However, no matter how much Pill King Han deserved a beating, everyone quickly found the three important points in his words after a momentary conflict:
First, he was celebrating his birthday today.
Second, he wanted to accept an apprentice.
Third, he was still going to pass along his experiences.
Originally, everyone only came here with the cherished desires of the third point. Now, the excitement included this unexpected second point. But at the same time, what everyone felt a little melancholy about was the first point that immediately followed after. If they didn’t handle the first point well enough, wasn’t the second point impossible?
Really! Why didn’t he mention this sooner?
Even if it was those younger generations who, due to the organizations backing them, long knew that Pill King Han was going to accept a disciple today, their moods also weren’t too comfortable. Think about it. Indeed, they prepared some precious treasures in the hopes of formally apprenticing themselves. However, their future master’s birthday followed right after. As a result, the “weight” of these treasures wasn’t enough!
In the end, why hadn’t he said anything in advance? Was it to avoid the reputation of taking advantage of the situation to accumulate wealth? Nonetheless, they actually would’ve preferred it if Pill King Han wanted to accumulate wealth. Then, at least they would’ve had a direction to work towards.
Of course, compared to those who brought precious treasures with them, the people who didn’t even know that Pill King Han wanted to accept a disciple were very apprehensive.
They were really falling behind…
Many thoughts were running through everyone’s minds. But generally speaking, there was still much more joy.
Xu Lingxiu’s brows faintly furrowed.
Upon seeing this, Gu Zuo slightly tilted his head, and asked: “Senior Sect Brother Xu, what’s wrong?”
Xu Lingxiu didn’t conceal anything, and replied: “My congratulatory gift might be a little inadequate.”
While speaking, Xu Lingxiu gave Prince Zhou a certain look.
Prince Zhou’s palm flipped over, and a flat wooden box that was approximately five feet long and three feet wide appeared in his hands. He lightly pushed it to Xu Lingxiu’s side.
Everyone was aware that this was the congratulatory gift for Pill King Han.
The group of people subtly leaned their bodies to obstruct any wandering eyes from outside.
Xu Lingxiu opened the box.
Placed inside the wooden box were two stalks of spirit medicine with forty percent spirituality, one stalk of spirit medicine with fifty percent spirituality, and a pure white, egg-shaped object — This turned out to be a stone ovum that contained wondrous medicine.
One couldn’t focus on how there was only a total of four things here. Spirit medicines that reached forty percent spirituality were rather rare. Not to mention stone ova that were guaranteed to contain wondrous medicines. Those things were even rarer.
Gu Zuo looked at these things, and his impression of Prince Zhou improved quite a bit.
He knew that his dear Senior Sect Brother Xu wouldn’t have been able to acquire these things himself after coming over. As such, the person who would’ve prepared these gifts was Prince Zhou. As for Prince Zhou, he definitely wasn’t the only prince in all of Great Zhou. Although he had power and influence, Great Zhou was just a bronze-ranked organization. How could he be allowed to arbitrarily withdraw resources? To prepare these things, he must’ve worked very hard.
If giving these things ensured that Senior Sect Brother Xu could apprentice himself, then it would be worth it. However, the key point was that there was no certainty at all from the start. It could be said that the hope was relatively slim, but Prince Zhou was still willing to pay so much…
Gu Zuo glanced at the two of them hesitantly.
Maybe he had an overactive imagination because he was dating big brother, but that feeling appeared once again. Did Prince Zhou really have any errant thoughts about his Senior Sect Brother Xu? After all, although Gu Zuo felt that Xu Lingxiu’s aptitudes were pretty good, judging from his current strength, it was difficult for someone like Prince Zhou to make such a big bet so easily.
Then, why did he feel that it was a little… Should he say ambiguous? In any case, something odd was going on around here!
In particular, Senior Sect Brother Xu’s appearance and temperament were truly one in a million.
After secretly thinking for a while, Gu Zuo composed himself just in time.
Ah, right. The important point right now wasn’t to think about these messy things. Instead, it was to increase Senior Sect Brother Xu’s bargaining chips so that he could smoothly become an apprentice.
Gu Zuo pondered for a little while, and silently extended his palm under the long table.
In the hollow of his palm was a stone ovum that was the size of two clenched fists. it looked a bit bigger than the stone ovum in the wooden box. In addition, this thing was a living stone ovum, and not a spoiled, dead ovum.
After that, Gu Zuo placed this stone ovum into the wooden box: “Offer this thing, too.”
Xu Lingxiu’s brows tightly furrowed.
With one look, Gu Zuo knew what he was thinking, and hastily said: “We’re still very young, and have a lot of time ahead of us. I’ll lend some help to Senior Sect Brother Xu. In the future, when senior brother gets lots of things, you can pay me back.” He spoke very quickly, “What kind of friendship do we have? Could it be that if I encounter such a situation, Senior Sect Brother Xu won’t help me?”
Listening up to here, Xu Lingxiu’s brows loosened.
In fact, he vaguely understood from many matters that this Junior Sect Brother Gu had helped him in multiple ways. There were very few places where he could provide any help to Gu Zuo.
