Romance in a Fantasy World

Each man was lost in his own thoughts, neither noticing the other's distraction. The cave fell silent for a time, until Jin Pang finally broke the silence.

"My mother and the former matriarch of the Xiao Family were sisters born of the same mother. The Xiao Family disciple with the greatest talent for alchemy used to be my cousin, the young master of the Xiao Family."

At that point, Qin Chuan felt a bucket of melodrama about to come splashing down on him. It wasn't that he was taking Xie An's side, but they were fucking cultivating immortality, so why did anyone still care about legitimate sons, sons of concubines, and illegitimate sons? Women's fiction really was deranged. What was this, the cult of legitimate and illegitimate birth!?

But things weren't as Qin Chuan had imagined. Jin Pang continued, "If that were all, Xie An and I wouldn't have a grudge. My cousin was extraordinarily gifted in both alchemy and cultivation. Whether or not he was the young master of the Xiao Family, he would have made a name for himself across the Origin Spirit Continent."

"But then an accident happened. My cousin was poisoned while exploring a secret realm. He could no longer use spiritual energy, and naturally, he couldn't refine pills either."

"After my cousin was hurt, my parents, my aunt, and my maternal grandfather personally went to the Land of the Fallen Phoenix to find spiritual medicine for him..."

Jin Pang's voice grew choked at that point. He lowered his head and said no more. Qin Chuan didn't know what to say, so he simply waited in silence for Jin Pang to compose himself.

After a while, Jin Pang spoke again. "My parents and my aunt all perished in the Land of the Fallen Phoenix. Only my maternal grandfather escaped alone, and he brought back the spiritual medicine."

"But, heh, right there at the Xiao Family estate, members of the demon race forced their way in and stole the spiritual medicine. My maternal grandfather fought desperately and killed one of the demons. He learned that a child had let something slip, which was why the demon race came to steal that lifesaving spiritual medicine."

"That child was Xie An?" Qin Chuan asked.

"Yes, but by then Sect Master Yun Yao had already taken him as a disciple, and the Xiao Family protected him too. My grandfather and cousin couldn't do anything to him." Jin Pang crushed the stone he had been holding.

Qin Chuan was just about to offer Jin Pang some words of comfort when he suddenly thought of several key details: an alchemist, a powerful pill flame, and a grudge against Xie An. A guess formed in his mind.

But he wasn't in a hurry to ask the question on his mind. First, he comforted Jin Pang. "Senior Brother Jin, this time we'll make Xie An pay with his life."

"Good. Make Xie An pay with his life." Jin Pang ground out the words through clenched teeth.

"Senior Brother Jin, I have one more question. May I ask your mother's family name?" After Jin Pang had calmed down a little, Qin Chuan asked the question on his mind.

"Yang." Jin Pang didn't understand why Qin Chuan had asked, but he answered anyway.

The evil alchemist Yang Yi. Qin Chuan thought of the ruthless man who had nearly killed the male and female leads and a whole host of male supporting characters.

No, that wasn't right. He immediately dismissed the thought. Yang Yi was described as tall and broad in the story, so he probably wasn't Jin Pang.

Then he thought of someone else and asked, "Senior Brother Jin, may I ask your cousin's name?"

"My cousin's surname is Xiao, and his given name is Yi. Why are you suddenly curious about his name, Junior Brother Qin?"

"My cousin can't refine pills for you now. He can only drag out his remaining days. But I can refine pills for you, Junior Brother Qin. My alchemy skills aren't bad either, and if all else fails, there's still my grandfather." Jin Pang recovered remarkably quickly, and his sorrow had already vanished.

As soon as Qin Chuan heard the name Yi, he knew that by the logic of women's fiction, Xiao Yi was the evil alchemist Yang Yi.

In the novel, Yang Yi was described as a born psychopath, sinister and vicious, a scourge upon all living beings. He slaughtered mortals to cultivate and used them to refine pills. The male and female leads and the male supporting characters had tried to stop him, thus making a bitter enemy of him. Now it seemed there was a hidden story.

The Origin Spirit Continent was a real world. A novel would only ever show events revolving around the male and female leads and the male supporting characters, and it would also paint the leads in a flattering light. The real truth might not be like that.

"Junior Brother Qin, Junior Brother Qin..."

Jin Pang's repeated calls brought Qin Chuan back to his senses. "Senior Brother Jin, what did you need?"

"What were you thinking about so intently? I called you four or five times, and you didn't hear me," Jin Pang said.

"Senior Brother Jin, do you believe in judging by the outcome?" Qin Chuan didn't answer Jin Pang's question, asking him one of his own instead.

"What does judging by the outcome mean?" Jin Pang asked in confusion.

