Chapter 189: Family Education.jpg

"Is this a reward after passing a trial?" Lu Xingzhou smiled: "I find it meaningless. If Mr. thinks I am still worth helping, then teach me some alchemy knowledge seriously. That is the topic we most ought to discuss, yet it is ironically the topic we discuss the least."

Ye Tinglan was stunned; she had not expected Lu Xingzhou to hold this attitude.

She had thought he would be overjoyed because revenge seemed within reach... He is indeed unlike ordinary people; he looks gentle and refined, but is actually extremely arrogant.

Lu Xingzhou was indeed dissatisfied, because they had truly acknowledged the master-disciple relationship, and Lady Ye had explicitly stated he was a disciple.

At least at the moment she pointed out the method for connecting the bones, Lu Xingzhou was sincerely respectful.

But what was ultimately displayed was either for the Netherworld Hall, or to test character, to see if he would disregard everything for revenge, to see how he viewed the Emperor's actions, and so on and so forth... There was simply little sign of a teacher's guidance and care for a student.

Actually, trials like this are normal before accepting a disciple; to still test after accepting a disciple clearly shows the falseness and lack of trust in this so-called acceptance.

Lu Xingzhou could understand, after all, this Mr. had just learned that even leading the Netherworld Lord down the demonic path was his doing.

But understanding does not mean support: "If Mr. never trusts me, you simply do not have to accept a disciple. I did not force you, so why make it so difficult? If accepting a disciple is merely to control and monitor from close range, then I will request the Alchemy Academy to change my tutor."

Ye Tinglan stared at him steadily for a long while, then suddenly smiled: "Not old in years, but quite temperamental."

Lu Xingzhou kept a stern face and said nothing.

"Alright." Ye Tinglan stood up, reached out gently to straighten his collar: "Consider it my fault, is that okay?"

Lu Xingzhou was stunned; he had seen this Mr. with a cold, high-heeled-shoes-on-the-chest demeanor many times, but this seemed to be the first time he had seen her elder's gentle intent. The flavor of a kind older sister from next door in this instant was truly rare.

She even apologized...

Ye Tinglan said: "As for the intent to monitor, there was some before, but not now. As for the intent to control, that does not exist; you are not someone who can be controlled. Rather than control and monitor, it is better to say understand from close range."

Lu Xingzhou did not answer.

"Your past involves too many matters; if there is no shred of vigilance and scrutiny, that is irresponsible toward others and oneself... I believe you would be the same from my perspective. We both belong to the type who worry a great deal; it is hard to easily open our hearts to anyone." Ye Tinglan paused here, then suddenly smiled: "At least my vigilance is on the surface. If it were you, you would be vigilantly guarded without showing it, while making people feel on the surface how good you are to others."

Lu Xingzhou: "..."

If you say it that way, it seems not wrong.

"If we say it that way..." Lu Xingzhou, feeling her warm fragrance so close, slowly said: "My dissatisfaction is also on the surface; I am not flattering on the surface to make you feel how obedient I am while secretly holding a grudge in my belly."

"Ha..." Ye Tinglan laughed: "So you and I are both considered honest?"

"At least up to now, I have concealed nothing from Mr. Whatever Mr. asks, I answer. I consider myself to have done what a disciple should do."

He was still calling her an unqualified Mr.... Ye Tinglan smiled slightly and said leisurely: "Wanting to drink my water is also something a disciple should do?"

Lu Xingzhou was dumbfounded; you really know how to expose such things?

"You are arrogant and unruly yourself, and you have not made me feel much respect. You know yourself how aggressive your gaze is." Ye Tinglan sized him up from head to toe and laughed: "Do you treat the Netherworld Lord this way too?"

Even bringing up the aggression of his gaze, Lu Xingzhou became much more honest. Especially mentioning the Netherworld Lord... If he wanted to say he was kicked out because of this, that might be the truth.

"Do you blame me for being vigilant toward you? Shouldn't I be vigilant toward you?"

"..."

"Serving as your Yu Official can actually have many explanations. You are the guide of your alchemy path, yet not truly master and disciple; how is that not a kind of Yu Official?" Ye Tinglan sat back down on the chair, speaking leisurely: "I have received your dissatisfaction. From today on, I will do what a Mr. should do."

Lu Xingzhou didn't know how to respond for a moment; just now he had kept a stern face saying he could change tutors, so saying things like "Thank you, Mr." now would be too sycophantic, and he couldn't save face.

Old women have thicker skin.

"Besides what you gained from the Incense Burning Tower, you must have powerful alchemist notes you acquired yourself, superior to the Incense Burning Tower. But no one explains them, so self-study is relatively hard, is it not?"

"Mm."

"If it is inconvenient to show me the entire inheritance, you can excerpt the difficult points you find hard to understand, and I will answer them for you."

"Now?"

"Of course, while I have time today."

Lu Xingzhou stopped dwelling on those broken matters; acquiring knowledge was always the most important. He glanced at the paper and brush on the table, picked up the brush, dipped it in ink, and scribbled several difficult questions.

Ye Tinglan crossed her right leg over her left, leaned back in the chair, and admired the way Lu Xingzhou wrote.

