Chapter 137: Name and Status

The Chief's two disciples were going to give lectures in the No. 6 Qihuang Hall. Hua Changxi naturally did not want to yield, but as a mere servant in the Servant Hall, she had no power to say no.

Don't be fooled by the fact that Mu Qingying and Yuan Tianchou's attitudes were decent; they had only come to inform her, not to seek her opinion.

Moreover, she had lost the wooden tablet.

Hua Changxi left the Qihuang Hall feeling somewhat aggrieved. As she walked, she arrived at the plaza. Looking at the open gates of the Old Courtyard, she thought for a moment and walked inside.

Seeing Hua Changxi, Gu Xing was a bit surprised. His place was quite lively these days, with people coming and going every day like treasure hunters. This girl, however, hadn't really visited much since the time she came to retrieve the wooden tablet.

"Looking at you, did you run into trouble?"

Hua Changxi stood before the wall in the courtyard where the wooden tablet had once hung and asked, puzzled: "I clearly paired all nine Qihuang Halls of the Servant Hall with their nine wooden tablets. Why do Mu Qingying and the others' tablets still react?"

Gu Xing roughly knew what she was talking about and laughed: "You only unlocked the preaching content of the nine Qihuang Halls. Except for the No. 1 Qihuang Hall, you probably haven't bound the other Qihuang Halls with the wooden tablets."

Hearing this, Hua Changxi's expression sharpened: "By binding, do you mean fitting the small sword on the wooden tablet into the sword slot on the stone pillar at the entrance of the Qihuang Hall?"

Gu Xing smiled without answering.

Hua Changxi clutched her head in regret. Previously, fearing that causing a big commotion would attract unwanted attention, she hadn't fitted the three-dimensional small swords on the tablets into the stone pillar sword slots for any hall other than the No. 1 Qihuang Hall.

"Then, if small swords condense on other people's wooden tablets, can they also bind the Qihuang Halls?"

Gu Xing smiled and said nothing, which counted as an admission.

Hua Changxi thought of the drawing power of Gu Jinfan and Yuan Tianchou, and her head immediately swelled. With so many people coming to listen to their lectures, they would be able to condense sword patterns before long.

Seeing her expression shifting, Gu Xing thought for a moment and asked: "Why haven't you been teaching lately?"

Hua Changxi: "My time is limited; I have other things to attend to."

Gu Xing: "The Qihuang Hall was originally a place for preaching. Since you don't have the energy to teach, it's only natural to let others do it."

Hua Changxi didn't speak. Not to mention the nine Qihuang Halls of the Apprentice Hall, the nine Qihuang Halls of the Servant Hall were the ones she had occupied first. Now, asking her to hand them over, how could she be willing?

Gu Xing looked at her: "Are you angry that others are teaching in the Qihuang Hall, or are you angry that you can't hold onto the Qihuang Hall?"

Hua Changxi: "Is there a difference?"

Gu Xing smiled: "A huge difference."

Hua Changxi frowned, remained silent for a long time, then walked to the stone table and sat down: "I just feel aggrieved. How is it that even now, I still have to be controlled by others?"

Hearing her tone, Gu Xing raised an eyebrow and asked with a smile: "Do you dare to kill?"

Hua Changxi glanced at him: "Of course."

Gu Xing asked again: "You dare to kill, but are you willing to turn yourself into a murderous demon?"

Hua Changxi stopped talking.

Gu Xing laughed: "If you aren't willing, then even if you possess superior martial power, it won't have much deterrent effect on others, especially in official government offices like the Medicine Department."

"Do you know why many martial arts experts wander the world alone?"

Hua Changxi: "Because they love freedom."

Gu Xing chuckled: "Then why do you think many experts live in such straitened circumstances?"

Hua Changxi: "Because they aren't good at managing money."

Gu Xing laughed, and as he laughed, he sighed: "Girl, you still have a lot to learn."

Hua Changxi was confused: "Senior Gu, what exactly are you trying to say?"

