Chapter 25: The Ling Family Pharmacy

"Senior Brother Xingyun, are we just going to let this kid leave like this? Was Senior Brother Li Rui's death for nothing?"

Despite their fear of Ling Xiao, the Li family disciples were still deeply resentful over Li Rui's death. Furthermore, being in the majority, they were constantly thinking of how they could use their numbers to bully the few.

"If I, Ling Xiao, want to leave, who among you can stop me!"

Ling Xiao let out a cold laugh, hoisted the corpse of the Howling Moon Wolf onto his shoulder, and swaggered right through the crowd of Li family members.

No one dared to move.

The scene from moments ago, where Ling Xiao had killed the third-tier Martial Vein practitioner Li Rui with a single punch, was still vivid in their minds. They all knew very well: whoever struck first would be the one to die!

Passing through the crowd, Ling Xiao breathed a secret sigh of relief. To be honest, his true qi had not fully recovered. After killing Li Rui with everything he had, if the Li family disciples had truly swarmed him, he would have had no choice but to flee. He just hadn't expected these people to be so cowardly that they wouldn't even dare to make a move. This actually helped him immensely—showing off and then leaving, it was damn exhilarating!

"Just what is this Ling Xiao's background? Looking at his aptitude, I'm afraid he's no worse than that genius Ling Yixue."

"More than that! Even when Ling Feifan was at the peak of the second-tier Martial Vein, he wouldn't have been able to leave like that!" Li Xingyun said coldly, staring at Ling Xiao's receding figure with a dark expression.

"No way, Senior Brother Xingyun, are you talking about Ling Feifan, one of the Four Young Masters of Tianfeng City?"

"That's right, him!"

"That's impossible. Ling Feifan had already promoted to the fourth-tier Martial Vein three years ago when he was twelve. He is a true genius; how could that kid possibly compare?"

The Four Young Masters of Tianfeng City were all practitioners who had reached the fourth-tier Martial Vein before the age of fourteen. They were absolute role models for all the youth in Tianfeng City.

"Exactly. Senior Brother Xingyun, you think too highly of that Ling Xiao. If you hadn't been injured today, Ling Xiao would definitely be dead."

"Of course!" Although Li Xingyun held Ling Xiao in high regard, he was even more confident in himself. If he hadn't been injured today, Li Rui would certainly not have died.

"By the way, don't spread rumors about what happened today when we get back. Just say Li Rui was killed by a Howling Moon Wolf, otherwise, we'll all be in trouble. Li Rui's grandfather is an elder in our clan. If his grandson is killed by the Ling family and we didn't help, you know what the consequences will be, right?" Li Xingyun suddenly barked coldly.

"Understood, Senior Brother Xingyun."

***

After leaving the Fulong Mountains, Ling Xiao first went to the market to exchange all his surplus materials for silver, totaling thirty-five thousand taels. This money was necessary because even if he wanted to ask the Ling family's pharmacy to refine pills, he would have to pay a service fee; it wouldn't work without silver. Moreover, the more precious the pill, the higher the service fee. However, thirty-five thousand taels was more than enough.

Afterward, he went to the auction house to collect the hundred taels he had earned from auctioning his basic cultivation technique, still paying them a ten-tael handling fee. All his silver was stored within the Mountain and River Map. This was much safer than keeping it in a bank. He had heard that there was something called a storage ring in this world, but he had never seen one; he assumed that even if they existed, they wouldn't be as useful as his Mountain and River Map.

He had no intention of selling any more techniques this time. Now that he had the silver, he could temporarily stop such risky ventures to avoid any mishaps.

After leaving the auction house, Ling Xiao quickened his pace back to the Ling family, heading straight for the pharmacy. As the place dedicated to refining pills and treating injuries for the Ling family, the pharmacy was always crowded. Thus, it was quite difficult to avoid people he didn't want to see.

