Alchemy Master

Chapter 1191, Are You Complimenting Me?

Translator: Silavin

“Brother Zhao, long time no see, your prestige remains as formidable as ever!”

The group swept in, and their arrival swiftly drew the attention of a considerable number of powerful experts. Faced with the scrutiny of countless gazes, Fang Zhong wore an expression of perfect, unruffled ease as he smiled and called out his greeting to a middle-aged man standing at the centre of the crowd.

That middle-aged man wore a blood-red robe. His features were rather handsome, though that sinister gleam lurking in his eyes managed to undermine at least half of that handsomeness.

From his person, a faint but startling surge of Evil Energy radiated outward, making it clear to all that he was far from ordinary.

Worse, it was not merely this middle-aged man. Even the several powerful experts standing at his back were not to be underestimated. The fluctuationing aura emanating from each of them sat firmly at the Peak Stage Martial Ancestor Realm.

“Who is this? Fang Zhong, I see you still haven’t shed that habit of dragging cannon fodder along with you wherever you go.” Zhao Xueqi cast Fang Zhong a single glance and let out a cold, indifferent laugh.

At these words, the expressions of Fang Zhong’s entire party shifted.

“Brother Zhao still loves his little jokes.” Fang Zhong was clearly a veteran at navigating such waters. With a loud laugh he brushed the remark aside. He glanced at the several men standing behind Zhao Xueqi and smiled. “The Blood Hand Five Eagles are all here. It seems Brother Zhao is absolutely determined to claim that Sacred Energy Fruit.”

“Ha ha, nothing so certain in this world. It all comes down to luck in the end. Fang Zhong, don’t go stirring up trouble for me.”

Zhao Xueqi let out a booming laugh.

“Ha, but of course. Then on this expedition, we shall rely entirely on Brother Zhao.”

Fang Zhong cupped his fists and smiled.

It was said that Zhao Xueqi had reached Peak Stage Martial Ancestor Realm as far back as twenty years ago, but that in his earlier eagerness for rapid advancement he had left behind a grave hidden ailment. They had prevented him from breaking through to the Saint Realm for the same twenty years.

Even so, the sheer ferocity of his strength was beyond any doubt.

And beyond that, his Blood Hand Five Eagles alone were more than enough to deter numerous experts with unsavoury intentions.

Five Peak Stage Martial Ancestors, along with a considerable number of other Martial Ancestors, with Zhao Xueqi the de facto leader. No one naturally had the slightest inclination to challenge that.

“Hmm?”

Qin Yichen was following along behind Fang Zhong, looking for somewhere convenient to rest and await the arrival of more experts, when in a single instant he felt as though a cold, dark gaze had settled upon him.

“Zhao Henghuang?”

Qin Yichen followed the sensation and looked over, only to discover with no small degree of surprise that Zhao Henghuang, the man he had punished so casually in passing, was standing there right behind the Blood Hand Five Eagles.

And at this moment, Zhao Henghuang showed not the slightest trace of gratitude that Qin Yichen had spared his life. On the contrary, his sinister eyes brimmed with undisguised hatred. It was plain that the punishment he had received remained lodged bitterly in his heart.

“You brat… I didn’t expect you’d actually have the nerve to show your face here!”

Seeing that Qin Yichen had spotted him, Zhao Henghuang abandoned all pretence and stepped forward from the crowd, fixing Qin Yichen with a cold sneer.

Qin Yichen said nothing in reply, merely watching him with a cool, unblinking gaze.

Under that steady stare, for reasons he could not quite explain, Zhao Henghuang felt as though he were being watched by some fierce and savage beast, and a creeping, bone-deep unease rose unbidden within him.

This little disturbance quickly drew the attention of the other experts nearby.

Fang Zhong, too, noticed the commotion, but when his gaze fell on Zhao Xueqi and the Blood Hand group behind Zhao Henghuang, he paused briefly and ultimately said nothing.

By the look of things, there was clearly some grudge between Qin Yichen and that guy. He had thought rather well of Qin Yichen before, but after a few cautious tests in which the latter had not revealed any strength capable of commanding his notice, his earlier enthusiasm had cooled considerably.

Besides, Zhao Henghuang was Zhao Xueqi’s man. He was not about to be foolish enough to make an enemy of Zhao Xueqi for the sake of some Junior who had thus far shown nothing out of the ordinary.

“What’s wrong?”

Under the scrutiny of so many gazes, Zhao Xueqi gave a slight nod, and a Peak Stage Martial Ancestor stepped out from behind him.

“Fourth Brother, it was this brat who cut off my hand!”

With someone to back him up, Zhao Henghuang pointed at Qin Yichen and roared.

“Oh…” A brief hush fell over the scene at Zhao Henghuang’s words, and no few experts narrowed their eyes.

It was clear to all that a fine spectacle was about to unfold.

Blood Hand Zhao Xueqi was not merely frightening in terms of raw strength. His temperament was vicious and utterly merciless. Within the radius of several thousand kilometres covered by the Myriad Beasts War Domain, anyone with a basic grasp of the world knew exactly who he was.

Moreover, Zhao Xueqi had always favoured personal loyalty over reason. To have severed the arm of one of his subordinates was not the sort of matter that could be resolved with a few pleasant words.

“Brat, was it you who did this to my Brother?”

The Peak Stage Martial Ancestor whom Zhao Henghuang had addressed as Fourth Brother fixed Qin Yichen with a cold stare, the threat unmistakable in the measured words that passed through his lips.

Seeing this Peak Stage Martial Ancestor step forward on Zhao Henghuang’s behalf, more than a few onlookers directed looks of quiet sympathy toward Qin Yichen.

“He ambushed me first. If I had not been grateful for the information he provided regarding this Sacred Energy Fruit, it would have been more than a single severed arm.”

Yet what surprised the crowd was that Qin Yichen showed not the slightest inclination to apologise. Instead, he spoke in a tone of supreme indifference, as though it were not he who had offended the other party at all, but rather he who had done the man a great magnanimous favour by letting him walk away alive.

“I see. So, I ought to be thanking you, then?”

The moment Qin Yichen’s words settled, Fourth Brother’s expression darkened completely. He had not expected that at a moment like this, Qin Yichen would actually dare to talk back.

Seeing Fourth Brother’s countenance shift, those nearby tactfully stepped back a fair distance.

Several of the gazes now directed at Qin Yichen brimmed with undisguised amusement.

In their estimation, this clear-eyed, handsome young man must have only recently entered the Myriad Beasts War Domain, lacking even the most basic read of the situation. Did he imagine he was still among his own kind?

Fang Zhong, for his part, immediately assumed the expression of a man who has never met this person in his life, moving aside to signal that this affair was entirely unrelated to him.

“*Hmph!* No real ability to speak of, just a knack for attracting trouble.”

“I told Brother Fang from the start not to bring this brat along. And here we are.”

Mao Gan and Zhang Qun let out cold laughs and drifted pointedly away, treating Qin Yichen as though he were not part of their group at all.

“There is no need for thanks. I merely gave a casual lesson on your behalf.” And yet Qin Yichen appeared entirely oblivious to the shift in the atmosphere around him, responding instead with an expression of mild, slightly bashful pleasure, as though he had just received a genuine compliment.

At these words, the crowd collectively rolled their eyes.

How on earth could anyone this dense have survived in the Myriad Beasts War Domain?

And as Qin Yichen’s words faded, the face of Fourth Brother across from him darkened.