Yellow Skinned Taoist Master

Chapter 55: The Path of Immortality! The Path of Immortality!

"Young master — might you spare a moment to see Qiuyue?"

Song Qiuyue stood outside the alchemy chamber, her voice soft and low, the kind of voice that worked its way under the skin.

She was barely eighteen or nineteen years old. She lacked Twelfth Madam's practiced, full-bloomed allure — but she had her own kind of beauty, the effortless grace that belonged only to a woman her age. With the careful work she had put into her appearance, her perfectly arched brows and the subtle play of her eyes had turned an already arresting presence into something luminous.

Chen Huangpi was the lifeline she had chosen.

The way the old Daoist priest doted on him — if she became his woman, she reasoned, she couldn't simply vanish without a trace.

As for the betrothal contract between the Song family and the Li family that she had been carrying around all this time — it no longer meant anything.

Suddenly.

A creak.

The alchemy chamber door was pushed open just a crack.

Song Qiuyue's eyes lit up.But what she saw next was a lamp squeezing its head through the gap — a golden lamp, covered in bite marks, looking positively battered.

"Chen Huangpi is making a pill and doesn't have time for you. Say what you need to say and make it quick."

Song Qiuyue felt a rush of disappointment — but she knew this lamp was no ordinary object.

It was the treasure that had radiated golden light, the one that even deities had coveted.

So even after being treated with such bluntness, she didn't dare show any sign of offence.

Instead, she composed herself, gave a proper bow, and said: "Qiuyue pays her respects to Brother Huang."

"Oh, look at that — you know how to behave. Say it again."

"Qiuyue pays her respects to Brother Huang."

Song Qiuyue could feel the lamp's shameless eyes travelling all over her, as if trying to see straight through her clothes.

It made her furious.

"Would Brother Huang be so kind as to relay a message on Qiuyue's behalf — I once studied under a distinguished master and learned some basics of alchemy. If the young master would not find it disagreeable, Qiuyue would be glad to assist with whatever small tasks she can."

"You know alchemy?"

The brass oil lamp dragged its eyes from Song Qiuyue's legs to her waist. "Tell me more — how exactly is this alchemy done? How many pills does one furnace produce, and how large is each one?"

"Brother Huang."

Song Qiuyue said evenly: "The art of alchemy has existed since before the great change. Though the path of cultivation has transformed and the ancient methods no longer work, alchemy has stayed the same in spirit, even if the form has shifted."

"How many pills a single furnace yields can vary, but it's always divided by yin and yang."

"Yin is six;

yang is nine."

"The multiples of six and six, or the products of nine and nine — that is the rule."

"As for how large a pill should be — I've never heard it discussed in those terms. What I know is that smaller is better;

too small is substandard;

but too large is flawed."

Finishing, Song Qiuyue added with a hint of lingering thought: "This is only the most basic knowledge. If one truly wished to discuss alchemy, three days and three nights wouldn't be enough."

It was obvious.

Song Qiuyue genuinely understood alchemy.

She could hardly not.

In Da Kang, women were barred from the imperial examinations, so there was no path for her to govern a province the way Song Tiangang did. After reaching the Nascent Soul realm, there was essentially nothing else to strive for. Alchemy, painting, making a marriage, bearing children, waiting out eight hundred years of lifespan, and then ascending to godhood in place.

That was the only option.

So Song Qiuyue had apprenticed herself to a renowned alchemist at an early age.

Everything she had just said was true.

The brass oil lamp couldn't tell the difference — but what she said landed in its ears and immediately pulled its eyes away from her waist and up to her face.

"Brother Huang, why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because what you just said is brilliant!"

The brass oil lamp said excitedly: "I knew Chen Huangpi's approach to alchemy was wrong. What kind of pill is bigger than two human heads put together? And the Heaven Toxin Pill at that — who else but Guanzhu could swallow that in one go? I absolutely have to talk some sense into him."

"Thank you, Brother Huang."

Song Qiuyue exhaled with quiet relief. She hadn't expected that in the end it would be her throwaway knowledge of alchemy — not her looks — that earned her a foothold in this conversation.

