After one finished speaking about proper business, one could talk about personal matters.
Gongyi Tianyang had always kept up a mature appearance. At this time, he bore a slight smile: “Big brother, when we pass through Danyun City, we’ll be just in time to visit Brother Ah Zuo.”
Speaking up to here, he thought about it and said: “For Brother Ah Zuo, the Pill Battling Assembly shouldn’t have ended yet, right?”
Tianheng smiled and said: “The pill battles have presumably ended, but this distinguished gathering isn’t only for the sake of battling. Right now, Qingyun Sect should still be staying at that city. The Sect will take some time to depart. If we head over as soon as possible, we should be able to meet Ah Zuo, and hand over to him all the ancient ingredients we got just now.”
Tianyang nodded his head: “This couldn’t be any better. I wonder what achievements Brother Ah Zuo got for this time’s pill battles.”
Tianheng replied: “Ah Zuo has been holding back for so long. This time, he most likely revealed some of his skills.”
Tianyang nodded again, and said: “Brother Ah Zuo’s aptitudes are really unprecedented. Now that we obtained this fortuitous encounter, we’ll have the ability to protect ourselves. We won’t need to cover things up anymore.”
— Currently, it was still only Gongyi Tianheng and Gu Zuo who knew the true secret. Even Tianyang and the members of the Gongyi Clan only thought they knew about the matters that Tianheng had originally told them.
There was no other option. If such a huge secret was known to all their closest people, it wouldn’t bring about fortune for the other party, but would cause a tremendous disaster instead.
The discussions here were finished. Tianheng’s group then departed Clear River City.
The elimination of the Mount An Bandit Gang caused great waves in the criminal underworld. But in the end, this bandit gang wasn’t a world-shaking force. At most, it only made people sigh with lament.
However, Tianheng, who completed this kind of mission, was viewed as an Inner Sect disciple with good prospects. He was reported to the Sect by that foreign affairs manager. As for the kind of treatment he would receive from the Sect, that would come later.
Right now, the group of four travelled day and night. They rode wild horses with extremely fast speeds, and rushed directly to Danyun City.
Fortunately, the journey wasn’t too far away. Roughly four or five days passed, and they smoothly reached their destination.
Danyun City was a large city.
The city was brimming with medicinal fragrances. It resembled a peach blossom spring, bearing an inviolable, majestic presence.
There were countless pharmacists and martial artists coming and going. More often than not, the common folks entering and exiting were also carrying some medicinal ingredients that their own families grew.
Sure enough, it was a location that pharmacists yearned for.
Let alone the Ling Clan siblings who’d been holed up in White Water Town all along, even Tianyang, who experienced much of the world, clicked his tongue in wonder.
There were perhaps more pharmacists seen here than all of the Cangyun Empire. Even the Pharmacist Hall of Qingyun Sect wouldn’t have had this many pharmacists.
The Pill Battling Assembly was indeed a distinguished gathering of pharmacists!
Gu Zuo had obtained large batches of medicinal ingredients. This was a lucky chance, but at the same time, he didn’t have any money. Wanting to take another stroll around every street in Danyun City was naturally out of the question — Unless he borrowed money.
However, Gu Zuo had already spent several million gold to buy medicinal ingredients. How could he still pull enough face to go and borrow money? Moreover, he also didn’t want to owe favors to others.
Favors were never good things to owe. When in debt, it was both feather-light and wretchedly heavy.
As a result, while other pharmacists were sparring or shopping, Gu Zuo had withdrawn into his medicine refining room and started to refine pills with some of the purchased medicinal ingredients.
In any case, being idle was to have time on one’s hands. It would be better to refine medicine and accumulate true qi.
He wanted to break through to Xiantian stage six as soon as possible...
Speaking of which, his dear big brother should’ve smoothly reached stage five by now, right? Gu Zuo was secretly thinking. It went without saying that his martial strength was far inferior to that of his big brother, so he had to take advantage of this lead before his big brother broke through to stage six!
Of course, while he was thinking up all of these thoughts, the movements of Gu Zuo’s hands never stopped. Every hand seal was full of profound mystery. What followed was the leaping of the cauldron flames as well as the constant sorting of the medicinal properties.
