136: Cai Xiang

"Quick, I have Detoxification Pills in my robes..." Bai Shan said through gritted teeth.

Hearing this, Long Yuan hurriedly stepped forward and pulled out a large bag from his robes. After opening it, he found quite a few things inside. He searched carefully and found a bottle of Detoxification Pills. He took one out, stuffed it into Bai Shan's mouth, and used his Xuan Power to dissolve it and force it into Bai Shan's body... Bai Shan's expression seemed to ease slightly. Long Yuan used his Divine Sense to check Bai Shan's body again and found that the medicinal power was expelling the toxins. It seemed these Detoxification Pills were somewhat effective, but the medicinal power didn't seem very strong.

That Lin Han was an Alchemist, so the poison he used was likely not simple. Long Yuan looked at Lin Han and saw him still rolling on the ground, so he stepped forward and knocked him unconscious with a palm strike. He searched Lin Han's body and finally found another bottle of Detoxification Pills. They appeared to be of a higher grade than the ones Bai Shan had taken. He gave Bai Shan another pill and noticed that this one's effect was excellent, which finally put his mind at ease.

Looking at the people on the ground, Long Yuan could have killed them all with a single needle each. However, to leave witnesses, he didn't do so. Instead, he let Bai Shan take the credit for the achievement; later, he would just have Bai Shan take responsibility for what had happened.

Suddenly, he turned his head toward the entrance of the passage and saw a masked figure slowly walking out. When the person saw the group of people lying on the ground, he couldn't help but frown. Seeing Long Yuan, the only youth standing in the entire area, his frown deepened. He said coldly, "Did you take all these people down?"

A phantom light screen appeared before Long Yuan's eyes:

[Name: Tong Jingshan, descendant of the Tong Family of Nanming]

[Realm: Martial Master Middle Stage; Certification: Four-star Alchemist; Palm Technique: Hundred Poison Palm, Profound Rank Low Grade, Minor Achievement Realm]

[Special Experience: Sent by his Family to Fengyang for tempering, he serves as the President of the Fengyang Alchemist Guild. He dreams of becoming the head of the Family. He has been recruiting subordinates on a large scale in Fengyang, establishing multiple beast-rearing bases, and plundering wealth. He intends to compete with his elder brother, Tong Jingxiong, for the position of the Family's direct successor!]

"Senior Bai took them all down..." Long Yuan said with a smile.

"Bai Shan? Impossible!!!" Tong Jingshan roared as he glanced at Bai Shan, who was currently regulating his breathing on the ground.

"I saw it with my own eyes, but..."

"But what?" Tong Jingshan pressed.

"Just now, Senior Bai also said it wasn't he who took them down, and he also said..."

"What else did he say?!"

"He said there must be someone else secretly helping him. Could that person be you, Senior..." Long Yuan said.

"This..." Tong Jingshan felt a slight sense of foreboding upon hearing this, as it matched his own suspicions. He immediately scanned his surroundings. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his head, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud, clutching his head and howling in pain!

"Third Uncle?!" a voice screamed. It was Tong Xueqin, who had just walked back into the villa. She was stunned to see the pile of people wailing on the ground, and then she saw Tong Jingshan's figure. Although he was still wearing a mask, Tong Xueqin recognized him at a glance!

Long Yuan said in surprise, "This person is your Third Uncle?!"

As he spoke, he ripped off Tong Jingshan's mask and followed up with several punches to his head. Tong Jingshan screamed in agony, his face twisting hideously and blood spraying from his mouth, before finally falling unconscious.

Tong Xueqin's eyelids twitched at the sight, and she quickly changed her tune. "Ah... maybe not. His build just looks a bit similar..."

"I see! These people are all bandits involved in illegal beast-rearing; how could he be your Third Uncle? Wait? No way, is this Teacher Cai from our Fengyang No. 1 High School?!" Long Yuan unmasked another person and cried out in feigned shock.

Although Cai Xiang's headache had mostly subsided, the pain from his severed arm was unbearable. Combined with being as exhausted as a dog, he was already drained of strength. He looked at Long Yuan and said with a struggle, "Long Yuan, this is a misunderstanding! I just happened to be here... Can you help me find my severed arm? This young lady is an Alchemist; she should be able to help me reattach it, right?"

"Just happened to be here?! You clearly knew who I was just now, yet you still charged at me with a blade. Do you really think I'm so young and easy to fool?!" Long Yuan said coldly.

"This... the light in the basement was dim just now, so I couldn't see who you were for a moment. Really, you have to believe me, your teacher! Besides, you've really changed a lot lately; I only recognized you just now!" Cai Xiang argued hurriedly. However, he was actually telling the truth this time because Long Yuan's appearance had changed drastically recently. Cai Xiang didn't know him before the Awakening ceremony and had only seen him a few times in the selection camp recently; otherwise, he wouldn't have recognized him at all.

"Is that so? Then why were you involved in beast-rearing in my house? And why were you helping them kill people?" Long Yuan asked coldly.

"What? This is your house?! I..." Cai Xiang was a bit dazed. Who could have imagined that such a luxury villa would belong to a nobody from the school? He wouldn't have believed it even if he were beaten to death... "Tell the truth! Otherwise, don't even think about reattaching your arm! Let me tell you, every breath is crucial for you right now. If the arm is reattached within half an hour, there's still hope for recovery. If you don't tell the truth, just wait to be a cripple!" Long Yuan shouted.

"Ah, this..." Cai Xiang panicked. If he truly became a one-armed man, his life would be ruined. For a Xuan Practitioner like him, it was completely unacceptable. His expression shifted rapidly before he finally gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, after I tell you, you must make her help me reattach my arm!"

"You are in no position to negotiate with me! After you speak, if I judge it to be the truth, I can reattach your arm. But if it's a lie, don't even think about it. Not only will your arm not be reattached, but I can also finish you off with one strike. Since you really did try to kill me and Senior Bai just now, it's only natural for me to kill you in return!"

Cai Xiang's face instantly slumped. Thinking of the consequences Long Yuan mentioned, his desire for survival surged. Deciding to treat a dead horse as if it were alive, he said with a mournful face, "I'll talk! I'll tell you everything! This isn't my fault; I was just working under Tong Jingshan to earn some extra money for my cultivation. How was I to know this was illegal beast-rearing?"

"You're a teacher, and you're telling me you didn't know this was against the law?" Long Yuan sneered.

"I... fine, I admit I was crazed for money and boarded the pirate ship in a moment of madness. Now I truly regret it... It's all the fault of that beast Tong Jingshan for using Medicinal Pills to tempt me. Otherwise, how could I have knowingly broken the law..." Cai Xiang pointed at Tong Jingshan on the ground and cursed fiercely.

Tong Xueqin couldn't hold back anymore and screamed, "You're lying! How could my Third Uncle be involved in illegal beast-rearing? And use Medicinal Pills to tempt you? As a four-star Alchemist, wouldn't it be easy for him to make money?!"

Hearing this, Cai Xiang snorted. "What do you know? It's only easy to make money for high-level Alchemists or geniuses with high success rates. For ordinary Alchemists like Tong Jingshan and Lin Han, the few pills they refine daily are at most enough to live comfortably, but becoming wealthy is impossible! How could that compare to the fast money from rearing ranked exotic beasts? I've seen the ledgers Lin Han kept; this rearing base alone can bring in one supreme-grade mysterious stone a year. Tong Jingshan's strength has increased greatly these past years; hasn't he been relying on the support of these rearing bases?"

"This..." Tong Xueqin was dumbfounded and left speechless...