Chapter 32: Chapter 32 Xu Nianliang
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Upon hearing this, the expressions of the Third Elder and Ao Yan shifted subtly; they knew very well about how Huaqing Pill came to be. For a moment, their faces showed signs of embarrassment.
“What’s going on?” Elder Jiang asked, surprised.
“No worries, I came here to visit you, an old friend, and also to check on my disciple and myself.”
After some idle chat, the Third Elder got to the point, “I’ve brought the medicinal herbs. Can we refine the elixir today?”
“You managed to get the Lotus Flower? In that case, we have all the ingredients. However, I’m afraid we can’t finish the refinement today. It seems you haven’t come here in a while, so why not stay for a few days?”
“Well, then I won’t hold back.”
There was no harm in staying for a few days anyway. After some more small talk, the Third Elder got up to get on with his tasks, only then did he realise that Ao Cheng and Jiang Xiaobai were missing!
“Damn it, that bastard Ao Cheng must have gone out to cause trouble again!” Seeing this, Ao Yan’s brow furrowed at once.
Elder Jiang chuckled, “No worries, Young Master Ao Cheng is a frequent visitor to Five Lotus Mountain, Princess, you don’t need to worry. Let’s go, I’ll take you to my pill refining room, I’ve recently developed a pretty good pill.”
Walking down the streets of Five Lotus Mountain town, Jiang Xiaobai and Ao Cheng moved shoulder to shoulder. Surrounding them were diverse, bustling noises, indicating the place’s prosperity.
“Listen, ordinary human, don’t try to bullshit me. Pill refining isn’t something you can do just by claiming to know how to do it. Admit your defeat now, and we can let this slide. I won’t press on it.”
Ao Cheng chuckled, “Don’t embarrass yourself.”
Jiang Xiaobai remained silent, smiling. A joke, him embarrassing himself?
Given his current pill refining abilities, he could easily best the lord of Five Lotus Mountain.
Seeing Jiang Xiaobai’s composure, Ao Cheng laughed, “Alright, since you want to pretend, I will expose your pretentiousness today. We’re almost there.”
With that, they arrived at the entrance of a courtyard. The thick aroma of elixirs wafted out from within, indicating someone was refining pills.
Consistent with Young Master Ao Cheng’s usual behavior, he didn’t hesitate and knocked loudly on the door.
“Xu, get out and open the door,” Ao Cheng’s voice boomed.
As soon as he began knocking, a clattering sound could be heard from inside, followed by a muffled thud shortly after.
The courtyard door creaked open, and out walked a skinny, weak boy, his clothes dishevelled, his face covered in soot.
“Ao Cheng!”
Seeing Ao Cheng, the boy gritted his teeth, “Did I owe you in my past life or what? Nothing good ever happens when I see you. You owe me a batch of pills!”
Ao Cheng appeared unfazed, waving his hand and conjuring two top-grade spirit stones, “It’s just one batch of pills, not worth much. I’ve never wronged you, have I?”
Seeing the spirit stones, Xu Nianliang’s expression relaxed significantly.
Snatching the stones, he walked back into the courtyard, followed by Ao Cheng.
Inside, the courtyard was incredibly sparse. Jiang Xiaobai was taken aback. It was a large yard, but apart from a pill furnace and some cleaning tools, there was nothing else. The house looked dilapidated as if they had just entered the dwelling of a poverty-stricken household.
“So, what do you want this time, and just to be clear, if you want me to refine pills, you’ll have to provide the ingredients.”
Xu Nianliang said, “I can barely scrape by here, not starving is already good enough.”
On hearing this, Ao Cheng’s eyes widened, “Hold on, I swear I just gave you a hundred top-grade spirit stones last month! They’re top-grade spirit stones, not ordinary rocks, what did you do with them?”
“What else could I do but buy herbs to refine pills? Hurry up; I’m feeling inspired and would like to continue refining pills soon.” Xu Nianliang demanded.
Ao Cheng was left speechless at this.
He had already told Jiang Xiaobai that he had invested in a mid-grade pill refiner in Five Lotus Mountain. Despite cultivating for only a hundred years, this person had achieved such results and showed promise to become a divine pill refiner in the future.
Jiang Xiaobai found it strange that Ao Cheng, as the privileged one of the Dragon Clan, would invest in a mid-grade pill refiner. Why not establish relations directly with a divine pill refiner?
According to Ao Cheng, those pill refiners are eccentric and challenging to negotiate with. They didn’t care about one’s status or wealth, which made them unbearable.
For this reason, Ao Cheng hadn’t revealed his identity to Xu Nianliang.
Xu Nianliang, sitting in front of the pill furnace and clearing away the discarded residue, asked, “What’s your reason for coming to see me this time?”
“Nothing much; this friend of mine has been boasting about being a top-grade pill refiner, so I brought him here to have a competition with you.” Ao Cheng casually replied.
Jiang Xiaobai was taken aback; when had he ever said he was a top-grade pill refiner?
Seeing Ao Cheng lying blatantly without an ounce of guilt, Jiang Xiaobai finally grasped the extent of his shamelessness.
“A top-grade pill refiner, you? Impossible!”
Xu Nianliang suddenly stood up and walked over to Jiang Xiaobai for a closer look, “You’re so young, and your cultivation level is merely at the Qi refining stage. Even if you possessed a strong soul from birth, and started learning pill refining from the womb, it’s still impossible!”
“I assure you, this friend of mine is remarkable. How about showing him what you’re capable of?” Ao Cheng suggested to Jiang Xiaobai with a grin.
From his demeanor, it was crystal clear that he was looking forward to Jiang Xiaobai making a fool of himself.
Moreover, if Jiang Xiaobai dared to admit today that he was merely bluffing and didn’t know how to refine pills, there would be no chance of winning over Ao Cheng.
“In that case, let’s refine a pill casually.” Jiang Xiaobai said with a faint smile.
Xu Nianliang sneered, “You, don’t joke around. If you can refine a single pill, not to mention a top-grade spirit pill, I’ll kneel and call you father!”
“Hey, hey, hey, that’s unnecessary. Why force yourself to recognize a new father?” Jiang Xiaobai laughed, nearly driving Xu Nianliang to fury.
At this moment, the courtyard door was pushed open again, and a young man in luxurious attire, with an impressive demeanor, walked in.
“Little Liang, what have you been up to lately? Got some free time? Come and help me; I’m starting to research Huaqing pills.”
The young man gave off a warm, scholarly vibe. His every move was refined, and compared to Ao Cheng, they were like two different species!
What shocked Jiang Xiaobai was that this fellow was talking about researching Huaqing pills straight away!
The Huaqing pill was something he had crafted himself. It was simple yet complex to create, but there was no doubt that Jiang Xiaobai knew this was something the person before him wouldn’t be able to figure out..
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