Chapter 75 - 72: Su Tan’s Dao

Chapter 75: Chapter 72: Su Tan’s Dao

On one side was his old master. On the other was his new patron. Caught in the middle, Xu Xiuwu found himself in a truly difficult position.

He knew it was absolutely impossible to get Su Tan to travel to the Capital City to treat Young Master Yun!

However, the other side had explicitly stated that it was truly inconvenient for Young Master Yun to leave the capital. They wanted Xu Xiuwu to persuade Su Tan, promising to pay any price for a house call, no matter how exorbitant.

Xu Xiuwu had originally wanted to refuse. Reporting Su Tan’s existence to the Yun Family was already a betrayal of sorts, as Su Tan had once mentioned he didn’t want anyone to know of his existence.

The fact that Su Tan didn’t blame the Xu Family for exposing his whereabouts was already doing them a huge favor. And now they wanted him to persuade Su Tan to go to the capital to treat someone? Pure fantasy!

Coming to see Su Tan today, Xu Xiuwu’s heart was filled with apprehension. He feared Su Tan would be displeased and wipe out the Xu Family with a single slap in a fit of rage. It wasn’t impossible!

In this dog-eat-dog world, it wasn’t uncommon for someone to smile to your face and stab you in the back the next second.

Su Tan looked amiable and approachable, but deep down, he gave Xu Xiuwu an oppressive feeling. Ever since Su Tan saved him last time, he never dared to underestimate this man again!

Xu Xiuwu had actually known from the start that Su Tan wouldn’t agree. He came in person this time simply to gauge Su Tan’s attitude. If Su Tan was angry, then as the patriarch of the Xu Family, only he was qualified to bear Su Tan’s wrath.

Telling the Yun Family about Su Tan’s existence had actually cost Xu Xiuwu a long period of internal struggle.

Everyone knew the Yun Family was the Xu Family’s backer. But what they didn’t know was that the Yun Family hadn’t provided any substantial help to the Xu Family for a very, very long time. Their patron-client relationship wasn’t very solid. It existed in name only. After all, it had been hundreds of years.

The Xu Family originally hadn’t wanted to get involved in this matter at all. But on second thought, the Yun Family had treated the Xu Family well. The Xu Family’s survival to this day was inseparable from the Yun Family’s protection.

Old Master Xu was usually a decisive and ruthless person, but he had one major virtue: gratitude!

Ultimately, he made a decision to recommend Su Tan to the Yun Family. Fortunately, Su Tan didn’t seem angry. This was already the best possible outcome.

As for the Yun Family... would they actually decide to let Young Master Yun come over to seek treatment? Would they actually believe that an unknown, obscure mountain village could harbor an expert capable of curing his illness? That was up to the Yun Family’s own decision. It also depended on Young Master Yun’s own fortune!

The Xu Family had already risked everything to do what they should. They had done their utmost and had a clear conscience.

Upon returning, Xu Xiuwu sent the message to the distant Capital City.

The Yun Family received the news immediately. Their reaction was one of disdain.

"Heh... What arrogance from White Cloud City," the message receiver scoffed. "No real skills, but a ton of awful habits. He never makes house calls, and anyone seeking treatment has to go to his door?

"He doesn’t even consider what a tiny speck of land he’s from.

"Hostile environments breed unruly people. Never having seen the wider world, he learns a few insignificant tricks and thinks himself a god.

"A frog in a well! They probably don’t even know how vast the sky is!

"How exalted is Young Master Yun’s status? Would he personally go seek treatment?

"Allowing him to come to the Capital City to treat the young master is already a monumental honor, yet he makes excuses. Does he truly believe he can save the young master? Even Lord Medicine King, the strongest in Celestial Fragrance, was helpless. The Yun Family has searched for renowned doctors for years across neighboring countries and even distant empires, and many master physicians have been completely stumped. What could he possibly do?"

Several message officers discussed the matter animatedly, holding absolutely no hope for this country bumpkin.

This kind of perspective was actually normal. It was like a white swan living in the sky looking down on a maggot living in excrement. People of low status—servants in wealthy households—were especially prone to looking at others through colored lenses. They thought that just because they rubbed shoulders with important figures, they were important figures themselves.

Sometimes they couldn’t even distinguish their own place in the world, forgetting that they were, in fact, just servants. People of truly high status and position, on the other hand, wouldn’t show it even if they felt disdain in their hearts. That was called refinement.

"Should we send this voice transmission up the chain?"

