Guyao was simply telling the demoness a truth - don't use the unorthodox demonic path's tendency to act on a whim as an excuse for impunity. It's your demonic path's choice to act arbitrarily, but why should I tolerate, let alone condone, the actions of your demonic path?
Chi Changye did not expect Guyao to utter such words. Seeing the demonic cultivator's drastic change in expression, he felt extremely delighted and bid farewell to Guyao after apologizing.
There was also a small interlude in this process. Since this courtyard was destroyed by Chi Changye's hand, Guyao threw a bottle of elixir to the shop owner who came out with a crying face. This was an unexpected surprise for the shop owner couple. Seeing the gazes cast by others around them, they swiftly kept the elixir bottle in their storage ring.
Guyao wanted to tell others that he was this kind of person who clearly distinguished between gratitude and grudges. He would not vent his anger on innocent people groundlessly, but no one should provoke him either, or they would have to pay the price. Afterwards, even Hu Mei's group of demonic cultivators received elixirs gifted by Guyao. They also took the opportunity to spread propaganda for Guyao.
This matter spread very widely. Some said that Guyao and Chi Changye were merciless, abandoning such a great beauty who was even willing to be their slave and servant. Guyao was also cruel enough to reject her. However, such voices were after all the minority, and were soon overwhelmed by voices in support of Guyao and Chi Changye.
The rationale was, why should the actions of the female demon not require paying a price?
Moreover, this price or retribution came extremely swiftly. This was even more unbearable than Guyao directly beating her away.
Previously, the demonic path's big shots even held a tolerant attitude towards the female demon's various actions. If the righteous path cultivators wanted to pursue the matter, the demonic path also had justification - it was your own problem that you righteous handsome fellows had unstable wills and were easily bewitched by feminine charms and sorcery. Your cultivation still has a long way to go. This kind of rationale made the righteous path cultivators gnash their teeth in hatred.
In the demonic path's big shots' view, if this resulted in the fall of several more young talents from the righteous path, it would be considered the female demon's contribution to the demonic path. Even when the female demon put out the words that she was willing to become Guyao's personal servant girl, they held an attitude of watching a good show, and even fantasized - if the female demon could really mesmerize Guyao through this and pull Guyao into their demonic cultivator camp, that would be even better.
Even if they couldn't recruit him over, disgusting Guyao a bit and provoking the relationship between him and Chi Changye would also be very worthwhile.
They just didn't expect that Guyao would have this kind of reaction. They discovered that no matter how many posts they sent to Guyao's residence, as long as it was from their demonic cultivator camp, it would be rejected outright. It was clear that he didn't want to see a single demonic cultivator. Now wasn't this good - they had no way to do anything to Guyao, the righteous path's big shots would not watch idly as they made a move on Guyao, so in the end they could only vent their anger onto the female demon who triggered this disaster.
Previously, everyone treated the female demon as a treasure, but now when they saw her, their noses and eyes were no longer noses and eyes. Even the cultivators who were confused by her charms had no way to speak up for her. Say anything and you'd get scolded - serves her right for offending Guyao. Did she really think any man would be unable to escape her palm? Now she had fallen flat on her face, and even implicated the entire demonic path along with her.
In the end, even the qualifications to participate in the auction were stripped away, and given to other demonic cultivators instead. Let alone supreme-grade Foundation Establishment Pills, they couldn't even see the face of high-grade Foundation Establishment Pills anymore.
When the righteous path and demonic cultivators mentioned the demonic path's outcome, everyone said they deserved it. Let you act arrogantly, this is what happens when no one has pinched your weakness, otherwise no matter how arrogant you are, you'd have to obediently keep a low profile.
This incident also showed that while Guyao looked gentle on the surface, he really wasn't someone without a temper. This method was more deadly than directly fighting and killing.
The demonic path was helpless. In order to obtain the supreme-grade Foundation Establishment Pills, they could only try their utmost to bid for them at the auction since Guyao had blocked off that route. The auction was their only chance left to get the pills. Thinking of having to fork out huge amounts of spirit stones with no guarantee of success, they hated the unscrupulous female demon even more - this was all the disaster she brought onto the entire demonic path.
The righteous path and demonic cultivators viewed the demonic path's frustration and rage as entertainment. However, when it came to the auction, they worked hard together to suppress the demonic path in the bidding war. Joining hands, they were not necessarily inferior to the demonic path in financial power. They didn't want either of the two supreme-grade pills to fall into the demonic path's hands to help them advance another cultivator to the YuanYing stage.