But.

She had exhaled too soon.

The brass oil lamp stared at her, puzzled. "Why are you thanking me?"

Song Qiuyue hesitated. "Brother Huang is introducing Qiuyue to the young master — should Qiuyue not express her gratitude?"

"Oh, sweetness — who exactly is your 'Brother Huang'?"

The brass oil lamp said with contempt: "This lamp can smell the game you're running from a mile off — you practically reek of it. Introducing you? This is the Pure Immortal Temple. Who do you think you are?"

The only reason it had come out at all was because Chen Huangpi had asked it to step out and see what was going on.

Otherwise, with the brass oil lamp's temperament — which didn't show even a Life-reaping Ghost much respect — why would it waste a single word on Song Qiuyue?

That was simply how it was.

In front of Chen Huangpi, it was the brass oil lamp.

In front of anyone else, it was the Nine Nether God Lantern.

And as for Guanzhu — best not to bring him up at all.

Slam.

The brass oil lamp shut the door in her face.

Song Qiuyue was left standing outside the alchemy chamber, her hands wringing the hem of her clothes until her knuckles went white.

That wretched lamp.

It deserved to die too.

And just then.

The alchemy chamber door swung open.

Chen Huangpi came out carrying the brass oil lamp.

"Young master — you came!"

"I hear you know something about alchemy."

Chen Huangpi looked her over from head to toe, then clicked his tongue and said: "You look even better than yesterday. You really are beautiful."

At those words, Song Qiuyue immediately gave a slight bow forward — and the well-fitted collar of her dress shifted just so.

She also noticed the brass oil lamp, which now had a fresh fist-shaped dent on its side that hadn't been there a moment ago.

She understood at once.

The boy had been struck by something tender.

"The young master is very direct. Qiuyue doesn't quite know how to respond."

A shy flush crept across Song Qiuyue's cheeks, as if she were a girl experiencing her first blush of feeling.

And just like that, Chen Huangpi felt his heart hammering even harder than before.

He forced down the discomfort and said: "You don't need to be formal with me. Let me ask you something — was it you who said those things about alchemy just now?"

"It was Qiuyue who said them."

Song Qiuyue put on an air of humility: "I heard that the young master is a master of alchemy — Qiuyue knows very little by comparison, only a few shallow impressions. If she said anything wrong, she hopes the young master will forgive her."

"I cannot forgive you."

Chen Huangpi said with great seriousness: "You knew I was a master of alchemy, and yet you came here to show off in front of me. That is deeply offensive."

"Especially this so-called alchemy theory of yours."

"Smaller is better, larger is flawed — what an absolutely laughable notion!"

"You had better not try to make pills. If you do, don't blame me for smashing your furnace."

By this point, Chen Huangpi was genuinely a little annoyed.

Everything he knew about alchemy he had learned from his master.

To call it wrong was to call his master wrong.

And Master was capable of anything and everything — how could Master possibly be wrong?

"Listen carefully — every medicine is part poison, and that goes for pills too!"

Chen Huangpi lectured: "Refining dozens of pills in a single furnace does nothing but dilute the potency. A pill should be as large as possible. Big is good. Big is beautiful. I've said all I have to say — don't let yourself be led astray!"

"Even so — I still think the young lady made a fair point."

The brass oil lamp hesitated, then finally said it.

It had watched Chen Huangpi refine his pills.

He followed the Heaven Toxin Pill steps, yes.

But it was the lamp who provided the true fire. It was the lamp who added the herbs. Chen Huangpi had only formed a few hand seals and managed the heat.

Everything else seemed to have been left to the Nine Dragons Refining Heaven Furnace.

Meanwhile, Song Qiuyue's talk of alchemy had been clear, well-reasoned, and grounded.

No matter how one looked at it, Chen Huangpi seemed to have got it wrong.

Chen Huangpi frowned in irritation. "Huang Er, the only reason you think that is because her alchemy is deviant."

"Deviant theories sound plausible at first — but the more you examine them, the more crooked they get."

