Book 1: Never Giving Up - 43: Night Demon
Wood chips exploded everywhere.
Everyone gasped, thoroughly shocked, as Yan Wushuang’s face suddenly became intimately familiar with the wooden table. The extremely hard wooden table was instantly destroyed. The strength that Su Chen had used could be imagined.
The face that had successfully defeated the table had changed shape and swelled. A peerlessly beautiful face had become swollen like a pig’s head. It was truly too horrible to look at.
“Su Chen!” When Su Cheng’an saw Yan Wushuang lying on the ground, unable to even moan, his heart ached and his anger flared.
Su Chen retrieved his hand, then said, “That was the interest.”
He turned around and left.
Seeing Su Chen’s back, Su Cheng’an was so angry that his entire body trembled, but in the end he only said one sentence. “Unfilial son!”
On that day, everyone there witnessed firsthand Su Chen’s tyrannical, bloodthirsty, and vicious nature. This scene left fear and apprehension in the hearts of many regarding this terrifying young master.
However, what no one could predict was that not long in the future this slight apprehension would become a headache or even absolute dread.
After teaching Yan Wushuang a lesson, Su Chen naturally went home with his mother and his uncle, Su Feihu. Under his mother’s concerned and repeated questioning, he finally told her some of the events that had occurred in the Scarlet Mountain Range.
Of course, Su Chen could not tell her that he had gone out to battle Vicious Beasts. He only said that as soon as he had entered the Mountain Range, a kind-hearted person had acted as his guide, and lead him to a relatively safe cave where he stayed. In the a hundred days, he had only encountered two common Wild Beasts, which had all been easily taken care of by him. Even so, Tang Hongrui trembled with fear when she heard this, as if her son was too weak to even stand up to a house cat.
However, Su Feihu looked at Su Chen thoughtfully, his eyes filled with suspicion.
He could tell that Su Chen was hiding something, but in the end he could not figure out what that something was.
He stayed with his mother, conversing with her until she went to bed. Su Chen then returned, alone, to the Dustsift Courtyard.
Upon entering his room, Su Chen told Jianxin and the others to leave before saying to the shadow in the room, “Come out.”
The black-clothed man’s figure rippled into view. “This time I made sure to completely suppress my heartbeat and my breathing. How did you discover me?”
His tone was one of complete confusion.
Su Chen laughed to himself. Shouldn’t discovering you be easy? You were just standing there unmoving and I saw you immediately.
However, he said, “Your plan depended on my survival. In addition, I also borrowed four of your Origin Tools. Since I have returned, how could you not come by to take them back? I just carelessly called out assuming you were here.”
“So you just made a wild guess.” The black-clothed person let out a sigh of relief, which also contained some frustration.
Su Chen found the other party to be somewhat adorably foolish. He said with some amusement, “How long have you waited here? You haven’t eaten yet, have you? I brought some things for you to eat.”
He carelessly brought out a box of pastries. These were given to him by his mother before he left. Su Chen did not like to eat them, so he gave them all to the black-clothed person.
The black-clothed person was not wary at all. It seemed as if he was genuinely hungry, as he actually began to eat. He ate a thousand-layer pastry in a few bites. His eyes began to gleam as he nodded his head. “Very tasty!”
He ate the entire box of pastries in one breath.
Su Chen was not in a hurry. Once the other party had finished eating, he said, “The reason why I could come back safely was entirely due to these four Origin Tools. Since I have returned, I should return them to their rightful owner.”
As he spoke, he handed over the sack on his back to the black-clothed person.
The black-clothed person received the sack and opened it to take a look. Apart from the medicinal pills, the Cracked Soul Magic Pearls, and the Origin Stones, which had not been returned, the four Origin Tools were all there. The Origin Stones, etc. were originally given to Su Chen as consumables, and the black-clothed person had never intended to ask for them back. Thus, he nodded and said, “Since everything has been taken care of, then I will bid farewell for now.”
“Wait a moment,” Su Chen said.
“What do you want?” The black-clothed person gazed at him, his eyes becoming vigilant.
Damn, why weren’t you so vigilant when you were eating? Just a simple “wait a moment” is enough to make you nervous?
Su Chen silently cursed, but he said, “I just want to know what I should call you. After all, we have met a few times already. I can’t just keep on calling you ‘black-clothed person’, can I?”
