Phoenix Destiny

026 - It's so Good to Be Alive

Following the fishy stench left behind by the demonic wolf, Lu Mingshu entered deep into the mountain, where she found a cave.

Given that it was located in a barren land, Locust Tree Village did not have much production. Yet this cave was teeming with lush grass and even large patches of blue flowers all around.

Blue flowers were rarely seen in the natural world, let alone in such concentrated amounts. Lu Mingshu's intuition told her that something was amiss.

She entered the cave while holding a fire torch.

Light did not filter into this deep cave, which left it cast in darkness.

The air was also very poor, and the demonic wolf's fishy stench especially pervaded the area.

Lu Mingshu held her nose and continued deeper in.

She would not have imagined herself to have such guts were it a few months ago, to have enough guts to roam such a cave in the countryside. Having been baptized in the cleansing of the Heavenly Wheel's streamers, her line of thinking had not only deepened, but her courage had improved by leaps and bounds.

Lu Mingshu suddenly stopped.

Strange, the fishy stench was getting increasingly thicker while I was heading in this direction previously, so why does it seem to be fading now? This place does not look like the demonic wolf's shelter at all.

She lifted the fire torch and carefully observed the walls. As she looked, her eyes seemed to have flashed past a dim light.

The stone wall of the cave is glowing?

Lu Mingshu went up and pushed aside the moss on the wall.

There is a faint reflection of light that's blue in color on the stone wall!

She immediately thought of the numerous blue flowers outside.

As Lu Mingshu found a few tree branches on the spot and scraped off the mosses on the stone wall, she tried hard to suppress her excitement.

She could sense a faint mystic force - this is an ore that contains mystic force! 

But she quickly calmed down. Even if this is an ore that contains mystic force, how am I to take this out? Dig it out with my hands?

As she thought about a solution, Lu Mingshu continued walking forward.

The fishy smell that was no longer present in her position should have been neutralized by the mystic ore. The smell that got fainter as she walked deeper indicated that the mystic ore further inside was even more concentrated.

Sure enough, Lu Mingshu spotted some fragmented broken ore on the ground by the side after walking for about a thousand feet.

The blood vessels in her eyes nearly popped from trying to keep the glowing stones in her line of sight as she walked to the end of the cave in one sitting.

The light-blue mystic ore embedded in the walls of the cavern radiated a faint blue light under the shine of the fire torch, lighting up the entire cave like a world of blue crystals.

 This must have been the wolf's shelter. It was empty, devoid of objects and any sign of life.

Lu Mingshu had no idea that this was not the scene that would have greeted her had she come a little earlier. Due to the existence of this mystic ore, almost all of the demonic beasts in the vicinity were drawn to this place. But ever since the demonic wolf's arrival, the demonic beasts that occupied the pits here were all driven away. With the demonic wolf's stench still being present, no beast dared approach.

Lu Mingshu could not wait to enter the Heavenly Wheel and ask Brother Six for advice on the ore and how she was to mine it. But this was after all the wilderness. What if there was danger when she left her body unattended to enter the Heavenly Wheel …

Forget it, for safety's sake, I'll take as much as I can. The fragmented broken ores outside should suffice.

Lu Mingshu took off her robe, tied a few knots to make it into the shape of a package, and stuffed the nicer-looking broken ores into her package.

When she had finally picked a full package of good broken ores, she proceeded to carry them down the mountain.

By the time she returned to the village, the slaughtering of the demonic wolf was about done. Elder Tian brought the wolf hide, the wolf claws, and the wolf teeth they had dealt with first to her.

Lu Mingshu entered the Heavenly Wheel.

The two met each other smoothly as Brother Six was normally around at this hour of the day.

Brother Six expressed his interest in hearing Lu Mingshu speak of the bag of broken ores that she had picked up at the demonic wolf's shelter.

He built a channel and let her send a small ore over.

Lu Mingshu intended for precisely this by looking for Brother Six. It would definitely not be wrong to ask Brother Six, who was passionate about collecting all sorts of information and had a broad knowledge.

