Ye Taide's self-deprecating remark, of course, was only for the worst-case scenario. If at all possible, neither he, Shi Hanyang, nor Jiang Ling wished to easily offend cultivators with such deep backgrounds as Yan Hao or Yu Weifeng. "Since Brother Ye has made up his mind to act, then we shall join forces to seize that Ziyou Lotus."

Shi Hanyang said this, his expression turning serious, gazing intently at Ye Qin under the bright sun. "However, there is one more thing I need to confirm first. The Ziyou Lotus is divided into several parts: the seeds, the flower, the receptacle, and so on. The seeds can be refined into Spirit Root Potential Pills; the flower can be forged into an Avatar Magical Tool; and the receptacle can be refined into an auxiliary cultivation artifact, which is immensely helpful for improving cultivation. These items have different effects. Jiang Ling cultivates alone, and every bit of spirit root potential is extremely important to him; he wants the seeds. I want the flower. Zheng Chenghui desires the receptacle. If the four of us are lucky enough to successfully seize the Ziyou Lotus, which part do you want, Brother Ye? We need to plan the distribution beforehand to avoid conflict later."

"Brother Shi, why don't you want the seeds?"

Ye Qin didn't answer directly, but instead asked with a strange look on his face.

"It’s not that I don't want them, but they are useless to me. Brother, do you remember the Five Spirits Fruit we obtained at Lü Family Fort? After I arrived in the East Sea, I constantly sought out alchemists to refine it into a Golden Core Formation Pill. Later, I nearly exhausted all my wealth to entrust a Grandmaster Alchemist from the Heaven Demon Alliance to refine that Five Spirits Fruit into a Golden Core Formation Pill. Although I successfully formed a Golden Core, the spirit stones I brought from the Central Lands are now very few. The cost to refine even one Spirit Root Potential Pill is unimaginably huge. Even if I obtained the seeds now, I wouldn't have enough wealth to find an alchemist to refine them into the pills. Therefore, I don’t hold much hope for the Spirit Root Potential Pill; I only need to obtain one flower."

Shi Hanyang gave a wry smile and shook his head. "Besides, if I were to pursue the seeds, how could Jiang Ling possibly join forces with me?" "Then what do you want the flower for? Are you trying to cultivate some kind of avatar spell?" Ye Qin was even more puzzled. "I have my uses for the flower, so don't ask so many questions. Just tell me which part you want?" Shi Hanyang said seriously. "I only need one lotus root from the Ziyou Lotus; you can take the rest," Ye Qin said after a moment's thought. "You want the root? What can a lotus root be used for?"

Shi Hanyang was somewhat surprised; he hadn't expected Ye Qin to ask for the most inconspicuous part of the Ziyou Lotus.

"Heh heh, just as Brother Shi said, this Ziyou Lotus is precious all over. Its root is naturally a very fine spiritual item; it can be used in medicine to refine elixirs required by cultivators in the late stage of the Golden Core realm. I am calculating how to research a new alchemy formula that requires the Ziyou Lotus root. I am already a Grandmaster Alchemist and plan to devise my own formula."

Ye Qin smiled lightly.

"Since what you want is the root, there is no conflict among us; we can fully cooperate."

Shi Hanyang nodded.

Since what Ye Qin wanted was different from theirs, he wasn't too concerned about it.

Suddenly, Shi Hanyang’s gaze locked onto Ye Qin blankly.

"Uh—" "Wait, what did you just say? You are already a Grandmaster Alchemist?"

Shi Hanyang was greatly shocked, his voice even trembling.

He knew Ye Qin originated from the Green Pill Sect but was unaware of Ye Qin’s skill level in alchemy, assuming he was just an ordinary alchemist. He had never imagined Ye Qin's alchemy skills would be so high.

Because of past experiences in the Saint Emperor Ruins and Lü Family Fort, his cultivation had always been higher than Ye Qin's, and he had naturally regarded Ye Qin as someone he could casually recruit as a subordinate. But now, Shi Hanyang's mindset had completely changed.

