Heretic Apothecary Genius

Chapter 31: I’m Very Free Now

Translator: Atlas Studios

Editor: Atlas Studios

“I didn’t say that this is a lousy fighting technique. This is an awesome fighting technique. If you really want to call it the All-Kill Array, then it’s fine, really.” Objectively speaking, this fighting technique was really incredible, even though Ren Jie did think that its name was really bad.

This was because superior-grade fighting techniques were incredibly precious even in a family clan like the Rens. If a disciple wanted to learn it, they had to make a significant contribution. Every superior-grade fighting technique comprised of the effort of many generations or was painstakingly obtained from somewhere else. Hence, this old man was definitely very impressive for being able to create his own ultimate-grade fighting technique.

“Hey, don’t leave yet, let’s discuss this. Maybe you could call it the smiley-face? But this smiley face is really out of place on you. You didn’t get it just to scare me on purpose, right? Hm, now that I think about it, names are just another thing to call it. Why not just continue to call it the All-Kill Array?” Ren Jie did not feel sleepy at all. In fact, he felt more awake than ever after the smiley old man brought him along as he flew.

In order to break through, he had been training crazily. The whole night he practiced the Jade Emperor Refinement Technique and finally got used to the pressure and weight of level-3 before breaking through. This should have been quite taxing on his body, but at that moment his exhaustion had disappeared.

Ren Jie jumped off the bed and ran to the door, only to realize that the sun had risen.

“Goddamn it!” Even though the old man had disappeared, his voice still rang in Ren Jie’s ears the next moment. It was evident that the night’s event had left him displeased.

And he finally realized that Ren Jie was not caught up over the name but merely wanted to talk to him more.

When he heard this, Ren Jie purposely said more but realized that there was no reply—the smiley old man had finally left. He could tell from his personality that if he had not left then he would definitely say something in reply.

“All-Kill Array, not too bad…” Ren Jie mumbled to himself. This night had been pretty peculiar. It seemed that the Rens had too many secrets. The Elders’ Union that tried so hard to snatch power and constantly looked for troubles, as well as Sixth Uncle who really held power in the military and always sent a person over but never said anything. Ren Tianheng and Ren Tianqi who never made themselves known, and all the forces of the Ren family…

Now there was another powerful person who was at least of the Yin Yang Realm and could create a ultimate-grade fighting technique of his own and forced him to learn it…

Now that the sky was completely bright, Ren Jie did not feel like sleeping anymore. All he wanted to do was to walk out. He quickly came to the fighting arena outside and saw that the personal guards had started their training. After their individual consultations with Ren Jie, the entire troop of the personal guards had gone into a crazy state of training.

Firstly, Ren Jie had triggered them with his words, and then he led them in the sense that he was training in a discrete but intimidating manner. Last of all Ren Jie had helped them find the correct direction and helped answer any doubts they had. They were all elites handpicked by Ren Tianxing and their accumulated potential were all unleashed by Ren Jie using all kinds of methods. In these two days, many people had made breakthroughs, which pushed their training to an even higher peak.

Ren Jie believed that if he had more resources in the future and could raise his own level he would be able to help guide them, and they would become an unbelievably powerful team. Even though they were not large in numbers, they would still be a formidable team if everyone reached the True Qi Realm or Divine Power Realm.

The Elders were not concerned about him having control of the personal guards as they were too few in numbers and the Elders did not think that they were of any use. After all, the Ren family clan had almost 10,000 soldiers, excluding the private armies that the Elders maintained on their own. Not to mention the people who were working for the court and commanded a large troop of soldiers.

The second Elder’s son was a general in the Jade Capital, and then there was Ren Tianqi and Ren Tianhuang, the highest-ranking generals who commanded millions of soldiers each.

Quantity and quality were two different approaches. It was harder to pursue high quality. If they all reached the Divine Power Realm one day, then they would be comparable to a troop of one million soldiers.

Even though he was not very willing to do so, he was already thrown on this path and thus had no choice but to continue.

