Chapter 4: Concealment

The dense forest soon returned to peace, but now there were dozens of corpses on the ground and a strong smell of blood in the air. However, Ling Tian had not moved more than ten steps away from the carriage the entire time.

After all, the members of the Fire Wolf Gang were basically refugees from around Shitang Town. They became bandits in the mountains only out of desperation to survive. Even if they knew a few moves, their cultivation could not be that impressive. Most of them were at the early or middle stages of the Flesh Body Realm, with very few reaching the high stage. Only their leader, Red Wolf, had by chance become a strong warrior of the Condensed Essence Realm.

Being a high-stage Condensed Essence Realm cultivator himself, Ling Tian’s strength could completely overpower the members of the Fire Wolf Gang. With a weapon like the fine steel meteorite bow in his hand, wiping out a leaderless group of Fire Wolf Gang members was an extremely easy task.

After dealing with all the Fire Wolf Gang members, Ling Tian did not show any excitement. In fact, Ling Tian had experienced countless bloody battles. Brutally killing a group of Flesh Body Realm martial artists was hardly enough to get him excited.

Ling Tian knew that today’s ambush was almost a certain death situation for him and Mu Xian. The reason they were able to reverse the situation and survive was entirely because he had instantly killed Mu Guitu.

Also, Red Wolf’s unexpected death was another major reason.

Ling Tian carefully recalled the entire incident. As a result, his gaze fell upon the carriage, because throughout today’s events, Mu Xian’s words and actions were strange in every way. The scene of Mu Xian instantly killing Red Wolf at the end was especially unforgettable in Ling Tian’s mind.

Thinking about the two completely different encounters he had with Mu Guitu, and remembering Red Wolf’s panicked and stunned look when facing Mu Xian’s attack, Ling Tian naturally understood that it was not because he and Mu Xian were too strong, but because something was wrong with Mu Guitu and Red Wolf.

Soon, Ling Tian discovered the fresh medicinal mud ball on the ground beside the carriage. He then noticed the dark green traces on the hilt of the black sword. He quickly lifted the beaded curtain, urgently grabbing Mu Xian’s hand.

When Ling Tian found that Mu Xian’s palms still had remnants of dark green liquid residue, his expression became extremely strange.

“A Yuan-Dispelling Potion? And a fresh one at that? Could it be that Xian’er concocted this Yuan-Dispelling Potion on the spot? And Xian’er isn’t actually the useless trash everyone calls him, but a Spiritual Pharmacist?” Looking at the sleeping Mu Xian, a flash of fervent excitement and pleasant surprise appeared in Ling Tian’s eyes.

“If Xian’er is a Spiritual Pharmacist, then he can regulate his own body. Not only would his life no longer be in danger, but he might even be able to embark on the path of cultivation, becoming a legend in Shitang Town just like his father.”

“If Xian’er is a Spiritual Pharmacist, then the sealed Spiritual Power of his mother might also be unsealed. The family would gain another respected Spiritual Master, and the Mu Family’s combat power would immediately rise to the top in Shitang Town.”

“If Xian’er is a Spiritual Pharmacist, then all the crises the family is facing could be easily resolved…”

“…”

Sitting by the carriage, the more Ling Tian thought, the more excited he became. He was so excited that he didn’t even notice that Mu Xian inside the carriage had woken up.

The moment Mu Xian opened his eyes, he found a large face, round like a millstone, right in front of him. The other person’s feverish gaze felt like it was about to melt him.

It took a while before Mu Xian recognized this as Ling Tian’s face. He sighed in relief and softly asked, “Uncle Ling, have all the Fire Wolf Gang members been dealt with?”

Ling Tian nodded, then eagerly asked, “Xian’er, quickly tell me, was the Yuan-Dispelling Potion from before something you made? Are you a Spiritual Pharmacist?”

Upon hearing this, Mu Xian was stunned for a moment. He gently pulled his hand free from Ling Tian’s grip, took out a handkerchief from his sleeve, and while wiping the medicinal mud residue from his hands, he replied, “Uncle Ling, you think too highly of me. It’s true that I made the Yuan-Dispelling Potion, but how could becoming a Spiritual Pharmacist be so easy?”

Seeing that the fervent light in Ling Tian’s eyes did not diminish in the slightest, Mu Xian continued to explain, “I just became familiar with medicine due to my long illness, so I know a bit about the properties of common herbs. And by chance, I came across the recipe for the Yuan-Dispelling Potion while browsing in the academy’s library. That’s how I learned how to make it.”

“Is that really all?” Ling Tian stared at Mu Xian for a long time. Seeing that Mu Xian’s eyes looked completely sincere, and that he didn’t seem to be brushing him off, Ling Tian couldn’t help but feel deep disappointment. The light in his eyes also dimmed accordingly.

Seeing this, Mu Xian felt a twinge of guilt in his heart. The reason he was hiding his alchemy skills from Ling Tian was because he was currently in a dangerous situation, surrounded by unknown enemies lurking in the shadows. If he remained a useless person, the hidden enemies wouldn’t pay much attention to him. But if he exposed his alchemy skills, those enemies would definitely seek to eliminate him immediately.

Although Ling Tian was trustworthy, he was a straightforward person who wore everything on his face, so Mu Xian didn’t want to take that risk.

“Uncle Ling, even though I’m not a Spiritual Pharmacist, I have already cultivated Spiritual Power. Who knows, maybe I’ll become a Spiritual Pharmacist in the future?” Seeing Ling Tian’s lost expression, Mu Xian felt a pang of compassion and gently comforted him.

