Translated by: Zryuu

Edited by: b.u.t.ter

—

Yan Tianhen stared at Lin Xuanzhi expectantly, hoping that Duan Yuyang would be able to write his surname backwards from now on.

However, contrary to his wishes, Lin Xuanzhi really was broke.

He was really generous with his expenditure in refining 89 wrist guards. Just their raw materials alone had cost him a lot, so in addition to how he always wanted to give Yan Tianhen whatever good equipment he crafted, he had accidentally squandered all his fortune away over time.

Yan Tianhen got such a huge fright from Lin Xuanzhi's silence that his heart almost stopped.

"Dage, so we're really penniless again?" Yan Tianhen asked.

Duan Yuyang's mouth twitched. What did he mean by 'again'?

Lin Xuanzhi felt like he had let Yan Tianhen down. He lifted his hand up and rubbed Yan Tianhen's head. "Don't worry, we'll have money soon enough."

"When?"

"After tomorrow ba." Lin Xuanzhi said, "After tomorrow, all kinds of commissions will probably start pouring in. When that happens, I'll collect a deposit first to sc.r.a.pe through this period where we're poor."

Duan Yuyang gave him a thumbs up in resignation and sighed, "After living for so many years, this is my first time seeing such an amazing craftsman who could turn himself into such a poor b.u.m."

Lin Xuanzhi glanced at him askance, "Do you think I've seen a second one?"

Duan Yuyang, "…"

Well, he's pretty self-aware, isn't he?

Yan Tianhen stroked his chin pensively, his clear gaze slowly becoming more and more firm, as if he had made up his mind on something.

At night, Lin Xuanzhi had just returned to the inn when he saw Su Mo sitting in the reception pavillion on the first floor of the inn. Don't ask him how he knew Su Mo was there to find him, he had such a troublesome son after all.

"Senior Su." Lin Xuanzhi took the initiative to greet Su Mo.

Su Mo put down his tea cup and studied Lin Xuanzhi. "I haven't seen you in a few days but nephew Xuanzhi's complexion looks even better now."

Lin Xuanzhi's soul force had been becoming stronger day by day, so his sickly pale face caused by the damage to his Dantian Qi sea had taken a turn for the better as well. Although his complexion didn't look ruddy enough, it wasn't much different from an ordinary person either.

Lin Xuanzhi smiled. "Yes. I've eaten quite good food recently as well to help my body recuperate."

"From the looks of it, Ah Hen has been taking good care of you as well." Su Mo smiled as he looked at Yan Tianhen with a kind look on his face.

Yan Tianhen, who had been called out, rubbed his nose a little guiltily. He shyly s.h.i.+fted closer to Lin Xuanzhi, "I didn't do anything though."

Su Mo looked at how Yan Tianhen and Lin Xuanzhi stood together in perfect harmony and felt very comforted. Although he didn't know if his old friend was dead or alive, if he were to know that his sons were even closer than biological siblings, he would definitely feel at ease.

Then thinking about his family's stubborn Yuan Tianwen…

"How is Young Master Yuan doing?" Lin Xuanzhi asked with concern.

Although he didn't mind much about Yuan Tianwen's situation, in front of Su Mo — a senior who was quite a good person — he still had to express his concern.

Su Mo waved his hand and sighed. "His realm fell by one level and his internal injuries are more severe. He's still unconscious now, but it shouldn't be too much of a problem."

Lin Xuanzhi was extremely surprised. "How could his realm fall after three whips?"

Now that was rather serious. The fall of a realm isn't like anything else; once it falls, it'll be very difficult to raise back up again. As for Lin Xuanzhi's decision in the beginning to abolish his own realms, it was only because he had experience acc.u.mulated over a thousand years in refining his soul, so he cultivation was but an easy task for him. His Dao mind was extremely stable as well, so he was bold enough to try.

However, Yuan Tianwen was different.

