“Mr. Larson, I’m very sorry I can’t help you, but please take this medical journal. I do hope it can help you on your journey.”
‘What?! can’t take that!’
Adrian might be close enough to Paintaker to give him a nickname, but he wouldn’t take this medical journal the monk spent years on. The monk was talented enough to create a great almanac in the future if he had this journal.
Adrian solemnly said, “Paintaker, you’re my friend. Please, take the journal back. if you wish to help me, than perfect that journal and give me a copy if you will.”
Paintaker froze for a moment, and he realized what Adrian was trying to say.
“Of course, Mr. Larson. I didn’t mean to insult you.” Leonardo backed off and entered his room, looking embarrassed.
Then, the monk came back with the Diamond Sutra.
Monks believed in three tenets, kindness, fate, and emptiness. Adrian shared the workings of the Reconstruction Pill with everyone in hopes that they could create anticancer medicine and save even more people. That was, to Paintaker, an act of kindness.
Fate was the one who pushed them to meet each other in Bainbridge. The emptiness was harder to explain, but Adrian’s act of not expecting anything in return for his teachings was an example of that.
Everyone else gave him something because they had something to give, yet he had nothing to give, so he tried to give Adrian his journal. To give away something he did not have was an insult to his faith.
Adrian got the meaning behind the gesture, and he took the chance to clear things up with everyone. “I’m fine, people. My hara’s all healed now. I haven’t gained back all my power, but soon, I will…”
Adrian kept Bloodreaper a secret, of course. Leonardo didn’t think these people would spill it out, but someone might let it slip by accident. Leonardo had to be careful as the potential implications were huge. Yet the more he explained, the more these contestants thought he was just trying to politely decline their offer.
“We don’t take our gifts back. Just use them to heal up. Let’s go, people. We have research to do and preparations to make for the competition.”
Once the lad from Shrewsdon Valley Sect left, so did everyone else. Some of them might have known that Adrian as healed, but some didn’t. Yet, they didn’t take their gifts back.
It was a thank-you gesture for Adrian’s teachings.
‘Things happen for a reason. Okay, then…’ Adrian accepted the gifts at last.
Only Lola was left.
“It’s impossible to heal a broken hara. Perhaps you’re the exception, but I still want to thank you for your teachings. Here, take this. A seed of the Flaming Elysian Lotus…” She handed a lotus seed to Adrian.
It was a gleaming red seed with energy swirling around it.
‘What? This is priceless… The ladies would kill for this. It’s the perfect beauty product and superfood. Even a hag can look as young as a college girl if she takes this, and at no cost at all… No, it can make her healthier too…’
This seed was an incredibly powerful item, yet Adrian was a little weirded out.
The seed was great for the ladies, but not for men. However, Lola had already returned to her room, so Adrian had no choice but to take the gift.
