I finally spot the capital surrounded by tended croplands and the larger cash crop fields. This is interspersed with barrier protected walled gardens where abundant natural energies allow rare spiritual plants to grow.

This capital is a five walled fortress with thousands of cultivators flying all over the place except for the inner two walls. I fly on over and easily spot the massive building of an auction house on the third level. I land on an open air platform on the third floor and head on in. The hostesses do their thing, but in a more practiced elegant manner. Their dresses are different cut but made from the same fabric they use for their uniforms. It is appearant a skilled designer had tailor all the dresses for the hostesses of the auction house, while the servants wear a standardized uniform.

There are of course male varients of a host, but I pay no heed to these custom raised playboys all the auction houses train to serve their female guests. I have nothing against other guys, but I rather be looking at a lovely girl than the chisel features of these all muscles and zero fat freaks.

I was broadcasting peak stage seven cultivation as I arrive in front of a hostess. She gives a formal bow and says "welcome to our auction house young master. How can we be of service?"

"Thank you, I would like a workshop until the end of the month." Then I presented her a list and continue with "these are the materials I would like to work on during my stay."

I see her eyes widen as she glances though the list and pours out "these are tier seven materials!"

So I added "I'm halfway to stage eight, so I need to practice when I can."

She blinks and smiles and quickly motion over a young hostess girl in training and hands out "take this young master to the workshops" then she bows and heads inside with the list. The slip of a girl smiles and grabs my left hand and and pulls me forward "this way young master!" I laugh and provide "ok, lead on." I let her pull me to the central shaft about thirty meters across where I see a score of cultivator flying up and down to various floors. Then she pulls me into the air and we fly up to the workshop floor where she motions me to land near another hostess, then she bows and voice "enjoy your stay young master!" and turns to heads back down. I notice she is using a flying artifact in the shape of a bracelet since her cultivation is too low to fly herself.

I shook my head and thought they certainly start teaching them at a young age, but that girl seem to enjoy the work. So I reach over to tap her shoulder before she can finish turning and hand her a void pouch full of resources for her stage three cultivation and supplied "don't forget your tip young miss" I watch the young girl go wide eye at the unexpected surprise and remembering her manner give a deep bow in gratitude.

I smile at the new hostess and she promptly bows and ask "any particular direction you like facing young master?"

"North or south is fine" I provided and smiled again.

She bows once again and informs "north is taken," then brighten and spills out "but south is available young master" as she completes her telepathic conference.

So I give her a third smile and lift my hand and gesture right of way to her and include "please, show me the way."

She bows again and lead me to my new workshop, her roleplaying is top notch and peaks my curiosity by providing interesting unconfirmed gossip floating around the city. I waited the materials to arrive before closing the view and put my artificing to work. The forging itch isn't too bad this time I just forge three swords and topped off my supplies of pills and tinkered around with armor techniques. I am mainly here to auction some weapons for more tier nine resources. I learned most tier seven artificers usually take up to a tenday to finish a single artifact. So I don't go over board and practice these new armor techniques.

The various tempering and refining techiques I understand, it's the Dimensional Layering is a bit tough to handle. By making the artifact exist in multiple dimensions, it gives the artifacts high toughness and durability. Placing Dimensional Anchors is simply too taxing for the current me. So I continue to practice and I feel myself inching closer to my distant goal of mastery.

I sent the new girl away with a stage six foundation pill with my third forged sword. I did my usual last request before leaving and listen to the best news available and was surprise to learn an ancient remnant is showing signs of opening after a thousand years of slumber. The thing this particular remnant was known for is large amount of high tier medicinal herbs that was taken out the last time it had open.

What finally caught my interest was that even a couple of tier eight medicinal herbs were recovered. But what was even better was only alchemists can can enter. The final piece of info was that it's expected to open in about month, if the records how it operated last time can be trusted. So I went a head and order me a full copy of all information on this renmant. After one last question I found out I can get there with a single gate jump followed by a week of flying.

While waiting for a copy to arrive I went ahead and check though master memories and found he entered a thousand years ago when he was a late stage seven expert. With his memories, I can avoid searching the places he has already successfully gain rewards. I also know the seven trials he fail on, but in his legacy he mastered the recipes so he could complete them next time. Since I already master the pills during my training, I look forward in gaining those rewards.

After recieving my winning of tier nine resources, I played a week with girls and looking through the auction list for anything worth buying. While snacking on a ton of tier nine resources everyday. I eventually won a few auctions for rare materials before heading over to the teleport gate. I do my usual cut in line with a bag a demonbeast cores and two groups transit with me to my destination. We all waited for the guards to lift exit gate, people have known to die trying to leave before their insides finish reforming. Once the gate is open, I step out of the gate building and see flocks of cultivators flying in the direction of the remnant.

My divine sense tells me most of them are not even alchemists, and it boggles my mind why so many would waste their time to watch alchemists raid a remnant. Since there are no magic mirror to show them what the hell we do inside, so did they all come to goof off with a bunch of like minded idiots? Ok, well more power to you folks as I hop on my flying chair and follow the crowd.

Anyways, a weeks travel and not a single demonbeast to be found as the steady stream of cultivators from the teleport gate made sure they all been hunted out along this invisible aerial road only cultivators can make. I can see cultivators have spread out from the invisible path towards the remnant, so I don't even bother to look for demonbeasts.

As I flew seated on my flying sword and allowing only peak stage seven to show to tell everyone a seventh stage cultivator is passing though. Nobody bothers me as sat on my chair and distill what I just read of the peak stage ten renmant I am heading to who was a grandmaster in both alchemy and arrays. The entrance plate was etched this 'There are tests though all known branches of alchemy. Any alchemist who reach the pinacle of their branch may be worthy of one of my favorite treasures.'

