Nine Star Hegemon Body Art (WN)
chapter-49

“Do you want to know why Wei Cang and I are like fire and water?”

Long Chen was startled; he actually had wanted to know this; however, such a thing was too embarrassing to ask about. But now that Yun Qi had brought it up, it naturally evoked his curiosity.

Yun Qi began to tell him a story. From it, Long Chen learned that Yun Qi and Wei Cang had actually been fellow apprentices. Their master had taken three apprentices in his lifetime.

Other than Yun Qi and Wei Cang, there was a third, female apprentice. That person had been Yun Qi’s wife, the woman in the drawing he had shown Long Chen who looked just like Xia Baichi.

Their master was a reclused expert, and only in his final years did he take three apprentices and pass down his refining techniques.

Those three had been extremely talented in refining pills, especially Yun Qi. He had been the best amongst the three, and their master did everything to teach him.

But jealousy was a constant part of human nature, especially for Wei Cang who had been born in a humble background. He had felt extremely bitter and cynical about his master’s preferential treatment of Yun Qi.

He had always suppressed those feelings and never displayed them until there finally came a day when their master had reached an extremely great age and his life was about to end. He had called Yun Qi to his side and given him a tablet.

“Haha, my enmity with Wei Cang all stemmed from this tablet.”

Grandmaster Yun Qi sighed, and a bronze tablet appeared in his hand. The entire room became warmer when that tablet appeared.

Carved on the tablet was a delicate pill cauldron with thousands of rays of light coming from it, appearing extremely lifelike.

The other side had a scenic picture on it. There were mountains and water, and between them was a valley. Immortal qi hazily curled around its surroundings, and just looking at it caused Long Chen’s mind to become much brighter.

“This is what my master left me. Because of it, us fellow apprentices ended up quarreling, and my loving wife was implicated and died.”

Yun Qi rubbed the tablet with a complicated expression. There was both a trace of regret and a trace of mourning.

Long Chen didn’t know what to say. Eventually, Yun Qi put aside those feeling and continued.

Originally, their master had given it to Yun Qi secretly, and only the two of them had known of it. But somehow Wei Cang had learned of its existence and began to demand it from Yun Qi.

Yun Qi refused no matter how Wei Cang wheedled him. Seeing that his attempts produced no result and since he wasn’t a match for Yun Qi, Wei Cang finally turned a sinister hand towards their junior apprentice-sister.

Their junior apprentice-sister had already expressed her affection for Yun Qi in secret, and Wei Cang had hatched a plot around her, using her life to extort Yun Qi.

But no one had expected that their usually gentle junior apprentice-sister was actually extremely resolute and upright inside. She had killed herself rather than to bring Yun Qi down.

This panicked Wei Cang; Yun Qi’s killing intent had exploded, shaking the heavens. He had wanted to tear Wei Cang into a thousand pieces as revenge for his junior apprentice-sister.

But although Wei Cang was much weaker than Yun Qi when it came to refining pills, in terms of combat ability, he was only slightly weaker.

Knowing he couldn’t beat Yun Qi, Wei Cang had fled. Yun Qi had chased him for thousands of miles but Wei Cang still escaped in the end. Over the next thirty years, Yun Qi had never stopped inquiring news about Wei Cang, always wanting to get revenge for his junior apprentice-sister.

But Wei Cang was extremely crafty and never revealed himself. He even occasionally requested experts to go kill Yun Qi, and over that time, Yun Qi was attacked several times and almost died.

Finally, Yun Qi awoke from his hatred. If it continued on like this, then he would not only be unable to get his revenge, he would even lose his life.

By using his powerful pill refining arts, he had entered the alchemist guild and become a guild chairman, temporarily laying down his vengeance.

But just a couple of years ago, Wei Cang had appeared again, and he had also become an alchemist guild’s chairman.

Although over thirty years had passed, that hatred hadn’t lessened in the slightest and the two of them had fought many times.

Wei Cang had honed the Yin Fiend Poison Palm over those years. In their battles, Yun Qi always came out slightly ahead, but he was never able to end him, so Wei Cang always managed to flee.

Now, the number of their battles had lessened in the past two years. That was because both of them had found out all the other person’s trump cards, and so there was no need to waste energy. Unless they could find a way to finish the other off in one blow, neither wished to go do battle again.

“Are you curious about what this tablet is, for us fellow disciples to fight over it like this?” After narrating until here, grandmaster Yun Qi suddenly asked a question.

Long Chen nodded; he truly was curious. Just what was the background of this tablet for Wei Cang to become so crazy?

A mocking sneer appeared on grandmaster Yun Qi’s face. “Wei Cang actually doesn’t even know what it is. He originally thought that master had become biased and gave me a secret art. But in reality, it is just a normal tablet.”

“A normal tablet?” Long Chen couldn’t help being shocked. For just a tablet, he ended up causing the death of a fellow apprentice?

“Yes, it’s just a normal tablet. It has no use, but at the time, master commanded me to take care of it, so I couldn’t refuse. Originally, I was actually starting to become unable to ignore Wei Cang’s wheedling and was preparing to give it to him to take care of, but then he actually stretched his sinister hand at junior apprentice-sister…” Anger and killing intent soared from him.

