Chapter 349 - Big Brother Enters Seclusion
Chapter 349 – Big Brother Enters Seclusion
There was a transparent bottle with a long neck and rounded belly. This bottle was crafted with polished Spirit Heart Ore, which specialized in holding spiritual sources and ensuring that any spiritual power didn’t disperse. Contained within that half-filled bottle was a colorless liquid. This fluid, which was thick and gleamed with a jewel-like radiance, was precisely a spiritual source!
The Blood Transformation Palace Master never once imagined that Gongyi Tianheng would’ve had such a fortuitous encounter upon his first outing after joining the Blood Transformation Palace Hall. What’s more, Tianheng even brought back a spiritual source — Something that Royal Realm martial artists like him had a hard time finding!
Truly…
Could an all-star prodigy’s luck be this rich and powerful?
The Blood Transformation Palace Master couldn’t help looking at this apprentice. From his countenance, one couldn’t tell if he was happy or astonished, but after combining the two, his expression appeared rather strange.
It needed to be said that, although spiritual sources were an extremely precious item, their Ten Ultimates Sect was a veteran, silver-ranked large organization, and there were some already stored within the sect. It was just that this thing could only be freely used by powerhouses at the Cosmic Realm and above. Apart from an allocation to the Heaven Lords every one hundred years, all of it would be kept in reserve. For the Royal Realm powerhouses such as the palace masters, unless they made huge contributions, those spiritual sources were impossible to obtain.
As far as those Heaven Lords were concerned, those allocations were like cups of water on a burning cart of firewood. Maintaining their levels of strength was already difficult. If they wanted to advance one step further, the allocations of spiritual sources basically weren’t going to be enough to use.
Even the Heaven Lords were unable to make ends meet. Let alone the the Royal Realm powerhouses who couldn’t obtain allocations. If there weren’t any fortuitous encounters and they couldn’t make contributions, they would never come into contact with a spiritual source.
Unfortunately, if those Royal Realm powerhouses had any hopes of achieving the Cosmic Realm, they needed to accumulate at least some spiritual sources. If this happened, then they could seize the opportunity to absorb as many spiritual sources as possible at the moment of their breakthrough. The metamorphosis brought to them at that instant would be incomparably huge.
With regards to the Blood Transformation Palace Master, he had a Heaven Lord for a father. When he was going to break through, the Blood Transformation Heaven Lord would certainly give him some prepared spiritual sources. However, there was no such thing as too much of these things. Moreover, it was clear that his old man also needed spiritual sources. As a son, he nevertheless wanted to provide for himself as much as possible. He didn’t want to dip into his father’s savings.
Now, an apprentice had presented him with filial piety. What this apprentice gave was a spiritual source, which was a type of gift that no one could refuse.
Perhaps the quantity wasn’t considered much, but spiritual sources were extravagant. This half-bottle weighed anywhere from a thousand to nearly two thousand kilograms. For low Cosmic Realm powerhouses, they would use up around fifty kilograms every time they cultivated. Thus, this amount wasn’t bad at all.
The spiritual sources that the Blood Transformation Palace Master had personally saved up were few in number. Most of all, after he became a palace master, it was hard to go out for long periods of time to search for more. The amounts grasped in his hands were only twice as much as what this apprentice had offered.
Consequently, it had to be said that this was incredibly enticing.
But it was also because spiritual sources were so precious that the Blood Transformation Palace Master realized that he hadn’t given enough to his apprentice. If he accepted this gift, he truly would feel like his hands were scalded. It was somewhat embarrassing.
Although he knew that this wasn’t everything, it similarly wasn’t the reason to accept it — Even if it was only fifty kilograms of spiritual source, the value was extremely high.
The most important thing was that spiritual sources were too rare.
After hesitating for a moment, the Blood Transformation Palace Master laughed and said: “This thing is hard to come by. This apprentice should save it until your realm is profound enough to utilize it. If you give this to your teacher, I’m afraid there won’t be enough for this apprentice to use when the time comes.”
