chapter 101 - 105

Chapter 101: Not Unworthy of This Life

Lin Yemao lay completely naked on a long stone slab. His hands and feet were tied using beast muscles that had been soaked in medicine.

He gazed at Su Chen with a face full of fear. Different words like "rabbits1", "husband", and "ass in danger 2" all flashed through his mind.

However, he was evidently thinking too much.

Su Chen was not at all interested in his butt.

On the other side, a workbench had already been set up.

That was Ulrich's workbench. Su Chen had moved it here after taking it away with him. Its surface was covered in vials and pots that Ulrich had used before.

At this moment, Su Chen was busy using the workbench.

He was testing out one of Ulrich's recipes for making a kind of medicine.

Su Chen slowly poured a blue medicinal fluid from a beaker into a vial that he had prepared. Instantly, a fog began to rise, and the blue medicinal fluid became green and began to bubble just like a boiling poisonous liquid.

"Who knew that Blue Concealed Grass and Three Flower Extract actually react in such a way. How interesting," Su Chen muttered to himself.

As he spoke to himself, he brought the liquid in his hand over to Lin Yemao, then forcefully opened his mouth.

'He wants to poison me to death!' Lin Yemao thought, panicked.

Unfortunately, it was useless to resist no matter how hard he tried. The liquid entered Lin Yemao's body, and he instantly felt his insides heat up, as if there was something that had started to burn inside of him.

"NO!" he yelled loudly.

"Don't worry, it's not a poison," Su Chen said. "It's just a kind of bloodline activation medicine.

Bloodline activation medicine?

What did that mean? Lin Yemao didn't understand.

"It's a type of failed bloodline activation medicine," Su Chen said. "The person who invented it had a unique train of thought. He reckoned that the many common beast races are the descendants of ancient, powerful Origin Beasts. However, because of environmental changes, the beast races became weaker and weaker. Nonetheless, he believed that , deep down their bloodlines still possessed a great power. Thus, he hoped that he could develop a medicine that could catalyze this power..."

"What use would that have?" Lin Yemao asked with surprise. The heat in his body continued, but Lin Yemao was no longer as scared.

Su Chen replied, "Simple. That way, he could obtain a powerful bloodline... The person who invented this medicine's strength was actually quite weak. He was roughly as powerful as you or I."

Passing down bloodlines was actually a very contradictory matter.

On the one hand, bloodlines could only be obtained once, so naturally the more powerful one's bloodline was, the better. On the other hand, however, the more powerful one's bloodline was, the harder it was to obtain. Many people simply had no way of obtaining such powerful bloodline's in their entire lifetimes by their own efforts.

Under these circumstances, in order to obtain exceptional bloodline medicines, people thought of all kinds of ideas.

To most people, accumulating riches to buy bloodline medicines from those more capable was the best decision. For instance, Lin Yemao had relied on his clan to obtain an exceptional bloodline, which was quite a reasonable decision.

However, some people did not abstain from the more daring kinds of practices.

Ulrich was one such person.

As a member of the Arcana Race, he was not allowed to see the light of day ever since he was born, else he would've been hunted. He had no way of buying a bloodline, so he could only depend on his own ability to obtain it.

Ulrich did not want any low-tier bloodlines.

Because he was unwilling to remain ordinary, he wanted to discover a path that belonged to him, one that was unique to the Arcana Race.

His thoughts were along the line of 'Since I don't have the strength to catch powerful Demonic Beasts and extract their bloodline, then I will activate the powerful ancestral bloodlines of weaker Vicious Beasts and use that for myself.'

Under these kinds of circumstances, he developed this kind of ancestral medicine.

"Unfortunately, he still failed in the end," Su Chen sighed. "Although his thought process was very good, his plan was too ambitious, and he alone had no way of making that a reality."

When Lin Yemao heard that, his heart jumped. "You're telling me that this medicine is..."

"This is a failed ancestral medicine," Su Chen replied. "It has no way of awakening a bloodline that is asleep. All that it can do is cause one's bloodline power to boil and expand.."

"No!" Lin Yemao yelled with fear.

In the Qi Drawing Realm, one's manifestation of a bloodline power was limited. If one's bloodline boiled too much, neither the bloodline nor the physical body would be able to withstand it and would result in severe side effects. People afflicted with serious cases could even die.

"Don't worry, it won't kill you. I just want to see how the Soaring Serpent Bloodline moves through your body." Su Chen clearly stated his goal.

His goal really was to observe and study the Soaring Serpent Bloodline.

From his first interaction with Gu Qingluo to his accidental step in midair, Su Chen felt a hope that he could not suppress. Could mankind possibly perform the upper tiers of a bloodline Origin Skill without the support of a bloodline?

He did not know, but this crazy idea had been planted, rooted, and budded in his heart.

Currently, Su Chen did not know how great an impact that this idea would have on him. All that he thought about was how to uncover the secrets of the Soaring Serpent bloodline and improve his own Snaking Mist Steps.

Lin Yemao's bloodline began to boil at this moment. The scenes that he had seen on Gu Qingluo began to appear on Lin Yemao's body as well.

However, this time, Su Chen saw it even more clearly, more specifically, and in more detail.

Because his bloodline was erupting, the sealed Origin Energy in Lin Yemao's body also began to break through.

However, Su Chen had anticipated this, and he had even specifically lowered the amount of Qi Obstructing Powder that he had used.

The power of Origin Energy began to appear on Lin Yemao's body, but it was so small that it was extremely pitiful.

Su Chen said, "Do as I do. Start revolving your Origin Energy. Assume the Sun Bridge stance, then pass through the lower open road..."

