Chu Chen quickly arched his hands. "Yes, Senior Sister, what is your name?"
"Just call me Qing Yue. Are you sure that you want to be the elixir refining assistant of the Elder Ling Xin?" The green-clothed woman glanced at him, and suddenly a strange look appeared on her plain and elegant face.
The corner of Chu Chen's mouth twitched. "Senior Sister, what is the recruitment requirement for Elder Ling Xin's? I have yet to reach the Spiritual Dropments Stage..."
Before he finished speaking, Senior Sister Qing Yue waved her hand quickly: "I didn't mean that. Elder Ling Xin doesn't have a high requirement in terms of the assistant's cultivation, as long as they are at the sixth level of Spiritual Mist Stage. It's just...it's just..."
She hesitated and seemed to want to say something. She looked around and pulled Chu Chen into a somewhat secluded corner, and whispered a few words softly, "It's just that, Elder Ling Xin has a sporadic and bad temper. She is extremely harsh. There were already several good-tempered senior and junior brothers who wanted to take up this mission, but within two days of doing it, they were scolded badly by the elder and left. You look unfamiliar, so you must have just joined the sect, I'm afraid you might be overwhelmed."
Chu Chen was taken aback. He had basically never been to the Mission Hall, so he hardly knew the people here.
Upon hearing Senior Sister's warning, he could not help but smile in gratitude. "Thank you, Senior Sister. But since the Elder has released this task, it must be urgent. Moreover, if this mission is not completed, won't Senior Sister have to wait here every day? Let me give it a shot, I don't mind being beaten and scolded a few times."
Senior Sister Qing Yue frowned and thought about it for a while, then looked at Chu Chen a few more times, and nodded hesitantly. "That makes sense, okay then... If Elder Ling Xin thinks that you are new here, her expectations should be a little lower... go for it. Just don't say I didn't warn you, you must be careful, and you must endure a bit of abuse from her. Control your temper and don't oppose the elder head-on. That would be a serious offense!"
"Senior Sister, don't worry, I know that." Chu Chen said with a smile.
"Well then, come with me." Qing Yue waved her hand and walked toward the exit of the hall.
The courtyard where Elder Ling Xin was located was in a very remote valley on the top of a hill.
According to Sister Qing Yue, Elder Ling Xin had a bad temper and was extremely withdrawn. She had little no interaction with other elders and had always been used to being alone.
This also led to a situation where when she wanted to refine elixirs, she could not find anyone to help her, so she had to post a mission and recruit an assistant to refine the elixir.
"Elder Ling Xin's elixir refining technique is extremely good. Even the sect master was amazed. If you work hard and gain the elder's approval, and she accepts you as a direct disciple, then you will be destined to reach the skies!"
Since Chu Chen was already headed for the Hidden Frost Valley of Elder Ling Xin, Senior Sister Qing Yue had to take it as it was and encourage him.
Chu Chen nodded with a smile. They did not worry about it, he did not care about things like direct disciples or whatever not.
With the treasure mountain in Black Fog Valley, he no longer cared about any kind of traditions and inheritance.
On top of that, one should never casually identify with a direct teacher. As the saying goes, "He who teaches me for one day is my father for life.". There were plenty of cultivators who had cultivated to a high stage and could easily live for hundreds of years.
However, their parents and relatives did not have such long lives.
Therefore, in the world of cultivators, the relationship between master and disciple was stronger and deeper than the relationship between father and son in the mortal world. That was the real inheritance.
The masters choose their disciples, and at the same time, the disciples also choose their masters.
As he passed through the Hidden Frost Valley covered with bluestone and planted a few Winter Sweet flowers (TN: a type of flower- Chimonanthus praecox) into the soil surrounding the ancient temple of Elder Ling Xin, a strong medicinal aroma hit his face. Chu Chen's body shuttered, and he immediately felt refreshed, with all exhaustion wiped out.
He looked around. The huge ancient hall was filled with cases of various sizes, furnaces, cauldrons, pans, and racks. In the center of the hall, a bronze furnace with a height of three feet, embroidered with primitive and mysterious patterns, and full of shining light was burning. An extremely strong herbal aroma wafted into the air from this bronze cauldron.
In front of this huge furnace, a slender figure sat cross-legged with her back to them. A dazzling light radiated from her body and made its way into the furnace.
On her body, the thin green shirt was soaked in sweat, and her slim figure was extremely alluring.
Just as Chu Chen was about to open his mouth, Senior Sister Qing Yue next to him pulled him and quietly made a 'silence' gesture. She stood respectfully at the side of the hall and waited patiently.
When he saw this, Chu Chen also understood that the elder was at a critical moment of the elixir refining process and was not to be disturbed. Therefore, he followed Senior Sister Qing Yue and stood respectfully.
After a full hour, accompanied by a soft sound, the huge furnace shone radiantly in an instant. Amidst the bright flames, the lid of the huge bronze furnace burst open, and clusters of dazzling golden gleams rose into the sky.
"Good timing!"
Chu Chen heard a coquettish scolding, and the figure that sat cross-legged on the ground waved her sleeve robe. A dazzling light burst out and instantly caught the golden gleam in mid-air. She then put it in her storage ring.
"This batch of crimson gold elixir is finally completed!"
Accompanied by a happy voice that had an undertone of exhaustion, the figure that sat cross-legged finally stood up and turned her head.
At that moment, Chu Chen's eyes widened suddenly.
Gorgeous! How stunning! What appeared in front of Chu Chen's eyes was a beautiful face that seemed to eclipse the heavens and the earth. She had trimmed eyebrows and phoenix eyes, cherry lips, and a blushed nose; a delicate and impeccable face as if it was masterfully carved from a lustrous block of white jade.
Cloud-like hair poured down like a waterfall and drifted slightly behind her.
This was an unimaginably beautiful woman. Not only was she beautiful, but she also had a ridiculously hot body. Under her slender neck, which was as delicate as a swan, her plump chest propped up an exaggerated arc. Going down, her waist was lean, her buttocks were round, and her legs were slender. Regardless of the angle, he could not find the slightest fault.
This was Elder Ling Xin? She turned out to be such a young and beautiful woman.
Chu Chen's mouth gaped in surprise. In his mind, the so-called elders, all with boundless powers, were old men and women with divine poise. The woman in front of him was extremely young, and she seemed to be in her twenties. She was probably only a few years older than Chu Chen, yet she had become an elder?
"The disciple greets Elder Ling Xin!"
When Sister Qing Yue who stood next to Chu Chen saw that the elder had finished refining the elixir, she quickly bowed. She turned her head and saw that Chu Chen was still staring at the elder in a daze. With a stunning and dull expression on her face, she could not help feeling anxious and tugged him in a bid to snap him out of it.