Chapter Six: Scramble

  Nie Kong was brought to a room on the top floor of the Alchemy Hall, where Nie Fengyan had already gone down. Nie Kong sat quietly for a while, when suddenly a figure appeared at the door, dressed in hemp clothes, with fiery red hair, and despite the cold weather, he was barefoot, it was Nie's chief spiritual medicine practitioner, Lian Tianxin.

  "Tian Xin Da Shi." Nie Kong stood up and bowed respectfully.

  Tian Xing nodded, glanced at the jade token on the table in front of Nie Kong, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes before quickly returning to its usual seriousness. "Little guy, I heard from Feng Yan that an old man asked you to bring this jade token to the Alchemy Hall today?"

  Jian Tianxin nodded and said: "If you don't mind, can you tell me about the situation where that old man gave you the jade token?"

  There's nothing to hide, so Nie Kong immediately told him what happened at the Spiritual Medicine Hall yesterday evening. Across from him, Lian Tianxin listened quietly with a calm expression, but the surprise in his eyes grew thicker and thicker until it was almost impossible to conceal.

  After that, Nie Kong asked again: "Tian Xin Master, do you know who he is?"

  "Cough, that old man is a fourth-grade spiritual pharmacist in our Alchemy Hall. His alchemy skills are ordinary and nothing to worry about." Practicing Tianxin's eyes flickered slightly as he said lightly, "Little guy, did that old man determine that the 'Rejuvenating Dew' you refined has a fusion degree of 95%?"

  "Right. I went back home and refined four more bottles of 'Huishenlu', the degree of fusion of the medicinal properties is probably slightly worse." Nie Kong said with a smile.

  "Oh? Bring it out quickly and let me take a look?"

  Lian Tianxin suddenly became excited, seeing Nie Kong's stunned expression, hurriedly suppressing the excitement in his chest, coughing slightly awkwardly twice, said, "Ah, this, little guy, don't worry, I just wanted to help you confirm the degree of fusion of the medicinal properties."

  "Good."

  Nie Kong had originally planned to use those four bottles of "Rejuvenation Dew" to exchange for herbs, so there was no need to hide them. The reason he was shocked was that he was surprised by the rapid change in Lian Tianxin's expression just now. So, taking advantage of the opportunity to stretch his hand into his pocket, he took them all out from the pet backpack.

  Xian Tianxin almost snatched the four bottles of Huichunlu from Nie Kong's hands, then pulled out the corks and smelled the fragrance, saying: "This bottle has a fusion degree of 90%, good... hmm, this one is 91%, very good... 92%, extremely good... eh, 94%, top-grade, top-grade..."

  Listening to his gradual and progressive comments, Nie Kong suddenly felt like laughing. A 94% fusion rate was already top-notch, so what about 95%, super top-notch? What about 96%, 97%... or even 100%?

  "I suppose you figured out this alchemy technique on your own?"

  Without waiting for Nie Kong to respond, Lian Tianxin smiled warmly and said, "To be able to continuously refine five bottles of Huan Spring Liquid with a fusion degree of over 90% through self-study, although there is the factor of variant spiritual power, your innate talent in alchemy is truly something I have rarely seen in my life..."

  "Little guy, would you be willing to become my apprentice?"

  Xun Tianxin said these words in an extremely calm tone, but the slightly clenched right hand revealed the anxiety hidden in his heart. Especially when he said the last sentence, he stared straight at Nie Kong with eyes full of expectation, as if he couldn't wait for Nie Kong to nod and agree.

  Nie Kong was taken aback for a moment, and then a hint of joy emerged in his heart. The way knowledge was spread on the Heaven Spirit Continent wasn't as advanced as it was in his previous life. Things like medicinal herbs and alchemy were mostly passed down through oral tradition. Especially when it came to spiritual medicine formulas, they were extremely precious and closely guarded secrets. Except for a few exceptional spiritual medicines like "Rebirth Dew", ordinary people wouldn't be able to know the formulas of second-grade or higher spiritual medicines.

  Nie Kong thought that he needed to take his alchemy skills to the next level, and relying solely on Xiangxiang was clearly not enough. Now that he had become a disciple of a fifth-grade spiritual medicine master, Nie Kong naturally couldn't ask for more. As for the old man from yesterday evening, since he had instructed him to come to this alchemy hall, it could be seen that he also had this intention in mind. However, he hadn't explicitly stated it, and if Nie Kong agreed to practice Tianxin now, it wouldn't be considered going back on his promise.