Not long after, the pill cauldron made a humming sound. The cauldron lid opened wide, and the medicinal pills inside suddenly leaped out. They were easily caught by him, and were put away inside a gourd.
Yes, what Gu Zuo was refining right now was the Qi Linking Pill, which Xiantian martial artists most frequently used. So long as he didn’t mess up deliberately, he would inevitably refine sixteen top grade pills. In addition, the time it took to refine a cauldron wouldn’t surpass fifteen minutes — Still, this was under the circumstances where there was plenty of room for casual refining. If he focused his energy and carried out a three-cauldron or even a five-cauldron refining method, it would likewise be within fifteen minutes. He could refine top grade Qi Linking Pills from multiple cauldrons, and all of them would be a full sixteen pills. His efficiency was very high.
If it wasn’t for Gu Zuo having this skill, it would’ve been impossible for the medicine store to accumulate that many medicinal pills previously. At the same time, he could still split his energy to research and refine other pills.
The present Gu Zuo was no longer comparable to his former self. Based on the way he quickly refined medicinal pills, even those Golden-Level pharmacists in Qingyun Sect couldn’t reach this level!
While it was true that all pharmacists would stockpile a huge volume of medicinal ingredients, a high aptitude, good inner cultivation method, good hand seals, proper guidance, and research proficiency — These inner qualities compounded upon one another, and contributed to such an outstanding Gu Zuo.
Moreover, Gu Zuo could still bear hardships.
For the majority of talented pharmacists in the world, after obtaining a certain type of medicinal pill, they wouldn’t spend large amounts of time on the most ordinary of pills. When refining hundreds upon thousands of cauldrons, day and night, their energies would mostly be spent on more challenging pill prescriptions.
Thus, Gu Zuo’s foundations were very sturdy, and his fundamental knowledge was even firmer.
The medicine refining room’s cauldrons were insufficient. Gu Zuo refined one cauldron at a time, and his speed became faster and faster.
The one he refined this time was the Jinyuan Pill. He gave himself free rein, and did his best to refine even more top grade pills. After another several dozen cauldrons, he switched pill prescriptions again. He still wanted to refine top grade pills.
If someone was in the medicine refining room at this moment, they would’ve see a faint wisp of radiance constantly flickering in the space between Gu Zuo’s eyebrows. In the depths of that radiance, there was the indistinct circulation of a milky-white qi flow.
His gaze deepened. His lacquer-black pupils seemed purer and brighter, like they had just been washed clean by purified water. If a person saw this, they would feel refreshed and at peace.
Gu Zuo’s fingers continued to move.
Each of his fingers slashed out fantastic afterimages, making it seem like there weren’t only ten fingers in front of this pill cauldron. Rather, there were dozens or hundreds of fingers. They all performed hand seals unceasingly over that pill cauldron.
No one could even see the medicinal qi flowing out from the storage space. It rushed into Gu Zuo’s body with the ambient qi, and converged into true qi. It continuously polished and hammered the psychic power in his Tianfu Acupoint.
In that Tianfu Acupoint, gelatinous psychic power was gradually formed. While that whirlpool was large, the accumulated gelatinous power in the whirlpool’s center became more and more clear and distinct.
What Gu Zuo himself didn’t realize was that, as the whirlpool grew larger, the areas closer to the core began to contract. The revolving psychic power gradually solidified. In addition, bit by bit, it was compressing towards the centermost gelatinous power.
At some point, Gu Zuo’s mind had become empty and vast. It was like he had been divided into two people. One was immersed in some unknown feeling, detachedly watching himself refine medicine. The other was diligently refining medicine, and he was completely unaware of the actions of his other half.
Until Gu Zuo was struck with a sudden feeling, breaking this state of his.
He rubbed his chest. This was...
It was like something had an inseparably close connection with him. It was very familiar and very intimate. Although he couldn’t know the other side’s situation through this connection, he vaguely sensed that the other side was very safe and was currently approaching him.
That familiar feeling was...his big brother?
Gu Zuo was somewhat dazed.
He felt as if the position of his dear big brother wasn’t far away.
