expected to meet her here today.
"Miss Zinan."
"Young Master Xiao Feng?"
Zinan had just stepped out from the scorching forge, a light sheen of fragrant sweat on her cheeks. Her petite figure contrasted sharply with the enormous purple-gold hammer slung over her shoulder.
She stowed away the hammer and lightly leapt over. "What a coincidence! I just finished forging a new bow according to your specifications today. I had planned to visit you to deliver it, but I did not expect to meet you here. Perfect timing—I can give it to you now."
Spiritual light flashed.
A magical bow appeared before him.
The great bow was nearly as tall as a person, forged entirely of metal. Its body shimmered with a purple thunder hue, and fine-quality runes were engraved across its surface. Its only flaw was the absence of a bowstring.
"The iron material for the Purple Thunder Bow was personally selected by you. This time there should be no issue, right?"
Zinan added, "However, this is a second-rank middle-grade magical artifact. Even if you can use it now, you likely won't be able to draw it more than a few times before your mana is exhausted."
She knew he was at the late stage of Qi Refining. Presumably, he was preparing a magical artifact in advance for Foundation Establishment. Many cultivators did so as a precaution, though Foundation Establishment was by no means simple.
"This bow is excellent."
Chen Sanshi held it in his hand and immediately found it comfortable.
The reason he did not forge it himself was twofold. First, he lacked the proper inheritance. Second, he was truly too busy at the moment. Moreover, this fellow daoist's craftsmanship was indeed quite good.
"And the arrows?"
Zinan asked. "Do you have any special requirements for arrow materials? How many do you need?"
"To be honest, I have long possessed arrows already, so there is no need to trouble Miss Zinan further in that regard."
Chen Sanshi paused briefly. "However, I do require some offensive magical artifacts. I wonder whether Miss Zinan has any ready-made pieces available?"
Arrows were weapons specifically designed to match a bow. They inevitably faced various limitations, which could reduce their power.
Since he could treat all things as arrows, there was no need to insist on traditional arrow shafts and heads.
"Of course."
With a flick of her sleeve, more than a dozen magical artifacts floated before her. "Most are second-rank. You may choose freely. We are old acquaintances—naturally I will give you a good price."
Chen Sanshi's gaze quickly settled on a golden flying knife.
The blade was only palm-sized, thin as a cicada's wing. Along its edge, cold light flowed continuously. Even by sight alone, one could feel its sharpness.
"This is the Golden Scale Blade, second-rank in power, and the price is not too high. Its drawback is that it is a single-use item. After one strike, it will suffer significant wear. Precisely because of that, however, its power and speed are pushed to the absolute limit."
Zinan explained, "If Young Master Xiao wants them, I have more than 20 in total. You can exchange some pills for them. No spirit stones required."
"Very well. I'll take them all."
Chen Sanshi completed the transaction with her on the spot.
Afterward, he asked casually, "How did Miss Zinan come to be here?"
"Oh."
Zinan explained, "Does Young Master Xiao not know? I have always rented the fire vein here."
The Bai family, after all, had a martial artist at True Force Perfection. Naturally, they had their own business ventures. However, since Dusk Valley was not large, they could not rent space to many outside rogue cultivators. With insufficient foot traffic, their business was never particularly prosperous.
Still, some services were slightly cheaper here, so certain cultivators were willing to travel the extra distance to save expenses.
Since they were heading the same way, Chen Sanshi and Zinan returned together to Little Bamboo Peak.
Upon arriving at Daze Market, he noticed that the number of patrol teams had increased significantly, as had their frequency. At the entrance, the notice board was crowded with people craning their necks to read something.
"Has Young Master Xiao only recently come out of seclusion? Could it be that you have not heard?" Zinan informed him. "Recently, demonic cultivators have infiltrated Beiyang Dao. Many rogue cultivators have been killed, and even near Daze Market there have been casualties."
"Demonic cultivators?"
Chen Sanshi asked, "Zhuxian Gate?"
Having stayed here for so long, he had heard various rumors about the demonic sects. It was said that the entire Southern Continent was under the rule of major demonic sects, where the common people were treated as blood offerings.
Aside from that, there were also scattered demonic cultivators within Heavenly Water Isle, among whom the more infamous group was the Zhuxian Gate.
"Who knows?" Zinan said gravely. "Young Master Xiao should be cautious in your comings and goings lately. After all, you are still only at the Qi Refining realm."
"Understood. Thank you for the reminder."
As they spoke, the two had already reached the foot of Little Bamboo Peak. By chance, they encountered a burly cultivator walking toward them.
"Daoist Xiao, Daoist Zi, long time no see!"
