"You too seem to know each other. Can you tell me how?" Luo also seemed surprised as her eyebrow was raised and her head tilted a little as she crossed her hands over her ample chest.
Grey turned his face away while the girl's face turned flush.
"No, it's nothing like that. Several days ago, hr came to buy pills so..." She stopped at that and hoped Luo would understand.
Luo just waved her hand and walked into a separate room that looked like an office. She closed the door as her voice echoed in the room as she yawned.
With Luo gone, the atmosphere was awkward. And Grey didn't know what to say to the girl, so he decided to sit down and cultivate.
But thought against this. For the Captain to send him here, it meant he wanted him to do something. But what?
The girl was also confused and a little dazed, so she picked up the book that was laying on the floor and went to the counter to read.
Grey tried to sense her cultivation base, and sensed spirit fluctuations of the fifth level coming from her.
Although she did not hide it, she was naturally suppressing her aura. But Grey was strong enough to find.
'As expected, everyone in the corroded zone is no push over.' He said inwardly as he still was trying to decipher the Captain's reason for sending him here, when he heard the girl's voice.
"What did you say your name was again?"
"Grey."
"Ah, yes Grey. What relationship do you have with Anty Luo?" It seemed like this was what she wanted to know.
"The Captain said I should stay with her while her ran some errands." Grey replied calmly.
"Oh, you know the Captain?" Her voice oozed interest as she left her book to focus on Grey.
"Yes..." He decided to leave it at that.
"Okay, how do you know him?" She asked again.
"Look, I can't explain it okay." His voice had a hint of irritation buy the girl didn't seem to be bothered by his harsh words. She just shrugged.
"Am Ange by the way, since you didn't ask." She said but Grey just nodded.
"Nice to meet you." He then closed his eyes to cultivate. The girl also focused on her book and left Grey to himself.
***
"This boy... does he not know he isn't supposed to talk to a girl that way. Ah, since the Captain left him in my care, I guess I have to teach him about some manners." Luo smiled maliciously and rubbed her hands.
Several hours passed but Grey still had his eyes closed. The girl was attending to customers so there was no way to chat with Grey. But he gaze occasionally went to him a few times whenever she passed.
Grey ignored her gaze and continued to cultivate. He believed that this was the most important thing to him right now.
He was starting to conprehend more of the Sky Mist art and could now integrate it into most of his attacks. Though very few of them.
After it had been five hours, Luo suddenly opened the door to her office and began to stretch. When her gaze landed on Grey, she pretended to be surprised and exclaimed.
"What are you doing!?"
Grey opened his eyes and looked at Luo. He didn't know what she was talking about.
"Why are you here instead of studying? Didn't the Captain send you here to learn the Dao of medicine? Why are you cultivating instead!?"
Grey looked at her and didn't know what to say. Had the Captain really sent him here to learn the whatever of medicine. But he didn't know what it was about.
"Come one, up. Go and sit near Ange and begin to learn." She pointed at Ange who was also looking at them in surprise.
With reluctance, Grey stood up. He then went down to where the book was placed and started to read. His expression was stern as he read, but he had no idea what he was actually reading.
Luo wanted to burst out into laughter, but she held herself back and instead pointed at Ange who had been standing like a mannequin.
"And you, what are you doing? Go and read with him. Quickly." Luo said and Ange walked slowly.
"Yes, Anty." She muttered under her breath.
A few hours later, Grey was walking with the Captain who had a tired expression on his face. It was clear that the little errand he ran was not little. But he didn't ask.
After dinner as Grey sat down on the bare floor to cultivate, he remembered what he had done today.
"The Dao of medicine, particulary, refers to the fundamental principles and understanding that underpin the practice of healing. It encompasses a holistic view of the body, its connection to nature, and the interplay of various energies and forces that influence health and disease.
It regards the balance and harmorny of the vitalising life force 'Qi' which flows through out the body and complements the natural forces Yin and Yang that define all life.
Dao, like 'Qi, is a term with a long and complex history and therefore best left untranslated. One of its fundamental meanings is that of a path or way for understanding how the world is and, by implication, how we should act within it.
While Medicine is the art of managing human life. One should not lightly think of studying medicine, for it requires substance and honesty, a quiet and persevering attitude, and an interest in real knowledge and secret virtuousness. … Medicine is also a branch of scholarly learning. Unless one studies and understands principles one will remain an uneducated philistine unable to penetrate the transformations underlying all phenomena.
The Dao of medicine could also be understood as the ancient healing art created to treat all illness and diseases while cultivating. But of course, after the descendence of God, the Dao of medicine has been turned almost useless because of the invasive properties of the corrosive substance that has an adverse way of countering the ancient healing art.
But now, cultivators have found a way to increase the effects of medicine by adding poisonous substances left behind by God's blinding radiance.
The Dao of medicine is more or less the addition of medicine with the poisonous substance left by God's hand. To learn the Dao of medicine, one must also be knowledgeable about the Dao of poison as they are two sides of a coin." Grey muttered as he stared at the wall. He had gotten a interest in the Dao of medicine and would like to practice it.
'Is this what the Captain actually sent me for? To learn the Dao of Medicine!' His face then changed to one of a frown.
'The Captain once said that the two major arts studied were the Dao of medicine and Forging. Does he want me to perhaps learn one?'
To him the Dao of medicine was very hard to practice as it also needed one to be both sensitive to the fragile changes that could be happening when one mixed herbs.
These changes were incomprehensively minuscule and very hard to perceive, so one had to have a great degree in sensing them, if not the medicine you were trying to create will turn to poison and kill you instead. So not just anyone could take pills and say they wanted to refine medicine. They would be doing more harm than good to themselves.
"Ange could be said to be a genuis, at her young age she can already start refining medicine and Pills. She has a talent for it..." Grey said softly then closed his eyes to cultivate.
In the Captain's room, he suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Grey through the walls for a few seconds before he closed his eyes and continued to cultivate.
When it was morning, Grey went to Luo's place while the Captain went off again. As got to the shop, he smelt a faint medicinal fragrance waft into his nose from the pharmacy.
'Hm, what's that? Medicine!'
Grey hastened his steps and entered inside the shop through the back door. The inside of the shop was empty but the faint medicinal fragrance was coming from the pharmacy.
He wanted to open the door and go in, but Luo suddenly stopped him.
"Stop, don't go in there!"
Grey tilted his head and raised his eyebrows. He waited for Luo to explain.
"You can't seriously think of disturbing her refinement? You could make the whole refining process go wrong." She said but Grey was still looking at her in confusion.
She then sighed and continued explaining. "You never disturb an Alchemist when their refining. You could break their concentration and make the whole thing go wrong."
Grey nodded his head. Now he understood why Luo stopped him. His gaze lingered on the door for a few moments before he went to sit down by the wall opposite the pharmacy.
Luo saw him and couldn't help but smirk. She then turned her gaze to the closed pharmacy as her thoughts drifted.
"This girl at her young age she already had this much focus. If she were too be groomed she would be a world breaking genuis." Luo muttered but Grey couldn't hear her.
He had gotten engrossed in the refinement that Ange was performing and was sitting to cultivate, but strangely this medicinal fragrance had an effect on his cultivation as he felt the Sky Mist art stirring within him without him circulating it.
'This would be the best time to cultivate! Am nearing the fifth level of Qi accumulation.' Grey said inwardly and entered a deep meditative state where he tried to sense the changes of his body while also absorbing the medicinal fragrance.
In this state, most of the corrosive substance within his body was being pushed out to the decay point on his wrist.
He then willed the Spirit energy to flow into his body as he entered that strange state of clarity once again.