Chapter 14: Predecessor’s Obsession

Translator: _Dark_Angel_  Editor: Kurisu

Ling Han revealed the despicable deeds done by Ling Zhong Kuan, his sons and his grandson to Ling Dong Xing. That group of people obviously would not be giving up just like this and they’d definitely try to do something, so Ling Dong Xing needed to be prepared for it.

“I understand!” Ling Dong Xing seemed extremely confident. He had been openly competing with Ling Zhong Kuan for many years, yet Ling Zhong Kuan could only remain as the Chief Butler, completely suppressed by him.

Years ago, Ling Dong Xing also used to be a favored, proud genius, an all-powerful existence within the clan. If it was not for the destruction of his Spirit Base, someone like Ling Zhong Kuan would be nothing in his eyes.

“Heng, he dared to bully my son! If I don’t beat him to the point that he has to be bedridden for a month, then my surname isn’t Ling!” He said ruthlessly, eyes cold.

‘So my old man is also someone who would cover for his own people!’ Those words were very much to Ling Han’s liking.

Ling Han spoke with his father for a moment longer before leaving.

As the head of a large clan, Ling Dong Xing naturally had many matters to deal with. Moreover, he still had to go and thrash Ling Zhong Kuan, that old dog who dared to take advantage of his absence to bully his son.

Ling Han had no interest to see that old dog being helplessly and mercilessly thrashed by Ling Dong Xing. He returned to his room to start considering the direction he should take in the future.

Cultivation would definitely require the support of alchemical pills, and the reason he had reached Heaven Tier in a mere two hundred years in his last life was because he himself was a genius alchemist. However, even a clever housewife cannot cook a meal without rice; although he now had in his hands all kinds of knowledge about alchemy, he still needed the ingredients for concocting pills.

And the higher the grade of the alchemical pill, the more priceless and valuable the ingredients needed would be. Actually, if someone were to compare the Ling Clan’s wealth with the cost of these ingredients… the results could be summed up with only one word: poor!

He had to do something. Otherwise, the speed of his cultivation would definitely be unable to achieve the expected standard.

To put it simply, he had to earn money. Ling Han currently managed to think of two ways.

Firstly, sale of cultivation techniques and martial arts skills. In his last life, he had accumulated a staggering number of top-rate secret arts; should he take any one of them to an auction, he’d definitely earn an astronomical wealth. However, this was not appropriate.

Because, the current Ling Han was simply much too weak.

If he still had the cultivation level of Heaven Tier, then even if he released a Heaven Grade cultivation technique, others naturally would not dare to have any evil ideas. However, if he did something like that now, he would only become a target for others to force him to hand over even more cultivation techniques.

If he really did have to sell any cultivation techniques or martial arts skills, he could only sell those that were not too far from his current martial arts skill level. Moreover, he couldn’t sell too many at a time.

Then that left only the second method, which was to sell alchemical pills.

This was his original profession. Besides, alchemy was a very respected profession. Whoever dared to disrespect an alchemist could easily cause public outrage, so there would definitely be serious consideration before anyone attempted such an idiotic thing.

Within the current Rain Country, at least eighty percent of the country’s alchemists were involved with the Heaven’s Medicine Pavilion, while the remaining twenty percent were esteemed guests of the various great clans and factions. The alchemical pills concocted by them would thus only be used by members of these great powers, without any possibility of them being sold in public.

Lastly, there were a few alchemists who were loners, and were not working for any kind of power. If they lacked money, they would simply concoct alchemical pills for sale. Thus, they were completely free from any obligations.

For example, in Grey Cloud Town, the supply of high-grade alchemical pills and medicines would only be found in the Heaven’s Medicine Pavilion, so those who wanted to buy them could only choose to go there. Low-grade alchemical pills would be distributed for sale in batches by Heaven’s Medicine Pavilion, offered to the the two Great Clans in the town. Thus, there would be mutual benefit for both the two Great Clans and the Heaven’s Medicine Pavilion. After all, the two Great Clans were very influential in the area.

The two Great Clans referred to Ling Clan and Cheng Clan. Both clans would be able to obtain fifty percent of the total low-grade alchemical pills from the Heaven’s Medicine Pavilion respectively.

However, although the two Great Clans only obtained very little profit when compared to the Heaven’s Medicine Pavilion, in terms of alchemical pills, they could be said to have gained an overwhelming profit.