"Of course we should. That’s our duty!" said the receiver responsible for organizing information.

Meanwhile, back in White Cloud City’s Chen Family Village.

"The message has been sent," Xu Xiuwu thought on behalf of the Xu Family. "As for what the Yun Family decides to do, I cannot interfere. May they be blessed with good fortune!"

However, he could already faintly guess the outcome. The Yun Family definitely wouldn’t let Young Master Yun travel thousands of miles to Chen Family Village just because of a single word from him.

How noble was Young Master Yun’s status? It was unrealistic! Who would believe that a supreme expert resided here? Impossible!

Therefore, Xu Xiuwu believed the Yun Family would certainly refuse and let the matter drop. If that was truly the case, then there was nothing to be done. Everything was decreed by fate, and nothing was up to man!

Just as Xu Xiuwu thought the matter was settled, a letter surprisingly arrived from the Capital City!

"The Yun Family has decided to bring Young Master Yun to White Cloud City to seek medical treatment in the coming days. We will impose upon the Xu Family then."

Xu Xiuwu was stunned. How... were they actually coming? Why would they come? There had to be a reason, at least!

The Yun Family just believed it? They never let Young Master Yun travel outside. Today, they were actually making an exception? Oh, heavens! This had to be fake!

Xu Xiuwu stared at the Yun Family’s reply in disbelief. He truly couldn’t figure out why the Yun Family would come.

If it were him, Xu Xiuwu, he absolutely wouldn’t believe it and absolutely wouldn’t come. Could this be fate? It was too strange!

While feeling bewildered, he began making arrangements for the Yun Family, preparing to welcome their arrival. At the same time, he sent word to Su Tan that the Yun Family’s young master would be visiting for treatment in the coming days.

Xu Xiuwu knew there had to be some specific reason that prompted the Yun Family to travel thousands of miles, but what that reason might be was beyond his access.

Over at the Xu Family, preparations to welcome Young Master Yun were in full swing.

Su Tan, on the other hand, didn’t care. If they came, he’d have one more patient. If they didn’t, he’d have one less. It was as simple as that. It was no big deal. He continued to go about his own business as usual.

Recently, Su Tan had adapted to his new home and started a new endeavor: cooking.

He tried making rice a few times, but it ended up burnt. As for the dishes, they were so-so. He just couldn’t grasp the right amount of salt. Sometimes it was too salty, sometimes too bland—it was a common occurrence.

SIZZLE! The ingredients in the wok sputtered with oil as Su Tan stir-fried them.

He had spent several days stubbornly trying to figure out a simple dish of stir-fried pork with green peppers to no avail.

SPLASH! Learning from his previous lessons, Su Tan optimized the cooking process today.

Once the dish was done, Little White Wolf hurriedly pushed a plate over to hold the food for Su Tan.

Su Tan felt the plate on the stove with his hand to confirm its position, then slowly scraped the food from the wok onto the plate. He turned off the heat.

The fire he used for cooking came from a red combustible liquid. He heard it was Demon Beast blood. It was stored in a canister, much like a gas cylinder, and could be turned on and off at will.

CLANG! He put the wok back in its place and took a sniff.

"Smells good!" Su Tan said.

"I mean... with your current strength and status, you could easily hire someone to cook for you," Little White Wolf said. "Is there really a need to work so hard at it?"

Su Tan groped for the chopsticks nearby, picked up a piece of meat, and popped it into his mouth. His expression lit up.

"Delicious! This is my most successful dish in days. I can totally graduate from my culinary apprenticeship!" Su Tan said.

Little White Wolf was speechless, wondering if this guy had even heard a word it said.

"I cook because it’s a hobby!" Su Tan put down his chopsticks, picked up the plate, and walked out into the courtyard.

It had nothing to do with status or whether he could afford to hire servants; it was a process of self-breakthrough. Just like cultivation.

Su Tan’s cultivation wasn’t about competing with the geniuses of this world, nor was it about comparing himself to the Ancient Saints and Emperors... It was about competing with himself.

Being stronger than those geniuses... was too simple. He didn’t even need to cultivate; he could just stack his armor and attack power, and still completely crush them.

But that wasn’t what Su Tan wanted. He wanted to surpass himself. He wanted to be stronger than what the system dictated.

If the power set by the system was ’n’, he wanted to make his own power reach ’n+1’.

To put it arrogantly, no one in this world was fit to be Su Tan’s opponent. Only he could be his own opponent. This was Su Tan’s Dao. What he sought was not to be better than others, but to be better than his "self."