The Supreme Lord Donghuang

by Stayrr

Zhou Donghuang, a man from the Earth, is able to destroy any planet in the universe without lifting a finger. His supreme will can sweep across the vast cosmos in the blink of an eye. And his immortal spirit can depart from his body and wander around the universe! In Kunlun Mountains lies a circular slate, which brought him back to one thousand years ago…

2. 33

Read The Supreme Lord Donghuang - Chapter 33 - Journey to the Prefecture Capital online free - Light Novel Full

Chapter 33: Journey to the Prefecture Capital

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The wee hours of the third day of the first month of the year 1228 in the Ziyun Era.

Pong! Pong!

Two urgent knocks shattered the silence of the compound behind Yunxuan Restaurant, startling Zhou Donghuang who was practicing in his room.

Zhou Donghuang opened his eyes, leaped off his bed, and opened the door. Freezing Wind was standing outside.

Freezing Wind was dressed in black, and his long hair hung loose, which combined with his stern face to give him a defiant look.

"Young Master, I've broken through."

Freezing Wind's stern face twitched as he looked at Zhou Donghuang, and he could barely hide the excitement in his eyes.

After enduring that excruciating pain the previous afternoon, he felt as though he was hovering between life and death.

But now, he felt that it had all been worth it!

Not only had he attained level-two of Qi-gathering, but he was also able to exert one thousand five hundred jin of force with his maximum muscular strength. This was an increase of more than one thousand two hundred jin of force after accounting for his original muscular strength of about two hundred jin.

Now, with his maximum muscular strength to complement the qi within his body, the strength he was capable of exerting far exceeded that of an ordinary level-three adept.

After all, an ordinary level-three adept would only have had one bull's strength more than him, which was about eight hundred jin of force, while he would have more than one thousand two hundred jin of force, more when it came to muscular strength.

He now exceeded an ordinary level-three adept in strength by several hundred jin.

"Not bad," Zhou Donghuang nodded in satisfaction.

Although he knew Freezing Wind was about to break through, he did not expect it to happen this soon. It seemed he had evidently underestimated Freezing Wind's talent.

Previously, he had told Freezing Wind that he could attain level-two of Qi-gathering within two days… but that was if he passed on another technique to Freezing Wind.

But then, with the Way of the Thousand-Star Sword that he passed on to Freezing Wind, which he practiced while using the qi-gathering elixir, Freezing Wind naturally was able to attain level-two of Qi-gathering earlier.

He originally thought that Freezing Wind would need two days before he could attain level-two of Qi-gathering, and never imagined that he would be able to break through within two days.

"How is your practice going with the swiftness technique I gave you outside Ningping town?" Zhou Donghuang asked.

"Young Master, that swiftness technique is a third-grade technique; I can barely demonstrate it fully… for it to be second nature to me, I need more time to familiarize myself with it."

Although Freezing Wind did not dare bring out the third-grade swiftness technique, Star-Stepping Footwork given to him by Zhou Donghuang for his fellow bandits to practice, he had practiced it himself in secret.

Other than that, he had passed it on to only his old comrade who had followed him for many years, the bandit known as "Scar," who was named You Hengkun.

"Not bad." Zhou Donghuang nodded and continued, "Come in, I have something for you."

Zhou Donghuang turned and led the way into the room, and Freezing Wind hurried to keep up.

Zhou Donghuang came to the table and picked up two pieces of paper covered in writing that he had done in the morning. He passed them to Freezing Wind.

Freezing Wind reached out to receive them, and as he read one of the papers, his eyes widened.

"This is… a third-grade sword technique?!"

"This third-grade sword technique, 'Swift Wind Sword' relies on a sword and thus is considered a technique with potent killing power," Zhou Donghuang said.

"Take a look at the other technique," Zhou Donghuang prompted.

Freezing Wind picked up the other piece of paper, and as he stared at the paper, it seemed that his stare had rooted his eyes to the paper, and he was unable to tear his gaze away.

"This… this…"

As he continued reading, Freezing Wind's expression became even more incredulous.

"Why do I sense that this sword technique is even more advanced than Swift Wind Sword?"

Zhou Donghuang laughed at Freezing Wind's incredulous expression and replied, "Second-grade techniques are naturally more advanced than third-grade techniques."

Freezing Wind went stiff with shock at Zhou Donghuang's words, as though he had been struck by lightning. He didn't move for a long time.

After a while, he finally sucked in a breath of air and recovered his wits. Looking with shock at Zhou Donghuang, he asked in a slurred voice, "Young Master, this… this is a second-grade technique?"

In the whole of the country of Yunyang, there was probably only one second-grade martial art.

Moreover, this second-grade technique was a national treasure of the country of Yunyang.

But now, the paper he was holding also contained a second-grade technique?

"Although second-grade techniques are good, the qi you have now is only enough for you to barely demonstrate one aspect of it… unless it is absolutely necessary, it is better not to use it now," Zhou Donghuang spoke plainly. "At first, I did not intend to give this to you this early… but I am traveling out of Qingshan town to the prefecture capital tomorrow. I am giving this to you now so that you can practice part of the defensive aspect in the meantime at your convenience."

Given Freezing Wind's current ability, the third-grade swiftness technique, Star-Stepping Footwork, and the third-grade sword technique, Swift Wind Sword were enough for him to overpower most level-three adepts.

Freezing Wind only needed to master half the second-grade sword technique, and even an average level-four adept would have little chance of escaping his sword.

"Young Master, are you going to the prefecture capital to seek out the three elite lesser families?" Freezing Wind asked with a gleam in his eye. "I'll go with you."

Freezing Wind was now full of confidence.

Those three lesser families did not even possess lesser-grade techniques, and the strongest among them were only level-three adepts.

The ability he currently had was enough to put those three lesser families to shame.

"No need," Zhou Donghuang said as he shook his head. "Stay here and look after the house, and protect my mother and Granny Lian… I will go with Fu tomorrow."

"Young Master, why don't I pay a visit to the three lesser families of the prefecture capital on my own?" Freezing Wind proposed. "Young Master can rest assured, I will keep them honest, and they won't dare to keep their eyes on your Yunxuan Restaurant in the future."

"I'm going to the prefecture capital not only because of this matter with the three lesser families, but there are also some matters that I have to see to personally."

Freezing Wind did not press the issue any further, given the way Zhou Donghuang put it. All the same, he could not suppress an involuntary shiver.

Comparing Young Master's ability to mine… I find only strengths and no weaknesses in him.

It was plain to Freezing Wind that by bringing Fu, who had almost no ability at all, with him to visit the three elite lesser families of the prefecture capital, the young master of his family did not have a high regard for the three elite lesser families of the prefecture capital.

Shame on him for thinking that the young master of his family had run into trouble. Thinking back on it now, it seemed laughable.

"After I leave, you'll be in charge of the house."

Zhou Donghuang fixed Freezing Wind with a piercing gaze, and he said in a low voice.

"If anything happens to my mother, I'll hold you accountable!"

"Young Master can rest assured, unless I, Freezing Wind am dead, no one will harm a hair on my lady's head!"

His level of ability now had seemed unthinkable several days ago, and because of this, he was extremely grateful to Zhou Donghuang who had bestowed all this upon him.

…

At dawn the next day, Zhou Donghuang led Fu away from the compound behind Yunxuan Restaurant, and they left Qingshan town.

The carriage driven by Fu made its way towards the prefecture capital with Zhou Donghuang practicing in the cabin.

Ever since I formulated the qi-gathering elixir that can increase your sense for qi by four times, my rate of practice has increased… a few more days at the most, and I will be able to smoothly attain level-two of Qi-gathering.

Zhou Donghuang was very satisfied with the stage of his practice.

It was only ten days since he had attained level-one of Qi-gathering. At first, he would have needed about twenty days to attain level-two of Qi-gathering. But with the qi-gathering elixir that he had formulated with the herbs that Qin Yi, the grand patriarch of the Qin family, had procured on his behalf from the prefecture capital, that period of about twenty days had been further shortened.

Now, counting from the day he attained level-one of Qi-gathering, he would need only half a month to attain level-two of Qi-gathering if all went according to plan.

The road from Qingshan town to the prefecture capital is long, and even with the ferghana horse drawing the carriage, the journey would take four or five days, including the time taken to rest.

If all goes according to plan, I will have attained level-two of Qi-gathering by the time we reach the prefecture capital.

Zhou Donghuang's eyes gleamed before he shut them. He focused entirely on practicing the Lord of the Four Supremes, which he had found together with the chronospace slate in the Kunlun Mountains… besides having a fast rate of practice, it was also extremely stable, and there was no need to worry about having a shaky foundation caused by advancing to the next level of practice too quickly.

After practicing the Lord of the Four Supremes for some time, Zhou Donghuang was beginning to appreciate how extraordinary the Lord of the Four Supremes was.

…

Compared to the journey from Qingshan town to Ningping town, the journey to the prefecture capital was far more peaceful.

Until late at night on the first day, no bandits or wild beasts appeared to disrupt Zhou Donghuang's practice.

A ferghana horse?

From afar came the sound of hooves and carriage wheels rolling over the level ground, and soon Fu, who was driving the carriage, could make out a carriage also drawn by a ferghana horse hurtling towards them under the light of the moon.

The only place this stretch of road led to was Qingshan town. Of course, they could only be passing through Qingshan town on their way to somewhere else.

Someone who would use a ferghana horse to pull a carriage must be extremely wealthy, and he is coming from the direction of the prefecture capital… could he be on his way to make trouble for our Yunxuan Restaurant?

With this in mind, Fu took a deep breath and reached back to open the curtains of the cabin, shouting, "Young Master, there is a carriage being drawn by a ferghana horse coming towards us, heading towards Qingshan town. Could they possibly be from the prefecture capital going to Qingshan town to seize your Yunxuan Restaurant?" Fu voiced his thoughts.

In all his years living in Qingshan town, this was the first time he had seen someone else use a ferghana horse to draw a carriage other than the young master of his family.

Even the former owner of Yunxuan Restaurant, Zhao San, never used a ferghana horse to draw his carriage, even though he owned one.

It was not for lack of money neither was it because he dared not; Zhao San could not bear to use the ferghana horse he had bred since it was a foal to draw a carriage.

A carriage being drawn by a ferghana horse?

Zhou Donghuang, who had been roused by Fu, stopped his practice and pulled the drapes aside. He stuck his head out of the carriage and looked into the distance.

There, a carriage drawn by a ferghana horse was closing the distance.

"Fu, block them."

There was a fierce gleam in Zhou Donghuang's eyes.

The carriage drawn by the ferghana horse heading towards Qingshan town could very well be what Fu guessed it to be… the person it carried could have eyes on Yunxuan Restaurant.

"Yes, Young Master."

As soon as Fu had acknowledged, he immediately blocked the path of the oncoming carriage, causing the driver of that carriage to yank hastily on the reins of the ferghana horse, bringing the carriage to a stop.

"Who are you? Why are you blocking our carriage?"

The other driver was a middle-aged man with a face full of curly whiskers, and he stared angrily at Zhou Donghuang and Fu.

Just then, an impatient voice coming from the opposite carriage asked, "What is happening?"

"Second Young Master, a carriage has blocked our path on purpose."

The curly-whiskered man's face colored slightly as he hurriedly explained to the person in the cabin.

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Chapter 34: Level-Three Adept

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

As the curly-whiskered man spoke, someone said leisurely from inside the cabin, "They better get out of the way. If they don't… kill them!"

"Yes, Second Young Master," the curly whiskered-man replied respectfully and returned his gaze to Zhou Donghuang and Fu. He said with murderous intent in his eyes, "Did you hear the second young master of my family? If you don't get out of the way, I'll kill you both!"

"Kill us both?" Zhou Donghuang's piercing gaze fell on the cabin of the carriage facing him, and he smiled indifferently. "Big talk… but who is that anyway?"

"The second young master of my family is the son of the patriarch of the preeminent Li family of the prefecture capital, Li Pingyun. He is in the cabin behind me now with the ninth elder of the Li family, Li Yan."

The curly-whiskered man smiled coldly.

"Little fellow, you had better get out of the way as fast as you can… if you anger Second Young Master and Ninth Elder, you're dead meat!"

Fu squinted at him.

The Li family of the prefecture capital?

The image of a middle-aged man surfaced in Fu's memory.

He had identified himself as a level-two adept from the Li family of the prefecture capital. Zhou Donghuang had maimed his arms and legs and hired people to send him back to the Li family in the prefecture capital.

"The second young master of the Li family?"

Zhou Donghuang's eyes gleamed coldly as he looked at the cabin, and he replied nonchalantly, "If that's the case… you should be the one who sent someone to Yunxuan Restaurant the other day, offering to buy it for a thousand liang of silver?"

That day, the level-two adept from the Li family of the prefecture capital had claimed that he had been sent by the second young master of the Li family.

"You are Zhou Donghuang?"

Almost as soon as Zhou Donghuang had spoken, the curtains of the opposite carriage were drawn aside, and a young man dressed in a brocaded gown and a splendidly dressed middle-aged man dismounted from the carriage.

It was the young man who had spoken, and he was the second young master of the preeminent Li family of the prefecture capital.

"It really is you."

Zhou Donghuang dismounted as well and stood facing Li Pingyun.

"I didn't expect that I, Li Pingyun, would meet you even before I reached Qingshan town… but that's just as well, this saves me a lot of time."

Li Pingyun looked Zhou Donghuang over indifferently and said, "Zhou Donghuang, hand over the title deed to Yunxuan Restaurant, then maim one of your own arms… and I will not pursue the matter of you maiming Li Dong."

Before beating a dog, you must first consider its master.

Li Dong whom he had sent to Qingshan town to buy Yunxuan Restaurant from Zhou Donghuang had instead been maimed by him, and this was a slap to the face of Li Pingyun.

"Maim one of my own arms?"

Zhou Donghuang was stunned at first, then he smiled a brilliant smile.

"Due credit to the second young master of the Li family for being to the point in admitting that he was scheming to seize Yunxuan Restaurant, and even asking to break my own arm. If this is the case, today you, the second young master of the Li family, must leave one arm behind!"

As he spoke, a cold gleam flashed across the depths of Zhou Donghuang's eyes.

"You'd make me leave an arm behind? You must still be asleep!"

Li Pingyun was stunned at first, but then he smiled coldly as a cold murderous look came into his eyes.

"Now I've changed my mind… today, not only will I take the title deed to Yunxuan Restaurant, but also your life!"

As soon as Li Pingyun stated his intent to kill Zhou Donghuang, he addressed the splendidly-dressed middle-aged man beside him, "Ninth Elder, kill him."

"Second Young Master, you're too careful."

The splendidly dressed middle-aged man smiled scornfully.

"You could kill this little fellow easily. Surely you don't believe Li Dong's words, that this young man's ability is close to that of a level-three adept?"

"I don't think it's possible," Li Pingyun said, "but there should be a level-two adept of considerable ability with him."

"Ninth Elder, we stick to the plan we discussed earlier… after the deed is done, one-tenth of the profits from Yunxuan Restaurant will be yours."

It was evident from Li Pingyun's words that he already considered Yunxuan Restaurant to be his.

"Thank you, Second Young Master."

The splendidly dressed middle-aged man's smile grew even brighter, and he continued looking at Zhou Donghuang. He said with an indifferent tone, "Little fellow, call the person in the cabin out."

He was looking at the cabin of the carriage behind Zhou Donghuang as he said this.

As for Fu who was driving the carriage, there was no way he could be mistaken for Zhou Donghuang's champion, from the panicked expression on his face.

"The cabin?"

Zhou Donghuang was taken aback by the splendidly dressed middle-aged man's words but then realized that he was assuming that there was another person in the cabin.

"Second Young Master of the Li family, it seems you have assumed… you think the person you sent earlier was maimed by someone working for me?"

Zhou Donghuang paced forward slowly towards Li Pingyun, who was six or seven meters away.

"Was he not?"

Li Pingyun smiled scornfully. "Could you please enlighten me on how a sixteen or seventeen-year-old youth could have the ability to kill Li Dong, a level-two adept?"

"Little fellow, since he is stalling and refusing to come out, then I, Li Yan, will start by killing you first before digging him out!"

The splendidly dressed middle-aged man was Li Yan, the ninth elder of the Li family. He looked away from the cabin and back at Zhou Donghuang, smiling cruelly. He immediately charged at Zhou Donghuang.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

…

Li Yan rushed forward, his body blurred and accompanied by the sound of the wind from his passing. His speed was greater than anyone Zhou Donghuang had met so far since starting this new life.

A level-three adept?

Zhou Donghuang raised his eyebrows and began stepping in a peculiar sequence, displaying the third-grade swiftness technique, Star-Stepping Footwork and stepping forward to meet Li Yan.

Using only the maximum muscular strength from both his legs, the Star-Stepping Footwork demonstrated by Zhou Donghuang was incredibly fast, and he perfectly capable of matching Li Yan's speed, despite not yet having attained level-two of Qi-gathering.

What incredible speed!

Watching from a distance as Zhou Donghuang stepped in that particular sequence and matched Li Yan's speed, Li Yan's gaze turned solemn at once.

It seems that Li Dong could really have been maimed by him!

And is he demonstrating… a swiftness technique?

Li Pingyun looked greedily at Zhou Donghuang and called out to Li Yan, "Ninth Elder, don't kill him, we will force the swiftness technique out of him!"

Actually, Li Yan had the same thought as soon as he saw Zhou Donghuang demonstrate the swiftness technique, even before Li Pingyun had called out to him.

Although he was startled by Zhou Donghuang's speed, he nevertheless felt that Zhou Donghuang would not be a match for him.

Someone who demonstrated a swiftness technique and yet could only match his speed could not have the same level of raw ability as him.

A swiftness technique… even though I have become an elder of the Li family and am allowed to practice the martial art styles of the Li family, we only possess an offensive martial art. We don't have a swiftness technique.

Li Yan's eyes shone as he looked at Zhou Donghuang, and as he drew near to Zhou Donghuang, he reached out like lightning with both hands to capture him.

Just then, Zhou Donghuang stamped hard on the ground, exerting the maximum muscular strength of his muscles, and charged towards Li Yan.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Full of qi, Zhou Donghuang shot his hands out and formed them into claws. He reached out like lightning and grabbing both of Li Yan's wrists that were reaching for him.

Exerting the maximum muscular strength of his muscles in addition to the level of qi near to a level-two adept, Zhou Donghuang now possessed a strength that far exceeded Li Yan, even though Li Yan was a level-three adept.

Stonebreaking Fingers!

As he used the third-grade finger technique Stonebreaking Fingers, there came the clear sound of bones shattering, which was caused by Zhou Donghuang's ten fingers explosively shattering both Li Yan's wrists.

"Ahhhh—"

Drops of sweat flew from Li Yan's forehead, and he gave a cry of agony from the intense and unbearable pain.

As he cried out and drew back his maimed wrists, Zhou Donghuang once more stepped in a peculiar sequence, flinging out his right hand and thrusting his palm towards Li Yan's chest.

Weighted Sand Palm!

As Zhou Donghuang demonstrated the third-grade palm technique, the surface of his palm rippled like sand and caved Li Yan's chest in when it landed.

Pong!!

With a loud sound, Li Yan's agonized cry suddenly died off, and he was thrown backwards, landing at Li Pingyun's feet and throwing up a cloud of dust.

Even though he was dressed in a long gown, his caved-in chest was still clearly visible to Li Pingyun.

"Ninth… Ninth Elder…"

Li Pingyun looked wide-eyed at Li Yan lying lifeless in the dust, shock, and disbelief showing on his face.

"How… how is this possible… how is this possible?!"

A sixteen or seventeen-year-old youth from a small town had killed the ninth elder of the Li family, Li Yan, a level-three adept, before his eyes.

What could be more sensational?

"I originally only intended to maim one of your arms…"

Zhou Donghuang had begun to walk slowly towards Li Pingyun, and with every step, it was as if a boulder was crushing his chest, making it difficult for Li Pingyun to breathe. His expression grew more and more frightened.

"But since you changed your mind and intended to kill me, it would be remiss of me not to ask for your life as well."

Zhou Donghuang stood before Li Pingyun and smiled, showing two rows of snow-white teeth.

"Second Young Master of the Li family, what do you say to that?"

"Zhou Donghuang, I am the second young master of the Li family, the only son of the patriarch of the Li family of the prefecture capital and the future patriarch of the Li family… my most beloved elder sister is the most favored concubine of the young governor of the intermediate-level Guangling Prefecture. If you kill me, neither the Li family nor the Governor's Household of Guangling Prefecture will let you off!"

In the face of impending death, Li Pingyun played his trump card in an effort to intimidate Zhou Donghuang and scare him into sparing his life.

"Don't kid yourself," Zhou Donghuang said in a low voice. "The one thing I am least afraid of is a threat."

Zhou Donghuang smiled nonchalantly and darted forward in a flash, smashing his palm into Li Pingyun before he could react and killing him instantly.

Then Zhou Donghuang turned his gaze on the curly-whiskered man driving the carriage.

"Spare me, master, spare me!"

The curly-whiskered man had been dumbstruck since earlier when Zhou Donghuang had killed Li Yan, and now, seeing Zhou Donghuang looking at him, he knelt down and begged for his life as he was stricken with panic.

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Chapter 35: Yunfeng Prefecture

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"Young Master, you should have killed him," Fu said to Zhou Donghuang as he entered the cabin.

"Are you worried that… leaving a witness will alert the Li family of the prefecture capital that I have killed Li Pingyun and Li Yan?"

Zhou Donghuang, who was about to start practicing, shook his head with a smile at Fu's statement.

"Yes," Fu admitted. He continued in a voice full of dread, "Young Master, the Li family of the prefecture capital is a preeminent family after all… it is said that they have two level-four adepts."

Fu's voice became glum as he spoke.

"Fu," Zhou Donghuang said nonchalantly, "remember this… if I was afraid of the Li family, I would not have maimed that man from the Li family that day at Yunxuan Restaurant, and I would not have killed Li Pingyun and Li Yan today."

So what if the Li family was a preeminent family?

If they riled him enough, he had no compunction about wiping them off the face of the planet!

"Anger a lord, and thousands will die" was a well-known proverb in the country.

There was a similar proverb that was known throughout the universe: "Anger a supreme lord, and millions die."

Zhou Donghuang had been a supreme lord in his previous life.

Moreover, he had been one of the most powerful supreme lords and had been within touching distance of the Deity's Tribulation stage.

…

The rest of the journey over the next few days was smooth and uneventful.

After four days of traveling and resting, Fu drove the carriage drawn by the ferghana horse into the prefecture capital as dusk fell. It was the eighth day of the first month of the year 1228 in the Ziyun Era.

Qingshan town was located in Yunfeng prefecture, and now they entered the prefecture capital of Yunfeng prefecture. Yunfeng prefecture was an inferior-level prefecture.

Within the country of Yunyang, there was only one imperial city under the direct control of the Imperial Court, and it was the largest city in the country of Yunyang.

The imperial city of the country of Yunyang controlled the entire country.

The country of Yunyang was further divided into nine kingdoms which were located around the imperial city like stars gathered around the moon.

Each kingdom was controlled by a king. Each kingdom controlled by a king contained many prefectures which likewise surrounded the royal city. The royal city was the city directly controlled by the king's household.

Prefectures were classified as superior-level, intermediate-level, or inferior-level prefectures. The closest prefectures to the royal city were superior-level prefectures, those a little further away were intermediate-level prefectures, and those at the border regions of the prefecture were almost all inferior-level prefectures.

The closer a place was to the heart of the kingdom, the more prosperous and busier it was.

Therefore, an inferior-level prefecture would not be as prosperous as an intermediate-level prefecture, and likewise for an intermediate-level prefecture compared to a superior-level prefecture.

The prefecture that Qingshan town was located in was only an inferior-level prefecture situated near the border of a kingdom in the country of Yunyang. It was considered extremely remote.

Previously, as far as Zhou Donghuang could remember, the furthest he had ever been was the area around Qingshan town. He had never been to the prefecture capital of this inferior-level prefecture.

This was the first time he was visiting the prefecture capital of Yunfeng prefecture.

Even the prefecture capital of an inferior-level prefecture is so busy and prosperous… an intermediate-level prefecture and a superior-level prefecture, and even the royal city and the imperial city must be far more prosperous.

Although night had fallen, Zhou Donghuang was still able to see the unceasing flow of traffic through the open curtains. Vendors hawked their wares all over, creating a constant cacophony. It was much busier than Qingshan town.

"Fu, find an inn for us to stay the night," Zhou Donghuang instructed Fu.

"Yes, Young Master."

At Fu's reply, Zhou Donghuang began muttering to himself as he sat in the cabin, "My level of practice is almost at the level of level-two of Qi-gathering… tonight, I'll take this opportunity to breakthrough!"

That night in the inn that Fu had found to rest in, Zhou Donghuang smoothly broke through to level-two of Qi-gathering. This implied that he could exert a force equal to the strength of two bulls using only his qi.

Now, if he encountered someone with a similar ability to the ninth elder of the Li family Li Yan… Zhou Donghuang could kill him with a single blow even without using any techniques!

Zhou Donghuang's eyes gleamed.

Zhou Donghuang did not resume practicing, but instead leaned on the window with the shutters open, watching the stars in the night sky.

Fifteen minutes passed before Zhou Donghuang emerged from his reverie with a sigh.

Without realizing it, I've been back for almost a month.

The day Zhou Donghuang returned was the twelfth day of the twelfth month of the year 1227 in the Ziyun Era.

Now, it was already the ninth day of the first month of the Ziyun Era.

Chen Dandan should now be in the preeminent Hong family of the prefecture capital of Yunfeng prefecture.

Thinking of that ungrateful and shameless girl, he could not help having a cold gleam in his eye even though he had a thousand years' worth of memories and experiences.

That day in the receiving chamber of the Magnolia Guild, he was so furious that he had wanted to kill Chen Dandan there to stand up for his mother.

However, his mother had stopped him.

Later, he realized that it was a blessing in disguise…

There were times when death came as a release.

He intended to toy with Chen Dandan slowly and make her live out the remainder of her life in unmatched pain and regret.

That was the only way he could purge his hatred of her.

That fourth elder of the Lin family, Lin Tonghong misappropriated the formula for the blood-staunching elixir that I gave my mother to present to the Lin family… I'll have to make a trip to the Lin family while I'm here.

Another cold gleam flashed across Zhou Donghuang's eyes.

Those three lesser families… if the matter with them is not resolved, there is no way Yunxuan Restaurant can open for business.

Looking at the time, those three rich fellows should already have returned to their families.

…

This night proved to be a sleepless night for the three elite lesser families of the prefecture capital—the Lu, Ma, and Fang Families.

That same afternoon, three carriages had arrived at the main entrances of the Lu, Ma, and Fang family residences, and when the occupants of the carriages emerged, the three families were furious.

The first young master, Lu Yuan of the Lu family, the first young master, Ma Jin of the Ma family, and the third young master, Fang Tianyi of the Fang family were whole and healthy when they had left their families, but one leg had been maimed upon their return.

A maimed arm would greatly affect an adept. A maimed leg meant that he would be as good as an invalid for the rest of his life.

Because the patriarchs of the three lesser families had ordered an embargo on this news, no one other than the people of the three elite lesser families knew about this.

It was deep into the night, but the lights still blazed brightly in the receiving chamber of the Lu family.

Three middle-aged men stood together with terrible expressions on their faces. These three people were the patriarchs of the three elite lesser families of the prefecture capital—the Lu, Ma, and Fang families.

They were gathered because their sons had been maimed.

"Brother Qinghu, Brother Tianba… what do you think of this matter?"

The patriarch of the Fang family, Fang Jishan, was a tall and well-built middle-aged man. He had a dignified forehead and came across as forceful, even without being angry. He spoke with a voice like thunder, and his voice echoed around the whole receiving chamber.

"Could a youth of only sixteen or seventeen years really have the ability to kill Lu Gang?"

The patriarch of the Ma family, Ma Tianba, was small and robustly built, with a sparkling pair of eyes like bronze gongs. But his voice was small and shrill. Looking at him and hearing his voice gave anyone observing him a strange feeling.

"No one would believe it if they did not see it with their own eyes… but our three sons all reported the same thing, so it should be true."

The patriarch of the Lu family, Lu Qinghu, was as skinny as a bamboo pole and looked as though a gust of wind might blow him away. Just by looking at him, no one could possibly guess that he had the highest level of ability among the three of them.

"Brother Qinghu, our three families are in the same boat… what do you think we should do next?" Fang Jishan murmured.

"What else can we do? Naturally, we should send a level-three adept, or one of us three should go personally to Qingshan town, kill that Zhou Donghuang and his entire household and avenge our sons!"

"Revenge has to be taken… however, there's something strange about that Zhou Donghuang. How could someone known in Qingshan town to be a martial invalid suddenly be able to kill a level-two adept so easily? Moreover, what about him made Zhao San give him Yunxuan Restaurant?" Lu Qinghu had a flash of insight and continued, "I just feel that there is some secret about him. Therefore, as for my suggestion… let's move slowly and scope him out thoroughly before we plan our next move."

"It's strange indeed." Fang Jishan nodded.

"Excellent! We'll scope him out, and if we can't find out more, we'll go directly to Qingshan town and kill him and all those who are with him," Ma Tianba said vengefully.

Although he had several sons, his eldest son, Ma Jin had the most talent among them, having attained grade-two of Qi-gathering at twenty-two years of age.

Now that he had been maimed by Zhou Donghuang, it would be difficult for him to accomplish anything significant.

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Chapter 36: The Return of Li Rui

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

At dawn, after eating the breakfast that Fu had brought, Zhou Donghuang left the inn with Fu. Crossing a few streets and alleys, they walked into a majestic armory selling weapons.

"Here to buy weapons?"

Just as they entered the armory, a young lady assistant called out enthusiastically as she approached them.

In a white silk robe and with his young and outstanding features, coupled with a maturity beyond his age, it was clear to all that Zhou Donghuang was not of a humble background. This was also evident from the refined demeanor that exuded from him as well.

Retail assistants in the large shops in Yunfeng County had extremely sharp eyes and could easily distinguish the spending capacity of the customers who entered.

"Yes." Zhou Donghuang nodded slowly and got right to the point. "I wish to buy a spear, as heavy as possible. Could you please recommend one?"

As he spoke, Zhou Donghuang's eyes had already landed on a corner of the armory, where the racks were filled with spears.

A heavy spear was the king of weapons, a kind of heavy weapons.

Of course, Zhou Donghuang did not want a spear because he was proficient at it, but because presently, his level was too low. A spear was most suited for him now.

In his previous life, as Battlelord Donghuang, he was on top of the world and proficient at all weapons, including such heavy weapons. But, among the heavy weapons, his favorite was the spear.

To some extent, his love for spears was influenced by some historical figures.

Western "Chu" Overlord Xiangyu's weapon was a spear.

Zhaoyun of Changshan county, whose millions of troops were always victorious, used a vivid blue silver spear.

Machao, a top general just like Zhaoyun, used a tiger head gold spear.

Luo Cheng, a famous general from the Suitang ages, used a five tiger soul-breaking spear, creating history.

"A spear? As heavy as possible?"

The lady was visibly shocked to hear Zhou Donghuang's words. Looking him up and down, she asked hesitantly, "Sir, are you buying it for yourself… or as a present?"

"For myself," said Zhou Donghuang.

"Please follow me."

Although she felt that the spear was far too heavy for this teenager, the lady still brought Zhou Donghuang before the heaviest spears in an inconspicuous corner of the store.

The reason why the spears were placed in this corner was because they were less popular and much harder to sell.

Most of those who were adepts of the martial way either used a knife or a sword, which were lighter and easier to carry around.

The spear was less frequently used in armies. However, in the country of Yunyang, only the queen and the king had armies. In the Governor's Household, there were only small teams of security to maintain order.

"Sir, this is the heaviest spear we have. Two meters long, body forged of pig iron, stainless steel spearhead, and weighs 150kg."

The lady thought that the teenager in white would find the spear too heavy once he heard her introduction.

After all, for a teen of his age, having level-one of the gathered qi would be commendable.

For those adepts with level-one of the gathered qi, even if they fully utilized their qi, it would only be equivalent to one bull's strength. With the strength of the teenager, he would have at most 500kg of strength.

With 500kg of strength, it would not be difficult to carry a 150kg heavy spear; but to use it as a weapon and an extension of the arm, that would be unrealistic.

To use a 150kg spear with ease, one would need at least level-two of the gathered qi, and the strength of two bulls.

"One hundred and fifty kilograms?"

Hearing the lady's words, Zhou Donghuang shook his head.

But just as the lady imagined that he was shaking his head as he found the weapon too heavy, Zhou Donghuang said, "Too light."

"Anything heavier?" Zhou Donghuang asked.

"Hmph!" Before the lady could say anything, a laugh came from behind Zhou Donghuang. A young man and lady walked into the armory with another sales assistant.

The young man laughed, "Such a young lad, making such bold claims that a 150kg spear is too light? Ridiculous!"

The young man in a high-quality green robe had ordinary features and crafty eyes.

On the other hand, the young lady beside him looked beautiful. Despite her air of innocence, it was difficult to mask her enchanting beauty.

Hearing this, Zhou Donghuang turned and glanced at the young man.

He found the young man rather familiar, but he could not recall where he had seen him before.

"Zhou Donghuang!"

Just as Zhou Donghuang glanced at the young man and was about to ignore him, the young lady beside him let out a gasp.

"Hmm?"

Hearing the gasp, Zhou Donghuang looked at the young lady and raised his brows, greeting her.

"Li Rui."

The young lady was none other than Li Rui, the daughter of the chairperson of Qingyun Guild in Ningping City.

A few days ago, as Zhou Donghuang was making a delivery to Qingyun Guild, he had been invited to a meal with the mother and daughter.

However, he had a good impression of Li Yun, but not the daughter.

"Xiao Rui, do you know him?"

Seeing how Li Rui had greeted Zhou Donghuang, the young man beside Li Rui looked startled.

He had met Li Rui when she came over to the Li family of the prefecture capital. In the beginning, Li Rui had ignored him, but she finally started paying him attention after his hard work and effort.

Today, he had asked Li Rui out to gift her a weapon, so he had brought her to the best armory in the prefecture capital.

He never would have thought that this boastful handsome teenager that they had met in the stall would know Li Rui.

"Brother Li Hui, he is the adopted son of my mother's friend, a worthless adept who is unable to train his qi." Answering the young man, Li Rui glanced at Zhou Donghuang and smirked. "My mother even wanted to get the two of us together, but I rejected him."

"A martial invalid is simply not worthy of my Li Rui."

Li Rui's eyes were full of disdain.

Previously, Zhou Donghuang's disrespect for her in Ningping City had left her furious.

Now that she met him again, she could not help but take a jab at him in front of so many people out of revenge.

"Martial invalid?"

Hearing Li Rui's disdain for Zhou Donghuang, Li Hui breathed a quiet sigh of relief. He looked down on Zhou Donghuang, "A martial invalid fantasizing of something unattainable? Kid, I advise you stay away from Li Rui, if not I, Li Hui, will not let you off!"

Li Hui looked menacingly at Zhou Donghuang.

"My…" Just as Fu, who was furious, stepped forward and tried to say that his young master was not a martial invalid, Zhou Donghuang held him back.

"Li Rui," Zhou Donghuang looked at her and said calmly, "On account of Aunty Yun, I will not hold this against you."

