Qi refiners were a rarely seen lineage among cultivators to begin with. The techniques that they cultivated were close to Great Dao. It was adept in observing fate, making it extremely mysterious and abstruse.
Presently, there were a group of qi refiners among the Great Liang Dynasty's imperial astronomers who specialized in deducing the Great Liang Dynasty's national fate, seeing advantages and avoiding disadvantage. However, Great Liang Dynasty's own qi refiners could only be said to pale in comparison with those foreign land qi refiners. There was no comparison at all.
However, there was no way of knowing whether the four people in the main hall currently were imperial astronomers or foreign cultivators.
Chen Chao was not in a hurry either, he just lay on the beam, waiting for these few people to cultivate. He did not believe that he could not get any useful information.
Sure enough, after more than two hours, those few earthly-yellow silk threads that connected the few people began to fade. The mountain god statue also started swaying at this moment. It was just that the magnitude was not great. If one did not observe carefully, it could not be seen clearly.
Sneaking a glance outside, the sky had already turned completely dark.
By the time Chen Chao turned his head, the few individuals here had already gotten up.
Then, Chen Chao saw them each take out three sticks of thin incense from their personal belongings. The thin incenses were entirely golden. There should also be some gold dust on it. The thin incense in the four people's hands was roughly divided into two categories. The thin incenses in the hands of that young man who started talking right at the beginning and another girl were exactly the same. The two of them should be from the same sect. While the thin incenses in the other two people's hands were largely identical with only minor differences. Who knew whether they were from the same sect or not?
The four people each lit their incense. Then, they bowed deeply in front of that mountain god statue, as if to thank it.
Regarding this strange rule of qi refiners, probably only qi refiners knew about it. Even if others were to read a few more books about qi refiners, they would not be able to fully understand it too.
Only after inserting the thin incense in front of that mountain god statue, did the four people nod their heads.
The young man who was previously the first to sit down and cultivate said with some regret, "These joss fire has eroded too much. Otherwise, we'd have been able to cultivate for the whole night."
Although he was talking about the joss fire, in reality, he was complaining about these three people. There was just this one previous dynasty's mountain god and you guys really had the cheek to snatch it from me.
The remaining three people could naturally discern the implicit meaning in the young man's words. That female Fellow Daoist Yan frowned slightly but did not say anything from start to end. As for the other woman, her face revealed unhappiness and she wanted to say something, but the corner of her clothes was tugged by her senior apprentice brother. So she could not drop it.
As for that young man who spoke first, he said, "Fellow Daoist Guo, don't mind it."
His voice was lukewarm like a spring breeze.
But that young man who was surnamed Guo just forced a fake smile with the corners of his mouth.
The young man did not care either. He just quickly found some dry firewood and started a fire.
The four people sat in front of the fire, each with different thoughts.
The girl who was surnamed Yan suddenly said, "There was something strange on this journey. I wonder if fellow daoists noticed it?"
The man who was surnamed Guo frowned and said, "Fairy Yan, this isn't the Luo Tian Conference. There's no need to mystify things."
The expression of the woman surnamed Yan changed slightly, but she did not really shed all pretenses of cordiality with the young man in front of her. Instead, she turned to look at the pair of apprentice brother and sister who were from the same sect.
The woman subconsciously looked toward her senior apprentice brother.
"Does Fellow Daoist Yan want to talk about how we didn't encounter demons on this trip?"
The young man glanced opposite and said softly, "I've been thinking about this thing too."
Under the Great Liang Dynasty's rule, apart from the vicinity of the Divine Capital, where else would dare say that there were no demons plundering?
Let alone this remote land. There should be demons running rampant.
The woman surnamed Yan said with a nod, "There's something amiss when things don't make sense. We should be careful."
This time, without waiting for the young man to speak, the man surnamed Guo interrupted with a sneer, "Fairy Yan is probably overthinking it. How can there be so many troublesome matters?"
Being repeatedly provoked like this, the woman surnamed Yan finally could not hold herself back. She said in a solemn voice, "Guo Xi, you and I are not representing ourselves this time. This is a serious matter, shouldn't we be more careful?!"
Guo Xi's expression was dark and he said with a cold smile, "Yan Ruoshui, you really dare to talk to me in this manner?"
Yan Ruoshui snorted coldly. Her sect was called South Heaven Sect. It was not considered first-rate among qi refiner sects and could not compare to Guo Xi's Three Streams Manor. So before she left, her sect had already instructed her not to clash with Guo Xi as much as possible.
Except, facing Guo Xi's repeated provocation under pretext, Yan Ruoshui could not restrain herself anymore.
"Fellow Daoist Guo, I hope you understand that our journey this time is representing our respective sects. Furthermore, the matter isn't trivial, so we should be cautious!"
Yan Ruoshui forcefully endured her anger and gritted her teeth as she spoke.
Guo Xi did not care in the slightest as he said, "This is the reason why you mystified things?"
Yan Ruoshui stared at Guo Xi and said coldly, "Guo Xi, don't bully people too far!"
"Oh yeah? Even if I'm bullying you, what can you do?!"
Guo Xi had an indifferent look. The sect behind him was much stronger than the girl in front of him.
Seeing the two people quarreling, the young man hurriedly came out to smooth things over, "Two fellow daoists, both of you please stop talking. This trip isn't for ourselves, it's to conduct business for our sects. Don't let it affect the harmony."
"Chi Ganquan, when is it your turn to speak?"
Facing Chi Ganquan, Guo Xi did not feel grateful in the least bit. He sneered coldly and said, "To tell you the truth, Your Father looks down on people like you most of all! Pretending to be some goody-two-shoes. Who can't discern that you're interested in Yan Ruoshui?!"
Yan Ruoshui's expression changed slightly, but she did not speak.
Hearing the other party humiliate her senior apprentice brother like this, the woman was just about to open her mouth, but Chi Ganquan tugged the corner of her clothes.
Chi Ganquan clasped his hands with a bitter smile and stopped talking.
Her own sect was far inferior to these two people in front of her. So naturally, she could only exercise forbearance in all aspects.
Guo Xi's words successfully made the atmosphere turn heavy. Yan Ruoshui also lost interest in talking.
Because of Guo Xi's deliberate incitement, it somewhat disappointed Chen Chao who wanted to find out some things from them. Presently, he only gleaned that tiny bit of information. He knew that these few people were definitely not imperial astronomer qi refiners, but were from foreign lands. Guo Xi's sect had a higher status, followed by Yan Ruoshui.
The ones with the lowest status were that pair of apprentice brother and sister.
And the few people came here under certain orders from their respective sects.
Chen Chao also silently ranked these four people.
That junior apprentice sister whose name was not yet known, her realm should be the lowest judging by her aura. Next would be Chi Ganquan, followed by Guo Xi and Yan Ruoshui.
It was not that Chen Chao felt that Guo Xi could not beat Yan Ruoshui. It was just that he thought that this person was a little dimwitted.
It was a big problem.
People who had problems with their heads, no matter how powerful they were, were not considered formidable too.
It was just that very soon, Chen Chao changed the order again.
He put Guo Xi back in the first place.
He felt that this person was very dangerous.
