Martial Sage from the Vajra Skill

Chapter 341: Chapter 191: Term’s End (Part 2)

He folded the paper, signed his name, and left the courtyard with Sun Tao and the others.

At the foot of the Four Peaks, many disciples had already gathered, all holding apprenticeship letters in their hands.

There were disciples from their own class, along with some from the previous one. Having now reached Gang Qi Great Success, they had also come to submit their apprenticeship letters.

Xu Yang’s gaze swept over the crowd, and he saw Li Chuyang, Du Chuan, and Han Feng among them.

"Brother Xu!"

"Greetings, Brother Xu!"

As Xu Yang appeared, many people cupped their fists in greeting.

Xu Yang returned each greeting before going to stand beside Jiang Fan with Sun Tao and Zhang Yong.

"Brother Jiang, which peak do you plan to join?" Xu Yang asked curiously.

As soon as he spoke, many people pricked up their ears to listen.

They were also curious to see which peak this peculiar Young Master Marquis would join.

Jiang Fan said, "What other peak could I join? I can only enter Li Fire Peak. On Tianquan Peak, the Sect Leader’s lineage is completely dominant. The Purple Sun Scripture is only passed down to the head disciple. Since they won’t teach it to me, what’s the point of joining Tianquan Peak?

I have no interest in alchemy, and while I’d like to go to Beast King Peak to learn how to raise Exotic Beasts, its Peak Master unfortunately doesn’t get along with my father. That leaves me with going to Li Fire Peak to smith."

Xu Yang’s eyelids twitched. ’This guy Jiang Fan is as outspoken as ever, complaining about the Sect Leader’s lineage right out in the open.’

The Secret Skills of the other peaks could be learned by anyone with the ability.

The sole exception was the Purple Sun Scripture of the Sect Leader’s lineage, which only the Sect Leader and his head disciple were permitted to learn.

"What about you, Brother Xu? Which peak do you plan on joining?" Jiang Fan asked.

"I want to join Medicine King Peak to learn the Alchemy Skill," Xu Yang said, waving the apprenticeship letter in his hand.

At his words, many people turned to look at him.

Alchemy wasn’t the same as practicing martial arts. A talent for one didn’t necessarily mean a talent for the other.

Furthermore, it was a skill that great families typically began cultivating in their children from a young age, as only those with a foundation were qualified to study at Medicine King Peak.

Essentially, every disciple Medicine King Peak accepted already had some foundation in alchemy.

"Brother Xu, if you want to join Medicine King Peak, I’m afraid it will be rather difficult," Jiang Fan cautioned.

It wasn’t that he looked down on Xu Yang; he just knew how demanding the Medicine King Peak Elders were. For someone like Xu Yang, who had no foundation and came from a farming family, joining was practically impossible.

Even if an Elder from the peak took you on as a disciple, you wouldn’t have the money to burn on practice.

Learning a single Pill Formula—even a poor one—requires thousands of silver to buy ingredients for practice. For high-level Elixirs, you need at least tens of thousands of silver just to get the hang of it.

Xu Yang smiled. "It’s no problem. There’s nothing to lose if I fail."

He didn’t consider it a sure thing, and it wasn’t as if he absolutely had to get into Medicine King Peak.

After a short wait, someone from Tianquan Peak was the first to come down.

"Disciples wishing to enter Tianquan Peak, give your apprenticeship letters to me," the disciple from Tianquan Peak called out.

Those who wanted to join Tianquan Peak immediately swarmed over.

Xu Yang saw Du Chuan, Qin Ze, and Xie Zhan walk over and hand in their letters.

"Return here in three days to await news."

With that, the disciple from Tianquan Peak turned and left.

A short while later, a disciple came down from Beast King Peak to collect letters.

This time, many more people submitted letters. After all, of the Four Peaks, Beast King Peak was the easiest to enter—though it also had the highest mortality rate.

However, most had no other choice. If they didn’t risk their lives at Beast King Peak, they had no chance of ever entering the Inner Sect.

Zhang Yong and Sun Tao went forward and handed in their letters.

This time, among the Ten Heroes geniuses, only Chen Yu, ranked ninth, chose Beast King Peak.

"Do your best and leave the rest to fate," Sun Tao sighed.

He knew that without pulling some strings, he most likely wouldn’t get into Beast King Peak, but he had no intention of doing so for now.

If he failed this time, he would return to the Yunling Mountain Range to train for another year and only reapply after reaching Gang Qi Perfection.

"Those who wish to enter Medicine King Peak, give your letters to me!"

Finally, a disciple came down from Medicine King Peak. It was a familiar face: the Inner Sect Disciple Sun Jian, whom Xu Yang had met a few times before.

