56: Medicine Man (Part 4)

It was unknown how much time had passed when Si Yun awoke amidst waves of weakness.

He was still soaking in the wooden barrel, the medicinal liquid having long since turned cold. Beside the barrel, Cang Yu's corpse lay stiffly on the ground, eyes wide open, his face frozen with the fear and unwillingness of his final moments.

He was dead.

That old dog was finally dead.

Si Yun struggled to crawl out of the wooden barrel; the aftereffects of the Divine Soul backlash made his head throb with splitting pain.

He walked over to Cang Yu's corpse, crouched down, and began to search.

Soon, he removed a plain-looking, ancient ring from Cang Yu's finger.

Si Yun probed it with a sliver of his just-recovered Divine Soul power. The ring glowed slightly, and a vast storage space revealed itself in his consciousness.

Massive amounts of resources, mountains of Spirit Medicine and Alchemy Materials.

Si Yun's heart began to beat uncontrollably.

As expected of a long-renowned Pill King; this wealth was truly terrifyingly abundant.

His Divine Soul swept through the space, quickly locking onto several Jade Slips.

He took them out and examined them one by one.

The Jade Slips contained detailed records of Cang Yu's lifelong Alchemy insights, countless precious Pill Formula, and various exquisite Alchemy techniques.

A complete Pill King Legacy!

And in the deepest part of these Jade Slips, Si Yun also found a Cultivation Technique.

《Hunyuan Wuji Art》.

Yuan-Grade High Grade Cultivation Technique!

Si Yun's breathing quickened slightly.

In several Reincarnation cycles, the strongest Cultivation Technique he had obtained was only Heaven-Grade.

"Old dog, you raised me for sixteen years, only to end up doing all this for my benefit."

Si Yun sneered and put everything away.

He did not leave immediately, but instead forced his exhausted body to begin cleaning up the Immortal Cave.

He disposed of Cang Yu's corpse, wiped away all traces of the fight and the Divine Soul clash, and restored the room to its original state.

He had to make Cang Yu's death look like he had run out of Lifespan.

After disposing of Cang Yu's corpse.

He took one last look at this Immortal Cave where he had lived for fifteen or sixteen years, felt not a shred of attachment, and quietly left, disappearing into the vast mountains of the Southern Border.

...

Spring departed and autumn came; two years passed in the blink of an eye.

In the Southern Border's Snake Body Mountain, deep within an extremely secluded valley.

Si Yun sat cross-legged on a giant rock, surrounded by Spiritual Qi, forming a vortex visible to the naked eye.

With his final breath, a tyrannical aura erupted from within his body.

Spirit Transformation Realm Early Stage!

Si Yun opened his eyes, feeling the ceaseless surging of Spiritual Qi within him, a trace of amazement flashing in his eyes.

"The Aptitude bought with three thousand Reincarnation points is truly outrageous."

Two years ago, he was still a Mortal without the strength to truss a chicken, but now he was already in the Spirit Transformation Realm.

The 《Hunyuan Wuji Art》 combined with the Heavenly Elixir Precious Body made his Cultivation speed simply advance by leaps and bounds.

By comparison, his Alchemy skills were somewhat lacking.

Without anyone to guide him, relying entirely on exploring the Jade Slips by himself, after two years, he had only barely reached the level of a Second-Rank Alchemist.

Over these two years, he had also gained a deeper understanding of the Southern Border.

Here, the status of an Alchemist was incomparably noble, far exceeding that of a Martial Artist.

The entire Southern Border was composed of three great territories.

The Thousand Mountains Region where Cang Yu resided was one of the three territories.

Just as Si Yun was planning his future path, his expression changed abruptly.

An aura so powerful it was suffocating descended upon this valley without warning.

That pressure was like the sky collapsing, like a mountain crumbling.

It was a Heavenly Spirit Realm expert!

Alarm bells rang in Si Yun's heart; he instantly stood up from the giant rock, his entire body's Spiritual Qi on guard.

An old man wearing a black Alchemist robe appeared silently before him.

The old man had a dignified face and an upright demeanor, but Si Yun detected a trace of an extremely faint aura from him that shared the same origin as Cang Yu's.