The two supreme-grade Foundation Establishment Pills were eventually sold at sky-high prices - one entered the righteous path's hands while the other entered the demonic cultivators' hands. The demonic path's big shots were so angry they almost vomited blood on the spot. This lesson was profoundly deep indeed.
Guyao's group also attended the auction and witnessed the entire bidding war for the supreme-grade Foundation Establishment Pills from start to end. Even the well-informed Chi Changye and Xu Chen who stayed in his space were dumbstruck by the final transaction price.
Guyao rubbed his arm, getting goosebumps: "Isn't this price too high? If someone wanted to rob them, wouldn't they make a huge fortune?"
Chi Changye speechlessly knocked his head. Who would curse themselves to get robbed like this? "Ever since you said those words back then, anyone else who wants to make a move on you would have to consider whether they can bear the consequences first."
That day's events were not only a deterrence to the demonic path, but also had some effect on the other forces. No one wanted Guyao to close his doors to them either. Actually, compared to spirit stones, what cultivators wanted more from Guyao was probably pills instead.
Guyao still felt somewhat overwhelmed by this sudden wealth. He said, "Actually, I only said it was for 'that time', I didn't say I wouldn't accept any more in the future. They didn't seem to need to fight so desperately?"
Chi Changye thought about it. That's right, Guyao only rejected all requests from the demonic path for that one time, and still left them a way out afterwards: "Maybe they need to calm down and come to this realization themselves."
Guyao did not actually intend to become enemies with the entire demonic path. If they really turned hostile, the demonic path would probably just kill him directly - since they couldn't get anything out of him, they wouldn't let the righteous path have him either. So Guyao merely wanted that female demon to pay a small price for her words and actions.
However, this time the righteous path and demonic cultivators also bled heavily. Guyao thought for a bit and said, "When I get back, I should refine a few more batches of pills."
A smile flashed through Chi Changye's eyes. As expected, little Guyao's heart softened again. This was good too.
After making this decision, Guyao let go of the matter. They had also taken a liking to several items at the auction. Taking advantage of the ample spirit stones on hand, they bid for those items successfully - among them were spiritual materials needed for artifact forging and array setup. They left the auction very satisfied this time.
Only the demonic path departed the auction dispiritedly. When they returned and saw the pitiful-looking female demon, they scolded her again. If not for her, how would those cultivators have tried so hard to compete with them in bidding?
The righteous path and demonic cultivators were also quite happy. As bystanders, they had noticed early on the leeway Guyao's words left. Yet no one kindly reminded the demonic path about it. They were also previously furious over the demonic path's actions but had no recourse other than to swallow the indignation. Now they finally got some payback.
Afterwards, Guyao refined another batch of Foundation Establishment Pills for the main powers of the righteous path and demonic cultivators, with supreme-grade pills in each batch. This greatly satisfied the factions who bled heavily earlier - of course they knew Guyao was compensating them. They became even more desirous of befriending this alchemist. As long as they didn't touch his bottom line, he was definitely easy to get along with. But they shouldn't take advantage of him either, thinking he was someone without a temper.
After calming down, the demonic cultivators also realized this point. Someone had recorded the scene that day, and upon reviewing it afterwards, they naturally discovered the "this time" two words Guyao uttered. A few demonic path big shots couldn't help feeling relieved - earlier, they really harbored the thought that "since he's unwilling to be used by us, we might as well destroy him". Fortunately, Guyao still left them some leeway.
Before leaving, the demonic path sent Guyao a generous gift as an apology. This time, Guyao accepted it, and the demonic path also felt relieved - acceptance meant he no longer held their previous actions against them.
However, this lesson was also sufficient for the demonic cultivators to remember to be more restrained in their future conduct.
Even after leaving Baoshang City, the female demon's treatment within the demonic cultivators did not seem to improve much. Glancing back at Baoshang City, she nearly gritted her silver teeth to pieces. Ever since perfecting her bewitching arts, she had never suffered such a defeat. She thoroughly hated Guyao now.
But whether she hated him or not, what did it have to do with Guyao? Would he lose sleep just because there was one more person who hated him? Of course not.
Not long after, the various factions in Baoshang City discovered that Guyao and Chi Changye had vanished again. No one knew which city gate or direction they departed from, or where they went.
"Alchemist Guyao."
After Zhou Yuanjiang entered, he respectfully saluted Guyao. Since being arranged here, they had not seen Guyao appear and thought that he had forgotten about them troublesome folks and was ready to leave to live or die by fate. Unexpectedly, Guyao showed up now - he had not forgotten about them.
