Chapter 243: The Pusher of the Era (Twelve)

While Hua Changxi was lecturing, she kept a close watch on the audience's reactions; seeing many cultivators bent over their desks writing furiously, she immediately said, "Everyone, listen attentively."

"I have specifically assigned someone to record the spiritual herbs discussed today. If anyone needs them, free rubbings will be available at Qihuang Hall Number Thirteen after the lecture concludes."

"Not only the grade-one spiritual plants discussed today, but in the future, I will also compile a 'Compendium of Spiritual Plants,' which will be made public at that time."

Upon hearing these words, the vast majority of the audience in the square became indescribably excited.

At this stage, most lineages are controlled by the nobility; ordinary cultivators wishing to cultivate or learn a cultivation craft have no choice but to attach themselves to some faction.

It can be said that many people fall into a passive situation the moment they step onto the path of cultivation.

Hall Master Hua had previously compiled a "Compendium of Mortal Plants," which she also released without reservation; nowadays, not only does every pharmacy and medicine hall have a copy, but even martial artists who know nothing of medicine buy one to treasure at home.

In the past, elixirs, medicinal soups, and medicinal baths required for martial practice could only be purchased from pharmacies and medicine halls; after the "Compendium of Mortal Plants" appeared, because the medicinal properties of the mortal plants recorded within were so detailed, martial artists who had practiced for a long time could now mix simple martial soups themselves.

Now that Hall Master Hua is compiling the "Compendium of Spiritual Plants," this is a good thing for all cultivators.

As long as one learns to identify spiritual herbs, even if one cannot become an alchemist, one can still gather spiritual herbs encountered in the future to exchange for other cultivation resources.

In contrast to the invigorated ordinary cultivators, the expressions of the nobility varied greatly.

Gu Xing wore an expression of gratification; among the eighteen Secret Realm Masters, only Hua Changxi was truly spreading medical arts and the Dao of Alchemy from the standpoint of the Alchemy Saint Hall.

Director Gu sighed in admiration; he himself held several alchemy lineages, treasuring them like jewels, and except for a few direct disciples, he rarely showed them to outsiders.

He truly could not bring himself to hand over the lineages in his possession so easily.

Prince Shou frowned deeply; this Hua Changxi was truly skilled at creating trouble. If others who obtained lineages acted like her, sharing their inheritances freely, causing ordinary cultivators below to have techniques to learn and skills to earn a living, what advantage would the Imperial House have left to recruit cultivators for its own use in the future?

The cultivators from the Dao-Protecting Families remained utterly silent.

For no other reason than that Dao-Protectors exist precisely to guard the unbroken lineages of the Four Spirit Realms; they are the ones who ought to release various lineages freely and promote the development of cultivation.

However, given limited resources, the Dao-Protecting Families generally select only those with extraordinary talent for training, leaving them somewhat unable to attend to ordinary people.

Hua Changxi's such "generous" behavior, showing such care for ordinary people, was undoubtedly a slap in the face to the Dao-Protecting Families.

On the other side, Gu Jinfan's expression was equally complex; she increasingly felt that Hua Changxi resembled a variable even more than she herself did.

The opening of the Public Divine Tree Secret Realm and the release of the Compendium of Spiritual Herbs would directly propel the revival of the Alchemy Saint Hall, with profound and far-reaching influence.

Compared to Hua Changxi, she seemed indeed to have done nothing to promote the development of the Four Spirit Realms.

"Everyone, be quiet; let us continue the lecture."

As soon as Hua Changxi spoke, the previously restless square instantly fell silent.

If previously many had come to the square merely to learn more knowledge of pharmacology and the Dao of Alchemy, holding no particular impression of Hua Changxi as a person,

then at this moment, because Hua Changxi had arranged for free rubbings of the spiritual herb records, the vast majority now felt a bit more respect toward her in their hearts.

Previously, everyone's eyes held only the thirst for learning; now, Hua Changxi herself had also "entered" the eyes of the crowd.

