256 – Six ancient characters
What?
Lin Qingyi and Shopkeeper Sui were completely dumbstruck.
To become close friends？
Sworn brothers?
What kind of joke are you making, just what is this.
Especially Lin Qingyi. As he realised that Ye Qingyu might really become sworn brothers with his master, he also realised that his own position, would suddenly became much lower. Out of the blue, there was suddenly an extra Shishu who was of a higher status than him [TN Note: Junior brother of his master]. Furthermore, it was a Shishu that was so young that it made people shiver, just how could he go out and face other people from now on?
But he also understood at this moment, just how importantly his master regarded Ye Qingyu.
There was something abnormal about this whole situation.
Could it be that he had overlooked something?
Lin Qingyi pondered in his heart.
The other side.
Hearing this Ye Qingyu was taken aback, but he did not rush to reject. He seriously pondered this, then nodded his head: "Okay, then please accept the bow of your little brother Ye Qingyu."
Dugu Quan jumped up excitedly.
The personality of a childish old man was demonstrated fully at this instant.
"Hahaha, good, too good. I really like your personality of not hesitating at all, Little Ye." Dugu Quan burst into laughter, accepting Ye Qingyu's bow then held Ye Qingyu's wrist. "We don't need any nonsense ceremony or rites when we become sworn brothers. Our word is gold, and it will become roots that hold us together. I am older than you, though not any wiser. From now on, Little Ye you will have to call me big brother."
"Brother Dugu." Ye Qingyu said grinningly.
Becoming sworn brothers with Dugu Quan was something that was out of Ye Qingyu expectations.
This [Pill God of Snow country] was an extremely noble existence – there were many people that wanted to become connected to him. Lin Qingyi became the leading Pill Master of Hundred Herb hall, an extremely precious position only after becoming Dugu Quan’s disciple. Just solely by this fact alone, one could tell the respect and authority Dugu Quan commanded within Snow country.
Ye Qingyu naturally had some similar thoughts of receiving such benefits when he decided to accept the offer of becoming Dugu Quan’s sworn brother.
The matters regarding Song Xiaojun had always been a thorn in Ye Qingyu's side. It was unknown just what would happen to her in the future or how events would develop. Ye Qingyu knew clearly, that if he wanted to protect Song Xiaojun, while he did have to rapidly raise his own strength, he also had to raise his own network of connection and influence. It was the same in all matters; by undertaking multiple avenues of doing things, the success rate of something would increase.
Of course, apart from this, Dugu Quan's pure personality and his wholehearted desire towards the Pill Dao, also made Ye Qingyu have a great impression of him.
Ye Qingyu's Pill skills, apart from that incomplete [Pill mantra] that he had a third of, mostly came from the [Cloud top cauldron] and the one hundred and eight characters etched within the [Sole Will of the Heaven Earth Copper Cauldron]. Just by comprehending six characters from this enabled Ye Qingyu to refine [Mysterious Heaven pellets] with a hundred percent success rate. One could see just from this, just how profound and mysterious these hundred and eight characters were. It could definitely be counted as a sacred text of the Pill Dao.
Since Ye Qingyu did not have any plans to immerse himself in the Pill Dao, the [Sole Will of the Heaven and Earth Cauldron] in his hands would be wasted. It would very likely not be able to be completely comprehended by him and be used to its full effects.
Since it was like so, it was not such a bad idea to pass on this cultivation technique to someone who could truly utilise it to it's utmost.
After all, it was a product of painstaking effort from the ancestors of the human race. It was a precious resource that allowed the human race to continue to exist in a world filled with alien races where the strong devoured the weak. If he caused it to disappear because of his own greed and selfishness, this would be too great of a loss for humanity.
From Ye Qingyu's perspective, Dugu Quan was evidently someone who was incomparably qualified to inherit it.
But Ye Qingyu would definitely not freely gift over this Pill cultivation technique, he had to get some benefit from this.
With the [Sole Will of the Heaven and Earth Cauldron] in his hands, Ye Qingyu was not completely taking advantage of Dugu Quan.
