7 - 12

Chapter 7: The Violent Chu Tian

The Violent Chu Tian

As it began to grow closer to dawn, the business had finally trickled down to nothing.

Meng Ying Ying weighed the heavy purse in her hand. Today, even though they hadn't gotten the best spot, they had still pocketed quite a sum of money. But just as she was getting ready to close the stall to go home to count the money earned for the day, she suddenly heard a babble of high pitched noises.

"Ah, Boss, your meat is not fresh!"

"I just ate two pieces, and now my stomach feels terrible!"

"This meat definitely has a problem, you must give us a clear explanation!"

Four customers dressed in leather armour kept shouting. Among them the one with arm completely tattooed was probably their leader. He had a sturdy stature with a hideous face, a ferocious-looking man. With one look you could tell he was no good person.

Meng Ying Ying, afraid that it would affect their business, immediately went to explain: "Our ingredients are all extremely fresh, there is no possibility of having any such problems."

Bang!

The fully tattooed man pounded the table: "Fuck, I don't care, after eating your food my brother has hurt his stomach, you guys have to be responsible for this!"

"That's right! Do you know who our Brother Long is?" Another thug stood up, and shouted very arrogantly: "If our elder brother Long were to say the word, then you guys wouldn't even need to think about doing business here anymore!"

This "Brother Long" had power of the 3rd rank Body Refinement Realm. He had rich combat experience and was fairly strong. He would often lead a gang of thugs, bullying the small and weak in order to extort money from them. There was no evil he dared not commit; he and his gang were also the local region's resident bullies; ordinary people would never dare to provoke them.

The profit from their stand was too eye-catching; this made it too hard for the greedy not to notice them. These people were probably looking for trouble.

Meng Ying Ying had not thought about how to cope up with this kind of situation. Her temperament was docile by nature; naturally, she did not want something small like this to ruin her business. She thought in her heart that these thugs were only here for money, thus, as long as they didn't go too far, then paying them off might not be too bad.

Meng Ying Ying said politely: "We are new here and we don't know the rules. If there is something we did wrong, then please let us know."

Ha!

This chick already gave up resisting?

This means she probably doesn't have any strong background!

"You are pretty sensible!" Brother Long did not leave it at that, but became more daring: "How about this, compensate us 1000 gold and hand over those frying pans. We guarantee there will be no more trouble from now!"

Meng Ying Ying's face changed drastically: "You guys are just blackmailing us! How could we have 1000 gold coins?"

"Actually, I didn't want to make this difficult for you." Brother Long looked at Meng Ying YIng with great interest; his wretched gaze showed a hint of immoral thoughts: "Then how about this, you just come and spend a night with us few brothers, then we won't bother about this money anymore!"

The other thugs also began to have luscious thoughts.

"Ha ha, Brother Long, you are too generous!"

"I know right! Even Tian Nan city's most expensive lady wouldn't cost 1000 gold per night!"

"With that said, this chick isn't half bad at all! She has big breasts and a perky butt, not at all inferior to those fancy courtesans!"

Even though she wore a mask, one could still see that her skin was a delicate and tender white. That her pair of thighs were long and well proportioned. That the size of her bust was astonishing. Such a graceful and charming body could only be found in rare beauties. This was not the first time they have done something like this, but this was the first time they had chanced upon this kind of extremely high-quality product.

Meng Ying Ying's anger made her face pale, and at the same time, she also saw the base eagerness in their eyes and could not help but become nervous: "You guys have gone too far! I am going to report you to the law enforcement!"

"Ha ha ha ha!"

"There's no rush, after we finish playing, then go report!"

"Who can say, after you play with us, that you won't play with them again too!"

The few thugs laughed unscrupulously. Only an idiot would say something this naive. The local gang had already bribed all those that needed to be bribed, why would they need to worry?

Chu Tian already knew the situation had turned for the worse. He quickly finished collecting all the customers' bills, picked up his frying pan, and walked over.

"Ooh, are you this chick's boyfriend?"

Chu Tian has not said a single word from the start. This made the thugs think that Chu Tian was also just a weak idiot. Moreover, Chu Tian's magic power was very weak and could not pose as a threat to them.

One of the thugs drew out a knife, pointed at Chu Tian intimidatingly and said: "Let me tell you this, your woman has caught Brother Long's interest, he wants to borrow her for a night. It is your honour that Brother Long wants to play with your woman. You should know what is good for you, or else.."

Bang!

Chu Tian swung his right hand slammed the pan onto the other's face!

The intense heat from the magic array burned the thug's face so that it left many big blood filled blisters on him; some of the skin even started to peel off. Chu Tian followed this up with a heavy kick to the crotch, sending him flying a few meters away.

"AHHH—!"

"I'm finished! I am completely finished!"

The thug fell onto the ground and painfully rolls around on the floor. His one hand covered his burnt face while his other hand held his shattered balls. Panic and despair could be heard from his cry.

Everyone was stunned.

This kid is ruthless!

Directly attacking without sound, one move causes disfigurement, one move ends lineage, violent to the extreme, making people shiver!

"Fuck!" Brother Long carried an enraged expression on his face: "Not even a 1st rank body refinement and dares to cripple my subordinate, he is seeking death! Go! Kill him!"

These two thugs are 2nd rank body refinement, everyone can see that Chu Tian is not their match. Everyone can tell that the one he took down before was due to pre-emptive strike. It looks hopeless for Chu Tian now that two of Brother Long's subordinate attacks at the same time.

"Wait!" Meng YIng YIng panicky said: "Let him go, I will pay that 1000 gold!"

"Too late!"

"Today, we must cripple him!"

One of the thugs thrust his legs against the ground, leaps straight toward Chu Tian. He swung his fist that is covered in a faint white glow of magic power toward Chu Tian's face.

Chu Tian is only a little stronger than average, how can he withstand the power of a 2nd rank body refinement?

Magic power could not only be used to activate magic arrays, it can also be used raise one's strength, speed, defence, etc. Their magic power is few times that of Chu Tian. Their punch carry few hundred kilograms of force, it can easily punch a cow to the ground; killing Chu Tian is simply too easy!

Chu Tian did not even move. To others, it looked like Chu Tian could not react in time so could not move.

"No!"

Meng Ying Ying screamed.

Chu Tian remained calm. He sent out a well-timed fast kick, as if he could predict the future. When Chu Tian lifted his legs, it landed perfectly on that thug's crotch. The fist stopped just a few millimetres away from Chu Tian's face; the shock wave from the fist made a mess out of Chu Tian's hair.

This was a very weird sight.

Chu Tian's power and speed could not be compared to his opponent. It looked as if the opponent purposely delivered his crotch onto Chu Tian's leg.

"AHH!"

The thug fell to the ground, agonizing cries echoes once again.

Chu Tian stomped on the thug's face, breaking his nose.

At the same time, another thug jabbed his knife towards Chu Tian.

Chu Tian moved his feet and slightly leaned his body. The knife passed by Chu Tian's face with very little distance.

"Dammit!"

"Die!"

The knife in the enraged thug's hand danced. Each strike was fast and came towards him at a tricky angle, making the spectators covered in a cold sweat. This person was obviously a master when it comes to knives. However, Chu Tian was like a butterfly flying through a flower garden, managing to avoid every cut by a millimetre distance; even though it looked extremely dangerous, it was in fact very relaxing.

Chu Tian sneered.

He is full of openings!

If he cannot handle this kind of trash, why don't he just bang his head against a wall and kill himself.

The thug attacks once again. Chu Tian boldly steps forward, easily avoids the strike, and raises his right knee right into the thug's groin. The thug fell to the ground, his face turned green; he twitched and screamed as he held his groin with both hands. Large amounts of blood and stinky fluid leaked out. It appeared that despite his knife skills, he could not escape the same fate that befell the others.

"My god!"

"This kid's attacks are too ruthless!"

"That was weird, it looked as if those two thugs willingly delivered their balls to him to be busted!"

Chu Tian was able to beat opponents a few times more powerful than he was and he even made it look easy. This impossible feat shocked many people.

Brother Long was also baffled by this. Even though those two subordinates had not been through a hundred battles, they still had served in the army for two years. Whether it's combat experience or magic power, they should not have lost to this kid who hasn't even grown hair yet.

Meng Ying Ying's face became red from excitement: "Nice hit! Well put in his place!"

This guy knows all sorts of weird things and could even fight this well; he is full of surprises!

Brother Long became furious and unsheathed a gleaming sword from his waist: "You pest! Today I will show you that no tricks of yours will work when faced against true power!"

Brother Long was at 3rd rank Body Refinement Realm. Naturally, his magic power stronger than his few subordinates; thus, his power, speed and defence were on another level.

Chu Tian shrugged: "I'll give it a try!"

Brother Long furiously roared while viciously dashing toward Chu Tian. His sword drew in a cold arc and stabbed towards Chu Tian's chest.

Brother Long's strength was no joke; that one strike imbued with magic power was both fast and vicious. It could easily split open boulders. This strength was not something that the other thugs could even try to match.

Chu Tian twisted his body and dodged the strike, leaving a paper thin gap between the blade and himself, and then passed through on the left side. The faint sword aura managed to shave off a few strands of Chu Tian's hair.

Simply too dangerous!

"Hahaha, too slow!"

"Die!"

Brother Long fully released his magic power. He relentlessly attacked, each cut creating its own sword aura.

Chu Tian, like an agile swallow, leisurely dodged the attacks with minimum movement.

What is happening?

