Of course, even if a swordsman had managed to form Sword Heart, the level every individual swordsman could grasp would differ, because Sword Heart was based on the individual swordsman’s understanding of the art of the sword. But listening to such a lecture was too great a help for Ling Han who had, at the moment, only formed five flashes of Sword Qi. It was as if there was a path of gold laid out in front of him, guiding his advance forwards.
Hu Niu instantly looked bored. Her hands held onto her ears, and she appeared very sleepy.
“Hei!” Ling Han suddenly leaped up, the sword hanging at his waist leaving its sheath. He quickly turned around on the spot and brandished his sword in a wave.
Five flashes of Sword Qi danced unhindered. “Shua, shua, shua,” cold light flashed and flickered. But moments later, another needle-sharp flash of Sword Qi was actually formed, and joined the previous five flashes of Sword Qi.
The sixth flash of Sword Qi!
This flash of Sword Qi quickly grew, becoming longer and wider, and finally looked no different from the other five flashes of Sword Qi.
“Many thanks, Teacher!” Ling Han raised his clasped hands towards Mo Gao and offered his thanks. This was not as simple as only having formed a flash of Sword Qi. He would be able to benefit from Mo Gao’s lecture throughout his whole life. If he managed to grasp Sword Heart in this lifetime, then Mo Gao’s lecture would at least have helped him save half the time he needed to be able to reach that step.
He had never thought this would happen. The only reason why he had come to Hu Yang Academy was to make Ling Dong Xing happy, yet he would actually have such an unexpected gain.
He’s earned big!
Chapter 104
Translator: _Dark_Angel_ Editor: Kurisu
Mo Gao was also astonished.
In his opinion, any student that would have been shoved to him must have come into the Academy through a backdoor; there was not much future in developing such a student, and that was why he would be “wasting his time” with Mo Gao. Just now, he had spoken for so long and so much… rather than saying that he was teaching Ling Han, it was more appropriate to say that he had all of these words stuffed inside him for too long, so he desperately wanted to share them with someone else.
He did not consider at all whether Ling Han could understand what he was saying or not.
He had never thought that Ling Han would really have understood his lecture. Moreover, after digesting the information he had blurted out, Ling Han very quickly managed to form a new flash of Sword Qi.
If it was only a single flash of Sword Qi, he could still accept it. The problem was that Ling Han had already possessed five flashes of Sword Qi in the first place!
Five flashes of Sword Qi, what kind of concept was that?
Three flashes of Sword Qi and you would be able to claim the name of ruler. Five flashes, and that was a minor achievement. This was definitely a genius, and it was very likely that he had surpassed all those of the same age in Rain Country. But how could such a genius be shoved onto him to be taught?
Mo Gao really couldn’t understand. However, when his thoughts took a different turn, he became extremely delighted. Because, Ling Han was now his student, and the higher the achievements his student managed to attain in the future, the prouder he would become.
“Teacher, there are some parts I didn’t really understand,” Ling Han questioned Mo Gao after he had withdrawn his sword.
With regards to the level of understanding of martial arts, he was more than qualified to be the Grandmaster of the Grandmaster of Mo Gao. But if it was only looking at the comprehension of the art of the sword, Mo Gao was above him. The reasons were simple. Firstly, Mo Gao had immersed himself in the art of the sword for ten plus years, and secondly, he was indeed a genius swordsman.
“Whatever you don’t understand, just say it,” Mo Gao immediately said. It had been more than ten years, when had he ever been asked questions by a student?
Ling Han raised some of his doubts, and Mo Gao immediately gave him a lecture based on his own understanding. Through this process, he also obtained a great enlightenment for himself. One has to know that though Ling Han himself had not spent much time on the art of the sword, his knowledge as a former warrior of Heaven Tier was still there, so the questions he asked were all core questions.
Mo Gao continuously made sounds like ‘yi’, ‘ya’, and ‘oh’, his eyes becoming brighter and brighter. His expression was one of both delight and frustration, seemingly unable to contain his present joy. Unknowingly, the time had arrived at noontime. Mo Gao gave a long sigh, and said, “Your talent in the art of the sword is higher than mine. I do not have the face to become your teacher. Let’s just do it this way, the both of us will treat each other as friends of the same generation, and have frequent discussions with each other.”
Ling Han shook his head, and said, “In the art of the sword, Teacher Mo indeed has the qualifications to become my teacher. Even if I surpass Teacher Mo in the art of the sword someday, I will never forget the favor Teacher Mo has done by teaching me today.”
Mo Gao was deeply moved. He would actually encounter such an exceptionally talented student. It was a pity that he was not qualified enough to take Ling Han as disciple. Their teacher-student relationship too was only formed because of the Academy.
“Oh~!” Hu Niu said pitifully, tugging on Ling Han’s sleeve.
“All right, all right, let’s go eat!” Ling Han bade Mo Gao goodbye and left the Academy. He then found a random restaurant, ordered some main dishes of meat and fish, and began feasting together with Hu Niu.
If you wanted to eat with this little girl, you really needed to be quick enough. Otherwise, whenever a dish was served, it would definitely be gone within mere moments.
