Nightfall

Long Qing approached it.

Because of nervousness, it was a little difficult for him to grasp the small porcelain bottle. He trembled so badly that he became clumsy. As he approached the porcelain bottle, the light fragrance leaked out. He could not help closing his eyes, revealing an intoxicating expression on his face.

After smelling the medicine, he felt his body become light like a white feather as if all the filth and grime in his body were purified in one minute, and he would fly with the wind toward the Firmament.

After a long time, he opened his eyes. He looked at the bottle in his hand surprisedly and trembled— just by smelling it, he produced an illusion of ascending to heaven and becoming immortal. What if he took a pill?

He became so excited and scared as he figured out what the pills were. The extreme excitement and painful hesitation went back and forth in his eyes.

Many years ago, he graduated from the Revelation Institute and became the Second Priest of the Judicial Department. Probably because both he and Ye Hongyu were young, the Great Divine Priest of Judgment on the black jade throne felt no threat from them; they held casual chats on occasion.

In a certain conversation between the Great Divine Priest and Ye Hongyu, standing aside, he happened to hear the name of this pill. It was called the Heavenly Power Pill.

The Heavenly Power Pill was so precious that even the West-Hill Divine Palace stored none of it. Even though it could not make a man ascend to heaven and become immortal, it could prolong a man’s life for ten years. Furthermore, it could help cultivator break through a realm.

As long as cultivators took the pill, they could reach the Seethrough Realm immediately from the No Doubts State. Even the success rate of reaching the Knowing destiny State could be raised over 50%.

Considering such a strong efficacy, the Heavenly Power Pill was the supreme temptation to cultivators. However, there were few cultivators who knew about it.

Long Qing knew of them and he was sure the pills in the small porcelain bottle were just that.

He used to be the Divine Son of West-Hill, but his Snow Mountain and Ocean of Qi were ruined by Ning Que’s arrow at the moment when he was going to break through. Then he turned into a loser who could not cultivate. He used to be self-degradating and became a beggar to scramble for bloody bread in an old temple in the Capital Cheng. Until he met the Taoist in indigo in the South Sea, he was able to cultivate again. Unfortunately, although his Snow Mountain and Ocean of Qi were repaired, his cultivation was no longer the same. He had to re-do it from the beginning which was harder than before.

Losing everything he ever had was more painful than being a poor man who had nothing since the very beginning. No one was more eager than Long Qing to regain his previously attained realm.

Therefore, the small porcelain bottle was more alluring to him than anything else in the world.

Long Qing held the bottle in his hand and smelled it. His hands were trembling so badly that even his entire body began trembling next. The expression on his face was ceaselessly changing and he struggled and hesitated painfully. His sweat came out like a stream in the mountain and quickly soaked up his Taoist robe.

Suddenly, he bit his lips and drank the blood to clear his mind and roared like a beast.

With the painful roaring, he suppressed the greed and desire in his eyes and became calm and peaceful. He was no longer trembling. He looked at the bottle for the last time and took a deep breath. Then he put the bottle back in its original position.

It was not because the temptation of the Heavenly Power Pill was not enough for him. If he could, he would open the bottle and swallow all of them without any hesitation. He was not a gentleman like the Eldest Brother of the Academy and he would never give up a chance to recover his cultivation.

He put the bottle back just because of a simple reason— it was not the best opportunity and Haotian did not allow him to take the pills.

Although the abbey dean had told him that his will was Haotian’s will, the world was not only about him and Haotian had multiple wills. His uncle told him that it was his fate to use the medicine tripod, so what he could do now was to take the medicine tripod. The Heavenly Power Pill was not in his destiny, at least, not now, because he knew his uncle was watching him somewhere.

Long Qing found the medicine tripod and the two herbs he needed, then he locked the door to leave. He went to the Refining Room behind the Hall of Medicine. He took a bath and put on clean clothes. Then he began to refine the pills according to the Tomes of the Arcane.

The fire was ignited and the medicine tripod was being warmed up. The medicine began to melt and release the fragrance from the crevices of the tripod. A moment later, the fragrance filled up and then went out of the room.

Long Qing sat cross-legged beside the tripod and fixed his eyes on it, controlling the temperature and timing of the materials. He looked so calm and peaceful as if he had never seen the pills and he had not bitten his lips.

The extreme calm made him emit a dark aura, like a man who lost his soul. Only he knew that it was an illusion. His mind was clear and as cold as snow.

