As always, keep in mind that you are reading this from the biased viewpoint of the Main Character! Not everything is the absolute truth!

Well, I am back.

You guys know the feeling of finally getting some time to yourself and then you suddenly are burried in countless responsibilities as well as forced to attend a lot of schedules to the point were even getting a hint of free time feels like a chore?

All I can say is, I hate real life with a passion

Anyways, enough of that, here is the chapter...

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Chapter 12:

Once back at the inn I immediately set out to countless Alchemist shops in town and bought as many pills as I could.

There were actually a lot more things in these Alchemist shops than just pills that intrigued me.

Various poisons from lethal to straight up strange were openly sold to customers and a variety of potions such as metal melting acids or appearance changing ones made my fingers itch for my money pouch.

In the end though I remained strong and refrained from needlessly wasting my Silver coins.

Although intriguing, these were things for another time when I had the capital to mindlessly spend a few Gold, not right now.

Back at our room, with time to spare while I waited for the pills to dry, I once again returned to cultivating.

This was not something I had forgotten despite my newfound money making method and I diligently tried to keep at it.

There was no real change with my Qi flame as it had barely approached the size of an average ripe apple despite the various pills I had taken.

The biggest change and main reason to this was naturally that I had used most of the absorbed Qi as fuel to nurture my tendons.

After having ingested 10 or so pills I felt a distinct difference.

The girls were currently downstairs to get our dinner and I could hear them enter the room.

I had just finished pumping the last bit of Qi into every single tendon in my body when a shiver went through me.

It was only small at first but I soon enough started shaking, as audible squirming and cracking sounds could be heard from my body.

“Young Master?!”

Hua Hong anxiously asked while stepping closer to my gigantic frame.

I had my eyes closed and tried to determine the cause of this strange occurrence as panic slowly invaded my mind.

The shaking continued and I could feel the muscles in my body expanding and contracting uncontrollably.

My height jumped and decreased by an entire foot during this entire time and waves of pain surged through me.

“Aghh!”

A sound, half growl and half moan escaped my clenched teeth as the wooden tiles beneath me started to visibly crack.

Seconds turned into minutes as the pain together with my moans became stronger.

No matter what the girls said to me at this point I couldn’t understand a single word as the only thing on my mind was the agony I was currently in.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, a loud bang, like the sound of a gunshot resounded in the room and every muscle in my body contracted at the same time to their maximum capacity.

This time however they no longer expanded like before and simply stayed contracted.

Unsure if it was really over or not I gingerly opened my eyes, only to find both girls sitting before me with open mouths.

Judging by their distressed appearances, they had been visibly worried but now only shock remained on their faces and I soon enough found out why.

My entire body, the massive frame I was so used to had shrunk down to the height and physique of a 10-year-old boy.

A very muscular 10-year-old boy I might add, but nevertheless a child’s physique.

“What the…”

While looking at my own body I stood up and tried to understand this colossal change.

“You can’t be serious world, am I going to stay like this forever now?!”

I asked aloud, a mix of awe and panic audible in my voice.

After calming down a bit and remembering what had happened before, I tried to relax the tensed muscles in my body and another shocking change occurred.

My height increased once again, back to my previous peak and even above that, considering that I could now feel the ceiling scraping against the top of my head as I simply expanded like a blowup doll.

This time, even I couldn’t help but stare with an open mouth at this unbelievable spectacle.

When I once again concentrated and tried to tense and contract my muscles, I was back to the muscular 10-year-old brat.

“No way…”

After a few more tries it was clear to me what had happened.

Whatever this path of cultivation that I was treading on really was, it now allowed me to change my size and height however I willed it.

I had total control over my muscles and tendons but felt a lot heavier overall, despite the small size I could squeeze myself into.

Simply put, this was amazing and beyond anything I could have ever hoped for.

I mean imagine chasing someone based on their height and build and when you pass the next street corner you only find a child looking back at you.

Would you continue chasing or attack the child?

Coupled with my disguising technique which was getting better and better each day thanks to my activities, I now had a ridiculously terrifying ability to deceive someone.

Other cultivators might see through it but mortals, so about 2/3rd of the world population, would be absolutely helpless against me.

This naturally led to another thought.

Would I be able to completely change my physical structure, appearance and even have the ability to regrow body parts once I had filled each and every corner of my body with Qi?

Because if so I was going to turn into a monster more than anything else, and I was loving it.

“Is everything ok Young Master?”

Hua Hong finally asked with a concerned expression on her face which finally brought me back to reality as I had been staring at my hands for a while now.

“I am fine, more than that actually. I am fan-fucking-tastic.”

I said with a laugh as I clenched my right hand into a fist.

“W-what was that earlier?”