Lin Yemao was shocked. Su Chen actually wanted him to activate the Snaking Mist Steps when his bloodline was boiling.

"No!"

Bang!

"Wrong answer!" The voice said in a familiar, frightening tone after a fist slammed into him again.

Lin Yemao writhed in pain. The fear that he had been controlling once again spread all over his body.

He lowered his head.

He followed Su Chen's instructions and began to exercise the Snaking Mist Step's heart incantation while his bloodline was still stimulated.

Su Chen's vision was like a torch, penetrating Lin Yemao's skin and clearly seeing the Origin Energy flow in his body. He could see that under the influence of the bloodline power, the Origin Energy appeared to be in a completely different state. It was thicker, it had a stronger aura, and it was also more powerful.

The Soaring Serpent Bloodline could upgrade one's Origin Energy, greatly increasing its quality. At the same time, it would allow for new methods and paths of flow!

This was the first answer that Su Chen received.

How did it affect flow? How was it done? What differences were there between the new and old paths of flow?

Su Chen discovered that the more that he observed, the more that hesitations arose in his heart.

One question lead to the next. As his questions were answered, there were a multitude that arose to take their place.

Su Chen did not know when he would come to an answer, and whether or not that answer would be useful to him.

Perhaps this was just a bottomless pit. Otherwise, why had no one successfully resolved this problem in over tens of thousands of years?

Why would he alone be able to solve a problem that others hadn't been able to solve for tens of thousands of years?

But at the same time, did that mean that he couldn't do it simply because others before him couldn't?

If that was the case, would humankind ever advance? And where would those newer, more practical cultivation methods have come from?

Su Chen began to argue with himself.

In just a short amount of time, Su Chen had reached a state of inner calm.

Since he had already made his decision, there was no point hesitating when following through with it.

He had not given up when his eyes had gone blind simply because of a single sentence from an old beggar.

That trace of hope was enough for him to strive for it.

That step that he had taken in midair was similarly a trace of hope.

This hope was not great, but it was like a dot of light in the darkness, drawing him and giving him faith.

He had faith that as long as he continued his studies, even if at the moment it appeared to be fruitless, there would always be a possibility of success.

Even if he didn't succeed...

It would not be unworthy of this life!

Su Chen thought with conviction.

1. Slang for a gay person

2. My personal favorite

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Page 2

Chapter 102: Experiments (1)

In the following days, Su Chen officially began analyzing Lin Yemao's bloodline. Lin Yemao was in a state of constantly varying conditions.

Every day, Su Chen would force feed Lin Yemao two of Ulrich's failed ancestral medicines which caused his bloodline to boil. At the same time, he would also force Lin Yemao to activate the Snaking Mist Steps, observing the bloodline and Origin Energy changes in his body, recording them.

Su Chen's understanding of biology and alchemy came from Ulrich.

Although Ulrich's strength was not high, he was merely at a high layer of Qi Drawing, his biological understanding was quite refined – this was the habit of the Arcana Race. Their absolute control over Origin Energy originated from their pursuit of knowledge in the first place.

After less than half a year of study, Su Chen's study of biology had already reached a certain level of mastery.

Of course, merely study was far from enough. The best method of applying and controlling knowledge was through practice.

Thus, apart from performing analysis, Su Chen and Iron Cliff would go and kill some Vicious Beasts. On the one hand, they could absorb their Origin Energy to increase their strength, while on the other hand they could dissect the beasts while they were alive to increase their understanding of the anatomy of the beasts.

Lin Yemao found that Su Chen and Iron Cliff would bring back a few living Vicious Beasts. After killing them, they would first make some strange movements, as if they were performing an evil ritual. Next, they would begin to dissect the beast, recording things as they cut them apart. Occasionally, Su Chen would also dissect beasts while they were still alive.

Thus, the situation became increasingly bloody.

Vicious Beasts would not cooperate. They would howl furiously during the entire dissection. Thus, fresh blood flew everywhere, as did chunks of meat. Pitiful, tragic howls also commonly sounded out.

This frightening scene completely shocked Lin Yemao to his core. Occasionally, Su Chen would comfort him, telling him, "Don't worry, I won't dissect you". However, the tone that he used when speaking was almost like he was saying "I only have one toy, so I will definitely treat it well", which caused Lin Yemao to feel even more fear!

Dissection, experimentation, research, interspersed with occasional hunting, made up most of Su Chen's daily life.

Thus, Su Chen's third trip to the Scarlet Mountain Range was filled with great progress in different fields.

After many dissections and analyses, Su Chen's understanding of biology slowly increased, and he was gradually becoming more clear about Ulrich's writings as well. He felt that things had changed when he looked at Lin Yemao again. The flow of Origin Energy through Lin Yemao's body was like a secret book filled with cultivation methods. Under Su Chen's fantastic eyes, it was as if they were just waiting for him to analyze, understand, and open them up...

As time went on, Su Chen also began to understand the unique attributes of bloodlines.

Originally, the Soaring Serpent Bloodline possessed a unique Origin Substance, which could affect Origin Energy. It was this process that resulted in strange changes to the user's Origin Energy, increasing the power of the Origin Skill. On the other hand, changes in the movement of Origin Energy could result in the expansion of Origin Energy talismans already present because of the Origin Skill.

Using the Snaking Mist Steps as an example, there were originally twelve Origin Energy talismans, located in twelve different positions in the body. Whenever the Snaking Mist Steps were activated, it was mainly in these twelve locations.

