Chapter 50 - 48: Someone You Can’t Afford to Offend, A Live-Fire Test

Chapter 50: Chapter 48: Someone You Can’t Afford to Offend, A Live-Fire Test

BOOM!

A bolt of lightning tore through the sky, its flash illuminating the Foundation Establishment Pill resting on the table.

Only then did Nalan Lin and his daughter react. They exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with utter shock.

"Nalan Lin of the Pill Storage Tower respectfully sees you off, My Lord!"

Having recovered his wits, Nalan Lin immediately bowed deeply toward the direction where Jiang Hao had vanished, regardless of whether the other party could still see him.

Nalan Yanyu’s breathing was heavy. She couldn’t help but look at Nalan Lin, hesitating to speak.

Just then, a faint cough echoed from the back hall of the Pill Storage Tower. An elderly man with snow-white hair and a long beard walked out tremblingly.

"Grandpa?"

Seeing him, Nalan Yanyu hurried forward to support the old man, her face full of concern.

The old man’s gaze, however, was fixed intently on the Foundation Establishment Pill. He raised a trembling hand. "Lin’Er, give me the pill."

"Yes, Father," Nalan Lin said, immediately handing the pill over.

The old man held it in his hand and examined it carefully. Soon, ripples of astonishment surged in his aged eyes, and his expression froze.

"Grandpa, what’s wrong? Is there something wrong with this pill?" Nalan Yanyu asked instinctively.

Filled with shock, the old man replied, "Someone deliberately lowered the medicinal power of this pill. Although it’s still a Foundation Establishment Pill, its original grade should have been much higher."

"What? Lowered its medicinal power?"

The father and daughter were stunned. After finally refining a high-grade pill, why would anyone intentionally reduce its efficacy?

It was only then that Nalan Lin remembered a casual remark the mysterious figure had made earlier.

"I do have a useless pill I wish to sell."

To that person, this Foundation Establishment Pill was actually considered useless!

In truth, Jiang Hao wasn’t wrong. As a Unity Realm First-Layer Cultivator, he had no use for this pill whatsoever. Keeping it around really was no different from it being useless.

However, in the minds of Nalan Lin and the others, this carried a completely different implication. They wondered, "Did he intentionally downgrade this pill?"

At this thought, both Nalan Lin and his daughter turned pale with fright. That was a Foundation Establishment Pill! Did someone really treat such a treasure like common weeds?

"Oh, right, Grandpa. That person also bought an Alchemy Furnace and Spirit Medicines. Is he an Alchemy Master?" Nalan Yanyu couldn’t help but ask.

Obviously, the old man was also an Alchemy Master. Between peers of the same profession, one could always pick up on certain clues.

The old man looked in the direction Jiang Hao had vanished. With a dry mouth, he said, "He carried the extremely faint aura of the Fire of Heaven and Earth. He is indeed an Alchemy Master."

BOOM!!!

These words struck the father and daughter like a bolt of lightning.

Nalan Lin, in particular, was horrified. "An Alchemy Master capable of refining a Foundation Establishment Pill? A Tier Two Pill Master?"

"I’m afraid he’s even more terrifying than a Tier Two Pill Master." As soon as Nalan Lin finished speaking, the old man’s body trembled as he continued, "I was observing him in secret earlier. He had almost no aura fluctuations, appearing just like an ordinary mortal. I couldn’t see through his cultivation at all."

As the old man’s words fell, Nalan Lin also realized this. He had scrutinized the mysterious man in the grimace mask as well, and indeed, he hadn’t been able to discern the other party’s strength.

Not being able to see through him meant the person was terrifyingly powerful.

Coupled with the figure’s silhouette in the lightning as he walked out of the Pill Storage Tower, and his subsequent vanishing act as if he had evaporated from the mortal world, the three generations of the family felt as if they had been struck by a bolt from the blue.

Still reeling from the shock, Nalan Lin pondered and suggested, "Father, should we investigate his background?"

"Absolutely not!" The old man quickly raised his hand to interrupt him.

"The one thing Pill Masters of the world abhor the most is being spied upon. This person is not someone our Nalan family can afford to provoke. We just need to focus on doing business.

"Since this lord chose our Pill Storage Tower, barring any accidents, he will definitely come back to us as long as he remains in the Celestial City Earth Realm.

"Lin’Er, you must seize this opportunity. If we can gain this lord’s favor, our Pill Storage Tower might truly be brought back to life."

