Three Sects and Two Halls

Lan Tianyu quietly listened as Lan Xiaozhu recounted the story. Her eyes grew brighter and brighter, until they finally shone with dazzling radiance. Lan Xiaozhu's vivid narration made it seem as if the scene truly stood before her eyes.

"A stroke of divine inspiration."

When Lan Tianyu heard that Ye Tong had demanded one tael of blue silver as compensation for emotional distress, she could not help interjecting in amazement. That boy was simply too wicked.

Lan Xiaozhu said smugly, "Exactly! When he opened his mouth to ask for money again, even I was a little displeased, thinking he was truly greedy beyond measure. But who would have thought he would only demand one tael of blue silver? Miss, you didn't see the looks on the faces of everyone watching. They practically admired him to the point of falling flat in worship."

Lan Tianyu nodded and praised, "His wisdom and methods would be difficult for even those powerful figures of considerable status to match. Very impressive."

Lan Xiaozhu strongly agreed with her miss. Suddenly, as if recalling something, she hurriedly said, "Miss, I discovered that he is not only very clever. In another respect, he is quite formidable too!"

Lan Tianyu was even more surprised. "What else?"

"Carving jade carvings."

Thinking of those exquisitely carved, breathtaking jade bottles, Lan Xiaozhu said with heartfelt admiration, "The jade bottles used to hold the pills were carved with incomparable beauty. Every animal was lifelike, every plant brimmed with vitality. Even the words carved onto the jade bottles carried a graceful charm. When I saw those bottles, I couldn't help thinking of your paintings, Miss."

"Were they truly that good?"

Lan Tianyu's curiosity was thoroughly aroused.

Lan Xiaozhu nodded heavily and said very seriously, "Xiaozhu speaks no lie. They were truly exquisite. That is why he charged extra for the jade bottles when selling his pills, because the carvings on those bottles were already worth a great deal of money."

Lan Tianyu urged, "With you praising them so highly, I'm even more curious. Go buy a bottle of pills. I want to see whether they are truly as astonishing as you say."

"Uh..." Lan Xiaozhu's expression froze, and she muttered, "Miss, they can't be bought anymore."

Lan Tianyu asked in confusion, "Why not?"

Lan Xiaozhu said, "All the remaining pills were bought up by Jin Qiusheng. I personally saw all the jade bottles wrapped up and carried away by Jin Qiusheng's men."

Hearing this, disappointment flashed through Lan Tianyu's eyes. She herself was a master of painting, and carving and painting sprang from the same root. Naturally, Lan Tianyu wanted to see Ye Tong's work for herself.

Lan Xiaozhu suddenly seemed to think of something. She clapped her hands and said with a smile, "Old Master Bai! Yes, yes, that Old Master Bai who greatly admires your paintings, Miss. He bought four bottles of pills from Ye Tong yesterday."

Lan Tianyu's eyes lit up. Smiling, she asked, "If I remember correctly, Old Master Bai lives at Tian-character Pavilion, Number 101? Xiaozhu, there were some osmanthus cakes left over from this morning. Pack some up and come with me to deliver them to Old Master Bai."

"Alright!" Upon hearing her miss's order, Lan Xiaozhu ran out with light steps.

However, a quarter of an hour later, mistress and servant returned disappointed, because Old Master Bai had already gone out.

The sun rose and set, and the sky gradually darkened.

After wandering the county city all day only to end up empty-handed, Zui Qingshan appeared outside the pavilion where Ye Tong lived. Seeing Ye Tong squatting before the stove, waiting for the medicinal meal to finish cooking, a strange light flickered in Zui Qingshan's eyes. He asked, "I heard that you set up an array here today and sent the Gao Family people away with their feathers clipped?"

Ye Tong was instinctively wary of Zui Qingshan—or rather, he was instinctively wary of all powerful people. Without showing it, he said, "That did happen."

Noticing Ye Tong's vigilance, Zui Qingshan turned to glance at the silent Medicine Slave, who had his head lowered. Only then did he ask, "Do you truly understand array formation?"

