Chapter 49: Chapter 48: Xiaxia’s Marriage
The old woman looked at Wen Qingye, gritted her teeth, then asked humbly, "Then how can I improve my alchemy skills? How do I break through my current realm?"
Wen Qingye’s earlier words had made the old woman see him in a completely new light. When it came to alchemy, she had no choice but to humble herself and ask for his guidance.
Wen Qingye glanced at the old woman, stroked his chin, and said, "Work on your fundamentals. Study and research pharmacology, and practice refining some pills until you’re proficient. It won’t be difficult to become an Eighth-Grade Alchemist. What you lack is some pharmacological knowledge and experience refining Eighth-Grade Pills."
The old woman mulled over Wen Qingye’s words for a moment and nodded. Suddenly, a thought struck her. She looked at Wen Qingye and demanded, "Kid, who on earth are you?"
Wen Qingye slowly replied, "I am Wen Qingye, a student from North Mountain at Qig Mountain Academy."
The old woman was stunned. "What? You’re a student from North Mountain? How could North Mountain produce a student like you?"
Before Wen Qingye could respond, the old woman’s eyes flashed. "Kid, how about I take you as my closed-door disciple? There’s no future for you at North Mountain. Besides..."
Wen Qingye gave the old woman a surprised look and asked, "You want to take me as your disciple? What can you teach me?"
The old woman coughed a few times, then laughed awkwardly. "I can teach you Martial Arts and about cultivation. I’m a master at the Refining Spirit Seventh Layer Heaven, you know."
After speaking, she raised her head with a hint of pride, thinking, ’Are you shocked now? In a moment, I’ll pretend to consider whether or not to take you as my disciple. That should temper that arrogance of yours.’
Wen Qingye shook his head. "That won’t be necessary. I feel I can cultivate on my own; I don’t need anyone’s guidance."
"Kid, if word got out that I was taking a disciple, the line of hopefuls would wrap around the entire Hundred Break Mountains, and you dare to refuse me?" The old woman’s smile froze on her face as she erupted in anger.
Wen Qingye just smiled, drew his Cyan Mist Sword, and with a few rapid flicks of his wrist, produced several elegant flourishes.
SWOOSH! SWOOSH!
Several leaves from a tree in front of him fluttered down. Wen Qingye clearly hadn’t used any Primordial Qi.
"Is that all? I can do that, too," the old woman said disdainfully.
Wen Qingye smiled. "Oh, really?"
Just then, the surrounding leaves began to stir, rustling with a melodic sound. The leaves that had been falling to the ground drifted together, slowly aligning until they fell in a perfect stack, one on top of another.
"Sword Edge Force!?"
Legend had it that when one’s Swordsmanship reached a certain realm, it would manifest its own unique edge, its own Sword Force. The old woman had only ever heard of such things. In her entire life, she had only witnessed it a few times, and only from a great distance, among the Major Sects outside the Celestial Martial Country.
’Good heavens, who is this kid? What kind of prodigy is he, and where did he spring from?’ The old woman stared at Wen Qingye in shock, her heart filled with disbelief. ’How could someone so young possibly reach such a realm?’
"Are you sure you can do it, too?" Wen Qingye asked. This Sword Edge Force was the very beginning of the Earth Dao Realm of Swordsmanship. He was confident that no one in the Celestial Martial Country had comprehended Tunnel Swordsmanship; at best, they were hovering at the peak of the Human Dao Realm. (The realms of Swordsmanship will be explained in detail in a later Chapter).
The old woman said dejectedly, "Alright, kid. I really can’t teach you anything."
"Can I go now, then?" Wen Qingye asked, sheathing his sword.
"Wait! Kid, I can see you have excellent aptitude. I have several granddaughters..."
...
Wen Qingye returned to the thatched hut in a daze, his mind still reeling. He had just kept nodding at whatever the old woman said at the end, not really hearing her, just wanting to send her on her way as quickly as possible.
Xiaxia quickly poured him a cup of water and said enthusiastically, "Master, you’re back!"
"Mm, what is it?" Wen Qingye asked, looking at Xiaxia. "Is there something you need from me?"
Wen Qingye knew Xiaxia very well by now. She only acted like this when she had either gotten into trouble or needed a favor.
Xiaxia grinned. "I knew I couldn’t hide anything from you, Master. You refined five Ice Fire Pills the other day, didn’t you? You gave one to Sister Yuerou and one to me. There are still three left, right?"
Wen Qingye had used Ice Fire Vine and some supporting herbs to refine several Sixth-Grade Ice Fire Pills. He hadn’t taken one himself yet, as he was waiting for the right moment to use it to break through to the Refining Essence Realm.
"Yes, there are three left. What are you getting at?" Wen Qingye asked, setting down his cup and frowning.
Xiaxia nervously twisted the hem of her clothes. "Master, could you... could you give me one more?"
Wen Qingye asked, "Taking more of that pill won’t do you any good. What do you need another one for?"
"I... I..." Xiaxia looked at Wen Qingye, hesitating and unable to finish her sentence.
Wen Qingye’s eyebrow arched. "Why are you hemming and hawing? This isn’t like you."
