After everyone had finished their breakfast and the Xinglin Caotang opened, with patients entering in an orderly fashion, Mi Tianfu and Mingyue began their consultations. Luotianshui and Tonghui returned to the backyard.
Long Xiao first went to the backyard to check on Xin Sihai, examining him.
Xin Sihai's complexion had already begun to improve, the tumor in his body was shrinking, and his mood had brightened considerably.
Long Xiao chatted with Xin Sihai for a while, then modified a few herbs in his old prescriptions. He told Xin Sihai to get the medicine from Mingyue himself before returning to the front yard.
Just as Long Xiao was about to sit down for a cup of tea, Luan Jiping and Elder Xiao entered Xinglin Caotang.
Luan Jiping and Elder Xiao took their seats, and Long Xiao called out, "Meiqin, make tea for my sister and Elder Xiao."
Xue Meiqin, who was busy dispensing medicine, glanced at Long Xiao and the others from a distance and said, "I'm a nurse, I'm still busy."
Luan Jiping chuckled and said, "Brother, it seems you, the boss, have no authority. Your employees don't listen to you."
Long Xiao sighed and said, "I'm a bachelor boss. No one here is my employee."
A moment later, Chen Meijia came over with the prepared tea and said, "Brother Long, I am your employee."
Long Xiao shook his head and said, "I haven't paid you a salary, so you're not my employee."
The only person in the entire Xinglin Caotang who was paid a salary was Zhang Eryong; everyone else was not short of money and didn't need a salary.
Chen Meijia put down the teacup, her face full of disappointment, and turned to leave. Long Xiao said, "Meijia, you are the senior sister of the Donghai Martial Arts Alliance, and you are my friend Long Xiao."
Hearing Long Xiao's words, Chen Meijia's body trembled. She didn't turn back, but a brilliant smile appeared on her face.
After Chen Meijia left, Long Xiao finally asked Elder Xiao about the cultivation realms.
Elder Xiao recounted the martial artist realms to Long Xiao again.
He told Long Xiao that he could clearly distinguish between the Yellow, Profound, and Earth realms.
As for how high the strength of the Heaven realm was, he had not come into contact with it, and beyond the Heaven realm, he could not judge.
Elder Xiao was at the Great Perfection of the Profound realm, already approaching the strength of the Earth realm. He had once fought with someone at the early stage of the Earth realm and understood the situation of the early Earth realm very clearly.
"Long Xiao, to accurately assess your strength, we need to spar," Elder Xiao said, glancing at Luan Jiping.
Luan Jiping was aware of Elder Xiao's strength and was worried he might injure Long Xiao, so she said, "Elder Xiao, don't hurt my brother."
Elder Xiao nodded and said, "Don't worry, I won't go too hard."
The two of them got up and went to an open space. Elder Xiao said, "Long Xiao, you attack, and I'll defend. This way, the assessment will be more accurate."
Long Xiao nodded and used seven-tenths of his power from 'Roaring Dragon Fist', launching a punch at Elder Xiao.
Although Elder Xiao was prepared, he was still shocked. The power of Long Xiao's punch was immense.
The moment his palm contacted the surface of Long Xiao's fist, he changed the direction of his force to dissipate Long Xiao's power.
Long Xiao's speed was comparable to Elder Xiao's. Elder Xiao only managed to dissipate half of the power of Long Xiao's punch; the other half was entirely absorbed by his body.
Elder Xiao retreated two steps before stabilizing himself, a look of pleasant surprise on his face. He said, "Long Xiao, your strength should be about the same as mine, at the Great Perfection of the Profound realm."
Elder Xiao had been stuck at the Great Perfection of the Profound realm for many years without breaking through to the Earth realm, so he understood the Great Perfection of the Profound realm very thoroughly.
Hearing Elder Xiao say that Long Xiao's strength was already at the Great Perfection of the Profound realm, Luan Jiping was so happy she almost jumped.