Ah, but this wasn’t right. His big brother should’ve been in the Sect or outside completing a mission... Right, completing a mission.
Could it be that the mission his big brother needed to complete was nearby?
After shaking his head, Gu Zuo slowly talked to himself: “System, has the Guardian Contract deepened? This time, my awareness of big brother is even clearer. Moreover, the telepathic distance between me and big brother has now reached three kilometers. But the contract tells me that big brother’s position is farther than this.”
The system didn’t give a reply.
Of course, Gu Zuo also didn’t let it respond during this time. Because the question he most wanted to ask was actually this one: “System, the Guardian Contract shouldn’t be as simple as you explained before, right? Perhaps your wording pointed directly to the core of things, but since this contract can change, then it definitely has even more details that you still haven’t told me about. Am I right?”
[Yes, host.]
After the system heard Gu Zuo’s questions, it finally answered.
Gu Zuo focused.
“Does the contract need to be divided into ranks?”
[Yes, the Guardian Contract is divided into four stages.]
“What are the four?”
[Ordinary Bodyguard, Profound Friendship, Life and Death Companions, Two Halves of a Whole.]
Gu Zuo listened, and his expression was a little subtle.
These names sounded strange.
“What are the differences between the four stages?”
[First stage: Ordinary Bodyguard. The guardian and the pharmacist may not harm one another. The rights and duties between the guardian and pharmacist need to be mutually agreed upon. After the pharmacist takes the initiative to transmit thoughts with the guardian, both sides can communicate with each other. The distance is determined by the pharmacist’s psychic power.]
“I understand. The first stage is actually the one you and I initially talked about. Then, the second stage?”
[Second stage: Profound Friendship. The guardian and the pharmacist’s feelings deepen. Their mutual considerations and investments surpass the initial benefits of the concluded pact. A contract is no longer needed between them as they already will not harm one another. At this point, not only can they transmit their thoughts, one is able to sense when the other encounters danger. One can also sense the existence of the other when they approach.]
“Hearing what you’ve said, I originally thought that big brother and I should’ve been at the second stage. But now it seems like it hasn’t become...fully developed?”
[Profound Friendship is classified as the stage where emotions are raised to a higher level. It is a tranquil process, but the time it takes is very long. As feelings gradually become profound, the link between one another will progressively deepen, and so too will the level that they can reach. Presently, the host and the host’s patron are at a stage close to completion. The telepathic range is determined by the host’s psychic power, but the range of reacting to one another is farther than the telepathic range. This shows that the friendship between you two is firm, and cannot be broken.]
Listening up to here, Gu Zuo’s face reddened, but his heart was very happy.
It had to be said that the existence of this contract had given him much stability. If he didn’t have it, it might’ve been hard for him to open his heart so quickly. He also wouldn’t have become more concerned about his big brother if he hadn’t found out that his dear big brother likewise cared about him... Speaking of which, although it was a little convoluted to explain, it had always been a virtuous cycle of mutual advancement. He cared about his big brother, and his big brother cared about him even more. He cared about his big brother even more than that, and his big brother returned the favor... A friendship that wasn’t wasted on unworthy people was truly the best.
“And the third stage?”
[When the two’s friendship deepens to a certain degree, it gives rise to a qualitative change. They will be willing to give up their own lives for the other person. At this time, the injuries suffered by one side can be transferred to the other side’s body. This is a response to increase the odds of success when one encounters a powerful enemy.]
Ah, this was a good thing!
Gu Zuo’s eyes shined, but soon after, they dimmed.
Living in this world where the strong preyed on the weak, this type of ability was very formidable. Just imagine if his big brother were to narrowly encounter a deadly blow while seriously injured. So long as that injury was instantly transferred to his own body — Even if only a portion could be transferred due to a difference in durability, the battle could be reversed at that instant! And if he encountered a powerful enemy and was heavily injured, his injury could also be transferred to his big brother’s body. By letting his big brother swiftly take healing medicinal pills, the two wouldn’t have any injuries. He could also catch the enemy off guard, and use his psychic power to plot against them!
