Chapter 161: Old Man Fei Begging to be a Medicine Servant
Although the matter with the Dragonteeth Guard this time had remained within a small, tight knit circle, Jiang Chen’s name became a hot topic that no one could veer away from.
However, Jiang Chen paid no heed to the goings on in the outside world.
He now had gained both the identity of a noble and a manor. He finally had a place to stay within the Skylaurel Kingdom, and all was proceeding on the proper path.
“The next step is to assail the spirit realm. With my current foundations, assailing the spirit realm isn’t much of a problem. The key point is cleaving open the spirit ocean. The level of my spirit ocean will determine the height of my future path in martial dao. Unfortunately, I currently haven’t had much dealings with spirit realm practitioners, and don’t have much direct knowledge of this world’s spirit practitioners.”
Jiang Chen tried hard to think back. He’d had a few dealings with the spirit realm disciples of the Purple Sun Sect back in the Eastern Kingdom. When he’d arrived in the Skylaurel Kingdom, he’d had a few more run-ins with the Northern Palace disciples.
Of course, the Northern Palace was just a satellite site of the Precious Tree Sect, and their so-called spirit realm practitioner were just all dabblers.
Apart from Liu Can who’d truly stepped into the first level of the spirit realm, all the others were merely at the half-step spirit realm.
It was rather the disciples of the Purple Sun Sect whose strength had been increasingly stronger.
“Forget that Xu Zhen, he’s not that much stronger than Lu Can of the first level spirit realm. Yu Jie’s level of training should be at the second level or even the third level of the spirit realm. Chu Xinghan, who’d appeared last, was greatly stronger than Yu Jie. He likely has the strength of a fourth level spirit realm, or even higher. However, from the power they deployed, they seemed to be greatly limited. They seemed to be continuously limited towards the water attribute. Could it be that, from the very beginning, the creation of their spirit ocean was favored towards the water attribute?”
He truly had had limited exposure to spirit realm practitioners, and temporarily hadn’t met a single person that he could spar with peacefully.
However, Jiang Chen was different from the practitioners of this world. His knowledge of martial dao exceeded even that of the premier practitioners in this world.
Of course, he hadn’t been able to cultivate in his past life, but he had used a mind full of theoretical knowledge to train countless domineering geniuses. Any one of these geniuses could likely trample over the preeminent practitioners of this world if they arrived here.
Therefore, Jiang Chen was self confident. He wasn’t lost.
“After last time’s enlightenment, I already know that the so-called twelve meridians true qi is actually a bridge, a process in which one transforms from mortal to spirit. The spirit realm is merely the first step in shaking off the mundane. To truly control the heavens and reshape the power of reincarnation, who knows how long this road will be…”
Jiang Chen was well aware of how long and arduous the path of martial dao was. Even if he held advantages that others didn’t have, he still couldn’t relent in the slightest on this road.
“My memories from my past life are my advantages, but my resources of this level are obviously quite poor. I must leverage my own advantages to the best of my abilities in order to collect the best resources of this world for my use.”
Jiang Chen knew that the path of martial dao wasn’t a fight against the heavens, but a fight against people.
Resources were limited, but practitioners, coming in one generation after another, were unlimited. Unlimited people fighting over limited resources. It was a given that some would become dragons, and others would become ashes.
Jiang Chen had also undergone significant contemplation before swindling the people who he’d gone after this time.
Killing a minor character like Lu Wuji would only vent a moment’s worth of ill will. In Jiang Chen’s eyes, Lu Wuji was just an annoying, bouncing cockroach. There were plenty of opportunities to kill him.
But the spirit ingredients that he’d garnered were ones that he desperately needed.
A process was necessary to break through to the spirit realm. He needed some supplementary aid to help him decrease the amount of winding paths on his road of martial dao.
“Young master, the weird old man from the Qingyang Valley is here again.”
Just as Jiang Chen was meditating, Xue Tong came in with a report.
Jiang Chen had paid visits to the Southern Palace and the Myriad Treasures Palace. But he’d purposefully set old man Fei from the Qingyang Valley aside so as to stoke his anxiety.
Jiang Chen had grasped old man Fei’s mindset and was of a mind to train this stubborn old man. So he’d kept whetting old man Fei’s appetite and made it so that the old man would voluntarily come find him.
“Jiang Chen, you darned kid, you simply lack heart, don’t you? Tell me, hasn’t this old man been a staunch and loyal supporter? I was openly hostile to Shangguan Yi over your issue. You’re a fine one alright, you haven’t spoken anything to me in all these days. This angers me, this truly angers me.”
This strange old man gurgled tea in large sips as he complained whilst his eyes stared shiftily as Jiang Chen.
“Old man Fei, you can’t blame me for this. You also know that I’ve just arrived in the capital and all sorts of random, complicated events have cropped up in my face. See, if it hadn’t been for you this time, it would’ve been an unknown if I’d even been able to make it out of the Dragonteeth Guard’s Black Dungeons.”
Elder Fei particularly liked to hear words like these. He chuckled, and then seemed to immediately recall that he was here in protest. Shouldn’t he be more serious?
He drew his face downwards, “Jiang Chen, you told me to come find you at the capital last time. Now that I’m here, how do you plan on arranging this matter?”
“Old man, did you know that your acting really sucks? Don’t act deep and mysterious, that takes technique and isn’t something you’re good at.”
Elder Fei rolled his eyes and sprawled out on a chair. “Anyways, I’m going to stay here even if you don’t give me an explanation today. I’ll eat your food and sleep in your house. I’m going to follow you even when you go to the outhouse, and will stick by your side when you go find a woman. You’re stuck with me!”
Jiang Chen was speechless. The old man absolutely was an amateur at concealing his feelings, but he was definitely a pro at being a rascal.
