In a small side room of the imperial palace, a handsome man in his twenties was quietly listening to the Savage Marquis’s report.

“This happened too suddenly and was completely out of my expectations, so your servant didn’t dare to act on his own. I beg fourth prince’s forgiveness and guidance,” said the Savage Marquis.

That handsome man was the fourth prince Chu Xia. But what separated him from the other princes was that he was just the son of an imperial concubine.

Although he was also a prince, his status was much inferior to the others. But due to his low-profile nature, he didn’t incite the others’ jealousy, and so he had a very good relationship with all the princes.

Practically all the aristocracy in the empire felt that the fourth prince had the best aptitude for inheriting the throne, but unfortunately, he wasn’t born to the right mother.

The fourth prince Chu Xia nodded and said, “You were right not to act. The fact that Long Chen managed to become an alchemist out of nowhere is definitely a bit surprising.”

“Yes, when I saw his tablet, I couldn’t believe my eyes. For that trash to become an alchemist is just too outrageous.” The Savage Marquis was also shaking his head and even now he was somewhat in disbelief.

“It’s interesting. After this Long Chen was heavily injured by your son, he seems to have completely changed and is now so much stronger that he is able to kill a half-step Blood Condensation expert. There might be more than what meets the eye here.” The fourth prince paced around for a bit before saying, “Go back and carefully observe the Long estate’s movements. See if anyone suspicious goes in. Remember, don’t get caught.”

“This servant will handle it. But as for Long Chen…” The Savage Marquis hesitated slightly.

“Don’t bother him for a while. He’s just a chess piece. As long as he doesn’t jump off the chessboard, even with a patron, he won’t be able to escape his fate. His current status is something we must be sensitive about. Get your son to temporarily back off. That’s right, how are your son’s injuries?” asked the fourth prince.

“Thank you for your concern fourth prince. After his recuperation, he’s already out of the woods,” hurriedly replied the Savage Marquis.

But speaking of which, when Zhou Yaoyang had been carried back, the Savage Marquis truly had been frightened greatly. Those injuries had been so severe that he hadn’t even recognized his own son.

But what fortunate was although the injuries appeared frightening, the inner injuries weren’t very great. That was because Long Chen had made him consume a medicinal pill to preserve his life.

In just a short time of recuperation and after spending a great deal of gold, Zhou Yaoyang was already able to get up and walk. Other than being temporarily unable to fight with others, he already didn’t have any great deficits.

“Hm, that’s good then. Go back and remember what I said. Watch them closely, and as soon as anything strange happens, immediately report it to me.”

“Yes, please excuse your servant.”

After the Savage Marquis left, the fourth prince went to the window. Staring out into the pitch darkness, a smile appeared on his lips.

“The black curtain of the night cannot last forever; the sunlight will quickly arrive. Long Tianxiao, just how long can you resist?”

…

The next day’s morning, when the people of the Long household opened the great gates, they found that the floor had been completely retiled, flabbergasting the estate’s people.

What they didn’t know was that the Savage Marquis’s people had completely dug out all the tiles that had been stained with blood.

Seeing the uneven ground after the tiles were excavated, that person who had been cursed by him considered it and ordered the people under him to completely re-tile the floor before he felt reassured.

Long Chen smiled mockingly when he saw this. Those childish men would bully the weak and only fear the strong. Now they would be more well-behaved!

The first thing Long Chen did after getting out of bed was to go see his mother. When she awoke, it was as if everything that had happened yesterday had been just a dream.

“Chen-er, what happened yesterday?” Although she saw that Long Chen was completely safe, she was still a bit nervous.

“Mom, your son has already grown up and become a true man. Just the same as my father, I can also shield this family from wind and rain,” said Long Chen solemnly as he held his mother’s hand.

He didn’t want her to know too much; she was just an ordinary mortal after all. Before this, Long Chen had already examined her body. The meridians she had been given by the heavens were simply too short, and it wasn’t just that she had a bad Spirit Root, but that she didn’t even have one at all.

Furthermore, his mother was now almost forty and had no way to cultivate the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art. Besides, the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art was a Yang cultivation method; women were unable to train in it.

No matter how Long Chen tried to defy the heavens, he had no way to change his mother’s natural constitution. All he could do for her was to let her not worry.

Seeing her son seem to just grow up overnight, it was as if she were seeing the image of her strong husband. Mrs. Long couldn’t help being moved and tears started to flow.

“Good child, mom won’t ask you anymore. Mom trusts you.”

Long Chen quickly wiped away his mom’s tears, laughing, “Mom, your son has grown up. You should be happy! I prepared a gift for you.”

He then touched his spatial ring, causing a jade bottle to appear in his hand. Before he could say anything, Mrs. Long asked in surprise, “Where did you get a spatial ring?”

Long Chen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Why did his mother’s expression seem so suspicious?

Of course, he knew that always hiding things from his mother wasn’t a solution. In order to handle his mother’s worries, he told her about his status as an alchemist.

In any case, people would learn about it sooner or later, so he had no need to hide it. Long Chen also took advantage of this to say that after he had been beaten, luck had shone on him and he had opened his meridians; meaning he could cultivate now.