When the Origin Energy was changed by the bloodline, the number of Origin Energy talismans actually increased to twenty four, resulting in an increase of the strength of the Snaking Mist Steps. In addition, this was most likely not the limit; if a mixed bloodline could achieve a doubling effect, then inherited bloodlines that were more awakened could potentially have even more Origin Energy talismans.

Changes in the innate nature of Origin Energy and changes in its application were complementary to each other. The two had a very close relationship.

This could potentially be the reason why only those with the Soaring Serpent Bloodline could enhance the Snaking Mist Steps.

However, Su Chen knew that this was not the only method.

His unintentional step in midair told him that even if he didn't have the corresponding bloodline, he could still perform a more powerful Snaking Mist Steps than what he knew of now.

What Su Chen wanted to do was discover how to do so intentionally.

He wanted to turn sometimes into always!

"A substitute can be used in place of bloodline activation to increase the number of Origin Energy talismans. As long as I find the rules governing movement, I can do the same by voluntarily controlling the movement of Origin Energy. Hm, Origin Energy patterns should be a good method," Su Chen muttered to himself. He remembered that the Arcana Race changed ancient Arcana techniques by using Origin Energy talismans and patterns.

Then why was it insufficient for him to use these kinds of methods to supplement his Snaking Mist Steps?

Just adding the number of Origin Energy talismans was not enough.

The locations of these twenty four Origin Energy talismans were all exposed under Su Chen's "Penetrating Eye", but the power of the bloodline Origin Skill didn't just rely on the increase in the number of Origin Energy talismans but also changes in the nature of Origin Energy.

Wanting to resolve this issue was not nearly as easy.

"Perhaps I will need to start doing things from two aspects. One side is to improve my absorption technique so that when I absorb Origin energy, I can simultaneously change it. Another is to apply an external force... The nature of the Soaring Serpent Bloodline Origin Energy shouldn't be unique. If I can find something that mimics its impact on Origin Energy elsewhere, perhaps it can achieve the same effect.

Upon thinking to this point, Su Chen realized what the direction of his future studies would be.

First, he would construct a new Origin Energy pattern for his Snaking Mist Steps and use it to increase the number of Origin Energy talismans. Second, he could change his absorption technique, raising the quality of his Origin Energy. Third, he would find medicines that possessed the Origin Substance of the Soaring Serpent and begin extracting and processing it.

However, these three matters were not very easy to accomplish.

Su Chen originally believed that he would first finish changing his absorption technique because it was something that he had a strong foundation in. In addition, with the assistance of his eyes, he could more clearly discern different effects.

Unexpectedly, he finished the third matter first – finding a substitute for the Origin Substance.

On his thirty sixth day after entering the Scarlet Mountain Range, Su Chen was performing his research when Iron Cliff strode in and said, "Master, the ring is full."

The constant beast hunting that Su Chen had done gave him large quantities of beast hides, bones, and other resources. Most of them were to be sold off, so they were temporarily stored in the ring Iron Cliff wore. Although they had two storage rings, they had both been filled.

"Give the rings to me. Let me take a look at them and see if I can get rid of anything. Tomorrow, take a trip out of the mountain range and sell some of these goods, then buy some more resources to bring back," Su Chen said as he flipped through the ring.

He tossed a few worthless things to the side as he began to tidy up the ring. While tidying, he suddenly discovered that there was an herb lying in the back.

That was the Frigid Water Herb, an herb that possessed a cold attribute. He had discovered it after searching Lin Yemao's body. Although Lin Yemao was extremely arrogant, apart from his Origin-Seeking Mirror which was worth a few tens of Origin Stones, he didn't have anything else valuable. Even his Origin-Seeking Mirror only had three charges remaining. He was so poor that even Su Chen felt pity for him. The Frigid Water Herb had been taken from Lin Yemao, who had found and harvested it during his journey to attack Su Chen.

Because Soaring Serpents liked eating them, Lin Yemao had just grabbed some.

Soaring Serpents liked eating this?

An idea suddenly surfaced in Su Chen's mind.

He pulled out the Frigid Water Herb and tossed a stalk into a beaker. Then, he added a few drops of liquid and began to observe the changes.

As more liquid was added, the Frigid Water Herb began to separate into microscopic layers.

These changes were not visible to the naked eye, but under Su Chen's vision, they became very clear.

His originally quite careless test gave him quite a surprise – the Frigid Water Herb possessed the Origin Substance that he had been looking for.

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Page 3

Chapter 103: Experiments (2)

Inside the cave, Su Chen sat at his workbench, continuing his experiments.

He held a beaker in his hand filled with vibrantly red blood.

He grabbed some faint blue powder and placed it inside the beaker, causing the blood inside to slowly begin to congeal.

"The first experiment: excessive cold attribute due to the Frigid Water Herb caused the blood to congeal. Solution: lower the proportion of Frigid Water Herb.

"Second experiment: proportions of Frigid Water Herb are still too high. Lowered proportions again."

"Fourth experiment: blood no longer coagulates, but the amount of Origin Substance present has clearly decreased due to low temperatures... Dammit, this little Origin Substance Is not enough. Solution: separate substances with cold attributes and the Origin Substance."

"Twelfth experiment: Origin Substance separation failure."

"Thirty second experiment: Origin Substance separation failure."

"Forty sixth experiment: successfully achieved initial separation of Origin Substance. However, after separation, the effect of the Origin Substance greatly decreases. Will need to determine the core reason."

"Hundred twenty sixth experiment: Determined that wildly attempting this separation greatly harms the Origin Substance, and my original method of separation is adequate, so I need to give up on it. We're back at square one; I need to once again figure out how to achieve this separation without damaging what I need..."

