Chapter 1145: A Throng of Visitors

In the early morning, the warm sunlight bathed the earth, draping the vast Zhu Que Star in a layer of holy immortal garb.

As dawn broke, a crowd had already gathered outside the gates of Dan Fu, mostly esteemed figures from various great families, all coming to pay respects to Ye Chen. Naturally, they did not arrive empty-handed.

"The mansion lord is refining pills. Everyone, please return!"

Many visitors arrived, but all were turned away at the gates. This was no deception—Ye Chen was indeed in the midst of refining pills.

The visitors felt regretful yet dared not press further, so they dispersed one by one.

Before long, atop the mountain, streaks of dan rainbows shot into the sky, displaying dazzling pill phenomena.

"Seven Pattern Pill!"

The alchemists of Dan Fu all turned their gazes toward the mountaintop, marveling in astonishment. Those with keen insight recognized that the pill Ye Chen was refining surpassed yesterday's Xian Yu Dan by a level.

Ye Chen did not descend; instead, he remained seated in meditation on the mountaintop.

He stayed there for three full days.

Over those three days, waves of visitors came to pay respects, but each was turned away.

It was not until the fourth day that Ye Chen finally rose.

The gates of Dan Fu swung open. After three days of seclusion, Ye Chen emerged for the first time, leading the alchemists of Dan Fu with him. Over ten thousand strong, they set off grandly toward You Du's eighth heaven.

You Du's eighth heaven boasted a thousand spiritual mountains, each towering and majestic.

Among them, one mountain stood out as particularly grand, radiating colorful mists and bathed in immortal light.

That was the spiritual mountain for the new Dan Fu headquarters, developed by the Zhu Que family with full effort. It had taken three entire days to create and was more than ten times larger than the Dan Fu in You Du's third heaven.

"Wow!"

The alchemists of Dan Fu looked up, each one like a country bumpkin in awe. This Dan Fu might well be the largest spiritual mountain in all of You Du.

Ye Chen smiled and stepped inside.

Once through the gates, a completely different scene unfolded: pavilions, towers, halls, and caves, all shimmering with immortal light. The entire mountain was planted with rare spiritual herbs, and the purity of spiritual energy here was ten times greater than in the third heaven.

"Not bad!"

Ye Chen chuckled lightly and made his way in one step to the front of the great hall in Dan Fu.

Before the great hall, a sea of people stretched out, covering the ground as far as the eye could see—over thirty thousand in total. Some were from Dan Fu, others from the former Ling Dan Pavilion, but now they all belonged to Dan Fu.

Ye Chen stood quietly, surveying the crowd below, but he did not see Yue Shan, Yue Hai, or the others. Not only them, but many elders from the former Ling Dan Pavilion were also absent, with quite a few missing.

"Yue Shan and the others left You Du last night!"

A black-robed elder at Ye Chen's side whispered this to him.

Ye Chen said nothing, though he understood perfectly well. Left You Du? Others might believe it, but he did not.

One emperor's reign, one set of officials.

As a cautionary tale, how could Tian Zhu Que, the ancestor of the Zhu Que family, leave behind potential threats? The current You Du required iron-fisted measures to reshuffle everything. The difference was, she had taken on the role of the villain for him.

"Go on!"

After one last glance at those below, Ye Chen waved his hand lightly.

The alchemists of Dan Fu bowed collectively and dispersed, each heading to their assigned caves based on their identity tokens.

Ye Chen was not idle either. He imprinted the arts of the Ten Thousand Pills into the great hall, adding insights from refining Six Pattern Pills and Seven Pattern Pills. He was truly going all out to cultivate the alchemists of You Du.

As night fell, Ye Chen finally stepped out of the great hall and erected a stone stele before it.

The stele was inscribed with text outlining the new rules of Dan Fu, largely the same as before, but with an added requirement: alchemists must submit pills on time to prepare for potential wars.

The alchemists of Dan Fu had no objections to this.

Compared to the former leader Ku Yue, Ye Chen was already quite humane. The generous treatment they received was not for nothing.

The next day, before dawn had fully broken, a crowd gathered once again outside the gates of Dan Fu, still coming to visit Ye Chen. Representatives from various forces were there, including powerful independent cultivators, all seeking to befriend him.

