Although this bullet exploded, it still gave Hua Jian valuable lessons from failure.
As everyone knows, failure is the mother of success; as long as you fail enough times, success will pile up eventually.
And Hua Jian was exactly that kind of person—undaunted by repeated failures, her will unshaken.
After several attempts that nearly succeeded but failed, she finally produced a very stable bullet that wouldn’t explode even if squeezed hard twice.
Its performance on the training ground was excellent as well; it could explode immediately upon hitting the target, spraying the Magic Mist right into the enemy’s face.
Even if it missed the enemy and only struck the ground near their feet, the bullet still caused significant effects, since the explosion dealt area damage.
As some people said, sniping is an outdated habit; nowadays, we should be relying on artillery.
After Hua Jian successfully crafted her own weapon, Linglong confirmed their next objective: she planned to head north in the Central Continent to take a look.
Huiyue City was located in the core region of the Central Continent—a relatively safe place. The further one went from this area, the greater the risk of danger.
Of course, the strength of the people encountered would generally be lower as well.
In the core of the Central Continent, it was still possible to meet Ling Emperors occasionally, and those at the city lord level were almost always Ling Emperors.
But on the periphery of the Central Continent, the cultivators’ strength was comparable to those from the other Four Domains.
In fact, the core areas of the Four Domains could even be more prosperous and affluent than the outskirts of the Central Continent.
“I plan to head north here, then cross the ferry to the Northern Territory. That way, I can make a round trip and return to the Central Continent.” Linglong spread the map on the table and drew the route she had in mind.
The Central Continent and the Northern Territory were not directly connected; in fact, these two regions were not even considered part of the same spatial realm.
It was said that in the past, the relationship between the Central Continent and the Four Domains wasn’t so estranged.
People could travel between the Central Continent and the Four Domains with their physical bodies, freely coming and going.
But because of the invasion of otherworldly demons, the immortals in the heavens were forced to unleash unparalleled divine powers to completely separate the Four Domains from the Central Continent.
This ensured that even if one domain fell, the others would not be affected and could continue preparing for counterattacks.
This decision ultimately proved effective.
Among the Four Domains, the Western Domain was once completely occupied by demons for nearly a century.
If not for the foresight of the immortals, the Western Domain would certainly have become a launchpad for demons to attack the other domains.
But as it happened, after the demons occupied the Western Domain, they were unable to do anything and were eventually driven out.
“You’re going to the Northern Territory? Is there enough time?” Hua Jian found this plan somewhat unrealistic.
The two of them were only Ling Masters; even running around within the Central Continent took a long time.
Going all the way to the Northern Territory — could they really make it in time for the Ascension Conference in a few months?
When Hua Jian asked this, Linglong buried her head in her arms.
She couldn’t exactly say that she just wanted to find an excuse for Hua Jian to miss the Ascension Conference.
If Hua Jian missed it, she would have no choice but to obediently follow Linglong back to Yaochi.
This was Linglong’s hidden calculation, but Hua Jian saw right through it.
“I suggest cutting out the Northern Territory trip; other than that, I have no objections.”
Hua Jian couldn’t offer much advice anyway.
Since crossing over until now, she had only been wandering around her small patch of land. Huiyue City was the farthest place she’d ever been.
She was like a little frog brought out of a well by Linglong, having no real concept of this vast world—only knowing it was huge, full of many things she didn’t understand.
“Then let’s cut it. Senior Sister Xia Xuan and the others have finished their investigation and will bring Yao Mei back to the Protectorate Supervisor tomorrow.
We’ll prepare here for two days and depart the day after tomorrow. Is that okay?”
“No problem!”
……
The arrival and departure of the Protectorate Supervisor caused no ripple in Huiyue City.
All news was blocked by an invisible hand, and only the major families in the city vaguely sensed that something significant might have occurred.
After the Protectorate Supervisor left, they were shocked to find that the Su Family, once one of the four great families, had fallen into such decline within just a few days that they were no better off than ordinary families.
The entire clan was breaking apart; the main family had completely lost control of the branch families.
Rumors of uncertain truth even said the Su Family had angered a major figure—someone who had taken action to wipe out the Su Family’s top combat power.
Whether true or not, the Su Family’s Ling Kings were all gone, and very few powerful cultivators remained.
The entire clan had entered a desperate state of survival.
Now, the four great families of Huiyue City might as well be renamed the three great families.
Hua Jian wasn’t particularly concerned about this.
Aren’t the two young masters still alive? Living a lifetime of wealth and comfort wouldn’t be a problem.
Why should a poor girl who could barely feed herself care about those two?
The mouse sympathizing with the cat—what’s the point?
Better to care about Su Xiaoxiao, who was also about to leave.
“Keep all these things,” Su Xiaoxiao pressed items into Hua Jian’s hands even though Hua Jian had come to see her off.
“I’m so sorry…” Hua Jian said, but her actions were honest—she accepted the small bottles Su Xiaoxiao handed over.
“What’s inside here?”
“It’s nothing valuable. It’s Spirit Wine brewed by our Penglai Sect. Drinking it will speed up your cultivation,” Su Xiaoxiao explained while taking out a small pouch from her storage bag.
A second gift? Hua Jian’s eyes lit up.
“The women from Wanling Sect told me to give this to you. They said you probably used up the Baihua Essence they gave you before.
This is a newly concocted essence, even better than what they gave you previously.”
Originally, the Senior Sisters from Lingcaifeng were also going to come help out, but later Penglai Senior Sister Ma and the Snake Mistress He Lin of Wanling Sect conferred and decided to have the Protectorate Supervisor handle the matter.
