CHAPTER 443: FOUR HUNDRED AND FORTY-THREE QI HUANG HALL

"Alright, just stand there and don’t move!"

Seeing the Blood Winged Fire-Eyed Lion showing signs of pouncing again, Yun Xiao furrowed his brow and shouted lowly, which made the former look even more aggrieved. However, such an expression on the face of such a large creature appeared extremely bizarre.

"Chairman Gu Dao, I have completed the task. Can you give me those two Spiritual Rank Intermediate Meridian Refining Master Badges now?"

Yun Xiao no longer paid attention to the lingering presence and turned his head, taking several steps forward, and extending his right hand because this was his ultimate goal for agreeing to help, and this task had also consumed a great deal of his energy.

"Of course!"

Being the Chairman of the Meridian Refining Master Guild, naturally, he would not go back on his word. The Blood Winged Fire-Eyed Lion seemed completely recovered, although its attitude was not very friendly, but hadn’t it always been this way?

Seeing Gu Dao reach into his waist and swipe, soon, one black and one green badge appeared in the palm of his hand. Han Santong, who was standing by the side, already knew about this and showed no surprise.

"Hey, such a young Spiritual Rank Intermediate Meridian Refining Master who also practices both Medical and Poison Cultivation, if this gets out, I don’t know how much turmoil it will cause!"

Gu Dao watched as Yun Xiao placed the two badges into his Waist Storage, and couldn’t help but feel quite emotional. Even for him, who specialized in the Medical Pulse, the techniques of the Poison Vein Master were probably not as good as those of this young man in front of him.

This is Hidden Dragon Continent, a prodigy so proficient in both Medical and Poison veins exists as rarely as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. At this moment, Gu Dao suddenly had another idea.

"Yun Xiao, would you like to continue with the assessment for the Spirit-grade Advanced Pulse Refining Master level?"

This sudden question from Gu Dao not only caused Yun Xiao, who had just turned around, to pause slightly, but even Han Santong stood there dumbfounded, completely unaware of what the Chairman’s words really meant.

"Oh? Does the Meridian Refining Master Guild have such a big guy that needs my help?"

Catching his surprise, Yun Xiao pointed at the Blood Winged Fire-Eyed Lion nearby and thought that if there really was such a good opportunity, he might consider it.

In fact, in his previous life, Yun Xiao, who had reached the Holy Rank as a Meridian Refining Master, did not care about these Spiritual Rank Meridian Refining Master badges. However, after reincarnation, he is still very weak and has many enemies. He needs a respectable identity to deter those nefarious creatures.

Meridian Masters are the most prestigious professions on the Continent, and on the Hidden Dragon Continent, a Spirit-grade Advanced Pulse Refining Master would be treated everywhere with the highest courtesy without daring to offend easily.

"That’s not the case, but..."

Gu Dao paused slightly, then continued: "However, my Meridian Refining Master Guild has a special way to assess the Spirit-grade Advanced Pulse Refining Master, which you might want to try."

It seems that Chairman Gu Dao knows how to reciprocate the favor. Although he knew that with Yun Xiao’s Power of Soul, even testing for Spiritual Rank Intermediate Pulse Refining Master might be a stretch, let alone Spirit-grade Advanced.

However, after seeing Yun Xiao’s proficient techniques in both Medical and Poison, he suddenly became curious about whether this miraculous youth could bring some more surprises.

"Please lead the way, Chairman Gu Dao!"

Naturally, Yun Xiao was interested, and he believed that since Gu Dao proposed it, it must not be a regular assessment for the Spirit-grade Advanced Pulse Refining Master, because even now, not only is his Power of Soul insufficient, but even refining a Spirit-grade Advanced Elixir is impossible for him.

"Roar!"

Seeing Yun Xiao about to leave, the Blood Winged Fire-Eyed Lion, somewhat reluctantly, let out a roar from behind, startling both Gu Dao and Han Santong.

"Keep quiet and stay put!"

Yun Xiao turned his head back, his face stern as he coldly shouted, then Gu Dao and the other person watched, dumbfounded, as the previously haughty creature really just lay down, even more docile than a domestic pet dog.

Gu Dao shook his head secretly, took Yun Xiao with him, and left while Han Santong and the Blood Winged Fire-Eyed Lion stared at each other, each pondering their own thoughts.

...

This time, Gu Dao led Yun Xiao to an independent great hall. Before the hall, an old man with gray hair was seated cross-legged. Introducing him, Yun Xiao learned that this person was also an elder of the Meridian Refining Master Guild, named Qin Zhengyang.

"Greetings to the Chairman!"

Upon seeing Gu Dao’s figure, the old man stood up immediately and respectfully saluted, but his gaze curiously examined the plainly dressed young man, not knowing who he was.

"There’s no need for such formality, Elder Zhengyang!"

Gu Dao waved his hand, pointed at Yun Xiao, and said, "This is Yun Xiao. I’ve brought him to the Qihuang Hall, maybe he can resolve the longstanding doubts of our guild!"

"Just him?"

