Chapter 69: Ghost Emperor Earth Pill

Fire Venerable entered the room where Gold Venerable resided.
“Gold Venerable, it’s up to you now,” Fire Venerable said with a smile as he entered.
After that, Fire Venerable disappeared and entered the Inch Realm Sphere.
It turned out that Gold Venerable had stayed at the inn specifically to wait for Fire Venerable before going after the man he suspected at the Pill Assembly Hall.
With the divine perception of the mysterious expert, Instrument God, the whereabouts of that man had always been under surveillance, so Gold Venerable wasn’t worried at all that the man might escape his pursuit.
Gold Venerable left the inn alone and immediately took off, heading to a restaurant near the headquarters of the Spirit Pill Academy.
From the outside, that restaurant seemed like an ordinary one—made of white stones, with fluctuating arrays, and quiet inside as guests chatted. Yet, Instrument God’s divine perception was powerful enough to uncover its hidden secrets.
In the back room of the restaurant, there was a hidden wall. Behind a painting, there was a secret cave, inside which were five people, including the man who had been spying at the Pill Assembly Hall.
All five were young and had serious expressions, clearly trained individuals.
At that moment, the man from the Pill Assembly Hall said to the other four, “Xiang Xing, Xiang Zhong, Xiang Zheng, Xiang Chun, I’ve already investigated the Pill Assembly Hall. Based on my deductions, the Ghost Emperor Earth Pill is likely being refined at the Yuxuan Pavilion.”
It turned out that these five were all high-ranking Soul Immortals. Their purpose in investigating the Ghost Emperor Earth Pill was to steal it and use it to enhance their cultivation, breaking through to one-star Earth Soul Immortals.
“Xiang Qing, thank you for your hard work,” the other four said with smiles.
The man who had been investigating at the Pill Assembly Hall was named Xiang Qing, and he was the leader of the group.
Xiang Qing nodded and said calmly, “The five of us will infiltrate the Yuxuan Pavilion now. Once the Ghost Emperor Earth Pill is refined, we’ll immediately steal it.”
Xiang Xing, Xiang Zhong, Xiang Zheng, and Xiang Chun all nodded in agreement.
Soon, the five of them came out of the hidden cave and split up in five different directions, each heading their own way.
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The Chiyen Continent, where the Spirit Pill Academy was located, was divided into 500 regions. Two hundred of these regions were already occupied by the academy’s 200 pill-refining branches.
Thus, the remaining 300 regions were still unclaimed.
Xiang Qing, Xiang Xing, Xiang Zhong, Xiang Zheng, and Xiang Chun, from a mysterious organization, flew into those unclaimed regions from five different directions, then headed one after another toward the area where the Yuxuan Pavilion, the pill-refining branch, was located.

Flying together in five would surely arouse suspicion. If they split up and each sneaked into Yuxuan Pavilion to gather information, they would eventually find where the Ghost Emperor Pill was made.
Yuxuan Pavilion ranked eighth among the 200 alchemy branches of the Lingdan Academy. Inside, there were ten experts at the Earth Soul Immortal level, capable of crafting pills of this first-star Earth Soul Immortal grade.
The entire Yuxuan Pavilion was divided into ten alchemy peaks, each led by an Earth Soul Immortal. These ten peaks were named Yueying Peak, Yueying Peak, Yuexing Peak, Yueying Peak, Yueying Peak, Yueying Peak, Yueying Peak, Yueying Peak, Yueying Peak, and Yueying Peak.
At this moment, Xiang Qing arrived at the territory of Yueying Peak from a place without an owner.
A disciple of Yueying Peak, with only a third-star Human Soul Immortal cultivation level, was flying in the air on a flying sword. This disciple was responsible for planting spiritual herbs in a certain area and also fetched any herbs needed by the alchemy elders of Yueying Peak from the surrounding peaks.
As the disciple flew toward one of the herb peaks, someone suddenly appeared, wielding a wooden sword with a gust of wind. In one swift strike, they knocked the disciple out of the air.
A figure emerged from the herb peak—it was Xiang Qing.
“Hmph, bad luck for you. I’m planting Soul Flower Shards on you; from now on, you’ll have to obey me,” Xiang Qing said with a smile as he landed beside the disciple.
Soon, Xiang Qing placed his hands on the disciple’s head. A green wooden immortal energy enveloped the disciple’s head, while his immortal consciousness entered the disciple’s soul space to locate the Soul Flower and imprint network-like marks on it.
Soul Flower Shards were a special soul technique. If someone under its control resisted the caster’s orders, the Soul Flower would shatter.
After completing the ritual, Xiang Qing sat down calmly and snapped his right hand, hitting the disciple’s head to wake him up.
“Ah, who are you? Why did you attack me… My Soul Flower! You’ve placed restrictions on it?” The disciple, filled with anger and fear, stared at Xiang Qing in panic.
Xiang Qing gestured for the disciple to sit down and said with a smile, “Don’t worry. I won’t kill you. Of course, you must obey my orders. Otherwise, your Soul Flower will shatter, and you’ll die immediately.”
The disciple’s body went weak, and he sat down on the ground, looking at Xiang Qing in fear.
“Alright, what’s your name?” Xiang Qing asked with a smile.

