Chapter 81: Chapter 81: Passionate as Fire
Ye Xuan said coolly, "This won’t do. You’re a Second Grade Alchemist, after all. A Second Grade one at that! Such a prestigious title. To have you wait for me at the entrance... I’m truly unworthy of the honor!"
Zhou Huarong frantically shook his head. "Hehe, Young Master Xuan, you’re joking. A paltry Second Grade Alchemist like me is nothing in your eyes. Besides, if not for your pointers, how could I have broken through to Second Grade so quickly? Your words tell me you’re still angry with me, Xiaozhou. It’s fine for you to be angry with me, but please don’t let it harm your health. Otherwise, my sin would be great indeed."
THUD!
A few of the men could no longer take it and fainted on the spot!
The remaining onlookers stared at each other in disbelief. If the man before them weren’t the spitting image of the Zhou Huarong they knew, they would have sworn they had the wrong person.
Zhou Huarong looked toward Lu Yue. "By the way, Lu Yue, is Young Master Xuan here at the Association for something important today?"
Lu Yue quickly replied, "Steward Zhou, Young Master Xuan is here to see the President. He was just held up by Director Liu and his men."
"What?" Zhou Huarong’s expression darkened.
Director Liu was instantly filled with a sense of dread.
"You’re Liu Cheng, correct? I made a mistake just now. Regarding the Pill you asked me to refine, I’ve given it some thought. The difficulty is too high. Forgive me, but I will be unable to complete it. Here are the materials you provided. Take them back."
With a wave of his hand, Zhou Huarong made a pile of materials appear in front of Liu Cheng.
"No, Steward Zhou, please don’t..." Director Liu’s mind went blank. He had no idea what was happening.
After tossing the materials aside, Zhou Huarong added coldly, "Oh, and by the way, Young Master Xuan was right. The Alchemist Association does not entertain people who act like rabid dogs. In the future, you are not welcome. Someone, escort Director Liu and his men out! The Alchemist Association does not welcome such rabid dogs. From now on, I don’t want to see them here again. If they show up, throw them out. Every single time."
"This can’t be real..."
Director Liu’s vision went black, and he passed out cold.
A group of guards immediately emerged from the back, hoisted up the unconscious Director Liu and his men, and carried them out.
"Young Master Xuan, what do you think of how I handled that?" After finishing, Zhou Huarong carefully studied Ye Xuan’s expression.
He wasn’t deliberately trying to curry favor with Ye Xuan; he simply held an immense respect for him that came from the bottom of his heart.
The reason he had unexpectedly broken through to Second Grade a few days prior was precisely because of the pointers Ye Xuan had given him at the Alchemist Association. Without Ye Xuan, he would probably still be stuck at First Grade, floundering.
Ye Xuan said calmly, "Alright, I’m here to see President Hua Luoxuan. Please take me to him."
Zhou Huarong was overjoyed, knowing this meant Ye Xuan had forgiven him. He immediately said, "Of course, Young Master Xuan, right this way. We’ll go see the President now."
He immediately began to lead the way, walking slightly turned to the side as if he were escorting a great personage who held his life in their hands.
Ye Zhanyun and Luo Zhan watched all this unfold, feeling completely dazed.
They arrived at Hua Luoxuan’s office, but unfortunately, he was in his alchemy lab. Naturally, Zhou Huarong couldn’t just leave Ye Xuan to go look for him, so he had Hua Luoxuan’s assistant go announce their arrival.
"Young Master Xuan, and these two are...?" Zhou Huarong asked with a smile, gesturing to Luo Zhan and Ye Zhanyun while they waited.
"This is Luo Zhan, my instructor from Xingxuan Academy."
"Oh, so it’s Instructor Luo! I’ve heard so much about you." Zhou Huarong greeted him with great enthusiasm. "If Instructor Luo ever needs anything from the Alchemist Association, please don’t hesitate to find me. I guarantee your satisfaction."
Luo Zhan was speechless. He had been to the Alchemist Association before, and even when the Alchemists there knew he was a First Layer Earth Martial Artist, they had always given him the cold shoulder.
He never expected that after a simple introduction from Ye Xuan, the chief steward of the Alchemist Association would be so polite to him without even knowing his cultivation level.
"And this is my father, Ye Zhanyun."
"Oh, oh, oh..." Zhou Huarong nearly leaped to his feet. He frantically grabbed Ye Zhanyun’s hands, his enthusiasm burning like a fire. "So you are the Ye Zhanyun of the Ye family! A man of truly remarkable bearing, so dashing and distinguished. No wonder you could raise a young hero like Young Master Xuan! Since you’ve come to my Alchemist Association, I must fulfill my duties as a host. If you have any requests, please just ask. Don’t stand on ceremony with me. If you’re polite with me, it means you’re looking down on me!"
Zhou Huarong’s fervent enthusiasm made Ye Zhanyun feel faint.
It wasn’t that he was unaccustomed to such things, but Zhou Huarong’s attitude was so overwhelmingly effusive that he was having trouble coping.
BANG!
Just then, the office door burst open, and President Hua Luoxuan rushed in like a whirlwind. The moment he was inside, he wrapped Ye Xuan in a bear hug.
"Haha, Young Master Xuan! I’ve been waiting for ages for you to come!" Hua Luoxuan, acting like a playful old child, laughed boisterously, completely oblivious to the expressions of the others in the room.
Caught in Hua Luoxuan’s embrace, Ye Xuan’s face soured as if he’d swallowed a dead fly. He shoved the man away, cursing, "You old coot, I don’t swing that way. If you’re looking for fun, find someone else."
"Hehe, Young Master Xuan, why didn’t you let me know you were coming? What brings you here?" Hua Luoxuan didn’t seem to mind being cursed at in the slightest; instead, he just chuckled happily.
