A Chaotic World

Chapter 14: Meeting Arrangements

From diligently reading books to studying actual samples, Uncle Ye had taken decades to completely master his trade. But even then, it would be impossible for him to completely remember everything that was written in the hundreds of herbal records that he had read.

On the other hand, Lu Tianzi was different.

He had not yet been exposed to as many books as Uncle Ye had read, or as many herbs that Uncle Ye had seen. However, of those that he had been exposed to, Lu Tianzi was actually able to retain everything in his memory. This meant that his foundation was multiple times stronger than that of Uncle Ye.

As long as Lu Tianzi continued to invest time into studying the field of herbalism, at this rate it would not be long before Lu Tianzi's overall ability as a herbalist exceeded that of Uncle Ye.

This was a natural advantage that martial artists held over non martial artists.

It was also one of the reasons why no matter which field of study it was, be it blacksmithing, herbalism, or even other fields of study, most people who had attained a certain level of accomplishment usually practised martial arts as well.

Of course, another reason would be that when the materials exceed a certain level, non martial artists would no longer have the ability required to process them, and that was despite possessing the theoretical knowledge on how to do so.

For example, some rare metals were so tough that even the strongest of non martial artists would not be able to hammer them into shape.

Without even the ability to shape the metal, what kind of blacksmithing could be done?

It was the same for herbalism as well.

High level spiritual plants were able to develop their own consciousness. Most of them were then able to hide from approaching threats, while some others were even able to attack humans that wander too near, absorbing them as nutrients.

For a non martial artist herbalist, seeking out such spiritual plants would only lead to a tragic end!

Thankfully, such dangerous spiritual plants were rare to begin with, and there were very few reported incidents of innocents falling prey to them.

Even after a full day of herbs picking, Uncle Ye and Lu Tianzi did not come across any such spiritual plants. In fact, even ordinary herbs were few and far between.

The reason for that was largely due to the punishing winter season.

It helped that the area around Ivory Rock City only experienced a light amount of snowfall, meaning that the forest grounds would not be covered in a layer of snow that hid everything underneath.

But there was a limitation that restricted the workers of Ivory Rock City.

Even for the sentries stationed atop the towering city walls of Ivory Rock City, there was a limit to their observable distance. Thus workers never dared to wander too far away for fear that they would encounter any wild beasts in a stroke of bad luck.

This meant that the herbalists could only repeatedly scour a limited area for any new herbs that grew out.

However, even in the forest that was full of vitality, few herbs grew out during the winter season.

Uncle Ye did not feel too defeated by the fact that they did not manage to gather much. He had been in the trade for decades, and had already long gotten used to this.

Similarly, Lu Tianzi was not too affected. After all, the amount of herbs gathered would not really impact him. On the other hand, he had gained quite a bit of knowledge from the excursion, and was already looking forward to the next day.

The more he learnt, the more Lu Tianzi realised that herbalism was a field of study that had a scope far exceeding what he previously imagined. Each plant had to be treated with care, processing them according to their individual traits.

Even for the simplest of herbs, a slightly different way of handling it would result in slight damage and thus a reduction in its herbal value. This slight damage might be something that a layman would not be able to detect, but any experienced herbalist would be able to tell the difference between a damaged herb and a herb in its perfect state.

Now that he knew better, Lu Tianzi was even starting to grow doubts about the herbs that he had previously consumed while training in the Ivory Rock Martial Academy.

Who knew how many times he had actually paid for damaged herbs instead?

But that was just a fleeting thought. After all, there was no point in brooding over it.

It was not as though he could travel back in time to inspect those herbs all over again.

Lu Tianzi spent the next few days in the exact same manner.

In the day, Lu Tianzi would accompany Uncle Ye out of the city to pick herbs.

After returning, Lu Tianzi would make full use of whatever remaining time he had to read through Uncle Ye's books before night time arrived.

Uncle Ye was only human after all, and would not be able to remember everything perfectly. Reading up allowed Lu Tianzi to patch up these information gaps and consolidate his knowledge.

When night fell, he would practise the Undulated Currents Breathing Technique, driving his Spiritual Essence within his body in meditation as he tapped into the Essence Stone.

On top of that, he would spend an hour practising the Thunderbolt Torrential Fists.

Fortunately, he had already practised this set of fist moves countless times back at the Ivory Rock Martial Academy. Now that he had broken through to the Advanced Essence Building realm, he only needed to get used to applying the strength of his current cultivation realm to the combat technique.

The basic concept behind the Thunderbolt Torrential Fists could be explained in one word Swiftness.

With speed naturally came power.

It was just like how the same rock, when dropped from two different heights of two metres and ten metres, would cause different levels of damage onto on the ground below.

Thus this set of fist moves focused mainly on improving the speed of the martial artist's punches. When trained to perfection, a martial artist could have his fists become as fast as thunderbolts, overwhelming the opponent with a torrential rain of punches.