Brother Long showed an expression of disbelief. Chu Tian is dragged down by his low cultivation level, his speed is not fast.

Every movement, as if it had been precisely calculated, is incredibly precise.

Therefore, it took the least movement possible for Chu Tian to avoid each vicious attack; he was like a slippery eel. Brother Long was left with no choice in face of such actions, and could do nothing about it.

"My god!"

"This is hyperfocus!"

A single person's cry out made everyone realize!

Tian Nan city has hundreds of thousands that have stepped into the body refinement realm, however only a few dozen have crossed into the spirit awaken realm. Among them, not even two could achieve "Hyperfocus"! This kid had not even entered the body refinement realm, so how could he have achieved "Hyperfocus"?

This "Hyperfocus" is a state of mind where the cultivator has perfect control of both their body and realm, allowing them to move with robotic accuracy. If a cultivator can enter the "hyperfocus" state, then every millimetre would look like a meter to them. They can control their heart rate, and even the contraction of their pores.

Hyperfocus is an ability.

The cultivator must have enough natural talent, have gone through strict training, and possess adequate knowledge before they can enter such a state. This ability does not only help the user in combat, but it can also be used in refining medicine and making talismans.

Those in Tian Nan city that can achieve "hyperfocus" can be easily counted with one's hands; every one of them is a top-level expert. This kid has not even crossed into the body refinement realm yet, how can he enter such a legendary state of mind?

Even Brother Long became flustered at this moment.

Never would he have thought that this dubious kid could achieve that legendary hyperfocus ability. No wonder he can accurately predict attacks and use minimum movement to dodge those attacks, allowing him to use such little power to defeat those many times stronger than he is.

"I don't care if you can enter hyperfocus or not, today you must die!"

Brother Long kept fighting regardless of Chu Tian's ability; he roared frantically and released his maximum magic power. The long sword faintly glowed, instantly doubling its speed as it cleaves toward Chu Tian.

Like a leaf in the wind, or a butterfly in a flowerbed, Chu Tian dodged the sword aura that made a big cut on the ground by shifting only a few centimetres. Chu Tian waved his right hand to restrain Brother Long's lower jaw like a pincer; at the same time, he moved behind him and pressed against the back of his head.

How is this possible?

Brother Long's face carried a frightened expression. Because his movement was so large, he could not pull back: "Stop!"

Kacha!

Everyone heard a crisp bone-breaking sound.

Brother Long's neck became twisted at a strange angle. His eyes rounded , his pupils dilated, his mouth became agape, like a fish out of water, struggling to breathe before all signs of life disappeared.

Meng Ying Ying showed a frightened expression: "Chu Tian, how could you kill him?"

"When you kill, you must prepared to be killed." Chu Tian simply killed a 3rd rank body refinement cultivator as if it was like drinking water; he did not even bat an eye: "Moreover, if this kind of scum lived a day longer, then perhaps more innocent people would eventually be harmed."

"He deserved it! These kind of people deserve to be killed!"

"That's right! He deserved it!"

People began to cheer.

The sound of armour clashing could be heard from within the crowd. A few warriors wearing armour and helmets quickly surrounded the area. They were the law enforcement!

Chapter 8: You Don't Have Long to Live

You Don't Have Long to Live

The guard captain showed an angry expression. Brother Long was only a small local thug, but he was still able to get things done and understood the rules; he was also an important source of income. Now that his income source had been cut short, how could he not be angry?

"Who killed him? Come on out!"

All eyes gathered on Chu Tian.

Guard captain angrily said: "Nice! Killing people in the middle of the street, where is the law? This crime cannot be forgiven. Come with me unless you want to avoid pain!"

Meng Ying Ying stood up for Chu Tian: "I cannot stand for this! These guys bullied us first; Chu Tian only acted in self-defence. We all saw it."

"Who saw it?" Guard captain turned around and pointed at a few people, "You? You? Or you? Who saw it was self-defence, come forward and testify!"

The crowd whispered among themselves, no one dared to speak.

One of the thugs that Chu Tian beat up struggled to stand up and shrilly cried out: "Captain! We were wronged! We were wronged!"

The guard captain snorted and said: "Just say it, this one captain is selfless, will naturally sought justice for the victim!"

The thugs stared at Chu Tian with hatred and said while crying: "We only came to eat, but who knew these two guys would try to extort us. Our boss only tried to come and discuss this with them, but they took advantage when boss wasn't paying attention and killed him!"

"Who would believe something like this?" Meng Ying Ying almost did not explode: "This is complete nonsense!"

The thug knelt down on the ground with a running nose while crying said: "I ask you sir to uphold justice!"

"Ok, the situation is now very clear to me." The guard captain waved his hand: "These two are now suspects of robbery and murder; immediately escort the prisoner to jail!"

The security guards and the local thugs were complicit; there is no way to reason with them, making the innocent guilty. Meng Ying Ying shouted angrily: "We will not go with you; you guys are simply bandits!"

Guard captain sneered: "Robbery, assault, murder, and now resisting arrest; these are all felonies. No one can save you. Go! Arrest them!"

Normal guards are all at the 3rd rank of body refinement strength. Although Chu Tian has his hyperfocus ability allowing him to deal with one enemy at a time, multiple enemies were still an issue. Not only that, but the guard captain is even stronger than the others. There was simply no way for Chu Tian to handle all of them and fight back.

At this time, a voice from within the crowd resounded: "You maggots are completely ruining Tian Nan City's credibility!"

Is someone picking a fight with me?

"Who wants to die?" Guard captain became enraged: "Who said it! Come out if you dare!"

Immediately after he said it, a girl in red walked out from the crowd. She had smooth white thighs, long high-heeled boots, and red waterfall-like hair. An absolute beauty with a hot temper; one look and you can tell this woman is like fire.

Nangong Yun lightly shook her head: "You don't even know who I am and yet you dare to boast in front of me; I would think you are the one seeking death!"

The guard captain unsheathed his officer long sword: "I don't care what kind of background you have. To dare go against the law enforcement; you don't even have to think about being able to get away. Bring her back together with the boy; I will personally interrogate her and make her regret today's action."

Keng! Keng! Keng!

A few guards unsheathed their swords and surrounded her!

Nangong Yun's face turned cold, her red hair suddenly began to dance beautifully, despite a lack of wind. A surge of strong hot energy stormed out of her body, suddenly turning into a red light that erupted into the sky like a volcano, screeching with the shriek of a phoenix!

A crushing surge of intimidating pressure instantly erupted into the air.

The surrounding people felt as if their blood was being clotted by the pressure!

"Ah!"

"Spirit!"

"She is an awakened spirit cultivator!"

Everyone was shocked and sighed. Within the Tian Nan city's population of a few million, there were hundreds of thousands of body refinement cultivators while only a few dozen who achieved the Spirit Awakening realm. Even Spirit Awakened cultivator is strong and mysterious. Ordinary people would not have a chance to see one!

Nangong Yun was a cultivator who had reached the pinnacle of the 9th rank of body refinement. She was half a foot into the realm of Spirit Awakening already, so therefore she could use Spirit Awakened abilities albeit with some difficulties.

From the eruption of red light, one could see a fuzzy figure. A Chicken's head, a swallow's beak, a snake's neck, a turtle's back, and a fish's tail; both majestic and incomparably magnificent. It's overwhelming pressure terrified the surrounding people.

"Fire Phoenix spirit!"

"She is Nangong Yun!"

She is the only one in Tian Nan city who was that young and who also had achieved a 9th rank strength. Everyone knew that the Nangong clan has fire attribute spirits. She is famous because she is the daughter of Tian Nan city's mayor, a once seen in a hundred years genius, and the owner of a phoenix spirit with boundless potential.

Magic power is a cultivator's fundamental power.

Spirits are a cultivator's fundamental power source.

Every cultivator has their own exclusive spirit. When a cultivator reaches the Spirit Awakening Realm, their spirits will fully awaken and take on a concrete form such as beasts, plants or even artefacts. Spirits are the visual expression of talent, ability, and potential. A powerful spirit leads to powerful strength which meant a powerful potential.

Nangong Yun's spirit was a Phoenix!

What kind of a mythical creature is a phoenix?

Nangong Yun was blessed with extraordinary talent and combat potential. She can destroy all the other cultivators that reside in the same rank!

Chu Tian was also a little bit surprised: "Although it is not a complete phoenix and has not fully awakened, its potential is enormous. To encounter such a rare spirit in this kind of small place, now this is interesting."

"Are you not going to arrest me?" Nangong Yun was enveloped in a powerful fire attribute magic; it gets hotter for every step she takes forward, making people unable to breathe, "Why are you so surprised? Come arrest me!"

"I did not know it was you, miss ." The guard captain was scared pale; he immediately knelt on the ground and made a few loud kowtows: "I won't dare to anymore, I beg miss to spare this worthless life!"

Nangong Yun was not just an Awakened Soul elite.

She is the mayor's daughter and also Zhang Li Qing's inheritor.

These few people were petty when compared to Nangong Yun!

Nangong Yun was enveloped in a red aura, like a goddess descending on earth. Her magic power was endless like a surging river: "What you are saying is, I cannot be bullied, but others can?"

The guard captain had his soul scared out of him: "Mercy! I was blinded by greed, I don't dare to do it again!"

"Tell this to the citizens of Tian Nan city; Tian Nan city has no place for you maggots!"

She concentrated her magic and pointed her finger!

A bright fire instantly turned the guard captain into a fireball. The shrill screams and mad struggle only lasted for 3 to 4 seconds before it ceased. What remained was a black human figure, charred from head to toe!

