Chapter 164: Absentee Proprietor

Everyone has their own opportunities; Hua Changxi had no desire to pry into how Xu Ling obtained the elixir, but she recalled the white-robed Monk who had lured Ah Niu with the sound of a wooden fish and asked, "Uncle Xu, do you still keep in touch with Master Kong Hai, the one Ling Ling saved before?"

Physician Xu shook his head: "After Master Kong Hai left, he never appeared again; because of this, Ling Ling was heartbroken for quite some time."

Hua Changxi asked, "How is Ling Ling doing now?"

Physician Xu nodded with a smile: "Ling Ling is doing well in every way; usually, she helps me manage the pharmacy, and nowadays she can handle all the pharmacy affairs herself."

Saying this, Physician Xu shifted the topic to the Qihuang Hall: "Ninth Lady, from now on I will be working under you; I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you to look after me in the days ahead."

Hua Changxi had intended to ask about Xu Ling's atavism, but seeing Physician Xu change the subject and realizing he did not wish to speak much about Xu Ling, she did not press further: "Uncle Xu, with your seniority, why would you choose to become an apprentice pharmacist?"

Physician Xu gave a bitter smile: "Seniority? Past seniority no longer counts." Then, lowering his voice, he said, "The authorities have already issued orders: without a spiritual root, no matter how formidable a Physician or Pharmacist one was before, they cannot remain in the Medical and Pharmaceutical Bureau."

"In the future, the Medical and Pharmaceutical Bureau will only accept those with spiritual roots, even for menial laborers. As for me, I was lucky enough to have just awakened a spiritual root; otherwise, you wouldn't see me in the bureau anymore."

Looking at Hua Changxi, Physician Xu said, "Ninth Lady, I know very little about how to refine spirit elixirs, how to treat cultivators, or about spirit plants and spirit herbs; you must teach me much."

Hua Changxi laughed and said, "There's no question of teaching; we can simply learn together."

Physician Xu laughed along: "You are too modest; nowadays, everyone in the Medical and Pharmaceutical Bureau knows that those who obtain a wooden token are either alchemical geniuses or medical prodigies; all of you possess extraordinary abilities beyond the reach of ordinary people."

"Nowadays, people from all over Nine Streets want to come work as apprentice pharmacists at Qihuang Hall; to get transferred to Qihuang Hall Number Thirteen, I expended great effort and exhausted every connection I could use."

Hearing this, Hua Changxi laughed dismissively: "What genius? There are no such extraordinary abilities; these are merely rumors and should not be trusted."

Thinking Hua Changxi was being modest, Physician Xu smiled and said, "Ninth Lady, we are so familiar with each other; there is no need to be so cautious in front of me, or you will tire yourself out."

Hua Changxi smiled but did not respond to that, instead saying something else: "Uncle Xu, I won't stand on ceremony with you; in the future, please keep a close eye on Qihuang Hall Number Thirteen for me, especially watching over the other seven apprentice pharmacists."

Seeing her trust him so completely, Physician Xu was greatly pleased: "Rest assured, I will."

After chatting idly for a few more moments, Hua Changxi dismissed Physician Xu.

Hua Changxi looked at the eight apprentice pharmacists assigned to Qihuang Hall Number Thirteen, her eyes flickering constantly.

"Zhou Bin, Wan Feng..."

These two were the only ones she did not know.

After achieving minor success in the Art of Observation, Inquiry, Pulse-Taking, and Palpation, Hua Changxi could now see through others' spiritual roots with her eyes; at this moment, the spiritual root conditions of all eight apprentice pharmacists were completely clear to her.

Hua Shuran and Physician Xu both possessed single Wood spiritual roots; Hua Wanyue, Zhu Yu, Zhou Bin, and Wan Feng all had Fire-Wood spiritual roots; He Sirong had a Metal-Wood spiritual root, and He Siqi had a Metal-Fire spiritual root.

It had to be said that the cultivation talent of these eight individuals was quite excellent, but merely thinking that various factions stood behind each of them extinguished any desire she had to nurture them.

