Hall Master

Wang Shisong strode inside. The moment he saw Guo Shidao, he dropped straight to his knees, so moved that tears nearly spilled from his eyes. "Shisong pays respects to the Hall Master."

Being able to meet the Hall Master was no easy matter. Wang Shisong had only met the Hall Master once before, when he had advanced to Intermediate Heart Nourisher. This was merely his second time seeing him, so naturally tears streamed down his face.

Guo Shidao said, "You said you had something very important to report?"

Wang Shisong said, "Reporting to the Hall Master, Shisong has just met a Quasi-Intermediate Heart Nourisher."

Guo Shidao smiled. "Someone else is advancing to Intermediate Heart Nourisher? That is good news!"

Yu Qianqian also smiled. Every Intermediate Heart Nourisher was an immense treasure, so this was naturally something worth celebrating.

Wang Shisong said, "This Quasi-Intermediate Heart Nourisher is only sixteen years old."

The expressions of Guo Shidao and Yu Qianqian both turned strange.

Wang Shisong seemed to realize something as well and hurriedly said, "I am not talking about Princess Qianqian, but another young man who has become a Quasi-Intermediate Heart Nourisher!"

"Another one!" Yu Qianqian rose to her feet in astonishment. Could someone else possess talent in Heart Nourishing that rivaled her own?

Wang Shisong said, "His name is Ning Xiaochuan."

"Ning Xiaochuan!"

Yu Qianqian's gaze became complicated. It seemed both within her expectations and beyond them.

Before Ning Xiaochuan appeared, Yu Qianqian had always believed herself to be the most outstanding Heart Nourisher prodigy in the world. Only after Ning Xiaochuan appeared did she realize that there were other geniuses in this world.

If she remembered correctly, Ning Xiaochuan had become an Elementary Heart Nourisher only a month ago. Yet in just one month, he had advanced to Intermediate Heart Nourisher. This... this could no longer be described as mere genius. It was simply earth-shattering.

Upon hearing that name, Guo Shidao also revealed a thoughtful expression. His aged eyes narrowed slightly. "Ning... Xiao...chuan..."

"Hall Master, do you know him?" Yu Qianqian asked.

Guo Shidao said, "Perhaps! Qianqian, you know this young man, don't you? Go invite him here. I wish to meet him alone."

Ning Xiaochuan had originally intended to leave the Golden Roc Heart Nourishing Hall, but before he could walk out the gates, Yu Qianqian called out to him. She then brought him up this tall tower, where he met a mysterious old man.

No one knew how many years this old man had lived. The ancient, weathered air about him made him seem like an old tree that had survived for centuries.

Guo Shidao stared at Ning Xiaochuan for a long while, gradually growing agitated. Trembling, he rose from the jade platform, chaotic vital energy emanating from his body. "Who cured your congenital ailment?"

Ning Xiaochuan asked in confusion, "Senior, you know that I once suffered from a congenital ailment?"

Guo Shidao nodded. "Back then, the Sword Pavilion Marquis secretly invited this old man to the Marquis Mansion to treat your congenital ailment. At the time, you were still very young, only a half-year-old infant. But your ailment originated in your heart meridians. They were severely blocked, and neither medicine nor Profound Qi could clear them. The slightest mistake could have cost you your life. This old man did not dare act rashly then, so the matter was set aside. Your congenital ailment has now completely healed. Did you encounter some great expert who helped you clear your blocked heart meridians?"

Ning Xiaochuan said, "A month ago, this junior was struck to death by someone's palm and lay in suspended death for half a day. After waking up, my heart meridians had become clear. I suppose that person's palm force happened to shatter the blockages in them."

Although Ning Xiaochuan was deceiving Huo Shidao, this method could indeed clear his heart meridians. It was simply far more dangerous.

"So it was actually that simple! Yet it was also fraught with peril. One moment of carelessness, and you would have truly died." Guo Shidao shook his head with a bitter smile. "It seems this was a blessing in disguise. You possess the Seven Aperture God-Demon Heart Palace. Having survived such a great calamity, you are bound to soar into the heavens. Even this old man finds your future achievements impossible to measure."

Guo Shidao had once treated Ning Xiaochuan, so he naturally knew that Ning Xiaochuan possessed the Seven Aperture God-Demon Heart Palace. With such a Heart Palace, becoming an Intermediate Heart Nourisher within a single month was understandable.

Guo Shidao stroked his beard and laughed heartily. "It seems that before long, the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion will produce another peerless powerhouse. I truly look forward to seeing just how formidable you will become once you cultivate the Seven Aperture God-Demon Heart Palace to great completion. I look forward to it, truly! From now on, come here with Qianqian on the first, tenth, and twentieth day of every month to attend my lectures. On the path of the Heart Nourisher, you ought to go farther than I ever did."

