[[What?!]]
Li Jingtian and Vicious Pill King were shocked silly.
Regent Estate was the head of the seven houses and fulfilled Li Jingtian’s however pricey terms. But was there anyone else in the whole empire who could simply double it?
Even the imperial family would find it hard to meet twice what Regent Estate offered.
But thinking over Zhuo Fan’s skill and the titanic and secret clan behind him, Vicious Pill King started grinning.
Since Zhuo Fan boasted the Luo clan as the best in Tianyu, then it had to be above the seven houses, even equal to the imperial family.
Vicious Pill King stuck out his head and laughed, “Elder Li, our Steward Zhuo’s words are gold.”
Li Jingtian’s eyes flashed.
Thinking how deceitful Zhuo Fan was, of course he didn’t believe a word. But the moment Yan Song laid eyes on him, he bolted like a mouse, yet, was now puffing up his chest.
This led him to believe Zhuo Fan had stronger and very much real backing for him to speak such words.
How was he supposed to know Yan Song’s courage was born out of delusions? A more apt description would be Zhuo Fan painted him a pretty picture, and Yan Song’s mind embellished.
Since the strong Vicious Pill King believed it, it conveyed enough confidence for Li Jingtian to maybe trust it as well.
Muttering something, Li Jingtian snorted, “Humph, you little pup, you think too highly of yourself. If you think you can buy me over, you have another thing coming. Do you have any idea how I met Regent Estate, how I became their Venerable, and what they gave me?”
Vicious Pill King’s heart was wound tight. [Is Mad Dipper unbuyable?]
Zhuo Fan grinned, hiding the sneer in his heart.
[Oh, you big shmuck. I didn’t know who you were before but now I’m perfectly clear. You wouldn’t be flouncing around if you were such a Regent Estate die-hard. You’d be ending us with impunity and taking our corpses back.]
[Ain’t it obvious you’re bitching to ask for a bigger pay? I’ve played this game myself a million times!]
Squinting, Zhuo Fan smiled, “My knowledge is shallow. Having not heard of Elder Li’s glorious pursuits, I ask that you enlighten me.”
“Ha-ha-ha, I knew you were wet behind your ears. That’s why you spouted those egotistical words about buying me. Although I can’t blame you, since I haven’t gone out much for you to hear of me.”
Nodding with pride, thinking things were going his way, Li Jingtian turned to Vicious Pill King, “However, if I were to retell old stories of myself, all you’d be hearing is bragging. Yan Song, you tell him.”
Shivering, Vicious Pill King bobbed his head, “Right away!”
Despite the apprehension he felt, Vicious Pill King glanced at Li Jingtian then spoke with the utmost gravity, “Steward Zhuo, Elder Li is a man that shook the empire. You’d be hard pressed to find another grand figure such as him in the whole of Tianyu Empire.
“Elder Li started as a rogue cultivator, no match to any of the seven houses’ experts. However, his mind was staunch, his heart set on giving his all in training his arts. Since he had no cultivation method, he stole it from other clans. He began with a mortal ranked cultivation method, slowly working his way to a spirit ranked cultivation method, then a profound ranked cultivation method. The exploits of Elder Li are found in every history book…”
“Oh, so, Elder Yan means Elder Li is a thief?” Zhuo Fan interrupted as he scratched his nose.
Panicked, Vicious Pill King gesticulated wildly in his stammering, “I-I never said such a thing…”
“Mind your words!” Li Jingtian bellowed and slapped him. Looking somewhat awkwardly at Zhuo Fan.
He was hoping Vicious Pill King would make a proper account of his heroic deeds, racking up his value. But this old coot went and spilled the whole beans about his inglorious past.
All robbing would do was drop his price instead.
Li Jingtian glared at Yan Song then coughed, “Ha-ha-ha, that is an old story, a part unworthy of attention.”
“How can it be? Without a cultivation method, your only choice was to steal if you didn’t want to stay weak all your life. I truly admire your courage!” Zhuo Fan smiled.
Li Jingtian’s eyes shined and his heart jumped in joy since Zhuo Fan didn’t despise him. He laughed even harder, “Your reputation doesn’t do you justice, Demon Archon, Zhuo Fan. You aren’t like those so-called experts, but a man of true talent.
“Correct. In my younger days, I had to go steal renown skills and cultivation methods from clans to become what I am now. And the more I stole, the more enemies I gained. But I showed no fear. After cultivating, I became stronger than any of them and killed any who chased me down. I always fought them with the same skills I stole, promising to hand my head over if I ever lost!”