In the East Sea, the status of a Grandmaster Alchemist was far higher than that of an ordinary Golden Core cultivator—they were the objects fiercely sought after by various Immortal Palaces, merchant guilds, alliances, and other powers. Moreover, Ye Qin’s cultivation was not lower than his; now, Ye Qin's standing in the East Sea Cultivation World was absolutely stronger than his, and by more than just a little. Frankly speaking, he currently lacked the foundation or qualification to try and recruit a Golden Core cultivator like Ye Qin.

Thinking of this, Shi Hanyang’s old face flushed red with embarrassment, regretting some of his earlier overly casual words. Fortunately, his usual complexion was ruddy anyway, so the flush wasn't obvious.

"If I had known this earlier, I might as well have asked Ye Qin to help refine my Golden Core Formation Pill. Based on our past friendship, I could have paid a few less points in refinement fees, saving some wealth, and I wouldn't be in such a tight spot now."

He quickly let the matter go, coughed lightly, and lowered his voice, "Brother Ye, now that you are a Grandmaster Alchemist, that is an extremely impressive level of alchemy. There aren’t many Grandmaster Alchemists in Immortal Palace City. Since your alchemy skills are so profound, perhaps we need to reconsider and plan the distribution of the Ziyou Lotus."

Then, he asked with a grave expression, "If we seize the Ziyou Lotus, as a Grandmaster Alchemist, are you confident in refining the Spirit Root Potential Pill from the five-colored lotus seeds? What is the success rate—is it thirty percent? Or perhaps only ten percent?" "I can't refine it. If I refine a hundred batches, a hundred batches will definitely fail. Any Grandmaster Alchemist refining it will get the same result." Ye Qin shook his head without hesitation. "Why? Can Grandmaster Alchemists not refine Tier Ten raw materials and elixirs? For a Grandmaster Alchemist, Tier Ten shouldn't be too high, right?" Shi Hanyang asked in surprise.

Ye Qin shook his head. "Brother Shi, you have misunderstood one point from the very beginning. The Ziyou Lotus is actually divided into five parts: the root, the flower, the chamber, the receptacle, and the seed. Among these, the root is a Tier Eight spiritual item; the chamber is a Tier Nine spiritual item; the receptacle is a Tier Ten spiritual item; the flower is a Tier Eleven spiritual item; and the seed is a Tier Twelve spiritual item. Furthermore, the seed and the flower do not exist simultaneously. Only after the flower withers will the seed mature."

The Cultivation World customarily refers to the Ziyou Lotus as a Tier Ten spiritual item, but this designation actually incorporates the five parts—seed, flower, chamber, receptacle, and root—to define it as Tier Ten. The individual seed is considered Tier Twelve. The Spirit Root Potential Pill is also a Tier Twelve elixir. As a Grandmaster Alchemist, I can currently skillfully refine elixirs from Tier Eight raw materials, achieving a zero to twenty percent success rate for Tier Nine. For Tier Ten alchemy raw materials, in extremely unexpected circumstances, there might be a slim chance of refining one batch successfully. For Tier Twelve elixirs, it is an absolute failure, with no possibility of luck. Therefore, as a Grandmaster Alchemist, I currently cannot refine the Spirit Root Potential Pill." "What?! That seed of the Ziyou Lotus... is actually a Tier Twelve alchemy raw material?"

Shi Hanyang was dumbfounded, utterly shocked.

Ye Qin sighed slightly. "Yes, precisely Tier Twelve. Many cultivators believe the Ziyou Lotus is a Tier Ten spiritual item and thus treat the Spirit Root Potential Pill as a Tier Ten elixir, thinking Grandmaster Alchemists can refine it, but in reality, they cannot. I wasn't clear on this point initially; only after carefully reading the Green Pill Sect’s formula for the 'Spirit Root Potential Pill' did I become certain that I currently cannot refine such an elixir."

"Then how high must an alchemist's skill be to refine it?"

Shi Hanyang quickly asked.

"Alchemy Divine Master! Only by becoming an Alchemy Divine Master can one refine a Tier Twelve elixir."