Hearing what was said, Tianheng faintly smiled: “The remaining half is kept at this disciple’s place. I’ve made preparations, so there’s no need to worry. This disciple will have many experiences in the future, and the distance to the Cosmic Realm is a long road. It’s possible that I may come across more spiritual sources in the future.”
Then, he said: “Master’s current strength is profound. While I can’t say which day you’ll break through, if you aren’t able to store up some more, this disciple won’t feel at ease. I hope that master doesn’t refuse. Otherwise, wouldn’t this disciple be seen as an outsider? That would cause unavoidable harm to the fellowship between master and apprentice.”
Tianheng’s speech had reached this extent. The Blood Transformation Palace Master wasn’t an argumentative person. He only said: “Once this apprentice is about to break through and you don’t have enough spiritual sources, come to this teacher’s place. At that time, this teacher will think of every possible method to replenish this disciple’s spiritual sources. I’ll make sure that there won’t be the slightest hidden danger when this apprentice breaks through.”
Tianheng smiled and said: “In that case, this disciple thanks master in advance.”
The master and apprentice looked at one another and exchanged smiles. The friendship between them had developed a bit further.
The Blood Transformation Palace Master originally regarded Tianheng with importance, but seeing as how his apprentice was so filial, he became increasingly preferential towards Tianheng. The gaze he used to look at Tianheng was clearly more benevolent.
Tianheng took out a small box: “During this trip, Ah Zuo accompanied me. Because that cave abode was set up by a pharmacist, many spirit medicines were accumulated inside and left behind for future generations. Ah Zuo acquired lots of spirit medicines through various tests. Among them, a few of the most precious ones can’t be utilized by him with his current strength. Thus, he asked this disciple to pass along his kind intentions on his behalf, and to present this stalk of spirit medicine to master.”
The Blood Transformation Palace Master startled: “Ah Zuo is so filial, too?”
The meaning in his words somewhat held the intent of treating Gu Zuo as a younger generation as well.
When this palace master spoke, his every word weighed as much as nine cauldrons. Back then, since he said that he would treat Gu Zuo as a half-disciple in front of both of them, he didn’t show any implications that Gu Zuo was irreverent.
Tianheng offered the small box: “Ah Zuo has always been considerate. He treats this disciple with meticulous care, too.”
The Blood Transformation Palace Master took this small box, and opened it to take a look. His expression slightly shifted at once: “A Purple Sunset Cloud-Embracing Mushroom? It has already taken a human shape, its eyes, ears, mouth, and nose are distinct, and its countenance is quick-witted… Its spirituality is fifty-five percent.”
Tianheng had a smile on his face: “This disciple and Ah Zuo had little experience with spirit medicines, and we could vaguely estimate that the spirituality was between fifty and sixty percent. They ought to be things used for refining earth-level pills. Therefore, we wanted to present this to master.”
Spirit medicines with fifty to sixty percent spiritualities were precious items to the Blood Transformation Palace Master. In particular, this Purple Sunset Cloud-Embracing Mushroom was classified as an exceptional medicinal herb for tempering the physical body. Although it was always used by Cosmic Realm martial artists, if small amounts of mushroom juice were used to refine medicinal decoctions for a Royal Realm powerhouse to soak in every day, their body would certainly become even stronger. And if a Royal Realm martial artist wanted to break through to the Cosmic Realm, it would be very easy to fail if their body wasn’t strong enough.
Tianheng presented a spiritual source that could swiftly strengthen the qi ocean after breaking through. Gu Zuo presented a Purple Sunset Cloud-Embracing Mushroom, which could be used for strengthening the physical body before and after a breakthrough… It could be seen that the two were extremely considerate. Items for showing filial piety were also used with a common purpose.
The Blood Transformation Palace Master’s heart warmed slightly. Meanwhile, the smiling expression on his face became less strange and more incredibly handsome: “This thing is great. Your teacher won’t refuse these gifts.”
