The Extreme Alchemist of the Mighty Cauldron

Chapter 567: Chapter 567: Heading to Ferocious Mountain

“Though my Spirit Eye skill is yet to achieve the level of Heavenly Eye, it is close. Constant nourishment from flesh and blood could eventually metamorphose it into the Heavenly Eye.” Fang Lin silently theorized.

Despite this progress, there wasn’t much joy in Fang Lin’s heart.

The reason was his recent battle with Zhou Yishui’s Spirit Body. It had exposed the gaping disparity between them.

Without the continuous replenishment of nature’s spiritual energy, Fang Lin’s own Spirit Body stood no chance against Zhou Yishui.

Even worse, without his Spirit Body, Fang Lin was completely outmatched by Zhou Yishui, who simply overpowered him with his higher spiritual level.

In the end, the problem was Fang Lin’s low spiritual level. If he could reach the tenth level of the Earth Element, he might have a chance against Zhou Yishui.

Unfortunately, despite touching the metaphorical bronze gate twice, he still couldn’t get it to open. He was one step away, but that step felt as great as the distance between heaven and earth, filling Fang Lin with despair.

Fang Lin completed his retreat.

As soon as he emerged, the people of the Pill Alliance were watching him like some strange creature. Many who saw him showed an expression of awe. Some even walked a wide berth around Fang Lin, seemingly in fear of him.

Fang Lin knew about the situation, but didn’t care. What mattered was that the opening day of the Hundred Beast Ferocious Mountain was less than two months away, and he had a lot to prepare for it.

Subsequently, Fang Lin spent a whole month refining pills, and hardly ever left the Pill Refining Room.

During this period, many people came seeking him, claiming they wanted to make connections.

However, Fang Lin met none of them while busy with Pill Refining. He wasn’t interested in meeting anyone.

Only one person managed to see him – Dugu Nian.

But it was just a brief encounter. They hardly spoke two sentences before Dugu Nian departed.

As the opening day of the Hundred Beast Ferocious Mountain approached, every force in the Xuan Country was actively preparing. The Dugu Family was no exception. Led by Dugu Ruoxu, they selected a group of young members to enter the Ferocious Mountain.

Dugu Nian made the list. Not because the higher-ups of Dugu Family planned it that way, but because she made a personal decision.

The Dugu Family leaders initially didn’t want her to go, considering how dangerous the Ferocious Mountain was. Dugu Nian was not powerful enough, and they couldn’t risk her getting hurt.

But Dugu Nian was firm, and even threatened to die rather than marry Zhou Yishui. She insisted on entering the Ferocious Mountain.

With no choice left, the Dugu Family leaders finally agreed.

But before agreeing, they consulted with the Crown Prince. If Zhou Yishui didn’t want Dugu Nian venturing into the Ferocious Mountain, the Dugu Family would never allow her to go.

But Zhou Yishui agreed to Dugu Nian’s trip, leaving the Dugu Family with nothing to say.

For Dugu Nian’s safety, Dugu Fengyun exhausted his energy to create a Spirit Body Jade Talisman and gave it to her for protection. This talisman hid Dugu Fengyun’s Spirit Body, which could be triggered by crushing the talisman when Dugu Nian faced deadly danger.

Moreover, Dugu Fengyun asked Dugu Ruoxu to take good care of Dugu Nian in the Ferocious Mountain. They needed to return as they had entered – whole and unharmed. If anything happened, it would be on him.

Dugu Ruoxu felt the immense responsibility. This time, he had to take care of the fellow members of Dugu Family, seize his personal opportunities, and kill Fang Lin in the Ferocious Mountain.

····

In the blink of an eye, another month had passed.

The Hundred Beast Ferocious Mountain in the northern part of the Xuan Country was set to open. Every force in Xuan Country were heading towards the Ferocious Mountain.

In Xuan City, at the Pill Alliance.

Apart from Fang Lin, several others would also enter the Ferocious Mountain, including four other talents, among whom was Zhou Zhishui. Adding four other stewards from the Pill Alliance and Fang Lin, the group consisted of nine people.

Zhang Wenxuan had been expelled and was still being detained by the Pill Alliance to this day.

Initially, Qi Sanxuan had tried to negotiate with Chen Yongnian to release Zhang Wenxuan and take him to the Ferocious Mountain.

However, Chen Yongnian was firm. Zhang Wenxuan had to be detained for at least six months. Qi Sanxuan had no choice but to abandon the idea temporarily.

In terms of spiritual levels, Fang Lin was surprisingly the weakest among the nine from the Pill Alliance, to the point where even the four stewards of the Pill Alliance had achieved the third level of Heavenly Origin. Zhou Zhishui and the others had all reached the first level of Heavenly Origin.

This made Fang Lin feel quite discouraged. Even Zhou Zhishui, a Commandery Princess of the royal family, was a master of Heavenly Origin, while he, Fang Lin, wasn’t even past the Earth Element level. Standing beside them, he felt quite out of place.

Of course, nobody looked down on Fang Lin because of his low level, because he had managed to fight Zhou Yishui with his Spirit Body. Level wasn’t everything.

“This time, the opening of the Hundred Beast Ferocious Mountain is fraught with uncertainty. You nine must prioritize your safety. Life is more important than anything. I hope all nine of you can return safely.” Chen Yongnian solemnly advised.

All nine nodded, including Fang Lin. They all wore tense expressions.

The Ferocious Mountain was notoriously dangerous, so much so it was considered a place of certain death. None of them wanted to die there, but they all knew that it was nearly impossible for all nine of them to return alive. Some of them would be buried in the Ferocious Mountain forever.

“Aren’t you part of the royal alliance? Why aren’t you going with them?” asked Fang Lin softly to Zhou Zhishui who was standing next to him.

Zhou Zhishui glanced at Fang Lin sideways, snorted, and ignored him.

Fang Lin wore an awkward expression. He hadn’t offended Commandery Princess Zhou Zhishui, so why was she giving him the cold shoulder?

“Let’s get started. Steward Mo and I will accompany you to Ferocious Mountain,” said Chen Yongnian.

The team left Xuan City and arrived at a parked Flying Boat. This was a Flying Boat of the Pill Alliance. Other flying boats from different alliances were also parked there.

“The flying boat of the royal family has already departed. We can’t be too far behind.” said Chen Yongnian, nodding for everyone to board the Flying Boat.

The Flying Boat released a humming sound and pierced through the clouds towards the north.

Standing on the Flying Boat, everyone was nervous and silent.

“Ah, don’t be so grim. You should be like me, relaxed and easygoing.” Fang Lin said to everyone with a smile, holding a greasy pork hock in his hand.

The others looked at him and especially at the pork hock in his hand, grimacing slightly.