Martial Sage from the Vajra Skill

Yuan Sujie nodded. "He must not have been interested. If he had taken a liking to me, he wouldn’t have left in such a hurry."

A Ten Heroes Genius like him couldn’t have missed that the Yuan Family was trying to set the two of them up.

"Without a marriage alliance, it’s impossible for the Yuan Family to help him become Elder Li Yang’s disciple," Yuan Gang said resolutely.

He didn’t believe in trust, only in blood ties. He decided that the next time Xu Yang visited, he would make this clear to him.

He had never thought much of Xu Yang in the first place. He only chose him because he had no one else available.

If Xu Yang refused the marriage, then their agreement would be void.

...

"Sigh..."

Leaving the Yuan Family estate, Xu Yang sighed helplessly.

He naturally knew why Yuan Gang had brought Yuan Sujie out, but he felt nothing for her and couldn’t possibly agree to marry her.

’At this rate, I’m afraid things will turn ugly soon.’

’It might be for the best if they do!’

He wasn’t keen on becoming Elder Li Yang’s disciple anyway. He had wanted to ask about the true relationship between Yuan Jie and Elder Li Yang several times before but had always stopped himself. In the end, he just couldn’t bring himself to ask such an awkward question in front of a father who had lost his son.

Xu Yang didn’t dwell on the matter. He quickly found a medicine shop and began buying the other ingredients needed to refine the Gathering Essence Pill.

He didn’t buy everything at one shop, only purchasing a portion of what he needed.

A quarter of an hour later, he walked out with several wrapped packets of herbs and quickly departed.

Half an hour later, Xu Yang had bought all the necessary ingredients and returned to his courtyard to start a fire for alchemy.

Refining the Gathering Essence Pill was more complex than the Blood Coagulation Pill. A batch of Blood Coagulation Pills could be refined in about six hours, whereas the Gathering Essence Pill required fourteen to sixteen hours or more of continuously stoking the fire.

The next day, a refreshing medicinal fragrance filled the air. Xu Yang quickly dismantled the fire and stepped forward to open the Pill Furnace.

Inside, several crimson Gathering Essence Pills lay quietly at the bottom of the furnace, their color rapidly fading to a lighter shade.

The refinement had yielded eleven pills, one more than last time.

A smile Xu Yang couldn’t suppress spread across his face. He quickly retrieved a bottle and collected the elixirs.

Eleven Gathering Essence Pills, plus the one Profound Yuan Qi Transformation Pill from the Yuan Family... Once he returned and bought a Ten-Perfection Rejuvenation Pill from the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, he would have a total of thirteen elixirs.

’After taking all of them, my Gang Qi Great Success cultivation should reach its peak.’

KNOCK KNOCK...

Just then, someone suddenly knocked on the courtyard gate.

Xu Yang frowned. ’I don’t know anyone here. Who could be knocking on my door?’

He was tempted to ignore it, but the person on the other side seemed insistent and kept knocking.

After putting the elixirs away and closing the door to the Alchemy Room, Xu Yang went to open the gate.

Outside stood a young man. He was dressed in tight-fitting martial attire, had a robust build, and his hands were covered in calluses—clearly a Martial Artist.

"Who are you looking for?" Xu Yang asked with a frown.

He didn’t recognize the man at all.

The young man smiled. "My name is Tian Wenshan, and I live right next door. A moment ago, I smelled a strong medicinal fragrance. May I ask if you were refining pills?"

As he spoke, his eyes kept darting toward the room behind Xu Yang, and he sniffed deeply, trying to catch the scent on Xu Yang’s clothes.

Xu Yang shook his head. "I’m no Pill Master. I was just taking an elixir."

Tian Wenshan laughed. "No need to be so modest, brother. Pill Masters are highly respected; there’s no reason to deny it."

He was already certain that Xu Yang was a Pill Master.

He was an expert at the Gang Qi Great Success stage with sharp senses. Living right next door, there was no way the sound of a furnace being opened could have escaped him.

Besides, the fragrance was so strong; it could only have come from successfully refined pills. In fact, he had been keeping an eye on the neighboring courtyard since last night, just waiting for the alchemy to finish so he could come over, pay a visit, and get acquainted.

’A Pill Master! If I can befriend him, I’ll never lack elixirs for my cultivation in the future.’

’When I run out of elixirs, I can just ask him to refine a batch. It would save me both money and effort.’

At this thought, he resolved to befriend the man no matter what.

"If there’s nothing else, Brother Tian, please excuse me. I’m busy and can’t entertain you right now." Xu Yang had no time to waste bickering with him.

Tian Wenshan’s breath hitched at his words, snapping him out of his fantasy.

He forced an unnatural laugh. "We’re neighbors. Aren’t you going to invite me in for a bit?"

’So shameless!’

Xu Yang said, "It’s not a convenient time for me today."

After Xu Yang’s repeated rejections, no matter how thick-skinned Tian Wenshan was, he had no choice but to cup his fist and leave.

