Strange World Alchemist Chef – Book 2
Chapter 005 – Representative of the Empire
Translated by Pill Bug
Edited by Gumihou
Close to dusk, they finally arrived at the Phantom Forest under the leadership of the Sixth Elder. When all the people got off the carriages, they were able to see from afar that there was a forest shrouded by white thick fog in the distance, which was very bizarre. According to what the elders said, the concentration now could still be called relatively low, and during the densest period, the forest would be totally hidden and only a cotton candy-like white fog could be seen.
It was still obviously summer and there was no snow or ice around, but a burst of cold could be felt coming from the forest. Everyone felt chill on their whole body, except for Wu Xuan, who not only did not feel half bad, but also somewhat comfortable instead.
In the surrounding area there were already a lot of people setting up camp. All the open spaces around the Phantom Forest were full of camps by now, since there were already a lot of other clans that came in advance.
Wu Xuan scanned the area, basically not recognizing anyone. Recognizing anyone else would be odd since he has not visited other sects and clans. The original goods was a support disciple and had no reason to visit anywhere else.
The Wu clan also found a somewhat open space to quickly set up camp, and soon finished setting up their camp. Actually, these were just preparations for people with low cultivation that were not entering the forest, for them to guard the supplies. It was basically impossible for all of them to go in, and it would be a waste to throw these wagons and so on aside. After all, they still needed to return later, would they not be able to use them then?
“You guys can move around as you please, or rest in your tents. Just DON’T mess with the other clans and sects.” The elders stressed specifically.
Wu Xuan felt that there was nothing to see here and was about to enter the tent when he saw people coming this way. One of them made Wu Xuan’s heart jump slightly, that was Zhao Xi! Zhao Xi walked next to a handsome and elegant-looking middle-aged man. If you looked carefully, Zhao Xi also somewhat resembled the middle-aged man.
Wu Xuan remembered that he had met her before, and immediately hid to the side, so as not to be recognized. At that time, he did not change his voice, and his hands were fully exposed. If he was recognized, it would be an extremely troublesome thing.
With Zhao Xi and the others’ arrival, the elders smiled and walked up to greet them, shaking the middle-aged man’s hand while saying: “President Zhao, you came this year too, is it to bring your beloved daughter to the training?”
Wu Xuan raised his eyebrow, wasn’t this President Zhao called Zhao Tianlong, the president of the Ten Thousand Medicine Shop? In that case, wasn’t Zhao Xi the daughter of the president of The Shop?[1]
Wu Xuan suddenly realized, no wonder Zhao Xi can decide by herself whether Wu Xuan was qualified to be a guest alchemist.[2] It looked like she also came to cultivate, and her cultivation level was not too bad. Certainly, as the daughter of the Ten Thousand Medicine Shop’s president, would the pills she usually uses be poor? As an alchemist herself, it’s highly likely that her cultivation level should be around Spirit Refining 7 or 8.
Zhao Tianlong laughed: “Yes, it just happened to be the opening day of the Phantom Forest, so I also brought Xi’er over to cultivate. This year, our two families should help each other as usual!”
Sixth Elder laughed back: “That’s for sure, it’s been done like this for so many years, and it’s also thanks to the usual care of the Ten Thousand Medicine Shop that our Wu Clan is flourishing!”
The two families were endlessly courteous to each other, both parties brought a lot of people for this event. The Shop had a higher status, so naturally they brought more people than the Wu clan.
In fact, there was no need for The Shop to give so much face to the Wu clan, as comparatively, The Shop was much stronger than the Wu family. The status of The Shop was considered prestigious even throughout the entire empire. The Wu Clan was only slightly prestigious in the Arcane Dragon City, and could only be considered an ordinary clan in the Dragon Empire.
It was just that having one more friend was better than having more enemies, so it was always better to improve relationships with each other.
Then, a scene that surprised Wu Xuan appeared. Wu Yuxin actually ran to Zhao Xi’s side, showing a happy smile, idly chatting about random things. it seemed that after meeting an acquaintance, she showed her true self.
“Big sister Zhao Xi, it’s been a long time! Your cultivation level has improved again!” Wu Yuxin smilingly ran in front of Zhao Xi and said happily.
When Zhao Xi saw that the visitor was Wu Yuxin, a rare smile appeared on her cold face: “Little sister Yuxin has improved a lot too, even more than big sister! Your Ten Thousand Flowers Art has been trained to the second stage, right?”
“Yes, it was just trained to the second stage not long ago ……” Wu Yuxin pouted, dissatisfied: “But today when someone was struck by it, the Ten Thousand Flowers Art was totally useless.”
“Oh, Ten Thousand Flowers Art, useless? You naughty girl, ah, which expert did you cast it on? Don’t make any trouble, otherwise the Palace Master will punish you.” Zhao Xi understood Wu Yuxin very well, but she guessed wrong this time.
Wu Yuxin replied: “Hmph. I did not cast it on an expert, but on a Body Refining 8 clan member, and it was not even half useful. At the beginning when I attacked suddenly, it was somewhat useful, but later on, even fully exerting the Ten Thousand Flowers Art was not useful at all!”
Zhao Xi was shocked by Wu Yuxin’s words, she knew very well the power of this Ten Thousand Flowers Art, and was surprised, “Being able to resist your Ten Thousand Flowers Art at Body Refining 8, this person must be extremely strong-willed, right? Which clan member is that?”
