The voice carried into the inner room, and hurried footsteps suddenly rang out.
"Song Qi, you old bastard, you finally gathered enough medicinal ingredients?!"
The newcomer wore gray robes, his graying long hair gathered into a bun. He looked to be in his fifties or sixties, with a stern face.
He reached Song Qi in a few strides, though he could not hide the smile in his eyes.
"I found them. Tier-two Savage Beast bones, blood tendon flower, sinew-growing grass, thirty-year blood ginseng..."
Song Qi quietly recited the ingredients the prescription required. He had been gathering them in secret for years. Who knew how long he had waited?
Xu Zhongdao patted his shoulder and said, "That's enough. If people hadn't been stirring up trouble, with Hundred Herbs Hall's standing, why would you have had to go to such lengths?"
Xu Zhongdao's gaze darkened. Hundred Herbs Hall had a considerable standing after two hundred years, but with so much time passing, all manner of ulterior motives inevitably arose.
A healthy Song Qi would occupy a position, and one more position occupied meant less profit to go around.
Not to mention factions like the Little Mountain Society, which did not want Cloudcang Town to gain another expert in the Origin Nurturing Realm, much less someone who might become a mighty expert in the true intent realm.
Above the Four Body-Tempering Realms lay the true intent realm, the very heavens of Cloudcang Town.
Song Qi's gaze was sharp as a blade, buried deep in his eyes. "I won't fight for a position, but there are certain matters I have my own plans for."
"Stay here with me. In a couple of days, I'll refine the Sinew-Mending Meridian-Continuing Pill for you."
Song Qi nodded, then suddenly said to Su Yan, "Boy, come over and meet him."
Su Yan approached and bowed to Xu Zhongdao. "This junior, Su Yan, greets you, senior."
"Xu Zhongdao, chief steward of Hundred Herbs Hall's Pill Room. Just call him Elder Xu."
Xu Zhongdao looked at Su Yan in surprise, then back at Song Qi, his eyes flickering. "Where did you find this youngster?"
Song Qi was a lifelong bachelor. How had he suddenly acquired a junior?
"He's good material for martial arts. He also helped me find the blood tendon flower and offended that little bastard from Gu Changfeng's family."
At Song Qi's words, Xu Zhongdao grew more serious and nodded. "Not bad. Good material indeed."
They were both old hands. Song Qi had pointed out Su Yan's talent and explained that the boy had done him a great kindness. Wasn't he clearly introducing Su Yan to him so that he would look after the boy in the future?
Naturally, a request from an old friend was easy enough to accommodate.
With Xu Zhongdao's arrangements, the two settled in, and servants prepared a room for each of them.
Xu Zhongdao was the chief steward of Hundred Herbs Hall's Pill Room, responsible for refining all manner of pills and medicines.
His circumstances were similar to Song Qi's. He was an old hand left behind by the former head manager. Hundred Herbs Hall's three current managers each had their own people. Although they still relied on the veterans, they had also placed their own staff in the major branches of the business.
Growing and gathering medicinal herbs, refining pills, selling pills...
These three major branches, along with several other areas, were all under the three managers' control, with multiple stewards serving beneath them.
Xu Zhongdao was the chief steward, but most of the pill chamber's day-to-day management fell to the second steward. He was only responsible for refining upper-grade tier-one and tier-two medicines.
Most of the remaining ordinary pills were handled by the herbalists and pill refiners.
He was happy to enjoy the leisure.
Song Qi handed all the medicinal ingredients he had gathered to Xu Zhongdao.
After inspecting them carefully, Xu Zhongdao said, "I haven't tried this prescription before. Let me familiarize myself with it, and I'll refine it for you in a couple of days. But if you return, some of the stewards will probably be unhappy. Will you stay outside, or head into the mountains?"
"Hmph. I'm not fighting for anything. Once I enter origin nurturing, I'll make a trip into the mountains. That old bastard Gu Changfeng claims to manage things outside, but his roots have always been in the mountains."
As the two discussed this, each had his own considerations.
Xu Zhongdao was somewhat worried. "You've lost so many years, after all, while Gu Changfeng has been in the Origin Nurturing Realm for years already. I'm afraid taking revenge..."
"I won't rush. But there are plenty of opportunities. When hunting opens in the Wild Mountains, when has a hunt ever passed without a few deaths?"
