After Mister Liang left, Zhou Geng Geng cautiously reached out and touched the pill. He exclaimed in surprise, “It’s warm!”
Zhou Zhong Xin asked, “Does the young master intend to test the medicine?”
Fu Xi Yan sighed. “How am I supposed to test it? Soak it in dilute hydrochloric acid to see whether it contains iron? Or seal it inside a room and check whether the formaldehyde level drops, to see if it contains activated carbon?”
Zhong Xin and Geng Geng were bewildered once again.
Fu Xi Yan rubbed his throbbing temples.
His philosophy had always been: When someone offers unsolicited kindness, they are either plotting against you or trying to steal from you. He did not believe he possessed the sort of charisma that could win over everyone the moment he appeared, so Manor Lord Tang’s sudden “concern” for him was truly inexplicable.
Elio’s Notes: 无事献殷勤，非奸即盗 is a common saying meaning that unprompted attentiveness usually conceals dishonest motives.
Yet he could not bear to let the opportunity pass without trying it.
It was like buying a lottery ticket—what if?
He slowly said, “If Manor Lord Tang truly is as generous and honorable as everyone says, then this pill may genuinely be useful to me. If he has some ulterior motive, then there must be more behind this pill than meets the eye.”
Zhou Zhong Xin said, “Shall I investigate him?”
Zhou Geng Geng said, “I’ll find Guo Ping and ask him to make some inquiries.”
Fu Xi Yan shook his head.
Willowwood Manor had stood here for years. How could a few outsiders like them uncover its secrets overnight? Ning Zhong Ze had been married to Yue Bu Qun for years and still failed to see the true face of the man sharing her bed.
Elio’s Notes: Ning Zhong Ze and Yue Bu Qun are characters from Jin Yong’s The Smiling, Proud Wanderer. Yue Bu Qun maintains the image of an honorable gentleman while concealing his hypocrisy and ambition.
He sat back down on the bed and stared at the pill in his hand. Unable to resist, he brought it close to his mouth and sniffed it. Then he cautiously stuck out his tongue and gave it a lick—only for his expression to freeze.
Zhou Geng Geng asked in confusion, “What happened?”
Fu Xi Yan clutched his throat. “It—it slipped down.” Blame his tongue for being too nimble and his throat for reacting too quickly… He could clearly feel the pill sliding lower and lower. It was nearly in his stomach already.
Zhong Xin and Geng Geng hurriedly hauled him upright from either side. Zhong Xin wrapped his arms around him from behind, while Geng Geng pressed hard against his stomach from the front.
“Urgh!” Fu Xi Yan nearly vomited all over Geng Geng.
Zhou Geng Geng braced him with one shoulder and continued pressing forcefully, not forgetting to ask, “Did it come out?”
Fu Xi Yan was about to vomit stomach acid. He hurriedly pushed him away. “Wait, stop… urgh! Stop doing that. Put me down.”
The two lowered him onto the bed.
Fu Xi Yan immediately crossed his legs and entered meditation.
Just now—
For the first time, he had sensed true qi within his true-origin core.
Thread by thread…
Faint and intermittent…
But unmistakably real.
⸻
Mister Liang had warmed a flask of wine and was sitting alone in a pavilion, pouring and drinking by himself. When he looked up and saw Zhong Xin and Geng Geng approaching side by side, he drained his cup and asked, “Well? Have you decided?”
“We have.” Fu Xi Yan poked his head out from behind Zhong Xin and Geng Geng with a broad smile. He took ten banknotes worth one hundred taels each from his robes, placed them on the table, and declared with magnificent generosity, “I’d like to order ten more!”
Mister Liang: “…”
Skipping over the many twists and turns of his thoughts, at that moment, Mister Liang was practically Zhu Ge Liang himself: How could anyone in this world be so shameless?!
Elio’s Notes: This echoes a famous line popularly associated with Zhu Ge Liang condemning the treacherous minister Wang Lang: “I have never seen anyone so utterly shameless!”
He did not agree immediately. Instead, he said he lacked the authority to decide and told them to wait while he consulted Tang Gong.
Zhou Geng Geng looked worried. “Will they agree when we’re only paying a deposit?”
Fu Xi Yan thought that if Tang Gong were unwilling, he would never have brought out the pill in the first place. The supposed price of three thousand taels was only a gimmick. Fu Xi Yan had already figured it out—Manor Lord Tang not only wanted to help him but also wanted Fu Xi Yan to owe him an enormous favor.
Yet his help had struck precisely where Fu Xi Yan needed it most. Even knowing that he was being calculated against, Fu Xi Yan was perfectly willing to swallow the bait and charge ahead without hesitation.
Sure enough, Mister Liang soon returned with the pills and even refused to accept the banknotes.
