“Trying to force a twisted melon, people end up divided and disloyal.” He Lingchuan laughed. “Even if they’ve massed a hundred thousand troops on the west side of the Panlong Wasteland, I’m guessing that now the Red General has brought the Panlong army back, those hundred thousand won’t dare launch an attack rashly.”

“Why?” Sun Fuling blinked. “They’ve come all this way. How can they leave without achieving anything?”

“These two states have coveted Panlong Wasteland for years. They don’t truly want to block our return east, do they?” He Lingchuan paused. “Once Lord Zhong takes the soldiers and civilians away, this place will likely fall into their hands. For decades, they’ve fought tooth and nail for this land, and now they have a chance to take it for free. They should be thrilled.”

“Then why did they come, and why did they join forces?”

“Because they were pressured?” He Lingchuan had already finished one pear. He stood up and rinsed his hands. “They’ve been propping up those small states like West Ji for ages. It doesn’t look good to abandon them completely, does it?”

Sun Fuling smiled. “What’s so hard about it? They’re tiny little states. Those two states don’t take them seriously either.”

“Then the pressure must come from somewhere else, such as... Beijia?” He Lingchuan said coldly. “Beijia keeps insisting we return by the Jinxi Corridor. They want to send troops to suppress West Luo’s internal rebels, and they even persuaded Baling to open the Jinxi Corridor. Since when are they so kind?”

“You think they want to wipe us out along the way?”

“Of course.” He Lingchuan snorted. “At the very least, they want to grind our strength down to scraps. However, we refused to take the Jinxi Corridor and tried to carve a different path, so Beijia didn’t like it.”

“So I’m guessing the Baling and Xianyou coalition is just putting on a show. At most, they’ll fight a few small skirmishes, then they’ll call it off and go home.” His reasoning flowed smoothly, almost without him noticing. “The excuse is easy, too. They successfully stopped the Panlong army from advancing east, so they can report back to everyone with confidence.”

Without realizing it, he had begun analyzing the war situation, and doing it convincingly at that.

Sun Fuling’s gaze flickered. She tilted her head, studying him. “Let’s hope you’re right. By the way, since you’ve been out so long, have you been practicing the flute and the xun properly?”

He Lingchuan spoke almost at the same time, “By the way, there’s something I want to ask you.”

Their mood had softened. Sun Fuling smiled again, dimples appearing. “Go on. Don’t be so polite.”

“Have you ever heard of the elixir of youth? It’s also called the elixir of immortality.”

Sun Fuling looked surprised. “Where did you hear about that?”

He Lingchuan scratched his head. “Once... I was reading some random book in the Literature Pavilion and saw it mentioned.”

“Which book?”

“Uh, I don’t remember.” It had been an excuse anyway. “So you’ve heard of it?”

“That’s a Beijia legend. A’Luo’s master is the grand apothecary. He might know more.” Sun Fuling stood and went to feed the fish by the vat. “Why don’t you go ask him?”

“Right now?” He Lingchuan glanced at the sky. “It’s a bit late.”

“He went to A’Luo’s place today. I ran into him earlier.”

A’Luo lived nearby. After all, they did all live in wood houses. He Lingchuan immediately stood up.

“Are you coming?”

Sun Fuling smiled and shook her head. “I still have to grade assignments. The past half month has unsettled everyone. Those little brats have even started turning in sloppy work. I have to straighten them out properly!”

He Lingchuan saw the killing intent hidden in her smile and shivered, then hurried out the door.

* * *

A little over fifteen minutes later, he knocked on A’Luo’s door.

Master and disciple had just finished eating. A’Luo was washing dishes, and when he came to open the door, his hands were dripping wet.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to consult your master,” He Lingchuan said as he squeezed past. He bowed to Helian Chen, who sat by the table. “Master Helian. It’s been a long time.”

Helian Chen was wearing crystal spectacles and reading. Hearing him, he removed them. “Little He? It has been a long time.”

He Lingchuan pulled several prescriptions from his sleeve and offered them over. “Last time, you kindly wrote me two recipes for imperial nectar. I benefited tremendously. In Yuheng City, I gathered a few prescriptions and a few jars of medicinal wine. This is just a small token of gratitude.”

He also took out several wine jars from his storage ring. A’Luo stepped forward to receive them.

The wine was genuinely from Yuheng City.

The prescriptions were not.

They were from the real world, specifically from Zhitian Township.

As the primary herb-producing region of the State of Chiyan, Zhitian Township naturally had many distinctive pills and tonics. The main formulas were not hard to obtain, though each apothecary refined proportions and kept its “secret” adjustments.

Helian Chen had personally written prescriptions for him last time, helping him maximize the gains from his second imperial nectar eruption. That favor had to be repaid.

Helian Chen took the prescriptions and looked through them one by one. Soon, he nodded.

“Not bad, not bad. Baize Pill, Shedding-Scale Pill... what interesting names.”

With his level of mastery, he could see the essence at a glance. Even his smile warmed. “This Shedding-Scale Pill seems to be a specialty from central Beijia. How did you find it in Yuheng City?”

He Lingchuan’s scalp went hot. This old man’s knowledge of medicine really is damn vast. He could only answer vaguely, “Maybe it traveled there from Beijia? Merchants wander everywhere, and goods get exchanged all the time.”