One meal actually cost over a thousand silver coins, causing Ling Han to cry out that he really did not have enough money to spend.
This was because the prices in the Imperial City were very high, and this little girl really had too big an appetite.
He really needed to concoct some alchemical pills to earn money. Otherwise, it’d be a problem just feeding Hu Niu, what more to buy resources for his own cultivation.
There was nothing to be done about it. He had just arrived at the Imperial City yesterday, so there was a thousand things for him to do. He would have to start everything all over again.
Ling Han held onto Hu Niu’s tiny hand, and asked around the people on the streets. This way, he soon found Heaven’s Medicine Pavilion.
It really did deserve the name of the Heaven’s Medicine Pavilion of the Imperial City. Merely the flight of a thousand steps leading to the entrance was impressive enough to provoke gasps of amazement. The steps were as wide as a hundred metres, slanting all the way upwards. There was an extremely glamorous, luxurious giant hall to be seen at the high level of three hundred metres upwards.
Ling Han and Hu Niu climbed the stairs and entered the Heaven’s Medicine Pavilion. Once they entered, they saw a sweet-looking female attendant responsible for sales walking forward to greet them, saying, “Honorable customer, how do you do? I am Xiao Ying. May I know what kind of alchemical pills you require?”
“I don’t need any alchemical pills. I only need some ingredients,” Ling Han said with a smile.
“May I know what ingredients you require?” Xiao Ying asked again.
Ling Han recited the list of ingredients he required; Xiao Ying had obviously been trained for a very long time. While she memorized the names and amounts of the ingredients, she even informed him of the prices of the individual ingredients.
“Honored customer, your bill comes to a total of three hundred and twenty thousand silver coins,” Xiao Ying said with a slight smile.
Heaven’s Medicine Pavilion needed to depend on the sale of completed pills to earn money. In case of ingredients, unless they were especially valuable—for example, like the Second Star Grass—their price would only be a bit higher than their cost. Thus, even
if this was a huge purchase, the profit made by the Heaven’s Medicine Pavilion was really not much. As a result, the amount of commission she could earn would naturally not be much either.
Three hundred and twenty thousand!
Ling Han sighed. He only had about a hundred plus thousand on hand. This was far from the amount that was necessary. But he wanted to concoct the Second Star Pill as soon as possible, so he said, “Please inform Fu Yuan Sheng for me. Just tell him that Ling Han is looking for him.”
“Fu Yuan Sheng? The, the, the Pavilion Master!” Xiao Ying was stunned for a moment, before suddenly realizing. Immediately, she was so shocked that she had even begun to stutter.
What kind of remote existence was the Pavilion Master? Aside from the Rain Emperor, there was no one who possessed a higher status than their Pavilion Master. Even the Clan Heads of the Eight Great Clans were only able to stand on equal footing with the Pavilion Master.
And now, a young man actually said he wanted to see the Pavilion Master. This was naturally troubling to her; there was no reason for her to inform the Pavilion Master of this at all.
“It’s all right. You only need to tell him that I am Ling Han, and I believe Fu Yuan Sheng should even reward you,” Ling Han said with a smile.
That was natural. He, the Alchemy Emperor, was here personally; Fu Yuan Sheng would definitely be overjoyed.
How would Xiao Ying dare to believe that? No matter how she looked, Ling Han looked to be only a young man of about seventeen or eighteen years old, so how could he possibly know the Pavilion Master? Even if the Clan Heads of the Eight Great Clans were here, whether or not the Pavilion Master would agree to meet with them depended on his mood.
But in the training that she had received, the most important thing was not to offend any customers. Thus, she apologized and said, “At my rank, I am unable to personally see the Pavilion Master, so please wait for a moment while I report this to the Branch Manager.”
Ling Han would naturally not cause her unnecessary trouble, so he simply nodded, and sat down somewhere.
Hu Niu saw him sit down and imitated him. She climbed up to Ling Han’s lap, and similarly sat very earnestly.
After a while, they saw Xiao Ying walked behind a man who appeared to be in his forties and the pair was heading towards them. She looked to be in a bit of a panic.
“Brat, so you’re the one who wants to see our Pavilion Master?’ This middle-aged man looked at Ling Han disdainfully. He had heard what Xiao Ying had to say. In his opinion, Ling Han must have been embarrassingly short of money, which was why he had deliberately said he knew the Pavilion Master, thinking of using this way to bargain for a cheaper price.
He was really too naive.
Ling Han’s brow frowned, and he said, “You should speak more politely.”
“If you have no money, then don’t pretend to be so capable!” The middle-aged man humphed, laughed loudly and said, “If you really do know the Pavilion Master, then I will eat this whole table.”
He pointed at a long table at one side.
Ling Han put on a smile, and said, “I did not think you would have this kind of hobby. If I don’t satisfy you, then wouldn’t that be too unreasonable of me?”
“You’re spouting nonsense!” The middle-aged man said coldly.
