107: One against two

“Next, you didn’t forget to ask Zhong Ling’er for advice on Alchemy techniques.”

“After her guidance, many details of Alchemy suddenly became clear to you.”

“If no one had guided you, you truly didn’t know how many more times you would have failed.”

“You didn’t expect that this craft of Alchemy held so many intricacies—for example, controlling fire with Divine Sense, nourishing the furnace with dregs, grasping the timing for sealing and opening the furnace, purification techniques, and even emotions could affect the formation of Medicinal Pills.”

“Especially the ‘emotions’ part, it was practically like metaphysics—”

“If you lacked confidence during Alchemy, the probability of failure would greatly increase.”

“It turned out that by maintaining different emotions like joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness during Alchemy, the Medicinal Pills produced would even come with special mental state effects.”

“You probably would never have thought of such a small trick if Zhong Ling’er hadn’t told you.”

“Perhaps this is also a kind of Dao!”

“At the same time, you were secretly pondering in your heart: how should you deal with Zhong Ling’er in reality?”

“She would stop at nothing for revenge and had betrayed you before, so there was no guarantee she wouldn’t do it again.”

“Don’t let her innocent appearance fool you; she has both means and cunning. She will definitely become a venomous snake when she grows up.”

“Perhaps she is still young now and biding her time, but once she erupts in the future, she might not even recognize her own family.”

“Can you… control such a venomous beauty?”

“If you can control her, she might become a good talent and also add to Fengyun Pavilion’s strength.”

“But some things, if they happen once, they will happen a second time. Once they start, they can never be stopped.”

“As you thought, you suddenly remembered Liu Ruyan’s Slave Contract secret art.”

“Unfortunately, such secret arts are not to be passed down and are not easy to obtain.”

“In the sixth month,”

“You attempted Alchemy nineteen times and finally succeeded in refining a batch of three Low Grade grain dispelling pills.”

“Holding those three Medicinal Pills, your hands trembled with excitement.”

“You only felt a bright future before you, more excited than ever: ‘As long as I persevere, I will always succeed!’”

“Not satisfied with this, you lit the furnace fire again, the dancing flames reflected in your eyes: ‘What if the furnace explodes a hundred times? The next time I succeed, I’ll make the whole room filled with the scent of Medicinal Pills!’”

“Each practice made you continuously improve, and your techniques became more skilled.”

“You seemed to have opened a door to a new world—scenery that was once unclear was now fully visible.”

“Unknowingly, night fell, and you returned to your small courtyard.”

“Suddenly, two figures leaped over the wall and entered!”

“You turned vigilantly, staring intently at the two people.”

“These man and woman were none other than Fairy Zhiyun and her Dao Companion, Vast Emptiness Master.”

“You smiled: ‘After holding back for a few months, you finally couldn’t resist making a move?’”

“They ganged up on you during the seventh simulation—that was a hundred years later when they were already at Golden Core Perfection cultivation.”

“Now, both are only at Golden Core Middle Stage, so you naturally aren’t afraid.”

“Even so, you didn’t dare to be careless.”

“‘You knew we were going to attack you early? You really did hide your strength,’ Fairy Zhiyun said indifferently.”

“‘You two, one overt and one covert, haven’t you done a lot of killing and seizing treasures over the years?’ you retorted.”

“Vast Emptiness Master laughed: ‘You struggle so much to learn Alchemy, with such poor Aptitude and Comprehension Ability? I long ago concluded that your strength is ordinary.’”

“You also smiled—so they had been secretly observing you for several months, just to see if you were faking it. They were truly cautious.”

“Thinking of this, you deliberately teased Fairy Zhiyun: ‘Fairy, you observed me for so long before acting, could it be that you’ve taken a liking to me?’”

“Vast Emptiness Master angrily said: ‘Boy, stop with the glib talk! Tell me, where did you get so many Spirit Stones? What secrets do you have?’”

“You replied with a smile: ‘Nonsense, of course, I got them from killing people and seizing treasures. Did they fall from the sky?’”

“‘Since that’s the case…’ Vast Emptiness Master narrowed his eyes, a cold glint flashing within them.”

“Before he finished speaking, he suddenly flicked his sleeve—”

“Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!”

“Thirty-six Violet Lightning Flying Swords shot through the air, entwined with lightning, flying towards you from all directions, their sword lights weaving into a deadly electric net!”

“Almost simultaneously, Fairy Zhiyun flipped her jade hand, and an ancient mirror appeared in her palm. The mirror surface shone with golden light, and a golden beam of immobilization light shone directly at you!”

“You were already prepared, calm and unhurried, you let out a deep shout: ‘Body Manifests Myriad Forms!’”

“In an instant, figures flickered wildly throughout the courtyard, hundreds of ‘yous’ appeared simultaneously, making it hard to distinguish true from false!”

“That mirror light fell, only immobilizing one of the illusory figures.”

“And the thirty-six Violet Lightning Flying Swords also whistled in, piercing through thirty-six Incarnations one after another. The hit Clones scattered, turning into green smoke.”

“But the remaining sixty-odd figures condensed their palm power at the same time—”

“Boom!”

“The roar of Dragons and tigers shook heaven and earth, dozens of Dragon-shaped and tiger-shaped shadows roared out, rushing towards the two with overwhelming force!”

“Fairy Zhiyun’s expression changed, and she quickly retreated.”

“But she didn’t know that your true body had already blended among the Clones, arriving silently like a ghost—”

“Subtle Steps of Ling Bo!”

“Your figure flickered continuously, like willow catkins in the wind, and in a flash, you were already behind her.”

“Formless Divine Art!”

“With a fierce shout, you pushed out a palm, and majestic true essence condensed into a huge palm print, pressing down directly!”

“Fairy Zhiyun had no time to react. She only heard a loud ‘bang,’ and her entire body was fiercely slammed into the ground—the ground collapsed, 碎石飛濺, and a three-meter-deep giant pit was left behind!”

“You were about to continue your attack and completely end her life.”

“Who knew Vast Emptiness Master reacted extremely quickly, his figure flashed, he grabbed Fairy Zhiyun from the pit, turned into a golden light, shot into the sky, and disappeared into the clouds in the blink of an eye!”

“Watching the two disappear, you frowned: ‘Golden Core Cultivators are indeed hard to kill!’”

“You knew in your heart that if only Fairy Zhiyun had been there, you would have already killed her.”

“You squeezed your hand, recalling the soft touch of hitting the Fairy just now, feeling extremely satisfied.”

“‘In reality, one day, I will definitely kill you.’ You curled your lips slightly and returned to your room to continue Cultivating.”

“At dawn,”

“Steward Yan came to check on the situation in your courtyard.”

“He repeatedly scanned you with his Divine Sense, feeling that this scene definitely had nothing to do with you.”

“These traces of battle clearly indicated a clash between Golden Core Cultivators.”

“And your bone age was only eighteen, so it was impossible for you to have Golden Core cultivation.”

“You? An ordinary handyman, how could you be such a person?”

“An eighteen-year-old Golden Core Cultivator could only be achieved by Prodigies from top forces.”

“He frowned and asked you: ‘What happened here?’”

“You pretended your legs were trembling and said in a shaky voice: ‘Last night, two dark figures fought here with a lot of noise, and then with a ‘boom,’ they shot into the sky and disappeared into the heavens…’”

“Steward Yan nodded, completely believing it.”

“Mainly, such incidents often happened in the city, and he had already considered that possibility.”