We Take Acting Seriously

After thanking Sun Long, Chen Hao sprawled lazily on the sofa, put the Black Tiger Society completely out of his mind, and began thinking about the upcoming product launch.

Suddenly, WeChat chimed. Chen Hao hurriedly opened it, and when he saw the message was from Alchemy Boy, he perked up even more.

"Great Immortal, Medicinal Ash is ready. I'll send it over right now."

Before he could even offer his thanks, a WeChat system notification sounded. "You have received a large clump of Medicinal Ash from Alchemy Boy!"

"What the hell? Why call it a clump?"

Chen Hao cursed under his breath, then quickly retrieved it and put it into his Qiankun Bag.

He gently pinched out a little and found that it looked much like the furnace ash from before, only lighter in color—a pale brown.

He sniffed it. The smell seemed a little different too.

"Done!"

Chen Hao quickly took a small portion over to Liu Yan so her team could compare it.

If this method worked, even slightly weaker results would be fine. At least the future supply of Medicinal Ash would no longer be a problem.

"Great Immortal, I've refined Medicinal Ash for you. Don't forget the herbs you promised."

Chen Hao happily replied, "Don't worry. As long as you keep refining Medicinal Ash for me regularly, I'll give you as many herbs as you want."

"Good, it's a deal. Thank you, Great Immortal."

"You're very welcome!"

Just after sending that, Chen Hao suddenly thought of something else. "Boy, I wanted to ask—is it because of the Eight Trigrams Furnace? Why can't I refine ordinary herbs into Medicinal Ash like this, while you can do it at Doushuai Palace?"

Alchemy Boy explained, "There's something you don't know, Great Immortal. The Eight Trigrams Furnace is merely a vessel for refining pills. While it's important, what truly determines the grade of a pill is the fire used to refine it."

"The fire?"

"The fire we use to refine pills is the foremost sacred flame in the Three Realms: Samadhi True Fire. Even with the most ordinary herbs, we can refine pills of remarkable quality as long as we control the heat properly," Alchemy Boy said with a hint of pride.

"Samadhi True Fire!" Chen Hao immediately recalled the relevant passages in the Yellow Emperor's Book of Changes.

The Yellow Emperor's Book of Changes was a remarkable book covering celestial phenomena, bone divination, medicine refining, acupuncture, acupoint location, and many other subjects. Its medicine-refining section included descriptions of alchemical flames.

Anything worthy of being called an alchemical flame was a sacred treasure of the Three Realms, condensed from the essence of heaven and earth. These flames not only possessed the power to destroy heaven and earth, but could also refine, elevate, and even regenerate all things.

Even the most ordinary objects could be transformed into something extraordinary after being refined by these alchemical flames.

"Then could you get me a little Samadhi True Fire to look at? Let this humble immortal broaden his horizons."

Alchemy Boy grew unusually serious. "Please don't joke about that, Great Immortal. Samadhi True Fire is incredibly fierce and dangerous. Anyone below the strength of a Golden Immortal who touches it will be destroyed in both body and soul. It isn't something to play around with."

Hearing how terrifying Samadhi True Fire was, Chen Hao could only sigh and set aside his curiosity for the time being.

With the Black Tiger Society situation still unresolved and the new product launching in the next few days, going home would be inconvenient, so he simply stayed at Blue Light Pharmaceuticals.

Blue Light Pharmaceuticals had set aside an entire floor with dozens of guest rooms for visiting clients.

That evening, just as Chen Hao took out his key to enter his room, he spotted Liu Yan leaning against the far end of the corridor. "Still awake?"

Surprised to see her, Chen Hao smiled and walked over. "Why didn't you go home?"

"Home?" Liu Yan gave a cold laugh. After seeing Liu Shan's attitude toward her that day, the place she had thought of as home had probably lost all its meaning.

Chen Hao naturally heard the helplessness and self-mockery in her voice. All he could do was comfort her. "Don't overthink it. You've got me, haven't you?"

As he spoke, Chen Hao took the opportunity to reach over and put his arm around Liu Yan's shoulders.

"Get lost!" Liu Yan scolded him and slapped his hand away.

Chen Hao shook his head and frowned with a sigh. "You usually seem so gentle. How did you suddenly get so fierce? Ah, a woman's heart really is impossible to fathom!"

"Oh, you never take anything seriously!" Liu Yan shot back with a faint smile.

Seeing her finally smile, Chen Hao smiled too. "You look better when you smile. Don't frown all day, or you'll get old."

"So what if I get old? What's it got to do with you?" Liu Yan said softly, a little annoyed.

"Of course it has something to do with me!"

Liu Yan froze, her face instantly flushing. She stared at Chen Hao, at a loss for words.

