Chapter 27: First Alchemy

  Zhang Feiyang's spiritual power controlled the Lian Yao furnace, consuming his magical powers. With just a fusion of gold, he consumed a bit of magical power. However, Zhang Feiyang already had over 500 points of magical power, so the consumption was negligible.

  Tangerine is snoring on the bed, Zhang Feiyang now has spiritual power and can find Tangerine wherever she hides. Zhang Feiyang's loud voice echoes in the Alchemy Furnace space: "Get up! Lazy worm!"

  Tangerine suddenly sat up with a start, her big eyes scanning around and shouting: "Ah! I was having such a beautiful dream, why wake me up?!"

  Zhang Fei said: "I have collected some gold sand and now I have refined it into pure gold. Can you make some golden ingots in the shape of the golden coins from the Divine Land's fertile soil?"

  Orange glanced at the Fire Illusion Realm, saw those gold coins, and her expression was very calm. She stretched her waist, yawned, and said in a delicate voice: "I know, I'll sleep for a while, and then I'll deal with it when I wake up!" After finishing speaking, she lay down on the side of the bed and immediately started snoring loudly. Orange's bed was located at the center of the Five Elements Illusion Realm, which could be cool or warm, soft or hard, and was extremely comfortable.

  Zhang Feiyang didn't disturb Chengzi's rest either. He opened the window, and the warm sunlight poured in, so he took a nap too.

  As soon as he woke up, Zhang Feiyang's spirit entered the Alchemy Furnace and found that there were ten golden ingots and over thirty gold coins stuck to the wall of the furnace. It turned out that Chengzi had completed the task while Zhang Feiyang was taking a nap. Zhang Feiyang felt relieved and thought to himself, "Although Chengzi has a bad temper, he is indeed very capable!"

  Look again at the Golden Illusory Realm, the Golden Armor has already taken on a vague shape, wrapped in a layer of metallic-colored thin film, floating and rotating in the unparalleled golden light of the Golden Illusory Realm, undergoing its final form refinement.

  Zhang Feiyang was about to wash his face when he suddenly heard a knock at the door. He opened it and saw Sun Hongyue's follower holding a document standing at the entrance, saying: "Zhang Feiyang, this is a life-and-death contract, Big Brother has already signed his name, just waiting for you to sign your name, three days later meet on the Life-and-Death Platform!"

  Zhang Fei snatched the life-and-death contract, picked up the ink pen on the cabinet, signed his own name, and threw it to Sun Hongyue's follower. The follower actually smiled and took the life-and-death contract away.

  Zhang Fei came to the house of Cao Yuan next door, poured five ingots and fifteen gold coins onto Cao Yuan's bed, saying: "This money is divided between us, half for each person."

  Cao Wan's eyes lit up, hugging the gold, his eyes filled with golden ingots. He was moved to say: "Brother Zhang, I, Cao Wan, followed you and it was the right decision, you're really a good brother!" To think about it, the sand gold was discovered by Zhang Feiyang, and the refining of gold was also done by Zhang Feiyang. Cao Wan was just a witness, able to split it half and half with Zhang Feiyang, how could he not be moved?

  "Money is an external thing, what's important is human relationships and righteousness. I, Zhang Feiyang, will never be ambiguous in treating my allies."

  Cao Wan nodded heavily with a big smile on his face, rubbing the gold coins and golden ingots in his hands.

  In the afternoon, all the disciples of the inner gate went down the mountain to cut firewood. The disciples knew that Zhang Feiyang had signed a life-and-death contract and looked at him with regretful eyes, while Zhang Feiyang's confident appearance made them even more puzzled.

  Cao Wan held an axe and chopped at a yellow poplar tree, saying: "Brother Zhang, in three days you will engage in a life-or-death duel. If you can't defeat Sun Hongyue, use your precious artifact, the Golden Furnace, to capture him and let him burn in the fierce flames, turning into a pile of charcoal."

  "We cultivators can't be so ruthless, harming the lives of our fellow sect members. I, Zhang Feiyang, would never do such a thing. Besides, if we wanted to capture him, we would have to put him in an unconscious state first, like when he's asleep or knocked out. It's impossible to capture him while he's awake."

