Zhu He Xin could not help feeling troubled, yet once he saw the determined expression Ling Han had on his face, he could only nod his head and say, “I shall obey Grandmaster’s, no, Young Friend Ling’s words.”
In the end, he still could not bear addressing Ling Han without any honorific. At least the address “Young Friend Ling” sounded more polite.
“Oh, right, is Young Friend Ling here to take part in the Da Yuan Tournament?” Zhu He Xin asked.
Ling Han gave a nod, and said, “We aren’t very fortunate, we still have yet to find a place of accommodation.”
“Then why not come and stay at our Heaven’s Medicine Pavilion?” Zhu He Xin’s eyes immediately lit up and suggested to Ling Han.
“Is that suitable?” Ling Han had walked around for over half a day, so he really didn’t want to tire himself anymore.
“Suitable, of course it’s suitable!” Zhu He Xin said quickly. To be able to stay near to Grandmaster Ling, he’d be able to conveniently ask Grandmaster Ling for guidance in alchemy.
“Then we shall trouble you,” Ling Han said, smiling.
“It’s no trouble, no trouble at all!” Zhu He Xin walked in the lead, guiding them to the branch of Heaven’s Medicine Pavilion in the city.
Unlike the small branch of Heaven’s Medicine Pavilion in Gray Cloud Town, Da Yuan City’s branch of Heaven’s Medicine Pavilion was actually a heavily guarded, gigantic palace, and there were about a hundred alchemists stationed here–these alchemists were in charge of concocting a massive amount of pills every day, which were then delivered to be sold at places like Gray Cloud Town and Guo Rock Town.
Ma Da Jun of the Gray Cloud Town’s branch of Heaven’s Medicine Pavilion was only in charge of overseeing things, and usually, he did not have to concoct any pills. Usually, these characters had lower rate of successfully concocting pills, so if they were given the same medicinal ingredients to be concocted into pills, it would be too much of a waste.
Low level Black Grade alchemists similarly had a very high, noble status in this place. All guards as well as the alchemists made their salutations respectfully when they saw Zhu He Xin approach.
The Branch Master of this branch of Heaven’s Medicine Pavilion was called Zhang Wei Shan. He was also a low level Black Grade alchemist and had been friends with Zhu He Xin for many years. In the past, both had entered Heaven’s Medicine Pavilion at the same time, and through many years of motivating and competing with each other, both managed to become low level Black Grade alchemists.
“Young Friend Ling, I have a presumptuous request,” Zhu He Xin said a bit embarrassedly after he had made arrangements for them to reside there temporarily.
“You’ve encountered some problem in alchemy?” Ling Han said with a smile.
“Hehe!” Zhu He Xin was a bit embarrassed. Although he was already quite old, but in front of Ling Han, it seemed as if he was only a young brat who had just entered the field of alchemy. He did not think this was anything odd though.
He said, “Not me, it’s an old friend of mine. He managed to obtain an old formula. However, because of the long passage of time, there are some words that can no longer be clearly read from the old formula. Thus, he has encountered some trouble when he attempted to concoct the pill.”
Ling Han suddenly understood and said, “You want me to help you write down the complete formula?”
“I hope for Young Friend’s guidance,” Zhu He Xin said. “The name of this pill formula is “Reverse Pill”, and it’s very effective for healing wounds. If this formula is able to see the light again, then many people will be saved.”
So it was Reverse Pill… could it be that even such ordinary medicinal pills have already been lost in the passage of time?
Ling Han felt that this was really strange. Whether martial arts, or alchemy, with accumulated studies and research of every generation, these two fields should have become stronger and stronger. Yet why had so many pill formulas been lost in the passage of time?
He nodded, and said, “Then I’ll go take a look.”
“This way please, Grandmaster!” Zhu He Xin immediately switched back to using honorifics. Only after the words left his mouth did he react and change his words as he said, “Young Friend, this way, please.”
The two of them walked side by side and soon arrived at a residence in the palace courtyard. The door was ajar, and there were three people within–two old men and a young girl. The two old men were both seated and drinking tea while the young girl was standing behind one of the old men.
