Chapter 272: Unable to Suppress

On the left side of the intersection between Ninth Street and Chaosheng Road stands the first courtyard, home to the Qihuang Pavilion; on the right side stands the first courtyard, home to the Lingjing Pavilion.

The Qihuang Pavilion and the Lingjing Pavilion face each other directly, presenting an immediate posture of confrontation.

Inside the Qihuang Pavilion.

Shen Qianfan personally received Pharmacist Xu, and upon learning that Hua Changxi was willing to share the "Complete Guide to Processing First-Grade Spiritual Plants," he could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.

He, as the Master of the Qihuang Pavilion, had not chosen this role himself; yet, with his humble family background, he could not resist imperial power and could only resign himself to being the Master of the Qihuang Pavilion, a position that no other masters of the Qihuang Halls were willing to hold.

To put it plainly, he was merely a puppet put forward by the imperial family.

Yet, even serving as a puppet was no easy task for him.

Previously, Prince Shou had summoned him and ordered him, in his capacity as Master of the Qihuang Pavilion, to command Hua Changxi to hand over the "Complete Guide to Processing First-Grade Spiritual Plants," which had made him feel immense pressure.

Who was Hua Changxi? She was someone who did not even give face to Prince Shou or Xia Zhen; how could he, with his meager virtues and abilities, dare to command her?

Fortunately, Hua Changxi was willing to share the "Complete Guide to Processing First-Grade Spiritual Plants."

Although Hua Changxi had proposed the condition of holding lectures in Qihuang Halls Number One through Number Nine, he did not care in the slightest.

First, he was the Master of Qihuang Hall Number Eleven, so this would not affect him.

Second, if the masters of Qihuang Halls Number One through Number Nine disagreed, resulting in the failure to obtain the "Complete Guide to Processing First-Grade Spiritual Plants," then Prince Shou would not be able to find fault with him either.

After Pharmacist Xu departed, Shen Qianfan immediately informed Prince Shou and the other masters of the Qihuang Halls about the lecture conditions Hua Changxi had set.

Mu Qingying of Hall Number One, Gu Qiming of Hall Number Two, and Yuan Tianchou of Hall Number Six exchanged knowing glances upon hearing the news.

Yuan Tianchou said, "Master, it seems our previous speculation was correct; Hua Changxi discovered the method of using the Qihuang Halls long ago."

Mu Qingying also spoke up: "Previously, when I lectured using my knowledge of spiritual herbs, the wooden tablet reacted only after a long time; but when I lectured using the 'Complete Guide to First-Grade Spiritual Herbs,' the tablet's reaction was very obvious."

"I compared the content of my lecture with that of the 'Complete Guide to First-Grade Spiritual Herbs' and discovered that what I taught was shallow and incomplete."

"The 'Complete Guide to First-Grade Spiritual Herbs,' however, is more comprehensive and systematic; it records the properties of spiritual herbs in considerable detail, and its language is profound yet easy to understand."

"Not to mention those attending the lecture; even disciples, after reading it, often find sudden enlightenment."

Saying this, she looked toward Director Gu.

"Disciple has thought carefully: if two people who know nothing about pill refining were to attend lectures, those who listened to the disciple's lessons would probably only gain a rough understanding of some common knowledge about spiritual herbs, whereas those who listen to Hua Changxi's lessons, if they have slightly better talent, might be able to start compounding medicines directly."

Mu Qingying gave a bitter smile: "Only now does the disciple clearly realize how vast the gap is between myself and Hua Changxi in the specialized study of spiritual herbs."

"Master, is Hua Changxi truly not a successor of the Pill Saint Hall?"

Upon hearing this, Director Gu fell into thoughtful silence.

In truth, both he and the Minister had speculated on whether Hua Changxi was a successor of the Pill Saint Hall, but according to their investigations, it was highly unlikely that she was.

"Sigh..."

Director Gu sighed; in fact, he hoped that a successor of the Pill Saint Hall would appear soon.

It must be known that although other Sacred Lands showed no signs of revival, the successors of various Sacred Lands were extremely active; only the Pill Saint Hall had yet to produce a single visible successor.

It was likely because the Medical and Pharmaceutical Bureau had been controlled by the imperial family for hundreds of years, with noble families also interfering, making the situation within the bureau extremely complex.

Had the successor of the Pill Saint Hall been frightened by this intricate situation into hiding?

Director Gu looked at his two disciples: "Since Hua Changxi possesses such high attainment in the Dao of pills, if she wishes to lecture, then let her lecture; you can take this opportunity to learn more."

