Crazy Young Maiden

"Mom, don't worry. Do you really not know my character? Who would dare to snatch something I, Min Hong, had laid my heart upon? Back when we were young, didn't I end up biting my cousin so hard when he stole my toys that he started to wail like a wuss?" Min Hong chuckled at the memory.

Although Min Hong laughed for a moment, his laughter faded soon after when he noticed the distress within his mother's eyes.

Ever since his father had been stationed at the border, he seemed to recall that his mother had never once visited anyone on her side of the family tree.

She seemed to have a certain level of pride that matched his own, and thus, when her family had been plunged into miserable straits, she still refused to go to them for help; this had Min Hong thinking that there was something special about his mother that he had yet to discover.

In the face of all she and her son, including her family had gone through, she had shouldered it all on her own, without support from anyone.

Holding his mother's hands, Min Hong felt the need to give her some reassurance as he softly said:

"Mom, your son is now an alchemist. Our hard days are over, so don't think about such sad things."

Hearing this, and seeing the confidence with which he made the statement, Mrs. Min couldn't help but heave a slight sigh of relief, before putting on a smiting smile.

Thus, after accompanying his mother for some more time and seeing her mood gradually relax, Min Hong headed over to the alchemist guild.

As soon as he arrived at the alchemist guild, Min Hong wanted to head straight to Adept Sun Yi's refining room, but he was stopped as soon as he entered the inner sanctum.

The alchemist guild was divided into inner and outer sanctums; the outer sanctum was open to the public, and even the exams to be taken to become an alchemist were all held out there.

However, the inner sanctum was the true alchemist guild. Last time, Min Hong had only be able to enter the inner sanctum for his test because Adept Sun Yi had been leading the way, so naturally, he hadn't been blocked back then.

"Unqualified people cannot enter the inner sanctum."

The guard in front of the door was a youngster about twice the age of the ten year old Min Hong. He was wearing an alchemy apprentice robes, and his expression was arrogant, gazing down at Min Hong from the bridge of his nose.

Min Hong on the other had, simply smiled lightly before flashing his badge right before the kid's face. The without waiting for the kid to react, he simply sauntered past him and headed in. Seeing his arrogant expression swiftly change into one of shock, pleased Min Hong to no end. 

It seems like the old him had been suppressed for just too long, so now that he could finally raise his head, he couldn't help but feel slightly conceited; nonetheless, he knew that he couldn't dwell on such a fleeting emotion, as such choices are for petty scumbags.

Upon entering the inner sanctum, Min Hong couldn't help but reprimand himself with a slap to his forehead; in his petty moment, he had actually forgotten to ask whether Adept Sun Yi was even around; after all, if the latter wasn't here, wouldn't this entire visit have been a total waste?

Just as he was making a life decision to never be conceited again, a young lady walked past him, and out of simple reflex, Min Hong stopped her and asked:

"Excuse me, do you know if Grandmaster Sun Yi is around; and if so, can you kindly point me to where he is?"

That young lady who had been walking with her head stooped, could help but feel slightly irritated at being stopped and questioned out of nowhere.

Raising her head to look at the person who seems to lack mood-reading abilities; she saw a thin and weak youngster looking back at her, prompting her to be a bit cold in response:

"Why are you looking for Grandmaster Sun Yi?"

Upon getting a look at the lady he had stopped out of the blue, Min Hong couldn't help but space out a little; the young lady was simply too pretty, and whilst she might not be a match for Mei Lin and Chu Yuyao in that regards, there was something about her current poise that attracted him.

It was some sort of protectiveness that seethed beneath her surface, ready to explode out at the sight of any threat; she would definitely make a good elder sister or partner, or even tsundere, if possible. 

However, despite all that good quality, Min Hong also spotted something within her gaze that was slightly off-putting to him; an unconcealed arrogance.

Min Hong; for some mysterious reasons, had always felt there was no one within the entire kingdom who had the right to be arrogant before him. It was almost like a form of subconscious pride that he always subconsciously want to protect.

Perhaps, it was the pride that had been ingrained into the psyche of the Shrine Protector that was finally surfacing, and perhaps, not; but there was like a seething emotion within him that was ready to lash out in face of anyone who portrayed arrogance at him.

"I just want to know where Grandmaster Sun Yi is. Can this young miss please tell me?" Although, Min Hong had spotted something off-putting about this young lady, he still continued to ask very politely.

