Gu Yi asked, “Have you prepared the other medicinal materials?”
Liu Fang clasped his hands and said, “I have prepared everything according to Grandmaster Gu’s instructions.”
Gu Yi nodded. “Good. There’s no time to waste. I’ll begin the alchemy now. Where is the alchemy room? Take me there.”
Liu Fang led Gu Yi toward a side room. His excellency the imperial preceptor walked out of the room. Draped in a plain cloth robe, he bowed deeply to Gu Yi and said, “this old man thanks you, little brother!”
If he could live a few more years, how could even the imperial preceptor calmly refuse? He showed not the slightest affectation.
Gu Yi smiled faintly and asked with slight curiosity, “Why aren’t you sleeping in the main room? Why are you staying in the side room instead?”
The old man smiled. “I have lived in this side room since I was young. This residence is my ancestral residence. The main room is where my parents lived.”
“I see.”
Gu Yi nodded slightly without saying anything more, then entered the alchemy room.
Liu Fang closed the door and withdrew. His stern face still carried a delighted expression as he said to Qin Muwan, “Miss, Grandmaster Gu’s alchemy may take quite some time. Why don’t I take you to a room to rest first?”
Qin Muwan pondered for a moment before nodding. “All right. Thank you, General Liu.”
Liu Fang brought her to another side room and said, “This room was originally prepared for Miss Xiaoxi, but she said she doesn’t like living here because she thinks this residence is too old.”
Qin Muwan blinked. “Who is Miss Xiaoxi?”
Liu Fang said, “The imperial preceptor’s great-granddaughter, Fang Xiaoxi.”
Qin Muwan was startled. “Fang Xiaoxi, Second on the Dragon-Phoenix Ranking?”
Liu Fang nodded. “That’s right.”
The Dragon-Phoenix Ranking had a total of three hundred and sixty places. It had been established jointly by the Twelve Martial Arts Holy Lands for youths under the age of twenty. Everyone on the ranking was an outstanding young prodigy from across the world!
Compared to them, even the talented youths of Dinggong City’s Nine Great Families were nothing more than mud beneath their feet!
At the age of sixteen, Fang Xiaoxi had reached the tenth layer of the violet palace realm and ranked second on the Dragon-Phoenix Ranking!
Qin Muwan could not help but be astonished!
Four years ago, before she had been injured by a five luminaries realm expert, entering the Dragon-Phoenix Ranking had also been her lifelong aspiration!
Liu Fang closed the door for her, then withdrew to the courtyard and stood silently outside the alchemy room.
Qin Muwan went to the window and gazed at the alchemy room across from her, falling into deep thought.
Both the imperial preceptor and the imperial preceptor were deeply valued by the current son of heaven and entrusted with important responsibilities. They were the two great pillars of Wuji Kingdom: one governed internal affairs, while the other handled external affairs. Their authority was overwhelming.
Moreover, the imperial preceptor and the imperial preceptor had vastly different philosophies of governance. They had openly contended and struggled in secret for many years, and this had long been an open secret.
The imperial preceptor was already approaching the end of one’s natural lifespan. He had returned to his ancestral residence to spend his remaining years in retirement, and the Imperial Court now had only the imperial preceptor’s voice left.
Yet Gu Yi was going to refine a Life-Extending Pill for the imperial preceptor and forcibly extend his lifespan. If this succeeded, the imperial preceptor would certainly return to the Capital City and contend with the imperial preceptor for influence.
Wouldn’t that make Gu Yi the instigator behind the imperial preceptor’s return to the Imperial Court? He would inevitably become a thorn in the imperial preceptor’s side, wouldn’t he?
The Manifestation Sage Realm was divided into four realms: initial manifestation, half-saint, sage, and great sage.
Ten years ago, the imperial preceptor’s cultivation level had already reached the Great Sage Realm, earning him the title of The World’s Number-One Expert.
Although she was insignificant and had no idea what those great personages were thinking, Qin Muwan still knitted her brows deeply and began to worry about Gu Yi.
……
To Gu Yi, the Life-Extending Pill was still an exceedingly ordinary pill. Once a martial artist broke through the divine bridge realm and reached the Deity Realm, transitioning from the Human Realm to the Divine Realm, their lifespan would increase tremendously, making life-extending pills completely unnecessary.
However, he was thoroughly familiar with the method of refining this pill.
Adding the medicinal materials while activating the alchemy flame, Gu Yi worked with meticulous care and focus.
The more outstanding a person was, the more seriously they would act when doing anything. They strove to do everything to the best of their ability!
In his previous life, Gu Yi had cultivated step by step to the highest realm and become the foremost of the ten titled supremes. Besides mastering a heaven-defying cultivation art, his indomitable, meticulous temperament had also been an extremely important factor.
