Chapter 12: The Inconstant Nature of People (1/2)

Chapter Twelve: The Inconstant Nature of People

“Grandfather, Mr. Hua has left us a medicinal pill, which… supposedly could give you ten more years of life.” Nie Tian handed the dark-green medicinal pill over to Nie Donghai.

“What?!” Nie Qian exclaimed. Excited, she turned and rushed out, hoping to catch up to Hua Mu and express her gratitude.

However, Hua Mu was nowhere to be found.

“A medicinal pill that can prolong my life by ten years?” Nie Donghai also cheered up a bit. He took the pill from Nie Tian’s hand, took a deep sniff off of its intense medicinal scent. “If this is true, the value of this medicinal pill alone would far surpass the value of the rewards that we have paid him!”

Nie Qian was both shocked and happy. “Why would Mr. Hua Mu make such an unfavorable deal with us? Who is he?”

“He said…” Nie Tian hesitated and concocted a white lie. “That he and I were destined to meet.”

“Destined?” Nie Donghai briefly frowned. “How strange. Both of you stay here. I’ll go look for him in the city. No matter what, I want to thank him in person. He has been far too kind to the both of us.”

Having said that, Nie Donghai took the initiative and left with the medicinal pill in hand.

Unfortunately, after searching in Black Cloud City for two straight days, he was unable to find any trace of Hua Mu. It seemed as if Hua Mu had disappeared into thin air, the same way he had appeared out of nowhere in the first place.

Nie Donghai was suspicious at first and observed Nie Tian for several days. Seeing that he no longer burst into high fevers, Nie Donghai was completely convinced that Hua Mu had no malicious motives.

He also believed that the medicinal pill Hua Mu had left him would most likely not harm him.

Therefore, he put his mind at ease and consumed the unnamed medicinal pill. In the next moment, he felt that his spirit and energy had indeed improved significantly.

Now that Nie Tian had recovered from the fever, whenever he cultivated using the Qi Refining Incantation, he could clearly feel the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth that he channeled into his body no longer continued to flow into his blood, muscles, and bones.

Apparently his robust body had already absorbed enough strength and no longer required extra nourishment to grow.

Three months later, Nie Tian finally broke through the third level of Qi Refining. After being stuck in the third level for so long, he successfully entered the fourth level of Qi Refining.

Meanwhile, it was almost Nie Tian’s eleventh birthday.

These days, Nie Tian no longer went to the square to train early in the morning in order to avoid causing any trouble for his grandfather or getting involved in new conflicts himself.

Most of the time, he would train hard in his own room instead, and would occasionally take walks in Black Cloud City with his aunt Nie Qian.

One morning, he heard a loud uproar coming from the square when he was cultivating by himself.

The clamor grew so loud that he wasn’t able to focus on his cultivation. Finally, he couldn’t resist the temptation, and walked over to the square.

As he approached, he saw numerous Nie clan elders gathering in the square. Every one of them was radiant with joy, as if it was the New Year’s festival.

Wu Tao, who was in charge of teaching the Nie clan children, also had a heartfelt and sincere smile on his face as he kept repeating the same sentence over and over, “Nie Xian has successfully broken through into the ninth level of Qi Refining!”

“Fourteen years old! The ninth level of Qi Refining!” Nie Tian was also shocked, and secretly felt happy for Nie Xian.

Even though he hadn’t been close to Nie Xian, on many occasions where he had conflicts with Nie Hong or Nie Yuan, Nie Xian had sided with justice, unlike other members of the clan, who only supported and protected Nie Hong and Nie Yuan.

For that reason, he actually secretly thought highly of Nie Xian, although they weren’t exactly good friends.

Knowing Nie Xian had reached the ninth level of Qi Refining at the age of fourteen, Nie Tian was sincerely happy for him.

He knew very well that the youngsters of the Nie clan who could reach the ninth level of Qi Refining before the age of fifteen, and therefore had the opportunity to pursue their cultivation in the Cloudsoaring sect, were all outstanding elites.

Nie Hong’s two elder brothers, Nie Han and Nie Tai, both showed extraordinary talent when they were young, and had made great gains after their lot-drawing conventions.

However, Nie Tai had failed to reach the ninth level of Qi Refining by fifteen, and thus got rejected by the Cloudsoaring sect.

Only his eldest brother, Nie Han, had managed to break through into the ninth level when he was exactly fifteen and became a disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect.

According to the rumors, Nie Han did quite well after spending several years in the Cloudsoaring sect. Actually, a number of people in the Cloudsoaring sect believed he would have a bright future.

Nie Beichuan being able to get the support of Nie clan’s elders and successfully succeeding as the clanmaster was due to a number of reasons. Besides the fact that Nie Donghai was injured and his cultivation base kept degrading, Nie Han… was also a very important factor.

“Excellent! Good Job!” Nie Beichuan stood amongst the crowd and threw an appreciative look at Nie Xian, then said in a loud voice, “I’ve told all of you that since I’ve become head of the clan, I would spare no effort to make the Nie clan great again! Nie Xian being able to make such a breakthrough and become a disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect is a good omen that our clan is on its way to prosperity!”

A large number of Nie clan members congratulated Nie Beichuan, their faces full of smiles, as if it was his meritorious service that resulted in Nie Xian reaching the ninth level of Qi Refining.

“Haha, it’s all because of the clanmaster!”

“The moment you took over, Nie Xian managed to reach the ninth level of Qi Refining. Obviously, you are the reason the Nie clan is thriving!”

“In your hands, the Nie clan will absolutely reach new heights and crush the Yun clan and the An clan in the near future!”