Mu Jinyu left Elder Lin Feng's courtyard and headed to Elder Cheng's cave residence, unable to help but sigh along the way:
"Alas, such a pity, the quantity of Divine Liujiong Spiritual Liquid is scarce. After using it on Elder Lin, there's not much left, yet there are still so many severely injured individuals within the sect, alas..."
In that battle with the Blood Sword Sect, the Heavenly Sword Faction lost over a thousand people, with even more left severely injured, and among them, the majority were maimed.
Cases like Elder Xie Yuan and others where the dantian was crippled or meridians shattered were ultimately the minority.
The majority were missing arms or legs.
Unfortunately, the amount of Divine Liujiong Spiritual Liquid Mu Jinyu found in the storage bags of high-level elders in Liuyun Sect was truly minimal, barely enough to regenerate Elder Lin Feng's severed limb, leaving very little behind.
Even if he wanted to help another person with a severed arm to regenerate, it just couldn't be done.
Wen Rou, hearing Mu Jinyu's sigh, gently advised: "Don't think too much about it. While the battle between the Blood Sword Sect and the Heavenly Sword Faction had a little to do with you, you did compensate them enough with resources after destroying the Blood Sword Sect and Liuyun Sect, so there's no need to continue blaming yourself."
"I understand." Mu Jinyu nodded lightly.
Subsequently, he collected his thoughts and walked towards Elder Cheng's cave residence.
"Master, I am here."
He stood at the entrance of the cave residence and announced aloud.
"Boom!"
As his voice rang out, there was a resounding noise from inside, accompanied by a faint burnt smell.
Mu Jinyu displayed a wry smile, understanding that Elder Cheng had just been interrupted while refining elixirs, resulting in a furnace explosion.
Originally, Elder Cheng's cave had restrictions set, which generally prevented anyone from disturbing his alchemy sessions.
But because Elder Cheng had lifted the restrictions for him, allowing him to come in at will, this led to the failure of the refining session.
Though Mu Jinyu felt apologetic, he did not take it too seriously.
It was just a furnace of pills, after all. If it exploded, then it exploded; it wasn't anything major.
"Clang!"
The door of the cave opened, and the familiar face of Elder Cheng appeared before Mu Jinyu. He laughed heartily and said, "You brat finally came out of seclusion."
His expression reflected a satisfied and contented demeanor, showing no sign of caring about the previous disturbance by Mu Jinyu that led to the explosion of the refining session.
His contentment was not solely because Mu Jinyu came out of seclusion; he was also pleased with the recent period when Mu Jinyu gained significant fame, making it to the third place on the National Guard List, attracting countless people to favor the Heavenly Sword Faction.
And as Mu Jinyu's teacher, he also received considerable flattery.
Initially, it made him overly elated, and later, feeling a bit annoyed, he simply hid in his cave residence for alchemy.
Seeing Mu Jinyu emerge from seclusion at this moment reminded him of the events of the recent past, naturally putting him in a good mood.
Mu Jinyu nodded and smiled, "Yes, Master, I've already organized the pill formulas acquired from the Blood Sword Sect and Liuyun Sect, as well as from their relics, and am here to hand them over to you."
During this month's seclusion, he was not solely focusing on cultivating the "Fleeting Light Shadow" and "Dragon Elephant Prison Suppression Scripture." During breaks, he also frequently reviewed the spoils obtained from those storage bags.
That's how he learned about the existence of the Divine Liujiong Spiritual Liquid and had memorized and compiled the pill formulas together.
As he spoke, Mu Jinyu handed a storage bag to Elder Cheng.
Elder Cheng took it with a smile, ready to check if it contained the pill formula for the Blood Demon Life-Reducing Pill or the Twin Armor Extreme Breaking Pill.
Just then, Mu Jinyu said, "Master, I also came to bid you farewell this time. I'm planning to visit the Imperial Capital of the Yan Kingdom, to see how the prodigies from other nations are faring, and then I'll depart for the Dayan Dynasty to participate in the upcoming Hidden Dragon Conference."