“Old man, must you really?”
“Heh heh, someone with a thin face won’t have a full belly. Those with thick faces will eat their fill. I don’t have anything else to do, so my face is quite thick.” The old man didn’t find his behavior shameless, but was rather proud.
“Fine then!” Jiang Chen flicked his middle finger at old man Fei and then immediately asked merrily. “So speak, just what do you want?”
“Isn’t that bullshit? I want you to introduce me to the wise senior.”
“And then what?”
“I’ll ask him how to refine the Renewal Purity Pill then.” The old man was a bit impatient. “I say, Jiang Chen, are you trying to go back on your word? Why do you keep repeating things we’ve already agreed upon?”
“Go back on my word? Do I look like that sort of person? I mean, what if he isn’t willing to teach you after I introduce you? What then?”
This question was one of the ones that old man Fei was most worried about. When Jiang Chen asked him, he was instantly dumbfounded and murmured. “What if he’s not willing to teach? Not willing to teach? What then?”
He then smashed a fist into his thigh and bit off his words, “If he’s not willing to teach me, then I’ll hail him as my master. That’ll work, won’t it?”
“Take him as your master? Do you think such a learned, erudite sage such as him would take an old and decrepit man like yourself as his disciple?”
Old man Fei was stunned again. This was true. That esteemed person had no relationship with him. On what basis would that esteemed person have to take him, a frumpy old man, as a disciple?
“If it comes down to it, I’ll even be his medicine servant and his follower. How about that?” Old man Fei was willing to lay down everything as he spoke through gritted teeth.
“Wouldn’t that be an injustice for you?” Jiang Chen chuckled.
“What do you know?” Old man Fei was delightfully proud. “This is why we say you young folks are as short sighted as mice. You think being a medicine servant or follower for someone is embarrassing. Why don’t you think that a great character who is able to grasp the Renewal Purity Pill is a person whose existence has ways to heaven. To follow at the side of such a great character as this and learn the tiniest bit of anything would result in endless benefit! Ai, your hair isn’t even fully grown out yet. You won’t understand if I speak of this to you.”
Jiang Chen smiled mischievously. “Old man, does this mean that you’re willing to let go of all your moral principles in the name of learning?”
“What are moral principles?” The old man laughed oddly and asked tiredly, “Can I sell that for money? If I can, I’ll wrap all of it up and sell it.”
“Ai. Have you ever thought about what if that sage elder is younger than you? Won’t you think that you’re demeaning yourself?” Jiang Chen chuckled.
“You’re speaking like an outsider again. In the world of training, age is but a number. Many young geniuses have packs of old fogies by their sides. Do you think they feel it’s shameful? They’re happy as a clam! The strong are venerated, do you understand that?” Old man Fei spoke with sincere words and earnest wishes.
Jiang Chen was speechless. It seems that this old man really didn’t have principles. He wondered how badly the old man had been worked over by others to have such a unique perspective on life.
“Therefore, you’d be willing to sell yourself to whoever teaches you how to concoct the Renewal Purity Pill?”
Old man Fei laughed dryly. “I wouldn’t even bat an eye if I sold the entire Qingyang Valley, much less myself.”
“Do you mean that?” Jiang Chen laughed lazily.
“Truer words have never been spoken. Hey, I say, can you cut the blather? When will you introduce me? Just tell me straight up!” Old man Fei was getting displeased.
A trace of a calm and composed smile hung at the corners of Jiang Chen’s lips as he looked at the strange old man scratching his ears and head in embarrassment.
“Then kneel and kowtow.” Jiang Chen threw out this sentence diffidently.
“What?” Old man Fei rolled his eyes, but seemed to read some clues from Jiang Chen’s eyes in the next moment. His entire body seemed to have been electrocuted as it trembled violently, and he jumped up and leapt in front of Jiang Chen with greatly exaggerated movements.
“What, what did you just say? For me to kneel and kowtow?” Old man Fei’s voice was actually trembling, as agitated as a man who’d been willing to die, but suddenly heard words that there was a medicine that would help him come back from the dead in this world.
“What? You’re not willing to? Alright, then it seems like all your heroic utterances were jokes? Forget it, forget it, pretend I didn’t say anything.” Jiang Chen reached out a finger and waved it.
“Don’t, don’t do that.” Old man Fei had a fawning expression on his face. “Jiang Chen, no, young master Jiang, please speak more clearly.”
“I’ve already told you to kowtow and take the oath, have I still not been clear enough? Old man, your powers of comprehension are so poor that it seems I must thoroughly reconsider whether or not to accept you as my medicine servant.”
“You… you accept me as your medicine servant?” Old man Fei widened his eyes as his tongue curled in his mouth, beams of unbelievable shock shooting out from his eyes. “You’re… you’re that sage elder?”
“Mm mm, your comprehension isn’t that bad after all. But, I’m not some sage elder. You can treat me as the sage elder’s representative, do you understand?”
“Understood, understood. You’re the sage elder’s treasured disciple.” Old man Fei was so happy that his smile reached his eyebrows and his old face was wreathed with fawning smiles. “Right?”
Seeing that Jiang Chen didn’t respond, old man Fei seemed to suddenly understand something as he sank to his knees and kowtowed. “With the heavens as my witness, if young sir Jiang Chen can pass onto me the Renewal Purity Pill, I, Fei Xuan, will be willing to take his commands and be his follower, ready for his beck and call. If I have any other contrary thoughts, may the heavens and earth destroy me.”
So old man Fei’s name was Fei Xuan.
One had to say, this old man was quite something. He would joke around like a kid who’d never grown up, he was great at playing dumb and acting cute, but when he fixed his sights seriously on something, he would be more resolute than anyone.
