Reversing the Milky Way

Then, Fu Qiran began to speak: "My father said that on that day, someone went to the Northern Prefecture to exchange the bounties for several bandits. At that time, two people went there with a cart full of the bandits' corpses, and the deaths were quite gruesome. One of these two people was Yu Qing, and the other person, I heard from others, was Yu Qing'an."

Fu Wenhao was taken aback when he heard this: "Yu Qing? So he was involved too. No wonder I haven't seen him for several days."

After listening, Fu Qiran shook his head and said, "That's not the point. The point is that Hao Mo led a group to rob Bai Cheng. I heard that they brought a total of four late-stage Body Refinement Realm cultivators and ten mid-stage Body Refinement Realm cultivators. However, in the end, only Hao Mo, one late-stage Body Refinement Realm cultivator, and one mid-stage Body Refinement Realm cultivator escaped alive. The rest killed their way back."

At this moment, Xue Qin, who was standing to the side, also said, "That's right, I've also heard this news. Although Yu Qing has Song Xian as his bodyguard, the two of them alone cannot do it. Moreover, Yu Qing is only at the mid-stage of Body Refinement. Even if Song Xian can hold off Hao Mo, how could Yu Qing possibly deal with so many people all at once?"

At this moment, Fu Wenhao seemed to understand something, and then said, "I didn't expect this Yu Qing'an to be so powerful?"

At this moment, Fu Qiran also spoke up: "Has Bai Cheng come to the school these past few days? Yu Qingan has been picking up and dropping off Yue Ling every day, so it might be difficult to succeed."

Fu Wenhao was clearly unhappy after hearing this: "Are we just going to let it go like this?"

After hearing this, Fu Qiran slowly said, "No rush. The school stipulates that we must come once a week. Bai Cheng will eventually come to the school. We'll make our move then."

After saying that, Fu Wenhao filled another cup with wine and drank it all in one gulp. Now, he was fantasizing about pinning Yueling down. Xue Qin, who was standing to the side, saw the look on Fu Wenhao's face and said, "Brother, I have brought two of my tavern's courtesans with me today to relieve your lust."

After hearing this, Fu Wenhao's eyes lit up, and he said with a lewd expression, "Thank you, Second Young Master Xue."

He then led two courtesans to the private room next door. It must be said that Xue Fu Restaurant, the best in Wuling Town, was well-decorated. No matter how much Fu Wenhao roared next door, no sound came out.

Six days later...

Bai Cheng, who was cultivating inside the cave, could now fully withstand the pressure from the center of the waterfall. In the past few days, besides cultivating under the waterfall, he had also taken the time to study the basic principles of talismans and elixirs. However, both books had specific requirements. To refine elixirs, one must master spiritual power to control flames. Similarly, to draw talismans, one must also master spiritual power.

So he could only look through the illustrations at the back. There weren't many illustrations for pills, with the highest grade being only three. Each pill had its ingredients, refining time, and basic pill-forming techniques written on it.

The talisman manual only lists three levels of talismans: beginner, low, medium, and advanced. Beginner talismans are relatively simple to use. Low-level talismans can be used under specific conditions, and although they are simple to draw, they still require mastery of spiritual power. Starting with intermediate-level talismans, users must master spiritual power to activate them.

The only thing missing from the book on basic forging was the requirement of spiritual power. It only stated that higher-grade ores required different smelting temperatures and methods, implying that different levels of cultivation could produce weapons of varying grades. Furthermore, the ore catalog only went up to the intermediate level, with each ore's appearance and basic formation conditions clearly indicated.

At this moment, Yu Qing'an had come to pick up Bai Cheng and take him back. As he looked at Bai Cheng reading a book, he gradually recalled his own past.

"Uncle Yu... Uncle Yu?" Bai Cheng's voice interrupted Yu Qing'an, who was reminiscing.

He then hurriedly said, "Oh... let's go back."

After listening, Bai Cheng carefully observed Yu Qing'an's expression. "Strange, what's wrong with Uncle Yu lately? He seems to have something on his mind." As he thought this, he followed Yu Qing'an out of the cave, and at the same time, he picked four horn-shaped stamens to take back with him.

