Chapter 153: Old Man Chi’s New Disciple

Translator: Minotauruz

Jun Xiaomo did as old man Chi suggested. While Rong Ruihan was still bound by old man Chi’s talismans, she cut Rong Ruihan’s finger and let a drip of his blood drop onto the piece of Blood Jade.

Instantly, the Blood Jade shone with a striking red light, before fading away once again.

“This means that it has finally recognized its owner.” Old man Chi explained, “Once the Blood Jade recognizes its owner, others will no longer be able to use it. That said, not many people would covet such a thing as the Blood Jade to begin with. The meridians and Dantian of members of the Jiang Clan are all different from that which normal people possess. Therefore, there is a good chance that they would experience demonic upheavals in the process of their cultivations. This is one of the main reasons why they prepare a piece of Blood Jade for each member of their bloodline. Normal people won’t need such things to begin with.”

Jun Xiaomo nodded her head. Then, she retrieved a length of cord from her Interspatial Ring. Just as she was about to tie it to the piece of Blood Jade, old man Chi stopped her.

“Hang on, use this instead.” Old man Chi retrieved another length of cord from his own Interspatial Ring. If one took a closer examination of it, he would be able to see minute inscriptions on length of cord. Evidently, this was something special. “I consider this child a junior of mine. After all, I’ve personally watched his mother grow up. When the Jiang Clan was annihilated, I had regrettably been locked in my closed-door cultivation, and I was unable to even save a portion of them. This is one of my life’s greatest regrets. Let me do at least this to make amends for what I had failed to do.”

This was a form of penitence for him.

As old man Chi spoke, he handed the length of cord over to Jun Xiaomo.

Jun Xiaomo nodded her head in acknowledgment. After receiving the length of cord, she threaded it through the piece of Blood Jade, looped it around, and then knotted it at the end. Once she had ensured that it was fully secure, she tiptoed and hung the piece of Blood Jade around Rong Ruihan’s neck.

Jun Xiaomo did all of these with the utmost sincerity, as though she were performing a gravely important task. Her lips stretched out thinly as she focused her heart and mind entirely on it.

Old man Chi stood at the side observing Jun Xiaomo all this while, and he began to glean more of her personality from her actions.

Sigh. She’s just a simple and honest little child. At least she bears no devious or crooked thoughts. Nevertheless, isn’t her luck with men still a little too strong? Does my great grandson really stand a chance with her?

It had to be said that birds of a feather truly flock together. Old man Chi’s assessment of the matter right now was exactly the same as that of his granddaughter-in-law, Shao Sirong.

After Jun Xiaomo hung that piece of Blood Jade over Rong Ruihan’s neck, Rong Ruihan’s yowls gradually grew weaker and weaker. Old man Chi once again grabbed onto Rong Ruihan’s wrist as he sent another wave of demonic energy into Rong Ruihan’s body. This time, the demonic energy old man Chi sent into Rong Ruihan’s body carried the power to pacify and soothe. Just like a calming wave that washed over the craggy beaches, it began to soften and smoothen the lines of Rong Ruihan’s meridians and Dantian.

Moments later, Rong Ruihan passed out again.

“When he regains consciousness once more, he will have come to his senses.” Old man Chi lazily muttered. Then, he turned around and walked back to enjoy his cup of tea again.

“Thank you, senior.” Jun Xiaomo bowed sincerely to old man Chi.

Old man Chi waved his hand and looked up curiously as he remarked, “I wouldn’t be bothered to save him if not for the fact that I owe his grandfather a meal.”

Jun Xiaomo: ......

As he looked on at the speechless and slightly exasperated expressions on the faces of the other four people around, old man Chi picked up his teacup and drank from it as he laughed heartily.

Old man Chi was naturally not thinking about that meal that he owed Rong Ruihan’s grandfather. Rather, he simply found the various brilliant expressions on the respective faces of his juniors extremely humorous and comical to him.

After approximately two hours, Rong Ruihan finally awakened again. This time, his eyes were no longer filled with a blood-red hue. Instead, they had reverted to his usual deep and profound ink-black eyes.

He groaned softly and rubbed his throbbing head. Moments later, he sat up and discovered that he had earlier been lying on a soft and warm mat.

Jun Xiaomo had earlier rolled out a mat for him to rest on, and even covered him with a large woolen blanket. The mat and the blanket looked slightly dirty and worn for wear because Jun Xiaomo had not had the luxury of time to wash and clean them recently. Notwithstanding that, they were still extremely comfortable and warm.

Rong Ruihan could roughly guess the person responsible for these arrangements, and a warm smile crept up the corner of his lips.