Another spiritual herb was moved by Hua Changxi to hover above the stone cauldron.

Hua Changxi sat with her back to the stone cauldron, failing to notice that when the spiritual herb hovered above the cauldron, a faint, elusive ripple manifested in the air.

Because Gu Xing sat near the front and his own fate was bound to the Alchemy Saint Hall, he was the first to detect the anomaly in the stone cauldron, causing his heart to tremble instantly.

For the time that followed, Gu Xing had no leisure to listen to the lecture; staring unblinkingly at the stone cauldron and sensing the ripples appearing above it, he could barely conceal the excitement in his eyes.

After the Qihuang Hall, another important site of the Alchemy Saint Hall showed signs of revival!

Hua Changxi's explanation of spiritual herb identification began with the most basic and common ones.

As for those who possessed lineages of alchemy or medical arts, they had long been familiar with these; thus, while listening to Hua Changxi's lecture, they found her content very boring and did not wish to waste time sitting there idly.

For a time, quite a few instances of whispering and hushed conversation appeared in the square.

Among them, the descendants of the Dao-Protecting Families, who felt slapped in the face by Hua Changxi, were the worst, chatting enthusiastically alongside Meng Yuchuan, who felt Hua Changxi had stolen his younger sister's spotlight.

At first, these people paid attention to controlling their volume, but gradually, their voices grew louder and louder, seriously disturbing those around them who were trying to listen.

Given the status of Meng Yuchuan and the others, those surrounding them dared to be angry but dared not speak out.

Just as everyone thought they would have to endure such conditions for the rest of the lecture, an irresistible spiritual power swept over, directly hurling Meng Yuchuan and his group, who had been talking, out of the square.

Not only Meng Yuchuan and his group, but also others who had been speaking were thrown out.

There were scions of noble families like Tang Yufeng, and members of the Heaven Division like Huo Yunxiao...

Those thrown out of the square who reacted quickly stabilized their bodies in time and landed steadily, at least avoiding losing face before the crowd.

Those who could not react in time fell directly to the ground, covered in dust and looking disheveled.

Uh...

The square fell into dead silence.

Those thrown out were too stunned to recover their senses, while those still sitting in the square remained in shock.

Outside the square, Huo Yunxiao, who had nearly fallen flat on his face before the crowd, felt somewhat bewildered by the wind, his heart shaken beyond measure; he was a late-stage Golden Core cultivator, yet he had been thrown out by Hua Changxi without any power to resist.

Meng Yuchuan and the others were even more shocked than Huo Yunxiao; the lowest cultivation among them was that of a Golden Core cultivator, and among them was even Dongfang Xu, an early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, yet they had just been... packaged and thrown out!

The majority of people sitting in the square thought: Hall Master Hua is truly fierce, throwing out scions of the nobility just like that. However, well thrown!

The other nobility seated there, at this moment, all wore uniformly serious and solemn expressions: Hua Changxi's strength was far greater than they had imagined!

"Between people, if you respect me by a foot, I will return it by a yard."

"If you are unwilling to listen to the lecture, you need not come; but if you come, you ought to show mutual respect."

"Coming here to attend my lecture, you may not understand medical arts or the Dao of Alchemy, but at the very least you must be human and understand the most basic etiquette."

"Those I threw out today are forbidden from ever attending my lectures again from now on."

Hua Changxi's sonorous, non-negotiable voice rang out across the square.

Hearing this, Gu Xing felt utterly helpless: Very good, she is very skilled at drawing hostility!

Director Gu thought: Her methods are too intense; fortunately, fortunately, I did not take Hua Changxi as a disciple back then. This fellow's combat prowess is too formidable; as her master, I would not be able to handle it.

Gu Jinfan wondered: Is Hua Changxi truly a variable? With a temperament like hers, can she really go far?

Meng Qingyao thought: So arrogant; is she not afraid of provoking universal anger?

