Heretic Apothecary Genius

Chapter 27: Human Nature and Human Heart

Translator: Atlas Studios

Editor: Atlas Studios

Ren Jie was extremely upset that he had transmigrated into this universe and this family clan, yet the people that he faced angered him even more. He looked at Tong Qiang and the others as well as the family head ring on his finger and thought of the jade emperor chant, the spiritual jades, and the death exemption jade tablet. That made him feel a tinge of warmth even without actually meeting Ren Tianxing.

Although there were not many personal guards, they were all handpicked by Ren Tianxing. Their loyalty and faithfulness were not to be doubted. That was enough.

Ren Jie was very excited as he looked at the personal guards. Tong Qiang should be at the Divine Power Realm, but Ren Jie was not very sure about that. Apart from Tong Qiang, there were three people at the ninth level of the True Qi Realm. There were a total of fifteen people who had reached the True Qi Realm. The other hundred or so were all at the ninth level of the Body Refinement Realm. Given Ren Jie’s current cultivation realm, the personal guards were like an accumulated treasure chest that was waiting for him to discover.

Ren Jie suddenly recalled that those people had not battled for around six or seven years. Oh. He suddenly understood the situation.

“You still have time to regret your decision.” Ren Jie looked at them and said rudely, “That’s because I am about to curse your mothers. You guys are even more useless than me. You deserve to be scolded more than me. You have disgraced my father Ren Tianxing and me.”

Those people did not mind whatever Ren Jie said, even if he was swearing at them. After they had taken their armors off, they were very relaxed and were even making jokes out of one another. However, once they heard the last sentence that Ren Jie said, all their expressions had changed in a split second.

“Boom!” They all drew in heavy breaths. Tong Qiang was standing at the front of the formation. He had almost released his powers at the third level of the Divine Power Realm. If he had not forcefully controlled his power, he would have almost attacked Ren Jie.

They did not mind Ren Jie saying anything. However, what Ren Jie had said truly angered them.

Ren Tianxing was almost god-like in their hearts. Ren Jie’s words had crossed the line.

“Why? Do you guys think that what I said is wrong? Look at your cultivation level right now. How much did you improve after my father left? The comfortable life that you got to enjoy caused all of you to lose the motivation to work hard. How many of you have improved by an entire cultivation stage during these couple of years? Compare these few years with the past. You enjoyed better food, accommodation, and a pleasant life. You had access to various resources and adequate medicinal herbs. Yet, look at where that got all of you. Every single one of you has become fat and burly, but look at your powers now as compared to the past.

“How are you going to protect me given your current conditions? Now I finally understand why outsiders and people within the family clan did not care about you. They know that they have turned you from a starving wolf to a fat pig. You could be slaughtered in no time. So, what do you guys think? Was I wrong to say that all of you have embarrassed my father Ren Tianxing and me?

“Those who disagree can step forward now. As long as you can provide a convincing explanation, I will kowtow and apologize to you immediately.” After Ren Jie finished speaking, his cold gaze swept across those people. He was actually very excited deep down in his heart. Although those people had increased their power quickly during those days when they battled with their lives, that had extracted their potential, something that they did not have much, to begin with. These few years that they spent resting had allowed their bodies to be nourished and their potentials to increase.

They must be exceptional in some areas for them to survive countless battles and be chosen by Ren Tianxing. Although they were not extraordinary geniuses, they were not just plain ordinary people. Ren Jie looked at them as though he was looking at some artificially created treasures that were waiting to be discovered by him. Ren Jie was certain that was all part of Ren Tianxing’s plan. The insane fighting and battles earlier were to uncover their potentials. He then gave them time to recuperate and be nourished so they could become scarily powerful the next time they gave it their all. That would create a scarily powerful personal guards squad.

They were not any ordinary personal guards squad anymore. It was no wonder that there were only slightly over a hundred people left. With an additional round of training, these guys were not any ordinary troops that could be used in battles. Each one of them would soar to unthinkable heights.

