Immortality: Raising an Ant Queen to Cultivate by increasing stat points - Chapter 538

Chapter 538: 530

The search for an inn proved to be a continuous struggle for the group.

Owing to the Water and Land Dharma Assembly, a great number of powerful individuals from all around had flooded into Elixir City. These people were not lacking in Silver Money and were numerous in quantity.

As a result, the inns within the city had long been fully occupied.

Ultimately, Qin Niu exhausted much effort before finally finding a temporary lodging. In plain terms, seeing the influx of visitors, some people had vacated one or two rooms in their own empty or lived-in houses to rent out as guest rooms temporarily.

This was a fairly good option.

After all, the vast majority of people had ordinary incomes, and they were very willing to seize every opportunity to earn an honest extra income.

Qin Niu rented two rooms, and the rental cost was indeed not cheap, three pieces of Silver Money per day for each room.

That amounted to paying six pieces of Silver Money for one day’s stay.

If it were not for the considerable profits, people would not likely rent out two rooms of their own residence for guests.

After all, this could expose many of the homeowners’ privacies.

Once they had secured guest rooms, Qin Niu left with Xiao Qing and Chi Xing, leaving his wife alone in the room to rest. Thanks to the good public security environment in Elixir City, there was almost no danger within the city as long as one did not violate the city’s regulations.

For Wang Wanyan, the most pressing matter at the moment was not seizing opportunities at the Water and Land Dharma Assembly but taking care of the two fox cubs.

After leaving the inn, Qin Niu let Xiao Qing lead the way.

He and Chi Xing followed behind.

Xiao Qing, guided by the sensing of that mysterious calling, continuously adjusted their direction until they gradually approached a tower-like building that was seven stories high.

“It seems to be here, the sensation has become much clearer. It’s like a voice is ceaselessly calling to me, saying, ‘Here, here…’”

Xiao Qing pointed toward the tower-like building ahead.

Qin Niu looked up at the tower in front of them, which was at least forty meters tall, taller than most of the buildings in the city.

Buildings such as this ancient and tall construction were not uncommon within Elixir City.

The entire tower was constructed from huge stones, with a height similar to the rubble used for building city walls. The tower’s surface appeared to be covered in scars, it could even be described as riddled with holes. There were traces of repairs everywhere to be seen.

“Medicine King Tower!”

Upon seeing the name of the tower, Qin Niu knew that they might have found Xiao Qing’s family.

Because both the Medicine King Sutra and the Medicine King Tower shared the words “Medicine King.”

Entering the tower was not so simple, as there was a very large residence outside the tower. Or perhaps it would be more appropriate to call it a complex of buildings.

People could be seen casually entering and exiting, but it was unclear what their purpose was.

Looking at the attire of these individuals, there were common visitors as well as Pill Alchemists dressed in the robes of Pill Masters.

It seemed this place gathered some miscellaneous Pill Masters.

They lived here to light the furnaces and practice Alchemy.

Qin Niu, after covertly observing, finally understood the identities of these people.

Moving forward, one could see rows of closely packed alchemy rooms. Their layout was essentially similar.

There was a front hall for receiving guests outside, and behind it, there were Pill Furnaces ready to light the fire for Alchemy. Each building housed one or more Pill Alchemists.

Their businesses varied, with some doing well and others not so much.

Walking further in, some buildings had constantly burning furnaces with dense elixir fumes. Others had cold stoves with no customers seeking their alchemy services.

Those Pill Alchemists who had not received any alchemy tasks were either fiddling with medicinal herbs or reading books.

Some were even simply lying on recliners, resting with their eyes closed.

From outside, it seemed that there were only a few dozen buildings constructed around the Medicine King Tower.

Only upon entering did one realize how extensive the complex was.

There were at least over a hundred alchemy rooms, with the number of residing Pill Alchemists totaling several hundred.

“We’re approaching the Medicine King Tower, and it seems there are no guards in sight!”

Qin Niu stood outside the tower, scouting inside.

“Let’s go in and find out what’s inside!”

He led Xiao Qing directly into the Medicine King Tower. It was evident that the tower was very ancient, with at least several hundreds, if not thousands, of years of history.

The first floor of the tower was extremely spacious.

Almost all high towers have a large base, and the area decreases with each ascending level.

Upon entering the tower, he had thought it was empty.

But to his surprise, nearly thirty pill alchemists of varying ages were currently operating pill furnaces and practicing alchemy inside.

Their pill furnaces varied in size and style, with distinct tiers of quality.

Some of the furnaces were entirely yellow-purple, clearly made from purple copper. Others had simple and ancient patterns or runes etched onto them, looking very high-end.

All the pill masters inside shared one common characteristic, a haughty demeanor, as if they were divine beings who transcended the mortal realm and looked down upon all creatures.

However, their pride was not without foundation, for they truly had the skills to back it up.

Their pill master robes were also a testament to their abilities.

The weakest among them were red-robed alchemists, and the three with the highest ranks were even clad in purple robes, topped with heaven-and-earth crowns.

Master Yi Zhou of Miaodan Pavilion in Black Tiger City was a chief alchemist, yet he didn’t even qualify for a red robe.

Any alchemist from the first floor of Medicine King Tower, if taken to Black Tiger City, could easily crush all the pill alchemists in the entire city.

These people were either conversing with clients or focused intently on controlling the flames to practice alchemy.

One of the purple-robed alchemists was particularly eye-catching.

He was practicing alchemy with two apprentice fans, controlling the flames while his apprentices relentlessly fanned them to increase the fire’s potency.

From time to time, the sound of tiger’s roar emanated from the furnace, as if a massive beast was being refined within.

In reality, the furnace was open at the top, and you could see purple qi rising without any actual beast. The qi occasionally condensed into the phantom shape of a ferocious animal.

It somewhat resembled a huge tiger.

Every time the tiger shape coalesced, a roar would come from the furnace.

Strangely enough, every time the tiger roared, it would disperse and revert back into purple medicinal qi, boiling within the furnace.

Even though Qin Niu was no expert in alchemy, he understood that this purple-robed alchemist must be encountering difficulties.

Or perhaps, he was challenging a higher realm of alchemy.

If the tiger form remained intact and roared without dispersing, perhaps it would signify his success.

Time after time, he failed, but the purple-robed alchemist kept trying.

To become a powerhouse in the realm of alchemy, indeed none of them had success handed to them on a silver platter.

Just observing the tenacity and persistence of this purple-robed alchemist, it was clear that his willpower was even stronger than steel.

“Master, the call I sense is coming from beneath the ground!”

Xiao Qing whispered to Qin Niu.

“Let’s head underground!”

Qin Niu immediately spotted the staircase leading down to the lower levels of the Medicine King Tower.

Under normal circumstances, most towers with more than seven floors have an underground level.

Some pagodas might even have only three levels above ground but seven or nine levels underground.

For instance, the legendary Suppressing Pagoda is a treasure pagoda that is inverted and buried underground.

Chi Xing was Qin Niu’s guard, and seeing Qin Niu’s strength improving day by day, he was doing his utmost to please him. At that moment, he raced to be the first to enter the staircase leading to the tower’s foundation, eager to take the lead in exploring.