fifth form

Chapter 3317 One's identity when traveling is entirely self-given.

When enough time has passed, cultivators will acquire various kinds of abilities.

These skills may not be outstanding, but they are more than enough to use.

Being able to discern the level of Zhang Xuezhou's flying skills, Li Tianwang and the others' flying skills were quite impressive, and they were all wearing celestial robes, making it easy for them to fly one or two thousand miles. Even Jinzha, who was skilled in martial arts, could ride the clouds.

"Shuo Xian, your flying skills are truly remarkable. There aren't many cultivators in the Three Realms who can do anything to you!"

Zhang Xuezhou and Zhen Yuanzi once discussed the art of flight, and their flying skills, if not extraordinary, were certainly outstanding.

As for Jinzha and the others' flying technique, it was unclear whether they lacked guidance or no one dared to provide it. Zhang Xuezhou pointed out a few minor flaws during their flying technique and offered suggestions, which helped them improve their flying technique by a significant margin.

He flew with ease, and even without the Heavenly Robe, he remained untouched by wind, waves, mist, and water, which greatly envied Jinzha, whose flying skills were the worst.

"You flatter me," Zhang Xuezhou said with a clasped fist and a smile.

"We fly cautiously, stepping on clouds and riding the wind, afraid of falling. But you turn this way and that way all of a sudden, going fast or slow as you please. Not to mention our level, even cultivators at the Great Emperor level can't keep up with you," Mu Zha said enviously.

“That’s not necessarily true,” Li Tianwang said cautiously. “Even though the Great Emperors are old and frail, they are still bigger than horses. Even if they are old and weak and not good at flying, they still have flying magic treasures. Although the Shuo Xian’s flying skills are high, they can’t compete with magic treasures!”

“Those magical treasures haven’t been used for thousands of years, who knows how much of a use they still have?” Jinzha said.

“No matter how many years have passed, even if they can only be used once more, their skills are still there,” Li Tianwang denied. “A single victory or defeat in a battle between cultivators is enough to determine who is superior, or even to decide life or death. As long as they have such trump cards, they are simply inferior to others!”

"We are all part of the Celestial Court, let's not compare ourselves to each other!"

Zhang Xuezhou smoothed things over and urged everyone to take their medicine to prevent their magical powers from running out later.

"Shuo Xian, you are truly wealthy and generous. Creation Pill is a rare item, yet you used it to travel," Li Tianwang said enviously after taking the pill.

"They're just some Creation Pills. As long as we have the medicinal herbs, we can easily refine a batch!" Zhang Xuezhou laughed.

“This pill is very troublesome,” Li Tianwang shook his head and said, “Even Laozi complained that refining the Creation Pill takes too much time, and cultivators use large quantities of it, often making them irritable. Who did you find to refine it?”

"I can refine pills myself, and I make some in my spare time!"

"You can also refine pills?"

Li Tianwang never imagined that one day he would envy others, as others had always been the ones envying him.

"We've tried refining it so many times, but we still can't seem to get the Creation Pill right," Jinzha complained. "We succeed only once or twice out of ten times, and each time it's still a low-grade pill. We might as well just buy the pills from Laozi!"

"Alchemy emphasizes the balance of Yin and Yang; an imbalance of Yin and Yang will inevitably lead to the failure of the elixir!"

The Qinlu No. 8 type of standard alchemy furnace was destined to produce no high-quality pills. Without Tai Sui, Zhang Xuezhou felt that his alchemy would also be a mess.

He was indeed a special figure in the alchemy world. The relatively lenient treatment he gave Zhang Xuezhou with pills was far beyond what other cultivators could match, even for great cultivators like Li Tianwang who had accumulated experience over many years.

Zhang Xuezhou could take pills directly to speed up his journey, and even give pills to others to take. Li Tianwang and others would rather fly and stop frequently than waste pills.

Seeing Zhang Xuezhou reach out and grab three pills, which reassured everyone to take the medicine, drew envy from the crowd.

"Shuo Xian, how do you refine pills?"

"Oh, I have a large alchemy furnace in Chang'an!"

"Is it a very powerful alchemy furnace?"

"Impressive! It can refine two hundred Creation Pills at once!"

