Qin Yang seemed to have been persuaded. His eyes flickered with a bright gleam and his breath grew short. “And Zhong Lishan? He’s Qin Yue’s teacher, and having him on his side is also a major problem!”

　　Li Yi sneered inwardly, but put on a serious look on his face and said, “Zhong Lishan’s strength has improved a lot over the years. We have no confidence in getting rid of him. However, after we’ve killed Xiao Qingwang, we can keep him in check when Your Highness stages the uprising so he doesn’t have time to help Qin Yue. The third plan is to get everything ready, so that when Your Highness rises up, all the people will answer your call and pledge their allegiance to you!”

　　Qin Yang’s face was flushed with excitement. After calming his restless mood, he said slowly, “What does Baizhan want? I will never give you Kunjin and Whitehead!”

　　He had been an army commander for many years and he knew the state geography very well. If this city and town were lost, he would have lost his bargaining chips when the heavy cavalry Baizhan marched south.

　　Li Yi laughed and said kindly, “Your Highness is treating us as outsiders. Since we are willing to help Your Highness in this way, we naturally regard Your Highness as family. Our condition is very simple, that is, your state must withdraw from the upcoming competition for the ranking of the upper states. In addition to giving our state some material help, your state must also help my state win the ranking of the upper state in terms of force at the critical moment.”

　　Qin Yang arched his eyebrows and said in disbelief, “That simple?”

　　“Yes, it’s as simple as that,” Li Yi laughed. “To tell the truth, with Tianshui’s current national strength, it is already very difficult for you to compete for the next ranking of the upper states. Our state has been recuperating in the past five years. Under the wise leadership of His Majesty, Baizhan’s national strength is getting stronger, so the position of the upper state is almost in our pocket this time. Of course, other opponents are also very strong, so we need Your Highness to do all you can to help my state rise to the top!”

　　Qin Yang was lost in thought. Tianshui’s retrogression was inevitable, but he was confident that he could lead the state to the position of an upper state again in a few years as long as he ascended to the throne! With a look of determination in his eyes, he said, “How can I believe you will withdraw after surrounding Kunjin?”

　　Li Yi smiled and said, “Even if we make a detour to surround Kunjin, as long as Li Changfeng stays in the city, they will attack us from inside and outside when Li Chunyang’s rescue arrives, and we will suffer heavy losses. At this moment when the ranking battle is approaching, Baizhan does not want to waste any strength. The only purpose of our troops is to suppress Li Chunyang and help Your Highness ascend to the throne!” He took out a list and handed it to Qin Yang. “These are some of the materials our state needs. I hope Your Highness can fulfill it after ascending to the throne.”

　　Qin Yang took the list, and his face immediately turned green when he gave it a look. Although he had guessed that Baizhan would not be so nice to him, such extortion was too naked. In addition to a large number of gold coins, food and equipment, they also requested fifty first-grade mystic weapons, fifteen second-grade mystic weapons, three third-grade mystic weapons, five hundred first-grade medicinal pills, one hundred second-grade medicinal pills, and twenty third-grade medicinal pills!

　　“Li Yi, you’re pushing me too far! You are emptying Tianshui’s treasury by asking for so much material!” Qin Yang threw the list away in a rage. Gao Feng’s face also grew unsightly after he glanced at the list from the corner of his eye.

　　Li Yi smiled and said, “These things are just worldly possessions. Compared to the throne, Your Highness should be able to weigh what is more important. If Your Highness has made a decision, come to me at any time.”

　　He dipped his finger in a glass of wine and wrote down his current residence address on the table before leaving with a smile.

　　Qin Yang sat in the hall with a gloomy face, lost in thought. All his subordinates looked at each other and talked in low voices.

　　…

　　At this moment, Yunxiao and Jia Rong were still cultivating in seclusion within the Alchemist Association.

　　“This is the twentieth!” Jia Rong wiped the sweat from his forehead and took out a round milky pill from a black cauldron. Although his face was pale, his eyes were gleaming and he looked happy.

　　“Good! Take a Soul Nourishing pill and continue after rest.” Sitting in an array with his eyes closed, Yunxiao said softly, “Bring me a Thousand Birds pill.”

　　“Yes!” Jia Rong walked to a long table and put the pill he had just refined into a transparent jade box. There was already a heap of identical pills inside. Looking at them, he had a complicated feeling in his heart.

　　These pills were called Mysterious Fire pills, which were genuine second-grade medicinal pills and could only be refined by second-tier alchemists. However, he had effortlessly refined them under Yunxiao’s guidance. Not only that, he had even mass-produced them.

　　He put his hands into the other two jade boxes, fishing out a green pill and a pale yellow pill respectively. After taking them out, he frowned and said, “Young Master Yun, there is only one Soul Nourishing pill left, and there are not many Thousand Birds pills left.”

　　With his eyes still closed, Yunxiao said slowly, “After you take this Soul Nourishing pill and restore your soul power, refine a cauldron of Soul Nourishing pills, then stop refining the Mysterious Fire pills and help me refine some Thousand Birds pills.”

　　“I…I…I will refine the Soul Nourishing pills and Thousand Birds pills?” Jia Rong trembled and said excitedly, “Young Master Yun, are you…are you going to pass me the recipes of these two pills?”

