“Insolent brat!”

The moment Qin Fan finished his flippant, arrogant words, an elder behind Yao Junxian pointed at him and shouted as if facing a great enemy.

In that instant, everyone’s expression changed dramatically.

Spiritual Medicine Garden? Damn it! How does this bastard know that Medicine Valley even has such a place?

SWOOSH!

In the next second, everyone snapped their heads toward the two Medicine Valley members who had previously fought Qin Fan.

“I—I didn’t say anything, I really didn’t!”

“Me neither!”

Under those strange glares, the two unlucky men frantically explained in a panic. They didn’t dare mention “Medicine Valley” to outsiders, let alone the Spiritual Medicine Garden! As for how Qin Fan knew… they had no idea. Truly.

“Alright, enough yapping,” Qin Fan said, his lips curling into a sneer as he looked at Yao Junxian. “To put it simply, Old Yao, how about you lend it to me for a while?”

“And what if I say no?” Yao Junxian’s face darkened as he snorted.

“Then I’m afraid I’ll have to force my way in,” Qin Fan taunted nonchalantly. “Anyone who blocks me dies.”

He had to have the Spiritual Medicine Garden!

“Indeed, you killed Lan Xiaosheng, so you certainly have the grounds to be arrogant! But do you really think Medicine Valley is defenseless?” Yao Junxian snarled, grinding his teeth in the face of Qin Fan’s overpowering arrogance.

“You? Or all of you?” Qin Fan shook his head, disdainfully pointing his finger and making a circle. “You’re no match for me.”

“If you leave now, our Medicine Valley can pretend this never happened! But if you dare to force your way in, I guarantee you won’t leave here alive! With the cultivation you used to kill Lan Xiaosheng, you’ve earned the right to be arrogant. But if you keep making a scene because you don’t know what’s good for you… heh,” Yao Junxian snorted coldly.

“I know. I can feel them. There are several powerful auras in here, even stronger than Lan Xiaosheng’s. But they’re in seclusion, aren’t they? And let’s take a step back—even if they weren’t, so what? If I can’t leave Medicine Valley alive, what about you all? Do you think you’d survive? If I die, the entire Medicine Valley is coming with me. This isn’t a threat. I’m stating a fact. Today, you will lend me the Spiritual Medicine Garden. Whether you want to or not.”

As he finished speaking, the aura of Qin Fan’s Middle Stage Foundation Establishment cultivation erupted from him without reservation.

“You, you, you! Bastard!” Overwhelmed by Qin Fan’s extreme ultimatum, Yao Junxian could no longer contain his rage.

Yes, he was at the Middle Stage of the Transformation Realm. And yes, several of his elders had the strength of the Initial Stage of the Transformation Realm. But their strength, untested by true life-or-death battles, was just as weak as Qin Fan claimed for their rank. If a fight broke out, how many of them would survive? Could they really withstand this freak of nature who had so easily slaughtered a master at the Great Success of the Transformation Realm and walked away unharmed?

Yao Junxian didn’t know.

Qin Fan’s words struck his weakest point. The few Valley Guardian Elders with truly formidable cultivation were, indeed, in seclusion. It wasn’t realistic to expect them to emerge now to deal with Qin Fan.

But to simply let Qin Fan enter the Spiritual Medicine Garden, the most forbidden place in Medicine Valley? Impossible!

“The strong prey on the weak! It’s the immutable law of survival,” Qin Fan laughed arrogantly. “And I’ve already told you! Today, you will lend it to me whether you want to or not!”

With that, he clasped his hands behind his back and began walking leisurely toward Yao Junxian and the others.

“Valley Master!” Seeing Qin Fan’s unyielding determination to force his way in, the crowd cried out in alarm to Yao Junxian.

“Anyone who blocks me dies!”

Without waiting for Yao Junxian’s response, Qin Fan spat out the words with an overwhelming momentum. His aura surged forth once more.

Faced with an imposing pressure they felt was utterly insurmountable, Yao Junxian faltered. His intuition told him that those words, “Anyone who blocks me dies,” were not a joke.

