Xu Qinghe had a low status in the Xu family. He was in charge of trivial matters. His status in the Xu family was totally different from that of Xu Qingliu, Xu Zhengming’s father, who was the family steward.

 “Please tell me if you have something to say, Uncle.” Xu Zhengming said. “I haven’t finished my homework today.”

 “You are indeed hardworking.” Xu Qinghe said carefully. “I wouldn’t have to worry so much if my two mischievous sons had half of your efforts.”

 Xu Zhengming usually loved this kind of compliments. However, he treated Xu Qinghe’s words as ridicule as he had gone through a setback that day. He felt slightly annoyed and said coldly, “Thank you, Uncle.”

 Xu Qinghe noticed that Xu Zhengming’s tone had changed. He said cautiously, “I am here to ask for your help for my two mischievous sons.”

 Xu Zhengming answered casually, “Is it Zhengfei? Or Zhengzha? What happened?” Xu Zhengfei and Xu Zhengzha had always been Xu Zhengming’s followers. They had helped him with plenty of issues. They had done hard work even if they did not take any credit. As their leader, Xu Zhengming would have to lend a helping hand to solve their problem.

 “Ay! It’s all Xu Qingyuan’s fault.” Xu Qinghe said furiously. “That bastard Xu Yang beat your brother, Zhengfei, up indiscriminately until he was seriously injured. He is now bedridden and he can only recover if there is a Spirit Elixir that is at least of Grade-3. How is it possible that a member who has been evicted by the family would dare to bully our Xu family’s direct descendant?”

 Xu Zhengming hardly paid attention to the words coming out of Xu Qinghe’s mouth after hearing him say the shocking name, Xu Yang!

 It was him again!

 Xu Qinghe continued on, “If I were to solve the problem by myself, I would be seen as bullying a kid. I would not be able to explain myself to the head. That’s the reason why I am here to ask for your help.”

 Xu Zhengming said, “What do you want me to do, Uncle?”

 “The Grand Family Tournament will be held in a month’s time. I want to arrange a match between Xu Yang and you.” Xu Qinghe looked at his face and said, “The family would not say much if you were to beat him up heavily during the tournament.”

 “Enough!” Xu Zhengming shouted loudly. His facial expression was one that seemed undecipherable.

 Xu Qinghe was stunned as he looked at Xu Zhengming. He knew that Xu Zhengming was arrogant but he still had to show some respect as he was his uncle.

 Xu Yang’s name had become a thorn in Xu Zhengming’s side. He could not care less about who Xu Qinghe was at that point in time. He groaned, pointed at the door and said, “Uncle, I’m not in a good mood today. Please forgive me for my rudeness.” It was clear that Xu Zhengming wanted Xu Qinghe to leave.

 Xu Qinghe walked out of the door dejectedly. Xu Zhengzha, who had been waiting for quite some time outside, came forward and asked, “How did it go, Father?”

 Xu Qinghe waved his hand and said angrily, “Pfft. The two of you really put me to shame, why do I need to do this kind of thing for your sake?!”

 Xu Zhengfei’s mother greeted them with a worried look when they returned to their house. “The gift we sent to Old Meng has been returned and he told someone to send us his reply.”

 “What did he say?” Xu Qinghe asked.

 “He will never produce elixirs for the Xu family for as long as he lived.”

 The words were like a thunderbolt out of the blue. Xu Qinghe sighed, and he appeared to have aged overnight. “It was all caused by Xu Qingyuan!”

 “Why does Alchemist Meng have such a strong prejudice against the Xu family, Father?” Xu Zhengzha asked cautiously.

 Xu Qinghe answered, “This all started fifteen years ago. Xu Qingyuan… Hmph, I don’t even want to mention the name of that troublemaker. Xu Qingyuan got extremely lucky as he did a huge favor for Old Meng. As a result, he obtained a precious Grade-4 Spirit Elixir and they formed an eternal bond.”

 Xu Zhengzha was puzzled and asked, “That is a good thing, so why does he have such a strong hatred toward us now?”

 Xu Qinghe sighed. “Do you know why our generation calls Xu Qingyuan a troublemaker? He was so full of himself that he ended up wooing a direct descendant of the Sea-Cloud Kingdom’s Mo family. It drove the Mo family mad and they almost destroyed our Xu family. Thank heavens my father made a splendid decision to evict Xu Qingyuan out of the family. He saved the family from being massacred.”

 Xu Qinghe sipped some tea and said with dissatisfaction. “Old Meng then started to hate our family due to Xu Qingyuan’s eviction, and has cut off the relationship between us since that”

 “Mo family?” Xu Zhengzha curiously asked, “Is Mo family that strong?” He thought that the Xu family was already an incredible family that could last for hundreds of years.”

 Xu Qinghe sighed. “You are so short-sighted. The Mo family is a family with thousands of years of history. Every single one of their guards is in the Mystical Grandmaster stage. The members of the Mo family have spread around the Sea-Cloud Kingdom and they are all in prominent positions. We pale in comparison with them.”

 Xu Zhengzha was astonished and he could not bring himself to speak anymore.

 Xu Qinghe stood up and said, “This won’t do. I must go to see Father. I can’t let Zhengfei become a handicap.”

 Xu Zhengzha nodded and said with relief, “Old Meng should still have some kind of respect for Grandfather.”

 Meanwhile, in the house next to them where Xu Zhengming lived. A middle-aged man with an air of dignity opened the door. He was frightened when he saw the mess.