He continued: “It may be assumed that, besides being grateful for this teacher’s protection, Ah Zuo did this more because he keeps this apprentice in his thoughts. As the saying goes, love the house and its crow. As such good brothers, this apprentice must treat Ah Zuo with even more sincerity.”
Tianheng took pleasure in hearing the Blood Transformation Palace Master praise Gu Zuo. At this moment, after being urged, the edge of his lips naturally curled into a smile and his eyes carried a soft light: “Master, rest assured. Ah Zuo treats me well, so I’ll certainly return it a hundred fold.”
The Blood Transformation Palace Master was quite satisfied, and spoke a few more words with Tianheng. From the numerous servile races under his control, he selected one race, and granted it to Tianheng. He said: “This isn’t your teacher taking a hands-off approach. Rather, this apprentice needs manpower. Don’t refuse this kindly regard of your teacher.”
Tianheng heard this, and received this gift without further reciprocation.
This pair of master and apprentice chatted for a while longer. As the apprentice showed filial piety, the master showed attentive care. Then, Tianheng bade farewell to the Blood Transformation Palace Master.
The palace master had a straightforward temperament. Having heard what was said, he brushed his sleeve: “If there’s anything you don’t understand, come and ask me at any time.”
Tianheng smiled: “Yes, master.”
Soon after, Tianheng turned around and departed. At the doorway, he encountered an elderly man with a solemn and respectful expression. This elderly man escorted Tianheng out of the Blood Transformation Palace Hall, and delivered a thousand-person servile race into Tianheng’s possession. The elderly man stated: “From this day forth, the Shadow Morphing Black Cat Race listens to the young master’s orders.”
Tianheng looked at the Blood Transformation Palace Hall in the distance: “This disciple humbly accepts.”
Shortly thereafter, Tianheng received and put away a servile tablet, which contained the slave brand of this race.
After he returned to the manor, all of the members of the Shadow Morphing Black Cat Race had long been appropriately sorted, and had established a presence ahead of time. At this moment, the number of useful people within the compound had increased.
Tianheng distributed and assigned the Shadow Morphing Black Cat Race. Gu Zuo distantly perceived his dear big brother’s approach, and naturally, he mentally called out from the bottom of his heart.
Unexpectedly, Tianheng called back to him.
[Ah Zuo, come to my side.]
Gu Zuo set aside the work in his hands. Similarly, he summoned a wild bird to ride it. He flew down the main peak and into the forest.
This area was spacious and wide. Tianheng stood next to a wooded mountain, and the location in front of him was densely-packed with silhouettes.
Gu Zuo was a little puzzled: “Big brother?”
Tianheng saw Gu Zuo arrive, called him over, and pointed at the people ahead: “Ah Zuo, take a look.”
Gu Zuo carefully observed, and discovered that this was another nonhuman race.
These people lacked the appearances of the aged and elderly. All of them looked youthful and charming. The men were tall and slender, and the women were dainty and delicate. Also, regardless of gender, even though some were in the middle of childhood, they still possessed the early makings of great beauty. This race ought to have attracted the gazes of other people, but their temperaments were somewhat gloomy and subdued. If Gu Zuo hadn’t actively gone to observe them, he would’ve only felt that they were the same as streaks of shadow. He almost wouldn’t have paid attention to their facial features.
As for the characteristics of this nonhuman race…
Their ears were slightly pointed. They possessed a long, slender tail behind them, which was coiled around their waists. The tail fur was a pure-black color, and it was glossy and beautiful. The tail itself was like a lengthy whip. It was quite unusual.
Gu Zuo looked here and there, until he finally said with hesitance: “…Cats?”
Tianheng smiled: “That’s right. This is the Shadow Morphing Black Cat Race. The entire race is described as beautiful, and it’s only at the moment of death that their youthful looks wither to desiccated bone. An aged cat will leave behind a skeleton in just a few breaths of time.”
