Chapter 174 - 107: New Year’s Eve, Dragon Gate Jump, Breaking the 2nd Physical Limit, Bones Like Glazed Jade, Blood Severing Gold

Chapter 174: Chapter 107: New Year’s Eve, Dragon Gate Jump, Breaking the 2nd Physical Limit, Bones Like Glazed Jade, Blood Severing Gold

He stared at the Jade Marrow Cold Lotus before him, swaying gently in the night sky like a cluster of twinkling stars...

Huang Xuan pinched himself hard.

After a long moment, he finally spoke, his voice hoarse:

"Ji the kid, this... I can’t accept it."

"You keep it. It’ll be far more useful for your future than for this decaying body of mine."

"I..."

However, before he could finish, Ji Xiu thrust the Treasure Box into his chest.

The youth vaulted onto his deer, facing the biting cold wind. His eyes were clear as he gave a carefree smile:

"Old Huang, an Earth Treasure is priceless. How you deal with it is your business."

"But you funded my medicinal baths to break through to Golden Muscle and Jade Veins, and you helped me out at the Wind and Cloud Association. These are favors."

"I promised to perform Alchemy for you in return for learning your Alchemy Skill."

"As for this Earth Treasure, it’s to repay the favors I owe you."

After saying this, Ji Xiu turned and left without any hesitation.

Leaving Huang Xuan staring speechlessly at his back.

’He values righteousness over profit, with the chivalrous spirit of youth... truly a magnanimous soul.’

Xu Li stood to the side, watching this scene. He sighed with emotion, and a thought suddenly occurred to him:

’A youth of such character... if I could pass on all my skills to him and take him as my successor, wouldn’t I gain a filial and worthy disciple to care for me in my old age?’

Huang Xuan clutched the Treasure Box:

"Boss Ji is a man of immense integrity."

"Word of that has already spread throughout Anning County. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have earned the appreciation of Duan Chenzhou or had Magistrate Zhao humble himself to befriend him."

The old man stared intently at the Treasure Lotus in the box, forcibly suppressing the desire in his eyes before closing the lid.

Seeing his action, Xu Li laughed:

"I’m not that great master from our Medicine Shop, nor am I a businessman. I have my own principles. I won’t steal from others. You don’t have to..."

Huang Xuan shook his head:

"No, I’m just afraid I won’t be able to resist... that I won’t be able to control the greed in my heart and will just swallow this Earth Treasure in one gulp."

Xu Li was stunned:

"The boy already gave you the Jade Marrow Cold Lotus. To be honest, even if you don’t refine this entire Earth Treasure into a Treasure Pill Secret Medicine, just chewing and swallowing it whole would be enough to completely rejuvenate your decaying body."

"What difference does it make?"

Huang Xuan laughed at himself and tapped the box:

"That kid sees things clearly. He’s repaid his Favors Owed with one Earth Treasure, and however I handle it is up to me."

"But since he sees things so clearly, how could I afford to be oblivious?"

Xu Li’s hand paused:

"You mean..."

Bathed in the spilling moonlight.

Clutching the Jade Marrow Cold Lotus tightly, Old Huang bowed to Great Pill Master Xu, who, despite being twenty or thirty years his senior, was so well-preserved he looked much younger.

"A noble person who can command a Pill Master such as yourself to personally seek out and refine ingredients..."

"I wonder... who could such an august person be?"

Xu Li fell silent:

"Some things are not for you to ask."

Huang Xuan smiled:

"Back when my influence had faded, before I left Jiangyin Prefecture, I heard a rumor."

"They say Marquis Beicang has a daughter from his main wife who suffers from a chronic illness and has long required Earth Treasures, rare oddities, and Treasure Fish to sustain her."

"Even though that Marquis holds a fiefdom and title listed in the ’Six Great Xuan Registers’ and receives a hereditary stipend, his coffers were nearly emptied."

"I was lucky enough to hear some news back then. It was said that this noble person was sent to Jiangyin Prefecture..."

"Calculating the time, she should be grown up by now, right?"

"Of course, this is all just speculation."

Marquis Beicang, with a fiefdom in Cangzhou.

And above Jiangyin Prefecture is Cangzhou.

As Huang Xuan spoke to this point, Xu Li was taken aback. "You certainly know a lot..."

"At my age, I can get by just refining some Pills for myself. But that kid, he’s different. He has a future."

"The Ancestor of the Celestial Blade Style is missing. Chen Hex and Duan Chenzhou are both peerless geniuses, but they are too young. Compared to other Schools, they are only at the level of a Daoist School."

"Setting aside all the old scores, how many Daoist School Masters and Grandmasters are there, coveting the School’s legacy and name, who could resist taking a few bites and claiming its foundation for themselves?"

"Elder Xu, this old man trusts your character."

"So..."

"When you go back, could you take this wretched old man with you?"

"I want to meet that noble Female Monarch and, in Ji Xiu’s name, win him a life of wealth and glory."

Xu Li pondered:

"You want to use this precious Earth Treasure to help him build a connection to the Beicang Marquis’s Mansion, smoothing his way when he enters Jiangyin Prefecture in the future?"

"What’s in it for you?"

"Besides, the Female Monarch’s condition is tricky. One Earth Treasure can only alleviate her symptoms. I’ve heard that if they don’t venture deep into the East Canghai to find rare and great treasures for constant nourishment, her condition will only worsen."

"As for why Jiangshui Garrison Commander Luo Daocheng of Jiangyin Prefecture wants to arrest Han Ying, one reason is that this traitorous disciple was bewitched by the Central Yellow Sect, shaming his good name."

"The other major reason is that this unfilial disciple stole an Outer Dao authority related to Walking on Water and Waves, which Luo Daocheng had intended to present to Marquis Beicang. He had already boasted about it, so when he was unable to deliver, he became furious."

"To put it bluntly, the Earth Treasure is just drinking poison to quench a thirst. If it were truly a life-saving straw..."

"Perhaps then, you really couldn’t trust this old man’s character."

At this, Xu Li let out a hearty laugh.

"No matter, no matter. It’s just a gamble."

"Besides, even in the worst-case scenario, no matter what, just based on this favor, it shouldn’t be too difficult to squeeze a ’Mansion Courtyard’ spot out of the Schools, Grand Lineages, and Daoist Schools, and add a Protective Talisman on top of that, right?"

Huang Xuan’s eyelids lifted, and the corners of his mouth twitched into a smile.

Xu Li stared intently at the old man in the sheepskin coat and sighed: