Chapter 99: Paying Homage to Master Jun

“I’m not dead?” Jiang Hongru was astonished at being saved. He had thought he was certain to die this time.

When he saw Jun Wushuang standing before him, he jolted and immediately came to his senses.

“Thank you, Master Jun, for saving my life. This old man owes you yet another life.”

There was no need for guessing; Jiang Hongru knew Jun Wushuang had rescued him. After all, Jun had already saved him once before in Jiangning.

“Your Highness is too courteous,” Jun said with a faint smile. “You helped me much. This is only what I should have done.”

Jun was always clear-eyed about favors and enmities. Toward Ji Qingchen and the Nangong family, his will to kill was already fixed. Toward Jiang Hongru, who had always helped him, he would naturally step in and save him.

“Really?” Jiang Mingde stared, almost speechless. He could hardly believe what he saw. He knew his father’s condition had been dire. Even the King of Pill Alchemy had been at a loss. And Jun Wushuang, a mere boy, had truly cured him? This was beyond belief.

At that, Jiang Mingde came before Jun, his face full of remorse.

“Master Jun, forgive me. I was wrong. I failed to recognize true worth,” he said.

“Please be magnanimous, sir, and pardon me this once.”

He knelt on the ground, apologizing for his earlier disdain. He was no fool, nor someone unable to judge right from wrong. He had feared for his father and, because Jun was so young, had never fully trusted him. He was quick to correct himself—Jiang Hongru’s upbringing had plainly done its work.

And yet it was truly Jun’s talent that made him bow.

Jun Wushuang’s reputation as a prodigy had already spread through the whole city. Now he had shown an extraordinary power to heal. A genius like this had limitless future potential. There was only benefit in being allied with him.

“Mingde, how could you have offended Master Jun?”

Jiang Hongru’s deep voice snapped out in reprimand. Jiang Mingde did not hide anything and laid everything bare.

“Rascal! Master Jun is not one to be questioned by you. Kneel and apologize at once!”

Jiang Hongru’s rebuke came from the heart; he did not want this matter to create a rift between Jiang Mingde and Jun.

“Your Highness speaks too harshly. Even a young prince can be ruled by anxious concern,” Jiang Mingde said.

Jun spoke mildly, with no trace of blame. “I helped only to return a favor to Jiang Hongru. As for you, Mingde, I neither blame you nor seek closeness.”

At these words, both men breathed easier in relief. To offend Jun truly would have been the real mistake.

There was a thud. A figure knelt before Jun.

It was Yao Wuchen.

“Student Yao Wuchen has eyes but failed to recognize a true man. Master, please punish me,” he said, bowing.

Yao Wuchen knelt with reverence, without humiliation, almost with fierce eagerness. At first he had truly believed Jun Wushuang came only for spectacle. But now, not only had Jun cured the Supreme Hall Master’s poison, he had also broken the Corpse-Ghost seal. The shock awakened his understanding at once. Though Jun was young, he was a Jun, and his ties to the Supreme Hall Master were deep. Besides, Master Wu had once served in the Jiangning branch as well. With all this, if he still failed to see Jun Wushuang for the mysterious Master Jun, he could have struck his own head against a wall.

“What? He is Master Jun?”

Jiang Mingde was startled. The name of Master Jun had long echoed through the imperial capital, and yet even he did not know his true identity. Yet, on sober thought, perhaps only Master Jun could have cured his father.

Jiang Mingde’s gaze grew warmer toward Jun.

“Your talent is not weak, but your heart is too proud. Know this: there is always a sky above the sky, and a person above every person.”

Yao Wuchen replied, “The student erred and has corrected himself. I will keep your teaching close.”

“Please grant this student one chance, so he may serve at your side and wherever needed.”

At the memory of his earlier words, Yao was full of shame. He reacted swiftly, however, and fell in repeated prostrations, pleading without pause. Jiang Mingde and Jiang Rulan were both deeply shocked. Yao Wuchen was a sixth-rank alchemy master and a strong figure of the Heavenly King Realm. He came from the sacred land of alchemy and his background was extraordinary. For such a man to kneel before a youth and beg for discipleship—if this rumor spread, the whole Daqian Empire would be shaken, not merely the imperial capital.

Still, they understood. He was, after all, Master Jun.

After the elixir auction, the name “Master Jun” had already ascended to an altar of awe. Even the Tianqing Pill King himself felt no equal, and this Jun Wushuang had been hailed as the foremost alchemist in Daqian. Though his age was too young and his strength not yet formidable, the mere three words “Master Jun” were enough to make him a guest of honor among countless powers.

“I did not intend to take you in at first,” Jun said, looking at Yao. “But you did not flee; you turned back and saved me. That shows your nature is not bad.”

“Then, like Wushanhe, be my registered disciple.”

“A registered disciple?” Yao Wuchen was momentarily speechless. He considered himself gifted and strong; to become merely a registered disciple left him uncomfortably hollow.

“What, not willing? Then forget it!”

Jun had read his thought and raised the stakes.

“I am willing,” Yao said quickly.

A registered disciple is still better than none. With his talent and art, was there really any reason he could not become a true disciple someday?

“By the way, Wushanhe entered earlier than you, so from now on you must call him Senior Brother.”

It stung Yao’s pride, but he had no choice. If he was to succeed in becoming a disciple, a little humiliation was worth it.

“Congratulations, Master Jun, on accepting such an excellent student.”

Only after the induction was done did Jiang Hongru speak. In truth, he was pleased to see Yao Wuchen as Jun’s disciple.

“Prince, since you are no longer in danger, I should take my leave now.”

Jiang Hongru’s poison had been cleared and the Corpse-Ghost seal removed; Jun Wushuang was about to depart.

“Please stay a moment,” Jiang Hongru called urgently.

“Your Highness, this old man was poisoned twice, and it was no accident. Even if I did not speak now, you would learn it soon enough. That is why I wished to tell you in advance, so you may have more time to prepare.”

Twice poisoned.
Both with vicious, poisonous death-qi.
This was not normal.

Jun had not intended to meddle further, but at those words he stopped and listened.

“Have you ever heard of the Underworld Poison Emperor?”

Jiang Hongru asked.

“The Underworld Poison Emperor?”

Jun’s brows tightened; he had never heard that name.

Yet Jiang Mingde and Yao Wuchen beside him turned pale.

“Do you mean the Underworld Poison Emperor who once poisoned an entire kingdom all by himself?”