Chapter 609: Shi Hao
Li Qiye eventually sighed and uttered: “I’m still alive after so many years.” He was quite dejected and sentimental at the moment, but he had to bury some of these old memories deep in his heart. There were a few secrets, a few people, a few matters that Li Qiye had no choice but to seal and act as their guardian by himself!
Right when Li Qiye had many complicated thoughts, the young man carried a bowl of hot porridge inside: “Come, come.” He was very enthusiastic and spoonfed Li Qiye. With a taste, Li Qiye knew right away that there was some ointment inside, so he asked: “This is a healing porridge, you are an alchemist?”
The youth answered: “Hahaha, I am only a Junior Alchemist. At the moment, I am working as a county envoy for the Stonetreading County.”
Li Qiye drank the porridge while chatting with the young man. He made up an identity since he was already used to doing this.
The youth revealed many things about himself. His name was Shi Hao, a messenger of the county who was also responsible for growing Jadeblood Bamboo.
A county envoy also had another title — alchemy apprentice. However, Shi Hao was a Junior Alchemist. His status was much higher than that of an apprentice.
He came from a prestigious clan in the Giant Bamboo Country. Unfortunately, the clan had fallen several generations ago, and there was nothing left from the time of Shi Hao’s father. His parents only managed a pharmacy.
Although he was a golem, like he said, one-fourth of his blood belonged to the human race. Shi Hao said that his ancestor married a human girl, a great expert.
From this, it was clear that his ancestor was once extremely distinguished. The Stone Medicine World was the land of golems and demons; humans were a rare sight. If one could marry a female human cultivator, especially an expert, then the person must have come from a great clan.
After generations of decline, the clan had become nothing by his father’s time.
Shi Hao was the only male child of the clan and also its only inheritor, so he truly wanted to revive his clan. He was very average when it came to cultivation, but he was a bit talented with alchemy so he chose the path of an alchemist.
This path was not strange at all, because the Stone Medicine World specialized in alchemy. It could be said that this world had the most alchemists out of the nine.
Since the start of time, two-thirds of all the Alchemy Emperors had come from the Stone Medicine World. From this, one could see how the path of alchemy flourished in this place.
There was also a saying in the Nine Worlds: if there are ten alchemists, then seven of them came from the Stone Medicine World.
This world’s alchemy was famous everywhere. Countless cultivators had come running to this place in search for medicine.
Although Shi Hao had chosen the path of alchemy, finding success was not easy.
First, refining alchemy was very expensive. Whether it was physique pastes, longevity medicines, fate pills, or ointments, each cauldron required many ingredients. A single batch would range from one hundred to one thousand!
In addition to the financial requirement, one also needed the guidance of a teacher. Outside of secret family recipes for ointments, most recipes for longevity medicines, fate pills, and physique pastes were well known. However, doing a good job of refining them was rather difficult. Alchemy was a form of cultivation; flame control, methods of dan refinement, and incubating the cauldrons were all secrets of an alchemist, secrets that would they would not easily part with.
Finally, one required a good Heavenly Cauldron to refine good medicines. A bad one would have a negative effect on the outcome no matter how skilled an alchemist might be.
Shi Hao lacked all three. His clan had fallen so they had neither money nor a network. Because of this, he was a mere envoy of the Stonetreading County.
Alas, this was still a chance for Shi Hao. Although the Giant Bamboo Country neither had a system for alchemists nor great knowledge of alchemy, it still had several great guest alchemists.
Shi Hao wanted to rise step by step. As long as he contributed enough while amassing experience, he would then have a chance to enter the county government and have the opportunity to meet some of these alchemy masters.
Another reason why he chose not to join an alchemy lineage but the Giant Bamboo government was because he was an only child. If he joined an alchemy lineage, then he would always be a disciple of that sect. However, he was the only male child of his family; he carried the torch of reviving the clan, so he didn’t want to become a disciple of another sect.
Taking a government post was different. This was only a job that required loyalty to the country, so Shi Hao could still maintain his lineage and clan.
He was planting Jadeblood Bamboo on this “Jadeblood Mountain”. This place was desolate and not many people came here normally. But now, there was someone to chat with, so the talkative Shi Hao revealed everything about his family and more.
