Qin Changsheng glanced at Jiang Fan, his tone indifferent, "In Lonely Boat City, aside from my Qin family, no one else has Qi Cultivation Liquid."
"You went to the Treasure Pavilion to ask for Qi Cultivation Liquid, but I'm afraid you went to the wrong place."
"Instead of begging them, you'd be better off begging Young Master Lu."
Lu Zheng said teasingly, "Begging me for Qi Cultivation Liquid? You might as well beg me to spare your fiancée, ha ha!"
He laughed loudly as he rode off.
Qin Changsheng shot Jiang Fan a sidelong glance, his tone full of contempt, "Don't even think about the Qi Cultivation Liquid."
"As long as I'm around, don't expect to get even a drop of Qi Cultivation Liquid in your lifetime."
With that, he spurred his horse to follow.
Jiang Fan shrugged.
*Low-grade Qi Cultivation Liquid, even a dog wouldn't want it.*
Before long.
The big shots of the Treasure Pavilion arrived.
Prestigious members of the Chen family filed in, each one exuding an air of authority.
The shopkeeper bowed low, his demeanor full of fear and reverence, "Young Lady, the matter is exactly as I mentioned earlier."
Among the Chen family members stood a young lady, her face delicate, her figure tall, and her eyes sharp with intelligence. She was the Chen family's eldest daughter, Chen Silin.
"Did you send someone to investigate his identity?" Chen Silin asked sharply, her gaze piercing.
The shopkeeper trembled and hurriedly replied, "How dare I? The Soul Masters are most wary of being coveted. If I angered him, wouldn't it bring ruin to the Chen family?"
Chen Silin's expression softened slightly as she let out a breath of relief, saying, "Very well, you handled this perfectly."
"You've both offered goodwill to this Soul Master, forging connections, and ensured there was no slight against him."
"Next, whether we can build a relationship with this Soul Master will depend entirely on his mood."
"If he provides us with some Mid-grade Qi Cultivation Liquid at the exhibition, our fame will soar, allowing us to rival the Qin family."
Thinking of the Chen family's century-long oppression by the Qin family, Chen Silin was deeply longing for that Soul Master to lend the Chen family a hand and change their fate.
*At that time, she would be willing to pay any price.*
Speaking of Jiang Fan, when he returned home, he found the mansion in disarray.
"Search! Find her for me quickly! Dig three feet into the ground if you must, but find Xu Youran!"
What?
Xu Youran is missing?
*Jiang Fan's heart clenched in panic, and the image of her suddenly leaving earlier in the morning flashed through his mind. An ominous thought struck him.*
*Could this foolish girl have gone to find Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures to help him break through?*
*It was already twilight, and she hadn't returned yet; could she have encountered danger?*
He rushed out of the city, heading for Cloud Mist Mountain, the only nearby place rich in Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.
"Beauty Xu, don't struggle anymore; it'd be a shame to fall and turn into a splatter of blood at the bottom!"
At the edge of a cliff, three burly men with bat emblems embroidered on their chests were sneering at Xu Youran. She was clutching tightly to a vine, her hands raw and bloodied.
Her strength was drained, leaving her face pale and her body trembling.
Beneath her, the cliff extended endlessly into misty clouds, with no visible bottom.
"Come up already. Wrongs have causes and debts have debtors; we're just catching you to demand repayment from Lu Zheng for the gambling debts he owes us."
"We swear we won't harm you."
Though their words were assuring, their greedy gazes never left Xu Youran's captivating figure.
*If they captured her, it was clear what kind of horror awaited.*
Xu Youran bit down hard on her lip and responded, "Dream on!"
The lead man lost patience, his eyes flashing coldly as he commanded, "Pull her up!"
He didn't believe Xu Youran would actually let go and commit suicide.
The other two burly men immediately began forcibly dragging the vine upward.
*Watching herself being drawn closer to them, Xu Youran's heart filled with despair.*
*She bit her red lips and whispered faintly, "Fan, I'm sorry; I won't be able to marry you in this lifetime."*
Her bloodied hand loosened its grip, preparing to dive into the bottomless abyss.
Just then.
Quick footsteps suddenly echoed.
In an instant, one of the men pulling the vine was kicked off the cliff, stumbling into the mist with a continuous scream, disappearing without a trace.
The remaining two men roared in fury and fought the attacker fiercely.
Soon enough, another man lay screaming on the ground.
