Chapter 214: Unexpected Apprenticeship

Chapter 214: Chapter 214: Unexpected Apprenticeship

"Boy, you’d better know what’s good for you. Your wife must choose one of us as her master today, or neither of you are leaving this valley," Old Man Shi threatened.

"You old coot, what do you think you’re doing? Don’t scare the boy," the silver-haired old woman scolded.

"Mrs. Liu, whose side are you on?" Old Man Shi glared at her.

The silver-haired old woman said, "Obviously, I’m on my disciple’s side. You really think I’d side with a wretched old man like you?"

"What do you mean, ’your disciple’? How about this? We’ll use the boy for a little competition. Whoever wins gets to be the girl’s master," Old Lady Dugu said.

"What’s the competition?" Old Man Miao’s interest was suddenly piqued.

"It’s simple. Each of us will make the boy sick, and whoever cures him the fastest wins," Old Lady Dugu said.

"Absolutely not!" Yun Xi immediately rejected the idea.

Chu Fan broke out in a cold sweat. ’Are these four old-timers really this ruthless?’

"That’s a great idea. See? The boy still doesn’t believe in our skills. He thinks we have malicious intentions," said Old Man Miao.

"Hmph. If you were in his shoes, wouldn’t you be a little suspicious? We haven’t concerned ourselves with the world for hundreds of years; everyone has long since forgotten us. This is a perfect opportunity to show him what we old folks are made of," said Old Lady Dugu.

’Truly, you can’t judge a book by its cover.’ At first, Chu Fan had thought this old woman with the bandana was the most guileless of the bunch!

’It turned out this old woman was the most vicious of them all.’

"Alright, I’ve already planted my Insect Gu. You can start the cure!" Old Lady Dugu announced.

Chu Fan was bewildered. ’That old hag is still dozens of feet away. How did she plant the Insect Gu?’

’Impossible! With my Tier Thirty-two Spiritual Power, there’s no way I wouldn’t have noticed her making a move in secret!’

’Besides, my body doesn’t feel any discomfort at all.’

Old Man Shi, Old Man Miao, and Mrs. Liu all turned to look at Chu Fan.

The color drained from Yun Xi’s face. She whispered to Chu Fan, "Are you okay?"

"Don’t worry, this Insect Gu won’t kill him," Old Lady Dugu explained to Yun Xi with a smile.

However, when she turned back to look at Chu Fan, her jaw dropped. "This... How is this possible?"

"What’s going on?" Old Man Shi asked.

"This Gu Insect... I spent over twenty years cultivating it. How did it die the moment it entered his body?" Old Lady Dugu felt like her heart was being ripped out.

"You mean the one you cultivated from the cores of a Celestial Snow Toad, an Iron-Backed Lizard, a Blood Python, and an Ink Blood Five-Colored Centipede?" Old Man Miao exclaimed.

"This won’t do! Boy, get over here and let me have a look!" Old Lady Dugu reached a hand out toward Chu Fan.

Chu Fan’s body floated uncontrollably toward Old Lady Dugu.

Yun Xi cried out in alarm, "Don’t!"

"It’s alright, my girl. You’re my disciple, which makes your husband my junior as well. If she dares to harm him, I won’t let her get away with it," Old Man Shi said with a wide grin.

Old Lady Dugu paid him no mind, instead striking Chu Fan’s body several times with her palm.

Chu Fan felt several currents of immense power surging through his body.

After a short while, Old Lady Dugu’s expression changed once again.

"This boy... this boy... He’s unbelievable!" Old Lady Dugu muttered to herself.

"What is it?" Old Man Miao asked.

"The Chaos Body... He actually has the Chaos Body," Old Lady Dugu said.

"What did you say?" the other three exclaimed almost in unison.

"The Chaos Body! Lady Leng can be saved!" Old Man Shi suddenly said with a loud laugh.

"Let me see!" With a flick of his right wrist, Old Man Shi sent Chu Fan, who had been in Old Lady Dugu’s grasp, floating into the air.

