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Chapter 197: Impressive Opponent

“What am I shocked about? I’m making myself seem like I’m shameless.”

When Chen Chen realized that there was something wrong with his emotions, he immediately adjusted his feelings and became calm once again.

“Can you tell? What kind of person am I?”

The Saintess of the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan was smiling warmly as she stood near him, appearing just like an ordinary kind lady. Her smile was enough to warm his heart.

“You’re the...”

Chen Chen subconsciously wanted to rebuke in anger however he merely released three words before stopping.

He then realized that he couldn’t continue his sentence.

After all, everything was back to the basics.

With that thought in mind, he lowered his head, pulled himself together, and said solemnly, “Sorry, Saintess, I’ve never seen such an extraordinary woman like you in my life and I’m astonished that my speech has become incoherent.”

“Are you flattering me? This tactic is a bit too substandard.”

The Saintess of the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan remained calm, however, her eyes lit up a little.

“No, I’m the most upright person ever, I never lie. Ever since I was a kid, my family all thought I was too silly and they urged me to study more...”

“However, no matter how many years I’ve spent studying, I’m still at a loss for words to describe you...”

“Pardon me but when I first met you, I thought you were a fairy who had strayed to the mortal world! I never expected that the Saintess of the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan would be so young! Saintess, you’ve become the Saintess even though you’re less than twenty years old. How did you manage to do that?”

Chen Chen had a sincere expression and his eyes were filled with bewilderment. He was genuinely confused.

“Hehehe, I’m already 233 years old this year.” The Saintess of the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan said with a chuckle as she covered her mouth.

Hearing these words, Chen Chen became astonished!

“This! How is it possible?! I... I get it now, your alchemy skills must have already reached the realm of transformation and you have refined the legendary face-lifting and beauty-enhancing pills!”

Seeing Chen Chen’s expression, the Saintess of the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan smiled even more radiantly but she soon seemed displeased.

“Appearance is too intuitive. It’s normal that you can read me from my appearance, however, I’m asking you about my personality and character.”

Hearing this, Chen Chen panicked a little.

‘If you know that I can read you from your appearance, why do you not have any self-awareness? You think I can’t tell how many hundreds of years old you are?! So shameless! Ugh!’

Despite feeling irked, Chen Chen made himself appear to be deep in thought and he soon pretended to detect something.

After a few minutes, Chen Chen took a deep breath and muttered, “I can smell a strong aroma that’s filling the room...”

“Only those who are virtuous, proficient in the arts, and have stayed here for a long time would produce such a scent.”

“Saintess, the things I’m going to say next may seem like flattery, but I mean them from the bottom of my heart. Saintess, you are educated and well-mannered, unlike tacky mortals. You are virtuous, talented, elegant, understanding, gentle...”

Chen Chen complimented her with more than a hundred adjectives with positive connotations.

No matter how calm the Saintess of the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan remained, she couldn’t stop herself from smiling at this moment.

“If I have to use a phrase to describe you, I can only say that you’re peerless in this world!”

Finally, Chen Chen came to a conclusion.

After he finished his last sentence, they both fell silent.

They then looked at each other in the elegant courtyard, and they both saw the admiration and appreciation in each other’s eyes.

The frankness on their faces seemed to have filled the small courtyard with sacred light!

...

After a long time...

The Saintess of the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan turned around and her body shuddered for a moment. By the time she finished turning around, she became calm again.

“Qing Yuan said a lot about you. He said that you’re a person with outstanding talent. Now, it seems that you not only have an extremely accurate perception of medicinal properties, but you also have good judgment of people. You’re much better than the eight disciples I took in previously. Since you’ve seen through me clearly, I’ll take a look at you as well.”

After speaking, the Saintess of the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan paused for a while with a playful and ambiguous gaze in her eyes.

“You... Your cultivation level is at the Nascent Soul realm and your body refinement has already reached the Minor Perfection realm, hasn’t it? Tsk, tsk, you’re also a rare Innate Spirit Body.”

“Hmm... you’ve consumed a jarring amount of treasures and your body is filled with terrifying vitality. Even if you stopped cultivating now, you could still live stably for a few thousand years. You’re not an ordinary person. Recently, someone with an Innate Spirit Body appeared in a small country called the State of Jin. He’s also said to be the Dao partner of Xia Xishuang, the elite of Haoran Sword Clan. He has the same name as you, that should be you, right?”

Hearing this, Chen Chen gradually felt awkward.