However, this had to be used sparingly. Because no matter how one looked at it, his big brother received the short end of the stick. His own body was weak, while his big brother’s physical body was strong due to being a martial artist. This Life and Death Companions stage should’ve been classified as the stage that allowed the martial artist to protect the pharmacist even better.
Only, he was afraid that he had no way to reach such a stage.
Gu Zuo let out a sigh.
He knew that his big brother looked frigid and unfeeling, but he was actually steadfast and true. However, he was also excessively calm. If circumstances of certain death were encountered and there was no way to save him, his big brother would choose to fight. But if his big brother failed, Tianheng would silently endure it to avenge him later. As for himself, he cared about his big brother very much, and was also willing to sacrifice for him. If it wasn’t for his family still waiting for him, he would’ve even been willing to risk his own life for Tianheng... Unfortunately, his dad was in another world. He couldn’t rest easy. He wanted to go back.
So long as he had this notion, it was impossible for his heart to be worry-free, and it was impossible to not hesitate. Often times, he understood that he had this hesitation and that his big brother wasn’t impulsive enough. They wouldn’t reach the third stage of Life and Death Companions.
After rubbing his face, Gu Zuo then asked: “Then, what’s the fourth stage?”
[Fourth stage: Two Halves of a Whole. After Life and Death Companions, this friendship is raised to another level once more. At this stage, the two’s feelings are interlinked, and they will always live together. And if they are to die, they must die together.]
Gu Zuo was surprised: “In other words, if only one side dies and the other is still alive, then the former won’t truly die?”
[Yes.]
Gu Zuo blew out a long breath: “...How amazing.”
Soon after, he revealed a bitter smile.
Yet, no matter how amazing it was, it was impossible for him and his big brother to make the contract fully reach this level... After this, he mused, thinking about the silver-lining. Fortunately, he and his big brother were at the second stage. This was already very convenient. No matter how many there were, he wouldn’t be greedy or make extravagant demands.
After learning about these four points, Gu Zuo didn’t think too much about it anymore.
Right now, the more important matter was that his big brother was getting closer... Did this mean that he wanted to come visit?
It was a pity that the present contract could only tell him that his big brother was approaching. It couldn’t tell him whether his big brother had entered the city or if he really was coming here.
For the specific situation, he could only patiently wait.
In any case, if his big brother didn’t come here, the contract would tell him that his big brother was getting farther away again after some time had passed...
Gongyi Tianheng’s group entered the city. What they saw was an even more bustling scene.
Such liveliness couldn’t normally be found in Qingyun Sect’s Market District. Only this kind of distinguished gathering could host such a grand occasion.
It wasn’t surprising at all.
After entering the city, Tianyang soon scouted out some information.
For example, the Pill Battling Assembly had indeed concluded, and most of the pharmacists hadn’t departed afterwards. Also, Qingyun Sect was the sole power residing at the City Lord’s Mansion. In addition, the place was abuzz with the achievements obtained by each of the Pill Battling Assembly contestants.
Tianheng raised an eyebrow.
This was unexpected. His little pharmacist was first in the mid-level pharmacist group? Tianheng thought that with Ah Zuo’s cautious temperament, he would’ve placed second or third.
However, this also didn’t matter. It was out of the question to say that there were any slip-ups.
Since Gu Zuo’s capabilities had reached this level, it wasn’t necessary to hide it during the pill battles with his peers.
Of course, all of this was the conventional information that everyone knew about. Only the spectators who truly watched the pill battles knew about the finer aspects. However, those spectators were mostly pharmacists, and they wouldn’t just gossip and meddle.
As they traveled towards the City Lord’s Mansion, there was even more rumors.
Very many people were talking about the top three pharmacist talents: Gu Zuo, Xin Bailin, and Xu Lingxiu. These rumors belonged to the type that was discussed heatedly and often.
Tianheng also became aware of a few of Gu Zuo’s actions.
Almost immediately, he understood Gu Zuo’s way of thinking — To promote his own ability and origin — He couldn’t help but smile slightly.
The current workings of his little pharmacist were becoming even more strategized.
Before long, they arrived outside of the City Lord’s Mansion.