The last man grew terrified and shouted, "You dare kill members of the Blood Bat Palace? You're dead! You're dead!"
The last man ran while shouting.
*Xu Youran's heart trembled—who had come?*
*The three Blood Bat Palace members were at Qi Cultivation Third Layer and Second Layer respectively!*
Suddenly.
A figure emerged. Xu Youran froze in disbelief, "Fan?"
She could hardly fathom that it was Fan who had chased off the villains.
Jiang Fan's face darkened as he pulled her up and delivered a firm slap to her bottom, shouting, "Who told you to come here?"
Xu Youran lowered her head in guilt and silently lifted her bloodstained palm, revealing a vibrant herb in her hand. Timidly, she said, "I just wanted to help you."
*Seeing her scraped palm, her refusal to drop the herb despite her injuries, Jiang Fan felt a sharp pang in his heart.*
He pulled her tightly into his embrace, his voice filled with pain, "You're the most important person to me. If I lose you, there will be no one left in this world that I care about!"
*Listening to his reprimands, Xu Youran felt sweetness blooming in her heart, like tasting honey for the first time.*
*Nestled against his broad chest, she felt an unprecedented sense of safety.*
*Her body and mind relaxed entirely, and with exhaustion weighing upon her, she drifted off to sleep.*
Jiang Fan dared not disturb her.
Glancing at the Blood Bat Palace corpses on the ground, he thought for a moment and rummaged through their belongings.
Soon, he found a token and brightened with joy, "The Blood Bat Palace token! The City Lord Mansion issued a bounty, saying that killing one member of the Blood Bat Palace earns entry to the Spirit Pond for cultivation."
"Many people have achieved breakthroughs there!"
He pocketed the token and surveyed the surroundings.
With darkness engulfing the area, the way down the mountain was no longer visible.
He had no choice but to find a safe cave to spend the night with Xu Youran.
While guarding her, Jiang Fan stayed busy.
Taking out the materials exchanged from the Treasure Pavilion, he began attempting to refine Qi Cultivation Liquid.
At dawn.
Jiang Fan gazed at the pile of ashes on the ground, muttering regretfully, "Three portions of materials wasted."
"But..."
His gaze shifted to the collection of eight vials next to him.
Seven bottles of Top Grade Qi Cultivation Liquid, and one bottle of top-grade Qi Cultivation Liquid.
"Looks like I've surpassed Father in talent—I can already refine Top Grade Qi Cultivation Liquid, and in peak condition, I can even create top-grade Qi Cultivation Liquid!"
"Once I get more practice, the success rate for top-grade Qi Cultivation Liquid will surely increase."
He eagerly grabbed the bottle of top-grade Qi Cultivation Liquid and drank it.
The potent effects unleashed ten times the Spiritual Energy of Low Grade Qi Cultivation Liquid, swelling Jiang Fan's body like a balloon!
He immediately sat cross-legged, channeling the energy swiftly.
A two-hour period later.
"Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer! And close to the Fifth Layer!" Jiang Fan exclaimed in shock.
Xu Yining took ten days to break through from Qi Cultivation Third Layer to Fourth Layer while drinking Low Grade Qi Cultivation Liquid daily.
He succeeded with just one bottle of top-grade Qi Cultivation Liquid!
*The effects of top-grade Qi Cultivation Liquid were astonishingly powerful!*
Feeling the might of Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer, he couldn't resist smiling at the sleeping beauty beside him:
"Youran, this time, I protected you."
At Xu Mansion.
Lu Zheng was drenched in sweat, his face pale.
He stared at the ten empty bottles of Qi Cultivation Liquid in front of him, muttering, "Why is this happening?"
"I drank all of them; why haven't I broken through?"
Beside him, Wang Yingfeng was equally baffled.
This shouldn't be possible!
Nine-grade Spirit Root and ten bottles of Low Grade Qi Cultivation Liquid—a pig should have broken through!
Yet Lu Zheng remained stuck!
She could only console him, "Zheng'er, haste makes waste. Perhaps your eagerness is disrupting your focus."
"At any rate, you haven't lost. Jiang Fan, that useless fool, doesn't have a Spirit Root or Qi Cultivation Liquid—he's even less likely to break through."
Hearing this, Lu Zheng let out a slow breath.
He scoffed, "Does he even deserve to compare with me?"
"My failure to break through is only temporary—he'll never break through in his lifetime!"
"Come on, let's go to the hall and settle this once and for all."