Strange World Alchemist Chef – Book 2
Chapter 002 – Phantom Forest
Translated by Gumihou
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“I trust there are no objections from anyone?” Second Elder said imperiously.
The elders all nodded solemnly, Sixth Elder said, “No objections. Having a talented disciple gain experience there would give good results no matter what! There’s still time for us to polish him up.”
Though they no know there was no secret master backing up Wu Xuan, his own personal achievements were good enough to astonish them. This child was clearly a martial arts genius! Though he has no master, the Wu Clan does not lack teachers. If they make sure to make it worth his while to stay within the clan, they won’t lack benefits in the future either!
Meanwhile, Wu Xuan, who had been sitting there minding his own business, found himself gaping at all the remarks being thrown about. Wait, now he’s a martial arts genius?
While he was wondering how the heck they had gotten to this weird conclusion, the elders all suddenly turned their attention at Wu Xuan, “At first, we thought that your master planned to take you to a better place to train you up. However, it looked like we are mistaken. No matter, your martial training is of interest to us, we shall send you somewhere to assist your cultivation.”
“That’s right, that place is outside of the Black Dragon City. It is the Phantom Forest, an excellent place to advance cultivation. Though your level is quite low now, it should be a great help to you. As of now, do your best to strengthen your body through martial arts, the stronger you get, the easier it is to level up your spiritual cultivation!”
“Phantom Forest?” Wu Xuan was stunned, “to cultivate there, am I supposed to hunt down spiritual beasts or something?”
The elders all chuckled, “Well, you could do that too. However, the cultivation technique has little to do with spiritual beasts. The most important thing you must do is meditate and cultivate your inner energies well there. To be honest this place is most useful for those who have reached the Refining Stage. Of course, those who are not at the Refining Stage could also gain benefits, though not a lot. Therefore, if you can breakthrough to the Refining Stage, you’ll gain much more benefits there.”
The Phantom Forest was more beneficial to Refining Stage practitioner? Even if there was no such condition placed upon a cultivator, they would naturally want to strive to level up, right? After all, who wants to stick around the Body Strengthening Stage forever?
“So, the Phantom Forest is most beneficial for Refining Stage cultivators, ah… First Elder, may I know when I’ll be leaving for this forest?” asked Wu Xuan after considering his options.
“Four days! In four days you may enter the Phantom Forest. Once past this critical time, you’ll have to wait for another 20 years before the forest opens up again. This is a rare opportunity for you, which was why we have called you over. Though you are still at the Body Strengthening Stage, it is our hope that you would not disappoint us.”
Only four days before he had to enter the Phantom Forest, Wu Xuan felt a little troubled by the deadline. If only he has a few months left, he should be able to push himself and breakthrough into Refining Stage. There was no way he could do that in just 4 days, it was already a miracle for him to make it all the way to Level 8 as it was.
Though the Muscle & Bone Strengthening Elixir was good for boosting up spiritual strength, it grew less effective once a cultivator has gone past Level 7. Four days was just not enough for him to reach Refining Stage, unless there’s a special pill that will boost him past a whole stage.
However, there’s no such thing. He could only daydream about it for awhile.
He was still lamenting over this misfortune when he suddenly recalled the only other person he knew had reached Refining Stage, Wu Yixin. Could it be possible that she would be going to the Phantom Forest too? In fact, now that he thought about it, there was no other reason why an important disciple of the clan would come back at this time.
It was already unique enough for them to welcome such a high level disciple back, but having it coincide with the exact time when the Phantom Forest could be entered? This Phantom Forest must be quite unique. Wu Xuan lost no time questioning the elders about this matter, and they were all quite willing to answer him.
Historically speaking, this Phantom Forest hadn’t been around for long. However, it had existed for nearly a hundred years now, which meant this would be the fifth time cultivators would enter the forest.
As to why there’s a 20 year gap before anyone could enter the Phantom Forest, that’s because the concentration of spiritual mists within the forest was at its lowest ebb at that time, making it easier for cultivators to enter.
However, there’s a limit to how long a cultivator could stay within the forest. Once the fog became too dense, they could only leave the forest 20 years later. However, no one who had been left behind had ever made it out 20 years later, in other words, people who did not leave the forest on time were all considered dead.
The Phantom Forest was indeed a frightening place, though it was considered an excellent place for cultivators, there was a reason why it benefit Refining Stage cultivators more. As the First Elder had said, the peculiar effects of the forest could assist cultivators to increase their spiritual powers, so even Body Strengthening Stage would benefit. Unfortunately since their spiritual strength were not as developed, their benefits were limited.
However, no matter what, anyone who enters the Phantom Forest would receive some benefit. In fact, the deeper you go into the forest, the greater the benefits. The problem was, the deeper one goes, the greater the danger. This was why it was quite odd for a Body Strengthening cultivator like Wu Xuan was nominated to go.
Aside from the Wu Clan, cultivators from other sects also came. Since the Phantom Forest was quite big, it was natural that cultivators other than the Wu Clan would appear. Only idiots would miss out on this valuable opportunity.
In order to ensure peace and safety during this period, Black Dragon City’s sects, cultivating families and prominent leaders would gather to properly discuss who has the right to enter the forest. Quite a few elders of Wu Clan were gone from the Wu house to this gathering.
“Do you understand? As long as you stay within the group, you should be fine.” the Sixth Elder who was put in charge of organising the Phantom Forest matter took it upon himself to explain this properly to Wu Xuan.
The elders spent nearly an hour answering his questions, making sure that he understand the Phantom Forest situation as much as possible. However, not all the elders stuck around until the end of the Q and A session, most of them were important figures with busy schedules, especially with the opening of the Phantom Forest being so near.
Wu Xuan nodded seriously at their teachings, “This disciple understands. By the way, how many of our disciples will be going?”
The Sixth Elder said, “Including yourself, 15 disciples. If there are too many people, there would be too much confusion. After all, the Phantom Forest is not a picnic place. It’s dangerous, if we take other sects’ disciples into consideration the danger level increases greatly.”
What the Sixth Elder did not say was that this was an informal competition among all the sects, the more powerful the sect, the more disciples they could send.
“15 people…” the number of disciples within the Wu Clan numbered in the hundreds. The ones who could enter the forest, aside from himself, were only 14 people. This number was kind of sad. “May I know the cultivation abilities of my fellow disciples?”
Sixth Elder thought for a while and said, “En, most of them are Refining Stage cultivators. The one with the highest cultivation would be Wu Yixin at Level 9 Refining Stage. She’s not quite 17 yet, so it’s quite astonishing, ah…”
A gratified look appeared in Sixth Elder’s eyes. Having produce someone as talented as Wu Yixin reflected a lot of honour to the Wu Clan. Moreover, she was someone from the Wu family, so special care was given to her.
“A Level 9 Refining Stage cultivator at 17… that’s quite incredible.”
Wu Xuan could not help his own smile. He had only asked out of vague curiosity. Sure enough, here was a true genius, he too was 17 years old, but his cultivation rate was only at Level 8 Body Strengthening Stage… The gap is too great, ah! This is not scientific at all!
[Gumihou: Just what about this novel is scientific, lol?]
