Chapter 234 Sage of Medicine

An unnatural gust of wind blew suddenly. The onlookers cowered and retreated in fear of being caught in the blast of Xiao Chen's blow. Through the slits of their eyes, they saw with their own eyes that the man was about to be killed when he suddenly vanished at where he stood, only to reappear a split second later at several meters away.

No one had foreseen this would happen; everybody had thought that the man would be killed! But how could he have moved so quickly?!

Xiao Chen was wearing a thin smile. He withdrew his stroke and said coolly to the man, "You said earlier that you are but a common man. Does a common man command the magic of the levels of the Foundation Building Realm?"

"XIAO CHEN! HOW DARE YOU!" But that was all the man could say. With just a glimpse of his ferocious aura and the man's own reflexes, Xiao Chen had exposed him as a charlatan who had tried to inflame the crowd against him.

"You would have already been dead if I really wished it so," Xiao Chen said plainly and he addressed the crowd, "I believe everyone can see that this man intends only to slander me."

The dawning comprehension hit the crowd like an emotional wave. Realizing that they had been tricked, several members of the crowd looked at the young man and his sackcloth-clad cohorts with fuming glares. Even the few old wives had stowed away their handkerchieves and were boiling with fury.

"Let's go!" The young man growled, leading his cohorts away with him and disappeared into the crowd.

Xiao Chen snorted. At the top of his voice, he bellowed, "Anyone from Clans Ling or Zuoqiu, hear me! I challenge you, all of you! I shall be waiting for you all upon the arena in the Immortal's Sword Assembly that will be held three months from now! Let us meet there and fight honorably instead! Enough with all the cloak and dagger lest you dishonor yourselves!"

Yu Yifeng gave a breath of relief; his back was already soaked with a sheen of cold sweat. "I was so afraid that you would really..."

Xiao Chen smiled at him, "Rest assured, Brother Yifeng. I've had enough of your ranting to last me a lifetime that I should be careful and prudent."

With the brief episode on the street finally at an end, they moved on, finally arriving at their lodgings before the sun was fully gone. During the way, Xiao Chen did not fail to notice that there was something wrong about Qingluan. But she refused to admit anything no matter how he asked her.

Zi Mo was talking to another old man, whose long beard and hair were white as snow, when they reached their lodgings. They saw Xiao Chen walking into the courtyard of the compound and Zi Mo got up. "How was it? Are you well?"

Xiao Chen smiled and shook his head. "Great Immortal from Hell," Xiao Chen teased playfully, "Things would be unwell if you had really slain the two Envoys."

"Shhhh!" Zi Mo threw his arms up and rushed forward in an attempt to stop him from saying more. There was no stopping his child-like shenanigans.

Perfected Immortal Qing Chen could only snigger at his junior's antics. He walked to the old man and beckoned at Xiao Chen, "Come. Allow me to present to you, Perfected Immortal Tai Yi of the Order of the Countless Blades."

The Jade Qing Seven enjoyed close friendships and connections with many across the Five Continents. Xiao Chen went to the old man and bowed to him, "Greetings, Perfected Immortal Tai Yi. My name is Xiao Chen."

Perfected Immortal Tai Yi nodded with a commending smile, "This boy is not half bad."

They began exchanging news and greetings while getting themselves comfortably settled into their lodgings. Xiao Chen waited until the sky was fully dark and said to his seniors, "I'd take my leave for a moment, Seniors. I'll be back in a moment."

Yu Yifeng stopped him just before he went out. He looked worried. "It's already dark, Junior Brother Xiao. Where are you off to at this hour?"

"It'll just take a moment. I'm fine," Xiao Chen replied, wearing a smile to console him. Before he went out, he looked briefly at Qingluan, indicating to her that he wished to be alone and no one should follow.

Once he was out of the compound, Xiao Chen walked and navigated through the streets with amazing ease. He entered a small, darkened alleyway and stopped face to face with a man.

"Master Gui Xian, what brings you here?" He had picked up Gui Xian's presence during the company's way to their lodgings.

Gui Xian threw his green hood and cape back to reveal himself. "I came as soon as I got wind of your arrest by the League. How are you? I'm sorry that you have gotten in trouble for my sake..."

Xiao Chen stopped him with a hand. "It's fine. I was just thinking about looking for you. I need a medicine that can remove scars from one's face. Do you have a recipe for such a medicine?"