Days passed, and Su Chen conducted experiment after experiment.

Iron Cliff left the mountain range once to sell off their beast hides. The money that he had obtained was all used to buy more Frigid Water Herbs.

On the sixty fourth day of entering the Scarlet Mountain Range, Su Chen was able to successfully isolate the unique Origin Substance from the Frigid Water Herb for the first time.

However, Su Chen was still faced with the issue that this Origin Substance was not stable and its effect on Origin Energy was only short-term and was difficult to control. One could say that Su Chen still had quite a ways to go before the Origin Substance would reach a usable condition.

In order to resolve this issue, Su Chen was forced to search for new methods again and again, as well as perform experiment after experiment.

During this time, while performing with the countless number of experiments, Su Chen was actually quite conflicted.

For quite some time, he had wondered whether doing what he did had any purpose? Wasn't it just a Snaking Mist Steps? Was there really a need to spend so much effort to research, understand, and search for a substitute?

Even if he was able to research it, so what?

In the end, all that he could reap was just an improvement in the introductory stance of one specific footwork technique, yet he had expended so much energy. Was it worth it?

Had he made the wrong choice?

Su Chen asked himself this multiple times.

However, in the end, he did not give up.

It was not because he confirmed that his path was correct. Rather, it was merely because he didn't want to give up just like that.

The future was always shrouded in fog. No one knew what would happen.

Su Chen could not see the future. He could only see the past.

His past told him to not easily give up.

He finally told himself, "Whether it's right or wrong, I must continue. At the very least, before my trip to the Scarlet Mountain Range ends, I cannot easily give up."

Only many years later would Su Chen realize how important this decision was, and how lucky he had been at this moment.

That was right, lucky!

On the hundred twenty sixth day since arriving, Su Chen had finally resolved most of the difficulties that plagued him, concocting his first Soaring Serpent Origin Substance medicine.

After ingesting the medicine, Su Chen felt that his Snaking Mist Steps had very clearly improved.

Although the improvement was limited, this result told Su Chen that he was headed in the right direction.

It was not impossible to substitute bloodlines!

In order to achieve such a result in merely a hundred days, effort was only a small part of the equation. Luck was his main reason – he had unintentionally discovered that Frigid Water Herb possessed the Origin Substance that he needed. In addition, the relatively low cost of this herb coupled with his wealth meant that he could experiment without fear of costs. The Snaking Mist Steps and his clear, penetrating vision allowed him to easily observe and understand the bloodline. Ulrich's experimental methods and style of thinking had also unintentionally met his need for creating an Origin Substance medicine. Lastly, he did not run into any annoying accidents or major setbacks during his experimentation. Su Chen was able to successfully accomplish what he had set out to do, concluding this period of experimentation.

In the future, if he wanted to achieve similar results, he would probably need to use tens if not hundreds of times the effort that he had used.

If Su Chen had encountered that kind of circumstance in the beginning, perhaps he would have long since given up.

Of course, the current Su Chen had no thoughts on this point. He was only excited and happy for the success of his own experiments. It had also further increased his faith that his decision to pursue endlessly was the right one..

At the same time, Su Chen discovered that the Soaring Serpent's Origin Substance had basically no effect on any other Origin Skills. Although it could change Origin Energy, these changes were only suitable for bloodline Origin Skills. However, it would still affect any other bloodline Origin Skills of the same bloodline, meaning that if Su Chen were to learn any other Origin Skills of the Soaring Serpent Bloodline, according to reason he could also break through the restrictions of a bloodline.

However, the effects of the breakthrough were still quite limited.

One reason was that Su Chen's Origin Substance medicine was still in its preliminary stages of development and there was great room for improvement. Secondly, he had only resolved the issues related to the Origin Substance itself and had yet to solve the problem of Origin Energy flow and changing his absorption technique. Thus, the current breakthrough was still small in magnitude.

However, the former was a matter of innate nature, while the latter were concerned with methods. Once the innate nature was taken care of, the issue with the methods were not quite as large of a problem.

To Su Chen, this was a question of time, not about whether or not the path he had taken was correct.

In the following days, Su Chen focused all his efforts on improving the Origin Substance medicine and forming his Origin Energy Pattern.

However, all of his experiments still relied on Lin Yemao's "cooperation".

Because of this, Lin Yemao suffered even more.

Drawing blood and analyzing changes of that blood, as well as determining the role that Origin Energy played in those changes, were all too common.

Apart from this, Su Chen would also occasionally slash out with a blade at Lin Yemao while his bloodline was boiling and he was activating the Snaking Mist Steps. This was to observe the rapid reactions of both the Origin Energy as well as his bloodline.

Sometimes, he didn't even use a blade. Instead, he directly struck out with his fists, using brute force to create blood clots and observe the changes in Origin Energy purity, as well as the bloodline's corresponding response while it was boiling.

Sometimes, Su Chen would soak Lin Yemao in cold water, performing experiments under extremely low temperatures. Sometimes, it would be the opposite to observe Lin Yemao's ability to endure high temperatures.

In addition, there were also soul attacks, and he was fed poisonous medicines, etc. to observe the reaction of his Origin Energy, which was analyzed.

In truth, Su Chen didn't need to test all of this, but otherwise he would just be idling around anyways.

It was hard to come by such a partner to practice on who was also not easy to kill. Naturally, Su Chen had to take what advantages he could.

From start to finish, Su Chen had kept his word – he had not dissected Lin Yemao.

With his clear vision, he could see everything without any need to dissect Lin Yemao.

As time went on, he began to see more and more.