Very soon, he discovered that there was an additional cord hung around his neck, and a piece of Blood Jade hung loosely in front of his chest.

“This is...” Rong Ruihan furrowed his brows.

He immediately thought about his first encounter with Yao Mo when Yao Mo had attempted to return this piece of Blood Jade to him. Back then, he had refused to receive that piece of Blood Jade because he was unsure whether he could trust Yao Mo or not.

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

So how did this piece of Blood Jade end up on his neck right now?

“Hmph! Don’t look at that piece of Blood Jade with such disdain. If not for that piece of Blood Jade, you might already be meeting your makers now.” An aged voice rang out above his head. Rong Ruihan looked up reflexively and saw a wrinkled...unfamiliar...face.

At this moment, the stranger was stroking his long, white beard and toting a pot of tea with the other hand as he poured mouthful after mouthful of tea into his mouth. The old man glanced over at him with a profound and enigmatic look in his eyes.

That’s right. Old man Chi loved drinking tea straight from the spout of the teapot. Therefore, his pot of tea was specially brewed for his own personal consumption.

Having heard the old man’s explanation, Rong Ruihan wrapped his palm around the Blood Jade dangling in front of his chest. He could feel a warm yet gentle pulsing sensation emanating from that piece of Blood Jade which swept through his entire body. Under the baptism of the Blood Jade’s warmth, his demonic energy was now less chaotic, and it coursed through his body much more smoothly.

I never thought that this piece of Blood Jade would have such effects on my body! Rong Ruihan exclaimed in his heart as he made a respectful palm and fist salute to old man Chi, “I reckon it must be this respected senior who had reminded Xiaomo of the Blood Jade’s effect. I sincerely thank senior for saving this life of mine.”

Old man Chi snorted as he wryly responded, “I wouldn’t have bothered about you if not for the fact that I know your mother and your grandfather.”

Rong Ruihan looked curiously at old man Chi. He never would have expected that this formidable and mysterious old man would actually know his own kinsmen.

Mother...grandfather... Rong Ruihan’s heart swelled with complicated emotions. He was extremely young when the Jiang Clan had been annihilated. Thus, he barely had any recollection of that horrific event.

If not for the fact that the remnant Jiang Clan had managed to get in touch with him later on, Rong Ruihan might well have been kept in the dark about this entire matter.

Yet what was most precious to him was how his own biological mother had on her deathbed still been concerned about how to entrust this important piece of Blood Jade to a third party, so that the third party would personally hand it to himself. This had allowed Rong Ruihan to finally have a glimpse of the extent of his mother’s love for him.

Old man Chi sighed. Then, he repeated to Rong Ruihan the contents of what he had said to Jun Xiaomo and the rest. He even digressed slightly as he poured out to Rong Ruihan his regrets and remorse for being unable to save his old friends from the Jiang Clan.

Finally, old man Chi patted Rong Ruihan’s shoulder as he asked, “Kid, are you interested in being my disciple?”

“Disciple!” Rong Ruihan’s eyes widened in shock.

Rong Ruihan was an unflappable man, and few things were able to faze him. Yet this series of unexpected circumstances and incidents had caused him to lose his composure time and again.

“Hmph, what’s that? Are you not willing?” Old man Chi snorted, “I have never accepted someone outside the Chi Clan as my own disciple. I’m making an exception for you right now on account of my deceased old friends. Besides, you really need to toss out those damn useless refinement techniques. Less is more, do you understand, little brat? Don’t just pick up any old, lousy technique and just add it to your arsenal like that. Don’t you understand how to sieve through its contents and choose what’s best for yourself? Truth be told, it’s a miracle that you’re still alive now!”

Rong Ruihan was indeed moved by old man Chi’s spiel. Although he could not determine with any certainty what stage of cultivation old man Chi was at, his intuition told him that old man Chi was nevertheless the strongest person he had ever met in his entire life.

However—

“Senior, it’s not that this junior is reticent to recognize you as his master. It’s just that this junior is presently being persecuted by the Inferno Kingdom’s Grand Vizier, Situ Cang, and recognizing you as master now would bring trouble to you.” Rong Ruihan helplessly explained his predicament.

“Is Situ Cang that fella who likes to flaunt his formation arrays and talismans?” Old man Chi quickly connected the dots and guessed Situ Cang’s identity.

“That’s exactly him. Back then, he was the culprit who had led an army against my mother’s clansmen. If he learns that I’ve become senior’s disciple, I’m afraid he might make a move against senior as well.”