Gu Zuo nodded his head, but without any of the amazement he had when he looked at nonhuman races in the beginning.
Among his big brother’s subordinates, there were mice, monkeys, oxen, and dogs. Now, there were cats, too. There was nothing strange about it.
However, since Tianheng called Gu Zuo over, it naturally wasn’t only to introduce him to these cat race members. Tianheng spoke forthrightly: “Although the strength of this race isn’t as good as that of the hound and ox races, their agility is fleet-footed and doesn’t lose out to the mouse race. Moreover, because their figures are flexible and nimble, this racial group is like a troop of shadows. Their methods of concealment are better than that of numerous battle slaves, and they’re the first choice for assassins, death soldiers, and secret guards.
“Ah Zuo, even though you have hound race battle slaves by your side for protection, while they excel at guarding, they’re a bit lacking when it comes to following trails, assassinating, or actively attacking. Master presented this race to improve my self-defensive capabilities. Among them, there’s two Ascendant Realms and thirteen Atomic Realms. Ah Zuo, choose one Ascendant Realm and two Atomic Realms for yourself.”
Currently, the ones following Gu Zuo were one Ascendant Realm and two Atomic Realm hound race members. Tianheng wanted to double Gu Zuo’s manpower, but the increase to his defensive strength would be far greater.
After Tianheng finished speaking, he gestured to the Shadow Morphing Black Cat Race.
From within that crowd, fifteen people promptly walked out. The two figures in front were one man and one woman. Behind them, the thirteen people were comprised of eight women and five men.
Amid the other many nonhuman races, males made up the majority of powerhouses. However, the Shadow Morphing Black Cat Race went in the other direction. Among their top powerhouses, females occupied the majority.
This, on the contrary, increased the race’s lethality.
Gu Zuo looked at these shadow cat girls, and his heart quailed a little.
When the people of this world were at relatively low realms on the path of martial arts, unless they were naturally gifted, they generally followed the societal conventions of his own world’s feudalistic era. Women were disadvantaged in martial arts because of physical limitations — It was better to have medicinal beads to become pharmacists. However, at the same time, this also meant something else. Under these conditions, women who could fight for their lives and become top powerhouses usually had strengths that were superior to numerous men at equivalent realms! Such a woman’s fighting experience was usually more bountiful, and the extent of her actions was often more ruthless.
The entire shadow cat race possessed extraordinary appearances. The women were even more attractive and beguiling, and they were experts in assassination… When thinking about it, one would realize just how scary these ladies were.
But at the present time, Gu Zuo needed to pick out a few guards from these scary women.
He swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
After pondering for a short while, Gu Zuo pointed to the male shadow cat among the two Ascendant Realm martial artists. As for the two members from the Atomic Realm group, he chose…the sole pair of husband and wife.
Of course, Gu Zuo originally had selfish motives. If he didn’t choose the beautiful women, it was possible for them to become his big brother’s secret guards! His heart flooded with vinegar… But after giving it a second thought, he gave up on that course of action.
In the shadow cat race, a large portion of the powerhouses were women. Even if he selected three of them, there were still quite a few remaining. What difference would this make? It was better to quickly put away these little thoughts of his.
Hence, Gu Zuo curbed his state of mind, and told Tianheng the people he chose.
Tianheng looked at these three people, and nodded his head with satisfaction: “Ah Zuo’s eyesight is pretty good. From now on, these three will stay hidden and safeguard Ah Zuo.” Then, he commanded those Shadow Morphing Black Cat Race members, “All of you will regard Ah Zuo with the utmost importance. Do not be the slightest bit neglectful. Do you all understand?”
The shadow cat powerhouses answered: “Yes, young master!”
After that, the three people Gu Zuo selected swayed for some reason. Subsequently, the spaces where they originally stood seemed to warp — In an instant, they thoroughly vanished.