Even though they had enjoyed the peak of their glory for 20 years and at some point even thought to be above the royal family when Ren Tianxing was in control, Ren Jie was in a precarious situation now. The good thing was that he was Ren Tianxing’s son. The fact that he managed to learn the All-Kill Array, helped the personal guards correct their cultivation techniques, and discovered the medicine prescription allowed him to rise to a higher realm and benefitted him greatly.

This was because he had to have a higher realm in order to see through more problems. It made him feel much wiser than a genius when learning cultivation techniques, whether he was helping others or cultivating himself. This was because being of a higher realm was like standing on higher ground, which allowed him to see better. Even the most talented people had to slowly climb their way up, such was the difference between a talent and one of a higher realm.

If one wished to raise their capabilities, then they had to toughen themselves up. Hence, he thought about opening the channel again.

“Splash…” Unknowingly, Ren Jie had walked very far off while being deep in thought. Suddenly, his divine sense detected an old servant watering the plants 30 meters away. Ren Jie suddenly realized that after reaching level-4 of the Jade Emperor Refinement Technique his divine sense was now able to cover a much larger area. This was already far more than what a level-9 of the True Qi Realm was able to cover.

But Ren Jie was not concerned over this now as he suddenly thought of something. If he was not wrong, the smiley old man from the night before was probably in the Ren family.

Heck, didn’t that mean that the Ren family had a powerful person who was like those in novels who pretended to be a monk sweeping the floor? Not like Fatty Gao Ren, but a truly powerful person. When he thought of this, Ren Jie immediately went into the yard and to the old servant’s side.

“Uncle, take a rest and let’s talk.” Ren Jie spoke happily.

“I’m working, how can I chat. You’re the… ah… fam-family head. Greetings from an old man, fam-family head.” The old servant was actually not that old. Holding the pail as he watered the plants with his other hand, he raised his head and saw Ren Jie before quickly getting down on the ground to perform a greeting.

All the servants had to remember how the family head looked like as well as some other important members. The old servant was in a panic. Previously, even the distinguished nephew of the third Elder who was also one of the 12 vice-chief butlers had almost been beaten to death. Even though the Elders’ Union had been incredibly angry and also punished the family head for some reason. The servants themselves were all talking about it. This was the fight between the family head and the Elders’ Union, they had no wish to be involved.

The old servant was surprised as he was only a low-level servant and wondered why would the family head want to talk to him. He even addressed him respectfully. Could he have done something wrong?

He did not work in the family head’s yard and had worked here for decades without doing anything wrong.

“Family head, just now… I… I thought that you were some other servant, so I… did not show you enough respect. I’m not saying that you’re a servant, it’s just… I thought… I’m bad with words… I deserve to be punished…”

He was dripping in sweat!

Ren Jie was speechless. The old servant looked like he was being punished by Ren Jie, but Ren Jie had merely thought of the smiley old man from yesterday and had thought that he might have been posing as a servant, so he wanted to speak to this old servant. He did not think that it would give him such a shock.

When he saw him getting more anxious as he explained, Ren Jie lost his mood. He knew that given the smiley old man’s abilities, he would have no way to find him.

“Good, you’re loyal. I shall reward you.” When he saw that the old servant was getting too anxious, he wanted to help him up but realized that it would have the opposite effect. It seemed that word of the previous incident had spread and the rumors were much scarier than the truth. This was still good, however, as it meant that none of the servants would dare defy him.

Ren Jie retrieved a few dozen Jade coins and threw them at the old servant before returning to his quarters.

“Jade coins… this must be at least 100 taels of gold…” The old servant hurriedly gave his thanks and patted himself on the back for his quick reflex.

Ren Jie found out through his divine sense that the old servant was talking to someone else and said that the fight in the family had become even worse and that the family head would punish anyone who dared defy him. They must be careful in the future or they would be implicated…

Ren Jie was speechless. If he were to really fight it out with the Elders’ Union, it was not likely to implicate the servants. If that was really the case, then the Rens would be finished.

But it was evident from this that the people in the Ren residence were not confident in the situation.

“Family head…” Just as Ren Jie returned he saw Tie Ta walking over hastily. One step of his was equivalent to two or three of that of an average man. Thus, in no time he was at Ren Jie’s side.