Too Strong!

This is the power of the pinnacle of the 9th rank?

Only this small amount of magic was enough to send chills down people's back. If her spirit were to fully awaken, then what kind of powerful existence would she be?

Nangong Yun withdrew her magic and looked over to the other guards: "You all performed evil deeds together and cannot be forgiven. Destroy your cultivation and get out of Tian Nan city!"

Cultivation destruction? How ruthless!

It's completely over this time!

With a destroyed cultivation, they can still live as a normal person. This was much better for the guards than losing their life like the captain!

Everyone in Tian Nan city was aware of Nangong Yun's fierce reputation. This kind of outcome was already merciful of her!

"Tha..Thank you for your mercy!"

The guards ruthlessly strike their dantians, dissipating their many years' worth of cultivation. After losing their magic, they had just became ordinary people.

"We will leave!"

"We will leave immediately!"

The guards dejectedly supported each other and quickly left.

The crowd cheered. The collusion of the local thugs and those maggot guards had made people's lives miserable. Now that they were eradicated, people could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Meng Ying Ying already knew that Nangong Yun was strong, but did not know that she was this strong!

If Nangong Yun was already this strong, then how strong was Zhang Li Qing?

Meng Ying Ying quickly walked over: "Senior sister apprentice, how come you are here?"

Nangong Yun acted as if nothing had happened and simply sat down: "I heard that there were some delicious steaks around here so I wanted to come and try them. Now that I beat up the bad guys for you, are you not going to invite me for steak?"

Meng Ying Ying nodded: "Okay! Please wait!"

A hoarse voice resounded "I also one want."

When Meng Ying Ying saw him, she almost lost it: "Teach..Master Zhang, how come you came also?"

He was a grey robed senile old man with white hair. Even though he looked ordinary, everyone in Tian Nan city knew him. He was the well-known Tian Nan city Scrivener guild's guild master. At the same time, he was also one of the strongest people in Tian Nan city!

Zhang Li Qing was not a fool and knew what Meng Ying Ying was capable of. When his brain cooled down, he could already guess that the homework turned in today was not Meng Ying Ying's own work.

There must be a master near her!

Zhang Li Qing's gaze landed on Chu Tian.

After a few minutes, Meng Ying Ying brought up the steaks.

Nangong Yun cut a small piece and put it into her mouth, her eyes shone like bright stars, "Wa, this is delicious!"

Zhang Li Qing was not concerned about the taste of the steak but instead focused on the magic array on the top, very curiously asked: "How did you come up with using magic array to cook beast meat?"

Chu Tian bluntly said: "Eat your food old man, don't ask so much!" (EN: God I love his personality)

Meng Ying Ying quickly bumped Chu Tian with her shoulder and surreptitiously winked at him: "What are you saying? Don't you know who he is?!"

Chu Tian said in disgust: "People need to be sincere. I despise those people that are only hyped up."

Meng Ying Ying felt her little heart could not bear it anymore. Zhang Li Qing was a person of distinction. Chu Tian dared to openly insult him, does he not fear death? Judging by Zhang Li Qing's strength, lifting a finger is enough to instantly kill him a dozen times.

"Sorry, Sorry. This is business secret. It is inappropriate for this old man to ask such."

Zhang Li Qing did not get angry. From Chu Tian's words, he is certain that the design is all likelihood came from this man. Even though there is some misunderstanding, it is still trivial.

The feeling Chu Tian gave him was simply too mysterious.

It was unheard of for someone this young to be able to master hyperfocus.

This person was likely to have come from a powerful family, or was the successor to a hidden sect which had come to this small city to gain experience. Tian Nan city could not afford to offend such a big power, as they can easily wipe out Tian Nan city.

Chu Tian said snappily: "Good that you know!"

Zhang Li Qing smiled: "This old man was observing your battle just now. To enter hyperfocus at such a young age puts this old man to shame. I would like to organize an academic seminar and hope you can give a speech that explains your experience. Of course the reward will be generous."

Meng Ying Ying felt a little dizzy.

Not only did Master Zhang not get angry at Chu Tian's arrogant attitude, but he actually boldly asked Chu Tian to be a lecturer!

Was there a mistake?

A master level person lowered himself to make a request from a kid that hasn't even grown hair yet!

Chu Tian directly refused: "Not interested!"

Nangong Yun stood up and said: "Kid, you need to get this clear. This old man has plenty of money and your reward will be certainly be generous; but that is only the minor benefit. You will become famous overnight; no one in Tian Nan city will dare to make a move on you. This is simply a reward from heaven."

Chu Tian still rejected: "I don't have time!"

Zhang Li Qing calmly said: "I can wait. When you have time, we can talk about this."

Meng Ying Ying was anxious to stomp on Chu Tian. Isn't this a widely sought after opportunity? For Zhang Li Qing to recommend a youngster meant that that person would be the centre of attention. In addition, it would without a doubt mean that Zhang Li Qing wants to support that youngster. Not only would Chu Tian become famous overnight, he would also be able to make connections with powerful people and have access to a vast amount of resources. The amount of power involved is unimaginable!

Chu Tian shook his head: "With all due respect, you don't have long to live!"

Ssss…

Meng Ying Ying gasped!

Nangong Yun's eyes rounded.

Although Chu Tian did not accept Zhang Li Qing's invitation, but to actually curse Zhang Li Qing for death, what was he thinking?

Chapter 9: The Mayor's Miscalculation

The Mayor's Miscalculation

"I don't understand what you are saying, would you care to enlighten me?" Zhang Li Qing said, with a bemused expression on his face.

Chu Tian cut straight to the point: "From your walking posture, facial expression, and breathing, I could clearly see that you have a bad heart. "

Zhang Li Qing eyes twitched slightly, and said with a relieved smile : "When you get old, organ failure is unavoidable, there is nothing strange about it."

Chu Tian continued by saying: "But your strength is not low, your magic power is also quite abundant, and was strong enough to push back the organ failure for forty to fifty years. Now that your heart is failing, it cannot be from natural failure, so there must be other reasons, am I right? "

"Impressive! So Impressive! Young man you have incredible observations, this senile old man indeed has an illness," Zhang Li Qing laughed: "However, this old man is still standing strong as before, and does not look like a person on death bed; you might be a bit exaggerated."

"You yourself are well aware of this. Your life is only hanging on by a thread because you are prolonging it with the heavy consumption of medicine" Chu Tian directly exposed the truth, and continued to state the issues: "Your left wrist has a black tone, caused by a lethal magic poison. At midnight, the poison spreads to the upper body, and you will have chaotic heartbeats. You also feel your tian xi point, tian chong point, tian zhu point, zi gong point, shan zhong point and others being bitten by thousands of ants, am I right?"

Zhang Li Qing whole body shook slightly.

Chu Tian went on to add: "This is heart devouring poison, it has been eating at your heart for around 15 years."

Nangong Yun looked towards Zhang Li Qing, her face full of surprise.

Although I knew he had a bad heart, I never expected teacher's body had such an obstinate, violent poison within him.

Is this real?

Zhang Li Qing rose slowly to his feet, tidied his robes, bowed solemnly before Chu Tian, and even changed how he addressed Chu Tian: "Mister is a remarkable person, what you said is exactly correct, about 15 years ago, while I was exploring the ruins, I was careless and got poisoned with heart devouring poison. All these years I constantly used most of my magical power to suppress the poison flaring in my body, but it was to no avail and was unable to purge this persistent violent poison inside of me. I searched all over for famous doctor pharmacists to get cured, but all were helpless, and finally gave up. "

"You have forcibly suppressed the poison in your body for so long, but did not know to ease it. As a result, the poison has penetrated into your bone marrows, therefore you most likely have two months left to live."

Zhang Li Qing showed a carefree smile: "At least I had the joy to be able to meet someone as extraordinary as mister before I die."

Nangong Yin had known all along that her teacher had a bad heart, but she never thought that this poison was the true cause behind his suffering. She had studied under his tutelage for so many years, yet she never had seen her teacher fight. She always thought he was keeping a low profile but instead he was using his strength to suppress the poison. He simply couldn't spare any magic power to fight with other people.

"Well," Chu Tian patted Meng Ying Ying who stood expressionless beside him: "Our steak was almost running out and it's getting late, I think we ought to call it a day and head home."

Meng Ying Ying grew more and more curious about Chu Tian; how much was this guy capable of?

Both of them started to pack up their stuff.

Nangong Yun hurriedly asked: "Hey, since you could discern the ailment in his body at a glance, do you have any method to completely detoxify the poison?"

Chu Tian turned his head and said: "Yes."

Nangong Yun's face lit up in glee: "Really?"

Chu Tian's tone took a dramatic turn: "But why should I help him?"

Nangong Yun became dumbfounded upon hearing those words.

This was master Zhang Li Qing. If he were to save him, how many rewards would he get? If he didn't save him, how bad of an enemy would he make?

He didn't care one bit. It all depended on his interests and he only followed his own ways!

"Let him go." Zhang Li Qing beckoned with his hand, signalling Nangong Yun to stop: "This person clearly has profound knowledge and wisdom. He neither exalts himself nor strives for fame, yet willingly helps Meng Ying Ying with her homework. Using the intelligence he has at his disposal he could have easily amassed vast riches, and yet he prefers to set up a steak stall. Those hermits of the world are all like this."

"Old man, this may be our only chance, we should get a hold of him and press him for an answer about the means to detoxify the poison!"