Because of this, Lin Yemao suffering only increased, as Su Chen performed all kinds of tests.

In his eyes, Su Chen had already completely become a devil.

An insane person who derived pleasure from the suffering of others!

An inhumane, crazy killer!

Su Chen did not know what Lin Yemao was thinking, and even if he did know he wouldn't have cared – there wasn't much time left, and he needed to use all the time he was given in the mountain range.

Because of this, his experiments became more frequent, and Iron Cliff left the mountain range two more times to sell beast hides and buy Frigid Water Herb as well as other supplementary materials. Sometimes, if the money he made from selling beast hides was insufficient, he would need to tack on some of his own savings.

In other words, during this trip to the Scarlet Mountain Range Su Chen had absolutely no intentions of earning money. Rather, he had set aside quite a large number of Origin Stones, and even the increase in cultivation base that he had anticipated was greatly affected because of his experiments. In a hundred days, he had only gone from the second layer of Qi Drawing to the fifth layer. Of course, this "only" is slightly biased. To other people, this was already a speed quite difficult to obtain.

However, Su Chen did not care about this.

On his one hundred fifty first day in the Scarlet Mountain Range, Su Chen finally finished his improvements of his Origin Substance medicine.

At this moment, he was already a day late. It was time to leave the mountain range.

To Lin Yemao, this was definitely an exciting day, because he finally no longer needed to be tortured.

However, Su Chen didn't let him go because of this.

He took Lin Yemao with him and began to leave the mountain range.

Two days later, Su Chen finally arrived on the outskirts of Northface City.

Upon seeing all the people at the valley's entrance, Su Chen laughed.

This time, the people waiting for him at the valley's entrance was not just the Su Clan. The Lin Clan was also there.

Not just servants were waiting there; even many elders were present.

Su Changche, Su Cheng'an, Su Feihu... they had all come.

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Page 4

Chapter 104: Decision

The instant that Su Chen's figure appeared in the entrance to the valley, the flock of people slightly shifted.

After waiting for three days, Su Chen had finally appeared.

Indeed, he had not died.

He had entered and left the Scarlet Mountain Range three times. It truly had become like his backyard, and no one could use it to threaten him.

Under normal circumstances, many people would feel fear because of this, unwilling to continue provoking Su Chen.

However, it was very clear that today's situation was somewhat abnormal. Many people gazed at him not with fear but rather joy in his misfortune.

All of this was because of an old man.

The old man had a face full of white hair, but despite this he appeared very energetic. He looked just like a tiger with white fur.

Upon seeing Su Chen walked out, this old man yelled like thunder, "Su Chen! Where is Lin Yemao?"

Su Chen acted as if he could not see, tilting his head in the direction of the voice. "Who's speaking?"

Upon seeing Su Chen behave in this way, Su Changche couldn't help but sigh. When he didn't know that Su Chen wasn't blind, he had not detected it, but now that he knew he discovered that pretending to be blind was not an easy matter. People who were blind had one major distinction from those with sight: those with sight had eyes that were lively, full of spirit, and their focus would follow moving objects. However, Su Chen was able to ensure that his eyes always stared dully and fixatedly ahead. He had definitely worked hard to achieve that,

This child had been striving the entire time. However, the entire Su Clan had always been oppressing him!

This left a very bad taste in Su Changche's mouth.

The white-haired old man replied to Su Chen, "I am Lin Yuanqiao!"

Su Chen laughed. "So it seems Thunder Lin has arrived."

Lin Yuanqiao was the younger brother of Lin Yuanshan, head of the Lin Clan. Because of his fiery temper and personality, he was sometimes called Thunder Lin.

However, this nickname was not something that juniors had the right to call him.

Lin Yuanqiao's eyes opened wide. "Impudent!"

As he spoke, he struck out with a palm towards Su Chen.

The entire Su Clan was here, but he had actually made a move just because of a mere "Thunder Lin" from Su Chen. One could clearly see his fiery temperament.

Not even members from the Su Clan were able to respond to this sudden palm strike. However, Su Chen took multiple steps, his figure agilely darting through the air, easily dodging the blow.

It wasn't until now that everyone was able to react. They all began to yell, "Stay your hand!"

Lin Yuanqiao actually stopped. He opened his eyes wide with shock. "Snaking Mist Steps?"

What Su Chen had displayed was truly the Snaking Mist Steps.

He said to Su Chen in disbelief, "Where did you learn the Snaking Mist Steps from?"

"Do you even need to ask?" Su Chen gently smiled.

Lin Yuanqiao blurted out, "Lin Yemao?"

Su Chen was precisely looking for this thought from him. He laughed, "Didn't you ask me where Lin Yemao is? I will give you two answers. One is that Lin Yemao and I unintentionally ran into each other in the Scarlet Mountain Range. We hit it off well and became good friends, and we did our best to supply each other's needs. The other is that Lin Yemao had malicious plans and schemed for my life, chasing after me over a long distance. However, he was defeated and captured..."

"Rubbish!" Lin Yuanqiao began to loudly yell.

He truly had come to find Lin Yemao, but this definitely did not mean that he would admit that Lin Yemao had committed the crime of attempting to kill Su Chen.

This world was not without order.

As long as there was order, there would be basic morals, right and wrong.

If Lin Yemao had intentionally chased after Su Chen to kill him and was captured, then his fate was deserved. Even if the Lin Clan could suppress the Su Clan, which they could not do, then if this matter spread it would still be a blow to the Lin Clan.

Thus, Lin Yuanqiao definitely would not be willing to admit to this crime.