Old Man Shi stood beneath him, thrust his palms toward the sky, and struck Chu Fan’s body.

Another wave of immense power entered Chu Fan, coursed once through his meridians, and then returned to Old Man Shi’s hands.

The Cultivation of these two left Chu Fan utterly stunned.

’What level is their Cultivation? Are they Half-Saints? Or maybe even full Saints?’

’In any case, before these four, he was truly no different than an ant.’

"Hahaha! It really is the Chaos Body! And he has an Innate Divine Bone, too! The Divine Bone is just sealed," Old Man Shi roared with laughter.

When Old Man Shi finished speaking, the other three were once again left gaping in astonishment.

"So?" the silver-haired Mrs. Liu asked, her voice trembling slightly.

"Boy, this is your lucky day. The four of us old folks will take your wife as our joint disciple. What do you say?"

"May I ask the four seniors for their names?"

Chu Fan could now control his body again. Was this a difficult choice? No, it wasn’t. Because Chu Fan had no other choice at all.

Given the Cultivation of these four old-timers, he and Yun Xi were like lambs in a tiger’s den. Their fate rested entirely on the whims of these four.

’Refusing would only be courting disaster.’

"Of course. I am Shi Lun. This old man is Miao Guchun, this old woman is Liu Yizhen, and this one here is named Dugu Ling."

"Medical Saint Hand Miao Guchun?" Chu Fan hadn’t heard of the other three names. Their names were not on the Celestial List, Earth List, or Human List.

But Chu Fan had heard of this Miao Guchun—the Invisible Nether Monarch, Chi Hui, was his disciple.

’But wasn’t it said that Miao Guchun died a hundred years ago?’

"That would be me," said Miao Guchun. "This girl’s Death Qi was originally leaking out to devour her life force. The only reason it could be forced back into her Dantian was because that unworthy disciple of mine performed acupuncture on her, correct?"

’Holy shit!’

Chu Fan was stunned yet again. ’This proves this Miao Guchun is the real deal, not some imposter spouting nonsense.’

’The Medical Saint Hand, Miao Guchun... And the skills of the other three in the Medical Dao are clearly on par with his.’

’Of these four people, one specializes in pharmacology, one in acupuncture, one in the Alchemy Dao, and another in the Insect Gu Technique.’

’If Yun Xi could inherit the knowledge of all four of them...’

Chu Fan didn’t dare to imagine the possibilities.

’Her luck is absolutely off the charts.’

"Enough idle talk. The four of us old folks will jointly take your wife as our disciple. Do you have any objections?" Shi Lun said.

Chu Fan nodded at Yun Xi.

Yun Xi nodded back and was about to kneel before the four elders, but Shi Lun stopped her.

"There are conditions for us to take you as our disciple," Shi Lun began.

"Please, Seniors, state your conditions."

"There are three conditions. First, this girl cannot leave this valley until she has mastered everything we four have to teach. The young man, you, are not permitted to stay here. At most, you may visit once a year for three to five days. However, you are not permitted to be intimate as husband and wife."

"What?!" They hadn’t expected the very first condition to be so unacceptable.

Chu Fan was about to refuse, but Yun Xi said, "Chu Fan, I’ll work as hard as I can."

Yun Xi, of course, had her own thoughts on the matter. ’In all the years we’ve known each other, Chu Fan has always been the one taking care of me. Not only have I been unable to help him, I’ve even been a burden.’

’It’s better for me to stay here. Without me holding him back, Chu Fan’s future will be boundless. And once I’ve mastered their skills, I’ll finally be able to help him.’

Chu Fan didn’t want Yun Xi to miss out on such a golden opportunity either. "What are the other two conditions?"

"Second, after you leave here, boy, you are not to mention a single one of us four old folks to anyone," Shi Lun said.

"No problem."

"The third condition. South of here is a mountain peak. On its western cliff face, there’s a cave that leads deep underground. Inside that cave grows an Eight-cornered Profound Ice Grass. This plant is a critical catalyst for the medicine to cure your wife. You will go, retrieve it, and bring it back."