Danzun War God

Chapter Twelve: Fire Cloud City

Han Qi returned to the inn from the town. Lin Yuyao's room was already dark. Han Qi went back to his own room and began preparing to break through to the Condensation Realm. The first half of the Hunyuan Five Elements Technique was almost finished. After entering the Condensation Realm, he could cultivate the second half of the Five Elements Technique, which also required the cooperation of the Spirit Pearl to complete.

Within Han Qi's life palace, the five streams of profound energy gradually merged into one, and then a powerful and mysterious vortex appeared. The edge of the vortex was a light blue wave of profound energy, and a crystal clear essence blood gradually appeared in the very center of the vortex. As the essence blood formed, several cracking sounds rang out from Han Qi's body. Han Qi successfully entered the Condensation Realm, and a huge change also occurred in his dantian. The profound energy in his dantian gathered into a sea of ​​profound energy, and its color changed from light blue to dark blue.

Waves of profound energy flashed across the surface of the Xuanhai Sea. The sheer volume of this energy far exceeded Han Qi's expectations. Even in his previous life, as a Pill Venerable War God who had reached the Nascent Soul Realm, his profound energy was only one-tenth of what it was at the first level of the Qi Condensation Realm. Han Qi had expected the Five Elements Sacred Technique to strengthen his physical body, but this was far beyond his expectations. Han Qi withdrew his profound energy, a smile appearing on his lips. He was genuinely satisfied with the improvements in his body and cultivation this time.

Han Qi was extremely excited and not sleepy at all. He opened his Qiankun Ring to retrieve the Wuxiang Technique and happened to see a Beast Imprint Scripture, which was also left to him by the Carefree Daoist. This animal skin book was relatively small, and Han Qi had not paid much attention to the Beast Imprint Scripture until he saw the name and became very curious. So he opened it to see what was written inside.

After reading it, Han Qi was overjoyed. The Beast Seal Scripture was divided into two parts. The first part was a seal, but this seal was extremely powerful, capable of sealing the spirits of demonic beasts, spirit beasts, and divine beasts. The other part was a mental sutra, a sutra for controlling beast spirits. To put it simply, this Beast Seal Scripture was a treasure trove for taming beasts, which might be of great use in the future. Han Qi silently memorized the sealing incantation and the mental sutra.

By this time, it was already bright outside the window. Han Qi got up and walked out of the room. Lin Yuyao also came out at the same time. The two smiled at each other and left the inn together, boarding the prepared carriage and speeding towards Fire Cloud City.

After several days of bumpy travel, they finally arrived at the border of Fire Cloud City.

Fire Cloud City is covered in fire, and at night the entire city appears fiery red, like a burning cloud, hence the name Fire Cloud City.

Because Fire Cloud City possesses abundant earth fire resources, the alchemy industry here is very developed. Fourth-grade alchemists can be seen everywhere on the streets, and there are even quite a few fifth-grade and sixth-grade alchemists. The most prominent family in Fire Cloud City is the Situ family, which owns the largest sect in Fire Cloud City—the Xuan Tian Sect.

The Xuantian Sect is primarily a place for training alchemists. It possesses unique resources, including the Fire Essence Cave, the source of earth fire, and has a large number of disciples. Every year, a group of disciples are selected to enter the sect, but the conditions are quite strict. They must be under thirty years old, possess fire-type talent, have a cultivation level between the Condensation Realm and the Tribulation Realm, and most importantly, have extremely high comprehension in alchemy.

The number of disciples recruited each year is not large, only about twenty. The selection process consists of three steps: preliminary selection based on talent, practical alchemy, and martial arts competition. Hundreds of people participate in the selection process each year, making the competition extremely fierce.

The alchemists on the street wearing Taoist robes with the characters "Xuantian" embroidered on the left chest are all from the Xuantian Sect, and the alchemists of Huoyun City take pride in wearing the Taoist robes of the Xuantian Sect.

The two arrived in Huoyun City, intending to find a place to stay. However, Huoyun City was extremely expensive, and finding a place to live was not easy. Although they had brought several hundred thousand taels of silver with them when they left home, the silver would not last long if they wanted to stay in Huoyun City for a long time. A simple inn would only cost them three to five months' worth of silver, not to mention food. Helpless, the two found a farmhouse in the suburbs of Huoyun City and rented two small rooms to save money.

The next day, the two came to the main street of Fire Cloud City. The street was lined with pharmacies, selling herbs and pills. Most of the pedestrians on the street were alchemists, and most of them had reached the Tribulation Realm or the Saint Infant Realm. In addition, there were also figures in the King Realm.

Lin Yuyao was stunned, because everyone here could kill them in an instant. However, their passing still attracted a lot of attention. Fire Cloud City was the domain of alchemists, and the vast majority of them were men. Lin Yuyao was a woman with a charming figure and exquisite appearance. Dressed in white, she looked like an angel descended to earth, making many alchemists eager to make their move, their eyes revealing a greedy look.

Han Qi realized the problem and felt uneasy. If someone attacked them, it would be a big problem for him with his current cultivation level. Coincidentally, Han Qi found a teahouse, so the two of them went into the teahouse, chose a corner to sit down, ordered a pot of tea and drank it slowly without saying anything, just quietly listening to what the people around them were saying.