Although Alchemy Masters didn’t engage directly in the pill trade, they rarely went out to search for Spirit Medicines themselves. Most would choose local Pill Workshops like the Pill Storage Tower for exchanges.

If the Nalan family could secure the backing of this Alchemy Master, the resulting impact would be unimaginable.

There were countless Pill Workshops on the Celestial Martial Continent, but most were merely run by businessmen and didn’t have their own Pill Masters to provide Spirit Pills.

Even though the Nalan family had been in the pill business for generations, their ancestors hadn’t produced many alchemists. Only the old man possessed the talent of a Pill Master, yet he was merely a Tier One Pill Master. The Pill Storage Tower’s supply of goods primarily relied on buying and reselling.

Shortly after Jiang Hao’s departure, a noblewoman hurriedly arrived at the Pill Storage Tower.

The moment she stepped into the hall, she took out a pill and placed it before the three generations of her family.

"Second Brother, I’ve done my best. This is the best pill I could procure within my authority. It’s just a defective Foundation Establishment Pill. See if it can help the Pill Storage Tower."

The newcomer was none other than Nalan Feiyan.

Though she had claimed there was nothing she could do earlier, after Nalan Lin left the Qin Mansion, she still swallowed her pride and sought out an Elder of the Qin family to secure this defective Foundation Establishment Pill.

However, just as Nalan Feiyan brought out the pill, she realized something was amiss. Upon learning what had just transpired at the Pill Storage Tower, she was so shocked she could barely speak.

"A terrifying Pill Master wearing a grimace mask?"

Looking at the Foundation Establishment Pill Nalan Lin presented, Nalan Feiyan’s face was filled with utter disbelief. One had to know that Foundation Establishment Pills were priceless treasures with zero market supply. Even branch pavilions and workshops of the Mountain God Pill Pavilion and Miaodan Square might not have Foundation Establishment Pills in stock at all times.

As time slowly passed, the night brought nothing but endless lightning, thunder, and torrential rain.

After leaving Celestial City, Jiang Hao traveled non-stop toward Qin City. By the time he arrived at the Upper Spirit Garden of the Qin Mansion, the sky was already faintly brightening.

Just as he was about to push the door open and enter, a crisp and lively voice suddenly rang out from the adjacent courtyard. "Good morning, Brother Qin Fan."

Jiang Hao looked toward the source of the voice. He saw Qin Xiangyuan standing before the gate of Courtyard Eight, staring at him with a captivating smile.

Seeing her, Jiang Hao said awkwardly, "Little Sister Xiangyuan?"

Qin Xiangyuan covered her mouth and giggled. With her hands behind her back, she walked nimbly toward Jiang Hao.

"Did you just get back, Brother Qin Fan? Why are you covered in so much morning dew?"

"Oh, I woke up too early and had nothing to do, so I... I just took a walk around," Jiang Hao replied with a forced smile.

Hearing this, Qin Xiangyuan smiled. "If you wanted to take a walk, Brother Qin Fan, why didn’t you call me? I could have been your guide."

She deliberately avoided mentioning that Jiang Hao had left the Upper Spirit Garden the previous night. Even though she knew he was lying, she didn’t expose him.

"By the way, Brother Qin Fan, ever since you arrived at the Qin family, you’ve been in secluded cultivation without coming out. You haven’t had a proper tour of Qin City yet, have you?

"Since you have nothing going on today, and I happen to be taking a break from cultivation, how about I show you around Qin City so you can familiarize yourself with the area?"

Hearing this, Jiang Hao frowned inwardly. He seemed to have a natural aversion to overly clever girls. Moreover, his intuition told him that this girl was definitely up to no good.

Seeing that Jiang Hao was taking his time to respond, Qin Xiangyuan’s beautiful face immediately filled with disappointment. "Brother Qin Fan, do you dislike having me as a little sister? If there’s anywhere I haven’t done well enough, you must tell me. I’ve grown up this big, but I’ve never known what it’s like to have an older brother."

One had to admit, being beautiful was a huge advantage. As the naturally spirited and charming Qin Xiangyuan spoke with such maidenly grace, she couldn’t help but evoke a sense of tender affection.

After pondering for a moment, Jiang Hao found it difficult to refuse her directly. After all, he didn’t know how long he would be staying with the Qin family.

With this in mind, Jiang Hao replied, "I’ll be troubling you then, Little Sister Xiangyuan."