“Spiritual Power? You mean you’ve embarked on the path of Spiritual Cultivation? But don’t you have Inherently Blocked Veins? Spiritual Cultivation requires even more robust veins than Martial Cultivation!” Hearing Mu Xian’s words, Ling Tian’s face was full of disbelief, and he exclaimed in surprise.

“Uncle Ling, Spiritual Cultivation does require relatively strong veins, but it places even greater emphasis on soul strength. I’ve endured so much pain and suffering since childhood that my soul has long been tempered to be incredibly resilient. So, by a stroke of luck, I cultivated Spiritual Power. If I hadn’t cultivated Spiritual Power, I wouldn’t have been able to concoct the Yuan-Dispelling Potion, let alone successfully ambush Red Wolf.” Mu Xian smiled and patiently explained.

Hearing Mu Xian’s explanation, Ling Tian’s eyes lit up, and many of the doubts swirling in his mind were instantly resolved.

In this world, besides martial cultivation, there was also spiritual cultivation. However, compared to cultivating the martial way, cultivating the spiritual way was much more difficult, so the number of spiritual cultivators was far fewer than martial cultivators.

“Xian’er, you’ve suffered a lot all these years, and it’s been hard on you.” After a long silence, Ling Tian patted Mu Xian’s shoulder and sighed softly, “If those people who constantly call you a useless trash knew you are a revered Spiritual Master in their eyes, I guess they would be so ashamed they’d wish they could crawl into a mouse hole?”

Hearing this, Mu Xian rolled his eyes inwardly. He didn’t know if this Uncle Ling had too high expectations for the former owner of this body or was just easy to fool. If cultivating Spiritual Power was that easy, there wouldn’t be so few spiritual cultivators in the world.

Although the former owner of this body had endured great pain and humiliation due to his Inherently Blocked Veins, that pain and humiliation had not strengthened his soul. Instead, they had severely damaged it. That was also why the former owner died from excessive fright during the first ambush.

The reason Mu Xian was able to cultivate Spiritual Power was that his Divine Soul from later times was exceptionally strong. Furthermore, he had brought extremely rich spiritual cultivation experience and a Supreme Grade spiritual cultivation technique from the future. This was what enabled Mu Xian to set foot on the path of spiritual cultivation.

Learning that Mu Xian was not as useless as he had imagined, but was instead a genius who could potentially become a Spiritual Pharmacist, Ling Tian was in a very good mood. The hard lines on his face clearly softened a lot, and a look of relieved happiness flashed in his eyes from time to time.

“Xian’er, I’ve heard that Spiritual Pharmacists are extremely meticulous when concocting Spiritual Medicine, and they also have a measure like ‘success rate’ for their concoctions. What is your success rate for making the Yuan-Dispelling Potion?” After chatting for a while, Ling Tian asked Mu Xian with a serious expression.

Seeing the nervous look on Ling Tian’s face, Mu Xian naturally knew the purpose behind his question.

After all, the Yuan-Dispelling Potion could be considered the nightmare of Condensed Essence Realm martial artists. Any Condensed Essence Realm cultivator, upon smelling the Yuan-Dispelling Potion, would find their Yuan Power disappearing into thin air in a short time. Condensed Essence Realm fighters accustomed to fighting with Yuan Power would become less effective than Flesh Body Realm fighters after losing their Yuan Power.

And currently in Shitang Town, there were only a handful of True Essence Realm cultivators at best. Therefore, Condensed Essence Realm cultivators were the main combat force and decisive strength for the various families in Shitang Town. The Mu Family’s greatest crisis also stemmed from those few Condensed Essence Realm cultivators among the Elders and the branch families.

If Mu Xian could easily concoct the Yuan-Dispelling Potion, then the Mu Family’s crisis would cease to exist. Moreover, the Mu Family could completely escape the suppression of the other two major families with the Yuan-Dispelling Potion, and could even make those two families bow down and submit.

“Uncle Ling, the information you’ve learned is not mistaken. Concocting Spiritual Medicine is indeed a very delicate process. Any insignificant mistake or variation can affect the entire concoction. In the whole process of making Spiritual Medicine, factors like Spiritual Sense, Spiritual Power, technique, and the quality of herbs are all extremely important. I am currently only a First Rank Spiritual Master in the Soul-Settling Realm. Being able to concoct the Yuan-Dispelling Potion before was a high-pressure, above-average performance. Asking me to repeat that process is almost impossible.”

After careful consideration, Mu Xian replied softly to Ling Tian.

While saying this, Mu Xian lightly clenched his fist. This was an unconscious habit of his when he lied or faced difficulties.

The Yuan-Dispelling Potion was indeed difficult to concoct because it had exceptionally strict requirements regarding the preservation time limit of the ingredients and the Spiritual Sense of the Spiritual Pharmacist.

The preservation time issue could be solved, but Spiritual Sense was an unavoidable pain point for all Spiritual Pharmacists. Some Spiritual Pharmacists might consciously train their Spiritual Sense from the day they began cultivating Spiritual Power, yet they might still not be able to successfully concoct a single Yuan-Dispelling Potion in the end.

Precisely because the Yuan-Dispelling Potion was so difficult to concoct, even though it was only a Second Rank potion, many Ninth Rank Medicine Saints might not necessarily be able to make it. The concoction of the Yuan-Dispelling Potion had even become a method of assessment and competition among Spiritual Pharmacists.

However, this was only for other Spiritual Pharmacists. This rule did not apply to Mu Xian at all.