The Eternal Saint of Alchemy

On the way back from Yunxia Manor, Xiao Fan had a smile on his face the whole time.

Fan Jian followed behind him, his round face filled with admiration: "Young Master, you were absolutely amazing today! Everyone was stunned by that poem! Didn't you see Young Master Shen's face? It turned as black as the bottom of a pot!"

"Alright, stop flattering me." Xiao Fan waved his hand and continued walking forward. "We still have things to take care of."

"what?"

"Training troops."

Fan Jian was taken aback and asked, "Young Master, what kind of troops are you training?"

Xiao Fan didn't say anything and walked straight towards the Xiao family's old residence.

As soon as he entered, he saw Uncle Yu standing in front of the wall, seemingly waiting for him.

"Young master, the master requests your presence."

Xiao Fan's heart skipped a beat. Something was off about his grandfather's tone.

Xiao Zhankui sat in the armchair in the study, holding a book in his hand, but he wasn't reading it.

The old man frowned, tapping his fingers lightly on the handrail.

"Grandpa, is there something you need?"

Xiao Zhankui looked up, his gaze sweeping over him with a complex expression.

"I heard you stole the show at today's flower viewing party again?"

Xiao Fan scratched his head and said, "No, I just recited a poem."

"Poetry?" Xiao Zhankui scoffed. "Although I don't know much about poetry, I've heard that Mr. Zhou praised your poems highly. Xiao Fan, when did you learn to write poetry?"

Xiao Fan was already prepared and smiled, "Grandpa, I didn't like studying before, but that doesn't mean I can't. Don't you remember? When I was little, my teacher taught me, so I have a foundation."

Xiao Zhankui glared at him, seemingly doubting his words.

"Furthermore," the old man stood up and walked towards him, "Uncle Yu told me that you've been buying medicinal herbs and working at Chen's blacksmith shop these past few days? What are you planning to do?"

Seeing that he couldn't hide it any longer, Xiao Fan simply confessed honestly: "Grandpa, I'm refining pills."

"Alchemy?" Xiao Zhankui nearly spat out a mouthful of blood. "You? Refine pills? Without true qi, how can you refine them?"

"Who told you I don't have true qi?" Xiao Fan stretched out his right hand, palm facing the sky, a faint spiritual energy flowing through his fingertips.

Xiao Zhankui's pupils suddenly contracted, his eyes filled with horror.

He stepped forward, grabbed Xiao Fan's wrist, and sent a wisp of true energy into it.

After a long while, the old man finally raised his head, looking incredulous, and said, "Your dantian... is healed? You've reached the seventh rank of the mortal realm?"

No, Xiao Zhankui examined him more carefully and discovered that Xiao Fan's meridians were several times more numerous than those of an ordinary person. Although his spiritual power was only at the seventh rank of the Mortal Realm, it was more abundant than that of a typical second or third rank of the Profound Realm.

"How could this happen? Sun Xingzhou didn't tell me that your dantian is completely ruined."

"Sun Xingzhou?" Xiao Fan scoffed. "Grandpa, do you really think my dantian was ruined by drinking too much alcohol?"

Xiao Zhankui's expression shifted: "What do you mean by that?"

Xiao Fan said, word by word, "I was poisoned and my dantian was destroyed. The person who did it is from the Xiao family."

The study was quiet, with only the sound of the flickering candlelight.

Xiao Zhankui remained silent for a long time, then asked in a hoarse voice, "What evidence do you have?"

"Not yet. But Grandpa, think about it, my dantian was destroyed without warning three years ago. Moreover, after Sun Xingzhou saw it, he insisted that I had suffered a qi deviation during cultivation. As a disciple of Medicine King Valley, surely he can distinguish between poison and qi deviation?"

The chill in Xiao Zhankui's eyes intensified.

He wasn't stupid; listening to Xiao Fan's words did make some sense. It's just that he had never thought about this point before.

Whom are you suspecting?

"Xiao Ming," Xiao Fan said directly, "that night at Qunfang Pavilion, he arranged everything—the girls, the drinks, everything. Besides, I've also inquired and found out that he's the mastermind behind Qunfang Pavilion."

Xiao Zhankui plopped down in the chair, resting his hands on his knees, panting heavily.

Xiao Fan stepped forward and said, "Grandpa, I don't want to disturb them for now. There's something I need your help with."

"What kind of busy work?"

"Hand over the Xiao family's guards to me for a month of training."

Xiao Zhankui raised his head, his eyes filled with a mixture of doubt and anticipation.

Are you sure?

"Sure."

"Alright. You only have one month. But if you run into any problems during training, I absolutely won't let you off the hook."

Xiao Fan laughed and said, "Grandpa, don't worry, you'll only find that you don't have enough manpower."

After leaving the study, Xiao Fan went directly to the martial arts arena.

The Xiao family's training ground is located in the southeast direction, and its area is even larger than that of the Shen family, covering a full three acres.

The training ground was filled with wooden stakes, stone locks, and weapon racks, and hundreds of guards were practicing in twos and threes.

Most of these people were wearing brown short-sleeved shirts, were burly, and looked imposing.

Xiao Fan walked in almost unnoticed by anyone.

Just then, a sharp-eyed guard called out, "The young master has arrived!"

The training sounds stopped.

People looked at him with varying expressions. Some were curious, some were disdainful, but most didn't care.

Why would a young master like that appear in the martial arts arena? Is he trying to get attention?

Xiao Fan stepped onto the arena, glanced at the crowd, and said calmly, "Who is your team leader?"

"Young Master, I am Zhao Tieshan, the head guard." A burly man in his thirties stepped forward and clasped his hands in greeting.

"What level?"

"Ninth Rank of the Profound Realm!"

"How many years have you been the captain?"

Five years.

"Five years?" Xiao Fan raised an eyebrow. "Five years ago, you were already a ninth-grade Profound Realm cultivator, and now you're still just a ninth-grade Profound Realm cultivator? What have you been doing for the past five years? Nothing at all?"

Zhao Tieshan's face darkened instantly.

The guards around them were also in an uproar.

"Young master, what do you mean by this?"

"Our Captain Zhao is very hardworking, what gives you the right to criticize him?"

Xiao Fan gave a cold laugh, his voice suddenly rising: "Why? You've been in the Xiao family for over a decade, your cultivation has stagnated, and you still have the nerve to ask why!"

He walked up to a stone lock, picked it up and weighed it in his hand, then asked Zhao Tieshan, "Is this thing heavy?"

"One hundred and fifty jin (50 kg)".

"How many times can you lift it in a day?"

"One hundred times."

"You lifted it a hundred times five years ago. Your muscles have already gotten used to this weight. Even if you lifted it ten thousand times, there wouldn't be any progress!" Xiao Fan slammed the stone weight on the ground with a dull thud. "This isn't training; it's clearly just going through the motions!"

The entire room fell silent.

Zhao Tieshan clenched his fists, but had no words to reply.

Xiao Fan continued, "Starting tomorrow, all training methods will be changed. Everyone's load will increase by fifty percent, and the daily training volume will double. An evaluation will be conducted every seven days. Those who fail will have their monthly salary halved. Those who fail three evaluations will be expelled from the Xiao family and never be employed again!"

"What?"

"What ruthless methods!"

The guards stirred.