Chapter Seventeen: The Vitality Essence Pill

Lin Xiong pondered for a moment before speaking. “If any one of the three great clans comes, our Lin family has nothing to fear for now. After all, your grandfather can easily hold off a cultivator at the Qi Pulse Realm, I can restrain one as well, and you, with that crossbow, are capable of keeping another at bay. With the mysterious fruit you gave us, our Lin family’s Qi Drawing Realm cultivators are no weaker than those of any of the three clans.”

“I believe that if any one of the great clans sees our strength, they wouldn’t dare fight us to the death. Most likely, once they realize they cannot win, they’ll withdraw.”

“What worries me is that once the three great clans realize we possess the power to kill a Qi Pulse cultivator, they might mistakenly believe your grandfather is about to recover from his injuries, and that could force them to join forces and attack our Lin family together!”

Lin Xiong could only sigh in resignation. The likelihood of the three clans joining forces was slim—after all, they had deep-seated grudges among themselves, and no one wanted to be the first to stick their neck out. Even if they did ally, it was unlikely they would commit to an all-out effort.

But if they did harden their hearts and unite, their Lin family would be doomed! He dared not gamble on such a chance, for if he lost, the Lin family would face utter annihilation and rivers of blood.

At those words, Lin Fan spoke up. “What if I could help Grandfather recover, even partially—or fully?”

“Then no matter how many of them come, that’s how many will die!” Lin Xiong answered without the slightest hesitation. Yet, as soon as the words left his mouth, he felt something was off. He turned sharply to Lin Fan, his eyes wide in disbelief. “You have a pill that can heal your grandfather?”

At that moment, Lin Batian also looked at his grandson, his eyes gleaming with delight.

“Um, the person who gave me the crossbow just so happened to leave me a healing pill as well. I’m not sure how effective it is, but it’s worth a try!” Lin Fan scratched his head, retrieving the healing pill from his storage ring and handing it to Lin Xiong, looking embarrassed.

Truth be told, he’d used this excuse so many times now that he was starting to feel awkward about it, wondering if he should come up with a different story next time.

“Let me see!” Lin Xiong didn’t care about Lin Fan’s excuses. His ears had grown calloused from hearing them these past two days. Instead, he eagerly reached out to take the healing pill.

The pill was about the size of a fingertip, a deep jade green throughout, radiating a gentle light, with waves of life force swirling within.

“How can this be? It’s actually a Life Essence Pill!” Lin Xiong’s pupils contracted in shock as soon as he held it.

“What?” Lin Batian was equally stunned upon hearing his son’s words. He stood up at once, took the pill from Lin Xiong’s hand, and scrutinized it closely, his joy growing with every passing moment.

“This is wonderful. From today onward, our Lin family has nothing to fear in Xiao North City. The three great clans will be destroyed!” Lin Xiong, seeing the joy on his father’s face, knew he had not been mistaken—this truly was a Life Essence Pill. He could not help but laugh aloud.

Although Lin Fan had always believed that anything supplied by the system would be extraordinary, seeing his father’s and grandfather’s reactions made him realize that this healing pill was even more valuable than he’d imagined.

He couldn’t help but ask, “Er, is this Life Essence Pill really that powerful? Can it really heal all of Grandfather’s injuries?”

“You little brat, what do you know? I’ve told you many times to read more, but you never listen. Do you know what a Life Essence Pill is? For anyone below the Meridian Unblocking Realm, even if they’re gravely wounded and on the verge of death, this pill can bring them back in an instant!” Lin Xiong scolded Lin Fan, but there was no anger in his voice—only happiness.

He knew that from today on, the Lin family would have enough strength to face the three great clans head-on. No longer would they have to worry about being annihilated by their enemies. Instead, the question became whether the Lin family would wipe out the three great clans and dominate Xiao North City.

Bang!

Before Lin Xiong could finish his thought, he was struck on the forehead. His father, Lin Batian, pointed at his nose and cursed, “You little brat, what do you know? How dare you call my grandson a little brat! Are you calling me an old brat?”

Lin Xiong looked embarrassed and at a loss for words.

“Negative emotion value from Lin Xiong: +666!”

Suddenly, floating text popped up in front of Lin Fan’s eyes, making him ponder to himself—how come his father got scolded and now blamed him? What did he ever do to deserve this?

