"Master Ge, what did you need me for?" Tang Yan asked curiously when he saw Ge Ming catching up.
"I merely lent you a pill cauldron, yet you gave me a pill formula. Perhaps this return gift is just a thin sheet of paper in your eyes, Brother Tang, but to me, it is a lifesaving treasure. I am deeply indebted to you.
"A talented young man like you still lacks a decent pill cauldron. I would like to give you one, my young brother. I hope you won't find it wanting," Ge Ming said solemnly.
Tang Yan gave Ge Ming a searching look. Any pill cauldron Ge Ming chose to give away would certainly be of considerable quality. If he accepted it rashly, he would owe another favor.
He wanted to refuse, but he really did need a pill furnace. After thinking for a while, Tang Yan cupped his hands in thanks. "Master Ge, it would be discourteous to refuse such generosity. If you ever run into trouble, I will do everything in my power to help."
Knowing that Tang Yan had accepted his gesture of gratitude, Ge Ming felt relieved. He had someone arrange a carriage and load the pill cauldron onto it.
Tang Yan glanced at the carriage. Sitting on it was none other than the pill cauldron he had used that day.
After having someone cover it with a cloth, Tang Yan accepted without further fuss. He said his farewells, then turned and left with Xiao Cui.
"Young master, did the master ask you to buy this cauldron?" Xiao Cui blinked her large eyes, which were full of confusion.
"Master Ge just said he was giving it to me. How could I have bought it?" Tang Yan corrected Xiao Cui.
"Giving it to you?" Xiao Cui's eyes widened again. As the maid of the Tang Family's eldest young master, she had seen and heard far more than an ordinary person. The Wonderful Elixir Workshop had always been overbearing and aloof. She had only ever heard of people constantly sending gifts there to curry favor. How had her young master managed to bring a pill furnace home without spending a single tael of silver?
"That's right. With the little silver your young master has on him, I couldn't afford even an inferior pill furnace, let alone one like this."
Master and maid chatted as they walked, and before long, the Tang Family's gates came into view.
Leading the horse into the courtyard, Tang Yan had barely taken a few steps before he saw Old Master Tang storming toward him.
"Good afternoon, Grandpa," Tang Yan greeted him with a grin.
"Good afternoon, my ass!" the old master snapped.
The scolding left Tang Yan as baffled as a towering monk who couldn't find his own head. Why was his grandfather suddenly cursing at him?
"I told you not to stir up trouble when you went out, and you'd barely left before you got into a fight with that little bastard from the Liu Family! Your dantian is destroyed, while that brat is at the fourth rank of the Origin Tier. If he'd injured you, how many lives would you have to throw away like this?"
Hearing Old Master Tang's reproach, Tang Yan smiled inwardly. So the old man was worried about him; his way of showing it was simply a little unusual.
"Grandpa, you can't blame me for this. That brat Liu Yuan didn't know how high heaven was or how deep the earth ran, and insisted on challenging me. We agreed beforehand that fists and feet have no eyes, and neither of us could blame the other if we were injured or killed. I already showed mercy by not killing him with a single punch." Tang Yan waved his fist, as though regretting that he had gone too easy on him.
Old Master Tang was startled by Tang Yan's words. This grandson of mine actually wanted to kill Liu Yuan? Thank goodness you didn't strike to kill today. If you really had killed him, the Tang and Liu Families would have openly broken ties. To preserve their reputation, even if the Liu Family didn't slaughter you, they would at least cripple both your legs.
But he did not want to voice that warning to Tang Yan. After all, his grandson had beaten Liu Yuan like a dog and brought honor to the Tang Family, hadn't he?
Remembering the servant's detailed report of the underhanded methods Tang Yan had used against Liu Yuan that day, Old Master Tang did not know whether to laugh or cry. Every member of his Tang Family had been open and upright. How had Tang Yan's generation turned out so full of dirty tricks?
"Enough. Be more careful next time you go out. Your dantian is destroyed, after all. Against a real expert, you can only take a beating. If you fool around again, see if I don't straighten you out!" After venting his anger, Old Master Tang glared with his tiger-like eyes, clasped his hands behind his back, and left.
