Zhao Yuhao knew perfectly well that they would not readily believe what he said.
Had someone else told him the same thing, his first reaction would have been doubt, too.
He steadied himself and explained further. "Reporting to you, Elders: with that sword strike, the Tianyuan Young Master summoned heavenly thunder and shattered the demon."
"Heavenly thunder? He can command heavenly thunder?"
Faced with their undiminished skepticism, Zhao Yuhao took out a crystal, also known as a Recording Stone.
Even at the time, he had known that these people would never believe those events if he merely described them.
So the instant Chen Mu swung his sword at the demon, Zhao Yuhao hurriedly used the Recording Stone to capture the scene.
Once the events unfolded clearly before everyone's eyes, they could no longer doubt him.
At least for now, no one had ever heard of anyone being able to alter the images captured by a Recording Stone.
"Are we certain this boy hasn't been possessed by some ancient monster?"
"It's hard to imagine someone his age achieving all this."
"Indeed. It's astonishing!"
"Even Chen Tianlin back then would pale beside him, wouldn't he?"
"Spread the word. From this day forward, no member of our Eastern Pole Holy Land may make an enemy of the Tianyuan Holy Land. Anyone who does will be expelled, and their life or death will be left entirely to Tianyuan!" Zhao Guizhen declared.
"We shall obey your command, Holy Lord!"
Everyone answered in unison.
They had already expected Zhao Guizhen to say something like this, so none of them found it strange.
Setting aside how terrifying Chen Mu's talent and strength were,
After all, the immense favor he had done the Eastern Pole Holy Land by rooting out the cult's infiltrators and saving the Holy Lord's daughter meant they could no longer act against the Tianyuan Holy Land.
If they earned a reputation for repaying kindness with enmity, it would damage the holy land's good name.
Among cultivators, there was no shortage of people who followed their hearts...
Back at the Tianyuan Holy Land.
Song Wanjun had finished registering her information and received her Inner Court disciple's training robes, residence key, cultivation resources, and other necessities.
Seeing Song Wanjun emerge from the pavilion with the Inner Court disciple's training robes in her arms, everyone broke into discussion.
"No way! The rumors were true? The Great Wu Dynasty's eldest princess, the most gifted woman in Great Wu, actually joined our Tianyuan Holy Land!"
"Doesn't that make her our junior sister now?"
"I heard the eldest princess originally came here to discuss a marriage alliance."
"A marriage alliance? With whom?"
"Who else? The young master, of course. But he turned her down."
"Turned her down? That's our young master for you. If it were me, I could never refuse a beauty whose looks could topple a nation."
"In that case, why did she stay in Tianyuan and even become one of our disciples?"
They puzzled over it endlessly without finding an answer.
Listening to the discussions around her, Song Wanjun could not help quickening her pace, her face lowered deeply, not daring to look up.
All anyone could see were her reddened ears.
"Could it be that you're staying here to look for opportunities to win over our little Mu, bit by bit?"
Just then, a voice reached Song Wanjun's ears.
She looked up and saw a woman dressed in green, her bearing dignified and poised.
"May I ask who you are?" Song Wanjun could tell that this woman had quite a background and was slightly older than her, so she addressed her respectfully.
"Me? I'm a daughter-in-law of the Tianyuan Holy Land..."
Before the woman could finish, a man suddenly stepped forward and took her by the shoulder. "Stop making things difficult for her."
"Sorry for bothering you." With a small, apologetic smile, the man led the woman away.
"What do you mean, making things difficult? As his sister-in-law, isn't it perfectly normal for me to take an interest in little Mu's love life?"
"The way she acted, she's clearly fallen for our little Mu."
Although the woman deliberately lowered her voice, every word still reached Song Wanjun's ears.
Her delicate cheeks grew redder.
She could not help asking herself, Was it that obvious?
At the same time, the words "sister-in-law" confirmed the pair's identities.
She shook her head, clearing away her stray thoughts.
Without dwelling on it further, she headed toward her residence to change into her training robes and join the great family of the Tianyuan Holy Land as soon as possible...
The onlookers were left staring at one another.
The Great Wu Eldest Princess, its most gifted woman, had secretly given her heart to their young master?!
Before long,
the married couple arrived at Qingyun Prefecture.
They knocked on the door.
When no one answered,
the woman carefully pushed open the courtyard gate.
Then she saw Chen Mu sleeping soundly in the courtyard.
With a look and a gesture, she signaled for the man to tread lightly and avoid waking him.
Just like that, the two crept furtively into Qingyun Prefecture.
Had the passing disciples not known who they were, they would probably have drawn their swords, sent a signal, and called for help.
Once inside, the pair tiptoed over to Chen Mu.
"Husband, don't you think little Mu looks much more handsome than when we last left?" the woman whispered.
"He does." The man nodded in agreement.
The woman glanced at him and teased, "You both carry the Chen bloodline, yet the difference between you is far more than a little."
"In that case, my dear wife, please refine a few Beauty-Preserving Pills for me."
They were an old married couple. A little teasing was perfectly normal, and neither took it to heart, much less allowed it to drive a wedge between them.
Hearing their voices, Chen Mu slowly opened his eyes.
Two faces gradually came into focus.
"Cousin? Sister-in-law?"
"What brings you here?" Chen Mu sat up.
The man's name was Chen Xiao, and he was the son of Chen Mu's third uncle.
The woman was his wife, Sun Yu, the only daughter of one of Great Cang's three foremost pill-making clans, the Sun Family.
As far as Chen Mu knew, Chen Xiao was an alchemy genius seen only once in a thousand years, and that was what had given him the chance to meet Sun Yu.