"I, on the other hand, have mastered the Pharmacopoeia, read widely, studied extensively — and I am a natural genius at alchemy."

"The Pure Immortal Temple is a proper sect of true cultivation. Therefore, my alchemy is righteous."

"I am the standard. Everything is judged by me."

After this volley of declarations, whether the brass oil lamp actually believed him was unclear.

Song Qiuyue, for her part, found herself half-persuaded.

Though on reflection.

This Pure Immortal Temple was an utter den of strangeness, with no connection whatsoever to proper cultivation sects.

Well — she would just go along with whatever Chen Huangpi said.

With that thought, Song Qiuyue managed a strained smile: "You're right. Qiuyue has been on a deviant path. Meeting the young master today, I finally understand what a true paragon of righteous cultivation looks like. If I could simply remain near the young master, basking in the light of the proper path — I could die content."

"Glad you understand."

Chen Huangpi was instantly flattered and pleased with himself.

But the very next moment he realized something was off — because his killing intent was hammering even harder than before. He frowned and said: "You want to stay near me?"

"Yes. Qiuyue admires the righteous path, so of course she wishes to remain always at the side of the righteous path."

Song Qiuyue said the words that she herself found utterly shameless and mortifying.

Such an obvious hint.

Surely this young man would understand.

"I understand now."

Chen Huangpi said with sudden clarity: "You want to default on your debt, don't you? No wonder I felt the urge to kill you the moment I saw you. Where are my two mountains of copper coins? Hand them over!"

Yesterday at roughly this same time, he had made an agreement with Song Qiuyue and the others, recorded clearly in the Soul-Hooking Register.

Song Qiuyue had offered two mountains' worth of copper coins as payment. And she had personally volunteered to stay only one day.

That deadline had now come due.

At those words, Song Qiuyue's expression changed abruptly. "The coin mountains… I…"

When she had come here, her entire mind had been on Chen Huangpi.

She had completely forgotten about this.

"Young master, I am a daughter of the Song family of Qinghe — I would never go back on my word. Please allow more time to—"

"Enough excuses!"

"You are a daughter of the Song family of Qinghe — and I am my master's apprentice! Either pay the debt, or pay with your life!"

Chen Huangpi's eyes went cold and sharp, his expression hardening. He extended two fingers like a blade, and in an instant, a razor-sharp sword qi flared out three feet long.

Sword qi lethal and brilliant, its edge beyond compare!

Song Qiuyue took one look at that sword qi and felt her Nascent Soul inside her give a sudden stab of pain.

That sword qi…

And threaded through it — that sword intent, carrying the will to purge evil and slay demons.

Her entire body trembled. She stared at Chen Huangpi in disbelief, then forced her gaze back down.

Her mind was a storm of crashing waves.

Like the earth shattering beneath her feet.

That was the Grand Duke Demon Slaying technique…

That was the Grand Duke Demon Slaying sword art — a single surviving sword move preserved in the Song family's collection.

If that alone were the case, perhaps it wouldn't mean so much.

But the Grand Duke Demon Slaying was an Ancient Method.

Any cultivator of the current era who practiced it would transform into an evil spirit.

And this Chen Huangpi was a cultivator of the current era — yet he had mastered a technique from the ancient age. And mastered it to this terrifying degree.

And yet he had not become an evil spirit.

Song Qiuyue knew exactly what this meant.

It meant that the path of cultivation, which stopped at the Nascent Soul realm with no way forward except transcending into godhood — that path had been opened again, here, by a boy in the Hundred Thousand Mountains, in the Pure Immortal Temple.

The path of immortality…

This was the path of immortality…

The moment that thought struck her, Song Qiuyue's legs would not stop shaking.

"Huang Er, what's wrong with her?"

Chen Huangpi stared at Song Qiuyue's strange reaction, thoroughly bewildered.

The brass oil lamp thought for a moment, then said: "Maybe your killing intent was too heavy and you scared her into losing control of herself. I say just kill her now — A'Gui's still unconscious, right? This would be a perfect supplement. And those other cultivators — don't forget about them either. They all signed."

Chen Huangpi said: "Don't worry. I won't forget."