The young girl appeared to be about sixteen or seventeen years old. She was quite delicate and pretty. However, one corner of her mouth was slightly uplifted, and her big, black eyes looked extremely intelligent, so on the whole, she looked rather crafty.
Seeing Zhu He Xin, the two old men stood and smiled in greeting.
“Old Man Zhu, let me introduce someone to you!” One of the old men hurried over, and pointing at the other old man, said, “This is Duanmu Chang Feng. Brother Duanmu has been praised to excel at both alchemy and sword arts; his Sweeping Cloud Sword Art is the best in the whole of Rain Country. You’ve admired him for a long time, right?”
When Zhu He Xin heard this, there was no way he could introduce Ling Han immediately. He raised his clasped hands in Duanmu Chang Feng’s direction, and said, “Brother Duanmu, it’s an honor to meet you at last.”
“Haha, Brother Zhu, I heard that you had improved the Wind and Fire Pill just recently. I’ve long wanted to come and meet you, and today I’ve finally gotten the chance to,” Duanmu Chang Feng said with a smile.
The other old man was naturally Zhang Wei Shan.
“Brother Duanmu, Old Man Zhang, let me introduce someone to you, this is-” Zhu He Xin intended to introduce Ling Han to the two of them.
“Old Man Zhu, now that I’ve invited Brother Duanmu here, perhaps with the combined efforts of the three of us, we may be able to patch up the pill formula for Reverse Pill within three months,” Zhang Wei Shan said excitedly.
“Let me introduce-”
“Haha, Brother Zhang, you speak too highly of me. My main focus is on sword arts, and I have only lightly studied about alchemy. The main workforce will still be the two of you. I will just suggest ideas from one side,” Duanmu Chang Feng said, once again interrupting Zhu He Xin.
The two old men had naturally thought that Ling Han was a junior of Zhu He Xin, and so did not really pay attention to him.
At that moment, the young girl walked over to Ling Han, and walked two circles around him. She kept making a clicking noise with her mouth, as if she was making some kind of appraisal.
“Are you Grandmaster Zhu’s disciple?” The young girl asked.
“No!” Ling Han shook his head.
“Oh, then you must not have passed Grandmaster Zhu’s test yet!” The young girl thought that she was being very conscientious, and in a very mature, experienced manner, patted Ling Han’s shoulder, and said, “I have already been received by Grandmaster Zhang as a disciple so I will be your Elder Sister Disciple in future! Don’t worry, I’ll definitely take care of you! If anyone dares to bully you, just announce my name!”
Ling Han could not help smiling, and said, “Announce what name?”
“Ya, you don’t even know who I am?” The young girl pressed one hand to her forehead, and shook her head repeatedly, “Ai, what rural village did you pop out from? I am Qi Zhan Tai, the Seventh Princess of the Royal House of Da Yuan!”
Ling Han gave an ‘oh’. A mere princess was not someone who would make him lose his composure.
“Hey hey hey, what attitude is that, I am your Elder Sister Disciple!” Qi Zhan Tai said angrily.
“My two brothers, let me introduce to you an exceptional genius of alchemy!” It was only now that Zhu He Xin managed to find an opportunity to introduce Ling Han. He walked over to Ling Han and said, “This here is Ling Han, Young Friend Ling. To tell you the truth, the Wind and Fire Pill was successfully completed under the guidance of Young Friend Ling. If not for his assistance, it may have taken a few years before I could finally complete improving the pill.”
“What!” Zhang Wei Shan and Duanmu Zhang Feng were both dumbfounded. They looked at Ling Han and turned to look at Zhu He Xin, feeling that all this was too unreal.
Qi Zhan Tai covered her gaping mouth with one hand. She had previously taken Ling Han to be Zhu He Xin’s junior, but in the blink of an eye, he had become Grandmaster Zhu’s “Young Friend”… then wouldn’t that mean he was her senior?
“Old Man Zhu, you’re kidding, right?” Zhang Wei Shan called out immediately.
Zhu He Xin’s expression turned solemn and said, “How could I possibly joke about this kind of matter!”
Zhang Wei Shan and Duanmu Chang Feng once again turned back to look at Ling Han, and this time, their stares were completely different.