‘This Saintess is thick-skinned but... she’s good at judging people. No wonder she’s a remarkable alchemist. She managed to gather that I’m extraordinary just by taking a casual glance at me.’

“Ahem, not bad. Indeed, it’s me. I’ve been extremely interested in alchemy ever since I was young, but I’ve been struggling to get started. I only heard of the prestigious Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan recently so I came over to learn.”

Chen Chen said somewhat guiltily.

After all, he already had a clan, and now that he was entering the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan, he seemed to be lying more or less.

However, the Saintess could still tell what he was thinking. She smiled and said, “The Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan has plenty to offer and there are thousands of affiliated clans under its command, so we naturally don’t care about your origin.”

“Not to mention a cultivator from a small country like you, even if a cultivator from one of the other three great clans wanted to join the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan, we would impart everything to him as long as he performed well enough.”

“In order to become a great alchemist, a person must be very passionate about alchemy. At the peak of the mountain where the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan is located, there are 72 heaven and earth spirit fires which are the supreme sacred lands of alchemists. There are also more than ten of the top human alchemists in the clan.”

“In such an environment, regardless of which clan you come from, as long as you have a passion for alchemy, you wouldn’t bear to leave. Eventually, you will find a sense of belonging in the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan.”

“As for those who lack passion for alchemy... They wouldn’t be likely to come into contact with too many of the masterpieces of the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan. So, I’m not scared that my disciples will steal our techniques and there aren’t many rules either. I take everything easy too.”

Chen Chen was overjoyed to hear her words.

‘As expected of a monopolistic clan, they are confident enough!’

‘In that case, wouldn’t I be able to join the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan rightfully?’

Thinking of this, Chen Chen became ready to bow.

“I, disciple...”

“Hold it!”

Before Chen Chen could finish his words, he was stopped by the Saintess who reached her arm out.

“Although you are highly talented and I approve of your personality, alchemists have a set of rules and so does becoming a disciple. Do you understand? Of course, I don’t care about the trivial things you own but you have to follow the rules.”

The Saintess of the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan looked at the treasures in the medicinal herb field.

They were both smart and Chen Chen was aware of what she meant.

‘You just want treasures, don’t you? Must you be so brazen with it?’ Chen Chen cursed in his head.

However, he still pulled out four heavenly treasures from his storage ring.

He had previously found them in a Void Refinement realm cultivator’s cave abode, all of which were rare.

“Saintess, I once entered a Cave Abode by mistake and obtained many heavenly treasures, now I still have these left. I’m willing to give them to you as a gift for becoming my master!”

Chen Chen put the four heavenly treasures in front of the Saintess of the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan. He wasn’t worried that she might rob him.

It was just that the heavenly treasures in the Saintess’ medicinal field that had generated sentience were extremely valuable, and people with such wealth should be the same as him.

They wouldn’t commit robbery or theft.

Looking at the four heavenly treasures, the Saintess of the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan’s eyes lit up and she quickly put them away.

“Chen Chen, you are excellent. My name is Yu Qiong and from now on, you’ll be my ninth disciple.”

“Yes, Master!”

Chen Chen bowed and sighed in his heart.

It was not easy to become her master. Not only did he shower her with compliments, he also gave her lots of heavenly treasures.

He had never suffered such a loss before.

Thinking of this, his expression became melancholic and his eyes were filled with some sorrow.

“What’s the matter? Chen Chen, aren’t you overjoyed that you can become my disciple? Even your Dao partner’s master has to be kind and polite when she sees me.”

Yu Qiong frowned in displeasure.

Chen Chen hurriedly shook his head to veto.

“Master... It’s not like that, I just recalled that I didn’t show my filial piety to my master when he took me under his wing... Instead, he gave me a storage ring of treasures.”

“He said that he wouldn’t let me suffer since I’ve become his disciple and that those were just greeting gifts. He insisted that I accept them. As the saying goes, once a teacher, always a father. In hindsight, I blame myself for it. At that time... I was too insensible.”

After he spoke, Chen Chen glanced at the heavenly treasures in the medicinal field, and then looked at Yu Qiong with a guilty expression while he blamed himself.

The two looked at each other in silence but their eyes were full of emotion. It was as if they were having a tacit conversation with their eyes.

Without them realizing it, the atmosphere of the entire courtyard became gloomy.

There seemed to be frosty swords appearing in the air and even the heavenly treasures subconsciously hid in the ground.