Immortals of the End Times

Chapter 36: The Gift of Green Dew, the Treaty of Tiannan
Faced with Emperor Zhaoming's inquiry, Zhao Wuji still stepped forward and answered truthfully, admitting that he did indeed practice alchemy and seek immortality.

At this gathering of immortals in Penglai, even the ministers who fawn over the emperor would occasionally indulge in refined pursuits and seek immortality; no one would deny that.

"Very well!" Emperor Zhaoming pointed to the cauldron. "Today I will test you. What is the dregs of the medicine in this cauldron, the Green Dew? If you answer correctly, I will reward you."

Zhao Wuji was taken aback upon hearing this, but then he couldn't help but become interested.

He had just been circling the cauldron, wondering why he couldn't reach the dregs inside.

Now that the opportunity has come knocking, he immediately bowed and said.

"May I use tweezers to remove some of the dregs for examination?"

"allow!"

Emperor Zhaoming waved his sleeves with great gusto.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Zhao Wuji immediately took out a pair of medicine tweezers and a jade box from his waist and approached the cauldron.

Under the curious gazes of the crowd, he inserted the tweezers into the cauldron, removed some of the dregs, and placed them in the jade box.

At this moment, he was also quite excited.

The dregs of the medicine were filled with spiritual energy, and they did not dissipate even in the Dharma-ending Age.

It could even cause the Yang Pearl in his sea of ​​consciousness to become agitated, clearly indicating that in addition to spiritual energy, it also stored a considerable amount of Yang energy.

Unfortunately, now that everyone is watching, it's not like before when there were many people around and it was easy to take advantage of the situation.

He only dared to take out some of the dregs and observe them in the jade box, and dared not rashly use the Yang Pearl to absorb them.

I suppressed my thoughts and analyzed it carefully, sometimes observing it, sometimes holding it to my nose and sniffing it.

In past dynasties, spiritual energy was abundant, and there were many cultivators. The elixirs refined by Li Shaojun, a Taoist alchemist of the Han Dynasty, must have some merit.

He also did a lot of research on elixirs, especially learning the formula for the Golden Jade Elixir, which greatly increased his knowledge in this area.

"Doctor Zhao, can you tell what's in this dregs of medicine?" Emperor Zhaoming asked.

Zhao Wuji put down the jade box, bowed respectfully, and said, "Your Majesty, according to my observation, this dregs should contain cinnabar, lead oxide, mica, and gold leaf."

"Hmm," Emperor Zhaoming said approvingly, noting that it was quite remarkable that he could discern the mica component.

"There are also components that appear to be charcoal."

Zhao Wuji frowned and continued his analysis, "This dregs has a sweet, cloying, fishy smell with a rotten odor, like a virility pill, but it's also mixed with a bloody smell. Could it be that it was mixed with lightning-struck wood and some kind of blood?"

"Oh?" Emperor Zhaoming looked surprised, straightened his body slightly on the dragon throne, and clapped his hands and laughed, "I didn't expect that you, Physician Zhao, are so accomplished in alchemy, able to discern so many ingredients and medicinal properties."

However, the ingredients in this dregs were not lightning-struck wood, but sunflower and virgin blood.

"It's a sunflower!?" Zhao Wuji exclaimed in surprise.

Emperor Zhaoming smiled slightly. "I heard that Minister Bu gave the formula for the Golden Jade Pill to Physician Zhao, and Physician Zhao has been searching for sunflowers recently."

"Today I am testing you to see if you can identify the ingredients in the dregs of medicine. If you see a sunflower and fail to recognize it, then you are not destined for this flower."

He smiled brightly and said, "Fortunately, Physician Zhao, you still recognized many of the ingredients in the dregs. I keep my word, so I will reward you with these dregs."

"Thank you for your reward, Your Majesty." Zhao Wuji took a deep breath and immediately bowed in gratitude, drawing congratulations from the surrounding officials.

Although he successfully obtained the dregs of the medicine and even unexpectedly obtained the sunflower components, Zhao Wuji was not calm at this moment and was very surprised.

This Emperor Zhaoming was truly a man of few words.

They even knew everything about such a nobody as him, perhaps because the formula for the Golden Jade Pill and sunflowers were both rather sensitive substances.

Fortunately, these items were all gifts from Minister Bu, and their provenance is clear.

At this moment, Emperor Zhaoming looked at the Grand Preceptor Fang.

Fang Shiyu immediately stepped forward with his cane and said to the assembled officials, "The ingredients that Physician Zhao just mentioned, such as cinnabar, lead pills, and mica, are simply not suitable for ordinary people to consume."

Therefore, although the dregs of the medicine can turn into dew under the moonlight, they are not something that ordinary people can consume.

Even with my master's celestial alchemy skills, I could hardly utilize this dregs; it had long since become a poison.
However, based on this poison and the Deer Lord's cauldron, I was able to glean some details about how Young Master Li refined the Taiyi Golden Elixir in the past, which is of some reference value. In the future, when I refine the Taiyi Golden Elixir, I can give some to you all for your appreciation.”

These words immediately pleased all the officials, who praised and thanked them.

Zhao Wuji adopted a receptive expression and solemnly put the jade box into his pocket.

Although the poison cannot be ingested, if he can use the sunflower component to refine the Golden Jade Pill, he will successfully decipher the method of ingestion.

Moreover, the spirituality and yang energy within it are also of great value.

Just then, an old general raised a rather pointed question.

The text points out that the defeat in the northern border war, the sudden appearance of thick fog on the battlefield, and the emergence of strange armored soldiers raises questions about whether this was caused by the Supreme Sect's assistance to the Qian Kingdom.

