Chapter 94: If You Were Sent to the Capital

Fortunately, Pei Chuyun reacted extremely quickly; the moment the sword qi erupted from that side, her figure had already flashed backward. The surrounding sword formation failed to encircle her completely, allowing her to slip out of the formation through the gap in the pincer movement.

A Hehuan flower bloomed silently before her. Zhang Shaoyou's sword qi struck it and exploded with a bang, instantly scattering pink mist.

Zhang Shaoyou appeared in the center to disperse the mist, but Pei Chuyun was already gone.

Zhang Shaoyou sensed the area, utterly shocked: "How did her aura vanish? She can run that fast?"

Anuo sighed beside him: "Master said that before, even when Qingli's sword pierced her back, she could still vanish in an instant. Either she possesses some secret escape technique, or she has a teleportation treasure."

Zhang Shaoyou felt somewhat ashamed and clasped his hands, saying: "I am ashamed, Young Lady Anuo. We were incompetent. We will split up and pursue her immediately."

Anuo blinked her eyes. Your attitude toward me is so strange... Why are you calling me 'Young Lady'...

Because she is the Sect Master's adopted daughter, so you call her Young Lady? Is that what you mean?

So everyone doesn't say it out loud, but they already consider Master to be the Sect Master's husband in their hearts. Then isn't Master and Mistress pretending to be so serious in public just like clowns on a stage...

"No need to pursue," Anuo shook her head. "Just now, when the formation was triggered, Master must have known. He should have set up something behind us. If he manages well, he can block her. If he can't block her, no one can blame him. If she really has a teleportation treasure and arrives directly in the city, then no one can do anything about it."

Zhang Shaoyou wanted to speak but stopped. Even so, we could still cast a net together to pursue her. Why is it unnecessary?

"Goodbye, Grandpa Zhang." Anuo waved her hand and scampered away like a streak of smoke.

Of course not. What if Master is doing 'that' with the little demoness? It would be very awkward if you saw it.

Lu Xingzhou had indeed set up something outside the mountain, but unfortunately, he indeed failed to block her, so he couldn't do 'that'.

As the most promising genius seed of the Hehuan Sect in this generation, the Hehuan Sect's high officials, regardless of what they were thinking in their hearts, would not be willing for her to perish easily outside or be captured by anyone. The strongest life-saving treasure given to her was indeed of the teleportation type; such treasures were rare throughout the entire world.

"Whoosh!" In an instant, Pei Chuyun suddenly appeared in an inn within the city, leaning against the bed frame and panting heavily. The Hehuan flower mist failed to completely block the sword qi; the scattered sword qi still tore the clothes of the commoner woman on her body to shreds, exposing her skin everywhere.

Fortunately, the Hehuan flower mist could block the view; no one could see...

"The Ghost Child of the Yanluo Hall, it was her, right..." Pei Chuyun gritted her teeth: "Truly, like master, like disciple. How can such a small child be so sinister!"

She forgot that if judged by the time of their debut, Anuo was undoubtedly her senior in the demonic path.

One could only say that Anuo's round, sticky appearance was too deceptive. Looking at her face, one could hardly associate the evil title of "Ghost Child" with her. Only after being tricked would one suddenly realize this was a senior!

She had been recovering from injuries recently. After her injuries healed, she started planning how to trick Lu Xingzhou. She had been wandering around here for several days. Lu Xingzhou stayed indoors as if he were in seclusion for cultivation, almost never going out, making it very hard to catch him alone.

The mountain had an illusion formation that couldn't be broken, so she couldn't even infiltrate it.

After squatting and waiting for several days, she finally saw Anuo go down the mountain to play in the city. Pei Chuyun followed her for an hour, then followed her back up the mountain.

As a result, it was hard to follow within the illusion formation. Without paying attention, Anuo would slip away and vanish. She was left alone in the mountain, dumbfounded, and lost...

Just as she was feeling troubled, she saw Anuo running down again holding a gold ingot. Pei Chuyun then changed into a commoner woman's outfit and slightly altered her appearance, trying to trick the child into taking her up.

As a result, she was led into a trap. Not only did her plan to follow and break the illusion formation fail, but the teleportation treasure that had just cooled down could not be used again in the short term.

