Chapter 11 – Heaven Sealed Physique
Silver Fir City. Night had fallen but the city was lit up by lantern lights.
At this moment, a young man and a young woman both wearing tattered clothes walked up to the city gate. If not for Chu Yao’s beautiful appearance, the two would have probably been mistaken as beggars.
Lin Mu Yu held a cane made from a branch in one hand while the other covered the wound on his chest. Although his face and clothes were covered in blood, not a bit of embarra.s.sment can be seen on his handsome face. The longbow and the quiver on his back, in addition to the two wild rabbits in his hand, made him out to look no different from a regular hunter. Thus the city guards didn’t give the two travellers too much trouble, thinking they were just a pair of wounded hunters, and let them into the city.
……
It was quite late when they finally returned to Bai Ling Pharmacy, but when Chu Yao simply called for Grandpa at the door, the main doors immediately shot open. Chu Feng appeared in the yard with a worried look on his face with both of his eyes bloodshot and his body stiff. When he finally saw that Chu Yao was safe and sound, he was finally able to loosen up and asked, “Ah Yao…. Where have you two been? You two had been missing for two days and two nights, I had almost looked through the whole Silver Fir City for you two…”
Feeling unsteady, Chu Yao weakly said, “Grandpa, Ah Yu and I are both hurt. Could you ask Luo Kai to make food and send it to Ah Yu’s room? We can talk inside about those small details.”
Chu Feng nodded, “Okay.”
Luo Kai was the youngest disciple at Bai Ling Pharmacy. He was only 17 years old, but he was also very sharp. Straightaway, he went to prepare something for them to eat. Chu Feng supported Chu Yao, and looked at Lin Mu Yu. He couldn’t hold himself back from asking, “Ah Yu, how are your wounds?”
Lin Mu Yu simply responded, “Let’s talk inside.”
Arriving at his room, Lin Mu Yu and Chu Yao sat side by side on the edge of the bed. Chu Feng also slowly sat down in a wicker chair and asked frantically, “What happened exactly? Why were the two of you gone for so long?”
Chu Yao immediately explained the events of the last two days.
Upon hearing the recollection, Chu Feng was grinding his teeth in hatred, “I never would have thought… To think young lord Hua Wan would have such a disregard for the law… and that those blasted mercenaries would treat human life-like gra.s.s. It’s as if the empire’s laws are just fun and games for them. They are disgusting!”
Lin Mu Yu pulled out the Medicine G.o.d’s Index from his shirt and carefully held the tattered book in his hand, “Grandpa, see if you can understand any of this.”
Chu Feng accepted the book, but with just a glance at the first page, his body shuddered in reaction. His face blushing with a wild excitement, he exclaimed, “Medicine G.o.d’s Index… the real Medicine G.o.d’s Index… the acclaimed treasure of the past Medicine G.o.d w.a.n.g Yi. By the G.o.ds, there are countless others dreaming about obtaining this index, and you two actually found it!”
Chu Yao frowned, “Grandpa, I couldn’t understand much of the words inside. The recipes also seemed to be too deep for me.”
Chu Feng smiled, “That is to be expected, much of the recipes inside the Medicine G.o.d’s Index are at least Rank 5 and above. It would be more surprising had you been able to understand it.”
As he spoke, Chu Feng leaned close while holding the oil lamp, and spoke to Lin Mu Yu in a caring manner, “Ah Yu, remove your clothes and let grandpa see your wounds.”
Lin Mu Yu obediently removed his shirt and the crisscross of a dozen wolf claw slashes appeared on his bare chest. Chu Feng looked at his pityingly and asked, “Poor child, you definitely felt an immense level of pain at that time, am I right?”
“It was ok…. I just didn’t want to become the dinner for that Swift Wolf.”
“You really killed an 800-year-old Swift Wolf?”
“Yeah…” Chu Yao followed, “I remember, at that time Ah Yu was covered in blood and was able to execute this horrifying punch. I almost couldn’t believe it when it blasted the Swift Wolf’s internal organs out of its body. Grandpa, I feel like Ah Yu’s potential is far greater than mine. Perhaps… He is actually someone fit to train in martial arts.”
“Really?”
Chu Feng’s muddled eyes suddenly lit up and asked in joy, “Ah Yu, do you want to learn martial arts? If you want, I can bring you to Silver Fir City’s Holy Temple to identify your power level. It doesn’t matter how much it is going to cost, Grandpa is definitely going hire the best mentor at the temple to train you in martial arts. How does that sound?”
“Grandpa, I’m willing to try.” Lin Mu Yu seriously nodded. He already knew that those without strength in this dog-eat-dog world are only going to be trampled upon by the strong.