Soon, Bother Six's hoarse voice traveled over, "Little Sister Seven, this is good stuff!"

Lu Mingshu hurried to respond, "What is it?"

"This is mystic spirit ore. It may be called differently in different worlds, but in short, it is a kind of low-grade ore. The blue ones you collected are pure with a good quality, and the energy they contain is very pure too. It would be very useful to use these for practice."

Brother Six told her of the specifics of the grade and uses of the mystic spirit ore, adding lastly, "Little Sister Seven, you don't have to give me the harvest from killing the demonic wolf, but can you instead give me two pieces of this broken ore?"

Lu Mingshu naturally agreed, gifting him two pieces of good quality ones.

Brother Six sighed when he received the ore, "What a pity you do not have storage tools, or else you would have been able to bring back more."

A special channel must be constructed if one wanted to bring physical objects into the Heavenly Wheel, which required mystic force. Lu Mingshu would not be able to construct one with her current, low amount of mystic force. She could only use other, smaller items in her exchanges. For example, this mystic spirit ore. Moreover, one could not store physical objects inside the Heavenly Wheel. The object would be broken down into mystic force once the user left, returning to their body.

Therefore, the Heavenly Wheel could only be used as a platform for exchange and not as storage space.

Lu Mingshu asked, "Brother Six, what are storage tools?"

"Storage tools are normally in the form of a pouch or ring, and some call it mustard seed pouch, while others call it universal pouch. Some even call it Sumeru ring* … The name isn't important. In short, it functions as a storage. It may look small, but the space inside is huge, making it convenient to carry items."

Lu Mingshu exclaimed, "Something so magical actually exists?"

Brother Six found it strange. "Your world should have it too. Why, didn't your elders explain it to you?"

Lu Mingshu laughed dryly. "I just entered my sect …" and she continued to ask, "That, can I buy one?"

"It is possible to buy, but this item isn't cheap …"

"Is it very expensive?"

"Un. I have mixed around for so long and only managed to conveniently get an old one from someone else's hands."

Even Brother Six had to pick up a cheap one - it really must be absurdly expensive.

However, Lu Mingshu still longed for one. If she had this, she would have been able to bring back more ores today.

"If you really want one, I can keep a lookout for you."

Lu Mingshu was overjoyed. "Thank you, Brother Six."

She asked a few more general-knowledge questions before leaving the Heavenly Wheel.

It was almost time; she had the feeling that she was on the cusp of returning to her own world.

When she went out to say a few farewells, almost all of Locust Tree Village ran out to send her off when Elder Tian informed them of her departure.

In this manner, Lu Mingshu was sent out of the village while carrying ores and the rest of her paraphernalia. Then she disappeared out of thin air in front of the whole crowd of villagers.

The villagers turned pale with fright and immediately fell to their knees to kowtow, repeatedly calling out 'celestial being' in her wake.

On the other side, Lu Mingshu opened her eyes. She was still lying down on the bed, and the sky outside had brightened.

She sat up, looking toward the package filled with the wolf parts she had procured from the villagers.

Once she hid the package under the bed, Lu Mingshu left the room.

An aroma wafted out of the kitchen. When she went in for a look, she laid eyes on Liu Jizhen, who was making fried eggs.

Lu Mingshu felt warmth in her heart. Her master always said he did not care about her, but he had actually changed a lot ever since she had appeared in Green Jade Valley.

Liu Jizhen plated the omelet, placing it on the table. "Let's eat."

"I'll go wash my face!" Lu Mingshu ran out to brush her teeth and wash her face, returning to eat once she had cleaned up.

She had a grin on her face today. Liu Jizhen glanced at her a few times, "What are you so happy about?"

Lu Mingshu revealed a large, toothy smile. "Nothing much, it's just that I'm glad to be alive and that being able to eat this much delicious food is great."