He sat quietly beside the tripod and waited, but he did not know whether he was waiting for the moment when the pills were done or the day he would be able to have the Heavenly Power Pill.

Zhishou Abbey was gradually enveloped in the night and the stars appeared.

The middle-aged Taoist was standing by the lake and watching his shadow on the water. He thought of Long Qing’s behavior and sighed. “The abbey dean was right. Long Qing will have a great future.”

There was also a glassy lake in the back of the mountain of the Academy.

The summer had come and the weather became hotter and hotter as days passed. However, the back of the mountain was still cool, especially the woods around the lake. Therefore, the Brothers and Sisters who used to stay in the mountain all came out and played here.

In the woods beside the lake, it was very noisy as the sounds of the musical instruments and quarrels could be heard everywhere, including the rhythm of Brother Wang Chi’s poems.

The Seventh Sister Mu You enjoyed both the melon seeds and the lively mood, but her most favorite thing was to sit beside the lake while doing embroidery. However, she finally could not stand the noise and hid in the small yard beneath the falls.

Therefore the pavilion in the middle of a lake was occupied by Chen Pipi and Ning Que who had been tortured by the noise for a long enough time and didn’t care about them anymore. Chen Pipi shook his head and said, “I don’t understand. Second Brother’s yard is so close to the falls and the sounds of the water are so loud. Is it more peaceful than here?”

“Don’t change the subject. I’m not Aunt Wu and I’m not interested in rumors,” said Ning Que. “You should tell me the truth. That year when I was about die, what did you feed me?”

In that spring, he was badly hurt by the Psyche Master Yan Suqing in Chang’an and lost his consciousness in the Vermilion Bird Avenue. The Divine Talisman of the Vermilion Bird attacked his body. Thanks to the big black umbrella, he was able to return to the Academy, but he was dying. He thought he would die, but he did not. The more amazing thing was that his Snow Mountain and Ocean of Qi inside him were rebuilt.

Ning Que could never forget this. On that day, only Yu Lian and Chen Pipi showed up in the old library. The former only sent him some bread and a bowl of water, so the one who saved him had to be Chen Pipi.

Chen Pipi was not the person who would do good things without seeking recognition. He admitted that he saved Ning Que with a precious pill, but he did not tell Ning Que what kind it was.

“Why do you have to know?”

Chen Pipi looked at him annoyedly and said, “You already had one. Don’t dream to have more.”

Ning Que said honestly, “If you have more, why can’t I eat another?”

These days, Ning Que and Sangsang had been recovering in the back of the mountain. They listened to the music, watched the chess game, and chatted. Every day was joyful and leisurely. Except for the bad mood of the empress, nothing would affect them.

The spring was gone and the summer had come. It was the time for them to go to the Lanke Temple. Having learned that the Elder of the Lanke Temple could cure Sangsang’s disease, instead of thinking the matter that he could be the Son of Yama or that he could be suppressed by the Light of Buddha, he began to prepare for the trip. The most important thing was Sangsang’s health.

Having stayed in the back of the mountain for a long time, Sangsang was much better. However, he was still worried. Therefore, he asked for a lot of medicinal materials from his Eleventh Brother and this time, it was Chen Pipi’s turn.

Chen Pipi said, “There were only three of them. One for myself and one for you. There is nothing left.”

Ning Que counted for a long time with his fingers and said seriously, “Brother, you are really not good at Mathematics. Obviously, there is one more.”

“Is this a matter of Mathematics? Is it?”

Chen Pipi furiously said, “Were you seriously doing the math with your fingers for such a long time? Are you kidding me?” “The last one is supposed to be kept for life-saving! But you ate the one I prepared for Senior Brother Ye Su; I have to give him the last one. There’s none left.”

“Mr. Ye Su is too great to need your pill.”

Ning Que said pitifully, “Brother, I know I don’t deserve the pill, but can you give the pill to Sangsang, in case she falls ill during the trip.”

Listening to this, Chen Pipi did not say anything. Then he raised his head and said, “Okay.”

Ning Que had figured out that it must be very precious and he was going to give up. To his surprise, Chen Pipi agreed so easily.

He suddenly recalled that Chen Pipi had to return to Zhishou Abbey. He realized that he asked too much. Then he stood up and walked toward the lake. “I’m kidding. Why do you take it so seriously?”