37: Chapter 37 Five Poisons Gathering Spirit Pill

Xia Shaoxin delivered the medicinal materials to Senior Brother Liang Ruoran's courtyard, where Senior Brother Liang Ruoran was playing chess with Senior Brother Shao Junwei.

"Many thanks to Senior Brother Liang for your help." Xia Shaoxin thanked him from the bottom of his heart.

Senior Brother Liang Ruoran stared at the chessboard and said casually, "I didn't expect you to be so unpopular in the Utility Disciple compound."

"I just arrived. They look down on me, and I don't even remember the names of those people."

Senior Brother Liang Ruoran shook his head. "It's not because you just arrived that they look down on you; it's because you have a rustic aura. Most of them come from wealthy families, so seeing you is like seeing the servants in their own homes."

Xia Shaoxin asked, "Are all Chiyan Sect Disciples from wealthy backgrounds?"

Senior Brother Liang and Senior Brother Shao exchanged a smile.

Senior Brother Shao Junwei said, "The Chiyan Sect recruits children every year. We use the sky sound bell formation to judge a child's ability to sense Spiritual Qi, and based on that, divide them into formal Outer Sect Disciples and probationary Disciples."

"The better one's Aptitude, the faster one can Cultivate. Formal Disciples have a fifty percent chance of successfully practicing Qi before the age of eighteen. For probationary Disciples, only one or two in ten succeed."

Xia Shaoxin was somewhat shocked. Was the success rate really that low?

"Those who still cannot practice Qi by eighteen have proven that their Aptitude is not high, and the chances of practicing Qi before twenty-five are even slimmer."

"The Chiyan Sect has no interest in wasting resources waiting for them, but we haven't completely closed the door either, which is why we accept money for them to become Utility Disciples."

"The advantage of being a formal Disciple shows at this time; they don't need to pay."

Senior Brother Liang Ruoran placed a piece, turned his head to look at Xia Shaoxin, and smiled slightly. "Senior Brother Shao and I, our parents were farmers. We come from poor backgrounds, which is a very small minority here in the Chiyan Sect."

Senior Brother Shao Junwei asked Xia Shaoxin, "Do you think one thousand taels of silver is a lot?"

"A lot, very much so. It's enough to buy several lives." Xia Shaoxin did not hesitate at all.

The Five-colored Scorpion that had tempted Li the Toad into evil was worth forty thousand coins, which came to less than fifty taels.

Whether money is a lot depends on where you are.

A farmer in Liushu Ao wouldn't be able to save even ten or twenty thousand coins in a lifetime.

"I became an Inner Sect Disciple of the Chiyan Sect, and within a few years, my parents back home had become the wealthiest in the region. Using my name, my Family's affairs have all gone smoothly," Senior Brother Liang Ruoran said with a smile.

Xia Shaoxin hadn't expected that becoming an Inner Sect Disciple of the Chiyan Sect was such a lucrative deal.

Put that way, one thousand taels a year for a Utility Disciple was really not expensive.

Senior Brother Liang Ruoran pointed at Senior Brother Shao Junwei and asked Xia Shaoxin, "Do you know why he is helping you?"

"Uh, Senior Brother Shao hates evil and loves to uphold justice."

"Pfft, what injustice have you suffered? It's because Senior Brother Shao comes from a tenant farmer background. When he was young, his father injured a steward over a rent dispute and fled with him. They stumbled upon the Chiyan Sect by accident and were actually selected, changing his fate forever. Your situation is similar to his, so he just sympathizes with you."

Xia Shaoxin suddenly realized. No wonder when Senior Brother Shao Junwei was engraving the token, he couldn't bring himself to do it; knowing it was a fake name, his first reaction wasn't to report it.

"Alright, enough about the past. You should go do what you need to do." Senior Brother Shao Junwei was not very willing to talk about his own past.

Senior Brother Liang Ruoran said, "Since I've stepped in to help you, I'll help to the end. The Poisonous Insects needed for the Five Poisons Spirit Gathering Pill must be bought with Spirit Stones, and I will keep an eye out."

Xia Shaoxin took out a few pills.

"I've already made them. Many thanks for your kindness, Senior Brother Liang. How do they look?"

Senior Brother Liang Ruoran was stunned. He took the pills; they were the size of a little finger and heavy. He brought them to his nose to smell, jumped up, and knocked over the chessboard.

"It really is the Five Poisons Spirit Gathering Pill!"

Senior Brother Shao Junwei reached out to take them and examined them carefully.

"Where did you get those Poisonous Insects?"

