Chapter 13: Crawling Back
“Purple gold! A tael of purple gold! I actually earned a tael of purple gold…”
Jiang Yi returned to the alchemy lab in the Jiang Residence Southern Court, still feeling as though he was dreaming. He secretly retrieved the purple gold leaf kept in his robes to look at it and gently touch it several times, before storing it back in his robes again. He was completely lost in euphoria.
In just two days, he could actually earn a tael of purple gold. Most importantly, Miss Ji Tingyu had even said that she would collect any and all other elixirs he had in the future. If he could refine twenty-seven of them black elixir pills, would he not be able to earn ten taels of purple gold and redeem his command token back?
Thinking about the large number of elixirs he could manufacture and sell to the Pearl Gathering Pavilion in the future, Jiang Yi’s entire body shuddered. Even if he was useless at refining elixirs, he could rely on the power of the black essence force to become a rich person—one who no longer would remain in poverty and live comfortably with Xiaonu for a lifetime.
Elder Liu would definitely continue to experiment with elixir-refining for the next few days. So long as black essence force was not injected, he would always be unable to refine Earth-level elixirs—and that would mean there would be a lot of useless elixir pills…
“Oh yes, I have consumed all of my black essence force. I have to hurry and refine more, so I can use it at any time. Additionally, I consumed too much blue essence force during the reheating yesterday—I have to make up for that loss.”
Jiang Yi suppressed the elation in his heart as he tried to remove any miscellaneous thoughts, before sitting cross-legged and starting to meditate. He was ready to practice that nameless cultivation technique for three hours, before switching to practice the Jiang Water Art to recover some blue essence force, and then bring the book “Record on Medicinal Herbs” back home when the sky turned dark to read through it all night long.
He hoped to continue working long-term at the Alchemy Lab—which meant he did not dare to be slow in obeying Elder Liu’s instructions, otherwise his fate would be the same as Jiang Song’s…
Jiang Yi practiced for around two hours when he was roused awake suddenly. He was awoken by the soft sound of footsteps.
The figure at the door peeked his head in to secretly observe the interior of the alchemy lab. Spotting only Jiang Yi, the figure heaved a sigh of relief and tiptoed silently into the room.
Jiang Song? What is he doing here?
Jiang Yi stood up to greet him, but Jiang Song made a hand gesture asking him to keep quiet, before moving closer to him.
“Jiang Yi,” he asked in a low voice, “what are you doing in the alchemy lab? Is the elder inside?”
Taking over someone else’s position as the assistant in the alchemy lab… even though it was not his intention to do so, he felt awkward.
“Elder Liu is not here,” Jiang Yi replied. “Erm… yesterday, after you left, I was just thinking of leaving with you, but I was called back by Elder Liu, and he let me stay here to help him out in the future.”
“What?”
Jiang Yi’s expression changed instantly, his eyes becoming filled with horror and rage. He had received a tight slap from Elder Liu the day before; worse, when he got home and informed his father, he received yet another vicious beating. His father ordered him to immediately return that day and apologize or make amends with Elder Liu, to in turn receive forgiveness from the elder and allow him to continue working at the alchemy lab.
Jiang Song was also a collateral descendant. He had a lack of talent and was naturally very lazy; as such, his abilities were only at the second level of the Cast Tripod Realm. His father had begged Elder Liu many times before he could successfully arrange for his son to work there. His father’s goal had been to let him learn the skill of elixir-refining so that he would have the skills to survive in the future.
Jiang Song had been beaten up by his father and had received a long scolding. Furthermore, he was somewhat regretful after the whole incident. At least… working there meant he could regularly produce elixirs and sell them outside. Thus, after much pondering that day, he decided to be more thick-skinned and went over to apologize, even if it meant he had to kneel to Elder Liu, he would stay.
He never thought that, once he got there, he would hear such despairing information. Since Elder Liu let Jiang Yi stay, he would never have any other opportunity again…
Thinking that he never had any more opportunities to produce elixirs, and by extension, no more allowance. Worse still, when he thought of his father’s rage upon hearing this news… It was clear that he was doomed to suffer. Jiang Song’s entire body started shuddering and shaking. He was unsure if, at the moment, he should be anxious or furious.
Seeing Jiang Song’s condition, with some regret Jiang Yi tried to console him by saying, “Jiang Song, I’m sorry. I did not mean to do it…”
“Did not mean to do it?”
Jiang Song glanced at Jiang Yi and instantly fell into a deep rage. Pointing straight at Jiang Yi’s nose, he shouted angrily, “You clearly did this on purpose, yes! Yesterday, while I was in the toilet, he was right here! It must be you who told on me to Elder Liu, that’s why he became so angry. Jiang Yi, you’re evil! I didn’t expect you, someone who usually looks so honest and trustworthy, to be such a treacherous vile person.”
