Legend had it that a grade-6 pill’s aroma, similar to a master teacher’s Impartation of Heaven’s Will, could draw in spiritual energy that would further raise the quality of the pill.
The guild leader was already a 5-star pinnacle apothecary, and all along, he had been trying to forge higher grade medicine. But due to his lack of cultivation and the guidance of a formidable teacher, he had never succeeded.
He thought that the ultimate limiting factor was his cultivation, but upon seeing this sight, he realized that he was mistaken.
Even though Apothecary Luo came from Hongyuan Empire and was probably more knowledgeable than him, her cultivation was still two whole realms lower than his. After all, she was still much too young.
Thus, in terms of who would be able to forge a grade-6 pill first, he thought that he was in the lead…
But reality clubbed him in his face!
Considering how the other party’s medicinal solution had drawn in spiritual energy with its deep aroma, it had clearly reached grade-6.
“It’s him…”
The guild leader narrowed his eyes, and his body trembled in agitation.
He had been paying close attention throughout the forging process, and Apothecary Luo followed the other party’s instructions strictly. The reason why this forging of a grade-6 medicine succeeded was clearly the credit of this young man.
To be able to allow a Transcendent Mortal 6-dan 5-star apothecary forge a grade-6 pill with his guidance… Wasn’t this just too formidable?
How did he do it?
“Grade-6?”
Hearing the guild leader’s exclamations, everyone’s lips trembled in shock.
The higher grade a pill was, the harder it was to forge it. It wasn’t unheard of for a talented 1-star apothecary to forge a grade-2 pill… but a 5-star apothecary forge a grade-6 pill, never before!
“Having forged a grade-6 pill once before, both Apothecary Luo’s confidence and grasp over the medicinal herbs would surely achieve a great advancement. No doubt about it… she will surely become an incredible apothecary in the future!”
“Indeed. How could I have been so foolish? If I had rushed up to acknowledge him as my teacher, the chance would have been mine!”
“Such a pity! Say, do you think that it’s too late to acknowledge him as my teacher now?”
“I doubt that he would be willing to accept any more students…”
…
Many of the onlookers expressed their regret toward this matter.
As a 5-star apothecary, successfully forging a grade-6 pill was an exceptionally precious experience. Just this in itself would induce a huge improvement in one’s understanding and eye of discernment, thus making it highly likely that one would advance to become a 6-star apothecary in the future.
If they had rushed forward to acknowledge that young man as their teacher before Apothecary Luo, the chance would surely have been theirs… and they wouldn’t be sighing helplessly in regret now.
Hu!
While some of the crowd were wallowing in their disappointment and others were still stunned with shock, the person in question, Apothecary Luo, heaved a huge sigh of relief. She stared quietly at the medicinal solution floating silently before her, and her face slowly flushed in excitement as her body began trembling intensely.
Just as others had guessed, her grasp of pill forging had been brought up a notch, and in the foreseeable future, pill forging would become her greatest expertise among all of her supporting occupations.
She would surely leave many sighing in awe when she returned to Hongyuan Empire.
“Impressive!”
She glanced at the young man before her once more, her eyes gleaming in admiration.
Through just the other party’s guidance, she was actually able to forge such a high-grade medicine. Even the number one apothecary of Hongyuan Empire, the head of the Apothecary School, would find it hard to match up to his eye of discernment and extensive knowledge.
“Teacher!”
Filling the medicinal solution in a jade bottle, she passed the bottle respectfully over to the young man.
“Un!” Grabbing hold of the jade bottle, a hint of agitation appeared in Zhang Xuan’s eyes as well.
He thought that a grade-5 medicinal solution would be a great outcome already, but due to the unexpectedly high maturity of the mediating medicinal herbs and the lack of errors in the forging process, it actually managed to hit grade-6.
If Yuan Tao were to consume it, his Emperor’s Bloodline would surely be awakened by a huge portion, and his cultivation would rise by leaps and bounds.
“The fact that you were able to forge the medicinal solution successfully shows that you possess incredible talent, and I can also see the sincerity behind your acknowledgement. Alright. From today onward, you shall be my apothecary student!”
