Chapter 613: You and I Are On the Same Path
Now just a member of the crowd, the dazed Grandmaster Saintlowe heard the cheering of the crowd and wasn’t sure how to react.
“It can really... reduce the curse?” he murmured. He didn’t want to believe it. Even now, after Fourth Vice-Bishop had personally confirmed it, he just didn’t think it could be real. From ancient times until now, no one had ever done this.
It had been difficult enough for him to improve the painquelling lozenge. He had worked harder on that project than anything in his life, and had read countless ancient records about the curse. And he understood the curse better than just about anyone. As a result, he knew that permanently reducing the curse was nothing short of a miracle! Saintlowe’s mind and heart were reeling, and his eyes were bloodshot.
Some distance away, Xu Qing looked at him, then waved his hand, sending a cursequelling lozenge toward him. Eyes widening, Saintlowe caught the pill and looked at Xu Qing.
Everyone was watching, and everyone had their own opinion of what was happening. As for the ardent followers of Grandmaster Saintlowe, they felt bitterness deep in their heart, as they prepared to have countless humiliating words directed at them.
Except, Xu Qing didn’t do anything like that.
Looking calmly at Saintlowe, he said, “Grandmaster Saintlowe, you and I are both cultivators who pursue the dao of alchemy. Because of that, we both know more than anyone else what all alchemists in the Moonrite Region dream of.
“While other people are working on cultivation, we’re researching the curse. While other people are enjoying themselves, we’re studying old books. The reason is that we want to get rid of that curse. And even if we can’t, we record our research and leave it for the next generation. To give them hope. That is the mission of alchemy cultivators in the Moonrite Region.” nove(l)bi(n.)com
There was no sarcasm in Xu Qing’s words. He understood Grandmaster Saintlowe.
Shivering, Saintlowe looked at Xu Qing and opened his mouth as if to speak. No words came out. Many emotions had flitted through him on this day. At first, he had been proud and arrogant. Next he was shaken. And finally, he was filled with intense doubt and defiance. Now... all of those emotions clumped together into something very complicated. And that was because Xu Qing's words had struck home. Although he did like fame and recognition, behind that, there was a personal dream.
“Grandmaster Saintlowe, consider that pill a gift from me,” Xu Qing continued. “I can’t figure out how to get rid of the curse on my own. So let’s do it together....”
Xu Qing clasped hands and bowed at the waist.
Saintlowe could sense Xu Qing’s sincerity, and it only made the feelings within him more complex. He was confused, and more than that, ashamed. All of his followers looked similarly filled with mixed emotions.
Fourth Vice-Bishop looked at Xu Qing, his eyes gleaming with respect. He could tell that this Grandmaster Pill Nine was being sincere, and was speaking the truth from his heart.
Saintlowe took a deep breath. Looking very solemn, he approached Xu Qing, then clasped his hands together and bowed deeply.
“Grandmaster Pill Nine, just now I... ai.” Shaking his head, he bowed again.
Xu Qing nodded. Without another word, he went back into his temple. The reality was that Xu Qing didn’t like dramatic situations like this. If Saintlowe hadn’t openly provoked him, he would never have taken the spotlight. In the blink of an eye, he was inside his temple and out of sight. Taking out ten cursequelling lozenges, he put them in the sphere of light. Then, just before leaving, he distributed a cursequelling lozenge to each of his followers.
His departure did not reduce the excitement in the hearts of the members of the Moonrebel Congregation. It was really true that, in the entire history of the Moonrite Region, no one had ever been able to reduce the curse. And Pill Nine’s final words to Grandmaster Saintlowe established a pattern that left a deep impression on everyone.
Before long, the members of the Moonrebel Congregation were respectfully filing through Xu Qing’s temple to examine the cursequelling lozenges and see how much they cost. The asking price... left everyone feeling even more deeply respectful. It was basically the same price as his old painquelling lozenge. All he wanted were some medicinal plants and research information.