Li Rui said that he was not worthy of her? Zhou Donghuang found this ridiculous.

In his previous life, countless star clans' supreme leaders had tried to send their beloved daughters to him, but he had not been interested.

The looks of Li Rui could hardly compare to the daughters of those supreme leaders, not even the servers beside those ladies.

"Not hold it against me?"

Li Rui was first shocked, then she laughed sarcastically. "Zhou Donghuang, you're a martial invalid, could you possibly think of doing anything against me?"

"Although I have not reached level-one of the gathered qi, the qi within me is enough to release more than 250kg of strength… I advise you not make a fool of yourself!"

Li Rui's sarcastic smile slowly turned cold.

"Xiao Rui, if he really tries to do anything to you, why would you need to do anything? I, Li Hui, will beat him senseless!"

Li Hui wanted to show off in front of Li Rui, he and looked at Zhou Donghuang with disdain.

"Kid, I, Li Hui, am not only the son of Li Yan, the ninth elder of the preeminent Li family, but I am also a level-one adept. If you want to touch Xiao Rui, you have to get past me first!" Li Hui put up a protective stance.

"Son of Li Yan, the ninth elder of the preeminent Li family?"

Zhou Donghuang was shocked, then realized why he could not remember where he had met this familiar face before.

No wonder, it was not because he had met him, but he had met his father, the ninth elder of the preeminent Li family, Li Yan.

The ninth elder of the preeminent Li family, Li Yan, that he had killed on the way to the prefecture capital from Qingshan town looked similar to this Li Hui.

"Ninth elder of the Li family?"

Standing behind Zhou Donghuang, Fu was shocked to hear what Li Hui said. When he recovered from his shock, he let out a gasp.

This man still did not know that his father has died. Moreover, his father had died at the hands of the man right before him.

"This is the one who you found… whom you think is worthy of you?"

Zhou Donghuang smiled as he looked at Li Rui.

"Hmph!"

Li Rui snorted and glanced at Li Hui beside her. She said, "Brother Li Hui is ten times, a hundred times stronger than you!"

But deep within her eyes, Li Rui had some kind of disdain.

Li Hui had pestered her since she first came to the Li family in the prefecture capital, but she had never fancied him, even though he was the son of the ninth elder.

Later, her attitude towards him improved entirely because she had found out by chance that Li Hui and his father were close to the second young master of the Li family, Li Pingyun.

She had accepted Li Hui because she wanted to use him to get closer to Li Pingyun.

Li Pingyun was the only son of the Li family's chief, and he was the future chief of the Li family. Furthermore, the head mistress of the Li family, Li Pingyun's eldest sister, was also the concubine in the Governor's Household in Guangling county.

Even the Governor's Household of the Zhao family was afraid to offend the Li family because of the head mistress.

In Li Rui's eyes, in the whole Li family of the prefecture capital, only Li Pingyun was worthy of her.

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Chapter 37: The Second Floor of the Hall of Gods

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"Brother Li Hui is naturally ten times, a hundred times stronger than you, Zhou Donghuang!" Li Rui had thought that this would definitely anger Zhou Donghuang. She never expected Zhou Donghuang's expression to not change at all.

"As long as you like him." Zhou Donghuang nodded gently and turned his attention back to the sales assistant beside him. "As the biggest armory in Yunfeng County, are these all the weapons in the Hall of Gods?"

The Hall of Gods was the name of this armory, the biggest in Yunfeng County. The weapons found in the Hall of Gods were all made of pig iron or stainless steel, not from more precious metals like gold. As far as he knew, in Yunfeng County, one could buy weapons of black iron, but he did not see any here. Thus he was suspicious that the Hall of Gods in fact sold more weapons.

"Tsk!" Before the lady had a chance to answer Zhou Donghuang, Li Hui could not resist a smirk. "Kid, the Hall of Gods could not possibly just have one floor of weapons. On the second floor, there are not only better weapons made of gold and iron ore, but even those made of black iron. But the cheapest weapon upstairs is three thousand liang of silver, do you have the money for that?"

As he spoke, Li Hui looked at Zhou Donghuang with disdain.

"You have a second floor here?" Zhou Donghuang looked at the lady beside him.

"Yes, sir." The lady smiled and nodded. "The first floor sells the ordinary weapons, while the more precious weapons are all upstairs. The prices are also extremely steep."

"Are there heavier spears on the second floor?" Zhou Donghuang asked.

"Yes."

"Please bring me upstairs," said Zhou Donghuang.

"Sir, we only permit guests who have demonstrated sufficient financial capability to head to the second floor," the lady pointed out.

"How does one demonstrate financial capability?" Zhou Donghuang raised his eyebrows. He did not expect such an odd request from the Hall of Gods.

"At least five thousand liang of silver on hand," answered the lady.

"Heard that, kid?" Just as the lady said this, Li Hui could not help but laugh. "The second floor of the Hall of Gods is not for everyone. Without five thousand liang of silver on you, they will not allow you to go up."

"You said our Young Master could not go up, but… can you?" Fu could no longer tolerate Li Hui, even though his Young Master could hardly be bothered to pay him any attention.

"If I want to, I can easily borrow the money from my father… but who can your Young Master borrow the money from?" As the son of Li Yan, the ninth elder of the Li family, Li Hui looked down on Fu with a sense of superiority.

"Your father?" Fu smiled.

Zhou Donghuang stopped him, "Fu."

Right after, to the amazement of Li Hui and Li Rui, Fu stepped forward with a huge bundle of notes and waved it before the sales assistant. "Is this enough?"

The notes in Fu's hands were all worth one thousand liang of silver each, stamped with the imperial stamp of the Yunyang imperial family. They were the official currency within Yunyang Country.

Back then, as Zhao San left Yunxuan Restaurant, he had left behind the operating funds of Yunxuan restaurant. That sum of money was worth two hundred thousand liang of silver. This time, Zhou Donghuang had instructed Fu to bring 150 thousand liang with him.

"Enough, enough." Fu had taken out at least seventy to eighty thousand liang. The lady's eyes widened as she knew that she had chanced upon a rare huge customer.

"Upstairs please, sir." The lady bowed as she waved Zhou Donghuang and Fu upstairs. Although she had not slighted them previously, she was clearly more respectful now.

Li Hui and Li Rui only recovered from their shock after the three of them had disappeared past the staircase entrance. They were both in disbelief.

As for the sales assistant with him, her eyes were filled with regret that she had not stepped forward to attend to those two customers earlier.

As a sales assistant in the Hall of Gods, they could earn 1% commission of sales. Even the cheapest weapon upstairs cost three thousand liang of silver… which meant that she could earn at least three hundred liang of silver.

"Xiao Rui, who exactly is he?"

After Li Hui recovered from his shock, his expression changed. Even his father could not possibly have taken out seventy to eighty thousand liang just like that. Only those of extraordinary family backgrounds could possibly carry so much money with them.

"I… I don't know either." Li Rui shook her head. "I only know that his mother used to be the chairperson of the Magnolia Guild of Qingshan Town. But the Lin family no longer supports the Magnolia Guild, and they have already collapsed. Furthermore, even if Magnolia Guild had not collapsed, his mother could not possibly have so much money to give to him. But there have been rumors that the boss of Yunxuan Restaurant in Qingshan Town, Zhao San, gave him the restaurant… unless that is true?"

Although she had heard the story from many people when she was in the Qingyun Guild in Ningping City, but she had never believed it. After all, why would Zhao San give such a valuable business to a martial invalid?

But now, seeing how Zhou Donghuang's assistant just took out a stack of notes worth at least seventy to eighty thousand liang, she could not help but believe the story. Otherwise, there was no way to explain why Zhou Donghuang had so much money.

"Yunxuan Restaurant?" Upon hearing Li Rui's words, Li Hui could not help but laugh. "No wonder I found his name so familiar. He's the new boss of Yunxuan Restaurant in Qingshan Town, Zhou Donghuang."

"Brother Li Hui, you know him too?" Li Rui was surprised.

"I not only know him… I also know that my father and Second Young Master had gone to find him in Qingshan Town." Li Hui smiled even brighter. "Xiao Rui, don't worry. He can only be arrogant for so long. Once his money is gone, he'll become a pauper."

Upon hearing this, Li Rui guessed, "But if Zhao San really gave him Yunxuan Restaurant, wouldn't Zhao San step in if someone else tried to take over the restaurant?"

"Xiao Rui, Second Young Master had asked Zhao San personally at the Governor's Household. Zhao San's intention is that once he gave the restaurant away, he will no longer interfere in its business." Li Hui laughed. "Which means, once he gives it to Zhou Donghuang, it's all up to him."

Li Rui's eyes lit up. "That means, in the future, Yunxuan Restaurant will be owned by Second Young Master? Great."

Li Hui nodded and replied proudly, "When he brought my father over this time, Second Young Master promised to give a tenth of the profits from the restaurant to him."

Li Rui looked at Li Hui with a hint of disapproval, but once she thought of Second Young Master, Li Pingyun, her eyes lit up again. This meant that once she got together with Li Pingyun, she would become the lady boss of Yunxuan Restaurant?

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Chapter 38: The Black Iron Spear

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

On the second floor of the Hall of Gods, the female sales assistant eagerly brought Zhou Donghuang and Fu to the rack filled with spears. "Sir, we only have these two spears here."

As she spoke, Zhou Donghuang could also see that there were only two spears on the rack before him. One of them had a spearhead of iron ore, with a shiny blade that looked extremely sharp. The shaft was made of a bamboo stick, but he could easily tell that this was no ordinary piece of bamboo. Furthermore, a spear made of ordinary bamboo would not possibly be placed here on the second floor of the Hall of Gods.

Seeing his gaze fall on that spear, the lady smiled and said, "Sir, for this spear, the head is made of purified precious purple iron ore. As for the shaft, it is made of extremely rare tan bamboo, which makes it as strong as steel but more flexible. But this spear is only about 50kg heavy."

Even before her introduction, Zhou Donghuang could see that this spear was not heavy as it was an extremely tough, tan bamboo spear.

Spears had many types. The most common and the most direct type would be a big heavy spear. However, some spear masters preferred tan bamboo spears as they were more flexible, and their elasticity could be used to fight the enemy.

Though tan bamboo spears were good, they were not what Zhou Donghuang needed. His eyes landed on the only other spear.

This spear was fully black with red iridescence. It looked extremely heavy, with the head and the shaft fused into one.

"Black iron!" At a glance, Zhou Donghuang could tell that this spear was forged of pure black iron, and the spearhead had already been sharpened, gleaming with coldness. Black iron that had been sharpened could easily cut any other metal.

"Sir, this spear is the heaviest in our armory. The whole body is made of black iron and weighs 600kg," the lady introduced.

"This is it," Zhou Donghuang announced.

This was exactly the spear he wanted. Initially, he had thought that he could only find a spear mixed with black iron in the Hall of Gods, but he never imagined that he would be able to find one forged purely of black iron. It was a pleasant surprise.

"Sir, because this spear is made purely of black iron, it's also extremely expensive…" the lady reminded.

Zhou Donghuang asked, "How much?"

"One hundred forty thousand liang of silver. Of which 120 thousand liang is the cost of the raw material, and of the other 20 thousand liang of silver, 10 thousand is for the wasted black iron during the forging process, while the other 10 thousand is the fee for the blacksmith." The lady not only introduced the price but also all the components within.

Black iron cost a hundred liang of silver per 500g in Yunyang Country. Because black iron was dense and heavy, 500g of it was very little. For a simple dagger, more than 30g of black iron would be needed.

"Fu," Zhou Donghuang called Fu. Fu stepped forward and took out all the notes on him and handed it all to the lady, with just ten thousand liang remaining,

Before leaving, besides 150 thousand liang of silver, Fu had also brought some loose change. Their daily expenses had used this loose change, so the notes had not been used, all 150 thousand liang of silver were intact.

"Sir, please give me a moment while I get the shopkeeper to issue you a receipt." After confirming that the sum was correct, the lady rushed to the third floor of the armory where the shopkeeper was.

The lady came back shortly, following an old man.

The old man wore a loose grey robe and had a small, diminished frame but with a pair of attentive eyes. On his sunken dry face, he wore a huge smile. His smile looked worse than a frown.

"Sir, this is the shopkeeper of the Hall of Gods, Elder Chen." The lady introduced the old man to Zhou Donghuang.

"I, Zhao Ruochen, am the shopkeeper of the Hall of Gods." As the old man walked to Zhou Donghuang, he bowed slightly and handed him a thick piece of paper. "Sir, this is your receipt for the black iron spear you just bought."

Zhou Donghuang nodded and took the receipt and passed it to Fu. His gaze never left the old man. "Now, can I leave with the spear?"

"Sir, do you need us to deliver it to you?" Zhao Ruochen was surprised, as was the lady behind him.

"There is no need for that," Zhou Donghuang answered flatly. He stepped forward and lifted the black iron spear off the rack easily with one hand. 600kg was not heavy for him. But at his current strength, it would be difficult to handle the spear easily. Unless… he used some martial arts techniques meant for wielding heavy weapons. He had no lack of knowledge about these tricks.

Immediately, under the amazed eyes of Zhao Ruochen and the lady sales assistant, Zhou Donghuang left the armory with Fu, holding the spear with one hand.

As for Li Rui and Li Hui, they had left shortly after Zhou Donghuang went to the second floor.

"Who on earth is he?" At the entrance of the Hall of Gods, Zhao Ruochen muttered to himself as he watched the two of them leave. A teenager who looked 16 or 17 years old easily picked up a 600kg black iron spear and took it with such ease. It seemed like it was effortless to walk with the heavy spear.

What could that mean? It meant that that teenager had at least 1000kg of strength. How could a 16 or 17-year-old teenager possibly have more than 1000kg of strength?

"Elder Chen." Right then, the lady who had served Li Hui and Li Rui heard Zhao Ruochen muttering to himself and said, "Just now, the two guests whom I served called him 'Zhou Donghuang.' They said that the teenager was the boss of Yunxuan Restaurant in Qingshan town."

"Zhou… Zhou Donghuang?!" Just as the words left her mouth, Zhou Ruochen's eyes narrowed and turned intently to the lady. "Are you sure he's called Zhou Donghuang?"

"Elder Chen, just now, the two guests whom Sister Mei served definitely addressed my guest as Zhou Donghuang," the lady who had served Zhou Donghuang confirmed.

Zhou Donghuang had no idea about the shock that the shopkeeper of the Hall of Gods, Zhao Ruochen had when he found out his identity. He led Fu back to the inn and instructed him, "Fu, prepare a letter and get someone to bring it to the Lu family and hand it to their chief, Lu Qinghu. In the letter, tell him that tomorrow at noon, I will visit the Lu family."

As he said this, Zhou Donghuang's eyes glimmered. It was time to settle some matters. He had bought a spear today just for this purpose.

"Yes, sir." Fu went to prepare.

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Chapter 39: The Zhao Family of the Governor's Household

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"For a 600kg weapon, a typical adept would have to be at least level-five of the gathered qi to be able to use it with ease. Furthermore, even for a adept of level-five of the gathered qi, he could only use it for a short duration. To be able to use it at ease, one would need at least level-seven of the gathered qi." After Fu left, Zhou Donghuang sat on the bed in the inn, muttering to himself as he stared at the black iron spear leaning against the wall. "At my current strength, to be able to use this heavy black iron spear at ease for even a short time would only be possible with perfect execution of 'Qi-Stacking.'"

Qi-Stacking was a level-one martial art technique different from the typical level one techniques. For typical level-one techniques, Zhou Donghuang simply could not execute them with his current qi. Even if he managed to execute it, the power would only rival level two martial arts, and his internal qi would be completely depleted with just one use.

On the other hand, Qi-Stacking required one to stack levels of qi for assault, the more qi that could be stacked, the stronger the power. Qi-Stacking could only stack up to nine levels of qi, but the resulting power would be totally dependent on the strength of the qi of the adept himself.

It was different from typical level-one techniques because even a adept of level-one of the gathered qi could execute it perfectly, only that the power will be much less. Its power was entirely determined by the strength of the inner qi, so those with a higher level of practice would produce a greater amount of power when executed.

For Zhou Donghuang, with his current level-two of the gathered qi, executing this level one martial art "Qi-Stacking" would similarly deplete his qi quickly unless he held back.

"My qi is still too weak, and my training is too slow."

Zhou Donghuang had trained himself from a commoner with no qi into a level-two adept within less than a month since he had broken free of the "seal." This rate of training was considered second to none in the country of Yunyang and even Ziyun planet.

But he still found it too slow? One could imagine that if anyone else knew about his complaint, they would definitely feel like killing him.

"I must find a way to get better herbs in order to brew a better qi elixir. That way, my training will be faster," Zhou Donghuang said to himself. "If not, using the present qi elixir, I would need around a month to be able to reach level-three qi."

Going from level-two to level-three of the gathered qi would need about a month's time—too slow! Those were Zhou Donghuang's thoughts then.

However, even though he found it slow, he still swallowed a bottle of qi elixir, sat cross-legged and began to train the Way of the Four Supremes. He immersed himself in the training.

In Yunfeng County, the biggest family clan would be the Governor's Household of the Zhao family.

The Zhao family was also a preeminent family. In the many preeminent families in the country of Yunyang, even the Zhao family could only be considered above average, as the family clan only had one adept of level-five of the gathered qi.

For the highest tier of preeminent families, most of them had many level-five adepts, and some of the top family clans even had five or six level-five adepts. Of course, preeminent families could not possibly have adepts with level-six of the gathered qi. This was because any family with one level-six adept would directly become a grand family in the country of Yunyang.

Adepts with level-six of the gathered qi were akin to the face of a grand family, while adepts with level-four of the gathered qi were the face of a preeminent family.

At that same time, in the house of the Governor's Household of the Zhao family, in a beautiful garden, an old man was reporting something to a middle-aged man. If Zhou Donghuang was there, he would have been able to immediately identify the two men.

The old man was the shopkeeper of The Hall of Gods, Zhao Ruochen, while the middle-aged man was the previous owner of Yunxuan restaurant of Qingshan town, Zhao San.

"Oh? He has come to the prefecture capital?" Zhao San was surprised to hear the news from the old man. "He even went to The Hall of Gods and bought the black iron spear for 140 thousand liang of silver?"

That black iron spear was 600kg heavy and even for him, with level-four of the gathered qi, he would still find it extremely exhausting to use it as a weapon, even if he could carry it. Even his elder brother, Zhao Lishang, governor of Yunfeng County and chief of the Zhao family, could only use the heavy black iron spear with ease for a short time, despite him being a level-five adept.

"He not only bought that heavy black iron spear, but he also didn't even need us to deliver it to him. He picked it up and left… from the second floor to the first, then out the door. It looked effortless to him," Zhao Ruochen said with a heavy smile.

The Hall of Gods was the business of the Zhao family.

Zhao San's elder brother had given him the business to run after he had recovered his level-four of gathered qi and returned to the Zhao family household. Zhao Ruochen was the shopkeeper and the direct subordinate of Zhao San. Zhao Ruochen had heard about Zhou Donghuang from Zhao San, which was why he was shocked when he had found out that the teenager at The Hall of Gods was Zhou Donghuang.

"What?!"

Zhao Ruochen had barely finished speaking when Zhao San leaped to his feet in shock, his face flashing with amazement.

"Elder Chen, do you speak the truth?"

Zhao San's eyes were filled with shock. Any level-one adept would not be able to even lift that 600kg black iron spear. To be able to bring it from the second floor out of the door so effortless would require at least level-two of gathered qi.

"Master San, I saw it with my very eyes," Zhao Ruochen vowed.

"Looks like I have underestimated him," Zhao San said with a sigh. "Last time, he cured me of disease after I had trained too intensely. Then I felt that he was no simple man… but never would I have thought that he would become a level-two adept in such a short time. A seventeen-year-old level-two adept… looks like Fengxia's title of the Best Youngster in Yunfeng County has to be given to him."

Zhao Fengxia was none other than the son of Zhao Lishang, governor of Yunfeng County, and the nephew of Zhao San.

Back in the day, Zhao Fengxia had reached level-two of gathered qi when he just turned eighteen and was publicly known as the most outstanding youngster in Yunfeng County. But now, Zhou Donghuang had reached the same level at just seventeen years of age, clearly outdoing Zhao Fengxia.

"Master San, I believe we can keep this outstanding teenager for our use," Zhao Ruochen suggested.

"Use him?" Zhao San thought of the sight of that unruly teenager. After a moment of silence, he shook his head and smiled bitterly. "I doubt I myself, or even my elder brother, will be able to subdue him."

Though that teenager was young, his arrogance was still apparent. To Zhao San, even if someone could subdue him, neither he nor his elder brother would be able to do it.

…

Meanwhile, in the house of the Lu family, Chief Lu Qinghu looked cunningly at the letter in his hands and laughed.

"This Zhou Donghuang! I haven't even looked for him, but he came knocking at our door."

Soon, he sent someone to the house of the Ma family and the Fang family and found the chief of the Ma family, Ma Tianba, and the Fang family chief, Fang Jishan.

"So Zhou Donghuang will be coming to the Lu family at noon tomorrow? If he really dares to come, I'll make sure he won't be able to return!"

Upon finding out the news, Ma Tianba and Fang Jishan both had an evil, murderous glimmer in their eyes.

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Chapter 40: Asking for Forgiveness?

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Ziyun Era,10 January 1228, noon.

Seven men stood in the Hall of the Lu family house. The atmosphere was tense. Besides the Lu family's chief, Lu Qinghu, the Ma family's Chief Ma Tianba, and the Fang family's chief, Fang Jishan, there were four other people. A middle-aged man and an old lady stood behind Lu Qinghu—his second brother, Lu Bao and the Lu family head elder, Lu Pinglan, both level-three adepts. The middle-aged man behind Ma Tianba was the Ma family second elder, Ma Dongfeng, a level-three adept and the second strongest in the Ma family. The old man behind Fang Jishan was the Fang family head elder, Fang Zhan, a level-three adept whose strength was second only to the Fang family chief.

The seven level-three adepts had gathered here on this day because of the letter that Lu Qinghu had received the previous day.

"Will Zhou Donghuang really be coming?" Fang Jishan frowned.

"Since he already sent a letter, he will definitely be coming," said Lu Qinghu solemnly. "Otherwise, the only possibility is that the letter was a prank. But that's unlikely. After all, only the three families here know that each of our sons has been killed by him."

As the saying went, don't hang one's dirty linen outside. The Lu, Ma, and Fang family have kept the fact that Lu Yuan, Ma Jin, and Fang Tianyi have been killed as a close secret.

"Master, Zhou Donghuang is here!" Just then, a voice rang from outside. The seven adepts in the hall immediately tensed.

After a while, they saw an ordinary-looking young man in a white gown walking slowly into the hall with his hands behind his back, under the guidance of a Lu family member. Behind the young man was a teenager with strong features, followed behind by two muscular, middle-aged men.

The two strong men were carrying a two-meter long spear. The spear was totally black with a red iridescence, and the sharpened blade shone with an eye-catching glint, displaying its sharpness.

"You are Zhou Donghuang?" Lu Qinghu stepped forward, glaring at the young man.

"Lu Qinghu?" Zhou Donghuang glanced at Lu Qinghu as he asked in a calm voice, totally unlike that of such a young man. Although this was his first time meeting Lu Qinghu, Fu had gone out to find out more about the Lu, Ma and Fang family these two days, so Zhou Donghuang knew about Lu Qinghu.

Despite his frail body, Lu Qinghu was the most powerful one within the Lu, Ma and Fang families.

"You've got guts. We haven't gone to find you, but you came yourself instead." Lu Qinghu laughed coldly.

"I've no choice… your three sons scared away all my customers in Yunxuan Restaurant in Qingshan town. If I did not look for you, my restaurant would not be able to open." Zhou Donghuang's gaze skimmed across Lu Qinghu, Ma Tianba, and Fang Jishan. His tone was calm.

At the same time that he had recognized Lu Qinghu, he had also recognized Ma Tianba and Fang Jishan. When Fu had sent the letter, he had already expected the Ma and Fang family to turn up as well, as they had always been on close terms with the Lu family.

In Yunfeng County, for lesser families to survive, they had to stick together, or they would be bullied by the preeminent families.

"They were smart, if they had not run, they would've been buried together with you!" Ma Tianba glared at Zhou Donghuang menacingly.

"I shall not waste time on nonsense." Zhou Donghuang's eyes suddenly sharpened. "I am here today for one thing only. Your three families shall send members without any martial art talent to Qingshan town to be servant girls and clerks at my Yunxuan Restaurant. Of course, we will pay them their deserved salaries."

If the three big lesser families sent people to work at the restaurant, it would be able to re-open. The chefs who used to work at the restaurant would naturally return once they saw the three big lesser families sending people to work at the restaurant. In any case, they would not be able to earn anything better than the salary at Yunxuan Restaurant.

All was silent after Zhou Donghuang had spoken. Even Fu, who was standing behind Zhou Donghuang, was shocked. Although he had known that his young master had come to solve the trouble that the three lesser families had caused to Yunxuan restaurant, but he had not imagined that his young master would simply ask the families for people.

"Hahaha…" Ma Tian burst into tears of laughter and was visibly agitated.

Lu Qinghu also began to laugh, as a smirk appeared on the faces of the rest as well.

"Today, you brought the black iron spear from the Hall of Gods here to give it to the three families here as a peace offering?" Fang Jishan joked. When Zhou Donghuang entered, he had noticed that the black iron spear that the two men were holding was the one from the second floor of the Hall of Gods.

"Hmm?" Upon hearing Fang Jishan's words, Lu Qinghu and Ma Tianba turned their gaze to the black iron spear. As the chiefs of the three big lesser families of Yunfeng county, they had all been to the second floor of the Hall of Gods and could easily recognize that this was indeed the heavy black iron spear from there.

"One hundred and forty thousand liang of silver, how generous of you!" Ma Tianba's eyes flashed with greed as he smiled at Zhou Donghuang. "Why don't you leave the spear and stay for the day too."

"How about the rest?" Hearing Ma Tianba's words, Zhou Donghuang only glanced at him and looked at Lu Qinghu and the rest as he asked with an air of nonchalance.

Fang Jishan smiled coldly, "Since you're here, don't think of leaving."

Lu Qinghu was silent, but the murderous glint in his eyes said it all. Now, he was not thinking of what secrets Zhou Donghuang was hiding nor the relationship between Zhou Donghuang and Zhao San. If he really had a trump card to play, why would he bring such an expensive gift to ask for forgiveness?

"I advise you reconsider." Zhou Donghuang's eyes narrowed.

"No need to consider." Ma Tianba cackled as he walked faster and faster towards Zhou Donghuang.

"I gave you all a chance." Zhou Donghuang shook his head and sighed quietly. In a swift movement, he had used Star-Stepping Footwork to step behind the two strong men.

Wham! As Zhou Donghuang raised his hand, he grabbed the black iron spear and lifted it off from the two strong men. In the next moment, Zhou Donghuang's internal qi shook as it leaped in waves towards his two hands, just like the waves of the sea stacking on top of one another. He was using Qi-Stacking, a level-one technique.

"What! A level-two adept thinking of using this heavy black iron spear? Ridiculous! Even a level-four adept can't use this 600kg heavy spear to fight." Ma Tianba was filled with disdain as he watched Zhou Donghuang pick up the weapon. He was not surprised that Zhou Donghuang managed to pick up the spear as any level-two adept could accomplish that. But to use it to fight would require the skill of at least level-five of the gathered qi. Even a level-four adept would find it difficult to use it to fight with ease.

Ma Tianba was not alone in thinking this way. Lu Qinghu and the rest did not believe that Zhou Donghuang could use the spear.

But what happened next shocked all of them.

Boom! As Ma Tianba advanced towards him, Zhou Donghuang moved his right hand holding onto the black iron spear, and the spear flew out like a bolt of black lightning and struck Ma Tianba like a whip.

Zhou Donghuang was strong to begin with, but with the power of Qi-Stacking and the sheer weight of the 600kg heavy iron spear, it was as if Ma Tianba had been hit by a speeding truck.

Whoosh! Ma Tianba's body flew weightlessly as the black iron spear landed in him.

With a loud rumble, the thick wall of the Lu family courtyard was smashed, and pieces of brick fell to the ground as Ma Tianba was thrown out of the courtyard.

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Chapter 41: A Clean Sweep

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"How is this possible?"

The scene had unfolded in a flash, too fast for Lu Qinghu and the others to follow. Shock and disbelief were written all over their faces as they gradually recovered their wits.

Ma Tianba was an outstanding level-three adept of Qi-gathering who would rank among the top five level-three adepts of the three elite lesser families.

But he had been killed by a single attack from a seventeen-year-old youth.

Although they had not confirmed that Ma Tianba, who had been sent flying, was truly dead, they knew without a doubt that he was indeed dead.

Under the circumstances, it would be a miracle if Ma Tianba had not died.

"Is he holding… the black iron spear from the second floor of the Hall of Gods?"

"Isn't he only a level-two adept? How could he wield a black iron spear weighing one thousand two hundred jin so effortlessly?"

"If it wasn't that black iron spear… how could Patriarch Ma have been sent flying like that?"

When Lu Qinghu and the others looked back at Zhou Donghuang, their expressions turned serious, and their eyes were filled with dread.

"Let's advance together."

With a quiver of his body, Zhou Donghuang stepped with the Star-Stepping Footwork and darted forward, aiming to attack Lu Qinghu and the others directly.

Although the hefty black iron spear weighed one thousand two hundred jin, he was not slowed down in the least.

Zhou Donghuang had no intention of stopping after killing Ma Tianba because he knew that he had not yet sufficiently intimidated Lu Qinghu and the others.

They could be thinking that he was only putting up a show and had actually exhausted himself, because such a display of prowess could only be performed once.

Indeed, they had that exact same thought.

Now, seeing Zhou Donghuang coming at them with the spear, Lu Qinghu's gaze froze, and he shouted, "Take him down together! Let's find out if he can perform such a powerful attack a second time."

Saying so, Lu Qinghu took the lead and leaped at Zhou Donghuang like a tiger bounding down a mountain.

"Let's get him!"

As Lu Qinghu attacked, the second master of the Lu family, Lu Bao, and the head elder of the Lu family, Lu Pinglan, followed up with their own attacks.

The second elder of the Ma family, Ma Dongfeng, the patriarch of the Fang family, Fang Jishan, and the head elder of the Ma family, Fang Zhan, were close behind,

With Lu Qinghu in the lead, the six level-three adepts attacked as one, advancing on Zhou Donghuang from all sides.

As level-three adepts, these six were very fast and surrounded Zhou Donghuang in the blink of an eye. They began to attack him in unison.

However, although they were fast, Zhou Donghuang was not any slower.

Although Zhou Donghuang was only a level-two adept of Qi-gathering, he was able to exert his maximum muscular strength, and would not be any weaker in terms of strength compared to a level-three adept.

In addition, he had the level-three swiftness technique, Star-Stepping Footwork to fall back on, while Lu Qinghu and the others did not practice any swiftness techniques. His speed was therefore equal to Lu Qinghu.

The others could not match him in speed.

"It's a swiftness technique!"

Now, Lu Qinghu and the others finally realized that Zhou Donghuang had used a swiftness technique. Their focus had not been on Zhou Donghuang's legs, so they had not realized this earlier.

"Die, kid!"

Lu Qinghu roared in rage as he leaned forward and propelled himself like a cannonball towards Zhou Donghuang.

"Well met!"

Faced with Lu Qinghu's ferocious assault, Zhou Donghuang turned serious and adjusted his stance to meet the incoming attack.

Simultaneously, he also evaded the attacks of three out of his five other opponents, and the closest any of the three got was brushing against his sleeve.

The five of them surrounded Zhou Donghuang and would never have imagined that he would have chosen Lu Qinghu, who was the strongest among them, to be his breaking point.

Perhaps he thinks Big Brother is our weak link because of how thin he is? That's begging for death!

Lu Bao chuckled to himself.

Seeing Zhou Donghuang not bothering to dodge his attacks and even stepping up to face them instead, Lu Qinghu flexed his arms, clawed his hands, and grabbed at Zhou Donghuang from both sides.

Lu Qinghu's attack was ferocious and intimidating.

However, just when he thought he had caught hold of Zhou Donghuang, Zhou Donghuang moved in close enough that his body brushed against Lu Qinghu's. He slipped past him, as agile as a spirit snake.

The move was exquisite, and it seemed like Zhou Donghuang had indeed transformed into a spirit snake.

It was a level-two martial art technique, Way of the Spirit Snake

"Big brother, be careful!"

"Patriarch, be careful!"

"Patriarch Lu, be careful!"

"Brother Qinghu, be careful!"

Zhou Donghuang had slipped past Lu Qinghu, who had no time to check his momentum and saw the other five looking at them with shock at something behind him.

Chi-chak!

The black iron spear descended like black lightning, and the razor-sharp edge of the spear head severed Lu Qinghu's arm like tofu.

Peng!

As the black iron spear descended to a point beside Lu Qinghu's chest, it was suddenly and savagely shoved horizontally, and the fearsome force snapped several tendons and bones and sent him flying over five meters away. He was in an untenable situation and completely lost the will to fight.

Fang Jishan and the other five were shocked at Lu Qinghu's injury. Zhou Donghuang took full advantage of their distraction and thrust it towards Fang Jishan, who was standing on their extreme left.

The black iron spear thrust towards Fang Jishan like a dragon emerging from the sea, and before he could react, the spear head was a hair's breadth away from him.

"No—"

There was no way Fang Jishan could dodge in time, and he let out a shout of despair as death descended on him.

His shout did have its intended effect however, and at this most critical moment, the spear head moved away from his chest and towards the side, passing under his armpit.

"Hng!!"

Zhou Donghuang grunted with effort, and mustering his qi and stacking it, he channeled it to his right hand that was holding the spear.

Zhou Donghuang grasped the spear single-handedly and swept it towards his other four opponents, carrying Fang Jishan with it. With Zhou Donghuang's qi close to spent, they were sent flying, just like Lu Qinghu.

This all happened in the blink of an eye, leaving the four no time to dodge.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

…

There was the sound of multiple bodies hitting the ground, and in the blink of an eye, the remaining six of the seven level-three adepts of the three elite lesser families had been defeated, with Ma Tianba, the patriarch of the Ma family, having been killed.

Of the six, Lu Qinghu was the most gravely injured.

Of the remaining five, only Fang Jishan had avoided major injury, and the others had various broken bones and torn ligaments.

"Take this."

Zhou Donghuang used the last of the qi within his body and threw the black iron spear to the two strong men with a flick of his arm.

The two strong men had been scared silly by what they had witnessed and could not react in time. The black iron spear clattered to the ground on the floor in front of them with a great crash, scaring them even more.

The floor tiles could not support the weight of the black iron spear and cracked, the cracks spreading out like a spider's web.

Right then, Lu Qinghu and his five companions could no longer doubt the weight of the spear.

"Many thanks to Young Master Donghuang for his mercy."

Fang Jishan was the least injured, and after he struggled to stand up, he thanked Zhou Donghuang profusely with dread written on his face.

If Zhou Donghuang had not shown mercy, the black iron spear would have impaled his chest, and he would have surely been dead. It was because Zhou Donghuang had adjusted the spear head and thrust it towards his armpit that he had only suffered only superficial injuries and some light internal injuries.

"Your life… should be worth two hundred thousand liang of silver?"