The problem was that until now, Pei Chuyun still couldn't figure out where she had revealed herself. How did the Ghost Child recognize her as an enemy? Even if he had seen her portrait, her appearance and temperament had already changed.

"I must think of another way..." Pei Chuyun gritted her teeth: "I don't believe it..."

Although she failed to break the illusion formation, having followed Anuo for so long, she had at least some experience to summarize. Pei Chuyun pulled out a formation disk and began to simulate, attempting to figure out how to break the formation.

Her understanding of formations was not low either! With this experience, there was still a chance!

Over there, Lu Xingzhou and the group were gathering at the spot where Pei Chuyun disappeared, examining the flow of aura.

Lu Xingzhou examined it for a long time, frowning slightly: "Last time, I didn't have the chance to study it carefully... This sudden eruption and disappearance of spiritual energy, and the fact that the spiritual energy's flow direction is almost impossible to find, indeed indicates it is not a directional escape, but a teleportation treasure."

Shen Tang said: "Generally, such treasures have limitations and cannot be used continuously. The next time it can be used will be at least three days later, or up to ten days or so. The specifics depend on the distance moved."

"Even if the distance is short, from this mountain to the city is not difficult. After all, this is just a mountain in the suburbs, not too far away." Lu Xingzhou pondered: "That means if we want to capture this person, we must take advantage of the gap when her treasure cannot be used in the short term. Otherwise, capturing her any number of times will be useless."

Everyone nodded. The logic was sound, but without finding the demoness's whereabouts, how could they capture her?

She alone was not like the large force from the Incense Burning Pavilion back then. Hiding alone was really too easy. Now that the City Lord of Xiazhou and the Commander of the Demon Suppression Division are no longer Sheng Yuanyao, it is not very realistic to ask the authorities for help with this matter.

Lu Xingzhou asked Anuo: "Anuo, how did you recognize her?"

"I didn't recognize her at first." Anuo squatted on the side eating candy: "Her simple and harmless commoner appearance was really convincing. Her panic about treating her mother's illness was also very moving... I just invited her to drink some spiritual spring water. If a normal eighth or ninth grade cultivator from Xiazhou suddenly drank such spirit-rich water, they would be like someone suffering from oxygen intoxication. She drank in large gulps; one could tell she was used to drinking it."

Lu Xingzhou laughed: "Then for her to pretend to be anxious and thirsty to trick Anuo, the cost was too high..."

Anuo smiled: "Wasn't it? She even drank the stuff Master washed off Mistress's feet..."

Shen Tang: "?"

Lu Xingzhou: "..."

It was bad. The first person to have that substance injected into their body was Pei Chuyun.

Zhang Shaoyou looked up at the sky.

Your Master can even help the Sect Master wash her feet? Then why did he pretend "Elder Lu has something to discuss" at the grand ceremony? Discussing how to wash feet?

Lu Xingzhou awkwardly changed the subject: "Since she wants to take revenge on me, why don't we design a trap where I act as bait to draw the snake out of its hole?"

Shen Tang immediately opposed: "No, it's too dangerous. She is a fourth grade cultivator. If she attacks suddenly, if we are too far away, we won't have time to rescue you."

"There is no rule that one can guard against thieves for a thousand days. Does that mean I can't go out alone anymore? We must take some risks. Let's try to solve this matter first." Lu Xingzhou thought for a moment and smiled: "Her attitude doesn't seem to be the kind that wants to kill me for satisfaction. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been acting alone all this time. According to the customs of the Hehuan Sect, I guess she wants me to fall at her feet..."

Shen Tang exploded instantly: "She dares!"

Lu Xingzhou stroked her hair, smoothing it like a cat with its fur standing on end: "Tomorrow morning, I will go to pay New Year's respects to Chen Zhangsi. You all set up a net in advance and see if she will crawl into it."

Over these few months, Lu Xingzhou had frequently visited Chen Jinnian, the Director of the Pill Department.

In this broken place of Xiazhou, there were not many people he held in respect. After Sheng Yuanyao left, Chen Jinnian was probably the only one. The old man had incredibly rich experience and often made Lu Xingzhou feel that the grade of alchemy could not represent everything.

