Chen Fan said candidly, “It was nothing. Just a little trick.”
As a matter of fact, the elderly man’s inner energy was much more powerful than that of Chen Fan. But just like the knife and Tofu analogy, Chen Fan would easily defeat the elderly man even with lesser internal energy.
Although Chen Fan was only at the level of foundation establishment, he could channel the arcane energy into a blade of a willow leaf, turning it into a bullet. It had grazed the cheek of the girl and buried deep into the tree trunk. On the other hand, The internal force of the elderly man could at best emanate a few inches out of his body before it receded. Despite its ample supply, the quality of the energy inside the elderly man fell short.
“It might be a small trick for you, sir, but for me, it was like an unbelievable miracle !” The elderly man exclaimed. He no longer called Chen Fan “young man,” but called him “Sir” instead.
Although the elderly man had lived through a tumultuous life and had eventually earned himself a great fortune, his dream of life was to become a powerful martial artist. However, over the years, he had come to terms with the fact that his talent was simply mediocre.Although China was a large country with an even larger population, the martial arts grandmasters were a rare breed. As resourceful as the elderly man was, he has not yet got the opportunity to meet a real grandmaster in person, until now.
The elderly man’s words piqued Chen Fan’s interest, “The grand master you were talking about… could he do what I just did?”
“Of course, the Transcendent Grandmasters 1 were at the precipice of martial arts. They were practically immortals in a mortal body. They could unleash their internal force as far as a few dozen meters. It wouldn’t be difficult for them to kill someone from a distance.”
Suddenly, confusion flashed across the elderly man face. He asked curiously, “Sir… as one of the grandmasters, how could you not be aware of what I have just told you? That was… common sense, after all.”
Chen Fan made a mental note to correct his vocabulary from internal energy to internal force. He wagered that in order to reshape the loosely formed internal force into something as deadly as a killing blow, it would require at least the level of Ethereal Enlightenment.
If that was true, then the so-called Transcendent Masters were martial artists who had achieved Ethereal Enlightenment. From the drift of the elderly man’s words, Chen Fan gathered that such grandmasters ought to be extremely rare in this world, as it should be.
Not only the spirit qi was drying upon the earth, the lack of advanced cultivation technique meant that it would take a one-in-a-hundred-year genius to reach the Ethereal Enlightenment.Even after knowing that there could be a Transcendent Master somewhere in the world, Chen Fan was not worried that his dominance would be challenged in the future.
Chen Fan’s speedy progress aside, he also had another advantage the Transcendent Master did not have: Dharma spells.
Chen Fan paused his train of thoughts and shook his head, “I am really just a person who follows the way of Dao. What you saw was simply the most rudimentary exercise of qi refinement. I have never heard about the internal strength nor the transcendent master. I am afraid that I am not who you think I am.”
“The way of Dao?” The elderly man seemed perplexed by Chen Fan’s confession. He had heard bits and pieces about monks with otherworldly powers. However, he had been convinced that those were simply high tales. Plus, the technique the boy had just used was emblematic of a Transcendent Master’s power.
But why did he deny it? Was he really not a Transcendent Master?
Unable to find an answer, the elderly man decided to push the question aside for now. His priority was to befriend this boy, regardless if he was the grandmaster or not. If he could do what a grandmaster could, what difference did it make anyway?
Plus, he was young and… not ugly. Could be a perfect match for his gorgeous granddaughter. The elderly man’s mind raced as he tried to think of ways to befriend the young man.
He quickly plastered on a smiley face and then said, “It doesn’t matter. On another note, you seemed to carry an accent of Chu Zhou City. Are you from here? ”
“Yes, I lived in Si Shui County for 17 years, and I came to the city for my final year of high school.” Chen Fan nodded and continued, “My name is Chen Fan, you can also call me Chen Beixuan, ‘Beixuan’ is the name my teacher gave me. It’s my Dao name.”
Although this elderly man is not a cultivator, he had the arcane power in him. Therefore, Chen Fan preferred to communicate with him using his Dao name: Chen Beixuan.
“Si Shui County, Chen Fan, Chen Beixuan?” The elderly man and his granddaughter exchanged a confused glanced. He turned his head around and asked curiously:” We will call him Mr. Chen. What about your teacher Mr. Chen’s? He is not in Chu Zhou City?”
“My teacher is not on this planet.” Chen Fan shook his head.
Chen Fan wondered which galaxy his teacher, the immortal cultivator, Cangqin was visiting right now. Based on the past life timeline, he wouldn’t have graced the earth with his presence for another ten years. What’s more, any changes in the current timeline might have unforeseeable effects; that meant Cangqin might never visit earth in this iteration of the time and space.
The elderly man misunderstood Chen Fan, as any normal person would. He heaved a sigh and then said heavily:” It is human nature to live and die. Your teacher will be proud of you knowing what you have become. I am old, and so are most of my friends if they are still alive. My martial arts exercise had kept me going a few years longer than my buddies, but I feel that I am going to see them very soon. ”
Before the elderly man finished his words, he bent double and was caught by a fit of a violent cough.
“Grandpa!” The girl shouted with a distressed voice.