Zhou Donghuang looked at Fang Jishan with a smile, showing two rows of snow-white teeth.

Although he knew that Zhou Donghuang was extorting money from him, Fang Jishan did not dare refuse and nodded his head eagerly, "It's worth it! Worth it! Completely worth it."

Two hundred thousand liang of silver was not a small sum to the Fang family, but they would still be able to afford it.

"Lu Qinghu, three hundred liang of silver for your life… any objections?"

Zhou Donghuang asked as he fixed a piercing gaze on Lu Qinghu as he struggled to stand.

"No… no objections."

Although Lu Qinghu looked extremely foul, he did not dare object given the circumstances, and he was terrified that any hint of objection would cause this youth to kill him.

"And for you, you should have no objections to a hundred thousand liang of silver each for your lives?"

Zhou Donghuang's gaze fell on the other four people, and they shook their heads without hesitation, their faces pale.

"In ten days, I want to see thirty servant girls and fifty waiters at Yunxuan Restaurant in Qingshan town."

With that, Zhou Donghuang led Fu away from the Lu family residence, and the two strong men hurriedly lifted the spear and followed them out.

"If you breathe a word about what happened today, you can forget about living if you remain another day in the city!" Lu Qinghu threatened the two strong men before they left.

If the day's events became widely known, the prestige of the Lu, Ma, and Fang Families would be left in tatters.

They did not wish for that to happen.

"Patriarch Lu, we understand."

"Patriarch Lu, we will definitely not say a word."

The two strong men trembled at Lu Qinghu's threat and nodded hurriedly. They fled in the wake of Zhou Donghuang and Fu who had left long before.

The large receiving chamber reverted to its peaceful state.

"Brother Qinghu."

After Zhou Donghuang and the others had left, Fang Jishan helped Lu Qinghu up as the others struggled to their feet. Each of them looked ashen-faced and battered.

"I never thought our three elite lesser families would one day be subdued by a seventeen-year-old youth."

Lu Qinghu shook his head, smiling ruefully to himself.

"And who would have thought that at seventeen years of age, he would possess such fearsome ability… Zhao Fengxia and Hong Yunfei are not even worth a mention compared to him!"

Zhao Fengxia was the first master of the Zhao family who governed the prefecture capital. He had attained level-two of Qi-gathering when he was eighteen years old and was acknowledged to be the first among the young generation of Yunfeng prefecture.

Hong Yunfei was the first young master of the preeminent Hong family and had attained level-two of Qi-gathering only a month after Zhao Fengxia.

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Chapter 42: Lu Qinghu's Decision

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"Patriarch, that Zhou Donghuang not only wields a black iron spear weighing one thousand two hundred jin like an extension of his arm, but is also capable of using swiftness martial art techniques…"

"I've seen the Zhao family members demonstrate the Zhao family's swiftness technique… but it is far inferior to what Zhou Donghuang demonstrated."

As a lady, the head elder of the Lu family, Lu Pinglan, noticed every detail, and this was something that even Lu Qinghu, the patriarch of the Lu family, could not match.

"There is definitely something mysterious about him!"

"Why don't we… deliberately spread the news that Zhou Donghuang has a level-three swiftness martial art technique? After all, not many people in Yunfeng prefecture and even superior-level and intermediate-level prefectures know what a level-three swiftness martial art technique is like."

"His swiftness martial art technique is stronger than the one belonging to the governing Zhao family, and even if it is only a lesser-grade technique, people will believe us if we say it is a level-three swiftness martial art technique."

"And if the news that he possesses a level-three swiftness martial art technique spreads, even the grand families and tycoons will have their eyes on him… and if he is unable to hand over a level-three swiftness martial art technique, they will not let him off!"

As Lu Pinglan finished, a cold smile spread over her aged face, and her eyes glittered coldly.

Just when her idea was beginning to gain traction with Fang Jishan and the others, Lu Qinghu shook his head and said, "Head Elder, this is indeed a good way to exact revenge on Zhou Donghuang… but what if the outcome is different from what we planned?"

"A martial invalid from Qingshan town has demonstrated abilities on par with a level-five adept of Qi-gathering and thrashed us all… and most importantly, he is still only seventeen years old!"

"In the whole of Yunfeng prefecture, probably only the governor himself has the ability to beat us so soundly by himself."

"And how old is the governor compared to him?"

"If he attracts the attention of the grand families and tycoons and they are able to kill him, all will be well… but what if they cannot? What if he manages to defeat them? With his talent, even if he practices only casually for the next twenty years, who in the country of Yunyang will be able to stand up to him?"

"And if he investigates and gets to the root of the matter, or even if he cannot ascertain that we had spread the news… he could extinguish our three families if he had even the slightest hint of suspicion."

Lu Pinglan was deflated by Lu Qinghu's words, and Fang Jishan and the others broke out in a cold sweat.

Although that youth was only seventeen years old, he was truly that fearsome.

Give him twenty years more, and when he was thirty-seven years old, who in the entire country of Yunyang would be able to stand against him?

"I suggest that we do as he asks, to his satisfaction. If we do well, we could even attempt to establish a relationship with him."

Lu Qinghu's eyes glittered with wisdom. "When those three fellows returned home, they agreed that he maimed Ma Jin first because Ma Jin bullied and humiliated one of his employees. That he would put himself in danger to stand up for a lowly employee proves that he has a kind heart."

"We all have something to gain and nothing to lose from being on good terms with him."

"Besides, I have a particularly strong hunch that if our three families want to advance to become a preeminent family, he… he could be the key to achieving that."

Lu Qinghu's eyes burned fiercely. Leading the Lu family into the ranks of the preeminent families was his life's ambition.

"Brother Qinghu, you may be able to compromise and adjust, but what if I, Fang Jishan, cannot do the same? But after all, Zhou Donghuang spared my life today… from today, the Fang family will follow the decision of the Lu family."

Fang Jishan was the first to make his stance clear, with the backing of the head elder of the Fang family.

"Patriarch Lu, it's all well and good for the Lu and Fang families… but the Ma family has lost its patriarch today, and I am the only one who has seen how fearsome Zhou Donghuang is. Although I am inclined to go with the Lu and Fang families, I'm afraid the others of the Ma family will not agree." Second Elder Ma Dongfeng of the Ma family smiled bitterly.

The issue was that although a junior of each of the three families had all lost a leg to Zhou Donghuang, now, the Ma family had lost their patriarch to Zhou Donghuang in addition to a leg of a junior member.

"Elder Dongfeng, if I remember correctly, you are also of the direct line of the Ma family… as of today, Tianba is gone, and you are the strongest person in the Ma family. As long as our two families support you in becoming the patriarch of the Ma family, who in the Ma family will object? Who would dare to object?" Lu Qinghu asked conspiratorially with a gleam in his eye.

Ma Dongfeng's eyes lit up when he heard this. "If I am the patriarch of the Ma family, I will follow Patriarch Lu all the way."

…

Back at the inn, Zhou Donghuang returned to his room and consumed a portion of qi-gathering elixir and began to replenish his qi.

The qi in his body had been almost entirely spent, and for his qi to recover to its previous level, he would need only half a day with the aid of the qi-gathering elixir.

By the time night fell, Zhou Donghuang's qi had recovered to its previous level.

Just then, Fu delivered a piece of news that ruined Zhou Donghuang's plans for the next day.

"Young Master, I've learned that Lin Tonghong, the fourth elder of the Lin family, left the prefecture capital several days ago, and it seems that he was heading to Qingshan town."

"Heading to Qingshan town?"

Zhou Donghuang's eyes narrowed, and he smiled coldly.

"That old fellow… could he also have eyes on our Yunxuan Restaurant?"

At first, he planned to visit the Lin family the next day to look for the fourth elder, Lin Tonghong, and settle the matter of him misappropriating the formula for the blood-staunching elixir that he had given to his mother. But now, from what Fu had said, he could return earlier than planned.

"Fu, you'll make another trip to the Lu family shortly… We'll return to Qingshan town early tomorrow morning."

"Young Master, shouldn't we hurry back and travel through the night? That Fourth Elder Lin Tonghong of the Lin family could very well be heading straight for Yunxuan Restaurant," Fu said worriedly. "You're not at home, and my lady and the others…"

"Don't worry." Zhou Donghuang was not the least bit worried. "Freezing Wind is there, so even if Lin Tonghong shows himself, he will leave empty-handed."

"Young Master, that Fourth Elder Lin Tonghong of the Lin family is a level-three adept," Fu reminded him.

From what he knew, the former second-in-command of the Green Wolf Bastion, Freezing Wind was almost a level-two adept.

"I know," Zhou Donghuang said with a nod. "But he is no match for Freezing Wind."

"Not a match for Freezing Wind?"

Surprise and incomprehension filled Fu's eyes, and he suddenly seemed to remember something as he fell to his knees with a thud and begged, "Young Master, Fu would like to practice under you."

At this point in time, he no longer dared to doubt Zhou Donghuang's words.

Therefore, he guessed that with his Young Master's help, Freezing Wind's ability was now no less than Lin Tonghong's.

"Previously, when I wanted to pass on techniques and give you a qi-gathering elixir to aid you in practicing… didn't you refuse, saying it was too troublesome? Why do you now want to practice?" Zhou Donghuang mocked gently.

This question made Fu feel awkward, and it was Zhou Donghuang who finally dispelled the feeling of awkwardness. "When we get back, I'll pass on some techniques to you."

"Thank you, Young Master."

Fu kowtowed repeatedly in gratitude, his face flushed with excitement.

Today, his young master had single-handedly thrashed the best of the three elite lesser families, leaving him stunned.

To put things into perspective, just the mention of the three elite lesser families was enough to frighten all the staff away from Yunxuan Restaurant, except for him. And even he did not expect his young master to be able to withstand the fury of the three elite lesser families.

Yet today, the best that the three elite lesser families had to offer, including Lu Qinghu, had been soundly beaten by his young master, and the patriarch of the Ma family, Ma Tianba, had been killed with a single spear thrust from his young master. He now realized that his fears had been laughable.

"From what Young Master has demonstrated today, there is no need to fear even the preeminent Li family," Fu said softly as realization dawned. "No wonder Young Master dared to maim that level-two adept of Qi-gathering from the Li family and kill Second Young Master Li Pingyun and Ninth Elder Li Yan."

That night, Zhou Donghuang passed Fu a letter that he had written and asked him to deliver it to Patriarch Lu Qinghu of the Lu family.

The letter listed down various herbs, some of which were those that the grand patriarch of the Qin family, Qin Yi, had not been able to buy when he made the journey to the prefecture capital. The rest of the herbs were even more valuable and were to be used to produce a qi-gathering elixir of even better quality.

Zhou Donghuang had originally intended for the herbs to be brought to Qingshan town along with the servant girls and waiters from the three elite lesser families.

Just as he and Fu were about to leave the prefecture capital to return to Qingshan town the next day, Lu Qinghu showed up in person, looking for him.

"Young Master Donghuang, these are the herbs you wanted. This is a million liang of silver in notes."

Lu Qinghu had brought all the herbs listed down in the letter and also the money that Zhou Donghuang had demanded from the three elite lesser families in exchange for their lives.

Zhou Donghuang did not expect Lu Qinghu to be so efficient as to be able to procure all the herbs in a single night. However, from his bloodshot eyes, Zhou Donghuang knew that Lu Qinghu had gone the entire night without sleep.

"Wasn't it nine hundred thousand liang of silver for the six of you?" Zhou Donghuang asked calmly, refusing to accept the stack of notes that Lu Qinghu was holding out.

"The remaining hundred thousand liang is a token of respect from the Lu family to Young Master Donghuang," Lu Qinghu replied humbly with a smile.

"How much are these herbs worth?" Zhou Donghuang asked, looking at the pile of herbs that Lu Qinghu had put down on the table.

"Young Master Donghuang, don't worry about the cost." Lu Qinghu shook his head and waved Zhou Donghuang off. "The more valuable herbs are from the treasure vaults of our three families… and the rest that we bought did not cost much."

"You really do know how to conduct yourself."

Zhou Donghuang gazed deeply at Lu Qinghu, and the piercing gaze made him feel as though all his thoughts were laid bare.

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Chapter 43: Joy and Sorrow

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Standing by the door of the inn and watching the carriage drawn by the ferghana horse vanish into the distance, Lu Qinghu was still in a state of shock, and it took him a long while to come to his senses.

A lesser-grade offensive technique… and a bottle of qi-gathering elixir that can help me break through the bottleneck?

He had taken a look at the lesser-grade martial art that the youth had written out and passed to him, and it was indeed genuine.

This confirmed that he had made the correct decision… It was better to be friends than enemies with this youth.

However, can this bottle of qi-gathering elixir really help me break through the bottleneck of level-three of Qi-gathering? If I really manage to break through, I will directly attain level-four of Qi-gathering!

Muttering to himself, Lu Qinghu fished out a small medicine bottle from his pocket and looked at it with suspicion.

Far from him being unwilling to believe that youth, but what the youth had told him was simply too shocking.

He, the first among the three elite lesser families of Yunfeng prefecture, at level-three of Qi-gathering, had long ago practiced to his limit, just a step shy of level-four of Qi-gathering.

However, it was precisely that particular step that had proven so difficult time and again.

After such a long period of time, that step had become a bottleneck that had proved impossible to break through.

No matter what, I have to try… what if it really does work?

Although he could not quite believe it, Lu Qinghu nevertheless hurried back to the Lu family residence and consumed the qi-gathering elixir once he got back to his room and began to practice.

This qi-gathering elixir… increases the sensitivity to qi by at least ten percent!

After practicing for some time after consuming the qi-gathering elixir, Lu Qinghu opened his eyes, which were now filled with shock and disbelief.

I remember… even the best qi-gathering elixir formulated by the superior-level medicine master in the Imperial Court of Yunyang could only increase the sensitivity to qi by twenty percent.

And the Lu family had no way to obtain even that standard grade of qi-gathering elixir… Otherwise, I would have attained level-four of Qi-gathering long ago.

No wonder… no wonder he said that a bottle of qi-gathering elixir could help me break through the bottleneck and attain level-four of Qi-gathering. This qi-gathering elixir can increase my sensitivity to qi by forty percent!

Lu Qinghu no longer dared to doubt Zhou Donghuang's words.

Even using a qi-gathering elixir that increased his sensitivity to qi by twenty percent, he was fairly certain that he would be able to break through the bottleneck and attain level-four of Qi-gathering.

Now, with a bottle of qi-gathering elixir, he might as well commit suicide by banging his head against the wall if he still could not break through.

…

One day and night later.

"Hahahaha… hahahahahaha…"

Gales of hearty laughter coming from Lu Qinghu's room could be heard far and wide.

Soon, Head Elder Lu Pinglan and Second Master Lu Bao of the Lu family, who both lived nearby, hurried over along with two other elders of the Lu family.

"I've broken through and attained level-four of Qi-gathering."

Lu Qinghu had already stepped out of his room when Lu Pinglan, Lu Bao, and the others arrived in the courtyard, beaming radiantly.

"Congratulations to the patriarch!"

"Congratulations to Big Brother!"

Lu Qinghu's words stunned Lu Pinglan and the others at first, but they recovered, and unbridled joy began to spread across their faces.

An advancement level-four of Qi-gathering implied the birth of a preeminent family.

From this day on, the Lu family would be a preeminent family!

"Head Elder, Second Younger Brother, please stay. Third Elder, go to the Fang family and invite the patriarch of the Fang family over. Fourth Elder, go to the Ma family and invite the new patriarch of the Ma family over."

As soon as Lu Qinghu finished speaking, the two elders left to carry out his instructions, their faces still flushed with excitement.

From this day on, they were no longer elders of a lesser family.

They had become elders of a preeminent family!

"Big Brother, how did you break through so suddenly? From what I know, level-three of Qi-gathering has been a bottleneck for you for many years."

Although Lu Bao rejoiced at his big brother's breakthrough, he felt that the breakthrough was extremely sudden.

"Patriarch, you haven't slept last night because you were gathering herbs for Zhou Donghuang… and yesterday morning, you went to give him the herbs and money?"

Lu Pinglan looked at Lu Qinghu suspiciously. "Your breakthrough… doesn't… doesn't involve him by any chance?"

"Head Elder, if it doesn't involve him, why do you think I broke through at this particular time and not at any other time?" Lu Qinghu countered with a smile.

Without waiting for Lu Pinglan and Lu Bao to reply, he took a piece of paper out from his pocket, passing it to them both. "Have a look at this."

Lu Pinglan took the paper, and both of them were captivated by it at first glance.

"Lesser Weighted Sand Palm, a lesser-grade technique?"

It took only a moment to confirm that it was indeed a lesser-grade technique that was recorded on the paper. Lu Pinglan and Lu Bao were so excited that their faces were flushed.

"Patriarch, could this be…?" Lu Pinglan looked up at Lu Qinghu and asked with some difficulty.

She had not yet finished her question when Lu Qinghu interrupted her, "Exactly! This technique is from Zhou Donghuang."

Evidently, Lu Qinghu knew what Lu Pinglan was about to ask.

"Besides that, the reason I broke through the bottleneck so smoothly in just a day and a night to attain level-four of Qi-gathering is that he gave me a bottle of qi-gathering elixir," Lu Qinghu continued.

"He… he even has the qi-gathering elixir formulated by the Imperial Court's superior-level medicine master that increased the sensitivity to qi by forty percent?" Lu Pinglan was surprised.

A qi-gathering elixir that increased the sensitivity to qi by forty percent?

Lu Qinghu snorted at what Lu Pinglan had said because Young Master Donghuang had not given him merely a qi-gathering elixir that increased his sensitivity to qi. However, he did not elaborate on this because he knew revealing too much would not be wise.

A lesser-grade technique was fine; it was the entitlement of preeminent families.

A preeminent family that did not have martial art techniques could send a level-four adept of Qi-gathering to present himself to the Regent to request for a lesser-grade technique.

Of course, they could only ask for a lesser-grade offensive technique or a lesser-grade defensive technique.

Lesser-grade swiftness techniques were only given to preeminent families that had level-five adepts of Qi-gathering.

A qi-gathering elixir that increased the sensitivity to qi by forty percent was a different matter.

If this was exposed, even the Imperial Court would take notice.

It was a truly magnanimous gesture of grace that Young Master Donghuang gave me such a precious bottle of qi-gathering elixir… I absolutely will not spread the word that he can produce such a high-quality qi-gathering elixir because it would endanger him.

This was what Lu Qinghu thought.

He did not even intend to tell his own younger brother, Lu Bao, about this, never mind Head Elder Lu Pinglan.

"From this day on, any one of the Lu family who dares to offend Young Master Donghuang, no matter if he is of the direct lineage or a side branch… kill them without mercy!"

Lu Qinghu declared solemnly in the presence of Lu Pinglan and Lu Bao.

…

The Lu family had advanced to the status of a preeminent family because of their newly minted level-four adept of Qi-gathering. The whole Lu family compound was gaudily decorated to celebrate the occasion, and everyone was in a festive mood.

The mood in the preeminent Li family, however, was at the other extreme.

This was because Second Young Master Li Pingyun and Ninth Elder Li Yan were dead.

Li Yan's death alone would not have had a huge impact because he was after all just a level-three adept of Qi-gathering, and he did not have the talent to advance to level-four of Qi-gathering.

It was entirely different for Li Pingyun.

As the son of Patriarch Li Jingyu of the Li family, Li Pingyun's talent was prodigious, and he was certain to attain level-four of Qi-gathering if all went as planned.

Besides, Li Pingyun was destined to be the next patriarch of the Li family.

Now, he was dead.

"Who did this?"

In the spacious front courtyard of the Li family mansion, the patriarch of the Li family Li, Jingyu stared at the curly-whiskered man kneeling on the ground before him. The iciness of his voice made it feel like the temperature had dropped several degrees.

Li Jingyu was a good looking middle-aged man of average build dressed in a green robe. He had on a threatening expression.

Many elders of the Li family were present as well, looking extremely foul. Killing the second young master of the Li family was akin to giving them a slap in the face, and this had shamed them greatly!

There were several junior Li family members in attendance as well.

"Second Young Master… has been killed?"

Li Rui was among the Li family juniors, looking lost and pale-faced, and unable to believe that it was all real.

How could Second Young Master be dead? She was still hoping to pair up with the second young master, and rise like a phoenix to the top.

Now the second young master was dead, and her dreams with him.

"Father!!"

With a gut-wrenching cry, a figure dashed to the already decomposing corpse of Li Yan. It was Li Yan's son, Li Hui.

"Patriarch, it's… it was Zhou Donghuang! It was the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant in Qingshan town, Zhou Donghuang!"

The curly-whiskered man trembled as he said, "He killed Second Young Master and Ninth Elder some time ago, but because he was headed towards the prefecture capital, I did not dare to return lest I run into him."

"Although I could have sneaked back on my own to report this, I was afraid that the bodies of Second Young Master and Ninth Elder would be eaten by wild beasts."

"Today, I saw his carriage leave from outside the city gates, so I finally dared to return with their bodies," the curly-whiskered man continued.

"Zhou Donghuang?!"

Li Rui and Li Hui were stunned speechless when the heard the curly-whiskered man mention Zhou Donghuang's name.

It was a while before they recovered and shouted in unison, "It can't be!!"

Their shout succeeded in drawing the attention of everyone present.

"Why can't it be?" Li Jingyu looked at Li Hui with a cold and piercing gaze.

"Patriarch, the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant in Qingshan town, Zhou Donghuang, is a martial invalid… he could not possibly have the ability to kill my father and Second Young Master," Li Hui said. "Moreover, even if he was not a martial invalid… do you think a seventeen-year-old youth could have the ability to kill both my father and Second Young Master?"

"Patriarch!" Seeing suspicion in Li Jingyu's eyes as he considered what Li Hui had said, the curly-whiskered man began to panic.

"I swear to heaven, it was Zhou Donghuang himself who killed Second Young Master and Ninth Elder with his own hands!"

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Chapter 44: The New Qi-Gathering Elixir

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

January 15, the year 1228 of the Ziyun Era.

Night was falling as the carriage drawn by the ferghana horse entered Qingshan town, attracting the attention of a crowd of passers-by.

Many people recognized the man driving the carriage as the chief steward of Yunxuan Restaurant, Fu.

"Chief Steward Fu of Yunxuan Restaurant has been gone for more than ten days with Young Master Donghuang… now, they have returned?"

"That's a long time… could they have gone to the prefecture capital?"

"They must have gone to the prefecture capital. If the matter with the three elite lesser families is not resolved, Yunxuan Restaurant cannot open for business, so if he wants to resume business, he definitely has to visit the prefecture capital to discuss the matter with them."

"How could they resolve it through discussion? The sons of those three lesser families were all maimed by Young Master Donghuang. Even if he gave away Yunxuan Restaurant, they might not be placated. Moreover, Young Master Donghuang is strong-willed and not someone who would give in."

"I agree, even if Young Master Donghuang went to the prefecture capital, he would not have visited the three elite lesser families… he probably went to look for Elder Zhao San."

"That should be the case. If Elder Zhao San agrees to step in, this matter will be easily resolved."

"Up till now, I still cannot understand this: Why would Elder Zhao San give Yunxuan Restaurant to Zhou Donghuang?"

…

Amidst the speculation of the people of Qingshan town, the carriage driven by Fu returned to the compound behind Yunxuan Restaurant.

"Mother."

As soon as he reached home, Zhou Donghuang went to look for Lin Lan. Coincidentally, she was not practicing but was in the back courtyard familiarizing herself with martial art techniques.

"Donghuang is back."

Seeing Zhou Donghuang return, Lin Lan's focused expression loosened up, and she broke out into a radiant smile.

"Mother, the Star-Stepping Footwork you were practicing already shows the basic form, I think you'll be able to master it completely before long," Zhou Donghuang said with an encouraging smile.

"Mother knows her own ability, it's far below Freezing Wind's."

As she said this, she seemed to remember something and looked sternly at Zhou Donghuang. "Donghuang, I wish for you to teach me how to exert my maximum muscular strength… I've just recovered my level of practice after switching to the Technique of Everlasting Youth, and even practicing the two techniques you have given me, I can only match an ordinary level-two adept in the short term. With maximum muscular strength, my ability could match an ordinary level-three adept."

Lin Lan looked expectantly at Zhou Donghuang.

"He… told you everything?"

Zhou Donghuang frowned. He had not thought that Freezing Wind would tell his mother about how he could exert his maximum muscular strength.

"Don't blame him, Mother forced it out of him."

Lin Lan continued, "Two days ago, that fourth elder, Lin Tonghong, appeared, insisting that I hand over Yunxuan Restaurant. In the end, he was defeated by Freezing Wind and left with his tail between his legs. It was then that I realized how powerful Freezing Wind was. From what I knew, he had not even attained level-two of Qi-gathering before he decided to follow you. I badgered him constantly, and he finally told me that his ability was all due to you."

Lin Lan looked at Zhou Donghuang with a fire in her eyes.

"Donghuang, what Freezing Wind can endure, your mother can endure as well."

"Mother," Zhou Donghuang said with a sigh. "That kind of method is only suitable for men, and is closely dependent on the male physiology… you are not a man, so it would be useless even if you attempted that method."

"Really?"

Lin Lan looked suspiciously at Zhou Donghuang, not believing him entirely. She stared at him as though trying to make out any traces of the lie she suspected.

In any case, Zhou Donghuang, with his thousand years' worth of experience, had long ago mastered the art of controlling his emotions and expressions. How could Lin Lan possibly be sure that he was lying?

What Freezing Wind had endured was not something that anyone could endure. It was not that he believed Lin Lan would not be able to endure such pain, but because it was unnecessary.

After chatting with Lin Lan for a while, Zhou Donghuang left the back courtyard and returned to his room.

Not long after, Freezing Wind came looking for him.

"There are some things I don't want my mother to know because she will get ideas… in the future, I hope this won't happen again."

Sitting straight and rigid at the table and staring coldly at Freezing Wind, Zhou Donghuang scared him so badly that he fell to his knees and prostrated himself with a thud.

"Young Master, I was wrong, Freezing Wind guarantees that it will not happen again."

"Hmm."

Zhou Donghuang's expression softened, and he asked calmly, "According to my mother, that fourth elder of the Lin family of the prefecture capital, Lin Tonghong, came over, and you defeated him?"

"Young Master, I am here precisely because of this." Freezing Wind grew serious and said, "That Lin Tonghong, although I managed to defeat him, I used everything I had. His ability should be considered strong among level-three adepts."

Zhou Donghuang was not surprised that Freezing Wind mentioned this.

As the fourth elder of the preeminent Lin family of the prefecture capital, Lin Tonghong's ability would naturally be above average, greater than that of the ninth elder of the Li family Li Yan whom Zhou Donghuang had killed.

Of course, he had also expected Freezing Wind to be able to defeat Lin Tonghong.

The level of his ability now was such that within Yunfeng prefecture, none below level-four of Qi-gathering could match him.

"I wanted to kill him, but my lady stopped me." There was a cold gleam in Freezing Wind's eyes as he said this. "Young Master, I can ride the ferghana horse, catch up to him and kill him before he reaches the prefecture capital. He arrived in a carriage, and I recognize the driver of the carriage… I can identify the carriage he is in."

Freezing Wind had come to find Zhou Donghuang to ask if Zhou Donghuang wanted him to kill Lin Tonghong.

"No need."

Zhou Donghuang shook his head, and a cold look flashed across his eyes. "Even if he wants a clean death, I'm not quite willing to grant that to him."

In his view, killing Lin Tonghong would be an act of charity. He intended to toy with Lin Tonghong, and make him pay the price of misappropriating the formula with his misery!

"Young Master has a grudge against him?"

Freezing Wind was stunned.

"A grudge? Hardly worth calling it a grudge," Zhou Donghuang snorted derisively.

Immediately after, Zhou Donghuang instructed Freezing Wind to help him retrieve some herbs from the storehouse. He was going to formulate an even better qi-gathering elixir.

With the herbs that Lu Qinghu helped gather, he could formulate an even better qi-gathering elixir, and his rate of practice would be boosted.

Several hours after Freezing Wind had retrieved the herbs, Zhou Donghuang had formulated a hundred new bottles of qi-gathering elixir.

The new qi-gathering elixir could increase the sensitivity to qi by sixty percent!

The herbs brought back by the grand patriarch of the Qin family, Qin Yi, had only allowed Zhou Donghuang to formulate a qi-gathering elixir that increased the sensitivity by forty percent.

The new qi-gathering elixir represented a fifty percent increase in effectiveness over the previous one!

"With this new qi-gathering elixir, I will attain level-three of Qi-gathering within three months!"

Zhou Donghuang lips curled upwards in a smile.

When Freezing Wing received the new qi-gathering elixir from Zhou Donghuang, he was dumbstruck. "Increase the sensitivity to qi… by sixty percent?"

Earlier when Zhou Donghuang gave him the qi-gathering elixir that increased sensitivity by forty percent, he thought he might have been dreaming.

To put this in context, the best qi-gathering elixir of the entire Yunyang country could only increase the sensitivity to qi by twenty percent.

"Next, I have a task for you."

Zhou Donghuang gave Freezing Wind some instructions, which he then left to carry out, riding his ferghana horse and leaving Qingshan town that very night.

After Freezing Wind left, Zhou Donghuang went looking for Fu to pass on the technique of the Fiery Thunder Training Regimen to him.

Of course, he would only pass on the portion that was appropriate for the stage Fu was at. He would pass on the rest slowly when Fu reached the appropriate level of practice.

Fu's martial talent was indeed ordinary, but nurtured by Zhou Donghuang, even a wild chicken would one day become a phoenix…

Zhou Donghuang was very confident of this.

"Thank you, Young Master."

Fu kowtowed repeatedly in gratitude.

"Practice well… I hope you will be able to catch up to Freezing Wind soon."

Leaving Fu with ten bottles of the newest qi-gathering elixir, Zhou Donghuang left Fu's room and returned to his own room to practice.

His expectations of Fu were high as well, or he would not have passed the Fiery Thunder Training Regimen on to him.

The Fiery Thunder Training Regimen and Way of the Thousand-Star Sword were top techniques among all the civilizations of the universe.

Upon returning to Qingshan town this time, Zhou Donghuang put his heart into practicing, rushing to level-three of Qi-gathering.

However, two days later, he was interrupted by Fu as he was immersed in practice.

"Young Master, the patriarch of the Lu family is here!"

"Lu Qinghu?"

Zhou Donghuang was surprised. "The day we agreed upon… is still four days away, isn't it?"

Leaving the room and walking to the front courtyard, Zhou Donghuang saw not only Lu Qinghu but also Fang Jishan of the Fang family, and the man from the Ma family he had last seen in the receiving chamber of the Lu family.

Lu Qinghu still looked thin and weak, but his eyes shone with light and looked full of energy.

"You've broken through?"

Zhou Donghuang looked at Lu Qinghu, smiling casually.

"Many thanks to Young Master Donghuang for the new lease on life."

Lu Qinghu bowed deeply as he thanked Zhou Donghuang with sincerity. Although he had attained level-four of Qi-gathering, he was extremely humble before Zhou Donghuang.

"The patriarch of the Fang family Fang Jishan acknowledges Young Master Donghuang."

"The patriarch of the Ma family Ma Dongfeng acknowledges Young Master Donghuang."

Just then, the two people standing behind Lu Qinghu bowed deeply and paid their respects to Zhou Donghuang.

"Young Master Donghuang, this is the family treasure of the Fang family that has been handed down six generations, an ice jade hairpin made of a hundred-year-old piece of ice jade. It clears the mind and soothes the emotions, and this is a gift is from the Fang family to the mistress," Fang Jishan said respectfully as he presented an intricate wooden box.

"Young Master Donghuang, the Ma family does not have a treasure like the ice jade hairpin of the Fang family… these notes are worth two hundred thousand liang of silver. We hope that Young Master Donghuang will accept this small token."

Ma Dongfeng took a stack of notes out from his pocket and presented them to Zhou Donghuang.

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Chapter 45: Reopening for Business

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Seeing Zhou Donghuang looking silently at Fang Jishan and Ma Dongfeng for a long while, Lu Qinghu spoke up, "Young Master Donghuang, please accept these… they are doing this to thank you for the palm technique, Lesser Weighted Sand Palm."

Evidently, Lu Qinghu had shared the technique that Zhou Donghuang had given him several days ago with the Fang and Ma Families.

"Fu."

At Zhou Donghuang's word, Fu, who was standing to the side, came forward to receive the gifts from Fang Jishan and Ma Dongfeng.

"Patriarch Fang, Patriarch Ma, go and organize the people we brought here… Young Master Donghuang and I will follow shortly," Lu Qinghu told them both.

"Okay."

They acknowledged and greeted Zhou Donghuang respectfully before leaving.

Seeing Lu Qinghu attain level-four of Qi-gathering after currying favor with Zhou Donghuang and leading the Lu family into the ranks of the preeminent families, both Fang Jishan and Ma Dongfeng were naturally envious.

Because of this, they now tried to curry favor with Zhou Donghuang. However, they both understood clearly that they occupied a lower position in Zhou Donghuang's eyes compared to Lu Qinghu.

Now, whether as an indication of Lu Qinghu's strength or out of concern for their image in Zhou Donghuang's eyes, they did not dare linger even though they would have liked to stay and cultivate a relationship with Zhou Donghuang.

Soon, only Zhou Donghuang, Fu, and Lu Qinghu remained in the spacious front yard.

"Young Master Donghuang, I know ordinary objects are nothing to you… in the future, if you need any errands to be done, just say the word and I, Lu Qinghu and even the entire Lu family will not hesitate to be at your service!"

Lu Qinghu stated this respectfully to Zhou Donghuang and effectively put his family at Zhou Donghuang's disposal.

"Just because I gave you a lesser-grade technique and a bottle of qi-gathering elixir that helped you attain level-four of Qi-gathering… you would put your family with its newly-attained status of a preeminent family at my disposal?" Zhou Donghuang asked searchingly as he looked over Lu Qinghu casually.

"Young Master Donghuang, it is thanks to you that the Lu family has become a preeminent family… I, Lu Qinghu, clearly acknowledge that without your qi-gathering elixir, I would never have attained level-four of Qi-gathering in this life," Lu Qinghu said earnestly.

Practicing martial arts became more difficult as one progressed, and it was especially difficult to progress to the higher levels.

Lu Qinghu's father, the grand patriarch of the Lu family, had attained level-three of Qi-gathering at about the same age as him, but he had never managed to attain level-four of Qi-gathering for the rest of his life.

His father's greatest regret was not being able to obtain a bottle of qi-gathering elixir that could increase his sensitivity to qi by twenty percent. He was highly confident that he would have been able to attain level-four of Qi-gathering and lead the Lu family into the ranks of a preeminent family if he had that qi-gathering elixir.

Lu Qinghu knew well that without Zhou Donghuang's gift of the qi-gathering elixir, he would probably go down the same road as his father.

"That lesser-grade technique was a gift to you… why did you share it with the Fang and Ma families?"

Zhou Donghuang raised the teacup on the table to his lips and questioned Lu Qinghu as he sipped tea.

"Young Master Donghuang, those herbs were from our three families… therefore I felt they should also have a share in the lesser-grade technique."

Lu Qinghu bowed in apology as he spoke. "However, I did not have Young Master Donghuang's permission to share it with them, which was presumptuous, and I beg Young Master Donghuang's forgiveness."

