Chapter 234: To See a Person After a Long Parting

The smile on Ye Yiming’s face stiffened. He sighed and said, “Originally, the Sect Master had only given one spot, and our Master had sent Senior Brother Yu. But later, for some unknown reason, the Sect Master suddenly paid a visit to the Nature Hall and took a look around. He wanted to chat with our Master, but he had chosen to go into seclusion and would not see him… The Sect Master was not able to see him.”

“Seclusion? He wouldn’t see the Sect Master?” Qin Haoxuan suspected he had misheard. Before he had left the mountain, he had heard that every hall wanted to invite the Sect Master for a visit, but he almost never went to any of them. How could it be that when he finally came to the Nature Hall, his Master had chosen not to see him?

“Who knows,” Ye Yiming said, his face showing the same confusion as Qin Haoxuan’s. He shrugged. “In any case, the Sect Master was rebuffed at our Master’s door. Everyone thought he would be unhappy, but someone heard him mutter something like, ‘It’s better not to see him,’ and then he returned to his Emperor Peak and issued a decree. The Nature Hall could select a few more disciples to go down the mountain to eliminate demons and defend the Dao, and so I came down.”

Better not to see him? Qin Haoxuan tried to puzzle out the meaning of these words, but he could not fathom what the older generation was up to.

Just then, Lan Yan walked into the room, interrupting his thoughts. “Qin Haoxuan, your speed of absorbing spiritual energy is so terrifying. I heard it’s because you took a Qi-Circulating Pill. I’ve never seen such a powerful pill. Can you let me see one?”

Looking at her expectant eyes, of course he would not give her one. What if she took it and didn’t give it back? He only had three in total.

Seeing that he had no intention of giving it to her, Lan Yan snorted coldly. “Stingy! How about this, did you refine this pill? Can you tell me the recipe? I’ll trade you other things for it!”

“No trade!” Qin Haoxuan refused decisively. The pill was related to his greatest secret; he didn’t want to leak a single bit of it. The pill was something he had only been able to refine because of the waste pill from the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley. The recipe was just that of an ordinary Qi-Circulating Pill, but the medicinal power he added was from spiritual herbs that had been mutated by the valley’s poison. If it had been a master alchemist using his heavenly treasures, the pills they refined would be even more frightening. But since he didn’t know alchemy, he could only use this super-wasteful method.

“Alright, someone has invited me for a chat. I’ll be going now,” Qin Haoxuan said, bidding her farewell and leaving directly.

Lan Yan gazed at his departing back. In her eyes, he was becoming more and more mysterious. His cultivation realm was so low, yet he was cultivating the Dao Heart Seed Demon Art and taking such powerful pills. Just how many secrets did he have?

…

The moment Qin Haoxuan arrived outside Li Jing’s tent, Li Jing immediately came out to greet him. With a kind smile on his face, he led him inside. “Junior Brother Qin, you’ve come. Quick, come in, please sit.”

“Please, you sit as well, Senior Brother Li.” Although he didn’t know what Li Jing was up to, he calmly sat down.

Li Jing laughed. “It has been several months since we parted. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a good chat. Seeing you return today, I couldn’t resist. But you were cultivating before, and I didn’t want to disturb you…”

Qin Haoxuan smiled faintly and said in a calm tone, “Senior Brother Li is too kind.”

Although Li Jing was smiling, he was displeased in his heart. He had spoken with such enthusiasm, yet Qin Haoxuan’s reply was so lukewarm. If it had been anyone else, they would have been moved to tears and sworn their loyalty.

“Junior Brother Qin’s strength has increased very quickly these past few months. I am truly in awe,” he said, his gaze on Qin Haoxuan full of deep meaning. He then put on a look of guilt and let out a long sigh.

Qin Haoxuan smiled faintly. “Senior Brother Li is also very formidable. Seeing how your qi is settled in your dantian, your cultivation realm is surely a level above mine.”

“Compared to you, I am still far behind,” Li Jing said, though he didn’t deny it, because even with Qin Haoxuan’s progress, his own Eleventh-Leaf cultivation was certainly a level above his. But he still feigned a sigh. “Aigh! You don’t know, Junior Brother Qin. Although I am a Purple Seed, I am the slowest cultivator among them. And the power of that Talisman Dragon of Zhang Kuang’s is even more astonishing. I heard he fought a Twenty-Fifth-Leaf rogue cultivator head-on and killed him! And Zhang Yang is apparently not bad either; his progress these past few months has been very fast. I heard he’s at least at the Seventh-Leaf now.”

“It’s just this pitiful elder brother of yours. Although I am called a Purple Seed, my cultivation is the slowest. I truly envy you, Junior Brother Qin, to have a treasure like the Qi-Circulating Pill. If I had one, I would not be afraid of them.” He then said in a joking tone, “If you have any extra, you can sell one to me. We are on the same side. Even if Zhang Kuang dares to make trouble for you in the future, with the two of us and Junior Sister Xu on the same side, he will have to weigh his own strength!”

Qin Haoxuan still listened to his complaints with a smile. He understood what he was doing. Li Jing was deliberately using Zhang Kuang to frighten him, hoping to threaten him into selling him a pill. But he only had three in total; how could he possibly sell one?

“Unfortunately, I have no extra. Otherwise, I would have shared one with you,” Qin haoxuan said, feigning a sigh of regret.

