Chapter 29
Chapter 29: Assassination
“You finally remembered to come see me?”
Night Demon hurried to the Agarwood Pavilion upon receiving word of Su Chen’s arrival . She stared at Su Chen with wide eyes for quite some time before recognizing him .
She no longer wore the black veil on her face and didn’t try to sneak up on him anymore .
Her face was delicate, attractive, and slightly pale . She had large eyes, a sharp chin, a slightly tilted nose, and an oval face . However, in this time period, her facial structure was not actually admired much . Her face was one that was considered quite old-fashioned, but it was very much according to Su Chen’s tastes .
Ironically, when Night Demon took down her veil, Su Chen had disguised himself .
Su Chen sat in his own chair, calmly enjoying Night Demon’s beautiful appearance when angered . “Why do you have to say it like that? If you put it that way, it makes it sound like I owe you a lot of money . ”
“Do you think you don’t owe us a lot of money? Don’t forget about all the materials that we supplied you with this past year,” Night Demon harrumphed, hands on her hips .
“I shouldn’t be in debt for that; those materials were my reward,” Su Chen replied .
“But you agreed before to rapidly increase your skill as an alchemist . But from the medicine you sent us previously, your rate of improvement isn’t actually that fast,” Night Demon bluntly replied .
“Whatever . You’re better off trying to deceive someone else . In the past year, I have already concocted medicine that can cure light injuries and a Tenacity Medicine . Is that really slow?”
After a period of effort, Su Chen was finally able to control the Tenacity Medicine . Passing this test indicated that he was now an official alchemist; he just hadn’t taken the official assessment yet .
This speed was genuinely pretty fast .
Night Demon harrumphed . “It’s much slower than your previous speed of improvement . ”
That was also true . Su Chen had begun to practice concocting the Tenacity Medicine almost half a year ago, and he had only recently broken through that barrier . Su Chen had improved the fastest early on and his speed recently had decreased .
If it had been someone else, it may have been normal for it to have taken half a year to concoct the Tenacity Medicine . However, the Immortal Temple had confirmed that Su Chen truly did possess a natural talent towards alchemy, so they considered half a year to be slow by those standards .
This implied that, in the past half year, his attention had been focused elsewhere, resulting in a decreased speed of improvement .
Their guess was in fact correct . Because Su Chen had been focused on studying Kaihuang’s Heaven most of the time, he was forced to halve the amount of time he spent studying alchemy .
The Immortal Temple had very keenly perceived this point, so they sent Night Demon to encourage him to speed up .
Medicines and their ingredients were split into multiple tiers: common, uncommon, rare, legendary, and divine . Alchemists were ranked corresponding to the ingredients they could use: Novice, Qualified, Master, Distinguished, and Legendary . Alchemists in the same tier also had different levels of skill .
The Spirit-Sobering Medicine was a rare-tier medicine, so under normal circumstances, only a Master Alchemist could concoct it . If an alchemist specifically focused on concocting that medicine alone, a highly skilled Qualified Alchemist might be able to concoct it .
The Corpse Spirit Flower was a legendary ingredient . Using a legendary ingredient to concoct a rare medicine was somewhat wasteful . Thus, it was understandable why Master Feng had been so against the idea .
Su Chen used a year to become an official alchemist . His speed was not slow, but he was still at least one tier and a half away from becoming a highly skilled Qualified Alchemist .
This tier and a half couldn’t be bridged within two years . It would require a lot of studying to improve himself . It was impossible to do without sufficient time, which explains the Immortal Temple’s urgency .
Su Chen sipped his tea and then calmly said, “I ran into an issue lately, which has interfered with my studies for a bit . That’s the main reason I’m here . After we take care of this issue, I should have more time to study alchemy . ”
Night Demon harrumphed . “I knew this would happen, but Su Chen, don’t try this nonsense again . These are separate matters . No matter how anxious we are, we won’t do something for you for free . ”
“Hm? When did you become smart?” Su Chen pretended to be shocked .
“Of course!” Night Demon proudly jutted out her chin . However, her next sentence exposed herself . “Sir Sang knew that if you came to find me, it wouldn’t be with anything good . More than likely, you would have some issue that you needed our help resolving . Thankfully, he informed me of this beforehand . ”
Su Chen was speechless .
Perhaps because she knew she had said too much, Night Demon stuck out her tongue cutely . Then, she asked, “Hey, so what do you need our help with? If it’s not a big issue, I can help you . ”
Su Chen felt much more relaxed when Night Demon sounded genuinely interested . He laughed, “It’s not a big deal . There’s just a few unassuming brats bothering me . ”
“How powerful are they?”
“They’re the same as me, in the lower layers of Qi Drawing . ”
“You can’t deal with them on your own?”
