Chapter 269: Holy Guard Appears
After Hua Changxi assigned the task of packaging pills to Yu Fu and the other three, for the next two months, the four of them supervised the apprentices in building Dan Yuan Peak during the day and eagerly entered the Secret Realm to package pills at night.
The four of them knew very well that there wouldn’t be many such lucrative tasks, so they naturally did their best to earn more resources for themselves.
As for Hua Changxi, she refined pills during the day and cultivated in Lingguang Hall at night. She occasionally took time to check on the recruitment of apprentices and the construction progress of Dan Yuan Peak. Seeing that everything was developing in her expected direction, she didn’t interfere much.
During this period, various pavilions and courtyards were successively built on Dan Yuan Peak.
Among them, the Personnel Department at the foot of the mountain was the first to be completed.
After the Personnel Department was built, Eunuch Yu, under Hua Changxi’s orders, brought the eight Medicine Children from Number Thirteen Qihuang Hall to the summit of Dan Yuan Peak.
The eight of them took the Heart Demon Oath, were recognized by the Oath Tablet, and each received an Identity Token for entering and exiting the Dan Yuan Secret Realm and Dan Yuan Peak.
Of the eight Medicine Children, excluding Pharmacist Xu, who had a personal relationship with Hua Changxi, the other seven breathed a sigh of relief and felt at ease only after receiving their Identity Tokens.
Heaven knows how much they feared that Hua Changxi would abandon them.
Following closely behind, the Logistics Department was completed.
The Logistics Department managed the apprentices’ food, clothing, housing, and transportation. The affairs involved were too numerous, and the courtyards and pavilions were several times larger than those of the Personnel Department. Among them, three large buildings were constructed to serve as the cafeteria for the apprentices.
Since the cafeteria was built, the apprentices have been eating there.
Furthermore, after the Logistics Department became operational, the apprentices could choose locations to open their Cave Dwellings.
Because of this matter, Yu Fu has been extremely busy during this period.
By late April, the Lecturer’s Hall, Mission Hall, and Law Enforcement Hall were also successively completed, and the mountain path was repaired all the way to the summit.
Before the various departments were put into use, Hua Changxi exchanged one hundred bottles of Third Rank Supreme-grade Pills with Yan Zhenzhen for six Fourth Rank Grand Formations, which she then arranged around each department.
Although these formations could only defend against cultivators at the Nascent Soul Realm and below, they still significantly improved the security of each department.
On the last day of April, one hundred thousand bottles of First Rank Supreme Grade Spirit Origin Pills and one hundred thousand bottles of First Rank and Second Rank Pills with other effects, along with a small number of Third Rank Pills, were stored in the storeroom of the Logistics Department.
Looking at the full storeroom, Eunuch Yu smiled, “With these pills in storage, the Logistics Department is finally no longer empty.”
Jia Lu, Zhou Shou, Zhao Xi, and Pharmacist Xu, upon seeing this, were all very envious of Yu Fu managing so many Resources.
Among the five Stewards, Pharmacist Xu was the newcomer. To quickly integrate into the Steward circle, he couldn’t help but speak in a way that elevated the other four and belittled himself.
“Your tasks are all gradually getting on track, only I am dragging you down. In two months, I haven’t recruited many apprentices, and I don’t know how to explain to Jiu Niang or the Hall Master.”
Yu Fu and the other three were also very concerned about the recruitment of apprentices. Upon hearing Pharmacist Xu call Hua Changxi Jiu Niang, they all smiled and comforted him.
Yu Fu: “In these two months, other Secret Realm Masters have been frantically recruiting people. They have intricate connections with the Royal Family and Nobles, and the Medical Affairs Department is controlled by the Nobles. Not being able to recruit people is not your problem.”
Jia Lu: “Yes, I don’t know what those Secret Realm Masters are thinking. After so much effort, they haven’t summoned a mountain peak, yet they still haven’t given up.”
Zhou Shou: “I think those Secret Realm Masters are unwilling to give up, and secondly, they probably have some intention of going against Master.”
In the eyes of other Secret Realm Masters, Master has Dan Yuan Peak, but cannot recruit people, or cannot recruit excellent apprentices. Yet, they have a large number of excellent apprentices. In this way, they have managed to win back a round.
Pharmacist Xu sighed, “The Hall Master has clearly shown abilities that surpass other Secret Realm Masters, yet is being suppressed like this, it’s truly…”
Zhao Xi: “I believe this is only temporary. The conditions and treatment for recruiting disciples in the Dan Yuan Secret Realm are clearly designed to favor ordinary cultivators without power or influence, aiming to provide a chance to study for everyone who aspires to Medical Skills and Pill Dao.”