Gu Zuo blinked his eyes: “Big brother, they really can hide better than Ao Ying and the others…”
If he completely discharged his psychic power, he could probably still discover traces of Ao Ying and the others’ existences. However, he continuously searched and scrutinized for these shadow cats. When it seemed like he could faintly discern a hint of a ripple, this ripple promptly faded away.
But after Gu Zuo spoke those words, the qi emissions where Ao Ying, Xi Ying, and Feng He originally hid ended up vanishing even more thoroughly. Every last trace of them was concealed.
Gu Zuo forced a smile.
Okay. This was a type of competition, too.
Actually, this was very good…
Once Gu Zuo finished choosing, the majority of the Shadow Morphing Black Cat Race’s powerhouses followed Tianheng. Only a small number were arranged elsewhere.
Apart from the young, several hundred of the most powerful members of the thousand-person racial group formed secret guard troops. The others were mostly assigned to cooperate with hound race members to protect outstanding pharmacists.
Immediately following which, Tianheng led Gu Zuo back to their base of operations.
The head manager and second manager received their orders once more. They realized that Tianheng was going to enter secluded cultivation, and the time of his emergence was undetermined. During his absence, news of his seclusion couldn’t be leaked to outsiders. All business matters and difficult decisions would go through Gu Zuo for him to finalize.
Gu Zuo: “…”
Suddenly, he felt that the burden of responsibility on his shoulders had become heavier.
However, he still nodded his head and accepted.
Indeed. When his big brother was in seclusion, he wouldn’t have felt at ease to hand these important matters over to other people… In that case, it was unavoidable for him to put in more effort.
After the managers departed, the two needed to make preparations for Tianheng’s seclusion.
Gu Zuo sat across from Tianheng: “Big brother, this time, you’ll first absorb the Wondrous Water. I’ll refine some corresponding medicinal pills. Once big brother feels any pain, swallow a few pills, and it’ll be much better.”
That’s right. There were certain procedures to absorb the Wondrous Water. Besides relying on one’s own body cultivation method, it was even more important whether one’s willpower was strong enough.
Due to Tianheng’s bitter experiences in childhood, his willpower surpassed many others. However, this didn’t guarantee that nothing would go wrong for him — At the very least, under Gu Zuo’s concerns, Tianheng wouldn’t be going into battle empty-handed.
As a result, due to Gu Zuo’s requirements, Tianheng promptly soaked in medicinal decoctions to strengthen his internal organs. This was to withstand the Wondrous Water’s corrosion. At the same time, he needed to take medicinal pills of other attributes to conduct a neutralization. When the Wondrous Water entered the kidneys, this was to prevent the surplus power from triggering an imbalance in the other organs.
…In the end, no matter how gentle or mild the Wondrous Water was, it was classified as a foreign substance. The course of events after it was absorbed and before a new cycle was established couldn’t be neglected in the least.
Tianheng complied with his “doctor’s advice”.
Off to the side, Gu Zuo talked with him. He had a smile on his face as he listened to Gu Zuo chatter away. For every word and sentence, he would respond in kind. This showed that he heard things clearly, and remembered everything in his heart.
Just like this, once Gu Zuo finished saying what needed to be said, that tense mood of his slightly eased. After that, he suddenly stood up: “Big brother, hurry and prepare to soak in the decoction. Later on, I still need to refine pills. Quickly make your own adjustments so that you’ll be in your best state! There can’t be any mistakes!”
The corner of Tianheng’s mouth curled up, and his smile was gentle and soft: “Ah Zuo, rest assured. This elder brother will definitely be more careful. I’ll certainly succeed.”
Gu Zuo’s face warmed up. After absentmindedly nodding his head, he turned around and left.
He was very busy. He was very, very busy. Within a single day, he settled everything…
The enormous stone doors in front of him slowly closed, swallowing that tall and slender figure inside. Not a trace of qi emissions spilled out.