"And this was probably a show for me?"

Zhou Donghuang looked intently at Lu Qinghu, his piercing gaze seeming to bore into his mind and leaving him with an awkward expression on his face.

Indeed it was.

The main reason for doing so was indeed to put on a show for Zhou Donghuang.

He intended to use his actions to send the message that he was someone who did not forget those who had helped him.

"You are a clever man," Zhou Donghuang said, "otherwise, I would not have given you that bottle of qi-gathering elixir that day before I left the prefecture capital. After all, if the effectiveness of that bottle of qi-gathering elixir became known, it would have been enough to shake the whole country of Yunyang. You probably have not told anyone else of the effectiveness of that bottle of qi-gathering elixir, have you?" Zhou Donghuang asked leisurely, staring at Lu Qinghu.

"Young Master Donghuang, it was precisely because I knew how valuable and special that bottle of qi-gathering elixir was that I did not dare tell anyone else of its effectiveness." Lu Qinghu nodded hurriedly and continued, "Including my own brother Lu Bao, to whom I said that Young Master Donghuang had given me a bottle of qi-gathering elixir that increased the sensitivity to qi by twenty percent. A qi-gathering elixir that increase the sensitivity to qi by forty percent… if that became known, the entire country of Yunyang would be in upheaval."

Lu Qinghu's expression turned serious.

"Young Master Donghuang has given me a new lease on life; I could not possibly do anything to hurt you."

"Hmm."

Zhou Donghuang nodded in satisfaction, then looked at Fu and instructed him, "Fu, prepare ten bottles of the qi-gathering elixir that increase the sensitivity to qi by forty percent as a gift to the patriarch of the Lu family."

"At once, Young Master."

Fu left to carry out the instructions.

Ten bottles?

Lu Qinghu's eyes lit up, and his breathing quickened. He had assumed that the supply of that qi-gathering elixir was limited.

He never imagined that Zhou Donghuang could give him ten bottles just like that.

What he did not know was that those bottles of qi-gathering elixir were merely the rejects of what Zhou Donghuang had, and even Fu did not use them.

"Many thanks to Young Master Donghuang," Lu Qinghu said respectfully.

"There's one thing more I need you to do."

Zhou Donghuang took a piece of paper from his pocket and passed it to Lu Qinghu.

"This is a formula for the qi-gathering elixir with the same effectiveness of those on the market… with this qi-gathering elixir, the Lu family can monopolize the whole market for qi-gathering elixirs in Yunfeng prefecture.

Monopolize the market for qi-gathering elixirs in Yunfeng prefecture?

Lu Qinghu took the formula, only half-believing it. But just one glance and a shocked expression came over his face.

"Even such cheap herbs can be used to formulate a qi-gathering elixir that increases the sensitivity to qi by twenty percent?"

The formula for the same qi-gathering elixir on the market was no secret, and any family above the status of a lesser family could petition the regent for it.

However, several of the key ingredients for that qi-gathering elixir were relatively rare and valuable and therefore expensive.

The cost of these herbs… the qi-gathering elixirs made with them are equally effective as those commonly available qi-gathering elixirs sold on the market, but the cost is not even one-tenth of what it was.

Lu Qinghu stared in stupefaction at Zhou Donghuang, not daring to believe that it was possible to formulate the qi-gathering elixir on the market with such cheap herbs.

"I have provided the formula, and I won't ask for too large a share. You'll bear the costs of the herbs and manpower, but I want half of the profits," Zhou Donghuang said.

Although Zhou Donghuang knew Lu Qinghu would not have objected if he had asked for seven or eight-tenths of the profits; that was not his style of doing things.

"Young Master Donghuang, two-tenths of the profit is enough for the Lu family… this business is a gold mine, and we will definitely make a fortune from it," Lu Qinghu replied.

Even with two-tenths of the profit, the Lu family would still make a significant amount, far exceeding what they could earn from selling the commonly available qi-gathering elixirs. This was because they could monopolize the market for qi-gathering elixirs in all of Yunfeng prefecture.

"When I say half, I mean half. If you don't agree, I'll get someone else," Zhou Donghuang said casually.

"Qinghu thanks Young Master Donghuang on behalf of the Lu family."

Lu Qinghu bowed once again in thanks, with respect and gratitude in his eyes.

"Have you brought all the servant girls and waiters like I requested?" Zhou Donghuang asked Lu Qinghu.

The main purpose of the last trip to the prefecture capital had been to make it possible for Yunxuan Restaurant to reopen so that Lin Lan would not worry continuously about it.

"They're here, they're here, just outside." Lu Qinghu nodded eagerly.

Very soon, with the servant girls and waiters that the Lu, Fang, and Ma families had brought, Yunxuan Restaurant was ready to reopen. Announcements were made that Yunxuan Restaurant would reopen the next day.

When the people of Qingshan town found out that the new servant girls and waiters were from the Lu, Fang, and Ma families of the prefecture capital, they all assumed that Yunxuan Restaurant had a new owner.

It was only when they saw Zhou Donghuang in person, and the patriarchs of the Lu, Fang, and Ma families standing respectfully behind him that they realized Yunxuan Restaurant had actually not changed hands.

No one suspected that the patriarchs of the three families could be impostors.

In Yunfeng prefecture, the families and individuals with more power than these three families would not bother impersonating them, and those families and individuals who were weaker did not dare impersonate them.

The chefs from Yunxuan Restaurant returned the same day, and many of the servant girls and waiters who heard the news returned as well.

Yunxuan Restaurant reopened for business smoothly on the second day, and because everything was sold at half price, the threshold of Yunxuan Restaurant seemed as though it would be broken as it was trampled underfoot by the unceasing stream of customers.

"Farewell, Young Master Donghuang."

Lu Qinghu, Fang Jishan and Ma Dongfeng bid Zhou Donghuang farewell on the evening of the first day of Yunxuan Restaurant's reopening.

Lu Qinghu was holding a brocaded box, and his face was flushed with energy as he rode his ferghana horse. In the brocaded box were the ten bottles of qi-gathering elixir that Zhou Donghuang had given him.

With this qi-gathering elixir, his level of practice would increase rapidly.

The smooth reopening of Yunxuan Restaurant had surprised many residents of Qingshan town, especially the three lesser families of Qingshan town, who were completely dumbfounded.

"That youth is obviously a dragon, but you all treated him like a worm… now you're regretting it, aren't you?"

In the Qin family mansion, the grand patriarch of the Qin family, Qin Yi, sighed heavily as he looked at the patriarch of the Qin family, Qin Long, and the first young master of the Qin family, Qin Fei, kneeling before him.

The Qin family had good relations with that youth at first and was hopeful of climbing to a higher level. Now, that opportunity had been ruined by the Qin family themselves.

Meanwhile, in the Wang family mansion, Patriarch Red Crane Wang of the Wang family was full of resentment.

"That swine, how did he make the patriarchs of the three elite lesser families bow and scrape before him?"

"Big Brother."

Just then, the second elder of the Wang family, Bamboo Crane Wang, smiled bitterly and said, "I just received news… the Lu family of the prefecture capital is no longer a lesser family. The patriarch of the Lu family, Lu Qinghu, has attained level-four of Qi-gathering, and the Lu family has now advanced to the status of a preeminent family. That is to say… Patriarch Lu Qinghu of the Lu family, who came to Qingshan town these last two days to support the reopening of Yunxuan Restaurant is already a level-four adept."

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Chapter 46: Level Three of the Gathered Qi

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"A level-four adept?" Hearing Bamboo Crane Wang's words, Red Crane Wang was stunned and mumbled to himself, "Who on earth is that little brat?"

A level-four adept was a giant anywhere in Yunfeng county and could support a preeminent family. Someone like that actually traveled for miles to Qingshan town just to witness the opening of Zhou Donghuang's Yunxuan Restaurant?

"I think no matter who he is, all we have to know is that he is someone we cannot afford to cross." Bamboo Crane Wang laughed bitterly. "A level-four adept whose own child was crippled by Zhou Donghuang, but he is still so respectful to Zhou Donghuang—that says a lot."

"That is the Lu family chief, Lu Qinghu! That the Lu, Ma and Fang families could even have footing beneath the preeminent families of the prefecture capital was largely due to Lu Qinghu." Bamboo Crane Wang, being a basic-level medicine master, naturally knew how powerful Lu Qinghu was after spending so much time in the prefecture capital.

…

At the Zhong family household.

"How could that be?!" Zhong Gang, Zhong Yi, and Zhong Xiu had gathered once again and were looking at each other in disbelief.

"Zhou Donghuang crippled the son of the chief of one of the top three lesser families, and not only did they not try to get revenge, but they even sent him servant girls and clerks? And they even came from thousands of miles away to Qingshan town to support the opening of the restaurant?"

This piece of news was incredible to all three of them. It was as if they were in a dream.

"All three of you are here? Great!" A burly middle-aged man with a ferocious face walked into the courtyard, wearing a grey robe.

"Father." The three of them greeted the man who was none other than Zhong Yun, the chief of the Zhong family.

"I heard the three of you had some run-ins with the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant, Zhou Donghuang?" Zhong Yun glared at the three of them as his face darkened.

"Father, we… were just joking with him," Zhong Gang stuttered.

Before Zhong Yi and Zhong Xiu could say anything, Zhong Yun said coldly, "From today onwards, whenever you see him, you better greet him respectfully as 'Young Master Dong Huang" and be as meek as you can be. If I find out that any of you were disrespectful to him, don't blame me for being nasty!" With that, Zhong Yun turned and left, leaving Zhong Gang, Zhong Yi and Zhong Xiu speechless.

"I don't understand… how could a martial invalid suddenly rise to such greatness?" Zhong Xiu spit out angrily. To her, it felt as if someone whom she used to trample on had suddenly turned the tables on her.

…

After the new opening of Yunxuan Restaurant, Zhou Donghuang regained some peace in his life, and he spent all his time practicing. During this period, the Li family that Zhou Donghuang had imagined would cause him trouble did not turn up at all. It was as if they had completely disappeared without a trace.

But after thinking about it, it made sense to him. Lu Qinghu, who had risen to level-four of the gathered qi and led the Lu family into becoming a preeminent family, had come all the way to Qingshan town to support the new opening of Yunxuan Restaurant. It was as if he had completely forgotten that Zhou Donghuang had crippled his child. The Li family would surely have heard of this news. This must have been enough to make the Li family wary of him.

On 31 January 1228 of the Ziyun era, Zhou Donghuang successfully rose to level-three of the gathered qi, becoming a level-three adept with the strength of three bulls.

Of course, the strength of three bulls was only the strength from his internal qi. His extraordinary, pure strength was more than 500kg, and his current strength was similar to that of any level-four adept. With various martial art techniques, he was confident in facing even a level-five adept.

"Mother, have you ever thought of returning to the Lin family in the prefecture capital?" Zhou Donghuang asked Lin Lan. With his current strength, he could easily stake a piece of land for himself in the prefecture capital. But he knew that his mother could not forgo her identity as a member of the Lin family.

"Donghuang, the chief had ordered that I, Lin Lan, am not to step foot into the Lin family without an order from the family." Lin Lan smiled sadly. The Lin family of the prefecture capital was her home; why would she leave her home if she had the choice? Because she had been born with no martial art talent, she had been sent to Qingshan town by the family to set up and run the guild. In the eyes of the Lin family, she was only a tool for making money, and they would not allow her to rest until they had exhausted her value.

"Mother, the Lin family chief set such an order because he does not know that after you revealed the Lin family's blood staunching elixir prescription, you had given back an even better one to the Lin family." Zhou Donghuang's eyes flashed. "This time, I'll go back with you and clear your name. As long as I clear your name, even the Lin family chief will have no reason not to let a member of the Lin family return home."

As a level-three adept, Zhou Donghuang had already planned to leave Qingshan town and set up their home in the city. That would be much more convenient in all aspects as compared to Qingshan town.

"Donghuang, are you confident?" Lin Lan was moved, but she could not help but worry. "If not, I can still wait…"

"Mother, if I had no confidence, I would not be talking to you about this." Zhou Donghuang laughed.

"Alright, I'll follow you." Lin Lan's eyes lit up as the fog that had covered her heart completely dissipated.

Zhou Donghuang instructed Fu to make the preparations. Now, Fu was busy practicing and had handed the position of shopkeeper to the leader of the servant girls and clerks from the three big families—a lady named Lu Qing from the Lu side of the family. She was very capable and meticulous.

Besides practicing, Fu spent the rest of his time in the backyard behind Yunxuan Restaurant waiting on Donghuang's instructions.

"Fu, you should be close to reaching level-one of the gathered qi, right?" Zhou Donghuang asked as Fu was about to leave. Although Fu was of ordinary talent, he still laid the foundations early, and with the help of the Fiery Thunder Training Regimen and the qi-gathering elixir that multiplied his sensitivity to qi by six, Fu should reach level-one of the gathered qi quickly.

"Young Master, I just achieved it yesterday." Fu smiled shyly.

"Not bad." Zhou Donghuang nodded. "To make such progress in such a short time means that you have been working very hard without slacking…alright, you go ahead and prepare, we shall leave Qingshan town tomorrow."

Fu was surprised to be praised by Zhou Donghuang. As he left to make the preparations, he walked with a spring in his step.

Before they left the next day, Zhou Donghuang made a trip to the Qin family household. Although the Qin family elder chief, Qin Yi, and the chief, Qin Long, greeted him at the door, he treated both of them nonchalantly.

"I'm here to find Xiao Yu."

Under the watchful eyes of Qin Yi and Qin Long, Zhou Donghuang found Qin Xiaoyu, whose father, Qin Zhen, also happened to be there.

"Brother Donghuang, you're leaving Qingshan town?" Hearing that Zhou Donghuang was leaving the next day, the little girl broke into tears. "Brother Donghuang, could you not leave? If you do, Xiaoyu will not be able to see you again."

"Silly girl, you can go to the city anytime you want to see me. Just look for the Yunxuan Restaurant shopkeeper, Lu Qing to arrange it," Zhou Donghuang said as he pet Xiaoyu's head. He smiled, "I will get Fu to inform Lu Qing."

"Really?" Qin Xiaoyu stopped crying.

"If you don't believe me, you can at least believe your father." Zhou Donghuang looked at Qin Zhen and smiled. "Uncle Zhen, if Xiaoyu wants to go to the prefecture capital, please follow her."

"Yes, Young Master Donghuang," Qin Zhen answered respectfully.

"Uncle Zhen, please don't be so restrained around me. There's no need to call me Young Master, just call me Donghuang just like old times." Zhou Donghuang shook his head.

"Yes, Young Master Donghuang," Qin Zhen replied again, but Zhou Donghuang insisted that he correct that. He knew that since the Lu, Ma and Fang family chiefs had come to Qingshan town, his position in Qin Zhen's eyes was now completely different.

After bidding farewell to Qin Xiaoyu, he was seen out personally by Qin Yi and Qin Long. The whole time, Zhou Donghuang did not mention to Qin Yi and Qin Long to take care of Qin Xiaoyu. With his current position in the eyes of Qin Yi and Qin Long, they ought to know what to do without him saying anything.

…

On the dawn of 1 February 1228 of the Ziyun era, a horse-drawn carriage left Qingshan town for Yunfeng county of the prefecture capital.

Since she left Qingshan town, Lin Lan kept pulling open the curtains in the carriage, watching the town become smaller and smaller until it finally disappeared in the distance. With that, she drew the curtains back and sighed heavily.

"Mother, we can come back anytime you wish to in the future," Zhou Donghuang comforted her.

"Actually there's nothing much to reminisce on… after all, the Magnolia Guild is gone. I just wanted to take a few more looks at this town where I stayed for ten years," Lin Lan smiled as she shook her head.

"Donghuang, what about Freezing Wind? I haven't seen him since you came back from the city half a month ago." Lin Lan still had yet to see Freezing Wind when they went to the city this time. She frowned. "Did you drive him away because he told me about that matter?"

"Impossible." Zhou Donghuang smiled as he shook his head. "Mother, I sent him out to settle some things. Once he's done, he'll come find us when he realizes that we've left for the city."

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Chapter 47: Back to the Lin Family

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

5 February 1228 of the Ziyun era.

As night fell, Zhou Donghuang's horse carriage entered the capital city of Yunfeng county. Within the carriage, Lin Lan pulled open the curtains as she gazed at the hustle and bustle along the streets and alleys of the capital. Her eyes seemed to be filled with emotion. "Donghuang, look at that street. I used to love eating the candied haws from an old lady's stall at the end of that street."

"Donghuang, that old man's roast stall has been open for more than twenty years."

"Donghuang…"

As they passed through the streets of the city, Lin Lan introduced them as if she were showing off her family treasures. Zhou Donghuang listened patiently, nodding and smiling.

"Young Master, we're going to the Lu family first?" Fu asked from outside the carriage.

"Yes," Zhou Donghuang replied. He said to Lin Lan, "Mother, it's late today, we shall rest for the night at the Lu family household. Tomorrow, we'll go to the Lin family together."

"To the Lu family? Won't that be too troublesome?" Lin Lan frowned. "Shall we find a guest inn for the night instead?"

"Mother, don't worry. Lu Qinghu can't wait for me to trouble him." Zhou Donghuang laughed.

Just as he had predicted, when Lu Qinghu knew of Zhou Donghuang's arrival, he came out immediately to welcome him. Alongside him was the Lu family head elder, Lu Pinglan, and the second elder, Lu Bao.

"Young Master Donghuang." Lu Qinghu and the two of them bowed deeply to Zhou Donghuang, and they hurriedly bowed in greeting to Lin Lan. "Madam."

"Uh…" Lin Lan was not used to this. Not long ago, she had learned that Lu Qinghu had reached grade four of the gathered qi, leading the Lu family to the ranks of a preeminent family. Lu Qinghu's present status in Yanshan county was similar to that of the Lin family chief. Yet such a figure was now bowing to her?

It was then that she realized that her son's capabilities had far exceeded her imagination.

Lu Qinghu arranged for two large adjacent courtyards for Zhou Donghuang and his party. Each courtyard had a few rooms. Lin Lan and Granny Lian would stay in one courtyard, while Zhou Donghuang and Fu would stay in another.

"Son, kneel and admit your mistake to Young Master Donghuang." Lu Qinghu brought his son, Lu Yuan, to see Zhou Donghuang. Although Lu Yuan's leg had been joined back together, he still needed a crutch to walk.

As the old saying went, injured muscles and broken bones take a hundred days to heal. Later, Fu had been compassionate enough to find a doctor to help him join Lu Yuan's leg back together, but he could still barely walk and could no longer exert power.

"No need." Just as the pale Lu Yuan was about to kneel down on Lu Qinghu's orders, Zhou Donghuang stopped him. "If you kneel using this leg that has not even healed, even I will hardly be able to heal it."

"Heal?"

Zhou Donghuang's words seemed like a bolt of lightning that lit up Lu Yuan's dim eyes. He asked, "Young Master Donghuang, you… you can heal my leg completely?"

After he had returned, Lu Yuan had looked up an intermediate-level doctor, but that doctor could only assure that he would be able to walk like a normal person. Lu Yuan still wouldn't be able to use his strength. For a adept, if one leg could not exert power, it was no different from being an invalid.

"Young Master Donghuang." Lu Qinghu was also excited. His son's leg could be healed completely?

Zhou Donghuang said evenly, "Not just your leg, even your father's arm can be healed."

The last two times he had seen Lu Qinghu, his broken arm was still in a plaster cast, but now the cast had been taken off. The right arm which he had joined back together after Zhou Donghuang had cut it off would seem stiff whenever he walked, and it could only be used for daily activities. For a adept, such an arm was useless.

"Young Master Donghuang." Lu Qinghu bowed. He begged, "If you can treat my son's leg, my life is yours." Lu Yuan was his only son. Even if he exchanged his life for his son's, he was willing.

Zhou Donghuang ignored Lu Qinghu and looked at Lu Yuan intently. "I will only treat either your leg or your father's arm. Make a choice." Zhou Donghuang looked at Lu Yuan with interest.

"Young Master Donghuang!" Hearing what he had just said, Lu Qinghu was anxious. "Please just treat my son's leg. As for my arm, I deserved it for offending Young Master Donghuang, there's no need for you to treat it!"

"Father, stop." Lu Yuan laughed. "If I had not offended Young Master Donghuang first, you would not have had the conflict with him. It is me who got what he deserved. Young Master Donghuang, please treat my father's arm. For my leg, just leave it as it is." Lu Yuan looked at Zhou Donghuang determinedly, without a glimmer of doubt.

"At least you still have some filial piety." Zhou Donghuang looked at Lu Yuan, stood up from the stone bench and turned to go into the room. "The two of you can come together."

"Thank you, Young Master Donghuang." Both Lu Qinghu and Lu Yuan had realized by now that Zhou Donghuang intended to treat both father and son. In the moment, they were extremely touched.

"Yuan'er, when you see Young Master Donghuang in the future, you must bow as deeply as me. If not, I shall cut your leg off myself!" whispered Lu Qinghu to Lu Yuan before they entered the room.

…

In that era, the level of medicine was so high that broken limbs could be almost completely healed after an operation. Not only Western medicine could do this, but Chinese medicine could also do it, and sometimes even better too. Of course, this was because Chinese medicine relied on qi to use acupuncture to heal the injury.

"Done." After a whole night's work, Zhou Donghuang only finished acupuncture session for Lu Qinghu and his son at dawn.

Luckily, their wounds were simple, and the limbs had been rejoined in a short time. Using his qi to do acupuncture on their nerves and veins, Zhou Donghuang was able to help them to heal completely.

"You should count yourself lucky that it was Ma Jin who attacked Fu, and not you." Zhou Donghuang looked at Lu Yuan. If he had had his leg crushed like Ma Jin, even he could not heal it, because there was simply no way for that injury to return to its original state, much less to heal.

"Thank you, Young Master Donghuang." Lu Qinghu and Lu Yuan kowtowed to Zhou Donghuang, then left, afraid to disturb his rest.

"Young Master, after this, the Lu father and son will be totally loyal to you," said Fu after Lu Qinghu and Lu Yuan had left.

"I hope so." Zhou Donghuang nodded. A faint glimmer crossed his eyes. "If they are honest, I can give them a prominent life ahead. But if they choose to betray me, just as I can heal their limbs today, I can break them again any other day!"

…

Early the next day, Zhou Donghuang and Lin Lan brought Fu and Granny Lian to leave the Lu family household, and they headed to the Lin family household.

Lu Family Chief Lu Qinghu brought his son, Lu Yuan to personally send the four of them to the main door.

"Young Master Donghuang, you really do not need me to prepare a carriage for you?" Lu Qinghu asked.

"No need," Zhou Donghuang shook his head. They had their own horse-drawn carriage, and it was a carriage drawn by a treasured horse, but his mother did not want to return in such a high-profile fashion, so he had chosen something to suit her. Furthermore, both the Lu and Lin family households were not far from each other in the city, and it would take only half an hour even if they walked.

After half an hour, Zhou Donghuang and the three of them arrived at the main door of the Lin family household. Right there, they were stopped.

"Lin Lan?" The two men standing guard at the main door recognized Lin Lan immediately. Although they were also children of the Lin side of the family, they had more martial art talent than Lin Lan, so they had stayed there and were not sent away.

"Lin Lan, what are you doing here?" One of the men in a long gray robe frowned. "Chief has already ordered that you are not to step within the Lin family household unless ordered."

Lin Lan was at a loss. Zhou Donghuang stepped forward and was about to speak when the other man in a long green and brown robe smiled. "Lin Nan, we're all from the side family, why put her on the spot?"

As he said this, he smiled at Lin Lan, "Sister Lin Lan, you must be here to collect something, right? You may go in, but you'll have to come out quickly." With that, he stepped aside.

"Lin Hua, you…" Just as Lin Nan was about to say something, Lin Hua pulled him to the side and opened the path for them.

"Thank you, Brother Lin Hua." Lin Lan thanked him and led Zhou Donghuang and the rest into the Lin family household. Her face was filled with emotion as she walked towards her former home in the Lin family.

At the main door, Lin Nan frowned. "Lin Hua, if anyone finds out that we allowed Lin Lan in, Chief will definitely blame and punish us!"

"Who said we let Lin Lan in?" Lin Hua said calmly. "Did you see Lin Lan? Well, I didn't… but, we can't be sure that some other people didn't listen to Chief's orders and snuck into the household secretly." Lin Hua smiled craftily. "Lin Nan, if you're my brother, then don't betray me."

Lin Hua turned to go into the Lin household. "Now, I'll report to Second Elder that someone barged into the Lin family house against Chief's orders."

Along the way, Lin Hua's smiled craftily. "That slut ignored me when I tried to chase you back in the day. This time, watch how I destroy you!"

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Chapter 48: Slander

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Lin Lan's residence in the Lin family household was a small courtyard with four rooms. This was where she had grown up. In the past, Lin Lan, her parents and Granny Lian had all lived here.

It's been some time since Lin Lan was last there, so cobwebs were everywhere and dust was kicked up with each step. It took just half an hour of tidying up by Granny Lian and Fu for the whole courtyard to look completely different.

"Ma'am, I had thought Lin Hua would cause you trouble, but not only did he not do so, he even stopped the others from putting you on the spot and allowed you into the Lin household," said Granny Lian with some surprise.

"I did not expect that either," said Lin Lan, who was similarly surprised.

"Granny Lian, why did you think that Lin Hua would cause trouble for Mother?" Zhou Donghuang was curious.

"Young Master, that Lin Hua had once tried to pursue Ma'am desperately. Only when Ma'am rejected him in front of everyone did he stop pestering her." Granny Lian laughed. "Just now when I saw him, I thought he would bear a grudge from last time when Ma'am embarrassed him in front of everyone and cause us trouble. Looks like I had judged him wrongly."

"That really happened?" Zhou Donghuang looked at Lin Lan. Looks like his mother had been extremely attractive back in the day, or she would not have been chased like that.

"How many years ago was that? If he still remembers that then that means he is really narrow-minded." Lin Lan laughed as she shook her head. "Furthermore, the reason why I rejected him publicly was because I was afraid after being pestered by him, that's why I decided to end it quickly there and then and not to embarrass him."

Just as they were chatting happily, Fu, who had been repairing the damaged door of the courtyard outside, said, "Young Master, Madam, there are people coming. One of them is the man who let us in at the main door."

Right then, an old man in a gray robe appeared with the support of a middle-aged man.

"Lin Lan, meet Second Elder."

"Second Elder." Lin Lan and Granny Lian bowed and greeted the old man. Seeing Zhou Donghuang motionless, Lin Lan glanced at him and reminded, "Donghuang."

"Second Elder." On Lin Lan's reminder, Zhou Donghuang then looked at the old man and nodded.

The old man frowned and looked at Zhou Donghuang disapprovingly. His gaze landed on Lin Lan, and said, "Lin Lan, Chief ordered that unless ordered by the family, you are not to step within the doors of this house. Coming back like this, are you disregarding Chief or the Lin family rules?"

"Second Elder," answered Lin Lan respectfully. "I would never dare to disregard the chief nor the Lin family rules. The reason why I am back today is to get Chief to revoke that ban issued to me."

"Get Chief to revoke the ban?" The old man laughed coldly. "Do you take his words for a joke? Instead of getting Chief to revoke the ban, why don't you reflect on your mistake?"

"Second Elder, I admit that it was my fault for releasing the formula for the blood staunching elixir," said Lin Lan. "But later when I returned, I gave the family an even better formula. Just because Fourth Elder took my formula for the blood staunching elixir and submitted it as his own, should my efforts be ignored? I can't accept it!" Lin Lan's voice rose as the depression that she had suppressed for more than a month was released entirely.

Hearing Lin Lan's words, the old man was surprised, then frowned. The formula that Fourth Elder had presented to the family had originally been Lin Lan's?

"Hmph!" Just then, the man standing behind the old man, who was Lin Hua, gave a cold smirk. "Lin Lan, it's enough that you brought people to sneak into the house like a thief. Now you even dare to slander Fourth Elder?" Lin Hua laughed.

"Sneak in like a thief?" Zhou Donghuang glared at Lin Hua as his eyes narrowed.

"Lin Hua, what do you mean?" Lin Lan's expression changed as she glared angrily at Lin Hua. "Just now, didn't you let us in? Now you're telling us that we snuck in?"

"Lin Hua, you're lying through your teeth!" Granny Lian could not take it either. She glared at him. "Just now, I even said that you were open-minded and would not hold a grudge from years ago. Looks like I thought too highly of you. You let us in, just to slander us?" Granny Lian was so angry that her old face was crunched.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Lin Hua laughed. "Chief had already ordered for Lin Lan not to step foot into the household unless ordered. Without any order, why would I allow Lin Lan to come in?"

"You're really asking for it!" Zhou Donghuang's expression turned cold as a murderous glint shimmered in his eyes. He stepped forward, about to kill this bastard who had maligned his mother, but he was stopped by Lin Lan.

"Mother." Zhou Donghuang's eyes met Lin Lan's. His voice pained, he said slowly, "Mother, he's setting you up."

"Donghuang, promise me… in the Lin family, unless they act first, you must not act against any member of the Lin family. The Lin family is my roots," Lin Lan begged her son. She knew that he was extraordinary, and even Lu Qinghu, chief of the preeminent Lu family, was respectful in front of him. But she did not wish for her son to use his powers on any Lin family member, because that would only further antagonize the family. She hoped that the Lin family would accept her son. This was her home, and she hoped that it would also become her son's home.

Zhou Donghuang was furious but could only restrain himself after seeing his mother's begging eyes.

"Fine, I will listen to you, Mother." He breathed in deeply, and said, "I just wish that the Lin family can be reasonable and return you justice. If not, don't blame me for being rude!" As he said this, his icy gaze landed on Lin Hua and Lin Second Elder.

"Lin Lan, so this is your adopted son? How audacious! I can't wait to see how a sixteen-year-old teenager can do anything to me!" Lin Hua looked at Zhou Donghuang with disdain. As a level-two adept, Lin Hua was hardly afraid of a young teenager.

"Lin Lan, do you have any proof for all that you just said?" Lin Second Elder, Lin Chonghuan, asked. He added, "If you openly made such a slanderous statement about Fourth Elder without any evidence, this shall be added to your offense!"

"I do," Lin Lan nodded determinedly.

"Alright! Wait here, for the time being; I shall report this to Chief. When Fourth Elder returns, we will call you to confront him." Lin Chonghuan nodded and left.

"Second Elder, not to forget the matter about the formula, but Lin Lan snuck into the household, shouldn't we punish her?" Seeing Lin Chonghuan about to leave, Lin Hua hurriedly reminded him.

"If what she said is true, Chief will revoke the ban. In that case, no matter how she came in, it will not be considered as breaking into the Lin family household," Lin Chonghuan said.

"She cannot be telling the truth," Lin Hua said with disapproval. "The blood staunching elixir made from that formula is even more effective than the one made by the intermediate-level medicine doctor that the Lin family worships. How could Lin Lan have had such a formula?

"Fourth Elder will return in a few days. Then we will all find out the truth." Lin Chonghuan ignored Lin Hua and left.

Lin Hua turned around and glared at Lin Lan, then left.

"This Second Elder is quite reasonable," said Zhou Donghuang.

Lin Lan smiled, "Second Elder is responsible for order and discipline in the Lin family. He is morally upright and is worthy of respect. The next time you see him, don't be rude."

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Chapter 49: The Qi-Gathering Elixir that Monopolized the Market

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"Donghuang." Lin Lan looked at Zhou Donghuang gently. "I know you can't stand it when someone tries to wrong me, and you are also so strong now, you can even make the Lin family say that something black is white. But if we just use power to get our way, then what makes us different from Fourth Elder Lin Tonghong who stole our formula and turned around to threaten us?" she questioned.

Although Lin Lan was not sure of how powerful Zhou Donghuang really was, but since even the level-four adept and chief of a preeminent family Lu Qinghu had been so respectful towards him, that must surely mean that her son had greater power than a preeminent family like the Lu family. Even the Lin family chief could not possibly have Lu Qinghu bowing so respectfully to him. Just based on that alone, her son was superior to the Lin family chief.

"Also, I have always believed that the Lin family will bring justice to me," Lin Lan smiled.

"Mother, we shall follow what you said," Zhou Donghuang said with a nod. "If the Lin family is willing to return you justice, that would be great… but if not, and they choose to protect Fourth Elder Lin Tonghong, then they can't blame me for not giving them face." As he said this, his eyes flashed coldly.

Lin Lan smiled. "I believe in the Lin family." She then returned to her room.

After Lin Lan had left, Granny Lian said to Zhou Donghuang, "Young Master, Ma'am has different feelings towards the Lin family… her parents were all of this family, even though they were later robbed and killed while helping the Lin family ship goods, but until they died, they were always proud of their identity as part of the Lin family. This is why Ma'am views her identity as a Lin more important than her own life. If the Lin family is in trouble, she would not hesitate to help, even if she had to risk her life."

Zhou Donghuang was touched to hear this. In a previous life, his mother Lin Lan had committed suicide because she had been chased out of the Lin family and robbed of her Lin identity. "I hope the Lin family, does not disappoint… that way, on account of Mother, I can turn them into a grand family or even a tycoon family." Zhou Donghuang's eyes flashed, and he said, "But if they do disappoint, don't blame me for being merciless!"

Grand family? Tycoon family? Hearing this, Granny Lian was surprised. To become a grand family, the family would need at least a level-six adept. And to become a tycoon family, the family would need at least a level-eight adept! Her young master said he could turn the Lin family into a grand family or a tycoon family?

But thinking of how Young Master had surprised her so often in the last month, she was relieved.

"Young Master is just seventeen years old, yet the Lu family chief, Lu Qinghu, treats him so respectfully… as long as he is in the Lin family, the Lin family will sooner or later become a grand family or even a tycoon family!"

Granny Lian did not know that Zhou Donghuang did not mean that he would turn the Lin family into a grand family or tycoon family by his power alone, but he would gift the children, and let them lead the family to prominence. He even believed that it would hardly be difficult to have the preeminent Lin family replace the imperial family of the country of Yunyang and become the new rulers of the country.

…

In the past half a month, the most popular topic of interest in the whole Yunfeng county was none other than the cheap qi-gathering elixir released by the new preeminent Lu family. It was common knowledge that previously, the elixir sold for twelve taels of silver per bottle. Out of these twelve taels of silver, ten was for the raw materials, while only two taels of silver went to profit. After paying for the production and labor costs, there was little to be made. Hence the qi-gathering elixirs on the market were all produced by lesser families, as the preeminent families were not interested in the low profits of the business.

But half a month ago, the new preeminent Lu family released their qi-gathering elixir for ten taels of silver per bottle, and its effect was exactly the same as the elixir that cost twelve taels. Immediately, it swept the whole market in Yunfeng county. The bottle of elixir that others sold cost ten taels for the raw materials alone, if you sold it for just ten taels per bottle, no one could compete. Thus, the Lu family elixir monopolized the market.

"Is the new preeminent Lu family doing charity? They no longer want to be in the qi-gathering elixir business and are now clearing their remaining stock?" In the beginning, many people thought this was the case.

Soon enough, they no longer thought this way. Because they realized that not only did the Lu family sell their own qi-gathering elixir, but they also sold it to other retailers at a bulk price. The bulk price was just seven taels per bottle.

This meant that no matter which family, as long as they obtained the rights to resell the Lu family elixir, even if they sold it for ten taels a bottle, they could earn three taels of silver. This also helped them save on production costs as only the cost of labor was needed.

