The Chu family mansion was large, but the place where Chu Xiu, this usually neglected illegitimate son, lived was not big at all—just an ordinary small courtyard, smaller in scale than his other three brothers' residences. Having fused the memories of two lifetimes, besides some important matters, Chu Xiu's mind was still somewhat muddled about other things. After leaving the council hall, he thought for a moment before remembering where he lived.
Pushing open the gate of his courtyard, Gao Bei was waiting inside. Seeing Chu Xiu return, Gao Bei greeted him:
Gao Bei: "Young Master, has the council meeting ended? Would you like to eat? This servant will prepare it for you?"
Chu Xiu shook his head:
Chu Xiu: "Not urgent yet. Where is the medicine hall for collecting cultivation resources? I haven't collected cultivation resources for a year. There should be quite a bit accumulated, right?"
Gao Bei's mouth moved. He wanted to say something but held it back.
Chu Xiu said indifferently:
Chu Xiu: "I know what you want to say. You want to say that I never had the qualifications to collect before, and now even if I go, they might not be willing to give, right?"
Gao Bei smiled awkwardly, not daring to respond. In fact, Chu Xiu also knew what was going on. As an illegitimate son, Chu Xiu had been neglected since childhood. When he should have been cultivating, there were no family elders to instruct him. By the time he had already missed the optimal cultivation period, the Chu family only then casually sent a guard to teach him martial arts. And every Chu family direct bloodline had the qualifications to collect a portion of cultivation resources monthly. However, these things had never reached Chu Xiu's hands since childhood—they had all been taken by someone else. That person was precisely the Chu family's eldest son, Chu Kai.
Chu Xiu himself didn't dare go to Chu Zongguang to complain about this matter, and the people in the medicine hall certainly wouldn't speak up about it either. So they tacitly approved giving Chu Xiu's portion of cultivation resources to Chu Kai. So now Chu Kai's strength was a level higher than Chu Xiu and the others. This included considerable "credit" from the former "Chu Xiu."
Chu Xiu looked directly at Gao Bei:
Chu Xiu: "Remember—that was the old rule. Now, some rules need to be changed."
Gao Bei felt somewhat chilled by Chu Xiu's gaze. He hurriedly nodded.
Chu Xiu: "Lead the way."
The Chu family's medicine hall was quite bustling, with a separate area entirely belonging to the medicine hall's scope.
Actually, though called the medicine hall, it produced two types of medicines.
One was wound medicines like golden wound medicine, sold to martial folks. After production in the medicine hall, they were taken to the Chu family's shops in Tongzhou Prefecture for sale. The other type was medicines like Qi Replenishing Powder and Blood Coagulation Pills, which could assist martial artists in cultivation.
The materials for these medicines were all precious, and some materials weren't even available in Tongzhou Prefecture, needing to be purchased from outside through merchant caravans. The refinement failure rate was also high, so these types of medicines were basically not sold—only for internal Chu family use.
At this moment, Gao Bei brought Chu Xiu to the medicine hall. Some servants and managers in the medicine hall all showed strange expressions upon seeing Chu Xiu. After all, they had never seen this Second Young Master in this place before—what was he doing at the medicine hall today? Chu Xiu pushed open a room door. Inside sat a manager in his forties, wearing brocade.
There were several managers in the medicine hall. This person was only responsible for distributing cultivation resources to Chu family disciples, not the chief manager. Seeing someone suddenly push the door open, he subconsciously straightened his body. But upon seeing it was Chu Xiu, he immediately leaned back in his chair again, asking carelessly:
Manager Zhou: "So it was the Second Young Master. I wonder what business the Second Young Master has in my medicine hall?"
At this moment, Gao Bei, following behind Chu Xiu, said with a smile:
Gao Bei: "Manager Zhou, it's like this. The Young Master has come to collect his cultivation resources for this year."
Manager Zhou was stunned upon hearing this, then immediately sneered:
Manager Zhou: "Is the Second Young Master jesting with me? Your cultivation resources have always been collected by the Eldest Young Master. What are you asking me for?"
Chu Xiu said indifferently:
Chu Xiu: "Then why did you give my cultivation resources to the Eldest Young Master? Did I give the order, or did Father give the order?"
Manager Zhou was stunned upon hearing this. Did this kind of matter need anyone to give an order? Back then, when the Eldest Young Master took your cultivation resources, you didn't even dare fart. Of course, they wouldn't speak up about it.
Now Chu Xiu actually came to question him. This made Manager Zhou feel that Chu Xiu was here to cause trouble. But toward this Second Young Master who had never been valued much in the family, he had always been indifferent.
Manager Zhou directly snorted coldly:
Manager Zhou: "If the Second Young Master is dissatisfied that the Eldest Young Master took your cultivation resources, you can directly go find the Eldest Young Master to demand them back. Want to vent your anger on me? Second Young Master, I'm afraid you're thinking too much!"
A hint of danger flashed in Chu Xiu's eyes. But just at this moment, a person suddenly ran in, slapped Manager Zhou to the ground with one blow, and cursed loudly:
Chief Manager: "Audacious! How dare you speak to the Second Young Master like this—have you no sense of hierarchy?!"
Manager Zhou clutched his face, looking at this person in disbelief:
Manager Zhou: "Chief Manager, why did you..."
Chief Manager: "Silence! You have no right to speak here!"