This time, Ye Chen did not turn anyone away. He welcomed all who came and accepted their gifts graciously.

Dan Fu in the eighth heaven became the most lively spiritual mountain in You Du, busier than a bustling street, with people constantly coming and going—all prominent figures.

No one arrived empty-handed; the gifts they brought were incredibly rare treasures, piling up like mountains, even more lavish than during Ku Yue's birthday celebration. One could only wonder if Ku Yue, were he still alive, would be so furious as to spit blood.

As night descended again, the great hall was filled with dazzling treasures.

Xie Yun, Nian Wei, and Mu Wan Qing arrived, marveling at the sight of the treasures filling the hall. They were all cultivators, yet the gap in their lives was this vast!

"Take whatever you like!"

Ye Chen gestured broadly, showing remarkable generosity.

Even without him saying so, a certain someone had already gotten to work, lugging a sack and grabbing anything in sight, regardless of whether it was useful or not.

"I really like the guy!"

Ye Chen glanced at Xie Yun, then turned to Nian Wei and Mu Wan Qing. "It's fortunate that both of you are here today. I have a treasure to give you."

"A treasure?" Mu Wan Qing and Nian Wei smiled.

"Of course it's a treasure." With a wave of his hand, Ye Chen summoned a red flame in his palm.

"Chi Lian Xue Yan." Mu Wan Qing and Nian Wei both paused, recognizing the type of true fire it was.

"This is Ku Yue's Chi Lian Xue Yan. I'm giving it to you." Ye Chen split the red true fire into two halves and sent them into Mu Wan Qing and Nian Wei's bodies, then infused each with a wisp of immortal fire.

"Why are you giving us this true fire?" Mu Wan Qing and Nian Wei looked at Ye Chen in confusion.

"It's simple—I want you both to become alchemists." Ye Chen shrugged. "I don't want anyone like Ku Yue to appear again."

"Aren't you here to keep them in check? Besides, all those alchemists were trained by you. How could they turn against you?"

"I'll be leaving eventually." Ye Chen smiled. "Once I go, who knows when I'll return. It might be a long time. After I'm gone, who can guarantee that the alchemists I've trained won't develop ulterior motives? Absolute power is too tempting, and anything could happen. That's why I want you two to become alchemists—to keep things in check. With you, I'll feel most at ease."

Ye Chen's words plunged the great hall into silence.

Xie Yun fell silent, a warmth flowing through his heart. Ye Chen had arranged all this for his sake.

Mu Wan Qing fell silent, never expecting Ye Chen to think so thoroughly ahead.

Nian Wei fell silent, gently biting her lip, for Ye Chen was, after all, just a passing visitor to Zhu Que Star.

As the three remained silent, immortal light burst from Ye Chen's brow. He condensed his insights and profound understanding of alchemy into divine consciousness and infused it into the divine seas of Nian Wei and Mu Wan Qing, including various pill formulas.

"Uh!"

The massive influx of divine consciousness caused Mu Wan Qing and Nian Wei to grimace in pain, and they hurriedly sat down cross-legged.

The two had never touched alchemy before, but that was no issue. Ye Chen possessed the ability to create gods; just as he had trained many sixth-tier alchemists in a single month, he could elevate these two to the peak of alchemy in just one month.

Ye Chen continued infusing his divine consciousness, which came with seals that would unlock as Mu Wan Qing and Nian Wei's alchemy skills advanced.

Only after some time did Ye Chen withdraw his divine powers and glance at Xie Yun, who was still quietly standing to the side.

"Thank you!"

Xie Yun spoke up, his words more solemn than ever before.

"Hmm!"

Ye Chen dismissed it with a wave, then busied himself sorting through the mountain of treasures, picking and choosing as if shopping for vegetables. Along the way, he casually pulled a divine sword from his storage bag and tossed it to Xie Yun.

Xie Yun caught it with one hand. The sword hummed, etched with ancient runes and radiating the power to cleave heavens and extinguish earth.

"Zhan Lu Jian!"

Xie Yun gently stroked it, a mix of laughter and melancholy in his eyes. This was the Zhan Lu divine weapon he had once used, a gift from Ye Chen, and it still bore faint traces of blood from his past life.