"You are that final Disciple of Cang Yu?"

The old man spoke, his voice calm but carrying an unquestionable dignity.

Si Yun's heart sank.

Trouble had arrived.

He remained calm on the surface and respectfully bowed: "Junior Si Yun greets Senior. I do not know who the Cang Yu you speak of is?"

"Still playing dumb?" The old man frowned. "I am Qian Yuan, Cang Yu's Senior Brother. More than two years ago, I sensed his life tablet shatter, so I have been searching for his tracks. I have scoured the entire Thousand Mountains Region, only to find a trace of his remaining aura here, which is very similar to the aura on you."

Pill King Qianyuan!

A storm raged in Si Yun's heart, but on the surface, he wore a look of confusion and sadness.

"Senior... are you my Senior Martial Uncle? Master... he passed away two years ago."

He began to spout nonsense, reciting the story he had long since fabricated.

It was nothing more than Cang Yu's Lifespan being exhausted, and after burying his Master, he had been wandering outside alone.

As he spoke, he cautiously observed Qian Yuan's expression.

Upon hearing of Cang Yu's death, a trace of complex sorrow indeed appeared on Qian Yuan's dignified face.

"This wicked obstacle..."

Qian Yuan sighed and said slowly: "Back then, Cang Yu and I were like brothers. Unfortunately, Master ultimately passed the position of Sect Leader to me. He became dissatisfied, left the Sect in a fit of anger, and had been missing ever since. I did not expect that our next meeting would be separated by life and death."

He looked at Si Yun, his eyes filled with a hint of pity and guilt.

"Although he was at fault, you are, after all, his only Disciple. All these years, it was I, his Senior Brother, who did not care enough for him, causing him to go astray."

"Since your Master is no longer here, from now on, you shall follow me. I will certainly treat you as my Personal Disciple to make up for the guilt in my heart."

Si Yun's heart did not relax; instead, it tightened further.

Here it comes again.

This kind of seemingly warm kindness again.

Cang Yu's lesson was still vivid in his mind; how could he easily trust a stranger he had just met?

Furthermore, the other party was a Pill King, an expert of the Heavenly Spirit Realm.

Si Yun knew clearly in his heart that he had no room to refuse.

Even if he wanted to refuse, there was no way.

"... I will defer to your decision, Senior." Si Yun lowered his head, hiding the vigilance in his eyes.

Just like that, Si Yun followed Qian Yuan back to his Sect.

An ancient Sect that once had Three Origins Realm experts, the Danxia Sect.

...

Time flew by, and another four years passed.

In these four years, Qian Yuan had indeed treated him as promised, regarding him as his own flesh and blood, providing whatever Cultivation resources he needed, and even teaching him Alchemy without reservation.

Si Yun had also displayed his talent, which could be called that of a Prodigy.

His Cultivation surged forward all the way, reaching the Spirit King Realm Ninth Level, only a step away from the Earth Spirit Realm.

His Alchemy skills had even broken through to the Sixth Rank level, only one step away from achieving the status of a Pill King.

Si Yun was now the number one Alchemy Genius of the entire Danxia Sect.

Qian Yuan's meticulous care began to make Si Yun's vigilant heart waver slightly.

Perhaps, was he just overthinking it?

This day, Qian Yuan called him to the Alchemy room.

"Yun'er, not long from now, the Shengyuan Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land will hold an Alchemy Tournament, and any Alchemist under twenty-five years of age may participate."

Qian Yuan looked at him, his eyes full of gratification and expectation.

"With your current attainments, it is enough for you to go and compete with the Geniuses of the entire Southern Border. Go, and let those old fogeys of the Southern Border see what kind of bearing my Danxia Sect's Disciple has!"

Alchemy Tournament? Held by the Shengyuan Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land!

Si Yun's heart skipped a beat.

The Shengyuan Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land, one of the Southern Border's Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land, was a super power with Grotto-Heaven Realm experts holding the fort.

Si Yun remembered that in his previous life, Lin Xuan had clung to the thigh of a Prodigy from a Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land, which allowed him to advance by leaps and bounds, completely widening the gap between them.

"If I can cling to the thigh of an expert from the Shengyuan Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land during the tournament..."