Chapter 399 - 282: Clue 2
Marcus Monroe had thought so, too.
But now, he suspected it might actually be true!
That was why he’d found Sean Raines the moment he returned.
According to Sean, he seemed to recall reading a similar account in one of his master’s treasured books. It even mentioned the medicinal herbs used in that particular elixir.
The only problem was, he hadn’t found it very credible at the time, so he couldn’t remember which book it was in.
Over the past few days, the two of them had been working day and night, poring over nearly every ancient text in the Taoist Association’s collection. They had finally managed to find all the entries related to rejuvenation.
And sure enough, they’d found something.
Now, they just had to see if Paige Summers’s condition matched the descriptions in the books.
With that thought, he shot Sean a look, signaling him to stop wasting time and come over. He then turned to Paige and said, "Let Sean take your pulse."
Paige extended her arm, unsurprised.
In truth, even if they hadn’t returned, she had been planning to find time to see Sean anyway. It was just that now, she didn’t dare to get her hopes up.
As Sean placed his fingers on her wrist, his usual languid demeanor vanished, replaced by a serious expression.
He took her pulse for a full forty minutes.
By the time he withdrew his hand, fine beads of sweat had broken out on Sean’s forehead and temples.
He gave Marcus a silent nod.
Medicine and the Tao share a common origin, and Sean had always enjoyed studying such things. Physical conditions that Western instruments couldn’t analyze could, in traditional Chinese medicine, be confirmed through the pulse.
He was now eighty percent certain that the experimental medicine Paige had taken shared similarities with the ancient formulas recorded in the texts. In other words, some of their components—the most important ones—overlapped!
Marcus breathed a sigh of relief. They’d finally found a thread in this tangled mess.
Although the path ahead wouldn’t be easy—in fact, it would be incredibly difficult—at least they now had a direction.
Paige glanced between the two of them. "What’s with all the silent signals?"
Marcus gently pinched her little cheek without a word.
Sean, however, explained it to her. "What we need to do now," he concluded, "is find those herbs first, and then create a counteragent based on their properties!"
Paige fell silent.
She knew a little about this subject.
Creating a counteragent was easier said than done. It was exceptionally difficult.
It wouldn’t be surprising if it took years, or even decades.
’But did she have that much time?’
Sean suddenly leaned over and playfully ruffled her hair. Before Marcus could react, he darted back and said with a straight face, "Don’t have so little faith in me... Fine, even if you don’t have faith in me, I’ve still got an expert on my side!"
"An expert?" Paige asked. "You mean your master?"
"Of course... not," Sean said, catching his breath. "Look at you, with that memory of yours. Have you completely forgotten the person who traveled all this way to help you persuade the Mercer Family to help?!"
Paige paused, then it suddenly clicked.
"Oh, you mean Rhonda Rhodes..."
Sean nodded. "Don’t underestimate him. He knows the Alchemy Dao like the back of his hand!"
Paige was speechless.
’When it comes to Alchemy, of course no one can compare to a Cultivator from the oh-so-grand Cultivation Realm!’
’It wasn’t that I was underestimating him, but... back when he did Alchemy, he must have used equally high-end things like spirit plants, right? And he’d need a Pill Furnace and all that. Could he really understand us mortals’ stuff?’
That was what she thought, but she certainly couldn’t say it out loud.
Besides, from the look on Sean’s face, he clearly held Rhonda Rhodes in high esteem.
"I’ve spoken with him several times and we’ve discussed this very topic. The man is truly unfathomable!"
’No kidding!’
’If you go by how it’s written in novels, the place he’s from is a freaking High-level Plane!’
Seeing her strange expression, Marcus thought she was still skeptical. "Regardless, we should give it a try. It can’t hurt to have one more person on our side. He’s already gone south, though, so we need to get ready and head over as soon as possible. Coincidentally, a few of the herbs mentioned in the texts grow in the south. We can’t find them on the Black Market at the moment, so we might as well go harvest them ourselves."
Since he put it that way, Paige naturally nodded in agreement.
They were all going to so much trouble for her. She was too moved to object; how could she possibly disagree?
Besides, she was also very worried about how Claire Chapman was doing.
Once they reached The Foundry, it wouldn’t matter if she couldn’t use her superpower. At the very least, she could still repair the smelting equipment and, while she was at it, expand their cultivation area and truly build up a base of her own!
But...
"Will you be okay to leave?" she asked. ’Didn’t he say there was a lot to deal with in Jovitas?’
Marcus squeezed her hand and smiled.
"I’ll make the arrangements. Don’t you worry about it."
Sean chimed in from the side. "Oh, and we should bring Andy and all his equipment. We’ll tackle this with a two-pronged approach!"
The two men had obviously already discussed their plan of action.
They acted with incredible speed.
Two days later, all their preparations were complete.
As for Levi Young, after hearing Sean’s explanation, he was fired up, as if he’d been shot full of adrenaline. Over the past two days, he had not only packed up all his own experimental gear but had even gotten Nadia to help him smuggle some more out of The Research Institute...
By comparison, Paige had it the easiest.
Everyone knew she wasn’t supposed to use her superpower, so they refused to let her lift a finger.
Marcus even took the time to take her on a massive shopping spree, decisively picking out a pile of new clothes for her—all of them restrictive, ladylike dresses that she could barely walk in.
His intention was perfectly clear.
He was afraid she’d forget she couldn’t use her superpower, so he decided her wardrobe would serve as a constant reminder!
At a time like this, no matter how annoyed Paige was, she could only bite the bullet and wear them.
’Fine, she was afraid she’d forget, too.’
’She really, *really* didn’t want to get any younger.’
When the boutique owner kept gushing to Marcus about how beautiful his "daughter" was, he had flashed a murderous glare several times. As they were leaving, he finally lost control and crushed the shop’s counter...
It was just one mortifying moment after another for her!
Early that morning, the party of four—plus Sweetie—was packed and ready to go.
Paige sat in the car, gazing out the window at the distant horizon.
’I hope this trip goes smoothly!’