HMM...
Zhao Lingyin sweetly moaned and, with a flip of her delicate hand, produced a greenish Elixir, holding it up to Shen Mo in her palm.
"Three Emperors Marrow Pill!"
Shen Mo pinched the Elixir between his two fingers, examining it carefully before praising, "This is your first ti concocting a Grade V Elixir, and it’s already high-grade. My darling is indeed a prodigy from the Alchemy Zone, a talent the sect sees perhaps once in a hundred years."
This Elixir, like the Ganoderma Marrow Pill, originated from the sa lineage. However, the latter used only ganoderma as its sovereign ingredient, refined with the assistance of many other subordinate ingredients. In contrast, the forr boasted as many as three sovereign ingredients: in addition to ganoderma, it also contained spirit ginseng and celestial lotus. These could be considered the three emperors standing side by side, causing its manufacturing difficulty and dicinal efficacy to multiply severalfold, allowing it to jump directly from the Grade III to the Grade V Elixir list!
Having obtained nurous Manuals from the Riverside Sect’s treasury, Shen Mo had also mastered the refining thod for the Three Emperors Marrow Pill. Thus, he could distinguish the Elixir’s faint residual aroma on Zhao Lingyin.
Her successful refinent of this Elixir signified her advancent to a Grade IV Alchemist, making her the sect’s second publicly acknowledged Grade IV Alchemist!
And to achieve such high quality on her first attempt at this Elixir... it once again showcased her unparalleled talent in the Alchemy Path.
Even though she had been married for years, Zhao Lingyin retained a childlike innocence when with Shen Mo. Hearing his praise and teasing, a blush crept onto her face, and she nuzzled against Shen Mo’s chest like a playful kitten.
"My lord, you know full well my talent in the Alchemy Path is far inferior to yours. You’re just making things up to make happy," she said, a hint of coyness in her voice.
All along, only Zhao Lingyin knew the true extent of Shen Mo’s alchemical prowess, his alias at the Alchemy Tower, and that he had beco a Grade IV Alchemist long ago.
Seeing her so endearing, Shen Mo’s heart ward. With a pinch of a hand seal, he activated the inner and outer Prohibitions.
Zhao Lingyin let out a soft cry and was carried to the jade couch.
...
"Lingyin, now that you have entered the ranks of Grade IV Alchemists, the Chaotic Yuan Pill recipe I restored, along with a batch of finished Elixirs, can be handed over to the sect through you," Shen Mo said, holding Zhao Lingyin as the sounds of their intimacy gradually faded.
Zhao Lingyin brushed the strands of hair from her cheek, her voice tinged with curiosity, "With your current cultivation and strength, why do you still hide your accomplishnts in the Alchemy Path from outsiders?"
Even now, Shen Mo had only revealed skill levels equivalent to Grade II or Grade III in the arts of elixirs, talismans, artifacts, and arrays.
He had only gradually revealed this much during his ti at the subsidiary courtyard to more conveniently gather resources. He also displayed so of his expertise in the Array Path when the sect reconstructed the Mountain Protection Array.
But he had never revealed the full extent of his mastery in any of these auxiliary professions!
"A tall tree catches the wind."
"At my age, to have already achieved the Golden Core Realm and mastered immortal arts and martial techniques is already considered a talent seen once in a millennium."
"If I were to reveal extraordinary talent in other areas as well, I fear I’d truly be seen as so demonic prodigy walking the earth or a banished immortal reborn..."
Before Shen Mo could finish, Zhao Lingyin tilted her small head, her eyes bright as the moon, and asked with a smile, "Aren’t you?"
"Hmm, perhaps," Shen Mo chuckled, gently teasing Zhao Lingyin’s brow. After a mont of silence, he slowly voiced the lingering concerns he hadn’t fully expressed earlier.
Having been with him for so long, Zhao Lingyin naturally understood his thoughts. As they were Dao companions sharing an intimate conversation, there was nothing that couldn’t be said.
After so idle chat, the conversation turned to the battle for core disciple seats, scheduled in a few days.
"My lord, where do you think Sister ngze’s strength will place her in this competition?"