Calculating the time required for the round trip, Fu Xi Yan estimated that Tang Gong had agreed the moment Mister Liang opened his mouth. Perhaps his preconceived impression of Tang Gong as a “Timely Rain” was affecting him, but the man’s complete and utter generosity only made Fu Xi Yan more apprehensive. He feared Tang Gong’s ultimate objective must be immense. Thus, he refused to take back the eleven hundred taels and insisted upon donating the money to Willowwood Manor for incense offerings.
Elio’s Notes: “Timely Rain” is the nickname of Song Jiang from Water Margin, praising his reputation for providing generous help exactly when others need it.
Unfortunately, Willowwood Manor did not offer that particular service, leaving Mister Liang in a difficult position.
Fu Xi Yan helpfully reminded him, “Your ancestral hall burns incense.”
Mister Liang: “…” Fine. Whatever makes you happy.
After seeing Mister Liang off, Fu Xi Yan temporarily cast his worries aside. The flames of hope blazed fiercely within him, every bit as hot as the pills inside the bottle.
From the age of seven to sixteen—nine full years—this was the first time he had ever sensed true qi. It was also the first time since entering the True Origin Stage that he had once again glimpsed the possibility of advancing into the ranks of true experts.
He returned to the room and eagerly swallowed the second pill.
He had assumed its effects would weaken after the first dose. Reality proved precisely the opposite. The moment the medicinal power reached his true-origin core, the trickle of true qi that had been leaking out like a tap left slightly running suddenly surged, forming a narrow stream. It flowed smoothly along the circulation route of the Heavenly Dipper Primordial Unity Art, completing several circuits before propelling him straight into the middle phase of the True Origin Stage.
When he opened his eyes, nothing inside the room had changed, yet it felt as though his vision had switched from standard definition to high definition. Every line and contour appeared crisp and three-dimensional. Zhong Xin and Geng Geng were conversing quietly near the doorway. Their voices should have been indistinct, but they now seemed several times louder, every word perfectly clear.
Fu Xi Yan inhaled deeply and suppressed his excitement before pouring another pill from the bottle.
He had a feeling this was still not his limit.
Perhaps his damp-cold constitution truly had hindered his martial progress all these years. Now that the shackles had been removed, the strength accumulated over nine years was finally erupting…
He thanked Soldiers Sortie for the valuable lesson it had taught him. He would forever adopt “Never give up, never abandon” as his personal motto!
Elio’s Notes: 不抛弃，不放弃—“Never abandon, never give up”—is an iconic motto from the Chinese military drama Soldiers Sortie. Fu Xi Yan humorously reverses the order here.
Fu Xi Yan’s thoughts were in complete disarray. After indulging in wild fantasies for a while, he swallowed another pill.
Zhong Xin and Geng Geng guarded him from dawn until nightfall. They secretly checked on him several times, but Fu Xi Yan remained immersed in meditation. Zhou Geng Geng grew worried. “How many pills did the young master take? Why is it lasting so long this time?”
Because Zhou Zhong Xin knew how to keep his mouth shut, Fu Xuan had briefly explained Fu Xi Yan’s condition to him before their departure. He therefore understood how extraordinary it was for Fu Xi Yan to enter meditation at all. “It should be a good thing.”
The instant he finished speaking, a heavy thud came from inside the room.
The brothers hurriedly pushed open the door and saw Fu Xi Yan sprawled on the floor, his body producing a series of clicking sounds like the rotating joints of a machine.
The brothers stared at each other in horror.
They had both experienced this phenomenon themselves. When a cultivator broke through from the True Origin Stage to the Bone Forging Stage, their bones began undergoing refinement through true qi, transforming day after day until they became as strong as steel and iron.
Yet their young master had still been in the early phase of the True Origin Stage that very morning. In a single day, he had somehow crossed an entire major realm.
At this cultivation speed, even Haojing’s young genius Lou Wu Zai could not hope to match him. It was simply terrifying.
However, Fu Xi Yan’s present condition was not nearly as favorable as they imagined. Thanks to his years of uninterrupted cultivation, he had indeed broken through to the Bone Forging Stage. Yet his true qi had not been accumulated gradually over time. At the crucial moment, it proved insufficient, leaving him like fifteen buckets at a well—seven going up and eight coming down, except all of them were now suspended halfway.
Elio’s Notes: 十五个吊桶打水，七上八下 literally describes fifteen well buckets, with seven going up and eight going down. It is an idiom for feeling unsettled or being thrown into complete disorder.
Zhou Zhong Xin helped him upright and pressed a hand against his true-origin core, transferring a stream of true qi into him. It vanished instantly, after which an enormous suction force surged toward Zhou Zhong Xin.
Fu Xi Yan hurriedly shouted, “Let go!”
Back when Fu Xi Yan’s true-origin core had contained no true qi, Fu Fu had once tried the same method and nearly allowed his vigorous, healthy son to drain him dry. The suction was even more formidable now. Only after Fu Xi Yan gathered his own true qi inside his core did Zhou Zhong Xin barely manage to pull free.
