Chapter 45: The Nine Yang Emotional Poison Fire

  Arriving at the Xiao Nei Valley, where the small bean refining equipment was located, Yuan Fei looked around with a difficult expression and said:

  "Except for a practice-made cauldron, it's really a poor and blank slate."

  Xiao Dou didn't make a sound, only he himself knew how bitter it was. He had endured so much pressure and shouldered the hopes of many people. At this moment, if his master still couldn't understand him, then he would immediately turn around and leave, never to care about him again!

  "Monkey gazed at him with a slanted eye and said, 'I know you're suffering in your heart. Hmph! Every time I take on an apprentice, I truly leave for several hundred years, pretend to leave for several hundred years, and stay with them for several hundred years. Do you know why that is?'"

  "Boys must be forced to grow up, only then will they become ambitious and make something of themselves. Girls should be spoiled as they grow up, only then will they have a kind heart. But in the world of cultivating immortals, there is no distinction between men and women, only the cruelest competition. If you don't have the ability, it's only natural that you should die!"

  The gibbon nodded and said, "Your little logic is quite clear, but it's different in action. Don't you understand that if I didn't appear, with your current development, probably only eight people could reach the fusion period? If you choose to give up at the foundation-building stage, maybe forty to one hundred twenty people can reach the fusion period and survive!"

  Xiao Dou lowered his head and said: "I didn't know it was so delicate, but I understand the general idea. If you hadn't appeared, I would have been stuck with them through thick and thin, what a mess!"

  The gibbon flew away with a bitter smile, saying: "You two, if you leave Xiaoshui Xian, I estimate you'll die in no more than a few days. You're really a perfect match, but unfortunately, you both think of each other as siblings, and in your hearts, you each have someone else you like. Otherwise, being together would be quite good!"

  Xiao Dou frowned and asked: "Does Shui Xian have someone she likes? How come I don't know, we've been together for 300 years, didn't discover it!"

  The gibbon flew over, flapping its big mouth and said: "Even I have to call Xiaoshui Xian a generation of talented people, how can you see through her heart? I'm just telling you that from now on, no matter what happens, you little boy don't leave her and it's all right! Hold on tight, this is also your path to success!"

  Xiao Dou took a deep breath and laughed: "Master, how do you think our little team will do? What did the senior brothers do to succeed in the past?"

  The gibbon took a sip of wine and said, "You humans may be numerous, but you're the first batch to reach the Dan-forming stage without a single death. That's good, so just play together for now. However, once you enter the early stages of the Great Dao, no matter what, you'll have to disperse. Condensing the Primordial Infant isn't a simple task; it relies on individual opportunities and insights. If you still want to stick together like children, then that's truly following the old saying - 'the strongest wood will break.' Everyone will be finished! I'm telling you this so you can take some time to tell Little Water Fairy, proving you understand this principle. Otherwise, these over 200 people will all be calculated and killed by her at the appointed time!"

  "Uh-huh... I was worried about that too, so I asked you for the exact time. At that time, I'll be alone too... Ugh, I hate being alone the most!"

  "Your kind of personality is so useless! You should go find a woman who's deeply in love, that kind of woman will stick with you forever once she's set her mind on you. Hehe... but I've lived for over 4,000 years and only met a few hundred such people. And your shifu's wife, my old lady, is one of them! Haha, I'm truly great!"

  "Whatever kind of woman it is, I'll definitely find her," Xiaodou exclaimed hastily. "Master, tell me in detail!"

  "Useless, this kind of woman doesn't need me to tell you, just being in contact with her and you'll feel it, a very intimate, subtle feeling. Alright, for you, this is an unrealistic thing. Hmm... remember, based on my experience, it's best if you never leave Xiao Shui Xian, otherwise, I don't think your future path will be good! Ah, right, until now your body hasn't transformed and there's no divine object assisting you, did you have a severe cold when you were young?"

  Xiao Dou nodded and briefly talked about his childhood experience of diving into the icy pool for water caltrops, then asked:

  "Master, will our bodies change shape too and become as tall and strong as yours?"

  "Indeed, the power of the Nine Yang Divine Skill is something you're well aware of, but it also has a side effect - the Passion Fire. This poisonous fire will torment you day and night, and once your body recovers, you'll find that things aren't as good as they used to be... You'll feel an intense longing for the opposite sex. The further you progress with the divine skill, the more severe the Passion Fire becomes. Conversely, the more you persevere, the stronger you'll become. Once you break through the barrier of being a virgin, it will be fine, but afterwards, making progress will become much harder."

  Xiao Dou smiled and pointed to the pure golden sand on his forehead, saying: "I'm a good kid, I'll definitely have great prospects, right? ~Master, you're hiding something from me, at that time you said I had talent, but got stuck, tell me, what else can I do, they don't know, but I still know, it seems like I have some weirdness!"

  The ape laughed and said: "Heavenly secrets cannot be revealed, trust Master, you don't know what's good for you, it's better for you to forget about this matter, focus on cultivating the Nine Suns Divine Technique, the Vajra Protection Technique, and your Battle Victory Method. Occasionally cultivate the Reincarnation Eye, this is a great combination. Also, I'll teach you the way of alchemy..."

  Xiao Dou didn't ask any more questions, using all his might to study and think about the art of alchemy that Yuan Fei had taught him. With a mentor like this old guy, one day was enough for him to make progress that would take others ten years. Having someone to guide him and materials to practice with made it so much easier! His progress could be described as meteoric!