“This...... we might not have any opportunities to meet again in the future, will we?” the black-clothed person hesitated for a moment before saying.
“That might not be true. I still have something that I would like your help with,” Su Chen said.
“Su Chen, don’t be too audacious!” the black-clothed person immediately said.
“Can you wait for me to finish, please?” Su Chen said, “I just want a mid-tier Origin Energy Absorption cultivation technique and two Origin Skills. You don’t need to give them to me for free; I will buy them.”
“You’ve reached the Qi Drawing Realm?” The black-clothed person was dazed.
Su Chen shook his head. “Not yet. However, I received a lot of benefits from my journey into the Scarlet Mountain Range. You also know that I was originally in the ninth layer of Body Tempering when I left. After being tempered for a hundred days in the Scarlet Mountain Range, I have already entered the late stages of the ninth layer of Body Tempering. Perhaps not long in the future I will be charging into the Qi Drawing Realm. Maybe even in these coming months.”
Su Chen did not intend on hiding his progress. All he needed to do was push back the success that he had already had to sometime in the future, and everything would logically fall into place.
Basic Origin Energy Absorption techniques were only suitable for Body Tempering cultivators. Upon entering the Qi Drawing Realm, one would need a more powerful magic technique that had a correspondingly stronger absorption ability.
Absorption techniques were split into preliminary, mid, high, and top-tier, but there was no limit on cultivation base. That was to say that after reaching the Qi Drawing Realm, one could cultivate any absorption technique. The only limitation was that higher-tier absorption techniques were harder to obtain.
Su Chen did not dare to hope for an absorption technique that was too high-tier. Thus, in the end he only asked for a mid-tier one.
The black-clothed man believed him. “So it was like this. However, doesn’t your Su Clan have absorption techniques and Origin Skills? You are a disciple of the Su Clan. As long as you have reached the boundary, you should be able to request them for free.”
Su Chen asked, “You already know what has happened since I returned right?”
The black-clothed person nodded. “You have a very awful father.”
“Thus, the first reason is that I don’t want to use any more of the Su Clan’s resources in the future.”
“So it was like this.” The black-clothed man began to understand Su Chen’s intention. He was slowly but surely drawing a line between himself and the Su Clan.
In reality, Su Chen’s actions were drawing a clear dividing line between him and the Su Clan, but at the same time this was a way of protecting the Su Clan.
After all, he was essentially blackmailing a large organization. No one could anticipate what would happen in the future.
Drawing this dividing line was in and of itself a protection for the Su Clan.
Su Chen’s grudge with the Su clan ran deep, but he would personally deal with those whom he hated. He would not use someone else’s hand to accomplish it.
If he were to bring disaster upon the Su Clan because of his own actions, the nature of that would be completely different. No matter how unfairly the Su Clan treated him, it had not progressed to the point where he was willing to exterminate them.
“Then what’s the second reason?” The black-clothed person was not stupid, just a bit foolish. With one there would definitely be a second.
“I’m not satisfied with the Su Clan’s magic techniques,” Su Chen said straightforwardly. “The Su Clan is just a newly rich household. It was established single-handedly by my grandfather, but because of this its foundation is not deep enough and is actually too shallow for my needs. It’s the most meager of the four households. When discussing magic techniques or Origin Skills, the number that we have is pitiful. For your organization to be able to carelessly pull out four Origin Tools means that its strength must be many times that of the Su Clan. I believe that they definitely have better magic techniques. When cultivating, it’s best to choose one quality product over ten crappy ones.”
In actuality, there was a third reason, which was that Su Chen wanted to conceal the fact that he had already entered the Qi Drawing Realm. The Su Clan’s magic techniques and Origin Skills could only be taken for free when one had reached the boundary of Body Tempering. He did not intend on revealing his true strength, so he could only seek outside help. However, he did not need to tell the black-clothed man this point.
Upon hearing Su Chen’s words, the black-clothed person was very satisfied. “Of course, if you want to talk about outstanding cultivation techniques, even the Hidden Dragon Library might not be comparable to our Eternal......”
The black-clothed person hurriedly put on the brakes, narrowly avoiding speaking out the name of his organization.
Su Chen pretended not to notice, “That is to say that it is possible to make this transaction?”
“I need to go back and ask,” the black-clothed person postured. However, based on the other party’s tone, there shouldn’t be any difficulties with this.
“Now can you tell me your name?”
“You can call me... Night Demon.”