The Imperial Martial Pill Venerable

By the lake, spear light flashed as a black and a white spear clashed.

In the end, Muu Yao was so overwhelmed that he had no choice but to tap into his Earth Element Realm power, but even then, the situation didn’t improve much.

"Damn, to have this much combat power at the Spiritual Element Realm..." Muu Yao yelped, dodging the incoming spear and throwing his hands up in surrender. "Teacher Qin, you’re a monster! You’re clearly in the Spiritual Element Realm, but the strength of your True Essence is even greater than mine. And that strange Exotic True Essence of yours is just too much."

Qin Ya smiled faintly. "I had at least seven chances to put my spear to your neck, but you dodged every single one. With such powerful combat instincts, you’re truly a Martial Artist forged on the battlefield, just as I expected."

"Heh heh, if you’re not sharp on the battlefield, you can lose your life at any moment," Muu Yao said, giving his Snow Tiger Spear a flourish before putting it away. "But even so, I still lost to you, Teacher Qin. I accept my defeat completely."

A slight smile played on Muu Xue’s lips as she gently tucked a strand of hair back. "The great Young Marshal of the Red Flame Army losing to someone in the Spiritual Element Realm while he’s in the Earth Element Realm, and accepting it so readily... I wonder what your subordinates would think if they found out."

"Hah, when those guys in the Red Flame Army heard Teacher Qin saved Marshal Muu, every one of them got curious. If the Marshal wasn’t holding them back, they would’ve flooded Mingxin Academy by now," Muu Yao laughed. The thought gave Qin Ya a headache. The Red Flame Army was three hundred thousand strong. If they all really came looking for him, the scene would be... unimaginable.

CLAP, CLAP, CLAP...

At that moment, the sound of applause rang out. Qin Ya and the others looked over to see a handsome young man accompanied by an old servant in a gray robe walking slowly toward them.

"It’s him, Lu Chen!"

The three of them frowned. The newcomer was none other than Lu Chen, who had a history of bad blood with Qin Ya.

"Teacher Qin, your Spear Technique truly lives up to its reputation—it’s incredibly profound. And Major General Muu, your Spear Technique is fierce and deadly, carrying the momentum of Sweeping Thousand Soldiers. I am truly impressed," Lu Chen said with an uncharacteristic smile as he approached.

Lu Chen was smiling on the surface, but the hatred in his heart had only grown stronger.

When the news that Qin Ya was a Seventh-Grade Alchemist reached his family, they had ordered him to come and apologize, to try and mend the rift in their relationship. To him, this was the ultimate humiliation. He might be a prodigy of his family, but he wasn’t the only one. And compared to a Seventh-Grade Alchemist, he was simply insignificant.

"Well, well, if it isn’t Young Master Lu. Why are your words dripping with honey today?" Leng Ningshuang said, stepping out. She had just overheard Lu Chen’s praise for Qin Ya and sneered in disdain.

A dark glint flashed in Lu Chen’s eyes at her words, but his face remained fixed in a gentle smile. "Teacher Qin, there have been some misunderstandings between us in the past. I came today specifically to apologize to you. This is a small token of my sincerity. Please accept it."

As he spoke, Lu Chen retrieved two large chests from his Storage Ring.

He opened one of the chests, and a rich, medicinal fragrance drifted out. A flicker of surprise crossed Muu Xue’s eyes. Gazing at the contents, she said, "Cold Pear Blossoms, Earth Core Gentian Fruit, Four-Leaf Golden Star Lotus, Lake Heart Cloud Grass... Hah. What a grand gesture. Every one of these herbs is a Fifth-Grade Marvel. This token of sincerity is quite heavy indeed."

"Fellow Student Muu, you truly live up to your name as the Academy’s Alchemy Dao genius to be able to identify all these herbs. I’m impressed," Lu Chen said with a laugh. He then turned to Qin Ya. "Everyone knows that Teacher Qin is an Alchemist. After giving it some thought, I decided that only a gift of high-grade herbs would be to your liking."

’These herbs are indeed valuable,’ Qin Ya thought. ’While they aren’t enough to refine another batch of Seventh-Grade Elixirs, they’re more than sufficient for several batches of Sixth-Grade Elixirs. It’s unlikely Lu Chen could have procured these on his own. The Lu Family’s higher-ups must have given them to him to mend the rift with me.’

Muu Xue and the others watched Qin Ya, curious to see how he would handle the situation.

With an indifferent glance at Lu Chen, Qin Ya said, "Lu Chen, is there any point in forcing yourself like this? In your heart, you want to tear me to shreds, but on the surface, you have to act all refined. It must feel terrible, doesn’t it?"

Lu Chen’s face darkened, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. "What do you mean by that, Teacher Qin?" he said coldly. "I came here in good faith to apologize, yet you speak so insolently. Do you really think that I, Lu Chen, am so easily bullied?"

"Apologize?!" Qin Ya scoffed. "I can accept a sincere apology. But one like yours—where your mouth says one thing and your heart another, where you’re all smiles on the outside but are probably planning how to kill me by a thousand cuts on the inside—I can’t possibly accept that. Lu Chen, take your things and get out!"

Muu Xue and Muu Yao exchanged a glance, both wearing ’I knew it’ expressions. Though they hadn’t known Qin Ya for long, they felt they had a decent grasp of his character. With his temperament, how could he ever tolerate such a hypocritical apology from Lu Chen? The fact that he hadn’t already attacked was a show of restraint.

Muu Yao chuckled. "This fiery temper of his, I like it."

Muu Xue, who was standing nearby, added nonchalantly, "You should be thankful Teacher Qin didn’t treat you like this when you were apologizing earlier."

"That’s different! My apology was sincere. I’m not duplicitous like Lu Chen. How can you even compare the two?" Muu Yao said with frustration.

’That’s Brother Qin for you.’ 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

A wave of boundless adoration washed over Leng Ningshuang as she watched from the side.

In her eyes, every single thing Qin Ya did was full of charm.

"Qin Ya, are you determined to make an enemy of the Lu Family?" Lu Chen’s face was as dark as a thundercloud. His aura exploded forth, pressing down on the group.

But he saw no fear in them at all—only expressions of disdain.

It went without saying for Muu Yao and Muu Xue. They hailed from a family of generals; one was a battlefield veteran, and the other possessed talent that was no less than Lu Chen’s. How could they be intimidated by his aura?

As for Qin Ya, that went even more without saying. Even Nangong Wen’s aura couldn’t faze him. Lu Chen’s Cultivation might be decent, but the gap between them was enormous.

And Leng Ningshuang, a young woman not yet even at the Spiritual Element Realm, feared nothing as long as she was by Qin Ya’s side. To her, Lu Chen’s entire aura was less frightening than a single frown from Qin Ya.

"Teacher Qin, my young master has already conceded this much. Why must you be so unrelenting?" the old servant behind Lu Chen said slowly.

A hint of mockery touched Qin Ya’s lips. "Old man," he said, "I was wondering if you were going to stay silent forever."

The old servant looked somewhat surprised. "What do you mean, Teacher Qin?"

"Hmph. Are you going to continue the act? An Extraordinary Realm Martial Artist playing servant to a junior... you must feel so wronged," Qin Ya said coldly.

The old servant responded with a faint smile, then took a step forward, positioning himself directly in front of Lu Chen. Lu Chen shot Qin Ya a venomous glare before stepping back to stand respectfully behind the old man.

"Teacher Qin, you are truly remarkable. I am the Lu Family’s Sixth Elder, Lu Zhengyi."