Xia Ningshang clearly didn't want to continue this topic. She furrowed her delicate brows and said softly, "Aunt Xiang, is it really appropriate for Medicine King's Valley to send so many people this time..."
As she spoke, she glanced back.
Behind the four women followed Old Man Meng. Manager Meng wore a look of distress, sighing repeatedly. The mere thought of having to see that rascal Yang Kai again made him feel it was a waste of his precious disciple.
But his disciple was wholly devoted to that boy, and Meng Wuya could do nothing but lament. Matters of love and affection were things Meng Wuya couldn't manage even if he wanted to. At the helpless thought, he forced a smile that looked worse than crying.
Behind Manager Meng trailed an enormous entourage, all dressed in white robes. There were at least thirty of them! Among these people, the strongest was Qin Ze, who led the group at the front—he was merely at the second level of the Shenyou Realm. The weakest among them were only at the peak of the Reunion Stage. If this group were sent into battle, they would be described as crumbling at the first blow.
Yet these people were alchemists from Medicine King's Valley! No matter how lacking their personal strength might be, they were still figures of respect. Wherever they went, no one dared to make the first move against them.
Alchemists were also graded, corresponding to the grades of heavenly and earthly treasures—mortal grade, earth grade, heaven grade, mysterious grade... Each grade was further divided into three sub-ranks: upper, middle, and lower.
On an alchemist's chest, there was typically a distinct emblem that signified their rank.
A single petal corresponded to one grade, in gold, silver, and white for the upper, middle, and lower sub-ranks respectively. By the embroidery on these alchemists' robes, one could tell at a glance what level they had reached.
Every one of these alchemists from Medicine King's Valley had at least two petals embroidered on their chest. Half of them bore three-petaled flowers, and among them Qin Ze stood out the most with four petals!
Four petals—the symbol of the mysterious grade!
In the entire Great Han Kingdom, only a few dozen alchemists were qualified to wear the four-petaled flower, and a quarter of them were concentrated in Medicine King's Valley.
Those embroidered with three petals were heaven-grade alchemists, capable of easily refining heaven-grade pills. Those with two petals were earth-grade alchemists.
"Grand Martial Aunt, do you have any instructions?" Qin Ze saw Xia Ningshang turn her head and hurriedly stepped forward, approaching her side to ask respectfully. He assumed she wanted him to do something.
Xia Ningshang felt somewhat awkward. "Senior Qin, please don't address me that way. I'm younger than you—how could I possibly hold such a title?"
Qin Ze's expression turned solemn as he shook his head. "That won't do. Since Grand Martial Uncle Xiao informed Medicine King's Valley that he considers you his equal in standing, then no matter your age, you are my Grand Martial Aunt!"
Xia Ningshang couldn't help but smile wryly, at a loss for what to say.
She had originally heard that Yang Kai was going to participate in the battle for succession and had only planned to rush to the Central Capital with Meng Wuya to help. She never expected that Xiao Fusheng would issue a command and assemble thirty Medicine King's Valley disciples to follow along.
During Xia Ningshang's time at Cloud Summit, only the people there knew of her achievements in alchemy.
Alchemists were a proud and aloof bunch. Qin Ze and the others had initially looked down on Xia Ningshang, but a single word from Xiao Fusheng had left them dumbfounded.
Xiao Fusheng declared that Xia Ningshang's achievements in alchemy were no less than his own—in fact, she even surpassed him. Given time, she would surely reach heights that Xiao Fusheng himself had never attained.
Qin Ze naturally didn't believe it. Who in all the world could be compared to Grand Master Xiao?
Relying on the confidence from having recently advanced to mysterious-grade alchemist, he eagerly challenged Xia Ningshang to a competition.
The result was a crushing defeat! Only then did he truly come to admire her, and he never dared show a shred of disrespect again.
Alchemists were like that—they didn't scheme and deceive. If you wanted their respect, you had to conquer them in the art of alchemy. In a sense, alchemists were a rather straightforward bunch.
The Medicine King's Valley disciples rarely had the chance to see Xiao Fusheng in normal times, and extracting alchemy insights from him was extraordinarily difficult. Now here was a top-tier alchemist on par with Xiao Fusheng, and so young at that—of course they were respectful.
These thirty people had gone from extreme reluctance at the start to eagerly following along, all to study the art of alchemy under Xia Ningshang.
But Xia Ningshang knew full well that Xiao Fusheng had gone to great lengths to assemble thirty alchemists to follow her and had even declared her his equal. Ostensibly he was letting them learn from her, but in reality it was a covert way of helping Yang Kai.
"It's nothing, Ningshang was just talking to me." Aunt Xiang waved her hand.
Qin Ze bore no complaints whatsoever and immediately retreated, leading the thirty alchemists to follow in their wake.
"Medicine King's Valley has never participated in the battle for succession before. Jumping in this time is likely to invite gossip," Xia Ningshang said worriedly.
Aunt Xiang smiled and said gently, "Don't worry about it. No one is in a position to comment on Medicine King's Valley's actions. But the Grand Master really does care about Yang Kai. If it weren't for that, why would he have used the Elder's Decree to mobilize thirty people from Medicine King's Valley, which is still recovering from its recent upheaval? He even had your Aunt Lan and me come along, all because he's afraid something might happen to Yang Kai."
Xia Ningshang nodded in silence.
How could Xiao Fusheng not care about Yang Kai? Yang Kai had, on two separate occasions, entrusted her and Lü Si to deliver two sets of invaluable alchemy spirit formations to him. The Grand Master had been researching them obsessively, forgetting to eat and sleep. To him, those two spirit formations were more intoxicating than any treasure in existence. How could he not care about Yang Kai's safety?
All that talk about Medicine King's Valley maintaining neutrality for thousands of years, about Medicine King's Valley not involving itself in worldly conflicts—in the face of those two spirit formations, none of it mattered at all.