Before the Grand Preceptor Fang could speak, Emperor Zhaoming let out a cold snort, causing the entire room to fall silent.

A chill ran down the spines of the assembled officials, their gazes turning to the old general Yang Jiajun who had spoken, secretly annoyed that he had brought up such a sensitive topic. Unexpectedly, after a cold snort, the emperor smiled at the old general Yang and said, "Minister Yang, you have misunderstood. This time it was not the Supreme Sect that was causing trouble, but rather the Qian Kingdom also had cultivators like the Imperial Preceptor who used such methods."

However, there was a prior agreement among the four countries of Tiannan.

Cultivators can only protect the country in times of crisis, but they must not disrupt the government, harm the people, or use magic to wantonly endanger other countries.

It seems that the Qian Kingdom has used a magical artifact this time, which is suspected of violating the treaty.

"I convened this Penglai Immortal Gathering to assure my beloved ministers that I will dispatch the Imperial Preceptor to the northern frontier to oversee the situation. If any evil immortals from the Qian Kingdom are indeed causing trouble, Imperial Preceptor Fang will show no mercy!"

"Please rest assured, everyone! Now look at this divination!" Fang Shiyu waved his sleeve at the opportune moment.

Seven jade coins flew out from his sleeve, arranged in the shape of the Big Dipper. Golden light shone from the holes of the coins, and they all melted into liquid jade and fell to the ground, forming a jade talisman with the four characters "National Prosperity and People's Peace".

"May the nation prosper and the people live in peace; this is a blessed omen!"

"The Imperial Preceptor's divine might! If the soldiers of the Northern Frontier knew that the Imperial Preceptor's divine body had personally arrived, their morale would surely be greatly boosted..."

Regardless of their individual thoughts, the officials still paid their respects and offered their congratulations, shouting that His Majesty was wise and mighty, and that the Xuan Kingdom would prosper forever.

Emperor Zhaoming stroked his beard with delight.

The appeasement objective of this grand event has been achieved.

He then summoned the white deer that had presented him with the lingzhi mushroom, thus solidifying his image as an immortal who had attained the Dao, placing him above the emperor in authority and adding to his divine power.

Seeing the courtiers admiring the white deer, marveling at its beauty.

Zhao Wuji stood in the crowd, but felt a chill in his heart.

The Xuan Kingdom's royal family is unfathomable, the emperor's thoughts are hard to fathom, and the imperial advisor is also a mystery.

If he wants to get close to the royal family, he must first hide himself and wait for the right time to act; he must not act rashly.

"The opportunity that Grand Preceptor Fang mentioned for recruiting people to cultivate immortality in the mountains after the spring is probably also a test. If he wants to obtain resources from the royal family, it means taking meat from their bowl. They must become one of their own to eliminate some dangers."

Zhao Wuji pondered for a moment, then looked at Nan Zhixia beside him.

"Wuji, you've really shown off today, but those dregs are poisonous, so don't eat them."

Nan Zhixia turned her head slightly, her dimples revealing a gentle smile as she reminded him.

"Yes, I know. I refine pills myself, of course I'm not that stupid." Zhao Wuji shook his head with a faint smile.

"That's good. Remember to give me a drop of blood from your fingertip later."

"Why don't I go with you to have our marriage fortune told?"

"No, that won't work."

Zhao Wuji couldn't help but chuckle at Nan Zhixia's serious expression.

A woman seems to look her best when she wants to smile but deliberately keeps a straight face.

He suddenly felt relieved; it was true that Nan Zhixia was a candidate saintess of the Supreme Sect and had many secrets.

But as long as someone is good to him, he doesn't need to care about their status; it's best for him to play along and pretend not to know.

He also has a secret: he is secretly cultivating immortality.

If someone were to actively explore his secrets and uncover the secrets of the Nine Yin Nine Yang Pearls, which involve time travel and immortality, would they still be able to coexist peacefully?

Since both of you have secrets, it's best not to pry into them and give each other some space to keep them private.

Half a day later, the Penglai Immortal Gathering hastily came to an end.

Emperor Zhaoming, having received some unknown news, suddenly flew into a rage, and the Grand Preceptor Fang also hurriedly left.

When Zhao Wuji returned from the palace, he vaguely overheard the ministers discussing something related to the Supreme Sect.

He immediately realized that the 'good deed' he had done had already occurred.

Nan Zhixia, who also heard the news, had a look of bewilderment and surprise in her eyes.

As a candidate saintess of the Supreme Sect, how could she not know what plans the Supreme Sect has recently made?
He had no choice but to hastily ask Zhao Wuji for a few drops of blood from his fingertip before bidding him farewell.

Zhao Wuji did not return to the official residence by carriage.

Instead, he deliberately instructed the driver to take a detour, using the excuse of going to the east of the city to buy plum blossom cakes, to secretly observe the situation of the Imperial Observatory in the nearby city.

He left relatively early; at this time, neither Supervisor Liu nor the elderly Xia Wenhe had returned to the Imperial Observatory.

However, he couldn't be sure whether Tao Fei and Bi Yuxiang, the successor of the Thief Saint, had successfully infiltrated the Imperial Observatory and made their move.

Given the emperor's current fury, martial law will soon be imposed throughout the city.

If Tao Fei and the others have not yet left the Imperial Observatory, the situation will be very dangerous.
Give your double monthly tickets, my friends! It's a steal! One ticket becomes two, but they'll be gone in a few days!

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(End of this chapter)