  Although he had the extraordinary talent of Zhī Jīn Shā, and was taught by the great master Yuè Fēi, and his master provided him with unlimited materials, more than 30 years passed and he still achieved nothing. Every time he tried to refine equipment, it ended in failure. Although Yuè Fēi told him that this was normal, and that he himself didn't become a low-level refiner until after 45 years, Xiaodou was still very dissatisfied with himself.

  Another sunset, aside from cultivation, Xiaodou spent the day reading and once again took out the alchemy furnace, then threw in a few pieces of refined iron material and twenty-eight kinds of auxiliary materials. With his Xuan Gong condensed fire above the furnace, he closed his eyes to observe the situation inside, then dissolved, separated, combined, and matched...

  "Ugh..." Not a moment later, Xiao Dou retrieved the alchemy cauldron and carelessly discarded the failed materials. He cursed loudly: "Failed... failed again! Clearly I didn't do anything wrong, why did it still fail?!"

  The ape flew over, sipping a small wine, and teasingly said: "It's your heart that's not firm enough, not dedicated enough to the sword, it's strange if you can succeed!"

  Xiao Dou said dejectedly: "Sword Intent, apart from practicing the basic sword techniques for a few years, I haven't learned anything else. Master, you can't expect me to spend hundreds of years studying swordsmanship, can you? Tell me something new!"

  "The ape flew over with a sly smile on his face and said: 'Bring two more jars of fine wine, and I'll give you a little guidance!'"

  Xiao Dou reluctantly walked to the backyard of the small wooden house, took out his own prohibition sign, opened the wine cellar he had dug himself, and put an end to the flying thief's wine cellar. Then, in the vast underground wine cellar, he took two more jars of fine wine and handed them over to his master. The little fellow said with a pained heart:

  "Master, think of me, your disciple, as a wealthy local tyrant in the mortal world. Now I have to support more than a thousand new disciples for you, and every few days, send you two jars of the finest wine, which even the emperor's children can't get their hands on - the 400-year-old Daughter Red!"

  "If only it were five hundred years old!" Monkey snatched the wine jar with a look of regret, opened it and took a big gulp, shaking his head and saying: "If it were five hundred years old, there would be a fragrance like clear lotus, Ah~ that's truly delicious! But I'm too impatient to wait, hmm~ four hundred years is not bad either, good wine!"

  Little Bean leaned against the eaves and said: "Master, don't get drunk, quickly tell me the secret to success!"

  The ape flew over, its big mouth saying: "Fart, in this world there's no shortcut that can be achieved overnight. If it were that easy, then all the Daoist artifacts would fill the sky and what would be the point of fighting? One person could casually throw out a hundred Daoist artifacts and kill off everyone who was one level higher than themselves. But as for shortcuts, they do exist. It's just a matter of asking yourself, what do you like most?"

  Xiao Dou patted his head and laughed happily: "Lei Zhenzi, boom! Destroy the sky and earth, handsome to death! At that time, I will refine this explosive thing that killed Xiao Fei's fiancé, steal love with a horizontal knife, rely on youth, spirited and vigorous, kill!"

  "Ha ha, you little scamp, always so reckless, but your thinking is correct. As cultivators of the Nine Yang Divine Technique, which belongs to fire, we have a great innate talent for refining instruments. And the Golden Body Protection Technique is our key to wealth. Heh heh... None of them can refine explosive materials because they don't have our unparalleled defensive system. If they fail once, their lives are gone, but we're not afraid - failing multiple times is fine too. This is also why explosive materials are so precious. However, we must also refine explosive materials that match the level of our Golden Body Protection Technique, and cannot overstep!"

  Xiao Dou smiled foolishly: "With my cunning merchant brain, I discovered this great business opportunity early on. However, even with the most basic iron cannonballs, I've failed 56 times!"

  A monkey flew in, tilted his neck and took a sip of wine, saying with a drunken smile: "The world of interest hides the secrets of your life, what's important is - do you think so?"

  "Disciple has learned!" Xiaodoumao burst into laughter and said: "Right, Master, how is our big ship that you made? I've urged you many times already!"

  The ape flew over with a helpless expression and said: "In order to let you young master practice, my old family's wealth is almost used up. This warship is fine, but you only have one good material, the three-headed dragon snake skin, and the energy inner dan. Even if I add my yellow bird inner dan and the squid beast's yin dan, it can still produce a large amount of divine power, which can be used to make a low-grade spiritual treasure - the Inverse Wind Divine Boat. However... however good this thing is, even if it's made, it will still be incomplete due to the scarcity of materials. Alas! If only I had a spacious storage bag, my old family would have plenty of wealth, and we wouldn't need to worry about not having enough space to store treasures. When we need them, they're gone!"

  "What's lacking in materials? Uh... of course I don't quite understand, so there's no way then?"

  The gibbon flew up and scratched its head, saying: "There are many ways to do it, but now there is no opportunity to go out and collect materials for flying demons. I'm leaving, what if a Tianren period enemy comes and destroys the Carefree Peak? That old man would become a sinner for all eternity!"

  Xiao Dou said with a weird expression: "The materials for flying demonic beasts, uh... does anything that can fly work?"

  The gibbon flew over with a suspicious look on his face, saying: "Of course, but the materials used to make Lingbao can't be inferior. It's best not to use damaged ones, otherwise, it won't be able to fly, let alone change size like a magic treasure. Even if it's just a little worse, it'll be useless!"

  "Does the small nine heavenly dragon's scale work? Is it complete, without any damage? Uh, Master, why are you staring at me with such big eyes? I only have a few, just three pieces!"

  "Whoa!"