Chapter 153: Person to Person

Hua Changxi didn’t want to return to the Hua family early; she planned to stay at the Shennong Herbal Shop until the twenty-third to refine pills. Unexpectedly, the next day, Eunuch Yu came looking for her.

"Master, the Prince of Shou is going to assign the eighteen Qihuang Halls to different people for management. The Seventh Prince sent someone to tell me this and asked me to come find you, to tell you to hurry back. Even though you have the wooden token, if you’re not present, you might not get allocated a single Qihuang Hall."

Upon hearing this, Hua Changxi frowned: "Distribute the Qihuang Halls? What does the Prince of Shou intend to do?"

Eunuch Yu shook his head: "Ever since the Prince of Shou took over the Medical Department, he has changed many rules. Now there is even an additional street master overseeing all pill refiners on First Street."

Hua Changxi understood that although spiritual energy had now revived and cultivators were gradually emerging, causing unrest in many places, the basic order of Great Jin still held. Under these circumstances, the imperial family and the court were the most legitimate administrators.

Since the Prince of Shou had taken charge of the Medical Department, as long as she still wanted to stay there, she had to comply with his management.

"Let’s go. We’re heading back to the Medical Department."

The predecessor of the Medical Department was the Elixir Saint Hall, and the Elixir Saint Hall was deeply entangled with the Shennong Cauldron. Naturally, Hua Changxi was unwilling to completely sever ties with the Elixir Saint Hall like this.

When Hua Changxi and Eunuch Yu returned to the Medical Department and entered through the back door, they saw servants carrying bundles, leaving dejectedly one after another.

Seeing this, Eunuch Yu sighed: "The Prince of Shou dismissed all the original servants."

Hua Changxi: "Without the servants, who will do the work?"

Eunuch Yu shook his head. Now he had little management authority in the Servant Hall; all the management personnel were appointed by the Prince of Shou. He wasn’t familiar with them and couldn’t pry out any useful information.

Hua Changxi silently watched the dispirited servants leaving, passed by them, felt their helplessness and powerlessness, and walked in silence toward the Qihuang Hall street at the very back.

"Manager Hua, you’ve finally come! Please hurry and follow me to the Old Courtyard Square; the Prince and the Director and the others have already gone there."

On Qihuang Hall street, Little Li, the eunuch by the Seventh Prince’s side, had been waiting there for a long time. When he saw Hua Changxi arrive, he immediately smiled and greeted her.

Hua Changxi glanced at him, told Eunuch Yu to go back and attend to his own matters, and followed Little Li alone to the Old Courtyard Square.

Along the way, Little Li was very enthusiastic, constantly chatting with Hua Changxi.

"Manager Hua, my master, the Seventh Prince, greatly admires your medical skills. He even wants to take you as his teacher."

Having specially sent someone to notify her and arranged for someone to wait for her, Hua Changxi could see that the Seventh Prince was deliberately trying to befriend her. Although she still didn’t know his purpose, she didn’t want to offend a prince either. Accepting this goodwill, she gave a wry smile: "I’m not qualified to be the Seventh Prince’s teacher."

Little Li: "Manager Hua is being modest. The Seventh Prince often praises your medical skills. Although I don’t understand much, after following the prince to listen to your lectures, I also feel I’ve gained a lot."

"The Seventh Prince often says that even though he hasn’t formally taken you as his teacher, after hearing so many of your lectures, you already have a de facto master-disciple relationship. In his heart, he has long regarded you as his teacher."

"Whether you acknowledge it or not, he treats you with the respect due to an elder. As long as the Seventh Prince is in the Medical Department, no one will dare to show you any disrespect."

Hearing these words, Hua Changxi thought of something and asked with a smile: "Before, I was the manager of the Servant Hall and could live alone in a courtyard. But now I’m just a lowly servant, yet the courtyard I lived in hasn’t been taken back. I suppose the Seventh Prince put in a good word?"

Little Li gave a light laugh: "These are trivial matters not worth mentioning. Manager Hua, please don’t take them to heart."

Hua Changxi’s eyes flickered. What was a "trivial matter not worth mentioning" to the Seventh Prince was exactly the kind of trivial matter that could hold her back.

If the current manager of the Servant Hall really wanted to take back the courtyard, she had no "legitimate reason" to continue living there.

Soon, Hua Changxi followed Little Li to the Old Courtyard Square.

The originally spacious old courtyard had become somewhat crowded because the Prince of Shou had brought many people with him.