"Student Lin Qingyi, pays his respect to Shishu Ye." Although Lin Qingyi had some reservations in his heart, he could not ignore the formalities of paying respect to his master’s brother. He quickly composed himself, and came over to pay his respects to Ye Qingyu.
"Qingyi, you don't need to be so formal." Ye Qingyu did not hesitate, openly accepting such a bow. A thought occurred to him, and he took out a piece of paper from his interdimensional pouch. Using a surge of inner yuan, he passed it over: "This can be our meeting present."
Lin Qingyi was befuddled, receiving the paper. With just a glance, he was utterly shocked.
"This….present is too precious. I don't dare accept." Lin Qingyi quickly returned the piece of paper with both his hands.
Written on the piece of paper, was namely the Pill formula for the [Mysterious Heaven pellet] inscribed with hundreds of fly sized characters.
Ye Qingyu gave a shocking present.
What one needed to know was, that according to the price agreed by both parties previously, this Pill formula was worth fifty pounds of Origin crystal.
This present, was really far too valuable.
"Could it be that Qingyi you don't like this present?" Ye Qingyu smiled. "I am only gifting this Pill formula to you personally. You should know yourself that if the Hundred herb hall wants to procure this Pill formula, they will still have to pay a dear price."
"Fine, fine, Qingyi stop being such a woman and accept it. You should fully understand the meaning of this Pill Formula. If you can use it well, both you and your family will benefit from it for the rest of your lives." Dugu Quan waved his hands, then turned to Shopkeeper Sui. "Go back and tell Sui Yiwen, if he wants the formula for the Mysterious Heaven pellet, then bring fifty pounds of Origin crystal. This is something my brother Ye requested, there's no room for any haggling or negotiation. Sui Yiwen has earnt himself a pretty penny in these years, taking some back is within reason."
Just how could Shopkeeper Sui dare to even utter half a word of objection at this statement?
Hundred herb hall was really the largest distributor of Herbs and medicine in Snow Empire, and had an Imperial background. There were many connections between it and the army. It could definitely be counted as a powerful force.
But in front of the [Pill God of Snow country], just by their natural supply chain relationship that existed between them, the Hundred herb hall was at an absolute advantage.
Because what Dugu Quan represented was not only himself and Snow Empire's Imperial organisation of masters, he also represented a huge network of connections between many sect leader level Pill Masters. This was behemoth like group of power.
More importantly, the reason why Hundred Herb was able to develop in such a successful way, was all due to Dugu Quan and his friends’ actions from the background.
Ye Qingyu heard this and waved his hand, saying: "Brother Dugu, there's no need to be harsh towards the Hundred herb hall. The previously discussed price was fifty pounds of Origin crystal, but right now I'm using the Pill Formula for two things. How about this, I'll only take thirty pounds of Origin crystal from the Hundred Herb Hall. As for how the benefits from the Pill formula is distributed, this will be entirely up to Qingyi and the Hundred herb hall, I won't interfere.”
"How can that be?"
Dugu Quan glared.
He had immersed himself into the character of Ye Qingyu's sworn brother extremely rapidly. He had already begun to think from the perspective of Ye Qingyu’s sworn brother, wanting to get some extra benefits for Ye Qingyu.
"Let's do it like so. I thank you for your good intention, but it's very likely there will still be many opportunities to work together with the Hundred herb hall in the future. I can't take too great an advantage." Ye Qingyu said with a laugh.”
Dugu Quan lowered his head in thought: "Fine….we'll do as Little brother Ye says."
Shopkeeper Sui hurriedly recorded everything by the side, his old face blooming like a chrysanthemum.
After all whether it was thirty or fifty pounds of Origin crystal, this did not have too great an impact to him. He was only a little insignificant branch of the vast Hundred herb hall family. After working for many years, he had only managed to become a manger in the Hundred herb hall within Youyan Pass. What he regarded as important was what kinds of benefits he would be able to gain from this incident.
He was the person who first discovered the Mysterious Heaven pellet, and as a result saw Dugu Quan and Ye Qingyu becoming sworn brothers. He was also the person who had successfully negotiated and acquired the Pill formula of the [Mysterious Heaven pellet]. Shopkeeper Sui clearly knew that as long as he clung tightly to such a relationship, then his future would definitely be prosperous. No one from the Sui family would dare topple his position.
