Chapter 56: A Little Third-tier Alchemist

　　Li Chunyang’s pupils constricted as if he did not know Yunxiao at all, his eyes filled with horror. He stared at Yunxiao for a long time, before he burst out laughing, “Haha! At last the Li Family has a worthy heir! Boy, you are really good at pretending, eh? You’ve not only deceived the whole state, but even I was bluffed by you, thinking that you are just a good-for-nothing! Fu*k! How could you lie to me!”

　　Although he was cursing, his face was filled with extreme relief and happiness, and there were even tears in his cloudy eyes.

　　After cursing for a while, Li Chunyang was clearly in a good mood. He smiled and said, “Apart from the two things you mentioned, I have another purpose, that is to see who in the family can take the lead when I am away. The results… well, I am really disappointed! Your father did secretly come back once and left with a peace of mind after meeting me. As for the rest of the people, only your fourth uncle is still somewhat useful. But he also…oh well!”

　　His eyes suddenly lit up and he said happily, “But, it’s different now. Your performance is beyond my expectations! If it weren’t for the current situation, I think you would still be playing dumb, wouldn’t you? Tell me quickly, what do you think of the current situation? What are your plans?”

　　Yunxiao said in an indifferent voice, “I don’t have too many thoughts about the family’s current situation. If you want to find an heir, you’d better find someone else. My goal is the acme of martial arts. I don’t want to put too much attention on the trivial matters of this state and city. However, according to the current situation in Tianshui, it must be the second prince, Qin Yue, who will ascend the throne in the future.”

　　Li Chunyang froze instantly. He did not expect Yunxiao to say such a thing.

　　A flicker of displeasure flashed across his face, but he was soon relieved. ‘This boy’s ambition is too huge for Tianshui to hold, but this is a good thing!’ He asked curiously, “How do you know that the second prince will ascend the throne in the future? You know, our family has always been on the side of the eldest prince.”

　　Yunxiao smiled without saying a word, and a grandmaster’s aura suddenly emanated from him. Li Chunyang was taken aback. Even the king did not have such a superior aura! What the hell was going on here?

　　“Because,” he said, one word at a time, “with me standing behind Qin Yue, he will surely ascend the throne!”

　　Li Chunyang was startled, shocked by Yunxiao’s confidence. After freezing for a while, he shook his head and said with a wry smile, “Times have changed. I’ve just hidden for some time, and now I find the world totally unfamiliar. Qin Yue? In that case, I will take the whole family and board your ship.”

　　The old and the young exchanged a glance and laughed at the same time.

　　Suddenly, Li Chunyang looked up at the sky and said, “Oh no, it’s time!” He turned quickly and gently slapped the pillar behind him a few times. A rumbling sound echoed out of the shabby hut and a hole was opened on the ground. Before Yunxiao could see clearly, he already bolted into the hole.

　　Yunxiao frowned slightly as he heard a faint cry from the hole. Without hesitation, he walked into the hole as well.

　　The tunnel was paved with bluestone brick slabs, which told him that it had existed for a long time, and was not excavated recently. Yunxiao walked a distance of about thirty to forty meters before he came to a spacious room with a row of bright pearls on each side, which lit up the room as bright as day.

　　There was a huge wooden barrel in the middle of the room. An old man with disheveled hair was immersed in the barrel, crying in pain. Li Chunyang’s palms were rested on his back, sending energies into his body to relieve his pain. In addition to the two of them, another person was standing beside the barrel, looking at them nervously.

　　After glancing at them carefully, Yunxiao sat quietly on a couch and did not disturb them. The strength of these few men was pretty strong; the man who stood and watched was a third-tier Great Alchemist, and the old man who cried in pain in the barrel was a tree-stars Martial Lord.

　　Looking at the way Li Chunyang was desperately channeling energy, it was obvious that their relationship was not that simple.

　　About half an hour later, the pain on the old man’s face gradually faded. Li Chunyang breathed a heavy sigh, his body drenched in sweat. With a worried look, he said, “Master Sun, the icy energy in my brother’s body is growing stronger, and it takes more and more energy to expel it from him every time. If the situation continues like this…”

　　The man’s name was Sun Zhengzong. “Brother Chunyang, I’ve done my best,” he said gravely. “Dasheng is suffering from extreme coldness. He’s lucky to be able to maintain his current state after all these years, and this is all thanks to your continuous improvement over the years. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been able to dissolve the cold poison in him.”

　　He took out a bottle of pills and handed it to Li Chunyang as he said, “This is the last bottle of Melting Pills I have refined, a total of thirty pills, which can be taken by him for thirty days. After that, even if he takes this pill again, you cannot suppress his cold poison with your strength of a one-star Martial King.”

　　Li Chunyang was shocked. “Master Sun, what do you mean? You can’t give up at this time!”

　　A cold gleam flashed through Sun Zhengzong’s eyes as he said indifferently, “Five years ago, I was hired by you for a large sum of money, and I’ve treated him for five years. I’ve done my part. Now, the cold poison has seeped into his bone marrow, and there’s nothing I can do about it. I can’t save him even if you give me more money.”

