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nTranslator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

nThump!

nA flash of silver sailed straight towards Ye Xiaotian, a smug grin on his face still as he wouldn’t have predicted that Ye Mo, the “garbage,” would dare do something like that. The piece of silver landed on Ye Xiaotian’s front teeth, causing him to cup his hand over his mouth in pain.

nYe Xiaotian looked at his hand, and among the pool of blood, he really couldn’t distinguish between his teeth and the piece of silver.

n“Ye Mo, you’re asking for it!” Ye Xiaotian cried angrily and threw the congealed mass in his hand on the ground in a huff. His hands shot out towards Ye Mo, like two slithering serpents in attack.

nThe Phantom Serpent Palm!

nA Low-grade Spiritual Level martial technique in the Ye Clan, suitable for martial artists in training in the Corporeal Strengthening Realm or those in the Spirit Cultivating Realm. Two hands transformed into phantom serpents, and for those who mastered the technique, their hands could literally choke someone to death.

nBut for someone like Ye Xiaotian, the technique’s full potential had yet to be unleashed.

nAlthough Ye Mo had not trained in five years, his skill had not deteriorated. Eying the approaching Phantom Serpent Palm, he dodged it cleanly, completely avoiding Ye Xiaotian’s attack.

nYe Xiaotian was surprised inwardly, but he sneered as he saw an opening. His two hands snaked towards Ye Mo’s like entangled vines, binding together.

nHowever, Ye Mo actually went easy on Ye Xiaotian. Ye Xiaotian could only deal damage equal to one stone of strength, whereas Ye Mo had his dragon power, which dealt damage twice that of Ye Xiaotian. How could Ye Xiaotian possibly immobilize him?

nYe Mo’s right hand trembled ever so slightly, the vibrations coursing up Ye Xiaotian’s left arm causing a numbing sensation and forcing Ye Xiaotian to loosen his grip on Ye Mo.

nBefore Ye Xiaotian could react, Ye Mo’s right hand shifted from defense to attack, and, using the Phantom Serpent Palm, his hands slithered up Ye Xiaotian’s left arm. With a squeeze, Ye Xiaotian’s arm crackled with the sound of broken bone.

nYe Xiaotian immediately howled in pain and loosened the grip of his right hand. In one swift movement, Ye Mo grabbed Ye Xiaotian’s arm and threw him away like he was tossing away a piece of trash.

nThump!

nYe Xiaotian landed on the ground with a loud thud. He immediately got up, rubbing his left arm. Amidst the excruciating pain was astonishment. Wasn’t Ye Mo the “garbage?” How could his right arm possibly possess so much strength?

n“If I ever see you stealing here again, I’ll beat you every time I see you,” said Ye Mo. He didn’t even acknowledge Ye Xiaotian, as crippling one of his arms was merely the punishment Ye Xiaotian deserved. In the Ye Clan, conflicts between trainees often took place. Generally speaking, as long as there were no deaths, the higher-ups would not be involved.

n“Ye Mo, you absolute human garbage, I will kill you.” Ye Xiaotian was fuming at the arrogance this “garbage” displayed after only opening one Gate. He recklessly rushed towards Ye Mo, hurling his right fist at him vindictively.

n“Garbage? If it wasn’t for my lack of training in these five years, you lot would have been nothing more than fleas before me!”

nHearing the ragged breathing from behind him, Ye Mo internally sneered. He avoided the blow, and, with a swift turn, intercepted Ye Xiaotian’s punch with a fist of his own. The two fists collided with a dull thud.

nA huge wave of power surged towards Ye Xiaotian’s right arm, causing him to cry out in pain and slowly back away.

n“You wouldn’t have gotten a beating if you hadn’t asked for it. Today, I’ll make sure you get home—by crawling,” Ye Mo said, and with that, he delivered a swift blow to Ye Xiaotian’s face.

nPow!

nAfter Ye Mo’s fist hit Ye Xiaotian’s face, Ye Xiaotian rolled on the floor in pain. His nose was fractured, and he felt a surge of fear as he sensed the aura exuded by Ye Mo.

nNever would he have expected Ye Mo, who hadn’t opened a single Gate in five years, to be to making progress now.

n“Ye Mo, you garbage, I’ll get you back someday!” Ye Xiaotian threatened weakly and scurried away.

nYe Mo didn’t run after Ye Xiaotian. Today’s beating should be enough to keep Ye Xiaotian’s behavior at bay.

nSuddenly, Ye Mo realized with surprise that the punch he just delivered didn’t have two stones of strength. The dragon power absorbed by the Gate had vanished.

n“No way! You’ve got to be kidding me!”

nYe Mo did some mental calculations and estimated that from since he started absorbing the dragon power, it lasted approximately one minute. Meaning that after one minute, his right hand’s attack would revert back to normal. One minute wasn’t exactly a long period of time, but it wasn’t short either. Definitely a very sticky situation.

nNow that Ye Mo had erupted one of his Gates, the power of two dragons sufficed. After finishing one, he still had the other as backup. However, if another one of his Gates erupted, the current level of dragon power would be insufficient.

nYe Mo’s current skill power was perhaps adequate against martial artists at the stage of the Corporeal Strengthening Realm. However, against opponents of the Spirit Cultivating First Realm, he was still leagues behind.