Gu Xing said solemnly: "Judging by your tone, your cultivation should not be low. However, this strength only applies to yourself. In other words, this strength only gives you a certain degree of self-preservation; you haven't gained the ability to influence others because of it."

Hearing this, Hua Changxi was stunned.

Gu Xing continued: "The imperial court established the Medicine Department several hundred years ago. Over these centuries, the Medicine Department has long formed a set of effective and smoothly operating rules and regulations."

"Under this set of rules and regulations, every department in the Medicine Department has its place, and the people in every department have their own positions."

"Girl, have you found your position? Do you think you have a place in the Medicine Department right now?"

Hua Changxi opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but nothing came out.

She has no standing in the Medical Department whatsoever; never mind the Department Head, even if a Sixth-Rank Department Administrator came along, they could find any random excuse to make her pack up and leave.

Gu Xing: "Actually, you teaching the servants in the Qihuang Hall was a very good method; it could make you famous."

"After becoming famous, you could gain a certain reputation. With reputation, you would have a certain status in the Servant Hall."

"However, the Servant Hall is the lowest department in the Medicine Department. Your reputation didn't spread beyond the Servant Hall, and even if it did, it didn't reach the point of influencing others. Therefore, to the Apprentice Hall, the Disciple Hall, and the Nine Streets Pharmacies outside the Servant Hall, you are nothing."

"If you want to truly have a foothold in the Medicine Department, you must find a way to become famous throughout the entire Medicine Department. Only then can you have a place in the Medicine Department and possess the ability to make others wary of you."

"As you are now, you have neither enough reputation to influence others nor anything that makes people wary, so you can only be disposed of and manipulated by others at will."

Gu Xing's words deeply shocked Hua Changxi. These were things she had never thought about.

Everything she had done before was just to improve her strength, thinking only of not being bullied, and wanting only to be the master of her own life. She had never thought about influencing others.

After a long while, Hua Changxi finally spoke: "Can't I just stay out of trouble? Must I fight for some name and position?"

Gu Xing: "Of course you can. Experts who wander the world alone have been common since ancient times. However, if you want to stay in the Medicine Department and deal with people, you have to consider how to settle down and establish yourself."

Hua Changxi thought for a moment and said: "You said it yourself, the Medicine Department was established hundreds of years ago, the rules are already set, and everyone in every position has a background. In this situation, how am I supposed to settle down and establish myself?"

Gu Xing smiled: "Rules aren't unbreakable."

Hearing this, Hua Changxi was startled, looking at Gu Xing in astonishment.

Gu Xing's smile did not fade: "You can follow the rules, or you can break them."

Hua Changxi was silent for a moment: "... Senior, I feel like you are inducing me to do certain things."

Gu Xing laughed: "If you are truly induced by this old man, it is because you wanted to be induced. The choice has always been in your hands, hasn't it?"

Hua Changxi looked at him: "Senior, you are really good at bewitching people. You should go teach in the Qihuang Hall."

Gu Xing shook his head with a smile: "This old man is just a gatekeeper; I can't teach any classes."

Hua Changxi: "Having you keep the gate is truly a waste of talent." Feeling somewhat unsettled, she didn't want to stay in the Old Courtyard any longer: "Senior, I've bothered you today. Please rest well."

When she left the Old Courtyard, it was already dark.

On the way back to her courtyard, Hua Changxi's mind was filled with the words Gu Xing had just said.

She had to admit, many of his words were correct.

She truly had no status to speak of in the Medicine Department, so Mu Qingying and Yuan Tianchou only needed to notify her to teach in the No. 6 Qihuang Hall.

Their status in the Medicine Department was above hers, not because of their alchemy skills, but simply because they had the Chief as their backer.

What did the Chief represent?

Power!

Hua Changxi sighed. She was already cultivating to become an immortal; how could she still not escape the struggle for power and profit? ===== CHAPTER 138 =====