“Mm, that’s possible!” Whether Helian Chen believed him or not, he nodded anyway. “This version differs from the one I know. Quite a few improvements.” This boy is sincere. Good, good, he’s not A’Luo, who’s stiff as a board.

He Lingchuan forced a laugh. Of course, it’s improved. What I brought are formulas from more than a hundred years later.

Seeing Helian Chen smiling, he struck while the iron was hot. “Right, may I ask if you’ve ever heard of the elixir of youth?”

Helian Chen’s reaction mirrored Sun Fuling’s. He asked where He Lingchuan had heard of it. After He Lingchuan brushed it off, the old man stroked his beard and said, “It has truly been a long time since I’ve heard anyone bring that up.”

He Lingchuan’s eyes lit. “So you do know?”

“Mm. That’s the so-called divine medicine of Beijia. It can extend a person’s lifespan. If the original body is weak and riddled with illness, taking it can quickly strengthen and restore them.” Helian Chen searched his memory. “When I was young, I traveled to study in Beijia. I happened to witness the Baoshu King bestow an elixir of youth upon one of his officials, and that official swallowed it on the spot. Such medicine must always be taken immediately. You’re not allowed to take them home.”

“How many years does a single one add?”

“There’s no fixed number. Everyone’s constitution differs. A monster’s constitution differs from a human’s.” Helian Chen thought. “I’ve heard at minimum it’s ten years and up, and at most several decades?”

“Only ten years, and they call it a divine medicine?”

“You’re young. You don’t know the sorrow of old age.” Helian Chen laughed loudly. “When a person is at the very end, forget ten years, they’d trade their entire fortune for ten extra days! And this pill also strengthens the body. If you’re a cultivator, it can keep your cultivation from declining.”

Cultivation, like age and strength, eventually declined.

He Lingchuan asked, “Who makes it?”

“The formula is held by a select few in Lingxu City. Even the monster kings of the vassal states don’t know it.” Helian Chen shook his head. “As for who exactly controls it, I don’t know. I’ve heard the recipe leaked once in the past. Beijia should have tightened control since then.”

He Lingchuan asked the key point. “Do you know about jiang beads? It’s said they’re one ingredient used to refine the elixir of youth.”

“That, I haven’t heard.” Helian Chen considered. “But in my youth, a close friend of mine came from an aristocratic family of Lingxu City. Once, after drinking, he mentioned that his father had taken the elixir of youth. He also said the most important medicinal catalyst was bestowed by a god. Without that catalyst, the elixir of youth cannot be made at all. That’s why, in the whole world, only Lingxu City can produce the divine medicine.”

“Bestowed by a god?” He Lingchuan thought of Mr. Mai hunting monsters to take beads.

If Wan Song was telling the truth, those jiang beads would eventually be fed into an alchemical furnace to refine the elixir of youth. In other words, however many jiang beads were used, that many portions of the catalyst would be needed as well.

So Beijia’s secretly poaching the lives of its own people to refine divine medicine?

That’s a bit strange.

I mean, not because it wouldn’t do it, but because it could have done it openly. They could have just thrown out a few lofty reasons, and people would willingly offer up their lives. Why bother sneaking around?

Unless someone’s making the medicine in secret?

But the catalyst is bestowed by the gods. Without it, what could they possibly refine? 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Either way, the logic did not quite connect.

He Lingchuan thought for a moment, then asked, “I can understand humans craving an elixir of youth, but monsters too?”

“The most direct consequence of weakening spirit qi is a reduction in lifespan. Whether monster or human, anything living under Heaven and Earth cannot escape that.” Helian Chen then received some warm water that A’Luo offered him and took a sip before continuing, “Monsters generally live longer than humans, but even they have an end.”

Something stirred in He Lingchuan’s mind. “What about a ba? It comes from the dead, does it also have a lifespan?”

“Ba?” Helian Chen looked startled by the word. “Do such things still exist? I heard they vanished after the Middle Era.”

“They do, in Beijia.” Right, at this time, the State of Chiyan hasn’t yet been founded. Fushan Yue’s father had only just begun to rise.

“In Beijia, nothing is surprising.” Helian Chen shook his head. “A ba may arise from yin filth, but it still relies on yang energy to survive. Otherwise, why would it drink blood essence? The longer time passes, the older it gets, the more turbid qi accumulates in its body, and the thinner its vitality becomes. In that sense, it’s no different from a man, only that its lifespan is longer. After three to four hundred years, it returns to dust.”

He Lingchuan thought, then asked, “Then what about the greater monster Zhu Erniang of Guizhen Stone Forest? She’s an ancient monster immortal who’s lived from the Ancient Era to now. How did she break free from the shackles of life and death?”

“That greater monster is fascinating!” The moment Zhu Erniang was mentioned, Helian Chen came alive. He even tossed the book onto the table. “Panlong City has been neighbors with it for so many years and never had a chance to understand it. After the battle at Guizhen Stone Forest, the Red General brought back a piece of the spider monster’s claw tip, and only then did we finally have a chance to study it properly!”

He Lingchuan saw the gleam in his eyes and, instinctively, rubbed his arm where goosebumps had risen. “Any conclusions?”

“No, how could it be that fast? The secrets on an ancient monster immortal’s body are too many! Just figuring out how monster energy circulates through it could take years of study, but—” Helian Chen’s eyebrows practically flew upward. “This monster immortal has mastered at least two great abilities. One is hibernation, and the other is molting!”