The other members of the Tiandihuizhi were no less surprised than Li Miaozhen. Even Chu Yuanzhen, once a scholar, showed a look of astonishment, his expression slightly frozen.
Xu Qi An was the Supervisor’s pawn, but this was supposed to be a closely guarded secret. The Tiantaijian alchemists shouldn’t know such confidential information. In other words, the alchemists’ respect for Xu Qi An was due to his own merits.
What was this Blue Book? From their words, it seemed Xu Qi An’s alchemy was even more powerful than Song Qin’s. At least the alchemists hadn’t shown such a humble and eager-to-learn attitude towards Song Qin… Chu Yuanzhen grasped a bit of the key information, but he couldn’t accept this reasoning.
Number Six Heng Yuan knew that Xu Qi An had close ties with Tiantaijian, and could even ask Yang Qianhuan to treat that poor child. But he hadn’t expected Xu Qi An’s influence to be this great.
This wasn’t just a close relationship; it was as if he could summon and dismiss the alchemists at will.
Su Su was dumbfounded, staring blankly at Xu Qi An surrounded by the white-robed figures. Earlier, when she heard from Zhong Li about Song Qin’s high regard for his work, she had felt utterly dejected, believing this trip to Tiantaijian would be fruitless.
Although Xu Qi An had intricate connections with Tiantaijian, Song Qin didn’t even show favoritism to his fellow disciples, so he might not give a face to Xu Qi An.
But the reality was that Song Qin and the other alchemists were incredibly enthusiastic towards Xu Qi An. Su Su even felt that this was how those annoying men reacted when they saw her.
Xu Qi An raised his hand to quiet the alchemists. They immediately fell silent. He cleared his throat and said, “I don’t have the Blue Book at the moment, but I promise you all, I’ll send it over by the end of the year. In the future, when I have time, I’ll visit the alchemy room more often to discuss alchemy with everyone.”
“That’s wonderful!” The white-robed alchemists cheered, their faces beaming with smiles.
After everyone quieted down, Xu Qi An looked at Song Qin and said, “Elder Brother Song, your creation…”
Su Su immediately looked at Song Qin, biting her lip, her hands unconsciously clenching into fists.
Li Miaozhen also looked over, full of expectation.
Song Qin patted his chest and laughed heartily. “After creating this piece, my biggest regret was not getting Master Xu’s evaluation and guidance. Now, I can finally fulfill that wish.”
Such… humility?!
As Su Su breathed a sigh of relief, she once again felt a surge of disbelief, looking at Xu Qi An several times.
From now on, if anyone says the Tiantaijian alchemists are arrogant and look down on others, I’ll be the first to disagree… Chu Yuanzhen mused inwardly.
Led by Song Qin, the group left the alchemy room, passed through winding corridors, and arrived at a secret chamber.
The door of the chamber was made of pure steel. Song Qin knocked on the iron door and introduced, “This door, even a Fifth-Rank martial artist couldn’t damage it. I spent ten days forging it with hundred-times refined steel. Its main feature is its sturdiness, first-class in anti-theft.”
Hearing this, Chu Yuanzhen couldn’t help but say, “But the walls of your Observatory Tower are normal, right? A thief wouldn’t need to use the door at all.”
Li Miaozhen nodded and added, “Besides, who would come to the Observatory Tower to steal? There’s no historical precedent for such a thing, right?”
What’s the point of forging an anti-theft door?
… Song Qin’s face darkened, and he said coolly, “Is there anything else? If not, please leave.”
Chu Yuanzhen and Li Miaozhen immediately fell silent.
Li Miaozhen transmitted a message to Chu Yuanzhen: “Why do I feel that all of the Supervisor’s disciples are a bit strange? Chu Caiwei, who’s on par with Li Na, Zhong Li with her constant misfortune, and now this Song Qin. It seems only Yang Qianhuan is relatively normal.”
Chu Yuanzhen scoffed and replied via transmission: “You’re right about everything except the last part. The entire capital would disagree with your assessment of Yang Qianhuan.”
You just don’t know Yang Qianhuan well enough. He and Song Qin are the two most eccentric ones. Chu Caiwei is limited by her natural talents, not very intelligent. Zhong Li has become timid and insecure due to long-term misfortune… Only Song Qin and Yang Qianhuan have actual problems with their minds… Chu Yuanzhen thought to himself.
