Chapter 415 - Assistent&Student
Lisa stared at Xuefeng for a short while, her eyebrows lifting with each of her new idea of a comeback before frowning after realizing its flaws that Xuefeng could exploit. Knowing the power Xiao Family had, once she become enemies with them, they could pull a lot of strings to hinder her carrier. After all, not many would want to offend them.
"You know that this is a blackmail? Do you think we can cooperate with such relationship?" Lisa asked, her eyes turning sharp, not bothered with his hand that was still holding onto her chin.
"It's not," Xuefeng quickly denied. "I want you to work properly without causing a ruckus every day. Choose. You are running out of time." Being stared by his gaze, Lisa felt naked, unable to hide her thoughts.
"Who are you?" She threw one last question, finding it hard to believe Xuefeng was just an assistant. With how he presented himself, he could easily act like the representative of the family.
Xuefeng only smiled and didn't reveal anything. "I'm just a simple men, born in a average family of workers who did their best to provide me with everything I needed to become a good man," Xuefeng described himself, for a moment recalling his parents from back on earth. Without them, he wouldn't be a person he is today.
Looking at Xuefeng's eyes, he didn't seem like he was lying. Lisa finally decided what to do.
"Fine, I agree. You are mine now and we start right away," Lisa called out as she grabbed Xuefeng's hand and pulled him after her, walking towards her mansion. "You listen to whatever I say, got it?"
"Sure, boss," Xuefeng smiled and agreed, letting her drag him inside. He only glanced at Xiao Feng on the way, giving him a signal to take care of everything else as he takes care of Lisa.
BAM.
The doors slammed after the two entered, leaving the other three outside. Jiao was frowning, not liking the fact that Xuefeng was alone with her sister, the General Manager was scared that he would be at fault once Xiao Feng's son-in-law gets injured under Lisa regime and Xiao Feng was deep in thought, wondering what he should tell others so they don't freak out.
"Mr. Xiao… Is it safe to leave Young Master with Miss Lisa? Many of our Alchemy Assistants were heavily injured during Miss Lisa's experiments..." The manager asked worriedly, already traumatized after taking care of Lisa for about a week.
"Xuefeng knows what he is doing. He wanted to study alchemy so this is a good chance for him," Xiao Feng replied simply, not giving any more details. "Provide them with anything they want. I'm leaving."
"Mr. Xiao, I will return with you and help the rest," Jiao quickly joined him, not wanting to be forgotten to which Xiao Feng nodded, leading the way.
Both her sister and Xuefeng ignored her so she had to find her own place.
———
Back in the new Liu Clan Palace, new visitors came a short moment after Xuefeng left to settle Lisa's matter. The moment they saw Manager Wu, they immediately bowed their heads and listened to her orders without questions. Although Xuefeng's parents didn't know about Manager Wu full origin, Xiao Yuying was more than knowledgeable about her and sent her greetings right as the two met.
"Little Wu! It's so nice to see you!" Xiao Yuying called out from afar and hugged her like an auntie who met her niece. "How many years it was when I last seen you. Must have been more that five, right?"
"Aunt Xiao, it was only six," Manager Wu returned the hug, treating her warmly, like a part of her family. "This time I returned for good. I will be Xuefeng's exclusive manager."
"Oh! Thats fantastic." Xiao Yuying exclaimed, knowing exactly what that meant. Having Xuefeng as her client, Manager Wu made a huge deal, swallowing both Xuefeng and his clan. "I'm happy for you. Xuefeng made a good choice."
Manager Wu only smiled, knowing that was correct before excusing herself, seeing that all the crates were already unloaded. "Aunt Xiao, I will leave for now, I will visit for tea later if I find time," she said before walking towards her men who were already waiting for her.
Xiao Yuying didn't mind that as she knew time was precious for people like Manager Wu. The girls and her daughters already left to help organize the palace but there was one that Xiao Yuying asked to stay behind.
"Yiren?" She called out to the blond beauty next to her that was patiently waiting. "What do you think of Auntie?"
Yiren blinked innocently and replied honestly, "I have nothing against you. Only father is a baddie who needs some work."
"Haha, true!" Xiao Yuying couldn't help but laugh in agreement. "He does need someone to temper him but he is not why I told you to stay behind. Can you guess why?"
"I have no idea," Yiren shook her head. When everyone was going to choose their rooms, Xiao Yuying came up to her and told her to stay. Being a kind lady, Yiren didn't reject her.
"Well, let me tell you," Xiao Yuying began explaining. "I noticed that you have a talent in you. Just like Xuefeng or your mother, you have a talent to be a leader in you. Despite being kind and gentle, you can still muster up some courage to fight back on your believes."
Xiao Yuying's words put Yiren into thinking, before hitting her with a proposal. "How about you study under me? I will teach you how to become a real supporting lady-leader. As someone who has been by your father's side this whole time as he created our family, I learned a lot. I can feel that you want to stay by Xuefeng's side without being just a side character. You want to influence his decisions instead of just following them. What do you think?"
As much as Yiren thought about it, she was momentarily interested but a slight uncertainty of why Xiao Yuying wanted to help her appeared in Yiren's mind. As if Xiao Yuying knew that from Yiren's expression, she spoke before Yiren even thought of a response.
"You probably wonder why I want to help you, right? Don't think too deeply into in. I know you all love Xuefeng and he loves you. The thing is, every successful man has a woman behind him who does things he doesn't want to do or simply doesn't know how. Both my daughters are already aware of what they want and they can fight for their believes. From my observation, you are more willing for compromises for Xuefeng's sake. If I can help you improve, I am helping them as well," Xiao Yuying explained further.
