Resplendent – Chapter 451

Chapter 451 – Master and Disciple Reunite

“Not really, it’s a long story. I’ll explain everything to you in detail later, Master.” Gu Ye hadn’t expected to encounter her master at this small gathering. Overjoyed, she held onto his arm tightly, unwilling to let go. 

Jiang Zhongtian also came over and respectfully greeted him as Martial Grandfather.

No way! Young Master Jiang’s Martial Grandfather… could this elderly man be Grand Pharmacist Jiang mentor, the legendary Sage Apothecary known throughout the world? 

The senior apothecary’s face instantly turned deathly pale. 

What foolish thing had he done? He actually mocked the Sage Apothecary, saying he would only ever be a ninth-rank apothecary?! 

Rumor had it that the Sage’s pharmaceutical skills had already reached the level of a true grandmaster. And yet he, utterly ignorant of life and death, had dared to ridicule him…

He could already foresee how miserable his future path as an apothecary would be. He would be scorned, shunned, ostracized, and would surely suffer the retaliation of the Sage’s entire lineage. The senior apothecary’s legs gave out; he collapsed to the ground and could no longer stand.

“Master, did you bully that little apothecary? Look how scared he is!” Although Gu Ye didn’t like that apothecary, she didn’t feel much malice toward him either. At his age, having already earned the qualifications of a ninth-rank apothecary, a bit of arrogance was inevitable. After all, if people’s lives go too smoothly, it might not actually be a good thing!

The Sage snorted. “I’m just an old man on the verge of becoming rotten wood. How would I dare bully a young and promising ninth-rank apothecary? Give him a few years and who knows? He may become a grand pharmacist. Then I, a mere ninth-rank apothecary, will have to bow and salute him!”

“No, this junior wouldn’t dare!” The apothecary shuddered, quickly crawled forward a few steps, and knelt before the Sage. “This junior failed to recognize the mountain before him and offended a senior with my words. With your broad mind and generous heart, please overlook the faults of a petty person like me and forgive me just this once!”

“This old man has always been small-minded and repays even the slightest grievance…” The Sage clasped his hands behind his back and snorted again, looking extremely displeased.

“Senior, please calm your anger!” Elder Ren of the Apothecary Guild of the Li Kingdom hurried over from the resting area in the back after receiving the news. Though he appeared not much younger than the Sage, his status in the apothecary world was far inferior. In the apothecary world, no one could surpass the Sage Apothecary in seniority; everyone else could only address themselves as juniors before him.

Elder Ren stepped forward and gave a deep, full bow to the Sage, apologizing: “Senior, this grand-disciple of mine has been spoiled by me. He has offended you, and I apologize on his behalf. Please calm your anger. Don’t let it harm your health.”

“Aren’t you that Ren… Ren something from the Li Kingdom?” The Sage seemed to recall him vaguely. Thirty years ago, the two had met at a major apothecary conference, and the Sage had even given him a few pointers.

Elder Ren brightened immediately, nodding repeatedly. “Yes, yes, I am Ren Changde. Thirty years ago, I was fortunate enough to receive your guidance. It benefited me for a lifetime!” 

“You’re such a humble person. How could your eye for people be so terrible that you chose such a disciple?” The Sage was still fuming and pointed with disdain at the apothecary kneeling on the ground.

Gu Ye whispered a reminder: “Master, isn’t a grand-disciple normally chosen by a senior disciple himself?”

“You, you’re always picking holes in your master’s words. If this old man picked a disciple for you, would you take him or not?” The Sage stubbornly argued like a duck with a hard beak, unwilling to admit defeat.

“Of course I’d take him! Absolutely! Master, your judgment is always excellent. Otherwise, how could you have chosen Senior Brother and me as your disciples? Any disciple you pick for me would definitely be the right one!” Gu Ye hurried to flatter her master.

“That’s more like it!” The Sage stroked his beard with a smile. In his entire lifetime, he had only taken two disciples. Neither had ever embarrassed him, and especially this little disciple of his; her future achievements would definitely surpass his own.

He had spent his whole life merely reaching the threshold of the Grandmaster realm in apothecary skills. Across the Three Kingdoms, among all the great apothecaries, none met his standards—not even his own disciple. As for his junior nephew, unless he encountered some extraordinary opportunity, he would at best barely brush the edge of the Grandmaster level.

Only this ‘cheap’ little disciple of his that he could never see the limits of her ability. He had thought she’d already given him enough surprises, yet she kept producing things that astonished him even more.

The cowpox vaccine was simply incredible! If it could be spread throughout the Three Kingdoms, then in a few decades, the terrifying disease of pox would completely disappear! And at that time, his precious disciple’s name would be recorded in history and praised for a thousand years!

Most importantly, his disciple was only thirteen years old. Her future was truly limitless! He no longer held any hope of reaching the Grandmaster level himself. However, if he could teach a disciple who became a Grandmaster, he would have the face to meet his sect’s ancestral masters after death!

When the Sage Apothecary had first entered the sect, his master told him that their lineage had been passed down since ancient times—tens of thousands of years. According to the ancient texts of the sect, in primordial times their sect had been a cultivation sect famous for its alchemy, and their pills were far more sought-after than any great apothecary’s medicines today. They were truly treasures impossible to obtain.

But as time passed, dynasties changed, and the environment transformed. The sect’s prosperity and decline had become impossible to trace. When he first became a disciple, his master had only just stepped into the threshold of the senior ranks—a sixth-rank apothecary.

Even by the time of his death, his master had never broken through the advanced level to enter the realm he had pursued his entire life: the realm of the Grandmaster Apothecary.

On his deathbed, his master was still muttering about the former glory of their sect, yearning for the Grandmaster realm where one could create miraculous elixirs capable of reviving the dead and regenerating flesh.

As for whether such immortal pills truly existed, the Sage Apothecary didn’t know. But he understood in his heart that the Grandmaster level above the Grand Pharmacist was a mysterious realm, one that broke biological limitations. His twenty-plus years of self-imposed exile had been his attempt to pursue a state of ‘breaking before rebuilding,’ hoping to shatter the final barrier in his heart and reach the realm he sought.

He had examined his little disciple’s cowpox vaccine. Colorless, tasteless, impossible to perceive its components. He faintly felt that perhaps what he had spent his whole life pursuing, his precious little disciple might one day accomplish in his place.

“Master? Master!” Gu Ye nudged her master. How did he suddenly drift off in the middle of talking? “What are you thinking about? Don’t tell me you’re considering finding me a Mistress of the Sect?”

“Get lost, you rascal!” The Sage didn’t know whether to be angry or amused. “Half my body is already in the grave. How would I have the mind to find you a sect mistress?”

“Master, may your blessings be as vast as the heavens, and may you live a hundred years!” Gu Ye replied sweetly. She glanced at the master and grand-disciple pair. Letting the boy kneel indefinitely wasn’t a solution, so she kindly said, “Master, please give this senior a bit of face and let the matter go. Alright?” 

“I dare not accept being called ‘Senior’ by Miss. If you don’t mind me overstepping, please call me Senior Brother Ren instead!” In front of the Sage Apothecary, Elder Ren had always referred to himself as a junior. By generation, he was on the same level as his own disciple. Gu Ye calling him ‘senior’ really made him feel unworthy. 

Elder Ren turned to his disappointing disciple and scolded him, “Little Junior Sister Gu is pleading for you. Why aren’t you thanking her yet?”