Chapter 89 - 89 Pill Master (Third Update)_1
Meanwhile, at the Apricot Forest Hall, Old Mr. Feng had just finished seeing a patient and was sitting in the hall drinking tea.
A few cultivators walked in, bowed to Old Mr. Feng, and respectfully said, “Someone in the clan has been severely injured, and we humbly request Old Mr. Feng’s help.”
Old Mr. Feng glanced at the pale yellow Taoist robes embroidered with golden thread they were wearing and asked, “People from the Qian Family?”
“Yes.”
“What’s the extent of the injury?”
A cultivator from the Qian Family hesitated before speaking, “It seems to be caused by a powerful fire elemental spiritual power, the flesh is charred, the meridians are damaged, and the breath is faint…”
Old Mr. Feng frowned, “That serious?”
“A few pill masters from within the clan attempted treatment, but they are disputing amongst themselves, unable to come to a decision, so we thought to seek Old Mr. Feng’s opinion. In Tongxian City, your art of healing with pills is truly unparalleled.”
“You flatter me,” said Old Mr. Feng, “time is of the essence, let me prepare and I’ll be right over.”
Old Mr. Feng provided healing through alchemy to all, regardless of their status or wealth, whether they were loose cultivators or clan cultivators; as long as they were truly in need, he would generally lend a hand.
The Qian Family cultivators bowed respectfully once more and said, “Thank you, Old Mr. Feng.”
Old Mr. Feng chose a few types of spirit grass, several bottles of pills, and a few pill manuals to bring along, and after giving some instructions to his apprentices, he followed the cultivators to the Qian Family.
It was only upon reaching the Qian Family that he learned the person he was to save was Qian Xing. Old Mr. Feng’s brow furrowed, and he felt somewhat displeased.
He had heard of Qian Xing’s behavior: the arrogance, the high-handedness, the acts of bullying had not been few.
But after consideration, he remembered these were merely rumors, not witnessed firsthand, and may not necessarily be true. Furthermore, although Qian Xing was troublesome, Old Mr. Feng hadn’t heard of him committing any atrocious acts against the Heavenly Dao, so it was not right to forsake him to death.
The Qian Family was in a gloomy and sorrowful state, the womenfolk were crying, and the elders looked grim.
Old Mr. Feng sighed. As long as cultivators do not become immortals, they are still human, and where there is humanity, there are joys and sorrows of life. He had seen such scenes often, but he couldn’t help feeling compassion, thinking it best to save the person if he could.
Old Mr. Feng entered to examine Qian Xing’s injuries, then discussed the treatment methods with a few other pill masters.
One pill master said, “Young Master Qian’s injuries are too severe, we should nurture him gently, using wood series spiritual objects along with pills to slowly nourish the physical body until he gradually recovers…”
Another disagreed, “Nurturing gently does not offer a true cure. He is injured by fire elemental spiritual power, and if the residual spiritual power forms fire poison within the body and it’s not completely purged, it will damage his meridians and Qi Sea, leading to endless troubles…”
“And how would you purge it?”
“With Heaven Yuan Water, supplemented by Water Spirit Pills. With water countering fire, thoroughly eliminating the fire poison, once the fire poison is gone, the damaged meridians and flesh will naturally start to recover slowly…”
“Countering with water and fire is too aggressive; if the fire poison is not removed, I fear Young Master Qian would lose his life before that happens!”
The pill masters debated incessantly, each holding their own views, and none could persuade the others.
Old Mr. Feng coughed once, and the pill masters fell silent.
In Tongxian City, having healed and saved lives for over a hundred years, Old Mr. Feng may have seemed to have no power or position, but his prestige was profound.
Cultivators in Tongxian City, even if they had not been personally treated by Old Mr. Feng, certainly had friends or acquaintances who had benefited from his help. Moreover, the future is unpredictable, and no one can be assured they won’t need Old Mr. Feng’s assistance someday.
The pill masters present knew of Old Mr. Feng’s character and held him in high regard. Before their assessments, some of them had even specially visited Old Mr. Feng to seek his guidance.
Once Old Mr. Feng coughed, the pill masters stopped speaking and stood obediently on the side, listening.
“The fire poison needs to be purged…” began Old Mr. Feng, which pleased the pill master who had advocated for its removal.
“However, Heaven Yuan Water cannot be used, it’s too fierce…”
“What the elder states is indeed true,” the pill master responded respectfully.
“Nurturing gently is possible, but it should not be too mild either, otherwise, it would be fostering the poison…” Old Mr. Feng added, turning to the other pill master. He then listed several spirit grasses and pills, analyzed the specific injuries, explained how to properly use the medicine, the appropriate dosages, and how to adjust the amount of the pills according to the severity of the symptoms…
In the end, Old Mr. Feng said, “The art of pills requires mutual exchange and discussion; it’s good to have one’s own ideas, but one must not be stubborn and refuse to accept others’ views.”
