Dragon's Soul Chapter 174: Pill of Rebirth

Don't know why other thread was locked but i'm going to repost and see how this goes o_o

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"To think elders of a prestigious sect like us would be stuck here moving gravel…" The Eighth Elder of the Lunar Sect complained as he could be seen carrying a large woven basket while his once pure white robes were stained with dirt and grime.

"Shut up… This is all your fault to begin with. Had you not thoughtlessly offended a saint level master then none of us would be forced to do this. Just play along and finish things so we can continue our search for the ingredients to concoct the pill of rebirth..." The Tenth Elder said as he glared at the one who caused the current situation.

"Hey you there! Quit bickering and get back to work." Ai could be seen yelling from atop a platform with a few disciples of the Lunar Sect fanning her while a few others were holding trays brimming with fruit as Yuying sat not too far from her. Since Ai is already a princess, she was comparable to an empress who was gazing down upon her subjects. But of course like usual there wasn't much of a serious demeanor surrounding her, instead, she was filled with dorkiness and silliness.

"Damn brat… Thinks she can order me around…" The Eighth Elder mumbled before continuing to carrying earth and gravel out of the massive hole that was dug out of the ground by the thousands of disciples of the Lunar Sect. 

Although only a few days had passed, thanks to the hard work of the disciples of the Lunar Sect, a massive amount of soiled had been moved.

"Who did you just call a brat?" Ai's voice could be heard once more.

"No one, your highness." The Eighth Elder replied after being startled for half a second.

"Damn how can that brat have such good hearing." He thought, not daring to speak again due to not wanting to invoke Ai's wrath which in turn would invoke Zhang's wrath.

"How is my earring so good?" Ai's voice once more echoed down from the platform she was on.

"What the…" The Eighth Elder though with a startled expression on his face before scurrying off and continuing what he was doing before without bothering to complain like he had done moments ago.

In the meantime, both Ai and Yuying burst into laughter as they saw the confused and startled look on the Lunar Sect's Eighth Elder's face. 

"Sis how did you know what he was thinking?" Ai asked with a curious face as she looked toward Yuying.

"It is obvious that someone who regards themselves as a mighty elder of a great sect would inwardly mock us and complain when forced to do menial tasks like shovel dirt. But did you see the expression he was making?" Yuying chuckled. 

So as the students of the Imperial Institute continued their adventures in the vast forest filled with demonic beasts, the disciples of the Lunar Sect continued to work hours on end either carrying out stone and dirt or digging away through the ground underneath them. 

But for the most part besides the forced manual labor, Zhang treated them fairly well, giving them a thirty-minute break after every four hours of work and three meals a day. Besides this he also provided the disciples of the Lunar Sect with something most employers did not, motivation. 

How did he do this you ask? Simply said every few hours Zhang would unleash his powers as a saint and send a suffocating pressure sweeping throughout the forest. This was to remind the disciples of Lunar Sect to not slack off not get any funny ideas because they were under Zhang's constant watch and that he could slaughter them all at any waking moment if they disobeyed him.

"It's time for lunch!" Hundreds of Zhang's soldiers yelled as countless pots filled with food were carted into the massive crater that had been dug into the ground. Along with the pots were thousands of plates, bowls, pairs of chopsticks and spoons that formed small hills atop the wagons they were being transported in.

As if it had become a routine for them, the proud members of the mighty Lunar Sect stopped what they were doing, dropping shovels, axes, and baskets to form many neat and tidy lines. Before long everyone was given their share of food and water, which they quickly consumed while sitting on the ground resting.

"They are working quicker than I expected." Zhang said as he gazed downward into the crater with Ling and Lingqi by his side.

"They'll be glad to be allowed to leave in a few days then." Ling chuckled. 

"What did you expect? They're all fairly high level cultivators, I'm amazed that we haven't found the entrance to the cave yet." Lingqi said with a grin.

"Shouldn't be too long until the side of the of the mountain, that the cave cut into, is revealed. From there it'll take next to no time until the cave is unearthed. Then comes our final problem." Zhang said.

"Final problem? You mean keep all of those people quiet until we collect our spoils?" Lingqi asked.

"You could either kill them all or let them all leave by the actual entrance into the cave is found." Ling suggested. 

"If we kill them then our enmity with their sect will come irreversible, but if we let them go then they might stir trouble before we can get what we came here for. Since liquid mithril isn't the easiest substance to transport, even with interspatial rings." Zhang said with a sigh. 

"I guess we can just have them go dig somewhere else once the side of the mountain is unearthed and then have our people find the entrance to the cave." Zhang decided.

Like the past few days, after finishing their meal the disciples and elders of the Lunar Sect began to dig away at the ground once again until the sun faded beneath the horizon and they were allowed to rest for the remainder of the day. 

As far as slaves were treated, it could be said that Zhang was only slightly exploiting this group of people and they were by no means being treated like slaves. If the group had to be class then it would be more accurate to call them, volunteers, of course, that's if no one pays attention to the part where they were forced or unwilling coerced into working. 

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Across the Lunar Mountains and at the far corner of a city that sprawled over countless miles of land, a palace like a place with the words Lunar Sect hung above of its gates could be seen by hundreds of people who were walking along a busy street. 

This palace-like place, of course, is the main headquarters of the Lunar Sect, one of the few places in Lunar City that few people dared to stir trouble at. 

Through the awe-inspiring gates of the Lunar Sect's countless people could be seen, with defined features and dignified presences these people were the students of the Lunar Sect, well the ones who had not been forced into hard labor. 

Mixed into these students who were moving around the grounds of the Lunar Sect's headquarters were dozens of intimidating looking figures, some more intimidating than others, who were all headed toward a large hall that had a distinct looking pillars shaped like crescent moons.