“…”
Jiang Yi was speechless. Jiang Song was himself a lazy person and was no longer favored by Elder Liu. This clearly had nothing to do with him! Even if the position as assistant in the alchemy lab was not taken over by Jiang Yi himself, there would be countless others who could easily take up the position.
He was too lazy to argue with Jiang Song on the matter. Turning around and walking to the interior of the room, he replied coldly, “Jiang Song, you can go back. I don’t want to have a fight with you. If you think I was indeed being treacherous behind your back, you can just head over to the disciplinary court to complain about me.”
“Good! You’ve only been working in the alchemy lab for a day, and you’re already protecting yourself?”
Jiang Song was so furious that his entire body was shaking. With the muscles on his face twitching, a look of viciousness flashed past his eyes.
“Let’s see how Elder Liu can still use you when I make you handicapped!” he roared. “Hmph! At that time, I will make my father come to beg Elder Liu—by then, the position will still be mine.”
Right after speaking, Jiang Song revealed an ominous glint in his eyes as he shouted, “Red-Band Black Sand Palm!”
Both his palms produced terrifying black discs, which he viciously unleashed on Jiang Yi’s back.
Jiang Yi heard the sound of a breeze coming from his back and abruptly took a look back. He flew into a rage at that instant. All those years ago, when his position in the Jiang family was well-respected due to his astonishingly high talent, he had seen many martial art techniques practiced by the Jiang Clan. Thus he could recognize with one look the technique used by Jiang Song at that instant.
Red-Band Black Sand Palm!
The attack used red-band poisonous snakes as a medicinal ingredient, which was subsequently tempered in black sand. After tempering, anyone who received the attack would suffer from slow blood circulation and lag like one had received red-band poisoning. Their physical body would fester like it was penetrated through by multiple metallic pellets. This was a Man-tier medial-grade attack that could be achieved instantly.
This martial art technique was very vicious. If the victim was not healed in time, he would become handicapped if lucky, or die if his injuries were too severe. Even though it was easy to manifest, most Jiang Clan sons arrogantly saw themselves as important and would find it beneath them to practice this move. Yet Jiang Song was using his full force over a small matter—did he want to make Jiang Yi disabled, or did he directly want Jiang Yi’s life?
Black essence force!
Jiang Yi hastily assembled a strand of black essence force, releasing the power in the direction of where his left eye was looking. To defeat a wastrel descendant at a second level of the Cast Tripod Realm like Jiang Song, he thought it was not worth it to assemble more black essence force and increase his own attack power. Of course, he did not want to let too many people know of his condition that he could greatly increase his power. Comparing martial arts prowess? Jiang Song’s level was far worse than his own!
Buzz!
Jiang Yi’s left eye flashed bright black. The world before his eyes changed once again. Jiang Song’s twin palms, normally moving at a pretty fast speed, also seemed to slow down somewhat.
“Silk Hand!”
He hastily turned around, not retreating but moving forward instead. With both legs aimed to the front, he slipped forward. However, his body suddenly bent back while both his hands moved in the direction of Jiang Song’s hands and coiled around them like two pieces of seaweed. With the aid of black essence force, he could easily determine the opponent’s attack trajectory and speed, and in turn use this information to judge, avoid or counter-attack in advance.
“Tsk Tsk!”
Jiang Song’s two hands had just flown downwards, yet as Jiang Yi’s body abruptly bent backward, his hands could only hit the air. As for the moment he was ready to change techniques and hit downstairs, Jiang Yi’s hand had coiled together like two threads of seaweed, easily entangling his hands in turn.
“Hmph!”
Jiang Song was astonished but did not become flustered. As he could see, Jiang Yi was only at the first level of the Cast Tripod Realm. As such, no matter how ingenious or skillful he was in martial arts, he was clearly not his match. His level was higher than Jiang Yi by one stage. Their reaction speeds, attack speeds and strengths all differed by an entire notch.
How could I possibly lose? Jiang Song laughed coldly as he ignored the condition of his hands, instead applying his essence force on his right kneecap, before abruptly hitting upwards, aimed at Jiang Yi’s crotch.
Jiang Song’s thinking was not wrong in theory, but he did not know that Jiang Yi’s left eye at that moment had obscenely powerful eyesight. As such, his every move and action were all caught by Jiang Yi. Before he had even moved, Jiang Yi had already predicted in advance his attack trajectory. Although there was some difference in power and attack speed… Jiang Yi’s response speed was much faster than him.
“Snake Whip Leg!”
Jiang Yi’s right leg had been released much earlier, flying towards and blocking Jiang Song’s lower leg like a poisonous snake.