The Lin Qingyi by the side was also incomparably excited.
Ye Qingyu had really given him a great gift.
The [Mysterious Heaven pellet] was a strategic class Pill. It's value was hard to estimate. The benefits from it were unending. Not only could he obtain a vast amount of wealth, his position within the entire Snow Empire would also surge. From his perspective, this was the largest breakthrough he had after following his Master for such a long time.
His position within his family, would also unquestionably rise like the boat following the tide.
The discussion in the room, quickly ended.
Ten minutes later.
Shopkeeper Sui ordered people to prepare a feast. Dugu Quan and Ye Qingyu sat at the highest position within Hundred herb hall, drinking and chatting, exchanging their thoughts about the Dao of the Pill —–of course, Dugu Quan,the [Pill God of Snow country] acted like he was force feeding a duck. He attempted to stuff all sorts of knowledge regarding Pills and Herbs into Ye Qingyu’s brain. He had already made up his mind, that he would definitely seduce Ye Qingyu to the great path of refining Pills.
Ye Qingyu was more than happy to listen.
The divine profoundness of the Pill Dao, when it was cultivated to the extreme, could also be invincible everywhere it travelled.
To be able to obtain some experience from listening to a Grandmaster like Dugu Quan, was obviously something that Ye Qingyu greatly desired. Although Ye Qingyu's ambitions did not lie in the Pill Dao, but he did not object to obtaining the mysteries and abilities that it could provide.
Lin Qingyi and Shopkeeper Sui stood by the side, one holding a wine jar and one holding a wine cup, servicing them by the side.
This chance was hard to come by. For Dugu Quan to so casually describe the mysteries within the Pill Dao. It was enough information for the two to carefully reflect over. Especially for Shopkeeper Sui. Even in his wildest dreams, he could not imagine he would come by such an opportunity. He was so moved his hand was shaking, nearly causing wine to be spilt.
Time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, a crescent moon had already risen to the sky already.
Seeing the time was quite late, Ye Qingyu gulped down the wine in his cup. "Brother Dugu, we'll speak to here today. I still matters I have to attend to."
Dugu Quan still wanted to converse some more, but could only nod his head in acceptance. "Fine, I'll still be within Youyan pass during this time. There are still chances to talk."
Ye Qingyu nodded his head, giving a significant glance to Shopkeeper Sui and Lin Qingyi by the side, not saying anything.
Shopkeeper Sui was extremely skilled at reading between the lines. Seeing the situation, he clasped his hands as he said his farewell; "I've suddenly thought of something I have to do. I still have matters I need attend to, I'll first leave."
After being slightly taken aback, Lin Qingyi finally realised what was happening. Although he did not wish to, but he also hurriedly departed.
"Little brother Ye, you….." Dugu Quan was slightly shocked.
Ye Qingyu smiled. He dipped his finger into the jar of wine, and placed it on the table, beginning to draw.
Very quickly, an ancient character that was like a painting appeared on the table.
Dugu Quan was perplexed, but as Ye Qingyu added stroke after stroke and finished drawing his expression transformed into one of astoundment. His gaze was transfixed onto the drawing on the table, as if he had fossilised. He had occupied such a high position for so long, and had experienced many many tumultuous events. But at this time, even his breathing grew rough and ragged.
"This is….."
Dugu Quan let out a gasp of shock.
The patterns on the table, in the eyes of other people, was like a childish drawing. But for Dugu Quan, a diagram of Pill making methods that was simple and unadorned emerged.
Ye Qingyu showed no expression, dipping his finger onto the wine again and continuing to draw.
In one breath, six characters were drawn.
When he had finished drawing the sixth character, the wine stains of the first two characters had already completely dried.
Dugu Quan sat there completely frozen, his gaze completely focused on the table. He did not move even an inch.
Seeing this scene, Ye Qingyu knew that Dugu Quan was already completely immersed within the mysteries of these characters. With the [Pill God of Snow country]’s cultivation in the Pill Dao, he would definitely be able to discern more things than him from these characters.
Ye Qingyu did not disturb him, standing up to depart.
———