Gu Zuo silently looked at these doors. When he thought about the figure who previously entered, he became a little foolish and distracted.
Ah, big brother had gone into seclusion…
Who knew when he would come out?
He calculated the things that he had prepared for his big brother. There were all kinds of medicinal pills that supplemented profound qi and strengthened the internal organs. There were all sorts of suitable medicinal cuisines that he meticulously cooked. Then, there were other various and useful medicaments.
He thought of anything that could happen. For this time’s secluded cultivation, the most important thing was to absorb the Wondrous Water. As for the Wondrous Metal, because it was yin-aligned and the metal element could promote the water element, if everything went smoothly, then the Myriad Manifestation Supple Gold could also be absorbed. However, if the equilibrium was barely established and wasn’t steady, the Wondrous Metal wouldn’t be absorbed for the time being. It had to be at least until the elements were stabilized.
It was because of this that the duration of Tianheng’s seclusion became even more uncertain.
Gu Zuo took another fleeting look before turning around and leaving.
Contrary to what one might expect, he would’ve liked to make transmissions to keep an eye on his big brother’s situation. But on the off-chance that his big brother was in the middle of a critical juncture, his actions would undoubtedly cause harm to his big brother. As a result, he pretended that he didn’t have this ability, and went to research the source sand…
Therefore, after Tianheng entered seclusion, Gu Zuo squeezed into the medicine refining room, and practically entered his own half-seclusion. He began researching day and night.
Although the system told him that there was a method to refine this thing into a medicinal pill, any problems would increase a hundred fold if he had to fumble around on his own instead of having a pill prescription. After Gu Zuo started studying it, he discovered something else. As expected, the path of medicine refinement was vast and boundless. The deeper he researched, the shallower he realized his understanding was.
Just like this, he researched for seven to eight days.
Gu Zuo blended and refined many types of medicinal ingredients of different natures with the source sand. He only perceived that the source sand was a new kind of substance. The originally impurity-free mud had also become a part of it. The radiated energy and the mud had already fused. Even if one wanted to refine it, both parts had to be refined together. There wasn’t a scenario where the radiated energy could be separated… Apart from this, there really were some medicinal ingredients that could cause a reaction with the source sand. But despite these reactions, it didn’t mean that they could be formed into a pill. He needed even more ingredients to conduct his experiments.
There were some of these medicinal ingredients in Ten Ultimates Sect. While Gu Zuo could go and exchange for them, his big brother was currently in secluded cultivation. Although Tianheng said that he could mobilize the items in the storehouse, he didn’t know whether his big brother had any arrangements for those items. As a result, he decided that he would simply go straight to Shijue City, and stroll around the medicinal ingredient stores there.
— In any case, he had a few good things in his possession. In addition, Tianheng had left him many spirit crystals and profound crystals. At that time, he could directly buy anything he wanted to buy!
With such thoughts, Gu Zuo stood up without the slightest hesitation.
Because he had been staying in the medicine refining room for a long time, he was somewhat unkempt. He quickly took a bath in the mountain hot spring, and made himself clean and presentable. He summoned a wild bird, and ordered it to take him outside the sect.
“Ao Ying, Xi Ying, Feng He, and the shadow cats — You guys come along with me.”
Several figures flashed over, and quietly sat on the other side of the wild bird.
Gu Zuo didn’t deliberately initiate any conversations with them. He only patted the wild bird’s back, and gazed into the distance beyond Ten Ultimates Sect.
Almost an hour passed by when the wild bird smoothly landed outside Ten Ultimates Sect.
Gu Zuo bade it to return. After that, he informed his bodyguards: “You guys can stay hidden, but leave one person to journey together with me.”
After the few guards exchanged glances, the steadiest Ao Ying took a step forward. He quietly stood behind Gu Zuo.
Gu Zuo smiled: “Okay, let’s go.”
Ao Ying said: “Yes, Pharmacist Gu.”
T/N: Thanks for the corrections, Charysa.
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