Ye Qin stated with certainty.

"Brother Ye, how long before you can reach the Divine Master level?"

Shi Hanyang inquired again.

"That's hard to say. Before reaching Grandmaster Alchemist, one only needs continuous alchemy practice over many years to accumulate experience for a breakthrough. However, to reach the realm of Alchemy Divine Master requires extremely high alchemy talent; it cannot be broken through merely by diligent practice. I estimate that within the next twenty to thirty years, I will only reach the peak of Grandmaster Alchemist, significantly improving the success rates for Tier Eight and Tier Nine elixirs, with no hope of breaking through to the Divine Master realm." Ye Qin shook his head again.

He was not anxious about refining the Spirit Root Potential Pill. He and Huangfu Bing'er had just stepped into the first layer of the Golden Core stage; the Nascent Soul stage was still far off. He only needed to refine the Spirit Root Potential Pill before Huangfu Bing'er faced the bottleneck of breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage to harmonize her Ice-Fire spirit roots.

The most crucial thing now was to first find the Ziyou Lotus and store it in his Purple Mansion, so he could retrieve it for refinement whenever the time was right in the future. "The Spirit Root Potential Pill is actually that difficult! It seems Jiang Ling might not even have a chance to refine it even if he gets the seeds," Shi Hanyang murmured for a while, extremely regretful.

If Ye Qin could refine the Spirit Root Potential Pill, he might even consider snatching the seeds, as the seeds were considerably more valuable than the flower. Unfortunately, Ye Qin couldn't refine it for now, so seizing the seeds would be useless.

While Ye Qin and Shi Hanyang were discussing entering the Langya Secret Realm cooperatively, the battle situation in the tunnel within the mountain peak also began to change.

The Sea Demon Strongman’s strength was truly terrifying. He only blocked this location, obstructing cultivators from entering the Langya Secret Realm, trying his best to delay time. Alone, he managed to hold back the crowd of Golden Core cultivators in this tunnel for three to four hours.

Fortunately, such a terrifying Sea Demon Strongman, whose strength rivaled that of a late-stage Golden Core cultivator, only appeared as a single entity.

That Sea Demon Horse was a high-grade water-elemental sea beast, Tier Nine. Now, its demonic power was almost exhausted, and the water arrows it reluctantly shot out possessed little residual power. The Strongman was also at his physical limit; his giant silver spear wobbled precariously and could no longer break through the cultivators' high-grade magical artifacts.

The Golden Core cultivators, who had been impatiently held outside the tunnel, finally showed joy and began to intensify their frantic attacks, attempting to break through the blockade.

"Hurry, charge through! We've already delayed three or four hours; those Earth Clan Strongmen must have swept up all the spiritual items in the Langya Secret Realm! If we don't rush in now, we won't even find dregs left behind," Yan Hao roared in frustration.

Yu Weifeng, who was observing the battle nearby, appeared unconcerned by Yan Hao’s impatience and rage. In his view, even if the Earth Clan entered the Langya Secret Realm a few hours earlier, they might not have seized many spiritual items. The Langya Secret Realm also contained countless fierce beasts guarding those spiritual items; how could those beasts be so easily dealt with?

Seeing that the Sea Demon Strongman was about to give way, Yan Hao personally charged into the narrow tunnel, unleashing several high-grade flying sword artifacts in a fierce attack. Instantly, the light of the artifacts flared brightly, and the killing intent was overwhelming.

The Sea Demon Strongman resisted with extreme difficulty. After blocking one wave of attacks, he knew he couldn't hold on any longer. With a furious roar, he turned and fled. The speed of the Sea Demon Horse in the water was shocking; in the blink of an eye, it escaped without a trace. "It’s clear! Hurry inside!"

Dozens of Golden Core cultivators, seeing the Sea Demon Strongman flee, were overjoyed. Those chatting casually, or sitting in meditation, all leaped up excitedly and rushed toward the narrow tunnel with great speed. At this moment, not a trace of hesitation or slackness was visible among them.