Pow! Pow! Pow!
Crisp sounds rang out one after another, as Jiang Yi’s right leg continuously whipped Jiang Song’s lower leg like a poisonous snake. How could Jiang Song know that Jiang Yi would respond so quickly? Before he realized, his lower leg had already been hit three times, releasing a burst of severe pain. Sensing something was wrong, he hastily moved his right leg back, ready to temporarily retreat and evade attacks first before counter-attacking.
However…
He forgot that both his hands were entangled in Jiang Yi’s Silk Hands. He tried to take a step back but his hands were still entangled, resulting in him being thrown off his center of gravity and losing his balance, almost falling down with a shake of his body. At this moment his mind was completely flustered.
Pow! Pow!
Jiang Yi’s expression turned grave, but his hands still continued to entangle Jiang Song. He had even applied some slight force to make him completely unable to control the center of gravity of his body. His legs continued to hit Jiang Song’s right leg non-stop like bolts of electricity. He aimed specifically at his lower leg…
Ka… cha…!
“Ahh!!”
On the sixth attack that Jiang Yi released, Jiang Song’s right leg finally released the sounds of bones being broken. Jiang Song’s agonized screams followed suit. No longer able to hold up his body weight, Jiang Yi’s body crashed to the floor. He held his right leg and cried in bitter pain.
This time, Jiang Yi did not continue beating up his fallen opponent. Instead, he released Jiang Song’s hands. Coldly observing him scream relentlessly, Jiang Yi’s heart did not feel any sense of sympathy. If he did not have any black essence force that day, the one lying on the ground crying in agony at the moment would have been him. The world was cruel. Those without any power would only end up being bullied and humiliated!
Jiang Song howled in agony for quite a while. His forehead was filled with cold sweat. As he tried with much difficulty to lift himself up, his face twitched and his eyes were filled with bewilderment and terror.
Even now he couldn’t believe that he had been thrashed by a useless person at the first stage of the Cast Tripod Realm like Jiang Yi.
Nonetheless, he was very smart. He realized that it was imperative to leave, otherwise his injuries would worsen. He thought of relying on one leg alone to escape, and did so with much difficulty.
When he reached the door and saw that Jiang Yi wasn’t pursuing him, he gritted his teeth in bitter resentment. “Jiang Yi, how dare you injure me? You’re dead. I will definitely let Brother Hu beat you to death. If you have the balls, don’t think of leaving the central court! Hiss…”
“If you don’t leave on the count of three, get ready… to crawl back on your hands!”
Jiang Yi remained motionless and stared coldly at Jiang Song. As a result, Jiang Song’s face changed color. Before Jiang Yi had even started counting down, he hastily relied on his left leg and the wall to hop away. He vanished from sight in about thirty seconds…
On the other hand, Jiang Yi did not chase after him. After all, this was the central court. Should the disciplinary court find out about the fight, both Jiang Song and him would have to face punishment. The Jiang Clan tolerated in secret the fights occurring between their descendants, but on the surface, they still had to maintain the authority of the clan rules.
It was only when Jiang Song had completely disappeared that Jiang Yi calmed down. However, his pupils revealed a flash of worry.
The “Brother Hu” mentioned by Jiang Song referred naturally to Jiang Ruhu, the leader amongst the second-tier descendants of the family! Jiang Ruhu’s father was Jiang Yunshe, the chief supervisor of the internal affairs department.
He also had an elder brother called Jiang Rulong, who was positioned second in the list of most powerful persons within the young generation of the family; furthermore, his position was right below the Jiang Clan’s great young master, Jiang Henshui. With such a father and elder brother protecting him, and adding his strength at the fourth level of the Cast Tripod Realm, Jiang Ruhu naturally commanded a powerful, respected and renowned position. Many Jiang Clan collateral descendants and second-tier descendants, like Jiang Bao and Jiang Song, followed his lead.
Two days ago, he had just beaten up Jiang Bao; at that moment, he just struck Jiang Song. Surely, should Jiang Ruhu find out, wouldn’t he feel so much hatred that he would be itching to fight?
“Jiang Ruhu…”
Jiang Yi was arrogant for a moment. After the events just now, he desired even more in his heart to own more powerful abilities, so that he would no longer be bullied and humiliated.
Shaking his head, he returned to his cross-legged sitting posture, quietly muttering, “Hmph… I should first practice the Jiang Water Art. I should be more careful during this period of time and not get caught by Jiang Ruhu and gang.
“Once I have acquired enough money, I can head out to purchase high-quality elixirs and speed up my training in refinement! Heh heh! Once I reach the second level of the Cast Tripod Realm and combine that power with black essence force, should Jiang Ruhu dare to come to find trouble… see if I tear you guys up to shreds?”
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