"Just who exactly are you? Why are you looking to see Grandmaster Sun Yi?" The lady went on guard as she warily asked. This wasn't some a type of wariness born out of weakness, but rather, the type that wishes to protect something important.

However, Min Hong's pride had ensured that his patience run dry, and as such, he simply no longer bothered with the lady anymore, and simply went deeper into the sanctum to find someone else to ask; being questioned twice without getting the answer he was looking for was a big no-no for him,

"Hey, I'm asking you a question. Why are you being so rude?" The lady angrily blurted.

From her point of view, she had asked this little brat the same question twice, and rather than answer her, he had simply ignored her and even walked out on her.

Min Hong paused in his steps as he turned to look at the young lady with an off-putted gaze:

"You're here for medications right?"

"What?" The lady spaced out a bit. Of all the possible response she had been expecting, this one wasn't one of them.

"I believe you harbor some sort of mental illness that requires immediate attention; so, until you get some much needed medical care, I suggest you refrain from roaming around."

Min Hong coldly responded before turning around to continue towards his objective. However, just as he turned his back to the young lady, a powerful gale of force that accompanied a vicious palm strike suddenly appeared behind him, along with the young lady's furious scream:

"Brat, you're asking for death!"

Min Hong was a bit taken aback and slightly startled; the young lady had seemed quite weak and frail, yet this attack of hers carried a level of power that actually compressed the thin air, making it hard for him to even breathe properly. Shockingly she was a Peak Blood Condensing Stage expert.

As for the palm attack that was pressing towards him, it contained her absolute strength.

Perhaps, because Min Hong had yet to truly begin tempering his body, he didn't seem to possess any significant strength whatsoever, and thus, simply appeared like a very weak scholar. In fact, most Blood Condensing experts would be heavily injured by this level of power.

If Min Hong had truly been an ordinary mortal, then it won't be an exaggeration to say he would undoubtedly die from it; this unnecessary attack was simply too vicious. 

However, since all manner of pretext had already been swept under the rug, Min Hong also didn't stand on any unnecessary ceremony and simply took an erratic step forward before borrowing the momentum to send out a tyrannic kick of his own. 

Bang!

Min Hong appeared before the lady in a ghostly manner as his kick smashed into her stomach before her palm could even make contact, sending her skidding across several meters away before colliding into a drying shelf that that was meant for medicinal herbs.

The tall shelf collapsed, and everything that had been carefully placed within it came tumbling down, burying her beneath them.

With an angry roar, the medicinal herbs exploded out as she darted out of the heap, her hair a complete mess and her face smeared with traces of several medicinal powder.

"Die!"

With flames of rage almost blazing out of her eyes, the aura that had been previously wrapping around her body suddenly surged outwards as she slammed her palms together, causing a golden ripple to undulate and wrap around them.

Then with a heavy stomp, she bolted towards Min Hong with vicious intent so evident about her.

In the face of such unreasonable mindset, Min Hong couldn't help but curse his bad luck; he just had to encounter such a brutish woman on a day where he was happy to have finally been able to ease his mother's worries and was happy.

This new attack was clearly a Martial Skill, and a high level one at that, judging from the powerful ripples that was undulating about her hands.

Realizing that she was truly intent on taking his life, Min Hong's expression swiftly turned cold as a killing intent of his own subtly seeped out of his body.

With the memories of the Shrine Protector within his mind; albeit fragmented, there were still bits and parts of some superficial battle experience he had managed to catch a glimpse of; but the word 'superficial' was only in the context of the Shrine Protector's strength and status.

To such an existence, the young lady madly charging at him could be obliterated with a simply fart; as such, his so-called 'superficial' experience was more than enough to deal with her.

Though, these fragmented memories didn't really contain any martial skill or technique, what it did was show Min Hong how to efficiently make use of every shred of power he could muster, as well as how to ensure that he every unnecessary movements his combat knowledge were eliminated.

The only reason she hadn't been coughing out blood, or at least, injured from his kick was because he hadn't used any martial skill or added any form of energy into it; however, she didn't seem to be particularly grateful towards his goodwill and instead wanted to kill him.

Looking at the lady arrive before him, Min Hong knew he couldn't kill her; however, he harbored all possible intentions to teach her an unforgettable lesson. That is what she gets for not only being arrogant before him, but to actually come at him, especially with killing intent. 

"Stand down!" A cold bellow reverberated across the area before the two could engage.

Hearing this voice, the crazy young maiden suddenly froze in place, not daring to move an inch, almost as if she was standing on an electrified surface. 

"Master." She frantically called out with respect.