Chapter 272: Unsuppressable

The first courtyard on the left at the intersection of Ninth Street and Pilgrimage Road is where Qihuang Pavilion is located; the first courtyard on the right is where Lingjing Pavilion is located.

Qihuang Pavilion and Lingjing Pavilion stand opposite each other, directly presenting a confrontational stance.

Qihuang Pavilion.

Shen Qianfan personally received Pharmacist Xu, and upon learning that Hua Changxi was willing to share the "Complete Manual of First-Grade Spiritual Herb Preparation," he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

He hadn't wanted to become the head of Qihuang Pavilion, but with his humble background, he couldn't defy imperial authority, so he had no choice but to accept the role that no other Qihuang Hall director was willing to take.

To put it bluntly, he was just a puppet put forward by the royal family.

But even being a puppet, he didn't have it easy.

Earlier, Prince Shou had summoned him and ordered him, as the head of Qihuang Pavilion, to command Hua Changxi to hand over the "Complete Manual of First-Grade Spiritual Herb Preparation," which put immense pressure on him.

Who was Hua Changxi? She was someone who didn't even show face to Prince Shou or Xia Zhen, so what right or ability did he have to command her?

Fortunately, Hua Changxi was willing to share the "Complete Manual of First-Grade Spiritual Herb Preparation."

Although Hua Changxi had set the condition of giving lectures in Qihuang Halls One through Nine, he didn't mind at all.

First, as the director of Qihuang Hall Eleven, it wouldn't affect him.

Second, if the directors of Qihuang Halls One through Nine disagreed and thus failed to obtain the "Complete Manual of First-Grade Spiritual Herb Preparation," then Prince Shou wouldn't be able to cause trouble for him.

After Pharmacist Xu left, Shen Qianfan immediately informed Prince Shou and the other Qihuang Hall directors of the lecturing conditions Hua Changxi had set.

Mu Qingying from Hall One, Gu Qiming from Hall Two, and Yuan Tianchou from Hall Six exchanged knowing glances upon receiving the news.

Yuan Tianchou said, "Master, it seems our earlier guess was correct. Hua Changxi had already discovered how to use the Qihuang Halls."

Mu Qingying also spoke up, "Before, when I lectured using the spiritual herb knowledge I understood, the wooden tablet took a long time to show any reaction. But when I lectured using the 'Complete Manual of First-Grade Spiritual Herbs,' the tablet responded clearly."

"I compared the content of my lectures with that of the 'Complete Manual of First-Grade Spiritual Herbs' and found that what I taught was superficial and incomplete."

"But the 'Complete Manual of First-Grade Spiritual Herbs' is more comprehensive and systematic, records the properties of spiritual herbs in great detail, and explains things in simple terms."

"Not to mention the listeners, even I, your disciple, after reading it, often had many things suddenly become clear."

With that, she looked at Director Gu.

"Your disciple thought carefully: if two people who know nothing about alchemy came to listen to lectures, the one who listens to your disciple would probably only gain a rough understanding of some basic spiritual herb knowledge, while the one who listens to Hua Changxi—if they have good talent—might even be able to mix medicine directly."

Mu Qingying gave a bitter smile, "Your disciple now realizes just how vast the gap is between her and Hua Changxi in the study of spiritual herbs."

"Master, is Hua Changxi really not a successor of the Dan Holy Hall?"

Director Gu fell into thought upon hearing this.

In fact, both he and the Minister had speculated whether Hua Changxi was a successor of the Dan Holy Hall, but according to their investigations, it was highly unlikely.

"Ah..."

Director Gu sighed. He actually hoped that the successor of the Dan Holy Hall would appear soon.

You see, although the other sacred lands showed little sign of revival, their successors were very active. Only the Dan Holy Hall had yet to reveal a single successor.

It was probably because the Medical Department had been under royal control for centuries, with noble families also interfering, making the situation in the Medical Department extremely complicated.

Could the Dan Holy Hall successor be too intimidated by this tangled mess to show up?

Director Gu looked at his two disciples: "Since Hua Changxi has such high attainments in alchemy and wants to lecture, let her. You two should take this opportunity to learn more."

