Immortal Reincarnation Tribulation

Chapter 164 Donglin Country

The fifth-grade pills refined by Du Fan and Master Lu were the target of fierce competition among the Nascent Soul cultivators, who were even willing to turn against each other over them. Finally, with the intervention of the Seven Star Merchant Alliance, it was decided to determine ownership through a contest of magical powers.

Surprisingly, no one mentioned Du Fan's seventh-grade pill.

Firstly, even if this pill is of a high grade, it is still only a low-grade pill, and it's not worth needlessly drawing hatred for it. Secondly, these forces all understand that if they ask, the Seven Star Merchant Alliance will definitely keep its promise and send it over. However, the Seven Star Merchant Alliance is different from other sects and families; they don't lack pills, but this seventh-grade pill is a symbol of the alliance's honor.

If they were to obtain this special pill, not only would it not bring them much benefit, but it would also incur the displeasure of the alliance. For those old guys who are almost shrewd, this is a losing proposition and they would absolutely not do it.

Du Fan's exceptional performance naturally attracted a lot of attention from the sects and families. However, as soon as the Alchemy Competition was announced to be over, Xiao Yan instructed a Golden Core elder to take Du Fan away.

As a result, even though there were quite a few people who had designs on Du Fan, they were helpless.

However, they all knew that Du Fan usually stayed at Qixia Sect to cultivate, and with these thoughts in mind, they all planned to visit him in the future. In particular, the sect leaders of Qixia Sect's old rivals, Wentian Sect and Yandang Sect, all showed friendly smiles to Maple Leaf Sect Leader.

Regardless of what each cultivator was thinking, at least on the surface, everyone from all the different factions wore a fake smile, appearing to be happy for all.

Of course, some were happy while others were sad. The hundred or so alchemists all looked grim and dazed, as if they had lost their armor and weapons. After handing over the pills, they left this sad place with heavy hearts, led by Master Lu.

Du Fan's meteoric rise in alchemy dealt a heavy blow to these alchemy masters and grandmasters, making them regret their past actions and giving them hope, pursuit, and expectations for their future alchemy path.

"Either erupt in silence or perish in silence."

This was a sentence that Du Fan once said unintentionally, which Xiao Yan kept in mind. This woman had already decided that she would make these grandmasters suffer a great setback so that they would lower their proud heads, fall silent, reflect deeply, and finally explode!

Du Fan was placed in a courtyard, isolated from everyone. Even the people of Qixia Sect were not allowed to have contact with him for the next few days.

When Du Fan asked about the cave he had in the Seven Star Merchant Alliance, the Golden Core elder's expression immediately turned strange, and he finally said something that made Du Fan very frustrated.

"Lord Du, you have been away from the Seven Star Merchant Alliance for many years. In order to conserve resources, your cave has been reclaimed by the Merchant Alliance."

Du Fan: "..."

Three days later, the members of the sects and families who had come to the Seven Star Merchant Alliance to witness the ceremony had all left. Only then did Xiao Yan summon Du Fan to the Azure Dragon Hall and meet with him alone.

"Your performance in this alchemy competition wasn't perfect, but it was passable. At least you didn't embarrass me. Here are the spirit stones I promised you. Take them."

After Du Fan entered the main hall, Xiao Yan glanced at him indifferently and spoke directly, while tossing a storage bag to Du Fan with a flick of her sleeve.

Upon hearing this, Du Fan was overjoyed and immediately reached out to catch it. He subconsciously scanned it with his divine sense, but his face quickly fell. There were only 20,000 spirit stones inside. It seemed that Master Ge's two bouts of bleeding were all for nothing...

"What? You have a problem with that?" Xiao Yan raised her eyelids and looked at Du Fan, speaking coldly.

"Ah? This junior dares not, thank you for the reward, Vice Alliance Leader Xiao!" Du Fan's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately put on a surprised and respectful expression, clasping his hands in thanks.

"That's good. Now let's talk about the matter in Jizhou. How long do you plan to stay?" Xiao Yan asked calmly, her expression unchanged.

Du Fan was taken aback. He had thought that Vice Alliance Leader Xiao would make things difficult for him, but he didn't expect this woman to be so straightforward. This made him hesitate, and all the words he had prepared beforehand were no longer needed.

"Um, at the earliest three months, at the latest half a year, Vice Alliance Leader Xiao, you agree to let me go to Jizhou?" Du Fan quickly came back to his senses, his breathing a little rapid, and hurriedly asked.

"Hmph! Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. Since you've done both things you promised me, I'll naturally keep my promise too."

"But you've already made it very clear: the deadline for going to Jizhou is six months at the latest. If you don't get back to me within six months, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

Xiao Yan's face suddenly darkened, a cold glint flashed in her phoenix eyes, and she said coldly.

"Vice Alliance Leader Xiao, rest assured, I will return as soon as I finish my business and will not let you worry!" Du Fan's expression tightened, but he was overjoyed. He bowed deeply to Xiao Yan and spoke respectfully.

