Chapter 756: Alchemist
Suxue was being insufferable, and that angered Long Chen. Long Chen opened the door with a creak and stared at her coldly. The way he emerged without a sound and that cold glare scared Suxue.
But she quickly thought to herself with both anger and embarrassment, That jerk is only at the Fifth Earthly Martial Stage. He’s far below my level. Why am I afraid of him?
With that thought, she grew brave once more and glared at him equally coldly. “It’s good you’ve come out. I thought you would hide inside like a cowardly tortoise!”
“Big Sister, how could you talk like that?!” Suyan was furious too. She stood next to Long Chen and gently tugged at his sleeve. She said to Long Chen tiredly, “Big Brother, I couldn’t stop her. I’m sorry …”
“It’s fine.” It did not matter how upset Long Chen was. When he saw the obedient little girl, he was not so angry anymore. But Suxue really was like a troublesome housefly. Long Chen had not bothered her at all, yet she kept pestering him.
What did she want now?
Long Chen looked at the person standing next to Suxue. He looked similar in age to Long Chen, but his true age was unknown. As Long Chen studied the young man, he was also doing the same to Long Chen.
This youth’s looks and aura were similar to Bai Lan’s. His face was pale and he was tall and thin with a chilling quality. However, he was not related to Bai Lan. He merely had a similar air to him, and his looks were not too far off. If Bai Lan could have such a beautiful pair of daughters, then it was natural that he was better-looking than this person, though this guy was not ugly either.
It seemed like the men of the Demon clan had similar airs to Bai Lan too. Cold and pale. This was an outstanding feature of this youth. However, Long Chen also sensed a burning fire beneath his cold exterior.
Still staring at Long Chen, the youth said in his slightly hoarse voice, “Princess Xue, is he the person you were talking about?”Suxue nodded and said, “That’s him. What do you think?”
The youth did not reply. He looked at Suyan and said, “Princess Yan’er, come here and let me see you.”
Suyan glanced at Long Chen, then she nodded and said, “Alright … Brother Situ.”
Then she went up to the youth. She seemed to be afraid of him, so she did not dare stand close. She stood one meter away and peered at the cold youth fearfully.
Long Chen suddenly recalled that Suyan had once told him about a young person named Situ Yu in the Demon clan. Since she called him ‘Brother Situ,’ this was him.
Situ Yu inspected Suyan for a while with furrowed brows. He approached her and touched her gently several times. Of course, he did not touch anywhere inappropriate, only checking her arms, cheeks, and other body parts that weren’t intimate. After a long time, Suyan could not stand it and backed several steps away. He finally stopped and looked at Suyan quizzically. “Princess Yan’er, there’s nothing wrong with your body. How do you know that you’ll age in ten days? You’re completely fine now.”
“But Big Brother says I will,” said Suyan, confused.
“Could you have been tricked?” asked Situ Yu with a frown. There was a cold flash in his eyes as he shot a look at Long Chen.
“No way! Father believes Big Brother too!” Suyan said hurriedly. She backed several steps away to Long Chen’s side and continued, “Now, Big Brother will be staying at my place. If anything happens to me in ten days, he will help. Big Brother is a very good alchemist!”
“Is that so?” Situ Yu straightened his back. He was the only alchemist in Heavenly Wood City, but now another one had arrived. This newcomer was only at the Fifth Earthly Martial Stage too, and when he saw how close Suyan was with him, he was privately unhappy. He eyed Long Chen for a while, then said mockingly, “Where did this swindler come from? He’s calling himself an alchemist while looking like that? What do you have that will prove you are an alchemist? Show me a pill.”
“Yeah! You can’t even show us a single pill. How could you prove that you’re an alchemist?” Suxue had the lead now. She eyed Long Chen suspiciously. Even though Bai Lan trusted him, she was not assured enough to put her sister’s life in a stranger’s hands. And this stranger had been rude to her too, so she did not find him likable at all.
“I don’t have to prove I’m an alchemist to you guys, do I?” Long Chen asked mildly.
“Hmph! I think you’re just pretending!” responded Suxue.
“There is no need to argue with us. As long as you can show us something to prove that you are an alchemist, we will let you participate in Princess Yan’er’s matters. If not, how could we rest easy?” Situ Yu said matter-of-factly.