Li Miaozhen didn’t argue but asked, “What about the Supervisor’s second disciple?”
Chu Yuanzhen shook his head. “I’ve never seen the second disciple. It seems they left Tiantaijian long ago. Those two are probably normal.” After saying this, he felt he might be jumping to conclusions and added two words: “Probably…”
Song Qin took out a key, opened the anti-theft door, and led everyone into the secret chamber.
It was a spacious but cluttered room. Song Qin walked to the left, where the wall was covered with magical artifacts – crossbows, swords, firearms, and various other weapons.
There were also unforged iron blanks.
Song Qin proudly introduced to everyone, “Every weapon here is made of unique, rare materials found nowhere else in the world. If a formation master helps inscribe formations on them, they will become magical artifacts coveted by all.”
“However, I dislike that fool Yang Qianhuan. He’s not worthy of touching my creations, so they have never become true magical artifacts.”
Everyone present, except for Su Su and Zhong Li, showed looks of envy – Xu Qi An, Heng Yuan, Li Miaozhen, and Chu Yuanzhen.
“These are all ordinary items, not enough to showcase my achievements in alchemy. Please, follow me…”
Song Qin led the group deeper into the secret chamber, stopping in front of a three-foot-high glass jar. He happily said, “Look, this is my earliest work in the field of life alchemy.”
Everyone peered closely. Inside the jar filled with an unknown liquid, a strange cat-like creature was submerged. Its body was covered with tree rings and patterns, but it had the shape and head of a cat. Its chest and abdomen moved slightly, as if breathing.
Moreover, its tail was a slender branch with green leaves growing on it.
“Its name is Tree Cat, as the name suggests, a combination of a cat and a tree,” Song Qin explained enthusiastically. “I successfully kept it alive, but the cost is that it can only survive in water and can’t live in the outside world.”
“This embryo is a hybrid of human and horse. I once tried to combine an adult male with a horse’s body but failed. So I changed my approach and created this embryo. Fortunately, I successfully developed an embryo with both human and horse bloodlines, but sadly, it only survived for three days. I preserved it in alcohol…”
“These organs were cultivated from cells, developed bit by bit. You probably haven’t heard the term ‘cell’ before. It’s a word created by Master Xu…”
Chu Yuanzhen, Li Miaozhen, and the others, who were initially curious and excited to learn about new things and broaden their horizons, gradually showed fewer smiles and more serious expressions.
The looks they gave Song Qin were filled with wariness towards something alien as if they were examining a monster.
Chu Yuanzhen was right, Song Qin’s mind isn’t quite normal. This person is dangerous. If this wasn’t Tiantaijian, I would act on Heaven’s behalf right now… Li Miaozhen suddenly realized she couldn’t accept such things, even though this was what she came for.
I was wrong. Song Qin is the most abnormal of the Supervisor’s disciples. In comparison, Yang Qianhuan is just a bit… a bit arrogant… Chu Yuanzhen thought.
Fortunately, I didn’t send that child to Tiantaijian for treatment back then. Otherwise, he might have ended up preserved in a jar… Heng Yuan looked at Song Qin as if he were looking at a heretic.
Su Su’s feelings were particularly complex, both repulsed and fascinated.
Song Qin was very satisfied with everyone’s expressions, believing they were amazed and impressed, like country bumpkins entering the imperial city, deeply shocked by what they saw.
He didn’t take all the credit, coughing once before announcing, “The reason I’ve come so far in the field of life alchemy is all thanks to Master Xu. He taught me this knowledge and opened up my thinking.”
The members of Tiandihuizhi woodenly turned to look at Xu Qi An, their eyes filled with distrust.
So you’re the culprit behind all this?!
Could it be… could it be that Xu Qi An is also a hidden madman?
What the… What does this have to do with me? I only taught you some biology knowledge… Xu Qi An’s mouth twitched.
But he couldn’t refute it because he had indeed opened up Song Qin’s thinking and pointed him in this direction. It was like the Mahayana Buddhist teachings – to ordinary people, they just sound reasonable, but to someone like the Arhat Who Transcends Suffering, they’re like a thunderbolt from a clear sky.
