Chapter 46: Breakthrough

Inside the Star Lily Sanctuary, Moon was unaware of the conspiracy of the people outside.

He didn’t care about them, either.

He was busy with his long-yearned discovery of alchemy.

He sat cross-legged on the boulder, took out the cauldron, and held it up against the sunlight.

No formation engraved.

No fire elemental source.

No distillation process.

’What’s the use of this cauldron? Just for cooking?’ he thought.

He took out his cultivation manual, Divine-Level Five Elemental Cultivation Technique.

He flipped the pages and read intently. After reading for a whole afternoon, he figured out he had no alchemy techniques here. All were for cultivating his core elements.

He had a basic knowledge of alchemy. But for this, he needed a fire elemental resource.

He suddenly started to miss Leo.

That man had so much fire element inside.

Maybe if he could act as a succubus or an enchanting fox spirit, he could devour the man and refine a fire source inside his own core.

Moon chuckled.

[Your idea is so dark, Moon,] the Goddess reprimanded him.

’I need fire to do alchemy,’ Moon sighed.

[You have a fire core. Try to wake up your own fire ambers.]

’Ah! How did I forget that! But I used a lot of essence when sealing Leo’s mark.’

[Try it. An amber will not take much. You can later refine it into true alchemy fire.]

’Wow, Goddess, you know a lot about my world’s cultivation system. Is the moon in every continent the same Goddess? How come I never heard of the moon being a goddess?’

Moon said with confusion.

[Ahem! Insufficient XP. Host cannot ask restricted questions,] the Goddess rumbled.

’Fine! I know. So, aren’t you going to give me an alchemy manual? I gave Nox a super-enhancing power before. I deserve another reward besides getting two or three answers.’

Moon put down the cauldron on the ground and took out the scavenger beast cores.

He kept one inside his fist to try to absorb it. He sat cross-legged and closed his eyes, though he was still waiting for his reward to come.

With a thud, a piece of jade appeared in front of him.

A smile spread across his lips.

He opened his eyes, took the jade, and was about to press it against his third eye to merge with his divine consciousness.

But then, his gaze fell straight on a pair of pitiful eyes looking at him this whole time.

"Erm... Nox. Don’t you have anything to do?"

"You were laughing," Nox said.

"Oh? So?"

"You were laughing on your own, and that jade suddenly fell from nowhere."

"Hmm..." Moon cursed in his mind, realizing he had been careless.

Nox repeated, "You were laughing alone. Moon, take me with you."

Moon felt baffled.

"Where?"

Nox shook his head. "I don’t know. I feel like you were not here a moment ago."

’Damn, is this man’s sense so sharp?’ he asked in his mind.

[He is the Shadow Phantom guard wolf. His perception has yet to fully grow. When he finally manages to awaken his bloodline, Moon, I am afraid you won’t be able to hide anything.]

Moon’s forehead sweated hearing this. ’Should I flee before that?’

[You can try.]

’It sounds like a threat coming from a goddess. How rare! Forget it.’

Moon waved his hand in front of Nox’s eyes.

"Don’t be delusional. Go and keep an eye on the place. I need to get busy with my practice."

"What practice?" Nox didn’t move. He sat right in front of Moon.

"Alchemy. The practice I do is called cultivating immortality. You want to learn?" Moon smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes.

"Yes, yes, I do," Nox nodded.

"Then go and do one hundred laps around the pond and practice your body refinement first."

"What? One hundred?" Nox looked at the vast expanse of the pond, which would take a full day to complete a stroll around even with his wolf speed, and gulped.

"We don’t have that much time?" he asked hesitantly, but he didn’t refuse.

"It will not. You can also keep an eye out while running around."

"Okay, then get busy."

Nox stood up and leaned down to kiss Moon’s forehead.

His eyes lingered on the jade in Moon’s hand for a while, then he walked toward the pond. He could sense a strange fluctuation in the jade.

It felt very familiar, as if he had been very close to this jade or had seen such a jade before.

After Nox left, Moon let out a sigh. Dealing with so many husbands was truly troublesome.

His gaze lingered on Ugo’s body, which was still in the pond, then he pressed the jade against his forehead.

A flood of information exploded in his divine sense, engulfing his consciousness.

He knew some of it before, and some was totally new.

Like how he could turn this plain cauldron into a proper one to do alchemy from his own world. How to use hand seals to extract the essence of plants that had no spiritual power.

And how to coat a normal pill with spiritual Qi to make it a spiritual elixir suitable for a cultivator.

He also learned about wolfsbane and some elixirs that wolves really needed.

Moon put the jade inside his satchel.

It didn’t vanish.

Moon assumed it was a normal manual, so no seals of secrecy were there.

[It’s normal in your world, even the lowest grade. But in this world, it is precious,] the Moon Goddess corrected his thoughts. [But since the jade was made by a Daoist, he made it casually and didn’t place any restrictions.]

"Umm, understood."

Moon nodded and then closed his eyes again to absorb some power before starting the real awakening of his fire amber.

The blue sphere core shone in his hand, sending a vital energy into his body. Not a fire one—it was an ice element.

But it still raised Moon’s Qi inside his barren meridians. He kept absorbing the Qi until the air fluctuated around him.

Moon didn’t know how much time had passed.

When he woke up from his meditation, it was still daylight. There was no one around, not even Ugo in the pond.

And his body was filthy with dirt.

He had broken through two realms straight. He was confused by this rapid progress. Then he remembered he had been in a continuous run, fighting, depleting energy, and refilling it, which in other words was considered hardcore practice.

Not to mention Nox’s essence was still there to refine.

He checked his meridians and cores.

He was surely at novice 6. Just a little push and he would soon breakthrough to novice 7, meaning a high-level novice.

Then he could probably have some confidence to flee from the witch.

Moon chuckled at his thoughts and stood up.

As he went near the pond, he saw the almost withered lilies. Touching the petals, he regretted it so much.

’I should have made arrangements before starting my practice,’ he thought. He plucked some lilies and stored them in his satchel to see if they could stay fresh there.

At that time, footsteps came closer to him. And two young men, one after another, jumped into the pond water, splashing water everywhere.

Moon turned around just in time to get a big hug. From the fresh scent of moss and cedarwood, he knew it was Ugo.

"You woke up," Ugo whispered against the crook of Moon’s neck.

Nox clicked his tongue in annoyance as he swam further away, not wanting to see a dramatic confession.