"This is my deputy alliance leader's command flag. With this, you can use all the teleportation arrays of our alliance across the Nine Provinces Continent. When necessary, you can also use this command flag to ask the Golden Core elders stationed in various branch alliances to take action for you."

I'm lending it to you temporarily; please return it to me when you get back.

With a flick of her wrist, Xiao Yan took out a small blue flag about the size of her palm, and with a shake of her jade hand, tossed it to Du Fan.

"Vice Alliance Leader's Command Flag? Vice Alliance Leader Xiao, this thing is far too important. This junior dares not accept it. If I were to lose it by accident, even dying ten thousand times would not be enough to atone for it."

Upon seeing the small blue flag floating in front of him, Du Fan felt his mouth go dry. He had been a member of the Seven Star Merchant Alliance for quite some time, so he naturally recognized the flag that represented the vice leader's status.

This little flag is definitely a good thing. With this flag, it would be easy to walk around the entire Kyushu Continent. Although he was very tempted, he also understood its importance.

Therefore, Du Fan's reaction at this moment was not an act, but a genuine fear of taking it.

"Lost it? Hmm, with your abilities, it's quite possible you could do something like that. But you can rest assured, even if you really did lose this flag, whoever got it will immediately and obediently return it to me."

Xiao Yan sneered upon hearing this, waved her hand dismissively, and said indifferently.

Du Fan was speechless upon hearing this. This Vice Alliance Leader Xiao even said that the group of alchemists were arrogant. Among the Seven Star Merchant Alliance, the most arrogant one should be Vice Alliance Leader Xiao.

However, what the woman said was true. Even if he lost this Alliance Leader's Flag and it fell into someone else's hands, there were very few people in the current cultivation world who would dare to keep it for themselves.

Du Fan took a deep breath, bowed again, and then solemnly put away the command flag.

"Alright, you can set off for Jizhou at any time now. No one in the Seven Star Merchant Alliance will stop you." Xiao Yan looked away from Du Fan and said lightly.

"Thank you, Vice Alliance Leader Xiao. Take care. I'll take my leave now." Du Fan gave the woman a deep look, his expression solemn. He bowed respectfully and then turned and walked out of the main hall.

After Du Fan left the main hall, Xiao Yan turned her gaze back to him, staring at him quietly for a long time before letting out a soft sigh and suddenly speaking:

"The four of you are to secretly protect Du Gongfeng's safety. Unless absolutely necessary, you must not let him know of your existence."

"yes!"

As soon as Xiao Yan finished speaking, four voices rang out simultaneously. These four voices were extremely peculiar; it was impossible to tell whether they were male or female, or even to determine their source. They seemed to come from nothingness, appearing and disappearing abruptly.

Looking around the entire Azure Dragon Palace, from beginning to end, only Xiao Yan sat there, sitting high above.

After leaving the Azure Dragon Hall, Du Fan first went to the Offering Hall and collected all his monthly salary from the past two years.

Without lingering, he went straight to the teleportation hall of the Seven Star Alliance and used the super teleportation array for free, thanks to Vice Alliance Leader Xiao's command flag.

……

In a hall of the Seven Stars Alliance in Gusu City, Donglin Kingdom, Jizhou, a slightly plump old man dressed in a yellow robe sat on a wooden chair, holding a teacup and sipping a steaming cup of spiritual tea, his expression serene.

Sitting opposite the old man in the green robe was a young man in a red brocade robe. This man originally had bright eyes and a handsome face, but for some reason, he was now frowning and deep in thought, looking very worried.

"Manager Qian, at a time like this, it's a wonder you still have the leisure to sit here sipping spiritual tea." After a long while, the man in red robes glanced at the old man and said with some dissatisfaction.

"Hehe, what do you mean by that, Steward Lu? I don't understand." The old man in the yellow robe chuckled, took another sip of spiritual tea, and said slowly.

"Aren't you just asking the obvious? I don't believe you haven't heard about the sea monster uprising," the young man said, his eyes widening in annoyance.

"Of course I know about this. Every now and then, a small-scale beast tide occurs in the East Coast, but each time only about ten thousand people die and it recedes after about a month."

Besides, our alliance is just a business. Even if something really goes wrong in the Eastern Sea, that's a matter for those sects and families to worry about. What does it have to do with us?

Manager Qian remained unmoved and rolled his eyes as he spoke.

"You! Qian Sanfeng, it's one thing for you to pretend to be stupid on ordinary days, but this time is different. The beast tide over the East Coast will definitely not recede in a short time."

Several important coastal towns have been ravaged by sea monsters, yet they still linger along the coastline, showing no sign of stopping. It seems the people on the eastern coast intend to use the monster tide to their advantage and do something else.

The young man surnamed Lu suppressed his anger, stared at Manager Qian, and said solemnly.

(The next chapter will be uploaded before 10 PM)