Thoughtless

"Han, Han'er, you, you, you, you... you've already reached the seventh layer of Body Refining Tier!" Ling Dong Xing stammered. If someone had told him in the past that one day he would be shocked speechless by someone in the seventh layer of Body Refining Tier, he'd definitely give the speaker a good, solid slap. But now, it was himself he wanted to give a good, solid slap--to make sure that the sight before him was real and he wasn't merely dreaming!

"Yes, so you do not have to worry anymore, Father," Ling Han smiled.

Ling Dong Xing's face twitched, but after a while, he could not stop himself from laughing long and loud. It was as if all the worries that had troubled his mind these few days had evaporated. His son had shown such promise--what else did he need to worry about?

"Good son, good son!" He was unbearably excited. He finally believed that his son truly had the ability to help him rescue his wife!

"Then, tonight we'll head to the dinner together," Ling Dong Xing said with a nod. Now that his son was showing more and more promise, the position of Clan Head definitely would be passed down to his son in future, thus it'd be good to have Ling Han follow by his side and learn through observation.

Ling Han kept up the smile on his face. When he imagined Alchemist Ma seeing him later tonight, he could practically see the thunderstruck expression on the latter's face.

***

That night, Ling Dong Xing and his son, accompanied by four attendants, arrived at "Xuan Yu House". This was where Ling Dong Xing had invited Alchemist Ma for dinner.

While they were waiting in one of the private rooms of the restaurant, Ling Dong Xing and Ling Han talked with each other.

"Peng!" The door was suddenly pushed open, and two people entered.

They were Ling Zhong Kuan and Ling Mu Yun!

"What are the two of you doing here?" Ling Dong Xing said coldly.

"The clan is in such big trouble, how could I not come?" Ling Zhong Kuan did not wait to be invited before sitting down and saying to Ling Dong Xing, "I'd advise you to step back from this issue, and leave this matter for me to handle."

"You?" Ling Dong Xing laughed coldly, and said, "Why?"

"You must have offended Alchemist Ma in some way. Otherwise, how could it be that he would make trouble for our clan for no reason?" Ling Zhong Kuan spoke slowly, then gesturing at Ling Mu Yun, said, "This boy went to be examined yesterday. He has a great potential for fire control. Thus, hehe, he has already been accepted by Alchemist Ma as an apprentice. After a few years' hard work, Alchemist Ma would take him in as an official disciple. In the future, he would become an alchemist."

Ling Mu Yun walked up to stand proudly beside Ling Zhong Kuan. There was immeasurable pride on his face.

After the "trouble" caused by Ling Han, he had lost the chance to enroll into Hu Yang Academy. But who would have thought that when a door closed, a window would open. He actually had a great potential for fire control, so there was a high chance that he would become an alchemist in future.

Alchemist--the most powerful, most noble profession in the whole of Gray Cloud Town... no, the whole of Rain Country!

Ling Zhong Kuan was very proud. His two sons weren't even able to compare with Ling Dong Xing, but that was all right, for his grandson was much, much more outstanding than Ling Han!

"Pu!"

He looked closely at Ling Han for a moment before suddenly gasping in shock.

This, this, this, this, this, this, what was this? The seventh layer of Body Refining Tier? No, no, no, no, no, no, he must have seen wrongly, how could Ling Han be in the seventh layer of Body Refining Tier!

Ling Zhong Kuan could not help rubbing his eyes a few times and taking another close look at Ling Han. However, the powerful air around Ling Han was still the same.

Seventh layer of Body Refining Tier through and through.

Did this brat take some kind of godly medicine?

Ling Zhong Kuan could not control the violent twitching of his wrinkled face. He had truly experienced a tremendous shock.

"Grandfather, are you all right?" Ling Mu Yun felt that his grandfather was behaving very oddly. Weren't they supposed to strut around now, rubbing the fact that he was going to become an alchemist in the faces of Ling Dong Xing and his son? Why was his grandfather suddenly acting so silly?

"Seventh, seventh layer of Body Refining Tier!" Ling Zhong Kuan stuttered out.

That's right, Ling Mu Yun was in the seventh layer of Body Refining Tier. What was so strange about that, didn't he already know that? Ling Mu Yun looked strangely at Ling Zhong Kuan. Why was his grandfather suddenly behaving so abnormally?