Tang Yan breathed a sigh of relief. The old master had been so busy getting angry that he had forgotten to ask about the pill furnace, saving Tang Yan the explanation he had prepared. He hurriedly called several people over to move the furnace from the carriage to the rear courtyard.
After dismissing everyone, Tang Yan took the two porcelain bottles from inside his robe. Looking at the emerald-green First Spirit Pill, he swallowed it without hesitation.
The First Spirit Pill was a pill passed down in Huaxia for a thousand years without fading into obscurity. Sought after by countless Cultivators throughout those thousand years, it was the finest pill for the early stages of cultivation.
It melted in his mouth, leaving a lingering fragrance, and a warm current rushed straight toward his dantian. Just as Tang Yan was about to refine and absorb it, the Heaven-Earth Creation Cauldron, which had remained dormant in his dantian, suddenly opened its lid, swallowed all the pill's energy, then slammed its lid shut with a clang.
No matter how hard he tried, the pill cauldron stayed motionless in his dantian as though nothing had happened. Not even a trace of the medicinal power he wanted appeared.
Holy shit, you fucking ate my pill? Tang Yan cursed inwardly!
After struggling for a long while, the pill cauldron still gave no response, leaving Tang Yan utterly despondent. It was not just the wasted pill that pained him. If this damned cauldron swallowed his pills, didn't that mean he would never be able to use pills to cultivate?
At that thought, Tang Yan shuddered. If that were truly the case, he would rather not have this Heaven-Earth Creation Cauldron at all.
Refusing to believe it, Tang Yan picked up another First Spirit Pill and swallowed it without hesitation.
The First Spirit Pill melted in his mouth once again, and a warm current rushed toward his dantian. The Heaven-Earth Creation Cauldron opened its lid and swallowed every last bit of it again.
The third pill! Swallowed again!
The fourth pill! Swallowed again!
"Fuck your granny! You're a cauldron-what the hell are you eating pills for?" Tang Yan finally lost his composure and unleashed a torrent of curses at it!
Seething with rage, Tang Yan grabbed the other bottle, pulled out the stopper, poured out all six pills inside, and swallowed them in one gulp.
The cauldron's lid opened again, but this time, it swallowed only one pill. The remaining five First Spirit Pills suddenly dissolved, and a stream of pure true qi rose from his dantian, surging toward his meridians with the roar of a raging river.
Holy fucking shit! Why did you stop swallowing them?
The explosive eruption of energy left Tang Yan no time even to cry. He hurriedly steadied his breathing and focused, doing his utmost to guide the true qi through his body.
Although First Spirit Pills were renowned for their gentle nature, that only held true when one was taken at a time. With five First Spirit Pills dissolving at once and releasing five times the spiritual energy, Tang Yan felt his meridians rapidly swelling!
A burning sensation swept through his entire body. Tang Yan's eyes turned bloodshot, and the Supreme Pill Canon circulated frantically within him. His skin flushed crimson, as though the slightest external pressure would make the blood inside him explode.
They're only five First Spirit Pills. I'll fight you to the bitter end! Hardening his resolve, Tang Yan disregarded the pain in his meridians and guided the true qi, as savage as a flood and a pack of ravening beasts, through the channels throughout his body.
Pop, pop, pop...
Unable to withstand the enormous spiritual energy, his smaller meridians kept rupturing. The circulation was almost complete, yet the pure energy showed no sign of losing momentum. Tang Yan could not help sighing. His damaged meridians probably could not absorb such tremendous power.
Just as Tang Yan prepared to guide the true qi into a second circuit, the Heaven-Earth Creation Cauldron, which had fallen quiet, suddenly flipped its lid open again. Wild with joy, Tang Yan was about to pour all that true qi into the Pill Cauldron when an even purer stream of spiritual energy suddenly gushed out of its mouth.
Fuck you!
Tang Yan's face drained of color. My meridians already couldn't bear the spiritual energy from before. Why the hell are you pouring out more now?
Before you continue