 “What’s going on, Zhengming?” The man was Xu Zhengming’s father, Xu Qingliu. He was the steward of the Xu family who was in charge of purchasing goods for the family, and his cultivation was at the Advanced tier of a Mystical Master.

 Xu Zhengming was sitting in the Lotus Position. He exhaled a mouthful of turbid gas and airily stood up. “Something strange happened today, Father.”

 “Oh? Tell me the details.” A trace of shrewdness appeared in his eyes. He knew that the things that could make his son so angry was no small issue.

 Xu Zhengming narrated what happened to him, including how he had met Xu Yang and failed to snatch the peculiar stone from him. He described their battle in detail.

 “You think that the peculiar stone bought by Xu Yang contains Carmine?” Xu Qingliu’s eyes brightened up as he asked.

 “I’m not sure about that, but I have seen the description about it from an old scripture given by Father. It says that Carmine will appear in a stone. It has a blood-red colour and comes in various shapes. It is hard to identify purely from its appearance, but one can find out if it is a Carmine when it is absorbed by one’s body. I was somehow certain when I saw it but Xu Yang made the first move to purchase it.”

 Xu Zhengming continued to say, “Father, do you think Xu Yang has really gotten lucky and has advanced into the realm of Mystical Warrior just like that? I refuse to believe that!”

 Xu Qinghe smiled and said, “You have been fooled by Xu Yang, my son. You said that Xu Yang was able to see the flaw in your Centipede Dragon Footwork, and hit you six times in a row. Am I right? ”

 Xu Zhengming nodded and said, “Yes. I was hesitant as I thought that a Mystical Learner would assuredly not be able to see through the flaws of an Earth rank footwork.”

 Xu Qingliu asked, “Do you think you will still be alive and well if you were really hit six times in a row by a Mystical Warrior?”

 His words served as a reminder to Xu Zhengming as reality finally set in. “F*ck, the bastard is surely not a Mystical Warrior. I must find him and humiliate him tomorrow to vent my wrath!”

 “Don’t be impatient.” Xu Qingliu stopped Xu Zhengming. “You are already a Mystical Warrior. It is inappropriate for you to do that. Although your grandfather has cast out Xu Qingyuan and his children from the Xu family, he was actually forced to do that. Your grandfather doesn’t care much if it were squabbles between Mystical Learners. However, he might interfere if there is a Mystical Warrior involved in bullying Xu Yang.”

 Xu Qingliu continued on to say, “Moreover, Xu Qingyuan was the most celebrated genius in Lin Yuan City fifteen years ago. He has made friends with plenty of famous people such as Old Meng in the eastern city and Li Zhongxuan in the northern city. Do you know why they are not bothered about Xu Yang? It is for the same reason as your grandfather’s as they really could care less about fights between Mystical Learners.”

 Xu Zhengming opened his eyes wide and said, “Isn’t there any other solution?”

 Xu Qingliu smiled. “Of course there is a way. I remember that the triennial Grand Family Tournament will be in a month’s time. I will use some methods to arrange a match between Xu Yang and you. You can pretend that you accidentally hurt Xu Yang badly at that time. Your grandfather and his people won’t have any reason to interfere.”

 2Xu Zhengming exhaled and said, “Okay… but it is really weird as Xu Yang could see through my footwork and receive my attack directly.”

 Xu Qingliu smiled and said, “There is no fire without smoke. The strength of your Mystical Iron Palm could reach a hundred juns. Xu Yang must have used the power of a Mystical Armor. You can be rest assured as the Grand Family Tournament doesn’t allow participants to rely on any external factors. As for that footwork, you should not use it again. Perhaps Xu Yang has studied this kind of footwork before. Why are you afraid of Xu Yang when you have the speed of a Mystical Warrior?”

 Xu Zhengming was finally relaxed. He rubbed himself on the head and said, “If I had known this earlier, I would have accepted uncle’s request. It was a good chance to earn a favor from him.” He immediately told him that Xu Qinghe had come to find him.

 1Xu Qingliu waved his hand and said, “Nevermind that. Xu Qinghe is weak and has a low status in the Xu family. It is useless to earn a favor from him. You can pay him a visit if you want to see things through.”

 In Xu Yang’s house a street away from the main courtyard.

 Xu Yang caressed the peculiar stone. He was still in disbelief.

 He used an extremely low price of twenty Wolf Coins to buy the Carmine that would cost an arm and a leg the era from whence he came. It was even cheaper than a graded spirit herb.

 The Carmine’s appearance was peaceful but it contained violent Fire-Extreme Mystical Energy which was the best item to use to set the foundation for Mystical Cultivation.

 ‘It seems that I should form the Fire Mystical Core first.’ Xu Yang thought.

 The Zhenwu’s Eight Sceneries Scripture focused on uniform cultivation of all the eight extremes. It could help one to advance quickly but there were some hardships to overcome when one had to break through the barrier.

 1The first hardship was to set up the foundation of Mystical Cultivation when forming the Mystical Cores. One who cultivated eight extremes at the same time had to form eight Mystical Cores and fuse them into one. That was a tough step. A lot of members of the Celestials in the future era failed in this step, and ended up becoming a commoner.

 The members of the Celestials in the future era did not have a physique as wonderful as Xu Yang’s. They had at most three to four extremes so they only had to form a few Mystical Cores. However, Xu Yang who had uniform eight extremes had to form eight Mystical Cores of different attributes. Its difficulty level was incomparable to anyone else’s’.

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