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Yushi Moli’s inner state was completely calm; not a single ripple marred it. He remained entirely steady, but a tiny bit of agitation bubbled in the depths of his heart.
An alchemist?
That didn’t seem that hard. What he wanted to be was a pill master—that was a profession even stronger than alchemist!
Yushi Moli felt that he could create a pill that was superior to the Origin Elevation Pill. In fact, he felt that he could do a lot of things, but he couldn’t remember what he could do. His mind was blank.
He gently rested his hand on the translucent crystal ball.
“Focus all of your concentration on the crystal ball.” Yuqing Yang smiled when he looked at the boy. “You don’t seem nervous at all.”
“Mmhmm.” Yushi Moli nodded and sent his vast soul force out as mental power. But perhaps due to certain internal caution, he instinctively withdrew most of it before it reached the crystal ball. In the end, less than a hundredth of his soul force transformed into mental power.
Even the boy himself didn’t know how he managed the feat.
Humm!
Dazzling white light erupted from the crystal ball.
“This is… incredibly strong mental power! It’s stronger than even some earth rank alchemists!” Yuqing Yang jumped with shock. “How is his mind so strong??”
Ouyang Du’s eyes widened. “Grandmaster, do you mean that Moli has the requisite potential to become an alchemist?”
Yushi Moli was also enormously excited.
“The requisite potential to become an alchemist? Of course!! Who does if he doesn’t?” Yuqing Yang grew more agitated the more he looked at the crystal ball. Power and mental strength that’d already reached the earth rank? The boy was a natural-born alchemist!
“Mmhmm.” Yushi Moli nodded, as if this had been within his expectations.
“But…” the elder frowned. “As strong and pure as his mental strength is, the edge in his mind is too sharp.”
“What does that mean?” Ouyang Du blinked.
“Child, you practice sword dao, don’t you? And you have achieved moderate proficiency with it.” Yuqing Yang looked at Yushi Moli.
The young man started, then nodded. “Yes, I practice the sword everyday.”
“Ai, what a pity!” Yuqing Yang shook his head. “Mental strength is most important for an alchemist, but yours is filled with the keenness of a sword. If this kind of mental strength is used to refine pills and medicines, their effects would be sliced through before they could form!”
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“What?” Ouyang Du gaped.
Yushi Moli furrowed his brow, feeling that the elder was somehow wrong. He remained silent, however, because he didn’t know how to refute those words.
“Therefore, you must give up sword dao if you’d like to become an alchemist. You must tend to your mind at all times starting from now and blunt the edge of sword dao in your thoughts. You can never hold a sword in your hands again.” Yuqing Yan looked at Yushi Moli with a deep gaze. “Are you willing to give up sword dao? If you are, I will take you as my disciple.”
Ouyang Du blinked. He knew how devoted Yushi Moli was to the sword and that his idol was Long Qianjue. But the chance to become a noteworthy alchemist was right in front of him!
Alchemists enjoyed higher status than martial cultivators!
“Hurry and say yes, Moli!” Ouyang Du urged. In his eyes, Yushi Moli’s cultivation methods were incorrect. Doggedly tempering the body and practicing the sword were not the correct ways. How strong could one become without cultivating true qi and focusing only on the body?
Lower human rank, at most! He’d be less than human rank cultivators who possessed true qi. But a human rank alchemist was more noble than earth rank cultivators!
Ouyang Du had left his nephew to his own devices all this time because he didn’t wish to shatter the boy’s cherished dreams and hope..
“I…” Yushi Moli’s brows creased.
Should I say yes to Yuqing Yang and give up sword dao? Or do I turn him down and insist on following my path?
“Can I… choose both?” he asked after momentary thought.
“…that would be my wish as well, but the edge of your sword dao is so keen that it affects your mind. Pursuing it will prevent you from being an alchemist. If you wish to become an alchemist, you must give up sword dao.” Yuqing Yang’s words brooked no questioning.
Yushi Moli fell silent once more. The subconsciousness in his mind also quieted down, leaving this decision to the memories and experiences of the original Yushi Moli.
It was a difficult decision.
One would catapult him to the heavens and place him over everyone. He would bask in the admiration of all and win glory for his father. The other was a bottomless abyss, a path that he himself wasn’t certain was viable. What was certain was that it would be a road filled with contempt and derision.
Scenes from his past flashed in front of his eyes.
The shock and awe he’d felt when he first read about Senior Long Qianjue in a book.
The delight he’d felt when he discovered the Sword Chart of Heaven and Earth in a book that his mother had left him.
His sweat and tears through four years of one thousand pierces a day.
The monotonous and dull internal observation every night for the past four years.
And the stroke of Autumn Wind he’d somehow created at the foot of Qingqiu Mountain this morning.
“No, I can’t give up sword dao!” Resolution flashed through his eyes. “This is my dao, the path I will take in the future! No matter how arduous and dangerous it is, it is still my decision!”
Yushi Moli knew that the reason for his prodigious mental strength was because of his nightly meditations. Forsaking sword dao and giving up internal observation would dissipate his mental strength!
Most importantly was that he needed to cultivate sword dao. Only sword dao could control the sword shadow and release what it suppressed.
The memories that he’d forgotten.
“My deepest apologies, Grandmaster Yang. I cannot give up sword dao,” Yushi Moli said softly.
Ouyang Du paused, dazed. The thin young man next to Yuqing Yang also stared. A thirteen year old boy had turned down Yuqing Yang! He’d turned down a celestial rank alchemist!
Yuqing Yang remained merry, as if this decision was within his expectations.
“You have not let yourself down,” he smiled easily. “Ouyang says you have no sense of qi and thus cannot cultivate true qi?”
He leisurely changed the topic.
“Yes, so I came to ask about the Qi Elevation Pill.” Yushi Moli was as noncommittal as ever.
“Do you know how much it costs?” Yuqing Yang remained as genial as before.
“One million gold coins!” Yushi Moli paused, somehow feeling that one million gold coins weren’t that much.
“Yes, one million gold coins. I will refine one for you for free if you are willing to forsake sword dao and become my disciple,” Yuqing Yang coaxed. “Even without sword dao, you’ll be able to train in martial dao after you gain a sense of qi.”
“I… um… thank the grandmaster for your generosity…” Yushi Moli smiled, more unwavering than the grandmaster anticipated he would be. The boy was thinking that he could become an alchemist without taking Yuqing Yang as his master.
“Hahahaha!” Yuqing Yang threw his head back with laughter. “I will remain in Aurora City for three years. If you can collect five hundred thousand gold coins within three years, I will sell you one of the pills for that price.”
Five hundred thousand gold coins in three years!
Yushi Moli brightened, then regained his composure.
Three years?
He felt that he wouldn’t need three years to master how to refine the pill. He would even create a pill stronger than it!
“Yushi Moli, you walk the path of sword dao and give up the chance to become an alchemist for it. This demonstrates how adamant you are,” Yuqing Yan seemed to have a good impression of the boy. “Stick to your resolve and five hundred thousand will not be hard.”
“Thank you for your compliments, grandmaster,” Yushi Moli took a deep breath.
“I have a little bauble for you as a greeting gift.” Yuqing Yang tossed out a porcelain bottle. “There are ten Boneforge Pills inside. Taking one a day will benefit your cultivation.
“These are a welcome gift and you may purchase more from me for one thousand gold coins per pill.”
Ouyang Du shuddered when he heard the pill’s name.