"Mhmm, I understand," Yiren acknowledged with a nod and shared her thoughts. "If my change can improve my relations with Xuefeng, I'm more than happy to learn but if I have to do anything that I consider inappropriate, then we will stop."
"So is that a yes?" Xiao Yuying asked to confirm and hearing Yiren's confirmation, she smiled, patting Yiren on the head.
"Follow me around today. I will teach you while showing you examples on the spot," Xiao Yuying wrapped their arms together and pulled Yiren with her.
Chapter 416 - Alchemy
Back in Lisa's mansion, Xuefeng was dragged all the way to her alchemy room, not stopping for a moment to show him around the mansion. Xuefeng still looked around and had a good first impression. Everything was clean and neat, sorted in the right order. For a second he thought their cooperation would be nice until he saw her lab.
Ultimate mess.
Vials with pills were scattered all over the place, various cauldrons as well as medical ingredients' boxes piled in the corner. The middle of her room was all burned, her wooden floor looking like a fireplace. If it was Xuefeng, he wouldn't be able to work in such a place.
Apparently, Lisa was the same as her first order correlated with the mess.
"As you are my assistant, you have to do whatever I want. Your first mission is to clean the mess inside this room. I need to make some precious pills so I need a clean environment," Lisa ordered as she showed the room with an open palm before turning around while attempting to leave. "I will come back in an hour, I want it all cleaned up."
Unfortunately, she couldn't even make one step as Xuefeng cut her way of exit with his arm. "Did all your assistants clean your mansion?" he asked curiously.
"Yes, why?" She nodded as if it was not a big deal and Xuefeng finally understood why it was so clean outside. He didn't reply to her question and instead turned her back in the direction of the messy room.
"I'm not going to clean this room. You will," Xuefeng said seriously. "I can at most help you."
Lisa blinked twice as if she heard wrong. "What did you say?" she asked to confirm.
Xuefeng smiled and repeated himself, his mouth opened wide so she could hear him clearly while showing her the act of cleaning with his hands, "YOU… WILL… CLEAN… THIS… ROOM… NOW—"
"Okay, okay! I heard you! Thats not the issue here!" Lisa shouted, cutting him off before he could finish. "I'm not cleaning anything! It's your job!"
Humph!
She grunted and stomped in disapproval. She was used to being spoiled and having her assistant do everything. No one was talking to her like Xuefeng did.
Xuefeng didn't care at all. He took a nearby chair while closing the doors and sat up right in front of them, preventing Lisa from leaving. "You won't leave until we are done cleaning. An alchemist should be organized else they will be lost in their mess. You have to learn some self-discipline," Xuefeng reprimanded her firmly.
"And what if I don't?! You can't keep me here forever!" Lisa called out her response, her voice still raised. It was the first time someone ever ordered her to do anything.
"Oh really?" Xuefeng asked back with a grin and closed his arms, cultivating as he waited. "Let's find out."
Two minutes passed and Lisa finally realized Xuefeng wasn't just playing. She was too stubborn to give in so she sat down on the floor, hugging her knees while staring daggers at him.
The room had no windows as the sunlight could ruin her experiments so she couldn't sneak out even if she wanted.
Another eight minutes passed, both sitting in complete silence until Lisa finally let out a sound. Or rather her body did, calling for food.
Growl…
"I'm hungry…" Lisa muttered, no longer as angry as before. She knew that Xuefeng didn't give a damn no matter how much she screams so she tried a softer approach.
Xuefeng only shrugged and replied, "The faster we start, the sooner you will eat."
To his surprise, Lisa stood up, rolled her sleeves and walked up to her desk, sorting the mess. "Are you going to help or you will just sit there?" she asked a moment after, glancing at him.
"Sure," Xuefeng nodded and helped her segregate stuff just as he promised. With her subtle lead of what went where, they quickly cleaned the whole room.
"Whoa, it has never been this clean before," Lisa said in amazement.
"Isn't it better like this?" Xuefeng asked but Lisa was already thinking about something else.
"I only did it for my food," Lisa barked and ran out of the room, coming back a minute later with a big slice of cake on her plate, munching on it happily.
"What pills can you make?" She asked out of blue, smile visible on her face as if she wasn't mad at him. Based on her expression, Xuefeng figured it had to be the food that changed her mood.
"Uhmm… Do you have any pill recipes? I don't think you have materials to make low ranked pills in here," Xuefeng bluffed as he looked around, having no idea how to do alchemy.
Lisa looked around her herbs and realized he was right but then thought of something, a grin appearing on her mouth. She pulled out a parchment from her storage ring and passed it to him. "This is the easiest pill recipe I have. If you can't even make it then you will be useless to me," She described casually and Xuefeng took a look what's written inside.
Dragon Fire Pill: Allows the user to gain the strength of a dragon for one hour.
Reading just the title and the description, Xuefeng immediately knew it wasn't a simple pill. Lisa had to be playing with him, but he didn't have the knowledge to confirm it.
'Don't ask me,' Drakos called out before he could ask. 'Just because it has word dragon in the name, it doesn't mean its related to us. Alchemist like to use our name to make anything sound powerful. Heh, I kind of understand them.'
Xuefeng didn't want to bother with him so he turned for her to the girls yet they also knew little about alchemy. Despite living for countless years, they were not omnipotent.
Lisa saw Xuefeng's frown and smiled, happy to have her revenge on him. "Here are the ingredients," She called out as ten boxes appeared on the ground in front of him. "Follow the recipe and begin. Open the boxes while surrounding them with your Spirit Qi else the air will ruin them."