In the courtyard, Gu Xing was as usual, lying with his eyes closed in a rocking chair. The Prince of Shou should have already exchanged words with him, but judging from Gu Xing’s gloomy expression, their communication had not gone smoothly.

Hua Changxi saw that Mu Qingying and the others who held wooden tokens had already arrived, so she walked over and stood beside them.

Opposite Mu Qingying’s group stood a crowd of imperial relatives. These people were now the pill refiners in the medicine shops occupied by the imperial family on First Street.

The Seventh Prince was among them. When he saw Hua Changxi arrive, he took the initiative to smile and nod at her.

Hua Changxi noticed and nodded back with a smile.

"Your Highness, my opinion is this: let those who hold wooden tokens each manage one Qihuang Hall alone. As for the other Qihuang Halls, you can arrange them as you see fit. What do you think?"

The Director smiled at the Prince of Shou. Though phrased as a question, the attitude in his words was quite forceful.

The Prince of Shou glanced at the Director, then looked back at Gu Xing, who still had his eyes closed and remained silent: "Senior Gu, what do you think?"

Gu Xing opened his eyes and looked at the Prince of Shou: "I have already told you my opinion. The Elixir Saint Hall will choose its own master, and the Qihuang Halls have their own selection rules. My opinion is to let things take their natural course. But will Your Highness listen? If you won’t, then why bother asking for my opinion?"

The Prince of Shou’s expression darkened: "Senior Gu really won’t give me a few words of guidance?"

Gu Xing sighed: "My Gu family is nothing but gatekeepers. We don’t know any more than you do. If Your Highness doesn’t believe me, there’s nothing I can do."

With that, he closed his eyes again.

Seeing this, Prince Shou was filled with blazing fury. Taking over the Medical Bureau was something he had actively petitioned for; he had to secure this alchemy holy land for the royal family.

"If you are utterly useless, then you can no longer stay in this courtyard, can you?"

Upon hearing this, Gu Xing suddenly opened his eyes, fixed a cold stare at Prince Shou, and said, "Trying to drive me away? Don't even think about it—even if the Grand Emperor himself came, he wouldn't have that right. Get lost."

The moment the word "get lost" left his mouth, everyone in the courtyard saw Prince Shou being blasted away by an invisible force. Then came a heavy thud from outside the courtyard.

Hua Changxi craned her neck to look and saw Prince Shou crashing into a stone tripod on the plaza, then sliding down from it. Although he didn't spit blood, from his contorted features, that strike was very painful.

Compared to Hua Changxi's attitude of just watching the fun, Mu Qingying and the others were rather shaken.

No other reason: in their eyes, Gu Xing looked like a man on the verge of death, while Prince Shou was at least a Core Formation-stage cultivator, yet Gu Xing had so easily knocked him flying.

The Director was also fully surprised. Although he had speculated about Gu Xing's strength, this was the first time he saw him act. Seeing how formidable his power was, even stronger than speculated, he couldn't help but be shaken.

Gu Jinfan's feelings at the moment were nothing but shock. No other reason—in her previous life, Gu Xing had been beaten to death by a few ordinary people. Now, seeing him become so strong, she even began to doubt herself.

Gu Xing was bound together with the Alchemy Saint Hall. His becoming stronger indicated that the Alchemy Saint Hall was reviving. The Alchemy Saint Hall had still gradually activated in a place she didn't know about.

"Was it these people who did something?"

Gu Jinfan turned her gaze to Hua Changxi and the others who possessed the wooden tokens.

After driving Prince Shou out of the old courtyard, Gu Xing closed his eyes again. But before closing them, he glanced in the direction where Hua Changxi was, a trace of confusion flickering in his eyes.

Over this period, that girl had rarely come to the Medical Bureau, yet his Alchemy Saint Hall had not stopped reviving. What had she done?

Could she have spread the things from the Qihuang Hall to others?

To whom?

Hua Changxi had noticed Gu Xing's gaze, but she didn't read anything into it. She had never thought Gu Xing was an ordinary person; that he displayed such skill today seemed perfectly normal to her.

However, what she didn't know was that the cause of Gu Xing's increase in strength was precisely that she had given the Qihuang Body Refining Technique to the Hua family.

Old Master Hua had passed the body refining technique to the Hua clan. After receiving it, the clan gave it to some friendly families. The wives of the Hua family copied the technique and gave it to their own maiden families. Hua Minghe also shared the body refining technique with the Six Fan School. In this way, passing from person to person, family to family, clan to clan, naturally many people began to cultivate the Qihuang Body Refining Technique.