  Nie Kong did not immediately agree, and Lian Tianxin couldn't be bothered to pretend to be calm, his expression urgent as he said: "Kid, I've never taken on an apprentice before, this kind of opportunity doesn't come often. That old man, don't worry about him, he's just a fourth-grade spiritual medicine master. His level is really poor, the spiritual medicines he refines are almost all six-meridian fusion degree, barely qualified. If you follow him, it would be a waste of your good talent."

  Jian Lian saw Tian Xin's misunderstanding and couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time. He quickly nodded his head and said, "I..."

  "Wait!"

  A thunderous roar suddenly erupted, like a bolt of lightning on a clear day, drowning out Nie Kong's "willing" voice. Immediately following that, a figure burst into the room like a whirlwind - it was the bald old man who had summoned Nie Kong to this alchemy chamber yesterday evening!

  The old man's two narrow and long eyes bulged out, staring fiercely at Lian Tianxin. He cursed loudly without any image: "You red hair, you're too much! I just came a little late, and you're already slandering me behind my back, and even digging at my foundation! Hey, fourth-grade spiritual medicine master? I'm the esteemed elder of the Nie family's alchemy hall, and I'm only a fourth-grade spiritual medicine master? This matter won't be settled until I've had it out with you!"

  "The Five Elders?"

  Looking at the furious and saliva-spraying bald old man, Nie Kong's heart skipped a beat. Only then did he realize that this bald old man was not some mediocre fourth-grade spiritual medicine master, but rather the fifth elder of the Nie family's alchemy hall, Nie Xingyun, who was also a fifth-grade spiritual medicine master, just like Lian Tianxin.

  "Come on, Old Five, calm down. This is just a temporary measure. Besides, I wasn't wrong earlier, was I? When you were refining the spiritual medicine, didn't you only barely reach 60% fusion rate several times? And this isn't my fault either. Who told you to play mysterious every day? If you had made things clear with Nie Kong earlier, even if I wanted to undermine you, I wouldn't have been able to. Just accept your fate."

  Nie Xingyun's face twisted with rage, and he shouted: "Resign yourself to fate? I've been paying attention to this kid since he first entered the Spiritual Medicine Hall in September. Yesterday, I made up my mind to take him as my apprentice. You want me to resign myself to fate? Ha! My apprentice will never yield to you, Red Hair!"

  Nie Xingyun's words were not wrong. When Nie Kong first entered the Spiritual Medicine Hall, he encountered a difficult problem in alchemy and was unable to solve it, so he sat there to clear his mind and relieve the stagnation in his chest. As a result, he met Nie Kong, who had an extremely accurate grasp of medicine. At that time, he already had a deep impression of Nie Kong's frail body.

  The second time, Nie Kong entered the Spiritual Medicine Hall with a completely different appearance, causing Nie Xingyun's surprise. Coincidentally, the problem that had been troubling him for a long time was solved, and his mood was pleasant. Seeing Nie Kong selecting all the materials for refining Rebirth Dew, he suddenly became excited and even gave Nie Kong half a calabaza of ice-cold water.

  That night, Nie Xingyun even found the medicine that Nie Kong had previously selected and experimented with it. He finally came to the conclusion that Tian Xinzi, Xu Hu Die Cao and Shui Jing Yu Lian Zi could neutralize the toxicity of Chi Mo Hua, and that these four medicines had a strong muscle and bone strengthening effect when used together. Unintentionally, he also revealed this result to Lian Tianxin. At that time, he paid more attention to Nie Kong and secretly lamented that Nie Kong was not a fire spirit master.

  It was the third time, just last night. After seeing Nie Kong's mutated Wood Spirit, Nie Xingyun had already made up his mind and couldn't let Nie Kong get away. Since he had played mysterious to the point of it becoming an instinct, he gave his jade token to Nie Kong and told him to come find the Alchemy Hall to look for him.

  This morning, he studied Nie Kong's "Rejuvenating Dew" and wasted some time, so when he arrived at the Alchemy Hall later, he didn't expect that his own chosen disciple would be beaten by Tian Xinzi!

  ……