As he walked, a soldier clad in pitch-black armor followed behind him. However, it was not a living person, but a puppet carved from wood.
This man was known as the Moving Mountain Hermit, at the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment. He made his living by hunting spirit beasts and possessed second-rank puppet techniques.
Even within sects and noble families, Foundation Establishment cultivators were exceedingly rare. The difficulty for rogue cultivators to reach Foundation Establishment required no further explanation.
Thus, any rogue cultivator who successfully established their foundation either possessed unique skills or secrets, or had exceptional aptitude.
On Little Bamboo Peak, there were a total of 5 residents.
Chen Sanshi, Zinan, the Moving Mountain Hermit, Qu Lingchuan, and Deng Wuchang.
The latter two—one served in the Enforcement Hall, and the other was a blade-for-hire, highly skilled in combat.
After more than a year of acquaintance, the five of them had become quite familiar. Whenever time permitted, they would gather for drinks and exchange information.
Deng Wuchang, the blade-for-hire, was a rare rogue martial cultivator. His greatest dream was to enter the Eastern Divine Continent and kill the Tianwu Emperor. The reward offered by various sects had already been raised to the point that any Foundation Establishment cultivator could establish a family with guaranteed protection from invasion.
For this reason, he often tried to recruit the others. Since Foundation Establishment cultivators could not enter, he frequently approached Chen Sanshi, offering pills, magical artifacts, and more.
"Daoist Xiao," the Moving Mountain Hermit said in his straightforward manner, "I haven't yet come across the bowstring material you're looking for. You may need to wait a little longer."
"No rush. Thank you for the effort."
Chen Sanshi cupped his fists, bade the two farewell, and returned to his own cave dwelling.
The first thing he did was take advantage of the night to purchase materials, then begin refining pills.
Skill: Alchemy (Second Rank)
Progress: 88/1000
Spirit-Cleansing Pill!
The raw materials for a single pill alone were worth more than 100 spirit stones. If sold on the market, one could fetch as much as 500 spirit stones per pill!
In other words—
The Bai family had spent a considerable amount of spirit stones merely allowing him to practice through trial and error.
Though the Bai family appeared to be under pressure from other clans, they were in fact still quite wealthy.
Even Chen Sanshi himself would not dare waste resources so extravagantly.
With his experience from refining pills in Dusk Valley, he made no mistakes and successfully produced a Spirit-Cleansing Pill. After consuming it, he immediately began cultivation.
In the True Force Realm, the further one advanced, the slower the progress became.
Each time spiritual energy washed over the physical body, it had to pass through every awakened Jing Spirit. Now that he was tempering the lower 8 Jing Spirits, the process first had to pass through the 16 Jing Spirits of the upper and middle sections.
The function of the Spirit-Cleansing Pill was to accelerate this full circulation process.
With this pill, cultivation speed could increase by at least one-third.
Unfortunately.
After half a month of seclusion, Chen Sanshi had no choice but to leave and return to Heavenly Water Isle. As the emperor of a dynasty, he could not indefinitely neglect court sessions.
Administrative matters that had accumulated over several months could still be handled by Xu Wencai for a time, but if he stayed away too long, it would truly become unacceptable.
This had been one of the reasons he had hesitated to become emperor in the first place—it consumed far too much time.
Whenever issues arose in certain regions, Chen Sanshi would even fly there personally. Given the vast territory of the continent, a round trip would delay him by more than 10 days.
He had once considered purchasing the Moving Mountain Hermit's puppets. However, ordinary puppets would lose connection with their master beyond a certain distance, leaving him no choice but to handle matters personally.
Before descending the mountain, Chen Sanshi went to the cluster of upper-grade cave dwellings on the neighboring ridge. He sought out Old Mo Zhu and handed him several first-rank pills.
This old man was at the middle stage of Qi Refining, and his talisman skills were only of middle-grade attainment. After deducting costs, he earned just a little over 100 spirit stones per year, yet he still resolutely spent it all to rent an upper-grade cave dwelling.
It was said that Mo Zhu had a grandson with a middle-grade spiritual root, single-mindedly devoted to the Dao but lacking resources.
"Oh my! Many thanks, Daoist Xiao!"
Mo Zhu chuckled as he took out several talismans in exchange.
His signature Earth Escape Talisman was still of some use to Chen Sanshi.
After bidding farewell, Chen Sanshi returned directly to the Eastern Divine Continent.
Great Han, Chang'an.
Tianyong City.
After several years of construction, this city—built for the court's troops to cultivate—was nearly complete. Since it had been constructed along the mountains, it covered an extremely vast area.
Even so, many regions remained empty.
For example, in the area designated for raising spirit beasts, there were only Qianxun, Bluebird, the Roaring Golden Beast, and a small number of mundane exotic beasts.