The pill masters nodded in agreement.
After speaking, Old Mr. Feng sat down to the side and drank tea.
The other pill masters quietly discussed among themselves; they had a direction for treatment, but what specific pills to use, what medicine to refine required further discussion and consideration, and could not be resolved immediately.
Old Mr. Feng sipped his tea and suddenly asked, “By the way, why is Qian Xing so badly injured?”
A few Pill Masters stopped their discussion, unsure of what to say. After all, it wasn’t a pleasant topic, especially since they were at the Qian Family’s residence, and speaking about it could be deemed disrespectful.
One of the Pill Masters, seeing no members of the Qian Family nearby, whispered, “It’s said that Young Master Qian was bullying others using his power, but in the end, he was the one who got beaten.”
Old Mr. Feng furrowed his brows.
“It wasn’t that he got beaten by someone else,” another Pill Master said, “It’s that he was using a newly learned spell to hit someone, but his skills weren’t refined, the spell backfired, and that’s how he ended up like this…”
“Nonsense! A spell backfiring wouldn’t result in this state!” another Pill Master objected.
“Injuries from a spell backfiring manifest from the inside out; his injuries are clearly from the outside in.”
“Exactly, he was definitely injured by a sneak attack using fire-type spells.”
“Don’t spells require time to condense? A few moments are enough time to dodge; Young Master Qian isn’t a fool who would just stand there and get hit, is he?”
“How do you know he isn’t a fool?”
“Perhaps he was careless and didn’t dodge…”
“None of you are correct; it must have been a fire-type rune, and an expensive one at that, the single-use kind…”
The Pill Masters were engrossed in their gossip.
If the topic was how to heal people with pills, they would have to rack their brains, deep in thought, a truly taxing task. But gossiping got them much more excited.
Old Mr. Feng was somewhat speechless, then asked again, “He was using his power to bully someone; who was it?”
“It seems he was bullying a child. A Loose Cultivator couldn’t stand it and stepped in to help. The two sides ended up fighting, and it turned into quite a scene. Although the world’s moral standards are declining these days, there are still Cultivators who dare to do the right thing.”
Old Mr. Feng had a guess in his heart, and his expression gradually turned colder. “Do you know who the child is?”
“That, I’m not so sure about. I only heard that the one who helped in the fight is an apprentice from Master Chen’s Refinery Shop, and the child who was bullied seems to have the surname Mo…”
Old Mr. Feng put down his teacup, stood up, and left with a swish of his sleeves.
“Old Mr. Feng…” Several Pill Masters got up in a hurry and chased after him.
Seeing this, the Qian Family members also quickly followed, anxiously asking, “Old gentleman, where are you going?”
“I’m going back!”
“The young master is seriously injured and is counting on you to heal him… ”
“I won’t heal!” Old Mr. Feng declared decisively.
“This… you…” Several Qian Family disciples were at a loss.
An Elder from the Qian Family, with profound aura and deep wrinkles, blocked Old Mr. Feng’s path, “Old Mr. Feng, please return. Once you heal the young master, the Family Head won’t shortchange you!”
He was a Cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Stage!
The Pill Masters were inwardly shocked and looked at each other uncertainly.
Old Mr. Feng glanced at the Qian Family Elder, “Are you instructing me on how to do my job?”
“I wouldn’t dare. I’m just asking you to save the young master,” the Qian Family Elder said with clasped hands.
Old Mr. Feng snorted, “All my life I have practiced alchemy and medicine to save people, not to commit sins. What kind of person is your young master? Is he worth saving by me?”
The Qian Family Elder was left speechless, as he was well aware of what kind of person the young master was, and he also knew that Old Mr. Feng, upon knowing the full story, would definitely refuse to heal him.
Old Mr. Feng’s face was as stern as water, “Are you going to let me pass or not?”
The Qian Family Elder had the cultivation of the Foundation Establishment Stage, but faced with the glare of Old Mr. Feng, a Qi Refining Ninth Level cultivator, he inexplicably felt a bit guilty. After a long hesitation, he silently stepped aside.
Old Mr. Feng shook his sleeves and left the Qian Family estate. Seeing this, a few Pill Masters also took the opportunity to excuse themselves. Those who couldn’t afford to offend the Qian Family stayed behind, gritting their teeth.
A Qian Family disciple said to the Elder, “Elder, why didn’t you stop Old Mr. Feng…”
The Qian Family Elder glared at him and angrily said, “How can I stop him? He saved my father’s life years ago; where would I find the face to stop him? That he didn’t scold me is already showing me face!”