"Yun-er, you are too young; you shouldn't be reckless regarding this matter. Recklessness would not only damage your morals, but it might also offend some major power. Even your Nangong clan might not be able to handle them." Zhang Li Qing was not in a hurry; on the contrary, he revealed a wise smile: "Moreover, he is a smart man, if he really doesn't intend to help me, then why does he trouble himself to tell me? Think about it, with my influence and power in the Tian Nan City, wouldn't he be getting himself in trouble by going against me?"

"I don't understand!"

"First, he has had a misunderstanding with me. He blames me for being greedy and ungrateful to him by accepting his large gift yet expelling Meng Ying Ying afterwards, so he wants to show me who is in charge here."

Nangong Yun interjected quickly, saying: "This is a misunderstanding, the things he wrote had all been burned by those deadbeats."

Zhang Li Qing continued: "Second, he wanted me to know that he is the only person who can save me. Therefore hereafter, regardless of much trouble he could get himself into or provoke some big shots, I must guarantee his safety."

Nangong Yun finally came to a realization.

This guy is really as cunning as an old fox.

Meng Ying Ying sat on the beast wagon and asked: "Chu Tian, can you really save Master Zhang?"

"Of course, I can"

"Is it difficult to save him?"

"No, it's not"

"Then why won't you save him?"

Chu Tian seemed as if he did not give much thoughts about this matter: "Why are you so anxious? He is not going to suddenly die, let's just leave him hanging for a while."

This left Meng Ying Ying completely speechless. She just could not understand Chu Tian's way of thinking.

Chu Tian suddenly recalled something and immediately sat straight up: "How much did we earn today? Quickly take it out and look; it's time to split the profits."

Meng Ying Ying took out her purse and poured out a handful of gold coins. She then began to count the coins one by one: "We only set up the stall for three hours and earned 140 gold coins. According to the agreement that we had made, here's your share: 70 gold coins."

Meng Ying Ting quickly handed over half of the gold coins without any hesitation.

The money we have earned this evening, is almost one year's worth of allowance!

On the first day of business, there wasn't enough manpower at hand, nor enough material, and there was also a lack of experience; thus, the flow of income was limited. If we managed to build a solid reputation, we could expand by opening new stores; a few hundred gold a day would be considered little!

At that rate, we could easily pocket thousands of gold coins every single month!

Because there was no competition, expanding into other markets would not be a difficult task!

Nan Yun Commerce managed eight shops which generated an average total revenue of around 20,000 to 30,000 gold coins every month, with a net profit of around 10,000 gold coins. If this steak business was managed properly, then we might over take the commerce that JieJie painstakingly manages.

Meng Ying Ying thought, if JieJie knew about this, would she feel happy or depressed?

"Wait, stop the cart!"

"What for?"

"Now that I've have some money, I want to buy something."

Meng Ying Ying said, without thinking: "I will go too!"

Chu Tian wondered: "Why would you want to go?"

Meng Ying Ying blinked: "Because I am curious!"

In the past, a senior had said to Chu Tian that if a woman appears to have a strong curiosity towards a man, then there are only two ways to solve the problem.

First way – Kill her.

Second way – Sleep with her.

(EN: Advice for life right there!)

...

Tian Nan City, the mayor's mansion.

A middle-aged man in a purple robe sat before a desk. He had grey temples and a square face. One did not need to see him angry to sense his power and prestige. His brows knitted while looking at the scroll in his hand, as if he had encountered a difficult problem.

He was Tian Nan City's mayor – Nangong Yi!

The mayor was the most powerful person in a city. The situations in a city determine how hard their lives are. Tian Nan city was located on the outer frontier in the country. Here, there are bandits, beasts, and other races; each by themselves capable of causing trouble for the city. In addition, there were many unexplained mysterious events occurring in the area. All of these had caused Nangong Yi a lot of trouble.

However, what stressed him out until his hair turned white was not the problem with his territory, but with his outstanding trouble-making daughter!

Peng!

The room's door was brutally kicked open!

Both guards shivered, neither dared to oppose!

"Pop, guess what I brought back?" Nangong Yun kicked open the door, assiduously intruding into the room: "Supper!"

Nangong Yi reluctantly closed the scroll: "What are you up to this time?"

"Hey, what are you saying? Pop is so hard working and has to work late into the night, of course you must eat something to replenish!"

"You can give up the act!"

Nangong Yun opened the bag and brought out all its contents: "Your favourite fairy wine, delicious grilled fish from the south of the city, herbal porridge from the west of the city, and lastly the most amazing…the super outstandingly delicious moonlight yak steak, taste this first!"

Nangong Yi looked at the steak: "Why is half of it missing?"

Nangong Yun blushed and said: "What if someone tried to harm you? As your daughter, I have the responsibility to eat half of it to test for poison! That is not important, hurry up and try it!"

Nangong Yi cut a small piece and put it into his mouth. He closed his eyes and carefully tasted the meat. Nangong Yi was very particular about food; he could immediately taste the meat's distinct qualities: "This meat is soft and tender, savoury and juicy. To make beast meat taste this good, they are indeed different from others. Where did you buy this?"

Nangong Yun directly held out her hand towards Nangong Yi: "Don't worry too much, pay up!"

Nangong Yi was not a bit surprised, as if he had known beforehand: "How much?"

Nangong Yun said without even thinking: "50,000 gold!"

This time, Nangong Yi almost choked to death: "cough cough cough…How much? 50,000 gold!"

"Your daughter wants to invest in a big project!"

The countless lessons from the past had taught Nangong Yi not to believe in his daughter's words: "I can give you at most 200 gold for allowance. This is the last time this month. Regarding the investment, don't mention it anymore."

Nangong Yun said anxiously: "Pops, you must trust me!"

"How can I trust you?"

"Tian Nan city raised a genius!"

"So what? There are plenty of geniuses these days!"

"That genius created a frying pan that can cook beast meat, this steak is made with that frying pan, even an idiot can make delicious beast meat with it. Their business just started and they do not have everything up and running yet. I will appear as an angel investor. It is guaranteed to make big money. Within half a year, I guarantee that I will pay back with interest; no, I will pay you back double!"

"Don't even think about it!"

"I am not lying, haven't you had enough of being a poor mayor? Trust me, we will be rich in a year or two, and then those snobs from the family clan will all come to lick our feet!"

Nangong Yun's mouth became dry from talking.

Nangong Yi continued to strongly reject the idea.

"Fool! Retard! Stupid pops! Just wait and regret it!"

"Why are you taking away my supper?"

"Who said it's yours, this is the snack I bought for Da Bai to eat!"

(TL Note: "Da Bai to eat" in Chinese is 大白吃 which sounds exactly the same as 大白痴 which means retard)

Nangong Yun stormed out of the room. Her mood flipped faster than one could flip a page in a book. Nangong Yi felt helpless regarding Nangong Yun. Even if she had always been mischievous since childhood, there is still a limit on how far you can go. It's not that the city hall cannot afford tens of thousands of gold, but that it is unacceptable for it to be used by her daughter to squander around!

Nangong Yi might not have realized that at the time, he had really miscalculated!

Chapter 10: Super Drug Refinement Array

Super Drug Refinement Array

Tian Nan city, Herbal Refining Market.

Chu Tian walked in together with Meng Ying Ying.

An attractive young saleswoman came up to greet them, saying: "Welcome to the Herbal Refining Market. What kind of medicinal herbs would you like to buy?"

"Wujin Ginseng, Six-colored Sunflower, Decan Chrysalis, Decan Scorpion, Zijin Bone, and most importantly, Sansheng Demon Worm!" Chu Tian quickly gave an extensive list of medicinal herbs without hesitation, "Bring me two of each kind, and please be quick about it."

The young saleswoman swallowed her saliva and said: "Sansheng demon worms are a very rare ingredient and are very limited in quantity. Every month Tian Nan market would have at most a dozen of them available to sell. But today your luck is good, we have exactly two of these in stock, each priced at 50 gold coins, so totalling together with other items, the price would be 291 gold coins."

Chu Tian looked at the glowering Meng Ying Ying who stood dumbstruck beside him and said: "A set of these herbs is for you, don't ask why right now, but you will not regret it. "

Such expensive herbs, before even at the point of death Meng Ying Ying wouldn't dare to buy it. However, now it was different, as Meng Ying Ying felt that because she could now make money, she had some confidence in herself and has become more generous with money. She quickly drew forth her purse, reluctantly counted out 291 gold coins and handed them over to the saleswoman. Soon, they received the medicinal herbs and were just getting ready to leave.

Suddenly, a huge, fat body walked over.

"Hold on!"

"These two portions of San Sheng demon worms, I will take them."

The young saleswoman's face revealed an expression of dread: "Ye Clan housekeeper?!"

"If you know that it's me, then why are you still wasting time talking?" The Ye Clan's housekeeper was a middle-aged man with a stout body; he impatiently beckoned to her: "Young master is refining a pill and is nearing a critical moment, if young master's pill refining is delayed at a critical time, can you bear the responsibility?"

The young saleswoman gave an awkward glance at Chu Tian: "But the guests have already paid the money, according to the rules, I have no right to reclaim the sold goods….."

"Fuck!" The Ye family housekeeper gave a hard slap across the face of the saleswoman, and said "Go to hell with your rules; pack up and leave! Never come back again in the future! Hurry up and get out!"

Covering her swollen face, the young saleswoman fell down onto her knees, and cried out: "I am really sorry, I am really sorry, please forgive me! I cannot live without this job, I'm begging master to spare me!"