With a hint of tears in her eyes, she helped the elderly man to his feet and gently patted his back.
“I am fine, just some old wounds that never healed.” The elderly man waved a comforting hand at his granddaughter.
Chen Fan cracked a smile and put in, “You shouldn’t force the internal energy too hard. It’s hurting your lungs.”
“Does Mr. Chen also dabble in medicine? How could you know that?” The elderly man said incredulously
Before Chen Fan could say anything, The girl explained, “My grandfather had a close call with death once when he was young. In order to protect his family, he was forced to use the internal strength that he did not yet fully control. That incident had left him with two injured lungs. He didn’t go to the hospital in time and hence sowed the seeds of irreversible damage. Since it was an internal injury, it was almost impossible to cure its symptom completely.”
“Mr. Chen knew the way of Dao and was able to pinpoint the cause of my grandfather’s injury; I wonder if you know a way to cure him?”
She looked at Chen Fan and batted her lashes. The girl would do anything to alleviate her loving grandfather’s pain.
However, since the damage was caused by internal trauma, there was nothing modern medicine could do to help. Even the Chinese medicine doctors had given up on the elderly man since the injury had been dragged on for decades unattended.
However, seeing the miraculous power of Chen Fan, the girl finally saw a sliver of hope in curing her grandfather.
“I might as well be frank with you: Wei family is quite influential at the north side of the river. You will be heavily rewarded if you can save my grandfather. You have my word.” The girl locked her eyes onto Chen Fan’s and announced firmly.
Chen Fan hesitated for a second and said slowly:
“Heck! Why not. It’s not a difficult thing to do anyway. Since fate had brought me here, I will gladly oblige with what fate commands.”
Chen Fan watched as their faces were lit up with glee. “I need to prepare. I will bring the cure to you in two days. Does that work for you?”
“Of course!” The girl exclaimed as a smile finally broke over Zi Qing’s cold and distant face.
Chen Fan couldn’t help but admire her beauty. She looked much prettier when she was not frowning.
“Thank you, Mr. Chen.” Although the elderly man tried to remain calm, his trembling voice had betrayed him. He turned to the young man and said:
“Xiao Qi, why don’t you exchange numbers with Mr. Chen, and give him a ride home as well.”
The elderly man then turned around to Chen Fan, “Call Xiao Qi whenever you are ready, he will come to pick you up. In addition, feel free to let Xiao Qi know if you need any help. ”
“Thank you.” Chen Fan nodded.
Chen Fan was given a ride through the lakeside park to his home.
He noticed that the vehicle was not a Jeep at all; it was a Range Rover with a price tag of at least two or three million. In 2007, it was a sign of enormous wealth and power.
However, Chen Fan didn’t agree to help the elderly man because he wanted to fawn over the rich and powerful. “The elderly man named ‘Wei Fu’ seemed very approachable and easy going, but I can still sense the power he used to command. He was not an ordinary citizen. There is more than what meets the eye” Chen shook his head and thought to himself.
Although they had met each other by chance, the fact that the elderly man also had some resemblance of arcane energy made him felt obligated to offer a helping hand to a fellow cultivator.
After having exchanged numbers with Xiao Qi, Chen Fan went straight home.
As a cultivator, Chen Fan didn’t need medicine; One spirit pill down the throat could purge any disease out of his system.
Therefore, his “preparation” did not involve gathering medicines but the creation of elixirs.
Moreover, in order to cure the root cause of Wei Fu’s injury, he needed some time to enhance the elderly man’s technique of using his internal force.
Although he did not ask for any details about the internal force, as a former celestial lord, he knew the so-called internal force was nothing but the most rudimentary form of the arcane energy. For Chen Fan to solve the elderly man’s problem was as easy as solving a first-grade math question to a mathematician.
“Balls, my wallet is going to shrink again!” The thought of spending money on preparing the elixir made him heave a sigh.
Nonetheless, he had made a promise, and he should follow through. He dragged himself to the Chinese medicine store and purchased some more herbs. Luckily, the ingredients required for the elixir were cheap.
The elixir that Chen Fan want to brew was the most readily available aid to cultivators. It was called the “Lesser Essence Strengthening Pill.”
The essence enhancing pill was the miracle cure of the cultivators. It can cure the ailment, strengthening internal energy, and even prolonging the cultivator’s lives.
The reason that Chen Fan had given it a “lesser” prefix was because the version he was about to create had less than one-tenth of the effect of its original counterpart.
With limited resources, it would have to do. Even if Chen Fan had a deep pocket, he doubted he would be able to gather all the ingredients from the earth.
“The lesser version should be enough. Well, he will have to pay for himself if he needed a better cure.”
Chen Fan shook his head and carried on with his task.
In the few days that followed, Chen Fan had sacrificed his cultivation time to create the elixir and studying Wei Fu’s technique.
During those few days, Auntie Tang invited him several times to join her for dinner, but Chen Fan politely declined her invitations.
After a few days of hard work, he was finally ready to deliver the cure. However, Auntie Tang’s invitation came again, and this time Chen Fan felt obligated to accept her invitation.
