Cultivation: From Servant to Revered Immortal

Chapter 78: Chapter 8: Bad News

Early the next morning, Zhou Xun arrived at the Danhai Pavilion.

During the twenty-four days of closed-door training, he had delayed many alchemy commissions, and Zhou Xun needed a few days to complete them.

Entering the Danhai Pavilion, everyone greeted him, and Zhou Xun nodded in return.

Now, he was among the most esteemed individuals in the entire Qingyue Square.

”Master, you have arrived!” Shopkeeper Huang came to greet him, holding two letters in his hand.

”Here are two letters for you, delivered by Steward Song. He said he went to your cave mansion, but the array was fully activated, guessing you were in closed-door training, so he entrusted these to me to give to you!”

”Hmm!” Zhou Xun nodded, took the letters, and then gestured for Shopkeeper Huang to leave.

The seals of the letters were intact, with no signs of opening.

These two letters were from Lin Xueying and Wang Erniu.

Due to the distance from Red Leaf Square and the difficulty of communication, they could generally correspond only once every two years.

Lin Xueying described her recent situation.

After being accepted as a direct disciple by Master Fengyue, Lin Xueying went to the Cloud Light Sect for cultivation.

The spirit vein of the Cloud Light Sect was the only Tier Three Middle-Grade Spirit Vein in the entire Xui Country.

Moreover, the Spiritual Qi concentration in Master Fengyue’s cave mansion had reached the Tier Three Low-Grade level, where Lin Xueying cultivated.

With such an excellent cultivation environment, plus Lin Xueying’s high-grade spiritual root, she quickly broke through to the seventh layer of Qi Refining by the time this letter was sent.

She was already nearing the peak of the seventh-layer Qi Refining.

At the end of the letter, Lin Xueying expressed her longing for Zhou Xun and encouraged him to cultivate, hoping he could soon break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Given Lin Xueying’s excellent spiritual root, Zhou Xun was not surprised by such an opportunity.

On the other hand, Wang Erniu had now reached the peak of the sixth-layer Qi Refining and was soon to break through to the Late-Stage Qi Refining.

After all, he was a talent with a gold attribute spirit root of 55 points, which was among the upper batch of high-grade spiritual roots.

Even Lin Xueying’s spiritual root talent was three points lower than Wang Erniu’s.

Currently, Wang Erniu, arranged by his family, chose to become a sword cultivator.

Sword cultivators were the most powerful among various cultivators, only Thunder Cultivators could match them.

One wonders where the Lin Family obtained the inheritance of sword cultivators.

Zhou Xun replied, briefly mentioning his recent situation, then handed the letters to Shopkeeper Huang, instructing him to give them to Song Zhishu.

Afterward, his apprentice Zhou Jingsong came to greet him.

Nowadays, he had almost mastered most low-grade elixirs, and his cultivation had reached the peak of the third-layer Qi Refining.

But his spiritual root talent was somewhat lacking, with a fire spirit root sensitivity of 17 points.

Zhou Xun guessed he would be stuck at the third-layer Qi Refining for some time.

After giving a few pointers, Zhou Xun dismissed him and began refining elixirs.

Warming the pill furnace, processing spirit medicine, condensing pills.

In the following days, apart from daily cultivation, Zhou Xun devoted all his energy to alchemy.

...

On this day, Zhou Xun had completed the accumulated alchemy commissions and was studying the path of the array.

”Strange, why do I always have a sense of ominous premonition!” Although Zhou Xun held an array scripture, he couldn’t study it with peace of mind, and lighting the calming incense didn’t help.

Zhou Xun used the divination technique to investigate.

He could only roughly conclude that he was safe.

At this moment,

”Alchemist Zhou!”

”Where is Alchemist Zhou!”

A commotion of voices came.

Then, the sound of Shopkeeper Huang knocking on the door came.

”Master, Hall Master Song of the Law Enforcement Team has come, and he wants to see you!”

”Hall Master Song?” Zhou Xun murmured these words, with some curiosity, wondering why this person sought him out!

