Translated by: Zryuu

　　Edited by: Butter

　　—

　　Ji Xiaoyou nodded. “She’s one of the aunts in my family. I heard that she married over to the Lin family many years ago.”

　　“Yeah. I didn’t expect that we’d actually be family.” Yan Tianhen said happily.

　　Ji Xiaoyou smiled and didn’t respond. Some bitterness that was difficult to perceive was mixed in with that smile of his.

　　Although he was part of the Ji family, and he had been born to the direct line of the Ji family as well, he could be considered to be detested by both humans and dogs alike in the Ji family. He only managed to register and participate in the competition today because his mother spent a lot of effort in fighting for a placing for him.

　　But Ji Lanjun is different. Even within the Ji family, Ji Lanjun’s alchemy standard was among the top, and she has always been respected by others.

　　Yan Tianhen felt like Ji Xiaoyou was looking more and more pleasant to the eye, so he took another yellow duckling from his storage bag and handed it to Ji Xiaoyou. “Since you have such good taste and pretty looks, I’ll give this to you as a meeting gift ba.”

　　Ji Xiaoyou was a little flustered and shook his hands forcibly. “No no, I can’t take it.”

　　Yan Tianhen frowned. “Why can’t you take it? Don’t tell me you don’t think this duckling is good enough? I’m telling you now, don’t just look at how this duck appears to be of a low quality, it’s actually very useful.”

　　When Ji Xiaoyou heard this, he was afraid that Yan Tianhen would misunderstand and quickly explained, “It’s not that I don’t think the duckling’s good enough, but my mother told me before that I can’t ask for other people’s things. Otherwise, I’ll be treated as a beggar.”

　　“How could she say that?” Yan Tianhen frowned and felt like Ji Xiaoyou’s mother was being too cautious.

　　When his Daddy was still around and took him to visit relatives, those uncles would give him some so-called meeting gifts as well and Lin Zhan would always smile as he asked him to accept it. Why would beggars be mixed into it?

　　Ji Xiaoyou looked down and said, “Upright people don’t eat the food handed out to him by others.”

　　Yan Tianhen pondered for a bit and nodded. “Your mother’s right, but this is just something I’m giving you of my own accord, so it can’t be considered as you asking for it. Also, I think that since you have such good taste, I should be able to become friends with you.”

　　The two words “become friends” touched Ji Xiaoyou. His whole body trembled as he stared at Yan Tianhen in disbelief. He was just about to speak when someone mercilessly interrupted.

　　“You actually want to become friends with someone like him? Are you blind?” A sturdy young man beside Ji Xiaoyou spoke jeeringly, “Do you know that Ji Xiaoyou’s a bastard? His mother gave birth to him after committing adultery; everyone in Wind Reflection City knows that he’s the disgrace of the Ji family!”

　　Ji Xiaoyou’s face turned ghastly pale in an instant.

　　The fatso’s voice was particularly loud, so it was easy for everyone on the competition platform  to hear his words clearly.

　　Everyone’s gazes shifted to Ji Xiaoyou.

　　Ji Xiaoyou bit down harshly on his lower lip. He returned to his seat and looked down without saying a single word.

　　The fatso was delighted for being able to get his way. “Ji Xiaoyou, if I were you, I’d just hide deep in a forest in the mountains, find a rope, and strangle myself to death, lest I dirty other people’s eyes!”

　　Ji Xiaoyou’s face flushed red and both his hands trembled. However, he was probably accustomed to such callous insults, so he didn’t retaliate at all and just endured it silently.

　　But Yan Tianhen could not bear to watch any longer. He said to the fat boy, “What did Ji Xiaoyou do wrong? Why does he need to find a rope to hang himself?”

　　The fat boy uttered a hng, “His mother is a slut who committed adultery;, he shouldn’t even be living in this world!”

　　“Even if his mother did commit adultery, what does that have to do with him?” After Yan Tianhen angrily pointed a finger at the fat boy, he took his duckling, walked over to Ji Xiaoyou, and placed the duckling next to his cattail hassock. “Xiaoyou, this is for you.”

　　Ji Xiaoyou was stunned. He looked up at Yan Tianhen, whose face wasn’t very good-looking and it could probably frighten children into crying when he goes out at night, his surprise slowly turning into gratitude.

　　He forced a smile, revealing his white teeth, and accepted the yellow duckling. “Thank you.”

　　Mother said before that one can not judge a book by its cover and, sure enough, she hadn’t lied to him.

