Chapter 4: Sister Lu
"Your Majesty, whether this is true or not, please stop taking the pills for a while."

Meng Tian took a look at the pill and was also confused. Could it be that these alchemists were so bold? Aren't they afraid of being killed along with their entire clan?

Not long after, a fat bird was brought in, and someone cut off some of the golden elixir and fed it to the bird.

After a long time, everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that the bird did not react at all.

Even Ying Zheng was a little bit lucky. Maybe the Taoist priest Ye Yu was a person who practiced breathing and guiding Qi refining, so he spread the rumor that he was an alchemist who was good at refining pills?
"Send more people to keep an eye on it, otherwise we won't be able to find Master Ye later. If the golden elixir is not poisonous, I will have to have a good argument with Master Ye."

Ying Zheng's tone became a little more relaxed as he gave instructions to Meng Tian.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Meng Tian said with a cupped hand.

Soon, a few days passed.

The original owner of the mountain where Ye Yu was located had forgotten what its previous name was, but because the original owner's master was quite famous, the mountain was gradually called Fangshi Mountain and Yinxian Peak by the surrounding villagers.

Since the day Ying Zheng came down the mountain, he sent several people to guard the surrounding villages and pay attention to Ye Yu's movements. It was obvious that he wanted to come and visit Ye Yu.

Afterwards, Ying Zheng returned to the base and ordered Meng Tian to send more people to guard the surrounding areas of Yinxian Peak to ensure that nothing could go wrong and that Ye Yu would not be found.

However, it was obvious that Ying Zheng was worrying too much. Ye Yu had been staying in the mountains to practice. Unless he went out to buy something, he hardly went out. This was also the case these days.

Therefore, Ye Yu did not notice that someone was staring at him at the foot of the mountain.

It was another early morning, the sun was rising, and purple air filled the sky. On top of the Hidden Immortal Peak, Ye Yu calmed his mind and breathed peacefully. As the purple air cultivation method continued to work, the first ray of purple air between heaven and earth was drawn in, and the long and refined purple air energy poured into Ye Yu's body.

The next moment, Ye Yu's body seemed to vibrate slightly, and the concentration of true energy in his body suddenly soared. At the same time, there was purple air surrounding his body surface, which looked extremely extraordinary.

Not long after, the sun rose into the sky and the purple air gradually dissipated, but Ye Yu remained motionless.

At this moment, with Ye Yu as the center, within a range of more than ten feet, the purple energy in the void was still continuously pouring into his body, being quickly refined, and improving Ye Yu's cultivation.

Suddenly, a slight rumbling sound came from Ye Yu's body, and a new spiritual energy vortex formed in the middle dantian.

As the new spiritual energy vortex appeared, Ye Yu instantly felt his absorption of the purple energy increasing again to more than three meters in radius.

The speed at which Ye Yu's internal Qi accumulated almost instantly doubled.

"At this rate, the Qi will completely fill my body, and refining the mist into water is just around the corner."

Ye Yu said to himself.

According to Ye Yu's deduction, the absorbed purple energy will not only temper the body, but will also gradually increase the stock until it undergoes a qualitative change.

By then, one would have reached the second level of the Purple Qi cultivation method.

When the second spiritual energy vortex was completely stabilized, Ye Yu's mind gradually calmed down, and then he stopped practicing the technique and opened his eyes.

Then, Ye Yu felt it carefully. Even though he did not actively practice, the two spiritual energy whirlpools were able to form a very strong suction force, attracting the surrounding purple energy.

This means that Ye Yu is practicing every moment, and even if Ye Yu no longer actively practices, his cultivation level will still continue to improve.

Of course, this improvement is also limited. After all, Ye Yu has not yet deduced the Purple Qi cultivation method to a higher level.

While thinking and feeling the changes in himself, Ye Yu walked towards his yard.

However, at this moment, at the foot of Hidden Immortal Peak, a carriage was slowly approaching, with two guards following on both sides of the carriage.