Liu Jizhen looked down. Rice porridge, salted egg, pickles …  Is his cooking really that good?

*Mustard seed and Sumeru- Is a Buddhist phraseology that refers to how the tiny mustard seed is able to contain the huge Sumeru(Mt Meru). It is an analogy about how the appearance of something might not be what it looks to be and that it is possible for big and small to tolerate each other. (In this case, it's describing how the storage tool may be small in appearance but it has a huge storage space.)

027- Willow WoodsLu Mingshu pondered for a long time before deciding on trading the various components of the wolf she had procured earlier.Such a demonic beast's hide could be used to make leather, while its teeth and sharp claws could be used to make weapons. But since she did not have the means to make them now, she decided to trade them for something useful.Therefore, she put up a request for trade of items on the Heavenly Wheel.After a day's wait, someone contacted her.[ I have a book on Basic Alchemy here, do you want it? ]Lu Mingshu's eyes lit up, as alchemy was from the world of Xianxia*. Brother Six once told her that each world had their own system of cultivation and practice at which they excelled. For example, the world she was in walked the path of practicing Martial Arts and was the most valiant in strength. For a magic world that uses a magic precision system, their their devil talismans depicting demonic patterns were the most useful. For the world of Xianxia, alchemy definitely occupied an important position.The most fundamental pursuit of cultivators was not power but longevity; they would always place more importance on a rebirth rather than the acquisition of strength by cultivating steadily. Practitioners pursuing strength alone, on the other hand, had no regard for their longevity. Mages needed to go through all sorts of rituals to increase their lifespans, whereas cultivators were always tempering their body through their cultivation. Therefore, their lifespan increased hand-in-hand with every milestone in their cultivation.One of the skills they depended on the most was alchemy. When they drank one of their elixirs, it would immediately apply the effect on their body. Therefore, the art of alchemy tolerated no oversights whatsoever.Lu Mingshu immediately initiated a private chat with the other party.A voice traveled out as the circle of airflow blew out of the leaf, "Fellow Daoist, are you willing to trade?"The voice was quite light, indicating that it belonged to someone quite young.Lu Mingshu answered, "Can you give me a rough description of the content?""Eh," the other party was startled for a moment. "So it's a little sister. Of course."The focus of the book on Basic Alchemy was in the word 'basic'. Starting from the herbs, it detailedly introduced the reader to the basics of the alchemical world."Which is to say, there isn't a pill recipe?" The recipes were undoubtedly the most precious part of alchemy.The other party paused for a moment before replying, "There is only one pill recipe, which is the Congeal Constituent Pill …"Lu Mingshu hesitated once she heard that. With two different worlds came two different types of Spirit Medicine. Would it not be a waste if that one Pill Recipe required an ingredient that was unavailable in my current world? Entering and leaving the Heavenly Wheel involved the consumption of a large portion of the item's mystic force, which didn't make for a worthwhile exchange for either party."Fellow Daoist," The youth continued, "I needn't speak anymore of how useful alchemy is, but it is also not easy to find such a detailed book on the introduction of alchemy."Lu Mingshu was aware of this, but something still bothered her …When she spoke of her concerns, the youth immediately replied cheerfully, "There's no need to be worried about this, as the Congeal Constitution Pill is the most basic pill over here. Anyone with a bit of skill in pill refining will be able to refine this pill. This same recipe has a myriad variations. Not only does each sect have its own unique recipe, every alchemist would have their own secret recipe too. Basically, you could refine this pill by throwing any kind of substitute in. Although my Congeal Constituent Pill only consists of a single pill recipe, it contains more than ten kinds of combinations to mix and match the components. There should definitely be a version you can refine -  otherwise, you can just refine based on its principle."