Of course, the families that resold the qi-gathering elixir were not allowed to sell it within the capital city of Yunfeng county. The Lu family dominated the market in the capital.

Such a business made even the preeminent families interested. "The Lu family must have found a way to save money, or they could not possibly do this!"

Finally, many people realized.

Quickly, many prominent people from the lesser families outside of the prefecture capital arrived at the Lu family household. They too wished to get resale rights to the Lu family qi-gathering elixir. But few succeeded, and only the friends of the Lu family, the Ma and Fang family, had achieved the rights.

…

9 February 1228 of the Ziyun era.

At the Lu family household.

"Chief, the Lin family chief, Lin Zhuoyue, just sent an invitation. He wishes to host a banquet at noon tomorrow at the heavenly dining booth in Yunxuan Restaurant, and he's invited you and Second Elder." A Lu family disciple arrived at the courtyard where Lu Qinghu lived and congratulated Lu Qinghu, who was playing chess with Lu Bao.

"Big Brother, a preeminent family is finally anxious," Lu Bao said with a laugh.

"The Lin family has guilds in more than a hundred towns in Yunfeng county. If they managed to get the resale rights to our Lu family qi-gathering elixir, they could easily monopolize the market in all these towns." Lu Qinghu put down the chess piece in his hand slowly and smiled.

"So… Brother, are you going?" Lu Bao asked. "The person from the Lin family is still waiting outside for the news."

"If it were any other preeminent family, forget it. But this Lin family, we have to give them some respect. After all, this is the family of the adopted mother of Young Master Donghuang." As he spoke, Lu Qinghu looked at the disciple who had reported the news. "Let the man from the Lin family tell their chief that a banquet is unnecessary… tomorrow afternoon, I shall pay them a visit personally at the Lin family household."

"Yes," the disciple replied and left.

"Now that I mention it, Young Master Donghuang has been to the Lin family household for a few days now… this time when I visit, I can also update him on the success of the qi-gathering elixir business." As he thought of that young man, Lu Qinghu's eyes revealed utmost respect. Now, he was sincerely convinced by that young man. Not only was he powerful, but he also had amazing skills, even being able to completely heal limbs that had been severed. Even the superior-level doctors who treated the imperial family of the country of Yunyang could not achieve that.

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10 February 1228 of the Ziyun era, noon.

In the courtyard, Zhou Donghuang and Lin Lan were eating, while Fu and Granny Lian stood behind them.

"Young Master, someone is here," said Fu suddenly.

Hearing this, Zhou Donghuang looked towards the outside of the courtyard. A man was walking towards them quickly. When he got a clear look at the man, a murderous glint swept across Zhou Donghuang's eyes.

The man was none other than the disciple Lin Hua who had let them in a few days ago only to backstab them.

"Lin Lan, Fourth Elder is back… Second Elder asked me to inform you to confront him in the back courtyard in an hour's time." Lin Hua laughed. "I can't wait to see what proof you have to show later that Fourth Elder stole your formula." With that, Lin Hua left.

"Donghuang, can you really prove that you came up with the formula for the blood staunching elixir?" With the confrontation with Fourth Elder Lin Tonghong nearing, Lin Lan was nervous.

"Mother, relax," Zhou Donghuang said with a smile. "When I gave you the formula the last time, I memorized it… I even know what to add to it to increase its potency. Besides that, I also know what herbs to remove to lower its potency. Doesn't the Lin family have an intermediate-level medicine master? Later, let him be the judge." Zhou Donghuang was confident.

Only the person who had come up with the formula would know its potency, and which herbs to remove or add to alter its effect. This was common knowledge to not just an intermediate-level medicine master but to a basic-level master as well.

…

At the main door of the Lin family household.

A man in a Chinese outfit looked out towards the end of the road. He was decently built with defined facial features and had an air of majesty. His eyes looked expectant as if he was waiting for something.

Behind him, a bulky old man with white eyebrows smiled as he said, "Chief, the Lu family chief, Lu Qinghu really gave you respect. Not only did he say there's no need for a banquet lunch, but he's also even coming personally to look for you."

The man was the Lin family chief, Lin Zhuoyue. The old man behind him was Head Elder Lin Tianzheng.

"Lu Qinghu is no small figure… Furthermore, this time, we are asking them for a favor. We must be courteous and respectful," said Lin Zhuoyue. "Head Elder, you must not treat him like the lesser family chief that he used to be. Now, he is a level-four adept and chief of a preeminent family, equal in position to me. Today, we must obtain the resale rights of the Lu family Qi gathering elixir… once we obtain it, our profits will double." Lin Zhuoyue's eyes were expectant.

Even if the Lu family did not allow the families that had resale rights to sell the elixir in the capital, the Lin family had more than just their guilds in the towns. The Lin family could sell the elixir in the neighboring, inferior county. Even though there would be labor and shipping costs, there would still be substantial profits.

"Don't worry Chief, I know how important this is," Lin Tianzheng said with a nod.

"Here they are!"

After a moment, Lin Zhuoyue and Lin Tianzheng saw two sedans lifted by eight people each coming towards the Lin family household from the end of the road in the distance. Most importantly, on the curtain of these sedans was embroidered with a large "Lu" character. These were none other than the sedans from the old lesser family and present preeminent family, the Lu family.

Soon, the two sedans stopped at the main door of the Lin family household, and two figures walked out from the sedan. They were none other than the Lu family chief, Lu Qinghu, and the Lu second elder, Lu Bao.

"Welcome, Family Chief Lu and Second Elder Lu. It really is an honor. Please come on in," Lin Zhuoyue welcomed them warmly, and Lin Tianzheng led the way personally. "Chief Lu, Second Elder Lu, this way please."

"You are too courteous, Chief Lin," Lu Qinghu smiled and nodded. They entered the Lin family household and into the hall, behind Lin Zhuoyue and Lin Tianzheng.

"Serve the tea!" Once the four of them were seated, Lin Tianzheng called the servant girls who were waiting at the door, and they served tea.

"Chief Lu, you single-handedly led the Lu family from a lesser family into the ranks of the preeminent families, you are simply amazing… unlike us, we count on the fortune of our ancestors." Lin Zhuoyue praised Lu Qinghu, giving him a thumbs up.

"Exactly," Lin Tianzheng smiled. "In the hundred years of history of Yunfeng county, only Chief Lu reached level-four of gathered qi as a disciple of a lesser family, and led a lesser family to become a preeminent family."

"Chief Lin and Elder Tianzheng are too kind, I was only lucky." Lu Qinghu sipped his tea and smiled as he shook his head. Although he pretended to be modest, he could not help laughing to himself quietly.

In the close to one hundred years of history of Yunfeng county, the reason why the lesser families had not produced a level-four adept was first because their disciples were less talented, and secondly because the preeminent families had intentionally tried to suppress the lesser families. Whenever a lesser family produced a strong, level-three adept, he would somehow die mysteriously. Though it was claimed to be an accident, it was actually murder committed by the preeminent families.

The alliance between the Lu, Ma, and Fang family allowed them to protect each other, and it made the preeminent families wary. They did not dare to touch any of them. If not for that, he would have suffered the same fate at the hands of preeminent families like the Lin family.

"Chief Lu is too humble," smiled Lin Zhuoyue as he prepared to enter the topic. "Chief Lu, let's not beat about the bush. I have asked to see you today about the hugely popular Qi gathering elixir that the Lu family has been selling…"

"Chief!"

Before he could finish, Lin Zhuoyue was interrupted by a loud sound from outside. A breathless disciple had rushed to the door of the hall.

"Second Elder told me to tell you that Fourth Elder and Lin Lan are in the backyard and are waiting for you to begin the debate."

Just as the words left his mouth, Lin Tianzheng stopped him.

"Enough! Chief has no time now to bother about these small things. Let them do it at another time."

"Y—yes!" The disciple answered and turned to leave.

Just then, Lu Qinghu said, "Wait!" The disciple stopped in his tracks. "Chief Lin, who is your fourth elder confronting in the backyard? What is going on?" he asked Lin Zhuoyue curiously.

He had seemed to hear the disciple mention the name "Lin Lan," but he was not sure, so wanted to confirm what he had heard.

"They say not to hang one's dirty laundry outside… but since Chief Lu has already asked, there's nothing to hide," Lin Zhuoyue said with a heavy sigh. He continued, "Chief Lu should have heard that we got the formula for a blood staunching elixir that was forty percent more potent than the ones on the market?"

Lu Qinghu nodded. "I heard Fourth Elder Lin had chanced upon it outside and handed it to the Lin family."

"Indeed," Lin Zhuoyue agreed. "A few days ago, a disciple whom I had banned not only disregarded my orders and came back but even said… that she had been the one who had brought the formula to us and that her credit had been stolen by Fourth Elder. Even more ridiculous is that she said she has evidence that it was her formula. So now, she is waiting to confront our fourth elder about it."

"She is very bold indeed… does she happen to be someone I know?" Lu Qinghu asked.

"Chief Lu probably has never heard of her; she is just a side disciple whom we had sent to a small town to manage the guild there. Her name is 'Lin Lan.'" Lin Zhuoyue shook his head.

Lin Lan?! Just as Lin Zhuoyue said this, Lu Qinghu and Lu Bao narrowed their eyes and stood up hurriedly.

"Chief Lu, Lu Second Elder, this…?" Lin Zhuoyue and Lin Tianzheng were shocked by the abrupt actions of the two.

"Chief Lin, I know you wanted to talk about the Qi gathering elixir resale rights… but now I'm more curious, what evidence does your Lin side disciple have to say that the blood staunching elixir was her formula?" Lu Qinghu breathed in deeply and squeezed out a smile. "Why don't… we go over and watch their confrontation together?"

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Chapter 51: A Thief Accusing a Thief

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Lin Zhuoyue and Lin Tianzheng's eyes lit up when Lu Qinghu mentioned the good news about the qi-gathering elixir rights.

"Of course it's convenient!" Lin Zhuoyue readily agreed.

To him, Lu Qinghu's request was a small matter.

"Head Elder, let's follow Patriarch Lu and Second Master Lu to the back courtyard to take a look… what evidence our side relative, Lin Lan, can produce to prove that the formula for the blood-staunching elixir is hers," Lin Zhuoyue called out to Lin Tianzheng as he rose from his seat.

Lin Tianzheng replied in acknowledgment and led the way to the door of the receiving chamber. He looked at Lu Qinghu and Lu Bao with a wide smile as he extended his arm and turned to show them in.

"Patriarch Lu, Second Master Lu, after you."

The four of them filed out of the receiving chamber and made their way to the back courtyard of the Lin family mansion.

When they arrived, there was already a crowd gathered in the back courtyard, surrounding something like a human wall. The atmosphere was rowdy.

"Patriarch and Head Elder are here!" A sharp-eyed Lin family junior called out as he saw Lin Zhuoyue and Lin Tianzheng.

On cue, the gathered Lin family juniors respectfully moved aside to make a path for Lin Zhuoyue and his party to pass through.

On one side within the human wall were Zhou Donghuang and Lin Lan, with Fu and Granny Lian standing behind them. On the other side stood a sprightly old man of an average build with a ferocious look on his face. He was looking at them with disdain.

That old man was the fourth elder of the Lin family, Lin Tonghong.

"Patriarch, Head Elder."

Lin Tonghong bowed in respect when he saw Lin Zhuoyue and Lin Tianzheng approach, and the second elder of the Lin family Lin Chonghuan who had been present for some time walked towards Lin Zhuoyue.

"Patriarch."

Zhou Donghuang saw Lu Qinghu and Lu Bao as they walked over with Lin Zhuoyue and Lin Tianzheng.

Their eyes lit up when they saw that Zhou Donghuang had noticed them, and they were about to walk over to greet him when he stopped them with a look.

The two of them stopped in their tracks at once.

"Second Elder, this is the patriarch of the Lu family, who have just advanced to the rank of a preeminent family. This is Second Master Lu."

Lin Zhuoyue introduced Lu Qinghu and Lu Bao who stood beside him as Lin Chonghuan approached.

"Patriarch Lu, Second Elder Lu," Lin Chonghuan greeted them with a wide smile after they were introduced, knowing that the Lin family was at the Lu family's mercy.

"Second Elder, please begin," Lin Tianzheng instructed Lin Chonghuan. "Patriarch Lu and Second Master Lu are very curious as to what evidence a side relative of the Lin family can produce to prove that the formula for this blood-staunching elixir is hers. After this matter is resolved, we still need to return to the receiving chamber to discuss the matter of the rights to the Lu family's qi-gathering elixir," Lin Tianzheng prompted.

"I understand, Head Elder," Lin Chonghuan replied.

Just then, Lin Lan led Zhou Donghuang over, bowing to Lin Zhuoyue and Lin Tianzheng.

"Lin Lan acknowledges Patriarch, Head Elder."

"Humph!" Lin Zhuoyue snorted. "Lin Lan, do you still consider me your patriarch?"

This side relative, who ignored his orders and returned to the Lin family, was trampling on the dignity of the patriarch of the Lin family!

Today, no matter the outcome, he would not treat this matter lightly.

"Lin Lan, the patriarch and I already know the course of events… now, if you can produce evidence that this blood-staunching elixir is yours, it will suffice."

Lin Tianzheng looked at Lin Lan as he said this, and he hesitated as a grim look flashed across his eyes.

"If you are unable to produce this evidence and are found to be slandering Fourth Elder, the punishment will be the maximum… If that happens, your life is forfeit," Lin Tianzheng's tone was as cold as it could possibly be.

"Agreed." Lin Lan nodded solemnly.

Standing behind Lin Lan, Zhou Donghuang could clearly feel the enmity that Lin Zhuoyue and Lin Tianzheng felt towards his mother, Lin Lan, and the corners of his mouth curled upwards in a cold smile.

"Lin Lan, present your evidence." Lin Chonghuan looked at Lin Lan. "As long as you are able to produce irrefutable evidence to prove Fourth Elder stole the formula from you, the family clan will make amends."

"Yes, Second Elder," replied Lin Lan. "Donghuang."

Zhou Donghuang stepped forward and looked at Patriarch Lin Zhuoyue of the Lin family, he and said calmly, "Patriarch Lin, I heard that the Lin family has an intermediate-level medicine master? Let him be here as a witness."

"Who are you?" Lin Zhuoyue frowned at Zhou Donghuang and asked threateningly. "What does Lin Lan's business concern you?"

"Lin Lan is my mother. She was preparing to present the formula for the blood-staunching elixir to the Lin family to atone for her mistake, but it was stolen by the fourth elder of the Lin family, Lin Tonghong. This blood-staunching elixir was personally formulated by me… does Patriarch Lin feel that this is still none of my concern?" Zhou Donghuang countered as he glanced casually at Lin Zhuoyue.

"You personally formulated the blood-staunching elixir?"

Not just Lin Zhuoyue but also Lin Tianzheng, Lin Chonghuan, and all the people gathered there were stunned at Zhou Donghuang's claim.

However, the looks they gave Zhou Donghuang immediately after were full of intent to provoke and make fun of him.

"This youth claims that this blood-staunching elixir that is more effective than what our intermediate-level medicine master can formulate has been formulated personally by him?"

"Does he take us for idiots? At his age, passing off as an inferior-level medicine master would already be a feat… formulating a blood-staunching elixir of that quality is a fool's dream!"

"This is Lin Lan's 'proof'?"

…

The crowd of Lin family juniors shook their heads, none of them believing this youth dressed in white standing before them.

Now, out of all those present, other than Lin Lan, Fu, and Granny Lian, only Lu Qinghu and Lu Bao believed Zhou Donghuang.

The qi-gathering elixir that the Lu family had been selling like hotcakes throughout Yunfeng prefecture had been formulated by this youth before them. He could produce a formula for a qi-gathering elixir of that quality, so a formula for that blood-staunching elixir was nothing extraordinary.

However, thinking of the look Zhou Donghuang had given them, even though they wanted to stand up for Zhou Donghuang, they could only stand by and watch.

Besides, they knew full well that with Young Master Donghuang's ability, he was entirely capable of resolving this matter himself.

"Hahahaha…"

Lin Tonghong could not resist laughing out loud, and he laughed for a long time before finally glancing at Zhou Donghuang a second time with a look full of condescension and disdain.

"Little fellow, you really do talk big. How dare you say that this blood-staunching elixir was formulated personally by you?"

"Do you take us for idiots?" Lin Tonghong smiled coldly.

"What's the matter? The Lin family feels that I cannot formulate that blood-staunching elixir on account of my age? Why don't you summon your intermediate-level medicine master and we'll find out the truth?"

Zhou Donghuang ignored Lin Tonghong as he addressed Lin Zhuoyue calmly.

Now, Lin Zhuoyue looked at Zhou Donghuang with skepticism and disinterest.

"That won't be necessary," Lin Zhuoyue said indifferently. "Because whether or not we summon Medicine Master Huang, the result will be the same… that blood-staunching elixir could not possibly have been formulated by a young pup like you."

Medicine Master Huang was the intermediate-level medicine master employed by the Lin family.

"Lin Lan, do you have any other evidence? Don't embarrass yourself with this kind of evidence," Lin Zhuoyue asked impatiently, looking back at Lin Lan.

"Patriarch, the blood-staunching elixir produced from that formula was indeed formulated by my son Zhou Donghuang," Lin Lan said earnestly. "Invite Medicine Master Huang here and let him be the judge of it."

"Patriarch Lin feels there is no need to invite Medicine Master Huang over… could it possibly be to cover up for your fourth elder, Lin Tonghong?" Zhou Donghuang looked at Lin Zhuoyue with an electrifying gaze, and his tone was icy cold.

Just when Lin Zhuoyue's expression began to change at Zhou Donghuang's perceived insolence and he was about to react angrily, Lu Qinghu spoke up. "Patriarch Lin, why don't you invite your intermediate-level medicine master out…" Lu Qinghu suggested. "I, for one, would like to see how this youth will prove himself in front of an intermediate-level medicine master."

"I agree, Patriarch Lin," Lu Bao chimed in. "If you refuse to invite that intermediate-level medicine master over, it really will give the impression that you are covering up for your fourth elder, Lin Tonghong."

At Lu Qinghu's and Lu Bao's urging, Lin Zhuoyue glanced at Lin Chonghuan and instructed, "Second Elder, go and invite Medicine Master Huang over."

"Yes, Patriarch," Lin Chonghuan acknowledged and left.

"Little fellow, I would love to find out… how you are going to prove that you formulated the blood-staunching elixir once Medicine Master Huang gets here?" Lin Tonghong looked at Zhou Donghuang with a murderous glint in his eyes and smiled coldly.

Then he turned to Lin Zhuoyue and bowed, saying, "Patriarch, there is one thing I haven't told you yet. When I obtained that formula, Lin Lan had come to seek my help regarding the matter of the leaked formula by coincidence. Lin Lan was waiting at my residence, and I had placed the formula on the stone table in the courtyard. When I came out, she was reading the formula."

Lin Tonghong continued, "Therefore, if her memory is not impaired, she should be able to remember the herbs, and the combinations of herbs, in the formula."

"You lie!"

Lin Lan's expression changed, and she trembled in fury, fire burning in her eyes. "

That day when I gave you the formula, you said that you would present it to Patriarch… I never imagined that you would steal it, much less slander me!"

"So Lin Lan saw the formula."

Hearing Lin Tonghong's account, the gathered crowd of Lin family juniors seemed to come to a sudden realization. "Surely it is because she memorized the formula that she dares to accuse Fourth Elder of stealing her formula."

"Ridiculous! Obviously she is the thief, but still, she accuses Fourth Elder… what is her status compared to Fourth Elder's? How could Fourth Elder misappropriate her formula?"

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Chapter 52: An Even Better Blood-staunching Elixir

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The murmurings of the Lin family juniors reached Lin Lan's ears, angering her so greatly that she turned white.

For the first time, she felt a sense of alienation from this family.

Her own family clan members would rather believe Fourth Elder Lin Tonghong rather than her, just because she was a side relative?

"Lin Lan, if you cannot produce irrefutable evidence today that the formula is your own and not one that you copied from Fourth Elder… you may take your own life," Patriarch Lin Zhuoyue of the Lin family told Lin Lan with a cold gleam in his eye after hearing what Lin Tonghong had to say.

Hearing the bone-chilling declaration made Lin Lan finally realize that the patriarch of the Lin family was just like the Lin family juniors, believing Lin Tonghong's nonsense.

Is this kind of family clan really worth being sentimental over?

No… it's because Patriarch does not know the truth, that's why he misunderstands me.

It seemed as though there were two different voices arguing in Lin Lan's head,

Seeing how furious Lin Lan was, Zhou Donghuang's expression froze, and he stared coldly at Lin Zhuoyue and said in a low voice.

"Patriarch Lin, making such serious declarations before we find out the truth… isn't that rather inappropriate?"

"The results are already obvious… when Medicine Master Huang arrives, it will just be going through the motions," Lin Zhuoyue replied dismissively as he gazed indifferently at Zhou Donghuang.

Just then, from the edge of the crowd came a shout, "Second Elder is back!"

"Medicine Master Huang is here!"

The crowd parted to make a path for Second Elder Lin Conghuan to come in, and with him came a plain-looking middle-aged man with a small and thin build. This was the intermediate-level medicine master employed by the Lin family, Huang Qishan.

"Medicine Master Huang."

At Huang Qishan's appearance, everyone from Patriarch Lin Zhuoyue to the Lin family juniors greeted him warmly.

"Patriarch, who claims to have formulated the blood-staunching elixir given to you by Fourth Elder?" Huang Qishan asked bluntly as soon as he arrived.

"Him." Lin Zhuoyue glanced towards Zhou Donghuang.

As soon as Huang Qishan had taken a look at Zhou Donghuang, he gave a start before frowning and shouting angrily, "Absurd!"

"Even I, Huang Qishan, an intermediate-level medicine master, admit that I cannot formulate a blood-staunching elixir of such high quality. You, a kid who looks only sixteen or seventeen years old, would dare claim that you can formulate a blood-staunching elixir of this quality? Are you dreaming?"

Huang Qishan turned to leave with a flick of his sleeves once he had finished speaking.

"A mere intermediate-level medicine master like you is not worthy of debating with me regarding medicine." Zhou Donghuang spoke up casually just as Huang Qishan turned his back, "Allowing you to compare yourself with me, Zhou Donghuang… even feels like an insult to me."

"What did you say?!"

When Huang Qishan, who was about to leave, heard what Zhou Donghuang said, he turned around immediately in a rage, staring furiously at Zhou Donghuang.

"That is too much!"

Lin Zhuoyue and the rest of the Lin family leadership stared angrily at Zhou Donghuang, shouting out rebukes in unison.

Faced with condemnation from the Lin family leadership, Zhou Donghuang remained calm and took out from his pocket a piece of paper he had prepared long ago.

"The Lin family should have these herbs. Today, before your eyes, I will formulate a blood-staunching elixir that exceeds the effectiveness of those on the market by fifty percent, and I will enlighten you frogs in the well."

So saying, Zhou Donghuang tossed the paper in his hand to Huang Qishan who instinctively reached out and caught it.

Huang Qishan glanced instinctively at the herbs listed on the paper and frowned.

"These herbs… eight-tenths of these are the ingredients in Fourth Elder's blood-staunching elixir."

"I have said before that the blood-staunching elixir was made with a formula that I made… as for the blood-staunching elixir produced with these herbs, that is the enhanced version of it," Zhou Donghuang said casually.

The formula for the blood-staunching elixir that he had previously given his mother could only produce a blood-staunching elixir that was forty percent more effective than those on the market.

Now, he intended to formulate a blood-staunching elixir that was fifty percent more effective than those on the market and give the Lin family a resounding slap in the face.

Didn't they say I was too young to have formulated a blood-staunching elixir that was forty percent more effective than those on the market? Then I will formulate a blood-staunching elixir that is fifty percent more effective than those on the market before your very eyes!

"Ridiculous!"

Fourth Elder Lin Tonghong looked condescendingly at Zhou Donghuang, smiling coldly as he said, "Who in this world cannot boast? You say that you are able to formulate a blood-staunching elixir that is fifty percent more effective than those on the market, and I Lin Tonghong say that I can formulate a qi-gathering elixir that can increase the sensitivity to qi by twenty percent."

A qi-gathering elixir that could increase the sensitivity to qi by twenty percent could only be formulated by the superior-level medicine master of the Imperial Court of Yunyang country.

Standing beside Lin Tonghong, Lu Qinghu smiled coldly when he heard Lin Tonghong's words

What was a qi-gathering elixir that could increase the sensitivity to qi by twenty percent? Young Master Donghuang could even formulate a qi-gathering elixir that could increase the sensitivity to qi by forty percent!

"Patriarch, I would like to see how this runt can formulate a blood-staunching elixir that is fifty percent more effective than those on the market."

Huang Qishan walked towards Lin Zhuoyue and passed the piece of paper he was holding to him.

His meaning was clear—he wanted Lin Zhuoyue to gather the herbs listed on the paper so he could see Zhou Donghuang formulate the blood-staunching elixir.

"Medicine Maser Huang, do you feel this is really necessary?" Lin Zhuoyue asked with a frown.

"Yes!" Huang Qishan replied resolutely. "Today, if he cannot formulate that quality of blood-staunching elixir… he must kowtow in apology to me! This is the first time in my life that I, Huang Qishan, have been insulted in such a manner." Huang Qishan gave Zhou Donghuang a chilly gaze.

"With Medicine Master Huang's agreement, I'll instruct someone to get the herbs."

Lin Zhuoyue nodded and followed Huang Qishan's gaze to look at Zhou Donghuang, and smiled coldly as he said, "Today, if Zhou Donghuang cannot formulate the blood-staunching elixir as promised, not only will he have to kowtow to Medicine Master Huang in apology, but also the Lin family will not let him off lightly!"

As he finished speaking, Lin Zhuoyue passed the paper in his hand to Lin Tianzheng.

"Head Elder, please."

Lin Tianzheng raised his eyebrows as he glanced at the herbs listed on the paper.

"I'll send the herbs over in a few hours."

So saying, he left.

"Soon, I would like to see… what fate the adopted son of Lin Lan will suffer!"

"What fate he will suffer? From Patriarch's words, he's surely dead!"

"The most he can do is formulate a blood-staunching elixir that is forty percent more effective than those on the market based on the formula his mother stole from Fourth Elder. To formulate one that is fifty percent more effective is a fool's dream!"

Some of the looks that the Lin family juniors gave Zhou Donghuang were condescending, some were derisive, and some were even expressing delight at his impending doom.

A few hours could be long, but they could also feel short.

To the crowd gathered in the Lin family mansion, it seemed to pass by quickly.

The head elder of the Lin family, Lin Tianzheng, hurried back as soon as he could with the herbs that Zhou Donghuang had requested.

"The herbs are all here… Next, I would like to see how you formulate a blood-staunching elixir fifty percent more effective than those available!"

Lin Tianzheng tossed the bundled herbs to Zhou Donghuang and gave him a chilly look before backing away. And Zhou Donghuang for his part wasted no time; he proceeded immediately to formulate the blood-staunching elixir.

The necessary tools had all been prepared under the instruction of Huang Qishan during the time that Lin Tianzheng had been gathering the herbs.

Under the scrutiny of the crowd, Zhou Donghuang worked quickly, and he worked so naturally that at first glance, he looked like a medicine master with many years of experience formulating elixirs.

"What a show he's putting on!" Lin Tonghong laughed coldly.

However, Huang Qishan's expression had suddenly turned serious.

It is said that the layman enjoyed the show, while professionals appreciated the craft. Huang Qishan realized that Zhou Donghuang's speed and efficiency were far superior to his.

"With such speed… the elixir will probably be ready in an hour at most?" Huang Qishan whispered.

Of course, such thoughts did not mean Huang Qishan believed Zhou Donghuang could formulate a blood-staunching elixir fifty percent more effective than those available.

A blood-staunching elixir of such effectiveness was not something that an intermediate-level medicine master had the ability to formulate.

An hour later, just as Huang Qishan had thought, Zhou Donghuang stopped working, having formulated three bottles of blood-staunching elixir.

Of the three bottles of blood-staunching elixir, Zhou Donghuang kept one and gave one of the remaining two bottles to Huang Qishan and the other to Lin Zhuoyue.

"Try it," Zhou Donghuang said casually.

Huang Qishan eagerly slit his palm and poured the contents of the bottle over it.

However, Lin Zhuoyue did not even bother trying it because he felt it was completely unnecessary.

The gaze of the crowd gradually focused on Huang Qishan as they waited for him to declare the result…

Although the Lin family members present all felt that Zhou Donghuang would not be able to formulate a blood-staunching elixir of that quality, they still wanted to hear Huang Qishan announce the results personally.

Hmm?

However, they were soon left dumbfounded.

As they watched, Huang Qishan began to tremble, and his eyes lit up as he stared at the wound on his palm.

"This… could it be…?"

Seeing Huang Qishan lose his composure, the crowd of Lin family members felt a mounting sense of disbelief.

"Impossible!"

Lin Tonghong's expression changed completely.

"Medicine Master Huang, what is the result?"

At that moment, even Lin Zhuoyue, the patriarch of the Lin family, could no longer bear the suspense.

"The effectiveness of this blood-staunching elixir… is indeed fifty percent more than those available on the market!" Huang Qishan said in a voice full of emotion.

While Lin Zhuoyue and the other Lin family members were still stunned in disbelief, Huang Qishan looked back at Zhou Donghuang and bowed low with a serious expression.

"Regardless of whether this blood-staunching elixir was formulated personally by you or the formula was obtained elsewhere, in the matter of formulating blood-staunching elixirs, I, Huang Qishan, bow to your superiority."

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Chapter 53: The Wrath of Donghuang

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Bow to your superiority?

Huang Qishan's words caused many of the Lin family juniors who had just come to their senses to slip back into a state of shock.

Now, they were one step closer to acknowledging that Lin Lan's adopted son Zhou Donghuang really did formulate a blood-staunching elixir five times more effective than those available on the market!

"So, in your opinion… the formula that Fourth Elder Lin Tonghong of the Lin Family submitted to the Lin family is mine?"

"The blood-staunching elixir formulated with that formula and this one that you have just formulated yourself have similar ingredients, so naturally it is the work of the same person." Huang Qishan nodded sagely.

At Huang Qishan's words, Lin Tonghong's expression changed, and he said urgently to Huang Qishan, "Medicine Master Huang! Lin Lan must have stolen my formula, and this little fellow must have used it as a template and improved on it by adding on more herbs. Even if he formulated a blood-staunching elixir five times more effective than those available on the market, it is not enough to prove that the formula is really his!"

Lin Tonghong was really in a panic now. He never imagined that the adopted son of Lin Lan would have such a move prepared.

More importantly, this intermediate-level medicine master before him could not be controlled by the Lin family and would not be concerned with protecting him.

"Are you questioning my competency in medicine?" Huang Qishan looked at Lin Tonghong distastefully and challenged him in a chilly tone, "I'll give you one month. If you can produce an even more effective blood-staunching elixir by adding herbs to this precious formula of the Lin family, I will kowtow ten times to you! Fourth Elder, I was wondering where you obtained that formula, but I never imagined that it was stolen from someone else."

Huang Qishan shook his head as he spoke, then turned his back and left straight away.

Huang Qishan was an intermediate-level medicine master and was the absolute authority on medicine amongst those present. In the eyes of the Lin family juniors, his words carried more weight than Fourth Elder Lin Tonghong's, who was not even an inferior-level medicine master.

"That formula… did Fourth Elder really steal it from Lin Lan?"

It was only after Huang Qishan had left that the Lin family juniors regained their wits and looked at Lin Tonghong with completely different expressions.

The esteemed fourth elder had stooped so low as to steal a formula from a side relative? Moreover, he dared to pass it off as his own, submitted it to the family and proceeded to slander the other party and accuse them of stealing his formula?

It was only because they were frightened of Lin Tonghong's power that the crowd of Lin family juniors didn't curse and condemn him.

"Lin Tonghong."

After Huang Qishan had left, Zhou Donghuang's icy gaze settled on Lin Tonghong.

Lin Lan was overcome with relief and heaved a long sigh.

Her son, after a great deal of effort and without resorting to threats of violence, had managed to secure justice for her.

"Patriarch Lin, your Fourth Elder Lin Tonghong has committed such wrongdoings, I wonder how you are going to deal with him?" Zhou Donghuang asked meaningfully, glancing casually at Lin Zhuoyue.

Lin Zhuoyue's eyes twitched when he heard this, and he could not come up with a reply.

"Big Brother!"

Lin Tonghong gave Lin Tianzheng a pleading look, anxiety and panic on his face.

"Big Brother?"

When he heard Lin Tonghong thus address the head elder of the Lin family, Zhou Donghuang squinted as a cold gleam flashed across his eyes.

"Head Elder and Fourth Elder are cousins, they grew up together, so they are as close as blood brothers," Lin Lan explained, as though she could see Zhou Donguang's suspicion. Lin Lan continued, "However, even Medicine Master Huang has determined that Lin Tonghong stole my formula in the presence of so many Lin family juniors. Head Elder could not protect him even if he wanted to."

"I don't necessarily think so."

Zhou Donghuang shook his head. It was evident that he did not agree completely with Lin Lan and remained noncommittal.

"Humph!"

While Lin Lan was stunned by Zhou Donghuang's words, the head elder of the Lin family Lin Tianzheng gave a snort and stepped forward.

As he stepped forward, he gave Zhou Donghuang a cold look and said in a low voice, "To be able to improve on Fourth Elder's formula and produce an even better blood-staunching elixir, it has to be said that you, Zhou Donghuang, are a genius."

"Today, if you leave the improved formula here, it will count as Lin Lan's redemption, and regardless of the matter of stealing the formula or disregarding Patriarch's command not to return or even slandering Fourth Elder, it will all be wiped clean! The Lin family will not punish her any further."

Lin Tianzheng finished speaking and swept a cold gaze across Lin Lan, his murderous expression extremely threatening.

Lin Lan's expression completely changed in an instant! She was easily able to discern what Lin Tianzheng really meant.

He meant that all the charges against Lin Lan still stood, but if her son Zhou Donghuang turned over the formula for the blood-staunching elixir he had just made, she would have made up for her "crimes."

"Patriarch…"

Lin Lan looked at Lin Zhuoyue as though clutching to the last straw of life, biting her lip and looking expectantly at him.

Feeling Lin Lan's gaze on him, Lin Zhuoyue merely looked at her indifferently and declared with an apathetic expression, "Do as Head Elder says. As long as your son Zhou Donghuang turns over the formula, you will be considered to have redeemed yourself."

Under Lin Lan's expectant gaze, Lin Zhuoyue merely repeated everything Lin Tianzheng had said, causing her to grow even paler.

"Second Elder."

Lin Lan sucked in a breath and looked to Lin Chonghuan, pinning her last hopes on the second elder of the Lin family whom she had always seen as fair and unbiased.

"Lin Lan, allow your son Zhou Donghuang to hand over the formula."

A look of regret flashed across Lin Chonghuan's face, but it vanished quickly, and his expression grew serious.

Lin Lan's already pale face grew even paler at Lin Chonghuan's words, and she swayed on her feet as though about to fall.

Many of the Lin family juniors present were dumbfounded.

"What is happening?"