“After all, ordinary cultivators are the majority in this world.”
“The Royal Family and Nobles can block it for a while, but they cannot block it for a lifetime.”
Yu Fu nodded, “Steward Zhao is right. Steward Xu, don’t be too anxious. I believe our Dan Yuan Peak will be incredibly glorious in the future.”
In the Dan Yuan Secret Realm, after the first batch of Elixirs was stored in the Logistics Department, Hua Changxi’s task of refining pills for the apprentices was considered complete.
According to her plan, the pills distributed to apprentices in the future will be refined by the Alchemists among the apprentices.
Now, she needs to seize the time to improve her own pill refining rank.
The third level of the Secret Realm is rich in Third Rank Spiritual Medicine, and with the Third Rank Pill Recipes provided by the Shen Nong Cauldron, almost all the mentioned Elixirs can be refined.
Hua Changxi will not open the third level of the Secret Realm for now. For a period of time, she will be on the third level of the Secret Realm, picking, washing, and preparing Third Rank Spiritual Medicine.
Time quickly passed to mid-May, and the recruited apprentices began to enter the first level of the Secret Realm to undertake the tasks of picking and washing Spiritual Medicine.
Hua Changxi would occasionally go to the first level of the Secret Realm to observe and guide the apprentices’ picking skills.
Seeing that the number of apprentices joining the Dan Yuan Secret Realm was still very small, she didn’t pay too much attention.
She was waiting for Tong Yao. Once the Display Spiritual Artifact was refined, she believed that cultivators from other parts of the Central Continent who wanted to study medicine and alchemy would receive the news and flock to join.
Dan Yuan Peak was gradually getting on track. With Yu Fu, Jia Lu, Zhou Shou, Zhao Xi, and Pharmacist Xu managing the affairs of the peak, Hua Changxi didn’t have to worry too much.
At the same time, with the appearance of Dan Yuan Peak, Shenhe Peak, Qingyao Peak, and Xuanhuang Peak, three major events occurred within the Medical Affairs Department.
The first event was that Meng Qingyao, with the support of the Xia Family, descended to the Nine Netherworlds and went to Genmen Pass, where demons were suppressed, to recruit one hundred Holy Guards.
The appearance of the Holy Guards shook all parties, directly breaking the absolute control of the Royal Family over the Medical Affairs Department, marking the Royal Family’s abdication from the position of the primary decision-maker in the Medical Affairs Department.
Since guessing that Hua Changxi’s ability to cause several major disturbances was due to her actions promoting the development and revival of the Sacred Land, Xia Zhen instructed Meng Qingyao to deploy these one hundred Holy Guards to maintain the order of the entire Medical Affairs Department, thereby increasing their control.
Logically, the duty of the one hundred Holy Guards under Meng Qingyao’s command was to guard Qingyao Peak. However, with the Sacred Land currently semi-sealed and its rules incomplete, these Holy Guards, having resided in the Nine Netherworlds for a long time, now had the opportunity to come to the Human World and naturally wished for a larger scope of activity.
With both sides having their own needs, the one hundred Holy Guards readily accepted the task of patrolling the entire Medical Affairs Department.
The second event was the establishment of Qihuang Pavilion.
The main members of Qihuang Pavilion were the eighteen Hall Masters of Qihuang Hall, followed by members of the Royal Family represented by Prince Shou, and then the former Hall Masters of Qihuang Hall who had previously yielded their positions to Meng Qingyao and others.
The Pavilion Master was Shen Qianfan!
Among the eighteen Hall Masters of Qihuang Hall, Hua Changxi had the worst family background, and Shen Qianfan’s family background was only slightly better than Hua Changxi’s. He was able to become the Pavilion Master entirely due to the support of the Royal Family.
For this reason, the Royal Family betrothed the Second Princess Chu Lingluan, born to the Empress, to him.
The appearance of the Holy Guards made the Royal Family completely restless. Not wanting to lose control over the Medical Affairs Department, they established Qihuang Pavilion to compete with Spiritual Realm Pavilion, which was supported by the Xia Family.
The third event was that Yan Qianying, with the support of the Royal Family, also recruited one hundred Holy Guards at Zhenmen Pass in the Nine Netherworlds, where demons were suppressed, but this was nearly a month later than Meng Qingyao.
The first confrontation between the Royal Family and the Xia Family was the competition for the patrol territory of the Holy Guards.
Finally, Meng Qingyao’s one hundred Holy Guards were responsible for the order of Qihuang Pavilion and the Plaza, while Yan Qianying’s one hundred Holy Guards were responsible for the order of Ninth Street.
