Alchemist Guga

Chen Xin was no exception, raising one hand to shield his eyes so he could feel a bit more comfortable.

"Xiao Lin, start! Finish early, or I..."

"Pfft!!!"

Before he even finished speaking, he felt a flash of golden light before his eyes, followed by a sharp, sudden pain in his abdomen.

"Wah-ah!!"

His entire body flew backward like a curled-up shrimp.

"Bang, bang, bang!!"

With a continuous series of loud crashes, wood chips flew and dust filled the sky.

After piercing straight through more than ten large trees, Chen Xin finally came to a stop.

"Guga~"

Fat Guga hoisted a tree trunk and put her hands on her hips in triumph.

"Uncle Ning, what happened? I can't see clearly!"

Lin Xiao squinted, able only to catch flashes of golden light and hear a string of impact sounds.

Ning Fengzhi blinked.

"Uncle Jian was knocked flying... Uncle Jian is standing up again."

"Spit, spit, spit!"

Chen Xin spat out the leaves in his mouth, stood up, and winced while clutching his throbbing abdomen.

"That strength really is something! Old me was just careless that time. Again! First Spirit Ability! Sword Spirit Guardian!"

His first spirit ring lit up, and countless strands of sword qi formed a defensive barrier in front of him.

"Guga!"

Fat Guga held the heavy tree trunk high with both hands, her short legs pedaling furiously against the ground as she charged straight ahead with a whistling wind.

"Whoosh--"

A sound of air tearing apart rang out.

"Bang!"

The tree trunk slammed heavily against the barrier.

Chen Xin let out a sigh of relief. Good thing the barrier was fine; at least he had saved face.

Otherwise, word got out that a Title Douluo's spirit ability had been broken by a Grand Soul Master, how could he ever face anyone again?

Fat Guga puffed out her cheeks, her little brows knitting together.

"Smash for Guga!!"

"Bang, bang, bang, bang!!!"

The tree trunk was swung so fast it left afterimages, every single blow landing precisely on the exact same spot.

"Crack--"

A tiny spider-web crack fractured across the sword qi barrier.

Chen Xin's eyes bulged right out of his head.

Was this reasonable?!

Even that brute Tang Hao had to pull back his strength, wind up, and have a backswing when swinging his hammer, right?

As for this little thing? Zero wind-up, zero charging, infinite combo-hammering!

"Stop, stop, stop! Old me already knows what kind of strength you have, no more fighting!"

Chen Xin reined in his soul power and used teleportation to arrive beside Lin Xiao.

Fat Guga failed to check her momentum and smashed the tree trunk straight into the ground.

"Thud!!!"

Lin Xiao only felt himself jarred a few centimeters into the air.

"All right, Fat Guga, come back!"

"Cheating! Guga was this close to smashing it, Guga!"

Fat Guga tossed the tree trunk aside casually and stomped over looking aggrieved, as if someone owed her a few million.

Chen Xin gave a light cough, acting as though he hadn't heard a thing.

Mage Guga gently waved her magic wand.

Specks of starlight enveloped Chen Xin.

In mere moments, Chen Xin's scratch- and dirt-covered robes were clean and smooth once again.

Chen Xin looked down at his robes, then glanced at the magic wand in Mage Guga's hand, his face full of amazement.

"This actually has a healing effect too?"

Ning Fengzhi was quite surprised as well.

This little fellow could not only attack, but also provide support?

Mage Guga proudly puffed out her little chest, calling out with the utmost air of importance:

"Guga! Magic wand is powerful, Guga!"

Lin Xiao smiled and patted her head.

"Guga is the best!"

"Guga~ Hehehe~"

Chen Xin reached out to shove the chubby penguin aside as she raised her little fists to pound his thigh.

"Let's head back to the sect. If the commotion just now draws over high-tier spirit beasts, it won't be good."

Upon returning to the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect.

The three of them found something a bit strange within the sect.

