Chapter 146 - Gathering Information (1/2)

”Grand Elder!” Qiu Ling barged into the Grand Elder's palace just like he had done it with his own master's.

The old man flinched and the tender herb in his hands ripped into two parts. The old man closed his eyes and repressed a sigh.

”Nian, who came in just now?”, he asked his head disciple who stood next to him.

Nian Hong Fang turned around and frowned when he saw the young man standing there. ”I don't know, Master. I have never seen him before.” There weren't many people who would dare to barge into the Grand Elder's palace like that. And this man … he certainly would have remembered him if he had seen him at least once.

The Grand Elder turned around just in time to come face to face with a list of ingredients.

”Grand Elder, help me find out what those things are!”

The Grand Elder widened his eyes and took the list from him. ”This is … the list of ingredients for the Amethyst Lightning Pill?”

”I don't know. It has something to do with remodeling spirit veins or something like that.” Qiu Ling definitely didn't mind admitting to the fact that he knew nothing about these things.

The Grand Elder finally looked up and froze. That was … Grandmaster Zhangsun's disciple? ”This … What do you need this for?”

”Of course, it's for my beloved!”

”Oh. So he accepted?”

”No, not yet.”

The Grand Elder blinked. ”Ah, so it is supposed to be a present for the upcoming betrothal.”

Now it was Qiu Ling's turn to blink. ”No, it's not.”

The two looked at each other. Neither understanding what the other was talking about.

Nian Hong Fang coughed. Hearing the word 'betrothal' and adding it to the fact that he didn't know the man in front of him he could figure out who he was. ”Senior martial brother Qiu, I'm afraid we didn't have the pleasure of meeting until now. I'm the Grand Elder's head disciple, Nian Hong Fang.”

”Oh. Qiu Ling.”

”Might I ask Senior martial brother Qiu why you would gift something like an Amethyst Lightning Pill to someone who hasn't agreed to marry you yet?”

Of course, Qiu Ling didn't mind answering that question. ”Because I love him.”

The Grand Elder and his Head disciple exchanged a glance but both of them didn't know what to say. This explanation was quite simple but that made it even more unbelievable. Which cultivator or practitioner would sacrifice something this valuable just because of some fleeting feelings?

Sure, he couldn't use the Amethyst Lightning Pill himself since he wasn't a cultivator anyway but he had brought a list of ingredients over. Didn't that mean he hadn't chanced upon the pill somewhere but was instead planning to assemble the necessary ingredients and then finding a high-level alchemist to refine the pill?

Doing something like that was total folly! Even if one disregarded the danger he would have to brave to gather the materials, there was still the price he would have to pay for getting a high-leveled alchemist to do him a favor. After all, there weren't many of them around and refining such a pill wasn't easy even for them. Owing a favor to a high-leveled alchemist was nearly as bad as owing one to a demon.

Could he really love that junior martial brother so much that he was willing to accept all that?

Qiu Ling knew nothing of the complex thoughts that the Grand Elder and his disciple had. He just pointed at the list again. ”Grand Elder, can you help me? I want to gather those things but I don't have any idea where to find them or how they even look.”

The Grand Elder pushed away all other thoughts and waved Qiu Ling with him. ”Sure, sure. But I'll have to warn you right now: It won't be easy to gather these materials. In fact, you might very well lose your life in this attempt.”

Qiu Ling just smiled. ”Don't worry about that.” It might have been true for a human but if he actually died in the mortal realm, then he wasn't fit to be the king of the dragon race.

The Grand Elder nodded and led him into the library. He took a thick book out of one of the shelves and carried it over to a table. ”The herbs you need are all listed inside. Let's see …” He started sifting through the pages and stopped whenever he found one of the herbs from the list.

Qiu Ling stood next to him with a jade slip in his hand. He wouldn't risk forgetting any important detail if it pertained to his beloved's future. Thus, he recorded everything down.

Finally, the Grand Elder closed the book and turned around to Qiu Ling.

”Huh? Is that everything? Aren't still some herbs missing?”

The Grand Elder shook his head. ”No, those are all the herbs needed. The other materials aren't herbs. You might want to ask Elder Geng about them.”