Extorting an Alchemy Furnace

You directly told Deng Rusong about your concerns.

You even said that for this half-baked fellow to pull off so many headstrong stunts, he didn't seem like a normal person at all.

Deng Rusong looked awkward after hearing you.

He said there was definitely nothing wrong with the cultivation method.

Because this Apex Grandmaster was an elder from his relative's family who had already passed away.

That elder had even held Deng Rusong when he was little.

As for saber techniques, he had been unanimously recognized by many of the great figures in the saber world back then as number one.

You gave an awkward dry laugh and scratched your head.

You hadn't expected that after opening your mouth and blasting away for so long, you had ended up blasting Deng Rusong's relative.

It reminded you of the time you had queued up in the Gorge with friends.

You had flamed the jungler for ages, only to discover he was your friend's friend.

That strange, suffocating silence at the time had made you want to die on behalf of your hero right there and then.

You hurriedly hugged Deng Rusong's leg and said you had merely spoken casually just now.

You told Deng Rusong not to take it to heart, much less run off and complain to that big shot's family.

Deng Rusong shook his head and left with a smile.

You dusted yourself off and stood up. "Handled."

You opened the Stellar River Saber Art and gave it a quick read-through.

You found that it really was good stuff.

You no longer hesitated and directly began cultivating the Stellar River Saber Art.

Your talent had already been fiercely enhanced.

So you only needed two months.

To cultivate smoothly all the way to the peak of the Marrow Washing Realm.

The Stellar River Saber Art truly lived up to its name.

Now, every time you swung your saber, it came with starry special effects filling the sky.

It was like you were holding a fairy wand.

After swinging twice, you felt it was too conspicuous.

You chose to turn off the special effects.

You still preferred to keep things under the radar, then suddenly slash someone when they least expected it.

One should still keep a low profile.

Your Sky-Stepping Gait proficiency had improved as well.

It had gone from beginner level to initial mastery.

You could now hold firm in midair for six breaths.

However, your speed in the air was not particularly fast.

Overall, it could only make your movements more agile.

It was mainly meant for fighting.

For example, if you leaped into the sky to evade an enemy attack.

Normally, the enemy would seize the moment you were stiff in midair to deliver a fatal blow.

But he would never expect you to stop directly in the air and strike him with a descending slash from the heavens.

You had never swung your saber like this before, and you wanted to find an opportunity to try it out.

Come to think of it, you had not cut anyone down in quite a while. Your urge to chop was acting up a little.

But you knew murder was against the law, so you would not go around killing people. Otherwise, wouldn't that make you part of the underworld?

The Sky-Stepping Gait was not suitable for traveling in the air.

For long-distance travel, you still needed to ride a horse.

After cultivating the Stellar River Saber Art, you began practicing alchemy again.

You took out a fifth-grade pill formula and began refining it.

You had long since memorized Xie Huide's Dan Dao Zhen Jie and alchemy notes backward and forward.

Now, you had also basically finished reading Deng Rusong's Dan Dao Zhen Jie as an eighth-grade alchemist.

On top of that, you had successfully completed Insightful Observation once more.

This raised your understanding of true qi control to a whole new level.

You were now terrifyingly strong.

You set out the Alchemy Furnace and lit a young little flame.

You began refining fifth-grade pills.

The first two attempts failed as usual.

But on only your third attempt, you successfully produced two fifth-grade pills.

You had directly entered the threshold of fifth-grade pill refinement on your third try—something no one would believe if you told them.

"Perhaps this is what it means to build up steadily before bursting forth!"

This was indeed the result of your talent and resources accumulating together.

One month later.

Year fourteen.

You were still refining fifth-grade pills in the courtyard.

But every day, you had to calculate the date.

Because in the third simulation, Willow Tree Village would suffer a severe drought this year.

During that simulation, Wei Xia and Miao Jiayao might have starved to death without your aid.

If that happened, then Miao Liwu, that martial Dao genius, would never be born.

So this time, you planned to make a trip there.

At the very least, you would save Wei Xia's family.

Though there were many variables involved.

Perhaps even if Wei Xia and Miao Jiayao survived, Miao Liwu still would not be born.

But you still intended to give it a try.

But today was not the time yet.

You refined pills for another three days.

When you were in good condition now, you could refine three fifth-grade pills.

But your condition was not very stable.

Although this speed could not compare to how fast you had been when you first started, producing one a day.

Across the entire Danxia Sect, you were still the fastest one... the fastest in alchemy progress, not fast in other respects. Don't overthink it, don't make wild guesses, and don't spread rumors or slander.

That day, you stopped refining pills.

You calculated the timing and felt that it was about right.

It was about time for you to set out.

Willow Tree Village lay southwest of the Danxia Sect.

The journey would take around a month.

You went to find Xie Huide.

You told him that you needed to go out for two or three months and that he need not look for you.

Xie Huide fell silent for two breaths, then said, "He Yu, if you want to make any requests in the future, just say so directly. There's no need to use such clumsy excuses."

You were stunned at first.

Then you understood that Xie Huide had mistaken your excuse of leaving the Danxia Sect for an attempt to make demands of him.

Xie Huide had taken you for someone whose greed knew no bounds.

You could only do your best to go along with it and swindle him out of an Alchemy Furnace he used personally.

Since Xie Huide already saw you as that sort of person anyway.

Then it was perfectly reasonable for you to take the opportunity to ask for a few benefits, wasn't it?

Xie Huide had only lost a top-tier Alchemy Furnace, while you had lost your sterling reputation.

By that calculation, you had suffered a huge loss.

But who told Xie Huide to be your master?

You were practically family, so it was fine if you suffered a little loss.

Suffering losses was a blessing.

You played with that exquisite Alchemy Furnace and hummed a little tune as you left the Danxia Sect.

Xie Huide came to your courtyard to take a look.

All your belongings were still there; you had only taken a few changes of clothes.

Only then did he realize that you were not running away at all.

You truly just had something to do outside for a few months.

Xie Huide slapped his thigh hard. "This rebellious disciple! I've suffered a blood-curdling loss!!"

After realizing what had happened, Xie Huide immediately chased down the mountain.

He happened to see you buying a fast horse at the market.

You were bargaining with the horse trader.

When you saw Xie Huide pursuing you, you could not be bothered to haggle anymore.

You directly slapped ten taels of silver into the horse trader's hand.

"Keep the change!"

Those ten taels of silver could buy two or three horses of this highest grade.

The horse trader beamed with delight and thanked you repeatedly.

You leaped onto the horse and slapped its rump hard.

In the blink of an eye, you vanished far into the distance.

"Rebellious disciple! That Alchemy Furnace is my most precious treasure after your Shimu! Give it back!!"

Xie Huide shouted as he chased after you.

"Hyah, hyah, hyah! You dead horse, run faster!!"

You were practically about to slap the horse's rump to pieces. "Master! Go back! I'll take good care of Shimu... uh... the Alchemy Furnace!!"

"Rebellious disciple! Rebellious disciple!!"

In the end, Xie Huide still failed to catch you.

He watched as the figure of you and your horse grew smaller and smaller, until it finally became nothing more than a black dot.

Xie Huide trudged back dejectedly.

As he passed the horse trader, the man gave him a polite smile.

Xie Huide paused.

Then he held out his hand to the horse trader. "Give me the extra money that brat paid back!"

The horse trader's smile instantly froze on his face.