"Not you, him!" Ling Zhong Kuan said, pointing at Ling Han.

"Pu!"

Ling Mu Yun gasped in shock. Seventh layer of Body Refining Tier? What kind of joke was this? In the clan, every member knew Ling Han's infamous reputation as a piece of trash. He had cultivated for many years, and yet had only managed to reach the second layer of Body Refining Tier. Otherwise, why else would he be labeled as trash in the clan?

If Ling Han, who was now in the seventh layer of Body Refining Tier, was considered a piece of trash, then what about him, who had only reached the seventh layer of Body Refining Tier at eighteen? Was he the ultimate piece of trash?

"Impossible, this is definitely impossible!" He muttered in complete disbelief.

But he knew very well that his grandfather was in the ninth layer of Element Gathering Tier, so there was no way he could be mistaken.

"Haha, what do you think of my son now? Not bad, right?" Ling Dong Xing laughed heartily. "This kind of natural talent should be good enough to enroll in the Hu Yang Academy, right?"

Hearing these words, Ling Zhong Kuan and his grandson's expressions became even uglier.

They took advantage of the fact that Ling Dong Xing was away to force Ling Han to give up the chance to enroll into Hu Yang Academy, and the result was running into a stone wall. Ling Dong Xing was deliberately mentioning the Hu Yang Academy to taunt them with it.

Ling Mu Yun was still very young, thus he couldn't remain composed and said, "What's the big deal about Hu Yang Academy? I have entered the world of alchemists now, and I will become the most respected man in Rain Country in the future!"

"Is that so?" Ling Han shook his head, and said, "I can guarantee that you will never become an alchemist's apprentice, so of course, you will never become an alchemist either."

"Hahahaha, who do you think you are? Do you actually think you can influence Alchemist Ma's decision?" Ling Mu Yun laughed coldly. He felt this was the biggest joke in the world--if Ling Han really had such ability, then why would Alchemist Ma purposely cause trouble and delay the distribution of alchemical pills for the clan?

Ling Han did not say anything else. He only smiled--after all, things would become clear later.

However, even Ling Dong Xing himself did not take Ling Han's threat seriously. In his opinion, although his son had truly displayed a great natural talent in the field of martial arts, he couldn't possibly have any relations with Alchemist Ma.

Although the four of them all belonged to the Ling Clan, they were mutually antagonistic, so how could they possibly have any common topics to converse with each other? After the short verbal battle, they each kept silent, waiting for the arrival of Alchemist Ma.

However, this Alchemist Ma really liked to put on airs. After a long time, he still had not appeared. When they were nearing the limits of their patience, they finally heard footsteps from outside the door.　　

"Zhi..." the door opened, and a medium-sized man entered. This man could only be Alchemist Ma.

There was only one alchemist in the whole of Gray Cloud Town, even more so only one surnamed Ma.

Ling Dong Xing, Ling Zhong Kuan and Ling Mu Yun all stood up, grasping their fists in greeting. Ling Mu Yun even bent and knelt in front of the newcomer and said respectfully, "Disciple Mu Yun hereby greets Master!"

An alchemist's apprentice could barely be counted as half an alchemist's disciple.

"You may rise," Ma Da Jun casually waved his hands, and nodded at Ling Dong Xing, saying, "You don't have to waste your time on pleasantries. Let's just get down to business. I'm a very busy man."

"Ling Han, how dare you not greet Alchemist Ma?" Ling Mu Yun immediately pointed at Ling Han. He had very sharp eyes and had immediately noticed that Ling Han had not greeted Alchemist Ma. He was even just sitting there as if nothing important was going on.

Ling Dong Xing was very surprised. The reason he had invited Alchemist Ma to dinner tonight was to curry favor with the man and solve the medicine supply problem. But now Ling Mu Yun had taken advantage of and directly pointed out this weakness; were things going to turn bad?

He could not help getting angry in secret. The important thing was to settle the problem that the Ling Clan was facing now, how could Ling Mu Yun be so petty? He suddenly felt that he really wanted to kill this little brat in one blow.

"Hey, he really doesn't know the rules of the game!" Ling Zhong Kuan too harrumphed.