  Cao Wanjun said, "So that's how it is. It seems I don't understand alchemy after all. Thank you, Brother Zhang, for teaching me. However, be careful during your life-and-death duel with Sun Hongyue. Although you are kind to him, he won't be kind to you. That person is arrogant and domineering; if he comes down from the mountain, he'll be a murderer."

  Zhang Fei swung his axe and chopped down the tree trunk, saying: "I have my own measure."

  Sun Hongyue handed the life-and-death contract to Xianmen Tongzi, who then permitted their life-and-death duel. Sun Hongyue was very proud, among the inner door disciples of Biyun Sword Pavilion, he had received the most favor from Master Luo Geng and was the strongest in terms of strength. He had previously fought a duel with four inner door disciples, killing one person and crippling three others, his methods were extremely ruthless, all the inner door disciples knew about it but they all feared Sun Hongyue's tyranny.

  Three days later, it just so happened that there were no gate missions at noon.

  Zhang Fei Yang and Cao Wan arrived at the mountain waist, where the clouds and fog were dense. At the top of the cloud layer, there was an iron chain bridge. The bridge had iron chains as railings and wooden planks as its base, allowing only one person to pass through at a time. It swayed back and forth in the midst of the clouds and fog, extremely perilous. If one wasn't careful, they would fall into the mountain valley and end up with a crushed body.

  "The Bridge of Life and Death" three big characters were engraved on a three-foot stone monument.

  "Ah, this bridge's railing is lower than knee level, swaying back and forth in the clouds... what if I fall off?"

  "Life and Death Bridge, it's built to be extremely dangerous, it's a warning to people. If you go on, it's a life-and-death duel, if you don't go on, then it's a way out. Brother Cao, I won't force you to follow me, after all this is my own life-and-death duel, it has nothing to do with you, you can go back."

  Cao Wan gazed at Zhang Fei Yang, with a flash of excitement in his eyes, and said: "Brother Zhang, when you, Huang Juan and I entered the Nei Men Ge together, we had already formed an alliance. In fact, I have long considered you my best friend. Your affairs are mine too. If you want to go down and duel, I will naturally follow. Let's go down together! However, I'm afraid of heights, so you walk in front."

  Zhang Fei laughed and patted Cao Wan's shoulder, saying: "Good brother, let's go down." After finishing speaking, he stepped onto the bridge of life and death, suddenly feeling his body swaying with the bridge, unable to control it. He hastily bent over to hold onto the iron chain and proceeded slowly.

  It was okay at first, but after the body entered the clouds, everything in front of me was white and I could only see one meter ahead. I couldn't tell east, west, south or north, and the Bridge of Life and Death swayed even more fiercely here. Zhang Fei Yang sensed the frequency of the bridge's sway and adjusted his body balance, feeling that there wasn't much danger.

  "Brother Zhang... Brother Zhang... Help! I can't move anymore!"

  Zhang Fei turned his head to look, and saw Cao Huan bent over, his legs trembling with fear. As the Bridge of Life and Death swayed, he suddenly fell onto it with a loud cry of "Save me!" and stopped in the middle, where it was most dangerous.

  "Damn it!" Zhang Fei's face turned red with rage, he grabbed Cao Meng and slapped him in the face, saying: "You're scared to death just walking on a narrow bridge, yet you're always thinking about flirting with celestial maidens. What celestial maiden would like a coward who's afraid of everything? Get up now and hurry across!"

  This sentence has an effect, Cao Wan stared at Zhang Fei Yang in surprise, and suddenly his eyes were like a sharp knife. He said: "Brother Zhang's teaching is that I, Cao Wan, will never be a coward. I want to be the hero who holds the fairy maiden!"

  Zhang Fei let out a wry smile and thought to himself: "A lecher is indeed different."

  Cao Wan gritted his teeth, no longer afraid, and the two of them continued to walk down, one in front of the other. They passed through the clouds and mist, and suddenly a bright light appeared before their eyes. Below the Bridge of Life and Death, they saw a white valley with green forests, flying birds and cranes, all appearing before their eyes at once. The height was so great that it made Zhang Fei's eyes spin for a moment. Cao Wan let out a few sharp cries, but in order to become a hero, he gritted his teeth and continued to walk forward.