“Good, we’ll leave at the crack of dawn so we’ll be able to come back at noon to enter the Pharmacopoeia General a.s.sembly!”
“We’re still going to enter the Pharmacopoeia General a.s.sembly?”
Lin Mu Yu furrowed his brows and stated, “If Hua Wan recognizes Chu Yao and I, he will definitely not let us go in peace.”
“We MUST enter!” Chu Feng was very decisive in his response, “But Ah Yu, you don’t have to worry. No one is going to hurt you two tomorrow, plus if our medicine can receive a good ranking and be picked as one of the chosen pharmacies of the Emperor’s Representative, then we’ll be even more protected.”
“The Emperor’s Representative?”
“Yes.” Looking at the dumbfounded youngster, Chu Feng faintly smiled and explained, “This news has already been spread throughout Silver Fir City. The Capital is going to send a special representative to this year’s Pharmacopoeia General a.s.sembly and will be promoting the top 3 ranked pharmacies to royal pharmacies. If we can obtain that t.i.tle, then no one will be able to touch us. Hua Wan won’t be able to, neither will his father Hua Tian. Plus, my good friend is also going to come to Silver Fir City with the special representative!”
“Alright then, we’ll listen to Grandpa’s plan.”
Not long after, Luo Kai brought in their dinner. Chu Yao and Lin Mu Yu had been starving, thus they quickly ate everything and went to sleep back in their own rooms.
It was midnight, but Chu Feng had yet to close his eyes. Instead, he held the Medicine G.o.d’s Index as if intoxicated by the book.
After a long time, he looked at the small bottle of beast blood on his desk. That was a bottle of Bloodl.u.s.t Tiger’s blood, intense and never settling, the blood bubbled as if boiling. It was collected by Lin Mu Yu after the tiger had died, for a total of a dozen bottles of an excellent rank 5 medicinal ingredient. Right then, Chu Feng decided to refine a bottle of Super Strength potion.
Super Strength potion, the more powerful version of the Strength potion, was able to release even great amount of the user’s potential. It allowed the user to make use of unprecedented amounts of power for a short time.
Following the recipe in the Medicine G.o.d’s Index, Chu Feng studied the production process for the whole night.
Lastly, at the crack of dawn, two bottles of completed Super Strength potions were set on one side of the desk.
……
“Ah Yu, we’re going!”
Knocking on the door to Lin Mu Yu’s room, Chu Feng was like a child as he pulled Lin Mu Yu out into the yard when the youngster’s door finally opened. Today was like a rebirth for Chu Feng. He has not been this happy for a long time.
There was only one Holy Temple in Silver Fir City, commonly referred to as the Temple. It was a martial artist’s most holy place. Almost all of the most powerful warriors came from the Temple.
When Chu Feng brought Lin Mu Yu to the Temple, there was only an instructor on guarding duty. He was a man of about 30 years old with a pair of rat-like eyes. No matter how you look at him, he did not seem like a good person. Striking the table, he said, “You want to test your power level? One silver Yin.”
Chu Feng immediately placed down a silver Yin coin and turned to Lin Mu Yu, “Quickly!”
The instructor looked at Lin Mu Yu but found that there was barely any power surrounding him; even more so, he could not feel the power of a martial spirit fluctuate inside. It was very strange, unless the youngster basically had no power of any kind. He pushed a crystal ball forward and said, “Put your hand on top of this, and then focus the greatest amount of power that you have onto the testing crystal.”
Lin Mu Yu obediently placed his hand atop the crystal ball and channeled the energy within him into his palm. It was similar to using Sublimation Hands, and momentarily the crystal glowed with a bright light as the measuring device next to it was frantically reacting to the energy.
“No way… A power fluctuation that powerful?” The instructor was shocked by the situation.
But the good times did not last long, a few seconds later, the measuring crystal dimmed out while not even one mark was left on the recording device.
“Hahahahahaha… What a joke, this is too funny. What a huge trick by the G.o.ds, hahahahaha…” The instructor suddenly started laughing wildly.
Surprised, Chu Feng asked with confused eyes, “Excuse me, but what happened exactly?”
The instructor glanced at Lin Mu Yu and said, “This kid’s inner strength is super intense. You could say it’s the most impressive one that I’ve seen in all my life. But it’s a shame, because his physique is the ‘Heaven Sealed’ kind told in legends.
“Heaven Sealed?” Chu Feng was stunned once more.
The instructor continued to laugh, “Heaven Sealed simply means that one is naturally disabled in martial arts. His arteries and veins were naturally sealed, thus is unable to quickly refine energy. He would also be unable to learn or use battle skills. It’s really quite a shame. Old fellow, why don’t you just bring him home. The kid is naturally not fit to learn martial arts.”
