Immortal Path to Heaven

The side halls for alchemists and blacksmiths were not much different. Whether it was the shelves, the seating arrangements, the number of people reading inside, and even the sizes of the halls, they were similar.

It was evident that the Beast King Sect, which was an experienced sect with an inherited historical background, had set up rules and regulations. This proved that they had great foresight and were profound.

When Ou Yangming entered the side hall, nobody looked at him. None of the people looked up because they only focused on one thing, which was the book in their hands.

Ou Yangming looked around and nodded. There were not many people here, but they were unusually serious. Sure enough, members from an influential sect were known for their meticulous scholarship.

It was almost the same case for everyone no matter the reading group in the side hall.

Nonetheless, Ou Yangming did not know that although the Beast King Sect was powerful and was one of the Humans’ Nine Great Sects in Danzhou, it was the exact reason they had numerous disciples and talents.

One could benefit under the protection of an influential body, but it would not be easy to pave a path of advancement in the system. Without outstanding abilities or backstage supporters, it would be wishful thinking.

The Beast King Sect’s library was strictly guarded, but it was also the place where the disciples yearned for.

One must pay a huge price to enter the library to read books. In particular, for Rudimentary Disciples, the prices that they had to pay would likely be their hard work of several years.

Therefore, most of the sect’s disciples would be extremely careful after they were qualified to study in the library, and they dared not waste even a bit of time.

To them, the books that they were reading were the only things that were real, hence they would not bother about anything else.

Ou Yangming looked away and browsed the shelves.

He insisted on entering the side hall for alchemy not because he wanted to learn alchemy art, but because he wanted to look for a kind of pill.

It was the Eternal Pill.

Perhaps the old macaque had only made a subconscious remark on the Eternal Pill to Ou Yangming before this, but the young fellow remembered it well.

The Eternal Pill was clearly a type of precious pill that could prolong one’s life. Moreover, it was closely related to the Phoenixes as though it was a divine pill that came from that race.

As the Phoenixes went missing, it seemed like Eternal Pills were also nowhere to be found in the Spiritual Realm.

Ou Yangming had read about everything in random books before, and he also overheard people chatting about it. No matter what, since he possessed the Heavenly Phoenix Fire, he naturally wanted to give this a go. At the end of the day, the young fellow had only wanted to enter the Spiritual Realm because he wanted to look for better pills to prolong Old Craftsman’s life.

Nevertheless, Ou Yangming furrowed his eyebrows a little when he looked around.

This was because he suddenly realized that he did not know which book he should read.

By looking at the contents of the books on the shelves, Ou Yangming could tell that alchemy art was indeed the same as smithing art and formation maps, where it was also a big branch of knowledge. Furthermore, it was no less profound than the 2 other branches.

Ou Yangming had studied smithing art and formation maps, where he also made some achievements, thus he knew to proceed in an orderly manner. Even so, the young fellow was dazzled when he entered the side hall for alchemy. In fact, he did not even know the fundamental books, so how could he find anything related to the Eternal Pill?

Just as Ou Yangming was feeling troubled, a familiar figure appeared.

Shui Wenliang grinned and lowered his voice as he said, “Master Ou, let me introduce you to someone.”

Ou Yangming was stunned. “Who is it?”

Shui Wenliang glanced at a small room in the side room then responded, “Master Ou, please come with me.”

The young fellow was hesitant. He did not know what Shui Wenliang was up to, but he knew the man would not scheme anything against him no matter what.

Once he followed Shui Wenliang into the small room, he saw a middle-aged man.

The person looked like he was in his forties, but Ou Yangming was sharp enough to notice an old aura lingering around him.

Ou Yangming raised his eyebrow and he found it strange. It would be fine if the middle-aged man was only old, but what about the dyeing aura, which was being disguised very well?

The decaying aura was an aura that represented death, and hints of it could be found only on people that were near their ends.

Needless to say, Ou Yangming had only noticed it due to his spiritual world, which fed back his surroundings to him wonderfully. Anyone else including top-grade Spiritualists would not be able to sense the unordinary aura.

Shui Wenliang introduced the middle-aged man to Ou Yangming seriously, “Master Ou, this is Master Gu Jiacheng—the best alchemist in the Beast King Sect.”

Gu Jiacheng chuckled and commented, “Wenliang, stop putting feathers in my cap. Master Ou might be young, but he’s the real master.”

Ou Yangming cupped his hands and said, “Ah, Sect Elder, please excuse me for my lack of manners.”

Gu Jiacheng was the greatest alchemist in the Beast King Sect. He was on par with Peng Yanbing in the sect, by which he was also one of the sect elders with a say in everything. Ou Yangming had naturally heard of the elder’s name throughout his long stay in the sect, but it was not until today he met the elder in person.