And he had even managed to cultivate a Pill Flame and obtain the qualifications to become an alchemist. When he had gone to the alchemist guild, he had by chance met grandmaster Yun Qi. He had immediately leaped at that chance, using his pity to get closer to him.

Long Chen used his tears to move grandmaster Yun Qi, who finally ceded and made an exception to let him become an alchemist.

Hearing these shocking words, Mrs. Long was completely mystified. But Long Chen solemnly swore it was the truth and also took out his tablet for his mother to examine. Only then did she believe it.

Although she wasn’t a cultivator, she knew about alchemists. That was a supremely grand occupation; for Long Chen to become one was several generations’ worth of luck.

“Mom, don’t move. I’ll help you apply this.”

From the bottle, he took out a couple drops of medicinal liquid. He gently dabbed it onto his hand, causing a fresh scent to fill the room. Just one breath of it could completely relax a person.

Seeing how serious Long Chen was now acting, Mrs. Long didn’t move at all. Long Chen gently applied the medicinal liquid on her face.

A cool and relaxing feeling immediately spread across her face.

“Chen-er, just what is this? It feels very good,” whispered Mrs. Long. She closed her eyes and relished the feeling.

“Hehe, this is a special treasure your son got for you. Just stay still,” laughed Long Chen.

“Naughty child.” Hearing him laugh and refuse to answer, Mrs. Long smiled. Her heart grew warmer.

She had raised Long Chen since he was a baby, changing diaper after diaper. Now that he had grown up, he finally understood what filial duty was, so Mrs. Long’s heart rejoiced.

“Ok, you can open your eyes.”

Mrs. Long slowly opened her eyes and found that her dressing mirror was being held in front of her eyes by Long Chen.

“What…?”

Looking at her own reflection, she couldn’t help but exclaim in shock. Turning her head left and right, she found that it definitely was her, but she now appeared much younger.

The wrinkles near her eyes had faded greatly; her original skin that had been starting to turn dry had become extremely sleek, and she now appeared at least a decade younger.

“Chen-er, am I dreaming?” Mrs. Long couldn’t believe her eyes.

“I dunno whether you’re dreaming or not, but if you keep looking at yourself like that, it’ll be lunch in no time at all,” laughed Long Chen.

Mrs. Long turned red and lightly tapped Long Chen. “Bad child, you dare to tease your mom? It’s not that late!”

Long Chen smiled. Not only did her face appear younger, her heart had also become much lighter. “Mom, I refined this Facial Rejuvenation Elixir just for you. Although the medicinal ingredients are just average, it’s not a problem for it to make you look how you did when you were thirty.”

The Facial Rejuvenation Elixir normally required a Facial Rejuvenation Fruit as the main medicinal ingredient, but those were too rare and Long Chen was unable to obtain one in a short time.

He had used a kind of Facial Rejuvenation Herb as a substitute. The effect was much worse than the Fruit, and so it couldn’t return people back to their youthful days, but to reverse a few years of aging was no problem.

“Really?” Mrs. Long was delighted; which woman didn’t cherish her looks?

With her husband essentially in another land from her and with Long Chen having an innate handicapped physique, her heart had been extremely strained and that had caused her to age quickly.

Seeing his mother so worn, guilt washed over Long Chen. His mother had truly paid far too much for this family.

“Mom, I’ll leave this bottle with you. I’ll also give you some medicinal pills to use. I guarantee that in less than a year, no one who doesn’t know us will believe that you are old enough to be my mother. They’ll think you are my sister, haha,” laughed Long Chen as he clasped his mother’s hands.

“This flippant child. Don’t forget what we agreed on. Meng Qi is a wife you cannot let get away. I don’t care what method you have to use, you must bring her back.” Although she was happy now, this matter continued to always weigh on her mind.

Back when Long Chen had brought up leaving Meng Qi, she had already roughly guessed what had happened. A woman as beautiful as Meng Qi was someone no man would give up.

She couldn’t help having her heart hurt when she thought of what Long Chen had done with the marriage agreement. To be frank, it was precisely because of her own powerlessness that her son had to suffer through that.

In truth, Mrs. Long had been starting to feel more and more upset inside, but Long Chen had never brought it up again. When he now displayed his capabilities to her, she immediately thought of that matter.

Before, Long Chen was unable to match up to her; but now that he was an alchemist, his status had leaped up. She couldn’t help but to bring it up. There should be a chance now.

“Mom, don’t worry. Do you really not know my character? Who would dare to snatch something from me? Back when we were young, didn’t I end up biting my cousin so hard when he stole my toys that he started to cry and shout?” laughed Long Chen.

Although Long Chen laughed for a moment, his laughter faded quickly. He saw the distress within his mother’s eyes.

Ever since his father had been stationed at the border, he seemed to recall that his mother had never once visited the family on her side. Her own family was already in a miserable situation, so his mother had never tried to go there to beg for help.

Long Chen held her hand and said, “Mom, your son is now an alchemist. Our hard days are over, so don’t think about such sad things.”

After accompanying his mother for some more time and seeing her mood gradually relax, Long Chen went to the alchemist guild.