So those few Senior Sisters from Lingcaifeng could only entrust the one disciple who could accompany the trip, Su Xiaoxiao, to deliver the goods.
“Oh, please thank those sisters for me. The essence they gave me before really did run out,” Hua Jian said as she accepted the pouch.
She wouldn’t be human if she didn’t accept something this practical.
If it were some trivial gift, she might refuse, but having personally experienced Baihua Essence and how much it helped her cultivation, she could never refuse.
She was already thinking about how to buy Baihua Essence from the Wanling Sect Senior Sisters in the future.
Once accustomed to a luxurious life, it was really hard to go back to how things were.
With the essence, her cultivation speed had soared by several tens of percent; it was truly addictive.
It’s easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to return.
After giving Su Xiaoxiao a heartfelt farewell performance that gave her plenty of emotional value, Hua Jian tucked the gifts Su Xiaoxiao had left her into her bag and returned to the inn room.
Yao Mei was gone, Su Xiaoxiao was gone, and now only she and Linglong remained.
“I’m back!” Hua Jian opened the door and immediately saw Linglong puffing her cheeks, chewing on something.
Seeing Hua Jian enter, Linglong expressionlessly opened her mouth and spat out what she was chewing into her hand.
Only then did Hua Jian see what it was—something similar to what Linglong had been preparing when she was refining pills in front of her last time.
“You’re refining pills?”
“Yeah, I’ve been consuming quite a few lately, so I need to replenish.” Linglong nodded and placed the moist, half-finished pills into a portable Dan Furnace nearby.
She activated it with spiritual energy.
This time, the pills she refined weren’t of a high grade—just ordinary Returning Spirit Pills—so the refining time wasn’t long.
After about an hour, she took four small, exquisite, milky-white pills from the furnace, identical to the ones she had given Hua Jian before.
Hua Jian blinked.
Then blinked again.
Wait, identical?!
She was almost out of the pills Linglong had given her!
“Here, two are for you. Just put them in the original bottle.” Linglong split the pills into two portions, handing two to Hua Jian.
This statement was the final nail in the coffin for Hua Jian.
It was as if Linglong was saying, “Don’t even think about it. The pills you had before were made exactly the same way, with identical materials, techniques, and effects.”
Like a wooden doll, Hua Jian accepted the pills, feeling the slight moisture on their surface.
She realized she should have known all along.
That was why this Returning Spirit Pill and the previous Mirage Pill both had a sweet taste—they contained the same material!
The pill Linglong gave her a few days ago, the Body Tempering Pill, also had this sweet flavor.
Could it be that…
“Were the pills you gave me the other day made the same way?”
Linglong shook her head.
Hua Jian breathed a sigh of relief—only to hear Linglong’s follow-up.
“Those were made by senior sisters in the sect, using ordinary Body Tempering Pills mixed with Longxian.”
Great, isn’t that the same thing? Hua Jian was momentarily speechless.
Thinking back on how many pills she’d already eaten that Linglong made, Hua Jian felt like giving up and just accepting it.
You have to admit, the sweet taste of these pills made one want to take another.
“Isn’t Longxian a precious material?”
“For other alchemists, yes. But not for me.” Linglong explained matter-of-factly.
Dragons were creatures that other cultivators might never see even once in their lifetime, much less obtain Longxian for pill refining.
But Linglong was half-dragon herself.
Longxian was essentially free to her, so of course she could add it to her own pills.
It was only because Hua Jian had a special status that Linglong was willing to spare some of her personal pills.
Hua Jian looked at the two pearl-like beautiful pills in her hand and took a deep breath.
Her slight aversion was quickly beaten down by greed.
Sigh, free high-quality pills—might as well keep them.
“Actually, almost everything on me can be used as medicine. The best is probably my blood, which can raise a pill’s effect by one tier.” Linglong stretched out her hands and gestured to her fingernails, “Fingernails and hair can also be used, but the effect isn’t as good as blood.”
The dragon race was truly precious from head to toe.
As the only dragon alchemist in the world, Linglong had a huge innate advantage.
Materials highly treasured by others were freely used by her.
She could not only make Longxian Pills but also Longlin Pills and Dragon Blood Pills, the latter two having effects even better than the former.
“You’re really amazing.” Hua Jian gave Linglong a half-hearted thumbs-up.
She didn’t want to hear all this.
Please don’t remind me what kind of pills I’ve been eating before! It’s enough to make my nerve damage bar overflow.
To stop Linglong from delving deeper into the topic, Hua Jian abruptly shifted the subject to the parting gift Su Xiaoxiao gave her.
“This is the Spirit Wine Miss Su gave me before leaving. She said it can speed up my cultivation.”
Hua Jian took the Spirit Wine out from her bag and asked Linglong, “Is this very valuable?”
Linglong took the bottle, removed the stopper, and instantly a strong aroma of wine burst forth, making her cheeks flush.
She hurriedly re-corked it but still looked dizzy.
“Don’t touch it carelessly. This Spirit Wine is a bit strange…”
As she spoke, Linglong rubbed her brow in distress, feeling as if the world around her was spinning.
From Hua Jian’s perspective, Linglong’s changes were even more obvious.
The little dragon girl’s disguise spell suddenly failed, revealing the dragon form Hua Jian had seen a few times before.
Even worse, after the disguise failed, Linglong’s tail mischievously wrapped around Hua Jian’s foot, the icy-cold touch sending shivers down Hua Jian’s spine.
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