Currently only one branch of alchemy has been breached. Rewards are everywhere, even the ends of branches the experts didn't think possible. Most of the treasures from the first four level are dry, but they still recovered a good amount of tier five treasures. The top treasure last time was the three tier eight treasures along with several scores of tier sevens treasures. All Seven grandmasters of alchemy in the world will be attending this time.

The recommended tactic is clear out your personal knowledge before exploring, more than seventy percent of alchemists claimed rewards in their specialties. With that experience I would have some knowledge to how proceed in exploring the unknown.

But I have my own thoughts and master's memories to plan differently, strong alchemists would power on though to get to the best rewards, so they wouldn't waste any time exploring the lower branches. I go as high as I can so I can explore those branches after clearing seven trials master failed on last time.

The reward I recieved from following master's branch was a ten percent increase in spiritual force along with a bunch of resources. While the off branch I personally enjoyed strengthen my spiritual meridians and a new alchemy cauldron that is comparable to masters. So now I have more spiritual force but also at the next level of purity, so I use a noticably less amount of spiritual force to get things done now and my recovery is slightly better. The first week I mastered three new recipes and two recipes I can try to master for the next time I come here.

But the best thing was my cultivation rose from early stage to mid stage eight. So I pretty much a happy camper right now as I hum along as I continue exploring the unknown. There are a lot of rooms with a pill tests with unknown ingrediants that made me failed the test. I've been adding the names of these unknown pills and my experience with them into a recording jade so I could study how to make them before this place opens up again.

I was harvesting herbs in a large open medicinal garden and was working my way to the other side when an older man enter the garden from the opposite side. I glance at him to see what he looks like and notice between us just expose behind a rock was a pulsating spiritual flower. I immediately jump towards it and he does the same.

We landed next to the pulsating spiritual herb at the same time. He is wearing raggity clothes over mismatched armor pieces that screams of a mercenary background. The sword he is carrying is rather strong peak tier eight profound weapon. It oozes out waves of Fire Qi and Sword Qi and the sword is a living twisting thing of pure Livingfire. The face of it's sword spirit show itself on the Livingfire as to peer out at me and the surroundings with interest.

He politely ask "I wouldn't suppose you'll let me have this herb?"

"I need it for my alchemy, so afraid not" I replied.

"You are a bit young for high level alchemy" he becomes disrespecting already.

"You seem to be a decent guy, but your out of your league here" I disapprove with a poke. He snorts and gives "kids these days, they all think they are all tough but in reality are small fry when they reach the cultivation of their dreams. Newbies like you can never stand up to a veteran like me."

I poke back with "I am appalled by your blindness old one, It's one of the reasons true experts call people like you trash." Then I start activating the Blessing of the Faithful technique to increase my attack speed. Then I activate my defense artifacts to increase my physical and soul defenses. With a thought to my battlegear, it raises it's protective force barrier in transparent mode. Completely hidden within the white burning Qi barrier I raise at the same time for my first line of defense. From my other artifacts I boost my blocking and dodging skills. I can't wait to learn how to add permanent buffs to armor.

I materialize Burning Rage in my right hand and feel the three permanent buff boost my battle power. It doesn't take long for my qi to recover. Thanks to my master's dantian foundation techniques, I recover twice the amount of qi in battle has really given me some serious staying power.

Once I'm ready, I start the first exchange with a charge forward as I rush to attack. I watch him unleash some of his strength and he breaks through to early stage eight cultivator, so I follow suit and continue my rampage with my battle grin. His eyes narrow and gives his own grin and in this first exchange he attempts to remove my head so I did a quick duck and even quicker lunge forward to try to skewer him near the heart.

He hops back for his dodge and sweeps back in with a slashing upper cut which I dodge with a sidestep to the right with a slight tilt to my right.

Then I sweep in to try to take off his expose left leg, but he dances away with another dodge before springing back probably hoping for a quick hit. But I block again and we push at each with our swords until I start inching him backward.

He gives me his unbelievable expression which I love making people show me, and with a great heave sent him back staggering several paces then I sprung forward for my own attempt for a quick kill. But the he dances away again with another dodge.

Next he goes low this time aiming with a slash at my left leg, I hop back and to increase the momentum of his blade I bring my own sweeping blade on the back of his blade. As I help sweep his blade to my right, I twist my hand to bring Burning Rage up and hack heartily at his sword arm. He brings his armored bracer on his left forearm to block. Thus ended our first exchange.

The old man pushes off and jumps back and shows some respect with "not bad kid, not bad at all! Looks like I can finally stretch my muscles" and looks at me appreciatively as his cultivation rises to mid stage eight.

Not to be out done I follow suit and added "don't you know it, I'm in the same boat you know, it's hard finding another battle fiend I can test my skills on." He gives me his huh? expression before quickly snapping back together as I inquire "shall we bring it up a notch and use Qi to empower our swords or do you need some more warm up? Not that I wouldn't mind another exchange, but I'll be more exciting if we put some Qi to work."

He glances over to the pulsating plant and surrounding plants and asks "won't our shock waves damage all these herbs?"

I replied "the alchemist made sure his all plants are protected."

"Formation?" he asks which I nod with assurance. Then his battle grin returns and continues with "well then, let's go for it then." Then we both pump Qi into our swords which makes them finally wake up and roar with approval as gouts of elemental Qi fused with Sword Qi pour out in waves from our living weapons. My sword turns into a black shadow inside a wreath in burning flames. His is like a free flowing tentical that freely moves about as if searching for prey.

My mind goes into overdrive and adds new battle calculations. His weapon can possible act like a whip and might be able to replicate one or more tenticles. It's free flowing form can withdraw causing my blocks to miss, make sure to ready to jump back at any moment. As my mind prepare my defenses I'm already charging forward to begin the next exchange.