“Master Ou, please don’t be so polite.” Gu Jiacheng waved his hand with a smile. He later sighed and noted, “The fact that you’re able to refine flying carpets alone makes me feel ashamed of my inferiority.”

Ou Yangming was dumbfounded. “Senior, those are pieces of equipment, not pills.”

Gu Jiacheng shook his head and explained, “Pieces of equipment and pills are different, but they have similarities in certain aspects.” He looked deeply at the young fellow and remarked, “Based on your smithing art now, you can go anywhere you want in the world.”

He did not overdo the compliments, but he expressed himself well, thus Ou Yangming felt at ease.

The young fellow smiled embarrassedly. He later curbed his thought and asked, “Elder Gu, you’re here to meet me for…”

Gu Jiacheng laughed and turned to look at Shui Wenliang.

Shui Wenliang was struck dumb for a while. He immediately said, “Masters, have a good chat. I’ll be making my move first as I need to continue to patrol.” Following that, he turned and left. Having said that, nobody knew if he was cursing internally.

As for Ou Yangming, he frowned because he did not know why Gu Jiacheng was being so mysterious.

Every side hall had 2 to 3 small rooms, which were exquisite rooms prepared for top-notch figures in the sect. Being a sect leader, Gu Jiacheng could naturally use them.

The distinguished figure from the Beast King Sect cleared his throat and spoke, “Master Ou, after waiting for so many days, you’re finally here.”

Ou Yangming was shocked. “Elder Gu, you knew I was going to come?”

“Yes, Elder Macaque told me something, so I’ve been waiting here since.” Gu Jiacheng smiled bitterly.

The young fellow was moved. He blurted, “The Eternal Pill.”

“Yes, the Eternal Pill.” Gu Jiacheng’s eyes lit up. He explained sternly, “Master Ou, you might not be aware, but it’s very important to Elder Macaque. If one can be refined soon, perhaps a Venerable One can be saved in the Beast King Sect.”

Ou Yangming’s face darkened as he asked, “Are you talking about Senior Macaque?”

“Yes, Elder Macaque might be a Venerable One, but it’s getting old, after all.” Gu Jiacheng sighed. “It can still live for decades if it rests well, but it made a move for our sect when the Insects invaded. It ended up saving our sect from the crisis but…” He shook his head and sighed once more.

The young fellow’s eyes were bright as he recalled the old macaque’s states before and after the war; he seemed to have understood something.

After a brief moment, he raised another question, “Elder Gu, other than Elder Macaque, you need an Eternal Pill too, am I right?”

Gu Jiacheng was taken aback, but he replied to the young fellow with a bitter smile after a while, “Master Ou, you’re incredibly sharp-eyed. I thought I could hide it from everyone, but you saw through me so easily.”

Ou Yangming twitched his mouth. He had only perceived Gu Jiacheng’s state by coincidence, but there was no need for him to explain it.

“Elder Gu, do you know how Eternal Pills can be refined?” Ou Yangming cut to the chase. “If you have books in this aspect, please let me take a look at them.”

Gu Jiacheng laughed out loud. He moved aside, revealing a bunch of books that he had prepared on the table behind him.

“Master Ou, I’ve prepared everything already. These books have records of alchemy art’s fundamental knowledge and everything related to Eternal Pills. If you read through them, you’ll be able to gain a preliminary understanding of them.” He paused for a while before he added, “That said, alchemy art’s a broad and profound study, so you can’t really grasp everything within a short period. Instead of getting into it seriously, I suggest that you only scratch the surface.”

One would not be able to extricate oneself if one studied something seriously.

Gu Jiacheng was a potent alchemist, thus he knew this very well. He was afraid that Ou Yangming would be so interested in alchemy that he would want to learn from the beginning.

However, how could alchemy art be mastered so easily? Before Ou Yangming could even figure out anything, he would probably be at the end of his life already. This was why Gu Jiacheng gave such a suggestion. Even if the young fellow wanted to change his profession and learn alchemy art instead, he would at least have to refine Eternal Pills first.

Ou Yangming nodded and sighed. ‘Indeed, everything’s different if there’s someone to guide me.’

After expressing his gratitude toward Gu Jiacheng, Ou Yangming sat on a chair and began to read the books in front of him.

The books had been carefully selected by Gu Jiacheng. All of them focused on different topics, but their contents were closely related. Ou Yangming already felt like his eyes were opened after he read only a few of them.

In particular, he found out that alchemy art was similar to smithing art but had a different approach. He could not help but express admiration by slapping the table whenever he read something marvelous.

After 3 days, owing to his notable mental power, Ou Yangming was done reading all of the books.