Divine Demeanor

The long-robed elder quickly calmed down.

He had spent his life in war and conquest, long tempered by blood and slaughter. What great winds and towering waves had he not experienced?

He also knew better than most that this world was full of extraordinary people with inconceivable methods.

Without a doubt, the youth before him was anything but simple!

"Were you secretly following us earlier?"

Zi Jin suddenly frowned and spoke.

The long-robed elder was speechless. Before Su Yi could reply, he said, "Girl, don't talk nonsense. With this young friend's ability, how could he possibly do such an unseemly thing?"

As he spoke, he cupped his hands toward Su Yi, a trace of admiration already appearing on his face. "May I ask, young friend, what else have you seen?"

Grandfather, he...

Zi Jin's face filled with disbelief.

With her grandfather's status, in the nineteen cities of Cloud River County, who could possibly be worthy of him "cupping his hands in respect"?

Thinking of this, she could not help giving Su Yi another look. His figure was lean, his features were refined and handsome, and his appearance was quite good.

It was just that the aura around him was loose and ordinary, as if he had no cultivation at all...

Could it be...

This person's cultivation had already reached a terrifying level that was "impossible to fathom"?

Her family background was extraordinary, and when she was young, she had heard her elders say that there were some figures in this world like Land Immortals. They looked utterly ordinary, but in truth they were terrifying existences who had long stood above the "Martial Dao," their divine abilities vast and boundless!

Could the person before her not be a youth at all, but an Old Senior skilled in preserving his youthful appearance?

At this thought, Zi Jin's heart trembled as well, and a trace of surprise and doubt appeared between her brows.

Su Yi had not expected that merely because of the long-robed elder's cupped-hands salute, Zi Jin would produce so many thoughts.

Facing the long-robed elder's question, he said calmly, "To put it bluntly, with your third-level Furnace Nourishing Realm cultivation, even if you manage to pick Six Yin Grass and Extreme Yang Flower this time, I'm afraid it still won't let you break through your realm."

After a pause, he continued, "Or rather, you should have long since anticipated that, given your current age and foundation, relying on ordinary cultivation methods would be utterly incapable of letting you take another step forward on the Martial Dao. So you decided to use the power of these two spirit medicines to forcibly break through, correct?"

The long-robed elder's entire body stiffened. He felt chills running straight up his spine, as if every secret inside and outside his body had been seen through.

If Su Yi's earlier guess about the root of his injury and the purpose of this trip had left him somewhat doubtful, then now, he could say with absolute certainty that the youth before him was surely an expert!

"Grandfather, how does he know everything..."

Zi Jin cried out despite herself.

Her emotions were somewhat out of control, and her pure, stunning face was filled with shock.

But to Su Yi, who had awakened the memories of his past life, making such deductions could not have been simpler.

"Sir, your discerning eyes are like torches. This old man is truly in awe!"

The long-robed elder sighed and cupped his hands in salute once more. Even his form of address had changed from "young friend" to "sir," no longer daring to act superior.

Su Yi nodded inwardly.

The Furnace Nourishing Realm was also known as the Grandmaster Realm!

From his seventeen years of experience in this life, he was quite clear that with the long-robed elder's status as a Martial Dao Grandmaster, let alone in Guangling City, even in the entirety of Cloud River County, he could be called a "giant"!

After all, the Spiritual Qi of the Great Zhou Dynasty was far too scarce. Those capable of cultivating to the level of Grandmaster were enough to be enfeoffed as feudal lords and awe an entire region.

At present, for the long-robed elder, with his status as a Grandmaster, to treat him with courtesy was already quite rare.

"Sir, since you can see my grandfather's injuries, surely you must have a way to treat them, right?"

Zi Jin could not help speaking, a hint of hope appearing on her fair, delicate, oval face.

In the Great Zhou Dynasty, Grandmasters were like dragons, looked up to by the masses.

A single person was enough to determine the rise and fall of a top clan in a region!

And her grandfather was absolutely not someone an ordinary Martial Dao Grandmaster could compare with.

If he were to fall because of this injury, it was destined to deal an incomparably severe blow to the entire clan!

Seeing Su Yi's wondrous abilities made the deeply worried Zi Jin feel as though she had grasped a sliver of hope.

"This old man is Xiao Tianque. In Cloud River County, I can be considered to have a little bit of a name. If sir can save my life, I will never forget sir's life-saving grace!"

A trace of expectation also arose in the long-robed elder's heart. He cupped his hands again and spoke solemnly.

As a Martial Dao Grandmaster who had dominated the winds and clouds for many years, how could he not know that even another Grandmaster would not be able to see through the injuries on his body with a single glance?

On this point alone, Su Yi's position in his heart had already risen to the level of "unfathomably deep."

"If I couldn't treat this little injury, why would I have said so much earlier?"

Su Yi laughed faintly.

Xiao Tianque and his granddaughter Zi Jin's eyes lit up at the same time.

"As long as you cure this old man's illness, sir, I can agree to any request!"

Xiao Tianque's expression grew even more solemn, his voice ringing firm as iron striking the ground.

Only, he could not help feeling uneasy.

In his view, with methods as divinely skillful as Su Yi's, an ordinary "repayment" likely would not be enough at all!

But he could no longer care about that.

As long as he could live, he would not begrudge even the greatest price!

"To you, it can be called a life-saving grace; to me, it's just a small matter. How about this—just give me a little consultation fee."

Su Yi thought for a moment, then spoke.

"What?"

Xiao Tianque and Zi Jin both froze, their expressions stunned, unable to believe their ears.

"Is there a problem?" Su Yi asked.

"No."

Zi Jin hurriedly shook her head, her expression strange as she stammered, "I just didn't expect... that it would actually... actually be this easy..."

