Chapter 619
Fu Shaoping sneered: "That Zhao guy wants to step on us to get to the top."
The next morning, many cultivators gathered in front of Qingxuan Dan Pavilion to watch the fun.
Fu Shaoping changed his lazy look in the past, stood on the steps with his hands behind his back, and said loudly: "My fellow Taoists, recently someone slandered my Qingxuan Dan Pavilion's elixirs, and today, I would like you to be witnesses!"
After saying that, he raised his hand and waved it. Dozens of bottles of elixirs floated in the air, the stoppers opened at the same time, and the rich elixir fragrance instantly filled the entire street.
"If you have any doubts, you can test the pill on the spot!"
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Several monks who knew alchemy came forward to check and soon came to the conclusion - the elixir was pure and there was no problem at all!
At this time, Nangong Wan walked out slowly, holding a fiery red pill in his hand.
"Fifth-grade Xuanyang Barrier Breaking Pill." Her voice was cold, but it was clearly heard by everyone, "It can cure all kinds of poisons, including the poison of the Corrosion Spirit Grass."
The crowd was in an uproar!
Master Zhao Dan of Xuan Dan Pavilion's expression suddenly changed.
Fu Shaoping smiled and looked across at the other side: "Fellow Daoist Zhao, do you want to test your elixir as well?"
Master Zhao Dan tried to remain calm: "What nonsense! How could there be any problem with the elixirs of my Xuandan Pavilion!"
Nangong Wan stopped talking nonsense and flicked his fingertips. The Xuanyang Barrier Breaking Pill turned into a stream of light and flew directly into the shelf of Xuandan Pavilion, smashing a bottle of pills.
In an instant, the impurities in the dark red Corrosion Spirit Grass were exposed!
"It's indeed a poison pill!" everyone exclaimed.
Master Zhao Dan turned pale and tried to flee, but was stopped by several angry monks.
Word of the news spread quickly, and Xuandan Pavilion was sealed off by Qinglingfang that day, and Master Zhao Dan was also expelled from the market.
The front of Qingxuan Dan Pavilion was once again bustling with activity.
"Awan." Fu Shaoping leaned against the counter and smiled, "I'm afraid our business will be even better now."
Nangong Wan lowered his head to sort out the herbs and said lightly, "It's troublesome."
Fu Shaoping chuckled, and suddenly reached out and gently brushed away the medicine ash on her hair.
Nangong Wan paused and looked up at him.
Fu Shaoping blinked: "What?"
Nangong Wan retracted his gaze, but the corners of his lips slightly raised: "Boring."
Outside the window, the sun was shining brightly. The sign of Qingxuan Dan Pavilion was swaying gently in the wind, reflecting the figures of the two people, quiet and warm.
The streets of Qinglingfang were bustling with people. The long queue in front of Qingxuan Dan Pavilion had already turned the corner, attracting many passers-by to stop and watch.
Fu Shaoping stood behind the counter, still wearing that cynical smile on his face, but his hands never stopped moving. He had just wrapped a pill for a customer when he turned around and shouted to the inner room, "Awan, the Juling Pill is sold out again!"
Nangong Wan's cold voice came from the inner room: "Wait."
"Sir, I'm so sorry." Fu Shaoping bowed to the guest in front of him, "The Soul Gathering Pill you want needs to be refined now, how about looking at something else first?"
This kind of conversation has been repeated dozens of times almost every day recently. Since the closure of Xuandan Pavilion, the business of Qingxuandan Pavilion has been so good that it is overwhelmed. Although Fu Shaoping complained, he couldn't hide the smile in the corners of his eyes.
After closing the shop that day, Fu Shaoping rubbed his sore wrists and looked at the medicine cabinet that was mostly empty: "Awan, should we hire a helper?"
Nangong Wan was sorting the herbs. Hearing this, he said without even raising his head: "It's up to you."
The next morning, a job recruitment notice was posted at the entrance of Qingxuan Dan Pavilion. In less than an hour, a tall and thin boy came to apply for the job. He was wearing a coarse cloth that was washed white, and he stood at the entrance with a bit of embarrassment.