Lisa gave him a little advice as she wasn't that cruel before sitting back on the chair, waiting for the show.
'Okay, it can't be that hard, right?' Xuefeng thought as he glanced at the recipe. He didn't want to give up before he even tried.
Melt all the herbs together under fire burning evenly from all sides, making sure they doesn't stick to each other before mixing it at the same time, condensing the pill.
'That's it?' Xuefeng checked the instructions and couldn't help but wonder if it was Lisa herself who wrote it. He wouldn't be surprised if she did.
Glancing down at the available cauldron, he didn't know what to do with it.
'Ah, fuck it. I will just do it myself. I can make my own cauldrons,' Xuefeng quickly decided, throwing away any unknown tools.
With a flick on his finger, Xuefeng surrounded the boxes with his Spirit Qi and all ten Spirit Herbs flew out of their boxes, hovering in front of him. They looked really fancy, glaring at him with a colorful pallet of its petals.
"My method is slightly different so don't freak out," Xuefeng warned.
Lisa only smirked. "Don't worry, I saw everything in the world of alchemy. If you can surprise me then I will eat my—" She acted like a master but when she saw Xuefeng create ten round fireballs surrounding the herbs, she stopped talking, observing his action closely.
Xuefeng followed the guide, melting the herbs evenly from all sides until each of them turned into liquid. Bringing all of it into one spot, he then mixed it all together until the color unified.
'Now condense!' He called out in his mind and applied pressure onto the liquid. 'Huh?'
Despite utilizing its bloodline to the max, he could not condense the liquid at all. It was still burning hot.
'Maybe I should cool it down first?' Xuefeng thought and immediately formed ten small balls the size of normal pills. Instead of fire, Xuefeng created an air bubble with wind spinning all around the liquid, essentially cooling it down until it became hard. He didn't know what else he could do so he cleaned the scene and showcased ten pills to Lisa.
"I'm done," He called out happily. "It took a while, sorry I made you wait." He spent more than five minutes which Xuefeng considered to be pretty long time, even if his pills were a failure.
Lisa stared at the ten pills in shock, signaling either a massive win or an expensive loss. Not helping him at all, Lisa put down her cake and shouted at him.
"Do you have any idea what have you done?!"
Chapter 417 - Teacher
Either he was successful and Lisa was just shocked or he failed completely. In this case, it unfortunately turned out to be the latter.
"You imbecile!" Lisa cried out, her eyes sharpening and eyebrows frowning. "You ruined the herbs! Do you even know alchemy?! It's not a simple melt, mix and cool down!"
Oof…
Xuefeng took a deep breath, not expecting such heated reaction from her. He already accepted that his guess could be wrong but it was still his first failure since a while.
She glanced at the pills and called out hurriedly, "Quickly give them to me! Maybe I can save them!" With one move she snatched all ten pills and lumped them all together.
Puff!
A blue flame burst out from her hand and she threw all ten pills into the fire, burning them directly on top of her hand. The pills momentarily heated up, even faster compared to Xuefeng fire method. When the liquid returned back to its melted form she sighed in relief.
"I can save it," She said determined and began condensing the pill, not splitting it into ten like Xuefeng did. Applying pressure with her Spirit Qi, the liquid turned smaller and smaller until it turned hard, reaching the size of Xuefeng's pill.
Bam!
The moment Lisa finished and canceled her flames, Xuefeng got hit by a wave of smells, messing up his nasal receptors. He sensed sweetness, sourness before a sharp smell hit him, forcing him to take a step back. Lisa wasn't affected by it at all, only observing and testing the pill.
She scraped the surface, getting a bit of powdery substance and tasted it with her pinky. She wasn't satisfied with the result, her face squinting and looking calm at the same time. There was no happiness in her.
"If I didn't act fast, you would ruin the process completely!" She scolded, not expecting Xuefeng to be so bad. "Based on my senses, fifty percent of the desired effects are gone. I only managed to recover half. Do you know how much money you just threw away? About five million!"
"…" Xuefeng didn't know what to say to that, knowing he fucked up really badly. He could tell her he knows nothing about alchemy and avoid this but the confidence in himself was not enough.
Lisa placed the pill in the storage and continued to fan the flames. "Is this the alchemist that Xiao Family gets me? A person who doesn't even know anything about alchemy? This is the basics of alchemy. You can't add water to the herbs else they will lose their medical values! I really want to know what idiot thought you alchemy," Lisa scolded as she wrapped her hands together.
Xuefeng could only shrug and own up to his mistake. "Actually I have no idea what I'm doing. I never studied alchemy. I thought I will try experimenting which was wrong of me to do. It is my bad for not telling you beforehand. I'm sorry," Xuefeng apologized sincerely, surprising Lisa with his words.
She looked at him blankly until she finally responded. "You don't know anything about alchemy…? Then why are you here?" She asked perplexed. If he didn't know anything, he would be useless to her.
She also felt bad for giving him such high end herbs. It was her goal to make him fail but it would mean something only if he knew what he was doing. With his lack of knowledge, its understandable he fails which doesn't give her the same satisfaction.
"I'm here cause you were creating problems for us and because I want to learn alchemy," he replied casually.
"What if I don't want to teach?" She asked back, finally knowing his real goal. "And who are us? Who are you exactly?"
Knowing she would find out sooner or later anyway, he exposed his identity. "I'm Xiao Feng's son-in-law and his partner in business. In other words, I'm your boss," he admitted. "I will pay that five million out of my own pocket later as it was my mistake."
He knew she would turn into stubborn lady if he tried to force her into anything so he chose a different method.
