Chapter 245 - The First Alchemist Duan Guiying

Jing Yi left it be. Qiu Ling had already done what he had done and it was obvious why he had made that suggestion. He didn't agree with it but he also couldn't fault him that easily.

"So, then what about that Senior Martial Brother Yue now? Did he harass you?"

Jing Yi sighed. "No."

"Are you sure? You can tell me if he did. I'll go and beat him up for you."

Jing Yi reached over and cupped his cheeks. "Don't be like that. Not everyone is going to be after me. And even if he was, I'm only in love with you. So you don't have to worry."

"Mn. I know that."

"Actually, Senior Martial Brother Yue is really nice. He offered to teach me how to read, too."

"You told him that you won't need that, didn't you?"

"I didn't."

Qiu Ling paused. He had been sure his beloved would decline! "Why?"

Jing Yi sighed again. "Qiu Ling, I do understand that you don't want me to spend too much time with somebody else but … How are we going to accomplish our mission like that?"

"But we already found those two. They're here willingly and don't seem like they'll go back anytime soon. Doesn't that mean we're already done? We could just go back and marry if you really don't want to stay here."

"It's not like that. What you said is true, yes, but what if the Grandmaster had some sort of hidden agenda when he approached them?"

"He certainly had if wanting to marry someone counts as a hidden agenda."

Jing Yi just looked at him and Qiu Ling sighed.

"Alright, alright. I'll let him teach you. But you'll see that I'm way better at teaching than him. Hmph. I really want to see that guy now."

"You won't have to worry about that. I told him about the duel with Senior Martial Brother Niu. He said he'll come to cheer you on."

"Oh?" Qiu Ling furrowed his brow. Could it actually be that this Senior Martial Brother Yue was a decent guy who really wanted to support them? Mn, maybe Jing He was right and he shouldn't suspect all these men from the outer set?

"Ah, right, he also gave me all the things I'll need in the Alchemy division." Jing Yi nodded in the direction of the things he had brought back. The house they had moved in was completely furnished but they didn't have anything to put inside so he would have felt strange to do so with the things he had gotten from Yue Lin. In the end, he had just put them into a corner.

"There's a manual and it seems I'll have to read a lot, so …" He rubbed over Qiu Ling's chest and smiled. "Even if Senior Martial Brother Yue teaches me how to read, there are still things you can help me with. In fact … learning to read is a lot of work. It's not so bad if somebody else teaches me that. But there is only one person I'd like to read a manual to me."

"Mn. Is this considered as you coaxing me?"

Jing Yi smiled. "Does my future husband require to be coaxed?"

Qiu Ling sharply inhaled. Alright, his beloved was incredibly good at sweet-talking. He couldn't compare at all! "I …"

"… feel like reading that manual to you right now?"

"Indeed. I can't imagine anything better." Qiu Ling lifted his hand, waved at the book and had the wind bring it over. He certainly wouldn't leave his beloved's side to get it. "Alright. Come here." He hugged Jing Yi close and lay down on the bed.

Jing Yi smiled. He had been prepared for Qiu Ling to take advantage of the situation. Thus, he just nestled up against his chest and looked at his face. Qiu Ling actually seemed serious when he opened the book.

"The Alchemy our Hei Dian Sect teaches is based on the achievements of Duan Guiying. Thus, it is important that our disciples know of this first alchemist.

When Huan Yin established the Dark Temple to honor the god of darkness there were three men at his side who should later be known as the first cultivator, the first practitioner, and the first alchemist. The disciples of these four men later founded the Hei Dian Sect around the Dark Temple and passed on the knowledge their masters had imparted to them.

While the cultivator and practitioner, as well as Huan Yin himself, passed those lessons down orally Duan Guiying wrote down what he knew and let each of his disciples make a copy that they should carry around and have their disciples copy when the time came for them to pass their knowledge down.

Duan Guiying separated his notes into several parts: One part about how the alchemist should be. One part about what the alchemist should have. One part about how the alchemist should work. One part about what the alchemist should use. And finally one part about what the alchemist shouldn't do.

These five parts are still the basis of our teachings, though they were edited by each new generation." Qiu Ling stopped and frowned. "I don't think this is actually important."

Jing Yi laughed lightly. "You haven't read that much yet."

"Yes, but isn't this just self-adulation? They're basically saying 'Oh, look! We had some great ancestor who was really smart and wrote everything down and we're still honoring him. So kneel down and worship him!' Don't you think so?"

"Is it wrong? They had that ancestor."

"Who knows if he really wrote all that down. You heard it yourself: His students and everyone else copied and edited it. There's probably not much of his initial ideas inside."

"Still, without the things he did, the others wouldn't have had anything to edit. So I guess it's not wrong to write a bit about him. Moreover … it's the history of the sect. Isn't it normal to teach that to the disciples?"

"Mn …" Qiu Ling looked at the strokes in the book. Maybe his beloved was right. It was just that he hated that kind of praising of the predecessors. It always made him feel like he should be doing the same. But he hated his predecessor and even though his father had told him about the guy who had been king before the old geezer, he had never known him and didn't really care about him either. About those kings even before that guy … He had no idea at all. They were already swallowed up by the changes time brought with it.

"Well, as long as you like it, I'll continue to read the rest." He looked back into the book and continued. Actually, it wasn't so bad considering he had his beloved's complete attention. Mn, he should treasure this moment.