Grandmaster

"So that's how it is," Su Ye thought to himself.

After spiritual qi was depleted, someone simplified the Qi Refining portion of cultivation techniques. What people cultivated was no longer spiritual qi, but true qi. Although it was nowhere near as effective as spiritual qi, it marked the beginning of martial arts. Combined with some simple body-tempering techniques, it had been passed down to the present day, becoming martial arts as they were now.

"Thank you for telling me so much, Elder Xiao." Su Ye cupped his fists at Xiao Qiujun.

"Haha, you're too polite, young friend Su. It's no great secret; ordinary people just don't encounter it much." Xiao Qiujun took the water the scarred man handed him, drank a mouthful, and smiled.

Suddenly, after taking that drink, Xiao Qiujun began coughing violently.

"Grandpa!"

"Elder Xiao!"

Xiao Xitong and the scarred man rushed over to support Xiao Qiujun, calling out anxiously.

Su Ye, meanwhile, channeled a stream of spiritual qi and struck his palm toward Xiao Qiujun's chest.

Seeing Su Ye's move, the scarred man immediately threw a punch at him.

Su Ye easily caught the punch with one hand, while his other hand continued toward Xiao Qiujun without slowing.

"What did you do to my grandpa?" Xiao Xitong shouted.

"Kid, you're courting death!" The scarred man was furious too.

Although Su Ye had caught his punch with ease, that did nothing to quell his anger.

"Cough, cough, stop..."

At that moment, Xiao Qiujun recovered enough to speak.

After steadying himself, Xiao Qiujun excitedly cupped his fists at Su Ye. "Xiao Qiujun thanks you for saving me, Grandmaster!!!"

"Grandmaster?" Xiao Xitong and the scarred man both cried out in surprise.

"Ahem, Elder Xiao, you flatter me. I'm no Grandmaster. I've only learned a little hand-to-hand combat." Su Ye immediately went to support Elder Xiao as he spoke.

Great Grandmasters were essentially hidden trump cards of various countries and rarely appeared before the world. Thus, in this age when Great Grandmasters remained hidden, Grandmasters were unquestionably the ceiling of combat power.

Xiao Qiujun's "bodyguard" was a Xiantian expert. To catch an attack from a Xiantian expert so effortlessly, and moreover to project true qi outside the body and channel it into another person to heal their injuries-those were methods only a Grandmaster possessed. This man can only be a friend, never an enemy, Xiao Qiujun thought.

"Grandmaster Su, please don't conceal your abilities. My guard overestimated himself when he inadvertently attacked you earlier. I hope you won't take offense, Grandmaster," Xiao Qiujun said to Su Ye.

"This brother was only doing his duty. How could I blame him? Speaking of which, Elder Xiao, your health seems to be giving you some trouble."

Well, Xiao Qiujun wouldn't believe him no matter how he explained it, so Grandmaster it was.

"Thank you for using your true qi to protect my heart meridian just now, Grandmaster Su. This hidden injury has plagued me for a long time. I suffered it fighting others when I was young. Many divine physicians in Hua Country have treated me, but none could do anything about it," Xiao Qiujun said with a sigh.

"Elder Xiao, please just call me by my name. 'Grandmaster Su' sounds a little awkward," Su Ye said.

"Then I'll take the liberty of calling you young friend Su," Xiao Qiujun said.

"Actually, I have a way to treat the hidden injury in your body, Elder Xiao," Su Ye said.

"What? Really?"

Hearing that his hidden injury could be treated, Xiao Qiujun immediately shouted in excitement.

"It's true, but I need to prepare the medicinal ingredients. Come find me here at this time tomorrow, Elder Xiao," Su Ye said to Xiao Qiujun.

In fact, Su Ye had many ways to treat Xiao Qiujun's hidden injury. One was to use his own spiritual qi to heal it day and night, but that method was far too troublesome.

Another was to take medicine. Su Ye had two prescriptions for treating hidden injuries. The first was a pill called Origin-Reverting Powder, recorded in Taihe Sixteen Grotto-Heavens. But to refine pills, Su Ye would first have to learn pill refinement, which was obviously impossible in the short term.

The second was a medicinal liquid recorded in the Pharmacopoeia he had obtained not long ago. All he had to do was add the ingredients to water and boil them into a liquid, which could then be drunk. There were no other requirements.

After bidding farewell to Xiao Qiujun and the other two, Su Ye left the park, took out his phone, and searched for nearby pharmacies.

Meanwhile, a stretch Lincoln slowly drove out of the park. The three people inside were none other than Xiao Qiujun and his companions.

"Grandpa, is that Su Ye really a Grandmaster?" Xiao Xitong asked Xiao Qiujun.

"I'm almost certain of it. The true qi he sent into my body just now was vast and pure. I didn't expect such a young Grandmaster to appear here. I wonder if he's a descendant of one of those great families that live in seclusion," Xiao Qiujun said.

"Ziliang, you exchanged blows with him just now. What did you think?" Seeing that his granddaughter had fallen silent, Xiao Qiujun turned to the scarred man.

"Elder Xiao, his strength is unfathomable."

As he spoke, deep wariness appeared in his eyes. Then he added:

"If he'd wanted to kill me just now, I wouldn't have lasted three moves."

"Whew, Grandmaster experts really are terrifying," Xiao Qiujun said mildly.

"Grandpa, is he really that formidable? No matter how strong a Grandmaster is, surely he can't dodge a missile." Xiao Xitong joined the conversation again.

"Of course Grandmasters fear missiles, but ordinary firearms don't pose much of a threat to them. Even ordinary handguns and the like can't threaten Ziliang," Xiao Qiujun said.

"If he's afraid of missiles, why do you make him sound so godlike?" Xiao Xitong pouted in dissatisfaction.

"My dear child, of course a Grandmaster would be at a disadvantage in a head-on confrontation, but would he obediently wait for you to bombard him with missiles? Wouldn't he run somewhere crowded? Wouldn't he take hostages? Besides, even somewhere deserted, given a Grandmaster's abilities, a missile would have a hard time locking onto him accurately." Xiao Qiujun angrily rattled off a string of questions.

"And you already talked back to him today. He didn't hold it against you, but you're not allowed to be so willful again."

"I know, Grandpa," Xiao Xitong said, lowering her head.

Su Ye visited several pharmacies in succession, but none had the last main ingredient: aged wild mountain ginseng.

Now Su Ye had come to another, larger pharmacy.

As soon as he entered, a young woman who looked about seventeen or eighteen immediately came up to him. "Hello, sir! Is there anything you need?"

"Does your pharmacy have any aged wild mountain ginseng?" Su Ye asked.

"Wild mountain ginseng? I'm sorry, sir. Wild mountain ginseng is generally quite rare, and aged specimens are even more in demand than they are available. As soon as any appears, someone immediately offers a high price and takes it away." The young woman gave Su Ye an apologetic smile.

"All right, then I'll look somewhere else."

"Oh, right. Do you know where I might find aged wild mountain ginseng?" Just as he was about to leave, Su Ye turned back to ask her.

"If you really want to buy some, sir, I suggest you try the Chinese Herb Hall. They might have it," the young woman said to Su Ye.

"The Chinese Herb Hall?" At the mention of the Chinese Herb Hall, inspiration struck Su Ye. He slapped his forehead. Don't I have lots of wild mountain ginseng growing in my space? Oh, my brain...

"Yes. The Chinese Herb Hall has been open for a long time. They might have the medicinal ingredients you need, sir," the young woman continued.

"All right, thank you," Su Ye said, coming back to his senses.

Then Su Ye left the pharmacy.