"What's your name?" Fu Shaoping looked at the boy who looked no more than sixteen or seventeen years old.
"Lin Xiaoqi." The young man's voice was not loud, but very clear. "I have been collecting herbs in the mountains for three years. I know most of the spiritual herbs."
Nangong Wan walked out of the inner room and casually grabbed a handful of mixed herbs and threw them on the table: "Separate them."
Lin Xiaoqi did not hesitate, and nimbly classified the herbs one by one. Fu Shaoping noticed that he could even distinguish the most difficult to distinguish, the cold heart vine and the ice soul branch.
"Can you settle the accounts?" Fu Shaoping asked again.
Lin Xiaoqi took out a small notebook from his bosom, which was densely filled with records of the incoming and outgoing medicinal materials. Although the handwriting was not beautiful, it was clearly organized.
"It's you." Fu Shaoping made the decision.
Lin Xiaoqi is indeed a good helper. He has a good memory and memorized the names, effects and prices of all the elixirs in the store in less than three days. He is neither humble nor arrogant when receiving guests and can handle difficult ones appropriately. More importantly, he seems to always be able to predict what medicinal materials Nangong Wan needs when refining elixirs and prepare them in advance and put them aside.
That evening, an unexpected guest came to the store. A young monk in splendid clothes and several followers rushed in, pointed at Lin Xiaoqi's nose and cursed: "You are a traitor! My Zhao family treats you well, how dare you run to work for the rival family?"
It turned out that this man was the nephew of Master Zhao Dan of Xuandan Pavilion, and Lin Xiaoqi used to be a herbalist in the Zhao family.
Lin Xiaoqi's face turned pale, but he stood straight: "Mr. Zhao, I had already paid my wages when I left, and I don't owe the Zhao family anything."
"Bullshit!" Young Master Zhao said angrily, "You secretly learned the art of identifying medicines from my Zhao family, and now you come to help your enemies?" As he said that, he was about to take action.
Fu Shaoping flashed and stood in front of Lin Xiaoqi. His smile remained unchanged, but his eyes turned cold. "My fellow Taoist, it's not appropriate to fight in my shop, right?"
Young Master Zhao was frightened by his aura and took a half step back, but he was still unforgiving: "Is this all you Qingxuan Dan Pavilion has? You only pick up the trash that others don't want?"
Nangong Wan, who had been silent, suddenly put down the herbs in her hand and walked slowly towards her. With every step she took, Master Zhao subconsciously took a step back.
"Get lost." Nangong Wan only said this one word.
Master Zhao's face turned pale and blue, and finally he left in disgrace with his followers after saying something cruel.
When the store quieted down again, Lin Xiaoqi stood in the corner with his head down, his voice trembling: "Boss, I..." Fu Shaoping patted his shoulder: "You are right, don't think too much."
Nangong Wan glanced at the young man and said something rare: "Do your job well."
Since then, Lin Xiaoqi worked even harder. Not only did he keep the store in good order, he also often went to the market before dawn to buy the freshest herbs. Sometimes when Fu Shaoping got up early, he would always see Lin Xiaoqi wiping the counter or tidying up the shelves.
On a rainy night, Fu Shaoping found Lin Xiaoqi sleeping on the counter, with the account book in his hand. He took a coat and put it on the boy quietly, then turned around and saw Nangong Wan standing at the stairs.
"This kid is good." Fu Shaoping whispered.
Nangong Wan looked at the sleeping Lin Xiaoqi and nodded slightly: "Yeah."
There was a sound of rain outside the window, and the lights of Qingxuan Dan Pavilion seemed particularly warm in the night. Fu Shaoping looked at the empty streets and suddenly felt that such a day seemed not bad.
In the early morning after the rain, in the backyard of Qingxuan Dan Pavilion.
Lin Xiaoqi was walking through the corridor with a basket of newly-picked spiritual herbs in his arms, when he suddenly tripped and fell forward. Just as the basket was about to slip out of his hands, an invisible force suddenly supported the bottom of the basket.
