Chapter 163: Life's Path Heads Straight for the Abstract
Bai Xuanling occupied Chu Xingchen's original best spot by the window.
She lay lazily in the chair, her two feet extending directly out the window, lightly tapping the tabletop while humming an unknown little tune.
Her mood seemed very good.
Chu Xingchen, who had been driven from his spot, was also in a very good mood, after all, he had sold the spot to Bai Xuanling for one hundred spirit stones.
A big spender is indeed a big spender; what they spend isn't spirit stones, but mood and sentiment.
Thinking of this, Chu Xingchen couldn't help but wave his hand again, lowering the alchemy speed a bit more.
It was still a bit too fast now. Slowing it down further would lay a good foundation for future price increases.
He wondered when he would also be as wealthy as Bai Xuanling's state of mind.
But Chu Xingchen thought for a moment, perhaps this state of mind had nothing to do with spirit stones, but should be linked to cultivation.
If he had the strength of tribulation transcending...
As people returned, tasks naturally had to be reassigned.
It was still the same saying: the sect does not support idle people, except for Bai Qing.
The task of putting pills into bottles was now handed to Li Yingling, but since pills were only occasionally finished, most of the time she was writing a summary and review of the matter.
Writing about what she could have done better, but didn't for certain reasons.
Cui Hao was the same, currently writing furiously with a serious expression, his pen moving swiftly.
The more he wrote, the more a look of satisfaction appeared on his face, and from time to time he would nod as if pleased with himself.
This expression also made Chu Xingchen a little puzzled. This kid... was he writing a summary or a storybook?
As for Lin Luoyu, who originally did the bottling, Chu Xingchen had her go to a corner to emo— that would give her more feeling.
Bai Xuanling remembered something, her gaze leisurely turning to Chu Xingchen at the side:
"Kid, you're quite capable of handling things, but your skill in teaching disciples is a bit lacking."
Chu Xingchen casually replied: "Hmm? How does it sound like you've taught quite a few?"
Bai Xuanling said leisurely: "You could say I've seen how a pig is run. Yingling is still young and a bit immature in how she handles things. Many of her decisions can't be called wrong, but they are too cautious, deeply afraid of making mistakes. Perhaps due to a lack of experience, she lacks confidence."
"This is your fault. It's fine for you not to intervene, but at the very least, you should exchange some thoughts with your disciple. If what she says is wrong, you can guide her. If what she says is right, you should affirm her."
"Teaching this way, a good seedling might just be cultivated by you into a mediocre person."
Chu Xingchen, who originally thought Bai Xuanling was just looking for something to do and teasing him, now had a serious expression upon hearing this.
Chu Xingchen thought for a moment and felt that her words were fair. He was indeed a novice when it came to teaching disciples.
He thought that after suffering a loss, he would understand a pitfall, and learning to review was good.
But after thinking about it, this method was indeed a bit crude.
After all, Li Yingling was not Li Xingtian.
Chu Xingchen nodded and replied sincerely: "Hmm, thank you for the reminder. I understand."
Bai Xuanling looked at him with surprise. She thought this kid would argue back a bit, but unexpectedly, he truly looked like someone who had been reminded.
She just didn't know if this kid was just humoring her or if he genuinely thought what she said was reasonable.
A point was made once it was mentioned.
But after looking at the kid for a while, Bai Xuanling sensed something was off. She asked with some suspicion:
"Isn't your alchemy speed a bit off? When you were refining pills in your sect before, the speed should have been at least three times faster, right?"
Chu Xingchen immediately retorted with a serious expression:
"Predecessor, what you're saying isn't right! How is this slow? Is it that big sister is usually a bit too casual when refining pills and not focused at all?"
"For every pill I refine, I must be fully focused. Otherwise, how could there be such an extraordinary medicinal effect?"
"Furthermore, the more I refine, the more I earn. In terms of reason and emotion, I would not slack off."
Bai Xuanling stared at Chu Xingchen before her for a moment. Her intuition told her that this kid was definitely plotting something, but what he said was indeed reasonable.
