Chapter 1: When the father suffers humiliation, the son will surely avenge him

  Upstairs on the second floor, except for a few tables and chairs placed in the hall, it looked a bit empty. On the wall opposite the stairs, a large painting was hung, and Master Ma walked up to the painting, waved his hand, and a spell was cast out, the painting flashed with a faint light, and then slowly unfolded.

  Only the painting scroll was densely marked with some words, and Master Ma made another move, and most of the area on the painting scroll dimmed down, leaving only small blocks of light-emitting regions.

  "Xiao Chen, Shidi, these are the medicine gardens within our sect that still do not have an owner. Since you have the special permission of Fifth Shifu, you can choose any one of them as you like, and this medicine garden will belong to you." Ma Shixiong said with a smile, then retreated to the side.

  Xiao Chen bowed slightly and walked slowly to the front of the painting, examining it carefully.

  At this moment, Hua Ming suddenly laughed and said: "Xiao Chen, you are indeed a nominal disciple of our master, and he has given you the right to own a medicine garden. However, you don't have a spiritual root, so your cultivation will definitely stop at the Qi Refining stage. Your attainments in alchemy are probably also extremely limited. Why not let me take care of selecting the medicine garden instead? That way, we can avoid wasting our sect's resources."

  Xiao Chen's body stiffened slightly upon hearing the words, thinking to himself that it had finally come. He took a deep breath before slowly turning around, his expression calm as he said, "In that case, I'll have to trouble you, brother."

  Nima Shixiong's eyes swept over Xiao Chen, but he didn't show any disdain towards him because of Duan Hua's words. Instead, seeing how calm and composed Xiao Chen was, a hint of admiration flashed in his eyes.

  "I think this abandoned medicine garden is not bad, although it has been deserted for a period of time, there should be many medicinal materials left inside. Xiao Chen, my junior brother, go and fetch some spiritual medicine seeds, take good care of it for a while, and it should be able to take shape soon." Duan Huaming pointed to the most remote corner of Luoyun Valley, where there was a small area about the size of a finger, marked with the four characters "Abandoned Medicine Garden" in tiny font.

  Xiao Chen's fists clenched, his palms hidden in his sleeves. But the next moment, he suddenly calmed down in his heart. With his current identity and strength, if he were to conflict with Duan Huaming, he would definitely be at a disadvantage.

  "Senior brother's words make sense, since that's the case, I'll choose this medicine garden then." Xiao Chen said with a expressionless face.

  Duan Huaming raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, he didn't think Xiao Chen could tolerate such humiliation. If he had made a fuss, Duan naturally had countless ways to make him suffer, but now he couldn't find a reason to lash out and could only suppress his anger for the time being.

  "Heh heh, Xiao Chen Shidi indeed understands the situation. In that case, Ma Shixiong will put this medicine garden under Xiao Chen Shidi's name." Duan Huaming smiled slightly, with a hint of satisfaction in his eyes. No matter what, this time he had taught Xiao Chen a lesson. He was lucky to have recognized his mistake; otherwise, Duan Huaming would have made sure that the young man wouldn't get away so easily."

  Ma Shixiong's gaze towards Xiao Chen had a few more shades of appreciation, able to yield and stretch, he was someone who could get things done.

  After being busy for half a year, the abandoned medicinal garden that had been deserted for who knows how many years was formally returned to Xiao Chen.

  "Xiao Chen, you'd better cultivate well. Our Lingyao Valley doesn't prohibit the practice of alchemy, and many of our fellow disciples' cultivation speeds are quite fast. Don't become a laughing stock for others by holding everyone back." Duan Huaming left with an air of superiority, his eyes filled with disdain as he scolded.

  Xiao Chen's face was expressionless, but his fists were tightly clenched. However, he soon became disheartened and despondent, for without a spiritual root, it was destined that he would not become a powerful cultivator in this lifetime. Without sufficient strength, how could he wash away the humiliation he suffered today?

  After leaving Ling Xuan Pavilion, Xiao Chen returned to Lingyao Valley and tidied up a bit. He then withdrew some spiritual medicine seeds and alchemy manuals from the warehouse. Perhaps Yaozi felt somewhat indebted to Xiao Chen, as he was quite generous in this regard, allowing him to take many kinds of seeds from the warehouse.

  Having put everything in order, Xiao Chen headed towards the abandoned medicine garden.

  Although he had mentally prepared himself, Xiao Chen couldn't help but be stunned when he saw the medicinal garden located in a small valley. The reason why this medicinal garden was suitable for planting spiritual herbs was because the soil contained spiritual energy, but this place was overgrown with weeds and littered with broken stones, and the spiritual energy in the soil was so low that it was appalling. He didn't know what that senior brother who had used this medicinal garden before had done, but he had actually ruined a good medicinal garden to such an extent.

  Taking a deep breath, Xiao Chen walked into the valley with an expressionless face. Half a minute later, he had traversed the small mountain valley. At this moment, Xiao Chen's complexion had also become extremely gloomy. This medicinal garden had been abandoned for a long time and was no longer being tended to. The spiritual energy in the soil had already dissipated by more than half. If he were to plant the spiritual grass seeds here, not only would it be twice as difficult, but whether they could survive at all was also uncertain.

  This Ming Hua's sinister plan, getting this medicine garden, just to restore the medicine garden's ranking, it's unknown how long Xiao Chen will take, he used some means, almost destroying all of Xiao Chen's hopes in alchemy.