　　Although Yan Tianhen looked scary, he was really kind at heart.

　　Yan Tianhen waved his hand nonchalantly. “You’re welcome. In any case, I’m doing this because you like my Dage.”

　　When the fat boy saw this, he uttered a hng in disdain. “I didn’t expect you to be willing to mix around with a little bastard like him. You may just be one of his kind as well.”

　　“It’s none of your damn business.” Yan Tianhen said impatiently. He disdained to argue with this sort of brat, so he sat down cross-legged properly on the cattail hassock in front of him and waited for the organiser to distribute the pill furnaces and spiritual plants.

　　The fat boy muttered a “can’t tell what’s good for him” to Yan Tianhen, rolled his eyes, then sat back on his seat as well.

　　Soon, the organiser came over to place a pill furnace in front of everyone.

　　The alchemist competition was relatively simple; after giving out certain spiritual plants used for refining pills, alchemists must refine a medicinal pill within the stipulated time. Whoever refines the most medicinal pills of the highest grade in the shortest time will be the winner.

　　There were many similarities between the alchemy and craftsman paths; if one wants to refine a powerful medicinal pill, then one may even take up to one and a half years to do it. Thus, in order to save time, the medicinal pills that are to be refined were all those that can quickly test the standards of an alchemist.

　　Of course, this sort of competition didn’t rule out situations in which one was unable to display the full extent of their capabilities.

　　The competition this time chose the Nurture Qi Pill.

　　Although a Nurture Qi Pill was an introductory level pill for alchemists, it was able to test the foundations of an alchemist and didn’t take long to make either. Thus, it was a necessary medicinal pill in every Hundred Families Gathering’s alchemist competition.

　　Yan Tianhen had naturally seen it in the《Divine Jun Alchemy Arts》manual that Duan Yuyang had given him. Moreover, the refining techniques in that manual were particularly special — its refinement speed was much faster than an ordinary pill’s refining techniques.

　　Therefore, after the competition formally began, Yan Tianhen quickly formed his refining hand seals and appeared extremely fast, such that his seals could barely be seen with the naked eye. People would feel dizzy just by looking at him.

　　Duan Yuyang shifted over to Lin Xuanzhi’s side again and clicked his tongue in surprise. “Ah Hen’s actually this proficient with it now. Looks like he really is gifted in alchemy.”

　　When Lin Xuanzhi heard someone praise his younger brother, he naturally felt comforted. He nodded, “Ah Hen is gifted in anything he does, he’s different from ordinary people.”

　　Duan Yuyang and Yan Tianhen had a good relationship, and he also saw him as a younger brother, so he naturally wouldn’t think that there was anything wrong with Lin Xuanzhi’s kind of flaunting.

　　On the contrary, after pondering for a bit, he even added, “I still have some alchemy arts and recipes with me, I’ll pass them on to him another day ba!”

　　Lin Xuanzhi glanced at Duan Yuyang.

　　Duan Yuyang seemed to sense this gaze as well, so he turned around to look at Lin Xuanzhi. “What is it? Don’t want it?”

　　Lin Xuanzhi smiled slightly. “Who wouldn’t want benefits delivered to one’s doorstep? It’s just that you treat Ah Hen too well.”

　　“Ah Hen treats me really well too. I’m just such a person — if others treat me well, I’ll treat them well in return.” Duan Yuyang smiled as well and didn’t explain any further.

　　Although the Duan family had a large business and he had a lot of cousins as well, he was not fond of any of his cousins– those people either mingled with Duan Yuhao and slandered him a lot, or alienated him.

　　In the past, he even thought that his father treated him sincerely, and although his stepmother was very cold to him, he thought that she didn’t dislike him. But now, Duan Yuyang knew that his stepmother had been poisoning him for many years, and that his father desired items that his mother had left behind for him, so his heart naturally turned cold.

　　What’s more–

　　Duan Yuyang’s gaze darkened. He still hadn’t figured out the real cause of his mother’s death.

　　He had already made his plans; he would rather give the items left behind by his mother to Yan Tianhen, who wasn’t related to him at all, than let those people who harboured malicious intentions gain even the slightest bit of benefit from them.

　　He, Duan Yuyang, isn’t a fool. He could tell at a glance who treated him sincerely, and who was putting up a false pretense.

　　He didn’t want to bother with it in the past, but since it now touched upon his bottom line, he wouldn’t be so magnanimous as to still be indifferent when others were trying to kill him.