Within a second, Lin Mu Yu felt as if he had fallen to the bottom of a pit. To be a ‘Heaven Sealed’, wasn’t this a bit too harsh to be a G.o.d’s joke?
“Ah Yu… I’m sorry…”
On the returning walk, Chu Feng restlessly tried to comfort Lin Mu Yu, only for Lin Mu Yu to comfort him in return, “Grandpa, it’s alright. Even if I can’t train in martial arts, at least I can still do alchemy. It’s the same.”
……
In side the Temple, a man wearing a suit of flame-red leather armor looked out the window. Eyes filled with a naked light, he removed his gloves and placed them onto his desk. With a smile, he chuckled to himself, “Heaven Sealed? Heh…It’s been at least a thousand years since the last appearance of this rare strain. Heaven Sealed…hahaha…”
At his side, a soldier stood waiting with a new set of clothes and said, “General Ning, the Pharmacopoeia General a.s.sembly is about to begin. Please change as the lord is already waiting at the Lord’s Manor to receive the Emperor’s representative together with you, sir.”
“Alright then!”
……
Pharmacopoeia General a.s.sembly, commonly known as the Festival of Silver Fir City. This year’s a.s.sembly even received the Capital’s attention, since the Emperor personally sent his representative to visit the city. It was easy to see how much the a.s.sembly is valued by the empire.
Bai Ling Pharmacy’s disciples were all full of joy. They prepared a total of 4 units of medicine for the compet.i.tion: Chu Feng’s Super Strength potion, Lin Mu Yu’s Stone Skin potion, Chu Yao and w.a.n.g Ying’s healing potions. The focus was on Chu Feng’s Super Strength potion since it was a Rank 5 potion, they should have a shot at placing into the top ranks.
The General a.s.sembly was taking place on the open field in front of the Lord’s Manor. When Lin Mu Yu and the group arrived, hundreds of other pharmacies’ people have arrived, as well as countless civilians viewing the event. Although Silver Fir City was a small-sized city, it became extraordinarily busy because of today’s event.
……
“I heard an emperor’s representative is going to come watch the event today. I don’t know who it is, but it has to be an important official, right?” The civilians all chimed in on the debate.
“Yeah, or how else could they possibly be the emperor’s representative?”
Following the crowd’s expectant eyes, a convoy of troops slowly arrived. Leading the front were the heavily armored cavalry troops, following close behind were light-armored sword-wielding guards, and at the end, was a 6-drive carriage. At that sight, Chu Yao was surprised, “It’s a 6-horse drive? When the Emperor tours the country, his carriage is but a 9-horse drive, who could this be?”
But Lin Mu Yu was able to see the flag raised on the side of the carriage and the large “Tang” character on the flag.
“Tang?” w.a.n.g Ying was also shocked, “A 6-drive eminence, and is from the Tang family, it can’t possibly be Tang Cang, the Duke of Azure Tide?”
TL note: Azure Tide is a translation of the t.i.tle 沧澜.
Chu Feng quickly scolded him, “w.a.n.g Ying quit spitting nonsense. Is the name of the Duke of Azure Tide something you can directly call?”
w.a.n.g Ying lowered his head in apology, “I’m sorry, master.”
……
Right then, the carriage slowly came to a stop in front of the Lord’s Manor. With the lift of the curtain, a dress wearing young girl appeared in everyone’s view. The dress was very peculiar and an exquisite pattern was sown on it. With a single look, everyone could tell it was a carefully made dress. And beneath the dress were a pair of white-jade-like slender legs without any hints of imperfection. It was as if a G.o.ddess had descended, this young girl had the countenance of a heavenly beauty, one that was enough to make people short of breath.
And just as everyone was stunned at the sight, she had already jumped off the carriage with a single turn. A pair of dainty small boots stepped on the brick floor as she smilingly chuckled, “We’re finally here. I thought my b.u.t.t was going to blossom like a flower from sitting for so long…”
Everyone almost simultaneously fell over. Who would have thought that a graceful beauty with such a heavenly countenance could speak so playfully and vulgarly.
……
Silver Fir City’s Lord Hua Tian walked up with a group of officials following behind him and knelt down on the ground holding his fist in a bow.
“Subject Hua Tian. Paying respect to Princess Xi!”
[Technically she is the Duke’s granddaughter, thus in English terms she is just “Lady Xi”. However in Chinese, because the daughter of a Duke[郡公]is called a Duke’s Princess[郡公主], I kept the term as Princess.]