Zhou Yuanjiang was the leader of this group of people arranged by Guyao and Chi Changye to take care of their living arrangements. All of them had cultivation bases at the peak of Foundation Establishment, yet were fundamentally unable to form a core as crossing tribulation meant certain death for them based on the aura they gave off. No one dared say they could survive tribulation, so no one dared continue cultivating to increase their strength.
After hearing that Guyao had supposedly researched an antidote for the lethal poison in their bodies, they harbored hope in their hearts. No one wanted to wait for death. Despite enduring so much torment, they still did not take their own lives, so their desire to live burned more strongly than anyone's - otherwise they would have collapsed long ago.
Zhou Yuanjiang rolled up his sleeve for Guyao to draw a tube of his blood, as well as extract samples from some other body parts. He then lay down for Guyao to carefully examine the situation within his body. Although this was also experimentation, Zhou Yuanjiang did not dislike Guyao's methods at all, because Guyao had explained things clearly to them and obtained their consent before proceeding.
Of course, it would be even better if they could ignore the man next to them staring at them fiercely. As Zhou Yuanjiang left Guyao, he felt a wry smile well up - Chi Changye was also a swordsman they admired and respected, yet who would have thought he would be so petty. That female demon who previously tried to seduce the alchemist was extremely lucky to have left Baoshang City alive.
Originally dispirited, this group regained hope due to Guyao's arrival.
Other than Yin Hua, no one expected that Guyao and Chi Changye would be here. After sending Guyao here, Tian Feirong and Fatty left to gain experience and seek their own fortunes.
This was a small town with scarce spiritual energy that almost no outsiders were willing to come to. Any local cultivators with some accomplishments had also left to seek better development, so Guyao's group's arrival did not arouse any vigilance.
With one person and one soul communicating ideas to each other as they experimented, Xu Chen, who previously disdained such things, was also enthusiastically participating under Guyao's influence.
"Apart from severe bodily damage, their main problem is an immense loss of life potential. Other Foundation Establishment cultivators can have 200-300 years of lifespan, but given their current physical condition, they can only live another 10-20 years at most - and that's ensuring no forced cultivation that could worsen their state. The potential within their bodies has been completely drained away."
"That's right, so the key now is to replenish their life force, not just repair the damage to their bodies. Otherwise, even if their bodies recover, they would still have difficulty crossing the Golden Core tribulation. Wanting to increase their lifespan through condensing golden cores is not feasible - unless an alternative path is forged, which would be no different than the witchcraft methods used on them."
Guyao nodded: "Well said. That's why I want to try using dragon caterpillars and limb regeneration pills to extract the growth-stimulating factors within. As long as we can help them cross the Golden Core tribulation, there is no issue."
Xu Chen agreed: "Let's go with your plan. Fortunately we obtained quite a few dragon caterpillars, otherwise we'd have to think of another solution."
Guyao also smiled. His luck had always been good.
With Guyao's current alchemy skills, restoring these people's damaged bodies was not difficult. Back when he first arrived in the Heavenly Forest Continent, he could use refined medicinal potions to expel the mess within his body. Now, his alchemy skills were superior by who knows how many folds - no matter how complicated the situation, he could systematically sort it out.
The nameless body refining technique he obtained also greatly assisted, with medicinal bathing methods that could enhance the body's functions. He just needed to reduce the potency of the medicines. Therefore, he worked both internally and externally, gradually regulating these cultivators' bodies in steps.
Seeing Zhou Yuanjiang emerge from the tub, people around him quickly handed him clothes and excitedly asked, "Brother Zhou, how do you feel? We've all felt much better these days - this alchemist is really different from others!"
They assumed the alchemist would eventually research out a pill to resolve their bodily conditions. However, Guyao had them take medicinal potions and pills while also soaking them in medicinal baths. Initially puzzled, after a period of time they felt the benefits. The alchemist's methods truly considered their future.
Zhou Yuanjiang felt inexhaustible strength within his body. Clenching his fist, he said, "I feel my strength has increased a lot compared to before. Makes me want to fight a Golden Core cultivator, haha!"
Some of the younger ones couldn't help their eyes reddening. Believing they had fallen into despair, Guyao had brought them new hope - true rebirth and transformation. Most touching was Guyao's willingness to expend effort on them, these crippled people. The spiritual herbs and spiritual stones were all provided by Guyao.
Zhou Yuanjiang's smile faded as he solemnly said, "Alchemist Guyao and Senior Chi are our benefactors. We take revenge for grievances, but never forget kindness and grace."
"Brother Zhou, don't worry. Without Alchemist Guyao and Senior Chi, there would be no us. They are our reborn benefactors!" One by one, they made solemn vows.