"I know I can't force you to teach me so I will give you a choice. If you want me gone, I will leave and find someone else to teach me. This way you will get your old life and change your assistants every day or week as you want. That is option number one. Either that or you can teach me alchemy and receive my favor. Pick between the two." Xuefeng presented her with her options.
"Thats it? Just one favor?" Lisa asked, not impressed by her choices. She compared it to all proposals she got over the years, cultivators proposing her the most rarest herbs they could find, palaces and even countries yet she always said no, not caring about them. Was a favor of the man in front of her more valuable?
"Yes. Thats it," Xuefeng nodded, confirming her question. Xuefeng could brag about his successes and quick cultivation but he just failed horribly which forced him to stay humble.
Lisa squinted her eyes, looking at him to somehow figure out any more details from his body. She had no knowledge of Xuefeng who even Ruler of the Realm can't do anything so that couldn't influence her decision.
Xuefeng didn't hurry her, only calmly looking in her direction but that only prolonged their stalemate.
"You will listen to whatever I say?" She finally spoke, asking deep in thought.
"Of course," Xuefeng agreed, her request belonging to obvious ones.
"You will bring me food and cakes too," She added, wanting to get as much as she could from him.
It wasn't a problem for Xuefeng so he quickly nodded and agreed once again, "I can arrange that."
Hearing she would get cakes was enough to buy her and she immediately began her lessons. "Fine, I will be your teacher. We will start right away," She said. "We will start from the basics. There is a lot of explaining so listen carefully."
Before he could say anything, Lisa was already explaining, forcing him to listen intensely.
At the same time, back in the Fate Organization's pocket realm, Saber Devil was actually in a really good mood, looking into the clouds while recalling the beautiful lady he saw in one medical house yesterday. Since then, he couldn't forget about her.
"Ah… Her blond hair and perfect body… Xiao Wen can't even compare… To think she was there the whole time and I didn't notice her," He sighed, feeling like he lost so much time without spending it with her.
"Ah… Lisa… I want to meet you again…" he muttered yet again under his nose.
Knock, knock!
His imagination was broken by the sudden knock to the doors but he wasn't mad, calmly inviting the person inside. It turned out to be rat who was providing him with all the news. He already forgot about Xiao Wen, thinking she couldn't compare to his delicate Lisa.
"Did you bring me news from my Lisa?" He spoke as if she was already his.
Unfortunately, the Rat didn't have good news. "Xuefeng is back in the capital! He returned today," He called out one of the better news first but Saber Devil didn't care, brushing it away. "I will take care of him later. Tell me about my Lisa. Did she accept my invitation for dinner?"
"Actually the two cases are connected. According to my sources, It turns out that Xuefeng visited Lisa today and he still didn't leave from her mansion. It has been more than an hour since he entered inside and still didn't leave. I'm afraid they must be friends…" Rat said everything in one breath and stepped back, afraid Saber Devil will get mad.
"Just friends…?" Saber Devil asked sharply, his mood momentarily worsened.
Rat wanting nothing else but for Xuefeng to die, he couldn't help but fan the flames. "I don't know about it… But it seems he is actually her boss after Xiao Family took control over medical houses… What if he forces her into something indecent…?" He theorized, giving Saber Devil some hints.
Just as he thought, Saber Devil didn't take it well and pulled out his saber, smashing it against the table which broke upon impact. "I will fucking murder him! Stealing all my girls!" He cried out, fire burning from his eyes and walked towards the doors, no longer caring about the rules.
"Follow me!" He bellowed and kick opened the doors, leaving right after.
'Xuefeng is done for now, hahaha,' The rat laugh in his mind, following after his new boss.
Chapter 418 - Who Are You?
Hearing the summary of basic alchemy, Xuefeng realized it wasn't as simple as he thought. Not only he had to control the temperature, but also time the mixing well. He had to memorize which herbs could be mixed with each other and which couldn't. Thankfully, he had Ling who could help him with that.
Aside from that, the whole pill condensation was on another level. Just his Bloodline Power wasn't enough to compress the liquid into its solid form and he needed to train his Spirit Qi instead. Just as he could create a domain from Air Qi, he had to do that same with his Spirit Qi but in a miniature scale, surrounding just the liquid.
"You already have a method to control the flames and herbs so I guess you don't need a cauldron. You can perform the alchemy directly in the air," Lisa explained, finishing the basics. "Is Fire the only element you mastered? Knowing more elements can greatly help in your alchemy. I personally know four elements."
She was naturally proud of herself as she said that. It took her a lot of time to master each of them and there were not many people who could repeat her feat. Xuefeng saw her expression and couldn't help but sigh, hoping she wouldn't be upset.
Instead of saying, he decided to showcase his skills instead. He extended his arm and momentarily, six different colored balls of Qi hovered on top of his palm. Fire Qi, Water Qi, Air Qi, Earth Qi, Lightning Qi and Spirit Qi.
"I have six." He said humbly, keeping the Qi back into his dantain. Lisa opened her eyes wide, dumbfounded for a second but then calmed down.
"Okay, that was to be expected. You had to be talented to become Xiao Feng's son-in-law." Lisa found herself an explanation but then asked out of curiosity, "Which daughter did you claim for yourself?"
"Oh, all of them," Xuefeng replied honestly, having nothing to hide. "Both Tianshi and Wen are my wives."
Lisa wanted to question him yet seeing his calm gaze, she somehow believed him. "Wow… Tell that to anyone and they won't believe you," She said, wanting to tease him.
Xuefeng didn't mention Yiren as not many knew she was Xiao Feng's daughter. It was best too limit the amount of people who knew the truth. Also, telling her how many wives he had would bring him nothing good. Lisa could as well think he was a playboy and a pervert which wasn't in his interest. Even if it wasn't the truth, he didn't want to waste his time explaining.
