The Extreme Alchemist of the Mighty Cauldron

“Such nonsense! I won’t let you tarnish my son!” Yuan Sanping roared angrily, his heart filled with a lingering worry. Fang Lin’s words were too damaging, but fortunately no evidence was available. If the allegation were to be proved, even with him defending with all his might, Yuan Bo wouldn’t escape severe punishment.

“Fang Lin, don’t make groundless accusations!” Another elder also chided aloud.

Yuan Bo scoffed, still looking unconcerned. Even if he had said those words, what of it? Who could prove he had said such things now?

Even though many present had heard his braggings over the past few days, Yuan Bo didn’t believe anyone would stand up to accuse him for the sake of mere Fang Lin.

But contrary to his expectations, someone stepped forward from the crowd, holding something up high and declared, “I have proof of the words spoken by Yuan Bo over the past few days!”

Whoo!

A single stone stirred thousands of waves as all eyes turned to this person. It was none other than Xu Shangao.

Fang Lin was startled, then broke into a smile.

Seen by all, Xu Shangao, merely a lowly disciple, felt nervous under their gaze. Yet, now that he had taken a stand, he couldn’t back down when push came to shove.

Thus, Xu Shangao tried hard to stay calm and said again, “I’ve recorded all that

Yuan Bo has said these days in this Sound Bead.”

At these words, Yuan Sanping’s face changed dramatically, and Yuan Bols pudgy face turned pale as a sheet.

The three elders who had stood by Yuan Sanping glanced at each other and shook their heads. They stepped back to the side.

“Give the Sound Bead to me.” Mu Yan said.

Upon hearing this, Xu Shangao hurriedly handed the Sound Bead respectfully to Mu Yan, finally breathing a sigh of relief.

Holding the Sound Bead, Mu Yan glanced at Yuan father and son, saying, “Now, do you want me to play the voice recorded in the Sound Bead?”

Yuan Sanping clenched his fists, his face dark, while Yuan Bo looked helplessly at his father.

Taking a deep breath, Yuan Sanping finally managed to calm down, speaking in a low voice, “The incident today is indeed my son’s fault. I’ll bring him to the Sect Leader at once and let him decide on how to deal with this unfilial son.” Having said that, he grabbed Yuan Bo by the collar like a dead dog and dragged the stunned Yuan Bo away.

This drama ended abruptly. Yuan father and son had suffered a major loss and face utter defeat.

Afterwards, as guaranteed, Yuan Sanping took Yuan Bo to Sect Leader Gu Daofeng. Gu did not let him off lightly, directly revoking Yuan Bo’s eligibility to enter the Pill Forest Academy for a year. Yuan Sanping was also punished to face the wall for a year for shielding Yuan Bo.

Many understood the nature of this punishment. The Sect Leader didn’t really want to punish Yuan father and son; it was just necessitated due to unavoidable circumstances. The punishment was neither too light nor too heavy.

After all, Mu Yan held in her hands undeniable proof of Yuan Bo’s lawlessness, which was devastating. Now, she still spared some dignity for the Yuan family by not making it public.

If Mu Yan had played the words from the Sound Bead in presence of everyone, no one could save Yuan Bo. Yuan Sanping would be greatly implicated.

Gu Daofeng also understood that Mu Yan’s decision was a warning to him.

Invisibly, the minor clash between Fang Lin and Yuan Bo escalated into covert competition between Mu Yan and the Sect Leader of Pill Sect.

In this subtle confrontation, Mu Yan seemed to have gained the upper hand.

As for the downfall of Yuan father and son, many disciples of the Pill Sect applauded. After all, their reputation in the Sect was poor and many disciples harbored resentments against them.

Now that Yuan father and son had been punished and probably wouldn’t appear in the next year, these disciples were naturally pleased, and consequently felt positive about Fang Lin.

Many disciples held Fang Lin in awe. In all these years, he was the first to dare to confront Yuan father and son head-on and make them suffer.

Of course, some disciples felt a sense of sympathy and concern for Fang Lin. The Yuan family would only be absent for a year at most, but what about after that year?

Yuan father and son would surely resurface, and by then, they would surely deal with Fang Lin. It wouldn’t be a petty squabble then, but potentially a lethal strike.

After that day, Fang Lin carried on his leisurely life in Pill Forest Academy as if nothing had ever happened.

However, Fang Lin still didn’t attend any lecture given by any elder, and he hardly visited the Pill Refining Rooms in D Building either.

One day, just as Fang Lin was leaving Room Three of the Pill Refining Room, having absorbed a great deal of Cauldron Qi, he was on the verge of breaking through to Human Origin seven-fold.

The seventh fold of Human Origin was a watershed in the Human Origin Realm. Without such a level, even with adept Alchemy skills, one could not become an upper rank disciple.

The minimum qualification for upper-rank disciples was Human Origin seven-fold.

At present, few among middle-rank disciples were Fang Lin’s match in the martial arts realm. However, he was still a little weak when facing upper-rank disciples.

If it were the Martial Sect, Fang Lin’s strength would only be considered mediocre.

Exiting the third Pill Refining Room, Fang Lin was about to join others for a meal when he saw a white-clad elderly man with a kind face standing not far away, nodding and smiling at Fang Lin.

Fang Lin was slightly puzzled but still went over.

“Sir, are you looking for me?” Fang Lin asked with a bow, his demeanor respectful.

The elderly man with white hair nodded. His face was kindly, but Fang Lin was not fooled by his demeanor and was internally on guard.

“Fang Lin, you had a competition in Alchemy with Lu Jiuhe that day by using an ancient Alchemy skill Imown as Shaking Three Mountains”, the old man said slowly.

Fang Lin only nodded in response, saying nothing.

“I wasn’t present that day, but I was very impressed when I heard about it later,” continued the old man. “The skill of Shaking Three Mountains, where did you learn it from?”

Fang Lin replied calmly, “An expert taught me when I was young.”

The old man nodded, gave Fang Lin a cursory glance, and said, “Fang Lin, you are now a formal disciple of our Pill Sect, and Shaking Three Mountains is an ancient alchemy skill desperately sought by our pill refiners. Since you have this skill, you should write it down and hand it over to the Pill Sect, so that more disciples of the Sect can learn it. Then you will be a great contributor to our Sect!”

Upon hearing these words, Fang Lin immediately realized that the elderly man had come to him for the skill of Shaking Three Mountains.

Fang Lin was not surprised or shocked. He had anticipated that day would arrive since the time he had demonstrated Shaking Three Mountains.

“Fang Lin, what do you think? As long as you hand over Shaking Three Mountains to the Sect, the Sect leader will make an exception and promote you to middle-rank disciple. And you will also be rewarded with a White Mountain Cauldron,” the old man continued, his words somewhat enticing..