“There are lots of them . A few days ago, they even ganged up on my friend six-on-one . Thankfully, my friend was able to escape, killing two and gravely injuring one in the process . I’m guessing that because of this setback, they will send even more powerful individuals to help out . I don’t want to fall victim to this scheme of theirs . If possible, I would prefer to strengthen their experience of failure so that I can teach them a few more lessons . ”
“I can find two Qi Drawing cultivators at high layers to help you out . ”
“That’s not enough . ” Su Chen shook his head . “I need at least three high-layer Qi Drawing cultivators and two Blood Boiling cultivators . ”
Night Demon was stunned . “Aren’t you overestimating them a bit?”
“They are members of Bloodline Nobility Clans and they are the elites of the Hidden Dragon Institute . Regular Qi Drawing cultivators are no match for them, unless the Immortal Temple believes that their elites are stronger than those of the Hidden Dragon Institute . Otherwise, it’d be best to suppress them by rank . ”
Night Demon couldn’t say anything .
The Hidden Dragon Institute had gathered the entire country’s best cultivators . Of all the Qi Drawing Realm cultivators, the strongest definitely attended the Hidden Dragon Institute . Even the first-year students couldn’t be underestimated .
Night Demon gently whispered a few sentences into her communication bracelet, then reported, “Ten times their base value . Everything on the targets’ bodies belong to the people who attacked them . ”
The price this time was much higher than the previous job regarding the Shadow Mountain Troops, but it was still reasonable .
Su Chen nodded his head . “That’s fine, but I want them captured alive . ”
Night Demon whispered a few more sentences, then replied, “Fifteen times the base value . ”
Capturing people was much harder than killing them, which was why the price had increased .
Su Chen nodded his head . “Of course . ”
As long as he achieved his goal, money was of no importance .
After concluding their negotiations, Su Chen and Night Demon chatted for quite some time . Finally, Night Demon was preparing to say goodbye .
Su Chen asked, “Right, where do you live?”
“In the outskirts of the southern region . ”
“It happens to be in the same direction I’m going in . Let’s go together . ”
“Okay,” Night Demon replied with a smile .
After leaving the Agarwood Pavilion, the two of them headed towards the outskirts of the city, laughing as the walked .
After leaving the city, the two of them walked for awhile before reaching a fork in the road . Su Chen said, “Alright, we’ll be separating from here on out . I’ll see you later . ”
“See you later . ”
After saying goodbye, Su Chen left Night Demon and began heading towards the Hidden Dragon Institute . He hadn’t been walking for long, however, when the shrill screech of metal on metal suddenly reached his ears .
The sound was very quiet . If Su Chen hadn’t been blind for three years and possessed a frighteningly sensitive hearing, he might not have heard it .
The noise seemed to be coming from the direction that Night Demon was headed .
“Not good!” Su Chen’s expression changed . He ran like the wind back in the direction he had come from, using the Snaking Mist Steps to its absolute limit .
By the time he got there, a black-clothed person with a veil over their face had already sent Night Demon flying with a palm strike .
Night Demon was tossed into the air as she spit out a mouthful of blood . The black-clothed person flew into the air, their short sword stabbing towards Night Demon . This strike was both fast and vicious .
Whoosh!
A few leaves shot towards the black-clothed person, whistling through the air . Su Chen had used the Flying Flower Hands to timely block that attack .
The black-clothed person was forced to divert their blade, stabbing out three times to pierce all three leaves . Their attacks were extremely accurate .
A moment later, an enlarged Erupting Firebird soared forth .
Su Chen used the fully strengthened Erupting Firebird in order to protect Night Demon .
The strengthened Erupting Firebird was about to swallow up the black-clothed person, when in that instant the black-clothed person’s figure suddenly flashed . The attacker dissolved into a strange light, as if they had disappeared within the moonlight . Their entire body had seemingly become ethereal .
The enlarged Erupting Firebird flew right through the black-clothed person’s body and then disappeared .
Su Chen was stunned by this turn of events . In any case, his interference had saved Night Demon from danger . As soon as she landed on the ground, she retreated to Su Chen’s side .
The two of them teamed up to face the black-clothed person .
The black-clothed person knew that they had missed their opportunity . While Su Chen stood side by side with Night Demon, the attacker stared deeply into Su Chen’s eyes .
Under the moonlight, their gaze was clearly one of rage .
The black-clothed person’s figure flashed and disappeared . Their speed was incredibly quick, not at all below Su Chen’s .
After scaring the black-clothed person away, Su Chen let out a sigh of relief .
He turned around and glanced at Night Demon as he asked, “What was that all about?”
Night Demon was still unsettled . “I don’t know . Not long after we separated, that person suddenly appeared to attack me . ”
“You don’t know?” Upon hearing this, Su Chen laughed .
Night Demon couldn’t understand why Su Chen was laughing . “Why are you laughing?”
Su Chen replied, “As an assassin, you were the target of an assassination attempt…… Makes for quite an interesting development . ”
Night Demon’s face darkened .
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