Chapter 574: Dragon-Binding Ring

The emerald-green jade slip was precisely the one Zhang Xiaohua had obtained beneath the library of the Piaomiao Sect, from within that restriction that had been on the verge of collapsing. At the time, Zhang Xiaohua had been unable to break the restriction on the jade slip, so he had casually tossed it into his money pouch. Lying quietly beside the jade slip was also the pair of red jade rings he had obtained even earlier in Lu Town when he had punished the local tyrant.

Taking these two items out, Zhang Xiaohua examined them carefully again. The fluctuations on the jade slip remained as before, showing no signs of dissipating, while the fluctuations on the red jade rings felt even weaker than they had in the past.

Without needing to think further, Zhang Xiaohua first took the pair of jade rings into his hands. By now, his horizons had broadened considerably, and he already knew that these jade rings were magical artifacts and not jade slips used to record cultivation methods as he had previously believed. However, as for how to refine or use them, he was still completely at a loss.

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Xiaohua closed his eyes and concentrated, recalling the contents of Refining the World of Artifacts. Although Refining the World of Artifacts mainly contained methods for forging magical artifacts, it also recorded some ordinary methods for refining common magical artifacts. After studying it for quite a while, Zhang Xiaohua finally had a rough idea. A few days earlier, he had already refined the Eight Trigrams Purple Gold Furnace. Although he had not used the general formulas recorded in Refining the World of Artifacts, he nevertheless had some experience.

He carefully reviewed the refining procedure from beginning to end once more in his mind, then tossed the jade rings into the air and formed a hand seal with his left hand, striking the rings with it. When the seal landed on the jade rings, they seemed to show no reaction. Zhang Xiaohua was not anxious, however. He took a deep breath and continued to send the subsequent hand seals into them in proper sequence. As the seals entered, the dim jade rings gradually began to emit a faint glow, just like the pill furnace had before, except that the light from these jade rings was a pale red.

All the refining seals had been sent into the jade rings, yet they still did not emit much light. A smile hung on Zhang Xiaohua’s lips. The Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi within these jade rings had dissipated too severely. If merely a few hand seals could restore them to their former state, even he himself would not believe it.

Therefore, Zhang Xiaohua once again went through the entire sequence of incantations from beginning to end. This time, when the final seal entered, the jade rings suddenly emitted a dazzling flash of red light. Then, a powerful suction force was produced, and following the direction in which the seals had entered, it madly drew the True Qi from within Zhang Xiaohua’s body.

“This is bad~” Zhang Xiaohua was immediately alarmed. He had encountered such a situation before and dared not be careless. He hurriedly took out a Yuan Stone from his robes and held it in one hand while continuously pouring True Qi into the jade rings with the other. In no more than a short while, all the True Qi in his body had been completely drained. “What kind of magical artifact is this jade ring? Why does it require so much True Qi?”

Thus, while absorbing Yuan Qi from the Yuan Stone, he continued to channel it into the jade rings.

Alas, Zhang Xiaohua was truly bold. He was only at the middle stage of Qi Refining, and although the amount of True Qi he possessed was not small, if one wished to use a magical artifact, especially one like this that was on the verge of losing all its Yuan Qi, one first had to replenish its depleted Yuan Qi. How could the amount of Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi required possibly be supplied by the current Zhang Xiaohua? In this age where Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi was scarce, it was virtually an impossible task for anyone else.

Fortunately, Zhang Xiaohua possessed something like Yuan Stones. Otherwise, with the way he was recklessly restoring a magical artifact, he would have long since been sucked dry into a shriveled corpse.

No one knew how much time had passed before the jade rings gradually floated up into the air. Their radiance was no longer dazzling and instead became gentle, and the speed at which they absorbed True Qi also slowed. Only then did Zhang Xiaohua finally have the leisure to look up at the pair of jade rings in the air.

They were a pair of jade rings with a red luster, engraved with various patterns. Within the rings, something resembling flames flowed faintly. Yet upon closer inspection, there seemed to be nothing particularly special about them. At this moment, however, the Yuan Qi fluctuations emitted by the jade rings had reached their peak. Then, the jade rings ceased absorbing Zhang Xiaohua’s True Qi, and a wave of information entered his mind.

After reading that information, Zhang Xiaohua was overjoyed. All the True Qi he had expended had not been wasted, for within that wave of information was precisely the method for controlling the jade rings. It turned out that these jade rings were called the Dragon-Binding Rings. Judging by the name, they were capable of binding even dragons. Zhang Xiaohua carefully studied the control formula once through, and gradually, confidence arose in his heart.

With a beckoning gesture, the Dragon-Binding Rings, which were floating in the air and had already recovered their original appearance, fell into his hand. Zhang Xiaohua lovingly caressed them for a while, unable to put them down, before storing them in his money pouch. He really wanted to test the might of the Dragon-Binding Rings immediately, but the True Qi within his body had long been completely exhausted, so how could he possibly activate them?

Moreover, it was already getting late, and there was still his daily routine to attend to.

Speaking of the next morning, after Zhang Xiaohua finished his duties as a disciple of the Herb Division, he released his Divine Sense and carefully checked his surroundings. To his surprise, he did not discover Zou Shuming, who had always been keeping watch on him.

“Eh? That fellow hasn’t shown up for several days. Could he have fallen ill? Mm, that must be it. The winds on this mountain are so strong, and he climbed so high every day—how could he endure it? Hahaha!”

As he thought this, Zhang Xiaohua made his way to a secluded place where no one was around and used the Earth Escape Method.

After confirming that there was no one around, Zhang Xiaohua took out the pair of jade rings from his robes. Forming a hand seal with his left hand, he tossed the rings into the air. The moment they met the wind, the jade rings grew larger, instantly becoming three feet in diameter. Zhang Xiaohua sent a hand seal into them and pointed toward a towering boulder in the distance.