"A little." Ye Tong nodded slightly. It was necessary to conduct oneself cautiously, but sometimes one could not be too low-key either.

Zui Qingshan said, "It is common knowledge that only cultivators whose cultivation has broken through to the Foundation Establishment Realm can set up arrays and use True Essence to activate them. Cultivators below the Foundation Establishment Realm possess only vital energy within their bodies and cannot activate arrays. How did you manage it?"

"Heh heh." Ye Tong smiled upon hearing that. Instead of answering, he asked, "Senior, as a foundation establishment stage expert, do you have secrets of your own?"

"This..." Zui Qingshan was left speechless by Ye Tong's question. As a cultivator, he naturally had his own fortuitous encounters, but they could not be told to outsiders.

Worried about angering this foundation establishment stage expert, Ye Tong continued, "As the saying goes, there are no absolutes in the affairs of this world. My true identity is that of a Pill Master. Although I am best at preparing poisons and refining poison pills, pill refinement inevitably requires the principles behind constructing arrays. Therefore, we have our own unique methods for ultimately activating arrays."

"I see. Then the pills you sold earlier were all personally refined by you?" Realization appeared on Zui Qingshan's face before he asked another question.

"That's right!" Ye Tong had no intention of concealing it. He nodded and said, "Those pills were all refined by my own hand."

Upon hearing this, Zui Qingshan sized Ye Tong up again, somewhat tempted. He had already learned everything Ye Tong had done today. For this youth who prepared for a rainy day and possessed wisdom bordering on the demonic, if not for concerns about his sect's standards for accepting disciples, Zui Qingshan might have already extended an invitation.

"What a pity!" Zui Qingshan sighed regretfully, then turned and walked toward the neighboring residential pavilion.

The Medicine Slave finally raised his head. Looking toward the doorway where Zui Qingshan's back had vanished, he said thoughtfully, "Young Master, I think I have guessed something."

Ye Tong asked, "What did you guess?"

The Medicine Slave looked toward where Zui Qingshan had disappeared and said, "If I'm not mistaken, he should be from the Three Sects and Two Halls. The reason he has appeared in Zifu County's county city should be to select outstanding young talents and recruit them."

Three Sects and Two Halls?

Even with some memories from his previous self, Ye Tong had been cooped up in the mountains since birth and knew far too little about the outside world. He looked at the Medicine Slave in confusion and asked, "What kind of place are the Three Sects and Two Halls?"

The Medicine Slave explained, "The land where we live is called the Eastern Mu Continent. This continent has four nations, three regions, and Twofold Sea. You should know the four nations: the Tianlan Empire, the Cangqiong Empire, the Falling Flame Empire, and the Sky Net Empire. The three regions are the Golden Phoenix Mountain Range, the Barren Great Marsh, and the Sky Burning Sand Sea. Twofold Sea refers to two sea passages: the Ten Thousand Zhang Sea Trench and the Sky Splitting Canyon."

"Within the territories of the Four Great Empires are the Three Sects, Two Halls, and eight Lineages. All are terrifying powers with inheritances spanning thousands of years. I will not explain the eight Lineages; you will learn of them later. Let me tell you about the Three Sects and Two Halls. They are the Fengshan Sect, Wanxia Sect, Falan Sect, Shengyuan Hall, and Qianyin Hall."

"The Three Sects and Two Halls recruit disciples far and wide. Every year, cultivation geniuses from across the continent are absorbed into them and become part of them. As for just how deep their foundations have grown, this old servant does not know."

"So this world is actually so vast, with sects that possess inheritances." Ye Tong silently nodded upon hearing this. He now had some understanding of this world's power structure.

The Medicine Slave asked curiously, "Does Young Master not wish to join the Three Sects and Two Halls? It is said that they are sacred lands for cultivation."

Ye Tong knew his own situation best. He shook his head and said, "If I did not have the Poison Body, I would indeed be interested. But now, joining the Three Sects and Two Halls is too extravagant a hope for me. My greatest wish in the near future is to solve the Poison Body problem. I will not consider anything else."

"That is true!" The Medicine Slave nodded gently. He knew that his young master was tortured half to death by the Poison Body every so often.