The shock in Dongfang Hao's heart was the greatest; he actually perceived a kingly aura overlooking the world within Hua Changxi's domineering words and actions.

After throwing the speaker out, Hua Changxi continued her lecture in an orderly manner.

"Spiritual herbs are the foundation of pill refining; identifying them is the first step."

"If one's understanding of spiritual herbs is insufficient, errors will inevitably arise in subsequent processing, decomposition, and even the fusion of medicinal ingredients."

"I know some believe they have thoroughly mastered spiritual herbs, yet what I see is that nearly ninety percent of the herbs processed by the Medical Bureau, the highest medical authority of Great Jin, are improperly handled."

"As the foremost street of Nine Streets, aided by Dan Fire, the quality of pills refined by first-rank Alchemists should not be so low by rights; yet in reality, the vast majority can only produce lower-grade pills."

"The fundamental reason pill quality fails to improve is the improper processing of spiritual herbs!"

"Every step of pill refining is crucial; none can be understood superficially. With insufficient knowledge of a herb's properties, errors in the subsequent processing are inevitable."

Listening to Hua Changxi's words, many faces, including Mu Qingying's, revealed a look of sudden realization.

"I know some possess abundant cultivation resources and, disregarding the inherent quality of spiritual herbs, use rare treasures to assist in refining, thereby enhancing pill quality."

"What I must say is that such methods are merely minor tricks."

"Pill refining concerns not only technique; an alchemist's integrity is equally vital."

"No matter how rich one's resources, it is impossible to guarantee finding corresponding rare treasures for every pill one refines. Ultimately, one must return to the fundamentals of pill refining to solve the problem."

As she spoke these words, Hua Changxi glanced at Meng Qingyao.

Previously, when Meng Qingyao lectured, the supreme-grade spiritual pills she refined were achieved only by using ten-thousand-year spiritual milk.

Struck by that gaze, Meng Qingyao's soul trembled; accustomed to refining with all manner of precious items, she had never considered this issue before.

Now exposed by Hua Changxi, she felt both shocked and humiliated.

Was this alchemical genius merely built upon a foundation of rare treasures?!

With those distracted minds removed, the subsequent lecture proceeded in an unprecedented silence across the square; it seemed as though only Hua Changxi's voice remained between heaven and earth.

Hua Changxi lectured with single-minded focus, and the crowd listened with equal devotion.

As spiritual herbs flew one by one above the stone cauldron, an invisible Dao rhythm emanated from within, stirring ripples in the air.

For a moment, both Hua Changxi, who was teaching, and the crowd, who were listening, seemed to enter a mysterious state.

When Meng Yuchuan and the others, having been thrown out of the square, summoned Xia Zhen over, they saw everyone in the square wearing expressions of utter enchantment and deep immersion.

Xia Zhen's heart jolted; he quickly looked toward Hua Changxi, and upon seeing her, his pupils trembled.

Hua Changxi sat in the center, with the crowd radiating outward from her; she taught without distraction, and they listened without distraction—a scene truly resembling the transmission of the Dao.

The Dao?

Hua Changxi had merely spoken of first-rank spiritual herbs; how could this be called the Dao?

Xia Zhen had originally come to demand an explanation on behalf of Meng Yuchuan and the others, yet at this moment, he did nothing, simply standing there silently listening to Hua Changxi's lecture.

It was not until the final spiritual herb had been discussed that the crowd regained their senses from that mysterious state.

"Today's lecture concludes here."

The moment Hua Changxi finished speaking, an old man with white hair rose and bowed: "Thank you, Curator Hua, for the lecture."

His words seemed to trigger a switch; the people in the square rose one after another and spoke in unison: "Thank you, Curator Hua, for the lecture."

The shockwave of their voices swept across the square, interacting with the ripples stirred by the stone cauldron.

The next instant, spiritual light ignited beneath the stone cauldron.

The light appeared suddenly, rapidly outlining a square formation diagram; before Hua Changxi could clearly see the diagram, the ground began to shake, accompanied by a roaring sound.