Half an hour later, on the bustling main streets of Qin City.

Qin Xiangyuan’s appearance instantly caused a stir. It couldn’t be helped; with her stunning looks and ethereal, fairy-like grace, it was impossible for her not to attract attention.

"Fairy Qin! Look, everyone, it’s Fairy Qin of the Qin family!"

"It really is Fairy Qin! She’s actually out on the streets? This is a rare sight. It’s been so long since I last saw the Fairy’s face."

"The Eldest Miss is truly beautiful. She has high talent and an otherworldly, pure aura. She is fully deserving of the title of Qin City’s number one fairy!"

"Huh? Who is that young man following right beside Fairy Qin? How come I’ve never seen him before?"

Amidst the constant flow of pedestrians, Qin Xiangyuan paused at every stall she passed. She was lively and spirited, acting like a fairy who had descended to the mortal realm and had never seen the wonders of the world before.

"Brother Qin Fan, look at this! And this, and this, and this!

"Brother Qin Fan, I want this!

"Brother Qin Fan, hurry up!"

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd on the main street, Qin Xiangyuan would sometimes skip ahead, and other times trot back to hug Jiang Hao’s arm, pulling him toward various stalls selling bizarre trinkets. The two of them looked exactly like an intimately close brother and sister.

However, the closer Qin Xiangyuan acted with Jiang Hao, the more the surrounding gossip boiled over.

"Why is Fairy Qin so intimate with that young man? Who on earth is he?"

"I’ll admit he’s somewhat handsome, but what right does he have to walk so closely with Fairy Qin?"

"What did Fairy Qin just call him? It sounded like... Brother Qin Fan?"

"Qin Fan? Is he that newly arrived direct-line descendant of the Qin family? The Qin Fan who monopolized a Level One Cultivation Chamber the moment he arrived?"

"It really is him. He has the cultivation of the Creation Realm Third Layer, and Fairy Qin called him brother. It’s definitely him."

In an instant, the entire street erupted into a cacophony of voices, and everyone’s gaze shifted from Qin Xiangyuan to Jiang Hao. But when Jiang Hao raised his eyes, he realized that Qin Xiangyuan’s figure had inexplicably vanished into the crowd.

Jiang Hao immediately cursed inwardly, "Crap."

He had been played by that little girl.

Without a second thought, and without even bothering to look for Qin Xiangyuan, Jiang Hao turned around, preparing to head back to the Qin Mansion. But the moment he turned, a pair of icy eyes locked onto him from across the distance. A chill instantly ran down his spine.

Jiang Hao looked up.

He saw that the pedestrians on the street behind him had already retreated to the sides, and standing right in the middle of the road ahead was a young man. Cradling an ancient sword in his arms, his long robes fluttering in the wind, the youth slowly lifted his eyes to look at Jiang Hao.

"Are you Qin Fan?"

As the youth spoke, Sword Intent surged throughout his entire body. He was impressively a Sword Cultivator.

"Who might you be?" Jiang Hao asked, his pupils narrowing slightly.

"Who I am isn’t important. Young Master Qin, let me see what gives you the right to occupy one of our Qin City’s Level One Cultivation Chambers."

As soon as the youth finished speaking, his ancient sword left its sheath. Suddenly, a terrifyingly cold Sword Intent swept across the street, causing the expressions of countless bystanders to change drastically.

Meanwhile, hidden in a corner, Qin Xiangyuan watched the scene unfold with a smile plastered across her face.

With a sweet smile, she murmured to herself, "Brother Qin Fan, I absolutely refuse to believe that someone who could return with so many sword wounds is merely a Creation Realm Third Layer Cultivator. Let your little sister Xiangyuan see exactly what gives you the ability to endure so many sword wounds without perishing."

It was obvious that although Qin Shiming had dismissed his suspicion that Qin Fan was Jiang Hao, Qin Xiangyuan still felt that this man was hiding secrets. Clearly, this situation was a trap specifically orchestrated by Qin Xiangyuan to force Jiang Hao to reveal his true strength.

As Qin Xiangyuan muttered to herself, terrifying Sword Qi had already torn through the void. The young man unleashed a sword strike, aiming straight for Jiang Hao’s face.

"Creation Realm Ninth Layer, Tier Ten Sword Technique!"

In the brief moment he sensed the attack, Jiang Hao determined the opponent’s cultivation level and the sheer power of the sword strike. His pupils involuntarily shrank to pinpricks.