After scolding Lin Xiong, Lin Batian turned his head and smiled at Lin Fan. “My good grandson, now your grandfather’s injuries will heal. This Life Essence Pill, for anyone below the Meridian Unblocking Realm, can bring someone back from the brink of death, even if they have only a single breath left.”

“Although I’m at the Meridian Unblocking Realm, my injuries aren’t nearly that severe. Just this one Life Essence Pill is enough to completely restore me.”

“If Father calls me a little brat, you say he’s calling you an old brat. But if you call Father a little brat, isn’t that also calling yourself one?” Lin Fan couldn’t help but muse, but he dared not say these words aloud—otherwise he’d be in for a double beating from both his father and grandfather.

His still-tender shoulders couldn’t bear such a burden.

Hearing his grandfather’s words, Lin Fan looked up and asked, “Grandfather, how long will it take you to recover?”

“Mere moments will suffice!” Though Lin Batian’s stature was imposing, age had begun to show in the silver strands among his black hair. Yet at this moment, he seemed like a battle-hardened general, his words resounding with vigor and unshakable confidence.

“Grandpa, you’re so domineering and mighty! You’re as fierce as a tiger—double thumbs up, that’s awesome!” Lin Fan couldn’t help but exclaim, seeing his grandfather’s aura.

Swish, swish, swish, swish!

Four sharp gazes zeroed in on Lin Fan, nearly piercing straight through him.

Lin Batian and Lin Xiong wore serious expressions. Why did it seem to them that Lin Fan’s spirit wasn’t quite right these days?

Seeing his grandfather and father look at him like that, Lin Fan quickly lowered his head, trying to look invisible. He dared not show off any further, for fear of another beating.

“Negative emotion value from Lin Batian: +666!”
“Negative emotion value from Lin Xiong: +666!”

At that moment, Lin Fan saw two more notifications pop up in his mental log, and he couldn’t help but grin. Gathering negative emotion points was still so easy—it really was “six-six-six”!

“You dare laugh? Lin Xiong, give this little brat a beating!” Lin Batian bellowed. He and his son both glared at this grandson of his, and yet the boy still dared to laugh? Did he think nothing of his grandfather? With a thunderous shout, Lin Batian ordered Lin Xiong to give his son a proper thrashing.

As the saying goes, a sapling must be pruned to grow straight, and a child must be disciplined to grow up right. Though he was quite satisfied with his grandson in all other respects, the boy was just too cheeky with his elders!

Such cheekiness wouldn’t do, even if it belonged to the legendary Li Shizhen! Let alone in this household. Besides, he needed to test his grandson’s strength.

...

“My cheap old man really is ruthless!” The next morning, Lin Fan glanced at his black eye in the mirror and grimaced helplessly.

Last night, after his grandfather’s bellow, his father charged at him like a bear. Lin Fan knew that while it looked like a beating, it was actually his grandfather’s way of testing his cultivation.

Thus began his duel with his father—a body-refining stage cultivator leaping two realms to face a Qi Pulse expert. How did it feel? Needless to say, he was beaten so badly even his mother wouldn’t recognize him if she came back to life. Even as a perfect Tenfold Body Refiner, he was utterly crushed and beaten black and blue.

He couldn’t exactly use the Divine Slayer Crossbow on his old man, so he was stuck.

Grandfather might have been testing him, but Lin Fan swore that his father was genuinely taking out his frustrations on him! It was just too much—those fists like iron pots pummeled him, those huge palms slapped him senseless.

Even after Grandfather told him to stop, his father still threw in two more punches and a final kick before reluctantly stopping, as if he wasn’t quite finished.

If he didn’t know for a fact that this wasn’t his real father, Lin Fan would have loudly asked, Are you sure you’re really my dad?

“Never mind, let’s see how much negative emotion value the Bai family contributed!” Better to focus on happy things. He wondered just how much negative emotion value the Bai family had given him after losing a Qi Pulse expert because of him.

With anticipation, Lin Fan opened the income log.

“Oh my heavens, how is it so high?” Seeing the more than ninety thousand negative emotion points, even Lin Fan was shocked. He’d estimated he’d get twenty or thirty thousand at most.

True, the Bai family’s investigation of the Lin family’s strength was because of him, but they had no idea that Bai Xuezheng’s death was his doing. How could the points be so high?

His thoughts stirred as he opened up the detailed log.

“Negative emotion value from Chen Fei: +125!”
“Negative emotion value from Qin Huahua: +245!”
“From...!”