His reasoning was more along the lines of, "Lin Yemao went to cultivate in the mountain range and has yet to return. I heard that someone saw Su Chen with him, so I came to ask" rather than "My clan's Lin Yemao went to kill your clan's Su Chen. If he's fine, then it's not a big deal. However, if he isn't, then I'll go all out."

Upon hearing Lin Yuanqiao deny it, Su Chen laughed, "That's why I gave you two different answers. As for which one is more accurate, I leave it to Thunder Lin to decide."

Upon hearing these words, Lin Yuanqiao also calmed down. "What if I choose the first answer?"

"Then that is to everyone's happiness. Brother Lin and I are now great friends, and naturally I would not harm him. The Snaking Mist Steps I also obtained from him righteously. However, good friends do not watch over each other, so I am not clear exactly where Brother Lin Yemao went."

Lin Yuanqiao understood Su Chen's intentions. This implied that Lin Yemao was still alive, but wanting Su Chen to return him was not going to be possible.

"Then what if I choose the second answer?"

"Then, that's hard to say." Su Chen rubbed the back of his head. "For a member of the Lin Clan to chase after me over such a long distance, there must be a price to pay."

"What price?"

Su Chen coldly said, "Naturally, he must pay with his life!"

Lin Yuanqiao angrily harrumphed, "I believe that there is still a third answer."

"Thunder Lin, please speak."

"You and Lin Yemao happened to run into each other in the forest. Because you were greedy for his possessions, you plundered him and schemed to harm him."

Su Chen laughed. "That poor bastard? All he had was a crappy sword, a broken mirror and a few Origin Stones. His entire fortune isn't even worth the pair of shoes on my feet. Is he worth my plundering and scheming?"

"So you admit that you have seen him before?"

"I never said that I haven't seen him before. I even know where he is. I can promise you that he is still living healthily. The question is..." Su Chen's hands spread out. "Who wanted whose treasure! Second Elder of the Lin Clan, if this matter isn't cleared up, I cannot release the person to you."

Su Changche, who had maintained his silence until now, finally spoke up. "What Chen'er says is reasonable. Since he has confirmed that he knows the fate of your grandson, who is completely fine, then next we should be discussing how they interacted, right?"

The entire time, Su Changche was worried that Su Chen had killed Lin Yemao. If that was the case, the Su Clan would've been rocked violently. No matter how much Su Chen claimed that the other party had come to kill him, it would've been useless. After all, there was no other witness testimony.

However, upon hearing Su Chen say that Lin Yemao was still alive, and was still very healthy, his confidence greatly increased and now he was hounding the Lin Clan to be reasonable. What do you mean, your grandson tried to kill my grandson for no reason?

Put plainly, he still had that attitude of "I won't act unless there is an incentive". Upon hearing that Lin Yemao was fine, he jumped out, but before that he didn't even dare to let out a fart.

This was his temperament.

For people with his temperament, they would only make something already beautiful more beautiful rather than provide help in someone's hour of need. This was the case even for his own grandsons.

But one had to admit that even if he was just making something beautiful more beautiful, it wasn't without effect.

Upon hearing Su Changche speak, Lin Yuanqiao was stunned. "What is there to discuss. Hand over the person. As long as he is fine, I will take him away and leave."

Su Changche coldly laughed, "In your dreams! What do you think my Su Clan is? You can waltz in when you want and leave when you please? Since you want to harm my grandson, then you need to give the Su Clan a justification."

Lin Yuanqiao became agitated. "You said that Lin Yemao harmed him? He's the only one that can testify that."

Su Chen slowly said, "We all know that there are Origin Skills that can be used to detect lies. Although not many people know them, I do know a few. Give me a few days and I will bring him out. At that time, who is telling the truth and who is lying, we will know as soon as we ask."

Lie detection was an ancient Arcana technique. Su Chen had seen it before in the pile of Origin Skills that Night Charm had given him.

Thus, he also knew that there were definitely people in the Immortal Temple who knew it.

Lin Yuanqiao evidently also knew of these types of Origin Skills. He immediately panicked.

As his expression changed, he suddenly said with smiles, "Please, gentlemen, what need is there? I trust that there must be some kind of misunderstanding going on. Can't we just resolve this matter by talking things through?"

For someone to go from being in a fiery rage to being tolerant in an instant was quite rare.

Just as Su Changche wanted to speak, Su Chen said, "That's why I asked which answer you wanted to select. The path is for you to choose."

Lin Yuanqiao's eyes lit up. "Naturally, it is the first!"

He finally understood Su Chen's intentions.

The ladder had already been set up by him, but he didn't realize it until the other party's intentions have been revealed.

Su Chen laughed. "That is to say, Lin Clan's Second Elder, that you believe that Lin Yemao and I have become friends?"

"Naturally!" Lin Yuanqiao replied confidently. "How could friends attempt to harm each other? They would only attempt to help each other!"

"I was also thinking that," Su Chen nodded his head. "Before, when Lin Yemao and I encountered each other, we built up a rapport through talking and we were friends upon first sight. Thus, I have already invited him to come to the Su residence as a guest for three days. After three days, he will return to the Lin Clan."

"Three days? No problem!" Lin Yuanqiao naturally could not force him to hand over the person on the spot. As long as he returned in three days, that was good enough.

He thought for a moment, still a bit uneasy, then supplemented, "I trust that Yemao will definitely return without any problem."

"Naturally. We made a reciprocal deal – I invited Lin Yemao to come to my Su Clan, while he also invited me to tour the Lin Clan's Beast Garden."

"What did you say?" Lin Yuanqiao opened his eyes wide.

He finally understood what Su Chen meant.