However, for the plan to succeed, it must be initiated at least fifteen or sixteen years in advance. Those guys had followed Ren Tianxing to battles for nearly ten years ever since they were merely teenagers. Afterward, they were comfortably hosted by the family clan for about six to seven years. Seeing those personal guards in front of him, Ren Jie finally understood Ren Qiancheng’s anger and resentment towards Tong Qiang and the other personal guards. The family clan must have paid an enormous price to nurture them to the state they were in.

It was no wonder why the elders were behaving as though they had dropped a huge burden off their shoulders. Even for a large family clan like the Ren family, the price was too much to bear considering the fact that they provided those personal guards the same resources as the lineal descendants for six or seven years. It was pretty fortunate for the family clan to have put up with that for so long.

Tong Qiang and the others were stoned. They recalled how comfortable their lives were for the past six or seven years. Their faces all had a healthy glow to it. Although they had sometimes complained about how bored they were, they were long accustomed to such comfortable lives. However, their cultivation had not improved. That thought sounded scarier the more they thought about it…

They were originally extremely furious when they heard what Ren Jie said. They had all undergone and survived dozens and hundreds of battles.

Each one of them had killed at least dozens of people. What they were most proud of was their experience as Ren Tianxing’s personal guards. However, Ren Jie had pointed out that they were an embarrassment to Ren Tianxing and him.

After they had calmed down, they felt chills going down their spines and they broke out in cold sweat when they contemplated what Ren Jie said.

“Do you have anything to say about this? If not, starting from today, you will increase your training volume to thrice of that when you were in the military before I finish designing unique training plans for every single one of you. If thrice is insufficient, you will increase it to five times. If five times is insufficient, you will increase it to ten times. Start working on that immediately.” Other than Tong Qiang, Ren Jie could tell everyone’s body conditions with just one glance due to his current cultivation realm. As long as he understood their cultivation level, Ren Jie was confident that he could design targeted cultivation plans for everyone with a little more observation.

Because he could tell that they had great amounts of potential accumulated within them after those six or seven years of nourishment, he did not have to worry about the bold or even crazy training plans that he had for them. He did not have to worry about exploiting their potential.

“I will repeat it once more. My words still stand until the time I leave this place tonight. If you do not plan on leaving, get moving now. Do you know why my father allowed you to live comfortably? That’s because you were too weak to protect him. You claim that your job is to protect me. However, when you become weaker than me, this pampered kid that everybody looks down on, is there still any meaning for you to continue living? Improve! Cultivate! Cultivate insanely. Prove to me that there is still meaning for you to continue living. Show me that you did not make Ren Tianxing lose face.”

“Yes.” The veins on Tong Qiang’s head bulged and his face reddened. After he heard Ren Jie’s orders, he growled in anger loudly. Everyone started training insanely. After six or seven years, they were continuing their training plans when they went to battles with Ren Tianxing. Other than them, even Tie Ta, who was standing at the side, had his blood boiling in eagerness. He had actually started training together with the personal guards.

“This is the token tablet that represents my status as the family head. Bring this to the medicine refinement room. Tell them that you are there to study medicine refinement. Don’t go easy on them and try to get as many medicinal prescriptions as you can from there. The most important ones are the medicinal prescriptions that can recover physical injuries and nourish the body. If anyone dares to stop you, I will use that as an opportunity to utilize these guys.” After Ren Jie finished what he wanted to say, he threw the family head token tablet to Gao Ren, gave him a smile and winked at him.

“That’s a tough task. But don’t you worry, Meal Ticket Big Brother. I’m great at this.” Gao Ren understood Ren Jie’s intentions immediately.

“Bam!” In the unique and weird natural forest within the Ren family abode, Ren Tianzong let out a deep sigh. He was watching Ren Jie and the personal guards, who were training fervently after they were stimulated by Ren Jie, from a water mirror. He tapped the water mirror gently and it immediately turned into steam and vanished in the air.

The reason why Ren Jie was relaxed in his accommodation was that he trusted the array formations and restrictive spells that Ren Tianxing had personally planted there. However, he did not expect that Ren Tianzong could control those array formations and restrictive spells and see everything that was happening within his accommodation.

