Unwelcomed Guests

After returning to his hut, Xin An sat in the courtyard. Should I register as a disciple now? Forget it. Xin An, just wait until you reached Fifth Qi Layer before making a decision!

After a while, Xin decided not to register until he reached the Fifth Qi Realm or Greater Mastery over Iron Fist Foundation Technique.

Being a disciple had a benefit too, and that was the access to the Martial Manuals Pavillion. If he could become a disciple now, he would be permitted to cultivate the techniques he had in the past. Such as Internal Energy for circulation and cultivation, sword technique, and martial movement.

Xin was naturally eager to cultivate his martial techniques two years ago, but since he decided not to apply for registration yet, he instead opened the spatial ring the Geezer had given him. Holy shit these lots?

The moment his spiritual sense swept inside, he saw thirty glittering pills and four different kinds of herbs. 'These pills... Isn't this the Muscle Nourishment Pill?' From what Xin's memories said, Muscle Nourishment Pill was pills usually disciples cultivating their Muscle would consume. But it was expensive, and Xin An had only tried five times this pill ages ago. 'At least that Geezer is thoughtful, he even gives me a useful pill for my realm'.

Xin swept his gaze at the four herbs. He was not unfamiliar with them. Ginseng Herb, Steel Herb, Blood Herb, and even...a fifty-year-old Star Herb?

Xin wa shocked. If he wasn't mistaken, Star Herb was useful once one had started to cultivate their bones. Star herb could speed up and help the bone to cleansed the impurities hidden on the body — He had to save this up.

After deciding, Xin didn't hesitate to swallow the entire thirty pills. For some reason, he could utilize the Mysterious Cauldron from absorbing the essence of the pills which he would convert into Golden Essence and used it to temper his muscle.

At instance he converted it into Golden Essence, Xin could feel coldness which seeped into every inch of his muscle.

Argh... Xin couldn't help but groan. The stage of tempering the muscle, the fourth Qi layer, was very different from the Fifth and Sixth stages. He had to undergo a tempering method that was like a vicious beating from someone. His muscle was twitching from the pain as the tempering underwent, and Xin could only grit his teeth to endure the pain.

Having a Golden Essence as Vital Energy was not necessarily a good thing. Though it was many times richer than Nature's Qi, the pain the user would undergo was many times painful too. Unlike Nature's Qi, Golden Essence was derived from the Great Daos, so its tempering method naturally different.

Xin felt his consciousness became numb and he froze from the pain. Although he had undergone tempering two years ago, the pain he took right now was very, very painful from what he experienced those ages ago. This is probably the cause of the injuries and my cultivation being dropped twice, which made my body weakened considerably.

Xin frowned. Thirty pills were not a small number. The Golden Essence tempering his muscles hadn't stopped yet. It was constantly tempering every inch of his muscle without the hint of stopping that made him felt he plummeted between an Icy Region and Hell.

Sometimes he would feel burning pain then coldness. But a few minutes later, the pain subsided as he experienced less and less torture as time passed. A moment later, Xin snapped his eyes opened and collapsed into the ground.

His eyes reflected the burning sun, because of numbness, and he couldn't even feel the heat it gleamed.

Just like this, Xin woke up just to find the sky had already darkened. Shit, I have to close the garden otherwise I'll get punished.

Without hesitation, Xin hurried towards the Garden of Herbs.

.....

At this moment, several miles away from the hut, the Garden of Herbs had unwelcomed guests. They were three young men, all wore a disciple robe.

"Boss, is this alright? If the Elder find out that we sneak inside the Garden, we'll get punished." The slightly thin young man from the side looked at the dashing young man with the hands behind his back.

"Right. Right boss. There's a caretaker on this place, in no time, he will come here and we'll get caught." The other slightly fat young man also commented.

"Relax. Even if that Old Man and that useless crippled Caretaker came, what can they do? Punish me? Will they dare?" The young man with the white robe and blue eyes had a smile on his face. He looked as if he didn't care if someone would catch them and had a carefree look as he strolled.

"Oh, what luck. A ninety-year-old Mortal Herb." The young man of the white robe and blue eyes grinned. He plucked the herb impatiently, not caring if the unripe herbs would be affected. "Here, you can take this."

He throws it to his underlings and smiled. Such an insignificant amount, he didn't care whatsoever.

"What are you all doing here?"

At this moment, an enraged voice suddenly sounded. The young man of the white robe and blue eyes said 'Oh' before casting his gaze to the underling.

The underling nodded and guided the torch he was holding where the voice originated. There he saw a young man wearing rags. He had dashing eyebrows, brown hair, and star-like eyes.

"So it's you," The young man with the white robe and blue eyes recognized who he was. "Forgive our intrusion. Please don't mind us. We'll leave as soon as we get a couple more herbs."

"What did you say, and who are you?" Xin squinted his brows. I never met such a shameless burglar ever in my life.

"I said we'll leave after grabbing some herbs." The young man of the white robe and blue eyes said. "Qian Xiaoli, a pleasure to meet you."

Qian Xiaoli? Xin felt like he heard his name before. He looked at the other two young men.

"This is Han Mi and Yun Mingli." Seeing Xin An looked at them, Qian Xiaoli introduced.

"Qian Xiaoli, right? May I know who exactly are you?" I should be cautious, this young man is not afraid judging from his looks. He's definitely not faking it.

"Oh, how rude of me," Qian Xiaoli laughed. "I'm the most handsome Son of the Seventh Elder, Qian Xiaoli."

Seventh Elder? Xin was struck into realization. No wonder such a young man was fearless facing him. He did have a fearsome background.

Xin nodded his head and thought for a while. "You can stay here. But you have to write a signature indicating that you came here to the garden. Or else, Elder Lin would blame me for the mess you guys made."

It was not the best to offend these people. He had too many enemies in the Sword Star Sect if he remembered correctly. And offending one more because of a conflict was not a good idea, not to mention this person had a terrifying identity. For now, he wanted to stay low key and wouldn't like to comfort with such a person.

Qian Xiaoli had a strange smile as he said, "Okay."

"Wait a moment," Xin An breathed in relief seeing him agreed. "Let me get a Quill and a piece of paper, I'll be back as soon as possible,"

After that, Xin An hastily left.

After a few minutes, he returned with an old Quill and a paper as he handed it to Qian Xiaoli.

Qian Xiaoli commanded Han Mi, the thin young man, to grab the paper and Quill. He then wrote something on the paper and throw the Quill on the side. Following which, he clapped his hand as Yun Mingli used a cloth to wipe his hand.

"Here," Qian Xiaoli spread the written paper on the air. Xin didn't bother with his attitude and grabbed the paper.

But before he could even grab it, Qian Xiaoli evaded and ripped the paper into pieces. Xin was shocked and furious. How dare he toyed with him? No matter how patient and cautious he was, there's no way he could explode in such humiliation. "Qian Xiaoli, What's the meaning of this?"

"What do you mean?" Qian Xiaoli laughed. "Why? Did an insignificant cripple like you think I will obligate what you say? Let me tell you — I don't fucking know you and I don't care what will happen to you. If Elder Lin blames you then you should commit suicide. I'm sure you won't be able to escape punishment."