Having stayed in Heavenly Water Isle for quite some time, Chen Sanshi had gained a much clearer understanding of the cultivation levels of demonic beasts.
Demons and beasts shared the same origin, but due to various reasons, their cultivation methods differed.
Beast cultivators primarily cultivated using the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth.
The demon race, however, mostly cultivated through "demon veins." Comparatively speaking, demon cultivators were more adept at spell combat, while beast cultivators possessed stronger physical bodies and awakened bloodline instincts.
The first four realms of beast cultivation were:
1. Spirit Aperture
2. Mysterious Body
3. Beast Core
4. Transformation
The first four realms of demon cultivation were:
1. Demon Soldier
2. Demon Manor
3. Demon Core
4. Transformation
What surprised Chen Sanshi somewhat was that during his absence, Qianxun had relied on the spiritual grain planted in Tianyong City to advance to the late stage of the Spirit Aperture realm.
"Not bad. It's only been a few years, and in terms of the immortal path alone, you've already caught up to me."
He gently stroked the horse's mane in satisfaction.
Qianxun raised its neck and let out a soft neigh.
Chen Sanshi mounted the saddle. As the warhorse surged forward, spiritual energy condensed into mist around it, gradually forming a pair of wings. Its speed increased continuously until it soared into the clouds. Its speed was no slower than a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator flying on a sword.
"Excellent. It seems I can take you along when I go out from now on."
After circling once through the clouds, he returned to the ground.
In addition, Bluebird had also reached the middle stage of the Spirit Aperture realm. When it spread its wings, its wingspan matched that of an adult with arms fully extended.
It was not far from the late stage. Recently, it chirped incessantly, still unable to forget how, many years ago outside Qiantang Prefecture, it had been wounded by a Cold Iron Bird. It hoped that one day it would be able to take revenge.
The Roaring Golden Beast had reached the late stage. Its body had grown to roughly the size of a tiger. By nature it was rather ferocious, and it frequently quarreled with Bluebird.
The White Jade Snake that Chen Sanshi had purchased from Daze Market had also reached the middle stage of Spirit Aperture, about the length of an arm.
At this moment, the White Jade Snake lay coiled around his neck, crunching on a spirit stone as if it were food.
"They're still growing too slowly!"
His Purple Thunder Bow was still missing a bowstring.
If the White Jade Snake reached the second rank, it could be dismantled directly for use.
After tending to his spirit pets, Chen Sanshi arrived at the Tianyong City training ground.
On the vast white jade plaza, there were no longer only martial artists like Wei Xuan and Wang Zhi; more than 100 unfamiliar faces were present as well.
Upon seeing the Tianwu Emperor, they bowed in unison.
"We pay our respects to Your Majesty!"
"Long live Your Majesty! Long live! Long, long live!"
In Great Han, except for sacrificial rites or major occasions, kneeling was not required. The common people were likewise not required to kneel before officials.
Respect was not determined by whether one knelt.
"Your Majesty."
Xu Wencai stepped forward and said, "Over the past year and more, Ningxiang and Zhaozhao have carefully selected 120 individuals with spiritual roots to join the imperial court's Forbidden Army.
"From the existing battalions of the court's forces, 500 individuals with spiritual roots have also been temporarily selected to join the Forbidden Army.
"At present, the total stands at 620.
"In addition, together with the elite troops of Northern Liang, they form a 15,000-strong Forbidden Army, training day and night, constantly awaiting the opportunity to wage war against Heavenly Water."
"You have all done well."
Chen Sanshi's gaze swept across the training ground.
He truly lacked resources. Cultivating himself was manageable, but supporting large numbers of people was unrealistic.
Of these 600 individuals with spiritual roots, most relied purely on the spiritual energy within spirit beads, with almost no pills or other forms of assistance.
But this was only the beginning. Recruiting troops and gathering horses was always a gradual process.
"Your Majesty! This minister has a proposal!"
Sima Yao stepped forward with clasped fists.
Chen Sanshi said calmly, "Speak."
"Any army should have its own name."
Sima Yao said solemnly, "Just as the Northern Liang Army once shook the Eastern Divine Continent with its might, the Forbidden Army should also bear a new name."
"I have an idea," Xu Wencai said, holding his feather fan. "Our Great Han court is unlike any previous dynasty. Our sights are not limited to the Eastern Divine Continent, and our opponents are no longer mere mortals, but immortal cultivation sects far away in Heavenly Water Isle.
"In that case, Great Han should be called the Heavenly Dynasty, the court should be called the Heavenly Court, and our troops should be called—Heavenly Soldiers and Heavenly Generals!"