"Didn't Fourth Elder steal Lin Lan's formula? Medicine Master Huang confirmed it himself, how could Head Elder, Patriarch, and Second Elder do this?"

"In matters of medicine, even they do not have the same authority as Medicine Master Huang!"

These were the thoughts of the younger Lin family juniors.

Hearing what they said, the older Lin family juniors shook their heads and whispered among themselves, saying, "This time, right and wrong no longer matters."

"Exactly. To the family, protecting the reputation of Fourth Elder as a future level-four adept of Qi-gathering is more important, as is securing the formula for this blood-staunching elixir that is five times more effective than those available."

"Lin Lan, as a side relative… how can she compare in value to Fourth Elder?"

"Too bad Lin Lan just did not have more luck when being born."

…

It was only after the older Lin family juniors began to whisper among themselves that the younger ones came to a realization.

The looks they gave Lin Lan became looks of pity.

"Mother, is this the family you love so dearly?"

Zhou Donghuang stepped forward to assist Lin Lan who looked that she would fall over at any time, and he whispered to her, "In the eyes of this kind of family, their benefit outweighs any notion of justice."

As Zhou Donghuang finished speaking, Lin Lan swept a chilly gaze across Lin Zhuoyue and the assembled leadership of the Lin family and declared in a hoarse voice, "From this day on, I, Lin Lan, renounce the Lin family and will no longer be a member of the Lin family!"

Blow after blow had shaken Lin Lan to the point where she no longer considered the Lin family to be a fundamental part of her life.

"You have my permission," Lin Zhuoyue replied indifferently.

From his point of view, the departure of a side relative would not have any impact on the Lin family.

"Donghuang, your mother does not wish to remain here… not a moment longer."

Lin Lan looked at Zhou Donghuang pleadingly, and her voice was full of emotion. She looked like she was on the verge of losing her composure.

"Of course!" Zhou Donghuang nodded. "Mother, we'll leave now."

So saying, Zhou Donghuang helped support Lin Lan as they prepared to leave. As for the debt of the Lin family, he intended to return some other time to collect it.

"You may leave if you wish, but hand over the formula!"

Just as Lin Lan, supported by Zhou Donghuang and followed by Fu and Granny Lian were about to leave, the fourth elder of the Lin family Lin Tonghong called out.

As soon as he had spoken, Lin Tonghong stepped across to bar the way of Zhou Donghuang and the others, staring at him fiercely.

"And what if I don't want to?"

Zhou Donghuang looked calmly at Lin Tonghong, his face betraying no emotion and his tone completely even, as though he was thoroughly disinterested.

"If you don't hand over the formula, the Lin family will pursue every last detail of Lin Lan's offenses." Lin Tonghong smiled coldly. "Lin Lan, disregarding the patriarch's order and returning to the family is the foremost offense, stealing the formula that I submitted to the family is the second, and slandering me, the fourth elder of the Lin family, is the third. The punishment for multiple crimes should be death!"

A murderous look flashed across Lin Tonghong's eyes as he said this.

"How dare you!"

Zhou Donghuang handed Lin Lan over to Granny Lian's care and stepped forward, his white clothes lifting up in the wind.

In that moment, the fury and rage in Zhou Donghuang's eyes that had been long suppressed burst forth in a flood!

"I planned to send my mother back to rest before returning to settle this debt with the Lin family… but since the Lin family is in a hurry, I, Zhou Donghuang, will oblige you all!"

Zhou Donghuang grinned, showing his two rows of white teeth. This youth looked like the sun had transformed into a demon from hell in that instant.

The Lin family is in deep trouble.

Seeing Zhou Donghuang in this state, the patriarch of the Lu family, Lu Qinghu, who was standing beside Lin Zhuoyue, shook his head at how extremely stupid the Lin family was!

If the Lu family had a side relative like Lin Lan, who had an adopted son like Zhou Donghuang, he would laugh till he woke himself from his dream.

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Chapter 54: Doing as he Wishes

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"Settle accounts? You?"

Lin Tonghong looked condescendingly at Zhou Donghuang with a derisive expression and continued, "Even if that Freezing Wind were here, he would not dare to say such things."

The last time Lin Tonghong went to Qingshan town intending to seize Zhou Donghuang's Yunxuan Restaurant, he had been defeated by Freezing Wind and sent packing with his tail between his legs.

Therefore, in his view, the strongest person that Zhou Donghuang and Lin Lan had with them was Freezing Wind.

But he did not know that Freezing Wind's ability was given to him by Zhou Donghuang, and without Zhou Donghuang, Freezing Wind might not even have attained level-two of Qi-gathering by now.

"Enough!"

Zhou Donghuang had long ago lost his patience, and seeing that Lin Tonghong still dared to carry on with his nonsense, he let out a shout of impatience and sprang into action.

Star-Stepping Footwork!

Zhou Donghuang swayed and stepped in a series of peculiar steps. He moved like a flash of lightning as he suddenly appeared right before Lin Tonghong, who was standing not far away.

Lin Tonghong's expression changed immediately in the instant that Zhou Donghuang appeared before him.

How could this Zhou Donghuang be so fast?

Just as this thought appeared in Lin Tonghong's mind, he saw Zhou Donghuang's palm rise and descend towards his head.

At this moment, his reaction was still a split-second too slow.

There was only one reason why the scene played out as it did: the difference in their ability was too great.

"No—!"

In the same instant that Lin Tonghong cried out in desperation, Zhou Donghuang's palm landed like a tiger bounding down a mountain.

Pong!!

Zhou Donghuang's palm struck Lin Tonghong's skull, and he fell to the ground with a crash, raising a cloud of dust.

From the time Zhou Donghuang first moved till the time he killed Lin Tonghong with a single blow, the entire process had happened in the blink of an eye, too fast for the people present to react.

Now, seeing Lin Tonghong fall lifeless to the ground, the gathered crowd of Lin family members all sucked in a cold breath.

Lin Tonghong was the fourth elder of the Lin family, an outstanding level-three adept of Qi-gathering, with a good chance of attaining level-four of Qi-gathering within ten years. But now, he was dead before them, and moreover, he was dead at the hands of a youth who looked to be no more than sixteen or seventeen years old.

"I'm not dreaming, am I?"

"This… this is too incredible. He killed Fourth Elder?"

As the Lin family juniors began to come to their senses, they exchanged glances and saw disbelief and incredulity in each other's eyes.

Several of them even pinched themselves to confirm that they were not dreaming.

"Fourth Elder!"

The patriarch of the Lin family, Lin Zhuoyue, Second Elder Lin Chonghuan, and the rest of the Lin family leadership regained their senses. Their expressions changed completely.

When they looked again at the youth standing beside Lin Tonghong's corpse, their gazes were filled with disbelief without exception.

If they had not seen it with their own eyes, they would never have believed that such a youth had the ability to kill the fourth elder of the Lin family, a level-three adept of Qi-gathering, Lin Tonghong.

Among the Lin family leadership, the head elder, Lin Tianzheng, was the last to come to his senses.

"Little Brother Hong!"

After he regained his senses, Lin Tianzheng stared in anguish at Lin Tonghong's lifeless body, and he wailed in sorrow, his body trembling in anger.

Lin Tonghong was only his cousin, but to him, they were no different from brothers. And now, seeing Lin Tonghong killed before his eyes, he was filled with rage. He had no intention of holding back!

"Zhou Donghuang, you killed my little brother, Hong, I will kill you!"

Lin Tianzheng was furious beyond reason and was not considering whether Zhou Donghuang's ability was beyond his own. He sprang forward at Zhou Donghuang like a hound fixed on its prey.

Although he was almost beyond reason, nevertheless, when he was approaching Zhou Donghuang, Lin Tianzheng did not dare to be reckless. He used the Lin family's lesser-grade technique, Crazy Python Punch.

Swoosh!!

Lin Tianzheng was a level-four adept and struck with the strength of four bulls, just over three thousand jin of force, in an impressive show of force. And Lin Tianzheng's attacking arm in that moment seemed to become a frenzied python, barreling towards Zhou Donghuang.

"A good attempt!"

Faced with Lin Tianzheng's furious attack, Zhou Donghuang laughed indifferently and shifted his weight as his whole body shot forward.

Swoosh!!

As his body shot forward, Zhou Donghuang threw a punch like a cannonball, and it met the furious assault of Lin Tianzheng's fist.

Thunderbolt Punch was a second-grade technique with an emphasis on directness, speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness, destroying enemies with sheer force and fury.

With this second-grade technique, Thunderbolt Punch, in addition to Zhou Donghuang's strength that was no less than Lin Tianzheng's, one could imagine the power of his attack.

Pong!!

Under the gaze of the crowd, Zhou Donghuang and Lin Tianzheng exchanged blows, and it was glaringly obvious that his fist was a size smaller than Lin Tianzheng's.

Ka-chak!!

"Ahhhh—!"

Before the crowd could react, they heard the clear sound of bones cracking and snapping, followed closely by a hoarse and shrill cry of agony.

Zhou Donghuang stood where he was, unmoved, and Lin Tianzheng was sent flying to land awkwardly more than three meters away on the ground. His attacking arm was broken, obviously maimed by Zhou Donghuang's one blow.

Their strength was comparable, but a second-grade technique was completely superior to a lesser-grade technique.

Therefore, this was the result.

In that moment, silence reigned.

Even Lu Qinghu and Lu Bao could not help staring dumbfounded at the scene.

It turned out that even without the black iron spear, this Young Master Donghuang's ability was equally formidable.

Lin Tianzheng was not just an ordinary level-four adept. He was a level-four adept of the preeminent Lin family, second in power only to the patriarch of the Lin family Lin Zhuoyue. He had long since forged his reputation with his exploits in Yunfeng prefecture.

Such a person had now lost an arm while exchanging blows with a youth.

Hss! Hss! Hss! Hss!

The gathered crowd of Lin family juniors let out a cold breath as they came to their senses after this second shock.

When did the head elder of the Lin family become so weak that he could not withstand a single blow?

Was this really the head elder of the Lin family, a level-four adept?

"You… you are… a level-five adept of Qi-gathering?!"

Lin Tianzheng gritted his teeth as he endured the pain from his broken arm, and when he looked at Zhou Donghuang, it was with shock and dread. It was as though he had seen a ghost, his voice trembling with anxiety.

Simultaneously, Zhou Donghuang slowly stepped forward towards Lin Tianzheng with an apathetic expression, his chilly gaze showing no hint of emotion.

With every step he took, Lin Tianzheng grew more stressed, causing him to grow more and more pale.

"You… you want to kill me? No! You cannot kill me! If you kill me, the Lin family will not let you go!"

Lin Tianzheng was panicking.

"The Lin family?"

Zhou Donghuang laughed derisively, and he darted forward like a gust of wind and brought his palm down as Lin Tianzheng raised himself up on his good arm to try to flee. It was swift and efficient.

Hong!

Another member of the Lin family fell, following in the footsteps of Fourth Elder Lin Tonghong. This was the head elder of the Lin family, Lin Tianzheng.

"You… you actually… actually killed Head Elder?"

Seeing Lin Tianzheng die, Patriarch Lin Zhuoyue glared at Zhou Donghuang in anger as he trembled in rage.

But he did not dare make a move.

The ability Zhou Donghuang had displayed far exceeded his own, and if he rushed forward, he would probably not escape with his life.

Faced with Lin Zhuoyue's glare, Zhou Donghuang merely swept an indifferent gaze over him and gave him a carefree smile.

"When I, Zhou Donghuang, do things, I always do as I please, and whoever takes issue with that is begging to be taught a lesson!"

"With your ability, why did you go through the trouble of formulating the blood-staunching elixir to clear Lin Lan's name?" Lin Zhuoyue asked in a low voice. "You, are you making fun of us?"

He could not comprehend it.

With Zhou Donghuang's ability, he could have forced the Lin family into compliance with the threat of force right from the start. He could have forced the Lin family to deal with Fourth Elder Lin Tonghong…

Even if Lin Tonghong had not actually stolen Lin Lan's formula, with Zhou Donghuang's ability, no one would have said otherwise!

The planet of Ziyun was one where only the strong gained respect, and adepts who were strong enough could establish their own rules and order.

"I did indeed think of doing that," Zhou Donghuang said as he looked at Granny Lian who was supporting Lin Lan. His gaze softened, and he continued, "However, my mother did not want me to do so. She said that if I did that… I would be no different from Lin Tonghong who had stolen her formula and tried to suppress her with force. Besides, she had the utmost belief in the Lin family and did not want me to raise my hand to make the first move against the Lin family."

He paused and seemed to have suddenly recalled something. Zhou Donghuang's electrifying gaze fell on the crowd, on a middle-aged man who had just turned around and was about to leave.

"Lin Hua!" Zhou Donghuang called out casually. "Are you going to come here on your own… or do I have to go over to you?"

The middle-aged man who Zhou Donghuang was staring at was Lin Hua. He had let them into the Lin family mansion several days ago and proceeded to slander them, accusing them of sneaking in.

Thud!

Hearing Zhou Donghuang's voice, Lin Hua trembled violently and turned around, sprinting to Zhou Donghuang and kneeling down before him. He was trembling and frightened to the core.

"Young Master Donghuang, I deserve to die! I should not have slandered you! I deserve to die! I deserve to die!"

As Lin Hua spoke, he raised his hands and slapped himself repeatedly on both cheeks, as though he would not stop until Zhou Donghuang told him to.

He hoped that this would be lenient and spare his life.

He had just witnessed Zhou Donghuang kill the fourth elder and head elder of the Lin family. He was already frightened out of his wits.

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Chapter 55: Uproar in the Prefecture Capital

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The large back courtyard of the Lin family mansion was silent except for the sound of Lin Hua slapping himself and begging for his life,

"Slander?"

"What has Lin Hua done? I don't understand!"

Many of the Lin family juniors wore a confused expression and had no idea what had happened.

Of course, although they had no idea what had happened, they knew one thing for certain: Lin Hua had offended Lin Lan's adopted son, Zhou Donghuang, who was incredibly fearsome.

Otherwise, why would Zhou Donghuang single him out when so many Lin family juniors were present?

"Lin Hua, you're really digging yourself into a hole."

The side relative who had been guarding the main entrance of the mansion that day was also present, and he shook his head and sighed.

"Lin Nan, you know how Lin Hua offended this Zhou Donghuang?" A Lin family junior standing beside him asked in curiosity.

As Lin Nan related the details of the matter, realization dawned on the crowd of Lin family juniors as they finally understood why Zhou Donghuang had singled Lin Hua out.

"Lin Hua is really malicious… I never heard of him bearing a grudge against Lin Lan?"

"I remember, Lin Hua was Lin Lan's suitor, and the kind who would not be put off… Finally, he only stopped pursuing Lin Lan after she publicly rejected him."

"He could not possibly be bearing a grudge after all this time, could he?"

"He could."

"If it really was because of this, isn't this Lin Hua too petty?"

…

The crowd of Lin family juniors looked once more at Lin Hua with spite.

"I wonder how this Zhou Donghuang is going to deal with Lin Hua."

The gaze of many of the Lin family juniors fell on Zhou Donghuang.

"If you knew how it would turn out, you wouldn't have acted in that way." Under the gaze of the crowd, Zhou Donghuang gazed indifferently at Lin Hua before raising his leg and bringing it down to kill Lin Hua with a single stomp. The sound of Lin Hua begging and slapping himself stopped immediately.

Zhou Donghuang killed Lin Hua with a single stomp as casually as one might kill an ant.

All the Lin family juniors watching felt their scalp tingle.

After Zhou Donghuang took his leg off Lin Hua, he swept his gaze over the patriarch of the Lin family, Lin Zhuoyue. That look frightened him so much that his expression changed as though doom was descending upon him.

Only when Zhou Donghuang took his gaze off Lin Zhuoyue did he then release his breath.

Seeing Zhou Donghuang's gaze fell on him, the second elder of the Lin family, Lin Chonghuan, gave a bitter look without being fearful like Lin Zhuoyue, as though he did not care whether he lived or died.

"We're wrong, all wrong… Head Elder was wrong, Patriarch was wrong, and I was wrong too."

Lin Chonghuan knew that that day, every single one of them had been wrong. Otherwise, if Lin Lan had been welcomed into the Lin family, her adopted son Zhou Donghuang would also have been a part of the family.

With such ability at sixteen or seventeen years of age, who knew what he would become in thirty years' time?

The Lin family had missed a golden opportunity.

"Donghuang, let's go."

Just then, Lin Lan called out to Zhou Donghuang. She had watched impassively at everything Zhou Donghuang had done from beginning to end.

The belief she had in the Lin family had crumbled completely from the moment she had announced that she was renouncing the Lin family.

Now, the Lin family was no longer important to her, and she did not consider herself to be a member of the Lin family.

"Okay."

Zhou Donghuang acknowledged her and returned to her side, helping her along as he led Fu and Granny Lian towards the main entrance of the Lin family mansion.

"Lin Lan!"

Lin Chonghuan gritted his teeth and finally looked at Lin Lan and called out to her, "Would you still consider staying in the Lin family? The Lin family can give you justice."

Lin Chonghuan put his dignity aside for the sake of the Lin family.

"Justice?" Lin Lan turned around at this, gazing at Lin Chonghuan indifferently. "Second Elder, do I, Lin Lan, still need the Lin family to dispense justice? My justice has already been delivered by my son. As for the Lin family… from this day on, I, Lin Lan, will have nothing to do with you!"

With that, Lin Lan left with Zhou Donghuang, and the gathered crowd of Lin family juniors parted to let them through, staring at them as they left.

They had the same bitter smile on their faces. Just like Lin Chonghuan, they knew that the Lin family had just missed a golden opportunity.

Lin Lan and her adopted son, Zhou Donghuang, would have been the greatest assets of the Lin family. But now, they had been thrown out the door by the Lin family!

"Second Elder, if she wants to leave, we'll let her… the Lin family will not miss an insignificant side relative!" Lin Zhuoyue said in a heavy voice. Although he sounded unperturbed, everyone in the Lin family knew that he was trying to salvage the last shred of dignity.

Today, the greatest loss of the Lin family had not been the deaths of the head elder and fourth elder of the Lin family, but Lin Lan's departure.

Lin Lan had left, bringing with her a sixteen or seventeen-year old youth that was most likely already a level-five adept.

"Farewell, Patriarch Lin."

Seeing Zhou Donghuang leave, Lu Qinghu did not intend to linger, and he bade Lin Zhuoyue farewell before leaving with Lu Bao.

"Patriarch Lu, wait!"

Seeing this, Lin Zhuoyue called out hastily to Lu Qinghu. "We haven't discussed the rights to the Lu family's qi-gathering elixir…"

"There's no need for discussion."

Before Lin Zhuoyue could finish, he was interrupted by Lu Qinghu, who had stopped. He turned around to gaze indifferently at Lin Zhuoyue, and said, "The Lu family will never give the rights for our qi-gathering elixir to the Lin family… From this day on, the Lu family will not cooperate with the Lin family in any aspect."

With that, a cold smile spread over Lu Qinghu's face.

"Hmmm?"

Lin Zhuoyue's expression changed completely at Lu Qinghu's words, and he asked instinctively, "Why not?"

"Because, the owner of the formula for the Lu family's qi-gathering elixir is none other than Lady Lin Lan's adopted son, Zhou Donghuang! The Lu family was only helping him with the manufacture and sale of the qi-gathering elixir."

Lu Qinghu finished speaking and left with Lu Bao.

Only when their silhouettes vanished from the sight of the crowd of did the Lin family members regain their wits, and the expressions of shock spread over their faces as one.

"My god! The formula for the Lu family's qi-gathering elixir actually belongs to Lin Lan's adopted son, Zhou Donghuang?"

"This… how is this possible?!"

"Patriarch Lu of the Lu family said so himself, it cannot be false."

"I never thought, I really never thought… Lin Lan's adopted son was a hidden dragon all along!"

"That hidden dragon should have been the Lin family's all along."

In that moment, the crowd of Lin family juniors all sighed at their missed opportunity, but they did not dare voice out the resentment against their patriarch, Lin Zhuoyue.

"Patriarch, I'm going back."

The second elder of the Lin family, Lin Chonghuan, gave a long sigh and greeted him before leaving, cutting a lonely and desolate figure as he went. And Lin Zhuoyue, the patriarch, was left rooted to the ground, his expression unreadable as he was lost in his own thoughts.

Soon, Lin Zhuoyue regained his senses, and he swept a cold gaze across the crowd of Lin family juniors.

"If anyone spreads word about what happened today, they will suffer the discipline of the family!"

With that, he left.

Although Lin Zhuoyue's words had intimidated some of the Lin family juniors, many of the braver Lin family juniors did spread the news.

In just several days, the entire capital of Yunfeng prefecture knew what had occurred on October 10, 1228 of the Ziyun era in the back courtyard of the Lin family mansion: Zhou Donghuang, a youth of only seventeen years old and also the adopted son of Lin Lan, a side relative of the Lin family, killed the fourth elder and head elder of the Lin family, implying that he had already attained level-five of Qi-gathering!

The news spread, and the entire capital of Yunfeng prefecture was shaken by it.

It was easy to imagine how not only the prefecture capital but also the entire Yunfeng prefecture and the prefectures adjoining it would be shaken by this news as it continued to spread.

In the history of Yunyang, there had never been a seventeen-year-old, level-five adept of Qi-gathering.

Zhou Donghuang's accomplishment was unprecedented in the country of Yunyang.

Of course, when this news spread, many people would remain skeptical. Unless they saw it with their own eyes, it would be very difficult for them to believe that Yunfeng prefecture could produce a level-five adept who was only seventeen years old.

After all, this had never happened before in the history of Yunyang.

…

In the governor's mansion, the Zhao family.

"Elder San, have you heard about the latest uproar in the prefecture capital?"

The steward of the Hall of Gods, Zhao Ruochen, stood in the peaceful courtyard and questioned Zhao San, who was sitting at a stone table and leisurely sipping a cup of tea.

"What is it?"

Zhao San had not been out recently and had stayed in his room practicing. He took his meals in his room and had only left his room an hour before.

"Elder San, that Zhou Donghuang has come to the prefecture capital again… five days before, he was in the back courtyard of the Lin family mansion, and in a rage on his mother's behalf, killed the fourth elder and head elder of the Lin family!"

As soon as Zhao Ruochen had finished speaking, the teacup in Zhao San's hand was shattered with a crack, and his originally relaxed expression was replaced by one of shock.

"This… has been verified?" Zhao San asked after drawing in a deep breath and taking a moment to calm himself down. He looked solemnly at Zhao Ruochen.

"I have gotten someone to track down the accounts of the Lin family juniors present that day, and they have all verified it," Zhao Ruochen said.

"That Zhou Donghuang… where is he now?" Zhao San asked urgently, standing up suddenly and staring at Zhao Ruochen with an electrifying gaze.

Although he had discerned that there was something mysterious about Zhou Donghuang in the past, he did not imagine that Zhou Donghuang, who was only seventeen years old, had the ability to kill Head Elder Lin Tianzheng of the Lin family.

Even in his current state, and with the swiftness technique of the Zhao family, he would not necessarily be a match for Lin Tianzheng.

"He's at the Lu family," Zhao Ruochen replied.

"The Lu family? The Lu family that has just recently advanced to become a preeminent family?" Zhao San asked.

"Yes."

Zhao Ruochen nodded.

"I already thought that it was strange for the patriarch of the Lu family, Lu Qinghu to suddenly break through so abruptly after failing all these years."

There was a gleam in Zhao San's eyes, as though he had a thought.

"Elder San, you mean… Lu Qinghu's breakthrough had something to do with Zhou Donghuang?" Zhao Ruochen's eyes narrowed suddenly.

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The Li family household.

As one of the preeminent families in Yunfeng county, the Li family had yet to recover from the loss of Second Young Master Li Pingyun.

"Is it confirmed?" Li family chief, Li Jingyu, asked as he looked at the Li family elder before him.

"Chief, it's been confirmed… it's true," the Li family elder smiled sadly.

"I knew it. No wonder Lu Qinghu and Fang Tianyi didn't avenge their son. They even went all the way to Qingshan town to be at Zhou Donghuang's beck at call… Zhou Donghuang is actually so powerful?" Li Jingyu's eyes glinted. "Looks like the death of the former Ma family chief, Ma Tianba probably had something to do with him as well."

"Chief, Zhou Donghuang appears to be a level-five adept… our Li family cannot afford to offend him," said the Li family elder.

"We have never done anything to him before, and especially not now… we'll wait for my eldest daughter to return from Guangling prefecture first. If there is really nothing we can do, I don't want to avenge my son either, in case we fail and even end up losing our whole family." Though Li Jingyu said this calmly, his fists were clenched so tightly that they had started bleeding. It was clear that he was furious!

For now, he could only plant his hopes on his eldest daughter who had married the junior governor of the intermediate-level Guangling prefecture. Although she was just a concubine, she was the most loved amongst the many wives and concubines of the junior governor.

"In my letter to her, I told her to come back with the junior governor of Guangling prefecture… who knows if she'll be coming back alone this time, or with him. If the junior governor comes back with her, perhaps we can avenge my son!"

Guangling county was an intermediate-level prefecture. The Wu family, the household that controlled Guangling prefecture, was a grand family with many level-six adepts. Wherever his son-in-law went, he would be accompanied by at least two level-five adepts.

…

At this time, on the other side of the Li family household.

"Impossible… Impossible… Zhou Donghuang is a martial invalid, how could he possibly become a level-five adept? Furthermore, he… he's only seventeen years old!" Li Rui shook her head continuously as she refused to believe this was true. But the more she asked, the more hopeless she felt.

Now, even though she said that she did not believe it, deep within her heart, she still knew that it was true. She just could not be resigned to the fact. Back then, outside the main door of the Qingyun guild in Ningping county, her mother Li Yun had told her, "Rui'er, you're wrong. Zhou Donghuang is a dragon amongst men. You will regret giving him up."

Li Rui was regretting it now. She had always wanted to find a man of high status so that she too could enjoy the prestige, but now, she had given up on her best chance. That Zhou Donghuang whom she had looked down upon was truly a dragon amongst men, as her mother had said.

…

The Hong family was also one of the preeminent families in the capital of Yunfeng county. By then, someone in the Hong family had also heard the news that was spreading outside like wildfire.

"Zhou Donghuang killed a level-four adept, Lin Tianzheng, the head elder of the Lin family?" A young lady with a slim figure clad in a pale yellow shirt had an incredulous expression on her youthful face. "How could that useless piece of trash have such power?" Her eyes were filled with disbelief.

"Uncle Hong, is that true?" The young lady turned to the man who had told her the news, a middle-aged man dressed in a flowing green gown and a stern look on his face.

The man was none other than Hong Wei, chief of the preeminent Hong family.

"Dandan, it's true." Hong Wei nodded his head solemnly. "I sent someone to find out. Zhou Donghuang had indeed killed Lin Tianzheng. That day, Lin Tianzheng even used the Lin family fist motion technique, 'Crazy Python Punch, but after one round with Zhou Donghuang, his whole body flew backward and his arm was broken. The power that Zhou Donghuang showed that day is hardly inferior to a level-five adept." Although this was not the first time he had known about this, Hong Wei's face was still full of shock.

The young lady was none other than Chen Dandan, Lin Lan's adopted daughter and step-sister of Zhou Donghuang when he was younger. Because she had betrayed Lin Lan and released the Lin family medicine formulas to the Hong family, she had totally broken off contact with Lin Lan and Zhou Donghuang. After leaving Qingshan town, she had come to the preeminent Hong family.

"I had grown up with that trash… I know all about him. How could he possibly have such power?" Chen Dandan still could not believe it, but she had no choice but to trust the words of Hong Wei, the chief of the Hong family.

"Dandan, even if he is talented, if he cannot enter the Valley of Medicine Masters, he will not be able to transcend near perfection of the gathered qi," said Hong Wei with a smile. "And now, Yun Feng is already in the Valley of Medicine Masters, and you are on your way there. With the help of Medicine Master Zong Er, the two of you will sooner or later be able to reach god tier. From gathered qi to god tier, that's such a huge jump that they are not even in the same league… Zhou Donghuang will never be able to compete with you then."

The Valley of Medicine Masters was a sect that ruled over the country of Yunyang, and even the imperial court had to give them offerings regularly. Beneath the Valley of Medicine Masters, there were sixteen countries, like Yunyang country, also named the "Sixteen Countries of the East Valley."

Within the country of Yunyang, adepts with near perfection of the gathered qi could be considered titans. But in the Valley of Medicine Masters, there were adepts who had even reached god tier, and there were quite a number of them.

"But if… he really is so talented, once the Valley of Medicine Masters hears of it, won't they definitely want to have him?" Chen Dandan frowned worriedly.

"Haha…" Hong Wei laughed. "Dandan, you don't have to worry about this at all. In the Valley of Medicine Masters, the person in charge of receiving people from Yunyang is you and Yunfei's teacher, the second elder, Chen Tianhe. As long as Zhou Donghuang does not get past him, he will never be able to enter the Valley of Medicine Masters. After you go there and become Elder Chen's disciple, as long as you and Yunfei become good friends with the other disciples there… you can even ask them to help you kill Zhou Donghuang. I believe those arrogant disciples of the Valley of Medicine Masters also do not wish to see a lad from a small town rising above them someday?" As he said this, a murderous glint flashed in Hong Wei's eyes.

Hearing this, Chen Dandan immediately lit up. "You're right! We can kill him before he advances further. Zhou Donghuang, you are destined to be trampled beneath my feet… don't ever think of redeeming yourself!" Chen Dandan laughed to herself quietly.

Leaving Chen Dandan's courtyard, Hong Wei's eyes glimmered as he smiled. "Who would have thought that a preeminent family like us would one day have relations with the Valley of Medicine Masters. As long as Yunfei and Dandan get together, eventually, our Hong family will be closely linked to the second elder of the Valley of Medicine Masters. By then, don't bother with the grand and tycoon families… as long as we wish, the Hong family will be able to take over the imperial court and become the new rulers of the Country of Yunyang!"

Chen Dandan was the illegitimate daughter of Chen Tianhe, Second Elder of the Valley of Medicine Masters. Even Chen Dandan herself was unaware of this. Back then, Hong Wei had found out by pure coincidence that Chen Tianhe was looking for his illegitimate daughter and had tried looking for him. Eventually, he had found out that Chen Tianhe's illegitimate daughter was in Qingshan town beneath Yunfeng county and had been adopted by Lin Lan, the guild master of the Magnolia guild under the Lin family. After that, everything fell into place easily.

He had asked his daughter to chase Chen Dandan, and after they had gotten together, his son had easily pledged his allegiance to Chen Dandan's birth father. He had become a high ranking disciple of the Valley of Medicine Masters under the tutelage of Second Elder Chen Tianhe.

In a few days, he would be sending Chen Dandan to the Valley of Medicine Masters to meet her birth father.

…

The Lu family household.

"Young Master Donghuang." Lu Yuan, the first young master of the Lu family, who had been crippled by Zhou Donghuang previously, walked briskly into the courtyard where Zhou Donghuang was staying temporarily.

"You look like you're recovering well," said Zhou Donghuang with a smile. He took a glance at Lu Yuan's leg, the one he had joined back together, as he sat at the stone table sipping tea in the sun.

"All thanks to your treatment," said Lu Yuan gratefully. He continued, "Young Master Donghuang, I came to inform you… Zhao San of the Zhao governor's household has come to the Lu family household. Just now, as I walked past the hall, I overheard my dad talking to him. He seems to be here for you."

"Zhao San?" Zhou Donghuang frowned, then nodded slightly.

"Young Master Donghuang, although he had sold Yunxuan Restaurant to you, Zhao San is no good person… back then, Fang Tianyi, Ma Jin and I had heard from his mouth that he would not protect you, so that's why they had tried to take Yunxuan Restaurant from you." Lu Yuan reminded him as if he was afraid that Zhou Donghuang would become too close to Zhao San and realize he had been betrayed.

But how could Zhou Donghuang not have known anything that he had just said? From his thousands of years of experience, he had experienced all kinds of trouble. He had already guessed what Lu Yuan was telling him.

"Young Master Donghuang." Just then, Lu Qinghu called from outside the courtyard.

"Young Master Donghuang, Zhao San from the Zhao governor's household wishes to meet you!" After Lu Qinghu's voice, another strong voice called from outside. From the voice, it was none other than the former owner of Yunxuan Restaurant in Qingshan town, Zhao San.

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Chapter 57: The New Magnolia Guild

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"Young Master Donghuang, I have not seen you for two months, but you still look as good as ever." Zhao San stood beside Lu Qinghu, looking at the young man at the stone table with a complicated gaze.

Two months ago, the young man had helped to treat him of his illness after he had practiced too intensely, allowing him to recover to level-four of the gathered qi. At that time, although he felt that this was no simple young man, he never would have thought that in just two short months, the young man would achieve a level that he himself found difficult to reach.

This time when he met Zhou Donghuang again, he addressed him as "Young Master Donghuang," a much more respectful address compared to 'Esteemed Master Zhou' in the past. Although he could not be sure if Zhou Donghuang had indeed reached level-five of the gathered qi, Zhou Donghuang had just killed the Lin family head elder a few days ago, displaying power comparable to a level-five adept. Based on this alone, the Zhou Donghuang of today was equal in status to his elder brother, Zhao Lishang, the governor of Yunfeng prefecture.

"Why are you looking for me?" Zhou Donghuang asked calmly. He squinted his eyes in the sun and sipped his tea.

Seeing that Zhou Donghuang was so direct, Zhao San did not beat about the bush either and said, "Young Master Donghuang, I am here today to invite you to become a guest elder of the Zhao family of the governor's household."

Before arriving at the Lu family household, Zhao San had not only found out that Zhou Donghuang was extremely powerful but also knew that he had numerous precious medicine formulas with him. For example, the blood staunching elixir sold by the Lin family that had monopolized the high-end market in Yunfeng prefecture had come from him. Recently, the cheap qi-gathering elixir, sold by the Lu family that had been dominating the markets, had also come from Zhou Donghuang. This was why Zhao San had looked for his elder brother and agreed to invite Zhou Donghuang into the Zhao family.

"Not interested," rejected Zhou Donghuang immediately.

"Young Master Donghuang, as long as you join us, the Zhao family will fulfill all your requests!" Seeing as Zhou Donghuang had rejected him without any hesitation, Zhao San hurriedly added in their terms.

"I already said, I'm not interested… do you not understand?" Zhou Donghuang suddenly opened his eyes as he said impatiently.

Zhao San breathed in deeply and said with a forced smile.

"Young Master Donghuang, I know that I had previously told everyone that I would not protect you as the new owner of Yunxuan Restaurant and offended you. Can you now give me a chance to make up for my mistake?

"Protect me?" Zhou Donghuang laughed brilliantly. "Zhao San, aren't you too full of yourself? Me, Zhou Donghuang, needing your protection?"

Zhao San's expression changed. He remembered that the power that Zhou Donghuang had displayed just a few days ago simply did not need his protection.

"No matter, I will always be grateful for your favor in the past." By now, Zhao San could also see that Zhou Donghuang simply had no interest in joining their Zhao family, and he stopped trying to invite him.

"I helped you then because you had a good reputation, and I knew that once I helped you, you would stop finding trouble for the Magnolia guild… you gave me Yunxuan Restaurant, so that makes up for it. You no longer owe me anything." Zhou Donghuang shook his head gently.