But given this person’s exceptional cultivation and his command over the Song Family Law Enforcement Hall, Zhou Xun still had to show him some respect.

”Entertain Hall Master Song first, I will be there shortly!” Zhou Xun instructed.

”Yes!” The respectful voice of Shopkeeper Huang came from outside the door.

...

When Zhou Xun entered the elegant room, Hall Master Song was pacing anxiously.

Seeing Zhou Xun enter, he quickly spoke up:

”Alchemist Zhou, you’re finally here!”

”Hall Master Song, do not hesitate to speak!” Zhou Xun’s tone was steady, slightly calming Hall Master Song’s anxious mood.

”Our patrolling law enforcement team was ambushed outside, and many members are seriously injured. The high-grade healing pills are insufficient, and we hope Alchemist Zhou can fire up the furnace and refine healing pills!” Hall Master Song concisely explained the situation.

”The law enforcement team was ambushed?” Hearing this, Zhou Xun’s brow furrowed.

”Could it be Shi Jingfeng?” Zhou Xun was shocked, but soon he dismissed the thought.

Shi Jingfeng had just joined him for drinks at the beginning of the month, less than twenty days ago.

His turn to patrol would not come until next month!

”If it’s the high-grade healing pills, I just happened to refine some, a total of twenty. I wonder if it’s enough!” Zhou Xun said as he took two vials of elixirs from his storage bag and handed them to Hall Master Song.

”Enough, enough!” Hall Master Song rejoiced, hurriedly accepting the spirit pills.

At this moment, he suddenly remembered something, stopped, and said:

”Captain Shi’s life is now hanging by a thread. I remember Alchemist Zhou and he are friends...”

Before he finished speaking, Zhou Xun interrupted him.

”You mean Shi Jingfeng? Isn’t he not supposed to be out until next month?” Zhou Xun asked in shock upon hearing this.

Hall Master Song, hearing this, showed a trace of regret and then said:

”Indeed, it’s Captain Shi. Because there were two more robbery and murder incidents, I increased the patrol’s frequency, so the Seventh Law Enforcement Team under Captain Shi went out early!”

”Unexpectedly, they happened to encounter a tribulation cultivator. After a fierce battle, the Seventh Team suffered heavy losses, and even the Fifth Team, which came to support, was severely damaged as well!” Hall Master Song said, revealing a face full of hatred.

”I’ll go with you to take a look!” Zhou Xun immediately followed Hall Master Song’s footsteps towards the law enforcement team’s residence.

....

Seeing Shi Jingfeng, he had already fallen into a coma.

His arm was missing, and from the left waist to the right thigh, the lower part of his body was gone, as if something had sawed it off.

If not for the strong vitality of a cultivator, combined with the high-grade healing pills to sustain a breath, Shi Jingfeng would have already perished.

But with such severe injuries, unless a rare spirit medicine that could bring the dead back to life was found, there was absolutely no hope of saving him, and currently, it was merely delaying the inevitable.

”Doesn’t the law enforcement team equip spirit armor? How could they be so severely injured?” Zhou Xun asked with pain and anger as he looked at the young man beside him.

This person was the only one standing from the Seventh Law Enforcement Team, having sustained only minor injuries.

”That person used a round wheel artifact; in one strike, he cut through the captain’s spirit armor, and I desperately fled backwards with the captain on my back while others held the rear!” The young man spoke with a sobbing tone, fear evident in his eyes.

”A round wheel?” Zhou Xun’s eyes narrowed.

”Tell me more!”

”The round wheel had teeth around the edge, spinning when activated, and the captain’s spirit armor only held for a moment. You should know that the captain’s armor was a premium middle-grade spirit armor, and even a high-grade spiritual artifact couldn’t breach it in a short time, let alone destroy it instantly!”

”I’ve never seen such a terrifying artifact!” The young man recounted, his body still trembling slightly.

The more Zhou Xun listened, the more familiar it sounded, just as he was about to ask more, a groan interrupted him.

It was Shi Jingfeng awakening.