"It's okay. I don't need that. I'm happy with my girls and it's all that matters," Xuefeng replied, shrugging. "Can we continue?"
"Mhmm… We can," Lisa nodded but then changed her mind. "Actually, first you keep your side of the deal. I want two cakes."
Xuefeng knew she will say something like that but he didn't mind it, knowing she was giving him a favor while teaching him. "Okay, I will be back in a moment. I will tell the manager to grab you one."
He stepped out of the laboratory only to halt, hearing Ling's warning. 'There is someone approaching the mansion together with the manager from earlier,' she called out.
Xuefeng frowned and scanned the outside of the mansion yet his Spirit Awareness couldn't pass through, something blocking him. It could only mean that someone was stronger than him but her wasn't worried.
He stepped back to the laboratory and asked Lisa, "Are you expecting anyone to visit you today? Someone is approaching."
"Huh?" Lisa showed a confused expression. "I don't think I have any appointments set up. Do you know how does he look like?"
Lisa also extended her Spirit Awareness outside but was met with the same blockage as Xuefeng. As Xuefeng was stronger, she could only ask him.
'Short black hair, buffed, carries a big saber on his back. He seems to be really proud of himself.' Link came to the rescue, describing the man for Xuefeng and he passed the same to Lisa.
She immediately recognized the man. "Damn, its this bastard Saber Devil. What is he doing here??" Lisa cursed, getting annoyed the moment she imagined him. "He came to ask for the Ascension Pill, yet since then, he didn't stop bothering me. He doesn't take no as an answer."
"Bothering you?" Xuefeng asked for further information.
"Yeah, he dares to flirt with me. I don't have time for men. He even sent me a date invitation! What a loser, can't even ask me directly," Lisa replied, describing the situation in a few words. She definitely didn't have a good impression of him.
"Okay, let me handle this. I will tell him to get lost," Xuefeng quickly decided, walking towards the doors but Lisa stopped him, catching his arm.
"No, wait. You can't do that. He will direct his anger at you. He is at the peak of the Monarch Stage," Lisa explained and proposed, "How about you pretend to be my boyfriend instead?"
'He seems to be a Fate Holder as well,' Little Ming added. 'There is a small amount of Fate Qi lingering on his body. I already concealed yours so he shouldn't be able to tell you are one too.'
Knock, knock.
Just as Xuefeng was thinking what to do, a knock resounded from the entrance doors.
"Let me open the doors and you will come after me, pretending you are my man, okay? This will stop him from chasing after me," Lisa decided for him and run to the doors. Xuefeng could only sigh and follow her idea.
———
Seeing that no one responded to their knock yet, the manager tried to reason with the important customer, "Mr Saber, I already told you Miss Lisa is currently busy. I will pass down the message when she is done."
"It's okay. I can wait," Saber Devil replied calmly, thinking clearer than earlier. He had time to cool down as he flew all the way to here.
It was naturally blindly of him to fight in the Xiao Family territory, knowing Xuefeng had a lot of backup here, but that didn't mean he wouldn't face him and potentially challenge him. If Xuefeng was stupid enough to accept it, that would be the best for him.
They didn't need to wait for long as the doors opened a second later, Lisa herself welcoming them.
Instead of greetings, they were quickly met with a scolding. "Didn't I say I don't want to be disturbed now?! I can't work if you disturb me like this!" She cried out, not even looking at the Saber Devil and instead venting on the manager.
"M-miss, I did remind it but Sir didn't want to listen," The manager quickly shifted the blame and stepped back, letting her take care of Saber Devil. He knew the influence he had so that would be suicide for someone like him.
Saber Devil smile, opening his mouth to speak when he saw a man walking up from behind and stopped, glancing at him. Xuefeng came up to Lisa, hugging her casually and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest as if protecting her from danger.
"Who are you and why do you make my girl angry?"
Chapter 419 - Ready?
Rat already mentioned the two could be friends but Saber Devil didn't expect them to already be a couple. He was willing to believe it when squinted his eyes and abruptly turned around. As if he had eyes behind his head, he noticed Manager's change of expression.
There was naturally a surprised look on Manager's face, his eyes opened wide. He only came back to normal under Saber Devil's gaze, looking away, but that already left an impression on Saber Devil. Now he knew something didn't add up.
'Fuck,' Lisa cursed in her mind, thinking they were busted and turned to Xuefeng, trying to cover Manager's mistake.
Acting as if she tried to calm Xuefeng down, Lisa placed both hands on his face, and began caressing his cheeks. "Baby, don't worry, he is just a client. He is already leaving," she assured him before sneakily covering his lips with a layer of Spirit Qi before kissing him.
The moment Saber Devil saw that, his fists tightened but he released them when Lisa turned around. He knew that getting mad at her won't do him any good.
Hugging into Xuefeng's chest, she called out to Devil Face with and ultimatum, "Is that right? I'm busy right now. If you disturb me once again, I won't sell any pills to you, including the Ascension Pill."
Devil Face wanted to bicker and expose Xuefeng in front of Lisa but he disturbed him, glancing at the manager behind him.
"Mr. Manager, I want to ask a question. How come you are you allowing anyone who is not from Xiao Family to enter here? What if this person had bad intentions and try to hurt alchemist living here? What worse, my great Lisa?" Xuefeng asked sharply, not liking any of this from the start.
Even if Saber Devil was a Fate Holder, someone he was supposed to kill, Xuefeng didn't act rashly, playing this game first. It was better to fight someone angry than calm.
