Chapter 17: Can the Cauldron Grow Herbs?

Watching Old Master Tang's retreating figure, the onlookers' lips twitched violently.

This shameless old man — your grandson just beat Liu Quan until he vomited blood and couldn't get up for ages, and you're actually saying someone bullied your grandson?

If that counted as bullying, then what would it be called if someone truly beat your grandson up?

While Yun City buzzed with talk of the incident, Old Master Tang had already dragged Tang Yan back to the clan.

"Boy, you can cultivate True Qi now?" Inside the study, Old Master Tang finally couldn't hold back any longer, grabbing Tang Yan by the shoulders and shaking him vigorously.

Looking at his excited Grandfather, Tang Yan felt a headache coming on. "Yes — if I couldn't cultivate, I probably would've been beaten to death today."

"What happened? Wasn't your cultivation core destroyed?" Tang Ling pressed urgently.

"Well…" Tang Yan hemmed and hawed.

Seeing that Tang Yan seemed to have something difficult to say, Old Master Tang suddenly recalled a powerful aura that had briefly appeared within the Tang Clan over a month ago. It had been so fleeting that he'd thought it was his imagination, and he'd been puzzling over it ever since. Could it be that some reclusive master had saved his grandson?

"Over a month ago, I ran into an old man who said we had a great karmic connection. He had me eat something, and after that I could cultivate. He also passed on some Cultivation Techniques to me. But he's always loved peace and quiet his whole life and didn't want to get entangled in worldly affairs, so he asked me not to mention him. I tried to convince him to stay with the clan and enjoy good food and wine, but that cantankerous old fellow had a strange temper…" Tang Yan hemmed and hawed for a long while before finally fabricating an excuse.

He expected his grandfather to keep pressing him, but instead Old Master Tang suddenly flicked a chestnut off Tang Yan's head. "You little brat — you don't know how lucky you are. That man is a person of great virtue and integrity, with his own noble character. He didn't want to be burdened by the mundane world. He healed your cultivation core and passed on Cultivation Techniques to you, and not only do you not call him 'Honored Master,' you call him a 'cantankerous old fellow'?"

Hearing Old Master Tang's scolding, Tang Yan was left utterly dumbfounded. He'd casually made up an excuse on the spot, and his grandfather just… believed it?

Tang Yan didn't know what Tang Ling was thinking, but in Tang Ling's heart, many things had finally clicked into place. No wonder he had sensed the aura of a powerful expert that day. No wonder his grandson could cultivate again. No wonder his grandson seemed so completely changed…

Many questions that had previously baffled him were finally resolved by Tang Yan's well-intentioned lie!

"All right. Since your master doesn't want you spreading it around, keep this secret to yourself!" Tang Ling waved a broad hand, magnanimously dropping the matter.

Today, Tang Yan finally experienced what it felt like to stumble into good fortune by accident. This was actually for the best — it saved him from having to come up with more excuses.

"Go on then. Stay close to home lately, and come to me for permission before you go out." Old Master Tang waved his hand, and Tang Yan turned and withdrew.

"Now that Yan'er can cultivate again, I wonder if the City Lord will bring up that old business of him teasing the City Lord's daughter…" Standing in the study, watching Tang Yan's departing figure through the window, Tang Ling couldn't help but clench his fist. "As long as I still draw breath, I will always stand before you!"

Tang Yan had barely stepped out of his grandfather's study when he suddenly thought of Little Cui — his Spirit Vortex Fruit was still with her. Had she brought it back?

Just as Tang Yan was anxiously thinking of going to find Little Cui, he heard her call out: "Young Master, I'm over here!"

When he saw that Little Cui was still cradling that hideously ugly Spirit Vortex Fruit, Tang Yan finally felt relieved.

"Young Master, here!" Little Cui handed the Spirit Vortex Fruit to Tang Yan, then looked at him with eager, expectant eyes.

Tang Yan didn't disappoint her. He laughed heartily and said, "Aren't all my silver notes kept with you for safekeeping? Just take a hundred taels."

