Chapter 229: A Role Model for the Common People

Hua Changxi sent a message to Tong Yao and unexpectedly received an immediate reply; thus, she left the Medical Bureau and headed to the Southern City office of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Just as Hua Changxi stepped onto the street where the Southern City office of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was located, she saw Tong Yao waiting at the street entrance.

"Fellow Daoist Tong."

Tong Yao looked with complex emotions at the female cultivator in red robes approaching him; before this, he had always assumed Hua Changxi was older than himself, never expecting she had only recently passed her coming-of-age ceremony.

"Should I address you as Fellow Daoist Hua now, or as Hall Master Hua?"

Clearly, Tong Yao had already figured out Hua Changxi's true identity.

Hua Changxi smiled: "It's just a title; call me whatever you like."

Tong Yao laughed as well: "Then let it be Fellow Daoist Hua." Saying this, he led Hua Changxi into the nearby restaurant.

The two sat down in a private room on the second floor of the restaurant, overlooking the street.

Tong Yao took out a tea set from his storage bag, manipulated spiritual fire with his right hand, and in the blink of an eye, brewed a pot of spiritual tea, pouring a cup for Hua Changxi.

"The spiritual tea I have surely cannot compare to that of the Pill Saint Hall; Fellow Daoist Hua, please make do with it."

Hua Changxi lifted the cup and took a sip: "Mmm..."

Just as Tong Yao expected her to critique the spiritual tea, Hua Changxi remarked, "I don't know how to taste tea."

Tong Yao: "..."

Seeing the astonishment on his face, Hua Changxi asked: "Is it strange that I don't know how to taste tea?"

Tong Yao smiled and shook his head: "I forgot; Fellow Daoist Hua is still young."

Hua Changxi found this even stranger: "What does my age have to do with it?"

Tong Yao explained patiently: "Since Fellow Daoist Hua is young, you are at the stage of daring to venture and strive; at such a time, one cares about conquering the world. As for the refinement of life, it might be somewhat neglected."

Hua Changxi asked: "What does the refinement of life have to do with drinking tea?"

Tong Yao smiled: "There are eight elegant pursuits in life: zither, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, wine, flowers, and tea. We ordinary mortals need not master them all, but should learn one or two; only then can we say we have not lived in vain."

Hua Changxi chuckled: "If I don't know the eight elegant pursuits you mentioned, does that mean I came into this world for nothing?"

Tong Yao laughed softly: "That is not what I meant. My point is that apart from fame and fortune, life must have some other pursuits; otherwise, how dull and boring our days would be."

"..."

Hua Changxi looked at Tong Yao with an inquiring gaze, thinking to herself: Is this fellow indirectly calling me dull and boring?

But thinking carefully, aside from cultivation and pill refining, she indeed had no other hobbies; her life was somewhat boring and uninteresting.

Hua Changxi looked at Tong Yao: "Can you really derive life's joy just from drinking tea?"

Tong Yao smiled: "Everyone's taste for life is different. I practice the tea ceremony daily to cultivate my mind and nature, constantly refining my own virtue; the joy within is hard to describe in words."

"When one day, Fellow Daoist Hua also finds a practice you can persist in daily, something upon which your body and mind can rely, then we can sit down and thoroughly discuss our insights and experiences."

Hua Changxi caught Tong Yao's implied meaning: he was dismissing her, fearing she wouldn't understand his life insights gained from tea drinking, fearing he was playing the lute to a cow.

Tong Yao stopped talking about tea and changed the subject: "With the New Year upon us, Fellow Daoist Hua, you were so eager to find me; is there some urgent matter?"

Hua Changxi looked at him: "Have you heard about what happened at the Medical Bureau on New Year's Eve?"

Tong Yao nodded: "The appearance of the Guardian Daoist was such a major event that news spread throughout Jingcheng on New Year's Eve itself; how could I not know?" Saying this, he looked at Hua Changxi.

"I have not yet congratulated Fellow Daoist Hua; I heard you were one of only two who obtained a high-grade Divine Wood Secret Realm."

Hua Changxi said: "Yes, I obtained a secret realm and wish to cooperate with you."

Tong Yao raised an eyebrow: "Cooperate? How so?"

Hua Changxi replied: "You specialize in artifact refining, and I in pill refining; we can exchange what we each lack."