“Family head, Uncle Tong… oh no, Captain Tong asked me to come and find you. He said that the Fangs wish to see you. The fellow called Wan Hong also came to see you, but he was barred outside by Captain Tong.”

Tie Ta’s father was called Tie Bi. Coincidentally, Tong Qiang and Tie Bi sounded like the phrase which referred to walls of copper and iron. While Ren Jie had never asked Tong Qiang himself, he knew that both Tong Qiang and Tie Bi were both orphans who followed Ren Tianxing since they were young. Thus, their names were definitely not just a coincidence.

Needless to say, Tong Qiang and Tie Ta’s father were not just acquaintances.

“Don’t worry about it, you’re not part of the personal guards. You need to attend the Jade Imperial Academy, so you don’t need to address him as the personal guards do. Let’s go.” Ren Jie finished saying that and quickly headed back to his quarters.

The Fangs were finally here. He had anticipated this. Without the antidote, the cost required to sustain Fang Qi’s life was an astronomical figure which even the Fangs would not be able to afford in the long run.

The only thing Ren Jie did not expect was for Wan Hong to look for him as well. He represented his Sixth Uncle Ren Tiancong, whom Ren Jie barely had any recollections of as he had hardly seen him even when he was a child.

Two of the personal guards were standing guard at the gate in front of Ren Jie’s quarters, and from afar he could see Tong Qiang’s head reflecting the light from the sun. He was standing in front of Wan Hong as he barred him from entering.

Wan Hong did not look annoyed nor anxious, but that was not what he felt on the inside. It was not because Tong Qiang had barred him from entering, but because he had seen the changes in the personal guards over the past few days using the water mirror divine connection at Ren Tiancong’s house. While he did not see what happened in Ren Jie’s room, he had seen the changes in them before and after they entered the room. The fact that so many people managed to break through to a higher level over the past two days also shocked him.

How was that possible? What did Ren Jie tell these people and what did he write down for them?

Why did they all seem to leave the room like different people and managed to break through so quickly? This was unbelievable.

If it was the Sixth Uncle or the old family head Ren Tianxing who managed to help these people in their cultivation with just a few pointers then it would have been no big deal. But how could Ren Jie have such abilities? Could Ren Tianxing have left behind something before he left?

But the Sixth Uncle was adamant that that was not the case as he had even commented that this kid had potential. The Sixth Uncle had said that he did not have to be anxious and could visit Ren Jie in another couple of days, but after seeing the changes in the personal guards, Wan Hong could not contain himself and thus came to see Ren Jie. He hoped to bring Ren Jie over to the Sixth Uncle so that he would be able to see if there was anything different about him.

This was what worried Wan Hong and made him unfocused. As he was lost in his thoughts, he detected Ren Jie heading over through his divine sense.

“Greetings from Wan Hong, family head. The Sixth Uncle has sent me to invite you over to his residence when you’re free. Fang Yan from the Fang family has been waiting for you for some time, so I shall not hold you up any further. I will take my leave now.” Someone announced this matter when Wan Hong arrived, so Wan Hong finished his message and got ready to leave after bowing briefly, not bothering to bow any further than that.

Even though he was surprised and doubtful over Ren Jie and the personal guards’ recent changes, he had served the Sixth Uncle for many years and was able to control himself. The truth was that Wan Hong had always maintained a rather aloof demeanor towards Ren Jie all this time.

“Hey, wait up. If Sixth Uncle wishes to see me, then I must go find him now.”

When he heard what Ren Jie said, Wan Hong immediately stopped in his tracks. “Sixth Uncle is in no hurry, and he specifically said that if you’re not free, then he will come over personally. You can always come over when you’re free, family head.”

“I’m free, I’m very free right now!” Ren Jie said as he walked towards Wan Hong, waving his hand as he laughed. “I’m so free that I feel bored. Don’t worry about the Fangs. They’re here to ask for our help, so they can wait. I will see him when I have the time and the mood to do so. It’s their fault for looking down on me, only coming to me when they need something. Do they think they can see me as and when they wish? Let them wait. They must wait till I have the time and the mood to see them.”