Xu Zhongdao worried for his old friend, but there was nothing he could do. In matters like this, no one's persuasion would help.
"Oh, right. Personally prepare some medicine for Su Yan's martial training. His talent is far beyond mine. It would be a real waste to use nothing but things like Redskin Powder."
At this, Xu Zhongdao's eyes lit up. "Really?"
The old man probably brought me here out of kindness, to introduce me to an expert in medicine refining. He was likely also worried about retaliation from the Little Mountain Society.
Su Yan practiced his fists in the courtyard, each rise and fall of his movements fierce and powerful.
As his punches stirred the air, he silently considered the matter.
Given the relationship between Gu Hong and Niu Han, the Treasure Plant that his predecessor's father, Su Dahe, had paid for with his life had probably ended up in Gu Hong's hands.
There was already a blood feud between them. With Elder Song's affair added to it, that grudge had only grown deeper.
It's only a feud. First, I'll enter the Martial Arts Hall's Inner Gate to protect myself. Once I'm strong enough, I'll find a chance to bury Gu Hong in the mountains.
A cold gleam flowed through Su Yan's eyes. Su Dahe's death was one grudge. Gu Hong wanting to make him his dog was another just as great.
The Blood Shifting Realm is two realms above me. But if I raise the Darkwater Centipede and Velvetfire Scorpion, perhaps I can give him a little unexpected surprise.
Only after Su Yan finished practicing did a servant come to find him.
"Young Master Su, my master and Master Song invite you to the rear courtyard."
"Understood."
The servant led Su Yan toward the rear courtyard, passing through several small round archways before they arrived.
This place was even more secluded, with ornamental rockeries, slender bamboo, and the fragrance of medicinal herbs. It looked like Xu Zhongdao's own residence.
When Su Yan entered, the servant withdrew. Song Qi and Xu Zhongdao had already been waiting there for quite some time, with a pot of sweet, fragrant medicinal tea brewing.
"So hardworking. You're better than this old fellow Song Qi was back then. All he had was the nerve to risk his life."
Xu Zhongdao smiled, then said, "Come here. Let me examine your physique."
At Xu Zhongdao's words, Su Yan instead looked toward Song Qi.
Song Qi smiled. "Go on. This old fellow's martial cultivation isn't much, but when it comes to refining and compounding medicines, he's one of the very best in Cloudcang Town."
Su Yan assumed his stance without holding anything back. Form and intent united, he exhaled like an ape, and even his bearing took on a measure of the Copper Fox Ape's ferocity.
Xu Zhongdao's eyes lit up. He hurriedly stood and stepped closer. To his eyes, Su Yan's vitality was astonishingly rich.
He examined Su Yan with his hands. His skin and flesh felt like several layers of rhinoceros hide, and his trembling muscles were as firm as iron. This physique...
"Remarkable. Greater mastery of skin refining, and a stronger foundation than most skin refiners, too. An excellent constitution, and this vitality..."
Xu Zhongdao immediately asked, "How long can you endure Redskin Powder?"
Su Yan was startled by the question. "What do you mean, endure? Doesn't it take about an hour to absorb it all?"
Xu Zhongdao: ?
His eyes widened. "You never got out, from beginning to end?"
Su Yan nodded. The old fellow Xu Zhongdao tugged at his beard. "Another tough one. Very good. Your foundation is solid, and you can withstand it. Now I can compound your medicine without worrying."
Su Yan was completely bewildered. Only then did Song Qi explain, "Although your Redskin Powder is supposed to be fully absorbed, not everyone can endure that kind of pain, much less those who absorb it slowly. They usually reduce the dose or get out midway to make it a little easier."
The method of use and the amount one could withstand depended entirely on the individual. They could be adjusted.
However, only Su Yan's method could bring out the medicine's full potency as much as possible.
"You don't need to buy Hundred Herbs Hall's Redskin Powder anymore. If you have any silver, use it to buy Savage Beast bone powder, yinred root, Blood Essence, Black Chicken Vine, Wolf-Tongue Grass..."
Su Yan looked puzzled. "Aren't Black Chicken Vine and Wolf-Tongue Grass deadly poisons? And yinred root, too. Three Poisonous Substances—this is..."
"Oh? You even know a little about medicinal properties."
Xu Zhongdao laughed. "It's a stronger Redskin Powder compounded especially for you. Or you could call it Poison-Skin Powder."
Before you continue