"Get the hell outta here immediately!" The Ye family housekeeper directly disregarded the saleswoman and fixed his gaze upon Chu Tian. When he saw Chu Tian dressed in shabby clothes, which were filthy and covered in greasy dirt, a hint of disdain flashed in his eyes, "Boy, are you a piece of wood, or are you deaf? Didn't you hear that I need the Sansheng demon worms? I'll give you 80 gold coins, quickly give me those two portions of Sansheng demon worms."

Meng Ying Ying was already upset upon the sight of the rude fatty, and at this time her anger soared to new heights: "Do you take us as fools, we just spent 100 gold coins to buy these herbs, yet you wish to take it away for 80 gold coins, how can you still prattle such shameless words?"

"These herbs aren't worth a single cent in your hands; but whereas in our young master's hands, they can become pills worth multiple times as much, don't be unable to distinguish between good and bad!"

"Bah! This is blatant robbery! Even if I was feeding this to dogs I wouldn't give it to you!"

Ye clan housekeeper's fat face shook, pointing his finger at Meng Ying Ying and cursing angrily at her: "The young master is the successor of the president of the Pharmacist Association, don't even mention needing your medicine, even if he wants you to sleep with him, that would be considered him thinking highly of you, and you would have to obediently wash yourself clean and get on the bed to wait for him! If you dare say the word 'no', you wouldn't have to think of living in Tian Nan City anymore!"

When the Ye clan housekeeper spoke up to this point, his tone suddenly changed: "You have already missed the chance, now I can give you only 50 gold coins. I'll say this one last time, take out those medicinal herbs!"

Damn! It's really strange!

How did they meet so many outstanding people in a single night?

Simply unbearable!

Chu Tian didn't speak any further. With steps as quick as an arrow he strode forward, fiercely swinging out a fist that heavily landed on the fatty's face.

Bang!

Even if all of the fat on his face could dampen the damage, Chu Tian's punch was still mostly effective!

The Ye family housekeeper's nose-bridge was broken, and several teeth were cracked right on the spot. He let out desperate screams like a pig getting slaughtered, lying on the ground with blood smeared all over his face: "How dare you hit me! Don't you know who I am?"

Chu Tian heavily stomped on him: "Hitting you is already considered thinking highly of you! Why do I have to know who you are?"

Housekeeper Ye angrily shouted: "Provoking the young master, Tian Nan City has no place for you to hide! You are dead for sure!"

"Too noisy!"

Chu Tian stomped his foot down, Housekeeper Ye's barely remaining front teeth were all broken, and directly swallowed into his stomach; his face was flushed a deep red and both hands kept on struggling with no avail to get away from Chu Tian's feet.

"Miss, what are you looking at? Let's go!"

"En, let's go!"

Meng Ying Yin really felt her blood boiling, ah!

Chu Tian was really domineering, striking out with one fist and destroying the fatty's nose and teeth, what could be more entertaining than that?

How soothing!

Really a good way to vent!

Meng Ying Ying spat on the fatty lying on the ground, swaggering along with Chu Tian as he left. However, the crowd around them all had changed facial expressions, facing the two people was like facing the plague; immediately they all backed away to let them through.

Chu Tian rented a room for refining pills.

Meng Ying Ying retrospectively thought about what happened, and her heart started to have a bit of fear: "Hey, Chu Tian, if you hit a dog you still have to look at the dog's owner, that dead fatty was a Ye clan housekeeper, the Ye clan is a mercenary clan and have influence in a number of cities; their power is very great. They're someone we can't afford to provoke. If they were to look for us, what do we do?"

"Don't tell me these useless things." Chu Tian said, seemingly unperturbed: "When I, Chu Tian, beat up someone, I never ask who they are. Let alone, this fellow is nothing more than a dog of Ye. When even the dog is so arrogant, it deserves to be stepped on."

Mercenaries are private military organizations, and a very popular occupation in the land.

Mercenaries are only restrained by their Mercenary Laws, not the local laws, thus allowing them to have a considerable amount of freedom, as well as significant influence.

60 years ago, the Ye clan began its first entry into Mercenary Industry. Over the past decades, driven by steady development, the Ye clan has amassed in total three mercenary regiments of over thirty thousand mercenaries each, and five groups of mercenary regiments of over five thousand each. If their support staff is included, then their total number of people would easily exceed one hundred thousand. It is a huge mercenary group!

Ye clan has a sphere of influence covering around ten cities and towns; Tian Nan City being included in this influence. This housekeeper was from the Ye clan, because he had a powerful backing behind him, it's no wonder he was so arrogant.

Meng Ying Ying's eyes revealed a glint of hatred as she spoke: "JieJie said that father and mother were probably killed by Ye clan, but the Ye clan's influence is simply too large, I'm afraid even the city lord would be afraid of them; we do not have the means to deal with them!"

"Really!" Said Chu Tian deliberately pretending to be afraid: "They're that powerful?"

Meng Ying Ying said self-righteously to Chu Tian: "Bah!… Look at your good-for-nothing manner, what is there to be afraid of? If there is any trouble, I shall protect you, rest assured!"

This stupid girl, protect me?

Chu Tian could not hold back and burst out laughing.

Meng Ying Ying snorted her discontent: "What are you laughing at?"

Chu Tian hurriedly said: "You hate Ye clan so much, do you want to find them to relieve some anger?"

"Isn't it obvious?!"

"Ok, I'll help you."

"How can you help me?"

"Don't worry, when the time is ripe, you will eventually know."

Judging from the Housekeepers' conduct, it is not hard to recognize the young master's character.

These type of people, Chu Tian had seen too many, the amount he killed was not small. Their specialty was to have an arrogant and a self-righteous character; if their lackeys lost face, they wouldn't let this slide. If he really dared to come, it would be a chance for Meng Ying Ying, a chance to let her severely dampen the Ye Clan's arrogance!

...

The Pill Refining Room, an area of around forty or fifty square meters, within it were a pill furnace, fire pit, refining tools, and extracting tools, as well as all of the disposable and consumable materials.

Chu Tian nodded his head: "It's okay, a little better than I thought, let's start refining the medicine then."

Meng Ying Ying asked: "Refining potions, or refining pills?"

Potions and pills are not the same.

Potions, were mostly medicinal products with quick and transient effects, for example Injury Recovery Potions, Magic Recovery Potions, Detoxification Potions, Strength Boost Potions, Magic Boost Potions, and many more were all repeatedly used consumables.

Pills were mostly medicinal products with permanent or long-lasting effects, for example increasing one's cultivation, physique, or longevity; repeatedly using a pill would decrease its effectiveness, so they didn't count as a reusable consumables, but instead were products with only one use.

"Refining pills!" Chu Tian paused for a moment and then continued speaking: "I'll prepare the Magical Array, you are responsible for the refining."

Meng Ying Ying was shocked stupid: "Don't mess around, these materials are really expensive, I don't know anything about refining medicine!"

Chu Tian explained, saying: "The study of refining pills has four main requirements; the first is a magical array, the second is the materials, the third is the tools, the fourth is technique. Of these, the magical array is the most important; having a top-tier magical array would save a lot of matters, and would even be able to make up for the lacking in technique. I don't even have the cultivation of the first level of Realm of the Body Refinement, thus my magical power is not enough to personally refine them, hence this job will have to be done by you.."

Meng Ying Yin almost fainted: "I don't even know the most basic skills. What magic frequency? What heat control? What techniques for condensing pills?…Too complicated!"

"Don't worry, I have a type of generic Drug Refinement Array that anyone can use, one only needs to dump the materials inside, and as long as the ratio of the formula is right, even fools* can make the pills."

*Note: LOL… Meng Ying Ying xD

Meng Ying Yin felt like her brain was wrapped in thick fog: "I did not study that much, so you, don't you dare try to trick me!"

Even with the same materials and the same formula, if they were refined using two different Refinement Arrays, it was possible to create two distinct pills.

The countless formulas for precious pills and medicine throughout the land were all open to the public. Simply knowing the formula was of no use; the most important part was getting the corresponding Refinement Array. Only by having complete understanding of the Refinement Arrays could you make the corresponding drug.

The current studies of the art of pharmacy widely believed that Refinement Arrays for mixing drugs had high specificity, which meant that for every pill or potion, only one corresponding Refining Array existed, and there was no way to use one kind of array to make two kinds of medicine; this was almost an iron law!

Could this iron law really be broken?

Meng Ying Ying had a little bit of expectations, so she started to patiently wait.

The speed at which Chu Tian drew arrays was extremely fast, this point Meng Ying Ying had already experienced; this time however, more than a full hour had passed but he still hadn't finished.

Meng Ying Ying sat while hugging her knees. She couldn't withstand the drowsiness, her two eyelids were like lead, becoming more and more heavy, her vision becoming more and more blurred, she really fell asleep. A glistening trace of saliva dripped from the corner of her mouth, her snow-white cheeks slightly flushed, in contrast, she looked very lovable, cute, and naive.

After a few minutes, Meng Ying Ying was shaken awake from her drowsiness; she wiped the drool away from the corner of her mouth, and stood up blushing: "Huh? How did I fall asleep?"

Chu Tian spread out a sheet of the refining array diagram: "Have a look."

Of all the things that Meng Ying Ying had seen in her life, this was the most complex, the most profound; it had hundreds upon tens of thousands of runes, which densely populated the map, all kinds of different array patterns piled together, weaving a vast array map that seemed as deep and profound as the Milky Way Galaxy.

