(It’s the weekend, so I’m asking for votes! Sorry to take a minute of your break ti, but I’m asking for your votes. Skeleton bows in thanks!!!)
"Senior Brother Wang, you’re finally here! Thank you, thank you so much!"
A female disciple rushed over, bowing repeatedly in gratitude. This startled Wang ng. "Um, do you have the wrong person?"
"How could I? It’s , Little Stutterer!" The female Talisman Cultivator flashed a brilliant smile. Just then, Ma Tian’Er also walked over.
"Brother Wang, your Pill worked wonders! Junior Sister Zheng kept taking it, and now she’s completely fine. I knew you were the most capable, Brother Wang!"
There were many kinds of miraculous Pills, but who would pay attention to a trivial problem like a stutter? For Zheng Shuang, however, it was a huge issue. Her sect sisters never discriminated against her, but she always struggled to speak smoothly and felt terrible about it. It’s hard for anyone who hasn’t experienced it to understand that kind of awkwardness and misery. Now, for Little Stutterer—or rather, Zheng Shuang—every day was filled with happiness and joy.
Wang ng smiled. "I’m just glad it worked. I wasn’t entirely sure it would. In fact, I should be thanking you. My first type of Pill is finally a success."
"Senior Brother Wang, you’re the best! So capable, and so nice too!" Stars started to sparkle in Zheng Shuang’s eyes.
Ma Tian’Er, standing to the side, nodded in agreent.
"Are you two done? Any more praise and his head will swell so much he’ll float away."
That booming voice and that tone... it could only be Senior Sister Liu, Liuu i.
Although Hu Jing was the new leader of the Talisman Cultivators, Liuu i’s seniority was undeniable, and she still held considerable influence among them. She and Hu Jing also got along quite well.
"Senior Sister Liuu, long ti no see. Huh? You seem to be glowing."
Wang ng asked, puzzled.
Ma Tian’Er and Zheng Shuang imdiately burst into laughter. "That’s because our..."
"Shut your mouths! Are you two little brats itching for a beating? How dare you sell out! You’re asking for it!"
Luu i imdiately flew into a rage, as if soone had hit a nerve. ’With a personality as brash as hers, isn’t she usually the one getting the better of other people?’
Ma Tian’Er and Zheng Shuang imdiately scattered. "Brother Wang, let tell you! Do you know who our Senior Sister Liuu has a crush on?"
Wang ng blinked. ’How would I know?’ he thought.
"It’s soone you know!" Zheng Shuang added with a laugh.
"It couldn’t be...?" Wang ng trailed off, though he really had no idea who they were talking about.
Ma Tian’Er, having just dodged Liuu i’s grasp, revealed the truth: "Zhang Xiaojiang!"
Wang ng was genuinely stunned for a mont. ’To each their own, I guess.’ So that’s why Senior Sister Liuu liked the stocky type.
Now that her secret was out, Liuu i stopped chasing them. Instead, she just owned it. "That’s right! I like him, so what? What’s there to be afraid of!"
"Congratulations! So, how are things progressing?"
Even Wang ng couldn’t resist a bit of gossip.
"I’m not telling you!"
Luu i lifted her chin and strode confidently into Thunderlight Pavilion.
He learned from Ma Tian’Er and Zheng Shuang that the two were getting along passionately and were already practically inseparable.
He handed the Pills he had made for the Hundred Treasures Hall eting over to Ma Tian’Er, considering his duty done. He wasn’t afraid of making a fool of himself.
After Wang ng left, the group of gossiping girls gathered around the dozen or so types of Pills, dumbfounded.
"He refined all of these?"
"...Senior Brother Wang is way too intense."
"The quantity is enough, but the Hundred Treasures Hall eting isn’t a numbers ga. The man is certainly an extremist. Still, seeing as he put in a decent effort, we might as well count his entry."
Luu i said, and the others couldn’t help but laugh.
"Senior Sister, you aren’t jealous of Brother Wang, are you?" Ma Tian’Er said suddenly.
"Hmph! What’s one thing got to do with the other?" Liuu i arched an eyebrow.
"Our Junior Brother Zhang’s catchphrase is ’Brother ng says this,’ ’Brother ng thinks that,’ and so on. Don’t you want him to change it to ’Sister i says this,’ and ’Sister i thinks that,’ Senior Sister?"