Her feelings for Long Xiao were growing deeper. Donghai had been very chaotic recently, and she had been constantly worried about Long Xiao's safety.
According to the information she had, there were only a very few hidden reclusive old timers in Donghai who were in the Earth realm. Apart from them, the Great Perfection of the Profound realm was the highest level of strength.
Long Xiao was also very excited. He had only obtained the "Dragon Repository" a few months ago, and his strength had already reached the Earth realm. If he continued to develop at this pace, becoming a Heaven realm expert was not impossible.
Luan Jiping happily said, "Long Xiao, I'll treat you to a big meal at noon. Let's celebrate."
Just as Long Xiao was about to agree, his phone rang.
The call was from Lin Xuan's grandfather, Lin Wei. His voice sounded very displeased.
"Long Xiao, what's going on? We agreed to meet at Xiuyu Manor on Xiping Mountain on the first of every month to discuss metaphysics, but you didn't come?"
There had been too many things happening in the past few days, and Long Xiao had forgotten about the promise he made in Beijing to attend the Donghai metaphysics gathering on the first of every month.
"Grandpa, isn't tomorrow the first?" Long Xiao asked, pretending to have misread the date.
"Who said tomorrow is the first? Come over quickly, today."
"Alright, I'll be there right away."
Putting away his phone, Long Xiao said helplessly, "Sister, I can't have that big meal anymore. I have to rush to Xiuyu Manor on Xiping Mountain for a metaphysics gathering."
Luan Jiping didn't know much about the Donghai metaphysics circle. She only knew that there were a few famous old men in Donghai who practiced metaphysics.
"Brother, how did you get involved with them?" Luan Jiping asked curiously.
Long Xiao didn't hide the events that happened at Beijing University. After listening, Luan Jiping turned to look at Elder Xiao.
Elder Xiao looked thoughtfully at Long Xiao and said, "Long Xiao, the metaphysics world is very deep. Those old fellows in the Donghai metaphysics circle are not to be trifled with. Be careful."
Long Xiao nodded and said, "Don't worry, Elder Xiao, I'll be careful."
Long Xiao drove himself and soon arrived in front of Xiuyu Manor on Xiping Mountain.
Xiuyu Manor covered an area of a thousand mu. Inside the manor, there were small bridges, flowing water, pavilions, and towers. Trees provided shade everywhere, and flowers bloomed in abundance. The scenery was exceptionally beautiful.
As soon as Long Xiao parked his car, the manor gate opened automatically, and a camera pointed at him. At the same time, Yuan Nandou's hearty voice was heard: "Welcome, Master Long, to my humble abode."
Long Xiao extended his hand out the car window, waved at the camera, and drove into the manor.
After parking the car, a middle-aged man in a cloth gown with a smiling face quickly walked towards him.
"Hello, Master Long. My master asked me to wait for you here," the middle-aged man said respectfully.
Long Xiao nodded and followed the middle-aged man along a gravel path, passing through flower beds, corridors, and bushes. After a winding walk, they arrived at a pavilion on a small hillock.
There were about a dozen people in the pavilion, gathered together, drinking tea and discussing something.
Seeing Long Xiao arrive, Yuan Nandou beckoned him to sit beside him.
Long Xiao sat down and scanned the crowd. He only recognized Hua Xianfeng and Li Tianshu; he didn't recognize anyone else.
Yuan Nandou introduced Long Xiao to everyone present and also introduced everyone to Long Xiao one by one.
These people did not seem very welcoming to Long Xiao. When Yuan Nandou introduced them, they merely nodded to acknowledge.
Among the dozen people, apart from two metaphysics masters from Hong Kong, the others were all experts from the local Donghai metaphysics circle.
The two metaphysics masters from Hong Kong were named Li Chengru and Huo Tianxing.
These two men were dressed in suits and wore their hair slicked back. Their faces were impassive, and they put on an air of being high-level practitioners. Each of them had an assistant standing behind them.