Chapter 136“A bunch of scumbags”
It would be an understatement to say changing Yanche into a poison human was difficult. Not only does the process test the subject’s willpower to the extreme, it also requires vast stretches of ingredients to complete, something Ling Yue lacked right now. Fortunately for her though, there’s still the three years grace period before the time limit runs out before the experiment fails.
Now that they are temporarily settled in the city, both girls started to work nonstop to carry out their determined plans. Lan Caier oversaw the establishment of the Drunken Immortal while Ling Yue ran off to report to the alchemist association in the capital.
Among those that Ling Yue knew back in the Glass City branch, the old president definitely ranked at the top of her list for those she missed. Aside from the recommendation letter he wrote for her to make things more convenient when visiting the main headquarter, the old man also entrusted her with the Dan pills meant for a certain individual called Longyu that placed the order in the first place.
She should’ve ran off to meet this Master Longyu upon her arrival in the city, but due to the matter with Yanche and some other stuff going around, she pushed it off till the third day before inquiring about the association’s location.
The alchemist association building in the capital was by far the largest in the kingdom, mainly due to it sheer size. According to President Liao’s word, there’s over a thousand members alone in this location. Among them are five hundred members surpassing the three-cauldron mark followed by a dozen old relics that surpassed the eight-cauldron mark. Not only that, there’s also one senior alchemist that stands at the top of the roster. Unfortunately, this senior alchemist that’s over a century old hardly remains around due to his constant traveling.
Prior to arriving at the designated location, Ling Yue had been under the misconception that the branch here in the capital only had bigger numbers and real estate to back up its claim. Never in her wildest dream did she expect to find a towering structure that’s as tall as a skyscraper!
At this very moment Ling Yue was standing at the foot of the tower, marveling at its incredible height. The structure had neither an entrance nor a staircase, which baffled her completely. Then there’s the imposing image of it all. Like a sword, this massive structure pierced into the sky like a behemoth.
How am I supposed to get up there?
“This sister, why are you standing there?” The sound of footsteps catches her ear from behind. Swinging her head around, Ling Yue noticed several girls coming her way.
The group consisted mainly of girls around the age of sixteen to seventeen, each adorned with fine trinketry and dresses of the highest quality.
As for the one throwing the question, it was the woman in red with a peculiar style to her gestures. Definitely the leader of the pack. And standing next to the woman was a “Winged Iron Claw Wolf”, likely her pet based on that obedient appearance.
To be able to keep a spirit beast as a pet in Da Xia, this woman can’t be from a simple background because only individuals that had a certain amount of wealth or power can afford to support such a beast. This can be verified by the fearful yet respectful eyes of her peers.
Sensing the emitting aura of the spirit force from these girls, Ling Yue figured they are also alchemists like herself. Unlike those from Glass City though who preferred a simplistic appearance, these highly decorative ladies didn’t give off the impression that they hold Ling Yue well in their eyes after scrutinizing her up and down. This was especially true after noticing the number three on her robe.
During these months of long travel, Ling Yue had reached the level of a four cauldron in terms of controlling the spirit force, but due to the lacking opportunity to change her rank in a verified location, she had retained her original badge from Glass City.
Then there’s the makeup department. Madam Lan had long noticed Ling Yue’s lack of fine jewelry and makeup powders, but due to her personal preference and dislike of carrying so many cumbersome things around, she never once worn them.
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As for the grey robe she has on now, it’s to avoid any problems when coming out to carry out her business, thus the reasoning for her pitifully poor attire in front of these great ladies. To them, Ling Yue appeared no different from a turtle that had just crawled out of a stinking puddle.
“I am an alchemist from Glass City and am here to report today. In my possession is a recommendation letter penned by the president of that branch. May I know how I can enter the tower?” She’s not blind to the obvious contempt in their eyes, even so, she resists the urge to explode.
There are plenty of long days ahead of herself, no reason to blow fire with these scumbags.
“Are you a relative of the President Liao?” A girl in pink shoots a glance at Ling Yue.
She’s heard of President Liao’s name before and knows the old man was an eighth cauldron alchemist who practiced in the capital prior to relocating.
“I’m only an ordinary alchemist. Due to my family moving, I recently came to the capital.” Not willing to play the connection card, Ling Yue shoots down the idea.
“Pfff, and here I thought who it might be, just some country bumpkin alchemist from Glass City. I heard the alchemists in that tiny place can’t even concoct Dan pills. Like last time, my teacher’s brewing cauldron was destroyed after he lent it to a foreigner.”
“That’s nothing. I also heard that due to not being able to afford the ingredients, the individual was thrown out of the building after being caught stealing others stuff.”
The alchemist status in Da Xia was a symbol of identity. Among the many noble ladies in the capital, they tend to dislike the practice of martial art, claiming its too tiring and painful; therefore, many would seek out alchemy instead due to its relaxing nature.
For the average citizen, becoming an alchemist wouldn’t be an easy feat. However, with wealth and a powerful family background, these noble ladies would often be trained through the use of excessive contacts and medicines to forcefully boost their cultivation up to the three-four cauldron status.
As such, these natively grown wealthy daughters of the various houses in the capital would often becomes snobs when facing foreigners like Ling Yue who had no background or backing.
“What are you all talking about, I say this sister isn’t such a person. I am called Nangong Qinglin, daughter of Nangong Liang, commonly known as General Gold Sword of Da Xia.” The leading lady in the red dress not only didn’t dampen her warmly smile after getting wind of Ling Yue’s origin, her tone grew even more affectionate when she reached for Ling Yue’s hand.
Finding it awkwardly strange, Ling Yue sneaks a peak at the other girls in the back. Sure enough, the other girls were snickering like they are trying to hold in their laughter. Alarmed, Ling Yue wariness flicked on.
Due to not wanting to miss the opportunity to pry more information out of them, Ling Yue continued with the flow to see what’s their end game.
“Sister Qinglin, the tower is so tall, how do you all get up there normally? Do all of you know how to fly?” Putting on an unsuspecting appearance, Ling Yue acts like a dumb idiot and curiously asked.
“Of course not. With our cultivation, we can only fly using a flying artifact.” At the mention, she brings out a golden sword the size of her finger. In the next second after fusing her spirit force into the object, the sword expands and grew large enough for her to step onto the surface in midair flotation.
Wanting to show off their own tools too, the girls behind Nangong Qinglin deliberately brought out their own flying artifacts in the process. Mostly accessory trinkets unlike the sword.
After an alchemist raises their cultivation to a three cauldron or higher, they are able to utilize flying artifacts to fly at a low altitude, which was one of the main requirements in joining the alchemist association in the capital.
If not for the branch in Glass City lacking this rule, Ling Yue would never have fallen into this embarrassing scenario of not knowing how to get inside.