Thus the name Thunderbolt Torrential Fists.

Four days passed in a flash, and it was already the day before the official naming of Holy Guardian Yan Bingren.

By now, Lu Tianzi no longer needed to shadow Uncle Ye during herbs picking. Even on his own, he did not make any mistakes in his treatment of the herbs.

His growth was so fast that Uncle Ye could not believe it initially, thinking that it was a stroke of luck. But when Lu Tianzi was able to repeatedly bring him herbs that were in their perfect state, Uncle Ye finally gave up.

A genius herb picker!

That was Uncle Ye's impression of Lu Tianzi.

When Lu Tianzi first heard Uncle Ye call him that, he could only force out a dry laugh. He would have much preferred to be called a herbalist, but he did not see the need to correct Uncle Ye either. For now, he would just have to make do with being called a herb picker.

When they returned to the house that night, the duo was surprised to find an unexpected guest waiting for them in the living room.

"Elder Huo! What brings you here at this hour?" Uncle Ye greeted in excitement. "But since you are already here, do you want to at least join us for dinner?"

"Old Ye!" Elder Huo smiled amiably. "Don't worry about me. I only came to tell you something and will leave immediately after that."

"Elder Huo," Lu Tianzi greeted the older man as well as he joined them at the table, and the older man returned the greeting with a nod of his own.

"What is it that you have to tell me personally? Is it regarding the matter the other day?" Uncle Ye could roughly guess what the other party wanted to say.

"That is exactly why I am here," Elder Huo replied before turning to Lu Tianzi. "Ah Zhan, Gong Shengjie had already agreed to meet you. The meeting would be three days from now. Would that be all right?"

"Three days from now? I do not have a problem with that," Lu Tianzi agreed readily. "But I will have to trouble Elder Huo and Uncle Ye once again to spare some time and attend the meeting with me."

"What are you saying? We are almost like brothers across generations now!" Uncle Ye laughed heartily. "Don't worry about it! I will gladly be there to give you my support!"

"Mm, it is not an issue for me either. It is not as though I have anything better to do," Elder Huo gave an awkward smile before continuing. "However, he only agreed under one condition."

"What is his condition?" Lu Tianzi frowned.

"During the meeting, he wants to bring along some of his subordinates. But you do not have to worry, Old Ye and I will also be present, so he would not dare to do anything overboard," Elder Huo explained.

Bring along his subordinates?

Lu Tianzi's frown only deepened upon hearing that. He simply did not know this Gong Shengjie well enough to be able to guess what was on his mind.

But no matter what, Gong Shengjie was the son of a District Head. If he truly wanted to tap on the influence of his father, then it would not be difficult for him to hire martial artists for the meeting.

If negotiations were to break down and a fight broke out, then things would get really tricky for Lu Tianzi who had been aiming to stay as low key as possible while within the city walls.

"Do you know these subordinates that he is bringing along?" Lu Tianzi asked Elder Huo, this time by conveying his voice directly to his ears.

"I knew that you would be uncomfortable with the arrangement, but do not worry. Old as I am, I still have some level of prestige within the city. Even if Gong Shengjie were to bring along martial artists, he will not dare to act rashly in my presence," Elder Huo answered calmly.

"But will they be able to find out about me being a martial artist as well?"

"That you have to worry even less! District Head Gong Tiesha might have some capable subordinates under his wing, but these experts would not heed the instructions of his son, especially over such a small matter! The subordinates that Gong Shengjie would be able to bring along will likely be even lower than I am in terms of cultivation realm. As long as you do not act rashly, it should be impossible for them to find that out!"

Hearing that, Lu Tianzi finally relaxed a little.

"So be it then," Lu Tianzi verbalised his answer out loud this time so that Uncle Ye would also be able to hear. "Hopefully things can be resolved amicably."

"Indeed, that would be best," Uncle Ye nodded.

"The matter is settled then, I will come over to meet you three days from now before we go to the meeting place. If there is nothing else, I shall take my leave and leave you guys to enjoy your dinner," Elder Huo was true to his earlier words, leaving immediately after saying his piece.

Knowing that he would not be able to change Elder Huo's mind, Uncle Ye saw him off to the door before returning to the table.

"Ah Zhan, this might be hard on you, but you would have to remember to put down your pride and apologise during the meeting," Uncle Ye sighed.

"Don't worry, this much is nothing," Lu Tianzi nonchalantly replied.

"Why would he have to apologise? Ah Zhan did nothing wrong!"

Both of them immediately turned around in surprise, only to see Ye Xiangyuan standing at the door to her room. Anger was practically written all over her face, making her look more like a wild beauty as opposed to her usual sweet demeanour.

From the looks of it, she must have been listening in to their conversation and had roughly guessed what the meeting was about.

"Gong Shengjie is really getting too much! For this completely unnecessary meeting, I will be going along as well!"