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Volume 2, Chapter 34 — Gifting Concocted Pills and Lending Flying Ship, Lesser Waves Mountain"s Flood Dragon Demon
Manager Chao"s words carried along with it a meaning of praise and flattery. He was much more respectful to Zhang Yan than last time.
Zhou Chongju loved to write books about alchemy as well as concoct pills. He had no fixed duties and was totally not to be concerned with everything, so all the affairs within the pavilion usually were managed by the 2 Vice Masters.
However, the two Vice Masters" characters were very different. Vice Master Gu only cared about his herb fields and didn"t have many thoughts, he has never asked about his jurisdiction in managing the pills" quota and surpluses.
But Dou Ming was different; this person was too selfish. He blindly curried favor for a few large and influential ancient families in the Azure Ocean Sect. He didn"t hesitate even at the expense of the concocted pills being scarce and spent them without consideration. Since he had gone, Manager Chao felt that justice had been restored.
When Zhang Yan stepped into the entrance, he nodded at Manager Chao and then glanced at the surrounding.
Qin Nan thought that Manager Chao was in a hurry to greet a senior, however, when she saw Zhang Yan, she couldn"t help but speak with a pleasant and surprised expression, "Senior Brother, how are you here?"
Zhang Yan smiled and nodded, “I just happened to come here. Junior Sister Qin, are you here to exchange for concocted pills?"
Qin Nan nodded. She pulled a girl from her side and replied, "Ah, yes. I"m here with Senior Sister w.a.n.g to exchange for a few Great Prime Pills."
“Have you traded for them?”
Qin Nan shook her head, “Our Spirit Sh.e.l.lfishes are too few, we cannot afford the price."
The Senior Sister w.a.n.g at her side looked at Zhang Yan a few times. Seeing that his ident.i.ty seemed to be quite high but not know about the relationship between the two, she intended to start talking but didn"t dare to speak at the moment.
Manager Chao"s heart thumped slightly. Qin Nan had yet to speak something as he immediately spoke to the steward beside him and asked, "Have you received a large batch of Great Prime Pills recently?"
Since the steward had long been used to his conducts, he quickly understood and immediately spoke, "Ah, yes. But it was actually just recently sent by Vice Master Gu"s a.s.sistant. However, the batch has yet to be registered."
Manager Chao spoke plainly, “Take 100 Great Prime Pills and give them to these Fellow Daoists.”
The steward hurriedly complied and went to the storehouse at the back. He deftly took 5 porcelain bottles from the cabinet as he then handed them over to Qin Nan.
Qin Nan"s eyes widened as she spoke, "I only have 100 Spirit Sh.e.l.lfishes. It"s not enough to exchange for so many Great Prime Pills."
Manager Chao secretly glanced at Zhang Yan. Seeing his unenthusiastic expression, as if he didn"t mind and see anything, he coughed as he stood up and spoke, "It"s not a mistake. These 100 Spirit Sh.e.l.lfishes can be exchanged for 100 Great Prime Pills. Fellow Daoist can receive it."
For such people like them and Pill Masters, except for the amount of quota they had to give to the Sect per year, they could keep a certain amount of surpluses. That was why they had a unique status in the sect.
It seemed that, in Manager Chao"s mind, Zhang Yan was not only Zhou Chongju"s direct disciple but also the sect"s supervisor. He could call out his misdeed at any time and kick him out to a department paperwork position, so how would he dare not to flatter him?
Just like Dou Ming in the past, he had embezzled most of the concocted pills surpluses into his own pocket and used them to flatter the disciples from ancient families. Since he had died, now, the following Pill Masters" pocket were now richer than before. If a trifling amount of 50 Great Prime Pills was able to form a good relationship with Zhang Yan, this cost was really cheap.
However, Qin Nan was somewhat at a loss of what to do. She was only a 15-years-old girl, she didn"t know whether she should accept it or not as her vision then shifted to ask for help from her Senior Sister w.a.n.g.
Zhang Yan smiled and said, “Junior Sister Qin, since Manager Chao said yes, then you can keep it."
“Ah, yes, yes!" Senior Sister w.a.n.g promptly spoke in a hurry as she quickly took 100 Spirit Sh.e.l.lfish from her hand and handed them over. She seemed to be afraid that Manager Chao would go back on his words.