“Let him in!” Yao Junxian forced the words through his clenched teeth, his heart aching.

“Valley Master!”

Everyone’s eyes flew wide in disbelief. They couldn’t believe Yao Junxian would say such a thing. Let this menace waltz in and cause chaos? That was the Spiritual Medicine Garden, the most sacred forbidden ground in all of Medicine Valley!

“I said, let him in!” Watching Qin Fan’s unhurried steps draw ever closer, Yao Junxian repeated the order, his jaw clenched so tightly it ached.

More than anyone, he wanted to see Qin Fan put down for good right here. But he couldn’t risk Qin Fan taking the entire Medicine Valley down with him. Even though he knew Qin Fan likely wouldn’t choose mutual destruction, he knew deep down that it was a risk he couldn’t afford to take. It was a bet he dared not make.

At Yao Junxian’s second command, the Elders and other members of Medicine Valley reluctantly moved aside. Yet every single one of them stared at Qin Fan with a furious hatred that burned to its very core. If looks could kill, Qin Fan would have already been sliced into a thousand pieces, with not even his bones remaining.

“Valley Master Yao, a wise choice. Thanks for that,” Qin Fan said with a light chuckle as he walked past him.

“Wait!”

However, just as Qin Fan was about to take another step, Yao Junxian suddenly spun around and called out.

“What is it?” Qin Fan paused, his back still to Yao Junxian.

“The Longevity Furnace is with you, isn’t it? Could you lend it to Medicine Valley for a time? We’ll return it to you when you come out of the Spiritual Medicine Garden. Since you know of the Spiritual Medicine Garden, you must understand what it represents. My request isn’t too much to ask, is it?” Even now, Yao Junxian was unwilling to give up and tried to negotiate.

“The furnace has already acknowledged its master. It would be useless to you even if I lent it to you. Don’t worry, after I come out of the Spiritual Medicine Garden, I’ll give you a generous gift!” Qin Fan replied with a noncommittal chuckle, shaking his head.

Acknowledged its master?

Upon hearing those words, Yao Junxian shuddered violently, his eyes filling with boundless shock and horror.

I always thought a Pill Furnace acknowledging a master was just a legend! Thousands of years ago, not even the Grand State Preceptor beside Emperor Qin Shi Huang could form a master-servant pact with the Longevity Furnace. Yet this kid managed to do it right after getting his hands on it? And from the way he talks, the furnace actually sees him as its master? Has the world gone mad?! He’s just a brat, not even twenty years old! How is this possible?! If the Longevity Furnace has truly acknowledged a master, doesn’t that mean refining the Longevity Pill would be easy?

As these thoughts raced through his mind, Yao Junxian’s terror intensified. Watching Qin Fan’s retreating back, he couldn’t help but swallow hard.

So young, with a mysterious cultivation powerful enough to kill a master at the Great Success of the Transformation Realm, and he even possesses the Longevity Furnace, which has acknowledged him as its master… Just where did this heaven-defying monster come from? Given time, who in the world could possibly stand against him?

As the Valley Master of Medicine Valley, a cultivator at the Middle Stage of the Transformation Realm, Yao Junxian felt utterly pathetic and useless at this moment. A mere brat was treating the entire Medicine Valley like his personal backyard, and all he could do was watch as the boy strode deep into their forbidden Spiritual Medicine Garden!

“Valley Master, that’s the Spiritual Medicine Garden! That’s the ultimate foundation of our Medicine Valley!” An elder returned to Yao Junxian’s side after Qin Fan was long gone, his voice trembling.

“Just as he said, I am not his match. Perhaps all of us together aren’t his match. I dare not take that risk. I dare not make that gamble. Many things aren’t as simple as one plus one. For now, we can only hope that the Great Elder of the Valley Guardians emerges from his seclusion soon. We absolutely cannot let him leave Medicine Valley alive. Absolutely not!”

His voice carried a steely resolve, but coming from Yao Junxian at this moment, it sounded utterly powerless.

He had no confidence. None at all.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep