"Brother Zhang?"
After a long silence, Wei Zheng forced the iron-tasting air from his lungs, his Adam's apple bobbing violently twice before he cautiously probed.
"What, and after only a moment, you no longer recognize me?"
Zhang Qi found it amusing and asked Wei Zheng in return.
"It really is you? It's only been a few days since we last met, but just now..."
Hearing that reply, Wei Zheng felt as though his mind had been stuffed with a tangled mess of hemp.
"Lord Lao saw that I'd spent these years building bridges and paving roads among mortals, so I'd accumulated a bit of merit."
Zhang Qi brushed the mud flecks from the hem of his robe and casually made up a story.
"Besides, back in the Warring States period, Lord Lao had some ties with the elders of the Mohist School.
So the old man was pleased and rewarded me with a Nine-Revolution Golden Elixir."
"A Nine-Revolution Golden Elixir?!"
Wei Zheng's eyes widened at those words, and he cried out involuntarily.
He had spent so many years in Daoist circles that he understood all too well the weight carried by those four words.
Nine was the ultimate yang number, while revolution meant returning to one's origin.
Thus, the Nine-Revolution Golden Elixir was not something that should exist in the mortal world at all. It was a divine medicine that only the Three Pure Ones could refine.
Legend had it that even an ordinary mortal could ascend in broad daylight after consuming one.
Yet he had never imagined that the real thing would be even more outrageous than the legends.
But with that, everything made sense again.
The founding emperor had been a descendant of Laozi, and Zhang Qi had rendered tremendous service to the Tang Dynasty over the years.