Although he really did not need Zhao San's protection, if Zhao San had not made any comments about the ownership of Yunxuan Restaurant after he had left, Zhou Donghuang would possibly be more courteous towards him now.

However, not only had Zhao San done that, he had boasted in public that he would no longer care about who owned Yunxuan Restaurant after him, as if he was trying to cause trouble for Zhou Donghuang.

He had no reason to blame Zhao San; after all, Zhao San had given him Yunxuan Restaurant and returned the favor. But he now had the freedom to no longer associate with Zhao San any more.

"Chief Lu, please see our guest out," said Zhou Donghuang to Lu Qinghu as he stretched.

"Yes, Young Master Donghuang." At that point, to Lu Qinghu, he was better off listening to Zhou Donghuang than the governor. He immediately saw Zhao San out of Zhou Donghuang's courtyard and out of the Lu family household.

"Back then, when I announced that I would no longer be caring about who owned Yunxuan Restaurant, I had purely wanted to test his depth… who would have thought that it would backfire and make him prejudiced towards me." Standing outside the Lu family main door, Zhao San smiled bitterly. He never would have imagined that his mistake would cause such a result now.

…

10 March 1228 of the Ziyun era.

In the capital city of Yunfeng prefecture, on a previously empty piece of land in the Lu family household, an expansive house had been erected. On the main door of the house, a plaque was hung, that read in large flowing characters, "Magnolia Guild." The words were inscribed powerfully as if to give the reader a visual shock if they looked closely.

At the bottom right corner of the plaque was inscribed the name of the donor: Zhou Donghuang.

A month ago, after leaving the Lin family household with Lin Lan, Zhou Donghuang had called Lu Qinghu and asked him to help to rebuild the Magnolia guild. Lu Qinghu could not be happier to have Zhou Donghuang ask for help. Of course, he accepted the request without any questions asked.

Fortunately, there was an empty piece of land on the side of the Lu family household that the family had bought from the governor's household some time ago, but it had not been used since. Seeing this opportunity, Lu Qinghu gave this piece of land to Zhou Donghuang.

In a month's time, the Magnolia guild was rebuilt on the empty land with the help of the Lu family. From the interior to its exterior, it was exactly the same as the guild in Qingshan town. The construction was based on Zhou Donghuang's demands and supervised throughout by Granny Lian personally.

Today was the opening day of the Magnolia guild. Since early that morning, Lin Lan and Granny Lian had already been standing at the main door of the guild, welcoming guests who had come from all over to congratulate them on the opening.

At the main door of Magnolia guild, a group of people had gathered.

"Today is the opening day of the Magnolia guild of Lin Lan, the adopted mother of Young Master Donghuang… I wonder who will turn up."

"The Lin and Li family will definitely not be coming."

"The Lu family will definitely be here, but as for the other two preeminent families in the capital city, the Hong and Zhao families, who knows if they will be coming."

"Logically, they ought to show some respect to Young Master Donghuang."

…

As the day passed, under the watchful eyes of everyone, a figure walked up the stairs to the Magnolia Guild, flanked by two men.

"The lesser Fang family congratulates the Magnolia guild on its new opening… Guild Master Lin, please accept this gift from our Fang family." Fang family chief, Fang Jishan, was the first to congratulate Lin Lan with two hundred thousand silver notes.

"Many thanks to Chief Fang." Lin Lan thanked him with a smile, and Granny Lian behind her put the notes away.

"The lesser Ma family congratulates the Magnolia guild on its new opening… Guild Master Lin, I am Ma Dongfeng, the new Ma family chief." After Fang Jishan, the Ma family chief, Ma Dongfeng, arrived as well and presented two hundred thousand silver notes as a gift.

"Many thanks to Ma chief." Lin Lan smiled while giving her thanks.

"The preeminent Lu family congratulates the Magnolia guild on its opening." Soon, Lu family chief, Lu Qinghu, appeared as well. As for his gift, Lu Qinghu had presented a million taels of silver!

"A million taels of silver? This Lu family chief is really generous!"

"I always knew that the Lu family had good relations with Young Master Donghuang, but I never knew it was so good… this is my first time seeing so much money in my life."

"Accordingly, the Lu family's qi-gathering elixir was a formula from Young Master Donghuang… Young Master Donghuang had given the Lu family so many benefits, it's only normal that the Lu family presents such a gift."

Lu Qinghu's gift shocked many of the onlookers.

"Chief Lu, this… is too much. You have helped out the Magnolia guild enough, we simply cannot accept these notes," Lin Lan said.

"Guild Master Lin, this money cannot compare to the help that Young Master Donghuang has given me." In the end, Lu Qinghu pushed the notes into Granny Lian's hands.

After Lu Qinghu, many seniors from the lesser families outside of the prefecture capital also came forth to present congratulatory gifts for the opening of the guild. All of them wished to use this chance to make good relations with Zhou Donghuang.

However, compared to the gifs from the Lu, Ma, and Fang families, theirs was much more inferior. The most was fifty thousand taels of silver. Of course, it was not because they were stingy, but because they were that much poorer than the Lu, Ma or Fang families. Although they were all lesser families, there was still a stark difference between them.

"That is… the governor?!"

Suddenly, as gasps erupted, the crowd parted knowingly to open a path to the Magnolia guild.

A tall, burly figure appeared before everyone's eyes, wearing a yellow gown with silver trimmings. The man had a majestic looking face, and as he walked, his presence gave others some kind of huge pressure.

Zhao San and an old man in a white robe followed behind him like a shadow.

"Governor!"

"Greetings to the governor!"

Along with Lu Qinghu, chief of the preeminent Lu family, the other seniors of the lesser families all walked down the steps of the Magnolia guild to greet the man.

The man was none other than the governor of Yunfeng prefecture, Zhao Lishang, the widely recognized chief of Yunfeng prefecture and a powerful level-five adept!

"Governor." Lin Lan also came forth with Granny Lian. Being a member of Yunfeng prefecture, Lin Lan had a strange respect for the governor. Just as she said this, the old man in blue stepped forward and looked sharply at Lin Lan.

"Where is Zhou Donghuang? The governor is here, but he is not coming out to greet him?" he questioned.

"Governor, my son has been busy practicing recently, so he is not around. Please forgive him," apologized Lin Lan to Zhao Lishang.

"Practicing?" The old man in blue laughed coldly. "Now the governor is here, shouldn't you call someone to tell him to stop his practice and come out to greet him?"

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Chapter 58: The Challenge

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"Elder An, is this… a little too much?" Lu Qinghu stepped forward, his expression darkening as he looked at the old man in blue.

The old man in blue was Zhao Jin'an, the head elder of the Zhao family and widely known as the most powerful man in Yunfeng prefecture. He was second only to level-five adepts. In Yunfeng prefecture, other than Governor Zhao Lishang, Zhao Jin'an was recognized as the most powerful adept.

Of course, that was in the past. A month ago, Zhou Donghuang had become famous overnight after his fight in the backyard of the Lin family house. Many people had viewed him as a level-five adept who was stronger than Zhao Jin'an.

Lu Qinghu knew that the governor had no intention to stop Zhao Jin'an from making a scene. In a way, the governor's family was trying to establish their position. After all, there had been much talk about Young Master Donghuang recently. If he were the governor of Yunfeng prefecture, he, too, would try to suppress Young Master Donghuang.

Even so, he could not stand by and do nothing as Zhao Jin'an tried to achieve this in front of Young Master Donghuang's adopted mother. He, his son, and the Lu family all owed too much to Young Master Donghuang! With that, he stepped forward.

"What? Chief Lu, are you getting ahead of yourself after leading the Lu family from a lesser family to the rank of a preeminent family? Are you disregarding even the governor's family?" Seeing Lu Qinghu step forward, Zhao Jin'an glanced at him coldly as he spoke with a disdainful smile. He hardly paid any attention to this new preeminent family.

Just as Lu Qinghu was facing the scorn from Zhao Jin'an, his expression darkening even further, a voice came from the main door of Magnolia guild.

"I was wondering why there was barking so early in the morning… there seems to be an old dog barking in front of our Magnolia guild."

At the same time, a young man dressed in white walked out from the guild. The man had a handsome face and an extraordinary aura about him. He seemed extremely confident, as if he had nothing to fear even if the sky collapsed.

"Old dog?" As the words reached the crowd at the main door of Magnolia guild, both the onlookers and the seniors of the lesser families all gasped in fear.

Zhao Jin'an was the second in command in the governor's family and was the pinnacle among the level-four adepts in Yunfeng prefecture. Even the chiefs of the preeminent families in Yunfeng prefecture would have to greet him respectfully as "Elder An" whenever they saw him.

But now, this young man was comparing him to an old dog? Even though the young man was Zhou Donghuang who had shocked the whole Yunfeng prefecture in the last month, all those who were present could not help but feel extremely nervous. This Zhou Donghuang really dared to say anything!

"Zhou Donghuang?" Zhao Lishang's eyes narrowed murderously. Behind him, Zhao San looked on calmly as Zhou Donghuang walked out from the Magnolia guild.

Zhou Donghuang slowly walked out of the main door, down the stairs and stood beside Lin Lan.

"Mother, were you… frightened by this old dog?"

Before Lin Lan could answer, Zhao Jin'an looked murderously at Zhou Donghuang.

"You are Zhou Donghuang? You said I, Zhao Jin'an, am an old dog?" Not only was his gaze cold, but his whole expression had turned cold too.

"If you keep barking, I won't mind helping your owner teach you a lesson," said Zhou Donghuang flatly.

"Great, great, great… really great!" Zhao Jin'an was so angered that his breathing sped up and his chest heaved. "I heard that about a month ago, you had broken the arm of Head Elder Lin Tianzheng, with only a punch, just like a level-five adept. Today, I want to see if you really are like level-five adept like they say!"

As he spoke, his feet moved as he prepared to use the lesser-grade technique of the Zhao family, speeding towards Zhou Donghuang.

Just as his body trembled and he prepared to move, a shadow flashed before his eyes. A figure rushed towards him at a speed far faster than his. As everyone watched on, Zhou Donghuang flew towards him like a bolt of lightning, just as Zhao Jin'an spoke.

Boom!!

Just as Zhao Jin'an stepped forward, Zhou Donghuang had sprung forward, his knee landing heavily on Zhao Jin'an's stomach. Immediately, Zhao Jin'an contorted in pain, and even the onlookers could tell that Zhao Jin'an was in immense pain.

Right after, before everyone's eyes, as Zhou Donghuang's knee rammed into Zhao Jin'an's stomach, Zhao Jin'an was thrown backwards. Zhou Donghuang flew together with his body, and he landed just as the body of Zhao Jin'an landed heavily on the ground a few meters away.

Boom!!

As Zhao Jin'an struggled to stand up, Zhou Donghuang stepped on his chest, pushing him back onto the ground.

"Ah…" Zhao Jin'an howled as he struggled to get up, but his body could not move an inch. It was as if a huge two hundred kg boulder was pressing down on his body. No matter how much he struggled, it was of no use.

Then the crowd recovered from their shock and gasped.

"So powerful!"

"This… is this really Zhao Jin'an? The most powerful man in Yunfeng prefecture below level-five?"

"Looks like Young Master Donghuang of the Magnolia guild is really a level-five adept!"

"I thought the rumors were exaggerating… but now it seems that they were not."

The sight of Zhou Donghuang stepping on Zhao Jin'an shocked everyone there.

Even Lin Lan, Granny Lian, and Lu Qinghu, who had witnessed Zhou Donghuang defeat Lin Head Elder Lin Tianzheng just a month ago, were astonished to see Zhou Donghuang display such power.

After all, this was Zhao Jin'an, head elder of the governor's household. He was simply incomparable to Head Elder Lin Tianzheng. Although they were both level-four adepts, if Lin Tianzheng had fought with Zhao Jin'an, he would not last more than three exchanges. The difference between the two was immense.

"Young Master Donghuang… is really too powerful." Lu Qinghu was stunned. No matter if it was Lin Tianzheng or Zhao Jin'an, it made no difference to Young Master Donghuang. He could easily defeat them in just one move.

But Lu Qinghu did not know that one month ago, Zhou Donghuang would not have been able to achieve this. Within a month, with the help of the qi-gathering elixir that could increase the sensitivity to qi by six times, Zhou Donghuang had risen to the ranks of level-four of the gathered qi, becoming a level-four adept with the strength of four bulls. With his extreme strength, even if he did not use any martial art techniques, his current power was comparable to a typical level-five adept.

Count Zhao Jin'an as unlucky; Zhou Donghuang had literally reached level-four just a while ago.

"Governor Zhao," Zhou Donghuang said with a smile. He was looking at Governor Zhao Lishang calmly, with a foot on Zhao Jin'an. "Your old dog frightened my mother, and I gave him a lesson, hope you don't have any objections?"

A challenge! A blatant challenge!

To all the onlookers, this was simply a blatant challenge to Zhao Lishang, governor of Yunfeng prefecture.

Just as they thought that Zhao Lishang would react violently, he looked at Zhou Donghuang and smiled.

"No objections, of course." As he said this, he turned and said to Zhao San behind him, "Brother San, please present our gifts to Guild Master Lin."

"Yes, Brother." Zhao San walked forward and took out a huge stack of notes and passed them to Lin Lan. He said respectfully, "Guild Master Lin, the Zhao family of the governor's household congratulates the Magnolia guild on its opening. Please accept these five hundred thousand taels of silver."

"This…" Lin Lan was hesitant. Her son had just abused the Zhao head elder; perhaps it would not be wise to accept their gift?

"Mother, accept it." Finally, she only accepted it after Zhou Donghuang spoke.

She thanked Zhao Lishang, "Many thanks to the governor."

At the same time, Zhou Donghuang lifted his foot off of Zhao Jin'an and returned to Lin Lan's side.

Zhao Jin'an's face was chalky. Although Zhou Donghuang's actions had thoroughly embarrassed him, he now no longer harbored any thoughts of challenging Zhou Donghuang.

As Zhao San helped Zhao Jin'an back to Zhao Lishang's side, Zhao Lishang put his hands together in respect and smiled.

"Esteemed Master Zhou, please feel free to visit the Zhao family if you have the time. We will definitely welcome you."

"Sure," Zhou Donghuang said with a nod.

"I'll take my leave, Guild Master Lin." After bidding farewell to Lin Lan, Zhao Lishang left with Zhao San and Zhao Jin'an. As everyone looked on, they boarded the horse carriage that was waiting by the roadside.

Inside the carriage, Zhao Lishang's expression darkened. It was nothing like the carefree attitude that he had displayed earlier.

"Chief, that Zhou Donghuang is definitely a level-five adept!" Zhao Jin'an said.

"Head Elder, thank you for testing Zhou Donghuang out," said Zhao Lishang apologetically.

With that, it appeared that what Zhao Jin'an had just done was clearly planned by Zhao Lishang.

"Chief, this is my small contribution to the family… but after today's test, even if we cannot become friends with Zhou Donghuang, we definitely cannot become enemies with him," said Zhao Jin'an seriously.

"I know," Zhao Lishang agreed as his eyes flashed. "From his power today… I may not even be able to defeat him. The scariest thing is… he's only seventeen this year!"

With that, a heavy air settled upon the whole carriage.

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Chapter 59: A Show of Extravagance

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Just seventeen years of age but a level-five adept.

Out of these two points, just the latter alone was enough to cause a commotion in Yunfeng county, but with the former, there was no precedent in the history of the country of Yunyang.

On March 10th, 1228 of the Ziyun era, Zhou Donghuang, son of Magnolia Guild Master Lin Lan, pinned the head elder of the governor's household, Zhao Jin'an, to the ground under his feet outside the main door of the Magnolia Guild. After that, the governor Zhao Lishang still treated Zhou Donghuang with a smile.

The news shocked the whole capital city of Yunfeng county.

"Now we can confirm… Zhou Donghuang is indeed a level-five adept."

"Unless he is a level-five adept, he could not possibly have pinned Zhao Jin'an down beneath his feet… we're talking about Zhao Jin'an, the most powerful man in Yunfeng county beneath the level-five adepts, not some other ordinary level-four adept."

"Looks like Yunfeng county has another level-five adept besides the governor!"

"Even the governor is afraid of him, he must be more powerful than the governor… most importantly, he's only seventeen this year!"

"Just seventeen years old and already so fearsome, will there be anyone who can match him in Yunyang county in the next ten or twenty years?"

"Looks like Yunfeng county is about to produce a star!"

Zhou Donghuang had become a hot topic in the capital city of Yunfeng county. Anybody who mentioned him could not help but give him a thumbs up with a face full of admiration. On the other hand, the few who had a feud with Zhou Donghuang hated him so much that they wished the skies would kill him with a strike of lightning out of jealousy.

…

At the Magnolia guild.

Although it had already been open for some time, the customers at the guild did not decrease, but instead, it even increased in numbers, to the extent that the doorstep was almost destroyed by the heavy traffic.

All these people were seniors of lesser families from beyond the capital city who had come to the Magnolia Guild to seek partnerships. All of them expressed that they were willing to give most of the profits to the Magnolia Guild, even if they made a small loss in the partnership. The reason for this was none other than the fact the Magnolia Guild had a certain "Zhou Donghuang."

These days, Lin Lan was always smiling happily and joyous despite the hard work. Previously, she ran the Magnolia Guild to make money for the Lin family. But now, she was earning money for herself and did not need to give it to anyone else. The old Magnolia Guild relied on the backing of the Lin family to continue its business. But the new Magnolia Guild had her son, Zhou Donghuang's support. She did not even have to put in the effort to seek partnerships because swarms of people were coming to her to request for her partnership. They were even willing to give the guild a big bulk of the profits.

Since the Magnolia Guild reopened, Zhou Donghuang had been practicing intently in his room alone. To him, the most important thing was to practice and increase his skill level.

"Hopefully Lu Qinghu is able to get most of the herbs for the formula… if he can, the quality of the qi-gathering elixir can be improved further." A month ago, Zhou Donghuang had given Lu Qinghu a list of medicinal herbs and asked him to use the Lu family's resources to search for them.

Now, using the qi-gathering elixir formula that Zhou Donghuang had given them, the Lu family business extended to other counties outside of Yunfeng county, and their connections had increased substantially as well. With that, it would definitely be much easier to search for the ingredients that Zhou Donghuang needed.

…

Time passed quickly. Soon, it was March 22, 1228 of the Ziyun era.

"Young Master, the Lu family chief is here." Zhou Donghuang, who was practicing in his room, was startled by Fu's voice from outside the room. His eyes lit up immediately.

Lu Qinghu was likely here to deliver medicine. Zhou Donghuang guessed correctly.

Lu Qinghu brought a portion of the herbs that he needed.

"Young Master Donghuang, our Lu family has only managed to find two-thirds of the ingredients you needed… we are still searching for the remaining third," Lu Qinghu said apologetically as he handed the herbs to Zhou Donghuang.

"These herbs…" Zhou Donghuang was completely focused on the herbs in his hands. After checking what herbs were within, he gave a satisfied smile. "Are just right."

In the list that he had given Lu Qinghu, some of the herbs had similar properties. He had listed them to make it easier for Lu Qinghu to find them. "With these herbs, I can produce a qi-gathering elixir that increases sensitivity by seventy percent!" Zhou Donghuang's eyes shone brightly.

"Don't bother looking for the rest of the herbs… the two-thirds of the herbs here can replace those," Zhou Donghuang told Lu Qinghu.

"Hm?" Hearing this, Lu Qinghu, who initially had a face of guilt, was surprised at first. Then he breathed a sigh of relief. "That's great, that's great."

"Take this." Zhou Donghuang passed Lu Qinghu a piece of paper and three bottles of qi-gathering elixir. Then Zhou Donghuang bid him farewell and turned to return to his room to prepare an improved elixir. With an improved elixir, his progress in training could be increased further.

When Lu Qinghu took a good look at what was written on the piece of paper that Zhou Donghuang had given him, his eyes narrowed sharply.

"This… this is the formula for a qi-gathering elixir that increases your sensitivity to qi by ninety percent?"

A qi-gathering elixir that heightens sensitivity by ninety percent was incredibly valuable in the market, second only to the elixir that increases sensitivity to qi by a fold that was produced by the superior medicine masters of the imperial court.

Lu Qinghu's breathing quickened rapidly.

However, after returning home and using one of the three bottles that Zhou Donghuang had given him, he was even more stunned after practicing for a while.

"This… this qi-gathering elixir… somehow… increases your sensitivity to qi by six… sixty percent?!"

In the past, Lu Qinghu used Zhou Donghuang's elixir that could increase the sensitivity to qi by twenty percent. But today, the three bottles that Zhou Donghuang had given him were ones that Zhou Donghuang had been using for himself, a qi-gathering elixir that could increase the sensitivity to qi by sixty percent.

"Young Master Donghuang… who on earth is he?!"

After getting over his dazed shock, Lu Qinghu carefully took out the remaining two bottles of qi-gathering elixir. His gaze, as he looked at these two bottles, was strangely bright, like the eyes of a pervert looking at two beauties.

From using an elixir that increased the sensitivity to qi by twenty percent, to the new one that increased the sensitivity to qi by sixty percent caused such a huge impact to Lu Qinghu that only he himself would know.

"Looks like, if we continue to follow Young Master Donghuang… our Lu family can become a grand family, even a tycoon family or even kings in the future!" Lu Qinghu's eyes shone brightly as he grew even more determined to latch onto Zhou Donghuang.

Of course, Zhou Donghuang knew nothing about this. He had given Lu Qinghu the elixir that increased sensitivity to qi by sixty percent because Lu Qinghu had been very efficient. Furthermore, after interacting with him for some time, he was quite satisfied with Lu Qinghu's character.

…

March 25, 1228 of the Ziyun era.

A carriage drawn by three ferghana horses slowly rolled into the capital city of Yunfeng county, drawing the attention of passersby as it weaved through the traffic on the main roads. On both sides of the carriage, a man riding a ferghana horse stayed alongside the carriage like a shadow.

Five ferghana horses together was a majestic sight, and all heads turned to take a look.

As everybody watched on, the carriage stopped at the house of the preeminent Li family. Seeing this, many were shocked. "They… are going to the Li family?"

"I heard that the eldest daughter of the Li family had been married to the junior governor of the intermediate Guangling county… could it be that she's back to visit her family?"

"Most likely."

"Accordingly, the Wu family of the governor's household of Guangling county is a grand family!"

"Only families with level-six adepts can become grand families… and the Wu family of the governor's household in Guangling county is not just any ordinary grand family, it has many level-six adepts."

"The governor's household of Guangling county is much stronger than the one here in Yunfeng county."

As everybody watched on, the two men flanking the carriage jumped off their horses in unison and stood guard on both sides of the carriage, surveying the area carefully.

"Young Master, Young Mistress, we're here."

Of the two men driving the carriage, one pulled open the curtain in the carriage while the other jumped off and lay on all fours on the ground.

Immediately after, everyone saw a young, handsome man with defined features dressed in luxurious clothing step out of the carriage and onto the back of the man lying on the floor.

"I was wondering why he was lying there… turns out he's acting as a step for those in the carriage."

"Poverty has restricted my imagination, who knew there was such a thing?"

"This is truly a first, the first time I've seen anything like this."

Many onlookers gasped.

Soon after that young, handsome man had stepped out of the carriage, a young lady who was beautifully dressed up also stepped out of the carriage and onto the back of the man on the ground.

After getting out of the carriage, the lady naturally held the young man's hand and walked towards the main door of the Li family house. The two men who had ridden the ferghana horses over followed behind the two of them, escorting them on both sides.

"Head Lady!"

"It's Head Lady!"

The two Li disciples who had been standing at the main door had been rather dazed to see five ferghana horses appear, but as they saw the lady walking towards them, their eyes lit up.

Hearing this, the onlookers realized, "Indeed, it is Head Lady Li who had married into the governor's household in Guangling county."

"That means… the young man with Head Lady Li is Wu Nanxun, First Young Master of the Wu family, governor of Guangling prefecture?"

"He's indeed the First Young Master of a grand family; what a show of extravagance."

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Chapter 60: The Return of Freezing Wind

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"Young Master, the Lu family chief is here."

Three days later, Zhou Donghuang, who was practicing in the room, was awoken again by Fu, as Lu Qinghu had appeared.

"What's the matter?" Zhou Donghuang sat cross-legged on the bed as he calmly asked Lu Qinghu, who had just entered the room.

"Young Master Donghuang." Lu Qinghu bowed in greeting to Zhou Donghuang and said seriously, "I just received news… the Li family head lady is back."

"So?" Zhou Donghuang was expressionless as if he was not concerned.

"The Li family head lady, Li Caiyun, did not come back alone… she came back together with her man." As he said this, Lu Qinghu's eyes were filled with fear. "Her man is Wu Nanxun, the first young master of the Wu family, the governor of the intermediate level Guangling county. The Wu governor's household is a grand family, with many level-six adepts. Whenever Wu Nanxun leaves the house, there will be at least two level-five adepts following him."

With that, Lu Qinghu breathed in deeply and looked at Zhou Donghuang as he said, "Young Master Donghuang, the second young master of the Li family that you killed is the brother of Li Caiyun. I fear that she will ask Wu Nanxun to avenge her brother and harm you." Lu Qinghu revealed his worries.

"You hurried over here… just to tell me this?" Zhou Donghuang shook his head, thinking that Lu Qinghu was making a mountain out of a molehill.

"Young Master Donghuang, they are a grand family!" Seeing Zhou Donghuang not concerned at all, Lu Qinghu could not help but remind him.

In a grand family, there would be at least one level-six adept. In the Wu grand family, there were five level-six adepts and more than twenty level-five adepts. Even the governor's household of the Wu family in Yunfeng county had just one level-five adept.

"If there is nothing else, please go back… don't disturb my practice," Zhou Donghuang said as he looked at Lu Qinghu impatiently before closing his eyes to continue his practice.

Three days ago, he had formulated a qi-gathering elixir that increased the sensitivity to qi by seventy percent. These three days, his progress had improved. Previously, using the qi-gathering elixir that heightened sensitivity to qi by sixty percent, he had taken around forty days to reach level-four from level-three, achieving that on March 10, 1228 of the Ziyun era.

It was now March 25, 1228 of the Ziyun era.

"Even with the qi-gathering elixir that increased senses by seven percent, I will still need at almost two months to reach level-five of the gathered Qi." As he closed his eyes to begin his training again, Zhou Donghuang sighed quietly to himself. "Perhaps it is time to pay a visit to the royal city."

The royal city was a large city second only to the imperial city. Not only was it prosperous, but there was a larger variety of herbs one could find there. Yunfeng county was on the western ridge of the Chu King, and the king's household that controlled the ridge was the household of the Chu King.

Within the western ridge of the Chu King, the inferior counties, including Yunfeng county, and the intermediate and superior counties were all controlled by the Chu King household, which was in the royal city.

"Young Master Donghuang…" In the room, seeing Zhou Donghuang close his eyes and ignore him as he continued practicing, Lu Qinghu gave a bitter smile, but at the same time, his eyes shone exceptionally bright. The calmness that Young Master Donghuang showed had made him incredibly confident. "Looks like Young Master Donghuang does not fear the Wu family of the governor's household of Guangling prefecture."

This cleared all his worries as his face turned from worry to a smile. In the past, Zhou Donghuang had surprised Lu Qinghu on many occasions, such that Lu Qinghu had almost blind faith in Zhou Donghuang.

With that, Lu Qinghu left the room quietly and closed the door carefully after he left.

"Hm?" As Lu Qinghu was about to leave the Magnolia Guild, he saw Fu walking towards him. Beside him was an unfamiliar but cold face.

This young man in a black robe with a straw hat had a cold expression that seemed to repel people. The cold that dissipated from him made one's hair stand on end.

"Chief Lu." Seeing Lu Qinghu, Fu smiled at him.

"Fu, this is…?" Although Fu was just a servant for Zhou Donghuang, Lu Qinghu was still very courteous to him, as if he could not let his guard down. Previously, the first young master of the Ma family, Ma Jin, had been crippled by Zhou Donghuang because he had kicked Fu.

"This is Freezing Wind, Brother Freeze," he introduced. "Brother Freeze, this is the chief of the preeminent Lu family."

"Mm." The man in black glanced at Lu Qinghu and nodded his head, then looked away.

This young man in black was none other than Freezing Wind, second commander of the Green Wolf Bastion. In January 1228 of the Ziyun era, Freezing Wind had left on a mission from Zhou Donghuang and had only returned the day before, two months later.

But on his return to Qingshan town, he found that his young master had gone to the capital. He then rode overnight to the capital on his ferghana horse. In Qingshan town, Freezing Wind had found out that his young master was now famous all over Yunfeng county. Even the governor of Yunfeng county had to be respectful when meeting him.

The return of Freezing Wind woke Zhou Donghuang up again, though he had just been immersed in his practice.

"Young Master." In the room, Freezing Wind bowed to Zhou Donghuang as his cold face revealed a smile.

"How did it go?" asked Zhou Donghuang.

Two months ago, he had sent Freezing Wind out to look for some resolute orphans and choose some amongst them to nurture into adepts. For that reason, he had taught him the needlecraft "Nerve-Easing, Marrow-Cleansing Needle" that he had used on Freezing Wind previously.

Nerve-Easing, Marrow-Cleansing Needle was a craft that Zhou Donghuang had learned by accident on earth in his previous life. As long as the victim could withstand the excruciating pain during the process, he would be able to activate the extreme power in his body.

"Young Master, I found a total of three hundred orphans, of them, only 282 were willing after learning about the risks of the 'Nerve-Easing, Marrow-Cleansing Needle.' In the end, only three of them withstood the pain and successfully activated all the power in their bodies."

As he said this, Freezing Wind paused as if he had something he wished to add.

"Speak," said Zhou Donghuang as he saw Freezing Wind's hesitance.

"Young Master." Freezing Wind dropped to kneel on the ground. "According to your requests, among the orphans I found, all the rest were above twelve years old. But there was a small girl who is just nine years old. But this nine-year-old girl was able to withstand the pain that more than two hundred other teenagers couldn't and successfully activated all the power in her body."

"Did you take my words for granted?" Zhou Donghuang's eyes flashed coldly as his voice immediately turned cold. "A nine-year-old girl suddenly utilizing all the power in her body? Her life has now been ruined by you!"

Back then, Zhou Donghuang had just two conditions for Freezing Wind: a willing orphan, and above twelve years old.

For anyone less than twelve years of age, the body would not be fully developed. And if all the body's power was suddenly activated, that body would no longer be able to develop further, remaining in that shape till death. Someone like that would not be able to have an adult body unless they reached the level of the primordial spirit, and the primordial spirit leaves the physical body and takes over another adult body.

"Young Master," said Freezing Wind as he smiled bitterly. "How could I dare to go against your orders… but that girl is different. I also took with me the other two orphans with her, but she insisted on coming with me, saying that if I did not, she would die before me. She smashed her head against a wall and would have died if I had not acted then. I saw that she was not even afraid of death, so I told her the consequences, but she said that she wanted revenge, even if it meant that she would remain in her nine-year-old body for the rest of her life! Later, the other two orphans with her could not withstand the excruciating pain from the Nerve-Easing, Marrow-Cleansing Needle, but she could."

Freezing Wind paused before continuing, "Young Master, I taught her the Way of the Thousand-Star Sword and gave her a qi-gathering elixir that boosted her sensitivity to qi by sixty percent… In two short months, she has already reached level-two of the gathered Qi. Now, although her raw body power is only 250 to 300kg, using the techniques that she knows, her strength is not inferior to any level-three adept."

For different people, utilizing the full raw power of the body yielded different amounts of strength. As a grown man with a strong body, Freezing Wind received an increase of more than 500kg of strength when he activated his full raw power. But for a nine-year-old girl, even if all the raw power in the body was activated, there was only a limited increase in strength.

"Not only could she withstand the Nerve-Easing, Marrow-Cleansing Needle, but she reached level-two of the gathered Qi in just two months?" Zhou Donghuang's eyes narrowed. "Looks like she is not just determined but also has much talent."

"Yesterday, the four of us reached Qingshan town together… Now, I rushed over first on the ferghana horses. They don't have any horses, so they will only reach in two or three days." Freezing Wind then took out a brocade box and handed it to Zhou Donghuang, "Young Master, this is a 'thousand-year red fruit' that I happened to find."

"Thousand-year red fruit?" As Freezing Wind spoke, Zhou Donghuang's eyes widened and shone brightly.

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Chapter 61: Level-Five of Qi-gathering

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Red fruits were extremely rare and valuable treasures that could increase an adept's level of practice, and it was incredibly good fortune to come across one of these.

If an adept below level-three of Qi-gathering used a hundred-year red fruit, they could increase their level by one in just a few days.

Even an ordinary person who did not practice could attain level-one of Qi-gathering in several days if they used one.

A thousand-year red fruit, if used by a level-six adept and below, would increase their level by at least one in a few days, and those of a lower level might even hope to advance by two levels or more.

A ten thousand-year red fruit, if used by a level-nine adept and below, would increase their level by at least one in just several days, and those of a lower level might even hope to advance by four levels or more.

In the history of Yunyang country, there had never been a ten thousand-year red fruit, and even thousand-year red fruits had only been seen several times throughout history.

However, one-hundred-year red fruits were more commonly seen, but every time one appeared, it would trigger a struggle which would sometimes result in a bloodbath.

It really is a thousand-year red fruit.

Opening the brocaded box that Freezing Wind passed to him, Zhou Donghuang saw a fruit that was completely red, about the size of a baby's fist. It gave off a smell that made one happy and relaxed.

To him, who had stood at the pinnacle of the universe, a ten thousand-year red fruit was like an apple back on earth, much less a thousand-year red fruit.

But now, this thousand-year red fruit had caused a ripple in the previously calm waters of his inner heart.

"You have probably already attained level-three of Qi-gathering, haven't you?" Zhou Donghuang asked, looking at Freezing Wind.

Freezing Wind nodded and replied, "All thanks to the Way of the Thousand-Star Sword and the qi-gathering elixir that Young Master passed on to me, I attained level-three of Qi-gathering six days ago."

"The fact that you recognized this as a thousand-year red fruit shows that you know its use…you only need to consume it, and your level of practice will advance directly to level-four of Qi-gathering, and even to within touching distance of level-five."

Zhou Donghuang gazed deeply at Freezing Wind and said, "Actually, you could have kept it for yourself and consumed it and raised your level of practice by one level."

Zhou Donghuang knew well that the benefits of a thousand-year red fruit were immense.

Even if Freezing Wind did not consume the thousand-year red fruit himself, he could have presented it to the Chu King or even the imperial court of Yunyang, and the royal family and the imperial court would have rewarded him richly.

"Young Master must be joking."

Freezing Wind shook his head with a resolute look in his eye. "The grace you have shown me can never be repaid… this thousand-year red fruit is only a small token that Freezing Wind can offer."

"It is hard to come by someone like you." Zhou Donghuang nodded and continued, "Fortunately, you did not consume this thousand-year red fruit… this thousand-year red fruit can only help one person raise their level of practice if consumed directly."

"But if we use it as a key ingredient and mix it with some herbs, the potion produced will be enough for ten bottles, and the effectiveness of each potion will be no less than the effectiveness of the raw fruit," Zhou Donghuang said.

Hearing Zhou Donghuang's words, Freezing Wind was stunned.

Did he mean that a thousand-year red fruit in the hands of his Young Master could effectively be used as ten thousand-year red fruits?