At the same time, Long Chen saw remorse and self-blame on his face. For a useless piece of trash, he had implicated his lover. If that happened to Long Chen, then he might go crazy.

“This tablet is actually a proof of study.” Yun Qi took a deep breath and calmed himself.

“Proof of study?” Long Chen was confused.

“Yes, this is proof of study from the holy land of pill cultivation, Pill Valley. As for Pill Valley… Well, it’s still a bit early to talk about it. You just have to know that it is viewed as the highest, holy existence in the world of pill cultivators. In an uncivilized place like this, no one knows of it. I’ve carried this thing for dozens of years. Now, I’ll give it to you.” He handed the tablet to Long Chen.

“Grandmaster, this is completely unacceptable! This was given to you by your master, and this little one definitely can’t accept it.” Long Chen hastily waved his hand.

“This wasn’t left for me. Master wanted me to find someone to give it to. I’m giving it to you, but even so, it might not have any use for you.” Yun Qi smiled slightly.

“What?”

“This tablet can be considered a way to step to fortune, but without power, you won’t be able to take that step, let alone gain a fortune.” Yun Qi bitterly smiled. “I told you just now that the Pill Valley is a holy land in the eyes of pill cultivators. How could it be so easy to enter? Even with this tablet, you need a matching strength to use it, or it will continue to be useless.”

“What kind of strength?” asked Long Chen.

“If you become a Pill King before twenty, then you can use this tablet to register there.” Grandmaster Yun Qi sighed.

Long Chen’s mouth dropped. Pill King? Before twenty? Was he kidding?

A person like grandmaster Yun Qi had trained for almost a hundred years and had only reached the peak of Pill Master. Wasn’t a twenty-year-old Pill King just a crazy joke?

No wonder grandmaster Yun Qi had had such a strange expression. For such a thing, he had his wife’s life implicated. Anyone would go crazy.

Long Chen suddenly realized that Yun Qi had kept this a secret for so long, all in order to get revenge on Wei Cang.

He had kept this ‘treasure’ to constantly draw Wei Cang’s attention. Wei Cang longed for it deeply since he didn’t know the truth.

Xia Baichi had also appeared most likely just to obtain it. When Long Chen had then popped up later, Yun Qi’s treatment of him had caused them to panic.

That was why they wanted Long Chen to die. They wanted Yun Qi to have no more successors. If he, Wei Cang, was unable to obtain it, then let it die in Yun Qi’s hands.

Long Chen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry; what had it all been for? The heavens truly did play jokes on man.

“Although you are extremely talented, you were unfortunately born in an uncivilized place like this. There are no powerful schools’ inheritances for you here, and so the chance of you being able to use this tablet is low. But even a slight chance is something. When my master gave me this, he told me to find someone to pass it on to. One of his ancestors had managed to enter Pill Valley, and this tablet was a sign of their honor. That is why I hoped there would one day come a genius who could take this tablet and once more join Pill Valley. I’ve invested so much time for master’s inheritance. Now, I will pass it on to you. It is also a load off my shoulders.” Yun Qi had an extremely complicated expression.

This tablet had changed the course of his entire life. But that change had been a complete tragedy.

Who was he supposed to hate? His master? Wei Cang? Himself? Or perhaps the heavens themselves?

Fate seemed to have been bored and decided to play a huge joke on him. However, he was unable to laugh at such a joke.

Long Chen reached out to take the tablet. Becoming a Pill King before twenty… others might not have any hope of that, but Long Chen was not like others.

“Many thanks, grandmaster,” Long Chen said respectfully.

“If one of us should be thanking the other, then it should be me. By handing this tablet to you, I have completed my master’s task and I can finally be free to do a couple of things.” Yun Qi smiled slightly.

Long Chen was alarmed. “Grandmaster… you….”

As if seeing through what Long Chen was thinking, Yun Qi laughed, “Don’t worry, I’m not thinking anything bad. I won’t go sacrificing myself to bring down Wei Cang. Wouldn’t that mean that I lost?”

That relieved Long Chen. If after receiving the tablet from him, Yun Qi decided to go fight Wei Cang in a battle of mutual destruction, he definitely would feel horrible about it.

If a great person like Yun Qi ended up dying along with that old pervert, it would be an absolute shame, like using a porcelain vase to smash a rat.

“Child, I can’t teach you much at all. But you are the person I have the greatest hope for. You must work hard.” Although Yun Qi didn’t want to go on and on, he couldn’t help nagging him a bit more.

If Long Chen could enter the Pill Valley, in terms of pill cultivation, it would be like ascending to become an immortal.

“Don’t worry, grandmaster. This disciple will continue working his hardest.”

Although grandmaster Yun Qi hadn’t taken Long Chen in as his apprentice, that was only because he didn’t want to draw any attention to Long Chen. After all, Wei Cang was watching him like a tiger watches his prey.

However, Long Chen’s current state of affairs with Wei Cang was something everyone knew about. He had beaten his apprentice and expressed his thoughts about the man.

Before letting him leave, grandmaster Yun Qi warned Long Chen once more to be cautious. If the enemy was pressed too hard, then they might make a desperate move. Long Chen nodded his assent.

He went directly home. Now, he had become much more powerful so he was confident in being able to walk through the city without being killed.

But when he turned around the corner and saw the gate to his home, his eyes opened widely.

“What’s going on?”