n“No, wait, the Rising Dragon Pillar is absorbing the Yuan Chi of Heaven and Earth of its own accord!”

nJust as Ye Mo used up one wave of dragon power, another dragon from the Rising Dragon Pillar was, in fact, beginning to absorb Yuan Chi automatically, without the need for the Energy Center. Once the dragon completely absorbed all the Yuan Chi, another dragon soared up into the sky, the two dragons circling the air gracefully.

n“Haha! It can absorb Yuan Chi of its own accord! Now I don’t have to worry about the dragon power vanishing. As long as I store enough backup dragon power in my Energy Center, I can replenish my reservoir as I desire.”

nAt this moment, accompanied by the power of the Priming Pills, Ye Mo could have awakened two dragon forces. Under normal situations, he could only utilize one of the dragons and the other one could be for backup. Once the first one was depleted, the backup dragon could be utilized, and in the meantime, another dragon would be synthesized.

nMore importantly, dragon power held huge potential. It could be stacked up, and in the face of strong opponents, it could even be used in tandem.

nIn this world, no matter how strong one was, no one was capable of automatically absorbing Yuan Chi and converting it into Yuanli.

nYe Mo calmed himself down, picked up the bag of Priming Pills on the floor, and walked into the Pill Refining Chamber. Rather than returning the pills into their original spot, he decided he might as well take them.

nNow that Ye Xiaotian tampered with the lock, and Ye Mo finally gave him a taste of his own medicine, Ye Mo decided to stop faking pleasantries, as a fallout was unavoidable. He had had enough of all those years of Ye Xiaotian and Ye Ming’s abuse. Now that he was beginning to gain powers, he no longer had to live in the shadows.

nSitting cross-legged on the floor, Ye Mo swallowed all the pills in the bag. He wanted to see whether he could awaken a third dragon under the influence of the pills.

n“If I could awaken all of the dragons on this pillar, I wonder how strong the attack would be? Could that monstrous power possibly be an attack of the legendary Divine Realm?”

nYe Mo couldn’t help but imagine all the potential it had, but he quickly dismissed the thought, as he was still miles away from the Divine Realm.

nThe strongest martial artist in Limestone City was the head of the Qin Clan, Qin Hao, even he was only at the Energy Shaping Ninth Realm. The Energy Shaping Realm was the realm that followed Spirit Cultivating Realm.

nHowever, with the powers of this pillar, Ye Mo was confident that he could avenge his father, as well as fulfil his father’s dying wish, which was to seek out his mother.

nOnce Ye Mo absorbed all the Priming Pills, he stuffed several more into his mouth.

n“Haha! Ye Mo, hurry up and kindle a fire. I now have the method for synthesizing Fortifying Pills.”

nElder Yin walked into the chamber with an air of excitement, his hair resembling a bird’s nest. He seemed to have had an epiphany while at the Alchemist Guild.

nWhen his gaze reached Ye Mo, who was popping Priming Pills into his mouth like they were beans, his expression hardened.

n“Hmph! Ye Mo, turns out it was you who’ve been stealing the pills all this time!”

n“Uh oh!” Ye Mo cried internally. Initially, he wanted to tattle on Ye Xiaotian and Ye Ming to Elder Yin, blaming the loss of the pills all on them. Now that Elder Yin had caught him red-handed, there was no way he could clear himself of that crime, not even if he jumped into the Huang River and washed his body!

n“Elder Yin, you’re mistaken! These pills are the ones that I have been saving up all these years,” Ye Mo said, voice quivering with fear. He knew that Elder Yin’s temper was like a raging fire.

n“The ones you saved?” Elder Yin asked and went to inspect the cabinets. Inside the cabinets, roughly 20 pills were missing.

n“Don’t you dare defend yourself, I’ll send you to prison! As my assistant, you dare to steal from your own master and take them for yourself. I’m sure you are aware of the punishment,” said Elder Yin.

nNot being able to defend himself, Ye Mo could only admit to his wrongdoings.

n“Elder Yin, I’m truly sorry. Please forgive me! After all, I’ve worked so diligently for you all these years!”

n“Absolutely not, you must sever your own two hands as repentance!” said Elder Yin.

nYe Mo was aware that he had angered Ye Xiaotian, and if news that he amputated Ye Mo’s arms spread out, things would end very poorly for him.

n“Elder Yin, didn’t you just learn of the method to create Fortifying Pills? If my hands were broken, no one would be able to look after the fire for you anymore. I can guarantee that you’ll never be able to find someone as good at the job as I am,” Ye Mo said.

nFortifying Pills were Second Rank Pills. Elder Yin was not able to synthesize them before.

nElder Yin furrowed his eyebrows. He indeed wanted to make the Fortifying Pills right now, and if Ye Mo’s arms were amputated, it would be hard to train up another assistant.

n“Don’t threaten me. Alchemy assistants like you are a dime in a dozen in Limestone City,” Elder Yin said as his face hardened again.

nYe Mo said, with a smile on his face, “Elder Yin, I know there are plenty of assistants better than me in Limestone City. It would also be very easy for you if you wanted to replace me. But please, as long as you don’t amputate my arms, you can do anything you want to me as punishment.”

n“Hmph, start the fire first. Once I’ve successfully synthesized the Fortifying Pills, I’ll have a good think about how to punish you, you little rascal!”

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