The price for releasing Lin Yemao was to allow Su Chen to go to the beast garden!

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Page 5

Chapter 105: Request for Assistance

Upon returning to the Su Clan's palace, Su Chen first went to visit Tang Hongrui to ask her about the current circumstances and to confirm that no problems had occurred while he was gone before he was finally able to relax.

After Su Feihu had taken over, the atmosphere of the Su Clan had greatly changed. Today, no one in the Su Clan took aim at Su Chen like they had before.

Even without Su Feihu's support of Su Chen, they would not have dare to to do it.

Su Chen was a Young Master with a vicious record: he'd had a servant beaten to death, ruined an Aunt's countenance, and dared to oppose his own father. He had also entered and returned from the Scarlet Mountain Range three times in a row.

If one were to say that in the past there were still some who were unaware of his standing, then now, after all the things that had happened in the past few years, no one dared to compete with Su Chen anymore.

After visiting his mother, Su Chen returned to his Dustsift Courtyard.

Mingshu and Zhou Hong were both incredibly excited to see Su Chen return. Su Chen tested the progress of their cultivation.

Mingshu had just begun cultivating and was only in the first layer of body tempering. His improvement was not too fast. However, Zhou Hong had cultivated before, but he had always lacked a good method as well as resources because of his demotion a few years ago. Thus, he had always been stuck at the eight layer of Body Tempering. After Su Chen had given him a cultivation method and some money, Zhou Hong's improvement was quite rapid. He had actually broken through to the ninth layer not long ago.

Su Chen was extremely satisfied. He encouraged Zhou Hong and told him that once he entered the Qi Drawing realm, he would pass him a few Origin Skills. Zhou Hong was extremely excited when he heard this.

After briefing the two of them, he made them retreat. Su Chen then returned to his own room before saying, "Okay, the others have all gone, you can come out now."

Night Demon's figure quietly appeared.

She gazed at Su Chen with shock. "My breath-restraining technique has already reached the stage of large success, and while I was hidden I made sure to slow my heartbeat. I even controlled my body's temperature and breathing. Even people with sight wouldn't be able to detect it, so how did you?"

Su Chen replied calmly, "Oh, every time I return, you are usually waiting for me inside my room. Thus, I was just carelessly calling out just as a test. I didn't expect that you actually were here."

"You..." Night Demon almost spit out a mouthful of blood.

She fiercely stared at him before saying, "The aura of your Origin Energy has become thicker again. It seems like your strength has increased quite a bit.

"If my strength didn't increase, what point would there be in going to the Scarlet Mountain Range?"

"Hmph." Night Demon sat down on Su Chen's large recliner, which was made of rosewood and had nine beasts carved on it. "I came looking for you because there's something we need your help with."

"Unsurprising. In any case, if it isn't you helping me, it's me helping you. But everything is done according to the previous rules. If you want my help, you need to pay a price."

"What do you want?"

"That depends on what you want me to do."

Night Demon thought for a moment, then said, "I heard that you want to attend the Hidden Dragon Institute's enrollment exam?"

Upon hearing the name "Hidden Dragon Institute," Su Chen smiled with great meaning.

The Hidden Dragon Institute was Long Sang Country's number one Origin Qi Scholar school, located in the Long Coiling City. The people that came from that school could all be considered Heaven's Chosens, whose futures were unlimited.

Every year, the Hidden Dragon Institute did not accept many students. To only accept no more than a thousand students from such a large country implied that each one was the best of the best. The position that Northface City held in Long Sang Country meant that they would only obtain an admission opportunity every ten years, and they would not accept more than four individuals.

Regardless of whether it was Su Chen, Lin Yemao, or anyone else, their main goal was still the Hidden Dragon Institute.

However, based on Night Demon's question, Su Chen knew that there was a deeper intention hidden.

Su Chen nodded his head and said, "Yes. What is it?"

"Do you remember how you first met us?" Night Demon asked.

"Of course, how could I forget. I unintentionally overheard Old Sang and Lin Xie's conversation," Su Chen replied.

"That's right. Then, you should have heard of the term 'Spirit Burying Terrace', right?"

Su Chen nodded his head.

Night Demon continued, "The Spirit Burying Terrace is a secret location that the organization has been trying to find and open for a long time. Originally, because we didn't want this matter to be exposed, I was sent to kill you. You were quite smart, however, and left behind a backdoor. In the end, I wasn't able to kill you; instead, we became friends, and we began to cooperate with each other."

"Yes. Perhaps it is simply the whims of Fate; no one could have expected that the situation would develop to this point," Su Chen pretended to sigh. Despite knowing what she would say, he asked, "Then, what next?"

"Originally, the organization's intention was that upon opening the Spirit Burying Terrace and obtaining the things inside, the matter could be finished. However, we didn't anticipate that there would be an unexpected occurrence."

"An unexpected occurrence?" Su Chen appeared extremely shocked. "What unexpected occurrence? Does it have something to do with me?"

"It has nothing to do with you," Night Demon shook her head. She said angrily, "The Hidden Dragon Institute... Some bastard changed the location of this year's enrollment competition to the Red Peak Range."

When Su Chen heard this, he laughed in his heart.

Moving the Hidden Dragon battle to the Red Peak Range was definitely due to Gu Qingluo's scheme.

Gu Qingluo's older brother, Gu Weichen, was the general of the chariot troops of Long Sang Country, head of the Jade Mountain Barracks, and he was also one of the geniuses that belonged to the Hidden Dragon Institute. He was the Hidden Dragon Institute's He Yushu's personal disciple. The character for "jade" in the Jade Mountain Barracks was related to He Yushu 1

With this kind of connection, as long as Gu Weichen politely let the Hidden Dragon Institute know about changing the location of the Hidden Dragon battle in Northface City, it was easily achievable for him.