"If something happens and someone is the ultimate beneficiary, then that person must have had a hand in it," Qin Chuan explained.

"What did you say!?"

Jin Pang shot to his feet, his body trembling as he stared fixedly at Qin Chuan. He forced out a sentence through clenched teeth. "Junior Brother Qin, are you saying Xie An was behind what happened to my cousin and my parents?"

"I don't know." Qin Chuan shook his head. In fact, he was already ninety percent certain that the matter definitely had something to do with Xie An and the head of the Xiao Family.

He didn't read women's fiction, but living in an age of information overload, he always came across excerpts from women's novels or clips from historical romance dramas.

The Xiao Family affair sounded like one of those plots where an emperor couldn't marry the person he loved, so he had to love in secret, then got rid of his wife and son to put his beloved's son in power.

At that thought, ten thousand fucking grass-mud horses galloped through Qin Chuan's mind. The head of a family that occupied an entire province didn't even have that much resolve? Women's fiction really was deranged.

As far as Qin Chuan knew, strength still reigned supreme on the Origin Spirit Continent. For instance, the sect master of the Pure Void Sect had to be at least at the Mahayana Stage. He wasn't the strongest in the sect, since Qin Chuan's master held that position, but he had to be in the top five at least.

The Xiao Family's situation ought to be much the same as the Pure Void Sect's. The family head's cultivation had to rank among the best in the family.

A powerful cultivator couldn't even decide whom he wanted as a Dao companion, and still went in for the whole unattainable first love routine? Was this a romance dressed up in fantasy clothing? Was everyone in women's fiction ruled by love?

It was sick. They were fucking cultivating immortality, so why not just focus on cultivating? Once you became powerful, you could say shit tasted good, and Qin Chuan guaranteed that not a single person on the Origin Spirit Continent would disagree. Some would even gobble down a few steaming turds in front of you and praise the taste.

Strength, strength, strength was the foundation for establishing oneself. The head of a powerful family could marry anyone he wanted, unless someone stronger forced him into marriage, and Jin Pang's mother's family wasn't powerful.

So couldn't women's fiction show a little respect for the most important rule of the cultivation world: the strong reigned supreme?

Qin Chuan was still grumbling inwardly when Jin Pang dismissed the theory, murmuring, "No, Xie An was still a child then, and his cultivation was only at the Qi Refining Stage. He couldn't have done anything."

"Then what about the head of the Xiao Family? Demon beasts broke into the stronghold of a cultivation family that occupies an entire province and successfully stole the medicine that could save the life of its most talented disciple. Is that possible?"

Qin Chuan didn't speak loudly, but his words struck Jin Pang hard enough to make his head ache. Hatred burst from his eyes once more, and he wanted to return immediately to investigate.

"Senior Brother Jin, all of this is just my speculation. It can't be taken as fact, and besides, our most urgent task should be dealing with Xie An." Qin Chuan wasn't good at comforting people; he was only good at killing them. His thinking was simple too: killing Xie An would count as comforting Jin Pang.

"Right, kill Xie An. My injuries are mostly healed now. What about you, Junior Brother Qin?" Jin Pang had returned to being the carefree little fatty.

"I'm fine. Shall we set out now? Sorry for troubling you to find Xie An, Senior Brother Jin." Qin Chuan hadn't been injured, and a day had been enough for him to restore his spiritual energy and vitality.

"No problem." Jin Pang took a jade box from his storage ring. When he opened it, a flying insect flew out.

Jin Pang explained to Qin Chuan, "Junior Brother Qin, what I just released was the male of a pair of Twin Insects. Before entering the secret realm, I sprinkled Xie An with powder secreted by the female when she was in heat. The male follows the powder to find the female, so we only need to follow the male to find Xie An."

"Good, then let's hurry after it. When we get there, please hold Xie An off first, Senior Brother Jin. I'll set up a formation to stop him from using his teleportation token to escape." Qin Chuan immediately got up to give chase.

"All right." Jin Pang was the first to follow the male Twin Insect, with Qin Chuan close behind him.

Just as the two stepped out of the cave, Jin Pang suddenly said, "Junior Brother Qin, what reason could someone have to secretly harm his own son and bring about the deaths of his Dao companion and his Dao companion's family?"

"How about I tell you a story, Junior Brother Jin?" After a moment's thought, Qin Chuan chose to use a story as an allegory.

"I'd like to hear it." Jin Pang was weighed down by worries. If it had only been an accident, his only enemy was Xie An.

But if his enemy was the head of the Xiao Family, things would be much more troublesome. He might have to deal with the entire Xiao Family.

If his enemy was the Xiao Family...

He would kill them all the same!

He had to avenge his parents.