“Yang Buping,” replied the disciple of Yuxuan Pavilion anxiously.
Xiang Qing nodded, remained silent for a moment, then said with a smile, “Yang Buping, go attend to your own matters first, and then come here. I’ll enter Yuxuan Pavilion with you.”
Upon hearing this, Yang Buping immediately rose into the air and flew away in panic.
On a certain medicinal peak, Yang Buping picked a few patches of Puxin Grass. He was thinking about taking a detour back to Yueying Peak to find the peak master and have the mark of his Soul Flower removed. In an instant, his Soul Flower began to tremble, as if on the verge of collapsing and dispersing.
Since the Soul Flower had always been under Xiang Qing’s control, Xiang Qing knew every thought of Yang Buping’s. Therefore, he decided to impose gradual punishment instead of taking Yang Buping’s life right away.
Yang Buping rolled on the ground in pain, his clothes soaked through with sweat, before finally feeling the pain in his soul ease.
At this point, Yang Buping finally realized that he was under control and could no longer resist.
It wasn’t long before Yang Buping returned to Xiang Qing’s side.
“Let’s go. Take me to your Alchemy Peak,” Xiang Qing said calmly, showing no reproach for Yang Buping’s previous attempt to rebel.
What else could Yang Buping do? He could only fly through the air, leading Xiang Qing back to his Yueying Peak.
In the other four directions, Xiang Xing, Xiang Zhong, Xiang Zheng, and Xiang Chun also knocked out the disciples of Yuxuan Pavilion, planted Soul Flower Fragments to control them, and sneaked into the four alchemy peaks of Yuxuan Pavilion.
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Jin Zun and Xiang Qing had been following from a distance. With the divine awareness of the Instrument God keeping track, Jin Zun was aware of every move Xiang Qing made.
It wasn’t until Xiang Qing entered Yueying Peak that Jin Zun entered the Tiny Realm Sphere.
The Tiny Realm Sphere was nothing more than a speck of dust that rose with the wind, entered Yueying Peak, and landed near Yang Buping’s training room.
At that moment, Xiang Qing was inside Yang Buping’s training room. As soon as he stepped out, the Tiny Realm Sphere would naturally fall on him, accompanying him as he moved around Yueying Peak.
Yang Buping and Xiang Qing were now in the training room.
“Yang Buping, have you heard of the Ghost Emperor Elixir while you were in Yuxuan Pavilion?” Xiang Qing asked calmly.
Since he already had Yang Buping under control, Xiang Qing saw no need to hide his purpose for coming to Yuxuan Pavilion.
Upon hearing this, Yang Buping’s expression tightened, and he frowned, saying, “I haven’t heard of it.”

Xiang Qing was well aware of the fluctuations in Xiang Qing’s own soul. While listening to Yang Pingbing’s reply, he also sensed his soul’s fluctuations and knew that he indeed wasn’t lying. After a moment of thought, he understood that a pill of the Ghost Emperor Earth Dan level was something a low-ranked disciple like Yang Pingbing could never come across.

“Yang Pingbing, in the past ten years, have there been any abnormal alchemy peaks among the ten alchemy peaks of the Yuxuan Pavilion?” Xiang Qing asked calmly as before.

The Ghost Emperor Earth Spirit, a pill at the level of a one-star Earth Soul Immortal, was also an alchemy task for the Yuxuan Pavilion to earn points, so they would naturally take special actions. Therefore, the higher-ups of the Yuxuan Pavilion would surely implement some special measures.

Yang Pingbing fell silent for a while, thinking carefully before his eyes lit up as he exclaimed, “I remember! Fifteen years ago, the top two alchemy peaks of our Yuxuan Pavilion, Yueying Peak and Yueying Peak, their two leaders suddenly disappeared for five years. After returning to their respective peaks, they never came out again.”

Hearing this, Xiang Qing showed a hint of joy on his lips, already having an idea in mind.

Then, Xiang Qing took out his communication card and immediately contacted Xiang Xing, Xiang Zhong, Xiang Zheng, and Xiang Chun.

After a while, a smile appeared on Xiang Qing’s face again as he murmured, “Xiang Xing has infiltrated Yueying Peak, and Xiang Zheng has infiltrated Yueying Peak. What luck!”

From the messages exchanged earlier, Xiang Qing already knew where the other four were hiding. Naturally, all he needed to do now was wait, leaving the task of investigating the Ghost Emperor Earth Dan to Xiang Xing and Xiang Zheng.

Half a year later, Xiang Qing had been in Yang Pingbing’s training room the whole time. When he sensed his communication card moving, he immediately opened his eyes and took out the card.

“Gather at Yueying Peak!” he softly said.

Then, Xiang Qing stood up and, looking at Yang Pingbing who was practicing nearby, said gently, “Get up. Let’s go to Yueying Peak together.”

Yang Pingbing didn’t object and immediately stood up, following Xiang Qing. The two walked quickly and soon left the training room.

At that moment, the inch-sized realm sphere that had been stationary at the entrance of the training room flew up and landed in Xiang Qing’s boots as he stepped out. Unaware of this, Xiang Qing followed Yang Pingbing, and the two flew into the air, heading toward Yueying Peak.

The disciples on Yueying Peak saw a man accompanying Yang Pingbing. Although they didn’t recognize him, they didn’t question it, so they didn’t discover Xiang Qing’s true identity.

Before long, Yang Pingbing brought Xiang Qing to a mountain ravine.

In that mountain pass, Xiang Xing, Xiang Zhong, Xiang Gai, and Xiang Chun had also arrived. As soon as Xiang Qing, Xiang Xing, Xiang Zhong, Xiang Gai, and Xiang Chun met, their immortal senses activated, causing the five disciples of the Yu Xuan Pavilion under their control to lose consciousness. Then, the five of them began to exchange their immortal senses.