Alchemy was an extremely high-paying profession—this was also one of the reasons why alchemists would be regarded as esteemed guests by the various great powers. If the various clans and factions did not have their own alchemists, then their purchase of alchemical pills and medicines would incur a horrifyingly astronomical expense.

In this life, Ling Han did not plan to exert too much effort in the path of alchemy. Thus, he only wanted to become a lone alchemist. If he lacked money, then he would concoct a few pills—it was enough as long as he had sufficient funds at his disposal.

‘Then it’s decided, I’ll use alchemy as a support for my martial arts.’

However, now that Ling Dong Xing had returned, Ling Han’s freedom was also restricted. His old man was rushing him to immediately go to the academy.

Naturally not Hu Yang Academy, but Grey Cloud Academy.

Hu Yang Academy was established by the imperial clan of Rain Country, and while Grey Cloud Academy was also established by the government, there was no way to compare the two academies’ resources. After all, the disparity was simply too large. However, Ling Dong Xing still had hopes that Ling Han could become an overnight celebrity in Grey Cloud Academy. All fathers naturally wanted their sons to excel and become successful people.

Ling Han naturally would not want to disappoint his father, so he could only agree to go to the academy. He didn’t have much to do anyway, so he’d just go to the academy for a few days and show off a bit to satisfy his father’s ambition. This way, Ling Dong Xing wouldn’t see any need to restrict him further.

Moreover, he also wanted to realize his predecessor’s long-cherished wish and clear his reputation of being a piece of trash.

When he departed, Liu Yu Tong naturally was beside him, and the both of them arrived at Grey Cloud Academy. However, it was not very appropriate for Liu Yu Tong to accompany him even during classes, so she could only walk around in the academy. Her prowess also meant that she had no fear of anyone trying anything funny with her because of her extreme beauty.

Ling Han walked slowly. It was not a must for him to attend classes. It was more than enough to just come to the academy. The reason why he was here was only out of respect for his father; he would not blindly obey Ling Dong Xing’s every single word.

Just as he came to the Martial Training Court, he could not help but pause in his steps as a strong pounding rose up within his body, causing him to, for some reason, turn and head in the direction of the Martial Training Court.

This was an obsession originating from his predecessor.

HIs predecessor had in total two matters that he could not let go of. The first was naturally his father, and the second was a woman within this Grey Cloud Academy. If he had not come, it would not have affected him, but now that he was here, this obsession immediately became incomparably heavy.

His predecessor had once liked a woman by the name of Shen Zi Yan. She was a student of Grey Cloud Academy, and the entanglement between the two of them was an extremely complicated one.

Seven years ago, when Shen Zi Yan was just a little girl at the age of ten, she had already displayed a surprising beauty. Ling Dong Xing acted quickly and arranged an engagement contract between her and Ling Han.

Because the Ling Clan was one of the two Great Clans in town and Ling Han was the son of the clan’s Clan Head, the Shen Clan naturally had no objection and gladly agreed to this match.

However, when Ling Han was twelve, through examination, his Spirit Base was confirmed to be Five Elements Disarray Spirit Base. If it was just this, then according to the power of the Ling Clan, the Shen Clan would still not dare to have any wild thoughts. The problem was that Shen ZI Yan had a high level Earth Grade Spirit Base!

Moreover, Shen Zi Yan was also extremely gifted in martial arts, so she managed to live up to such an excellent Spirit Base. As her cultivation level soared, she was regarded as a treasure by the higher-ups of the academy, who always meant to send her to Hu Yang Academy because they believed that only there would her talent truly blossom.

As the two of them grew up, and the gap between Shen Zi Yan and Ling Han’s cultivation levels widened ever further, she finally requested the Ling Clan to break the engagement contract.

Ling Dong Xing naturally did not want to agree. This would not only be a blow to the pride of the Ling Clan, but would also break his son’s heart. Yet his predecessor agreed, because his affection for his woman was bone-deep.

Although they were now no more than strangers, his predecessor was still very much in love with the girl and kept on secretly paying attention to her all this while.

The strength of his affection was so big that, even though his predecessor had already died, the body’s instinctive reaction was to follow it, affecting the current Ling Han.

‘I need to get rid of this obsession… otherwise, in the future, this may become my inner demon and affect my progress,’ Ling Han thought. As someone who used to be a warrior of the Heaven Tier, he naturally knew the danger an inner demon represented. ‘Then I’ll go to see her once more. After this, there will no longer be any relation between the two of us!’ Ling Han thought, as if negotiating with his predecessor.