With Liu Yan staring at him like that, Chen Hao felt a little awkward too. He chuckled. "I mean, I've staked everything I own on you. Of course you have something to do with me."

"Oh," Liu Yan murmured. She relaxed, but a faint trace of disappointment stirred in her heart.

"Get some rest," Liu Yan said softly, then turned and went into her room.

Watching her retreating figure, Chen Hao puckered his lips and blew her an unseen kiss before slowly returning to his room.

He entered the room and drew back the curtains, letting a wash of cool moonlight spill through the window.

Just as he was about to light a cigarette, a cold gleam suddenly flashed from his chest.

Chen Hao paused, then immediately remembered the Crescent Pendant Chang'e had given him earlier that day.

He took it out and saw it glittering in the moonlight, wondrous and almost alive.

Recalling the system description, which said the Crescent Pendant could increase its wearer's cultivation speed, Chen Hao immediately calmed his mind and sat down on the floor.

After just a few minutes, Chen Hao suddenly sensed gentle currents of air around his body, flowing extremely slowly.

Some of those currents seemed to slip through his pores and enter his body.

The instant they flowed into Chen Hao's body, his blood and cells seemed to stir, becoming extraordinarily active.

Could this... could this be the "qi" mentioned in the Tiger-Subduing Arhat Fist?

He recalled what the Tiger-Subduing Arhat Fist had said: to raise the fist technique to its second realm, he had to master qi. Only by possessing a method to control qi could he reach the second stage.

Yet although Chen Hao could now faintly sense this qi, he had no idea how to control it.

Still, he couldn't worry about all that now. Since he could sense it, he might as well enjoy letting it nourish his body.

He could deal with the future when it came.

And so Chen Hao sat cross-legged on the floor all night.

Before he knew it, the next day had arrived. When he opened his eyes, it was already morning.

He sprang up from the floor and stretched out his arms. Every bone in his body crackled, and he felt indescribably refreshed.

It seemed this qi was greatly beneficial to his body. After only one night, he already felt completely different from before. The item Chang'e had given him truly was a treasure—it could actually help him sense the presence of qi more clearly.

However, the Crescent Pendant's effects seemed to work only at night. In broad daylight, Chen Hao could no longer sense that qi.

Since it was still early, Chen Hao practiced the Tiger-Subduing Arhat Fist in his room. His punches stirred gusts of wind, and even the air seemed to tremble faintly.

Meanwhile, Long Guangsheng and his underlings had arrived near Zhonghai City's most upscale shopping district early that morning to scout the area.

Long Guangsheng had changed into a respectable-looking suit, but his sleazy, thuggish air remained, making the whole outfit look utterly incongruous.

Beside him, Yellow Hair trembled all over, cold sweat pouring down his forehead as though he were being marched to his execution.

Long Guangsheng glared at Yellow Hair irritably. "You useless bastard. We haven't even started, and you're already this scared! Can't you act like a man?"

Yellow Hair looked at Long Guangsheng with slightly vacant eyes. "Boss, how about we switch?"

"Switch, my ass! Hurry up. Are you doing it yourself, or do I have to?" As he spoke, Long Guangsheng pulled out a dagger, giving Yellow Hair a fright.

Yellow Hair forced a chuckle. "Brother Long, I've followed you for almost four years. I've always been loyal to you. Remember how I took a knife for you two years ago? Back then... Aah!"

"You talk too damn much." Long Guangsheng rolled his eyes and, without another word, slashed Yellow Hair hard across the back.

Blood instantly stained Yellow Hair's shirt red. He collapsed and rolled on the ground in pain, wailing loudly.

As soon as Yellow Hair went down, Long Guangsheng put the dagger away and began shouting theatrically. "Oh no! Help! Someone's hurt! He's bleeding so much! Everyone, come over and take a look!"

This was Zhonghai City's busiest shopping street, packed with pedestrians and traffic. His shouting immediately drew the attention of numerous passersby.

"Oh no, someone fell over there! Why is he bleeding so much?"

"This could be fatal! Hurry, call 120!"

A crowd quickly gathered, everyone talking at once. Many had already taken out their phones to snap pictures.

Once enough people had gathered, Long Guangsheng smoothed his hair and straightened his suit collar, ready to show off his skills.

Unexpectedly, a man carrying a first-aid kit rushed into the crowd and crouched down to treat Yellow Hair. "Everyone, make room. I'm a Red Cross medic."

"Get the hell out of my way!" Long Guangsheng stepped forward and kicked him. How could he let this man steal his moment in the spotlight?

The sight of the man being kicked to the ground immediately drew a chorus of angry protests from the crowd.

The man was furious too. "Why are you hitting people? A life is at stake here! Get out of my way!"

Long Guangsheng snapped angrily, "What do you mean, a life is at stake? You don't know shit! Acting... no, no, saving people—we take it seriously."