Chapter 234 Sage of Medicine (2/2)
Xiao Chen stopped him with a hand. ”It's fine. I was just thinking about looking for you. I need a medicine that can remove scars from one's face. Do you have a recipe for such a medicine?”
Xiao Chen had always feared Zuoqiu Que's prowess with medicine as an Elixir King. But Gui Xian's deftness with medicine was on another level; mysterious yet impeccable in some ways that made Xiao Chen feel that Gui Xian's skills were far more superior.
”Remove scar? You can get something like that anywhere? Why do you need to ask me for?”
”No,” Xiao Chen remarked, ”I need something that can cure the scars caused by a venom known as the Thousand Spiders Poison.” He remembered what Ziyun'er had told him about the scar on Qingluan's face that it was caused by this venom.
Gui Xian was startled to hear the name of the venom; clearly, he was no stranger to its potency. But he immediately looked apologetic. ”I might be able to produce something that can be of such use to you, only if I have my former powers. But now that I'm a... Well, the Thousand Spiders Poison is one of the most tricky substances in existence. Concocting an effective cure would require a reactant, something rare; one that will enable me to brew something useful.”
”And what is this reactant that you require?” Xiao Chen asked. He was beginning to feel troubled; Gui Xian's mention of ”rare” did not seem to bode well.
”The sap from a fully-matured Spirited Lingzhi.”
The revelation brought a frown to Xiao Chen. Spirited Lingzhi was a type of magical herb, one of the rarest of the kind. It was a magical herb which had absorbed years and years of a never-ending supply of the Earth's natural aura and had undergone a full mutation with its potency increased.
It took three thousand years for a Spirited Lingzhi to grow fully. Not only it was rare, but the herb had also absorbed enough natural energies to achieve a conscience of its own, hence it could flee and hide like how a beast could. Not even people with powers of the Nirvana Realm or the Apotheosis Realm could easily catch one.
”Is there no other way?”
Gui Xian fell silent, pondering for options. At length, he said, ”Unless we're able to enlist the help of an Elixir Saint. Then we might not need the sap after all.”
Xiao Chen shook his head, slightly disheartened. He wielded not even the authority to recruit the help of an Elixir Spirit, never mind an Elixir Saint; a feat that even one with the powers of the Apotheosis Realm might plead incompetence.
”On another note, I hope you won't mind me asking, Senior. At what levels have you reached with your skills in medicine, Senior? Is that why the Zuoqiu Family wished ill upon you?”
Gui Xian chuckled gloomily. ”I was once the greatest healer ever known in my former life time. Many an Elixir Saint have begged for me to take them under my wing out of their admiration to my skills. Alas, I've barely reached the level of Elixir King when my climb to my former glory was cut-short by Zuoqiu Ping's evil plot.” There was pain and agony in his voice that Xiao Chen began to feel sorry for him.
Xiao Chen sighed heavily. He, of all people, could truly understand the weight of the phrase ”former lifetime” better than others. Here, after countless millennia, he found himself being thrust into the future. He was hardly alone. But he could not deny the emptiness within him that had never stopped haunting him. The hollow yearning for his friends that no longer existed. It was an agony that he could hardly describe to anyone and a stab of pain that no one could possibly understand.
But now, hearing Gui Xian speaking about his past, seemed to form a kinship between them. ”Fret not, Senior Gui Xian. The day will come when I will have enough strength, and I will avenge you for the hardships and torment you've endured.” He was not referring to the Zuoqiu Family, but the people who had plotted against Gui Xian in his former life time.
Gui Xian said nothing and merely smiled weakly. ”But a long time may pass before we meet each other again. Can you divulge to me the formula for your medicine? I might not amount to much, but I do know a little in the skills of brewing medicine.”
Gui Xian nodded. ”There's no need for modesty. I have long noticed that you have your Divine Sense. This alone is enough to indicate that you might have greater talent in medicine that I do.”
He told Xiao Chen about the recipe and extracted a large tome. ”This is a copy of the Elixir King Scripture, a tome hand-written by an Elixir God of the bygone age. I have re-arranged everything for a more effortless perusal. Use it freely; you might achieve more than I did in my former life.”
”B-but... This is too heavy a gift, Senior... I cannot...”
Gui Xian must have been feeling indebted to him for saving him from the clutches of the Zuoqiu Family.
”This is not about repaying my debt,” Gui Xian denied, ”This is about talent. I know your talent far outstrips mine. But because of my condition, I cannot stay by your side to guide and advise you. From this,” Gui Xian patted the cover of the tome, ”you can learn a lot from my rearrangement. I'm sure you'll progress well.”