Qin Zhengyang clearly did not believe it. In fact, he had guarded the Qihuang Stele for many years and was well aware of just how peculiar and mysterious the items inside were.

These were the difficult and complicated diseases that many elders from generations of the Meridian Refining Master Guild of the Lingtian Empire, even dozens of chairmen, had been unable to resolve. What makes this young rookie think he can do it?

In this world, there are countless diseases. As a Medical Pulse Master, even after cultivating for a hundred years, one would not dare to claim mastery over all diseases.

This method of Medical Pulse tests the experience of the Medical Pulse Master the most. Generally speaking, the older one is, the more diseases one has seen. Even if this youngster had started learning medicine from the womb, how many diseases could he have possibly seen?

"Elder Zhengyang is just like that, Yun Xiao, don’t take it to heart!"

Gu Dao didn’t pay any attention to Qin Zhengyang’s glaring, and explained to Yun Xiao, then continued, "This Qihuang Stele is the examination place I told you about; inside are the numerous mysterious ailments accumulated over countless years by our Meridian Refining Master Guild. As long as you can resolve one of them, you would pass the examination for Spiritual Rank Advanced Meridian Refining Master."

Gu Dao’s words were also a clarification of his previous statements. As he had mentioned, although it was just solving one of the diseases, it was definitely not an easy feat.

You should know this place is the Meridian Refining Master Guild; gathering so many Medical Pulse Masters and Poison Vein Masters who could not resolve these issues, and eventually relegating them to the Qihuang Stele, one can imagine how difficult that must be.

"Resolve one of them?"

Upon hearing this, Yun Xiao’s expression turned somewhat strange. At the same time, he thought to himself how incredibly lucky he was. It seemed like the badge of the Spirit-grade Advanced Pulse Refining Master was already beckoning to him.

"Kid, do you think this test is too easy?"

Seeing Yun Xiao’s unconcerned demeanor, Qin Zhengyang was so frustrated that he couldn’t contain himself. Guarding the Qihuang Stele for so many years, there have been many brilliant individuals over those years who tried to pass the Spirit-grade Advanced Pulse Refining Master exam using this method, but over countless years, only a mere three people actually did.

And according to Qin Zhengyang’s guess, those three probably just had good luck, having encountered one of the diseases by chance, which led to their lucky qualification. Such luck isn’t as common as cabbage.

"Chairman Gu Dao, I’ll go inside then!"

Ignoring this elder who furrowed his brows in dislike since his arrival, Yun Xiao simply nodded slightly towards Gu Dao and walked straight towards the great doors of the Qihuang Stele.

"Yun Xiao, if you find a solution, you just need to write it down and place it on top of the stele!"

Seeing Yun Xiao so anxious, Gu Dao couldn’t help but laugh and cry. However, he still reminded him from behind to avoid Yun Xiao being clueless after entering the Qihuang Stele.

After Gu Dao finished speaking, Yun Xiao had already disappeared inside the hall doors. As the doors closed, it suddenly became quiet outside.

"Chairman, do you really believe that kid can pass the examination?"

After a long while, Qin Zhengyang finally asked with some dissatisfaction in his voice, filled with disbelief. How could a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old youngster possibly succeed?

"Hey, I’m not concerned whether he can pass or not, but rather... how many of those difficult diseases he can solve on the Qihuang Stele?"

Gu Dao shook his head slightly, his words leaving Qin Zhengyang momentarily unable to return to his senses, as if he thought there was a problem with his ears.

"Chairman, are you joking with me?"

After a moment of stunned silence, Qin Zhengyang gave a dry laugh. This joke was not funny at all. Although Chairman Gu Dao had always been unconventional in his actions, he had never made such a joke before.

"Elder Zhengyang, do you know? Yun Xiao just cured the Blood Winged Fire-Eyed Lion!"

Gu Dao did not care about Qin Zhengyang’s attitude and directly stated a fact, which shocked Qin Zhengyang, because he clearly knew what curing the Blood Winged Fire-Eyed Lion meant.

Strictly speaking, the disease of the Blood Winged Fire-Eyed Lion could also be categorized under the Qihuang Stele. It was a terminal illness that the entire Meridian Refining Master Guild could not treat. That Yun Xiao could cure it possibly meant that the youngster really had some skills.

As Qin Zhengyang thought this, his heart was no longer as disbelieving as before, and he, along with Gu Dao, was looking forward to another possible outcome.

However, Yun Xiao who had entered the Qihuang Stele did not know about the conversation between the two outside; he was already captivated by the situation inside the great hall.

"Are these the so-called Qihuang Steles?"

Yun Xiao muttered to himself. At a glance, the entire Qihuang Stele was filled with steles that were more than one person tall and about three feet wide, totaling nearly a hundred in a somewhat disorganized arrangement, even with some spaces in between.

Yun Xiao did not know that these spaces were there because someone had solved the difficult diseases on the steles, thus the steles were moved. He did not dwell on it too much and walked directly to the first stele on the left, starting to read the carved text.

Yet, after only a few moments of reading, Yun Xiao picked up the prepared pen and paper and began to write swiftly.