Neither Mu Qingying nor Yuan Tianchou objected.

Director Gu summoned someone: "Go tell the Master that we agree to let Master Hua hold her lectures."

Huo Yunxiao, who assisted Minister Wei Zhenjie of the Heaven Division in managing Hall Number Three, and Wen Lanzhou, who assisted Zhang Tianshi in managing Hall Number Four, both sent messages to their respective masters immediately upon receiving the news.

Soon, both received replies of "Agreed."

On Prince Shou's side, however, there was some hesitation.

Seeing this, Chu Junhao stepped forward and said, "Imperial Uncle, Hua Changxi has never cared much for struggles over power and profit; why don't we just grant her wish?"

Prince Shou looked over, frowning: "The Pill Cauldron Altar and the Pill Origin Peak were both created by Hua Changxi; what if she causes another major disturbance while lecturing in the Qihuang Halls?"

Chu Junhao replied: "The revival of the Sacred Lands is an irresistible trend; without Hua Changxi, someone else would emerge anyway. In that case, it is better for it to be Hua Changxi, especially since she is someone who does not even rely on her family."

He paused briefly.

"Moreover, we cannot stop it anyway."

These words were hinted at without being fully spelled out; anyone who obtained the "Complete Guide to First-Grade Spiritual Herbs" could probably guess the value of the "Complete Guide to Processing First-Grade Spiritual Plants," and the other masters of the Qihuang Halls would not give up.

The imperial family could no longer suppress the various factions; rather than letting certain matters come out into the open, it was better for them to take a step back, allowing everyone to save face.

Prince Shou felt somewhat irritable and waved his hand at Chu Junhao: "Leave this matter to you to handle."

Meanwhile, Meng Qingyao of Hall Number Seven, Zhu Jinglan of Hall Number Eight, and Bai Zhixin of Hall Number Nine were discussing this matter inside the Lingjing Pavilion with Xia Zhen and other descendants of the Dao-Protecting families.

Meng Qingyao frowned tightly: "The Qihuang Halls are indeed places for teaching; I do not understand why Hua Changxi wants to lecture in Halls Number One through Number Nine. What is she trying to do?"

Xia Zhen's brows were also knotted; upon learning that Hua Changxi intended to lecture in the Qihuang Halls, he actually felt a sense of dread.

For no other reason than he feared Hua Changxi might do something again that would stimulate the Qihuang Halls into reviving.

Bai Zhixin said: "Whatever she wants to do, the Qihuang Halls are not of much use in our hands anyway; let her lecture if she wishes. I'd like to see what tricks she can pull."

Zhu Jinglan also held this view: "Indeed, if Hua Changxi can truly revive the Qihuang Halls, perhaps we might even benefit from it."

Xia Zhen glanced sideways at him: "Do you think your positions as Hall Masters are very secure? Without the Qihuang Token, you are merely occupying the spots temporarily."

Saying this, he turned to look at Meng Qingyao.

"Zhu Qinghuan gave you that Qihuang Token; have you figured anything out from it?"

Meng Qingyao shook her head in shame.

Xia Zhen sighed: "Forget it; let us just see how Hua Changxi stirs things up."

Suppressing Hua Changxi is difficult!

Meng Qingyao looked somewhat uneasy: "Elder Sixteen, if the Lingjing Pavilion wants the 'Complete Guide to Processing First-Grade Spiritual Plants,' we will still need to step in to help Hua Changxi resolve the matter of setting up a registration point at the entrance of the Medical and Pharmaceutical Bureau."

Xia Ziyang spoke up: "We have seven Qihuang Hall Masters among our people; by then, we can simply circulate the 'Complete Guide to Processing First-Grade Spiritual Plants' among ourselves privately. It does not matter if the Lingjing Pavilion does not participate."

To this, Xia Zhen expressed agreement; he truly did not wish to play into Hua Changxi's hands.

Nowadays, their control over the Medical Bureau had indeed increased, but only on the premise that Hua Changxi never utilized the Saint-Protecting Token in her possession.

Currently, the maintenance of order within the Medical Bureau rested in the hands of the Dao-Protecting clans, the imperial family, and Gu Xing; he felt this situation was excellent and greatly disliked seeing Hua Changxi emerge into prominence.

If the Danyuan Secret Realm recruited too many apprentices, it would only bolster Hua Changxi's prestige, which was certainly not what he wished to see.