4: Divine skill, replacement, please help me, Master!

Startled awake, Wu Feiyan frantically lunged forward and grabbed the picture album.

Cao Meng didn't stop her, just chuckled and said:

"Revered Master, since you like it so much, I'll give it to you. At most, this Disciple will just draw another hundred or so albums..."

"Another hundred or so? Rebellious Disciple, what do you think you're doing?" Wu Feiyan clutched the album, her face ashen.

"What am I doing? Surely someone as clever as Revered Master can guess?" Cao Meng laughed lightly.

"You~"

The Empress nearly fainted from rage.

"Haha, Master, I just love how you hate me with every fiber of your being, yet can't do a thing about it!" Cao Meng said triumphantly.

Wu Feiyan: "Rebellious Disciple, you are digging your own grave!"

"Your Majesty, Fairy Qing Luan requests an audience~"

At that moment, the voice of the Chief Eunuch, Boundless Sea, came from outside the hall.

Hearing this, a flash of joy appeared in the fox-like eyes of the The Glamorous Empress.

A perfect opportunity!

Chief Eunuch Boundless Sea was her trusted confidant, and his strength far surpassed that of this Evil Disciple.

The requesting Fairy Qing Luan was one of the two female Disciples she had personally chosen for her precious son, and the strongest one at that. Her strength also exceeded this Evil Disciple's.

However, this thought had just arisen when she forcibly extinguished it.

Because she felt the Evil Disciple's icy gaze upon her.

Wu Feiyan said solemnly, "Not now. I am in seclusion. No one is to disturb me!"

"Yes!" Eunuch Hai responded, and peace returned outside the hall.

"Alright, now that the people are gone, let's talk. What do you want?"

Wu Feiyan straightened her bright yellow dragon-embroidered imperial robe, assuming the aloof and solitary stance of a peerless Empress, looking coldly at Cao Meng.

"What do I want?"

Cao Meng lazily sprawled onto the Phoenix Bed: "What can this Disciple, with my thin arms and weak legs, possibly do? Any one of the strong followers under Revered Master's command could tear me to pieces."

"So, to ensure absolute safety, this Disciple has no choice but to temporarily share a room with Revered Master, to be deeply bound with you, hehe~"

Deeply bound?

"You!" Wu Feiyan instantly lost her composure.

Shameless!

Scoundrel!

How did this Evil Disciple become such a scoundrel overnight?

"Enough, Revered Master, you must be tired. Rest well. This Disciple will help you Cultivate later," Cao Meng said with a smile.

"Revered Master must be good, don't make things difficult for this Disciple."

"You~" The Empress gritted her teeth in fury, itching to bite someone.

*Slap*~

Cao Meng raised his hand and struck a major acupoint on the Empress, knocking her unconscious.

Then he eagerly summoned his Attribute Panel:

Opportunity Exchange: dragon tiger golden elixir [Exchangeable]

Cao Meng casually plucked a large grape from the nearby fruit platter.

With a thought: Exchange.

Five hundred Luck Points sacrificed to the heavens.

The next moment, a dragon tiger golden elixir the size of a Longan, shining with golden light, appeared in Cao Meng's palm.

"Is this the world-renowned dragon tiger golden elixir that can make someone a dragon overnight?" Cao Meng examined it for a moment, then, full of anticipation, placed it into his mouth.

The moment the Golden Core entered his stomach, a surge of intense heat spread throughout his body.

Cao Meng hurriedly activated his Cultivation Technique to dissolve the dragon tiger golden elixir... Meanwhile, in the Great Liang Dynasty, at the northern border, within the Yanbei Royal Residence—nestled against mountains and water, resembling a palace—in the Wenxiang Courtyard.

Xu Tian, the infamous Young Master of both the Great Liang and Wu Zhou dynasties and the Heir of the Prince of Yanbei, lay lazily on his bed. Four stunningly beautiful maidservants attended to him devotedly, one passing him a sip of wine, another feeding him a grape, living a carefree and blissful life like an immortal.