Old man Chi mocked, “How can that man possibly wipe out the entire Jiang Clan with his meagre capabilities? What a joke. I still haven’t figured out the truth about that massacre yet, but I’m certain that Situ Cang and his men were not the only ones who had moved against the Jiang Clan back then. It’s quite possible that the heinous atrocity had been committed by an alliance formed by several sects of spiritual cultivators. Hmph! And they still say that demonic cultivators ought to be put to death. If you ask me, its these self-professed righteous and sanctimonious sects that are the ones who have their hands stained with blood! They’re ruthless to the extreme!”

Rong Ruihan had personally borne the brunt of such persecution before, and he fully concurred with old man Chi’s assessment of the spiritual cultivating sects.

Then, old man Chi slowly added, “As for that so-called Grand Vizier, you have no need to worry about him. I’ve already taught him a lesson. For now, I’ve spared his life on account for my great grandson. But he is an existence that I will weed out sooner or later!”

Rong Ruihan’s heart thumped vigorously. He had initially thought that they were already at the end of their line, and there was nowhere else to go. Yet by this fortuitous turn of events, he had just been informed that Situ Cang was no longer a threat to him.

It was as though he were a person drowning amidst roiling floodwaters and on the brink of going under when he finally managed to grab hold of a lifeline. Rong Ruihan’s heart began to thump with excitement.

Rong Ruihan restrained the surging emotions within his heart and made a polite fist and palm salute to old man Chi as he made a request filled with determination, “If I may, I hope that senior would kindly cede to me the opportunity to avenge my kinsmen.”

In other words, he had hoped that old man Chi would spare Situ Cang’s life so that he would be able to personally kill him in the future.

Old man Chi glanced over curiously at Rong Ruihan as he remarked, “Although Situ Cang has been grievously injured by this old man, it’s still far too early for you to be considering matters of vengeance against him.”

Rong Ruihan tightened his fists unwillingly.

“However...” Old man Chi added a twist, “If you’re willing to accept me as your master, I can guarantee that you will be able to take Situ Cang’s head within ten years’ time. Do you believe me?”

Old man Chi was truly pulling out all the stops to make Rong Ruihan his disciple. Apart from Rong Ruihan’s identity as the child of his old friend, the other reason was Rong Ruihan’s incredible talent.

Rong Ruihan was born with a demonic body, and his meridians and Dantian were special as a result of his bloodline. No one was more suitable than him to inherit old man Chi’s self-created techniques – not even Chi Hongyi or the little packrat.

This time, Rong Ruihan no longer hesitated. He knelt to the floor ferociously and gave old man Chi three kowtows as he respectfully called out, “Master, please accept the kowtows from your disciple!”

“Hahahaha...good! Good, good! Henceforth, you shall be known as the tenth-generation disciple of I, Chi Ruihong! Hahahahaha...” Old man Chi laughed heartily as he gave Rong Ruihan a genial slap on the back.

Just then, Jun Xiaomo and the rest who had gone some distance away to clean out the fruit of Ye Xiuwen’s earlier hunt had finally returned. Old man Chi waved at Chi Hongyi as he called out to him, “Hey, Hongyi, come over here. This kid right here is now your younger martial brother.”

While old man Chi and Chi Hongyi were biologically related to each other, Chi Hongyi had since years ago already recognized old man Chi as his master. Therefore, he was also considered one of old man Chi’s disciples.

Rong Ruihan took the initiative to give Chi Hongyi a fist and palm salute, “Martial brother.”

Chi Hongyi nodded, but his face remained expressionless.

He was different from old man Chi. Although old man Chi put on his airs when he was in front of all his clansmen, he would reveal his mischievous and spritely self in front of those whom he was close to. The closer his relationship to a person, the wackier and nuttier he would be before them. On the other hand, Chi Hongyi was far more introverted, and he rarely expressed his feelings to others.

At the same time, Chi Hongyi was also an incredibly meticulous person. After deliberating for a moment, Chi Hongyi asked, “Since martial brother Rong has recognized grandfather as his master, then does this mean you intend to return to the sect together with us?”

Old man Chi and the rest never intended to stay for too long at the Mystic Woods. After all, old man Chi was still the present Clan Head, and he could not be away from his duties for too long. Furthermore, he still had to address the issue with lingering effects of Situ Cang’s refinement technique in the little packrat’s body.

From old man Chi’s perspective, there was no doubt that his disciple would be following his master back to the sect. But Chi Hongyi’s considerations were much more meticulous than that. He knew that Rong Ruihan was a man with burdens and duties, and he might not be able to drop them and leave just like that.

As expected, Rong Ruihan hesitated.

The cause for his hesitation was not only the residual matters pertaining to the Inferno Kingdom. There was still...

Some distance away, a young lady’s crisp and clear laughter rang out.