Today was the day for herbal medicine class at Renhui Academy. Today, Su Lingyue brought a group of students to the spirit herb garden that she had managed herself. After all, most of these people had not seen many spirit plants and herbs before. Su Lingyue would bring the students to visit her spirit plant garden every once in a while.

Su Lingyue's spiritual plant courtyard is located in a large courtyard in the southwest of a school. The courtyard is surrounded by high walls. This is Bai Cheng's first time here. Usually, the gates of this place are tightly closed. From the moment Bai Cheng took his first step into this place, he felt that the spiritual energy in the air was much richer than outside, and he also felt a slight sensation on his skin.

"What's wrong, Bai Cheng? Are you feeling unwell?" Bai Cheng was pulled back by Su Lingyue's words, and then replied, "Instructor Su, I'm fine."

Afterwards, Bai Cheng began to observe the herb garden. The garden was very large, located in the southwest corner of the academy, resembling a small park. This was because the garden not only featured artificial hills but also simulated the growing environments of various spiritual plants, demonstrating the great effort that Instructor Su had put into her research.

As Bai Cheng walked, he observed the various spiritual plants, while Su Lingyue, at the front of the group, carefully explained each plant. After walking around, Bai Cheng noticed that he had seen nearly 80% of the spiritual plants in the courtyard in the cave, with only a few requiring specific growing conditions that he had not seen before.

He stood atop a brownish-yellow flower, its petals radiating a brownish-yellow energy clearly visible in the sunlight. Bai Cheng knew this was a grade three spiritual plant, though he'd never seen one in the cave before. He knew such plants were rich in spiritual energy, their energy so concentrated it could envelop the plant itself. In the wild, such plants would be fiercely sought after by herb gatherers. Bai Cheng murmured to himself, "I wonder how much a grade three spiritual plant can sell for?"

"Brother Bai Cheng, you really know how to think," Lü Liang said, fanning himself with his fan as he approached Bai Cheng. Looking at the spiritual plant before him, he continued, "This Earth Rock Flower is a Grade Three spiritual plant; ordinary people have never even seen one. If you were to sell it, it would fetch at least this much." He held up three fingers. Bai Cheng nodded, then looked at Lü Liang and tentatively asked, "Three hundred silver coins?"

After hearing Bai Cheng's answer, Lü Liang closed his eyes in deep thought. Seeing this, Bai Cheng asked doubtfully, "Really? Did I guess wrong?" However, Lü Liang suddenly opened his eyes and said playfully, "No! You guessed right!"

Upon hearing Lü Liang's words, Bai Cheng could only respond with a string of ellipses. The two then got up and continued walking forward.

At this moment, Bai Cheng suddenly remembered a question. Although he had hardly seen any here, it didn't mean they weren't there. He then asked with a question in mind, "What if someone comes here and secretly picks them?"

Upon hearing Bai Cheng's words, Lü Liang stopped in his tracks, put away his fan, pointed to a rockery in the middle of the Spirit Herb Courtyard, and said, "Do you see the rockery in the middle?"

After listening, Bai Cheng also looked at the artificial mountain in the middle. The artificial mountain was about three stories high and had many spiritual plants on it.

"Of course I saw it, what's the problem?" Hearing Bai Cheng say this, Lü Liang leaned close to Bai Cheng's ear and whispered, "Inside this artificial hill, there is a secret room where our school's dean cultivates! He is at the mid-stage of the Qi Condensation Realm. At the early stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, one's divine sense can cover a radius of five hundred meters. Do you think no one dares to steal it? Even if they did, how many people in the entire Wuling Town would dare to do so?"

After hearing Lü Liang's words, Bai Cheng's pupils dilated. He was not surprised by whether or not anyone stole anything, but by the fact that the headmaster of the academy had actually built a cultivation environment himself. He knew that the more spiritual energy a cultivator was in, the better the cultivation effect would be. As for why, he could see it from his own experience.

Thinking about this, Bai Cheng couldn't help but admire the headmaster of the academy. He not only fulfilled his daughter's request but also managed to cultivate while guarding the spirit herb garden. It was truly a win-win situation.

After school ended in the afternoon, Bai Cheng picked up Yue Ling at the gate and was about to leave when he remembered that he had something important to do.

Seeing Bai Cheng's expression, Yue Ling asked in confusion, "Huh? Brother Bai Cheng, what's wrong?"