Listening to the both of them, Qin Nan also understood that she had gotten the pills cheaply, and received the 5 porcelain bottles of Great Prime Pills.
Zhang Yan was quite optimistic about Qin Nan"s apt.i.tude, she would be shining in the future. He didn"t hesitate to help her this time. Upon seeing that the matter had been concluded, he then came out of the pavilion with the two of them as Manager Chao escorted them from behind.
When they had arrived outside, Senior Sister w.a.n.g saw a flying boat in the courtyard. Her complexion turned bright as she then spoke with flattery, "Does this flying boat belong to Senior Brother Zhang?"
Zhang Yan said, “Yes."
Senior Sister w.a.n.g couldn"t help but glance at Zhang Yan as she secretly thought, “This Senior Brother actually has a flying boat. He seems to have a high status in the Alchemy Pavilion. From which ancient family did he come from exactly?"
According to the Azure Ocean Sect"s rules, only when disciples have reached Radiant Qi Realm would they be eligible to ride a flying ship. However, not all cultivators were able to have a flying ship, because refining a flying ship consumed a lot of materials. If one did not originate from an Ancient Family or were elite disciples from Apprenticeship Branches, it would be very difficult for them to have one.
Such as w.a.n.g Pan that had 9 flying ships, all of them belonged to him. He didn"t even give them to his clansmen who lived together with him.
When Zhang Yan saw that the 2 of them didn"t seem to have a flying ship, he then asked out of courtesy, "Where are the 2 of you headed to? Do you want me to give you a ride?"
Senior Sister w.a.n.g lamented, “To be frank, we need to go back to the Lesser Estuary Sh.o.r.e and meet our Senior Brothers and Sisters. From there we will be led by our Master to the Sea Inlet Pure Manor to practice, and it would take at least 7 days to get there by ferry."
The Azure Ocean Sect had a vast territory and also had Immortal Caves in every place. In each place, every Spirit Peak was supervised and fostering its disciples to promote their cultivation. Therefore, since some high-grade Immortal Cave are also opened to accept unofficial disciples, she and Qin Nan were also going there to practice at their Master Ancestor"s place.
But Qin Nan was actually embarra.s.sed as she spoke in a very low voice, "Please don"t make yourself troubled because of us, Senior Brother Zhang."
Zhang Yan thought for a moment before he replied, "It"s alright. Since meeting Junior Sister Qin here is also fated, I"ll help you this time." He took out a flying ship from his sleeve pouch and then handed the flying ship"s Token Seal to her, as he then spoke, "I"ll lend this flying ship to Junior Sister Qin. If I have some free time, I"ll take it back later."
Zhang Yan didn"t wait for Qin Nan"s refusal. He boarded his flying ship and then disappeared without a trace.
Senior Sister w.a.n.g pushed Qin Nan, who was somewhat baffled, as to collect herself before she then whispered, "Junior Sister Qin, from where did you know this Senior Brother Zhang?"
Qin Nan replied, “Ah, I only know this Senior Brother from when we attended the lecture at the Bluestone Screen Wall… Ah yes, this Senior Brother Zhang is quite powerful. In that sword lecture and contention, even Senior Brother Feng was not his match."
Senior Sister w.a.n.g stared, “Senior Brother Feng lost to this person that day?"
Qin Nan nodded as she pinched the Token Seal in her hands. As she waved, the flying ship in front of her then enlarged. She couldn"t help but feel overjoyed as she jumped on the flying ship and spoke, "Senior Sister, since we have this flying ship, we can arrive at the Lesser Sea Inlet quickly. Let"s call and surprise the other Senior Brothers and Sisters."
After Senior Sister w.a.n.g boarded, Qin Nan pinched the Token Seal. The flying ship then slowly floated from the ground and was quickly up amongst the clouds in a flash. The flying ship paused for a moment before it maneuvered toward the destination lightning fast.
After a while, Senior Sister w.a.n.g looked at Qin Nan, who was full of spirit in controlling and maneuvering the flying ship. She approached her and then spoke as if it was inadvertent, "Junior Sister, I don"t know that Senior Brother"s name. If I happened to meet him another day, I could say thanks to him."