What kind of an array was this?

One row after another of runes the size of ants, they were difficult to see even with a magnifying glass, so she had no idea how they were carved on. The whole Drug Refining Array was so large and complex, simply looking at it would incite a feeling of terror, let alone memorizing it in your head. Creating it also required there to be no error, not a single bit could be missing.

The more sophisticated a Drug Refining Array was, the easier it was to make an error.

Because if a symbol was drawn wrongly, or there was a little deviation, the whole array wouldn't work!

Meng Ying Ying sincerely started to lament: "The inventor of this formation is simply not human, and by memorizing the whole thing and drawing it out, you are also a monster!"

She said one thing right, this formation really wasn't invented by a human being.

In the time period where Chu Tian lived, civilization was highly developed and prosperous. Of all the great inventions, the greatest invention was without a doubt the supercomputer made from magic array!

These supercomputers had the processing power billions of times that of the human brain. It's appearance had no doubt become a powerful engine for the accelerated growth of civilization!

At the time the pharmacist of the land used a couple decades of time to collect and refine a massive amount of data about drug refinement and magic arrays and stored it in the supercomputer. Using the processing power of the supercomputer, it took years to come up with 36 super drug refinement array

As soon as the super Drug Refinement Arrays were made available, they instantly shook the entire continent!

Almost in a single night, over 80% of Drug Refining Arrays, over ten million classic refining arrays, that originally considered by all the powers to be secret treasures, were from then on completely thrown into the garbage pile, becoming a pile of abandoned academic trash.

The magic supercomputer, where its calculation and deduction power is hundreds of million times more powerful than the human brain, along with the vast knowledge database accumulated over thousands of years, gave birth to the super drug refinement array.

In the eyes of the people from this time period, this was simply knowledge of the gods.

Chapter 11: A Gamble

A Gamble

TN: We have decided to change the naming convention of the term "medicine refinement" and it's different variations to "alchemy" because it would be more appropriate for how it would be used later in the novel.

...….

Five Element Eighty-Thousand Alchemy Array!"

This seemingly strange name could actually be explained very easily.

Five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth; eighty-thousand: the eight thousand kinds of commonly seen materials.

Five elements and eighty-thousand meant: the eighty thousand common level 1 materials within the five elemental properties could all be easily taken care of. This was a powerful and broad alchemy array.

Meng Ying Ying, after hearing Chu Tian's explanation, immediately refuted, saying: "But, this array completely violates common sense and the prevailing iron law of alchemy!"

"An iron law doesn't always represent the truth, so it's able to be broken." Chu Tian set the alchemy array first into the furnace, then made a gesture of invitation: "Come and try it out, this is not much harder than frying the steak and making the soup like before, I believe you can do it."

Since Chu Tian had already said it like that, Meng Ying Ying had no choice but to try it out.

Rumble rumble rumble!

The instant that magic power was imbued, the pill furnace exploded with rumbles and roars, signifying that the pill-making reaction had already been started.

Under the normal operation of the Super Alchemy Array, one could only see countless glowing runes appearing on the surface of the pill furnace, like a seal that stabilized the pill furnace. No matter how much the furnace roared, it remained perfectly still.

After around ten or so minutes, the sound gradually died down.

"Okay, open the furnace now."

"No way, it's over just like that? I hadn't even figured out what was happening!"

Chu Tian nodded his head; as long as the formula was correct, it was stable, efficient and the failure rate was almost zero. The Super Alchemy Array was just this magical!

Being stabilized by the wisdom of many tens of thousands of years, with the magic supercomputer as the driving force, gave birth to this great knowledge. Of course, the Super Alchemy Array could only mix drugs for the common five elements materials. There was currently no unified way to use a single alchemy array to encapsulate some of the more rarer or more specific materials.

Chu Tian took out the pale golden pill: "You see, this is called a Lianqi pill, and it is one of the best medicinal pills for the realm of Body Refinement. It greatly improves a cultivator in the Body Refinement realm's elemental energy."

Meng Ying YIng hurriedly asked: "How strong is the pill's effect?"

"Let's just say it like this: with only one Lianqi pill, no matter how bad your natural constitution is, you can still become a cultivator at level one or two of Body Refinement. For cultivators already in the Body Refinement realm, this can also massively increase the strength of their elemental energy. The most important thing is that this pill has no side effects."

Throughout the land, there were many pills that could increase cultivation levels, however, most of them came with side effects. Just as trying to help a shoot grow by pulling it up harms it, those pills harmed the user. The pills that could actually help boost cultivation without side effects were expensive to make, not to mention that there was no supply for them at all. They were held by a only a few powers and were kept extremely secret, and would never be spread around.

Meng Ying Ying did not know that it was possible for her to make such a precious pill!

She became energetic and immediately made a second pill.

"We'll each take one!"

Both of them swallowed the pill at the same time.

Chu Tian sat cross-legged as he felt an intense heat in his abdomen. A surge of pure magic energy expanded to all four limbs and then slowly seeped into various veins and arteries. Body Refinement Realm is the first realm a cultivator reaches. When magic power fills each vein and artery of the cultivator, that is the the point where they cross into the realm of Body Refinement.

From there on, every time their magic power gets stronger, their body, their power and speed are also enhanced, thus causing them to become stronger and stronger.

After the blood vessels had been cleared, it immediately produced a sense of being reborn!

Chu Tian finally became a rank 1 Body Refinement cultivator!

Chu Tian did not stop there as there was still a lot of effects left from the pill. He skillfully guided energy to continue to nourish his blood vessels, further increasing his magic power and cultivation. Starting from 1st rank, he went past 2nd rank, barely making it to the 3rd rank before his breakthrough stopped.

Only two hours!

He started out from less than Body Refinement and directly jumped to the 3rd rank of Body Refinement!

His whole body became three times stronger. The effect was not bad and was very satisfactory. When Chu Tian opened his eyes, Meng Ying YIng had also happened to finish absorbing the effect of the pill. She jumped up and gave Chu Tian a big hug!

Chu Tian felt two soft and elastic peak bearing down on him with the weight of Mount Tai*. He felt his blood boiling and could not help but to lean forward to cop a feel. Wonder what this missy ate as she grew up to grow something this big. Her size at this young of age was enough to make countless mature woman feel inferior.

*EN: I want to see this Mount Tai, here's hoping I have eyes

"Wow! Am I dreaming now?"

"Peak of 4th rank, my cultivation is at the peak of the 4th rank!"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you so much! "

"If JieJie knows, she would be truly happy for me!"

One small pill was equal to Meng Ying Ying cultivating for three or four years!

Meng Ying Ying had dreamed of reaching the 3rd rank of Body Refinement, because once she became at the 3rd rank of Body Refinement, she could become an official disciple. However, no matter how hard she tried, she was stuck at the peak of the 2nd rank, and could only unwillingly become just an in-name disciple.

How could she not be happy?!

She has now made it to peak of the 4th rank in a single jump!

Her cultivation was no longer any lower than Han Shao Long!

Chu Tian really did not lie. The Lianqi pill was certainly very useful. Not only was the effect immediate, there were no side effects. This was ten times better than the best pill she knew of!

The value of this pill was even more shocking, as the value of the pill far surpassed the cost of production. Even if you were to auction it off for a few thousand gold, there would still be plenty of people competing for it. If this furnace was controlled by a major force or clan, not only would their overall strength be improved, they would also become very wealthy.

"Don't make such a big fuss over little things, lets go."

"This must be brought back." Meng Ying Ying hurried to pick up the furnace and carefully embraced it: "We can't let others get stuff for free!"

Chu Tian nodded. The furnace itself was worthless, but the array inside it was a whole other story. It was enough to shake the world and lead to bloody conflicts that would drag Chu Tian into the ordeal as well. The array simply couldn't end up in other people's hands!

...

The eastern sky was already bright.

The two had stayed at the alchemy room for more than four hours.

When they stepped outside, it was already morning.

"Ah!" Meng Ying Ying suddenly became dumbfounded: "We are done for!"

Chu Tian wondered: "What's with the big reaction?"

Meng Ying YIng said restlessly: "If JieJie finds out that I stayed out all night, she is going to beat my butt!"

Meng Qing Wu had strict discipline. Her biggest taboo was staying out all night. Right now, I don't know if JieJie had found out. No matter what, I should go back and apologize and then explain to her. For all the benefits last night, I hope JieJie will be understanding.

You must know that even though Meng Qing Wu appears gentle, dignified and placid, in reality however she becomes like a bolt of thunder when angry. Just thinking about it was scary!

Meng Ying Ying felt a bit guilty: "Let's hurry and go!"

Suddenly, a sharp roar assaulted her from afar!

Whoosh!

Meng Ying Ying's reflexes were greatly enhanced after becoming peak forth rank Body Refinement. A sharp wolf-tooth arrow shot straight towards Chu Tian —— Not good, someone wanted to kill Chu Tian!

Chu Tian's strength was greatly improved, and with hyperfocus, he calmly stepped away and dodged the arrow. The arrow mercilessly embed itself into a store's wooden door, leaving the arrow's fletching still shaking.

If he was half a second late, then the arrow would have pierced his heart!

Protected by two sturdy mercenary guards, a youth in white clothes holding a bow walked forward. The youth was around fifteen or sixteen years old, dressed very flamboyantly and carrying an arrogant face. A fatty with a face full of bandages followed closely behind him. If this wasn't the Ye Clan housekeeper, who else could it be?

Meng Ying Ying furiously said: "Shooting someone in the middle of the market, this behavior is too villainous, are you not afraid of public anger?"