"so much?"

"Can you refine two hundred Creation Pills at once?"

"Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't!"

……

When it came to alchemy, even the new emperor found Zhang Xuezhou's alchemy skills unbearable and his heart pounded with fear. After some deliberation, Li Tianwang and the others realized that they simply could not withstand the loss of two hundred Creation Pills.

Let alone Zhang Xuezhou's success rate of elixirs being 50% or 60%, even if it were 80% or 90%, if he were unlucky enough to encounter a failed batch, it would be enough to make him question his life choices. If he were to fail repeatedly, even the Jade Emperor would probably be so anxious that he would stomp his feet.

However, on the other hand, if someone has a large and wealthy family who can afford to lose money, then such an alchemist is in high demand. Li Tianwang, whose fortunes were severely damaged by the unforeseen events of the century-long grand event, clearly envies those with substantial wealth.

After flying for a day and a half by taking three pills, Jinzha, sitting behind the Imperial Shuttle, shouted excitedly and leaped downwards.

"Brother Yang Jian, we've come to see you!"

Jinzha leaped down into a river below, stepping directly into the water, and then pulled out a long wooden stick from behind him.

The long wooden stick fell into the river and instantly turned into a wooden stake as thick as a thigh.

Once the river water was stirred until it became murky, a series of curses and swears suddenly came from the bottom of the river.

"Er Gouzi, you're swearing again!" Jinzha shouted.

"Oh, what brings you here? Is your third brother here too?"

Nezha didn't come!

"It's good that he didn't come!"

The riverbed churned, and a slender white dog leaped out.

"What a rare guest! The Heavenly King has come too!" the white dog exclaimed.

"Excuse me, Xiaotian!"

"Ow~"

The white dog let out a long, mournful howl towards the bottom of the water, and the waves on the river surface immediately parted, sweeping away the mud and sand at the bottom, revealing a water palace.

"Where are you from?"

Zhang Xuezhou followed behind Li Tianwang and the others. As the white dog led the way, it would inevitably patrol back and forth around Zhang Xuezhou and bark at him twice.

"Shuo Xian greets fellow Daoist," Zhang Xuezhou said, holding the command token.

"Have I been out for too long? I had no idea the Mi Luo Palace had a great immortal like you!"

The white dog shook its head, clearly unaware of Zhang Xuezhou's identity, and even directly stated without any beating around the bush that it didn't know anyone named Zhang Xuezhou.

Zhang Xuezhou smiled.

When you're out and about, you have to give yourself an identity. Zhang Xuezhou made good use of the token that Yuanshi Tianzun casually gave him. As for how others perceive him, that's another matter.

What was commonplace to Yuanshi Tianzun was indeed different for others.

It's like a new emperor casually issuing an imperial edict. Although the new emperor doesn't think much of it, as long as he holds the edict, the holder's status becomes extraordinary.

Zhang Xuezhou initially looked down on this token that allowed him to pass through the Heavenly Gate, but now that he's used it, he finds it quite nice.

Following behind the white dog, Zhang Xuezhou leaped into the Water Mansion through the gate.

The expected secret water palace did not appear. After stepping through the gate, an island surrounded by water came into view, and above was not the wall of the water palace cave, but a light blue sky.

Palaces are faintly visible on the island, revealing the extraordinary nature of this secret place.

Zhang Xuezhou was amazed, and when he sensed that the owner of the secret place possessed extraordinary energy, he glanced at him inadvertently.

"Han Yan?"

As he glanced at the greeters at the entrance, familiar with the cultivators of this secret place, a pale yet familiar face came into view.

Han Yan's face remained unchanged, but his eyes were unfocused as he stood quietly to the side, holding a magical artifact used to open the mansion gate.

After everyone had passed by, he mechanically waved his magic weapon to close the mansion gate. Even when Zhang Xuezhou passed by him, Han Yan did not show any unusual behavior of recognizing an acquaintance.

Zhang Xuezhou narrowed his eyes slightly as his gaze swept over Han Yan's neck. He saw that there were dense stitches on Han Yan's neck, as if Han Yan's head and another body had been sewn together.

He felt that the owner of this secret place might not be as kind as he had imagined.