  At the very bottom of the Bridge of Life and Death, a towering peak rises up, with its top as sharp as a knife and broad and flat, which is the "Platform of Life and Death". The other end of the Platform of Life and Death is also connected to another Bridge of Life and Death, leading directly to Red Cloud Mountain.

  Five figures were already on the stage of life and death, with two of them moving quickly in the center. Between them, swords flashed and the sound of clashing weapons was incessant, as if they were engaged in a fierce duel.

  "Huh? Someone is already dueling on the life and death platform!" Zhang Fei Yang felt very curious, quickened his pace, climbed up onto the life and death platform, took a closer look, and saw that it was five female inner sect disciples from Red Cloud Mountain. Two of them were currently engaged in a fierce battle, and the one wielding a large sword with even more ferocity was Huang Juan!

  "What? Huang Juan?" Cao Wan lay on the ground panting, seeing Huang Juan fighting for her life in the distance, and was very surprised, squeezing his eyes to take a look.

  Huang Juan was dueling with a green-clad woman, her morale extremely high, her sword light the most victorious. She fought with concentration and did not notice Zhang Fei Yang and Cao Wan's two people.

  A woman in a green dress held a long sword in her hand, and her strength was not weak either. She kept shouting to boost her own morale.

  Huang Juan's strength was vigorous, and the heavy Xuanjian sword was even heavier. With a turn of her body, she swung her sword, using the "Alligator Tail Swing" technique, almost knocking the long sword out of the hands of the woman in green. The woman in green did not dare to engage in a fierce battle with Huang Juan, constantly dodging and looking for an opportunity to strike back with her long sword. They fought over 50 rounds without either gaining the upper hand.

  A woman in a green dress suddenly appeared with a "Mantis Catches Cicada" move, her long sword rapidly advancing and slashing. In the blink of an eye, she had slashed over ten times, forcing Huang Juan to retreat step by step, almost being forced to the edge of the life-and-death platform. The edge of the life-and-death platform had no railing, and the inner disciples didn't know how to control their flying swords, so if they fell off, they would die.

  "Ah!" Huang Juan was anxious, and with a tender cry, she swung the Sunken Wood Xuan Sword down. Huang Juan first forced the woman in green to retreat two steps, her eyes flashing brightly for an instant, then raised the Sunken Wood Xuan Sword, her body spinning like a top, instantly leaving behind two black illusory shadows on the ground that retained her shape, but were merely virtual silhouettes. As everyone watched the illusions in shock, Huang Juan had already positioned herself behind the woman in green and kicked her waist with one foot. The woman in green let out an "Aiyo" and fell to the ground, turning her head to see that the Sunken Wood Xuan Sword had already been thrust into the stone wall half an inch from her neck. If Huang Juan hadn't shown mercy, the woman in green would have lost her life.

  "A distant spectator, another green-clad woman, exclaimed in shock: "'Void Illusion'?! How could Huang Juan master the Dark Stab Gate's technique?"

  Two women around them exclaimed in shock: "Dark Stab Gate? Isn't that one of the Five Demonic Paths, Dark Stab Gate? Opposed to our Ten Heavenly Gates, they do all sorts of evil in the world."

  The astonished woman in green nodded and said, "Yes, this Huang Juan is not simple. However, 'Void Illusion' is not a unique skill, some Xian Tao masters also know it, we can't prove that Huang Juan is the Dark Assassins."

  A female disciple of the inner sect said: "I think she isn't either, because she isn't extremely formidable. If she were, we estimate that everyone would have died already."

  Looking at Huang Juan again, the fallen green-robed woman's face turned pale and she trembled with fear, saying: "I lost, kill me or dismember me... do as you please."

  Huang Juan smiled and said: "Little brat, see if you dare scold me again in the future?"

  The woman in blue clothes bowed her head and said: "I dare not."

  Huang Juan sheathed the Xuanjian sword and inserted it into the scabbard behind her back, with a self-satisfied expression. The woman in green also stood up, gave Huang Juan a resentful glance, and then walked away.

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