Chapter 97: Don't Ask How I Know

"Has anyone come today seeking alchemy from yesterday's outer disciples?" He looked at the sky; it was getting late, and normally there should be a few people coming.

"No." The flute-playing boy shook his head, also finding it strange. This was the first time such a situation had occurred.

"Hey, Senior Brother Li, I spotted someone sneaking around. He entered a secret chamber and soon came out to go into another one." The flute-playing boy watched a figure not far away, going in and out, arousing suspicion.

"Oh, is that so? Let's go see what's going on." Li Shun didn't take it to heart, but this was his territory after all; no one else was allowed to act recklessly here.

……

At that moment, in the alchemy room, Lin Fan was frantically digging black mud. This black mud had long absorbed the medicinal power left behind by others during alchemy, thus possessing herbal properties.

Every piece used was one less, but Lin Fan hadn't expected that this black mud could substitute for ingredients in refining Speed Origin Pills.

Lin Fan checked the pills in his backpack and nodded with satisfaction. There were already over a thousand pills, and he had switched several secret chambers.

Once he finished digging out the black mud in this chamber, it would be about done.

The pills were enough to pay his wages.

Just then, the door of the alchemy room was suddenly pushed open. Lin Fan was startled, and as if caught doing something guilty, he immediately entered stealth mode.

Seeing no one inside, the flute-playing boy stepped forward.

"Ouch..."

At that moment, the black mud near the entrance had already been dug out by Lin Fan. The flute-playing boy, not paying attention, stepped into empty space and fell to the ground.

"This..." The flute-playing boy was about to speak, but his neck was struck hard, and he instantly passed out.

"Phew..." Lin Fan breathed a sigh of relief. This alchemy room wasn't safe after all; anyone could just walk in.

As the dignified sixth patriarch of the Holy Demon Sect, if people found out he was stealing black mud, he would lose face.

Lin Fan glanced over, then continued digging black mud, tossing each piece aside. The alchemy furnace kept producing successfully refined Speed Origin Pills.

Before long, when all the black mud in this chamber was dug out, Lin Fan breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, everything was done.

Thirteen hundred Speed Origin Pills were enough to support the clearing work, with plenty to spare.

As Lin Fan stepped over the disciple to leave, he suddenly stopped, rubbed his chin, and felt that leaving like this seemed a bit off.

Lin Fan looked at the disciple lying unconscious on the ground, a faint smile creeping onto his lips.

Heh heh...

……

After who knows how long, Li Shun had been calling for his flute-playing boy. Waiting so long without any of yesterday's alchemy seekers showing up made Li Shun rather bored.

He intended to summon his flute-playing boy to play a tune indoors to ease his mood.

But now there wasn't even a shadow of the boy, which made Li Shun a bit angry.

This flute-playing boy was too presumptuous. Could it be that he dared to leave freely, relying on Li Shun's favor? When he returned, he would have to teach him a good lesson.

"Ah... Senior Brother Li, help!" Just then, a cry for help came from outside. Li Shun recognized it as his flute-playing boy's voice.

Hearing the urgency, as if something major had happened, Li Shun didn't think twice and immediately went out.

But when he saw the sight, Li Shun was dumbfounded.

His flute-playing boy was completely naked...

This... this.

"What are you doing?" Disgraceful, utterly disgraceful. Li Shun didn't want to say more.

"Senior Brother, I was robbed..."

……

At that moment, Lin Fan walked along the road in high spirits. That guy had come in without knocking, which was really too much. Not only did he strip him of his belongings, but he also pulled off his clothes and threw them into the alchemy furnace, to teach him that entering without knocking was dangerous.

Lin Fan hummed a tune, walking with a light heart. He nodded amiably at the Holy Sect disciples he passed.

Now the path was getting smoother. Under the Holy Sect's protection, developing the Holy Demon Sect should be no problem. But he also needed to improve his own cultivation.