　　Yunxiao frowned slightly as he opened his eyes and threw out a piece of paper, then said coldly, “You have been with me for so long, why do you still behave like a novice? They are just low-level medicinal pills. Why are you so excited?”

　　Jia Rong hurriedly ran over and picked up the paper on the ground, shaking with excitement. Although he had not yet taken the Soul Nourishing pill, he seemed to have fully recovered already. He did not dare to say a word for fear of being scolded again, although it was not a bad thing to be scolded by Yunxiao.Read the next chapter on our vipnovel.com

　　This Soul Nourishing pill was by no means a low-level pill, but an upgraded product of the first-grade Soul Nourishing pill. Although it was only a second-grade pill, its effect seemed to be stronger than some other second-grade soul-nourishing pills. In the past, whenever Jia Rong exhausted his soul power, it took him at least three days to recover if he took other second-grade soul-nourishing pills. But now when he took this soul-nourishing pill, it only took one day!

　　This was an absolutely amazing effect, which was tantamount to increasing the efficiency of alchemists by three times, and also increasing the cultivating effect on soul power by three times! If this news were to spread, even the fourth-tier Alchemist Association in Firecrow Empire would send someone here to ask for the recipe, not to mention those fifth-grade Alchemist Associations in the surrounding regions. Perhaps, it would even get them killed!

　　And that Thousand Birds pill was not a simple medicinal pill either. According to Yunxiao, although the medicinal pills taken by common warriors to directly improve their strength tasted good and felt extremely comfortable after consuming, there were always hidden risks in the strength obtained by medicinal pills. However, this pill was not an ordinary pill that enhanced strength, but a pill that could stimulate the body.

　　It did not improve the strength of warriors through the power contained in itself, but continuously stimulated the potential of the warrior’s body through mild stimulation, thus achieving the miraculous effect of cultivating the physical body and meridians together. Its disadvantage was that it tasted terrible, and when taken, it stung the entire body as if a thousand birds were pecking at the flesh.

　　Everyone who pursued martial arts was extremely tough, so this kind of pain was nothing at all.

　　After taking the last Thousand Birds pill, Yunxiao continued to sit cross-legged in the array to cultivate. Basically, all the refining tasks were handed over to Jia Rong. Although he was extremely tired, Jia Rong’s heart was filled with tremendous happiness. He wished he could continue refining pills like this for the rest of his life.

　　After taking the Soul Nourishing pill, he sat opposite Yunxiao and began to nourish his soul. He felt streams of coolness flowing into his spiritual altar, which made him feel extremely comfortable. His recovery this time seemed to be much faster than before, and his soul fire seemed to be stirring.

　　“This!”

　　Jia Rong was pleasantly surprised. This was the sign of breaking through to the second tier!

　　He was deeply disappointed when his previous opportunity of breaking through to the second tier was interrupted. However, that opportunity was actually triggered for no reason when he enlightened over the bottleneck during his study of alchemy. He knew it was just a coincidence, and with his soul power at that time, he could not break through at all. Even so, every second he immersed himself in that state, he got more experience and understanding, which were of great benefit to his future breakthrough.

　　But how long had it been? How did the opportunity come again?

　　Jia Rong was dumbstruck. He did not dare to be careless and began to cautiously exercise the soul cultivating technique Yunxiao had taught him, slowly gathering his soul power in his mind and carefully feeling the slight quiver of his soul fire.

　　The quivering rhythm grew stronger and stronger, driving the pace of his life force and making his soul fire almost break through the shackles and enter a completely new world.

　　Jia Rong held back his intense excitement. This rhythm was exactly what he felt when he broke through the first tier. It was a sign of success!

　　All of a sudden, a panicked voice exploded in the refining room, “Young Master Yun, something has happened to your family! Master Liang asked me to call you out of your seclusion!”

　　Lu Yao’s anxious voice came in.

　　Puke!

　　Jia Rong, who was at a critical juncture, was shocked by the voice and coughed out a mouthful of blood. The light in his eyes gradually dimmed, and the rhythm of his soul fire was completely disrupted, causing it to wreak havoc in his mind.

　　“Young Master Yun, I…”

　　His heart was filled with fear. Although he had never experienced this situation, he had read it in the notes of many senior alchemists. It was a very serious soul storm which could hurt his soul or, if serious, leave him completely unconscious and become a vegetable.

　　Pa!

　　At some point, Yunxiao was already standing in front of Jia Rong. He put a hand gently on his shoulder and then said softly, “Open your eyes and look at me.”

　　His words seemed to have a magical power. Jia Rong raised his head unconsciously and opened his frightened eyes to look into his eyes.

　　Yunxiao’s pupils began to turn into two demonic-looking red crescent moons with boundless black backgrounds, making Jia Rong feel as if he had been sucked into the world within the pupils. All of a sudden, the red moons and the black collapsed at the same time, and the clouds between heaven and earth all dispersed, revealing a clear sky on which faint golden dots could be vaguely seen. Then, these golden dots suddenly gathered together, transformed into a line of large characters while glowing with a dazzling golden light.

　　“Great Expansion Divine Technique!”