He had fallen for Sun Yu at first sight and begun pursuing her.
He had even been willing to marry into the Sun Family for her sake.
His third uncle had strongly opposed it at first, but eventually yielded to everyone's persuasion and agreed.
The facts proved Chen Xiao had chosen correctly. After their marriage, the Sun Family's pill business flourished more than ever.
They had become the undisputed leader, overwhelming the other two clans and controlling nearly half the pill market.
"Your sister-in-law heard that you'd awakened a Heaven Rank supreme spiritual root with Thunder Attribute and Fire Attribute, so she specially refined some pills you can't find on the market and brought them over," Chen Xiao explained.
"I see. Thank you, sister-in-law!" Chen Mu had not expected Sun Yu to travel so far just for this.
"Oh, it was nothing. Your cousin helped quite a bit, too." As she spoke, Sun Yu took out several bottles of pills.
Purple Thunder Pills, Dragonflame Pills, Purple Sun Pills, Dragon Phoenix Pills, Earth Origin Pills... all ninth-grade!
And they bore Pill Veins.
Pill Veins were further proof of a pill's quality, marking it as the finest of the finest!
They were easier to refine and absorb, with double the effects!
An ordinary alchemist might not produce even one pill bearing Pill Veins in ten batches.
Yet every pill Sun Yu had given him bore Pill Veins!
Chen Mu did not believe anyone could produce pills bearing Pill Veins with a hundred-percent success rate. They must have specially picked out those pills for him.
It was hard not to be moved.
His family was simply too good to him!
He accepted the pills.
They had refined them especially for him. Refusing would have been unreasonable.
Then Chen Mu took out a cake of Dao Enlightenment Tea. "Sister-in-law, Cousin Xiao, this is for you."
"Is this... Enlightenment Tea?!"
Sun Yu recognized it at a glance.
One of the pills she had refined for Chen Mu contained Dao Enlightenment Tea.
Sun Yu and Chen Xiao had called on numerous contacts just to find a scant few tea leaves.
Who could have imagined that Chen Mu would give them an entire cake!!
Even with its weight so unmistakable in her hands, it still felt unreal.
"No, this is too precious. Little Mu, you need cultivation resources right now. Keep this Dao Enlightenment Tea for yourself." Sun Yu pushed it back toward him.
"Sister-in-law, just take it. I have plenty of this stuff. I drink it every day." Chen Mu gestured toward the pot of Dao Enlightenment Tea on the stone table, still more than half full.
"Since little Mu is offering it out of kindness, stop refusing. Wouldn't it be even better to take it back, refine it into pills, and bring them here to help him cultivate?"
"That makes sense! Then I'll accept it." Sun Yu had been successfully persuaded by Chen Xiao.
[Dao Enlightenment Tea successfully gifted! Hundredfold rebate triggered. Congratulations, host, you have received Dao Enlightenment Tea +100!]
Listening to their conversation and looking at the system notification before him,
even Chen Mu felt that he alone was pocketing all the benefits.
"Come, sister-in-law, Cousin Xiao, sit down." Chen Mu gestured for them to sit.
He poured each of them a cup of Dao Enlightenment Tea.
They exchanged a glance, then drained their cups.
Instant enlightenment!
"This Dao Enlightenment Tea truly is miraculous!" Chen Xiao exclaimed.
He could hardly wait to use the Enlightenment Tea as an ingredient to refine pills.
"It certainly is, but I heard the chances of gaining enlightenment from Dao Enlightenment Tea weren't particularly high. How did we both achieve it straight away?" Sun Yu asked in puzzlement.
"This isn't ordinary Dao Enlightenment Tea," Chen Mu explained. "This is top-grade Dao Enlightenment Tea. One cup, one enlightenment, with no limit on the number of times."
One cup, one enlightenment! No limit!
Every sentence, every word sent shock waves through Chen Xiao's and Sun Yu's hearts.
"May I have another cup?" Sun Yu asked, wanting to confirm her suspicions.
"Of course. Sister-in-law, you can drink as much as you like." Chen Mu lifted the teapot and poured them each another cup.
They drank it down in one gulp.
Sure enough, they gained enlightenment again!
"With this, I feel I can refine pills beyond the ninth grade!" Chen Xiao brimmed with confidence.
Sun Yu felt the same way.
Even those from a pill-making clan rarely encountered an ingredient of such exceptional quality.
Let alone a whole cake this large.
An ordinary household? Even a great lineage or a dynasty possessing this would inevitably stir up a storm of bloodshed once word got out!
The Tianyuan Holy Land, however, had no need to worry. Its deep foundations spoke for themselves.
Anyone who came would still have to survive taking it—and survive leaving.
Chen Xiao and Sun Yu did not ask further about the origins of this top-grade Dao Enlightenment Tea.
They felt there was no need.
"By the way, little Mu, are you interested in alchemy?" Sun Yu asked.
"Exactly. With a Heaven-Rank Supreme Fire Spiritual Root, as long as you cultivate the right technique, you'll have the very finest flame for pill refining," Chen Xiao added.
Aside from bringing Chen Mu pills on this visit,
they also wanted to see whether they might have a chance to guide him onto the broad, bright road of becoming an Alchemist.
"With your talent and the Sun Family's top alchemists, you're bound to achieve great things! You'll be a future Pill King! Pill Saint! Pill God! Pill Immortal!"
Seeing the two of them hold him in such high regard and place such lofty hopes in him,
"..." Chen Mu looked troubled.
Alchemy?
Just thinking about it made him feel hot, tired, and sleepy.
[The system is attempting an upgrade...]
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