As time passed, the movements of his hands grew faster and faster, and he added the medicinal materials with astonishing speed!
At that moment, he had reached the critical juncture of refining the Life-Extending Pill. Not the slightest mistake could be allowed, or everything would be wasted.
However, just then, a large number of footsteps came from outside the imperial preceptor’s ancestral residence. Amid a thunderous roar, the dilapidated gate was completely blasted open, and dozens of people surged inside!
At the front was a bearded burly man. His eyes were bloodshot, and he carried a tiger-headed saber in his hand. He shouted furiously, “Gu Yi, get out here and meet your death! Anyone who dares protect him will be killed without exception!”
Inside the side room, the imperial preceptor slowly raised his head from the book he was reading and turned toward the courtyard. It seemed he could see the crowd outside through the window screen. A trace of displeasure appeared on his normally placid face.
Standing beside the bed, Qin Muwan curled her lips into a strange smile. “Although the ma clan patriarch is one of the few embryonic treasury realm experts in Dinggong City, he actually dared to come here seeking revenge. His courage is truly excessive.”
Meanwhile, Liu Fang, standing at the entrance of the alchemy room, looked somberly at the group. His anger gradually surged. Although Gu Yi had not given him many instructions, he knew that alchemy was an extremely demanding process that could not tolerate the slightest disturbance or negligence.
Moreover, these men had actually destroyed the gate to his excellency the imperial preceptor’s ancestral residence?
“Are you looking to die!”
The azure dragon danced, the White Tiger roared, and the Black Tortoise loomed with weight. Three symbols appeared in an instant!
Just moments ago, the dozens of people had advanced with great momentum, their arrogance and menace overwhelming.
But after seeing Liu Fang circulate his cultivation method and reveal his cultivation level, they instantly fell silent, their expressions changing drastically!
A four symbols realm expert?
And why did this person look so familiar?
On closer inspection, wasn’t he Liu Fang, General Liu?
His burly figure appeared even more imposing and extraordinary beneath the radiance of the three symbols.
Why would General Liu be staying in this ordinary courtyard?
Even though the ma clan patriarch was an embryonic treasury realm expert, cold sweat still poured down his body. He had long since cast his son’s death from his mind, leaving only profound fear!
He was just about to clasp his hands and apologize when a person walked out of the side hall not far ahead. It was an old man with drooping sideburns.
“Liu Fang, stand down.”
Liu Fang glanced at the old man, withdrew his cultivation method, and stepped aside!
Everyone was overjoyed and prepared to thank the old man.
However, the old man tossed aside the plain cloth robe draped over his body and walked toward them step by step. His slightly hunched back gradually straightened, his expression becoming stern and clear. A vast aura that made their hearts tremble and fear seep into their very bones slowly radiated from him!
“Someone smashed the gate to my ancestral residence. I should be the one to deal with it.”
“Yes, teacher.” Liu Fang bowed.
“T-Teacher… y-you… are you the imperial preceptor?” The ma clan patriarch had never imagined that speaking a single sentence could be so difficult. He knew he was humiliating himself, but he simply could not control it.
The old man said coldly, “I’m no imperial preceptor. I’m merely a rotten old man who returned to his hometown to retire. You destroyed the gate to my home, so you were in the wrong. I’m going to reason with you!”
“And in our Wuji Kingdom, one’s fists are the greatest reason!”
The imperial preceptor extended his fist and clenched it forcefully. The dozens of ma clan members felt as if the air of the surrounding world had transformed into towering mountains. A massive force appeared from nowhere and squeezed them together!
It was as if a giant hand in the air had taken them for stalks of straw and crushed them into a ball!
In an instant, without exception, the dozens of people were pinched together by an invisible force, their faces pressed against one another’s backs as they were compressed into a mass!
“You smashed my gate, so I’ll smash the gate to your home. In life, one must always uphold reason.”
The imperial preceptor raised his hand, and the group floated into the air! Higher and higher they flew!
Each of them let out terrified screams!
Then, the imperial preceptor seemed to see the Ma Residence Compound dozens of miles away.
With a forceful throw!
The group shot toward the Ma Residence Compound one after another like cannonballs!
In the next moment, every gate of the Ma Residence Compound was destroyed!
Yet the group suffered only injuries; not one person died.
“Teacher is kindhearted. If I had made a move, I would have slaughtered them all.” Liu Fang remained deeply dissatisfied.
The imperial preceptor withdrew his aura and once again hunched his back. He bent down, picked up his clothes, and draped them over himself again before shaking his head. “They merely smashed a gate. Their crime does not warrant death.”
Arriving outside the alchemy room, the imperial preceptor asked, “Little brother, did that disturbance just now interfere with your alchemy?”
Two light words drifted out from inside the room: “No problem.”