Hu Zhongxuan also told you that when Bai Chen was captured,
he had sold you out at the very first opportunity.
Bai Chen had wailed to the heavens and sobbed to the earth, saying your medical skills were better than his.
He said you were comparable to Hua Tuo reborn.
Though he did not know who Hua Tuo was either.
Bai Chen told the army to arrest you, not him.
Bai Chen also said he himself could not do anything.
He said he had treated people to death before.
He splashed every kind of filth onto himself.
But it was useless.
The army had even dragged in veterinarians, so clearly they would not be frightened off by Bai Chen's record.
The next day,
Bai Chen was indeed hauled to the Military Medical Office.
When Bai Chen saw you, it was as if he had seen family.
He passionately poured out the agony of his longing over the past two years.
Bai Chen said that when he was captured, he had refused to expose you even if beaten to death.
He just had not expected that you had already been conscripted here.
You asked him, "Why did I hear that someone said I was comparable to Hua Tuo reborn?"
Bai Chen's expression turned solemn. "Senior Brother, who has such discerning eyes?"
You kicked him outright. "Get lost and work."
Bai Chen was assigned under you.
You had him take charge of alchemy.
Bai Chen's talent for alchemy was actually quite good.
Even though he spent every day being frivolous and always running off to brothels,
he could still produce six second-grade pills in a single furnace, reaching minor mastery.
Though he could not yet be called a second-grade alchemist, he was close.
As the war grew more intense,
the Military Medical Office's workload steadily increased.
Sometimes, you even had to treat wounded soldiers from the Golden Yue Kingdom.
After healing them, Hu Zhongxuan and the other higher-ups would interrogate them.
You discovered that during interrogations, they would administer a third-grade pill called the Bewilderment Pill.
The Bewilderment Pill could muddle the mind of whoever took it.
Together with guidance from a specific martial skill, it could make the user divulge intelligence.
But its effects were not particularly stable.
You obtained the Bewilderment Pill formula from Hu Zhongxuan.
You began studying the Bewilderment Pill.
After half a year of research, you improved the Bewilderment Pill.
The improved Bewilderment Pill's effects became stable.
Moreover, it no longer required the cooperation of a specific martial skill.
All one had to do was administer the new Bewilderment Pill,
and the person being interrogated would answer whatever they were asked.
Its effect was incredibly potent.
You named the new Bewilderment Pill the Inquiry Pill.
The Inquiry Pill was no longer third-grade; it had risen to fourth-grade.
You gained inspiration while improving the Bewilderment Pill.
On the spot, you took out the materials for the Inner Divinity Pill, lit the fire, and began refining.
An hour later, the Alchemy Furnace was opened.
Eight finished Inner Divinity Pills gleamed brilliantly.
You officially became a proud fourth-grade alchemist.
You gave the Inquiry Pill to Hu Zhongxuan.
Hu Zhongxuan was overjoyed after verifying it.
He rushed over excitedly and praised you again and again.
He said your Inquiry Pill had been distributed throughout the entire army.
He took you to meet General Ding Hanfei.
Ding Hanfei was an Apex Grandmaster, commanding all troops at Yajiang Pass.
Ding Hanfei was also very pleased.
Ding Hanfei patted your shoulder. "Zhao Tiezhu, right? Very good, very good."
Then Ding Hanfei turned to Hu Zhongxuan and chuckled. "Your Danxia Sect really does produce talent!"
You froze, then asked hesitantly, "Adjutant Hu is also a disciple of the Danxia Sect?"
Ding Hanfei turned to look at you, somewhat surprised. "Tiezhu, you didn't know?"
You very much wanted to say you knew jack shit; Hu Zhongxuan had never told you.
"Tiezhu, I am indeed a disciple of the Danxia Sect," Hu Zhongxuan said.
You still wanted to get to the bottom of it, but Ding Hanfei interrupted you.
"Tiezhu, whatever questions you uncle and nephew have, discuss them after you return. You improved the Bewilderment Pill, so tell me, what reward do you want?"
You thought for a moment. "A cultivation technique?"
"Sure!"
"What about martial skills?"
"Also sure!"
"Can you just let me return to the Danxia Sect?"
"Not that."
You were utterly speechless. Then what the hell was the point of asking?
In the end, you asked Luan Hanfei for a great deal of materials to refine Inner Divinity Pills.