Qin Nan shook her head and said, “This Junior Sister also doesn"t know about his name. I just even found out that his surname is Zhang today."
Senior Sister w.a.n.g"s lips curled up. She didn"t believe what Qin Nan had said and thought that Qin Nan refused to tell her.
Seeing the clouds from this flying ship, a trace of envy rose from her heart. Even though she married a well-known ordinary young master who looked to have style and manners, they wouldn"t have such a big capital like this.
Recalling that Zhang Yan had easily lent this flying boat, it seemed that this Senior Brother Zhang also didn"t need any payment back. She would never have expected that this little girl really hid herself so deeply. If she had such a helping hand in the sect, she wouldn"t be underestimated in the future.
Zhang Yan didn"t care about these two girls" thoughts as he headed straight to Spirit Leaf Island.
Since he must travel to the Lucid Serene Heavenly Lake, no matter what mysteries it had, it was better to go there with full preparation.
After he entered his Immortal Cave, he picked up the Stars Bullet and bit his tongue"s tip, spitting a little of his blood on it. He silently formed a secret seal and slowly refined it with the sword refining technique from the sect.
After spending 16 days on it, he finally completed it.
At this moment, the Sword Bullet connected with his soul and blood. Even if it was a few miles away, he could control it to fly, even though he had yet to completely master it. But, once he had condensed his Profound Light Seed, then he could use the Sword Bullet to fly although he had yet to know how much faster it was compared to the flying ship.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt it was more urgent to seek the Cloud Sand.
After he brought numerous magical tools and weapons, he asked Luo Xiao to transform into a small snake and hide in his sleeve. He then went out from his Immortal Cave, took the flying ship and flew to the north.
A few hours later, a plain on a winding mountain range was seen. According to the geographical names, this place was called the Lesser Waves Mountain. After he had crossed 100 miles on this mountain, he then arrived at the Serene Mountain"s boundary.
But when he glanced at the side, he found a flying ship also flying at the far distance from his side, as there were 5 or 6 people above it pointing at him.
After taking a closer look, those people were the ones that he had seen at the sword comparing notes in the Bluestone Screen Wall. Feng Ming was also amongst them.
Several of them also looked at him. And when Feng Ming saw Zhang Yan, his face slight changed as he then immediately turned away.
The leader of these people then asked, "Junior Brother Feng, do you know that Senior Brother?"
Upon hearing this person"s question, Feng Ming didn"t dare to neglect and quickly answered, "Senior Brother Fang, this person is Zhang Yan. He was the one who beat me that day at the Bluestone Screen Wall"
“Oh, that person is Zhang Yan, a true disciple?”
When Senior Brother Fang heard it, he was unable to restrain his curiosity. He turned around and then looked Zhang Yan over a few times. His expression suddenly turned sharp. After scrutinizing for a while, he smiled and said, "From what I"ve seen from this Zhang Yan, apart from his cultivation base that"s unable to be seen through, I can"t see anything special about him. But since he was actually able to win against Junior Brother in grasping the sword technique"s insight within 10 days, I"ll test him if I have the opportunity."
Feng Ming shook his head, “That day Elder Chen had said to not provoke this Zhang Yan. Besides, he"s the direct disciple of Grandmaster Zhou, the Alchemy Pavilion"s Master. His status is quite special, even his seniority and rank are higher than ours. It might not be good to confront him, and we still have to give him face even if we don"t want to."
Senior Brother Fang then thought for a moment, “Alright, just wait for me to retrieve that loach"s skin. Once I have sc.r.a.ped enough 15 small accomplishments, I"ll be able to get the Immortal Duty Badge. Even if I see the Sect"s Elders, I don"t have to talk to them with those constrained rules and manners."
Feng Ming also looked at Zhang Yan a few times and spoke, “Looking at the direction Zhang Yan is heading, he seems to also be going over to the Lesser Waves Mountain. Could it be that he also wants to have some shares?"
Senior Brother Fang didn"t pay attention and replied, “It"s not strange though. That Flood Dragon Demon has failed its transformation and has lost a huge amount of its strength. Many other disciples are also heading here after they heard the news. Why must we fear them? When the time comes, they can only rely on their means and efforts. Do you think that he could rely on his status as a true disciple to s.n.a.t.c.h from others forcibly?"