"In this place, who does not know of I, this young master, and would dare to speak up? You have to be aware of the owner of the dog you beat up. Since you beat up my person, then you must prepare to bear this young master's anger!"

The youth in glossy white clothes slowly walked over. When he saw Meng Ying Ying, he was slightly startled, but soon his glance soon turned into disdain.

"I wondered who had such a big voice, it turns out to be Meng clan's Mrs. Trash! Whoever this young master wants to kill, an empty vase like yourself has no right to interfere. Unless this is a lover that you bought?"

Meng Ying YIng's face became bright red: "Nonsense, I am not useless!"

Every word Ye Feng said was malicious, and he continued to provoke: "I feel sorry for Meng Qing Wu. To try and get Zhang Li Qing as a backing, she put you under his tutelage. After four years, your cultivation is low, you're not educated, you have bad grades, and no achievements. Oh, also news spread that you been expelled? If I were you, I would just kill myself. Who would still have face to come out and continue to embarrass themselves?"

Ye Feng was only fifteen or sixteen years old but had already reached the peak of the 3rd rank of Body Refinement cultivation. He was one of the successors for the alchemist association and a widely admitted prodigy in Tian Nan city!

Meng Ying Ying was like a ugly duckling in comparison.

Of course, that was the Meng Ying Ying from before. Meng Ying Ying now has cultivation of the 4th rank of Body Refinement!

Even though those words hit her where it hurt and her mood was low, she continued to defend Chu Tian: "Say whatever you want, I don't care. Chu Tian is a friend of our family, if you dare to hurt him, my sister will not let you off. If you have what it takes, come and try!"

Ye Feng burst out in laughter: "Ha ha ha, similar people really do group up together. A big man requires a woman to save himself, calling you trash is too flattering, simply less than trash. If that is how it is, I don't even have do this myself"

The housekeeper was not able to reconcile: "Young master, are we letting them go just like that?"

Ye Feng showed a contemptuous expression: "To personally make a move against such a useless pair, would that not degrade us?"

The two mercenaries surrounding Ye Feng were both elites, with the cultivation of about the sixth rank of the Realm of Body Refinement. A wise man knows when to retreat, finding another day to take back losses was not late.

Meng Ying Ying pulled Chu Tian: "Hmph, don't listen to them, let's go!"

At that time, the two mercenaries blocked them.

When Meng Ying Ying saw the big and tall mercenaries, she revealed a slightly scared expression, both scared and furious: "What do you mean by this?"

"Though I said that I won't kill you, I did not say I would just let this go." Ye Feng said in a bantering tone: "You guys did something wrong so you need pay the price. Now, kneel three times and bow nine times and sincerely apologize to our housekeeper, then this young master will be generous and let it slide!"

"Thank you young master!" The housekeeper revealed a joyful expression and stood tall: "Go kneel, I will accept your apology!"

"Us apologizing to your lackey!?" Meng Ying Ying was both sad and angry from being bullied, bitterly said: "Don't you feel you are going too far?"

"Going too far? No no no! Trash should have the awareness of being a trash!" Ye Feng lightly patted his snow white robe, "In this land, the strong are respected, whoever has the hardest fist is justice. I already took a very kind approach by not killing you, you should be grateful, because those that do not know how to distinguish between good and bad will often find it hard to acquire a peaceful end."

Chu Tian burst out in laughter, as if he had just heard the world's funniest joke.

Ye Feng's face became gloomy: "Did I say anything funny?"

Chu Tian said: "You opened your mouth with trash, closed your mouth with trash, so I'm really very curious, where does your feeling of superiority come from?"

The housekeeper stood out and said: "Our young master is the greatest genius alchemist in the whole Tian Nan city! His teacher is the head of Tian Nan city's Alchemist Association, master Li Chang Yun! How can you country bumpkin even dare to question?"

Chu Tian bursts out into laughter again: "Your skill is less than a child playing with mud balls. And that whatever Master Li Chang Yun? Everyone calls themselves a master these days, I don't think he is good enough to even be my handyman!"

His remark shocked everyone!

What kind of figure was Li Chang Yun?

He was the head of Tian Nan city's Alchemist Association!

He was Tian Nan city's authority on the medicine realm!

Did the reckless Chu Tian want to anger both the master and disciple?

"Slow down and don't bite." Chu Tian saw that Ye Feng was about to explode, immediately interrupts by saying something just as shocking: "If you guys don't agree, then let's have a match fair and square. Let's compete in your field of expertise of alchemy, then we will see who is the real trash!"

Ye Feng has been immersed in a genius's aura since little. With such high self esteem and ego, how could he bear such provocations?

"You are bringing disgrace upon yourself!"

"Just answer, do you accept?"

Ye Feng cynically said: "I understand, this young master is Tian Nan city's most dazzling genius alchemist. You challenge this young master, young master winning is only natural, and even though you can't win, but because you challenged me, you will receive fame. I have seen plenty of these small tricks."

God Damn it!

This guy is just too disgusting!

Meng Ying Ying felt as if she was about to throw up last night's dinner.

"If you guys want to disgrace yourself, then I will be happy to help you with that, but…" Ye Feng's tone became eerie, "There are too many Tom, Dick and Harrys like you in the city that wants to challenge me. How would I find time if everyone wants to challenge me?"

Chu Tian laughed happily: "How do you want to play? I will happily receive!"

Ye Feng took out a crystal card: "This card could be used to withdraw 5000 gold from any bank, I will use 5000 gold as a bet. I know you guys don't have so much money, so if I win, I want Meng Ying Ying to become my sex slave and you will become my minion!"

"Don't you dare look down on people!" Meng Ying Ying immediately flew into a rage at the humiliation and decided to fight it out,"I as the second young miss of the Meng family will agree to sign your contract, if you can win, take this promissory note and go to Nan Yun Chamber of Commerce to get the money! "

Ye Feng didn't expect Meng Ying Ying to have this kind of boldness: "Good good good, since you guys wholeheartedly brought five thousand gold coins to pay learning fees, this young master will generously teach you well…!"

5000 gold coins were enough to plunge the already sinking Nan Yun Commerce deeper in the quagmire.

This was truly a shocking gamble!

Chapter 12: A Big Slap to the Face

A Big Slap to the Face

At this time, a great commotion broke out in the crowd as a ferocious giant person of over two meters tall walked out. He had red hair and the stature of a bear, "Interesting, Interesting, I'll come to serve as a witness for you."

"Isn't that the drug freak Xiong* Tian Yan?"

*TN: Xiong in his name means bear.

"Chief Executive Elder of Alchemist Association."

"This guy has a hot temperament and is not afraid to go against even Li Chang Yun. He does not have a lot of strong connections, but his elder brother is a high ranking general in Tian Nan city. With such a solid background, no one would dare to offend him."

Strong!

Understands alchemy!

Honest and frank!

It would be hard to find a more suitable witness than Xiao Tian Yan.

Ye Feng's face expressed indifference: "Alright, now that we have Xiong Elder as a witness, there is no need be afraid that someone would dare to renege on a debt after losing."

"Everybody is clear about this old bear's temperament; I am always impartial." Xiong Tian let out a bear-like explosive laugh as red coloured magic energy surged out from his body along with a bear's roar. A strong wave of intimidating pressure spread to the surroundings, "Those who goes back on their words will have a taste of my Violent Bear Fist!"

Peak of the 9th rank of Body Refinement realm!

Another expert who is close to Awakened Spirit realm!

Xiong Tian Yan's elemental spirit is a Magma Bear, it was far from comparable to the Fire Phoenix elemental spirit, however it is a rare dual element spirit. Its main attribute is fire, but it also houses the earth attribute. It had both the destructive abilities of the fire element and the defensive properties of the earth element. Its offensive and defensive nature gave it a high combat potential; fighting against it is definitely not simple.

Xiong Tian Yan stood in the centre of the large scale alchemy room, while Ye Feng and Chu Tian stood on either side, surrounded by a crowd of curious onlookers.

"Well, the rules are simple, one person from each party will come up and make a pill which they are best at making. Whoever, in the limited time, makes the best pill will be the victor! Now start and choose the required ingredients!"

Ye Feng seemed as if victory was already in his grasp: "The materials that I want are, Hellfire Lotus Seed, Scarlet Cap Mushroom, Cordyline Blood Vine, Fire Hemp Grass, Smoke Asphyxiate Flower..."

Xiong Tian Yan's nickname was "Drug Freak."

Xiong Tian Yan was extremely obsessed with study of alchemy; his attainments in the field of medicinal alchemy would without a doubt place him within the top five in Tian Nan City.

Judging by the materials, Xiong Tian Yan knew that Ye Feng was preparing to make Fiery Rage Pill. Fiery Rage Pill was one of Li Chang Yun's most classic inventions which raked in massive profit each year. Xiong Tian Yan hadn't thought that Li Chang Yun would actually pass it down to Ye Feng; from this, one could see the importance Li Chang Yun put on Ye Feng.

Fiery Rage Pill is a type of consumable pill.

After a Body Refinement cultivator used this pill, it causes a user's magic to increase several-fold for two hours. But once the medicinal effects wore off, the user's cultivation would regress. It could only be used once every three months, or else it would leave permanent damage.

The essence of the Fiery Rage pill was to burn through the user's potential. Even though the damage it causes to the body was enormous, it was still a great life saver if used in a time of danger, thereby making it a popular item in the market.