Suppressing his excitement, Zhang Xuan assumed an indifferent front, as though forging a grade-6 pill was no different from eating or drinking to him.
Despite the threat of an imminent explosion from the cauldron, the other party was actually able to put her trust in him and followed his instructions precisely with composure. Just this in itself reflected the sincerity of her intention to acknowledge Zhang Xuan as her teacher.
“Teacher, thank you for accepting me!”
Upon hearing that she had been accepted by the ‘expert’ before her, Apothecary Luo clasped her fists in excitement and hurriedly kowtowed to complete the acknowledge ceremony.
Knowing the other party’s sincere intentions, Zhang Xuan was satisfied as well. He turned to look at the other party and asked, “Un. What’s your name?”
“I am Luo Qiqi, teacher can call me Qiqi!” Apothecary Luo said.
“Qiqi? Un. Then from today onward, I shall call you Little Qi…” Zhang Xuan nodded.
“Yes!” Luo Qiqi replied in delight.
“Alright, I still have things to attend to, so I’ll be leaving for now!”
The stone pillar challenge at the Mystical Treasure Hall and concocting the medicinal solution in the Apothecary Guild-all in all, around ten hours had passed. It was about time for the crown prince’s banquet to begin, and given that the slots for the Cleansing Lake were at stake, he had to be present.
“Yes…”
Seeing that the other party was going to leave, Luo Qiqi felt a little disappointed.
“Pill forging is an accumulation of experience, not something one can achieve mastery in all of a sudden. Try to comprehend what I taught you today, and you will surely improve greatly!” Having seen through Luo Qiqi’s thoughts, Zhang Xuan said.
Luo Qiqi nodded her head. Following which, Zhang Xuan took out ten middle-tier spirit stones and passed it over to the guild leader, “Here is the money for the medicinal herbs!”
If not for the guild leader bringing out so many valuable medicinal herbs, it would be impossible for the medicinal solution to have reached grade-6. Unwilling to take advantage of the other party, Zhang Xuan decided to pay a reasonable sum to the other party.
On the way here, Sun Qiang had passed the 700 middle-tier spirit stones which he took from the Sixth Young Mistress to him.
“This… It’s my honor to be able to see a medicine of such quality to be forged within my lifetime, how can I accept your money…” The guild leader hurriedly turned down Zhang Xuan’s gesture.
“Take it!” Zhang Xuan threw the spirit stones over.
If the other party didn’t accept it, it could be seen as that he owed the other party a favor, and Zhang Xuan detested incurring such a relationship. Instead of causing possible problems in the future, he would rather repay his debts on the spot.
“Alright!”
The guild leader also could tell Zhang Xuan’s intentions from his insistence. He shook his head in disappointment, knowing that he had lost a chance to get acquainted with a talented apothecary.
“Farewell!”
After throwing the spirit stones over, Zhang Xuan walked out of the hall.
Watching as he slowly disappeared into the distance, Luo Qiqi hurriedly shouted, “Teacher… Where can I find you?”
With his hands behind his back, Zhang Xuan stopped, and an impassive voice sounded. “Remember this, my name is Zhang Xuan!”
…
“It has been some time already, why isn’t Young Master out yet? The crown prince’s banquet is about to start already!”
Outside the hall, Sun Qiang was pacing around the corridor anxiously.
“Indeed!” Yuan Tao tried to peek into the hall, but the doors were tightly shut, preventing him from seeing anything at all.
Before entering, Zhang Xuan had told them to wait outside. However, four hours had already passed, and there was no sign of him. It was inevitable that they would be worried.
Besides, the crown prince’s banquet was about to start. The motive of the banquet was to vie for the slots of the Cleansing Lake. If the champion of Hongfeng Empire were to not appear in such an important banquet, wouldn’t Hong shi be in tears?
Just the Master Teacher Tournament back then was enough to reduce that 5-star master teacher to tears. If Zhang Xuan were to miss out on this banquet as well, who knew if that old man would be able to take the blow?