Mu Qingying and Yuan Tianchou had no objections.

Director Gu called someone over: "Go tell the Pavilion Head that we agree to Director Hua's lectures."

Huo Yunxiao, who managed Hall Three on behalf of Wei Zhenjie, Chief of the Heaven Department, and Wen Lanzhou, who managed Hall Four on behalf of Celestial Master Zhang, both sent messages to their masters immediately upon receiving the news.

Soon, both received the reply: 'Agreed.'

Over at Prince Shou's side, he was somewhat indecisive.

Seeing this, Chu Junhao stepped forward and said, "Uncle, Hua Changxi has never cared about power struggles, so why not just let her have her way?"

Prince Shou looked at him and frowned, "Danding Altar and Danyuan Peak were both started by Hua Changxi. What if she causes another big stir while lecturing at Qihuang Hall?"

Chu Junhao replied, "The revival of the sacred lands is an inevitable trend. Without Hua Changxi, there would be someone else. So it might as well be Hua Changxi, especially since she doesn't even rely on her family."

He paused.

"And besides, we can't stop it either."

This remark was deliberately vague. Anyone who had obtained the "Complete Collection of First-Class Spiritual Medicines" could probably guess the value of the "Complete Guide to Preparing First-Class Spiritual Plants," and the other Qihuang Hall masters would not give up on it.

The imperial family could no longer suppress the various factions. Rather than let certain matters be brought into the open, it was better for them to ease up a bit and let everyone save face.

Prince Shou was growing irritable. He waved a hand at Chu Junhao. "Leave this matter to you to handle."

Meanwhile, Meng Qingyao from Hall No. 7, Zhu Jinglan from Hall No. 8, and Bai Zhixin from Hall No. 9 were discussing this matter in the Spirit Realm Pavilion with Xia Zhen and other disciples from the Guardian Families.

Meng Qingyao frowned deeply. "The Qihuang Hall is indeed a place for teaching, but I don't understand why Hua Changxi wants to give lectures in Halls One through Nine. What is she trying to do?"

Xia Zhen also had his brows knitted tightly. After learning that Hua Changxi was going to give lectures at the Qihuang Hall, he actually felt a bit alarmed.

It was simple—he feared that Hua Changxi might do something that would stimulate the Qihuang Hall into awakening.

Bai Zhixin said, "Whatever she wants to do, the Qihuang Hall isn't of much use in our hands anyway. If she wants to lecture, let her. I'm curious to see what she can actually pull off."

Zhu Jinglan agreed with this view. "That's right. If Hua Changxi can really revive the Qihuang Hall, maybe we'll even benefit from it."

Xia Zhen gave him a sidelong glance. "You think your positions as hall masters are secure? Without the Qihuang Order, you're just occupying the seats temporarily."

With that, he looked at Meng Qingyao.

"Zhu Qinghuan gave you that Qihuang Order. Have you managed to figure anything out from it?"

Meng Qingyao shook her head in shame.

Xia Zhen sighed. "Forget it. Let's just see how Hua Changxi stirs things up."

Suppressing Hua Changxi—that would be difficult!

Meng Qingyao looked a bit uneasy. "Sixteenth Elder, if the Spirit Realm Pavilion wants the 'Complete Guide to Preparing First-Class Spiritual Plants,' it will have to step in and help Hua Changxi resolve the matter of setting up a registration point at the entrance of the Medical Department."

Xia Ziyang spoke up. "Our people include seven Qihuang Hall masters. We can just privately circulate the 'Complete Guide to Preparing First-Class Spiritual Plants' among ourselves. It doesn't matter if the Spirit Realm Pavilion doesn't participate."

To this, Xia Zhen agreed—he really didn't want to play into Hua Changxi's hands.

Their control over the Medical Department had indeed increased, but the prerequisite was that Hua Changxi would not use the Guardian Order in her possession.

Currently, the maintenance of order in the Medical Department was in the hands of the Guardian Families, the imperial family, and Gu Xing. He felt this situation was very good, and he really didn't want to see Hua Changxi rise to prominence.

If the Danyuan Secret Realm recruited too many apprentices, it would only boost Hua Changxi's prestige—that was not something he wanted to see.