"Barring any surprises, she should be among the top three, with a good chance for the first seat. Whether she can truly secure it, however, will depend on her own Creation."
Images arose in Shen Mo’s eyes, his thoughts flashing like lightning. He calculated that Chen ngze had a probability of over 70% of securing the first seat. The remaining 30% represented unforeseen variables.
This core disciple competition was vastly different from previous ones.
For various reasons, a massive number of core disciple positions had beco vacant in recent years!
The original first seat, Yang Xuan, along with Supre Elder Gongsun Jiuru and several other Spirit Sea Realm disciples, beca trapped in the Heavenly Demon Realm. Years have passed with no news of them.
The second seat, Jiang Lingfeng, had been persuaded by Shen Mo to assu the role of Hall Master of the Affairs Hall.
Similarly, the original third seat, Yu Yan, was promoted to Hall Master of the Immortal Welcoming Hall.
However, after the world’s drastic changes, this Fire Spirit Body and his Master, Yuan Jing, went to inspect the Southern Poison Zone and subsequently vanished without a trace. They have yet to return to the sect.
Guo Xun, originally the sixth seat core disciple, took over as Hall Master of the Enforcent Hall when Shen Mo was rectifying the sect’s laws.
As for Ji Susu and Tang Guangsi, the original fourth and fifth seats, both were Direct Disciples of Tang Lv from Rising Sun Peak.
Due to their complicity with him and their own serious violations of sect rules, although they weren’t executed like Tang Lv and Tian Zhaoquan, their core disciple statuses were revoked. After receiving punishnt from the Enforcent Hall, both reluctantly beca ordinary Elders!
The original eighth seat, Chu Yuhua, vanished alongside his Master, Yuan Jing (the Peak Master of Bright Moon Peak), while on a mission and has not yet returned.
Consequently, of the original nine core disciples, only Zhou Ru, the forr seventh seat, remained.
She was also a disciple of Rising Sun Peak. However, when the Soaring Serpent devoured Qing State and the Riverside Sect’s mountain gate, she was in You State and was not trapped within the Mountain River Realm, thus avoiding engagent in its power struggles.
Moreover, Zhou Ru was a mber of the Zhou family, with Supre Elder Zhou Zhiwei protecting her.
Even though she had been influenced by Tang Lv and the Zhou family, and despite having been soundly defeated by Shen Mo during a previous core disciple ranking, she had always harbored resentnt towards him. Nevertheless, Shen Mo did not go out of his way to find an excuse to strip her of her core disciple status!
Besides her, Yuan Wenxuan and Feng Kai were the only others who had filled core disciple seats in recent years.
By the ti Shen Mo helped the trapped disciples leave the Mountain River Realm, Yuan Wenxuan and Feng Kai respectively held the eighth and ninth core disciple seats. This ranking was determined after Tian Zhiyu, Shen Mo, and Yu Yan had successively vacated their core statuses!
With only three of the nine core disciples remaining, it was naturally impossible to proceed according to the established rules.
Therefore, this ti, Chen ngze and the others are competing not only for core disciple status but also for their ranking among the seats.
Currently, the vacant core disciple seats, much like the three Peak Master positions of Bright Moon Peak, Stars Peak, and Green Cloud Peak, remain unfilled.
Since it’s impossible to confirm whether Yuan Jing, the Bright Moon Peak Master, and Zhou Shili, the Stars Peak Master, are alive or dead, these two positions will likely remain vacant for another decade or so. However, the selection for a new Green Cloud Peak Master is expected to begin shortly after this core disciple competition concludes.
Shen Mo truly hoped Chen ngze could secure the top rank in this competition. If so, he could then make arrangents for her to accumulate enough Sect rit and subsequently support her ascension to the position! Otherwise, he would have to settle for the next best option: supporting Jiang Lingfeng to beco the new Green Cloud Peak Master. After all, the ideal scenario for Shen Mo was for Chen ngze to beco the Green Cloud Peak Master, a selection in which he held considerable influence. His alternative preference was for Jiang Lingfeng to assu the Peak Master role for either Bright Moon Peak or Stars Peak.
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