This is okay too?Lu Mingshu was a little dumbfounded."Rest assured, you would not be at a loss if you trade!" the youth said. "I am anxious too. I have to go on a training expedition in ten days and need to make a whole body of protective leather. Were that not the case, I could have exchanged for a finished product right away if I were to take my time and bargain for a better price."Lu Mingshu believed this point. A book on alchemy was a scarce resource, whereas the hide and claws of a demonic beast were not. The two had similar worth, but the book on alchemy still sold better."Well, okay." Lu Mingshu paused for a moment of thought. "Right, can I ask how the mystic ores in your world are generally used?""Mystic ore?" The youth quickly understood, "Oh. My world should call it spirit ore? It depends on what kind of ore it is. It is generally used to refine a Device Array, as the simplest use for it is to extract spiritual qi for cultivation …"Lu Mingshu noted it down seriously. The two then opened a special channel to carry out the trade.After the trade, Lu Mingshu left the Heavenly Wheel.She carefully opened the semi-old book adorned with lines.This one look and she was unable to stop.After Lu Mingshu read the whole book on Basic Alchemy in one go, she let out a long breath and rubbed her dizzy head.No wonder Brother Six had told her that the alchemy of the world of Xianxia was the most miraculous, given their excellent medical knowledge, unlike the magic world where people were restricted by rules and regulations.That youth had not lied to her. The Congeal Constituent Pill recorded in the book could be said to have no known limit in derivatives for the ingredients. As long as she grasped the key, the pill recipe was irrelevant. It would at most result in her refining a pill of lower efficacy.She put away the book and confidently began practicing her sword technique.After the fight with the demonic wolf, her internal mystic force had increased and her strength had improved vastly.When dinner was over, Liu Jizhen suddenly said, "Go and play at Willow Woods tomorrow."Lu Mingshu was stunned for a moment, nodding, "Un …"On the second day after breakfast, Lu Mingshu left for Willow Woods.Willow Woods was a little distance away from Green Jade Valley. Without any means of transportation, she had already reached Willow Woods by foot when the sun stood at its zenith and glared down at her.Willow Woods did not inhabit a single willow tree despite the name, and the topography in the area consisted of one large, gentle slope. The Willow Woods residence itself was built on a gigantic rock on the other side of said gentle slope.At this moment, the Willow Woods residence was very quiet with no signs of life in sight. Lu Mingshu felt a little helpless as she stood underneath the gigantic rock.How am I to climb up such a high rock without anything in my surroundings that could assist me in climbing up?Without a choice, she could only call out, "Gao Xiang! Gao Xiang are you around?"After she had called out three times, someone ran out from Willow Woods.Gao Xiang excitedly waved when he spotted her below, "Lu Mingshu, it's you! I am around!"With that, he jumped down from a - not sure where he got it - rattan rope and dropped down in front of her. " You finally came, I thought you had forgotten!"If not for her Master's reminder, Lu Mingshu would have truly forgotten. She was seriously busy, spending a majority of her time reading books in order to understand the various worlds described in the Heavenly Wheel. That included books from Heavenly Ascension Pavilion as well as the books from the other worlds that she had exchanged. She still had to practice her techniques and even do chores - she couldn't always let Master cook his meals, right?"Come, let us go up!"Gao Xiang grabbed the rattan rope, climbing up with a whoosh! like a monkey.Lu Mingshu pulled on the rope, and after finding it solid, she followed behind him with a set pattern."Walk this way." Once she entered the Willow Woods residence, Lu Mingshu discovered a different view in the back. Past the residence itself, the sight of a large flat grassland, a small meandering stream, and the shade under the leafy canopy of a green willow tree entered one's vision.Tables and chairs were arranged under the willow tree with someone seated on the chair.With hair as white as snow and the appearance of a young man, this someone was Zhuo Jiangui.Lu Mingshu went over to bow, "Martial Granduncle Zhuo."Zhuo Jiangui, who had his eyes closed, slowly opened his eyes when he heard the sound. He looked towards her and nodded once.The sensations of a cold intent enshrouding her in mist struck her again. This greatly alarmed her. What kind of art does this Martial Granduncle Zhuo actually train in?

*World of Xianxia - Refers to the world of immortal heroes.