Sure enough, just as he arrived at the pharmacy, he noticed Ling Yu and Ling Feng heading in the same direction. Ling Yu was still that charming and graceful girl, currently walking arm-in-arm with Ling Feng; their sweetness was enough to make one feel quite jealous. Ling Feng was still dressed in white, looking very dashing, and his aura seemed even stronger than the last time they had met. Standing there, he almost looked like a sword unsheathed from its scabbard.

"Hehe, little beggar, are you here at the pharmacy to beg for medicinal dregs again?"

Ling Xiao spotted Ling Feng and Ling Yu, and they naturally spotted him as well, since no one was trying to hide. In the past, when he had no money, Ling Xiao would often come to the pharmacy to beg for medicinal dregs, primarily for cultivation. Because of this, he had been mocked and ridiculed many times.

"Hmph, our Holy Ancestor of the Northern Han Kingdom also started as a beggar! You're just a girl with long hair and short vision!" With a cold snort, he didn't linger, dropping that remark before entering the pharmacy. It was more important to attend to his own business; bickering was simply boring.

"Hehe, that kid actually dares to compare himself to the Holy Ancestor? Truly ignorant! I heard he defeated Ling Chong a few days ago and won against Ling Fei in lightness skills. With such meager achievements, he's already starting to act arrogant," Ling Feng said coldly.

Speaking of arrogance, perhaps the person most suited to that description was actually Ling Feng himself. Ling Xiao had never looked down on anyone; even with Ling Chong, whom he had defeated twice in a row, he had fought with full strength.

"Heehee, Brother Feng is right. The Holy Ancestor is a genius. What is he? Just a penniless beggar." Ling Yu giggled, completely disregarding Ling Xiao. In her eyes, although Ling Xiao's strength had improved, without money or a powerful background, he would still struggle to make progress.

Ling Xiao was unaware of their discussion. After entering the pharmacy, he went straight to the counter, where registrations were handled. To break through to the third-tier Martial Vein, he needed one Breakthrough Pill, one Heart-Protecting Pill, and one Vein-Protecting Pill, as well as some Qi-Gathering Pills to boost his true qi, which would be useful for special circumstances in the future.

If he bought them directly, a Breakthrough Pill cost one thousand taels, and the Heart-Protecting and Vein-Protecting pills were the same price. The Qi-Gathering Pills were slightly cheaper at five hundred taels each. Although Ling Xiao could afford them, there was no need to waste money. He had the materials; if he provided them, the service fee for the Breakthrough, Heart-Protecting, and Vein-Protecting pills would only be one hundred taels each. The Qi-Gathering Pills would only require a fifty-tael service fee.

"Brother Feng, I should be breaking through to the third-tier Martial Vein very soon. You must make sure to get the Breakthrough, Heart-Protecting, and Vein-Protecting pills ready for me, or I won't be happy!"

At that moment, Ling Yu and Ling Feng walked in. From Ling Yu's tone, it seemed she was also preparing to break through. This was normal, as she had been a second-tier Martial Vein practitioner for a long time; combined with Ling Feng's pills, it would be strange if she didn't break through.

"Sister Yu, you know the annual competition is about to start. I need to hurry and break through to the fourth-tier Martial Vein. I'll need a large number of Breakthrough, Heart-Protecting, and Vein-Protecting pills, so please bear with me for a bit."

It seemed Ling Feng did not intend to spend money on Ling Yu. He wanted to focus entirely on breaking through to the fourth-tier, and the amount of pills required was massive. Although he was also a member of the main Ling clan, his family's wealth was not as great as Ling Chong's, and even Ling Chong could not afford to be extravagant. The Ling family's status as one of the four great families of Tianfeng City was maintained through relatively strict rules; while people occasionally broke them, they were in the minority.

"Fine, but can I at least buy two Qi-Gathering Pills?" Ling Yu said, pouting, clearly somewhat unhappy.

"I'm afraid of you. Fine, you can use the Qi-Gathering Pills to consolidate your current cultivation," Ling Feng nodded.