Chapter Sixty: The True Man of Luan Yu

  The place with the highest concentration of alchemists in the Cultivation Realm at this time is here, as the gate opens. One by one, young alchemists emerge, their faces filled with joy or sorrow, each with a different expression. However, most of the alchemists who came out from inside the gate had an expression of relief, although cultivation knows no age, but the three-day examination has left these elite slightly exhausted. As soon as they exited the gate, they flew to their respective sect's seniors.

  From the moment the gate opened, Tian Huo and Tian Yi's eyes kept staring at everyone who came out, looking quite adorable. The two Taishang elders, Mu Xin and Mu Ting, exchanged a smile, as if saying, "You two are so big now, but still so immature."

  "Here, here." Tian Huo finally saw Ling Xing walk out and shouted loudly. But soon discovered that the two Shibo looked at their own expressions with some unnaturalness, and forcibly swallowed back the words that had reached their lips. Zhen Xin and Zhen Ting both looked like they were crying and laughing at the same time.

  "Haha, you three young ones have finally come out. You almost scared Tianyi and Tianhuo to death." Sun Ming's cheap master, Mu Xin Lao Dao, spoke up first.

  "Master will worry." Ling Xing and Ling Yu now said with a bow to Tian Huo.

  "Alright, let's not talk about that for now. You three should tell us about the content of the assessment and your situation." It was actually Mingting who seemed more anxious, getting straight to the point.

  Ling Xing and Ling Yu then started talking in unison, roughly saying that the assessment method was unreasonable, not allowing them to use their skills to identify materials, which was very difficult.

  "You two don't have to worry so much, since the Holy Alliance has arranged it this way, they must have their reasons. Being able to recognize over 200 materials without using a skill is quite good among so many people." Ming Xin comforted.

  "Lingming, how many can you recognize?" asked Mingting.

  "Ah, disciple." Sun Ming's words were cut off before he could finish speaking.

  "Haha, fellow cultivators of the Refining Path, I, an old man of little talent, preside over today's competition. The results are quite gratifying, and unexpectedly, our Refining world has produced so many young talents, it's truly a joyous occasion." Suddenly, Old Daoist Kongwu appeared at the entrance, exuding an air of elegance and refinement, and everyone in the room stopped their chatter, all involuntarily looking towards him.

  "The Spiritual Brilliance of Qiling Sect is truly astonishing, to have found over 700 water-attribute materials in just a short moment. It's truly eye-opening for me." The words of Kongwu Old Dao caused everyone present to focus their attention on the seven members of Qiling Sect, even Sun Ming, who was usually carefree and nonchalant, looked somewhat embarrassed. Fortunately, Kongwu Old Dao's words were not finished yet.

  However, the first place in this assessment was not Ling Ming, but a disciple of the Qixiu Alliance that everyone was very familiar with, Murong Yunfan.

  Alchemist, cultivation is high, heaven

  She was not only highly talented, but also a beauty, which meant that she was destined to become famous in the cultivation world. As the saying goes, "In the mountains, there is no one who can compare to her, and in the world, it has been thousands of years." The loneliness of the cultivation path cannot be explained in just a few words. Therefore, some bored cultivators came up with something called the "Top Ten Fairies of the Cultivation World" ranking list. Some talented, well-backgrounded, and beautiful female cultivators would make it onto this list. Although Murong Yunfan was ranked third on this list, she was even more famous than the number one fairy, Qiong Yun, in the eyes of these young cultivators. After all, these beauties were all dedicated to their cultivation and rarely showed themselves, so it was harder to catch a glimpse of them than to survive a tribulation. So when Old Master Kong said that Murong Yunfan was actually the number one fairy, the crowd erupted into cheers and applause.

  "Heh heh, being able to find nearly nine hundred fire-attribute materials in a short time just by observation shows how diligent she usually is." said the old Daoist, Kong Wu.

  "Murong Yunlai, Lingming, you two come forward, I have something to say." said Kongwu Old Dao.

  Ling Xing, who was standing beside him, pushed Sun Ming and said.

  "Lingming, what are you doing? Kong Wu wants you to come forward and respond, why are you spacing out?" Sun Ming was depressed, really depressed, precisely speaking, he was struck down, someone was actually more formidable than him, and it was still that Murong Yunfan?

  "What's wrong with you tomorrow? Murong Yunluan has the Tai Xuan Qing You fire, and she is better than you in terms of material recognition. Moreover, the nearly 900 materials she found are all fire-attribute, while you are water-attribute. In this competition, even someone like Murong Yunluan who possesses the Tai Xuan Qing You fire can't find so many. Although you lost in terms of quantity, anyone with discerning eyes can see who won and who lost." Yun Zhongzi comforted.

  Sun Ming walked up to the stage and said to Yun Zhongzi, "Master, I know this move. If I lose to anyone else, I'd be okay with it, but not to Murong Yunling."

  "Haha, Master understands this point, after all, letting Hongmeng's purple fire lose to Tai Xuan's Qingyu fire is indeed unacceptable." Yun Zhongzi seemed to be laughing at Sun Ming, his tone full of playful colors.

