Distribution (1)

Ou Peng then took a small jade bottle from his breast and passed it to first elder Hu. Even though the latter was usually calm, his hands could not help but shiver, almost dropping the bottle when he saw the three words carved on it.

First elder Hu continued to sit there in a daze, his hands still holding on to the bottle.

Seeing his reaction, second elder Li and fifth elder Liu walked over curiously and looked at the bottle in his hands.

“Longevity extending pill?” The two people exclaimed in unison.

And they subsequently said,

Second elder Li said, “There is something like this?”

Fifth elder Liu said, “What is this?”

First elder Hu and second elder Li had uncertain expressions on their faces, and their worry lines turned deeper.

Fifth elder Liu still could not understand the expressions of the two, and he turned around to see Ou Peng, fourth elder Shangguan and sixth elder Xu. These three people had solemn expressions on their faces.

After the time to boil a kettle of tea, first elder Hu sighed deeply and with a determined look, returned the bottle to Ou Peng.

He said, “Old third, what do you plan to do with it?”

Ou Peng could tell from the change in address; ‘old third’ was the way these brothers would refer to each other, whereas ‘brother sect master’ was used during formal occasions. Apparently, the other party wanted to speak to him in the capacity of an eldest brother.

Ou Peng hurriedly said in a polite tone, “Eldest brother, isn’t that why I asked everyone to gather, so that we can discuss about this?”

First elder Hu shook his head and said, “Old third-ah, these kind of things should not be shown among brothers, you should have kept it to yourself instead.”

Ou Peng smiled bitterly as he said, “Eldest brother, it is not as if I did not consider that course of action. However, this item was taken out of the secret area, and they were four boxes. I do not know if the other boxes contain the same thing, but when I opened the box on our side, old fourth, old sixth, little Hai and Qing’er were all present.”

First elder Hu replied, “If that is the case, then it’s alright. You should keep them safely, this is not something we can hold on to, and you must not consume them personally. We can wait until the tides of the Jianghu waves to change before taking them out again to take this burden off our hands.”

While the other five people were in deep thought, only fifth elder Liu was depressed, he tugged on sixth elder Xu and asked, “Sixth brother-ah, what is the ‘longevity extending pill’?”

Sixth elder Xu explained impatiently, “Fifth brother-ah, didn’t you mention about the everlasting youth pill earlier on? This is it; this pill is able to extend life by a decade.”

“Ah…..” fifth elder Liu exclaimed, “Just by a decade? Then what are you waiting for, let us take one for each person and extend our lives now.”

Second elder Liu chided, “Just by a decade? If someone else knew that you have consumed such a pill, they would immediately come to your doorsteps and you won’t live past another day.”

Fifth elder Liu argued, “If I hide after eating it, where are they going to find me?”

Second elder Li snickered, “If everyone in Jianghu is searching for you, where are you going to hide? What about the Piaomiao sect? What about your family?”

Fifth elder Liu was speechless, he blinked nervously and stuttered, “Isn’t there still you guys to protect me from the front, what would I be afraid of?”

Second elder Li did not pay any further attention to him.

First elder Hu glared at fifth elder Liu and said, “Old fifth, you are not young anymore, can you think before you act, how do we ascertain that these pills are genuine? Even if they are real, who among the six should use it? Your second brother has already mentioned this earlier, even after consuming the pill, who can withstand the pursuit of the whole Jianghu world? Whether or not it is real, we should keep them safe with its seal intact, and only in a worst case scenario should we take them out. Then, we can throw a hot sweet potato over to burn the hands of our enemy.”

Fifth elder Liu picked up his wine jar, took a swig from it, and replied, “I only have a mouth, and cannot understand such complicated matters. I am okay with whatever you say as long as you feed the pill to this mouth of mine.”

Ou Peng turned to the rest of his brothers and asked, “Dear brothers, what do you think of eldest brother’s idea?”

Fourth elder Shangguan stroked his beard and said, “I am in agreement. After thinking for these few days, I feel that it would be better to live the rest of our lives in a stable way than to have ten more years of life. Do not beak the foundation that our Piaomiao sect has laid in previous generations, and in the case when our sect faces a crisis, then third brother must handle this matter well, or your mistake can cost everything we have.”

Second elder Li nodded wordlessly.

Sixth elder Xu laughed and replied, “I’ll listen to eldest and fourth brother.”

Fifth elder Liu did not meet Ou Peng’s eyes, he continued to indulge in his wine, and Ou Peng’s gaze passed over him.

Seeing that no one has any objections, he continued, “Then I shall be keeping this safely, and will use it when depending on the situation in the future.”

Seeing that he was ignored, fifth elder Liu muttered to himself, “Even if I ignored, you, you could still have asked for my opinion.”