“I almost forgot that you are wounded, please rest.” After chatting for a long time, Shi Hao scratched his head and said: “I’ll be right next door. You can call for me if you need anything.”
Li Qiye heaved a sigh of relief after Shi Hao was gone. Li Qiye smiled at the thought of arriving at the Stone Medicine World. A bit later, he commanded: “Come out and heal my wounds.”
A Fate Palace appeared and an Immortal Injury Peony flew out. An ordinary peony would have limited effects on injuries, but this was an Immortal Medicine; it was way above a King Medicine. Its spirit had been living for eight to nine million years. It was the finest grade medicine for treating injuries; it allowed flesh to grow on bare bones and could spout out limbs that were previously torn apart. It could also dispel curses and even had a chance of curing a mortal wound.
Any cultivator would go crazy over this kind of Immortal Medicine. It was a fact of life that cultivators would eventually be wounded, so with an immortal root on them, they would still be able to recover even when their bodies were torn asunder.
This Immortal Injury Peony was one of the several Immortal Medicines that followed Li Qiye from the lost garden of the immortals.
Li Qiye was completely at ease with it curing his wounds. Although his injuries were grave, they were not a problem when he had the peony. With its help, after just three days, the broken bones and torn muscles all reconnected without any harm. However, his internal injuries still needed more time to recover.
Shi Hao saw Li Qiye getting up from the bed and exclaimed: “You healed this fast? That is incredible.” When Shi Hao saved Li Qiye earlier, his body was covered with wounds, but now he could walk again.
Li Qiye replied with a smile: “It was no big deal. My skin and bones are thick and I get injured a lot, that’s why my wounds recover so fast.”
Shi Hao saw that Li Qiye was walking normally and became happy in his stead: “I was worried that your injuries would become worse and was about to ask the county lord for some more ointment.”
“No need.” Li Qiye smiled in response: “I have some ointment with me that has decent effects. I just need some more time to rest and everything will be fine.”
The youth was an honest person, so he accepted this explanation without questioning it and said: “Then stay here until your wounds are fine before leaving.”
“Then I will have to bother you for a bit longer.” Li Qiye said with a nod.
Li Qiye stayed at Shi Hao’s little room afterward. The Immortal Injury Peony quickly cured his wounds. If someone else was injured to the same level, they would be bed-stricken for one to two years, even with the best of ointments.
His body had been struck by the silver maelstrom. A wound from a maelstrom of this level was difficult to recover from. It was even more difficult than creating an entirely new body because it was difficult to drive away the harmful remnants, let alone to recover.
However, since Li Qiye had an immortal root, it was no problem at all. Complete recovery was only a matter of time.
He had only just arrived at the Stone Medicine World and had plenty of time, thus he was not in a hurry.
While healing, he began to study the Death Scripture. This was a supreme heavenly scripture that had existed for billions of years, so Li Qiye read it with a solemn expression.
The book he was holding was the original. It was birthed by the heaven and earth, unlike the Physique Scripture he had before.
The one he had was placed in martial arts manuals while the real one was hidden away. Thus, when he was holding the original Death Scripture, rain and storms appeared in the sky as strange images materialized up above. The appearance of such a supreme treasure heralded great fanfare.
However, Li Qiye was ready with the Heaven Sealing Pentagate; he sealed off his room before taking the Death Scripture out so he could comfortably read it inside.
The strange images from the Death Scripture were incredible, especially when he turned the pages. Immortal words appeared along with mantras. Nevertheless, these images were sealed in the gates, so they didn’t alarm anyone, not even Shi Hao on the other side of the wall.
As one of the Nine Grand Heavenly Scriptures, the Death Scripture was naturally peerless and unique. Its mysteries were boundlessly profound and difficult to comprehend.
However, it was not as prohibitive for Li Qiye. Since time immemorial, which merit laws had he not seen or tried to comprehend? More importantly, Li Qiye completely understood the Physique Scripture and had become used to the heavenly scriptures, so he was quite familiar with its style.
For these scriptures, even the most brilliant geniuses would require decades, centuries, or maybe even longer to understand one of them. However, to truly grasp their profundities, they would need thousands of years — there was no exception.
Nevertheless, Li Qiye had millions of years of experience of researching countless merit laws. He had an advantage that no one else had. No genius could compare to him!