Chapter 120: Precious Pill

The waiter walked over with sleepy eyes, and Pei Ye told him to take good care of his mount.

Afterward, he entered the door, and the moonlight was blocked out. Pei Ye stood for a while before adapting to the gloom in the hall. Fortunately, there was still a candle light playing a role—the dull-looking woman held the candle and walked in, first revealing a man sitting on a long chair leaning against a pillar.

He was in his thirties, slightly shorter than the woman who opened the door, and covered in dust. Pei Ye hadn't heard him speak just now; at this moment, seeing Pei Ye's gaze, he took the initiative to nod to the young man.

Pei Ye returned a smile.

And as the candlelight moved, another pair of feet was illuminated in the deeper darkness.

This person was lying on a long chair, his lower legs completely hidden upward, and a crutch was leaning against the wall by his feet—not a short staff for walking, but a length that could be leaned on.

The light group of the candle light took another step into the depths, and then stopped beside a table.

With this shake into the depths, Pei Ye roughly identified the figure of this person—an old man of considerable age.

There were only these three people in the hall, and there was luggage piled on the ground.

Seeing this scene, Pei Ye turned to the waiter and asked: "Are there no guest rooms?"

"There are, guest, there are still two upper rooms!"

"How much is an upper room?"

"Three hundred wen a night, guest." Perhaps seeing the majestic large horse, the waiter had quite high expectations for the young man's spending power.

"... No need, I'll sleep here like them; do I need to pay for this?"

"Yes. Ten wen."

"Fine."

"You have to get up early tomorrow, can't disturb the guests' dining."

"Okay, what food is there, just serve me whatever to pad my stomach."

"There's leftover stir-fried cabbage, two steamed buns, all cold."

"Fine."

"Total is nineteen wen, guest." The waiter yawned.

Pei Ye counted out the copper coins and gave them to him, sat down at the table, stretched, and let out a deep breath.

Then he heard the man on the side laugh gently: "I've heard of the great name of the *Waist-Slicing Saber* of the Zhang family in Xu Gu County long ago, how could it not be good?"

Pei Ye realized he was responding to the woman's previous sentence.

The woman touched her head somewhat cautiously, as if she didn't know how to speak, her gaze only gathering on the floor.

The man then turned to Pei Ye and said: "Little brother also traveled at night? Where are you from?"

"I'm from Fenghuai," Pei Ye cupped his hands.

The man was stunned for a moment before laughing: "That's quite rare. What is little brother going to do on this trip?"

"Catching the Golden Autumn Wu Bi."

As soon as these words were spoken, the hall fell silent for a moment.

After a few breaths, the man laughed, raised his hand to point at himself, the woman, and Pei Ye respectively: "The three of us, all are."

Now it was Pei Ye's turn to be surprised. It was still some time before the martial competition; why did these two come so early?

Facing Pei Ye's puzzled gaze, the man said: "This sister is going to the 'Longmen Class' of the Changdao Martial Arts Hall, and I want to rush to the prefecture city to buy something. Little brother, what about you?"

Pei Ye had already turned to look at the woman: "I am also going to the 'Longmen Class' of the Changdao Martial Arts Hall."

The woman looked at him with slight surprise, and the man laughed: "That's truly a coincidence."

Pei Ye cupped his hands: "My name is Pei Ye, may I ask the names of the two."

"My name is Chengjiang Hong."

"My name is Zhang Junxue."

Pei Ye greeted them separately and asked: "Which side's quota are the two from?"

"Sister Zhang is from Xu Gu County, I am from Shaoxian."

Xu Gu, Pei Ye remembered what Master Huang said about "Zheng Shou and Xu Gu, the two strong counties." This county was half mountains and half plains, and it could be considered half-buried on the edge of the Xincang Mountain Range, but the mountain terrain there had already eased, and there was a trade route connecting to Lin Prefecture.

Lawless people often gathered in these mountains, and one batch was killed only for another to grow. To counter them, the prefecture government tilted a large amount of martial arts resources toward Xu Gu.

And Shaoxian was only better than Fenghuai, also a remote place. Xu Gu, Fenghuai, Can County, and Shaoxian were actually the four northern counties often spoken of in Bowang Prefecture.

Pei Ye nodded, and a question rose in his heart again.