At this moment, the teahouse was very noisy and full of people, mostly alchemists. The profession of alchemist is to face the alchemy furnace every day and basically not have much interaction with outsiders. Therefore, alchemists must be able to endure loneliness. Because alchemy is very tedious, they like to come to the teahouse to chat with people about everything under the sun whenever they have time. Therefore, the teahouse is the place where information flows the fastest in the entire Fire Cloud City.

At a table right next to the two of them sat three teenagers, who were talking excitedly about attending the Xuantian Sect's disciple recruitment event this year.

One of the older ones said, "I must enter the Xuan Tian Sect this year, otherwise my cultivation will exceed the limit if I break through to the Tribulation Manifestation Realm. I have been holding back from breaking through this year. I can also refine fourth-order pills."

"Brother Li, you're sure to win this year. It's different for me. I can only produce one batch of third-grade pills occasionally. Sigh," another youth said with envy.

At this moment, the young man who had been drinking tea spoke up, “Brother Mo, don’t worry. The selection is divided into three rounds. The first round is talent screening, and we are all fire-attribute, so there’s no problem. The second round is alchemy practice, and each person has three chances. As long as we produce at least one finished product, we can advance. The third round is a test of cultivation and combat power. As long as the three of us stick together in the third round and kick out all the top-ranked people from the second round, we can have a sure win.”

At this moment, the young man surnamed Mo's eyes lit up and he said excitedly, "Brother Ouyang is right. Brother Li is at the ninth level of the Condensation Realm, and Brother Ouyang is at the seventh level of the Condensation Realm. With my fourth level of the Condensation Realm, our chances of winning have greatly increased."

“You are absolutely right. Let’s celebrate our successful joining of the Xuantian Sect with a toast!” said the young man surnamed Li, raising his teacup.

"cheers!"

"cheers!"

At this moment, two elderly alchemists at another table caught Han Qi's attention. They were talking quietly, their eyes constantly darting around, as if afraid someone would eavesdrop.

Han Qi concentrated and could only vaguely hear some of it.

One of the alchemists said, "The Situ family is becoming more and more powerful. Recently, they have collected all the fire essence stones that appeared in Fire Cloud City and gathered them in the Fire Essence Cave. If anyone is found to be taking fire essence stones out of the city, they will be killed without exception. I heard last night that they killed several more people, and their corpses are still hanging on the city wall as a warning."

"Yes, it's getting more and more outrageous. A few years ago, when the old city lord wasn't in seclusion, the rule was that whoever got it kept it and could take it away at will," another alchemist said with a look of indignation.

"By the way, it seems that the old city lord is in seclusion to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm. Once he breaks through to the Nascent Soul Realm, the Situ family's position in Fire Cloud City will be even more unshakeable. I hope that when the old city lord comes out of seclusion, he will be as strict as before and not guard the Fire Essence Stone so much. I came to Fire Cloud City this time to get a Fire Essence Stone to take away for alchemy." After saying that, he sighed softly.

Han Qi couldn't help but glance back; the two were at the late stage of the Tribulation Manifestation Realm and the early stage of the Saint Infant Realm, respectively. A sharp-eyed alchemist noticed the look Han Qi was giving him.

Fearing overheard by the Situ family's spies, he quickly changed the subject, loudly proclaiming, "The spectacular 'Fire Clouds Dancing in the Sky' event in Fire Cloud City is about to appear again! It's a once-in-a-century event! Coming to Fire Cloud City this time was definitely the right decision, haha!"

After saying that, he glanced at Han Qi again. Seeing that Han Qi was leisurely drinking tea and not paying attention to them, he whispered, "Recently, I heard that Lu Yaowu, the nephew of the Grand Elder of Xuantian Sect, has also become a local tyrant in Xuantian Sect. There are quite a few Xuantian Sect disciples who are attached to him, making him a major force in Xuantian Sect."

“What you say is true. Even some elders of the Xuantian Sect don’t dare to offend Lu Yaowu. After all, the sect leader of the Xuantian Sect is currently in seclusion, and all matters, big and small, within the sect are temporarily managed by the Grand Elder Lu Hongsheng.” Another alchemist shook his head as he spoke. Because the Taoist robe he was wearing was embroidered with the words “Xuantian”, he should be very familiar with the internal affairs of the Xuantian Sect. He was also extremely helpless.

The alchemist from the Xuantian Sect took a sip of tea and continued, "Since the sect leader stopped managing affairs, the conflicts between the various factions within the sect have been increasing day by day. Now the Xuantian Sect is like a disorganized mess, a chaotic and corrupt place. I'm afraid the Xuantian Sect is doomed to decline." After saying this, the two of them fell silent and simply drank their tea in silence.

Just then, a young man entered through the door. He was dressed in black, honest and sturdy, with a serious expression. After scanning the room with sharp eyes, he walked straight to an empty seat inside.

Han Qi was taken aback when he saw the man, and casually said, "It's him."

Lin Yuyao turned around and looked, then asked, "Who? Do you know them?"

Han Qi then regained his composure and said, "I don't know him, we've only met once."

Han Qi noticed the boy who entered; it was the same boy who had killed the monster that attacked the town not long ago. However, he was covered in dust and his clothes were tattered. Han Qi was genuinely surprised to run into him here. However, a hint of melancholy lingered in the boy's brows, and he didn't seem like an alchemist. What was he doing here? Han Qi couldn't help but wonder.