Just like now, he was actually a sixth grade alchemist. Theoretically, he was on the same level as Chen Jinnian, but in reality, when discussing medical theory, pharmacology, and knowledge of difficult and miscellaneous diseases, Lu Xingzhou still felt completely outclassed by Chen Jinnian.

So he would go to exchange ideas and seek advice from time to time, feeling that he benefited greatly.

If his alchemy skills could reach the fifth grade in the future, the exchanges with Chen Jinnian over these days would have contributed significantly.

Actually, Chen Jinnian had similar views; experience also seemed unable to represent everything. Since Lu Xingzhou obtained Maha's alchemy notes, his learning had become even more profound. He was also very smart and could draw inferences from one instance, often proposing viewpoints he had never thought of, which was quite inspiring. The two could be considered both teacher and friend, and got along very well.

If one says they will pay New Year's respects during the New Year, such a good teacher and friend should certainly be visited.

However, since this time he wanted to fish, he didn't let Anuo push the wheelchair; he rowed there himself.

Chen Jinnian was also very happy to see Lu Xingzhou's visit and welcomed him into his courtyard: "It's been some time since Xingzhou came?"

"I've been practicing my arts these past few days." Lu Xingzhou lifted a crate of wine and handed it to the old man. "This was brewed with the spiritual spring water from my mountain; drinking it is quite beneficial. However, as it is new wine, the taste may not yet be sufficiently mellow."

"Ha, Xingzhou understands wine too? And even brews it himself!" Chen Jinnian was very pleased and quickly ordered his servants: "Go bury this wine under the tree in the backyard; in a few years, it will be a treasure. Also, dig up the aged wine I buried before; today we shall treat our guest!"

"Ah, ah, no need to dig up the wine; I've just come to pay a New Year's visit." Lu Xingzhou smiled. "Also, I wanted to ask: regarding the pill formula Director Chen was pondering before... is there any progress?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Jinian's eyebrows danced with excitement. "You were right before; there is no need to stubbornly endure the Huo family's pill. Instead, take its medicinal principles and formulate your own pill—that is the proper path. I have pondered a formula these past days; take a look."

Lu Xingzhou took the formula, pondered it for a moment, and felt a slight stirring in his heart. "A fine pill."

If the Huo family's pill could be considered a kind of "immortal pill" in some sense, capable of reviving the dead and restoring flesh to bones, that meaning was too vague; at least, the current level of cultivation made it impossible to pursue. Furthermore, in reality, human ailments or injuries are of all kinds; it is unlikely that a single pill could cure everything.

Regarding that pill from the Huo family, Lu Xingzhou feared he had placed too high an expectation on it. For instance, even if that pill could save a dying person, it truly might not be able to restore Lu Xingzhou's leg, which had been deformed for so many years. It could only be called a beautiful vision; upon closer thought, it was not realistic.

If one direction were taken and studied in detail, creating a medicine specifically targeting a certain type of injury, it could likely be made more reasonable.

If this pill formula of Chen Jinian's were successfully refined, it should be able to "instantly save the heart." If the heart suddenly stopped, whether due to illness or injury inflicted by another, as long as the heart itself was not destroyed, this pill should be able to pull a person back from the gates of hell. Its effect would be a hundred times stronger than modern instant heart-saving pills, making it a targeted formula of immeasurable merit.

Those truly devoted to the study of medicine indeed consider matters differently from those like the Incense Tower or Lu Xingzhou, who refine pills solely for cultivation.

Lu Xingzhou sighed deeply and bowed. "Once this pill is produced, Director Chen will have merit beyond measure."

"It is still largely due to the reference opinions provided by Xingzhou." Chen Jinian was very pleased. "Does Xingzhou also believe this formula has no problems?"

"It will definitely succeed." Lu Xingzhou stated with certainty. "Once this pill is refined, Director Chen should be promoted to fifth grade; can you be promoted to the commandery?"

"It should be possible." Chen Jinian stroked his beard and smiled. "Speaking of which, I also have something to ask you... Before, I suggested you go to the commandery for advanced studies, but you seemed unenthusiastic. Now I also feel that perhaps no one in the commandery or prefecture truly has the qualification to teach you. But if there is a quota in the commandery to recommend someone to the Imperial Capital Pill Academy for advanced studies, what do you think?"

Lu Xingzhou's heart stirred, and he fell into a daze.

(End of this chapter)