“Young lady, may I trouble you to enter and call our young master out?”
After waiting another moment longer in futility, Sun Qiang turned to the young lady beside him.
It was the front receptionist who had brought them over.
“This… I’m sorry, but I can’t. Only official apothecaries can enter, and if I were to enter without permission, I would surely be punished. In the worst-case scenario, I might even face expulsion…”
The young lady quickly shook her head.
How could a mere receptionist like her be qualified to attend such a grand apothecary conference?
“This… but you’re all members of the Apothecary Guild, not to mention, you are only entering to find someone. Surely they won’t go that far?”
Sun Qiang frowned.
“They will!”
Deference surfaced on the eyes of the young lady. “Apothecary, as an Upper Nine Paths occupation, possesses exceptional standing in society. Due to that, it also has strict rules governing its members, especially when it comes to etiquette. It’s not like you’ve never seen how official apothecaries, dressed in their occupation robes, hold themselves with grace and majesty…”
Just as she was in the midst of explaining the rules governing apothecaries, ‘jiya!’, the gate was suddenly knocked open.
Following which, a large group of 3-star and 4-star apothecaries dashed out of the room fearfully. Some of them dropped their hats while others had their robes torn. In fact, there was even one who, due to sheer panic, bumped into the pillar, and at this moment, was lying on the ground as though a dead pig…
At this moment, instead of proud apothecaries, they looked like a group of refugees instead.
“This… is the grace and majesty you were talking about?”
Yuan Tao and Sun Qiang widened their eyes in shock.
“…” The young lady found her vision darkening at the sight as well.
As the front receptionist, she often came into contact with these apothecaries. Usually, all of them would hold themselves proudly, exuding an air that distanced others from them. But now… they resembled defeated mercenaries, stripping of their armor and tossing apart their weapons to flee as fast as they could. Their appearances couldn’t possibly look any worse than this.
Weren’t they listening to a lecture inside?
Why were they fleeing like frightened lambs then?
Just what in the world was being lectured inside?
Apothecaries streamed out of the hall ceaselessly, and every single one of them had a panicked look on their faces. At the moment, Yuan Tao thought of something and swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
“It can’t be that teacher… has done something inside again?”
“This…”
Sun Qiang stroked his lower jaws and nodded his head. “Now that you say it, there does seem to be such a possibility!”
The young master was the type of person who had to cause a pandemonium no matter where he went. Just in the Master Teacher Tournament itself, he left all of the competitors on the verge of insanity. While he only said that he was going to find a 5-star apothecary to forge the medicinal solution for him, could he have caused some kind of trouble?
The possibility would be so low that they wouldn’t entertain such thoughts if it was someone else, but their young master… The more they thought about it, the more likely it seemed to be true!
“Your young master? How is that possible? Don’t worry, given that he’s only a 3-star apothecary, it’s impossible for him to stir something of such scale!”
Recovering from her shock, the young lady shook her head upon hearing the duo’s conversation.
She had met the person in question, and she knew that the other party was only a 3-star apothecary.
There was a huge bunch of apothecaries of such rank in the guild. Even if the other party did try to start something, how big of a mess could he cause?
“That’s hard to say…” Sun Qiang shook his head.
“You’re thinking too much. Our guild has a lot of 5-star apothecaries. While a 3-star apothecary might be a formidable existence in other branches, before them, he doesn’t mean much at all…” replied the young lady.
She was just about to continue speaking when, ‘jiya’, the entrance opened once more and the ‘young master’ from before walked out casually.
“Farewell, Apothecary Zhang!”
“Apothecary Zhang, if you find yourself with some spare time, our guild would be honored to have you here! If you could conduct a lecture, we’d be most grateful!”
Following which, the guild leader and the numerous elders of the guild walked out and bowed humbly as they saw him off. Within their eyes, one could see respect and admiration.
“…” The young lady burst into tears.
Shouldn’t that guy be unable to stir anything of sizeable scale? Shouldn’t that guy mean nothing to you?
What in the world is going on?