Witnessing this scene, Luo Zhan’s expression had gone completely numb.
The more he interacted with Ye Xuan, the more stunned he became. The esteemed president of the Alchemist Association, one of the most powerful men in Blue Moon City, was not only incredibly enthusiastic toward Ye Xuan but didn’t even mind being insulted. It was enough to make one feel they had stumbled into an alternate reality.
Ye Xuan nodded. "I came here to discuss a business deal with the Alchemist Association. On top of that, I’d like you to help me refine a few Pills to treat my father."
"Oh? To treat your father? What’s wrong with him?" Hua Luoxuan couldn’t care less about business; he was, however, quite curious about Ye Xuan’s father’s condition.
He glanced at the two people behind Ye Xuan, then directly grabbed Ye Zhanyun’s hand and sent his Profound Sense into his body. What he found made his eyes nearly bulge from their sockets. "Young Master Xuan, your father’s Profound Veins are completely severed! Don’t tell me you’re planning to heal him?"
"What do you think?"
"Hiss!" Hua Luoxuan sucked in a sharp breath. His tone became grave. "Completely severed Profound Veins are an extremely severe condition for a Martial Artist. A Martial Artist must rely on their Profound Veins to circulate Profound Qi. If the Profound Veins are damaged, the flow of Profound Qi will be obstructed, causing injury to the body."
"And that’s just for minor damage. But your father’s Profound Veins are almost all completely ruptured, with not a single one intact. His situation is a hundred, even a thousand times more severe."
"Because Profound Veins are unique. They are the dedicated vessels for containing Profound Qi, so they are inherently very resilient. Moreover, the stronger a person is, the more resilient and powerful their Profound Veins become. Judging by the state of your father’s Profound Veins, before his injury..."
"Hiss... he was a Second Layer Earth Martial Artist. And judging by how long his Profound Veins have been damaged, it must be at least ten years. Treating this... it’s practically impossible."
The more Hua Luoxuan spoke, the more astonished he became. He was, after all, a Third Grade Alchemy Master and a royal court Alchemist for the Liuyun Kingdom. His breadth of knowledge was far beyond that of any ordinary Pharmacist.
Zhou Huarong glanced at Ye Zhanyun in shock. He never imagined Ye Xuan’s father was so severely injured. He couldn’t help but ask, "President, is there any hope of healing Zhanyun?"
Hua Luoxuan said gravely, "It’s not impossible to completely heal his Profound Veins. To my knowledge, the Sixth Grade Rebirth Pill and Vein Cleansing Pill both have the effect of reattaching severed veins. Beyond those, the Seventh Grade Regeneration Pill and regeneration potions can cure any case of ruptured veins for anyone at or below the Martial Sect realm. There are also some rare celestial treasures that have a similar effect. However, even the most powerful Alchemist in the entire Liuyun Kingdom cannot refine such Pills."
At this, Hua Luoxuan’s eyes suddenly bulged. "Young Master Xuan, don’t tell me you want me to refine a Rebirth Pill?"
Ye Xuan shot him a glare. "The Rebirth Pill is a Sixth Grade Pill. Do you think you’re capable of refining one right now?"
"Then what are you...?"
Ye Xuan gave a cold smile. "Do you really think that besides the Rebirth Pill, there’s no other way to reconnect severed Profound Veins?"
"Other ways?" Hua Luoxuan frowned and thought for a long time before shaking his head. "Unless you use some Fifth Grade Pills, and even that would be extremely difficult. Below that, there are simply no other methods."
In his mind, to restore the completely severed Profound Veins of a Second Layer Earth Martial Artist like Ye Zhanyun, a Sixth Grade Rebirth Pill was the absolute minimum requirement.
There were some simpler methods, but they would require coordination with Fifth Grade Pills at the very least. Anything of a lower grade was fundamentally impossible.
Ye Xuan said calmly, "Don’t worry. What I’m having you refine aren’t Fifth or Sixth Grade Pills. They are the Third Grade Chongxuan Pill, Essence Strengthening Pill, and Vein Splitting Pill."
"The Chongxuan Pill, the Essence Strengthening Pill, and the Vein Splitting Pill?" Hua Luoxuan’s eyes widened. "The Chongxuan Pill is used by Earth Martial Artists when they’re attempting to break through to a higher realm. The Essence Strengthening Pill is used by Earth Martial Artists to fortify their Profound Veins. And the Vein Splitting Pill... that’s a Pill used when a Martial Artist suffers a cultivation deviation and rampaging Profound Qi threatens to burst their Profound Veins. It’s used to proactively rupture the veins to release the pressure. While all three Pills are related to the Profound Veins, don’t tell me you intend to cure your father using only these three Third Grade Pills?"
Before Ye Xuan could even speak, Hua Luoxuan was already shaking his head and muttering to himself, "Impossible. Absolutely impossible. That’s just a wild fantasy, a fool’s dream."
You have to understand, healing an injury doesn’t become simpler just because you use a lower-grade Pill. On the contrary, the difficulty increases as the grade of the Pill decreases.
Think about it! On what basis can you cure an injury with Third Grade Pills when others need Sixth Grade Pills to do so? The difficulty between the two is like an insurmountable chasm, not something you can cross with a few fancy tricks.
Ye Xuan said calmly, "You don’t need to concern yourself with that. You just need to help me refine the Pills."
Hua Luoxuan shook his head, speechless, then gave a wry smile. "It’s no problem for me to refine them for you. I can get you the Chongxuan Pill today. But as for the Essence Strengthening Pill, while I know the formula, I’ve never actually refined one before. I’ll need some time to practice. And as for the Vein Splitting Pill... I don’t even know the formula. How am I supposed to refine that?"