　　From Duan Yuyang’s inscrutable expression, Lin Xuanzhi could tell what he was thinking. It wouldn’t be good for him to say too much about matters regarding the Duan family.

　　However, Lin Xuanzhi mentioned, “Ah Hen should have told you about Yuan Tianwen.”

　　Duan Yuyang sneered and mocked, “Ill in bed, cultivation regressed — isn’t he just waiting for me to deliver myself to his doorstep to send him some warmth?”

　　From his attitude, Lin Xuanzhi could tell that he was quite dissatisfied with how Su Mo tried to win his sympathy with the condition of Yuan Tianwen’s body.

　　While he thought to himself that Yuan Tianwen’s path of pursuing his husband would be a long one, Lin Xuanzhi, without giving much face, still said, “The art Yuan Tianwen cultivates is a top secret one in the inner Yuan family. This secret art has an extremely obvious characteristic.”

　　Duan Yuyang glanced at Lin Xuanzhi, waiting for him to continue.

　　“Break before standing back up again.” Lin Xuanzhi said, “His cultivation realm fell not because of you, you need not feel guilty because of that. Besides, a rising phoenix is bathed in fire when it revives. Yuan Tianwen will become even stronger very soon.”

　　Duan Yuyang suddenly laughed. “Lin Xuanzhi, I didn’t expect you to get involved in such ordinary affairs too.”

　　“You may have some misunderstanding about me.” Lin Xuanzhi said slightly, “It’s not like I don’t eat the food of common mortals.”

　　“But it’s about the same.” Duan Yuyang paused, then suddenly laughed. “You really don’t wish for Yuan Tianwen to be well.”

　　“I have nothing to do with him. Whether he is a good or bad person isn’t something I’ve ever taken to heart, it’s just that…” Lin Xuanzhi glanced at Duan Yuyang, his gaze both still and clear.

　　“Just what?” Duan Yuyang casually continued.

　　“It’s just that, seeing as how you’re naive and easy to cheat, I couldn’t bear to watch you continue to be so soft-hearted and get deceived.”

　　Duan Yuyang, “…”

　　He’s the second generation of the Duan family that both humans and dogs detest alike in Qing City; he had always been the one bullying men and women, committing outrageous acts and parading ostentatiously through the city, so why did he seem like a naive person who’s easy to cheat in Lin Xuanzhi’s eyes?

　　“You’re talking about Ah Hen ba?” Duan Yuyang couldn’t help but laugh.

　　“Although Ah Hen is naive, he’s not easy to cheat.” Lin Xuanzhi recalled how Yan Tianhen went astray because he couldn’t bear to be humiliated in his past life, and how grieved yet resolute he looked then, though he looked extremely calm on the surface. “Actually, Ah Hen is smart. He can see through people well and is ruthlessly accurate about what he sees, and he acts decisively without much concern. But you, on the other hand, you’ve been bullied to that extent, yet all you do is withdraw and think about just letting it go.”

　　Duan Yuyang hesitated a little and felt a bit embarrassed too. He wanted to refute him, but after thinking about it, he felt like he had no way of refuting Lin Xuanzhi.

　　He was that kind of person in the first place; he would think the worst of everything, and when the worst scenario did occur, he would huddle in his shell and lick his wounds by himself, but he would be reluctant to hurt others.

　　This was the case when dealing with the Duan family, and he was also like that when dealing with Yuan Tianwen.

　　Lin Xuanzhi concluded, “Compared to Ah Hen, you’re really much kinder and more soft-hearted.”

　　Duan Yuyang was speechless.

　　Lin Xuanzhi was afraid that he would be deceived by the pitiful pretense Yuan Tianwen put up, soften his heart, and let go of what happened with Yuan Tianwen easily, which was why he kindly reminded him. But in fact, he had known about Yuan Tianwen’s condition long ago.

　　It’s true that his heart softened, but it’s not like he had no bottom line at all.

　　Alchemists refining pills actually wasn’t as interesting to watch as the crafting process of craftsmen.

　　When someone is crafting, spectators could at least watch how the materials are smelted and fused together, and how their forged engraving pens carve patterns on them. But during the refining of pills, spiritual plants are all refined and formed within the pill furnace, so there wasn’t much to watch.

　　However, since Yan Tianhen was on the platform, Lin Xuanzhi and Duan Yuyang were willing to watch him.

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