Fenghuai's martial arts talent had been failing to connect in recent years, and now it had encountered a great change, so although there were three quotas, Chang Zhiyuan looked at the whole county and only found Pei Ye as a suitable person.

Because although theoretically, regardless of how "short" the overall level is, one can always pull out a few relatively tall ones, in fact, everyone has a tacit line—unless the root bone is truly outstanding, otherwise, landlubbers and those who have only cultivated for one life will not take the qualification.

Firstly, it's too shameful to be kicked off after going up, and secondly, in this kind of competition where everyone goes all out, the weak are always more unsafe.

Shaoxian was also remote; if only one person came up, it was possible, but for a strong county like Xu Gu, could it be that only one person came?

Pei Ye thought of this point and leaned forward to ask the two.

"I am one person," Chengjiang Hong laughed, "But Sister Zhang probably isn't."

"Mm, they... come later."

Pei Ye understood—it seems this "Longmen Class" was not a treatment prepared by Xu Gu for every elected person, but a price paid by this Zhang Junxue herself.

"Sister Zhang is already a top-tier Fourth Life Realm, and now she has signed up for the Longmen Class; it seems she is aiming for the top four this time."

Zhang Junxue gave a muffled "Mm," noncommittal.

Pei Ye glanced at this woman; those black eyes under the broken hair were still looking at the floor. She didn't seem to be the shy and cautious kind, just accustomed to avoiding because she was clumsy at these social interactions.

Pei Ye took up the conversation: "What about Brother Cheng? What is the goal this time?"

"Me? Haha, sixteen is enough," Chengjiang Hong laughed.

Pei Ye nodded with a smile—hmm, it seems he also wants to secure the top eight and fight for the top four.

Before even entering the prefecture city, just after coming out of the mountains, he had bumped into two strong competitors.

Suddenly, an old man's chuckling sound rang out. This sound was normal and even kind, but suddenly appearing in a piece of darkness, it seemed somewhat ghostly, and Pei Ye's breathing couldn't help but stop for a moment.

The old man didn't sit up, laughed twice while lying down, and said hoarsely: "You are more formidable than her."

Chengjiang Hong was stunned for a moment, laughed: "Old man, I dare not say I will definitely win against Sister Zhang."

"Is that so? Why not compare and try."

"..."

Chengjiang Hong was stunned for a moment, actually not knowing what to say.

Knowing they were opponents, who would be willing to reveal their bottom line at this time?

But he heard a rustling sound from the old man's side, and he threw something the size of a thumb toward the table under the candlelight. It landed on the tabletop, spun twice, and stopped steadily; it was a small porcelain bottle.

"I know what you want to buy," the old man said, "In six or seven days, a 'Ascension Pill' refined by the Quanzhen Sect will arrive in the prefecture city. This pill is effective in urging the meridian tree to branch; you want to rely on it to break through to the Fifth Life Realm, right?"

"... Yes," Chengjiang Hong laughed helplessly, "The old man's eyes are like torches; this time I gathered all my family's assets, wanting to try to fight for this pill."

"This bottle contains an Ascension Pill," the old man laughed, his words shocking, "Just take it as a wager for this competition."

The hall was silent for a while.

"Old... old senior, don't joke."

Chengjiang Hong moved his body, his gaze glued to the small porcelain bottle.

The Ascension Pill couldn't be counted as a divine pill or immortal pill, but it definitely deserved the name of a precious pill.

Its way of urging the meridian tree to branch is not miraculous; it still follows the meridian tree's own law of "growing when full," which is to inject energy into it, essentially no different from a martial artist's normal cultivation.

It is similar to the dietary pills taken by the true disciples of holy lands and major sects; they are all aggregations of energy, just that the process of taking effect is different. The dietary pill is essentially a further step of food, still entering the muscles and skin through the stomach. But the Ascension Pill's taking effect involves the component of the "Dantian Bridge," which is a true cultivation pill, directly targeting the meridian tree.

In addition, the dietary pill is mild in nature and can be swallowed as food for a long time, but the Ascension Pill is different; it is medicine, not food, more violent in nature, richer in energy, and more prominent in effect. It is best for martial artists to swallow one during the Life Vein stage, two at most.

Such a pill will start at a hundred taels in the period before the martial competition.

"No joke, meeting friends through martial arts, people of our generation," the old man said leisurely, "Including this young man, if the three of you are willing to compare, I will gift this pill to the winner."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 121 =====