"May I ask if you are a disciple of an Elixir Path sect, traveling through these lands?" Bruce Sun asked cautiously. He could only imagine such a scenario. Within the Cloud Abyss Empire, there were several Elixir Path sects that might concentrate their entire sect's resources on nurturing a few key disciples to carry on their legacy. These disciples often possessed unimaginable elixir skills due to the sects' secretive methods.
However, Terra Su shook his head, denying Bruce Sun's guess. "I live in Clear River City. I'm not a disciple of any Elixir Path sect."
"You mean you're a local of Clear River City?" Bruce Sun was even more astonished. He exchanged glances with Gabriel Shi. Everyone knew that the Elixir Path, unlike the Martial Dao, heavily relied on inheritance. Without a teacher, it was extremely difficult to even get started in alchemy. This was why every city had an Alchemy Guild—to give those without a family background in the Elixir Path a chance to become alchemists.
In Clear River City, the most accomplished alchemist was Master Mo. But from Master Mo's tone, it was clear that Terra Su wasn't his disciple. So where did Terra Su learn his alchemy?
Among Bruce Sun and Gabriel Shi, Gabriel Shi was the more hot-tempered one. He bluntly said, "Brother Mo, don't blame me for being blunt, but how could a snot-nosed kid from Clear River City be an elixir master? You must have been deceived by him."
As he spoke, Gabriel Shi glared at Terra Su. "Kid, who gave you the guts to come to the Alchemy Guild and deceive people? You must have a death wish!"
Terra Su had already found this person disagreeable. Hearing this, he raised an eyebrow and said calmly, "Do I need you to judge whether I'm deceiving people?"
"Terra Su, don't take offense. Brother Sun has never seen you before, that's why he said that. Once he understands your level, he won't say such things," Master Mo quickly mediated, urging Bruce Sun, "Brother Sun, quickly take out that ancient Divine Spring Elixir prescription you obtained."
No matter what Gabriel Shi said now, as long as Terra Su could successfully complete that ancient prescription, even if he only filled in one or two ingredients, it would shut Gabriel Shi up.
"Uh—" Bruce Sun hesitated. He had spent a fortune to acquire that ancient prescription. Even though it was incomplete, it was still a valuable treasure. To casually show it to a stranger made him understandably reluctant.
"Brother Sun, hurry up," Master Mo urged again.
Seeing Bruce Sun's expression, Master Mo began to understand. "Brother Sun, don't you trust me?"
"No, no," Bruce Sun quickly explained. "Brother Mo, we've been close friends for many years. The reason I came to Clear River City to visit you was to discuss this ancient prescription with you. How could I not trust you?"
"Then why are you hesitating to take out the prescription?" Master Mo frowned.
Bruce Sun hesitated, unsure whether to speak. He didn't trust Terra Su and didn't want to show the precious ancient prescription in front of him.
Seeing Bruce Sun's hesitant expression, Master Mo frowned. "Brother Sun, it seems you don't trust Terra Su."
"Terra Su is someone I brought. I can vouch for his character. Besides, we need Terra Su's help to complete this prescription. Even if you don't trust him, you should trust me, right?" Master Mo was getting a bit annoyed.
Bruce Sun naturally trusted Master Mo, but he couldn't help but hesitate when it came to Terra Su. A young elixir master like Terra Su was beyond his comprehension.
"Sigh, Brother Sun, you've wasted my good intentions by bringing Terra Su to see you!" Master Mo was genuinely angry. He stood up and waved his hand. "Someone, see the guest out! Escort him out!"
Bruce Sun was incredulous. "Brother Mo, are you kicking me out?"
"That's right!" Master Mo snorted heavily. "If you don't trust Terra Su, you don't trust me. I don't think we should be friends anymore. Leave my place immediately!"
"This…" Bruce Sun saw his old friend's resolute expression and tone, and hesitated. He thought, maybe he should just take out the prescription.
But at that moment, Gabriel Shi suddenly spoke up. "Brother Mo, there's no need to be angry. Brother Sun's hesitation is perfectly normal. Who would believe such a young elixir master? If it were me, I wouldn't take out the ancient prescription either. What if he steals it and spreads it around?"
Gabriel Shi's words were like adding fuel to the fire, making Master Mo even angrier. "Fine, since you both think that way, you can both leave! Someone, escort them both out!"
Seeing Master Mo truly enraged, Bruce Sun quickly said, "Brother Mo, don't be angry. I'll take out the prescription, okay?"
"Too late," Master Mo snorted. "You can ponder over this ancient prescription yourselves. Terra Su and I won't be helping."
"Terra Su, I'm really sorry. If you want to blame someone, blame me," Master Mo turned to Terra Su with a face full of guilt. Terra Su had come to help complete the prescription out of respect for him, but now he was facing such an attitude from Bruce Sun. Master Mo felt deeply ashamed and had no face to ask Terra Su for help anymore.
Seeing Master Mo's guilty expression, Terra Su smiled slightly and said, "It's okay, it's not your fault. Why would I blame you?"
Then, Terra Su glanced at Bruce Sun and Gabriel Shi. "Is an ancient Divine Spring Elixir prescription really worth treating as a treasure? I don't care for such things."
"Remember, the only reason I'm helping you today is out of respect for Master Mo. Otherwise, I wouldn't even bother looking at you frogs in a well. Keep your so-called treasures to yourselves."
With that, Terra Su pulled a piece of paper from the table and began to write on it with swift strokes.
At first, Master Mo, Bruce Sun, and Gabriel Shi didn't know what Terra Su was writing. But as time passed, Bruce Sun's eyes grew wider and he couldn't help but exclaim, "Aren't these the ingredients from the Divine Spring Elixir prescription?"
It was no wonder he was so shocked. The materials Terra Su was writing on the paper matched exactly with those on Bruce Sun's ancient prescription. Every single ingredient was spot on!
If Bruce Sun hadn't been sure that the ancient prescription had always been with him and no one else had seen it, he might have suspected that Terra Su had already seen the prescription.
Terra Su didn't write out all the ingredients at once, but stopped after writing about half of them.
Even so, the materials he wrote matched the ancient prescription perfectly. There wasn't a single ingredient that wasn't on the ancient prescription, which was enough to leave Bruce Sun utterly shocked. His eyes were as wide as saucers, staring at Terra Su in disbelief.
Leave a Reply