Chapter Seventy-Six: The Power of Innate Strength

Xiao Cheng was left puzzled by the sudden laughter of the old lady, thinking to himself that her thoughts were too difficult to fathom. After all, she was born in the twenty-sixth year of Emperor Guangxu’s reign, far beyond his understanding.

He enjoyed a delightful conversation with his great-grandmother for about an hour, making her laugh heartily before he finally took his leave, satisfied. Yet as he left the rear courtyard, his mood was far from as cheerful as he appeared; on the contrary, it was rather heavy. His great-grandmother was of advanced age—living to such years was rare enough for anyone. In his memory, she had passed away peacefully two years later.

Recalling her passing in his previous life, Xiao Cheng felt a sharp ache in his heart. He could not bear to lose her.

He sighed, but then smiled again, thinking his worries were unnecessary. This life was different from the last; he possessed the Trifold Jade Scroll, from which he had gained much knowledge, including the art of alchemy.

Given time, once his strength reached the innate level, he could refine the Sevenfold Vitality Elixir for his great-grandmother, allowing her to live several more years, perhaps even a decade or more.

Alchemy was a field Xiao Cheng had never touched upon before. In his past life, he had heard much about famous alchemists from his master. In the world of cultivation, they were highly esteemed, always sought after wherever they went.

Alchemists were revered not for their cultivation but for the immense benefits they could bestow. A single ordinary Foundation Pill could help even someone with unopened meridians achieve foundation in a hundred days; and that was the lowest grade. Higher-grade pills were even more miraculous.

A top-tier alchemist could elevate a common sect to the pinnacle of the cultivation world within a few years. This demonstrated just how critical the profession was, and how priceless their recipes were.

Fortunately, Xiao Cheng had obtained the Trifold Jade Scroll and now possessed almost all of these formulas.

However, his current cultivation was too low to refine most pills. The only pill he might be able to craft was the Spirit-Nourishing Pellet.

Strictly speaking, this Spirit-Nourishing Pellet wasn’t truly a pill. It didn’t require a pill furnace at all—just an ordinary, non-toxic spirit herb. By using the Spirit-Gathering method from the Ninefold Celestial Sutra, one could infuse spiritual energy into the herb and form the pellet.

The herb’s only role was to store the spiritual energy, not to provide medicinal effect, so any spirit herb would do.

Only those who had mastered the Ninefold Celestial Sutra could “refine” such a pellet. Its purpose was to supply cultivators with spiritual energy. For Xiao Cheng, who could already absorb the essence of plants at will, it was of little use, but for others it was excellent.

In today’s world, where spiritual energy was scarce, the main obstacle to cultivation was the lack of it. The Spirit-Nourishing Pellet was something any cultivator would covet, for it could increase cultivation speed and help restore true energy.

Xiao Cheng nodded to himself; the pellet was useless to him but would be valuable to Zhuo Qinglian and Yun Tingyu. In the future, he could even trade them with other cultivators or use them to build his own power.

He immediately made up his mind—he must refine some Spirit-Nourishing Pellets when he had the chance. As for the spirit herbs, didn’t the old man have several Jade Aloes in his rear garden?

Unconsciously, Xiao Cheng had already left the rear courtyard. He swept his senses around to make sure no one was nearby, then approached a wall leading toward Xiao Fusheng’s courtyard. He activated his Earth-Melding technique and passed through the wall.

With just a barrier between them, Xiao Cheng was now in the old man’s garden. He scanned the area—no one was present. Xiao Cheng smiled; at this moment, Xiao Fusheng was probably waiting on his usual path to catch and punish him for insubordination or treason. He would never imagine Xiao Cheng was here to “steal vegetables.”

Guided by memory, Xiao Cheng found five Jade Aloes nestled amid a patch of wormwood.

Jade Aloe looked almost identical to ordinary aloe, only greener and very hard to distinguish. But it had one key difference: its leaf veins ran horizontally, not vertically, and snapped as easily as bamboo shoots.

In the cultivation world, Jade Aloe was considered the lowest grade of spirit herb, with only the mildest effect of nurturing the meridians. Yet Xiao Fusheng cherished them, hiding them with wormwood.

Xiao Cheng uprooted all five spirit herbs, not leaving a single one. The thought of Xiao Fusheng’s expression when he discovered their disappearance filled Xiao Cheng with secret delight.

With his prize in hand, Xiao Cheng approached another wall and, with another Earth-Melding technique, passed through, emerging outside the Xiao family compound.

He had no wish to meet Xiao Fusheng. In terms of strength, he was no match for the old man. If caught, Xiao Fusheng would certainly accuse him of insubordination or treason, and now, holding his prized herbs, the offense would be even worse. So, he slipped away and left the family home.

He slid into the familiar cockpit of his Lamborghini, floored the accelerator, and the car shot through the night like an arrow, leaving the old house behind.

It was around eight in the evening. Since the Xiao family estate was in a remote area, there were few cars out at night. As he drove, Xiao Cheng pondered what his great-grandmother had said that afternoon—the Fang family was once again trying to force a marriage, wanting Sister Yu Jia to remarry. This was utterly unacceptable to him.

He had thought at the time: whoever dared marry her, he would kill. But things were never so simple. If the Fang family had set their sights on this, they must have some power; otherwise, they would not bother marrying Fang Yu Jia off.

As he was considering how to deal with the forced marriage, a sudden sense of danger struck him. It was too late to extend his spiritual sense—relying purely on instinct, Xiao Cheng shifted to the right.

At that critical instant, he felt his seat tremble, and a piercing blue light shot up from beneath him. With a loud bang, the blue glow pierced through the windshield as easily as through a sheet of paper.

The blue light shot out of the windshield, flew a dozen meters, then abruptly turned and, like a missile, arced back toward Xiao Cheng inside the car.

He glanced at the gaping hole in the seat, narrowing his eyes. Had he not reacted in time, his left arm would have been severed. That blue glow was nothing other than a cultivator’s flying sword.

Once a cultivator reached the innate level, they could refine their own flying sword. His assailant was at least of innate cultivation. The flying sword was incredibly sharp, able to cut through iron like mud—no ordinary material could withstand it. Though a bit slower than a bullet, it was far more difficult to guard against.

A bullet travels in a straight line, but a flying sword, under the control of spiritual sense, could follow any trajectory within range—much like a smart missile.

Xiao Cheng realized that his attacker clearly did not intend to kill him outright, but to wound him first. Otherwise, that sword would not have come for his left shoulder.

He released his spiritual sense and detected a Porsche trailing him at fifty meters, with an occupant of at least third-tier innate strength.

“Heh, so you finally couldn’t hold back.” Xiao Cheng tilted his head, sneering coldly. He didn’t even need to guess who it was.

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[This chapter makes up for the update missed on the 23rd. A new week begins—please support the author! I’ve been working hard to write every day!]