  "Master, you..." Sun Ming struggled in his heart for a moment, wanting to say a few more words, but he had already walked up to the front of Kong Wu's elder. He could only nod and follow. Looking back at the crowd, he saw Murong Yunfan walking out with an air of pride, surrounded by everyone. Suddenly, he found that she looked particularly captivating. A simple, ordinary uniform of the Qianyuan League's refining master actually made her look elegant and refined. Sun Ming shook his head, throwing away this thought, knowing in his heart that it was just another strange connection between the Hongmeng Purple Fire and the Taixu Qingyu Fire.

  "Hey, isn't this... Ah, I know you. I said it before, we'll meet again someday." Murong Yunfan walked up to Sun Ming, smiling wickedly as he spoke. In his heart, he couldn't help but ask himself, why can't he ever bring himself to be cruel to this little brat?

  Sun Ming didn't know what was on Murong Yunfan's mind, but looking at some of the younger disciples below, he saw that when Murong Yunfan spoke to him, her face was full of envy, jealousy, and even hatred. Sun Ming couldn't help but smile wryly - it seemed that beautiful women were just as deadly everywhere.

  "Murong Yunlai, Lingming." said Kong Wulao Dao.

  "You two have a solid foundation, which is rare in the world of artifact refinement. This competition has two more rounds, and no matter how you perform later on, I'd like to invite you to come to the Dao Saint Alliance's artifact refinement sect to cultivate for a period of time after the competition ends. What do you think?" As soon as Old Man Kong Wu spoke, it was like a thunderclap, causing the originally quiet crowd of artifact refiners to suddenly erupt into a flurry of discussion. Some people said that these two were just lucky, while others said they were truly skilled, but most people had a skeptical attitude towards Sun Ming. After all, Murong Yun's reputation as a five-star artifact refiner in the Yuan Ying period was well-known throughout the cultivation world, and he was hailed as the pride of the new generation of artifact refiners, with the best innate talent in history (of course, they didn't know about Sun Ming). On the other hand, Sun Ming's Golden Dan period cultivation looked like that of a bookworm who only knew how to memorize scriptures, and his achievement was likely just due to luck. However, Sun Ming didn't know what people were thinking, and he was actually quite relieved, taking the mocking gazes from the crowd as signs of jealousy.

  "Thank you, Elder. The Holy Alliance's Dual Wonders, the Unity of Qi and Dan, are renowned among our predecessors. I'm honored to have learned from them, thank you again, Elder." Mu Rong Yun Luan replied excitedly.

  "Heh heh, since that's the case, then follow me after the trial is over." The old Daoist Xuan Kong was also quite delighted, after all cultivating a highly talented equipment refiner was a very meaningful thing.

  "What's your take on this, Lingming?" asked Kong Wuguang with a hearty laugh, turning to Sun Ming beside him.

  "Hmm, well, I still think it's better for me to cultivate on my own, after all, cultivating is more suitable for myself." Sun Ming said with a somewhat embarrassed tone. He thought to himself: 'If I go there to cultivate, those top elders in the sect will eat me alive if they find out!'

  "Oh? Why?" Kong Wu asked in surprise, after all, he had never seen anyone directly refuse the invitation of the Holy Alliance. Some people in the crowd below were already scolding Sun Ming for being ungrateful.

  "Hmm, this question... I think that although it may become simpler and safer under the guidance of our seniors, what I've come to realize myself is the most real. Our sect has never had a master personally teach us how to refine equipment, we're all left to find experience through repeated failures. So, I'm afraid I'm not suited for the guidance of the Holy Alliance's refining school." Sun Ming replied.

  "Let me spend all day facing that mother tigress? Hmph, can I bear it? If it were someone else, perhaps I would have accidentally agreed already... Mu Rong Yun Luan, spare me!" Sun Ming thought to himself with a bitter smile.

  "In that case, I won't force it anymore." said Kong Wu Lao Dao with a smile.

  "Qian Xin, who is this Ling Ming? Didn't you say that the Qi Xiu Alliance only brought two disciples?" The current leader of the Qi Xiu Alliance, Lan Yun Dao Ren, looked at the person on the stage with a dark face and asked a Daoist behind him.

  "This, even the disciples are unclear, my door's disciples saw with their own eyes Tianyi and Tianhuo taking two Yuan Ying stage disciples to hastily leave through Yunyuan Star's interstellar transmission array." Qianxin said in a humble tone.

  "Hmph, instruct your disciples to investigate the origin of this spiritual object for me." Lan Yun True Person ordered with some displeasure.

  "I understand that you are the Alliance Master, but this Lingming is only at the Golden Elixir stage of cultivation. Can he still be a match for Miss Yun Luan?" asked Gan Xin.

  "Yes, this is something that even I don't quite understand. The Lingming Sect has sent a Golden Elixir stage disciple to participate in the trial, are they too confident or do they simply look down on us? However, I always feel that it's not that simple. A Golden Elixir stage disciple was able to find so many water attribute materials in such a short period of time without using any techniques, even Yun Luan wouldn't be able to find that many in such a short time. This Lingming is definitely not as simple as he appears on the surface. You go now and quickly investigate his background, after all, having an unknown hidden danger like this will still make me somewhat uneasy." Lan Xian True Person instructed.

  Looking at Sun Ming with a playful gaze, Tian Yan said, 'Tian Yan, what do you really want to do? Do you really want to join the Qixiu Alliance? A Golden Dan period disciple, how ridiculous.'