In those few short moments, more than half the true qi in Zhou Zhong Xin’s body had been swept away, leaving only a handful of dejected “little fish” behind.
Zhou Geng Geng exclaimed, “What happened?”
Fu Xi Yan shook his head but offered no explanation. He could not explain it even if he tried. At first, he had believed that he had somehow mastered the Star-Absorbing Art without a teacher and had secretly become excited. Later, he discovered that this ability existed solely to harm others without benefiting himself. No matter how much true qi it swallowed, all of it disappeared, and he gained nothing whatsoever. As for the reason, Fu Fu had never dared publicize the matter for fear of inviting trouble and naturally had not investigated it deeply.
Elio’s Notes: The Star-Absorbing Art is a martial technique from Jin Yong’s novels that allows its user to drain another person’s internal energy.
Fu Xi Yan forced himself to remain alert. “Bring me the medicine.”
Zhou Geng Geng hurriedly retrieved the bottle that had fallen onto the bedding and handed it to him.
Fu Xi Yan opened it with trembling hands, and three pills rolled out at once.
Zhou Geng Geng reached out to return the other two, but Fu Xi Yan covered all three beneath his palm and threw them into his mouth together.
Combined, the medicinal power of three pills was far more than merely triple the strength.
As Fu Xi Yan sensed the effects, he felt the entire situation was deeply unscientific. Chinese medicine might not produce drug resistance, but how could the same dosage become increasingly powerful every time he took it?
Under the effects of the three pills, his true-origin core swelled for the first time. Then, as though a great dam had opened its floodgates, true qi burst forth in an overwhelming tide.
At that moment, he clearly felt his body temperature rise abnormally. Just as it approached the threshold of discomfort, it suddenly retreated like air escaping from a ball, falling steadily until it returned to normal.
Fu Xi Yan abruptly gained the ability to look inward and inspect the condition of his own body. He watched his swollen true-origin core gradually deflate, returning to its original size before falling completely silent. He watched his bones change little by little from stark white to silver-white, taking on a faint metallic sheen. Then, under the relentless scouring of true qi, they began turning golden…
The Bone Forging Stage was said to be the most painful among the major cultivation realms. Fu Xuan had described it as having one’s bones thrown into a sword-forging furnace and smelted. Fu Xi Yan had once pondered whether that process counted as a chemical reaction. Judging from what he could see now, it was at least not an ordinary physical transformation, since the basic shape and integrity of his bones had not changed.
Nor did he personally experience the agony of being smelted.
This body possessed a miraculous ability: regardless of how intense the pain was, it would automatically filter the sensation down into his comfort zone.
His father had therefore wasted all those years jumping up and down in an attempt to beat filial piety into his son through brute force. Fu Xi Yan’s way of showing filial respect was simply never revealing that everything his father had done was completely useless.
Fu Xi Yan watched his bones level up from Silver III all the way to Gold I before the rate of advancement finally began slowing. His cultivation then came to a halt at the peak of the Bone Forging Stage.
He had not ascended to heaven in a single step, but for Fu Xi Yan, this was already enough.
At the very least, it was more than enough to beat Chu Shao Yang!
For the first time, Fu Xi Yan—the reigning champion of “Haojing’s Number-One Salted Fish”—felt a fighting spirit like a carp leaping over the Dragon Gate. He wished Chu Shao Yang would appear before him at that very second so he could show the man why the flowers of Northern Zhou were just as red!
Elio’s Notes: A carp leaping over the Dragon Gate symbolizes overcoming immense obstacles and transforming into something greater. “See why the flowers are so red” is a humorous threat meaning to beat someone bloody, popularized by the film Tracks in the Snowy Forest.
He had no idea that he had remained in meditation for two days and three nights. The instant he emerged from that state, he heard the courtyard gate being smashed open. Zhou Zhong Xin, who was guarding the room, changed expression and immediately rushed outside.
Since Fu Xi Yan had drained his true qi, Zhou Zhong Xin had yet to recover fully. Zhou Geng Geng had therefore been standing guard outside.
Everything happened too suddenly. Before Fu Xi Yan could adjust to the intense daylight, chaos had already erupted beyond the door.
Rubbing his eyes, he stepped outside and saw Tang Gong storming through the shattered gate with several unfamiliar men. Zhou Zhong Xin was helping Zhou Geng Geng up from the ground and brushing splinters from his back.
There was no need for explanations. One glance at the scene made it obvious that they had not come with friendly intentions.
The faint goodwill Fu Xi Yan had only recently developed toward Tang Gong vanished instantly. His face darkened. “What is the meaning of this, Manor Lord Tang?”
Gone was Tang Gong’s former courtesy and refinement. He replied coldly, “I was just about to ask what Guard Fu is plotting.”
Fu Xi Yan looked toward Zhong Xin and Geng Geng in confusion.
Without another word, a fair-faced scholar standing beside Tang Gong waved his hand.
“Search.”
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