Patrolling disciples were nearly half fewer than usual, people coming and going were sparse, and an unpleasant stench faintly lingered in the air, drifting over on the wind.

"Ugh... Who took a crap in the sect?"

Lin Xiao quickly covered his nose and instinctively took half a step back.

Ning Fengzhi's expression grew gloomy.

In a refined place like the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, how could anyone forget the rules and just squat out in the open like that!

Weren't there outhouses inside the sect?!!

Right at that moment, a disciple clutched his stomach, his body curled into a ball, and hurried past the three of them in a frantic jog, clutching a wad of coarse paper in his hand.

He paid zero attention to the fact that the Sect Master and Sword Douluo were standing right there, consumed entirely by unbearable abdominal pain. Catching sight of a flowerbed by the roadside, he dove straight into it without a second word.

"Pfft--"

A muffled sound came from the bushes.

The stench in the air instantly grew a few shades stronger.

Lin Xiao covered his nose and hurried away with the two Gugas.

Ten minutes later.

The disciple walked out with an expression of sheer relief.

Yet upon seeing Ning Fengzhi's gloomy face, the disciple's face instantly turned ashen, his legs went weak, and he dropped to his knees with a thud, trembling all over.

"Sect... Sect Master..."

Ning Fengzhi furrowed his brows, his tone stern.

"Do you know what you were just doing! Relieving yourself anywhere you please within the sect, do you have any regard for the rules left in your eyes?!"

The disciple's eyes instantly reddened, and he kowtowed repeatedly with a crying voice.

"Wuwuwu-- Sect Master, it's not that I wanted to be like this!

It's just that the outhouses didn't have enough room, and there were still dozens of people in line. My stomach was cramping so badly I genuinely couldn't hold it in, so I had no choice but to run over here..."

"Huh?" Ning Fengzhi's expression shifted, a sinking feeling hitting his heart. "What's going on? Could someone have secretly poisoned the place?"

Chen Xin instantly grew vigilant as well; could it be that the owner of that 100,000-year spirit ring had come for revenge?

His sharp gaze swept back and forth across the courtyard surroundings, and he condensed the Seven Kill Sword in his hand to shield Lin Xiao and Ning Fengzhi behind him.

He remained constantly on guard against someone suddenly springing out from the shadows to launch an assassination.

He looked down at the kneeling disciple and asked in a deep voice:

"I'm asking you, where is Old Bone?"

A look of awkwardness crossed the disciple's face as he lowered his head, his voice dropping very low.

"Bone Elder... is also squatting in the pit..."

"..."

The scene instantly plunged into dead silence.

The kneeling disciple wore a bitter expression and spilled the whole story from start to finish.

"Here's what happened. The penguin in young master Lin Xiao's courtyard built a strange, massive cauldron, and then refined pills using medicinal herbs.

She said they could boost a person's aptitude and make their body much sturdier.

One of the senior apprentice-brothers bought one out of curiosity, and when he ate it, his strength really did increase quite a bit.

When the rest of us saw that, how could we possibly hold back? We all bought several and ate them, and even Bone Elder bought several.

At first we were quite excited, feeling like we had stumbled upon a huge bargain.

Our bodies felt robust, our backs stopped aching, and our legs weren't sore.

But then everyone started having diarrhea one after another, and there was simply no stopping it!

Wuwuwuwu-- And several senior apprentice-sisters were too embarrassed to squat out in the open without cover, so now they're all washing their clothes, wuwuwuwu--"

Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin shifted their gazes in unison to look at the sheepish Lin Xiao.

He took two steps back and gave an awkward smile.

"Uncle Ning, Sword Grandpa, you know how it is—alchemists definitely have to try things many times before they can succeed...

Even though there were just the tiniest side effects, the end result was good, wasn't it?"

Hearing this, the kneeling disciple raised his face and retorted.

"Young Master Lin Xiao, we went and asked, and that penguin said she added herbs that make people excited into the pills.

The reason we felt our strength increase after eating them was purely because we were tripping hard..."