Xia Shaoxin had wanted Senior Brother Liang to evaluate his pharmaceutical skills, but he hadn't expected the Senior Brothers' attention to be entirely on the Poisonous Insects.

In a flash of inspiration, he told a little lie: "Senior Brother Liang, I am a Bug Catcher; I've always dealt with Poisonous Insects."

"You brought Poisonous Insects with you when you escaped?" Senior Brother Liang Ruoran's eyes widened.

"Yes."

Senior Brother Liang Ruoran returned the Five Poisons Spirit Gathering Pill to him, shaking his head repeatedly. "Waste, waste, what a waste!"

The two circled around Xia Shaoxin, looking him up and down, as if they wanted to see right through him.

Senior Brother Liang Ruoran finally couldn't help asking, "Where did you hide the Poisonous Insects?"

Xia Shaoxin was a bit dumbfounded and hurriedly clapped his hands. "They're already all used up."

"And you just happened to have these five types of Poisonous Insects?"

"Yes..."

"And one of them had to be alive!"

"Uh..."

Xia Shaoxin was covered in sweat. The Five Poisons Spirit Gathering Pill was taught by Senior Brother Liang Ruoran; how could a Disciple deceive his master?

Senior Brother Liang Ruoran leaned in, his nose sniffing around on Xia Shaoxin like a dog's.

"Hey, stop that." Senior Brother Shao Junwei couldn't watch anymore.

Senior Brother Liang Ruoran said, "If you still have any Poisonous Insects, you can sell them to me for a good price. I'll pay in Spirit Stones."

Xia Shaoxin's head was buzzing. He mumbled, "What do you want? If I have it, I will definitely give it to you."

"I need a top-tier King Cobra."

"I don't have one right now."

Senior Brother Liang Ruoran shouted in surprise, "In other words, you will have one in a few days?"

Xia Shaoxin broke into a cold sweat, not knowing what to do.

Emotionally speaking, he would certainly be willing to give a few King Cobras to Senior Brother Liang, the kind that could glide over grass, but he couldn't perform that in public, could he?

Seeing him hesitant and indecisive, Senior Brother Liang Ruoran waved his hand. "Fine, you can go back."

Xia Shaoxin knew Senior Brother Liang had misunderstood, but he couldn't explain, so he had to leave.

Walking onto the mountain path, he clenched his fist tightly, feeling a deep sense of helplessness.

Senior Brother Liang Ruoran didn't have much of a friendship with him, yet was willing to help him refine pills, purely out of sympathy.

A similar background, a natural sense of closeness.

Poisonous Insects sold for Spirit Stones in the Chiyan Sect, but in Li Family Hollow, they only gave copper coins, and the price was much lower than outside.

The Yue Kingdom imperial court bought them with copper coins and resold them to the various Sects, earning Spirit Stones.

What a good business deal.

It seemed Senior Brother Liang Ruoran was a bit disheartened.

Xia Shaoxin felt a tightness in his chest. He couldn't just conjure a King Cobra out of thin air, could he?

Wait a few days, catch an ordinary snake, and then transform it.

He looked up at the winding mountain path, his heart occupied by another desire.

It was nearly noon, and the Utility Disciples had mostly finished their work, so he decided to return to Nanxiang Courtyard in the afternoon.

So, he walked quickly up the mountain and arrived at the wordless stele in front of the Xueyan Cliff main hall.

This stele had no carvings, standing in an open space to the left of the main hall. At first glance, one would think it was just an unfinished large stone slab.

The words on the wordless stele were hidden by supreme magic.

The weaker one's ability to sense Spiritual Qi, the less one could see.

He had lived in Dawu Mountain since he was a child. In the Sect's words, he was soaked in poisonous miasma and insulated from Spiritual Qi, which was why he was repelled by the stele.

But the Poisonous Insects could create pills that were close to Spiritual Qi.

The principle behind this was extremely profound, and he didn't understand it at all.

Xia Shaoxin knelt before the stele, took a deep breath, closed his eyes, meditated, and emptied his mind.

Then he took out his token and kowtowed vigorously several times.

He stuffed a Five Poisons Spirit Gathering Pill into his mouth; the bitter and fishy taste almost made him vomit.

Sincerity, token, pill—all were ready.

The stele suddenly emitted a light that only the one kowtowing could see. Xia Shaoxin stared without blinking, trying hard to read.

He felt his spirit was full, as if he had just woken up from a good sleep.

His memory became stronger; he no longer forgot the beginning by the time he finished reading the end.

A long time passed, and fatigue suddenly struck; his eyelids were about to drop.

He hurriedly took another Five Poisons Spirit Gathering Pill.

The fatigue miraculously vanished!