"Thank you, Young Master." Hearing that Tang Yan had kept his promise, Little Cui immediately broke into a beaming smile.

The moment he touched the Spirit Vortex Fruit, the pill cauldron within his cultivation core trembled again. Eager to investigate why the Heaven and Earth Creation Cauldron was reacting, Tang Yan clutched the Spirit Vortex Fruit and hurried off to his room.

"Young Master seems to really like that rotten fruit. His taste has been getting stranger and stranger lately."

After reaching his room, Tang Yan sat cross-legged on his bed, his mind full of curiosity. Could it be that the pill cauldron wanted to eat this fruit? But if I want to feed it to you, how exactly would that work? Would I have to swallow it myself for you to get it?

People are always curious, and curiosity can kill the cat. When Tang Yan channeled a thread of True Qi to wrap around the Spirit Vortex Fruit, the pill cauldron inside his cultivation core gave a violent shudder. An enormous suction force surged forth — and then his hand was empty.

"Holy shit, it actually ate it!" Tang Yan couldn't hold back the outburst!

He quickly turned his inner vision to his cultivation core, and was stunned once more. It seemed he could now establish a faint connection with the Heaven and Earth Creation Cauldron — he could actually… actually see inside the cauldron!

At the bottom of the cauldron's interior was a swirling mass of chaotic energy, and the Spirit Vortex Fruit had taken root right in that chaotic energy. Its previously withered exterior had somehow regained its luster.

Fuck! It's alive?

Sensing the waves of vitality emanating from the Spirit Vortex Fruit, Tang Yan felt it was utterly unbelievable. Could it be that medicinal herbs could actually be cultivated inside this cauldron? He glanced around — there were a few ordinary medicinal herbs nearby. Tang Yan tried channeling True Qi to draw them into the cauldron, but after a long while, the Heaven and Earth Creation Cauldron showed no reaction whatsoever.

Could it be that the cauldron was selective about which spirit herbs were worthy of entering it?

He tried taking the spirit herb back out — sure enough, it could be done with ease.

Thoroughly amused, he played around with it several times before finally placing the Spirit Vortex Fruit back inside the cauldron.

Setting aside his playfulness, Tang Yan had no intention of consuming the Spirit Vortex Fruit right now. While swallowing a spirit herb directly was certainly effective, if he could supplement it with other medicinal ingredients and refine it into a Pill, the benefits would be far greater.

By revealing his strength today, he feared that the earlier incident of teasing Lin Dongxue would be stirred up by those with ulterior motives.

If someone truly spread a rumor that the Tang Clan's eldest young master had attempted to violate Lin Dongxue, and that the City Lord's Manor feared the Tang Clan's power and dared not act, leaving Tang Yan to walk free without any punishment —

If it came to that, the City Lord's Manor's reputation would inevitably suffer.

To salvage their reputation, the City Lord's Manor would come after him again.

And the Liu Family would certainly be the ones to set such a scheme in motion. Moreover, there were many smaller families in Yun City that depended on the Liu Family — with just one word from the Liu Family, those clans would spread the rumor far and wide, and within a short time the whole city would be in an uproar.

Carefully analyzing the consequences of having exposed his strength today, Tang Yan quickly searched for a countermeasure.

The Tang Clan was currently besieged on all sides. If they ceded Tang Clan influence to appease the City Lord's Manor, the clan's power would take a significant hit — and at that point, the other great families would likely seize the opportunity to take advantage of the Tang Clan as well.

After being nibbled away at by the great families, how much strength would the Tang Clan have left to survive in Yun City?

To prevent this from happening, he had to strike from the City Lord's Manor's side. Tang Yan paced around his room for a few steps, and suddenly recalled a rumor: the City Lord's wife had been left with a scar on her face from an illness, and despite seeking treatment everywhere, no cure had been found. Places she had once loved to frequent, she now rarely visited — and even when she did, she would go veiled.

Though few people knew of this matter, the Tang Clan, as one of the Four Great Families, could naturally confirm the information was accurate.

And in Tang Yan's memories, there happened to be a Pill perfectly suited for removing scars — the Traceless Pill.