  "Duan Huaming, one day, I will surely return all the humiliation I suffered today a hundredfold!"

  Xiao Chen's face was gloomy as he stood in the valley for a while, his complexion gradually returned to calmness, and then he walked silently towards the stone house at the corner of the mountain valley.

  After everything was settled, Xiao Chen sat cross-legged on the straw mat, his mood gradually calming down, and at the same time, he began to circulate the "Grass Wood Transformation Technique".

  In an instant, a strange change occurred!

  The Ling Qi that was scattered in the air seemed to be drawn by some kind of enormous suction, rushing into his body at a speed that was several hundred times faster than before.

  Xiao Chen suddenly opened his eyes, which were filled with shock. Just now, he was only operating the "Cao Mu Sheng Hua Jue" as usual, why did such a strange change occur?

  His complexion changed unpredictably for half a moment, and a determined look flashed in Xiao Chen's eyes before he closed them again. This time, before circulating the "Wood and Tree Transformation Technique", he had already employed his inner vision technique to carefully pay attention to the movements within his body.

  The spiritual energy entered the meridians from within the dantian, slowly circulating. The external spiritual energy was attracted and began to slowly approach, being absorbed into the body. Everything seemed normal. Xiao Chen furrowed his brow slightly, as if the previous scene of the spiritual energy wildly surging in had been just an illusion. However, the clearly increased spiritual energy within his body, how could that be explained?

  At this moment, he suddenly felt a surge of fluctuation in his primordial spirit, and the familiar feeling from earlier came again. The spiritual energy in the air rushed towards him at an astonishing speed. This time, Xiao Chen was mentally prepared, so he didn't stop cultivating, concentrating all his mind on his primordial spirit. The golden seal that merged into his primordial spirit emitted a faint golden light, and the strange suction force was coming from it. Most of the spiritual energy that entered his body was absorbed by it, leaving only about one-tenth or one-twelfth for Xiao Chen. However, even so, the volume of spiritual power in his body had increased several times during this short period.

  Xiao Chen opened his eyes, although still somewhat bewildered, but more of it was a sense of surprise. With this golden seal, even though he didn't have a spiritual root, he thought that his cultivation speed would definitely reach an unimaginable level for ordinary people! He clenched his fists tightly, and a surge of confidence spread across his chest!

  "Duan Huaming, today's humiliation will be repaid a hundredfold tomorrow!"

  The next day, Xiao Chen walked out of the stone house with a slow pace, his face couldn't hide a few hints of surprise. The effect of this golden seal was far beyond his imagination. In just one night, the originally tiny spiritual energy in his body had grown to the thickness of a small finger, and the spiritual power inside his dantian was overflowing, making him feel extremely comfortable all over his body.

  Refining Qi Stage First Layer!!

  In just one night, Xiao Chen was able to reach such a realm, and if this speed were to be announced, it would absolutely stun all cultivators! Even those with sacred spirit roots, the geniuses of cultivation, would not have such a terrifying cultivation speed.

  This golden seal is absolutely Xiao Chen's biggest secret, once exposed, such a heaven-defying treasure will definitely make all cultivators jealous, he will surely die without a place to bury his body!

  Xiao Chen's face was stern, this matter could only be known by him alone, even if it were someone close to him, he absolutely couldn't tell.

  If he stayed in a crowded place, Xiao Chen would still worry that someone would notice his abnormality. However, this place was located on the edge of Luoyun Valley and was an abandoned medicine garden. It's unlikely that even some outer disciples would come here, so his safety had undoubtedly increased greatly.

  Xiao Chen's mouth slightly curled up. If Hua Ming knew that he had inadvertently helped Xiao Chen a great deal, he would probably be so angry that he would spit blood.

  For two consecutive days, Xiao Chen had been staying in the stone house to cultivate and had not taken a single step out of the valley.

  In the stone house, Xiao Chen slowly opened his eyes, and a sharp gleam flashed through them in an instant.

  "First layer of Qi refining, peak!" Xiao Chen clenched his fist tightly, a few smiles appearing on his face.

  However, he immediately furrowed his brow and a hint of hesitation appeared on his face. "Although the Golden Seal is present, there will be no problem with cultivation, but if someone discovers that I, a person without a spiritual root, can cultivate to the first layer's peak realm in such a short period of time, things might become troublesome."

  Xiao Chen's face showed a few shades of worry, and he thought to himself that if there was a way to hide his cultivation aura, things would be much simpler.

  When the thought emerged in his mind, the golden seal that had merged with his primordial spirit suddenly revealed countless tiny symbols on one of its surfaces. The edges were filled with various mysterious and obscure patterns, exuding an aura of ancient elegance and boundless nobility.

  Faced with such a sudden change, Xiao Chen's heart skipped a beat, and he looked closely. He saw that the golden seal on top had a pattern of tadpole-like characters that seemed to be naturally formed, and there were also faintly visible weak golden lights flashing above, giving off an extraordinary mysterious aura.

  "Primordial Spirit Scripture"

  Although he didn't know why, Xiao Chen suddenly found himself able to understand the contents of this tadpole-like text. The next moment, he was deeply attracted to this piece of skill and immersed his mind in it.

  After a while, Xiao Chen opened his eyes, which were filled with joy! This "Hunyuan Divine Art" was a cultivation technique for the primordial spirit, and it also came with the subtle effect of hiding one's aura, which was exactly what Xiao Chen needed to solve the problem he was facing at the moment, how could he not be overjoyed?

  PS: 5:12!