War Sovereign Soaring The Heavens

“I wonder if I’ll be able to use the Celestial Fire since it’s contained in the defective metal piece?” Duan Ling Tian shifted his attention to the grey flame in the defective metal piece. He took a deep breath and tried to activate the Celestial Fire using the method that was recorded in the Memory Celestial Talisman.

“Why is only part of the flames coming out?” Duan Ling Tian tried to draw the flames out, but he only managed to draw a small part of it out. He was confused again.

After trying for half an hour, there were still no improvements. It seemed like he could only use a small part of the flame for now. He finally decided to give up trying. “Will I be able to refine pills or forge weapons with such a small flame? Moreover, I can’t figure out the characteristics of the Celestial Fire so I can’t tell if it’s more suited for refining pills or forging weapons…”

With these thoughts in mind, Duan Ling Tian retraced his steps and left the place. After a short while, he arrived at the foot of the mountain.

“It’s time for me to return to the capital.” Duan Ling Tian decided to return to the County City of Nine Specters County to look for the ingredients to refine Spirit Nourishing Pill with the small flame he managed to draw out.

Spirit Nourishing Pills were fairly common primitive Celestial Pills. The formula was widely known, and the ingredients needed to refine them were fairly common medicinal herbs. Naturally, these herbs were common in Devata Realms, but they probably did not exist in the mundane realms.

When Duan Ling Tian arrived in the County City of Nine Specters County, he surveyed his surroundings and muttered to himself, ‘It looks like I’ll have to stay here for another year…’

The Martial Competition for the 16 Counties would take place after a year. Duan Ling Tian would be participating with the Golden Celestials below the age of 100 in the County Governor’s estate. However, he did not plan to return to this place after going to King Qing’s Mansion. After all, in terms of cultivation environment and resources, King Qing’s Mansion was definitely superior to the Nine Specters County. He would be able to improve his cultivation base quickly in King Qing’s Mansion. Moreover, there would be many opportunities for him to obtain higher grade cultivation methods as well.

“Anyway, I should get the medicinal herbs first.” He remembered some of the shops that Qin Yu had brought him to during their previous trip to the city.

As soon as Duan Ling Tian entered the shop, the shopkeeper greeted him respectfully, “Welcome, how may I assist you?”

Duan Ling Tian glanced at the shopkeeper and said, “Bring me the medicinal herbs needed to refine Spirit Nourishing Pills.”

“How many sets would you like?” The shopkeeper’s eyes lit up. Most people came to the shop to look for medicinal herbs to increase the efficacy of Celestial Pills. It was rare for someone to look for medicinal herbs to refine Celestial Pills. After all, Celestial Alchemists were rare here. In the entire Nine Specters County, only the County Governor’s estate and one of the major sects had Celestial Alchemists. The County Governor’s estate had two primitive Celestial Alchemists while one of the major sects had one primitive Celestial Alchemist. Since the Celestial Alchemists from the County Governor’s estate would send errand boys to the shop to place an order for medicinal herbs to be delivered to the estate, the shopkeeper was certain Duan Ling Tian was the Celestial Alchemist from one of the major sects in Nine Specters County.

Upon hearing the shopkeeper’s question, he frowned, deep in thought. Finally, he replied, “I’ll take everything you have.” This was his first time refining pills in a Devata Realm after all. He was not even sure if he could refine pills with his grey Celestial Fire. It was better if he had more ingredients to spare. With the money he had, it was not a problem for him to buy all the ingredients required to refine Spirit Nourishing Pills in this shop.

The shopkeeper gasped when he heard Duan Ling Tian’s words. He asked in shock, “My lord… A-are you serious?”

Although the shop was not the largest in the county city, it was still a well-known shop. No ordinary person would be able to afford all the ingredients needed to refine Spirit Nourishing Pills that they had in stock.

“Of course. Please get me the ingredients,” Duan Ling Tian responded impatiently when the shopkeeper questioned him skeptically.

When the shopkeeper was about to get the ingredients, a loud scoff rang in the air. Soon after, a middle-aged man with a medium built who was dressed in fine clothes walked into the shop. An old man with a dark expression on his face stood behind the middle-aged man.

“Young Master Liu!” The shopkeeper’s eyes brightened as soon as he saw the middle-aged man. After all, he knew this man, Liu Zuo Lin, was from the Liu clan, the only major force in Nine Specters County with a Celestial Alchemist in their ranks. Moreover, he was also the only son of the current clan leader.

Liu Zuo Lin did not even spare Duan Ling Tian a glance as he said to the shopkeeper, “I want ten sets of medicinal herbs required to refine Spirit Nourishing Pills.”

“Young Master Liu.” The shopkeeper smiled as he glanced at Duan Ling Tian. “This customer has requested to buy all the medicinal herbs we have in stock… He should also be from the Liu Clan?” Up until now, he was still under the impression that Duan Ling Tian was from the Liu clan. After all, apart from the City Governor’s estate, the Liu Clan was the only force that had a Celestial Alchemist in Nine Specters County.

“How dare you impersonate someone from the Liu Clan!” Liu Zuo Lin glared at Duan Ling Tian. His eyes were cold as he stared at Duan Ling Tian like a venomous snake that was about to strike.

“Liu Clan?” Duan Ling Tian was baffled, but he replied indifferently, “Sorry, I’ve never heard of the Liu Clan…” He disregarded the angry expression on Liu Zuo Lin’s face and said to the shopkeeper impatiently, “Are you going to get the ingredients for me? If you’re not, there are other shops I can go to. Your shop isn’t the only one that carries ingredients to refine Spirit Nourishing Pills.”

At this point, the shopkeeper finally realized Duan Ling Tian was not from the Liu Clan. If he still did not realize this, he would have lived so long in vain. “Sorry, sorry. I’ll get to it immediately…” he quickly said to appease Duan Ling Tian before turning to Liu Zuo Lin and apologetically said. “I’m sorry, Young Master Liu. I was mistaken… This customer didn’t say he’s from the Liu Clan. I just assumed he’s from the Liu Clan when he said he wanted to buy the medicinal herbs to refine Spirit Nourishing Pills. All the medicinal herbs we have are already taken. I’m afraid you’ll have to look for them in another shop.” After he finished speaking, he hurried to the back of the shop to prepare the medicinal herbs Duan Ling Tian had requested.

Although Liu Zuo Lin’s status was remarkable, the clan that owned this shop was on par with the Liu Clan. For this reason, the shopkeeper did not pander to Liu Zuo Lin. The most important thing was to make money. Liu Zuo Lin only wanted to buy ten sets of the medicinal herbs needed to refine Spirit Nourishing Pills whereas Duan Ling Tian had requested for everything they had in stock. Their shop had 300 sets of the medicinal herbs Duan Ling Tian needed. Moreover, Duan Ling Tian had arrived first. It was only natural that the shopkeeper would sell the medicinal herbs to Duan Ling Tian.

Upon hearing the shopkeeper’s words, Liu Zuo Lin’s expression darkened immediately. Although the shopkeeper was just like an ant to him, he was still an employee of the people who owned this shop. He could not afford to offend those people. As long as the shopkeeper did not act out of bound, he did not dare to retaliate at all. As the saying went, ‘Before one beat a dog, one would have to see who its master was’.

For this reason, Liu Zuo Lin focused all his anger on Duan Ling Tian instead. “Brat, did you say you’ve never heard of the Liu Clan? Are you trying to challenge the dignity of the Liu clan?”