Chapter 38
Formal disciple.
You XiaoMo enters behind Fang ChenLe. As they cross the courtyard, he sees a few magic herb plots. Of course there are more magic herbs in the magic herb gardens, but You XiaoMo stares at these because the magic herbs in the plots are all high level magic herbs.
These high level magic herbs are those above level six. He read about them before so he recognizes them. But usually these are only needed by high level mages because low level and mid level mages are restricted by their level. Even if they have high level magic herbs, they are unable to refine any magic pills. But these high level magic herbs are only at the seedling stage, a long way from maturing.
Upon entering, Fang ChenLe doesn’t bring him to Kong Wen’s room, but walks towards the backyard. After a few steps, a figure in blue is visible. That person has his back towards them, squatting next to a magic herb plot. He seems to be fiddling with some magic herb.
You XiaoMo freezes for a moment. This person is Kong Wen but he clearly heard his voice coming from inside the room just a moment ago.
“Master, I’ve brought him.” Fang ChenLe says respectfully to the middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man wipes his hands and gets up. He turns around saying: “ChenLe, go ahead and help Master infuse a pot of tea. I have some things to discuss with your Little brother.”
Fang ChenLe happily agrees. Before leaving he surreptitiously winks at You XiaoMo and mouths the word ‘Congratulations’. You XiaoMo is puzzled. Why would Elder brother congratulate him?
“Do you know what this magic herb is?”
After Fang ChenLe leaves, Kong Wen again turns towards the plot of magic herbs behind him. The first thing he asks is related to magic herbs.
Although he did not call him by name, You XiaoMo knows that he is the one being asked. That’s because he is the only one here. He cranes his neck to look at the magic herb at Kong Wen’s feet. Luckily he has seen this magic herb in the books. After some thought, he names it.
“If I remember correctly, this should be the level seven magic herb, Goldthorn herb.”
Goldthorn herb is just like its name implies. No matter the leaves or stems, they all appear golden. Every time the sun shines, the radiance of the goldthorn herb is very dazzling. Usually one would not be able to look directly at it at this time. But it is also the best time to identify the goldthorn herb.
Luckily for You XiaoMo, he has been reading a lot these few days. Although there are not many level seven magic herbs in the books, there are simple descriptions of their characteristics. So with one look, You XiaoMo is able to identify it. As far as he knows, one that glitters so brightly is the goldthorn herb. Furthermore, since Kong Wen is a high level mage, his courtyard is mostly planted with high level magic herbs. Just like those few magic herb plots he saw when he came in. Putting these two things together, he guesses that it must be the goldthorn herb.
Kong Wen nods in apparent satisfaction, “Not bad, even though you only entered the sect for less than a month, but you can already recognize the goldthorn herb. That’s not easy. Furthermore, Master has already heard from Uncle Zhao from the Hall of Enchanted Herbs. He says that you are very diligent in refining magic pills. Even though your inborn talent is lacking, you have the will to improve. So Master has decided to receive you as a formal disciple!”
You XiaoMo is temporarily giddy from having being hit by the golden goose that fell from the sky. Kong Wen wants to accept him as a formal disciple? No wonder Elder brother congratulated him before leaving. Looks like this is the reason.
“What is it? Are you not willing?” Kong Wen asks seeing that he doesn’t respond for a long time.
You XiaoMo immediately comes back to his senses, stammering: “Willing, disciple is willing. Mas ______ honorable Master, please accept this one disciple!”
Saying this he kneels down and gives Kong Wen a proper kowtow banging his head on the ground. Of course he’s just copying what he has seen on TV.
Kong Wen doesn’t stop him, fully feeling that he deserves this act of respect. He later allows him to stand up, “Master has six other disciples below me. From today onwards, you will be number seven. They are all your seniors. The one that brought you here today is your Elder brother Fang ChenLe. I trust you already know each other. Later he will bring you to meet the other five disciples.”
“Yes, Master!” You Xiao replies respectfully.
After that, Kong Wen says a few words. The usual things that he should pay attention to. From start to finish, he doesn’t bring up the matter between him and Ling Xiao. As if the only reason he called him over was to accept him as a formal disciple.
When it is about the Wei period, that is to say 1 pm, Kong Wen finally lets them leave. Fang ChenLe simply brings You XiaoMo to the canteen. Although it is a little late, the cook would usually leave some food for Fang ChenLe. Because he knew that they would be late, Fang ChenLe told the cook to leave aside a little more this time.
