Chapter 276: Iron River Manor (2)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The Iron River Manor was located halfway up a mountain. Every once in a while, someone would bring their disciples over and enter the manor under the welcome of the Iron River Manor’s disciples.
In the center of the manor, the twelve sect masters, who had arrived first, were already sitting in the main hall, drinking tea and chatting, waiting for the banquet to begin.
In a tea room at the back of the manor, Guan Yujia, wearing a brocade robe, was sitting by the tea table, slowly rotating a string of beads in his hand.
Opposite the tea table, an apothecary under the Prince of Wu said softly, “The prepared tea leaves have been added with the strange poison Dark Fragrance Corrosion Bone that Mr. Wang concocted. It’s colorless and odorless, so it’s impossible for experts to detect it. The victim’s muscles will slowly become rigid, and their bones will become brittle. There are only a handful of people in the world who can cure this poison…”
Guan Yujia was only in his early forties. He had single-handedly fought his way from a martial artist in the marketplace to the leader of Wu Province. He was also a legend in Jianghu, and he was only a step or two away from reaching the position of Fist Chief.
But the requirements for martial arts were too harsh. The higher one went, the more difficult it was to take each step forward. At the Martial Chief level, the distance between each step became a natural chasm.
After all, martial artists who could reach this level would not be inferior to others in terms of comprehension, hard work, and even luck. The only thing they could compete in with each other was talent, which couldn’t be changed.
Guan Yujia’s talent and comprehension were not inferior to Liu Qiansheng’s. But he was at a disadvantage because he hadn’t gone to a martial arts dojo to practice martial arts until the age of 11 or 12, and his master had only been the dojo master of a city dojo. His master knew that he was a good seedling, but he was limited by his knowledge and experience, so the way he built Guan Yujia’s foundation was not sophisticated. He only knew about hard training in winter and summer, and he saved as much as possible on expensive consumables like medicinal baths.
Guan Yujia had indeed practiced a lot of good martial arts, but he had practiced too hard when he was young and didn’t pay attention to protection. After his body grew into a fixed shape, his bones, muscles, and meridians had some flaws.
The flaws had little effect on his skills, but they couldn’t be removed. These flaws meant that no matter how hard he worked, he wouldn’t be able to achieve the effect of ‘Unity of Heaven and Man’.
If people couldn’t practice to this stage, they wouldn’t be qualified to challenge the Martial Chiefs. This was because the Unity of Heaven and Man was the threshold for becoming a Martial Chief. If people couldn’t do it, they wouldn’t be able to hide the qi and breathe in their bodies. Before they could even move their fists or feet, the Martial Chiefs would have already sensed it. The only way people could win was if the Martial Chiefs deliberately went easy on them.
Guan Yujia had already reached this point, but his path was blocked by some flaws in his body. Outsiders couldn’t understand the unwillingness in his heart.
For this reason, after hearing that the Prince of Wu could develop a medicine that could let people be ‘reborn’, Guan Yujia had the idea of making a last-ditch effort. He did everything he could to help the Prince of Wu.
And now, the divine medicine that the Prince of Wu spoke of was already in front of him.
On the tea table was a small sandalwood box. When the box was opened, there was a snow-white pill with a faint medicinal fragrance inside.
Although Guan Yujia said that he didn’t believe it, he also hoped that this medicine would produce the divine effect of rebirth. He picked up the medicine box and carefully sized it up. “Is this the Heavenly Carnelian Bead?”
The apothecary explained with a smile, “This medicine is an imitation. Key medicinal herbs such as the Snow Lake Flower have been replaced with substitutes. Although it can also allow people to expand their meridians for a short period of time, the medicinal effects are far inferior. Therefore, its temporary name is the ‘Earthly Carnel Bead’.”
“Earthly Carnel Bead…” Guan Yujia felt that this joke was meaningless and asked, “If you want the drug tester to eat such a big bead, you have to restrain them first…”
“This medicine can be absorbed through the skin and doesn’t need to be taken orally. Manor Lord Guan, you need to hide this medicine in your sleeve and isolate it with leather. If you find a suitable person to test the medicine, you can directly slap it on them with your palm. The medicinal liquid in the pearl will splash onto their body, and the person testing the medicine will be affected…”
Guan Yujia was seriously listening to the usage when footsteps suddenly sounded outside the secret room. A disciple ran outside and reported, “Master, the Three Absolutes Elderly Immortal is here. Beside him is Ye Silang from the Red Flower Pavilion.”
“Ye Silang?” Guan Yujia was somewhat puzzled when he suddenly heard this name. But on second thought, Guan Shengxing couldn’t do much at all, so it wasn’t surprising for him to invite someone from the headquarters to support him at this time.
Although Guan Yujia didn’t attend Old Master Zhou’s birthday banquet at the beginning of last month, he had heard of Ye Silang’s name from the Jianghu people who had returned. From his battle results, he was stronger than Jian Yuhua, and he could probably fight Xiao Shichen back and forth.
For him to have such strength at such a young age, he must have been carefully trained since childhood, and his physique might not be much worse than his. He had just appeared in Jianghu in his twenties, so his desire to survive must be greater than old men like the Three Absolutes Elderly Immortal. If he used him to test the medicine…
When Guan Yujia thought of this, his heart stirred. He felt that this move was very promising.
Ye Silang had the standard momentum of the Eight Chiefs. His martial arts skills were extraordinary, and he was still in his prime. If even such a Jianghu prodigy couldn’t withstand the medicinal power of the Earthly Carnel Bead, even if this medicine was real, he probably wouldn’t dare to use it.
Moreover, last month, Ye Silang had been kicked off the stage in a one-on-one duel by a Jianghu junior like Jian Yuhua. His martial arts skills were at most 20% better than Jian Yuhua’s.
After Ye Silang used this medicine, if his meridians really expanded in a short period of time and his combat strength soared, he would at most be comparable to Huang Yulong. Guan Yujia was confident that he could defeat him with three punches…
Guan Yujia calculated in his mind and felt that Ye Silang would certainly be within his control after using this medicine. He immediately stood up and left.
A light rain pattered down.
In the dazzling main hall, there were several chairs on both sides. Seven or eight sect masters were sitting in them with tea beside their hands. They seemed to be chatting and laughing, but there was a hint of nervousness in their eyes. From time to time, they would look toward the back of the hall, waiting for Guan Yujia to appear.
Just as everyone was anxious, a sound came from outside the hall. They turned around and saw another group of people walking over. Among them was ‘Three Absolutes Elderly Immortal’ Guanghan Lin, who was talking to the steward of the Iron River Manor.
Beside him was a man with a black scarf covering his face and a masked maidservant who helped carry a spear. He looked unfamiliar.
When the group of people appeared, Guan Yujia strode out from the back of the hall with more than ten disciples and cupped his hands from afar. “Elder Guanghan, please forgive me for not coming out to welcome you.”
Guanghan Lin brought his disciple to the front of the main hall and raised his hands to return the Jianghu greeting. He chuckled and said, “It’s been a few months since we last met, but Manor Lord Guan, you’ve become more and more heroic.”
“Elder Guanghan, you flatter me.” As Guan Yujia spoke, he looked at Ye Jingtang, who was covering his face with a black scarf. “Is this Young Master Ye, Ye Silang?”
Ye Jingtang stood in front of Third Lady and cupped his hands. “I’m just a junior of Jianghu. Hero Guan, you don’t have to be so polite.”
“Woah…” The sect masters of the various sects, who had just stood up, were shocked to see the young master of the Red Flower Pavilion.. They hurriedly went forward and cupped their hands to greet him…
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