After a pause, he said, “To become an alchemist, the first thing one must do is condense their core fire. Let me see your core fire, and I won’t say anything else.”
He was aware that Bai Lan seemed to place importance on Long Chen. Other, he would have tossed someone at Long Chen’s cultivation level off Heavenly Wood City a long time ago. He would not have even entertained him.
Seeing as Long Chen still did not react, he looked at Long Chen, and then held out his right hand. When he opened his right palm, a small, emerald-green flame appeared. It danced and flickered, emitting intense heat. Situ Yu flaunted his green flame in front of Long Chen’s eyes for a while, then put it away and said, “Enough with the nonsense. Just show us your core fire.”
“No way! Big Brother wouldn’t want to show you guys anything.” Suyan knew that Long Chen was a fake alchemist, so she quickly refuted it. However, she was young and did not know how to lie. Her rebuttal worsened the situation even more. In reality, if Long Chen was truly an alchemist, he would not have minded showing them his core fire.
“Long Chen, is it time for your lies to finally be exposed? I can see that you’re a fake alchemist. You can’t even show us your core fire, yet you want to save my sister. If my father learns of this, he will never let you go! Situ Yu, let’s go. Let’s go tell my father now.” When Suxue saw that Long Chen could not show them his core fire, she was relieved. Finally, she had evidence to bring to her father. She was still indignant about being reprimanded twice before.
“Big Sister, don’t be like this …” Suyan panicked and wanted to cry. She knew that her sister didn’t used to be like this. She cared too much, so it made her appear like she was making trouble out of nothing.
Unfortunately, her words could not persuade Suxue to stay.
“Wait,” Long Chen said.
Suxue and Situ Yu turned around. Suxue looked at him and asked, “What else do you want to say, liar?”
“Didn’t you guys want to see my core fire? That’s a simple request,” said Long Chen, then he held up his right palm.
“Big Brother?” Suyan looked puzzled. She knew that Long Chen could never have core fire. What was he doing now?
To her surprise, a small, blood-red flame burst from Long Chen’s palm. The flame burned fiercely, and unlike Situ Yu’s pitiful green flame, Long Chen’s flame looked fierce and more powerful.
“That … That …” After they saw the flame in his palm, Suxue and Situ Yu looked at each other, stunned. When Long Chen put away the blood-red Golden Crow Flame, both of them stood in stunned silence before asking, “How is that possible? How could you have core fire?”
“Of course he does. As I said before, Big Brother is a powerful alchemist.” Suyan was extremely relieved. The other two were so adamant on making accusations against him, but now that Long Chen had produced the core fire, it was like a slap to their faces.
Of course, Suyan was still privately puzzled. Long Chen wasn’t an alchemist, so how could he have core fire?
There was nothing Situ Yu and Suxue could say. Even Suxue started to wonder if she had been wrong. What if Long Chen really had a way to save her sister? And that she was looking at a gentleman through a selfish lens? Even her wise father had chosen to trust him, then even reprimanded her for her behavior. If Long Chen didn’t actually have a solution, why would Bai Lan do that?
From another angle, if Long Chen really was her sister’s savior, and yet she kept obstructing his work and made his life difficult … What if he ran off in anger? Wouldn’t she have harmed her sister?
With that thought, Suxue started to become afraid.
However, Situ Yu was still unconvinced. He calmed himself and said coldly, “Having core fire doesn’t mean you are a good alchemist. Materials, knowledge, core fire, and many factors are crucial to becoming a powerful alchemist. I do not believe that you can produce good medicine with just Fifth Earthly Martial Stage essence. Why don’t we make a bet?”
“What do you want to bet on?” Long Chen was never one to be afraid of bets, especially when he would definitely win.
“There are ten more days. I can refine an anti-aging pill as well. If Princess Yan’er really has a problem then, we shall compete to see whose pill can make her recover!” Situ Yu said coldly.
“Don’t you think involving someone’s life in a bet is immoral?” Long Chen did not agree.
He truly was very repulsed by this. He only wanted to use his blood to save a girl. There was no need for it to become a bet. The fact that Situ Yu would do this was disrespectful to Suyan.