"After I formulate the potion, I'll give you a bottle," Zhou Donghuang said.

"Young Master. You should keep that potion and consume it yourself… this way, your level can greatly increase," Freezing Wind said.

Zhou Donghuang shook his head. "The potion made with a thousand-year red fruit as the key ingredient is the same as the thousand-year red fruit itself, and it is only effective the first time it is consumed… after the first time, the body develops a resistance to it, and from the second time onwards it will not help increase the level of practice."

Before Freezing Wind left, Zhou Donghuang wrote a detailed list for him to pass to Granny Lian.

The herbs on the list were those needed to formulate the potion with the thousand-year red fruit, but they were not valuable. All of them could be easily found in the prefecture capital of Yunfeng prefecture.

That night, Granny Lian delivered the herbs to Zhou Donghuang.

Zhou Donghuang proceeded to formulate ten bottles within half an hour.

"With this potion, I will attain level-five of Qi-gathering within three days!"

After formulating the potion, Zhou Donghuang called Fu over and gave him five bottles of the potion, and instructed him, "Fu, of these five bottles, take one for yourself… deliver the remaining four to my mother, Granny Lian, Freezing Wind, and Lu Qinghu."

"Young Master, what is this potion?" Fu asked curiously.

"Haven't you almost attained level-two of Qi-gathering? After you consume this potion and let it take effect, you will advance directly to level-three of Qi-gathering!"

Zhou Donghuang smiled casually.

Fu naturally believed Zhou Donghuang's words unconditionally, and because of this, he was stunned for a long time. When he came to his senses, his expression was one of unbridled joy.

"Many thanks to Young Master."

Fu knelt down and kowtowed in thanks, then left.

Five of the ten bottles were given to Fu, and Zhou Donghuang consumed one of the remaining five bottles and began to practice…

From the thousand years' worth of experience practicing in his previous life, he knew very well how to absorb the effect of the potion in the shortest time possible.

Therefore, in only one day and two nights, he had completely absorbed the effect of the potion and smoothly attained level-five of Qi-gathering.

Moreover, it was not just attaining level-five of Qi-gathering that would be easy.

With my current level of practice and with the qi-gathering elixir that increases my sensitivity to qi by seventy percent, I will be able to attain level-six of Qi-gathering in at most three months.

I never would have imagined that Freezing Wind's luck would be so good as to find a thousand-year red fruit… this is really a stroke of good luck.

After attaining level-five of Qi-gathering, Zhou Donghuang stopped practicing and left his room.

Since the Magnolia Guild had begun operations, he rarely left his room, usually eating and drinking in his room. Other than eating, he only slept or practiced.

I actually haven't really explored the capital of Yunfeng prefecture at all.

With this thought, Zhou Donghuang began walking towards the main entrance of the Magnolia Guild, preparing to go for a stroll.

As he passed by the receiving chamber, Zhou Donghuang heard a familiar voice chatting with his mother, Lin Lan.

"Lin Lan, I really envy you for having a son who is already a level-five adept of Qi-gathering at seventeen years of age… not like my own daughter, who has not even attained level-one yet, even though she is only a year younger than your Donghuang."

Hearing this, Zhou Donghuang was able to guess the identity of the speaker, and it really was the guild master of Qingyun Guild of Ningping town, Li Yun. She was his Lin Lan's good friend of many years.

Li Yun was also Li Rui's mother.

Compared to Li Rui, he had a far better impression of Li Yun.

"Sister Yun, you flatter me… I have not seen Xiao Rui for many years, and she really has changed so much, she grows prettier by the day."

Lin Lan's voice reached him.

"Aunty Lan, you are also no less elegant than in the past."

Hearing Li Rui's voice, Zhou Donghuang could not help smiling a thoughtful but mocking smile. He never imagined that Li Rui had the gall to come with her mother to see Lin Lan.

"Mother."

Now, Zhou Donghuang was no longer in a hurry to go out, and he strode straight into the receiving chamber.

"Aunty Yun."

Standing beside Lin Lan, Zhou Donghuang gave Li Yun, who was standing together with Li Rui, a slight smile.

"Donghuang, you're just in time… your Aunty Yun doesn't visit the prefecture capital often, this afternoon we'll have a meal with your her and Xiao Rui," Lin Lan said with a slight smile, looking lovingly at Zhou Donghuang.

"Sure."

"Donghuang, Aunty Yun never imagined that you could attain level-five of Qi-gathering at seventeen years of age… even among this generation of youths in the entire country of Yunyang, probably no one can compare to you."

Li Yun smiled radiantly as she praised him.

Immediately, Li Yun glanced at Li Rui, who was beside her.

"Rui'er, why are you standing there dumbly and not greeting him?"

As Li Yun finished, Li Rui looked at Zhou Donghuang, red-faced, and greeted bashfully, "Big Brother Donghuang."

"It's my honor," Zhou Donghuang replied indifferently, not responding to Li Rui's affection."

Seeing Zhou Donghuang's coldness to Li Rui, Lin Lan gave a slight frown. "Donghuang, why do you speak like that to your little sister Xiao Rui?"

"Mother, if others look down on me, how can I be warm and friendly to their cold and rude demeanors?

Zhou Donghuang shook his head gently.

"This… what is this?"

At that moment, Lin Lan discerned that surely something unpleasant had occurred between Li Rui and her son. If not, she knew her son well enough to know that he would never be this rude for no reason.

"Aunty Lan, don't blame big brother Donghuang, it's my fault… I annoyed big brother Donghuang the last time we met," Li Rui said tearfully, looking extremely pitiful.

When Lin Lan saw Li Rui in this state, her heart softened. Zhou Donghuang looked at Li Rui and laughed indifferently.

"Li Rui, you and aunty Yun probably came from Ningping town together and just arrived in the prefecture capital, and have not yet returned to the Li family?"

Li Rui gave a start, not knowing why Zhou Donghuang suddenly asked about this.

She and her mother had indeed just arrived in the prefecture capital.

Earlier, when they discovered that Lin Lan's Magnolia Guild had reopened in the prefecture capital, she returned to Ningping town and asked her mother, Li Yun to come with her to the prefecture capital, and under the guise of visiting Lin Lan, get close to Zhou Donghuang and mend their relationship.

In Li Rui's opinion, with her beauty, all she had to do was be a little more proactive, and Zhou Donghuang would definitely fall for her charms.

"You probably don't know yet… but the head lady of your Li family returned two days ago?"

Zhou Donghuang looked deeply at Li Rui and said unhurriedly, "Returning together with her was the first young master of the governor's household of the intermediate-level Guangling prefecture that she married, Wu Nanxun."

"Tsk tsk… if she knew that a side relative of the Li family was mixing with the enemy who killed her younger brother, aren't you afraid that you'll be expelled from the Li family?"

Zhou Donghuang smiled as he clicked his tongue.

His words caused Li Rui's expression to change in an instant. Even Li Yun's expression changed completely, sitting beside Li Rui.

Just as both Li Rui's and Li Yun's expression changed, Granny Lian's voice came into the room:

"Lady, the people from the preeminent Li family have arrived… leading them is the patriarch of the Li family, Li Jingyu!"

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Chapter 62: Like Killing a Dog

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The morning of March 27, 1228 of the Ziyun Era.

At the main entrance of the Magnolia Guild was a carriage drawn by three ferghana horses, and on each side of the carriage was a middle-aged man mounted on a ferghana horse. He was guarding it as closely as a shadow.

In front of the carriage stood another ferghana horse below the stairway of the Magnolia Guild's main entrance. Mounted on this ferghana horse was a handsome, middle-aged man of average build, gazing towards the Magnolia Guild with an extremely icy and bloodthirsty look of vengeance.

The six ferghana horses together gave a sense of majesty and arrogance.

Because of this, the arrival of the six ferghana horses had attracted a crowd of onlookers.

"That carriage… I think it belongs to the son-in-law of the Li family, the first young master of the Wu family that governs Guangling prefecture…"

"That middle-aged man leading it is the patriarch of the Li family, Li Jingyu."

"It seems that the Li family is prepared to exact vengeance on Zhou Donghuang from the Magnolia Guild… After all, that second young master of the Li family, Li Pingyun, was killed by him."

"In the past, the Li family did not have the ability to take revenge and could only hold themselves back… Now, with the return of the head lady of the Li family and the young governor of Guangling prefecture, the Li family will definitely make use of this opportunity."

"Two days ago, when I heard the young governor of Guangling prefecture was coming, I knew the Li family would definitely make trouble for Zhou Donghuang sooner or later."

…

As time passed, the crowd of onlookers grew larger and larger and clogged the main road at the entrance of the Magnolia Guild.

The various preeminent families of the capital of Yunfeng prefecture, including the governing Zhao family, were monitoring the situation at the Magnolia Guild. They were all curious if Zhou Donghuang could extricate himself from this situation.

"Zhou Donghuang is coming out!"

The gathered crowd soon spotted a handsome youth dressed in white with an extraordinary aura around him. He walked out slowly with his hands clasped behind his back.

Two people followed him—the guild master of the Magnolia Guild, Lin Lan, and her aide, Granny Lian.

"Young Master Donghuang."

As soon as Zhou Donghuang came out, the second master of the Lu family, Lu Bao, and the several elders of the Lu family standing behind him bowed in unison. They had arrived much earlier to stand guard at the gate.

"Hmm."

Zhou Donghuang nodded casually to them and strode to stand at the front of the staircase, looking at the middle-aged man riding the ferghana horse with a calm expression.

"Li Jingyu?"

"Zhou Donghuang!"

Seeing his nemesis Zhou Donghuang, who had killed his son, the Patriarch Li Jingyu could not control his emotions. The murderous look in his eyes rose a notch, and his handsome face was twisted into a savage look.

"For killing my son Li Pingyun, the Li family wants you to pay with your life!"

Li Jingyu's voice carried a bone-piercing chill that struck terror into many of the onlookers.

"You mean just with your Li family?"

Zhou Donghuang shook his head and gave a dismissive smile as his gaze fell on the carriage not far away. "Or do you mean… with the help that the Li family has found?"

"Correct! With the son-in-law of the Li family, the young governor of Guangling prefecture, Wu Nanxun!" Li Jingyu replied proudly.

Although he saw that Zhou Donghuang did not panic or lose his composure, which made him slightly puzzled, he wrote it off as Zhou Donghuang putting up a front…

So what if Zhou Donghuang was a level-five adept of Qi-gathering? Could he possibly stand up to the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture?

The Wu family was a grand family that had many level-six adepts of Qi-gathering!

Moreover, in his view, just the two level-five adepts with his son-in-law would be sufficient to take down Zhou Donghuang easily.

"It seems that this son-in-law of yours has given you a great deal of courage… that you dare to call me out."

Zhou Donghuang smiled casually.

"Zhou Donghuang!"

Just as Zhou Donghuang finished speaking, a shrill and angry voice called out from within the cabin of the carriage.

A beautiful and splendidly dressed woman drew back the curtains of the cabin and came out. It was the head lady of the Li family, Li Caiyun, and she was in a terrible rage.

When the driver of the carriage saw this, he hurriedly jumped off his horse and sprawled himself on the ground, using his back as a step for Li Caiyun.

Li Caiyun stepped on the driver's back and got out of the carriage, staring at Zhou Donghuang with a look full of cold and murderous intent.

"Today, with my brother Xun here, you're doomed!"

Zhou Donghuang ignored her and looked instead at the person who had one leg out of the carriage and said calmly to him, "Is that the young governor of Guangling prefecture?"

"Today, as long as you don't step out of the cabin, everything will be fine between us… but if you dare to step out and stick your nose into this business, don't think of leaving in one piece."

Zhou Donghuang directly threatened the person who was about to step out of the cabin, the first young master of the governor's household of Guangling prefecture, Wu Nanxun.

Once Zhou Donghuang had spoken, the entire scene dissolved into an uproar.

"Zhou Donghuang is threatening the young governor of Guangling prefecture?"

"My god! The governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture is a grand family with many level-six adepts of Qi-gathering… this Zhou Donghuang, does he think that the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture is similar in strength to the governing Zhao family of our Yunfeng prefecture?"

"This is truly the case of a newborn calf not being afraid of the tiger!"

The gathered crowd whispered among themselves, shaking their heads. Even though they knew Zhou Donghuang was a level-five adept—and even the governing Zhao family of Yunfeng prefecture dreaded him—they still felt he was in deep trouble.

However, this time it was the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture, and moreover, this was the first young master of the Wu family, Wu Nanxun himself!

The governing Zhao family of Yunfeng prefecture was only a preeminent family.

But the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture was a grand family with many level-six adepts, and with more than twenty level-five adepts in the family.

A single level-five adept was nothing compared to the grand Wu family.

"How dare you!"

The two middle-aged men mounted on the ferghana horses beside the carriage stared furiously at Zhou Donghuang, shooting daggers from their eyes.

"You could say that."

At that moment, a voice that turned anger to laughter came from the cabin, and the person who had paused instinctively at Zhou Donghuang's words strode out of the cabin and dismounted from the carriage.

This was a handsome young man wearing an elaborately brocaded mandarin costume. He had such an air of arrogance that he seemed to have been born with it. As soon as he showed himself, he immediately became the focus of the entire scene.

"He is the first young master of the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture, Wu Nanxun?"

"Someone worthy to be the first young master of a grand family simply cannot be compared to the young masters of the preeminent families in strength."

After Wu Nanxun dismounted from his carriage, the two middle-aged men on the ferghana horses flanking the carriage dismounted as well, and they followed behind Wu Nanxun.

"Brother Xun, this Zhou Donghuang seems to have no respect for you or the Wu family… In my opinion, we shouldn't give him a quick death today but torment him for a long while before we kill him."

Li Caiyun took Wu Nanxun's hand as she spoke to him daintily and gazed towards Zhou Donghuang with a cold, murderous look.

However, Wu Nanxun strode forward several paces without replying, looking calmly at Zhou Donghuang and said, "Zhou Donghuang, just seventeen years old and already a level-five adept of Qi-gathering… It has to be said that your martial talent is extraordinary. But however talented you are, this is your last day of life."

As he finished, besides the murderous look in the depths of Wu Nanxun's eyes, there was also a trace of envy.

The fact that a nobody from a small village could have such great martial talent only served to emphasize how weak the first young master of his grand family was.

"I've given you a chance."

Zhou Donghuang swept an indifferent gaze over Wu Nanxun. "However, since you didn't take it… just don't blame me."

As he finished, Zhou Donghuang moved without warning, stepping in a peculiar sequence of steps and shooting forward like a cannonball straight towards the closest person to him—Patriarch Li Jingyu.

Swoosh!!

Zhou Donghuang's speed was extremely fast. He flew forward onto Li Jingyu's horse and brought his palm down onto his head. Only then did Li Jingyu react, his eyes widening in surprise and his expression changing completely.

As it was, that turned out to be Li Jingyu's last expression.

Pong!!

With just one strike of his palm, Zhou Donghuang killed Li Jingyu as he sat on his horse. His corpse fell lifeless from the horse.

Li Jingyu was the patriarch of the preeminent Li family of Yunfeng prefecture, a level-four adept of Qi-gathering, and he did not even have a chance to make a move from beginning to end.

The crowd was stunned speechless.

"This Zhou Donghuang is really powerful!"

"Incredible! Killing a level-four adept as though he were killing a dog!"

"His ability would probably be considered strong even among other level-five adepts, right? I don't know if the people that the first young master of the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture brought with him will be a match for him."

"These two people shadowing this first young master of the Wu family also seem to be level-five adepts… two on one, could the two of them not beat Zhou Donghuang?"

Many people found themselves gazing subconsciously at the two middle-aged men behind Wu Nanxun.

What they noticed was that after witnessing Zhou Donghuang kill Patriarch Li Jingyu of the Li family with one strike of his palm, their indifferent expressions had become much more serious.

"Father!"

Li Caiyun wailed in sorrow as she came to her senses, and she looked back at Zhou Donghuang with an even colder look, as though she could not wait to slice his corpse into a thousand pieces.

"Brother Xun, avenge my father! Avenge my father!" Li Caiyun shouted urgently to Wu Nanxun beside her. At that moment, she did not wish to see Zhou Donghuang alive.

Seeing Zhou Donghuang kill his father-in-law in front of him, the only thing that Wu Nanxun felt was that his majesty had been trampled upon, and his expression became so thunderous that it seemed about to drip water.

"Uncle Feng, Uncle Lang… kill him!"

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Chapter 63: Meridian Destroying Palm

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

At Wu Nanxun's command, the two middle-aged men behind him answered in unison, "Yes, Young Master!" with a serious look in their eyes.

They sprang into action together.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

As level-five adepts of Qi-gathering of the grand Wu family, they both practiced the lesser-grade swiftness technique of the Wu family, and they moved lightly and fluidly like shadows.

Ching! Ching!

When they had advanced halfway, they drew the swords sheathed at their waists almost simultaneously and charged towards Zhou Donghuang with their swords raised, the keen edges of their swords gleaming coldly.

In the country of Yunyang, there were differences between the lesser-grade offensive techniques.

For example, sword techniques and other weapon techniques, compared to fist techniques and palm techniques, were far more valuable.

Preeminent families could petition the royal family for the latter. However, only grand families could petition the royal family for the former.

The great majority of preeminent families in Yunfeng prefecture, including the governing Zhao family, did not have any lesser-grade offensive techniques that utilized weapons.

Of course, between offensive techniques of the same level, those that utilized weapons were naturally much more powerful than other kinds of offensive techniques.

If not, why would some adepts spend so much effort in obtaining a weapon that suited them best?

Swoosh!!

Faced with the ferocious advance of the two level-five adepts, Zhou Donghuang used the Star-Stepping Footwork and met them calmly.

Huff! Huff!

Zhou Donghuang's hands became claws, demonstrating the third-grade technique Stonebreaking Fingers for the first time in a long while. His ten clawed fingers became hard as stone, grabbing for the swords of the two men on his left and right.

Because the two men were using all their strength, they were not able to draw their swords back from Zhou Donghuang's grip.

That morning, Zhou Donghuang's level of practice had advanced to level-five of Qi-gathering, and with only his qi, he was able to exert the strength of five bulls…

Together with his maximum muscular strength, his total strength exceeded that of an ordinary level-six adept of Qi-gathering.

With his current strength, and demonstrating a third-grade technique, he could easily defeat any level-five adept in the country of Yunyang.

"Let go!"

As Zhou Donghuang commanded casually, he jerked his arms violently, splitting the two men's hands between their thumb and index finger. Blood spurted out, and he wrested the swords from their hands.

Swoosh!!

With a sword in each hand, Zhou Donghuang sped up his steps, moving like lightning through the space between the two men.

Pu-chi! Pu-chi!

Zhou Donghuang gripped the handles of the two swords and swept them across the throats of the two men, making a gentle sound as their throats spurted blood like a fountain.

"Ahhhhhhh!!Ahhh!!"

"Hak~~Hakk hakk~~"

The two middle-aged men frantically grabbed at their throats in an attempt to stop the flow of blood, but it was useless, and they soon fell in a pool of their own blood with a thud.

Ching! Ching!

The two swords fell to the ground, their handles covered in blood, completely startling the gathered crowd.

It had all happened in the blink of an eye, too fast for anyone in the crowd to comprehend just how fast Zhou Donghuang had been.

As they came to their senses with a start, they saw the two men from the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture lying in a pool of their own blood, completely lifeless.

And Zhou Donghuang was somehow already standing close to Wu Nanxun and Li Caiyun.

Zhou Donghuang stood straight with his hands clasped behind his back, his white robe fluttering in the wind, with not a single drop of blood on him, his robe white as snow and without a speck of dust.

If they had not witnessed it with their own eyes, no one would have dared to believe that this was the work of Zhou Donghuang. Looking at him, it seemed as if he had strolled over not just slaughtered three men.

"Those two men… are they really level-five adepts?"

"If they really are level-five adepts… then isn't this Zhou Donghuang truly fearsome?"

The gathered crowd looked once more at Zhou Donghuang with shock and dread.

Just a moment ago, they were still thinking that Zhou Donghuang was probably no match for the two men, but in the blink of an eye, Zhou Donghuang had killed them in just one exchange.

"It's a pity… you didn't treasure the chance I gave you."

Zhou Donghuang looked at Wu Nanxun with a casual smile.

Now, Wu Nanxun looked again at Zhou Donghuang with an expression full of dread as though he had seen a ghost.

No one present knew better than him just how powerful the two middle-aged men with him had been.

Those two men were somewhere in the middle in terms of ability among the more than twenty level-five adepts of the Wu family.

But two such people attacking together had been killed by Zhou Donghuang instead. Moreover, they had been killed in a single exchange.

This Zhou Donghuang, even if he is not a level-six adept, he is at least at the peak of level-five!

Wu Nanxun's heart trembled. Was this really a youth who was only seventeen years old?

Not just in Yunyang country, but even above Yunyang country, in the Valley of Medicine Masters, there was probably no one so monstrous.

"Zhou… Zhou Donghuang, I… I am the first young master of the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture, if you dare touch me, the Wu family will not let you off!"

Wu Nanxun took a deep breath and tried to threaten Zhou Donghuang with the might of the grand Wu family to intimidate Zhou Donghuang against harming him.

"If I was afraid of your Wu family… do you think I would have killed those people from the Wu family?"

Zhou Donghuang smiled brilliantly.

When Wu Nanxun heard this, his expression changed completely, and he looked at Li Caiyun beside him, who was staring wide-eyed in shock.

"It's all because of this slut that I am in this situation!"

Wu Nanxun's gaze turned icy, and his hand shot out like lightning and snapped Li Caiyun's neck with a crack as though he were plucking a flower ruthlessly.

As Li Caiyun's corpse fell to the ground, Wu Nanxun looked again at Zhou Donghuang without a trace of his former arrogance and said humbly, "Young Master Donghuang, this was all started by this woman… I, Wu Nanxun, have no reason to be enemies with you."

Now, Wu Nanxun wished only to use Li Caiyun's death to ensure his safety.

Circumstances dictated people's actions.

Although he had the grand Wu family behind him, they were far away in Guangling prefecture, and a distant lake would not help put out a nearby fire.

Now, he could only save himself.

If only he could remain alive, he would return with his elders who were level-six adepts of Qi-gathering once he got back to the Wu family!

"Too late."

Seeing Wu Nanxun kill his own woman without compunction, a look of disgust flashed across the depths of Zhou Donghuang's eyes. He stepped in front of Wu Nanxun and struck out with his palm at Wu Nanxun's chest.

Zhou Donghuang's speed was too great, and Wu Nanxun only reacted after the blow landed, his expression changing.

In the blink of an eye, Wu Nanxun felt no pain, but could not help being startled.

He noticed that Zhou Donghuang's blow did not contain much force and actually seemed to land lightly on his chest.

"Meridian Destroying Palm!"

Just when Wu Nanxun was beginning to feel puzzled, Zhou Donghuang's palm that had landed snugly on his chest shook violently, and a strange force rolled out, completely destroying all the meridians in Wu Nanxun's body.

Meridian Destroying Palm was a lesser-grade technique, and was useless in a fight, although it could be used to destroy an opponent's meridians under certain conditions.

"You… you… you destroyed my meridians?!"

Wu Nanxun realized immediately that the meridians in his body had been destroyed, and his expression changed and he gaped wide-eyed at Zhou Donghuang before gasping for breath and collapsing on the ground.

On the planet of Ziyun where only the strong earned respect, having his meridians destroyed was a fate worse than death for an adept.

A deathly silence descended on the scene after Wu Nanxun collapsed on the ground.

Not only the gathered crowd but also Lu Bao and the other Lu family members were trembling in fear as they looked at the youth dressed in white standing nearby.

The youth had struck fast, accurately and ruthlessly, without seeming to consider the consequences.

"Young Master Donghuang's ability… could he have already attained level-six of Qi-gathering? Even if he has, isn't he afraid of the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture?"

"That Wu family is a grand family that has may level-six adepts…"

Remembering that his older brother Lu Qinghu had told him that Zhou Donghuang was not afraid of the Wu family, Lu Bao's eyes flashed.

Unless he has enough ability to stand up to all the Wu family's level-six adepts!

At this, Lu Bao could not help thinking about the first time he had seen Zhou Donghuang. That was in the Lu family mansion, and Zhou Donghuang had single-handedly made a clean sweep of the seven strongest level-three adepts of the three elite lesser families with his spear, like a god that had come down to earth.

With this thought, Lu Bao drew in a breath of cold air, and when he looked back at the youth in white, there was only respect in his eyes.

"Granny Lian, find a storeroom in the Magnolia Guild to accommodate them temporarily… If they dare try to escape, just kill them!" Zhou Donghuang instructed Granny Lian.

Zhou Donghuang swept an indifferent gaze over the unconscious Wu Nanxun before looking at the two drivers who had long ago been scared stiff.

"Yes, Young Master."

Now, Zhou Donghuang's word was law to Granny Lian, and she acknowledged him hurriedly.

Although Lin Lan felt that imprisoning the members of a grand family was unwise, this was what her son Zhou Donghuang requested, and she did not pursue the matter.

Now, she had unconditional trust in her son, even if her son poked a hole in the sky, she would not say anything about it.

Because she knew that her son knew his own limits.

"Mother, I'm going out for a stroll… after so long in the prefecture capital, I still have not taken in the sights."

Under the gaze of the crowd, Zhou Donghuang greeted Lin Lan with a slight smile and walked out like nothing had happened.

Although the crowd was large, they hurriedly made a path for him when they saw him about to leave.

It was not until Zhou Donghuang had disappeared from view at the end of the road that the crowd at the main entrance of the Magnolia Guild came to their senses one by one.

On March 27, 1228 of the Ziyun era, at the main entrance of the Magnolia Guild, Zhou Donghuang killed Li Jingyu, the patriarch of the preeminent Li family, followed by the two level-five adepts of Qi-gathering from the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture. Then he proceeded to destroy the meridians of the first young master of the Wu family, Wu Nanxun.

The news spread, and the whole prefecture capital was shaken once again!

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The governor's household, the Zhao family mansion.

"Big Brother, that Zhou Donghuang killed the two level-five adepts from the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture… the first young master of the Wu family Wu Nanxun had his meridians destroyed and has become a martial invalid."

After receiving the news of what occurred at the main entrance of the Magnolia Guild, Zhao San immediately went to find his older brother, the governor of Yunfeng prefecture and patriarch of the Zhao family, Zhao Lishang.

"I never imagined that even Wu Yunfeng and Wu Hailang would die at Zhou Donghuang's hands… either one of those two would be a match for me." Zhao Lishang spoke with a serious expression, and continued to question Zhao San, "How long did he take to kill the two of them?"

Zhao Lishang had sparred with both Wu Yunfeng and Wu Hailang and knew their strengths in detail.

"One… one exchange…"

Zhao San smiled bitterly.

Zhao Lishang was instantly dumbfounded when he heard this, and it took a long while to come to his senses with a bitter smile on his face. "I originally assumed his ability was equal to mine at most… now, it looks like I underestimated him."

"Big Brother, I can't understand… why didn't he kill just those two from the Wu family and be done with it, instead of proceeding to main Wu Nanxun. Isn't he afraid of the Wu family's vengeance?"

Zhao San was puzzled by this.

"You are more familiar with him than I am… do you think he would do something he is not confident of?" Zhao Lishang countered.

"He…"

Zhao San hesitated momentarily as he considered it, then shook his head. "He wouldn't."

Although Zhao San had not spent a long time interacting with that youth, the immense self-confidence that radiated from that youth gave him a sense that he would not be frightened even if the sky collapsed.

"Because of this, there is only one possibility: He does not consider the Wu family a threat," Zhao Lishang said with a complicated look.

"Does not consider the Wu family a threat?"

Zhao San was shocked.

The Wu family was a grand family and one that had many level-six adepts of Qi-gathering.

If that Zhou Donghuang did not consider even the Wu family a threat, how strong was his ability?"

…

The Hong family mansion.

"That Zhou Donghuang… has such courage?"

The second master of the preeminent Hong family, Hong Kun was in a state of shock for a good while upon receiving the news from outside and had just recovered his wits.

The strength of Zhou Donghuang's ability had greatly surprised him.

However, he felt that Zhou Donghuang's courage was even greater, to the extent that he dared to kill the people from the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture and even maim the first young master of the Wu family, Wu Nanxun!

"I never imagined he had this level of ability."

"With the ability he has demonstrated today, even the governor of Yunfeng prefecture Zhao Lishang is no match for him."

"However, although the strength of his ability is indisputable, the same cannot be said of his brain… he even dares to maim First Young Master Wu Nanxun of the grand Wu family. He's simply trying to get himself killed!"

Wu Nanxun was the designated future governor of Guangling prefecture, and because of this, outsiders referred to him as the young governor. And now, his meridians had been maimed in the prefecture capital of Yunfeng prefecture, and that made him a martial invalid.

Zhou Donghuang maimed the future governor of Guangling prefecture… it could be imagined how furious the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture would be when news of this reached them.

"Seems that it won't be necessary for Yun Fei and Dandan to seek the help of the disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters; that little fellow is doomed," Hong Kun muttered with a glimmer in his eyes.

Not long ago, his older brother, the patriarch of the Hong family Hong Wei, had left the Hong family together with Chen Dandan and brought her out of Yunfeng prefecture to the Valley of the Medicine Masters.

He was aware of Chen Dandan's life story as well as the conflict between her and Zhou Donghuang.

…

The Li family mansion.

"Today, with the patriarch and head lady, together with our son-in-law, and with the two level-five adepts with him, that Zhou Donghuang of the Magnolia Guild is doomed!"

This was the thought of all the members of the Li family before Patriarch Li Jingyu of the Li family, and the others set off. After all, the man of the head lady of the Li family was the young governor of the intermediate-level Guangling prefecture. Moreover, with the young governor were two level-five adepts who could match the governor of Yunfeng prefecture in ability.

It turned out that the members of the Li family were left dumbfounded when the news reached them.

"Patriarch is dead? Killed with one strike of Zhou Donghuang's palm?"

"Head Lady is also dead? Moreover, Head Lady was killed by the son-in-law himself?"

"The two level-five adepts with son-in-law were also killed with a single sword stroke from Zhou Donghuang? And Zhou Donghuang even destroyed son-in-law's meridians?"

…

The members of the Li family could never have imagined that the patriarch of the Li family not only failed in avenging the second young master of the Li family, Li Pingyun but had even died at Zhou Donghuang's hands.

Their source of self-confidence, the two level-five adepts of the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture, had also been killed by Zhou Donghuang.

"Will he take his anger out on our Li family? If he does, who in our Li family is a match for him? Who can stop him?"

Just when a crowd of Li family juniors was discussing the danger they were in, Li Yun and Li Rui had just arrived back at the Li family mansion.

When they heard that Patriarch Li Jingyu of the Li family had led a force to the Magnolia Guild to make trouble, both mother and daughter had escaped through the back door of the Magnolia Guild.

In order to avoid anyone noticing that they had been to the Magnolia Guild, they had specially made a big detour out of the prefecture capital and re-entered the prefecture capital from the opposite direction before returning to the Li family mansion.

But after going through all that trouble to return to the Li family mansion and hearing the members of the Li family exaggerating their danger, they were dumbfounded.

In their eyes, how could the mighty patriarch have been killed by Zhou Donghuang with a single blow?

Moreover, the strength behind the Li family, the young governor of Guangling prefecture, the first young master of the grand Wu family Wu Nanxun, had not only killed the head lady of the Li family but had even had his meridians destroyed by Zhou Donghuang?

The two level-five adepts of the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture had also been killed by Zhou Donghuang?

"That child Donghuang… is that powerful?"

Li Yun was wide-eyed in shock.

Li Rui was also in a state of shock but soon regained her senses and smiled coldly. She said with an expression of glee, "If that Zhou Donghuang has offended the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture… he is as good as dead!"

"The Wu family will definitely not let him off!"

"If I had known earlier that he was so stupid as to offend the grand Wu family, why would I have bowed and scraped before him?"

Saying this, Li Rui's cold smile grew even colder.

…

In the spacious mansion of the preeminent Lu family, the news of what had occurred at the main entrance of the neighboring Magnolia Guild was being proclaimed everywhere.

The uproar even startled Lu Qinghu, who had been practicing intently in his room.

Lu Qinghu could not resist going out to find out what was happening.

However, he turned around and returned to his room very quickly.

"Young Master Donghuang killed two level-five adepts of the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture? He maimed the first young master of the Wu family, Wu Nanxun?"

Shaking his head, Lu Qinghu was not surprised by this and continued to practice.

In his view, the fact that Young Master Donghuang dared to do this meant that he was surely confident and not afraid of that grand Wu family coming to make trouble for him.

What on earth was that potion that Young Master Donghuang instructed Fu to send over?

In just these two days, half of the effectiveness of that potion at most has been used, and I am already at the point where I can attempt to advance to level-five of Qi-gathering.

Two days earlier, Lu Qinghu had not thought much of it when Fu sent over that bottle of potion. But when he consumed that potion and began to practice, he noticed that his level of practice had increased dramatically, and in just two short days, he improved so much that it equaled his past ten years of hard practice.

I feel… I only need to let the rest of the potion take effect, and I will directly attain level-five of Qi-gathering!

With this thought, Lu Qinghu suppressed his burgeoning excitement with an effort, and immersed himself once more in practicing, closing himself off to the raucous noise outside.

…

Other than the four preeminent families of Yunfeng prefecture, the Fang and Ma lesser families had also been scared silly by Zhou Donghuang's actions that day.

They never imagined that Zhou Donghuang would dare offend even the grand Wu family, the governing family of Guangling prefecture.

Just as the people of the prefecture capital were in a state of shock over what Zhou Donghuang had done, Zhou Donghuang himself was wandering leisurely through the streets of the prefecture capital, weaving through the crowds at a relaxed pace.

Without seeming to feel it… it has been three months since being reborn here.

Zhou Donghuang walked leisurely as he shook his head and sighed.

Previously, at this time, I was on Earth… the seal within my body had been broken not long ago, and I had not even attained level-one of Qi-gathering.

In just over three months, I have already attained level-five of Qi-gathering.

Previously, I took almost twenty years to attain level-five of Qi-gathering.

On the Earth, in an age without practice, qi was sparse, and for Zhou Donghuang to begin from nothing and practice till the level of petty consummation of Qi-gathering, took him fifty whole years.

This was also because he eventually traveled throughout Earth and noticed ancient traces. After some exploration, he had a fortuitous encounter.

After spending ten more years, he smoothly attained the stage of Connate stage.

After that, in the next few decades, he used the power of Earth's science to travel to nearby planets where qi was denser to practice, and he smoothly attained the stage of Primal Core before he left Earth.

To physically travel across space, a minimum stage of Primal Core was required. Otherwise, one would never be able to withstand the force of the magnetic fields in space.

"In this life, I will strive to attain the level of Primal Core within five years!" Zhou Donghuang muttered.

If what Zhou Donghuang had just said was announced far and wide, it would have been enough to scare everyone not just on the planet of Ziyun, but in the myriad civilizations of the universe.

After sightseeing for a while more, Zhou Donghuang turned to return home.

In two days, I'll travel to the Chu royal city… and Guangling prefecture happens to be on the road I must take to reach the Chu royal city. I'll go with Wu Nanxun to the Wu family.

This will prevent the Wu family from making trouble for the Magnolia Guild while I'm traveling to the Chu royal city.

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