"Uhm…" The Manager almost choked, not knowing how to reply to that. It was indeed forbidden to bring anyone here but he couldn't say no to person like Saber Devil. Seeing Xuefeng's attitude, he immediately acted.
"Mr. Saber, please follow me to the customer lobby," He called out, still polite but only received a glare in return. "You want to kick me out? Hah! Never heard a better joke," Saber Devil laughed in his face, acting as if he heard the funniest joke ever.
This was Manager's only way to avoid losing his job so he jumped away and called out into his communication crystal which he suddenly pulled out, "Intruder! Lisa Mansion, now!" He used as little words as possible to shorten the time of the guards' arrival.
It didn't take more than a second before they were surrounded by ten Sage experts, all having their weapons aimed at Saber Devil. That didn't scare Saber Devil at all but anyone could see he was getting annoyed.
"Is this how Xiao Family treats guests? First inviting them in but then attacking them?" He asked sarcastically before taking his big black Saber off his back and smiled. "Come at me then! I want to see how capable you all are."
The guards hesitated, knowing how strong Saber Devil and looked at the Manager, waiting for his orders. Although the Capital was enormous, there was only less than a few hundred Spirit Monarchs. Saber Devil belonged to the strongest ten so it wasn't hard to remember him.
Manager thought he would scare Saber Devil yet it turned out they would have to fight to chase him away. He already lost hope on keeping his job. Normally it would be an easy battle for ten Sages to defeat one Monarch but the Manager wasn't that confident with that fight.
Fortunately, just as he was about to nod his head, Xuefeng spoke out, saving him.
"Wait. It's not right. I don't want to see any bloodshed here," Xuefeng called out as he let go of Lisa, walking in front of her.
"Hehe," Saber Devil giggled and he supported the saber on his shoulder. "At least one person knows the difference in strength."
"Exactly. The difference in strength is too big," Xuefeng nodded, confirming it firmly before scolding the Manager, "Can you tell me what are you doing? Why are you sending ten men against one little swordsman? People will say we are bullying the weak. Change it quick! They should go one on one to give him some chance."
Pfffft!
Lisa couldn't help but burst out laughing, holding herself back in the last moment by covering her mouth.
The other guards despite being trained to hide their emotions also smiled, holding themselves back from laughing. When their Leader wasn't even scared, calling Saber Devil a little swordsman, they didn't have to worry too.
Saber Devil turned red, keeping his anger inside him with difficulty. "What did you say…?" He muttered coldly, his saber turning from black to red as if getting hotter.
Xuefeng sighed dejectedly and glanced at the guards. "Anyone is willing to fight with one hand?" Xuefeng asked with pity in his voice. "Your opponent is not only alone but deaf as well. Once the news leak, we will be cursed for generations…"
Haha!
This time no one could hold themselves from laughing or at least letting out a snicker. The loudest was Lisa who not only laughed at Xuefeng's joke but also Saber Devil's red face.
"You motherfuc—" Saber Devil cursed, ready to slash Xuefeng's mouth but then he stopped himself, realizing something was wrong. There was no way anyone would provoke him like this unless they had a plan. In his current situation, it wasn't hard for Saber Devil to figure that out.
Xuefeng was baiting him.
They were in Xiao Family territory. It was easy for them to momentarily gather hundreds of experts to aid them. Once he attack, they will get the reinforces and drown him with attacks. He was fine one against ten but not hundreds.
"Fight me one on one if you dare!" He finally called out, calming down a bit after figuring Xuefeng's plan. He thought Xuefeng would reject at first but Xuefeng only smiled and nodded.
"Alright. Let's trade blows. One each. The one who pushes the other back on a further distance, wins," Xuefeng proposed. "I don't want to bully you so you can go first. This way you will have a chance to strike at least once."
"Ha! No, you will go first. I want to see your strength before I defeat you in one strike," Saber Devil disagreed right away, snickering before he spoke. He already considered Xuefeng as an only talk man who will be crushed under his blade.
"That's fine by me," Xuefeng agreed with a shrug and walked towards the bigger area next to Lisa's mansion. There were many mansions nearby built for various alchemists so they had to battle in between the buildings. They had protective barriers around them so they didn't worry about destruction.
Lisa stared at Xuefeng, finding him quite interesting, just based on this one scene. She didn't worry about him but was rather looking forward to the battle. She wanted to see what he is worth.
Pulling out his Black Flames Slayer, Xuefeng immediately ask the beefy man in front of him.
"Ready?"
Chapter 420 - Exchange
"Hehe," Saber Devil giggled to himself and readied his weapon to receive the attack. show me what the Young Master of Xiao Family is capable of. I will only defend."
It seemed he only planned to use his saber as the form of defense which showed everyone how confident he was. His saber turned bright red and a thick but narrow mist surrounded it, also colored in red.
Xuefeng immediately received an additional info from Little Ming, 'He is channeling Fate Qi through his saber. It seems this is one of his abilities.'
This didn't bother him as Xuefeng already had his own concept in his mind. 'Drakos, can you handle that? When I attack, you can weaken his defense by sucking his Fate Qi. What do you think?' Xuefeng proposed.
He didn't need much to convince Drakos for cooperation. 'I'm always down for a snack,' Drakos agreed eagerly.
'You don't plan to use your abilities?' Ling asked curiously, wanting to be of any use but Xuefeng had another idea.
'As much as I want to crush him right now, I actually want to test my true strength, without any assistance,' Xuefeng decided, his Black Flames Slayer suddenly bursting out with flames. They danced on top of his blade like a colorful leaf under strong wind. Both red and black flames connected with each other but that didn't impress Saber Devil, his mouth still forming into a snicker.