Tong Yao had long witnessed Hua Changxi's pill refining skills; Xia Yang and Xia Xue were able to remain safe and sound today largely thanks to the healing pills she promptly provided back then.

Furthermore, the Five Great Sacred Lands have always maintained a relationship of watching over and aiding one another; since Fellow Daoist Hua obtained the Divine Wood Secret Realm, she is now part of the Pill Saint Hall, and cooperating with her would benefit the Artifact Saint Palace without causing any harm.

"It is my honor to cooperate with Fellow Daoist Hua."

Seeing he agreed to cooperate, Hua Changxi smiled and said: "We can discuss the specific details of our cooperation later. Fellow Daoist Tong, has the array master friend you mentioned to me before returned to the capital?"

Tong Yao nodded: "She has returned; even if Fellow Daoist Hua hadn't sought me out, I would have notified you after the New Year celebrations."

Hua Changxi quickly said: "Can you summon her now? I also wish to cooperate with her."

Tong Yao hesitated little, took out a message talisman, and began contacting her; soon, he told Hua Changxi: "My friend happens to be free; she will arrive shortly."

Hua Changxi's face lit up with joy; watching the message talisman in Tong Yao's hand burn away, her eyes flashed: "Message talismans are useful, indeed, but they are consumed too quickly."

Each message talisman could generally be used only five times and was limited by distance.

Hua Changxi thought of the mobile phones from her previous life and looked at Tong Yao: "Fellow Daoist Tong, I have conceived a spiritual device specifically for communication; it can not only send messages but also allow voice calls and face-to-face interaction..."

Hua Changxi explained the structure and functions of a mobile phone to Tong Yao in detail.

"Fellow Daoist Tong, what do you think? Is my conception not excellent?"

"Can you refine such a spiritual device?"

"With such a spiritual device, our communication would be far more convenient."

Tong Yao indeed began to think seriously; the spiritual device Fellow Daoist Hua described, although requiring Sound-Retaining Stones and Image Stones, would indeed be much more useful than message talismans if successfully refined.

"I will return and give it a try."

Hua Changxi said: "If you truly manage to refine it, you could send me some."

Tong Yao smiled: "Rest assured; if it is truly refined, I will definitely send some to you."

After chatting for a while, there was a knock on the door.

Tong Yao stood up to open the door: "Jing Liao, why have you come together with Yan Jin?"

Hua Changxi raised her eyes and saw Jing Liao enter the room accompanied by a female cultivator dressed in purple.

"I was just at Yan Jin's place; hearing that you were looking for her, I came along as well."

Jing Liao smiled and explained to Tong Yao, then turned to look at Hua Changxi: "Fellow Daoist Hua, Happy New Year."

Hua Changxi stood up: "Happy New Year."

Tong Yao closed the room door and smiled as he introduced, "Fellow Daoist Hua, this is the array master I told you about, Fellow Daoist Yan Jin."

Hua Changxi smiled and nodded to the purple-robed female cultivator: "Fellow Daoist Yan."

Tong Yao was about to introduce Hua Changxi to Yan Jin, but Yan Jin cut him off directly.

"No need for your introduction; nowadays, throughout the entire Jingcheng, which cultivator does not know of Fellow Daoist Hua, who obtained the high-grade Divine Wood Secret Realm?" Yan Jin looked at Hua Changxi with a smile, curiosity and scrutiny in her eyes.

Hua Changxi's eyes flashed, and she laughed: "So I have become this famous."

Yan Jin looked at her, nodded seriously: "You surpassed the alchemy prodigy chosen by the Protector Daoist; do you think you wouldn't be famous?"

"On New Year's Eve, the Protector Daoist appeared at the Medical Bureau and opened the Divine Wood Secret Realm; this matter has already spread like wildfire among cultivators."

"Do you know who everyone talks about the most?"

"It is not Meng Qingyao, who ignited the second street of alchemical fire, nor is it the juniors of the five great Protector families; it is you."

Hua Changxi was puzzled: "What is there about me worth discussing?"

Yan Jin said: "You are a commoner; a commoner striking back is quite a topic of conversation. Do you know that your appearance has given hope to many commoner cultivators? They all take you as their role model."

"Moreover, you are a young woman; you have shattered many people's entrenched perceptions."

Hua Changxi: "..."