Curious, the Captain carefully tried a piece of fish.

“Incredible!” he said, though inside he was thinking that though it was good, it wasn’t as delicious as the flesh of gods.

Ning Yan took a bite and looked visibly moved. Inside, he was thinking that it was only so-so.

Wu Jianwu took a sip of broth and then sighed. It had been a long time since he ate mortal food, and he was inclined to spout some poetry. However, after glancing at Xu Qing, he held back.

Nethersprite, who was dressed as a maidservant, was also part of the group, took a bite. However, after that one bite, she didn’t eat anything further. She preferred human flesh. In fact, the most delicious thing she could imagine eating was Chen Erniu.

Li Youfei and Ling’er ate the most. The former made sure to say lots of flattering things, while the latter ate with her eyes shining brightly.

“I had no idea you could cook such delicious food, Big Bro Xu Qing!” Ling’er blinked a few times, all while musing that though her own cooking was actually a bit better, in the coming days, she would make sure to try her own hand at making a meal like this.

Meanwhile, the Heir Apparent swallowed a mouthful of the fish stew.

“Xu Qing, your culinary method seems to conform to the southern tradition. The flavor of this stew is unique. Normally speaking, it would be a snake stew, right? If you replaced the fish with snake, the flavor would be a lot better.”

Ling’er froze in place.

“And then there’s this fish skin dish,” the Heir Apparent continued. “It should really be snake skin instead. It’s the same with the meat. All of your culinary techniques are best applied to snakes, but instead, you created a fish banquet.”

The Heir Apparent looked curiously at Xu Qing and Ling’er.

Xu Qing looked back at the Heir Apparent. He didn’t say anything.

Ling’er inhaled sharply, and her eyes suddenly glittered with terror, and she edged slightly closer to Xu Qing. Leaning over, she quietly said, “Snakes taste disgusting, Big Bro Xu Qing. Really disgusting.”

Xu Qing nodded.

The Heir Apparent smiled. Right now, he didn’t seem at all like some mighty heir apparent to an Imperial Sovereign. Instead, he was just a kindly old grandpa. As the meal wound to an end, everyone realized that they really were getting used to living in the presence of a Smoldering God. Nethersprite washed the dishes, and the night passed uneventfully.

The next morning at dawn, the Green Spirit Pharmacy opened for business for the first time in more than half a year. In the past, it had been Ling’er who would open the main door, but today it was Wu Jianwu, dressed in his rough hemp garment. 1

Expression flickering a bit as he stood next to the door, he gritted his teeth and then called out, “Time passed in a blur, the sun rises again; our shop is open, how long has it been; from north and south come and spend; get a free white bolus if you buy ten!”

His voice drifted up and down the street for all to hear.

This was the Captain’s idea. As he had pointed out, their medicine shop lacked a host out front, and Wu Jianwu was naturally the best choice. In response to Wu Jianwu’s voice, the trembling ‘citizens’ of the city emerged onto the street and looked over. Not only did they see Wu Jianwu, but also, they saw that there was a pudgy shop assistant scrubbing the floors. The fat shop assistant looked very strange, with a belly bulging so dramatically it seemed like his clothing was stuffed with something to make it so fat. Next to him was Li Youfei, who had the lowliest position of all in the group, and thus, had to play the role of the handyman.

Standing off to the side was the Captain, who had appointed himself as the guard.

“Our medicine shop is located in the extremely dangerous Bitter Life Mountains. Considering the vicious and evil cultivators that live in this area, we have to have a guard to keep the peace in our little shop.”

That was the Captain’s work manifesto.

The Heir Apparent was the elderly shopkeeper. In his hand was a pearl with which he fiddled as he smiled and looked around the shop. A person was sealed inside that pearl, and if you looked closely, you would see that it was Guru Blackeyes.

Xu Qing was the alchemist, of course, and Ling’er continued to keep the books, which she absolutely loved to do.