"Ling'er, would you like to watch how elixirs are made?"

After hearing this, Yue Ling was completely bewildered. Then, Bai Cheng pulled Yue Ling to the library.

There were no students left in the library at this time; only Zheng Wensheng was lying on a chair with his eyes closed, as if he was thinking about something.

Then, Bai Cheng walked to the front desk and said, "Mr. Zheng, I'm here."

After hearing Bai Cheng's words, Zheng Wensheng sat up from his chair and stared at Bai Cheng, asking, "Well, did you find them?" Bai Cheng looked around and then took out the four ox horn stamens from his pocket.

Upon seeing this, Zheng Wensheng immediately stood up from his chair. He carefully picked up the ox horn in front of him to examine it.

He then exclaimed in an amazed tone, "Wow, Bai Cheng, I never expected you could actually find four horn stamens! This has been a huge help to me!"

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng smiled and said, "Then this time, can we watch?" Zheng Wensheng readily replied, "Of course, but the alchemy process takes a little longer. I wonder if that's convenient for you?"

After listening, Bai Cheng exchanged a glance with Yue Ling beside him, and then asked, "Ling'er, what do you think? Are you interested?"

After hearing this, Yue Ling pondered for a while before saying, "Alright then. Come to think of it, I've never seen a scene of alchemy either."

After hearing Yue Ling's answer, Bai Cheng said to Zheng Wensheng, "We have no problem, let's begin now."

After hearing Bai Cheng's answer, Zheng Wensheng nodded and then said, "Then come with me."

After speaking, he waved his hand, and the door to the library closed instantly. He then led Bai Cheng to a wall behind a bookshelf. Zheng Wensheng placed his hand on the wall in front of him, channeling his spiritual energy. A formation slowly appeared on the wall, and then a hidden door slowly opened. Bai Cheng was stunned by this. This was the first time he had ever seen a hidden door controlled by spiritual energy; it felt just like the fingerprint locks on Earth.

The three then entered the room. The first thing that caught their eye was the alchemy furnace in the center, which looked to be more than a person's height. On both sides of the room, there were shelves like medicine cabinets, densely arranged and covering the entire wall.

Afterwards, Zheng Wensheng arranged for Bai Cheng and Yue Ling to sit and watch, while he went to the alchemy furnace, circulated his spiritual power, and then brought his palms together, from which flames emerged. As the flames grew larger, they instantly split into countless streams, flying into the furnace and raising the temperature of the room instantly.

Bai Cheng swallowed hard upon witnessing this scene. He had only ever seen such outrageous maneuvers on television before; he never imagined he would one day see it live. It was unbelievable. Yue Ling beside him also stared wide-eyed, intently watching Zheng Wensheng's actions.

Then, Zheng Wensheng kept his spiritual energy circulating in one hand, facing the alchemy furnace. Then he raised his other hand high, and Bai Cheng saw the medicine compartments on both sides of the surrounding wall open one after another. Several spiritual plants floated out from different compartments, along with the four ox horn stamens from before, and hovered above the alchemy furnace.

Then, Zheng Wensheng pointed two fingers together at the alchemy furnace. As the lid above the furnace opened, the spiritual plants floating above began to fly into the furnace in sequence, and then the lid closed. The whole sequence of movements was fluid and seamless.

At this moment, Bai Cheng was also staring intently. He saw Zheng Wensheng with both hands facing the alchemy furnace, constantly using his spiritual power to control the flames inside.

As time went by, Bai Chengke also felt the surrounding temperature changing constantly. He looked at Zheng Wensheng and found that sweat was seeping from Zheng Wensheng's forehead.

Seeing this, Bai Cheng couldn't help but think, "It seems that alchemy consumes a lot of spiritual energy. If I don't cultivate spiritual energy, I really can't refine pills."

After a while, the fire in the furnace gradually died down. Then, the lid of the furnace opened, and twenty pills flew out, floating slowly in Zheng Wensheng's hand. At the same time, the fragrance of the pills wafted into Bai Cheng's nose.

Seeing this, Bai Cheng quickly got up and went to Zheng Wensheng's side.

After staring at the floating pills in thought for a while, he asked, "Mr. Zheng, I've always had a question: once you master the manipulation of spiritual energy, can you refine pills?"