Light glinted in Lu Haixuan’s eyes. In the end, he let out peals of laughter. “Well, since Brother Chen had already made up his mind, I will not press you. However, I want to let you know that the Lu family’s offer is always open for you.”
One-Needle-Li and Miss Jin Yi shook their heads and heaved sighs.
Without the recipe, it would be difficult for them to reach a deal with Chen Fan. Although the Lesser Essence Enhancing Pills was a supreme-grade elixir, it was not impossible for the Li Family or the Medicine God Valley Sect to create them on their own.
From then on, Chen Fan outright ignored buyers trying to bargain with him with money. By now, money meant very little to Chen Fan. Ever since he started selling the Yun Wu Spirit Water, the number in his bank account had long since surpassed 10 digits. However, so far, Chen Fan had withdrawn none of it, instead; he had wired the money to Sister An, to fund her acquisition of vacant city plots.
The suspicious transactions had caught the attention of his mother, but Chen Fan was able to make excuses each time his mother asked him about the money. Wang Xiaoyun knew her son was hiding something from her, however; she also saw the bigger picture: her son was not an ordinary average joe, instead, he was a powerful martial arts grandmaster. Therefore, she was not entirely surprised by large amounts of money her son had amassed.
“Well, since they had confessed that they have Spirit Medicine. I think I am in the right place.” Chen Fan thought to himself.
He had imprinted One-Needle-Li and the girl with his Immortal Will so that he could follow them to their base. Then, he would have to take the thousand-year-old medicine by force.
A Tribulation Celestial Lord could do whatever his heart desired.
The reason that Chen Fan didn’t resort to the more direct method earlier was simply that there was nothing that had even caught his interest. However, he was in great need of spirit herbs now and therefore, let it be the Li Family or the Medicine God Valley sect, he would take whatever he wanted from them without a second thought. If law and order would apply to a former Celestial Lord, why would anyone ever be motivated to cultivate?
Even as Chen Fan planned his next actions, people looked at him and sighed out their lamentation.
“This kid is in trouble. The Lu family is not going to let him get away with publicly refusing their offer.” Many people thought to themselves.
Lu family started as a small family Lin City, and by then they had become the dominating martial arts family in Tian Nan. They had overcome countless unimaginable difficulties, and they would be hard-pressed for people to think that their hands were clean as well. Chen Fan was a meek teenage boy in possession of something hugely valuable, the Lu family would not pass up the opportunity to further their power.
Second Lord Xin lamented in his mind.
He had been eyeing Chen Fan’s treasures for a while, but he didn’t put his plan into action due to his fear of Tong Shan’s strength. However, he suddenly gained much more powerful competitors, and he wagered that his chances of getting anything from Chen Fan had been reduced to zero.
After a few hours, the sun was setting behind the courtyard walls. Seeing no one was interested in his elixirs, Chen Fan gathered his bottles of pills and walked away. Many martial artists made way for him as if Chen Fan carried a deadly contagious disease.
Chen Fan didn’t pay much attention to the fearful or greedy glances around him. He was confident that he would be able to do away with anyone who dared to mean him harm.
“Ah-Ha! You are finally here! We have been waiting for you, and we are starving!” As soon as he returned to his room, he saw Lu Yanxue, and Miao Xiaoqian sat on his bed, looking at him.
“What are you two doing here?” Chen Fan was pleasantly surprised.
“Humph! You are such a reckless fool. If we didn’t come to check on you, you might have been swallowed whole by some of the bad people out there.” Lu Yanxue rolled his eyes at Chen Fan.
Miao Xiaoqian covered her mouth to stifle a giggle. “Don’t listen to her. Xiao Xue is just concerned about you. She cares about you, you see?”
Lu Yanxue blushed and yanked her tiny smooth-skinned fist up as if she was going to hit Miao Xiaoqian. Miao Xiaoqian squirmed and hurried to get out of harm’s way.
Chen Fan cracked a smile. He didn’t think that Lu Yanxue would have already fallen for him, after all, they had just met. However, Chen Fan could tell that the girl was kind and friendly by the fact that she would come to check on his well being.
“Fine, fine. That’s enough talking. Let’s go have some food!” Lu Yanxue opened her arms and suggested in her musical voice. “You should leave the manor after dinner. There are many… unsavory characters here, and they might mean you harm if they so much as don’t like the way you look at them.”
“I am a Grandmaster, why would I avoid these lowly scum?” Chen Fan said proudly.
“Yea, yea. You are a little prick, not a Grandmaster.” Lu Yanxue scoffed. “I wonder where you heard of this conference and how you found your way here. I purposely didn’t bring you in here, but little did I know that you got in nonetheless.”
“Just so! I have seen a few people sparring with each other. Their fight looks just like the ones on the TV. You know, stones flying everywhere and dangerous.” Miao Xiaoqian said as she stuck the tip of her tongue out.
“But Xiao Xue’s cousin, he… he is so HANDSOME! Much more handsome than even Korean Pop Stars.”
“Of course, Brother Haoxuan and Sister Yanwu were two of the most outstanding members of the younger generation in my family. The girls who wanted to be Brother Haoxuan’s girlfriend would line up from here to Chu Zhou City.” Lu Yanwu said with a smug smile.
“Sound like you are already in the line.” Miao Xiaoqian jested.
“Oh shut up!” Lu Yanxue shouted hotly.
The four of them left Lu family Manor and arrived at a night market. They found a bench and sat down.
They met each other in Chu Zhou City on the bus and went through unexpected trouble together. In the end, they met again at Lin City. If it wasn’t fate, they didn’t know what it was.