“Be careful.”
Nangong Wan appeared beside the corridor pillar at some point, raised her white hand lightly, and the basket of elixirs fell steadily to the ground.
Lin Xiaoqi's eyes widened: "Boss, what are you doing?"
Fu Shaoping, who was checking the accounts at the counter, suddenly looked up, his eyes flashing. He put down his abacus, walked to the backyard in two steps, and exchanged a meaningful look with Nangong Wan.
"Xiao Qi, come here." Fu Shaoping rarely put away his cynical smile and took out a crystal jade from his sleeve, "Put your hand up."
The moment Lin Xiaoqi's palm touched the jade, blue and white spiritual light suddenly burst out and intertwined into a Tai Chi pattern in the jade.
"Dual spiritual roots of wood and gold!" Fu Shaoping clapped his hands and laughed, "Good boy, you are actually a good candidate for cultivation!"
Nangong Wan condensed a strand of true energy from his fingertips and gently tapped Lin Xiaoqi's brow. The young man immediately felt a spring of fresh water pouring into his head, and all the pores in his body opened up.
"The Green Wood Secret is suitable for you." Nangong Wan retracted his fingers, and a green jade scroll flew out of his sleeve. "Practice in the back mountain at yin every day."
Lin Xiaoqi's hand holding the jade slip trembled slightly: "Boss, I..."
"Call me Master." Fu Shaoping suddenly stuffed a scarlet pill into his mouth, "Swallow it! This is a marrow cleansing pill, which can help you open up your Qi Sea."
As the pill entered his stomach, Lin Xiaoqi's whole body suddenly became hot. Nangong Wan put his fingers together like swords and tapped seven acupuncture points on his body to guide the flow of the medicine. Black impurities gradually seeped out of the boy's skin, but he felt more and more refreshed.
Three months later, late at night, on the rooftop of Qingxuan Dan Pavilion.
Lin Xiaoqi sat cross-legged in the moonlight, with a faint green light surrounding him. Suddenly he opened his eyes, pushed his palms outward, and three fallen leaves condensed into a triangle formation in the air.
"Yes, you have reached the third level of Qi Refining." Fu Shaoping's voice came from behind. He jumped onto the roof with a wine jug in hand. "You are half a month faster than your master was back then."
Nangong Wan's figure fell on the eaves like a light smoke, and threw a green cloth bundle over: "Come with me to collect herbs tomorrow, and I will teach you how to identify the direction of the spiritual veins."
Lin Xiaoqi untied the bundle, and inside was a cold sickle for picking herbs, with a poison-avoiding rune engraved on the blade. He kowtowed three times solemnly: "I will live up to Master's cultivation!"
Fu Shaoping suddenly raised his eyebrows: "Someone broke into the formation!"
Three figures sneaked towards the herb garden in the backyard. They were the Zhao family monks who had caused trouble. Lin Xiaoqi was about to stand up, but Nangong Wan held his shoulders.
"Watch out." Fu Shaoping put his fingers together and made a gesture. Suddenly, thick fog rose in the courtyard. The intruders immediately ran around like headless flies. One of them stepped on a mechanism and was hung upside down by vines.
Three silver needles flew out of Nangong Wan's sleeves and pierced the back of the necks of the remaining two people accurately. Their bodies froze, and they began to expose the Zhao family's dirty deeds to each other, and their voices were so loud that they could be heard by half a street.
Lin Xiaoqi was stunned. Fu Shaoping smiled and ruffled his hair: "When you build your foundation, I will teach you something more powerful."
In the early morning light, the signboard of Qingxuan Dan Pavilion was plated with gold. Lin Xiaoqi stood in the courtyard holding a sickle for picking herbs, looking at the two figures busy in the alchemy room, and suddenly felt his palms warm up - there was faintly emerging the unique maple leaf mark of Qingxuan Dan Pavilion.