Chapter 105
Translator: _Dark_Angel_ Editor: Kurisu
“Manager Yuan…” Xiao Ying called out to the middle-aged man in a low voice. Heaven’s Medicine Pavilion had its rules. The first rule was: never, ever be impolite to any potential customer.
The middle-aged man cast a displeased glance at Xiao Ying, waved his hand, and said, “Somebody, chase this poor brat out of here!”
Xiao Ying did not dare to say anything further. She simply looked sympathetically at Ling Han and Hu Niu. This middle-aged man’s name was Yuan Gang. He had previously only been an odd jobs worker here, but unexpectedly, a few months ago, his younger brother advanced to become a Yellow Grade mid level alchemist, causing Yuan Gang’s own position to rise, allowing him to obtain the position of a minor manager.
Because he had struggled at the lowest level for a long time, now that he was in a high position, Yuan Gang had become extremely arrogant, always thinking of new ways to show off his present superiority.
Ling Han was extremely unfortunate—he just so happened to be this guy’s target.
Two sturdy, well-built men walked over and stood behind Ling Han. One of the pair spoke, “Honored customer, please come with us.”
Ling Han have a sigh. Did he really have to use force?
“Ling Han! Ling Han!” It was at this very moment that a sweet voice was heard from behind him.
Ling Han turned around to see that the speaker was actually Qi Zhan Tai. Why was the Seventh Princess of the Royal House of the Da Yuan King here? When he took a closer look, it seemed that both Zhu He Xin and Zhang Wei Shan were here too. In that case, it was only natural that the girl was here too.
“Yo, never thought that a poor brat like you would have such a pretty wife!” Yuan Gang gave an envious look, then said to Ling Han, “Poor brat, lend me your wife for me to play with for a single night, and I could give you a twenty percent discount? Haha!”
“Pa!”
His face suddenly suffered a slap, his feet stumbled and he directly fell onto the floor.
The one who had slapped him was, of course, Ling Han.
“Bastard, you actually dared to hit me!” Yuan Gang got up to his feet in a single movement, his face filled with thunderous rage.
“So what? Can’t you be hit?” Zhang Wei Shan walked over with a cold smile.
“And who are you!” Yuan Gang did not even think, and immediately raised his finger to point directly at Zhang Wei Shan’s face. “Wha, what!” He gasped in shock. There was astonishingly a silver badge hanging on this newcomer’s breast.
Perhaps there would still be some people who may not recognize this, but definitely not him, an “experienced senior” who had been working at this Heaven’s Medicine Pavilion doing odd jobs for over ten plus years.
A Black Grade low level alchemist!
“S-Sir!” He hurriedly bent his knees in a bow, an obeisant expression on his face. The only reason he was in the position of minor manager was because of his younger brother, yet his younger bother was only a Yellow Grade mid level alchemist. Compared with this esteemed Black Grade low level alchemist in front of him, the latter was on a complete different level.
“Master, this guy was very bad!” Qi Zhan Tai said immediately.
“Pu!”
Yuan Gang instantly choked. This beauty was actually the disciple of a Black Grade alchemist, and he had actually dared to flirt with her; wasn’t that practically seeking his own demise? He scowled miserably, and said, “This Young Miss, apologies for my smelly mouth, only knowing how to speak nonsense! Deserves to be hit! Deserves to be hit!”
He began to slap himself repeatedly with a “pa, pa, pa” sound.
“Young Friend Ling!”
“Young Friend Ling!”
Zhu He Xin had also walked over, and together with Zhang Wei Shan, they raised their clasped hands in Ling Han’s direction in greeting.
“Grand-Grandmaster Zhu!” Yuan Gang had only at this moment spotted Zhu He Xin, and was so scared at this point that his whole face had turned pale. Unlike Zhang Wei Shan, who stayed long term in Da Yuan City to oversee the Heaven’s Medicine Pavilion Branch there, Zhu He Xin had previously always been in the Imperial City. How could Yuan Gang not recognize him?
Yet these two Black Grade alchemists actually performed such a respectful greeting to Ling Han. How could this not scare him witless!
“The two of you are here just in time. Help me call over Fu Yuan Sheng!” Ling Han said with a smile.
Zhu He Xin took one look at Yuan Gang, then said, “Young Friend Ling, we don’t have to trouble the Pavilion Master just to deal with a nasty character like this, right?” He was a Black Grade low level
alchemist. He only needed to say the word, and this mere minor manager would be dealt with, no questions asked.
“Grandmaster Zhu, please forgive my blindness!” Yuan Gang hurriedly began to beg for mercy. But after speaking these words, he realized that the deciding factor in this matter should be Ling Han, so he quickly turned back around, and said, “Young Master Ling, Young Master Ling, please be generous, and have mercy on me just this once.”
“Hehe, you’ve forgotten, we have a bet going on between us!” Ling Han laughed, “Grandmaster Zhu, please help me go and inform Fu Yuan Sheng, and ask him to come over.”
“Young Master Ling?” Zhu He Xin stepped forwards, and said in a low voice, “You know Grandmaster Fu?”
Alchemy Emperor of the Divine Dao c1-1294 Page 63