In the newly reopened shop, there was also a maidservant who waited on the shopkeeper. She was Nethersprite….

Business was better than ever. On the very first day, over two hundred people came in with spirit coins to buy white boluses. As a result, Ling’er was very busy with the books.

A few days passed.

Other than working on his cultivation, Xu Qing spent time on curse research.

Wu Jianwu got used to his assignment. After all, the only thing he needed to do was stand outside and come up with new poems. He was actually quite good at it.

Ning Yan sometimes got very tired and just leaned up against the door frame to rest. As he listened to Wu Jianwu’s poetry and enjoyed the down time, he unwittingly came to realize that he understood some of Wu Jianwu’s poetry. That realization filled his heart with alarm.

Li Youfei worked the hardest of all. In addition to all the random jobs he had to do, he also had to give orders to Sir Tree-Dao. He needed to make sure that Sir Tree-Dao and his subordinates worked on their act. It was simply too weird to have subordinates coming in with their legs shaking.

Meanwhile, the Captain stood there with his arms crossed, a sword in one hand, looking coldly at everyone who came and went. He really did seem like a martial arts master.

And then there was Nethersprite…. Because ‘grandpa’ liked to drink tea and play with the parrot, her work primarily consisted of brewing tea and attending to the bird.

That was how things went in the little medicine shop.

Seven days later, as business for the Green Spirit Pharmacy went well, Xu Qing finally recovered from the injuries he had suffered during the tribulation. The time had come to continue his tempering.

“Now that you’ve recovered, Xu Qing,” the Heir Apparent said, “you’re going to come with me. It’s time to really dig out that potential in you.”

Xu Qing took a deep breath and stood up. Then, he vanished along with the Heir Apparent. When they materialized, they were up in the air.

The Heir Apparent clasped his hands behind his back and started moving. Xu Qing looked down at the Green Spirit Pharmacy, then followed.

As they flew through the Bitter Life Mountains, they encountered other cultivators. Some were just flying along, others were engaged in combat. None of them even noticed the presence of Xu Qing and the Heir Apparent. Even those who almost ran right into them didn’t actually see them, and would just go about their business.

Xu Qing wasn’t surprised at all by that. It was obviously the power of the Heir Apparent.

Given the direction they were moving in, Xu Qing had an idea of their destination. It was the Red Moon Cathedral’s church temple in the Bitter Life Mountains. He was right. Several hours later, they were hovering in the air above that church temple.

The Red Moon Cathedral occupied the highest peak in the Bitter Life Mountains. The godherald in this church temple was terrifying, and emanated a faint pressure that could weigh down on the entire desert. To the people in the Greenhair Badlands, there was no more important location than this. It represented a god.

That wasn’t the case for the Heir Apparent, though. It was with a bit of a swagger that he led Xu Qing directly inside.

Inside the temple were cultivators clad in red robes. However, just like the cultivators outside, they didn’t see the two newcomers. And thus, they soon arrived at an open square in the depths of the church temple. The place was busy, with a lot of cultivators coming and going. Everything was very orderly, as if any outbursts would be considered blasphemous and profane.

The Heir Apparent scanned the open square, then extended his right hand in the direction of a middle-aged dao begetting cultivator. When the Heir Apparent made a beckoning motion with his index finger, the middle-aged cultivator swiveled and walked in Xu Qing’s direction. He stopped moving when he reached the middle of the square.

Seeing the gruish scene play out, Xu Qing looked at the Heir Apparent.

“One hundred breaths of time,” the Heir Apparent said coolly. “Xu Qing, tap into all of your cultivation base and fight him to the death. Kill him, and devour his red moon faith. If you don’t succeed within a hundred breaths of time, everyone here in this church temple will be able to see you, and I won’t be able to help. If you succeed, you succeed. If you fail… then your life is in your own hands.”

With that, the Heir Apparent flew up, hovered above, and closed his eyes.