"If that's all you got then we will end this quickly," Saber Devil mocked. He immediately received hateful gazes from the other guards who were still ready to attack at any moment.
Xuefeng actually wasn't listening to his blabbering, focusing on picking the right move. Based on his style which was being free and innovative, he could create any spell he wished while mixing any Qi he wanted.
Just as Saber Devil finished talking, Xuefeng added more ingredients to his attack. Green and blue flames joined to the mix, entangling itself with the other two. White flame joined right after, causing a disturbance.
Each flame had its own properties, keeping the characteristics of their elements. His sword could convert any Qi into flames, but it couldn't change its properties entirely.
Earth Flame was thick and heavy, moving slowly like a plant on the wind.
Water Flame was thin and translucent, but swiftly traveled all around the blade.
Air Qi was the most disruptive, acting like wind, passing through other blades and adding aggressiveness as if general who rode across the whole legion, cheering for them before the battle.
Seeing all five flames, Saber Devil's smile was gone, replaced by serious expression. He wasn't stupid. He knew that Xuefeng had to be strong despite being a Spirit Sage and the mastery of so many elements confirmed his guess. His provocation didn't work so only real strength could give him a win.
"One attack each," Xuefeng reminded and suddenly dashed at his opponent, holding the improved, now Multi-colored Flame Slayer, with both hands and struck at Saber Devil's weapon. He held it sideways with blade aimed at Xuefeng but that was only part of his defenses.
Bang!
Xuefeng smashed his sword at the saber, expecting the flames to burst out in a pillar in Saber Devil's direction yet a sudden Shield of Qi appeared in front of his blade. It made Xuefeng's attack come to halt and nullified any momentum he built.
"Is that all? My foot didn't even move," Saber Devil ridiculed, his smile returning onto his face but then it turned into confusion, seeing Xuefeng smiling as well.
"You think so?" Xuefeng asked without stopping the pressure on the shield.
Crack.
A big rapture appeared on the barrier, going all the way alongside Xuefeng's blade.
"How…?" Saber Devil muttered but it was too late for him to change the outcome.
Xuefeng saved the best for last, suddenly busting out with Lightning Flame that broke the shield with one strike and exploded forth, straight into Saber Devil's body.
Thud.
He landed tens of meters away, sliding on the ground with flames burning on top of his skin and hit the nearby building, causing its barrier to activate.
"Hurray! Young Master won!" The guards cheered immediately, happy to see their side winning but Xuefeng wasn't happy with that exchange.
'I guess its true that normal cultivators has no chance against a Fate Holder. Anyone under Monarch stage would die with that strike,' Xuefeng commented in his mind.
'You can't help it. You forgot that Fate Qi is made from all elements mixed together. It will be hard for you to fight against it even with six elements. What's more, this is his ability,' Lisa cheered him up. They couldn't do anything about it.
'That barrier was yummy, hehe. He put a lot of Fate Qi into it,' Drakos informed satisfied, sounding like he would definitely do it again.
Seeing that Saber Devil wasn't dead and actually standing up, the flames not doing much damage to him, Xuefeng assured him, "Don't worry, you will have a chance to get more.'
"Xuefeng! That was amazing!" Lisa came up to him and hugged him from behind. She couldn't be happier that he kicked the pest's butt.
Letting go of him, she quickly cheered, "Go win!", before distancing herself to a safe distance. On the way, she realized her actions were like not her but her happiness from seeing Saber Devil suffer was enough.
The one in question was slowly approaching Xuefeng, dragging his saber behind him. He looked pissed. Really pissed. Xuefeng couldn't tell if his face was red from burns or anger.
"It's your turn little swordsman. Hope you can push me back at least a meter away," Xuefeng taunted, adding fuel to the flames.
"Damn, you will pay for this," Saber Devil cursed while gritting his teeth. It was hard to notice at first but his body started changing, his muscles bulging and hair turning red, similarly to his skin.
'He is turning berserk to increase his physical strength,' Ling informed softly. 'Do you want me to test my new ability…? We can get his abilities right now if you want…'
It was a good proposal but Xuefeng wasn't that fond of it. 'No, I don't want to expose it yet. There are too many people watching,' he rejected, caring for her more than some abilities. 'Let's just test him for now, we can still kill him later.'
Based on what they know, Ling's second ability was similar to Drakos but what she left was destruction while he only absorbed the Fate Qi without harming the user. They won't know all the details until they test it but it wasn't the time.
Saber Devil was already attacking so he turned his focus onto him. The red giant carried his bright red Saber, looking exactly like a devil from hell. He stared angrily at Xuefeng before crying out as he ran the last meters, his blade getting bigger and bigger, "Take this!"
He increased his saber size to more than ten meters yet he didn't have troubles to carry and swing it. Seeing the incoming strike, Xuefeng didn't use his Flame Slayer but instead extended his hand, seemingly planning to catch the blade with his naked hand.
Oof…
Lisa and others gasped, watching the scene with anxiousness, expecting some flashy defensive moves instead of direct confrontation.
Bang!
Their ears hurt from the sound of the explosion, but they didn't turn their heads away, looking at the scene with their mouths wide open.
Chapter 421 - Fame
Xuefeng covered his hand with lightning and caught the giant saber's blade as if it was nothing, only pushed back a little cause of the swords momentum. The saber dimmed with each second, losing its powers before turning back to normal. Saber Devil was still in shock, not believing one of his strongest attacks was this easily blocked.
"That's all?" Xuefeng asked sarcastically as he brushed the saber to the side. "Scram. You don't even deserve to serve as a maid for Xiao Family with that weak strength."