Xiao Chen had always feared Zuoqiu Que's prowess with medicine as an Elixir King. But Gui Xian's deftness with medicine was on another level; mysterious yet impeccable in some ways that made Xiao Chen feel that Gui Xian's skills were far more superior.

"Remove scar? You can get something like that anywhere? Why do you need to ask me for?"

"No," Xiao Chen remarked, "I need something that can cure the scars caused by a venom known as the Thousand Spiders Poison." He remembered what Ziyun'er had told him about the scar on Qingluan's face that it was caused by this venom.

Gui Xian was startled to hear the name of the venom; clearly, he was no stranger to its potency. But he immediately looked apologetic. "I might be able to produce something that can be of such use to you, only if I have my former powers. But now that I'm a... Well, the Thousand Spiders Poison is one of the most tricky substances in existence. Concocting an effective cure would require a reactant, something rare; one that will enable me to brew something useful."

"And what is this reactant that you require?" Xiao Chen asked. He was beginning to feel troubled; Gui Xian's mention of "rare" did not seem to bode well.

"The sap from a fully-matured Spirited Lingzhi."

The revelation brought a frown to Xiao Chen. Spirited Lingzhi was a type of magical herb, one of the rarest of the kind. It was a magical herb which had absorbed years and years of a never-ending supply of the Earth's natural aura and had undergone a full mutation with its potency increased.

It took three thousand years for a Spirited Lingzhi to grow fully. Not only it was rare, but the herb had also absorbed enough natural energies to achieve a conscience of its own, hence it could flee and hide like how a beast could. Not even people with powers of the Nirvana Realm or the Apotheosis Realm could easily catch one.

"Is there no other way?"

Gui Xian fell silent, pondering for options. At length, he said, "Unless we're able to enlist the help of an Elixir Saint. Then we might not need the sap after all."

Xiao Chen shook his head, slightly disheartened. He wielded not even the authority to recruit the help of an Elixir Spirit, never mind an Elixir Saint; a feat that even one with the powers of the Apotheosis Realm might plead incompetence.

"On another note, I hope you won't mind me asking, Senior. At what levels have you reached with your skills in medicine, Senior? Is that why the Zuoqiu Family wished ill upon you?"

Gui Xian chuckled gloomily. "I was once the greatest healer ever known in my former life time. Many an Elixir Saint have begged for me to take them under my wing out of their admiration to my skills. Alas, I've barely reached the level of Elixir King when my climb to my former glory was cut-short by Zuoqiu Ping's evil plot." There was pain and agony in his voice that Xiao Chen began to feel sorry for him.

Xiao Chen sighed heavily. He, of all people, could truly understand the weight of the phrase "former lifetime" better than others. Here, after countless millennia, he found himself being thrust into the future. He was hardly alone. But he could not deny the emptiness within him that had never stopped haunting him. The hollow yearning for his friends that no longer existed. It was an agony that he could hardly describe to anyone and a stab of pain that no one could possibly understand.

But now, hearing Gui Xian speaking about his past, seemed to form a kinship between them. "Fret not, Senior Gui Xian. The day will come when I will have enough strength, and I will avenge you for the hardships and torment you've endured." He was not referring to the Zuoqiu Family, but the people who had plotted against Gui Xian in his former life time.

Gui Xian said nothing and merely smiled weakly. "But a long time may pass before we meet each other again. Can you divulge to me the formula for your medicine? I might not amount to much, but I do know a little in the skills of brewing medicine."

Gui Xian nodded. "There's no need for modesty. I have long noticed that you have your Divine Sense. This alone is enough to indicate that you might have greater talent in medicine that I do."

He told Xiao Chen about the recipe and extracted a large tome. "This is a copy of the Elixir King Scripture, a tome hand-written by an Elixir God of the bygone age. I have re-arranged everything for a more effortless perusal. Use it freely; you might achieve more than I did in my former life."

"B-but... This is too heavy a gift, Senior... I cannot..."

Gui Xian must have been feeling indebted to him for saving him from the clutches of the Zuoqiu Family.

"This is not about repaying my debt," Gui Xian denied, "This is about talent. I know your talent far outstrips mine. But because of my condition, I cannot stay by your side to guide and advise you. From this," Gui Xian patted the cover of the tome, "you can learn a lot from my rearrangement. I'm sure you'll progress well."