Wei Tianlong's Support
"I practiced... and practiced, and then I reached the beginner level?"
Wei Tianlong's lips moved involuntarily as he repeated Chen Fan's words in a daze, as though every bone had been pulled from his body.
That answer, so simple it was almost dismissive, now seemed more profound and incomprehensible than any divine art or secret technique.
Beside him, Li Guangming's brain had completely shut down.
He stared blankly at Chen Fan, then at the seemingly crazed Wei Tianlong beside him. All that remained in his mind was a chaotic buzzing.
It was as if the world had been put on mute.
In the deathly silence, the muscles in Wei Tianlong's deathly pale face began to twitch uncontrollably.
Suddenly, he threw his head back.
"Ha... hahaha... hahahahaha!"
A burst of laughter erupted from deep in his throat.
His laughter was hoarse and unrestrained, filled with the wild joy of surviving a calamity and the supreme excitement of discovering a treasure rarely seen in the world. He even laughed until tears came out.
He wiped the cold sweat from his brow and looked at Chen Fan again. The admiration in his eyes had been replaced by fervor.
"Good! Very good!"
Incoherent, Wei Tianlong slapped the storage bracelet on his wrist, the mark of his status. Light flashed, and a smooth white jade bottle appeared in his hand.
The moment he pulled out the stopper—
Hum!
A medicinal fragrance so rich it was almost tangible, mingled with a vast, scorching power of Qi and Blood like a blazing furnace, filled the entire cultivation room in an instant! Even the spiritual energy in the air was pushed aside by the overbearing aura, forming a small vacuum.
The mere scent of the medicine sent a current of warmth through Li Guangming's limbs, which had gone cold with fear.
"These are Nine-Orifice Dragon Blood Pills from my private collection!"
Wei Tianlong's voice carried a solemnity that brooked no refusal. He strode forward and, without taking no for an answer, pressed the priceless jade bottle into Chen Fan's cold little hand.
"It took the heart's essence blood of a sub-dragon exotic beast on the verge of adulthood, nine heavenly treasures, and the work of an alchemy master to refine just three of them! They have a miraculous effect on tempering Qi and Blood and forging a Dao foundation!"
He stared fixedly at Chen Fan, the fervor in his eyes almost spilling over.
"Consider this... my apology for my oversight!"
He dared not imagine what a monstrous mistake he would have made today if Chen Fan's talent had not exceeded the bounds of common sense, if this little monster were not a walking miracle himself!
A supreme treasure capable of changing Jiangnan No. 1 High School would have fallen here because of his oversight!
His apology was sincere.
And with this investment, he was staking everything!
Having done all this, Wei Tianlong took a deep breath. The dignified bearing of the admissions office director quietly returned, though now it was touched with genuine respect.
He bowed deeply and solemnly to Chen Fan, a child of only eight.
"Student Chen Fan, I must return at once and report this matter to the principal in person!"
"Your... importance to Jiangnan No. 1 High School will be redefined!"
"Please... take care of yourself!"
Before his voice had even faded, he turned without lingering a moment longer and became a blurred afterimage, rushing back toward the athletic field even faster than he had come!
Boom!!!
The pitch-black Black Crow, shaped like a ferocious prehistoric bird, let out a roar that tore through the sky. Skipping even the warm-up, it shot upward in an instant, its surface glowing red from the intense friction with the air. In the blink of an eye, it became a black dot and vanished beyond the horizon.
Only after Wei Tianlong left did the crushing pressure slowly dissipate.
Li Guangming's body went limp, and he nearly collapsed. He instinctively braced himself against the cold wall, only then realizing that his back had long since been soaked through with cold sweat.
He gasped for breath like a fish out of water.
After a long while, he dragged his weakened legs forward, walking step by step until he stood before Chen Fan.
Looking at the boy young enough to be his grandson, Li Guangming's clouded old eyes were filled with lingering fear after surviving a calamity and concern so deep it could not be dispelled.
He opened his mouth, his voice as hoarse as a broken gong.
"Xiao Fan, promise me, your principal, that you'll never... be so reckless again, all right?"
"A life was at stake! You almost... almost scared the hearts right out of us two old men!"
Seeing the concern in the old man's eyes, so genuine it could not have been feigned, Chen Fan felt the first faint warmth ripple across the lake of his heart, which had remained as still as an ancient well.
He tightened his grip on the jade bottle radiating astonishing heat and met Li Guangming's gaze, nodding solemnly.
"Principal, I understand."
Only after receiving Chen Fan's promise did Li Guangming finally let out a long breath, as though all his strength had been drained away.
He went on to offer a long string of reminders, from not rushing his cultivation to balancing work and rest in his daily life. His advice was as painstaking as that of a real grandfather worrying himself sick over his grandson.
Only after confirming that Chen Fan was truly safe and sound did he slowly leave, his steps utterly weary. His hunched back looked especially forlorn under the lights of the long corridor, yet carried the ease of someone who had set down a great stone from his heart.
The heavy alloy doors slowly closed once more.
Silence returned to the cultivation room.
Chen Fan lowered his head and looked at the white jade bottle in his hand, which radiated a vast power of Qi and Blood.
The bottle was smooth and warm, yet holding it felt like gripping the violently beating heart of a giant dragon.
He could clearly sense the terrifying energy contained within the blood-red pill.
A sharp light flashed through Chen Fan's eyes.
He did not hesitate in the slightest, nor did he take even a moment to regulate his breathing.
He sat down cross-legged.
Pulling out the stopper, he swallowed the blood-red Nine-Orifice Dragon Blood Pill, which pulsed faintly as though it were alive!
Boom!!!
The instant the pill entered his stomach, it did not melt at all!
A torrent fiercer than a volcanic eruption and hotter than magma exploded in his belly!
The terrifying energy, like hundreds of millions of rampaging primordial beasts, slammed wildly through his already tough meridians with destructive force enough to tear steel apart!
Chen Fan's body jolted violently. His skin turned scorching red in an instant, and veins bulged beneath it like coiling dragons. His whole body resembled a furnace on the verge of exploding!
"Come on!"
Amid the excruciating pain, Chen Fan's mind was clearer than ever!
With a thought, he set the Star-Transferring Blood Art, which he had only just brought to the beginner level and which had still been flowing slowly, into thunderous motion!
A strand of star power drawn from beyond the nine heavens, cold, aloof, and peerlessly domineering, forcefully entered this violent feast of energy like a sovereign descending into the mortal world!
Ice and fire!
The power of the stars and the power of dragon blood!
Two utterly different yet equally domineering forces collided violently inside Chen Fan's small body in the most primal, savage fashion!