Hearing his master's words, Yang looked at Rhys in surprise.
He did not ask any questions and simply led the confused Cedric toward the back room.
Rhys remained in the front courtyard, sitting face to face with the old man.
"Fellow Daoist, your cultivation has reached a profound level. To have even overcome the tribulation of life and death is truly extraordinary," the old man said, speaking fluent English.
Fellow Daoist..? Eh..? Now Rhys knew where Yang Qingyue had learned his way of talking.
Out of respect, Rhys chose not to continue speaking English. Instead, he cast a language comprehension spell on himself.
"Now we can communicate without any barriers."
"Your magic is certainly convenient."
"That's how magic is. There are many spells that make everyday life easier."
"Does reincarnation magic count among them?"
"Oh?"
"Fellow Daoist, I suspect this is not your first lifetime. Such a method truly leaves this old man in awe."
Rhys thought about it and concluded that, strictly speaking, he had only lived two lives.
His serpent-shedding method in his first life had merely been a way to extend his lifespan. It was only after reincarnation that his second life had truly begun.
"Then I should congratulate you for taking a step on the path to longevity that ordinary people could never hope to reach."
"I can share the method with you..."
"No need. Birth, aging, illness, and death are part of the natural order of heaven and earth. I have no intention of breaking it."
The old man met Rhys's gaze.
Rhys noticed that the man's eyes were clear and bright, making him think of Dumbledore.
However, if the old man was unwilling to accept his "goodwill," that made things rather troublesome.
Why would someone help him remove Loki's soul from Godric's body for no reason at all?
"I think we should be more direct."
Rhys decided to get straight to the point.
"I have a close friend who was possessed by a god. Do you have any way to drive that god's soul out of his body? I've heard that Eastern Mages have conducted very deep research into the soul..."
"Possession?"
The old man fell into thought.
"There is a way," he answered lightly after a few seconds. "There is a kind of pill that can help a person's primordial spirit leave the body. If your friend has been possessed by someone else, then after taking this pill, the other party's primordial spirit can be forced out of your friend's body."
Rhys's eyes immediately widened.
This was incredible news!
"May I ask..."
Rhys understood the principle that one should not receive something without giving anything in return, so he wanted to know what price he would have to pay for such a pill.
"This pill is not easy to refine," the old man's voice softened. "It requires many rare and ancient medicinal ingredients, and the refinement technique itself has nearly been lost. The resources involved cannot simply be measured in money. Even so, do you still want one? Is that person truly worth it?"
Rhys looked at him, his tone turning firm.
"Just name your price. No matter how much it costs, I'll find a way. He still has a mission he hasn't completed."
'Godric, I will definitely bring you back.'
Rhys silently vowed in his heart.
'The Founders have already decided. You are going to be the next Headmaster of Hogwarts. That's a mission you cannot escape.'
The old man sensed the unshakable determination in Rhys's voice and was greatly surprised.
He had not expected someone who had reached such a level to still have someone he could not let go of.
He told Rhys that he had no need for Galleons, Dragots, or similar currency.
What he wanted was an exchange of knowledge.
Rhys understood what he meant.
The old man before him had something in common with Rowena.
What he wanted was knowledge, specifically knowledge of Western magic.
Conveniently, Rhys was wealthy in money, but when it came to knowledge, he was an even greater treasure trove.
Rhys directly took out paper and a pen and began writing down his understanding of magic and domains.
As for what consequences might come from this knowledge spreading, he did not care.
All of these things were already stored in the Hogwarts library anyway.
Did that mean every young wizard there could learn all of it?
Of course not.
Meanwhile, the old man slowly rose to his feet and went to prepare the ingredients needed for the pill.
Over the following days, Rhys and Cedric temporarily stayed on Penglai Island, waiting for the date the old man had chosen for the refinement.
During that time, Cedric wandered around Penglai Island with Yang Qingyue, exploring practically every corner of the small island.
Yang Qingyue even took him to the mainland once.
Rhys, meanwhile, stayed inside the house almost the entire time, copying out the knowledge he needed to provide as payment.
Sheet after sheet of paper became densely covered in writing.
The old man never told him to stop, so Rhys kept writing.
It was not until the day of refinement that the old man finally told him to put down his pen and come to the pill room to observe the refinement of the "Spirit-Wandering Taixu Pill."
Rhys readily agreed.
A huge Taiji diagram had been drawn on the floor of the pill room.
At each of the two eyes of the Taiji stood a bronze cauldron about the height of an adult's forearm.
The old man stood between the two cauldrons and quietly waited for the auspicious time to arrive.
When the moment came, he lit a fire beneath each cauldron, then threw in a pile of medicinal herbs and animal products.
Rhys immediately frowned.
His trust in the old man began to diminish little by little with every movement.
Because from his perspective, the old man was simply burning a pile of things into ash.
Those supposedly precious ingredients produced no unusual phenomenon inside the cauldrons, nor did they resonate with the surrounding natural environment in any way.
Forget gaining inspiration for potion-making.
If something like this happened in Snape's Potions class, Snape would already have rolled up his sleeves and started smacking students on the back of the head with a textbook.
By the time the old man poured the two piles of ash into a box and mixed them with honey into one large muddy lump, Rhys was starting to lose composure.
He seriously began considering the possibility that he was being scammed.
'No, no... surely not. His home is right here. He can't exactly run away.'
Rhys repeatedly reassured himself.
While Rhys was trying to calm himself down, the old man rolled the lump into a long strip, then used a wooden tool to cut it into individual pills.
After shaking them around in a wooden box for a while, more than ten perfectly round, golden pills were finished.
The old man took out a hollowed gourd, poured the pills inside, and handed it to Rhys.
"Take one with warm water. A single pill is enough to take effect. The rest are a gift."
Rhys: "..."
For a moment, he had no idea what to say.
He simply placed the gourd inside his robes.
Now it was time to return to Hogwarts and give Godric the medicine.
Rhys silently swore that if these pills did not work, he was definitely coming back to demand an explanation.
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12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI