Chapter 82: The Struggle for the Elixirs (Part 1)

“No, no one has bullied me…” Che Wuyou’s gaze was complicated as he stared at Ye Hongyu, his heart wavering restlessly. How should he voice the deepest doubt that had lingered in his heart for years? Why could Ye Hongyu be so selfish? Why had she ignored him all these years, showing not the slightest concern for his life or death? Had she truly erased the fact that she ever bore a child like him?

If he didn’t get a clear answer, he feared he would never find peace in this lifetime—never find true happiness.

Ye Hongyu looked at Che Wuyou’s hesitant expression, her confusion only growing. This child clearly had something important to say to her. What was it that he needed to express? Watching him look so wronged, as if he’d suffered a great grievance, her heart suddenly trembled. She must have seen this child before—perhaps there was a deep connection between them.

Especially that aggrieved look—Ye Hongyu found it increasingly familiar. Had she overlooked something important? Gripping Che Wuyou’s hand tightly, she said, “Child, if you have something to say, just say it. If there’s any way I can help you, I will not hesitate.”

“You… do you still remember…” Her words were the last straw for Che Wuyou—he could no longer suppress his pent-up grievance. It burst out of him, “A few years ago, someone named—”

“Madam, Miss Xian’s illness has worsened again. She looks to be in terrible pain and keeps calling for you. Please, you must come quickly!” A maid stood at the doorway, wiping her tears as she cried to Ye Hongyu.

“What… Xian’er… what’s happened to her now…” Ye Hongyu’s body trembled violently. Hadn’t her condition improved a bit when she left? Ye Hongyu was suddenly frantic. Why was fate so cruel? Why wasn’t she the one afflicted? Why did misfortune always seek out her child?

“Child, wait here at the Che estate for a moment. I’ll return to you as soon as I’ve seen to her.” Ye Hongyu looked at Che Wuyou with a regretful expression, clearly distracted.

Hearing this, Che Wuyou’s heart twisted with a cold, bitter smile and an inexplicable sense of loss. Ye Hongyu didn’t even have time to hear a few words from him? Who was this Miss Xian she spoke of? At the mention of her illness, Ye Hongyu transformed instantly. When he had been ill, she was never so anxious, never so concerned, never so frantic. Was it true, then, that in her eyes, he wasn’t even worth as much as an outsider?

In an instant, Che Wuyou seemed to understand everything. He abruptly pulled his small hand from Ye Hongyu’s grasp and quickly stepped back. “Madam Che, I am filthy—filthy all over. You’d better keep your distance, lest you soil your clothes.” With that, he turned away, giving Ye Hongyu no chance to stop him.

At the moment Che Wuyou turned, a strange pain gripped Ye Hongyu’s heart. Something precious seemed to be slipping further and further from her grasp…

Ye Hongyu stood there in a daze for a moment. Why did this child’s manner and tone so resemble Wuyou’s? She shook her head bitterly, realizing she was overthinking things again. With a sigh, she remembered Xian’er’s illness had worsened… After one last, bewildered glance in the direction Che Wuyou had left, she hurried back into the Che estate.

Che Wuyou’s steps grew slower and slower. He wished so desperately that Ye Hongyu would come after him, even if only for a few steps—he would have stopped, would have stayed… Even if he was being willful, even if he was only acting spoiled, all he wanted was a little bit of that gentle concern. He was so afraid of walking into the unknown darkness alone, so afraid of drifting further and further away.

For a moment, he turned his head and saw Ye Hongyu’s hurried figure disappearing into the Che household. Unexpectedly, a pang of jealousy seized him—for this woman named Xian’er who had come to steal his mother away, to take the love that should have belonged to him.

Staring in the direction of the Che family estate, resentment flared hotter and hotter in Che Wuyou’s heart. Red light flickered in his eyes, his face twisted with rage, like a god of slaughter reborn. “Kill them all—there’s not a single good person in the Che family. If they make me suffer, I’ll slaughter them. If they’ve become an obsession on my path to immortality, I’ll sever them and perfect my supreme Dao.”

A torrent of murderous intent surged through him, making his thoughts chaotic. He shook his head desperately. No, no, absolutely not—this cursed green medicinal force… Che Wuyou pounded his head with his fists in a frenzied attempt to dispel the urge to kill, but the rage inside only made his skull feel like it might burst.

He endured with difficulty as the green energy in his dantian surged like rippling jade waves, battering his body again and again. He seemed to be filled with an unprecedentedly powerful true energy, his skin swelling with the force until it glowed blood-green.

Suddenly, atop a distant hill behind Che Wuyou, a young figure appeared out of nowhere. A wicked smile played on his lips, and his gaze seemed to pierce the vast distance, landing directly on Che Wuyou.

“I can sense the aura of the Completion Pill. Could it be that this boy is the one who took it…? Finally, I’ve found him ahead of the others. All my careful calculation wasn’t in vain.” The young man’s evil smile deepened as he prepared to fly toward Che Wuyou.

“Wait—am I mistaken? I sense a faint trace of the Heavenly Demon Pill as well. How could such a supreme elixir exist in a remote place like this?” He looked around, confused, then impatiently crossed his legs and began to divine on the mountaintop. The Heavenly Demon Pill far surpassed the Completion Pill in rank—it was useless to cultivators on the Daoist path, but to those who followed the demonic path, it held a fatal allure.

This young man was none other than Li Ruohan, the chief disciple under the Vajra King. After the incident at Tianshan Sword Sect, where the two chief elders Xie Changfeng and Lu Qian, together with the battered protectors Gao Yanzhong and Bai Shuanghe, suffered at Li Ruohan’s hands, the four top experts vowed to join forces and wash away their disgrace, hoping to restore the prestige of Tianshan Sword Sect.

The four experts, confident in their combined strength, believed that with their united powers few in the world could escape their assault. But confidence was one thing—reality another. Against their combined assault, Li Ruohan was unfazed, wielding his demonic sword with ease and still suppressing the four elders of the Tianshan Sword Sect.

This scene nearly made the four, so proud of their strength, cough blood in rage. More infuriating still, as Li Ruohan departed he smiled wickedly and taunted them: “That old fool Bai Moyan must have been kicked in the head by a donkey, sending you four useless wretches to attack me. It’s clear the Tianshan Sword Sect’s luck has run dry. If Bai Moyan himself had come, he might have survived a few moves, but after a hundred exchanges even he would be dead…”

“I have more important matters to attend to today than killing you all. Consider your lives spared for now—run while you can, before I change my mind.” With those words, Li Ruohan swaggered off, ignoring the ashen-faced Tianshan Sword Sect elders.

On the mountaintop where Li Ruohan sat, the winds shifted and clouds churned, but he cared nothing for the spectacle he’d created. For the Heavenly Demon Pill, even if the commotion gave away the Completion Pill’s location, it would be worth it. With the Heavenly Demon Pill’s help, breaking through to the Enlightenment Realm would no longer be out of reach. For the sake of the Enlightenment Realm—he would risk everything!

Dark demonic clouds roiled over Li Ruohan’s mountaintop, thunder rumbling endlessly. His hands moved ceaselessly, conjuring scenes in the air before him. Damn it, even in a remote region like Jizhou, such a heaven-defying elixir as the Heavenly Demon Pill could appear. According to his calculations, he soon found traces of the pill and couldn’t help but grin wickedly. If he could obtain it, even the Enlightenment Realm might be within his grasp.

With hands flying, Li Ruohan tracked the faintest thread of the pill’s aura—he would find it soon, so very soon. A mad light flashed in his eyes. But just at that critical moment, a bolt of demonic lightning crashed down from the heavens like a falling star, suppressing Li Ruohan with overwhelming force.

In an instant, the entire mountaintop where he sat was engulfed in thunder and lightning.

A long while after the storm, a torn and battered figure slowly crawled up from the scorched earth. His body was blackened, smoke curling from his flesh.

Li Ruohan was clearly furious. Shaking his fist at the sky, he cursed for a long while before muttering, “Damn it, the Heavenly Demon Pill really is the pinnacle of earth-level elixirs. Even divining its location is so difficult. I was on the verge of success and that wretched heavens sent a thunderbolt to strike me down… Fine, if fate cannot be revealed, and the heavens deny me clarity about the Heavenly Demon Pill, I’ll settle for the Completion Pill first.”

“After all that commotion, it won’t be long before others come to investigate. I’d better get moving.” With a wicked smile, Li Ruohan shot into the sky.

But at that very moment, ghostly figures surged from all directions around Che Wuyou, shooting toward him like lightning. The quickest among them were the four chief elders of the Tianshan Sword Sect, followed closely by the Bai brothers of Tianshan.

Clearly, many powers had converged on this place. As they rushed toward Che Wuyou, each seemed wary of the others—especially the Tianshan Sword Sect, whose members visibly changed expression at the sight of Li Ruohan.