The medicine hall's chief manager immediately shouted sternly, interrupting his words. This medicine hall chief manager was slightly plump. Turning to face Chu Xiu, his face immediately changed from the fierce evil spirit of moments ago to incomparably warm.
Chief Manager: "My subordinate doesn't understand matters. Second Young Master, please forgive him. Your cultivation resources—my medicine hall has been keeping them all for you. Not a single portion will be missing. Also, the alchemist recently refined a furnace of extremely high-quality Blood Coagulation Pills. I've also prepared a bottle for you. I'll have them packed for you right now."
Saying this, the medicine hall chief manager immediately ordered people to pack the things, respectfully handed them to Chu Xiu, and personally escorted them out the door. Turning to close the door, the chief manager looked at Manager Zhou, still clutching his face with a dazed expression, and sighed:
Chief Manager: "That slap I gave you just now was actually for your own good. If I hadn't hit you, you would have been in trouble today."
There were many managers in the medicine hall. This Manager Zhou was his confidant, so Manager Zhou had been somewhat disbelieving that the chief manager would hit him without a word.
Of course, Manager Zhou didn't dare have complaints now. He only asked strangely:
Manager Zhou: "Chief Manager, why were you so polite to that Chu... Second Young Master just now?"
Actually, Manager Zhou wanted to say "submissive." The chief manager's appearance just now could even be described as bowing and scraping.
The chief manager shook his head:
Chief Manager: "Remember—be more polite in your attitude toward the Second Young Master in the future. Even more polite than toward the other three young masters. This Second Young Master is no longer the former Second Young Master."
Saying this, the chief manager told him what had happened in the Chu family council hall earlier. As the chief manager in charge of the medicine hall, he was one of the Chu family managers with real power. He had been standing in the council hall earlier, witnessing everything from beginning to end.
Previously, this Chu Xiu had acted so madly, almost beating Steward Liu to death before everyone. That posture had made him feel chilled to the bone. As for Manager Zhou on the other side, after hearing this, he was trembling all over.
Among stewards and managers, there were also high and low distinctions. He belonged to the lowest level, while Steward Liu, as the Chu family's great steward, was the highest level. Normally, when he saw Steward Liu, he had to bow and salute. Yet even Steward Liu was almost crippled on the spot by this Second Young Master. And he had just dared to be so disrespectful to him. Manager Zhou felt that he had simply been courting death earlier.
Manager Zhou hurriedly said to the chief manager with tears of gratitude:
Manager Zhou: "If not for you this time, Chief Manager, this servant would have been in trouble."
The chief manager sighed:
Chief Manager: "Remember—we are all Chu family managers, but servants are always servants. Forgetting one's identity—the consequences are very serious. Just like that Steward Liu—forgot his identity, and now not only has he lost all face, but he has to lie in bed for several months."
On the way back to his courtyard, Gao Bei couldn't help saying to Chu Xiu:
Gao Bei: "Young Master, you were truly imposing just now. Even the medicine hall chief manager was so polite to you."
Chu Xiu: "Polite? That wasn't politeness—that was awe. Good and evil both topple over. If you can't be good to the point where everyone respects you, then you can only be evil to the point where everyone fears you."
Gao Bei shook his head somewhat confusedly:
Gao Bei: "Don't understand."
Chu Xiu pushed open the courtyard gate:
Chu Xiu: "Of course you don't understand. If you understood, you wouldn't have mixed around for so many years without even becoming a manager."
Looking at the somewhat empty courtyard, Chu Xiu said to Gao Bei:
Chu Xiu: "Go find some wooden stakes to stand in the courtyard."
Gao Bei: "What does the Young Master want wooden stakes for?"
A sharp light flashed in Chu Xiu's eyes:
Chu Xiu: "To practice the blade!"
To advance on the martial path, what was needed was nothing more than talent, perseverance, opportunity, and comprehension—not in any particular order. But to reach the peak, none could be lacking.
For the current Chu Xiu, his talent could only be described as average. His comprehension was temporarily unknown. As for opportunities—Chu Xiu actually knew of quite a few, but without strength, he couldn't seize them. So now Chu Xiu could only work on perseverance. Gao Bei went to prepare the wooden stakes. Seeing that it was getting dark, he also had people deliver dinner. Though this Gao Bei had mediocre abilities, his work could be considered diligent and conscientious, and very careful.
Returning to his room, Chu Xiu took out all the medicines he had collected from the medicine hall. Among them, Qi Replenishing Powder was two packets monthly—twenty-four packets for a year should be expected, but the medicine hall chief manager had given him thirty packets. Also, Blood Coagulation Pills—three pills annually, but Chu Xiu's bottle contained a full ten pills, all of superior quality.
This Qi Replenishing Powder was relatively simple to prepare—just grinding some herbs into powder and mixing them according to certain proportions could strengthen qi and assist cultivation. However, several of the medicines among them were quite precious, unavailable for purchase even in Tongzhou Prefecture. As for the Blood Coagulation Pills, as the name suggested, they helped martial artists condense their internal blood and qi, used for breaking through to the Blood Coagulation Realm. They required specialized alchemists to refine, with a complex process and chances of failure. Even the Chu family only dared to refine one furnace monthly.
Taking out one packet of Qi Replenishing Powder, mixing it with water and swallowing it down, before long, Chu Xiu felt a warm flow rising from within his body. He immediately began operating the Primordial Skill to refine this medicinal power.