“Ahem!” Xu Qi An coughed and said, “Elder Brother Song, we’re all waiting to see your grand transformation into a living person.”
He spoke quite humorously.
But everyone’s expressions suddenly became heavy because they saw a human form lying on a simple frame ahead, covered with a white cloth.
Song Qin walked over and lifted the white cloth. Everyone saw a man lying on the frame. “His” chest cavity was beating weakly, his body was withered and emaciated, and his features were utterly ordinary.
Phew… Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief. This creation seemed relatively normal. They had been afraid they would see some kind of monster.
“When he was first created, his physical state was no different from a normal person, but he’s been deteriorating daily. I estimate he’ll die in three days. It’s unavoidable; medicine has no effect,” Song Qin said.
Does medicine have no effect? When Xu Qi An saw this human form, his heart was in turmoil. He never imagined Song Qin had created a living being. This was a power that only the Creator should possess.
Hearing Song Qin’s words, Xu Qi An couldn’t help but speculate. Was the body unable to absorb the medicinal power, or did it reject the herbs of this world?
Or perhaps this body still had some defects, defects at the genetic level?
In the realm of life, heredity is an extremely important factor. The ability of humans to survive in nature and absorb medicinal effects is inseparable from heredity.
He had heard a saying before that if modern humans went back to ancient times, they would become mobile sources of infection, causing the world to perish.
The core meaning of this statement was that ancient people lacked antibodies to resist modern viruses. And the antibodies humans have against natural viruses can be inherited by their descendants.
This body’s inability to absorb herbs might be due to a similar reason.
Li Miaozhen sensed something and her eyes lit up. She said, “This body is clean, without intelligence or a soul. It’s better than the shell of a living person and most suitable as a physical body for Su Su.”
This involved a point of knowledge: in normal people, the soul and body are compatible. When a ghost possesses a body, because it can’t fully integrate with the flesh, there’s rejection.
The living person’s yang energy weakens, and the ghost’s yin energy depletes, resulting in mutual destruction.
Once a living person dies, the flesh inevitably decays and can’t serve as a permanent dwelling place.
But this body had no soul. If Su Su possessed it, the flesh might even nourish the soul, making her no different from a living person.
At this point, Li Miaozhen looked at Su Su and said, “Want to try going in?”
Su Su had been eager to try. Hearing this, she immediately nodded and separated from the paper figure, diving into the “man’s” body.
Hey, hey, you said you’d be my concubine. This isn’t what I had in mind. I wanted the jade dragon to plumb the deep moat, not to be a shit-stirring stick… Seeing this, Xu Qi An opened his mouth but couldn’t voice his inner thoughts.
After all, he had to maintain his dignity and was too embarrassed to say it out loud.
At this moment, Su Su was bounced out and returned to the paper figure.
Li Miaozhen’s delicate eyebrows furrowed. “What happened?”
Su Su shook her head, looking dejected.
Li Miaozhen pondered for a long time before making a guess. “I understand now. This body is different from a normal shell. It looks like flesh, but it’s actually like stone.”
“A ghost-like Su Su can’t possess a stone.”
Song Qin frowned and said, “So, I created a body that looks human but is stone?”
This result disappointed him greatly, and he found it hard to accept.
Li Miaozhen fell silent.
Su Su bit her lip, her bright eyes instantly dimming.
So it was just false hope… Chu Yuanzhen and Heng Yuan exchanged a glance and shook their heads helplessly.
“Master Xu, you are a genius in the field of alchemy. Your mastery of life alchemy is unparalleled,” Song Qin bowed deeply, bending at a 90-degree angle, and said loudly:
“Please teach me, Master Xu.”
Su Su’s dim eyes rekindled with hope as she looked expectantly at Xu Qi An.
That’s right, it was Xu Qi An who taught Song Qin life alchemy. He even wrote some Blue Book and the Fifth-Rank alchemists were so respectful to him… Li Miaozhen, Heng Yuan, and Chu Yuanzhen immediately looked at Xu Qi An.
How the hell should I know? I can talk the talk, but this question is already beyond my scope… Xu Qi An pondered and said:
“Give me your life alchemy notes. I need to study them first.”
Study how to find an excuse to fool you all… he thought to himself.