“It was fine that he tried to stimulate those personal guards by using the previous family head’s name. But, is he punching above his weight by attempting to design training plans for the personal guards personally?” Wan Hong was standing beside the sixth master. He saw everything in the water mirror and thought that what Ren Jie said was not very convincing. Ren Jie was only at the Body Refinement Realm, but most of the personal guards were at the ninth level of the Body Refinement Realm. There were about a dozen at the True Qi Realm and three who were at the eighth level of the True Qi Realm. Furthermore, Tong Qiang was a powerful martial artist who was at the Divine Power Realm. How did Ren Jie have the confidence to design cultivation plans for them? That was simply ridiculous.

“Was that the only thing you observed?” The sixth master turned his head and looked at Wan Hong. The surprise and joy on his face had not faded. What he saw was a huge shock to him.

Um… Wan Hong was stunned. There must be something amiss about his observations for the sixth master to pose that question to him. However, deep down in his heart, he truly felt that what Ren Jie said did not make any sense. He was merely motivating and stimulating those guys. Moreover, what he said about personally designing training plans for them was akin to a joke to Wan Hong.

What he said was completely ridiculous. It was simply a joke.

“Yes.” Seeing that the sixth master was looking at him, Wan Hong did not dare to conceal his thoughts. He nodded his head in acknowledgment.

“People tend to judge a book by its cover. That will influence your judgment. If you recall what you saw earlier, that kid’s words were all very targeted. He has almost completely understood human nature and the hearts of people. That’s how he manipulated his understanding to target Tong Qiang and the others. Those few words have successfully rekindled the fighting spirit and flame within their hearts and influenced them to retreat from their comfortable lives. Compare it to a situation when a country is being invaded and the general has to do something to motivate the soldiers before battle. How many people do you think can accomplish that to such an extent?

“If he was to say an entire chunk of motivation words, I might think that there is someone crafting his speech for him. However, he has succeeded in motivating those people despite all those unexpected changes and discontinuous words. That shows that he has a great understanding of human nature. Even if I was in his place, I could definitely not accomplish what he did to such a great extent.”

What? Wan Hong could not believe what he heard. The sixth master said that he could not accomplish that to such an extent even if he was in Ren Jie’s place. How was that possible?

This is definitely impossible. The sixth master is such an influential person. If not for…

“Recall every detail that happened earlier carefully. Human nature and the human heart are the two most difficult things to understand. It might appear easy, but in reality, those are the most difficult…” Ren Tianzong exclaimed, “I did not expect that kid to have that trick up his sleeves. As expected of Big Brother’s descendant. I might have been wrong in perceiving him. It was obvious that he had thoroughly understood the condition Tong Qiang and the others were in. I have spent years to understand Big Brother’s intentions, but he has actually completely understood it.”

The sixth master Ren Tianzong was even more surprised the more he thought about it. The surprised expression was glued onto his face. He spent some time recalling what happened. Only when it was time did he rush back into the wooden lodge. He did not forget to leave Wan Hong a reminder before leaving.

“Think through it carefully. After the family head has finished his business these couple of days, find a time to make a trip to his accommodation. Tell Ren Jie that I cannot leave this place and get him to find some time when convenient to give me a visit. Also, get those people outside to spread the word about the disagreements between the family head and the Elders’ Union, and the disagreements between the Ren and Gao families. Make sure that nothing leaks out regarding what happened in the family head accommodation. Get rid of all those suspicious slaves in the family head accommodation. Make sure that no threats are left behind.”

“Oh… Yes!” Wan Hong was momentarily stunned before he answered the sixth master hurriedly. He was still in a daze after hearing what the sixth master Ren Tianzong said.

The sixth master has actually told me to invite Ren Jie over. The sixth master was not only a member of the Elders’ Union, but he was also unlike those elders who did not hold actual power in the past. His attitude meant that he was truly treating Ren Jie as the family head, even though Ren Jie was his junior, was still a teenager and was oppressed by the Elders’ Union.

Wan Hong was not stupid. After the sixth master’s pointers, he recalled the scenarios within the water mirror about what had happened in Ren Jie’s accommodation. The more he thought about it, the scarier he felt.

He had not expected Ren Jie’s cultivation realm to be that high. Moreover, Ren Jie had transmigrated from Earth. Because of the opportunity to hear the Five Saints discussing Dao, he could clearly understand and utilize the information and knowledge that he had learned in his previous life but could not even remember himself.