"Hey, miss, we're here."

The coachman pulled the reins to stop the horse, then turned his head and spoke to the door curtain behind him.

Then he jumped off the carriage, walked to the front, led the horses, and stabilized the carriage.

Soon the curtain of the carriage was lifted, and a woman, about seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing a light-colored brocade dress, with a beautiful face and a graceful figure, walked out.

Behind the woman, there was another girl, about fourteen or fifteen years old, with a pretty face and dressed in maid's clothes.

"You just wait here, Xiaoli, let's go." The woman said, then took the maid and went up the mountain.

The groom and two guards nearby were already accustomed to this, so they stayed where they were and watched the two women go up the mountain.

At this moment, Ye Yu was sitting in the pavilion in the yard, tasting the tea he had roasted himself. The tea was fragrant and mellow in the mouth.

People in the pre-Qin period drank tea completely differently from later generations. They liked to pick new leaves, add various seasonings and boil them before drinking. However, Ye Yu was not used to this. He preferred to process it himself, then preserve it and enjoy it at any time.

At this moment, there was a knock on the door outside the yard. Ye Yu's ears moved slightly and he said, "Come in!"

The sound was neither loud nor soft, but it could be heard clearly by the people outside the door. The next moment, the gate was pushed open, and a woman walked in with a maid, smiling.

"Sister Lu Zhi, come and sit down!"

When Ye Yu saw the woman, he smiled and pointed to the seat in front of him.

That’s right, this woman was none other than Lu Zhi from the Lu family who had moved to Pei County a few months ago.

A few months ago, Ye Yu went down the mountain to purchase supplies and happened to encounter a fight between gangsters and Lu family guards. He helped them and that’s how they got to know each other.

In the past few months, Lu Zhi came over from time to time, so the two gradually became familiar with each other.

Hearing Ye Yu's words, Lu Zhi's smile grew even wider. She first called out "Brother Ye" and then sat down.

Just when Ye Yu was chatting with Lu Zhi.

On the other side, Ying Zheng, who had moved his patrol base to Pei County, was staring at the listless bird in front of him with an extremely ugly expression.

"How many times have you fed him the fragments of the golden elixir?"

In the hall, Ying Zheng's voice spoke coldly.

"Your Majesty, I have fed him three times. I just fed him once this morning when I discovered this."

Zhao Gao now roughly guessed why Ying Zheng issued an order to summon alchemists such as Xu Fu and Lu Sheng a few days ago.

At this time, in the birdcage in the hall, you can see the originally lively bird standing listlessly on the wooden stick, no longer as active as it was in the past few days.

This bird was originally raised by someone specifically, and apart from adding the crumbs of the golden elixir, the various steps were not much different from the past.

"Other than that, the mice, rabbits, and puppies haven't shown any reaction yet."

Then Zhao Gao replied again.

This was Li Si's suggestion. Since Ying Zheng did not intend to take these elixirs, he might as well add a few more animals to feed the elixirs for reference.

Ying Zheng quickly agreed and took out a golden pill every few days and gave it to birds, mice, rabbits, and puppies.

"Okay, keep feeding."

Ying Zheng raised his head and said expressionlessly.

"When will Xu Fu, Lu Sheng and others arrive?"

Then Ying Zheng asked again.

"It will take another ten days to arrive."

Zhao Gao had already calculated it, and as soon as Ying Zheng asked, he answered immediately.

In previous years, Ying Zheng had been extremely kind to Xu Fu, Lu Sheng and other alchemists. And according to what Xu Fu said, they needed to go out to sea to search for the immortal mountains of Penglai, Fangzhang and Yingzhou in order to find the elixir of immortality. Ying Zheng had even asked people to start preparing.

But now this kind of thing happened, and Zhao Gao was secretly frightened.

The source of all this seems to be that Ying Zheng once went to the mountain east of Pei County, and after returning he ordered the testing of the golden elixir.

(End of this chapter)