The jade rings flew in the direction of his finger with a “whoosh”, immediately encircling the upper and lower portions of the boulder. Then, Zhang Xiaohua began forming hand seals again, intending to activate the other functions of the jade rings. However, the moment he started forming the seal, he felt all the True Qi in his body being drained away in an instant, and yet the hand seal had still not taken shape. “W-What kind of hand seal is this? It actually requires so much True Qi?”

Zhang Xiaohua did not dare continue. With a flick of his hand, he halted the seal midway. Fortunately, there were no signs of any backlash from the True Qi. Looking at the pair of jade rings on the boulder, Zhang Xiaohua shook his head. “Sigh, after finally getting hold of something a little more advanced, I can’t even use it. This… is truly frustrating.”

Sighing, Zhang Xiaohua beckoned with his hand. The jade rings flew back from the boulder and shrank to their original size. He reached out to catch them and tucked them back into his robes.

Just then, Zhang Xiaohua’s eyes twitched slightly, and his Divine Sense immediately spread out. On the mountain path, a tall and thin figure was using Qinggong to ascend. Was it not Zou Shuming, the watcher whom he had not seen these past few days?

“When did this fellow go from hiding in the shadows to showing himself openly?” Zhang Xiaohua found it rather strange. Then, he escaped into the ground and, before Zou Shuming arrived, reached a corner of the medicinal fields.

When Zou Shuming reached the summit of Tianmu Peak and looked around, he happened to see Zhang Xiaohua standing on the ridge of the medicinal fields, in the very place where he usually worked. Naturally, he suspected nothing. Before he had even approached, he was already smiling as he called out: “Junior Brother Ren, Junior Brother Ren?”

Zhang Xiaohua feigned surprise and turned his head. “Oh my, so it’s Senior Brother Zou. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you. What brought you to the summit of Tianmu Peak today?”

At this moment, Bai Huan, who had been slacking off inside the small hut, heard the shouting and also came out. Greeting him with a flattering smile, he said: “Senior Brother Zou, what a rare guest.”

Zou Shuming cupped his hands and said: “Ever since losing to Junior Brother Ren, I have been facing the wall in reflection, painstakingly pondering the reason for my defeat. Yet I could never find the answer. Seeing Junior Brother cultivating so diligently today, this senior brother truly feels ashamed. I am completely convinced by my defeat.”

Zhang Xiaohua thought to himself, but said aloud: “Senior Brother Zou is too polite. This junior merely has grown accustomed to labor. If I go a day without working, my hands and feet start itching, so…”

Zou Shuming waved his hand and said, “Say no more, Junior Brother Ren. I also came from a humble and hardworking background. It’s only because I’ve become too accustomed to enjoying myself that my martial arts have steadily regressed.”

After speaking, he turned to Bai Huan and said, “Junior Brother Bai, I have a few things I wish to discuss with Junior Brother Ren. Do you think…”

As soon as Bai Huan heard this, he immediately pointed toward a medicinal field in the distance and said, “If Senior Brother Zou has business with Junior Brother Ren, then please go ahead and talk. There just happens to be a field over there that hasn’t been watered yet. I’ll go take care of it now. You two can talk…”

After saying that, he winked at Zhang Xiaohua and quickly left.

Looking at Bai Huan’s expression, Zhang Xiaohua truly had no idea what that wink was supposed to mean. He could only turn and ask Zou Shuming, “Senior Brother Zou, is there some important matter that required you to make a personal trip to the peak?”

Zou Shuming looked around and, seeing that there was no one else nearby, still seemed uneasy. Pointing toward a cliff, he said, “Junior Brother Ren, come, let’s talk over there.”

After saying that, he walked over without waiting for Zhang Xiaohua’s reply.

Zhang Xiaohua did not hesitate and followed behind him.

When they reached the edge of the cliff, Zou Shuming thought for a moment and said, “Junior Brother Ren, this time I am here on behalf of our Pill Division’s Wu Dulang to say a few words to you. I hope you’ll consider them seriously.”

Zhang Xiaohua was stunned and asked in confusion, “If Wu Dulang has something to say, why didn’t he come up himself?”

“Hehe, there are some complications regarding this matter, so Big Brother Wu could not come personally. However, he hopes that only you, I, and he will know of this matter. There must not be a fourth person who learns of it!”

“Oh? What matter could possibly be so mysterious?” Zhang Xiaohua was extremely surprised.

“Hehe, it’s not really anything major. Perhaps it’ll even be good news for you. As long as you agree, I’ll tell you.”

“Very well. I won’t tell anyone about today’s conversation. Please speak, Senior Brother Zou.”

Zou Shuming nodded and said, “Good. Since Junior Brother Ren has agreed, then I’ll speak frankly. Junior Brother Ren, do you wish to learn the Pill Division’s art of alchemy?”

“Oh? How does Senior Brother Zou know that?”

“Hehe, there’s no need for you to ask that. I’m merely repeating Big Brother Wu’s exact words. You only need to answer.”

Zhang Xiaohua thought for a moment and said, “Yes. Could it be that Big Brother Wu has a way to have one of the Pill Division’s honored offerings teach me the art of alchemy?”

“Good. Just as Big Brother Wu expected. Then Big Brother Wu asked me to ask you one more thing. If you were allowed to learn alchemy, would you be willing to pay a price?”

“A price?” Zhang Xiaohua was greatly astonished. “What price exactly?”

Zou Shuming chuckled and said, “It’s very simple—your five hundred taels of gold! As long as you’re willing to hand over those five hundred taels of gold, your wish to learn the art of alchemy can be fulfilled.”