The next day before the sun was even up, Mu Chen felt very refreshed and woke up. He went to the pill concocting room.
He picked out a dozen herbs from the medicinal herb shelf. He then spoke to the dao child next to him, “Go to Qiyang Palace and bring me three Eon Rattan Fruits. Bring me fruits that are at least eighty percent ripe.”
The dao child responded back to him and hurriedly ran to get some.
Qiyang Palace was ranked second after Chongyang Palace which was the place that the Sect Master resided. Chongyang Palace was also the best location in Lofty Cloudy Sect for fruits to grow. The Palace Master, whose name was Duan Mufeng, also had a special interest in brewing wine. Thus, he planted spirit fruits on the entire mountain. The younger disciples were too scared to visit. However, the disciples from Chu Qianshuang’s generation were gluttons who would visit their Second Martial Uncle to get food. Jing Ming was also familiar with the location. It didn’t take long for the dao child to come back with three Eon Rattan Fruits. Each of the fruits were as big as a fist and they were vividly colored. There were specks of dew still on them.
Mu Chen threw them into a bowl and turned them into mush from a single pat. He then poured in the crushed medicinal powder and stirred it before placing it on the pill concocting stove.
Mu Chen used his Nine Yang Dark Fire to light the stove. In the time it took to finish half a cup of tea, Mu Chen removed the cover off the stove. The sweet scent of the Eon Rattan Fruits assaulted his senses. Using his long fine fingers, he pinched a stick of bamboo and moving as if he were flying, he formed pills into the shape of tanghulu. Mu Chen thought back to his memories of the tanghulu that other children ate. Mu Chen frowned a bit, realizing that there seemed to be something missing.
A dao child that was next to him passed a bowl of honey over. “Palace Master, is this it?”
Mu Chen suddenly realized. Yes, this was it!
Mu Chen dipped the skewered pills into the honey. He then happily left with an improvised tanghulu.
The dao children all had complicated expressions on their faces. The expression on Mu Chen’s face had turned them all speechless.
The scene that Yue Mingze was met with was one in which Mu Chen was carrying a strange skewered item from the pill room. When he took a closer look at the stringed item, Yue Mingze’s lips twitched. So pills could actually be eaten this way? Martial Uncle was truly worthy to be known as the most talented pill cultivator from the past years. This kind of ingenuity, there was no one who could compare to it.
Mu Chen coldly walked past Yu Mingze while carrying the stick of pills. He didn’t even look at him and purposely ignored him.
At the present, Gu Yunjue’s spiritual power rose like it was riding on a flying sword. Mu Chen started to worry that his cultivation would become unstable and that his mind would be unable to keep up with it. However, he did not expect that the other had already broken through Qi Condensation Stage Two like he did not know what a bottleneck was. Mu Chen worried that the progress would be too fast, and that his small body would be unable to endure the pressure the spiritual power gave his meridians. Thus, Mu Chen wanted to refine a couple pills with gentle effects to protect his meridians. Since he added spirit fruits, the effect would only work while it was fresh. Thus, Yue Mingze came at a bad time.
Yue Mingze rubbed his head awkwardly. He felt that he was coming by too often.
He rushed to catch up with Mu Chen and observed the expression on Mu Chen’s face. After noticing that Mu Chen did not look impatient, he finally spoke, “Martial Uncle, that stick of pills looks pretty.”
Mu Chen gave him a disdainful look. His face had the question, “are you an idiot.” written all over it. He corrected him, “It’s easy to use.”
“Martial Uncle is right.” Yue Mingze said in an attempt to flatter Mu Chen. He knew that it wouldn’t work with Mu Chen, so he nervously asked, “I want to ask, what should be done so that Martial Uncle will be willing to heal Daoist Xing Xuan?”
Mu Chen tilted his head to the side and sized Yue Mingze up. “You want me to save him?”
Yue Mingze earnestly nodded. His foundation within the Sect wasn’t very stable. If he didn’t grab this chance to be friendly with Ten Thousand Sword Sect, the elders in this Sect might stir up trouble for him again.
Mu Chen nodded with an expressionless face, “Then, bring him here this afternoon. I’ll make an exception for you this time.”
“Martial Uncle!” Yue Mingze gave Mu Chen an emotional look. Yue Mingze was unsure where to place his hands. He was shocked that Mu Chen made a compromise for him with that personality of his. Yue Mingze’s mouth twitched. He wanted to say something, but he was unsure of what to say. Suddenly, a thought suddenly rose in his mind. Without thinking, he asked, “Martial Uncle, you said that you wanted to marry me last time….”
Mu Chen expertly raised his leg and kicked Yue Mingze out of Yanyang Palace. His white robes embellished with a silver pattern gently swayed in a graceful manner with his movements. It carried a noble and elegant aura.
Gu Yunjue raised the stick of pills and felt his heart soften into a complete mess. He really enjoyed how Mu Chen was exclusively gentle to him. Gu Yunjue narrowed his eyes and he readily ate each of the pills.
Under the urging expression of Mu Chen, Gu Yunjue’s mouth shook slightly and he smiled. “This is very tasty!”