Seeing Chen Fan was much younger than them, the two girls lowered their guard and let themselves lose. They ordered a few cases of beers and swore to make Chen Fan drink until he dropped.
Chen Fan cracked a smile. He was an immortal cultivator, and therefore, no beer was going to make him drunk. Chen Fan rose to the challenge and taught the two girls a lesson in drinking.
In the end, Miao Xiaoqian finally regained some sense of time and said: “That’s enough guys, it’s almost midnight, we should head back.”
Lu Yanxue was still shouting in her drunken voice. She swore that she was not drunk yet and was going to see to it that Chen Fan pass out tonight.
In the end, Chen Fan and Miao Xiaoqian carried the stumbling girl away from the night market and walked toward the Lu family’s manor. The manor was about three kilometers away and the path was empty.
The four of them plodded on the path that hugged the lake shore. Except for the murmurs of waves kissing the stones on the shoreline, there was no other sound around them. Suddenly, Miao Xiaoqian had a premonition that something terrible was going to happen; fear seized her and made her shiver a little.
“Xiao Fan, Big Cousin, don’t you think it’s… too quiet?” Miao Xiaoqian asked.
“Yes, I agree. I have walked this way before and I don’t remember the path to be so empty.” A cool breeze from the lake had woke up Xiao Xue.
“That is because we have visitors.” Chen Fan said lightly.
“Visitors?” The two girls asked dumbfoundedly.
Suddenly, a shadow emerged from behind a street light pole. The man was holding a dart knife and his lips curled into an ugly grin. “Mr. Chen noticed us.” The shadow said.
“Sounds like my elixir is highly sought after.” Chen Fan shrugged. “Are you Ding Peng?”
The shadow shivered a little and retreated deeper into the darkness. He was a gangly young man in his early twenties. His fingers played with a glinting throwing knife restlessly. “You have a good memory, Mr. Chen. I only introduced myself once, and you remembered my name.”
“Second Lord Xin, Mad Sun, come out now.” Chen Fan said lightly.
A pin drop silence fell over the path; no one answered Chen Fan’s summon.
However, Chen Fan had detected a half dozen people hiding behind the bushes. Among them were Second Lord Xin and Mad Sun.
“Haha! Chen Beixuan, hand over the recipe for the Physic Refining Pill and the Essence Enhancing Pill!” With a string of sinister laughter, another few shadows emerged behind the bush.
The leader of the pack was Second Lord Xin, Mad Sun and the brawny man from Diamond Temple.
“Xiao Fan, what is going on? Why are they in our way?” Miao Xiaoqian asked fearfully.
Miao Xiaoqian nearly fainted when she saw these menacing faces. She hid behind Lu Yanxue. Lu Yanxue announced hotly at them: “I don’t care who you are. This is the Lu family’s territory, leave or I will tell my cousin Haoxuan. You won’t get away with this!”
“Haha!”
The group of ambushers laughed out loud. Second Lord Xin shook his head and said: “Silly girl, do you think we would take action before we knew who we are dealing with? Your father Lu Shixun was from an off shot branch of the Lu family. Therefore, your complaints are as good as nothing. They only let you into the event because you are friends with some of the main family’s third generation kids. What would the Lu family do even if I did away with you today? Will they risk offending all of us just to avenge you?”
Lu Yanxue’s face paled after she heard the hurtful, yet to the point, remark.
Her biggest benefactor was the Lu family, it was a ruse she played all the time. However, having her ruse seen through by these ambushers, she felt helpless and naked.
“Second Lord Xin, I have told you that if you help me, I will not short you on the Body Tempering Pills. Why are you still doing this?” Chen Fan heaved a sigh.
“Hehe, because you are a useless kid in possession of something very precious. Chen Beixuan, you are not a martial artist, we all knew it. Why do you carry so many precious elixirs while you know you are defenseless? This is not stupidity, this is a sin! Plus, why would I have to work for it while I can just take it away from you by force?”Second Lord Xin sneered.
Such was the rule of Martial arts: the survival of the fittest.
“Indeed. Kiddo, we will let you go alive if you hand over your recipes and the elixirs. Otherwise…” Mad Sun wagged his head and said.
“Stop wasting our time, let’s do it! Break his leg and take him somewhere far from here. We are too close to the conference venue, and I don’t want trouble.” Ding Pen said with knitted brows.
His beady eyes scanned Lu Yanxue from head to toe, and the intent behind his glare scared Lu Yanxue.
“I call dibs on the Physic Refining Pills! “The big framed man from the Diamond Temple announced firmly.
“Very well.” The other replied.
In their minds, Chen Fan would not escape even if he was an incarnation of an immortal.
“What should we do? Xiao Fan… Xiao Xue…”
Miao Xiaoqian was shaken by the turn of events. Tears welled in her eyes and trickled down her cheeks. Meanwhile, Lu Yanxue managed to appear calm. However, life was draining very quickly from her overwrought face, and her legs were about to give in. A pang of despair suddenly came over her as she realized that no one would come to their rescue.
Suddenly, Chen Fan heaved a sigh. “I had thought that the mortals would play by the rules this time around. However, in the end, a strong fist is still more useful than anything else.”
“Thus it is, power is the only truth in this world.”
“Stop mumbling!” A few shadows shouted at Chen Fan.
Ding Pen threw the knife at the boy. Moonlight ran down from the shiny blade as the knife traced an arc in the air. It was flying toward Chen Fan’s feet.
Chen Fan shouted under his breath.
“Tong Shan!”
A huge figure emerged in front of Chen Fan all of a suddenly. It was as if a large Buddha statue was airdropped there to block the attacks.
Before the hulking frame, even the brawny man from the Diamond Temple looked like a small boy.