By the end, her voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz, and she looked deeply embarrassed.

Su Yi did not know whether to laugh or cry. It was merely a lift of the hand—why would I go out of my way to make things difficult for you?

Xiao Tianque let out a long sigh instead and said with a wry smile, "Girl, what do you understand? What sort of figure is this gentleman? How could he care about a bit of money? The reason he's doing this is because he doesn't want us to owe him a favor."

"So that's how it is." Zi Jin came to a sudden realization.

This was a true expert—he simply had no interest in being owed a favor by someone of her level!

Zi Jin quickly took a silver note from her purse and respectfully offered it over with both hands, her voice clear and melodious:

"Sir, this is a silver note for ten thousand taels. It's a small token of goodwill from my grandfather and me. Please accept it."

Ten thousand taels, taken out so casually?

Even Su Yi could not help being surprised. Only then did he realize that the grandfather and granddaughter before him were likely far wealthier than he had guessed.

One had to know, the Wen Family, as one of Guangling City's Three Great Clans, only gave the sisters Wen Lingzhao and Wen Lingxue three hundred taels of silver each month as spending money.

"Ten thousand taels is too much."

Su Yi shook his head.

Although he was currently in urgent need of money to buy medicinal ingredients, he disdained making a huge profit from such a matter.

Xiao Tianque sighed inwardly again.

He became increasingly certain that this expert before him did not care about the amount of money at all.

In other words, in this expert's eyes, treating his injuries might... truly not amount to anything!

He was not greedy for wealth, nor willing to let him owe a favor, and he could see through his circumstances at a glance. If this was not the legendary kind of expert, Xiao Tianque would gouge out his own eyes!

For a time, when Xiao Tianque faced Su Yi, he became even more respectful.

He was wily with age and saw farther ahead. He had already secretly decided that once his injuries healed, he had to form some kind of connection with this expert no matter what!

At this moment, Zi Jin looked troubled and said hesitantly, "But the silver notes I have on me are all in denominations of ten thousand taels."

Su Yi: "..."

In this Great Zhou Dynasty, just how solid did one's family background have to be for a young girl to throw money around with such lordly confidence?

Then Xiao Tianque said with a solemn expression, "Sir, to ordinary commoners of this world, ten thousand taels can indeed be called an enormous sum. But to me, it is nothing, and it falls far, far short of the gratitude in my heart."

"Just as you said before, sir, to you this is a piece of cake, but to this old man, it is a life-saving grace!"

As he said this, he bowed in salute and said sincerely, "Please, sir, you must accept it. Only then can this old man and my granddaughter feel at ease."

Seeing her grandfather perform such a great courtesy, Zi Jin also grew anxious and said respectfully:

"Sir, if I may risk making you laugh, within the borders of the Great Zhou, the life of a Grandmaster like my grandfather could not be exchanged even for a million taels of gold, much less a mere ten thousand taels of silver."

"Please... just accept it. Otherwise, Grandfather and I will feel guilty for the rest of our lives."

As she spoke, she likewise bowed in salute, presenting the silver note with both hands.

Seeing this scene, Su Yi found it rather amusing.

He had originally approached this with the mindset of doing something as easy as lifting a hand. Who would have thought that the other party would insist on giving him money...

He could not be bothered to refuse any longer. He took the silver note and smiled. "All right, the two of you shouldn't keep giving such grand salutes. Otherwise, this consultation fee will become far too hot to handle."

Xiao Tianque quickly straightened up, his face full of smiles.

Zi Jin also let out a long breath of relief, her brows filled with ease and joy.

"To cure your injuries, aside from taking medicine continuously for seven days, we'll also need to use a secret method to expel the Corpse Poison from your five viscera. Only then can the Hidden Danger be completely eliminated."

As Su Yi spoke, he gave them a prescription containing more than thirty medicinal herbs, none of which were rare items.

Only the medicinal catalyst was exceedingly rare and precious: a ten-year-old "Jade Toad Molt."

Still, Su Yi believed this would not stump a grandmaster like Xiao Tianque.

"Many thanks for bestowing this prescription, sir!"

After committing the prescription firmly to memory, Xiao Tianque bowed once more, his heart rather stirred.

Su Yi nodded and said, "Take these medicines for seven days. Seven days from now, wait for me here, and I'll help you completely purge the residual poison from your body."

"I still have matters to attend to, so I'll be going on ahead. Farewell."

With that, he turned and left.

Only after they watched Su Yi's figure vanish into the distance...

Did Zi Jin seem to come back to herself. Her beautiful eyes shifted as she said softly, "Grandfather, if that gentleman hadn't seen through the secret on your body just now, I'd definitely have taken him for a swindler."

Xiao Tianque immediately gave a derisive laugh. "Girl, don't speak nonsense. It was only ten thousand taels of silver. How could such a sum possibly enter that gentleman's discerning eyes? Judging by his conduct, he truly had the bearing of a divine being!"

"Remember, the next time we meet him, you must be even more humble and respectful. You absolutely must not show the slightest neglect!"

By the end, his expression had turned utterly solemn.

Zi Jin stuck out her tongue and said obediently, "Don't worry, Grandfather. I've remembered it all."

Xiao Tianque hummed in acknowledgment, then sighed with emotion. "I originally thought that after returning from Ghost Mother Ridge this time, I wouldn't have many days left to live. Who would have thought that, by a twist of fate, I'd encounter an eminent man, have him point me through the fog, and receive his prescription? I... how fortunate am I?"

At this point, he suddenly slapped his forehead, remembering something, and said in vexation, "How muddleheaded of me. I actually forgot to ask that gentleman's name just now!"