Li Jing’s face stiffened. He had originally thought that if he brought up Zhang Kuang’s strength, Qin Haoxuan would offer a pill in exchange for an alliance. He never expected him to refuse so directly. This made him extremely unhappy, but on the surface, he still maintained his usual gentle smile. “Junior Sister Xu’s Qi-Circulating Pills are truly hard to come by. Then, Junior Brother Qin, do you still have any of her Qi-Circulating Powder?” Since he couldn’t get the pill, he had no choice but to settle for the powder.

Qin Haoxuan thought for a moment. “The powder, I still have a few bags of that.”

Li Jing’s face lit up, and he looked at him with an expectant gaze. “Good, good.” He did not mention buying it. In his eyes, after he had lowered himself to befriend him and had even used Zhang Kuang to frighten him, Qin Haoxuan would surely obediently give him the powder to secure him as an ally.

“Since Senior Brother Li wants to buy it, then name a price,” Qin Haoxuan said with the friendly smile of one who keeps clear accounts even with a close brother.

The smile on Li Jing’s face froze. He never thought Qin Haoxuan would ask him for money for a few bags of powder. Was the news of Zhang Kuang killing a Twenty-Fifth-Leaf rogue cultivator not shocking enough? Does he not want me as an ally? But Qin Haoxuan showed no signs of budging. He had no choice but to grit his teeth and say, “According to the previous price, two hundred low third-grade spirit stones per bag. How about it?”

“In that case, I thank you, Senior Brother Li.”

Li Jing’s heart itched with hatred, but the smile on his face grew even more amiable. “You’re too polite, too polite. This is as it should be. The powder was refined by Junior Sister Xu for you. For you to part with it for me, of course I must pay. Otherwise, how could I, as a senior brother, have the face to ask for it?”

Qin Haoxuan accepted the money with a clear conscience and returned to his own tent. From what he had seen and heard these past few days, he understood very well that even if he had given the pill to Li Jing, this Purple Seed from the imperial family would not have been grateful. He would have just thought it was his due. Since that was the case, he might as well sell it.

When Xing saw him come back with a small bag of spirit stones, his jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

“Hey, did that silly boy give you those broken stones?” Lan Yan asked, looking at the spirit stones in his hand with a nonchalant expression.

“Silly boy?” Qin Haoxuan was taken aback, then realized. “You mean Li Jing?”

Lan Yan nodded. “Who else? He acts like a big-tailed wolf, with a hypocritical smile on his face, thinking everyone is dumber than him, that no one can see through his little schemes.” It was clear she held a grudge against him for looking at her with lecherous eyes a few times.

Qin Haoxuan gave her a rare look of appreciation. This little girl’s judgment was quite accurate. He smiled and said, “That’s right, he gave me these stones. But I sold him some Qi-Circulating Powder; he didn’t just give them to me for free. And he tried to buy a pill from me, using Zhang Kuang’s feat of killing a Twenty-Fifth-Leaf cultivator to scare me, hoping I’d give him one to form an alliance.”

“So despicable,” Xing laughed. “Good thing you’re braver than most. Anyone else would have been scared into swearing allegiance to him. You didn’t sell him the pill, so you just gave him a few bags of powder? You even took money for them. He must resent you for that.”

Qin Haoxuan shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. Even if I had given him the powder, he wouldn’t necessarily have treated me well, and if I were in trouble, he would surely have added insult to injury. If I had given him the pill, with his self-righteous personality, he would have just thought I was begging him for a favor, and after taking my things, he would still have schemed against me. So, if I could get money, why not take it?”

His theory wasn’t wrong. Xing nodded. “From his words and actions these past few days, since he’s gathered a few people around him, he’s become even more arrogant than before. He can’t even maintain the pretense of recruiting talent as he did in the sect.”

Just then, Lan Yan suddenly laughed. “Didn’t I say it right? He’s just a silly boy, and he thinks he’s so clever. Even you two idiots can see through him. What a failure.”

Being insulted as a group by her, Qin Haoxuan and Xing looked at each other helplessly. Neither of them had any interest in arguing with this sharp-tongued girl.

At this moment, in Li Jing’s tent, he held the three bags of powder, his face ashen, his heart filled with a towering rage. He thought to himself, Qin Haoxuan, I treated you with such courtesy, yet not only are you ungrateful, you even dared to charge me for a few bags of powder! I am not the weakest of the three Purple Seeds. Once I have mastered the Tyrannical True Dragon Art, my future accomplishments will be limitless. At that time, when Zhang Kuang comes to kill you, even if you kneel and beg me, I won’t give you a second glance. The more he thought, the angrier he became. He suddenly slammed his palm on the table, and the solid table was shattered into dust by the domineering spiritual energy in his body.

Several of his trusted followers stood below, so frightened by his action that they didn’t dare to breathe.

“Qin Haoxuan, don’t think I don’t know,” he thought with a vicious expression. “You definitely still have Qi-Circulating Pills on you, yet you fob me off with a few bags of powder.” He swept his gaze over his followers. “All of you, tell me, what method is there to get the Qi-Circulating Pills from him?”

One of them cautiously said, “Senior Brother, why don’t we just rob him? This isn’t the sect’s territory.”

Li Jing frowned and scolded, “Although Senior Uncle Ximen isn’t paying attention, he’s not blind. To rob him so openly, do you want me to be dragged back to the sect and punished?”

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