Chapter 173 - 107: New Year’s Eve, Dragon Gate Jump, Breaking the 2nd Physical Limit, Bones Like Glazed Glass, Blood Severing Gold

Chapter 173: Chapter 107: New Year’s Eve, Dragon Gate Jump, Breaking the 2nd Physical Limit, Bones Like Glazed Glass, Blood Severing Gold

Xu Li, a Great Pill Master from Jiangyin Prefecture with a modest reputation throughout the East Canghai region, had truly not expected this.

Huang Xuan.

As the No. 1 Great Tributor of the Medicine Shop, Xu Li was naturally familiar with him.

Back in the day, Huang Xuan had been a family-born son of the Medicine Shop, the right-hand man to the old master—one of the Nine Lords—during his middle years.

But later, an incident left him with a chronic illness, causing him to lose power and subsequently vanish from the Prefecture City.

Speaking of which... much of Huang Xuan’s Alchemy Skill in his early years had been developed under Xu Li’s guidance.

Time passed, and now, Xu Li could tell with a single glance that Huang Xuan was in his twilight years, with one foot already in the grave.

Even if his deep-seated ailments were completely cured, his achievements in this life would go no further.

’Using an Earth Treasure in a concoction to treat someone of such status and with such prospects... isn’t that an outrageous waste of a precious resource!’

Meanwhile, Huang Xuan’s eyes were wide with utter astonishment.

He had caught wind long ago that the Great Pharmacist Xu Li from the Jiangyin Prefecture Medicine Shop was bringing a full retinue to this five-hundred-li Mountain Dao to search for an Earth Treasure Jade Marrow Cold Lotus.

Typically, rare Earth Treasures appear one at a time in any given location; it was exceedingly rare for two to manifest. Coupled with his many years of searching... Huang Xuan had long since given up most of his hope.

But he never expected such a sudden turn of events!

For so long, Ji Xiu—in his various capacities as Hall Master of the Wind and Cloud Association, Boss Ji of West Street, and the Mountain Road Chief—had come to perform Alchemy, rain or shine... and the one day he was absent...

...was the day he brought Huang Xuan such a massive surprise it almost made his heart stop!

For a moment, a faint warmth spread through the old man Huang Xuan’s heart as he stood there, wrapped in his sheep-wool cloak. Then, as memories of the past surfaced, his expression grew distant.

A good dozen years ago, he too had been riding high. Within the Prefecture’s Medicine Shop, he was considered a trusted confidant of the old master.

Though he was a family-born son, no different from a household slave, he had been granted a residence, wore a long robe, and was considered a man of some standing.

The next step would have been an assignment to oversee an external shop as a Chief Shopkeeper. If he could have gone even further from there, cultivating a Divine Thought and achieving the attainments of a Qi Dao Pill Master...

...he would have transformed from a ’household slave’ into a figure just like the man standing before him, Xu Li, a Tributor revered by the Medicine Shop.

Back then, Huang Xuan had been ambitious, believing he was just one step away.

And so, he frequently made appearances before the old master, hoping to accumulate merits in exchange for a Divine Soul Secret Technique to break through his final bottleneck.

Unfortunately, he had forgotten a crucial truth.

Once a household slave, always a household slave. Until you hold the reins of your own destiny, your masters can mold you and break you as they please.

The more anxious one is to advance, the more prone they are to making mistakes. He was too impatient, daring to take on any task or assignment, no matter what it was.

Once, the master needed a new medicine tested. They required a ’Drug Tester’—and it had to be an experienced Pill Master who could meticulously perceive its flaws and benefits.

Tempted by the promised reward of a Divine Soul Secret Technique, Huang Xuan gritted his teeth and accepted the task.

It was this time that planted the seed of his chronic illness. Yet Huang Xuan did not fail his commission; he completed it to Perfection, but it left him with a hidden ailment.

The Medicine Shop’s old master saw how effective he was as a Drug Tester—after just one dose, he had pointed out all of the medicine’s various shortcomings, allowing the new product to be released smoothly to great reception. Naturally, the old master was all smiles with him.

He was lavished with praise, granted the Secret Technique as promised, and allowed a moment of great glory, letting Huang Xuan climb ever higher.

However... some things, once done, will be done a second time, and a third...

You do your job well. Your master appreciates you. Others envy you. Then, the master asks you to do the same thing again. Can you refuse?

You can’t.

To do so would be to spurn their favor.

Never mind the fact that you weren’t even a ’Qi Dao Pill Master’ yet.

Even if you did succeed, it would only be because the Medicine Shop favored you. If you betrayed them, it would be a case of deceiving your master and forsaking your ancestors. You’d be condemned by all.

As for those who don’t make it...

Just because they give a slave fine robes to wear doesn’t mean you’ve truly turned the tables and become a master.

When the master favors you, you’re a person.

When the master doesn’t...

How big was the Medicine Shop?

Someone in Jiangyin Prefecture once said this:

Anyone born in the Prefecture City...

...cannot escape the ’Thirty-Six Professions’ in their lifetime.

Everything they wore, ate, used, and lived in—all their daily necessities—was encompassed by the Thirty-Six Professions, the Hundred Trades and Livelihoods.

From this point alone, one could imagine the rest.

If you won’t be a slave...

...there are plenty of others willing to bow their heads!

And so, time and again, it was only natural that Huang Xuan’s body was completely broken down by medicinal illnesses. Before his Divine Thought could even strengthen, his opportunity to pursue the path of a ’Qi Dao Pill Master’ was cut off.

As the saying goes, the tea gets cold once the person leaves.

Once you lose your use-value, you’re relegated to the second-line. This is true for ordinary people, and even more so for a behemoth like the Medicine Shop.

They give you some severance pay, send over a couple of maidservants, and leave you to live out the rest of your broken life in your residence. That’s how they get rid of you.

But the line between power and powerlessness is razor-thin. Once his glory was gone, there were naturally plenty of people eager to kick him while he was down. For a time, Huang Xuan found it incredibly difficult to even buy medicines for Alchemy to treat his own stubborn illness.

Left with no choice, he eventually fled to Anning.

On one hand, he hoped to get lucky and find a cure for his persistent ailment.

On the other hand, he was under immense pressure to make a living. Back in the Prefecture City, where the Medicine Shop monopolized all Secret Pills and Great Pills, he still had to perform Alchemy for himself every day but couldn’t earn any silver coins.

If that continued, he would have starved to death sooner or later. So, it was better to flee to a remote county and become a Tributor for a Local Bully. At least survival wouldn’t be a problem.