Zhuo Fan looked at him deeply. [Isn’t that the same as what I’ve been through in the Hundred Pill Meeting?] Zhuo Fan’s opinion of him grew somewhat.
He was a renowned man to steal other’s belongings and achieve greatness, just like Zhuo Fan. None of them were saints, just looking at things from a different angle!
“Then, people started calling Elder Li as the ‘Mad Dipper’. It means to say how arrogant I am yet so powerful none of them could do anything to me!” Vicious Pill King put his two cents in.
Li Jingtian nodded, “So I robbed and cultivated my way to the Profound Heaven Stage, unmatched by all. But at that point, I have reached a chokepoint.”
“Yeah. Spirit ranked cultivation methods are too slow in the Profound Heaven Stage and had to be exchanged. And the only ones with such cultivation methods are the imperial family and seven houses, or the Four Pillars. Is this how you leaned on Regent Estate?” Zhuo Fan said.
Li Jingtian shook his head, holding his head up high.
Vicious Pill King butted in, “Steward Zhuo, you may not know, but Elder Li didn’t lean on Regent Estate, but fought his way in. Elder Li heard of Regent Estate’s Imperial Tyrant Body Art being the best of all the houses and wanted to take it. Five elders had to work together but even they, with their Imperial Tyrant Body Art, couldn’t defeat Elder Li spirit ranked body cultivation method. Even Regent Estate’s Grand Elder Huangpu Fenglei had to intervene. Thus, he invited him into his house as a guest elder, now Venerable. This was one of the rare events in the history of Regent Estate.”
Vicious Pill King turned his admiration-filled eyes to Li Jingtian. Li Jingtian’s head rose even higher, as if that was possible, as he stroked his ego in just the right spots.
As if to say. [Look, I didn’t go there begging, it was Regent Estate who invited me.]
But Zhuo Fan saw through everything and snorted inside.
This so-called invitation was after he became a sensation.
[Regent Estate is fraught with danger. No matter how tough you are, a Profound Heaven expert would soon be lying dead somewhere before he could make any kind of scene. It’s obvious he used his own strength to recommend how fitting he was for Regent Estate.]
[If I went in, my conceived version of Imperial Tyrant Body Art would’ve grown far stronger than theirs, thus boosting the power of Regent Estate.]
[Nonetheless, a body cultivator who has always been engrossed in his training yet, still had the time to develop such cunningness is a rarity. It had to be all that chasing’s fault]
Li Jingtian looked more pleasing in Zhuo Fan’s eyes.
[This Radiant Stage guy has brawn and brain. He is a good specimen!]
Scratching his nose, Zhuo Fan smiled, “In other words, Elder Li is a martial fanatic. Doing anything and everything in your pursuit of power.”
“You only have one life. If you don’t fight your way to rise above the masses, it’s not worth living for!” Li Jingtian looked at the skies and sighed.
Zhuo Fan spoke, “Now, I know what Elder Li wants…”
“Hold on, I don’t want you to see me as…”
“I have my own cultivation method!”
Zhuo Fan cut him off, “What I am unclear, however, is why Elder Li, a Regent Estate’s guest Venerable, and knowing the Imperial Tyrant Body Art, would come after my cultivation method?”
“Uh, kid, I am not actually…”
“Do be frank with me!”
Shooting him a glance, Zhuo Fan was completely defiant, “If Elder Li isn’t honest, you will never get what you want from me. Since I don’t know what you really want.”
Stammering, Li Jingtian looked squarely at Zhuo Fan with admiration. [He is no common kid. Few are those who can meet the gaze of a Radiant Stage expert.]
[No wonder Leng wanted me to personally deal with him.]
Li Jingtian sighed and nodded, “Indeed. I came today for a cultivation method. Humph, I am Regent Estate’s guest Venerable, yet, they only imparted the Imperial Tyrant Body Art up to the seventh stage, omitting the last two. Yet, those weaker than me get to practice it without worry.
“Ridiculous! If I had trained to the ninth stage, I’d be invincible. Not even the imperial family’s Divine Dragons can compare. Just why have they not given me the last stages?”
Li Jingtian let go of all his rancor, to which, the two looked at each other and shook their heads in mockery.
This guy really was a martial fanatic, godlike even. Could Regent Estate rein him in if he became invincible? Humph, he had always been an outsider.
[I wouldn’t impart it either if I couldn’t control you!]
Zhuo Fan said so yet, the outline of a plan was forming in his mind.
This man could be taken into the fold. Though, he needed to fine-tune his rash behavior and get him to fall in line…