In this dog-eat-dog environment, if you're weak, you get beaten.

But the Holy Demon Sect's development couldn't be neglected either.

Once, the Holy Demon Sect had tens of thousands of disciples, but it was destroyed by the Nine Great Sects. Now that he was the sixth patriarch, if he didn't develop the disciple count to hundreds of thousands, how could he call himself patriarch?

"The outer sect's top ten geniuses, Feng Jue and Ye Shaotian, are fighting, and Meng Ruoyu is there too."

"What? Really? Meng Ruoyu is the number one among the outer sect's top ten geniuses, and she's an absolute beauty."

Originally, Lin Fan wanted to return to the Holy Demon Peak to check things out, but seeing the commotion ahead, his curiosity was piqued.

Since coming to the Holy Sect, he hadn't seen any conflicts.

No, he had to go take a look, broaden his horizons, and see how people in the Holy Sect resolved disputes.

Following the disciples, Lin Fan soon arrived at the scene. At a glance, three people stood in the middle of the area.

Two men and one woman.

Both men looked like outstanding figures, but one youth was particularly striking, with a cold face exuding a kingly aura.

As for the woman, Lin Fan thought she was indeed beautiful, with a delicate figure and lovely face, but the occasional contemptuous look in her eyes greatly diminished her appeal.

In Lin Fan's view, the beautiful ones with innocent eyes and a gentle, fragile demeanor were the real beauties—his ideal partners.

Lin Fan pricked up his ears, listening intently to the gossip around him.

"I knew Ye Shaotian wasn't simple. When he fell from grace and everyone spoke ill of him, Meng Ruoyu stayed by his side. She must have known he would rise again."

"I didn't expect that the top ten genius Feng Jue couldn't even last three moves against him."

"Sigh, three years ago, Ye Shaotian was the top of the outer sect's top ten geniuses. Later, for some reason, his cultivation plummeted, nearly becoming useless. Now he's rising again, with even stronger cultivation than before. It probably won't be long before he becomes an inner disciple."

……

Listening to the gossip, Lin Fan became somewhat interested, but the plot seemed a bit off.

"Ye Shaotian, don't be smug. Heaven will punish you!" Feng Jue, who had been defeated in three moves, glared with red eyes and shouted.

"Whether I'm punished or not is not for a waste like you to decide." Ye Shaotian said coldly, looking at Feng Jue as if he were an ant.

"Brother Ye, why bother with someone like him? He's just an insignificant stepping stone in your life." Meng Ruoyu, who had been cold-eyed toward the crowd, looked at Ye Shaotian with tender affection, as if he were the only prince charming in her world.

Lin Fan watched from the sidelines, especially at the words "Brother Ye," which sent a shiver down his spine.

A green tea bitch, definitely a green tea bitch.

Don't ask Lin Fan how he knew. For someone who had seen countless people like him, if he couldn't tell, what was he even doing?

Feng Jue was unwilling to accept this. Three years ago, Ye Shaotian was at the top of the genius list, looking down on everyone. Feng Jue was just an ordinary outer disciple then, not yet holding his current status.

That day, Feng Jue was training hard, trying to break through a cultivation bottleneck. But at the critical moment, Ye Shaotian was fighting with some sect disciple, causing Feng Jue's mind to waver, nearly leading to a qi deviation.

Afterward, when Feng Jue went to argue with Ye Shaotian, Ye Shaotian simply said one sentence that made Feng Jue furious.

"Disciples like you are a dime a dozen in the sect. Get lost and don't disturb my training."

That day, Feng Jue saw contempt in Ye Shaotian's eyes. From then on, he trained like crazy, not even sparing sleep time.

……

Ye Shaotian looked at the surrounding crowd, a faint sneer curling at the corner of his mouth.

Once, you all fawned over me, but during the three years my cultivation was crippled, you mocked me. Now that my technique is complete and my cultivation surpasses before, you're probably going to grovel like dogs again.

How ridiculous.