Chapter 93: Iron-Blooded Marquis Xiao Zhanguo, Better That I Betray the World!

“If you hadn’t said anything, I would have forgotten it myself!”

“You...”

Xiao Yanying stamped her foot. Was he not implying that only because she had reminded him did he remember? If she had said nothing, perhaps he would never have recalled it at all.

What a shameless man!

Thinking this, she was about to lunge forward and bite Ling Tian.

Ling Tian raised a hand and pressed down on her forehead, then gave an awkward smile.

“All right, I was only teasing you. And you actually believed me? I hadn’t remembered a thing just now.”

Xiao Yanying eyed him suspiciously, but in the end she could only force herself to believe him.

What else could she do if she did not believe him? She could not beat him, and besides, he had just saved her.

If she turned around and did him some harm now, would that not be repaying kindness with enmity?

She was not that sort of person.

Thus, this matter was left behind for the time being. On the rest of the journey, the two were even more careful and alert. If they ran into something like that again, it would only be more troublesome.

Fortunately, the road ahead passed without incident. Whether it was due to fear or something else, they did not encounter any more of those troubles.

“Up ahead is the Celestial Fire Domain...”

Xiao Yanying pointed toward the domain ahead and said to Ling Tian.

She had been away from here for many years already. After all, she was still just a child, not very old, and she could not help but feel a little homesick.

Cultivators had long lifespans, and the higher one’s cultivation, the longer the years before seeing one’s family again. It was an unavoidable truth.

Xiao Yanying seemed to understand this as well, and she treasured this chance to see her family very much.

Ling Tian narrowed his eyes. He had not expected Yan Chen to have gone this far, but he did look forward to meeting him.

...

“Young master, this is a supporter from the Eldest Young Master’s camp, Marquis Ironblood. He wishes for you to refine a Vitality-Returning Pill.”

Xiao Bingyu led a burly man to the pavilion where Yan Chen was resting, bowed slightly, and spoke respectfully.

Compared with her earlier indifference, Yan Chen had spent several months proving his strength to Xiao Bingyu.

It had to be said that his alchemy was truly superb, refined to perfection, even surpassing the alchemists of the Xiao family’s older generation.

The Xiao family was a great clan. Though its cultivation was high, it did not place much emphasis on nurturing alchemical talent.

In that respect, alchemy had grown somewhat decline.

Thus, within the Celestial Fire Domain, there were many places that specialized in pill refinement. The Xiao family had no way to interfere with that market, so naturally others reaped the profits.

That was immensely beneficial to alchemists.

Yan Chen’s arrival instantly made him famous within the Xiao family. He was a fifth-rank alchemist!

An alchemist could wield tremendous influence.

After this, many forces that had originally supported the other young masters began to entertain different thoughts.

Yan Chen, of course, had intentions of drawing them in as well, and the two sides struck it off at once.

In just a few short months, Yan Chen had faintly become the most advantageous contender.

This also won Xiao Bingyu’s deep admiration, and she followed Yan Chen with wholehearted loyalty.

After all, she had looked down on him before only because he had not yet shown his exceptional abilities. Now that he had proven himself, it would be rather discourteous to keep saying otherwise.

“Oh? Marquis Ironblood has followed my eldest brother for... how many years now?”

Yan Chen, upon hearing this, let his gaze settle on Marquis Ironblood Xiao Zhanguo, standing behind Xiao Bingyu. He pressed his fingers against his temples, as though trying to recall something.

Xiao Zhanguo’s face went dark with anger, and it was obvious he understood that Yan Chen was mocking him.

If Yan Chen truly intended to help him, or even to refuse him, he could simply say so outright.

But this expression of his was clearly meant to make a joke of him.

Xiao Zhanguo clenched his hands and forced himself to stay calm.

There was a saying: when beneath another’s roof, one must bow one’s head.

His daughter was ill, and the only thing that could save her was the Vitality-Returning Pill, a fifth-rank medicine.

Yet that pill was notoriously difficult to refine, so much so that many alchemists did not even know how to make it.

When he heard that Yan Chen could refine such a pill, he had suspected the rumor might have been deliberately spread.

But his daughter’s condition could no longer wait.

He had no choice but to come to Yan Chen with a hardened heart.

“For four years now!”

Xiao Zhanguo cupped his fists and answered Yan Chen’s question.

“Oh? Four years. That is not a short time. You must be very loyal to my eldest brother, then. I wonder, though—coming to seek refuge with me this time, do you perhaps harbor some other intent?”

Yan Chen narrowed his eyes and looked with great amusement at Xiao Zhanguo, whose whole body trembled after being spoken to in this way. He felt an indescribable satisfaction.

When he first returned to this clan, Xiao Zhanguo had not spared him the cold shoulder, and had even set many obstacles in his path.

That’s right—his daughter’s illness had naturally been arranged by Yan Chen himself.

He simply wanted to see whether Xiao Zhanguo would choose his daughter, or his eldest brother.

“Ninth Young Master, what would you have me do?”

Xiao Zhanguo sighed, feeling as if Yan Chen had seized his very lifeline, leaving him no way to break free.

“It’s simple. I heard that my eldest brother has recruited several alchemists... and seems to value them quite a bit...”