The morning mist had not yet dissipated, and Lin Xiaoqi followed Fu Shaoping, walking on the slippery mountain road into the depths of the Qingxuan Mountains. This was his first time to officially go out with his master to hunt monsters. He had the herb-picking sickle given by Nangong Wan on his waist, and a layer of sweat oozed from his palms.
"Are you scared?" Fu Shaoping threw the wine jug over without looking back, the spout of the jug still stained with morning dew.
Lin Xiaoqi took it and took a sip. The hot wine made his eyes red: "Disciple just..." Before he could finish his words, the bushes in front suddenly shook violently.
Three copper coins slipped out of Fu Shaoping's sleeves and were nailed into the ground to form a triangular formation. Almost at the same time, a red wolf pounced out, and when its fangs were only three inches away from Lin Xiaoqi's throat, the copper coin formation suddenly burst into golden light, and the wolf was bounced back several feet.
"Red Flame Wolf, mid-stage one." Nangong Wan's voice floated down from the treetops. She had stood on the branch without knowing when, her dark skirt did not move at all. "The weakness is the white spot behind the ear."
Lin Xiaoqi held the sickle tightly and found that the blade of the sickle was covered with a layer of green light. When the demon wolf pounced again, he instinctively turned sideways and swung the sickle. The green light passed through the wolf's ears and brought up a puff of blood. The demon wolf howled and rolled over. Fu Shaoping suddenly appeared behind it and smashed its crown with a palm.
"Too slow to react." Nangong Wan landed gracefully, and his fingertips picked up a strand of wolf blood and shot it into Lin Xiaoqi's brow. "Next time, you must predict where it will land when it jumps."
As they went deeper into the forest, the fog became thicker. Fu Shaoping deliberately fell behind half a step, letting Lin Xiaoqi walk in front. When the boy stepped on a piece of soft soil, the ground suddenly collapsed - it turned out to be a disguised earth demon weasel!
The moment Lin Xiaoqi fell into the trap, his herb-picking sickle automatically turned into a shield, blocking the sharp claws of the sneak attacking demon weasel. He took the opportunity to pinch his fingers, and the Qingmu Qi in his body turned into vines to entangle the demon weasel. Nangong Wan nodded slightly, but Fu Shaoping suddenly shouted: "Behind!"
The second demon weasel broke out of the ground. Lin Xiaoqi hastily gathered his true energy in his left palm and slapped it, knocking the demon weasel backwards and hitting a tree. Fu Shaoping's eyes flashed with surprise: "Can Qingmu true energy be used like this?"
At noon, the three of them stopped by a cold pond to rest. Lin Xiaoqi was bandaging the scratch on his arm when the water suddenly boiled. A green-scaled python as thick as a bowl broke out of the water, its vertical pupils fixed on the bleeding wound of the young man.
"The early stage of the second stage is yours." Fu Shaoping folded his arms and stepped back, while Nangong Wan blocked all of Lin Xiaoqi's retreat routes.
When the giant python attacked, Lin Xiaoqi suddenly had an idea. He knocked the herb-picking sickle against the bluestone by the pond, and the green light from the sickle blade blended with the cold water vapor in the pond, condensing into dozens of ice needles that shot at the python's eyes. While the giant python was rolling, he jumped onto its back, and the green wood true energy poured into it along its seven inches, shattering the python's bones.
The sunset was blood-red on the way home. Fu Shaoping played with the green-scaled python gallbladder, and suddenly pressed the fishy and bitter gallbladder on Lin Xiaoqi's wound: "The rule of Qingxuan Mountain Range is that the first time you hunt a monster, you must use the bile of the prey to temper your body."
The young man grimaced in pain, but did not dodge. Nangong Wan slipped a jade bottle from his sleeve and threw it to him: "The miasma-proof pill made from the poison of the green-scaled python, take one pill on the first day of every month."
In the twilight, Lin Xiaoqi found that the green light on the herb-picking sickle was much more solid than in the morning. The mountain breeze swept across his blood-stained clothes, bringing the faint howling of wolves in the distance - this time, his hand holding the sickle did not shake again.
(End of this chapter)