Li Yingling stopped writing her summary and looked at her own master.
She had indeed learned these bad habits from her master; she was familiar with this line.
Cui Hao, who had been writing furiously, heard these words. His gaze first fell on his senior martial sister, then he looked to his master, whose expression was serious and gaze sincere.
This line... he was also very familiar with it.
Chu Xingchen noticed their gazes and confidently stared back—Rebellious disciples! Why are you looking at your master now?
——————
Central Continent.
Inside a small mortal tavern, the tavern, which should have been very noisy, was now completely silent.
Everyone's eyes were fixed on a middle-aged Daoist who was drinking and coughing at the same time.
This middle-aged Daoist looked rather sloppy, or rather, rather horrifying.
His blue Daoist robe was almost entirely covered in dried bloodstains, making it look like a blood robe, which was quite terrifying. At first glance, anyone who didn't know better might think he was some evil cultivator who had come to feed.
However, if one observed the Daoist for a moment, they would soon go from being afraid that he would kill you, to being afraid that he would die here.
Everyone in the tavern watched him pick up a peanut and swallow it, only to vomit a large mouthful of blood, dyeing the peanuts and wine before him a new color.
Li Xingtian was currently sitting opposite this man. Even having lived an extra lifetime, at this very moment, he truly felt that his previous life had been somewhat lived in vain.
For some reason, ever since meeting his master...
His life's trajectory seemed to have quickly taken a sharp turn, veering from the path of iron-blooded struggle straight into another road. In his master's words, it was—abstract!
His master would always say some novel, unheard-of words, but this word always seemed to summarize the meaning of things that were hard to articulate.
The middle-aged Daoist lifted his sleeve, already full of dried bloodstains, and casually wiped the fresh blood from the corner of his mouth.
He directly took out a bottle of Blood-Replenishing Pills from his spatial ring and, without hesitation in front of Li Xingtian, downed the entire bottle.
Zhang Yuanshan finished the Blood-Replenishing Pills, then picked up the dark red aged wine before him and drank it down without a care.
After drinking, he complained in a somewhat hoarse voice: "What a nuisance. Every time I drink or eat, I take more Blood-Replenishing Pills than peanuts."
"Might as well just use Blood-Replenishing Pills for a chaser next time. Forget the damn peanuts."
Even Li Xingtian, who had been tempered by his master, found it hard to keep a straight face hearing this.
If he could do it all over again, Li Xingtian would absolutely never choose to meet this man again, or rather, he should not have had any further interaction with him.
But life doesn't offer that many choices; most of the time, one can only passively accept.
Zhang Yuanshan was currently afflicted with a strange poison. To a Golden Core True Person like him, this poison was not fatal, just somewhat troublesome.
This strange poison first attacks the blood. In a short while, it can infect all the blood in the body, then destroy the body through the blood.
But how could a Golden Core True Person be so easy to deal with?
An ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator might have their entire blood infected in just a few breaths and die an unnatural death, but a Golden Core True Person was different. It would take at least three days.
When Zhang Yuanshan was first poisoned, he frantically sought out many medical cultivators, even spending heavily to find a medical cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage.
This poison wasn't considered powerful, only effective on cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage.
But this poison was very strange; its strangeness lay in how hidden and difficult to clear it was.
But no matter how strange, there was nothing in this world that money couldn't solve, unless you didn't have money.
The price quoted by the Nascent Soul cultivator was far more than Zhang Yuanshan could accept.
However, since he had paid the basic consultation fee, the Nascent Soul cultivator, out of a healer's benevolence, recommended a method for Zhang Yuanshan that didn't cost much.
But it was a method that was rather life-consuming.
The Nascent Soul medical cultivator stated—as long as the poison was kept at the stage of infecting the blood, wouldn't that be the end of it?
Once Zhang Yuanshan broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm, the poison would resolve on its own without medicine!
Zhang Yuanshan immediately cupped his fists and praised him angrily—A divine doctor saving the masses.
Li Xingtian, after hearing the whole story, also greatly admired the two of them.
Truly, in this vast world, there are all sorts of wonders.
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