Painting of the Nine Immortals

Ten days later, inside the dim stone room.

Ling Xian was kneeling on the ground and his two hands formed a hand seal; he was solidifying the medicinal Dan inside the cauldron.

Before him stood a purple cauldron. The Flame of Purity was boiling inside, emitting a faint scent. It was the sign that a spiritual Dan was about to complete.

Just 10 days ago, he returned to his stone room, planning on using this opportunity to practice his alchemy. It was during these 10 days, did he brew tens of spiritual Dans without a single failure.

Ignoring the quality of the medicinal Dan, the 100 percent success rate alone was already an accomplishment no ordinary people could compare against. The quality of his medicinal Dan was also so impressive that most alchemists would walk away in shame.

More than 10 medicinal Dans and hundreds of spiritual Dans of the sixth realm… The worst quality of them was of the seventh rank and half of them were of the eighth rank!

How unbelievable was this?

You know, a normal alchemist could mostly brew qualities of third to fifth ranks. Even the geniuses who practiced daily had difficulties brewing medicinal Dans above the seventh rank.

On top of that, Ling Xian wasn’t just brewing a high quality medicinal Dan occasionally, but he has also been producing exceptional Dans where each and every one of them was a stellar.

How dominating was this?

The spiritual Dan before him would be the last batch he planned to make before the competition would start. It was also the batch he was treating with the most seriousness.

Then, his hands formed into a different pattern and an aggressive amount of spiritual energy poured out and sped up the formation of the Dans inside the cauldron.

Swirls of heavy aroma dissipated throughout the room, generating a fragrance that comforted everyone and relaxed everyone.

“Solidify!”

Clasping his hands together, Ling Xian’s expression was serious. He continued to unleash different techniques, then, five dragon-eye sized medicinal Dans broke out of the cauldron. All of them were vibrating with shocking spiritual energy.

The five medicinal Dans were perfectly round, slightly purple, with nine carvings on top.

This meant these five six-realm spiritual Dans were of the ninth rank!

You know, it’s not an easy feat to brew Dans of the ninth rank. Even alchemists who studied alchemy their entire lives could not successfully brew them. But now, Ling Xian brewed a ninth-ranked medicinal Dan at a 20 something year old. Just how shocking was this?

Luckily, there was nobody else but himself there. If this news passed around, countless number of alchemists would be embarrassed and ashamed.

“Five medicinal Dans of the ninth rank, it’s not too bad.”

Looking at the ninth ranked spiritual Dans that were suspending in midair, Ling Xian felt somewhat pitiful, “Such a pity. I am missing a little bit more and I couldn’t brew a perfect Dan.”

Lucky nobody else was here. If they heard what he had said, they would be puking blood from anger. You know, to alchemists, brewing a ninth ranked spiritual Dan was something they can brag about their entire lives.

Yet here he was, brewing a ninth ranked Dan but feeling pitiful. If others knew of this, they would go insane and curse at him.

In reality, it wasn’t that Ling Xian was being greedy and ungrateful. There was a reason behind his pitiful feeling.

Don’t forget, he had once brewed the perfect spiritual Dan. After experiencing that, he naturally wouldn’t be satisfied with a spiritual Dan of the ninth rank. After thinking about it however, he thought it through and was satisfied.

After all, the perfect spiritual Dan he made back then was a Foundational Dan of the eighth realm. The five spiritual Dans before him were of the sixth realm. To be able to have them in the ninth rank was not an easy achievement.

“It’s not bad. After all, this is a spiritual Dan of the eight realm. The difficulty of brewing this one is multiple times harder than brew one of the eighth realm.” Ling Xian smiled in satisfaction and placed the medicinal Dan and his cauldron into his storage pouch.

It’s been 10 days and the gathering of the alchemists was about to start. It was time for him to make his move.

“Time to go. After I enter the Realm of Dan, I will first take care of Hong Yan Xin’s requests, then I can focus on winning the competition.”

Ling Xian softly smiled and walked out of the Nothing is for Sale store. He walked towards the city center field.

One has to admit that the gathering of the alchemist was an extremely attention grabbing attraction. Everyone all over the city had gathered to watch.

The originally rowdy streets lost the normal boisterousness. All of the citizens from the City of Dan had gathered inside the city center and waited for the beginning of the alchemy competition.

When Ling Xian arrived, he couldn’t help but to exclaim how the City of Dan was truly an ancient city. The gathering of alchemy would without a doubt live up to its name.

In front of him was a big cloud of people. At minimum, thousands of people had converged here. To describe it as seas of people would not be an exaggeration.

Every single one of them had a look of high expectation. As they peered at the built stage in the field, their emotions flowed out of them. It was as if the ones who passed the tests and were entering the competition were not alchemists, but themselves.

In the middle of the city center sat five wealthily dressed middle aged men. With their deep eyes, they looked extremely commanding.

They were the clan leaders of the different five clans.

Before them, stood several silhouettes dressed in black. All of their temperament were overpowering, as the hosts of this gathering.

The three examiners Ling Xian had encountered were amongst them.

Before the elders, hundreds of young alchemists were standing tall. There were both men and women, and their temperament were all extraordinary. Without a doubt, they were those who passed the tests, and those who were sent straight to this realm.

“This really is the top gathering of Yuezhou. It sure is grand.” Ling Xian complimented. First, he leapt into the air, and then, he landed on top of the stage.

As he descended, all gazes followed him.

The three examiner he’d met before all liked him and all of their gazes brightened at the sight of him.

The ones who participated in the tests with him had a change of expression. There was fear in their eyes and some jealousy.

The remainder of them had never met Ling Xian before. However, after seeing the token in his hand, all of their faces changed color somewhat.

The news about how Ling Xian used unimaginable speed to acquire two purple lines were news everyone here have heard of. Therefore, their expressions changed after seeing him.

Even the five top characters of the City of Dan were no expectations. Especially after sensing his completion leveled cultivation, they became extremely interested.

“That is the black horse from the tests. The young cultivator of a completion level. Not bad.” The Cao Clan leader said with a smile.

“It’s him. His name is Ling Xian.” Hong Clan leader beamed. “Not bad of a name and a very authoritative person. His temperament is rather extraordinary.”

The other three clan leaders did not speak. However, they all looked very interested.

Feeling everyone’s gawking eyes, Ling Xian remained collected as usual. He was used to people’s attentions. The attentions he was getting right now were not that extreme.

Just then, he suddenly frowned.

Everyone here frowned and had a change of expression.

Because amongst them, two extremely dominating spiritual energy was descending. Like the landing of a God, their Qi completely encompassed the land here.

In the next moment, a man dressed in black appeared amongst the cloud. His 10 fingers interlocked each other and behind him, five rays of heavenly light swirled in circles. He looked like an ancient Buddha, untouchable and pure.

At the same time, a man in white lying on top of a fluffy white cloud also appeared. He held onto a alcohol gourd and exuded the energy of an immortal – untainted and above all others.

“The Buddha who controls the heavens.”

Staring at the Buddha like man, Ling Xian’s expression tensed. He then shifted his gaze onto the man in white and uttered out…

“The God amongst the cloud.”

…