“Oh, isn’t that him?” Wu Yuxin reached out her hand and pointed at Wu Xuan.
Wu Xuan was wondering if he should go back to the tent to hide, when he saw Wu Yuxin suddenly pointing this way. He hurriedly inserted his hands into his clothes, turned around and ran into the tent, not daring to stay any longer. Although he did not know what Wu Yuxin was talking about, it certainly was not anything good.
“En, so young?” When Zhao Xi saw the back of Wu Xuan running into the tent, she was a little puzzled, “Why is this back somewhat familiar …… Seems to look like the back of that person from last time? Impossible, it shouldn’t be ……”
“Sister Zhao Xi, did you say something?” Wu Yuxin heard Zhao Xi murmuring to herself and was a little curious.[3]
“Nothing, this person is really young, to be able to resist your Ten Thousand Flowers Art, he’s definitely not simple ah! It’s just a pity that his cultivation is a bit too low.” Zhao Xi shook her head, the stronger the willpower, the smoother the path of cultivation will go. It’s just that seeing such a great person only at Body Refining 8, his talent seemed too ordinary.
“His cultivation is rather low, but he’s only just been able to cultivate for a month! Not even I was that fast before, hell knows what level he will rush to later.”[2]
“What! You mean he was just able to cultivate, and only for a month?” This time Zhao Xi was truly surprised, the meaning of this was completely different. Yes, Body Refining 8 might be low, but the length of time it took to cultivate to that level? That was a big deal.
“That’s right, I heard it from people in the clan. To be honest I didn’t quite believe it myself. So in the carriage, I slightly cast a low illusion art on him, who knew it would be resisted instead. It was really frustrating!” The more Wu Yuxin said, the more dissatisfied she became.
“Is that so, that’s a bit interesting.” Zhao Xi just casually said something and actually did not pay too much attention to Wu Xuan. His cultivation was fast, but not too attractive.[4] Even so, he should be his limit.
At this time, people in the distance began to clamor, some faint shouting could be heard, “The Empire’s people have come……”
The noisy sounds outside lured a curious Wu Xuan out of the tent. At this time he wore an extra pair of gloves on his hands, completely covering them up.[2] It felt rather out of place, but it was better than not covering up ah!
He could not help but feel some regret, why did he not not wear gloves then? Of course, at that time he also did not expect to meet Zhao Xi again.
Not long after that, a group of people arrived from the distance, with a shocking aura rose to the sky, led by a few old men of unfathomable cultivation. Sweeping his gaze around, the leading old man slowly said: “We were sent by the Empire to explore the depths of the Phantom Forest this time. You can cultivate on your own, but do not go too deep, so as not to disturb our exploration. If you disturb us, don’t blame us for being ungracious!”
The old man’s voice was not very loud, but it resonated eerily across the field, pressing into everyone’s consciousness like an unrelenting force.[5] His tone of voice was extremely unyielding, the latter part saying they would be ungracious, in fact, could be heard as “Anyone who interferes will be killed”!
But among the people present, no one objected. Everyone watched quietly as this group of thirty people set up camp. No one dared to object.[2]
“The leader is Chen Mie from the Imperial Royal Family, his cultivation is at least at the Void Spirit Stage. Most of the others have reached the Void Transformation Stage, even the lowest are at Core Formation Stage. Just what is there in the Phantom Forest? Although there are some precious spiritual herbs inside, they aren’t worth the Empire’s attention, could there be any special treasures inside?”
The Seventh Elder beside Wu Xuan frowned, this is the first time in history the Empire sent people to the Phantom Forest.
Wu Xuan was a little speechless, oh my god, even Void Spirit Stage cultivators came! Body Refining Stage, Spirit Refining stage, Core Formation Stage, Void Transformation Stage, Void Spirit stage and Emperor stage! One Void Spirit Stage came, even the lowest was at Spirit Refining Stage, what more quite a few at Core Formation Stage. And also 30 people at that, there was simply no clan in Arcane Dragon City who could bring out this much power ah!
Pill Bug TL Notes:
[1] Ten Thousand Medicine Shop, Ten Thousand Medicine Shop, Ten Thousand Medicine Shop, shortened to just The Shop. Cultivators talk-no-jutsu must all be maxed out to speak so much stuff so quickly!
[2] Removed overly repetitive parts.
[3] Switched terms, original should be ‘puzzled’ ‘疑惑’ but that didn’t really make sense in context.
[3] Dropped the “buttering up Wu Xuan” reference. Original sentence is “是修为比较低，但他才刚刚能修炼一个月呢！以前我都没有那么快过，鬼知道他以后又冲到什么层次。”吴雨欣又抖了吴轩的底。
[4] What? Wasn’t she surprised? Suddenly not interested? Thanks Gumiho for the explanation!
[5] Thanks Gumiho for the better description!
Cultivation stages:
- Body Refining Stage
- Spirit Refining Stage
- Core Formation Stage
- Void Transformation Stage
- Void Spirit Stage
- Emperor Stage
Each stage has 10 levels, going from level 1 to level 10. Levels 1-3 are early stage, 4-6 are middle stage, 7-9 are late stage, level 10 is peak stage.