She had to admit, this dog-headed military advisor indeed had some capital for his looks; just standing there writing gave people a feeling of a jade tree standing in the wind and a brush moving like a dragon. No wonder that shameless Sheng Yuanyao would openly insert private content on the New Talent List, with the comment "A stranger on the path is like jade, a Young Master unmatched in the world." When the New Talent List came out previously, this fellow was still sitting in a wheelchair, and this comment was heavily mocked; only Sheng Qingfeng's face prevented anyone from daring to laugh at Sheng Yuanyao's infatuation. But Ye Tinglan felt that now that Lu Xingzhou had stood up, slowly fewer people would mock this comment; those who had seen him felt he deserved it.

His little temper today was also quite cute... Come to think of it, my vigilance toward him was indeed a bit harsh; who told you to lead my sister astray.

However, Elder Xu was also right; blaming a low-grade disabled person who only offered advice seems like the pot was placed a bit too heavily; Yuan Muyu himself was not an honest person. A poisonous scholar meets a demoness, after all...

But now the Netherworld Hall is really troublesome... It is almost becoming a great calamity.

Ye Tinglan sighed lightly, her thoughts drifting who knows where.

"Mr., Mr.?" Ye Tinglan came to her senses and saw Lu Xingzhou holding the paper, standing before her with a strange expression.

That moment of zoning out just now, wouldn't it look like staring at him in a daze in his eyes?

Ye Tinglan kept her expression unchanged, reached out to take the paper, and Lu Xingzhou stood beside her, pointing and asking.

"The gate of three and five is only the sun and moon; clearly, Mao and You sit as the beginning. What does this gate of three and five refer to? How come what I know is the conscription system of drawing three from every five laborers..."

"There are many interpretations of the gate of three and five: some say the fifteenth of each month, because it waxes and wanes with three and five. Some say it refers to a small change every thirty years and a great change every five hundred years. Some say it refers to the three corrects and five elements; the Way of Heaven is not far, and three and five return again." Ye Tinglan said leisurely: "Taking just this sentence alone, it actually only refers to the fifteenth of each month."

"..." Then why write "gate of three and five"? Just write "fifteenth" directly! Why pretend to be cultured in one's own notes?

"Because there is much culture; a casual reference is a classic. It is not necessarily intentional. It is their own notes, not written for the convenience of uncultured people reading them in the future."

"Then what does 'Mao and You sit as the beginning' mean?"

"Mao and You are the positions of Long Life. Where yang qi is born, yin qi takes its seat. This sentence emphasizes the time for alchemy: the fifteenth day, the time of Mao and You." Ye Tinglan said: "For some special pills, special times are needed for refining; even for some cultivation methods, the time for one's own sitting meditation has similar considerations."

"Not scientific at all."

"What?"

"Nothing. Then how does one judge which pills need which hours? Is there a fixed chart?"

"Since your alchemy has already reached the stage of customization for individuals, you should naturally know that anything fixed is inferior. Which pill should correspond to which hour requires one to understand and master it oneself... Therefore, alchemy has always been the profession that requires the most experience. Although you can refine third-grade pills, if rated, you are not a third-grade alchemist; you are too specialized in one area."

"So for the third-grade alchemist assessment, even mastery of the hours counts?"

"Correct. Even how long a pill needs to be refined has a fixed number of hours; the scenes of you finishing earlier than others in the past will never exist again."

Lu Xingzhou: "Then this sentence, 'Having met the three flowers, now again liquid; nine turns can complete the work of years.' Does this 'three flowers' refer to the three flowers gathering at the crown? Essence, qi, and spirit? But who refining pills does not need essence, qi, and spirit? Why record it specifically? Could it mean catching a Three-Flowered Lady to refine?"

"..." Refers to fire.

Lu Xingzhou: "?"

Right now he only wanted to drag out Mohe, wherever the fellow was hiding, and give him a good beating.

You take notes for yourself, fire is fire, what's with your "three flowers"? Besides, alchemy needs fire — what's there to record about that? Isn't that just being sick in the head?

"Of course, this fire is no ordinary fire — it's not the case that any fire will do." Ye Tinglan said, "Or to put it another way, it's called Samadhi Fire."

Lu Xingzhou's expression finally grew serious.

I wronged you, Mohe.

If it's True Samadhi Fire, then of course it's worth recording. It's just that everyone calls it differently — if someone likes to write 'three flowers,' that's their freedom.

Ye Tinglan's expression grew similarly grave: "Where did you get these notes? This person has already been attempting to refine a Nine-Turn Jin Dan — that level is no ordinary matter. He's trying to ascend to immortality…"

Lu Xingzhou smiled: "Most likely his ascension failed, and only then did he leave a bargain for me."

"He was a Super Grade." Ye Tinglan said with great certainty: "He's already begun seeking the comprehension of True Samadhi Fire — not something a First Grade could reach. This passage is even quite valuable to me. This person believed that to refine a Nine-Turn Jin Dan one must have True Samadhi Fire. I might be able to…"

He had meant to say 'I can run this experiment,' but on second thought, saying so would reveal far too much of his own strength. A 'First Grade alchemist' like the one he had shown himself to be had no business playing with True Samadhi Fire. So he continued: "I might also be able to seek in this direction…"

In truth, Lu Xingzhou's mind wasn't on this at all right now. He hadn't paid the slightest attention to whether she was changing tack or not. Some knotty questions that had been troubling him for a long time had been solved in one stroke — and that feeling was just too satisfying, like being constipated for ages and finally managing to relieve oneself: "Then, Mr., what about this passage…"

A'Nuo sat to one side the whole time, chin propped on her hand, watching the two of them draw their heads closer and closer as they read together, and thought the picture was rather lovely too.

(End of chapter)