Initially, Fa Ma had planned never to see the boy again. If he did, he would never speak to him. He couldn't bear the heartache.
Who would have thought he would break the silent oath he'd just made?
Alas, the boy had just offered too much.
Chen Guan wasn't surprised. The meeting with Fa Ma had gone almost exactly as he'd expected. If the old man had refused even the Spirit Nourishment Dust, Chen Guan might have believed he had the willpower to quit an addiction.
Descending from the second floor, he saw Yaoyue in the main hall, attempting to refine a pill. A crowd of onlookers had gathered, their praises surging around her like a tide.
Oh, the vanity of a child.
The Energy Accumulation Pill was a Rank 1 elixir of medium difficulty. With Yaoyue's current level and with an attendant on hand to replenish her Dou Qi, it should have been easy for her to control. But she was distracted, her mind still on what the two of them were discussing upstairs. She lost control of the fire, and the herbs instantly flashed into a pile of black ash, some of which even flew onto her face.
In an instant, the fair, tender-skinned little girl had transformed into a little soot-covered kitten.
The onlookers immediately transformed into stoic statues, their faces blank. Though the scene was quite funny, they had all experienced such failures before. It was commonplace.
It was, however, the first time Chen Guan had seen it. He burst out laughing, a very unkind sound.
The little kitten spun around angrily. Seeing it was him, she pounced, her "fangs and claws" bared, and grabbed his arm in a fierce bite.
Chen Guan didn't feel any pain, but he did look down at the new dust stains on his clothes with a disgusted expression. Well, it seems she used me as a towel to wipe her face.
"Stop messing around," he said, flicking her forehead. "Go tell your master we should be heading back."
Yaoyue's face turned a faint red, still shy about her public failure. Hearing that he didn't mention the botched refinement, she felt a wave of relief and hurried upstairs to say goodbye.
Brushing the dust from his sleeves, Chen Guan had a sudden thought. If he had actually accepted Fa Ma as his master, wouldn't he have had to call this little girl "Senior Sister"?
That was a close call. He had almost been put under her thumb forever. He felt more and more certain that he had made a wise decision.
Yaoyue returned quickly, and the two of them set off. They walked toward the palace in the afterglow of the sunset, playing and laughing all the way, their shadows stretched long before them.
"Where's my present?"
"I've prepared three for you. Which one do you want to see first?"
"The second one... eh, what is this?"
"Puppet wings. They can take you flying. You can go very far with one leap."
"How far is 'far'?"
"About twenty meters."
"..."
By the time they returned to the palace, the little girl was no longer unhappy. She was so cheerful she felt the whole world was painted in vibrant colors. When it came to coaxing children, Chen Guan was a professional.
He sent her back to her quarters and then returned to his own to continue his practice.
Among the gifts he had given Yaoyue, aside from the flashy but useless Rank 2 puppet wings, the other two were roughly the same as Yao Ye's: a portion of Spirit Nourishment Dust and a protective puppet. The only difference was that Yaoyue's was a Dou Ling-level puppet. It wasn't that he was playing favorites; it would have been a waste to give her a Dou Wang-level one. She spent all her time in either the palace or the Alchemist Association. No one was safer than her.
The Next Day
Chen Guan emerged from his cultivation state, feeling he was one step closer to becoming a Three-Star Da Dou Shi. A satisfied smile spread across his face. Though his new Dou Skill was only a low-level Earth-rank technique, it was still vastly different from his old Xuan-rank ones. He hadn't had time to practice any Earth-rank attack skills yet, but he could already feel he had become more... durable. It was the most obvious improvement.
Getting out of bed, Chen Guan took out a pile of materials from his storage ring—components that had been used so many times they were on the verge of being scrapped. He began his daily study of Puppetry, quickly becoming so immersed he lost all track of time. It wasn't until nearly noon, when Yao Ye came to call him, that he reluctantly stopped.
"I have good news for you," she said. "You turned a profit on that batch of Coptis Root. You were lucky enough to find six pieces of Blood Lotus Essence."
"So many?" Chen Guan was a little surprised.
"Don't you know how much you bought? Though Blood Lotus Essence is hard to find, even its rarity couldn't stand up to your indiscriminate purchasing."
That did seem to be the reason. As long as you had enough capital, many problems could be easily solved.
The two of them walked to the back mountains of the palace. Yao Ye stopped at the entrance. "You go in by yourself. I have to go to the barracks to take care of some things today." The Ninth Prince of the Izumo Empire had been tragically killed in Jia Ma. Though she was no longer afraid of them, there were still loose ends to tie up. She didn't bother Chen Guan with these troublesome matters.
Chen Guan nodded. This wasn't his first time here; he knew the way.
He found Jia Xingtian in the same old spot. Observing him carefully, Chen Guan felt the old emperor seemed a little younger. It was a subtle change, one that came from the soul. Apparently, the Spirit Nourishment Dust had worked.
"Jia Lao."
"Ah, sit down," Jia Xingtian said with a warm smile. "We haven't sat together and had a good chat like this in over a year. Every time I see you now, I can't help but feel lucky. Going to Rock Desert City back then was the best decision I made in my life."
Chen Guan wasn't shy. He sat on the ground beside him, gazing at the small lake. "It was my luck to be brought to the palace by you, Jia Lao."
It was an interesting dynamic. Every time he came to see Jia Xingtian, their conversations were basically just mutual flattery and self-deprecation. It had always been this way. He couldn't be as relaxed with him as he was with the two sisters. Perhaps it was the generation gap.
It was the same today. After the routine boasting, Chen Guan got down to business and handed over a scroll.
Intermediate Earth-rank Dou Skill—Meteorite Fall!
From his master's legacy, aside from the complete set of skills his master had practiced, Chen Guan had obtained a total of seven Earth-rank Dou Skills, all intermediate or low-level. It was a bit regrettable that four of them were wood-attribute. The remaining three were fire, earth, and ice.
Among those three, only Meteorite Fall was at the intermediate Earth rank. Jia Xingtian was very lucky indeed.
After taking the scroll and glancing through it, Jia Xingtian couldn't hide his shock. He knew Chen Guan had received an opportunity, but he never expected him to have obtained such a precious Dou Skill. If he weren't so mindful of Chen Guan's feelings, he wouldn't have been able to resist asking for all the details.
Putting aside unnecessary thoughts, Jia Xingtian glanced in the direction of the Misty Cloud Sect, his confidence soaring.
"Next month is the Misty Cloud Sect's annual disciple competition. Are you interested in joining the fun? I also want to confirm whether that old man Yun Shan is dead or alive."
***
(End of Chapter)
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