Chapter 9: The Clan Leader's Succession Meeting

  Today, Shen Xiang did not immediately go to urge the ripening of the spiritual medicine. Early in the morning, he went to a huge square in the middle of the Shen family mansion, because today was the day when the position of the patriarch would be decided. The Shen family had been without a patriarch for more than three months, causing some chaos within the family.

  On a huge stone-paved square in the Shen family mansion, stood the important sons of the entire Shen family, numbering about three hundred, all of whom were the elite sons of the Shen family.

  The Shen family members surrounded the square, leaving a large empty space in the middle. Five middle-aged men stood there, one of whom was Shen Tianhu.

  Shen Xiang also surrounded by the crowd, watching the excitement, when necessary he went out to help his father contend for the position of patriarch.

  A middle-aged man with thick eyebrows and a few white hairs, with a cold smile on his face, said: "Shen Tianhu, do you know that there is an extremely important condition to be the head of the Shen family?"

  This middle-aged man named Shen Haohai is a relatively strong branch of the Shen family, older than Shen Tiannu, and his strength is at the seventh level of the ordinary martial realm. This strength is not bad in the Shen family, so he thinks he has the qualifications to be the head of the Shen family. In terms of generation, Shen Xiang still needs to call him Uncle.

  Shen Tianhu glared at Shen Haohai with a hint of anger in his eyes, saying coldly: "Of course I know that the clan leader's relatives must have considerable potential, otherwise the clan leader would waste a large amount of public resources on their own relatives."

  Shen Xiang's mother had passed away long ago and Shen Xiang hadn't seen her since he was sensible, while Shen Tianhu's only relative was Shen Xiang.

  "Haha... your son is indeed a person without spiritual veins. If you become the clan leader, you will definitely waste many precious elixirs on him! Haven't you been buying all sorts of spiritual medicines and pills over the years just to help him? But everyone knows his foundation." Shen Haohai laughed loudly: "Everyone knows he's a useless piece of trash who'll never amount to anything!"

  Shen Tianhu naturally knew that his son was exceptional among his peers, he just wanted to hide his true abilities and not reveal too much of his astonishing powers, otherwise it would bring trouble.

  "My son can unleash the true fire of Qi! He has the potential to refine elixirs, dare you say he's useless? The elders of the Shen family probably wouldn't think so." Shen Tiangou said with a cold smile.

  At this time, everyone began to discuss it. The matter of the main hall of Lingdan Pavilion refusing to accept apprentices had long been spread throughout Wohu City. Although Shen Xiang did not have a spiritual vein, if he had the fire of true energy, he would have the opportunity to become an alchemist.

  Shen Haohai coldly snorted: "But he refused the offer of that Ling Dan Pavilion Master, without a master he cannot become an alchemist."

  Just then, Shen Xiang's calm and steady voice came: "I can now refine the mortal-level lower-grade Tempering Body Pill."

  When Shen Xiang's words were heard, everyone was stunned, and Shen Haohai burst out laughing: "A young boy of sixteen can already refine Dan medicine? Don't think that speaking a few big words can help your father contend for the position of patriarch. Moreover, lying in front of elders is punishable by severe punishment."

  "Do you think you're a genius from a family of medicine? The Medicine Family is actually a family that's been making elixirs for generations! They have a rich foundation."

  Shen Xiang walked out of the crowd, his eyes clear and calm. He took out a dan furnace and looked at Shen Haohai with a cold smile, saying: "Do you dare to bet with me? I'll refine a furnace of Tempering Body Dan, and you'll apologize to me in front of everyone?"

  Shen Haohai couldn't laugh anymore, and everyone else was stunned. They didn't expect Shen Xiang to be so arrogant and say something like that!

  A junior actually dared to be presumptuous in front of him, which made Shen Haohai furious.

  As for Shen Xiang's actions, Shen Tianhu was supportive. He knew that his son's moment of pride and satisfaction had arrived.

  Shen Haohai's face was filled with anger, and he said in a low voice: "What did you just say!" As he spoke, a burst of true energy enveloped Shen Xiang, but it was dissipated by Shen Tiannu.