The unmoving dao begetting cultivator’s eyes then turned bright red, and he looked furiously at Xu Qing. He looked like he had just spotted his archenemy. Howling, he unleashed the power of his cultivation base.

Vortexes started popping up around him, until there were nine. They were like nine stars which formed the outline of an illusory secret trove.

The secret trove seemed to contain erupting volcanoes which resulted in muffled rumbling sounds that spread out in every direction. Blood-colored light pierced into the cultivator’s fleshly body, surrounding him and connecting to heaven and earth, ultimately forming a projected image several hundred meters tall.

The image was that of a treant, with a sturdy torso, brown branches, and black leaves. The ground trembled as roots stabbed into it, spreading out. In the blink of an eye, the entire square was filled with countless branches. The ground shattered as innumerable blood-red blades of grass sprouted up, covering everything to create a crimson grassland.

From a distance, it looked like a massive treant standing atop a plain of grass, imbued with a spirit that could conquer mountains and rivers. His eyes gleamed with ruthless light as he emanated terrifying pressure. Lightning bolts even started crackling around him. Anyone who saw this scene would be shocked. As for Xu Qing, it was his first time actually facing a dao begetting enemy!

And then, all of the blades of grass and innumerable branches shot toward Xu Qing, moving with such speed they were little more than blurs. They obviously surpassed the limits of the Nascent Soul level, and weren’t giving Xu Qing any chance to react.

Xu Qing’s pupils constricted as danger closed in from all sides. A feeling of mortal peril filled him. He knew that his battle prowess wasn’t at the proper level, and that if he didn’t move quickly enough, he wouldn’t have any hope of dodging.

His god body erupted, and he instantly reached a height of 15 meters. At the same time, taboo poison and violet moon power erupted from within him, slamming into the branches and the grass.

Rumbling booms echoed out. Xu Qing was extraordinary, but he wasn’t on the same level as a dao begetting enemy. In the blink of an eye, countless blades of grass surrounded him, as sharp as swords. At the same time, the innumerable branches were like tentacles trying to grab him.

His violet moon power and the corrosive taboo poison had an effect, but there were just too many blades of grass and branches. Every time one vanished, more would replace it. In the shortest of moments, grass and branches were piling up around him. They piled into a mountain of dead vegetation, soon reaching a height of 300 meters. Then, the top spread out like an umbrella, eventually forming a hand.

That palm shot down toward Xu Qing, who was already buried in the plants and vegetation. As the hand descended, the grass and branches collapsed, crushed out of existence by the terrifying power at work. And it seemed like Xu Qing would also crumble within moments.

But then, a huge figure appeared out of nowhere. It was the Ghost Emperor mountain! In that moment of crisis, Xu Qing sent all of his cultivation base power into the Ghost Emperor mountain. When the projected Ghost Emperor appeared, he threw his arms up to meet the descending hand.

A deafening boom rang out as the hand collapsed. In the blink of an eye, it turned into something like a rain falling down onto the square below. At the same time, cracks spread out over the Ghost Emperor, until it collapsed, revealing Xu Qing within.

He was coughing up blood and his face was pale. The crushing pressure from a dao begetting enemy had his internal organs quivering, and he was gasping for breath. However, his eyes were as cold as usual.

Without any hesitation, he rocketed toward the dao begetting cultivator.

Up above in the dome of heaven, the Heir Apparent said, “Eighty breaths of time left.”

1. There is a sentence I left out of the translation which indicates that the ‘front door’ of the shop is made of wooden planks. That’s a relatively common feature of some types of buildings in ancient China. If you watch the first few seconds of this clip from the famous wuxia movie Iron Monkey, you’ll see how such entryways work. However, later on the door is repeatedly described in a way that makes it seem more like a regular door. In other words, it’s described as opening, closing, slamming, etc. Considering how much time I wasted finding the above link, I’m going to leave this information here in the footnote, but leave out the ‘door planks’ part as it appears the author either forgot about it or just changed his mind later and didn’t come back to change this chapter. ☜

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