Tian-character Pavilion, Number 101.

Bai Musheng dragged his weary body back with two attendants. After a day of busy work, he had sold all the goods he had brought back to the county city, earning a considerable profit. Yet at his advanced age, he still found it somewhat too much to bear.

"Hm?"

Bai Musheng suddenly discovered Lan Tianyu, who rarely showed herself, waiting expectantly with her maid outside the small courtyard of his residential pavilion. With a puzzled expression, he went over and asked with a smile, "Why is Miss Tianyu here?"

Lan Tianyu wore a veil, her entire bearing gentle as jade. She gave a slight curtsy and smiled. "My maid made some pastries today, so I brought some for Old Master Bai to taste."

Delivering pastries?

Bai Musheng was sharp-minded and immediately realized that her real intention lay elsewhere. She was not here for the wine, but for something beyond it. He did not expose her, merely saying with a cheerful smile, "Then I must thank Miss Tianyu. Please, come in."

"Alright!"

Lan Tianyu followed Bai Musheng into the pavilion. After taking seats in the tea room, an attendant served fragrant tea. Lan Tianyu lifted her cup, swept aside her veil, and took a small sip before setting it down with a smile. "Good tea."

Bai Musheng gestured with his hand and said with a smile, "The osmanthus cakes are not bad either."

Lan Tianyu smiled. "Actually, Old Master Bai should be able to tell that Tianyu has another purpose in coming today. I heard that you bought four bottles of pills yesterday. I wonder whether they are still with you?"

"They are."

The image of that shrewd and detestable boy surfaced in Bai Musheng's mind, and he immediately felt a little annoyed.

Lan Tianyu asked, "Could Old Master Bai sell me one pill from each bottle?"

Bai Musheng asked in surprise, "You came here for this?"

"Precisely!" Lan Tianyu replied with a smile.

Bai Musheng asked, "Since Miss Tianyu wants to buy pills, why not go directly to that boy? Why come to me instead?"

Lan Tianyu said, "Ye Tong has already sold out."

"Sold out?"

Bai Musheng was startled, then quickly understood. "That makes sense. Though that boy is rather cunning, the medicinal properties of the pills he refined are indeed good, and their prices are much lower than the pills sold in those shops. It is hardly strange that they sold out."

As he spoke.

He gave an instruction to the attendant waiting nearby, and soon a wooden box was placed on the table beside them.

Bai Musheng took out four jade bottles and poured one pill from each bottle.

"Is this it?"

The instant Lan Tianyu saw the jade bottles, her eyes brightened. She was obsessed with painting; the greatest interests of her life were viewing paintings and painting them herself. Although carving and painting could not be considered two paths leading to the same destination—one created three-dimensional images, the other flat ones—they still had similarities.

Seeing her miss's expression, Lan Xiaozhu could not help covering her mouth and laughing. "Miss, wasn't I right? These jade bottles are exquisitely carved. Even if sold on their own, they would be worth a fortune."

"You were right." Lan Tianyu glanced at her, nodded, and said, "The carving technique is indeed superb. They are rare treasures."

Hearing their conversation, Bai Musheng said in surprise, "Miss Tianyu, you did not actually come for the pills, but merely to see the pill bottles?"

A smile lingered at the corners of Lan Tianyu's lips. "I heard that Ye Tong's carving skills are exceptional, and I could not resist my curiosity. That is why I came to trouble you. Old Master Bai, might you be willing to part with these jade bottles?"

Bai Musheng thought for a moment. "I'll give you two of them!"

Lan Tianyu hurriedly said, "In Tianyu's eyes, one bottle is worth ten thousand taels of silver. I do not want the pills. I will purchase the two jade bottles for twenty thousand taels of blue silver!"

"Twenty thousand taels?"

Bai Musheng had not expected the jade bottles to hold such value in Lan Tianyu's eyes. However, he did not wish to take too much advantage of her, so he said, "Twenty thousand taels of blue silver is a bit too much. How about this? I'll give you half the pills from each bottle as well. After all, I only spent ten thousand taels of blue silver on each full bottle of pills."