After lunch, Fang ChenLe brings him to meet a few of the other disciples. Being able to become a disciple of Kong Wen is a matter of intense pride in Earth peak. Kong Wen is a high level mage, one of the top in the Mage division. He has the highest power in the whole of Earth peak. Even though Earth peak is ranked last among the three peaks, there are still a lot of people that want to be his disciple. Although there are so many disciples in Earth peak, only six can be considered Kong Wen’s disciples. So that means that it’s not easy to become Kong Wen’s disciple.
A good master can steer oneself to the right direction, cutting down the number of detours. You XiaoMo didn’t think that a high level mage like Kong Wen would accept his as a disciple. So he never had such extravagant hopes. He had only thought that if no one is willing to accept him as a disciple, he would just learn everything from books. Who would have guessed that such good news would come crashing down on him. Although happy, You XiaoMo is still a little uncertain. Why would Kong Wen accept him as a disciple? He believes that it can’t be just because he is diligent. There must be some other reason but he can’t figure it out. So it’s best to drop it. After all, being a disciple of Kong Wen will only bring him more good than harm.
Kong Wen has six disciples. Among them is Fifth brother Zhao DaZhou nad Third brother Wu Yan both of which he has met before. Zhao DaZhou is the one he met on the way to the canteen before. When he was following behind a group of people. It’s also that Big brother Zhao that let him know that one must have connections with the higher ups in order to get good work assignments. That was what made him give up that idea. But this Big brother Zhao has always had connections since young. He is the son of Uncle Zhao who is in charge of the Hall of Enchanted Herbs. His nature is completely different from that of Uncle Zhao. He is rather fond of showing off but his basic character is definitely not bad. Otherwise, Kong Wen would not have accepted him as a disciple.
As for Third brother Wu Yan, he is the one that was there when he first tried refining magic pills. He was the one Elder brother asked to look after them. A very amiable and patient big brother. Then there is Fourth sister Nan GongYing and Sixth brother Mao Can. Elder brother brings him to meet all four of them one by one.
Hearing that Master accepted a disciple right after coming out of seclusion, all four of them were very surprised, especially Zhou DaZhou. However, they didn’t show an extreme reaction since Elder brother is personally bringing him around so Master must have already accepted him as a disciple. If Zhou DaZhou had not give him a thinly veiled appraising look, You XiaoMo would have been quite pleased with this trip.
As for the Second brother Fu ZiLin, You XiaoMo doesn’t get the chance to meet him. According to Elder brother, he went down the mountain a few days ago to look for a magic herb. Furthermore, this Second brother has a completely different character than the rest of them. Referred to as a Little genius, Fu ZiLin is actually someone with an poker face, also falling into the class of people that are habitually silent. Among the disciples, the only one that is used to his nature is Elder brother Fang ChenLe. Furthermore, Elder brother is the only one that can talk to him. If others we to talk to him, they would be ignored. So it seems that Fu ZiLin doesn’t have many friends even though he is a little genius when it comes to refining magic pills.
When You XiaoMo reaches back to his room, the sun is about two hours away from setting. Because he spent the whole morning with Ling Xiao practicing [Heavenly Soul Scroll] in the room, and then going to meet Kong Wen, and then going around to meet the other disciples, it took up a lot of time. As a result, he hasn’t refined a single magic pill today. Thinking that Ling Xiao may be back at any time to collect magic pills, You XiaoMo rushes to bring out his cauldron and prepares to refine magic pills as soon as he returns to the room.
This time refining magic pills is not the same as before because he has already practiced [Heavenly Soul Scroll]. Ling Xiao had told him that he can make use of [Heavenly Soul Scroll] at any time, especially when refining magic pills.
Because it is necessary to stimulate the soul force when refining magic pills, from ample to lacking, from lacking to ample, an unending cycle of consumption and recovery, making use of [Heavenly Soul Scroll] alchemical techniques, one can continuously challenge the limits of the soul force. This way one can achieve a breakthrough and increase the soul force at the same time.
Because he had already tried it out a few times in the morning, You XiaoMo easily gets the [Heavenly Soul Scroll] alchemical technique to resonate with his soul force. In this way, he can achieve twice the result with half the effort. Because of this, You XiaoMo purposely slows down his speed in order to avoid making any mistakes.
As a result, by the time the sun sets, You XiaoMo only refined ten magic pills. Even then, he is so tired and covered in sweat that he can hardly lift any of his fingers. Luckily there is the magical lake water. After drinking half a bottle and taking a short rest, You XiaoMo continues.
Originally worried that Ling Xiao would come over and criticize him for not having the magic pills ready, You XiaoMo was on edge for over two hours. In the end, waiting until the middle of the night, when most people have fallen asleep, there is still no sign of Ling Xiao …….
Notes:
meat pie – golden goose
Wei period – 13:00-15:00