Xiaxia said, "I just feel my cultivation is a little unstable, so taking another pill would help..."
SLAM!
The table let out a thunderous crack.
Wen Qingye had slammed his hand on the table, sending tea splashing into the air. Xiaxia flinched and quickly backed away, a shiver running down her spine.
With his vast experience and cultivation level far surpassing hers, how could Wen Qingye not see the true state of her cultivation?
"You’re still trying to lie to me? Xiaxia, I’m telling you, if you dare deceive me like this again, don’t blame me for punishing you severely," Wen Qingye said, a cold glint in his eyes.
Xiaxia’s face instantly paled, her lips trembling uncontrollably. "I... I..."
She had never seen this side of Wen Qingye before, and fear gripped her heart.
"Tell me the truth!" Wen Qingye shot to his feet and snapped. "I am your master! If you won’t even tell me the truth, who will you ever be honest with?"
"Y-Yes," This was the first time Xiaxia had ever seen him angry with her, and she was terrified. Her voice choked with sobs as she said, "I just got news... My father wants to marry me off. He’s already accepted the betrothal gift. I don’t want to get married, but if I break the engagement now, we have to pay back ten times the value of the gift. I don’t know what else to do..."
Wen Qingye took a deep breath and said slowly, "Isn’t your family based in Feiyun City, at the foot of the Hundred Break Mountains? Who would dare demand ten times the betrothal price from them?"
The Celestial Martial Country was comprised of seven prefectures and forty-three counties. Each county had three to four cities, making for roughly one hundred seventy or eighty cities in the entire country. Feiyun City was one such city, located near Lianshan County by the Hundred Break Mountains.
Xiaxia lowered her head and whispered, "My aptitude was never very good, even when I was little. My mother passed away a long time ago, and my father never paid much attention to me. When I ran off to Qig Mountain Academy to work as a servant, he didn’t care either. But now, to curry favor with another family—the Yue Family—he’s suddenly remembered me. He arranged my engagement without my consent and wants me to go back and get married tomorrow."
"And what do you want to do?" Wen Qingye asked.
Xiaxia shook her head, her body trembling slightly. "I don’t want to get married. I’m... I’m just not ready."
Wen Qingye nodded, then asked curiously, "What did your Xia Family accept as a gift that you need an Ice Fire Pill to repay them? An Ice Fire Pill is a Sixth-Grade Pill, after all."
Xiaxia thought for a moment. "My father accepted a Fifth-Grade spear from them. That spear is quite famous throughout Feiyun City. I don’t have anything of value, so my only option was to get a pill from you to pay them back. Besides, the Yue Family is very influential in Feiyun City, and I was worried that for you, Master..."
Wen Qingye waved his hand dismissively. "Alright, alright. There must be another reason besides your father just wanting the spear, right?"
Xiaxia nodded. "The Yue Family hired a Fourth-Grade Pill Master. Now they’re on the verge of monopolizing the entire pill market in Feiyun City. My father decided to sacrifice me so our family wouldn’t be crushed by them."
Wen Qingye’s brow smoothed out. "Alright. Since you don’t want to get married, I’ll handle this for you. I am your master, after all."
"Really?" Xiaxia asked, her face lighting up with surprise and relief.
Wen Qingye looked at her, his expression unreadable. "If you ever hide something like this from me again, the punishment will be severe. I won’t go easy on you."
"Yes, Master. I won’t do it again," Xiaxia said, quickly lowering her head.
Xiaxia still couldn’t forget the sight of Wen Qingye’s anger. At the thought, she silently vowed to herself never to cross him like that again.
"We’ll see how you behave from now on," Wen Qingye said after a moment’s thought. "Alright, we’ll head to Feiyun City tomorrow. I can also check out the market there. I’ve been planning to buy a Pill Furnace for my Alchemy."
Wen Qingye was about to break through to the Refining Essence Realm. He was different from other cultivators, who might only develop their internal Yang Fire upon reaching the Refining Spirit Realm. Thanks to his own Secret Technique, Wen Qingye could create Yang Fire as soon as he reached the Refining Essence Realm.
With Yang Fire, Wen Qingye would no longer need to rely on the Pill Fire in the Alchemy Room. He could perform Alchemy whenever he wished, and his Yang Fire was incomparably superior to ordinary Pill Fire, making the entire process much more convenient.
Xiaxia asked curiously, "Master, how many Primordial Stones do you have? Good Pill Furnaces are usually very expensive."
"I have pills, don’t I? I can just trade them for a good Pill Furnace," Wen Qingye said casually.
"That’s true," Xiaxia said with a nod.
Wen Qingye said, "Alright, go and pack your things. We leave tomorrow morning."
Xiaxia nodded quickly, glanced at Wen Qingye, seemed to shrink into herself, and then hurried away.
Wen Qingye watched her retreating back. He knew that having lost her mother at a young age and being neglected by her father had probably made her a bit mischievous. He realized that in some ways, he would have to be stricter with her education.
Still, when he thought about her family situation, Wen Qingye couldn’t help but sigh.