Even regarding Physician Xu, she harbored doubts; given the prior incident where Ah Niu was lured by a demonic guardian Monk, she remained somewhat uneasy about Xu Ling.

Hua Changxi did not stay long at Qihuang Hall; with eight apprentice pharmacists keeping watch, even though she could arrange concealment and isolation arrays for alchemy, she was unwilling to do so.

Seeing Hua Changxi leave, Hua Shuran could not resist stepping forward to ask, "Changxi, what should we do?"

Hua Changxi looked at her, then at the other seven, and smiled: "Qihuang Halls were mostly idle in the past and required no one to manage them; the authorities equipped each Qihuang Hall with eight apprentice pharmacists, yet I truly do not know how to assign you tasks; find something to do yourselves."

Having said this, she departed directly, displaying an attitude of indifference toward whatever they might do.

Seeing this, Hua Shuran and the other seven exchanged bewildered glances for a moment before each occupying a room to attend to their own affairs.

Just as Hua Changxi exited Qihuang Hall Number Thirteen, she saw Lin Sheng waiting outside.

"Master."

Lin Sheng's demeanor was extremely respectful; ever since his request to cultivate the second stage, the Flesh Refining chapter, of the Nine Revolutions Profound Art had been rejected, he knew Hua Changxi would not employ him significantly again.

He understood clearly that he now served only one purpose: acting as a messenger between his Godfather and Hua Changxi.

"In a few days, Godfather will lead a group from the Eastern Depot to the Ghost Market to purchase supplies; he asked me to inquire whether you wish to go with them?"

Hua Changxi fell into contemplation; originally, she had planned to visit the Ghost Market only after refining fourth-grade spirit elixirs, but the difficulty of refining third-grade elixirs far exceeded that of first and second-grade ones, making it impossible for her to produce fourth-grade elixirs in the short term.

Furthermore, she had encountered a bottleneck in her cultivation, unable to break through the ten billion realm points; indeed, it was time for her to venture out and gain experience.

"On which specific day?"

Seeing that Hua Changxi had actually agreed, Lin Sheng was inwardly delighted: "On the first day of the eleventh lunar month."

Hua Changxi said, "Very well, I understand."

After parting ways with Lin Sheng, Hua Changxi left the Imperial Capital and rode the clouds directly to the Lingguang Hall.

Upon arriving at Lingguang Hall, Hua Changxi's expression fluctuated.

On the red-stone plaza between the palace clusters and the memorial archways, many figures bathed in fire had appeared; these were cultivators from various places, all seeking to obtain the cultivation techniques of Lingguang Hall.

When Hua Changxi summoned the Zhu Que Army Register, she discovered that over seven hundred names were already listed, which surprised her considerably.

Although the entrances leading to Lingguang Hall were still guarded by imperial soldiers, so many people had nevertheless broken through the barriers to reach Lingguang Hall.

From this, it was evident that human initiative was immeasurable!

Hua Changxi extended her divine sense, sweeping across the training hall area; seeing that the cultivators in the training rooms were all cultivating with single-minded focus, she withdrew her divine sense.

Regarding these people, she had no arrangements to make nor knew how to arrange them; for now, she could only let them develop on their own.

Hua Changxi entered the main hall, took out her alchemy furnace, and began refining third-grade elixirs.

Although she had erased the tampering Eunuch Lin had made on the Ghost Market token, traveling to the Ghost Market with people from the Eastern Depot still required extra caution, and she definitely needed to prepare sufficient elixirs.

For the next few days, Hua Changxi remained in the main hall refining elixirs.

During this period, within Qihuang Hall Number Thirteen, Hua Shuran and the others grew increasingly irritable over the fact that Hua Changxi had shown her face once and then never appeared again.

They had come to serve as apprentice pharmacists first to investigate the secrets of Qihuang Hall and second to learn something.

But now Hua Changxi did not even come to the hall, leaving everything to be managed by Physician Xu while she acted as an absentee proprietor, displaying an attitude of complete neglect that deeply frustrated the several individuals who had expended great effort to enter Qihuang Hall Number Thirteen.