Every Inner Divinity Pill refined from those materials would belong to you.
Then you and Hu Zhongxuan returned to the Military Medical Office.
The two of you sat facing each other in the room.
You asked, "Adjutant Hu, you're also my Martial Uncle?"
Hu Zhongxuan nodded. "That's right."
At once, you connected all the earlier events.
No wonder you had previously felt that Hu Zhongxuan took especially good care of you.
He had provided you with materials for Inner Divinity Pills,
and allowed you to focus entirely on alchemy.
So this was the relationship behind it.
You asked, "Martial Uncle, what exactly is going on? How did you end up in the army?"
Hu Zhongxuan hesitated before saying, "It happened like this..."
It turned out Hu Zhongxuan and Xie Huide were fellow disciples.
Both had been in the Danxia Sect in their youth.
They also had a younger martial sister.
Without any surprises, both men fell in love with that younger martial sister.
Without any surprises, the younger martial sister loved both of them.
Before long, something unexpected happened. While the three were out training, they encountered an expert.
The expert injured all three of them.
The three fought desperately to escape.
But their junior sister was gravely wounded and never woke again.
Though not the kind of never waking again where she was dead.
She was alive, but her body could not move.
She had the exact same symptoms as Snow White after eating the poisoned apple.
Although Hu and Xie eventually achieved great success on the Martial Path and killed their enemy,
their junior sister still could never awaken.
They tried every kind of pill and medical treatment, but none worked.
Even the previous sect master of the Danxia Sect had intervened, to no avail.
Gradually, Xie Huide and Hu Zhongxuan developed differing views.
Hu Zhongxuan felt that studying medicine could not save the... ah... could not save their junior sister.
So Hu Zhongxuan resolutely left the Danxia Sect.
Single-mindedly pursuing the Martial Path, he vowed to stand at its absolute summit.
He wanted to use the strongest power of the Martial Path to awaken his junior sister.
Xie Huide, meanwhile, still firmly believed medical arts and pills could cure her.
So he remained in the Danxia Sect, madly researching all kinds of theories.
He researched all kinds of knowledge about the human body, especially the physical structures of women and so on.
At that moment, you remembered how you had once run into Xie Huide as he came out of a brothel.
You sighed. "We wronged Master. He really went to brothels for academic research, to improve his alchemy!"
"I also go to improve my alchemy," Bai Chen said.
You turned to look at Bai Chen. "When the fuck did you come in?"
"I came in at 'both men fell in love with that younger martial sister,'" Bai Chen recalled.
You nodded. "Then I don't need to explain it all over again."
Hu Zhongxuan said, "Can you two show me some respect?"
Bai Chen asked Hu Zhongxuan, "By the way, Martial Uncle, how exactly did you say you were going to wake your junior sister?"
You answered, "Martial Uncle vowed to stand at the peak of the Martial Path! To surpass Apex Grandmasters! To touch the unknown realm no one has ever touched! Martial Uncle believes that there must be power there capable of reversing life and death!!"
After hearing your impassioned speech, Bai Chen turned and asked Hu Zhongxuan, "Martial Uncle, did you succeed?"
The veins on Hu Zhongxuan's forehead bulged.
He was only in the Grandmaster Realm now, not even an Apex Grandmaster. Succeed, my ass.
Seeing that Hu Zhongxuan was not looking right, you hurriedly smacked Bai Chen on the back of the head. "You even learned to fire your ultimate point-blank!"
Bai Chen shut his mouth resentfully.
You smiled and soothed Hu Zhongxuan. "Martial Uncle, Bai Chen is just a child in his forties who likes visiting brothels. He doesn't know how to speak. Don't take it to heart."
Hu Zhongxuan waved a hand, unconcerned.
Only then did you ask Hu Zhongxuan the crucial question. "Martial Uncle, how is my Shimu-slash-Martial Aunt now?"
Hu Zhongxuan was somewhat speechless and was just about to speak.
BOOM—
A tremendous explosion sounded from outside the Military Medical Office.
Immediately afterward, shouts and screams erupted into a cacophony.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!!"
"Gather! Meet the enemy!!"
Hu Zhongxuan sprang to his feet and rushed out in an instant.
You immediately used your movement technique as well, flashing outside to assess the situation.
Before you continue