Gu Yunjue could swear that his little Master didn’t even get rid of the fruit’s pit. The flavor of the Eon Rattan Fruit’s flesh was really delicious, but the pit of the fruit was really bitter. The pill was both bitter and sweet at the same time. It also had that tart taste of medicine. On top of that, the honey used to coat the pill was made by a ghost bee. This gave the pill a slight taste of fishiness. Eating the pill tormented his taste buds. Gu Yunjue braced himself and swallowed the entire stack of pills in one mouthful. He gave Mu Chen the same gentle look as before. As long as his Master made it, even if it was poison, he would still eat it. This pill was not poison, it was just slightly unpalatable. The effect of the pills was pretty good. After eating the pills, Gu Yunjue’s meridians that had been hurting a bit from too much spiritual power felt better. Gu Yunjue pulled Mu Chen’s hand and praised him. “Master is great! The effect of the pills is really amazing!”
The corner of Mu Chen’s lips slightly raised, and Mu Chen gave his disciple a faint smile. His little disciple was becoming more and more considerate. He was unlike that Yue Mingze who would often cry and talk about how disgusting it was when he was young. Yue Mingze really wasn’t cute.
It was right at this moment that a special guest was welcomed outside of Yanyang Palace.
Mu Chen had just fed Gu Yunjue until he was full when he heard a dao child telling him that a rather imposing man dressed in black was waiting outside. The dao child also told him that the man had said that his surname was Yu and that he was Palace Master’s old friend.
Gu Yunjue silently took the handkerchief out of Mu Chen’s hand and wiped his mouth clean. He then gently smiled before asking, “Does Master have a lot of friends?”
Mu Chen shook his head and decided not to bother himself with Gu Yunjue’s words. “Let him in,” Mu Chen said to the other.
The moment he said that, a black figure landed outside the bamboo forest. He had a tall stature, and his face was a handsome one with a cold and imposing aura. It would take only one look to know that he was a person of high status. A person that was hard to get in touch with. This person was Ten Thousand Sword Sect’s Sect Master, Yu Tianyi.
After being invited in, Yu Tianyi did not wait for Mu Chen to speak and led himself to a seat. His eyes swept by Gu Yunjue before settling on Mu Chen. With a low and deep voice, he said, “I know that you like small animals. However, I did not expect you to like children as well.”
Mu Chen gave a rather unenthusiastic response, “You’re speaking too much nonsense.”
If it were anybody else, they wouldn’t dare to speak to Yu Tianyi in this manner. Yu Tianyi wouldn’t permit anybody else to speak to him in this manner. However, the person who had spoken to him in this manner was Mu Chen. Yu Tianyi was not angry about this, and smiled instead. He felt helpless when it came to Mu Chen’s cold attitude. “ We haven’t seen each other in years, can’t you be nicer to me?” Yu Tianyi noticed that Mu Chen was still frowning and sighed. “Where shall we talk?”
Mu Chen handed Gu Yunjue over to Jing Ming, indicating for him to take Gu Yunjue out to play. Gu Yunjue was unhappy about this and held onto Mu Chen’s hand with a cold expression on his face. He could tell that Yu Tianyi’s attitude towards Mu Chen was a strange one. His Master wanted to be alone with a man. Could the reason why be any clearer? Humph!
Mu Chen reached out to pick Gu Yunjue up by his collar and threw him to Jing Ming. He had to be especially strict to his disobedient little disciple.
Gu Yunjue felt so angry that his face turned a white color.
Once everyone else was sent away, Mu Chen set up a silent boundary before looking at Yu Tianyi. “Are you infected with the cold poison?”
Yu Tianyi was speechless. Mu Chen truly was a direct person. He didn’t even start with some small talk.
Mu Chen looked at the expression on the other’s face and knew that his guess was correct. “The cold poison is curable. I will tell you the ingredients and you can go prepare them.”
Yu Tianyi nodded. The silent atmosphere felt cold. After staying silent for a while longer, Yu Tianyi finally asked, “About the marriage connection I said before…actually….”
Mu Chen rudely finished his sentence, “I know…. It’s just for convenience, not for sincerity.”
The expression on Yu Tianyi’s face froze. His eyes drifted away. He asked somewhat at a loss, “Do you have a grudge with Junior Brother Ji?”
“He’s a vicious and merciless hypocrite that would even sell his own flesh for power.” Mu Chen picked up the chopsticks that Gu Yunjue used and stabbed the chopsticks into the table. He was in a bad mood.
The atmosphere once again turned silent. Both Mu Chen and Yu Tianyi were people who did not talk much. To get Mu Chen to talk, Yu Tianyi had already worked hard in finding a subject for them to talk about. However, every single topic was cut into an awkward silence with just one sentence from Mu Chen. It was impossible for the conversation to continue.
As for Gu Yunjue, who was taken to the mountains in the back, this awkward scene did not appear in his mind. A smile appeared on his face even though the expression in his eyes turned into a cold one. His desire for Mu Chen was already beyond his imagination. It was becoming an obsession. When Gu Yunjue thought about Mu Chen showing his happiness to others, he wanted to isolate Mu Chen from the outside world. He also felt the urge to kill others. The type of an uncontrollable feeling almost made it hard for Gu Yunjue to restrain his thoughts. His eyes also had a sheen of a bloody red color on them.