Hua Ping asked after a round of silence and it only dawned on me then that I had never told them about my unique cultivation method before.

“Well, I broke through to another stage… I think.”

I eventually said, still somewhat unsure if that really was the case or not as there were no guidelines to follow or a book that explained everything to me.

“Wait, you broke through? I mean that is good, but what happened to your body Young Master?”

Hua Ping continued to question me with a furrowed brow as she just didn’t understand what I meant with ‘broke through’.

“Alright, so to put it into simple terms, I have a unique way of cultivating that involves my body more than anything else and I think I just broke through to the Qi Condensation stage, at least my body did.”

Once again a round of silence went through the room as both girls looked at me with eyes round as golf balls.

“And this unique way of cultivation the Young Master managed to pick up where exactly?”

Hua Hong inquired, with a face that seemed to say that she already knew the answer to that question.

“I invented it myself.”

“Young Master!!!”

They both shouted at the same time while immediately giving me a lecture about how dangerous that was and how it could have incredibly negative impacts on my body as well as lead to my death.

Naturally I already knew all of that but I wasn’t messing around with something as unreliable as ‘Meridians’ or ‘Qi paths’ so I didn’t really see an issue with my method at all.

After about 2 hours I was finally able to convince them that I knew what I was doing and that it was not anything outrageous so that they could calm down again.

The pills I had prepared previously were long since finished and night time had descended around us.

Even the dinner they had brought up had been forgotten until now and I decided to only eat 2 delicious meat buns before jumping into bed.

It was then that we all remembered another thing that we had forgotten about until now.

How we all would be sleeping in 1 bed from now on.

Glancing to their shadowy silhouettes that stood on either side of the bed while I was already lying in the middle of it, I couldn’t help but audibly sigh.

“I am not going to eat anyone and we will have to get used to this eventually so stop messing around and go to sleep.”

I would be lying if I said that my heart didn’t skip a beat when I felt them both slip under the covers with me but I tried to keep my thoughts clean.

An awkward silence filled the dark room and to keep my mind from wandering I decided to simply close my eyes and get some shut eye.

As interesting as this scenario was with my lower region showing some dangerous activity, I wanted to be a gentleman in this situation to the best of my ability.

Not for them mind you, but to keep myself from being an early father.

Condoms were not a thing in this world and any sort of protection like the pill had not been invented yet.

Having kids now would really be the last thing I wanted so forgive me for not doing the obvious, despite how damn tempting it was.

I had been counting sheep mentally for a few minutes already when I felt something move to the left of me.

My first thought was that one of the girls was simply turning around.

This naturally immediately changed when I felt an arm as well as body coil around me.

Hua Hong had done this countless times back in the clan but to do it now when her sister was in the same bed with us…

This girl was dangerous.

Despite the incredible stimulation, I tried to keep calm but another wrench was immediately thrown my way, destroying whatever peace of mind I previously had.

And this one came in the form of a hand that was placed on my crotch.

Finally having enough, I opened my mouth and spoke aloud in the complete darkness that surrounded us.

“You know that counts as sexual harassment, right?”

“Oh really, does it now?”

A voice answered as the hand retreated again and my mind and body froze when I realized that it was Hua Ping who had responded to me.

Oh lord, what did I get myself into with trying to save some money and only getting one room?

….

Despite the awkward sleeping situation, we were currently having the days pass by us rather peacefully.

The name ‘Ge Hong’ had made its way known to many in Dragon City thanks to word of mouth.

In only 1 week I was able to make over 20 Gold coins with this new pill.

Now, the money was good and all, but I was starting to hit a sort of roadblock.

No matter if it was viewed as something useful and interesting to many, my pills would only help someone properly in the Foundation Gathering stage, that much was evident after my body entered the Qi Condensation stage.

Thanks to this the people who were intrigued had already bought their ample supply from me, so demand was steadily decreasing.

But that wasn’t the biggest issue.

Even though the amount of pills people bought overall decreased, I still required tons of pills each day.

Where is the problem with that you ask?

Well because I was using the identity as the Young Master of the Li Clan in Dragon City, buying thousands of pills had already started to draw some attention from various shops.

So connecting my real identity and Ge Hong would not take much longer if I kept this up.

It was clear from the decrease in demand as well as this little problem with my identity being revealed sooner or later that I had to switch brands.

I would have to either come up with a new alteration or actually create my own pills from scratch this time.

Sure, I had some ideas concerning both but my knowledge about Alchemists and how they operated was just too limited at the moment as their trade was not easily shared, that much I was able to find out.

Just like this I was contemplating my future actions while selling pills in my disguise as Ge Hong when an unusual figure suddenly approached me.

And with unusual, I mean dressed in extremely expensive and colorful clothing.

Something you don’t see every day in this area of the city as this was more of a commercial district than the settlement of powerful families or clans.