Closing the gate, Xu Yang wore a helpless expression. Refining Gathering Essence Pills was more involved than making Blood Coagulation Pills; it took longer, made more noise, and the fragrance upon completion was much stronger.

If any experts lived nearby, it would be impossible to hide.

After cleaning the Pill Furnace and taking all his elixirs, Xu Yang quickly left and headed for the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion.

He bought a Ten-Perfection Rejuvenation Pill and an Eight-Treasure Body-Strengthening Pill before leaving the city to return to the Purple Sun Sect.

About ten li out of the city, he saw a leisurely figure sitting on a large boulder by the side of the road.

"Junior Brother Xu, I’ve been waiting for you for quite some time." Tian Wenshan stood up from the boulder, a wide smile on his face as he looked at Xu Yang.

Only then did Xu Yang realize that Tian Wenshan was also a disciple of the Purple Sun Sect. He must have recognized him from the start but never revealed it.

"I never expected Junior Brother Xu to be such an extraordinary genius. If I’m not mistaken, you’ve already learned to refine the Gathering Essence Pill. Tsk tsk... to learn how just from a pill formula... not even the Peak Master of Medicine King Peak could do something like that.

I’ve always heard that you’re a cautious person, but I never imagined you’d be so discreet as to hide even this.

But that’s a good thing. If it weren’t for your personality, I wouldn’t dare to ambush and kill you here today."

Tian Wenshan jumped down from the boulder and strolled toward Xu Yang, an expression of endless admiration on his face.

Xu Yang’s expression was calm as he asked, "Senior Brother Tian wants to kill me over such a trivial matter?"

Tian Wenshan nodded. "Originally, I wanted to befriend you. Unfortunately, you don’t know what’s good for you, forcing me to take ruthless action."

Initially, he hadn’t planned to kill Xu Yang. He only wanted to befriend the genius and reap the benefits over the long term.

It was only after being repeatedly rejected by Xu Yang that malicious intent grew in his heart, and he decided to seize all the elixirs Xu Yang had just refined.

"I’m afraid you won’t be able to kill me, Senior Brother Tian." 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

As soon as the words fell, Xu Yang vanished from his spot.

BOOM!

A tyrannical aura erupted like a volcano, kicking up clouds of dust and smoke.

"Gang Qi Great Success!"

The undisguised aura of Gang Qi Great Success burst forth, and Tian Wenshan’s face changed drastically.

Xu Yang had already reached Gang Qi Great Success? In their generation of disciples, weren’t Jiang Fan, Du Chuan, and Li Chuyang the only three to have reached that stage?

Not only was Xu Yang’s talent for alchemy astonishing, but his Martial Arts Talent was also this terrifying.

Everyone had been deceived by Xu Yang. He was the most talented one among this batch of Dragon Ascending Disciples.

"Even if you’re at Gang Qi Great Success, you will die today."

Tian Wenshan steeled his heart and advanced instead of retreating.

’Since I’ve already provoked a genius like this, one of us must die today. Otherwise, I’ll be the one to die in the future.’

Gang Qi surged around his body. Amidst the rumbling of his bones and sinews, Tian Wenshan took a large step forward and pushed out with both hands, unleashing a torrent of red Gang Qi that formed a solid wall.

The air shuddered violently. Propelled by Tian Wenshan’s palm strike, waves of dirt rolled across the ground with a thunderous roar.

Xu Yang’s eyes narrowed. His right fist tore through the air like an iron hammer, smashing toward the sweeping wall of Gang Qi.

A faint golden light flared as his fist, wrapped in a gale-force wind, instantly slammed into the wall of Qi.

BANG!

A deafening crash echoed. Xu Yang’s fist was like a spear charging upstream, forcefully blasting a vacuum through the Gang Qi wall and continuing onward with undiminished momentum.

"Golden Gang Qi?" Tian Wenshan cried out, his eyes wide with shock.

It was actually golden Gang Qi! Though it was faint, there was no mistaking it.

If it hadn’t been for a legendary power like golden Gang Qi, his own Gang Qi wouldn’t have been as fragile as tofu, shattered so easily.

Tian Wenshan was horrified. ’Why would a monster like this be so low-key?’

BAM!

The fist crashed into his palm. His Gang Qi dispersed, and a tremor ran through Tian Wenshan’s entire body. He felt a cataclysmic force surge from the fist, as if it would pulverize him into meat paste.

CRACK!

With a sharp snap, a shard of white bone pierced through his flesh. His hand had been shattered by the force of that single punch.

"Ahhh..."

A bloodcurdling scream escaped Tian Wenshan’s lips. His face contorted in pain, and in an instant, beads of sweat dotted his forehead as his body staggered backward uncontrollably.

A complete rout. This was an absolute rout.

It was as if he wasn’t fighting a Martial Artist of the same realm, but an expert who had already undergone Marrow Cleansing; they were on completely different levels.

"Junior Brother Xu, please be merciful!" Tian Wenshan cried out in terror.

His will had been completely crushed by that one punch, leaving him without a shred of fighting spirit.

Xu Yang strode forward. "Tell me, who is it now that doesn’t know what’s good for them?"