Su Mo held his forehead a bit worriedly. "It doesn't have much to do with the whips. Tianwen himself doesn't have a stable Dao mind. He has too many worries piled up in his heart, and he has been quite uneasy recently, so the fall in realm wasn't really a surprise. This can't be blamed on anyone else."

Yan Tianhen couldn't help but look at Lin Xuanzhi. "Dage, does this have to do with Yuyang Gege?"

Lin Xuanzhi glanced at Su Mo.

Su Mo put down his hand on his forehead and raised an eyebrow. He looked at Lin Xuanzhi, and said a little helplessly, "You don't have to conceal anything from me. I can more or less guess what had happened…"

Lin Xuanzhi said, "Brother Tianwen is still unconscious. Has Senior Su met Yuyang?"

"Do I even need to especially go and find Yuyang?" Su Mo waved his hand. "You look down on me too much. When Tianwen was unconscious, he kept repeating a name, and when I listened carefully, it was actually 'Yuyang'. Moreover, he had crippled Han Yuran — what great hatred could exist between these two? One would know after thinking about it a little."

Lin Xuanzhi couldn't help but think to himself, ginger truly does get spicier as it gets older. Su Mo is this incredible, so why didn't Yuan Tianwen inherit even a tiny bit of it from his Dad?

Su Mo felt quite a headache, "How did that stupid son of mine recognise the wrong person?"

Yan Tianhen nodded." Yeah, I think it's too stupid as well. He actually took such a long time to figure it out."

Lin Xuanzhi looked at Yan Tianhen. "Ah Hen, be more discreet with your words."

Yan Tianhen immediately covered his mouth.

Su Mo was so amused by Yan Tianhen's forthright words that he almost laughed. He smiled, "Ah Zhan really found an amusing younger brother for you. With such an amusing person beside you, your days should be pretty interesting."

Lin Xuanzhi smiled. "Yes, Ah Hen is my precious treasure."

Su Mo sighed again inwardly. This really was a pair of sons that would make one feel at ease and rouse the envy of others.

He suddenly felt like having another child.

He would discuss it with Yuan Zheng when he gets back.

"Senior Su, do you need me to arrange a meeting with Duan Yuyang for you?" Lin Xuanzhi took the initiative to ask.

But he didn't expect Su Mo to actually shake his head. "Before Tianwen was taken away, he especially instructed his juniors not to tell me about this. He probably doesn't want me to interfere in the matter between him and Yuyang. I'm here to help him placate Profound Sky sect. As for the matter regarding Yuyang, he has to solve it himself."

This coincided with what Lin Xuanzhi was thinking as well. This was a matter for the younger generation after all; if they were to make their elder lower themselves plead for them, it would seem insincere.

Lin Xuanzhi once again felt Su Mo's maturity and wisdom, so he couldn't help but sigh that Yuan Tianwen didn't inherit his Dad's IQ.

Su Mo left Lin Xuanzhi and Yan Tianhen a bottle of pills purportedly refined by one of his alchemist friends. Eating them could get rid of impurities in the body, so it was definitely a good item.

Su Mo gave Lin Xuanzhi another box of primary-level top-grade forged stones. After a cursory glance at the inside of the heavy box, there should be at least a hundred or so stones.

Lin Xuanzhi had wanted to refuse, but one can not reject a gift from an elder. After several rounds of pus.h.i.+ng it about back and forth, he had to accept it.

Su Mo came and left in such a hurry; he had merely spoken for a short moment before leaving.

Yan Tianhen's eyes were s.h.i.+ning. He sat on the bed as he counted the number of forged stones in the box and grinned from ear to ear. He would even laugh suspiciously from time to time, and the two tiger cubs were so frightened that they thought Yan Tianhen had been possessed. Both of them crouched as they glared at him vigilantly.

Yet Lin Xuanzhi sat at the table with his chin propped on his hand as he ruminated.

"99 stones ah Dage!" Yan Tianhen cried out excitedly. "Senior Su is really generous and rich. When Yuan Tianwen gave Han Yuran top-grade forged stones, he had only given him 50 then!"