Saber Devil's transformation already began switching back to normal, his skin regaining its natural color only to turn pale, staring at Xuefeng without moving. Being a tyrant in the capital, he never lost this badly.
"Throw him out," Xuefeng ordered to the guards, walking back to Lisa and the manager.
The guards shivered hearing the command but they weren't scared. They were excited. "Y-yes, Young Master!" They stuttered as they quickly rushed up to Saber Devil, dragging him away. He was struggling but being temporarily weakened after using his berserk ability, he couldn't resist against ten Sage cultivators.
Before Xuefeng said anything, the manager knelt down, begging for mercy, "Young Master… I'm really sorry for disturbing you. It's all my fault. I will accept any punishment."
"Stand up," Xuefeng called out, his expression calm but stern. "No one is allowed to kneel in front of me. Treat me normally."
"Y-yes…" The Manager stood up, not expecting it and glanced up at Xuefeng before lowering his head again, too stressed to look in Xuefeng's eyes.
"If you bring anyone in here once again, you will pay with your head," Xuefeng declared. "Are we clear?"
"Yes, Young Master," the Manager nodded right away, sighing in relief that he avoided punishment this time. "I will pass those rules to everyone."
"Good. The alchemists are very important to the growth of my clan," Xuefeng explained and signaled with his hand for him to leave. "Go back to your duties."
He didn't scold him too much, wanting to leave a different impression on him. If everyone disliked him, he wouldn't be able to build successful businesses.
"I won't disappoint Young Master!" the Manager called out, skipping towards the Medical Pavilion entrance.
"Ah!" Xuefeng suddenly recalled as he looked at Lisa and added, "Bring two best cakes as well."ts
"Right away!" The manager naturally complied and run ever faster, wanting to get the job done quick.
Only Xuefeng and Lisa were left in front of her mansion. She was unusually quiet compared to her previous rebellious attitude. When Xuefeng looked at her again, he caught her fixing her blond hair, putting some behind her ear but she didn't shy away, staring back into his eyes.
He lifted her chin and decided for her, "Let's continue our lesson," before casually walking into her mansion. He already proved himself, being more than capable so he would be the one calling the shots now.
Instead of getting angry, Lisa bit on her lip, slowly releasing it as she stared at Xuefeng's back with her mind full of new ideas and ran after him, choosing her strategy on impulse.
———
As Saber Devil was thrown away through the main entrance of Xiao Family Medical Pavilion, it was obvious that people would be surprised, shocked and definitely curious. He was one of the top experts in the capital, making him quite a figure.
It didn't take long for the guards to happily spread the news, praising their new Young master and describing the epic one-on-one battle. Xuefeng didn't forbid them to do it so they acted on their own, knowing it was a great way to improve his popularity.
From one person to another, the story was getting more and more exaggerated into unimaginable size. Everyone was adding their own flavor to the news, wanting to get even more recognition from their friends.
It took less than two hours for Xuefeng's name to spread throughout the capital, his story traveling through thousands Transmission Crystals. Once it did, many connected the dots between Xuefeng and the man who faced off against the Ruler of the Realm a week ago. They couldn't wait to share this discovery as well, making Xuefeng famous overnight.
Now everyone knew he was Xiao Feng's son-in-law and Liu Clan's reputation grew together with him.
"You are doing well for the first day," Lisa praised him with a smile, seeing another successful creation. "Even though its just a Rank one pill, many struggled to make one after a month of studying. You did it in one day. I'm impressed."
"It wasn't much," Xuefeng waved with his hand, dismissing her praises. He wasn't exactly satisfied with his results, expecting to master alchemy much quicker. "I will try harder next time."
He noticed that she was much kinder to him after they returned to studying, but he took it as a mutual respect they had for each other. Truthfully, after so many encounters like that, he could expect that something could be brewing inside Lisa's mind. Hearing earlier that she didn't want a man as that would hinder her work, Xuefeng thought he was safe.
Realizing it was already late, Xuefeng clapped his hand to get rid of the ash-like substance from his fingers before getting ready to leave. "We will stop today. My wives are probably worrying about me so I need to go back," he excused himself.
"Oh, no problem," Lisa didn't mind it, smiling in return. "Come back tomorrow. You will help me with my work. I will be making some high ranked pills," She proposed.
"Alright. See you tomorrow then," Xuefeng agreed and headed to the exit, thinking that was all.
He was wrong.
"No goodbye hug for your teacher?" Lisa asked from behind, making him halt. "It's okay, go."
Not that she mentioned that, it would be awkward if Xuefeng just left. He already learned that when a girl says no, it sometimes means yes.
He turned around and spread his arms, walking up to her. "Okay, here," He offered.
Lisa didn't mind that she had to ask for one and hopped into his embrace, hugging him tightly. Her cheek rubbed against his chest and fingers caressed his back. It definitely wasn't a teacher-student hug.
Just as Xuefeng wanted to let go, she did it on her own. "Now you can go. Its a rare for me to get a hug so I had to take one from you," She explained herself. "I'm mostly lonely so I lack physical touch. Sorry."
Xuefeng naturally felt bad for her and didn't complain about it. "It's okay, I don't mind," he muttered. "I'm off."
Just as he left, Lisa smiled to herself and began cleaning the room. "He seems interesting…" She said to herself, recalling the sensation of their hug. It was hard to believe but it was the first time she was hugged by a man.
When Jiao was out, flirting with guys, she was studying alchemy under her mother's guidance. There was no time for her to play around if she wanted to be the best.
"Maybe I should gift him a pill tomorrow…?" Lisa asked herself out loud and before she knew, she began pulling out high-ranked herbs to start.