"Ah?" Elder Cheng's actions paused, a trace of reluctance flashing across his face, "So soon..."
Although he was mentally prepared, knowing that Mu Jinyu would leave sooner or later, he still felt a sense of melancholy when that day finally arrived.
Even though his time with Mu Jinyu was quite brief and far removed from the familiar teacher-student relationship, and he hadn't taught Mu Jinyu much, he always felt proud to have even a bit of a master-disciple relationship with him.
"Mm." Mu Jinyu nodded, unsure of what else to say.
Elder Cheng smiled after a brief silence and said, "Since you're leaving soon, how about we have a good drink together? Let's not leave until we're wasted."
"Alright." Mu Jinyu thought for a moment and agreed with a smile, "Speaking of which, I haven't had a drink with you yet, Master."
"It's not too late now, is it?"
Elder Cheng chuckled and then called someone to prepare a feast, and began drinking happily with Mu Jinyu.
Wen Rou and Jian Ruyan stayed by their side, not speaking much.
Soon, by noon, Elder Cheng was completely drunk.
Mu Jinyu had Elder Cheng's real disciples come over to take good care of their Master and, along with Wen Rou and Jian Ruyan, went to the Sect Master Hall.
Ready to bid farewell to the Sect Master and others.
As he was leaving, he could still hear Elder Cheng drunkenly saying from behind, "Jinyu, do your best and become the number one alchemist in Kunlun Ruins; your Master is proud of you..."
Mu Jinyu smiled, didn't look back, and left Elder Cheng's cave residence.
Soon, Mu Jinyu arrived at the Sect Master Hall and found Xie Chenkun.
"Are you leaving?"
Xie Chenkun noticed the unusual expression on Mu Jinyu's face, and his eyes were complex, tinged with a sense of melancholy as he asked with a smile.
"Sect Master, how did you know?"
Mu Jinyu was somewhat surprised upon hearing Xie Chenkun's words.
Xie Chenkun smiled, "Since you made it onto the National Guard List, causing a stir throughout the Yan Kingdom, I've known that you, this true dragon, have reached the moment to emerge from the water; our Heavenly Sword Faction, this little pond, can no longer contain you. You were bound to leave sooner or later..."
Seeing Mu Jinyu show an apologetic expression with his words, Xie Chenkun smiled and waved his hand:
"You don't need to feel guilty about it. Ultimately, you are the chief disciple of our Heavenly Sword Faction; we won't blame you. Moreover, you aren't truly leaving but are going to the Hidden Dragon Conference; I can't possibly stop you."
Saying this, Xie Chenkun smiled, his tone tinged with sentimentality, and continued:
"Our Heavenly Sword Faction has been established in the Yan Kingdom for so many years, and only our founding ancestor once obtained a fair rank in the Hidden Dragon Conference, acquiring merely the qi of the snake, which protected our Heavenly Sword Faction for years. If you can achieve a good result in this Hidden Dragon Conference, our Heavenly Sword Faction will be blessed by your fortune, and we might be able to step out of Yan Kingdom..."
The Hidden Dragon Conference is a competition for the qi of the Kunlun Dragon Veins, transforming from snake to python, from python to anaconda, from anaconda to flood dragon, and flood dragon to dragon...
Once someone transforms into a true dragon, they would carry the most abundant qi fortune of the Kunlun Dragon Vein, not just for themselves but also their family, sects, all gaining protection.
And the founding ancestor of the Heavenly Sword Faction once only gained the qi of the snake in the Hidden Dragon Conference, which was actually very weak, barely making any waves, but still protected the Heavenly Sword Faction for years.
This illustrates how terrifying the true qi of a Kunlun Dragon could be!
It's no wonder that each session of the Hidden Dragon Conference would cause a stir everywhere, with countless hidden sects sending their disciples to vie for the dragon qi.