Lin Xuanzhi looked at Yan Tianhen's innocent and excited face and couldn't help but laugh as he shook his head. "Little fool. Do you really think that these forged stones are that easy to get?"

Yan Tianhen was stunned. "Is something wrong?"

Lin Xuanzhi said, "What do you think Senior Su came here to do today?"

Yan Tianhen got off the bed and pulled a chair over to sit next to Lin Xuanzhi. "Didn't he say that he was here to see us?"

"He said that he's here to see us, and I believe that, but that was definitely not his only purpose." Lin Xuanzhi smiled. "Although he clearly said that he wouldn't help Yuan Tianwen and Duan Yuyang build bridges, he knows that we have a good relations.h.i.+p with Yuyang, so he wants us to help Yuan Tianwen."

"Ah?" Yan Tianhen opened his mouth wide, "But I couldn't tell at all."

"So, should we help or not?" Lin Xuanzhi asked.

"We can't ah." Yan Tianhen shook his head. "I'm someone with principles. Yuyang Gege treats me so well, I definitely won't help Yuan Tianwen cheat him."

Lin Xuanzhi glanced at the top-grade primary-level forged stones littered all over the bed and said lightly, "Then let's return all of that to Senior Su?"

"How could we do that? We've already accepted it, so how could we return it?" Yan Tianhen said all prim and proper, "Moreover, this is an expression of Senior Su's concern and love for us. How could we be so disrespectful as to refuse it?"

"So what does Ah Hen plan to do?" Lin Xuanzhi asked.

"We can just disclose Yuan Tianwen's condition to Yuyang Gege a bit ma." Yan Tianhen's eyes twinkled a little, "We're not putting in a good word for Yuan Tianwen anyway, so it's not considered betraying Yuyang Gege, right?"

Lin Xuanzhi fell silent and looked at Yan Tianhen. He said with great emphasis, "Ah Hen, I just realised that you actually have a great sense of propriety."

Yan Tianhen said seriously, "It's not like I'm Yuan Tianwen, I won't be that silly."

Lin Xuanzhi couldn't help but want to laugh. From the looks of it, they had reached a consensus regarding Yuan Tianwen's IQ. Although Yuan Tianwen himself was a very talented leader, he really was stupid when it came to issues regarding relations.h.i.+ps.

The compet.i.tion would continue the next day, so Yan Tianhen quickly urged Lin Xuanzhi to return to his room to rest.

During this period, in order to pull the wool over other people's eyes, Yan Tianhen didn't dare go to Mt. Xi to look for Ling Chigu. Fortunately, Ah Bai and Hu Po weren't easily discoverable, so they could go and check up on Ling Chigu in his stead.

At night, Yan Tianhen got up from bed and sat cross-legged on the ha.s.sock. He took out the Flaming Furnace and his eyes shone brightly in the dark.

Although he had never succeeded in refining a pill in the past, as of this moment, a sudden and mysterious realisation seemed to dawn on him. He felt as if he would succeed if he were to try again.

Yan Tianhen was full of expectations. He urged the Qi and alchemist fire in his body while taking out the remaining spiritual plants from his storage bag and throwing them into the furnace.

The flames in the furnace raged fiercely; the wisps of the wood and fire attribute Qi were introduced into the furnace. The furnace rotated in mid air, and three strands of faint green and red Qi entered the furnace smoothly from three of its openings.

Yan Tianhen felt like he could make it this time.

And thus, in the middle of the night, a deafening explosion suddenly erupted within the silent west side of the city. If it wasn't because Yunlai Inn was a high-end inn so there was adequate soundproofing and arrays to reduce impact on the walls outside each room, then the entire Yunlai Inn might have collapsed by now.

Everyone in the inn was awakened by the sudden blast.

—

Editor's Thoughts:
Su Mo: I want another child
LXZ: I hope this child inherits Su Mo's IQ this time…

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Fanart by the dear @wuming13 from discord

Our dear Lin Xuanzhi and Henhen on the left, and Leng Jixue on the right huhu

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