At that moment, footsteps sounded.

Xu Longwu, the Prince of Yanbei, strode in with a dragon's gait and a tiger's pace, holding an ornate box.

Seeing this, the four maidservants hurriedly rose to pay their respects.

Heir Xu Tian, however, merely tilted his head, glanced at the box in his father's hand, and didn't even bother to get up: "Xu Longwu, do you think this Young Master's place is a garbage dump? You bring any old thing into my room?"

The world-famous Longwu Great General showed no sign of anger. Instead, he approached with an ingratiating, fawning smile.

"Tian'er, this treasure isn't garbage. It's the dragon tiger golden elixir I obtained from Dragon Tiger Mountain, containing the lifelong cultivation of a Major Achievement Pill Realm expert. Tian'er, didn't you say cultivating martial arts was too tiring? With this, it'll be much easier. Just consume it, and within three to five years, you'll become a Pill Realm expert..."

"Oh? The dragon tiger golden elixir." Xu Tian immediately perked up.

"Whose?"

Xu Longwu chuckled: "The dragon tiger golden elixir condensed by Dragon Tiger Mountain's Sect Head, Zhang Shaofu. Currently, he's the only one on Dragon Tiger Mountain who has cultivated the Five Thunder Diamond Technique, so I 'requested' it for you."

"'Requested'?" Xu Tian smiled faintly.

"Exactly, Xu Longwu, you used the word 'request' very well. You deserve a reward."

"Then, Tian'er, should you eat it now? Shall I protect you during the process?"

Xu Longwu fawned, like a concubine awaiting the emperor's favor.

An onlooker might think the young man before him was his father.

"Linglong, open it~" Xu Tian lazily instructed the Purple-clad Maidservant beside him.

"Yes!"

The maidservant Linglong quickly took the box and opened it.

Inside was a golden, shining inner elixir.

Xu Tian casually grabbed it, tossed it into his mouth, and instinctively chewed~

"What the hell, fruit flavor..."

The "Golden Core" shattered in his mouth, and Xu Tian's expression instantly turned fascinating.

Then~

"Ptooey~"

A mouthful of thick phlegm mixed with chewed purple grape was forcefully spat onto Xu Longwu's old face.

Great General Longwu was dumbfounded.

"Xu Longwu! You taste it for me! Does a grape-flavored dragon tiger golden elixir exist in this world?" Xu Tian's somewhat handsome face twisted, filled with uncontrollable rage!

Great General Longwu subconsciously licked the saliva on his face.

He was stunned~

"It's true, it's a grape!"

"Xu~ Long~ Wu!"

Xu Tian grabbed the nearby whip and lashed it directly at Xu Longwu's old face.

A son beating his father is bizarre news in any era, but in the Yanbei Royal Residence, it was already commonplace.

The heir disciplining his father was a routine he was quite proficient in.

Xu Longwu had two sons and two daughters, but this Young Master Xu Tian was especially doted on.

Because he was born to Wu Feiyan, and also, due to various reasons,

Xu Longwu had always believed this precious "son" was his own seed, and thus spoiled him to the extreme.

So much so that his own biological sons and daughters were instead trained to become this precious son's death guards, instilled from childhood with the idea of loyalty to Xu Tian.

It could be said that Heir Xu Tian was the sky within the Yanbei Royal Residence.

That the mighty Longwu Great General could be toyed with to this extent by a woman was truly lamentable and pitiable!

"Is this the Golden Core you found for me... Do you take me for a fool?"

After a while, having lashed Great General Longwu several times, His Highness the Heir finally grew tired. He slumped to the ground, pointing the whip and shouting:

"Xu Longwu, you'd better have a damn good explanation for today's incident!"

After the whipping, Xu Longwu also regained his senses.

The dragon tiger golden elixir turned into a grape!

Dragon Tiger Mountain, you have some nerve! Daring to play such a despicable trick on this prince, you're simply seeking death!