  Shen Xiang's eyes locked onto Shen Haohai, his voice rising as he said: "I want to make a bet with you! If I can successfully refine a furnace of Tempering Body Dan, you will publicly kowtow and apologize to me."

  Shen Xiang repeated it with a serious face, not looking like he was joking at all. His tone was also full of arrogance, and such a young man who could face his elders in this way was rare in the Shen family.

  Shen Haohai was so angry that his whole body trembled. He saw Shen Xiang's serious expression and didn't dare to answer immediately, while the people around him were also waiting for his response.

  Shen Xiang stared at Shen Haohai and continued, "You publicly humiliated me as a useless waste, now I want to prove myself and make you apologize! As a senior, don't you dare bet?"

  Shen Haohai was so angry that he wished he could slap Shen Xiang to death, but he didn't dare to, after all, brutally killing his own clan's young disciples was a very serious matter.

  An old man said, "Since that's the case, Shen Haohai, you can make a bet with him, but forget about the apology, that's just childish talk. How about this, if he can successfully refine a furnace of elixir, Shen Haohai, you'll be considered to have lost and give him the corresponding compensation."

  "I agree that if my son loses, I will no longer vie for the position of clan leader!" Shen Tianhu said, then nodded at Shen Xiang.

  The crowd was in an uproar again, and Shen Tianhu actually made such a big bet!

  Shen Haohai snorted: "Fine, if I lose, I'll give him the thousand-year-old Blood Spirit Mushroom I just got."

  Thousand-year-old Blood Spirit Mushroom! Everyone suddenly gasped in unison, that was a thousand-year-old Blood Spirit Mushroom, an extremely expensive low-grade spiritual medicine.

  "Shen Xiang, now you can start refining the elixir! How long will it take you?" asked the old man, who was the elder of the Shen family and had a certain prestige.

  According to everyone's understanding, refining a low-grade elixir at least takes half a day, and the fastest requires two or three hours, let alone a sixteen-year-old boy.

  "It won't take long, no need to waste everyone's time!" As he spoke, Shen Xiang sat down cross-legged, while the elder and Shen Haohai also came over to inspect the dan furnace, preventing Shen Xiang from cheating.

  "Low-quality alchemy furnace, looks like you're quite poor, Shen Tianhu!" Shen Haohai sneered, everyone knew that Shen Tianhu's money was all spent on Shen Xiang.

  Shen Xiang took out the materials from his storage bag, sorted and checked them, then released a True Qi flame to warm up the alchemy furnace before putting the materials inside. His movements were extremely familiar.

  The true energy fire also made everyone slightly surprised, although many people can release flames through some martial arts during an attack, but those flames can only be released during the attack. In peacetime, they cannot control it like Shen Xiang, unless they cultivate some flame-controlling techniques, but those techniques are extremely rare and difficult to practice.

  The alchemy furnace had been infused with flames by Shen Xiang, and at this moment, a faint medicinal fragrance wafted out of the furnace.

  An hour passed, and the crowd saw Shen Xiang's eyes suddenly narrow, knowing that it was a critical moment. Shen Haohai also looked at him with sweat dripping down his face, worried that he would lose the thousand-year-old Blood Lingzhi.

  Everyone saw mist rising from the alchemy furnace, and Shen Xiang also opened his eyes, with a joyful expression on his face. He stood up and said, "Please inspect."

  "What? Completed in just one hour?" The crowd expressed their doubts.

  First to pass was the elder! He couldn't refine pills himself, but he knew about the process of refining pills. Just now, he had been carefully watching Shen Xiang and knew that Shen Xiang had a certain foundation in refining pills. Although he wasn't clear about the situation inside the pill furnace, he could sense the changes in the heat released by the pill furnace, and the changes were very subtle.

  As the lid of the crucible was opened, everyone suddenly smelled that faint medicinal fragrance, which was indeed a familiar medicinal fragrance to them. Moreover, they could also witness the refining process with their own eyes. When they saw the elder take out five snow-white dan pills, they couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.