Within this hall at the far end of a long row of chairs were a throne constructed old of some sort of black colored metal that gave off a captivating red colored sheen. As hundreds of people of all shapes and sizes filed into the hall, some with feminine poise and others with heroic demeanor began to one by one fill in the vacant seats that line the center wake way of the hall.

Once the hall was filled with people and was covered in a babble of mixed voices, a young looking boy who appeared to be no more than fifteen years of age enter with a team of beautiful maidens who followed closely behind him. The instant everyone caught sight of this boy, who looked so out of place amongst a room filled with people who could only be called cultivation experts in their own right, they all fell to their knees and uttered two words.

"Sect Master Wang Dao!" 

Only once the sect master of the Lunar Sect sat atop his metallic throne did he begin to speak.

"All of you rise." He said in a voice that one could not possibly link to that of a child's.

"I've called you all here today to discuss the matter regarding some missing disciples and elders. Ni Liu, tell everyone what happened." Sect Master Wang Dao said in a tone that seemed to lack emotion.

"Roughly ten days ago, we lost contact with a group of elders who were leading a small group of disciples on a training exercise south of the Lunar Mountains. As you all know when an elder is leading students into the outside world he or she is required to report back to the sect headquarters every three days." A middle-aged man dressed in white robes embroidered with a moon and a star on either side said as he appeared beside Sect Master Wang Dao.

"South of the Lunar Mountains? What were they doing south of the Lunar Mountains? To my knowledge, we do not have any training grounds anywhere south of the Lunar Mountains." A beautiful woman with an ample chest, Snow White hair and velvet pupils who were mixed into the crowd asked.

"Elder Hong Xue, it must be because you were a disciple from a branch sect and have not been an elder for too long that you don't know about the gathering of the ingredients to create the pill of rebirth that happens once every century." A young man with lightning bolt shaped earrings dangling from his ears said.

"Pill of rebirth?" Elder Hong Xue asked.

"The pill that is presented to our mighty sect master every century to further his longevity so he could continue to lead us to greatness." Someone mixed into the crowd said.

"Enough! Let Grand Elder Yin Ying finish his report!" An intimidating figure sitting on one of the seats that lined the center of the hall said.

"As Grand Elder Du Zhao said, allow me to finish my report before any of you elder or any of the other grand elders speak." Elder Yin Ying who was standing beside Sect Master Wang Dao said.

"The last report we received had requested information regarding Master Dan Jin, asking if he had any disciples. From the information that we managed to gather, they must have run into problems with someone who claimed to be Master Dan Jin's disciple and got in over their heads." Elder Yin Ying said, concluding his report.

"Seeing as the disappearance of those elders and disciples could mean a delay in the creation of the pill of rebirth, I suggest that we mobilize a unit comprising solely of elders and grand elders to see to it that whatever situation that had befallen our people is taken care of." Elder Hong Xue said, voicing her opinion.

"Mobilizing a force that includes grand elders? Do you know the possible consequences that may befall the sect if even one of our saint level grand elders is lost? What do you think the Sun Hall Sect or the other sects of the city will do if We lost any of our grand elders?" The man with lightning bolt shaped earring said.

"Although I understand where you are coming from, do you really think that we grand elders could be so easily done in? Since this matter pertains to the harvesting of ingredients to create the pill of rebirth for our sect master I, Du Zhao, volunteer to lead." Grand Elder Du Zhao said.

It was not until quite a bit more bicker took place did the master of the Lunar Sect speak once more and task Grand Elder Du Zhao, a total of two other grand elders and a hundred elders who will be leading a total of two thousand inner sect disciples who were all level seven or eight to collect the ingredients to concoct the pill of rebirth and investigate the disappearance of the sect's disciples. Of course, they would have to move out during the dead of night as to not alert the other sects that were in the city.

This is simply because the three largest sects in the city which included the Lunar Sect did not get along with each other. Each of them had been trying to outdo the other for years, trying to gain complete control of the city over the other sects.

Although the three sects were currently in a deadlock amongst themselves, with every passing century the master of the Lunar Sect gains a bit more strength over the other sect masters in the city. This is because every hundred years, he sends out his disciples to collect a rare herb that can be used to concoct a pill that allows his body's aging process to regress. 

Meaning every hundred years as the other sect masters grow older and weaker, Sect Master Wang Dao would grow younger and more youthful.

One may wonder why don't the other sects also concoct pills of rebirth, but the answer is simple, it is because none of them know the recipe needed to concoct one. 

So perhaps if the ingredients needed to make the pill of rebirth weren't so rare then all of the grand elders of the Lunar Sect would be given some also, further quickening the increase in strength between the Lunar Sect and the other two sects.

Little did Zhang or the people of the Lunar Sect knew, Zhang and the beauties had actually gotten their hands on what the Lunar Sect was seeking on their trip to the forest. Within Zhang's interspatial ring were quite a few Dragon Blood Lilies that were the base material needed to make pills of rebirth.

Considering only the Lunar Sect possessed the recipe for this pill, not even Lingqi knew of this miraculous pill that let alone many men but countless women would kill for.

A pill that could reverse the flow of time on a person's body. Although saints are considered immortals who can live on endlessly by constantly absorbing essence from the great flow, their bodies still aged at a rate that wouldn't be very noticeable to regular people. 

There was also the fact that many Saint level experts had only managed to break through and attain ascension after hundreds of years, so they would look very old. So female saints, in particular, had always sought after things that could help them reclaim their lost beauty. For some power and prestige meant everything but for others, beauty was not something they were willing to give up either.

Chapter end