The Profligate Young Master

Literary Grace Continent, Fragrance-Hearing Kingdom, Cloud City, Tang Family.

In a pavilion in the rear courtyard, an old man in a long robe stood before a stone table, brush in hand, his strokes darting across a sheet of paper like dragons and serpents. A closer look revealed that his hand did not actually touch the brush; he controlled its movements entirely with a stream of true qi.

From afar, he appeared leisurely and refined, a picture of extraordinary elegance.

He had barely written a few strokes when Old Master Tang's true qi suddenly faltered. The brush shook, its tip veered, and an ugly slanting stroke appeared on the paper. A muscle twitched in the face of the steward brewing tea beside him. He knew the old master must be in a foul mood.

Smack! Sure enough, the old man, who had hoped to soothe his anger with a cultured pastime, slammed the brush onto the table and roared, "Someone go see whether that little bastard is awake! If he is, tell him to get his ass over here!"

"The real way to use the Heaven-Earth Creation Cauldron is to refine its soul and make your own body the cauldron! I practiced it wrong from the very beginning. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't advance another step in the Pill Dao..."

Tang Yan mumbled groggily, then suddenly opened his eyes and jolted. "Didn't the Heaven-Earth Creation Cauldron explode and blow my body apart? How am I still conscious?"

Now fully awake, Tang Yan discovered, to his astonishment, that he was lying on a soft couch amid exceptionally lavish furnishings.

Immediately afterward, a vast torrent of information surged into his mind. Two different sets of memories merged, and his head felt as though it would split apart.

Only after a long while did Tang Yan let out a deep breath, recovering from the pain. As he quickly sorted through these memories, his expression grew strange.

He had come from Earth and was the most mysterious alchemist in the inner jianghu.

The cultivation tradition had existed in China since ancient times, but as the ages progressed, its practitioners had all gone into hiding. Scattered among mountains and rivers, markets and neighborhoods, they formed what was known as the inner jianghu.

The explosion of the Heaven-Earth Creation Cauldron had actually allowed him to possess another body and be reborn. He had transmigrated into a youth also named Tang Yan, who was none other than the Tang Family's young master.

Learning that he held such an exalted position gave Tang Yan some comfort. At least he was a young master; this rebirth had not been for nothing.

But soon, Tang Yan's face fell...

In this world, martial strength reigned supreme. Cultivation was divided into five tiers: Heaven, Earth, Profound, Yellow, and Origin, each comprising nine grades.

His host's previous strength had actually been only second-grade Origin tier!

He had started cultivating at six. Even a dog should have reached third-grade Origin tier by now!

As he sifted through this fellow's past deeds, Tang Yan wished he could transmigrate right back.

If someone wrote down this fellow's sixteen years of life, How a Good-for-Nothing Was Forged would make a perfectly suitable title.

He himself had begun studying music, chess, calligraphy, and painting at five, while also exploring martial arts and alchemical texts. At seven, he had entered the Pill Dao. At twenty-four, the inner jianghu had called him the Little Alchemy King. At thirty-eight, he had become a grandmaster of the Pill Dao, capable of refining ninth-tier pills!

Across the entire world, only a handful could stand shoulder to shoulder with him. Countless people in the inner jianghu had received his pills and owed him innumerable favors.

Even experts whose cultivation had reached its pinnacle had respectfully addressed him as the Alchemy Emperor.

Compared with him, the former Tang Yan really ought to have found a block of tofu and bashed himself to death against it!

As for how he had managed to transmigrate here, his predecessor had molested the city lord's daughter, Lin Dongxue, and attempted to rape her. Liu Zhi, the Liu Family's young master, had happened to pass by, destroyed his dantian, and beaten him grievously.

Already drained by drink and debauchery, this body had been exceedingly frail. It had died outright after the beating, and his soul had, by sheer coincidence, collided headlong with this ruined shell.

He sensed something strange about the attempted rape, but having only just transmigrated, his mind was still rather muddled.

Just as he was about to think it through, a clear voice suddenly rang out.

"Young master, this is bad! The master-the master is calling for you!" A maid rushed in, flustered.

"I understand." Tang Yan adjusted his clothes unhurriedly.

"Young master, the master said... to get your ass over there right away..." Seeing that he was still dawdling, Xiao Cui grew anxious and quietly reminded him.

Tang Yan froze at her words, then rubbed Xiao Cui's head and smiled. "Sounds like he's in quite a hurry."

The present Young Master Tang was no longer the good-for-nothing he had once been. He knew perfectly well why his grandfather wanted him there. It was merely to lecture and scold him. Why hurry over just to get an earful?

Besides, his thoughts were still muddled. If he said the wrong thing and the old master struck him with a palm, wouldn't that knock half the life out of him?

Still, given the old master's temperament, if he did not go, his grandfather would surely storm over here. He might well get a beating then.

"All right, I'll go now. Get me something to wear."

"Young master, your clothes." Xiao Cui answered and quickly fetched a long robe.

Tang Yan took it, and his face immediately darkened.

The robe, sewn from soft satin, was riddled with holes, and strings of gold ornaments dangled around their edges.

Even with all the knowledge and experience of his previous life, Tang Yan had never heard of such bizarre attire.

"This is mine?"

"Young master, isn't this your favorite robe? Granny Wang had to alter it seven times before it was right," Xiao Cui said softly, curiosity filling her eyes. Why was the young master so different today?

"Remove all the gold ornaments and put them away. Throw out the robe and bring me something normal." Tang Yan nearly spat out a mouthful of blood, once again marveling at his predecessor's absurdity. If he had devoted all this frivolous ingenuity to cultivation, he would never have had his dantian destroyed.

Once he had changed into another robe, Xiao Cui looked at her young master, now entirely free of his usual arrogance. An idea suddenly arose that even she found unbelievable: Has the young master turned over a new leaf?

Following his memories, Tang Yan headed toward the rear courtyard.

From afar, he spotted a burly old man holding a brush, looking relaxed and carefree.

Yet with his keen perception, Tang Yan still sensed a faint undercurrent of anger emanating from the old master. Just as he had expected, that anger was directed at him.

"Greetings, Grandfather." Tang Yan braced himself and stepped forward to pay his respects.

The elderly steward, Uncle Mo, remained silent, and the servants around them did not dare speak either. Although no anger showed on the old master's face, the seemingly frozen stillness felt painfully oppressive.

That stillness finally shattered with Tang Yan's arrival.

Smack!

Crack!

Old Master Tang slammed his brush onto the stone table for the second time, and its shaft snapped at once.

"You little bastard! You must have eaten a bear's heart and a leopard's gall to grow so bold! It was bad enough that you spent your days learning nothing and doing every sort of evil. Now you think your wings have grown strong enough to fly, and you actually dared rape the city lord's daughter-and you fucking failed! You've utterly disgraced the Tang Family!"

Old Master Tang was certainly fierce; the moment he opened his mouth, outrageous words poured out. Failing to rape the city lord's daughter was what he considered disgraceful?

"When you were six, I tested your Martial Dao aptitude myself. You inherited our Tang Family's excellent bloodline and possessed superior talent.

"If you had cultivated properly, would you have ended up with your dantian destroyed? You were in the wrong first, so you deserved that beating! Who the hell am I supposed to appeal to on your behalf?"