Xu Longwu said through gritted teeth, "Tian'er, don't worry, your father will definitely give you an explanation!"

"Explanation?" Xu Tian threw the whip at Xu Longwu and said viciously.

"An explanation is mandatory, but right now, the most important thing is, what about my cultivation?"

As the Heir of the Prince of Yanbei, Xu Tian was certainly no fool. He naturally knew that in this era of great contention, it was impossible to survive without martial prowess.

The reason he wasn't anxious about cultivating was that he had long known his father had prepared the dragon tiger golden elixir for him.

He only needed to listen to brothel tunes, flirt with young girls, and wait for Zhang Shaofu to complete the condensation of the Golden Core.

But now, the dragon tiger golden elixir had vanished into thin air!

His dream of becoming a dragon overnight was shattered.

How could His Highness the Heir not be anxious?

"Tian'er, don't worry. I'll investigate immediately. No matter what, I'll get the dragon tiger golden elixir for you!"

... By evening, inside Pixiang Hall, Cao Meng sat cross-legged before his Empress Revered Master's dragon bed, his body enveloped in a thin, multicolored mist, within which flashes of purple lightning flickered.

With each breath of his Cultivation Technique, a faint sound of tigers, leopards, and thunder rumbled in his chest.

"Half-step Pill Realm! This beast~"

The stunningly beautiful Her Majesty the Empress gradually regained consciousness. The first sight that met her eyes when she opened them left her utterly astounded.

"Half a day... from the fourth level of the Qi Sea directly to the ninth level, and then to the Half-step Pill Realm... How is this possible?"

"What has this Rebellious Disciple done... Could my teaching have truly unlocked some hidden talent in him?" The peerless Empress shook her head fiercely.

Looking again at the Rebellious Disciple within the five-colored mist, appearing solemn and dignified, even more handsome, Wu Feiyan felt a momentary daze.

"This Rebellious Disciple... is quite good-looking... Pah~ I wish I could flay him alive!"

*Sigh*~

Sensing movement, Cao Meng also opened his eyes, retracted his Cultivation Technique, and the five-colored True Qi vanished into his body.

"Half-step Pill Realm?"

Focusing his mind into his Dantian and Qi Sea, he found a Golden Core steadily floating within—this was the dragon tiger golden elixir.

According to the Classics, someone without cultivation who ingested the dragon tiger golden elixir would need three to five years to refine the core before inheriting at least seventy percent of its power.

But Cao Meng was already at the ninth level of the Qi Sea, just a step away from the Pill Realm, so refining it naturally proceeded much faster.

"Sect Head Zhang Shaofu of Dragon Tiger Mountain is a Peak Dragon Elephant Realm existence. The quality of his Dragon Elephant Golden Core far surpasses ordinary Golden Cores. With my cultivation level, I only need to refine a small portion to reach the Pill Realm! At the current rate, another five to seven days should do it..."

In this world where immortals and demons occasionally appear, and the path of cultivation is flourishing,

only by entering the Pill Realm could one be considered a true expert, barely having a place to stand~

"Hmm? That's not right..." Cao Meng slightly circulated his technique and suddenly felt as if his entire body was burning.

"Master, you're awake?" Cao Meng looked up and saw Her Majesty the Empress's peerless, breathtaking beauty, her slightly languid and graceful figure after deep sleep, and the imperial majesty emanating from her dragon-embroidered robe.

"Rebellious Disciple, get out of here." Wu Feiyan felt flustered under Cao Meng's gaze.

Cao Meng chuckled and strode over: "Revered Master, this Disciple has encountered a minor deviation in cultivation and needs Revered Master's help to resolve it."

"Help you resolve it? In your dreams..."

"Evil brute, I will definitely kill you!"

Wu Feiyan's Luck -300

Luck Points +300

... In the end, as Wu Feiyan, she still used her Half-Saint Realm cultivation Foundation to help the Rebellious Disciple resolve the side effects of his overly aggressive technique.

Though she was most unwilling.