Xu Yang strode over, surprised to see that Li Chuyang, Han Feng, and Xiong Kun—three geniuses from the Ten Heroes List—also intended to join Medicine King Peak.

Besides those three, he also saw Liu Qian, Zhou Zhichao, and Wen Yu.

"Junior Brother Li!"

Upon seeing Li Chuyang, Sun Jian took his letter with a broad smile. Then his expression immediately turned stern and impassive as he accepted the letters from the others.

When it was Xu Yang’s turn, Sun Jian asked in a mocking tone.

"Junior Brother Xu, still haven’t given up on alchemy, I see. Have you managed to learn the Blood Coagulation Pill yet?"

Xu Yang shook his head. "Senior Brother Sun, I have not."

"It would be a miracle if you could!" Sun Jian sneered.

"Return here in three days for the results!"

Soon, all the letters were collected. With a final word, Sun Jian turned and left.

Just then, a disciple came down from Li Fire Peak. Lu Ren, Jiang Fan, and the others walked up and submitted their letters.

The crowd of disciples dispersed.

"Junior Brother Xu, have you thought about what you’ll do if you can’t get into Medicine King Peak?" Sun Tao asked, concerned.

Although Medicine King Peak had one Peak Master and four Elders, for Xu Yang, his only real chance was with Elder Chang Chun.

If Elder Chang Chun wouldn’t accept him, the Peak Master certainly wouldn’t either.

"If I can’t join Medicine King Peak, then I’ll go to Li Fire Peak and learn smithing with Brother Jiang."

Xu Yang had, of course, already prepared a backup plan.

If one mastered the Weapon Forging Skill, their status and position would be no lower than that of a Pill Master.

He also felt that the legacy of weapon forging was perhaps even rarer than that of alchemy. He had seen Elixirs up for auction at the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, but never anything related to the Weapon Forging Skill.

In fact, he had deliberated between the two skills for a long time before settling on alchemy. His greatest hope was to learn both.

"If you come to Li Fire Peak, I’ll go to the Master of Li Fire Peak for you and ask him to take you as his disciple."

Jiang Fan smiled. "My family is on good personal terms with him, so I should be able to put in a good word for you."

Xu Yang shook his head. "There’s no need to trouble you, Brother Jiang. I don’t necessarily need to study under a Peak Master."

He didn’t want to owe Jiang Fan such a favor. Besides, he wasn’t keen on studying under the Master of Li Fire Peak anyway; he had too many secrets that a powerful master might easily uncover.

Back in his courtyard, Xu Yang considered his options. Just in case he failed in three days, he wrote another apprenticeship letter and put it away. That way, he’d have one ready to submit to Li Fire Peak.

...

Medicine King Peak!

Within a medicinal garden, a middle-aged man in a simple robe moved among the Spirit Medicines. Before each plant, he would raise a hand and release a wave of cyan light.

The cyan light landed on the Spirit Medicine and was instantly absorbed without a trace.

After absorbing the light, the plant seemed to grow a little more vibrant.

This man was none other than Elder Chang Chun of Medicine King Peak.

After about an hour, Elder Chang Chun had attended to every Spirit Medicine, and his once-ruddy face had become somewhat pale.

"Master, please have some tea."

As he stepped out of the garden, an apothecary’s apprentice immediately offered him a cup of freshly brewed tea.

Elder Chang Chun took a sip, handed the cup back to the apprentice, and said, "I am going to meditate for a while. Don’t let anyone disturb me."

With that, he sat down on a nearby cushion and began to meditate.

An invisible substance began to flow through the air and converge on Elder Chang Chun. A moment later, he was enveloped in a swirling haze.

"Master is meditating. He said not to be disturbed!"

Sun Jian approached with a stack of apprenticeship letters, and the apprentice stepped forward to stop him.

Hearing this, Sun Jian could only wait obediently to one side, his gaze filled with envy as he looked at Elder Chang Chun, who was shrouded in the swirling haze.

’A Celestial Essence Martial Artist, gathering the essence of heaven and earth... When will I ever reach that realm?’

As one of the four great elders of Medicine King Peak, Elder Chang Chun’s cultivation had long since surpassed the Marrow Cleansing stage, and he had broken through to the Celestial Essence Realm.

"What business do you have with me?"

At high noon, Elder Chang Chun’s voice finally rang out.

Sun Jian looked over. The wondrous, hazy spectacle had vanished. His master, Elder Chang Chun, was glowing with vitality as he rose from the cushion and stretched his limbs.

Not daring to delay, Sun Jian strode forward and cupped his hands. "Disciple greets Master. The apprenticeship letters from the Outer Disciples whose three-year term has expired have been submitted to the Inner Sect. I have brought them for you to review."

"Oh?"

Elder Chang Chun raised an eyebrow. "Has it been two years already? How time flies. Bring them here and let me see."