Chapter 1134, I’ll Pay a Visit Another Day

Translator: Silavin

 

“How interesting.”

 

Above Myriad Beasts City, where clouds and mist swirled in lazy coils, a lone figure watched the scene below with a thoroughly entertained expression, the corner of his mouth curling into a faint, amused smile.

 

Down below, within the Medicine Market, countless bewildered gazes had all fixed themselves upon Yao Jie, every onlooker silently puzzling over the same question: ‘why had he suddenly opened his mouth and conceded defeat?’

 

Just moments ago, he had activated the Three-Legged Black Flame Cauldron, unleashing a torrent of Spiritual Energy so overwhelming that he had clearly held the absolute upper hand. How, in the span of just a few breaths, had such a dramatic reversal come to pass?

 

The Medicine Race had lorded over the Dao of Alchemy among the Myriad Races for ages without number. Their foundation and strength were, needless to say, beyond the imagining of ordinary folk.

 

And yet, as everyone stared at Yao Jie, the greatest prodigy of the current generation of the Medicine Race, his face drained of all colour, countless hearts were stirred into a tumult of shock.

 

Some completely unknown youth, with a name no one had ever even heard of, had actually defeated Yao Jie in an Alchemy Duel before the eyes of an entire crowd?

 

How could this be possible?

 

“Brother Jie…” Behind Yao Jie, several young members of the Medicine Race wore equally dark expressions.

 

Perhaps the others present had not noticed what had truly transpired, but they had dimly sensed something deeply wrong. Earlier, Yao Jie had been gripped by an extreme, uncharacteristic terror, and they themselves had felt something… it was a sensation like being plunged headfirst into an ice cellar.

 

That had been Qin Yichen’s counterattack.

 

They did not know why this unknown young man possessed such an astonishingly high level of mastery over Spiritual Energy. But they all understood that this event would inevitably become a laughing stock for their Race. To be so thoroughly and publicly slapped in the face on their own Medicine Race’s territory, that was not something one saw every day.

 

“Move!” Yao Jie’s expression remained dark and sunken, though within his heart, a lingering pang of dread had yet to fully subside.

 

He had not the slightest doubt: had he not opened his mouth to concede, that surge of Spiritual Energy would have destroyed his Spiritual Body without a moment’s hesitation.

 

And it had every ability to do exactly that.

 

In this moment, though he had lost every shred of face he possessed, at least he remained whole and unharmed.

 

Even if the powerful Seniors of the Medicine Race were displeased, the most they would do was punish him lightly, which was still far preferable to being reduced to a cripple and cast off by his own Race.

 

The several young members of the Medicine Race heard his command, and though their hearts seethed with indignation, the countless eyes boring into them from all sides made their faces burn hotly. In the end, they could only respond with a low, grudging murmur and prepare to leave.

 

“Wait!” Just as Yao Jie and his group were on the verge of leaving, Qin Yichen’s voice suddenly rang out.

 

At the sound of it, the pupils of everyone present contracted sharply, and expressions across the crowd grew rather interesting.

 

They had all witnessed this young man’s razor-sharp tongue earlier, and now that he had actually defeated Yao Jie, leaving every person present in stunned disbelief, it stood to reason that he would not let such a prime opportunity for mockery slip by.

 

In an instant, a sea of gleeful, spectating gazes swung toward Yao Jie instead.

 

This young man, who carried himself like the favoured Son of Heaven itself, had today suffered such a spectacular public humiliation at the hands of some nameless Junior, and not a few onlookers found a certain shameful, almost indecent thrill rising in their chests.

 

Meanwhile, the feet of Yao Jie and his companions halted. Their expressions turned faintly furious. Surely he did not truly intend to heap further humiliation upon them in front of everyone?

 

Yao Jie’s own face had gone pale, and a wave of grief and indignation swept through his heart.