Zheng Shuang said mischievously, peeking her head out from behind Ma Tian’Er.
"You little brat, you’ve gotten quite glib-tongued, haven’t you? You’re going to join their little rebellion, are you? Just watch how I’ll deal with you!"
It was always Liuu i teasing others, but ever since her business with Zhang Xiaojiang ca to light, she’d been teased daily by these little minxes. Eldest Sister Liu was about to blow her top.
She grabbed Zheng Shuang in a hug and unleashed her ultimate technique: Suffocation by Bosom!
Ever since Wang ng had gone to Thunderlight Hall, Elder Zhou had found that his food had lost its flavor. ’I wonder if that kid is even practicing his Alchemy seriously?’ he thought. ’Sigh, being an Elder is a real pain sotis.’ He couldn’t just go looking for Wang ng. To make matters worse, that old hag Luu Yun had issued another challenge. It seed she’d heard about Wang ng, and her disciple was planning to show off at the Hundred Treasures Hall eting. She was clearly trying to use Master Zhou’s presence as an opportunity to put him in his place.
Even a man made of clay has a temper. ’Damn it all!’ If he just had a year, or even half a year, to train Wang ng, no one among the Holy Hall’s younger generation of Pill Cultivators would be his match.
"Old Zhou, Old Zhou! I’m back, and I’m starving!"
Wang ng shouted from a good distance away. He hadn’t bothered going back to his own place; his thatched hut had nothing to eat or drink. Zhou Feng’s ho was much better.
Zhou Feng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ’Looks like this kid has decided to leech off . Well, who can I bla but myself for being so desperate for talent?’
These past few days in the Alchemy Room, Wang ng had been making do with whatever als he could scrounge up. Fasting? ’Fasting, my ass!’ Even if one’s Cultivation was high enough to not require food, that was only for certain critical monts. If you could eat, of course you should eat. Only an idiot would refuse.
Besides, our dear Wang ng was still a long way from that realm.
Watching Wang ng wolf down his food, looking absolutely wretched, Zhou Feng couldn’t help but start his pitch again. "Look at you. Why suffer like this when you could be a proper Pill Cultivator? As a Pill Cultivator, you’d be living the high life! You could pick any spot you want at the Main Hall, and they’d build a personal manor just for you."
Wang ng just smiled. "Old Zhou, you can stop trying. I’m an active person; I like to fight. This is fine as a hobby, but if you make babysit a Pill Furnace every day... well, you see what I look like now. If I did that for too long, I’d go stir-crazy."
"Oh? So you have been practicing Alchemy all this ti? What have you accomplished? How did it go? What did you refine?"
Zhou Feng asked curiously.
Wang ng swallowed the at in his mouth. "Just a random assortnt. I’ve already forgotten what I refined."
Wang ng was telling the truth. He was only practicing Alchemy to improve his Pill Fla in preparation for refining the Wumu Essence. The specific Pills he created didn’t matter.
Zhou Feng’s expression stiffened. ’This kid is not taking this seriously at all! If you don’t even know what you’ve refined, can you still call it Alchemy?’
However, Zhou Feng was very patient with newcors. He suppressed the urge to curse him out and forced a smile. "So what did you gain from it?"
Wang ng had already stuffed his mouth full again. He took a big swig of wine. ’Ah, that’s the stuff.’
’This is what it ans to be alive: freedom and satisfaction.’
Zhou Feng snatched the wine jug from him. "Finish talking, then you can drink. That woman Luu Yun is spoiling for a fight with . It’s fine if you lose, kid, but you at least have to put up a respectable showing."
Wang ng thought for a mont. "I just refined so low-level Pills, so I’m not sure what my skill level is. But my Pill Fla reached the Fourth Grade. Yeah, I think it’s Fourth Grade."
Wang ng snatched the wine jug back from Zhou Feng. With a flick of his left hand, a ball of brilliant red Pill Fla ignited in his palm.
Zhou Feng’s hand remained frozen in the gesture of holding the wine jug. His eyes were glued to the Pill Fla in Wang ng’s hand as if he were gazing upon a naked goddess.
(Recomnding my friend Tianzi’s new book, "Proud and Unyielding")
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