Alchemy

The big man scratched his head and gave an honest smile. "My mother named me that. When I was little, wild beasts always appeared in our village, slaughtering the villagers and eating children. My mother gave me the two characters 'demon' in hopes that I would have a hard life. Besides, I think this name sounds very nice."

"As long as you like it." Su Hao smiled.

Upon returning to the family estate, Su Hao ignored everyone around him and led the big man straight back to his room—not his former little shack, but the residence of the family head.

The most lavish courtyard in the Su Family.

"You will stand guard here. Without my orders, no one is allowed inside. I mean no one, no matter what happens!" Su Hao said solemnly.

"Yes!"

Lin Yaoyao nodded, his expression turning serious. He strode to the door and stood there ramrod straight, blocking it like a wall.

Su Hao smiled. This fellow was truly simple and honest, a pure-hearted person. People like that were the most trustworthy.

Moreover, the other man's Life-and-Death Talisman was still in his hands, and his life was under Su Hao's control. From that alone, Lin Yaoyao would not dare play any tricks.

He turned and entered the inner chamber, locking the door behind him. He took out the half-man-tall purple, bulging-bellied pill furnace he had bought from the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, along with the medicinal herbs needed for alchemy and several demon cores in his possession.

It was Su Hao's first time refining pills. Though he had inherited the knowledge, he was still flustered and clumsy, failing six times in a row.

Only on the seventh attempt did the pill finally meet the required standard. It was the size of a dragon's eye and shone with dazzling gold.

This was a Spirit Tempering Pill. It could not only strengthen cultivation, but also temper the physical body, serving two purposes at once.

The Supreme Heavenly Demon Art that Su Hao cultivated was an incomparably violent technique, one that placed immense demands on the body. If one's body did not meet the standard, there was simply no way to advance.

If forced, it might even cause the body to explode.

For the next day, Su Hao remained in his room and refined over thirty Spirit Tempering Pills.

At the same time, he continuously absorbed their effects. Alchemy required spiritual energy to turn into flame, which consumed his strength as well. The pills replenished his stamina, and amid that cycle of depletion and replenishment, Su Hao's cultivation advanced at a breathtaking pace.

At last, after swallowing the thirteenth pill, Su Hao's expression shifted. He immediately sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, his technique beginning to circulate at top speed as the essence transformed from the pill flowed and cycled through his body.

After a full thirty cycles, some foul air puffed from Su Hao's nose and mouth. Yet at that very moment, his aura began to surge.

Whoosh!

The youth suddenly opened his eyes, a razor-sharp gleam shooting forth!

"I broke through!"

A trace of relieved joy appeared on his youthful face. Su Hao stood up and stretched his limbs.

"Lin Yaoyao, come in."

Su Hao called toward the door.

After waiting for a long while, no one appeared.

Frowning, Su Hao walked into the main hall. At the entrance, Lin Yaoyao's burly body was still standing perfectly straight.

"Why did you not answer when I called you?" Su Hao frowned.

"Didn't Brother Hao say that no one was allowed inside, no matter who it was or what happened?" Lin Yaoyao wore the expression of someone faithfully following Su Hao's instructions.

Su Hao smiled. This big fellow really was meticulous to the letter.

"Fine, that order is lifted now. Also, take these pills and use them for cultivation." Su Hao tossed the remaining dozen or so pills to Lin Yaoyao.

"These..." Lin Yaoyao froze. Pills were exceedingly rare and precious. Though he had never taken one himself, he had seen Bai Yu take them before. Yet the pills Bai Yu had taken were far less valuable than those Su Hao had brought out.

And Su Hao had given him more than a dozen at once.

"Eat them without worry. These are merely snack candies to me, not worth mentioning." Su Hao boasted shamelessly.

"Snacks? Candies?" Lin Yaoyao nearly collapsed to the ground, staring at Su Hao in utter shock.

Buzz.

Just then, the jade pendant at Su Hao's waist trembled.

This jade pendant represented the status of the Su Family head. It was also a communication jade pendant; once anything happened within the family, it could contact the family head at the fastest speed.

"What happened at home?"

Su Hao muttered to himself before leaving the room.

Striding forward, Su Hao headed directly for the family's martial arena under the strange gazes of the surrounding disciples.

Most of the people had gathered there.

When Su Hao arrived, the place was packed shoulder to shoulder. Not only were the Su Family elders present, but many prominent figures from Great Flame City had gathered as well.

Beyond that, there was a group dressed in green. They were unfamiliar faces, and clearly not a force from Great Flame City.

With one sweep of his gaze, Su Hao took everything in. He then strode forward, mounted the family head's seat, and sat down with the commanding bearing of a general. Though still a young boy, he already carried an extraordinary presence.

Lin Yaoyao stood at his side.

"May I ask why everyone has come to my Su Family?" His voice was calm and steady. Faced with so many important figures, he showed no fear at all.

That alone earned the secret admiration of many people.

"Hehe, Family Head, you were still young back then. I wonder if you remember the Li Family of Heaven Rain City?" Su Yuanba said with a sinister smile.

"The Li Family?" Repeating those two words in his heart, Su Hao suddenly shifted his gaze and looked directly at the group in green. Were they people from the Li Family?

After a glance around, his eyes landed on a young girl among the green-clothed group.

She was fifteen or sixteen, with fair skin and delicate, picturesque features. She could be called a rare beauty. Yet on that exquisite face rested an arrogance that looked down on everyone, and it filled Su Hao with intense dislike.

"Hehe, it seems the Family Head remembers now. That is right, they are from the Li Family of Heaven Rain City. And that young lady is the Li Family's treasured jewel, Miss Yulian." Su Yuanba continued, his smile already carrying a hint of gloating delight.

"She is Li Yulian, the girl betrothed to me before we were born?" Su Hao had long suspected it, but hearing Su Yuanba say it aloud still made his heart tremble.

His father had mentioned that marriage arrangement to him before, but Su Hao had never met the other party. Instinctively, he had always resisted it.

Now that he had seen the girl, her looks were fairly good, but that arrogant demeanor made him thoroughly displeased.

Instinctively, Su Hao wanted to refuse.

No. If I reject her outright, I may wound the girl's pride. I should slowly work things out after this.

He looked over again and said, "Miss, you have come from afar and must be weary from the journey. Stay at the residence today. I will arrange for someone to take good care of you, and tomorrow I will send someone to show you around."

In Su Hao's view, perhaps the girl had simply felt stifled at home and come out to travel.

"No need." However, as soon as his words fell, the girl interrupted him coldly. "I will not stay long. I only came to make a few things clear to you."