After Ye Feng finished saying his list of materials, he immediately used provocative eyes to gaze at Chu Tian: "What have you prepared to contend with me?"

Chu Tian blinked his eyes: "You misunderstood, did I say I was going to personally compete against you?"

Ye Feng was surprised for a moment: "What do you mean, do you want to go back on your own words?"

"I just said before, even your master is not worthy to be my handyman! That being the case, why would I use a sledgehammer to kill a chicken? To defeat you, why would I have to personally come out! Miss, you can go beat this guy."

For someone as proud as Ye Feng, he immediately flew into a rage: "You dare to insult me!"

The crowd was also in an uproar. The second daughter of the Meng family was Zhang Li Qing's student. Zhang Li Qing is an expert in the field of talisman crafting, Meng Ying Ying was no more than a nominal disciple, how could she understand the art of making medicine? This was just nonsense!

Xiong Tian Yan had a strange expression on his face: "This is a gamble of 5000 gold coins! You are sure you want to do it this way?"

Chu Tian shrugged his shoulders, saying: "Meng Ying Ying has studied medicinal alchemy with me for one night. Dealing with a small fry like him is more than enough."

These words were too arrogant!

How broad was the study of refining medicinal alchemy?

Countless people exhausted their whole lives trying to achieve something in alchemy with no success at all! Both talent and hard work were extremely important to become a good alchemist. Now, an outsider who had only studied for a single night threatens to defeat the most dazzling young talent in Tian Nan City?

This was practically a play acted out by children!

Chu Tian himself was only sixteen or seventeen years old!

Meng Ying Ying suppressed the nervousness and excitement in her heart. She remembered that Chu Tian said that he would create an opportunity to setback the Ye clan and for her to get her dignity back.

Xiong Tian Yan couldn't do anything: "What materials do you want?"

Meng Ying Ying felt somewhat moved in her heart: "I will have whatever ingredients he's having."

The Fiery Rage Pill was the exclusive invention of Li Changyun,its production is closely guarded even to this day; how could Meng Ying Ying grasp the the technique to refine Fiery Rage Pill? And if she wasn't refining Fiery Rage Pill, then why would she take the exact same ingredients?

Xiong Tian Yan was completely unable to guess what the other party wanted to do. They were full of confidence, and he had no reason to interfere. He could only order the requested materials to be delivered to the site. He let the two sides do their preparations before finally taking out a hourglass.

"Let's begin!"

The sand in the hourglass would empty out after thirty to forty minutes.

Limiting the time it took to make pills would only increase the difficulty.

"Hmph, trash, look closely! Today I will let you witness what is called disparity, to let you know how stupid your actions are!"

While Ye Feng was talking, he had taken out a pill furnace. The furnace was around half a meter tall, it had a violet gold body covered with complicated runes. Four spirit beasts wound around it, emitting a precious pale light. With a single glance, one could tell it was not a common item.

"That's the Four Beasts Violet Gold Furnace!"

"This is the furnace which great master Li Chang Yun used when he was young!"

"The level one pills made by this kind of pill furnace will have both their chance of success and purity greatly increased."

"Ye Feng was already the alchemy genius of Tian Nan City. Now that he has the help of this kind of treasure, it was basically giving wings to a tiger!"

"..."

There were a lot of medicinal alchemy masters here. When they saw the Four Beasts Violet Gold Furnace, they all became very excited. This was an extremely famous top-tier treasure in Tian Nan City's medicinal alchemy sector!

Even Xiong Tian Yan hadn't thought, that the old devil surnamed Li would really give a furnace worth tens of thousands of gold to Ye Feng. On the other side, Meng Ying Ying took out a plain looking, mediocre styled bronze furnace. This was clearly the standard equipped furnace which appears in every alchemy room.

How could this be competed against?

Xiong Tian Yan shook his head.

Meng Ying Ying's pill furnace was not only simple, but her handling of the materials was also very crude. She was just taking them out one by one and carefully grinding them.

Ye Feng skilfully activates the fire apparatus. The hot flame spewed out and immediately enveloped the Violet Gold Furnace. With a sweep of his right hand, all the materials crumbled and turned to fine powder before raining down in disarray. With a wave of his left hand, magic energy spewed out, lifting the Violet Gold Furnace into the air. With a single pass, the furnace had already captured all the ingredients.

The Violet Gold Furnace stably landed in the middle of the fire, and then started to spin at an even pace to ensure the heat was very evenly distributed. When the medicinal alchemy array activated, the furnace emitted a low rumbling noise from within and a thick medicinal aroma spread throughout the area.

The refinement had begun!

"Nice!"

"Beautiful!"

People cheered out in succession!

Ye Feng's two hands shielded the pill furnace, stably controlling the refining progress. Fiery Rage Pill was a type of pill that was hard to refine because all the materials used are of the violent fire type. If the alchemist was not careful, they would lose control and explode the furnace, therefore they must be very careful.

Ten minutes has already passed since Ye Feng begun. A strong medicinal aroma diffused through the surroundings. Ye Feng's series of lavish techniques amazed the audiences, making them stand up again and again like waves.

At this time, Meng Ying Ying finally started to refine. She steadied the pill furnace and began to use magic energy to activate the alchemy formation. There was no fragrance, there were no special techniques. She released her magic energy at a constant frequency to power the alchemy array in the furnace.

"Meng family's second daughter has lost for sure."

"How could she be young master Ye's opponent?"

"That's right, regardless of strength, skill, or equipment, she has obviously lost by a big chunk."

As people discussed with each other, at a time when nobody was paying attention, Meng Ying Ying suddenly stopped. She opened the pill furnace and took out an almost transparent pale red pill: "I've finished!"

The whole audience exclaimed in surprise!

What kind of a situation was this?

Meng Ying Ying actually took the lead in creating the pill?

The entire process had nothing exciting, and yet it only took a mere ten-something minutes?

Ye Feng saw the colour of the pill in Meng Ying Ying's hand from far away, and laugh coldly. Fiery Rage Pill was red, dark red means low-grade, purple-red means mid-grade while blood red was top-grade. What was up with that transparent thing? Simply rubbish!

Not blowing up the furnace was already a miracle for trash like her, only heaven would know what kind of garbage was made!

Ten-something minutes later.

The hourglass was about to finish draining.

Ye Feng shouted loudly: "Raise!"

A crimson red pill shot out from the Violet Gold pill furnace.

Ye Feng's limit was originally the purple-red Fiery Rage Pill. His extraordinary performance this time allowed for him to create a pill that has surpass mid-grade. The actual worth of the pill was between mid and top-grade. He used the attitude of a victor to glance at Chu Tian: "You guys have already lost!"

Chu Tian shook his head: "No comparison has been made yet, your speech is too premature."

Ye Feng laughed loudly: "Fine, fine, fine! I'll make you admit from the heart. Elder Xiong, would you please identify the quality of the two pills! I believe that with elder Xiong's ability, he will be able to identify the quality at a glance."

As a cultivator at the peak of the ninth rank of Body Refinement and as an experienced alchemist, the quality and the energy contained in a pill is indeed something that can be identified with a glance.

Xiong Tian Yan first checked Ye Feng's Fiery Rage pill, with a dignified face, nodded his head and said: "This is truly a Fiery Rage Pill with exceptional quality. It has been thoroughly refined and contains few impurities. The energy contained within is strong enough to stimulate a cultivator's magic energy and allow them to double their strength for a short time!"

The crowd was in an uproar!

Since even Drug Freak Xiong Tian Yan appraised it so, then it must be real!

For Ye Feng to refine a near top-grade Fiery Rage Pill at such a young age was indeed something extraordinary. He was so proud because he had the skills to back his pride up.!

Xiong Tian Yan in his heart didn't want Ye Feng to win, but the truth in front of his eyes was not something he can reject. Xiong Tian Yan did not have any expectations for the pill that Meng Ying Ying had refined.

Meng Ying Ying voluntarily brought up the pill.

Xiong Tian Yan held it in his hand and simply sensed it.

Suddenly, Xiong Tian Yan's pupils contracted and his whole body shook. From calm, to shock, and finally turned to fright. He stalled for a few seconds before he finally said a sentence with difficulty, "I think the outcome is already very clear!"

Ye Feng hadn't paid attention to Xiong Tian Yan's expression, smugly said: "That goes without saying! These two trash challenging this young master is purely bringing disgrace upon themselves. Well, please hand me the promissory note. This young master will kindly accept that five thousand gold!"

Xiong Tian Yan angrily roared: "Shut your mouth!"

The people were all shocked at the same time.

Ye Feng also froze in place.

Xiong Tian Yan slowly lifted up the pale red translucent pill, and took a deep breath: "In my whole life, this pill is the most flawless, most impeccable and the most outstanding pill I have ever seen. The degree of refinement is close to 100% with almost no impurities. It completely absorbed all of the essence from the ingredients and did not allow the slightest waste. This can simply be called the highest-grade!"

Rumble!

The whole crowd was shocked!

What kind of a figure was Xiong Tian Yan?

To actually be giving out this kind of high evaluation!

Xiong Tian Yan continued, saying: "I can tell, this is not a Fiery Rage Pill. Even though the power of the two pills are similar, but there are obvious differences. This pill's strength is higher than of Fiery Rage Pill. I can say with confidence that this pill is made with a completely different but a more perfect alchemy array! This alchemy array is simply superior to Li Chang Yun's alchemy array!"

The people felt as if the earth and sky were spinning!

Is this real?

A girl actually possessed an alchemy array that is superior to the one of Alchemy Association's president!