Ning Xiaochuan then sought Guo Shidao's guidance on several methods for refining Intermediate Pills. Guo Shidao did not directly tell Ning Xiaochuan how to combine the principal and supplementary medicines. Instead, he explained all sorts of profound medicinal principles, then allowed him to comprehend them himself.

In Guo Shidao's words, "Only by repeatedly failing in one's attempts can one grow. Only then can one possibly walk farther on the path of the Heart Nourisher."

Ning Xiaochuan silently committed every word Guo Shidao had said to memory. He felt that the Hall Master of the Golden Roc Heart Nourishing Hall was practically a Great Sage, teaching him many things he had never understood before while also giving rise to even more thoughts in his heart.

Ning Xiaochuan did not leave the Heart Nourishing Tower immediately. Instead, he remained inside, reading through its books.

Perhaps because his hidden meridians connected to his brain, once he circulated Profound Qi through his brain, his memory increased at a terrifying rate. He could almost read ten lines at a glance and retain everything he saw.

"First Grade Profound Medicine—9,275 types. Second Grade Profound Medicine—4,761 types. Third Grade Profound Medicine—6,438 types."

There were thirty-eight books recording First Grade Profound Medicines, twenty-nine recording Second Grade Profound Medicines, and thirty recording Third Grade Profound Medicines.

Each type of Profound Medicine was described in detail within the books, including explanations of its medicinal principles and medicinal properties, illustrations of its appearance, and even records of the regions and environments where it generally grew.

For an ordinary Elementary Heart Nourisher to memorize all twenty thousand-plus varieties of Profound Medicine, it would take at least three years just to roughly remember the most commonly used ones.

Yet Ning Xiaochuan spent only one day memorizing everything in all ninety-seven books. He could even recite them backward word for word without a single error, every kind of Profound Medicine engraved firmly in his mind.

"The hidden meridians running through my cerebral cortex have indeed made me smarter. Today, I will first study the first three grades of Profound Medicine. When I return in a few days, I will finish reading about Fourth Grade Profound Medicine, Fifth Grade Profound Medicine... all the way to Ninth Grade Profound Medicine. That should elevate my understanding of Profound Medicine by a tremendous level. When I travel the world in the future, I will not pass precious Profound Medicines by without recognizing them."

By the time Ning Xiaochuan walked out of the Golden Roc Heart Nourishing Hall, the sky had already gone completely dark.

Just as he was about to drive the Azure Deer Carriage back, a sudden sensation arose in his heart. He turned around and saw a woman behind him, clad in armor and draped in long sapphire-blue hair.

An icy chill radiated from her body as she stared coldly at Ning Xiaochuan.

Ning Xiaochuan patted his chest and let out a breath of relief. "Why is it you again? Do you make no sound when you walk? You nearly scared me to death."

Ji Hanxing stood by the street like an iceberg. Her features were exquisite, drawing the attention of many martial artists. But with one glare, she frightened them all back. No one dared approach her.

"You cannot cultivate Martial Dao Profound Qi, so what were you doing at the Golden Roc Heart Nourishing Hall?" Ji Hanxing asked in a low voice.

Ning Xiaochuan said, "Can't I go in to use the latrine?"

Ji Hanxing snorted coldly. "Can using the latrine take an entire day?"

"Were you following me? Did you wait outside the Golden Roc Heart Nourishing Hall for an entire day?" Ning Xiaochuan became wary of this woman. She had actually been following me all along, yet even my spiritual perception failed to detect her. Her cultivation is far from simple.

Ji Hanxing remained incomparably cold. "Answer my question first. What did you do at the Golden Roc Heart Nourishing Hall?"

Ning Xiaochuan did not wish to waste words with her any longer. He turned and stepped onto the carriage shaft, intending to drive back to Begonia Manor.

But the instant his foot landed on the shaft, Ji Hanxing struck from behind. She seized his collar and lifted him off the ground.

"Answer my question!" Ji Hanxing held Ning Xiaochuan aloft with one hand as she spoke icily.

"Brutish!" Ning Xiaochuan neither resisted nor struggled.

The martial artists passing by the Golden Roc Heart Nourishing Hall all saw this scene. One after another, they stared over with incredulous expressions.

Ji Hanxing could not bear those people's stares and placed Ning Xiaochuan back on the ground. Then she turned and left.

The surrounding martial artists saw only her body shift, and then she vanished from where she stood. Many were struck with terror, realizing she was a supreme expert. None dared linger to watch, and they scattered away.

"What an unreasonable woman!"

Ning Xiaochuan straightened his clothes, then drove the Azure Deer Carriage back to Begonia Manor.

Along the way, Ning Xiaochuan repeatedly looked back and always saw Ji Hanxing following behind.

She was merely strolling along, yet she was not the least bit slower than the Azure Deer Carriage. If ordinary people saw her, they would think a blue ghost was trailing behind the carriage and faint from fright.

At first, Ning Xiaochuan remained on guard against her. But seeing that she had no intention of attacking, he gradually stopped paying her any mind.