“Now that’s a grandmaster...” someone said, and those words were echoed in the hearts of all the cultivators of the Moonrebel Congregation.
From that moment on, the name ‘Pill Nine’ became embedded deeply in the hearts of everyone in the Moonrebel Congregation. It was easy to imagine how many more people would want to consume whatever new pills he concocted in the future. The impression he had made seeped down into the soul.
Xu Qing had an idea of all that, but didn’t care very much. Back in the Green Spirit Pharmacy, he returned his focus to the golden crow research. He really wanted to know what an imperial-class technique was on a substructural level. And he wanted to know how to dig deeper into the truth of the golden crow.
All of a sudden, Nethersprite stood up, her eyes blazing and her cultivation base pulsing. Glaring at Ning Yan, who was scrubbing the floor right in front of her, she snapped, “Get out of my way!”
Forcing herself under control, she carried the kettle over to the Heir Apparent and started another cup of tea for him. Then she stood off to the side.
“Xu Qing,” the Heir Apparent said, pushing the cup of boiling tea in front of Xu Qing and pointing at it. “Tell me, what is water? And why does it get hot? What are tea leaves? Why does the water change color when you pour it onto the tea leaves? Why does it taste different?”
Xu Qing’s gaze hardened as he looked at the cup of tea in front of him. “It’s because—”
“That’s not the point,” the Heir Apparent interrupted. He held out his hand toward Sprouty, who was on the table next to him.
Sprouty swayed back and forth obediently until a tiny leaflet fell down. The Heir Apparent put the leaflet into the tea. It floated on the surface.
“Understand now?”
Xu Qing sat in thought quietly, his eyes closed.
Ning Yan had stopped scrubbing and was standing there looking introspective. He knew that advice from a Smoldering God was a rare thing, and he didn’t want to miss out. It was the same with the Captain, who also looked thoughtful. Li Youfei was similarly paying close attention.
After a long moment, a tremor passed through Xu Qing. Eyes opening, he looked at the leaflet in the tea for a moment. Then he stood up.
“I understand, Senior!” Struggling to control his breathing, he bowed. He knew where he had been going wrong, and also knew what to do about it. Turning, he returned to the back room.
The Heir Apparent smiled and nodded slightly. He was impressed with Xu Qing’s powers of understanding.
The Captain sighed in a way that seemed to say he understood everything that just happened. Ning Yan blinked a few times and looked similarly enlightened. In contrast, the parrot seemed confused as he looked at the tea, then the leaflet. Finally, he looked around at everyone else.
“Grandpa,” he said quietly, “I don’t get it. What do they understand that I don’t...?”
The Heir Apparent lifted the cup and took a sip. “I was explaining coexistence. When the tea leaves and the water combine, they make something better. And when Sprouty’s leaflet dropped into the water, it was about loss and acceptance.”
The parrot got it. Ning Yan nodded. The Captain seemed deeply understanding.
In the back room, Xu Qing’s eyes gleamed as he sat down cross-legged. As the solution rocked his mind, he contemplated what he had learned.
When the tea leaves and the water combine, it’s like the consolidation of a great dao. However, everybody can return to their original state. All living beings have an original essence. Therefore, the Heir Apparent was pointing out that, in reality, everything can be separated.
Sprouty’s leaflet is the same. Even after falling down, that leaflet is still part of Sprouty’s essence. In other words... he was telling me that they’re still a unified whole!
He wants me to deepen my research. To magnify it. Then break down the golden crow into all its parts. To peel it down. Find the golden crow’s essence! I understand now. That’s the essence of an imperial-class technique. It’s substructure! I was focusing on the wrong thing. I shouldn’t be observing things from the outside. And the same goes for instigating transformations. Instead, I should focus on the inside! On the finer details!
Moved, Xu Qing looked in the direction of the main sales floor, and his respect for the Heir Apparent grew even deeper.
Meanwhile, as the Heir Apparent lifted his tea cup again, he could sense that something was happening in the back room.
Hold on, what did he gain enlightenment of?