However, Xu Lingxiu wasn’t an unreasonable or pretentious person. This stone ovum was definitely something he needed right now. He also really needed to increase his bargaining chips at this time. Compared to many large organizations, his advantages were too few in number. In addition to his own efforts, the necessary respect to the pill king had to be shown as well.
As for owing Junior Sect Brother Gu a favor… It was just like this junior brother said. They had bright and long futures ahead of them. Even if he couldn’t help in some aspects, he could always find an opportunity to repay it when he was older.
Hence, Xu Lingxiu accepted the stone ovum, and said: “Since it’s like this, I won’t stand on ceremony with Junior Sect Brother Gu. In the future, if junior brother needs anything, just let me know.”
Gu Zuo was also very happy that Xu Lingxiu didn’t stubbornly push back on the subject. He promptly nodded his head: “Rest assured, I also certainly won’t stand on ceremony with Senior Sect Brother Xu!”
On the side, Prince Zhou watched this scene, and a faint glimmer flickered through his eyes.
As for Prince Zhou’s reaction, it was similarly noticed by Gongyi Tianheng.
Shortly thereafter, Tianheng looked at Gu Zuo once more. His gaze was gentle and soft.
His impression of Xu Lingxiu wasn’t bad. His Ah Zuo needed to have friends to interact with… If Xu Lingxiu’s temperament changed for the worse in the future, it wouldn’t be too late to part ways.
But back to the matter at hand. This kind of situation wasn’t limited to Xu Lingxiu. The others who wanted to apprentice themselves also started rummaging through their own inter-spatial tools. It was common to even seek out the people beside them and find a way to exchange for some things.
However, everyone’s reactions were quick. Everything was resolved in a short period of time. If their problems couldn’t be resolved, then there was nothing to be done. It would be too conspicuous to send someone out to go looking now.
At this time, someone quick-witted and thick-skinned jumped out first. With a congratulatory gift held in both hands, he said: “I’m indebted to this pill king’s generosity. This lowly younger generation only has a meager gift to celebrate this senior’s birthday. I would also like to congratulate this senior for becoming a pill king. May you enjoy everlasting freedom and leisure!”
Pill King Han made a slight gesture, and someone on the side came over to receive this congratulatory gift.
After that, this maidservant announced with a clear and bright voice:
“The congratulatory gift of Singing Lotus City’s Huang Clan—”
“Thousand Partings Grass.”
“Golden Clouds Iron.”
“Hundred Changes Cotton Rose.”
“We express our gratitude!”
Then, Pill King Han nodded to the Huang Clan’s child, and spoke good-naturedly: “Many thanks.”
In here, there were two stalks of spirit medicine with forty-five percent spirituality and a chunk of rare material useful for upgrading pill furnaces.
Selecting these three things was quite considerate, but in many people’s eyes, these items didn’t amount to much.
While this gift wasn’t as good as what other people probably brought, the Huang Clan’s child already registered his name on Pill King Han’s list while everyone else was still deliberating. Even if he wasn’t necessarily chosen, he had familiarized himself with this pill king! It had to be known that, among this many people, only one could become the personal disciple. For the rest, being able to get familiar was good enough. Even the second and third gifts weren’t as eye-catching as the first one!
After going through this incident, everyone also reacted. Why did they still hesitate?!
Subconsciously, many pharmacists stood up and offered their gifts one after another.
Currently, it still wasn’t time for Pill King Han to pass along his experiences. As a result, lots of martial artists entered the pavilion with their pharmacists. Among these martial artists, many of their realms were brilliant and lofty. The good things in their possession were naturally not few.
At this moment, the powerhouses with familial ties to the pharmacists they protected brought out these good things, and gave them to the pharmacists to act as congratulatory gifts. As for those who only accepted a mission to protect their charges, why would they hand over their own things to the pharmacists? Of course, these powerhouses could use good things as birthday gifts in their own names, which would raise their sense of existence in front of this pill king!
All of a sudden, there were many people offering gifts. As for the maidservant in charge of announcing these gifts, one wasn’t enough. Instead, there were two maidservants, one on the left and the other on the right, who took turns.
Listening from below, Gu Zuo heard about many things that were needed by pill kings — Naturally, he also needed such things.
It was just that Gu Zuo didn’t have any greedy intentions. Other people’s things belonged to them. Meanwhile, the benefits in his own hands were held tightly by him.
Eventually, most of the people’s gifts had been announced. Xu Lingxiu also found a chance to deliver his own congratulatory gift.
Then, it was announced:
“The congratulatory gift of Xu Lingxiu, the subordinate pharmacist of the Great Zhou Empire’s Prince Zhou Qi—”
“Two stalks of Jade Spirit Firmament Bamboo.”
“One stalk of Snowy Flesh Lotus.”
“Two units of wondrous medicine stone ova.”
“We express our gratitude!”
While this congratulatory gift seemed cruder and simpler than those that were several lists long, the items contained within it could give anyone a small shock.
Pill King Han’s gaze hovered on Xu Lingxiu. Immediately following that, it turned to Gu Zuo’s position, and stopped on him.
After that, he smiled at Xu Lingxiu and Gu Zuo.
Gu Zuo: “…”
Did that fellow notice what he did?
Could it be that his and Senior Sect Brother Xu’s actions were all seen by Pill King Han…
T/N: Thanks for the correction, Charysa.
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