First elder Hu looked at him and asked, “Old fifth, you have something to say?”

Fifth elder Liu stood up anxiously and replied, “No, no. I just wanted to ask if there were any other treasures, apart from this edible thing that cannot be eaten.”

First elder Hu’s face turned wooden, and no longer paid him any attention as he turned towards Ou Peng.

This time, Ou Peng’s face smiled like a blossomed flower, and he took out two more bottles and passed them to first elder Hu.

As he received the bottles, first elder Hu inspected them and exclaimed again in surprise, “Qi strengthening pill? There was really such a treasure? It has been lost for so many years in Jianghu.” Second elder Li could not contain himself, and stood up while maintaining that deadpan expression. Only fourth elder Shangguan, sixth elder Xu, and fifth elder Liu did not get up from their seats; the first two already seen the bottle and the latter was afraid to “Qi strengthening pill? What is this toy?”

Ou Peng raised his eyebrows and smiled, “This Qi strengthening pill should be something that everyone is familiar with. Upon consuming, one will gain the results from twenty years of training. However, this applies only to martial artists who have trained their inner energy, which is to say that among those present here, apart from old fifth and old sixth, our inner energy will soar after consuming this pill. However, according to our sect’s records, there seem to be some drawbacks although they were not clearly stated.”

Upon hearing his words, sixth elder Xu expression turned slightly unnatural, and he questioned, “Third brother, those who train their bodies cannot consume this pill?”

Fifth elder Liu was also upset as he said, “, why is my life so unfortunate…..”

Ou Peng maintained his smile and replied, “I have checked carefully, there is no effect to martial artists who trained only their bodies.”

Sixth elder Xu sat on his chair dejectedly, not saying another word.

Fourth elder Shangguan continued to ask, “Third brother, how many pills are there in the bottle? There are four of us, so if the number of pills does not match, what can we do?”

Ou Peng smiled bitterly as he answered, “I did not dare to break its seal, which is why I asked all of us to gather before daring to open it.”

First elder Hu’s eyes brightened although he maintained his silence.

Seeing the dejected expressions on old fifth and old sixth, he continued, “This bone reinforcing pill is not found among the records of our sect. I have instructed our spies to keep an eye out for more information pertaining to it, and just yesterday, news from Dalin temple arrived saying that there is a record of this in their library.”

Ou Peng then sipped on his tea while ignoring the plaintive gaze of fifth elder Liu, and said slowly, “According to Dalin temple, this bone reinforcing pill is the exact opposite of the Qi strengthening pill. Only martial artist who trained their bodies can consume it to enjoy its benefits, and upon consuming, one’s bone, skin and muscle will be stimulated, causing the external martial arts practitioner’s skills to improve by up to about twenty years’ worth of effort.”

Fifth elder Liu jumped up in joy and rushed towards first elder Hu, saying “Haiz….. I would have never dreamed that such a useful thing would exist in this world.” Then, he extended his hand to take the bottle from him.

However, first elder Hu shifted his body and said angrily, “What are you doing, old fifth? Can you not be so rough?”

Fifth elder Liu replied smilingly, “I was just impatient to see what it looked like.”

First elder Hu berated, “Go back to your seat and you will receive one later on.”

Sixth elder Xu was also as excited as the normal would feel, and he joyfully sat on his seat while trembling in anticipation. His eyes were also focused on the little jade bottle.

First elder Hu did not return the two bottles to Ou Peng, but sat down instead.

He then smiled at Ou Peng while saying in a pleased manner, “Old third, you are capable, truly capable. Old second, fortunately we did not fight for the seat of sect master in those days, if not, who knows if we could obtain such as wondrous item now. Your contribution has exceeded the previous sect master, the two of us dare not compare anymore. With these two things, our Piaomiao’s sect power will rise greatly.”

First elder Hu continued to look at the two bottles, and said, “Even if there is only one pill in each bottle, we would be able to produce two supreme martial artists. Even if it cannot be compared to a top-tier sect like Dalin temple, but among the mid-tier martial art factions, our influence will rise not by just one cut.”

Ou Peng saw first elder Hu’s excited demeanor and said, “Eldest brother, you have over-praised me. Little brother was simply fortunate; this was purely due to luck.”

First elder Hu replied, “Luck is also part of power; third brother does not have to be humble.”

Then, he continued, “Except, we do not know how many pills are there in each bottle. Then, each brother may not receive an even share.”

Ou Peng said, “Eldest brother, we shall let you decide on the distribution of these pills. Even though I am the sect master, I too wish to be a supreme martial artist, but a sect is not built on one person’s power alone. Thus, I hope that regardless of the number of pills we have, we brothers will not strain our relationships among each other.”