There was a pitiful thick wall between the cultivators and guards of Xiaodantang. Their chats could never get anywhere.
The cultivators of Xiaodantang felt that being a guard was a crude job that required nothing but brute strength, without any actual pill refining skills. The way the guards spoke and acted was vulgar.
The guards had their own opinions too.
"Grass mud horse."
Yes, that was rather vulgar indeed.
Chen Xia was like a breath of fresh air among the guards. He would just sit in the pavilion every day, not doing any work, occasionally resting his head on his hands and staring blankly ahead.
His colleagues asked what he was looking at.
"Grass," Chen Xia replied.
His colleague didn't respond further, feeling that Chen Xia had truly mastered the art of guards' conversation, starting right off the bat with cursing at grass.
But in truth, Chen Xia was really looking at the grass, the grass sprouts growing in the cracks between the stone steps, just having poked out their tender green heads.
Chen Xia quite enjoyed observing the way all things grew, not just because it helped pass time, but also increased his insights.
And so, Chen Xia grew even more out of place among the guards.
He also didn't participate in the verbal fights between the Xiaodantang cultivators and guards. He just sat in the pavilion, collecting his salary as usual without doing any work. That fit his personality quite well.
After sitting like this for over two months, even the guards realized something was off.
This guy hadn't gone on patrol even once, just sitting in the pavilion every day like a vegetable.
But the guards didn't dare say anything outright. After all, Chen Xia was a personal guard of that lord. Only that lord had the authority to command him.
Crude as they were, the guards understood at least this much.
So the guards just turned a blind eye. And since Chen Xia was so laidback, not fighting or competing for anything, just sitting there peacefully, nobody went out of their way to provoke him either.
That woman in white also didn't appear again, seeming to have forgotten Chen Xia's existence altogether.
Chen Xia thus sat until half a year later. The injuries on his body were halfway healed, and he was sufficiently recuperated. The remaining half could not be cured with this level of pills. He would need something higher, at least spirit pills.
On this day, light snow drifted down, landing softly all over Xiaodantang.
Chen Xia slowly got to his feet, hands clasped behind his back as he ambled out of the pavilion.
This was the first time he had moved in over half a year. The main reason was that the blade of grass in the stone crack had died.
There was nothing left to look at.
Since this was the way of all things growing, death was also perfectly normal.
Chen Xia had anticipated this moment, so he didn't feel much regret. Instead, he walked in the snow.
Wearing the guards' azure green robes, hands behind his back, he took slow steps, the tiny snowflakes landing on his hair and shoulders.
Then brushed off again as he walked.
This spot of green walking in the snow, it was hard to say if it meant spring had arrived.
The other guards were quite surprised to see Chen Xia actually get up and come out. It was truly a rare event.
They didn't know why he had come out though. To appreciate the snow?
The guards were curious for a moment, but Chen Xia kept walking, neither rushed nor slow, head lowered to look at the snow, leaving long-lasting footprints behind each light step.
After walking a thousand meters, likely entering the inner areas of Xiaodantang, excited shouts could be heard from some cultivators as they began pill refining.
"With the first snow today, we can use the early winter snow as primer to refine water element pills. These will be decent medicinal pills."
"Right, the snow in early winter is not extremely cold, but has an excellent aura. Matching it with water element ingredients and using cold fire for refining is the best method for water element pills."
"..."
The Xiaodantang cultivators discussed pill refining theory and prepared to put it into practice, conjuring up pale, cold flames to refine with the early winter snow.
Chen Xia walked over with hands behind his back, head lowered, peering around like a wandering old man taking a stroll.
The pill furnace opened, ingredients thrown inside. The leading Xiaodantang cultivator inhaled, then placed his hands around the outside of the furnace, continuously kneading and controlling the merging force.
Chen Xia didn't understand any of this. He was just here to watch the commotion.
The refining process did not last long. This Xiaodantang cultivator's energy was somewhat insufficient. As he gestured with his hands on the furnace, he couldn't summon up his energy and abruptly stumbled backward.
The pale, cold fire was instantly extinguished, and black smoke spewed from the pill furnace.
Pill concocting had failed.
The Xiaodantang cultivator tumbled into the snow, face flushed red, truly furious.
"Too impatient, I should not have tried refining like this. How reckless."
"This pill isn't that difficult, how could I fail like this? It's too embarrassing."
"..."
Comments of critique sounded all around. The Xiaodantang cultivator was annoyed but didn't dare vent his anger at the other cultivators. His gaze turned to Chen Xia upon seeing the green robes marking him as a guard, and he immediately erupted in curses.
"What are you looking at, guard? Do you even understand? You must have been messing around and ruined my work!"
Could he actually push the blame like this?
Chen Xia was a bit surprised.
This was like stepping in dog shit while walking, then blaming the nearby fence instead of the dog.
It was completely irrelevant.
The surrounding cultivators also looked towards Chen Xia. Seeing he was dressed as a guard, their mocking words increased.
"What's a vulgar guard doing watching pill refining? I bet you can't even recognize the medicinal ingredients."
"You've got it wrong. Forget medicinal ingredients, I'd wager he doesn't even know the pill furnace or where to put the medicines."
"Haha, don't say that. If he mistakes the pill furnace for a stew pot, that's still decent enough."
Chen Xia remained expressionless, raising his head to look at everyone. He held up a finger and said,
"It's true I don't understand pill refining. But can what you're doing really be called that?"
He gave a sharp critique.
"Not even dogs would eat that."
To be fair, big yellow dogs really wouldn't eat such pills.
"Spewing nonsense. A vulgar guard dares look down on pill dao!"
"Pill concocting is a grand dao of the world. It seems you have no skill yet speak nonsense and babble!"
"Mere empty words. If you're capable, come forward and concoct a pill. Let's see what tricks this rude guard can pull off."
"Right, come show us if you can!"
There was no denying their ability to pick a fight was quite good.
Chen Xia didn't say anything else. He strode forward until he stood directly before the pill furnace, picked up the ingredients, and calmly said just one line:
"Watch closely now."
The ingredients were all thrown into the furnace. He didn't light a fire or operate the furnace.
Chen Xia waved a finger, summoning an orange fire spell that flashed over it, nothing but a basic fire technique.
He crooked that finger, the fire swaying, then suddenly flicked towards the mouth of the furnace.
The scorching fire technique spun twice before returning.
More like grilling than pill refining.
Chen Xia then snapped his fingers. "Done," he stated flatly.
There was no movement inside the pill furnace.
The Xiaodantang cultivators were stunned for a second, then burst into raucous laughter.
"I thought it was something amazing. Turns out it was just a magic trick. How amusing."
"As expected, the crude can only match with foolish minds."
Chen Xia did not reply.
Abruptly, a radiance shone from within the pill furnace.
It was pill radiance!
Their laughter stopped short.
The pill radiance did not cease, flickering intensely. A pale blue medicinal pill with patterns floated in the center of the furnace.
"Holy shit!!"
The Xiaodantang cultivators stared blankly, mouths agape.
Chen Xia beckoned, and the pale blue pill flew into his hand. At the same time, he turned to face everyone, lips quirking into a faint smile as he asked,
"Is pill dao really such a inconvenient thing?"