　　The old man in the barrel gradually woke up. After hearing the conversation between the two, he laughed miserably and said, “Brother, I have been a burden for you for so many years. If it weren’t for the energy you give me every day, you would have left the realm of Martial King and stepped into the legendary realm of the Six Directions to become a Martial Grandmaster. Now, I can finally stop being your burden. I am so happy! Haha!”

　　Li Chunyang shook his head and felt his heart ache.

　　Sun Zhengzong gave the two men a helpless look as he cupped his fist and said, “Brother Chunyang, brother Dasheng, farewell!”

　　“Hold on!”

　　Yunxiao, who was sitting on the couch watching everything quietly, suddenly said, “Are you really a third-tier Great Alchemist?”

　　Sun Zhengzong arched his eyebrows and said coldly, “If you were not brother Chunyang’s descendant, with your rude attitude, I would have destroyed your cultivation base!”

　　Yunxiao was taken aback, and then he said in astonishment, “You are merely a little third-tier Great Alchemist, and yet you are so arrogant! If I looked at those alchemists of the eighth or even the ninth-tier, wouldn’t my eyeballs be gouged out?”

　　“A little third-tier Great Alchemist? Eighth-tier or even ninth-tier?” Sun Zhengzong laughed from anger. “Haha! You really don’t know the height of the sky! Even your king has to bow and greet me when he sees me!”

　　Although Li Chunyang was also unhappy with Sun Zhengzong’s attitude, he still swallowed the anger and said, “Yunxiao, don’t be rude! Master Sun is a Great Alchemist I’ve invited from Firecrow Empire’s third-tier Alchemist Association.”

　　Sun Zhengzong said triumphantly, “When I reigned supreme in the alchemy world in Firecrow Empire, you were still drinking milk!”

　　“Drink my a*s! Reigned supreme my a*s!” Yunxiao raised a middle finger and cursed. “Since it’s a third-tier Alchemist Association, there must be at least a fifth-tier Alchemist King. How could you, a mere third-tier little boy, dare to brag that you reigned supreme in Firecrow Empire? Do you want me to spread what you said just now so that the whole alchemy world of Firecrow Empire knows about it? Let’s see how you are going to reign supreme when you go back!”

　　Sun Zhengzong’s face fell, and he flew into a rage. But at the same time, he had a guilty conscience, fearing that Yunxiao would really spread his big talk. In that case, he would really have no face in the empire. A third-tier Great Alchemist could be arrogant in a dependency state like Tianshui, but he was nobody in Firecrow Empire. His beard trembled with anger as he cried out, “Brother Chunyang, you must teach your descendant a good lesson!”

　　In fact, Li Chunyang had long disliked Sun Zhengzong’s arrogance. But, he did not want to offend him for the sake of his brother. Hence, he was very happy to hear Yunxiao scold him now. He glared at Yunxiao and said cheerfully, “Boy, how can you disrespect Master Sun? How dare you! Now get the hell out of here!”

　　Sun Zhengzong’s eyes widened and his face turned blue with anger. “Brother Chunyang, your punishment for him is asking him to get out of here?”

　　Li Chunyang snorted. “What do Master Sun think I should do then?” Since Sun Zhengzong had decided to stop treating Dasheng, he had no patience to be polite to him anymore. During normal times, Li Chunyang had served Sun Zhengzong like an emperor, and this Great Alchemist had also taken away most of the wealth accumulated by the Li Family for many years. All this filled Li Chunyang’s heart with resentment.

　　Sun Zhengzong snorted coldly and said, “He’s been so rude to me. You should at least cut off his limbs and serve it as a warning!”

　　Fuming, Yunxiao rushed up and slapped Sun Zhengzong in the face. “Don’t push your luck!”

　　The whole room became completely quiet as everyone froze in place.

　　Sun Zhengzong stood blankly for several minutes, covering his cheek with one hand. Then, he suddenly roared like a pig being slaughtered, “You… how dare you slap a third-tier Great Alchemist!”

　　Yunxiao took out a badge from his ring and hung it on his shoulder. “Do you think you are so great for being an alchemist? I’m also an alchemist. Open your dog eyes and look carefully!” he said coldly.

　　“This…”

　　The badge of a second-tier alchemist was gleaming faintly. Not only Sun Zhengzong, but even Li Chunyang was stunned. Both of them had excellent eyesight, and naturally knew that it was no imitation. Sun Zhengzong was even more shocked than when he was slapped just now. “How is that possible? A second-tier alchemist? How old are you?”

　　Li Chunyang was greatly surprised. His eyes grew wide as he said, “Boy, you… you…”

　　Yunxiao took down the badge and tossed it between his hands like a toy as he sneered, “Fool, you need to know that there are always stronger people out there. You have only this little skill, and yet you are so arrogant. You will get yourself killed out there! It’s better for me to slap you than for you to go out there and get killed by others. I’m teaching you a lesson here.”

　　His words once again made the few men dizzy. Sun Zhengzong said angrily, “No way! How could you be a second-tier alchemist! How dare you imitate the alchemist’s badge! This is a capital crime! No matter how powerful your family is, you will be hunted down by alchemists all over the continent for counterfeiting the alchemist’s badge!”

　　Yunxiao’s face grew cold. “Hunt down my a*s! You still want to be slapped, don’t you?”