Yan Chen did not finish, but the meaning behind his words would have been obvious even to a fool.

“If there is nothing else, then leave.”

Yan Chen waved his hand, and without waiting for Xiao Zhanguo’s answer, dismissed him.

Xiao Zhanguo opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end no words came.

Before he left, Yan Chen reminded him once more:

“Oh, that’s right. I’ve looked at your daughter’s illness. At most, half a month. You’d better make up your mind.”

Xiao Zhanguo’s body stiffened for a moment, and then he left in desolation.

He knew Yan Chen was forcing him to act quickly.

“Young master, Marquis Ironblood has followed the clan head for so many years. Do you think perhaps...”

After Xiao Zhanguo left, Xiao Bingyu frowned and looked at Yan Chen. She wanted Yan Chen not to make things so difficult for Xiao Zhanguo.

“Bingyu, let me ask you this—does he follow my father, or does he follow me? The side he stands on belongs to my eldest brother; the one he is opposing is me.

I understand what you mean. Under ordinary circumstances, I would be willing to help him too. But this is not an ordinary time.”

When Yan Chen said the earlier part, he felt his tone had grown a little heavy, and so he eased his voice before continuing.

“If others see that I can so easily accept even Xiao Zhanguo, who has thrown so many obstacles in my way, then those who have just begun to support me, those who are still watching from the sidelines, will think that I, Yan Chen, am too merciful—that I am someone who can be betrayed at will without suffering any punishment.”

“I... I wasn’t thinking that far...”

Seeing Yan Chen make the matter sound so grave, Xiao Bingyu’s face took on an embarrassed look.

“I’m not blaming you. I only want you to understand one thing.”

As Yan Chen said this, he paused, a sharp light flashing in his eyes, and murmured:

“I would rather betray all under heaven than let all under heaven betray me.”

...

“Big brother, did he agree or not?”

As Xiao Zhanguo stepped outside, several brothers who had campaigned with him for many years gathered around him.

Xiao Zhanguo sighed and said nothing at first, then only replied:

“Let me think about this matter for a while... Also, for the next period, don’t give him any trouble. Perhaps in the future...”

He stopped there, closed his mouth, and said no more.

Then he departed in a daze.

The others looked at one another, none of them understanding why Xiao Zhanguo had worn such an expression.

But they all knew his temperament—once he made a decision, he never wavered.

Each fell into thought and left the place.

Back at the residence, Xiao Zhanguo came to a certain room.

“Xiaoqing, it is your father who has failed you. This is my fault!”

Xiao Zhanguo sat carefully on the bed and looked at Xiao Qing’er, who was gaunt and haggard. Even this iron-boned man could not help but feel his eyes grow wet.

If not for him, Xiao Qing’er should have been in the bloom of youth at this age. Why should she be lying in bed like this?

And yet now...

“Father, I’m fine. I really am fine. You don’t need to worry about me.”

With difficulty, Xiao Qing’er managed a faint smile and tried to lift a hand to wipe the tears from her father’s eyes.

But she could not do it.

“Xiaoqing, rest assured. I will definitely cure you, no matter what the cost.”

Xiao Zhanguo seized his daughter’s hand. At first he had hesitated, but now he had made up his mind.

Alchemists? Then kill them.

Eldest Young Master, forgive me.

After speaking with his daughter for a while, he rose and prepared to arrange the matter.

Before he even reached the door, he heard a voice from outside.

“Uncle Xiao, you’ve been away from my side these past few days, and I’ve truly missed you.”

A handsome, elegant young man entered from outside, accompanied by a man and a woman of extraordinary bearing.

He remembered the woman. Was she not Xiao Yanying, the only direct-line young lady of the Xiao family?

As for the young man beside her, he could not quite fathom him.

“You are too kind, Eldest Young Master. My daughter has fallen ill, and her condition worsens by the day. I have simply stayed home for a few days to care for her.”

Xiao Zhanguo cupped his fists and did not reveal the true matter, only saying that he was keeping his daughter company.

“Is that so? Uncle Xiao, why didn’t you say so earlier? I could have come to visit sooner!”

The Eldest Young Master, Xiao Jin, wore a regretful expression, as though blaming Xiao Zhanguo for not telling him about it sooner.

When Ling Tian saw this, he could not help but sigh.

Tsk. Good thing he had not stayed with his own family for so long. The Xiao family was already in such chaos—if it were the Ling family, would they not have to be on guard everywhere?

The two of them arrived at the Xiao residence and exchanged a few courteous words with Xiao Yanying’s mother. Then the troubled Xiao Jin entered the room.

When the matter was mentioned, how fortunate, or perhaps unfortunate, that Ling Tian and the others happened to come along.

If Xiao Jin had not possessed the ability to resolve this issue, he likely would not have allowed them to come with him.

In that sense, even if Xiao Zhanguo later rebelled, it would be disloyalty on his part first, not injustice on Xiao Jin’s.

The larger the clan, the more intricate the dealings within it.

Xiao Jin comforted Xiao Qing’er for a while, and then his gaze fell upon Xiao Zhanguo.

“Uncle Xiao, actually, I have a way to cure Xiaoqing’s illness...”