Chapter 82: Azure Cloud Peak

Cangyun Peak—since it was home to the alchemy elder, Liu Pan assumed its environment would be quite pleasant. Indeed, when he first glimpsed the peak from afar, he found its setting tranquil and secluded. However, as he drew nearer, Liu Pan felt the serenity was almost excessive.

Towering ancient trees crowded together, so densely that the entire mountaintop resembled a primeval forest. The ground was littered with fallen branches and decaying leaves, while at the base of the mountain, there was only a single path that hardly qualified as a road. If not for the traces of numerous formations his spiritual sense detected on the mountain, Liu Pan might have suspected he’d come to the wrong place.

To his surprise, at the foot of Cangyun Peak, he spotted several thatched huts. The barely discernible path led close by, and it seemed the huts were built here precisely to guard that way up.

At the moment, two figures outside the huts were sparring, likely practicing martial arts. Upon spotting Liu Pan, they immediately ceased their movements and turned their attention to him. He sensed their spiritual awareness lock onto him, but their focus quickly shifted to the identity token at his waist—clearly verifying who he was.

“Greetings, senior brothers,” Liu Pan said with a respectful bow. “I am a newly admitted disciple. I just received the medicine boy task at the task hall for Cangyun Peak. May I ask if this is indeed Cangyun Peak?”

“Oh, so you’re a new junior brother,” responded one of the men—a tall, lean fellow—returning the salute. He patted the storage pouch at his waist and produced a small, pale yellow cloth bag, tossing it casually to Liu Pan. “Cangyun Peak is a bit unusual. Hang this bag of insect-repelling powder at your waist for safety.”

Receiving the pouch, Liu Pan paused a moment, then glanced at the peak as if suddenly realizing something. He quickly bowed again. “Thank you, senior brother.”

“No need to thank us—that’s our duty,” the tall man smiled, then added, “A word of caution: that powder was specially prepared by Elder Zhao himself. The amount is carefully measured. Only the exact amount will work properly, so don’t open the bag under any circumstances. If any is spilled, even a little, it could be very dangerous. Also, when you leave Cangyun Peak, you must return the pouch.”

Thanking them again and assuring them he understood, Liu Pan bid the two farewell and set off up the barely-there path.

Beneath the trees, the air was damp and cold. Occasionally, the calls of insects and birds broke the silence, heightening the sense of stillness. Yet as his spiritual sense swept the woods, Liu Pan realized that life here was abundant.

“How intriguing,” he murmured, raising the pouch of insect-repelling powder to his nose and sniffing it. He also sensed the shifting positions of countless living creatures nearby, curiosity flickering in his eyes. Remembering the tall man’s warning, he resisted the urge to peek inside the pouch. There were simply too many creatures in these woods for him to risk it.

He continued toward the summit, but soon his eyes lit up and he veered onto a side trail to the left.

“Is that… White Spirit Mushroom?”

He paused, looking at a pair of small spiritual herbs on a patch of open ground. Glancing around at the surrounding shrubs and towering trees, he finally understood why so many formations existed on Cangyun Peak, and why its environment was so pristine.

“Cultivating spiritual herbs in their natural environment… quite an idea,” Liu Pan mused. “Though it must be a costly endeavor.” Yet recalling that Elder Zhao was an alchemist, Liu Pan could only sigh to himself, “Well, if you’ve got the wealth, you can afford to be willful.”

Continuing up the peak, Liu Pan detoured twice to inspect spots marked by formation traces. Once he’d confirmed for himself Elder Zhao’s extravagant status, he wasted no more time and headed straight for the summit.

If he hadn’t already scanned the summit’s hall with his spiritual sense, Liu Pan would have been utterly bewildered by the sight that greeted him.

For a hall where a four-star sect elder resided, no one would have expected the scene before Liu Pan’s eyes. The main hall was dilapidated; its eaves were cracked, moss crept up every corner, and a gnarled, ancient tree seemed to have burst right up through the center of the hall, shattering the roof. In the sunniest patch just outside the main door, two stalks of Red Sun Grass thrived. In the shadows behind the hall, the tender shoot of a Gourdshade Herb had just broken through the earth…

What on earth?!

Even though his spiritual sense had already revealed this, seeing it with his own eyes still left Liu Pan at a loss.

Outside the ruined hall stood two disciples of Cloudflow Sect at the peak of the Martial Apprentice stage, likely messengers. These were the first people Liu Pan had seen since entering Cangyun Peak.

“Who goes there?” one of the disciples called as soon as they saw Liu Pan, their eyes flicking immediately to the identity token at his waist.

“Senior brothers, I am a new disciple assigned to the medicine boy task at the Cangyun Peak Alchemy Hall. Is this the Cangyun Alchemy Hall?” Liu Pan swallowed nervously, announcing his purpose.

As he spoke, he couldn’t help casting dubious glances at the hall, as if he couldn’t quite believe this was his destination.

Hearing that he’d come for the medicine boy task, the two men were momentarily taken aback, but quickly recovered and saluted him. “So it’s senior brother here for the medicine boy task. Pardon our earlier rudeness. Please wait a moment while I report to Elder Zhao.”

Both sides addressed each other as senior brother—a detail that might seem odd elsewhere, but in this moment, neither found it the least bit strange. Liu Pan, as a new disciple, felt it only right to call them senior brothers. In their eyes, anyone coming for the alchemy hall’s medicine boy task deserved the same respect.

As for why the men at the foot of the mountain called him junior brother, it was likely due to the vast difference in cultivation level, since the two at the foot were both at the Martial Master stage.

In the end, Liu Pan found this whole charade rather troublesome. To avoid suspicion, everywhere he went he had to pretend to be an ignorant newcomer. At this rate, he mused, he was well on his way to winning an Academy Award.