 

[Just where did this bastard crawled out from!?] The Spiritual Energy he had displayed just now made it perfectly clear to Yao Jie that among Heaven Grade Alchemists, there was likely no one who could be placed alongside this nameless young man.

 

Yet even if he said as much aloud, few would believe him. They would only take his words as the excuses of a sore loser scrambling to cover his own failings.

 

Being called back at a moment like this, Yao Jie had already half-guessed what the other man intended to say. With that tongue of his, he would doubtless flay Yao Jie’s dignity until not a single scrap remained.

 

Still, when a man lacked the skill, he lacked the skill. Faced with the humiliation bearing down upon him, there was precious little he could do about it.

 

“What more do you want?” Yao Jie drew in a slow, deep breath, suppressing the tremor still lurking in his heart, and asked.

 

*Whoosh!*

 

The moment he turned around, the sound of something cutting through the air rang out, and a dark object came flying straight at his face.

 

In the same instant, from somewhere within the crowd, a tremendously powerful aura surged outward, locking onto Qin Yichen with unmistakable precision.

 

Clearly, that was the Saint standing guard behind Yao Jie.

 

*Pa!*

 

Yao Jie’s arm swung up and caught the object, then turned it over to look. It was merely an ordinary jade bottle, and within it, several round, smooth Pills appeared to be resting.

 

[These Pills… so he is truly a Heaven Grade Alchemist?] Staring at how flawlessly round those Pills were, Yao Jie’s pupils shrank abruptly. From their quality alone, the Alchemist behind their refinement was already categorically superior to his own.

 

If these Pills had truly been refined by Qin Yichen, then perhaps his defeat had not been so undeserved after all.

 

“Those Pills are for Yao Tianxin. Tell him that I, Qin Yichen, will pay the Medicine Race a visit in the future.”

 

Just as Yao Jie’s shock was still rippling through him, Qin Yichen’s voice sounded once more.

 

“Pay a visit to Yao Tianxin!?”

 

At those words, the faces of countless onlookers changed at once.

 

Yao Tianxin was the current Patriarch of the Medicine Race. He had broken through to become an Alchemy Saint several thousand years ago. His status and standing were not the sort that just anyone could presume to visit at will.

 

Yet, thinking of how even Yao Jie had been defeated by him, no one quite managed to laugh.

 

“*Hmph!* Farewell!” Yao Jie was briefly startled at the words, but since the other man had not opened his mouth to mock him after all, he was certainly not about to linger any longer under all those strange, scrutinising gazes. He turned on his heel and briskly walked away.

 

As the Medicine Race party departed in their dark-faced, rather bedraggled hurry, sighs rippled through countless watching hearts.

 

Truly, one could never judge a person by appearances. Countless spectators who had come merely in the spirit of watching a good show had not expected, even for a moment, that this completely unknown young man would emerge unscathed from the Medicine Race’s own territory, and that even the long-celebrated Yao Jie would concede defeat in an Alchemy Duel against him.

 

This did not, strictly speaking, prove he surpassed Yao Jie in every regard, but it at least demonstrated that he was no ordinary, empty-handed charlatan who came to swindle people.

 

Someone with genuine ability like that, why would they need to swindle anyone? With his skill alone, would getting whatever he wanted not be a simple matter of speaking a single word?

 

At the thought of this, quite a few faces in the crowd gradually grew more serious.

 

In that case, what he had said earlier about a Pill usable by every Race, could it possibly be true?

 

“Miss Mei Ler, I’ll leave the rest to you.” At this point, Qin Yichen turned to Mei Ler with a light smile and a small gesture.

 

He had known all along that someone would come to cause trouble. He simply had not anticipated it would be someone from the Medicine Race, and a personal Disciple of Yao Tianxin at that.

 

But now that even the Medicine Race had suffered a setback, it was reasonable to assume that no one else lacking in good sense would dare come and make a nuisance of themselves. Everything that followed could therefore be left entirely in Mei Ler’s capable hands.

 

With her abilities, he was certain she would not disappoint him.