However, to the Immortal Temple, this matter brought them a great deal of trouble.

Now that the location for the Hidden Dragon battle had been set at the Red Peak Range, the first thing that Northface City would do would be to lock down the entire surrounding area, preventing others from entering or leaving. They could deal with any Demonic Beasts that appeared, preventing unforeseen circumstances from occurring during the examinations. Additionally, they could supervise others, preventing them from entering first to tamper with the stage.

The Spirit Burying Terrace just so happened to be near the Red Peak Range. For the Hidden Dragon Institute to do this, the Immortal Temple's schemes to open the Spirit Burying Terrace immediately fizzled out.

Upon hearing Night Demon discuss what had happened, Su Chen pretended to be surprised. "So that's what happened. Then that really is quite the coincidence... can you really not wait until after the Hidden Dragon battle to open it?"

"We can't." Night Demon shook her head. "The Spirit Burying Terrace is filled with traps, and the Origin Formation can only broken on a specific date in order to enter the Spirit Burying Terrace safely. Otherwise, the secrets hidden inside won't really appear. And this period of time coincides with the Hidden Dragon battle. If we miss this opportunity, we will need to wait another thousand years."

As expected, Su Chen said in his heart.

Long before changing the location of the Hidden Dragon battle, Su Chen and Gu Qingluo had guessed that opening the Spirit Burying Terrace was probably also under a time restriction. Otherwise, they wouldn't have delayed opening it for a thousand years. Nor would they have let Su Chen extort them in this way.

However, the main question was when exactly the Spirit Burying Terrace could be opened. To figure this out, Su Chen and Gu Qingluo had consulted large numbers of references and ancient books, in the end determining that the Spirit Burying Terrace was finished on the twenty second day of the seventh month. That very same date this year was the seven thousandth year since the creation of the Spirit Burying Terrace. When taking into consideration the Immortal Temple's control over the timing, the snippets of information that he had obtained during unintentional conversation, as well as collecting all kinds of information from various sources, the two finally confirmed that the Spirit Burying Terrace was extremely likely to open on this day.

Thus, the Immortal Palace had completely fallen into the calculations of Su Chen and Gu Qingluo.

At this moment, Su Chen said, "So that's how it is. Then what do you want me to help you do? The Hidden Dragon battle is not a normal competition. If you want me to bring you in, I don't have that kind of ability."

"We don't need you to bring us in. We just want you to enter in our place."

"Enter in your place?"

"Yes, enter in our place. As long as you can enter the Spirit Burying Terrace during the duration of the Hidden Dragon battle and help us take out a few things inside."

"This..." Su Chen hesitated for a moment. "The Hidden Dragon Institute is vital for my advancement in the future. If I am to suffer a defeat in the competition... No, I cannot agree."

When Night Demon heard this, she became angrily agitated.

This was the Spirit Burying Terrace! There were great opportunities inside.

The Immortal Temple had spent so much energy to discover its location and how to break it open. Now, they are asking you to go, and you are not willing?

Although his unwillingness truly demonstrated that he had nothing to do with this matter, Night Demon couldn't help but roll her eyes when she heard this reply of his. "The things in there are much more valuable than the Hidden Dragon Institute by who knows how many times."

"Hmph, a bunch of stuff buried in the dirt. How could they be useful? What I am looking for is the path to enter the Hidden Dragon Institute. I am not interested in secular riches of gold and silver at all.

You have the gall to say this? Night Demon almost yelled.

Who was the one who extorted us to get our Origin Tools unafraid of death?

Who was the one who hired mercenaries to kill off and swallow up the Shadow Mountain Troops?

Now you say all high and mightily that you are completely focused on traveling the path of cultivation and have no interest in mortal wealth?

Despite her anger, Night Demon could only say with gritted teeth, patiently and systematically, "Trust me, there are definitely good things in that place. If you are willing to help us, I can guarantee that apart from the few things that we want, everything else can belong to you."

Like hell you can guarantee! Su Chen silently cursed.

That "apart from the few things that we want, everything else can belong to you" was probably the last resort that your organization's leader had given you, right?

But you actually went directly to the last resort.

If they let someone like you, who has such poor negotiating abilities, make the guarantee that would be strange.

Su Chen said without changing expression, "How do I know what is in there? What if there's nothing else apart from what you want? Then I'll just have done your work for free."

"It won't happen..." Night Demon hurriedly said.

However, Su Chen had already interrupted her. "The Hidden Dragon battle to me is extremely important. I won't divide my attention to do something else just for a portion of purely imaginary spoils. Go back and tell them that I can't help you."

"Okay." Night Demon knew that she had no way of convincing Su Chen at this moment, so she could only say, "I will report back to them, but there is no way that we will give up so easily."

"I don't care whether or not you give up. In any case, my attitude is already very clear. In addition... go back and tell your head, I won't meet with anyone else apart from you."

"You're giving me that much face?" Upon hearing this, Night Demon immediately became happy.

"Of course," Su Chen replied with a laugh.

What a joke! If they switched out stupid you for someone more capable next time, what would I do?

——————————

After sending Night Demon off, Iron Cliff stormed in before Su Chen was even able to sit down and rest.

The first words out of his mouth were, "Something's happening to Lin Yemao."

"What is it?" Su Chen was stunned.

`"You'd best come take a look."

1. The character for "Yu" in He Yushu's name (玉) means jade.

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