There were many armor-wearing martial artists guarding in front of the entrance. Their strength was at least peak Meridian Condensing, and the entrance of the City Lord’s Mansion still had some Xiantian martial artist’s qi emissions. This should’ve belonged to the captain.
After Tianheng came here, he wanted to see Gu Zuo. Naturally, he couldn’t act rashly.
Hence, he walked forward and spoke to one of the armored martial artists: “Qingyun Inner Sect disciple. Because my path led me here, I’ve specifically come to meet with a fellow disciple.”
That armored martial artist was somewhat surprised.
There were martial artists and pharmacists who resided in the City Lord’s Mansion. Among them, the pharmacists had more importance attached to them, while the martial artists were people who were brought along as bodyguards. This was normal.
However, while there were disciples of the same sects who specially came to meet up, the person who arrived wasn’t a pharmacist who intended to spar or have an exchange. Instead, he was a martial artist... What did he come to do?
But since the guy had spoken, the armored martial artist still maintained his integrity as a guard of the City Lord’s Mansion. He didn’t thoughtlessly refuse Tianheng like a vapid, dog-blooded individual. Rather, his attitude was considered forthright as he said: “I have to first report this matter to my superiors. Would this young master wait outside the mansion?”
Tianheng smiled, and made a polite gesture freely and easily: “This is what should be done. This one is Gongyi Tianheng, an ordinary disciple of the Inner Sect... Sorry for troubling you.”
That armored martial artist’s bearing was further allayed.
Because, from what he could see, this visitor understood this kind of etiquette and didn’t mind his communications. As such, the probability of the disciple’s identity being real was very high. He should’ve been a member of the friendly power Qingyun Sect.
Following that, the armored martial artist turned around and entered the doorway.
However, he couldn’t travel freely inside the mansion either. He just reported the matter to his boss, and that boss would do the rest of the work.
Only after this kind of layer-by-layer communication could the result be obtained.
Tianheng stood outside of the entrance with his hands clasped behind his back. Even though all kinds of gazes frequently fell upon him from passersby, he didn’t have an appearance that was the least bit embarrassed.
Tianyang watched his elder brother who acted so unhurried, and pursed his lips. He didn’t allow himself to be taken in by the majestic presence of the City Lord’s Mansion.
As for the Ling Clan siblings, after their initial panic, they soon steadied their minds.
While in the medicine refining room, Gu Zuo’s heart was a little distracted and his thoughts were in a turmoil.
Because, not only didn’t that familiar feeling grow distant as time elapsed, it instead got closer. Thus, he had no way to settle his heart and refine medicine.
After thinking it over, he didn’t try to insult his own path of medicine refinement. He simply pushed the door open and walked out.
In the courtyard, Xu Lingxiu, Li Yunquan, and several of the pharmacists of the City Lord’s Mansion just happened to be in the middle of an exchange. Upon seeing Gu Zuo, Xu Lingxiu said: “Junior Sect Brother Gu, come here.”
Gu Zuo hesitated. He was about to walk over.
But just at this time, someone from outside pushed the gate open and came in. Unexpectedly, it was Xin Bailin.
At this moment, he wore a smiling expression. He opened his mouth and said: “This Xin heard that there’s a Qingyun Sect disciple called Gongyi Tianheng. Right now, he’s waiting outside. He came to meet up with a fellow disciple. Would this person’s identity be real?”
Xu Lingxiu startled: “Gongyi Tianheng?”
Soon after, he looked towards Gu Zuo.
Meanwhile, Gu Zuo’s face revealed a happy smile: “That’s my family’s young master!”
After he finished speaking, he gestured to a few people at lightning speeds. Then, he asked: “Senior Sect Brother Xu, this...”
Xu Lingxiu coldly harrumphed: “If it’s really him who arrived, you can let him come inside.”
Xin Bailin listened with interest.
As for Gu Zuo, he’d already lifted his legs and swiftly rushed out.
Not long after, Gu Zuo came to the mansion’s entrance.
A sapphire-blue brocade robe and exceptional looks.
Sure enough, the one calmly waiting outside was his big brother!
T/N: Thanks for the corrections, Charysa.
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