“You must be Ge Hong I suppose?”

The man asked while stroking his small goatee.

His attire consisted of a dark red robe that had an imprint of a golden dragon on it as well as a few other accessories such as a shining bracelet that chimed similar to bells each time he stroked his beard, which he seemed to do a lot.

“And who might you be?”

I threw back while keeping a friendly smile on my face for appearance’s sake.

“My name is Chen Lu and I am from the 7-star auction house. I am here today to look at the man that was hailed as a saint by many and to also propose a small deal, if you are interested that is.”

The man said while giving me a mysterious smile and examining my big frame from top to bottom.

Thanks to my ability to change my height and width via will I was now able to pull off an even more realistic version of Ge Hong so I didn’t feel too naked beneath this direct stare.

This had actually not been the first time that a certain power of the city had tried to rope my new identity in.

A few days prior a middle sized clan with the surname of Reihu had tried to invite me to a visit with the promise of beauties and money, as having an Alchemist in their midst would improve their position greatly.

I had naturally tactfully refused while also gifting them 20 of my pills to show some goodwill.

They hadn’t been pleased but the small gift I gave them showed that I was at least not enemies with them and also gave their clan a lot of face.

This was something I had done on the spur of the moment but it had turned into a saving grace for my wellbeing in the end, so I was quite grateful to my instincts.

I vaguely remember the name of ‘7-star’ auction house from the girls as I had asked them many different things when I woke up in this new world.

The word ‘auction’ only helped in sending a chill down my spine as it was true that many benefits could be reaped from a place such as that, but that was not all someone could gain there.

I had not forgotten that no matter which novel I read, it always turned out the same way.

The main character would inevitably run into trouble in the place they called ‘auction house’ in this world.

Maybe I was just being paranoid, but am I seriously the only one who remembers the countless times things went from pretty ok to near death in auction houses?

Or from being an unknown visitor to a mortal enemy with the strongest clan in the respective city?

Yeah, it was that kind of bad that you would be able to gain from those places, which was why I had tried my hardest to stay as far away as possible from anything that even resembled it until now.

Once again, maybe I was just being paranoid considering that the various authors of those books just really needed to create situations that made little sense and would inconvenience the main character for the plot’s sake but you never know.

Maybe the word ‘auction’ was simply a taboo word in a Xianxia setting.

I mean the facts support this wild theory quite well.

“And what would this deal be if I may ask?”

I cautiously asked while mentally weighing my options if running away suddenly without a word would create a big scene or not.

“Well first of all we would like to invite you to the coming event, the monthly auction that will be held in 4 days.

This is the only day each month that our doors open for customers as we spend the rest of the time collecting various treasures and goods that will hopefully please many.

And with this we are coming to the second reason as to why I am here.

For being able to attend the auction as well as watch it all from the VIP area, reserved for only the most important of guests, we ask only for a batch of your new pills so that we can display them at our auction.

You will naturally be paid the standard price you ask of all others beforehand and we will only make the profit that your product will bring us in this auction, it is quite simple really.”

This naturally did sound quite simple but I was darn sure that was not how it really was.

Despite my pills being a new thing on the market and was being received extremely well, their low price and limited use made them very unattractive for any big-shots of the city.

So why then would one of them, the 7-star auction house which was renowned for their wealth and information network want a batch of my pills?

Well to lure me into their circle of course.

I was an unknown figure that they still knew very little about so they saw this as an opportunity to invest in me.

That was probably how they judged things at least.

I saw it for what it was.

A chance to look at and buy a few things I would normally never be able to find even at a black market.

Despite everything I have previously said, I was quite intrigued in attending this auction, really.

I mean the main reason for my interest was because I was promised to be in the very safe and secluded VIP area as well as my previous increase in strength, but that was beside the point.

Attending this auction may be the only chance I would have to acquire a few things that would help me in the coming Tournament that was still about half a year away.

I mean theoretically there were still 5 more auctions to be held from the 7-star auction house alone until then, but that was the problem.

It was a theoretical possibility.

What if I was not in the city at the moment of one of the auctions?

What if something extraordinary happened that would make me inevitably leave the city for a good while, what then?

I would lose my chance; it was simple as that.

So right now I felt quite torn.

Either say no and continue in peace, or agree and be put into a possibly bad as well as dangerous situation thanks to the usual Xianxia setting.

This was not an easy decision to make, especially for someone as paranoid and scared for his life as me but I eventually leaned towards saying yes, despite my brain telling me that I was being a complete idiot.

“How many pills would you need?”

I asked in the voice of Ge Hong with not even a trace of the inner battle I had just left behind me visible on my face or audible in my words.

“I think 500 would be a good number, is that going to be a problem?”

Chen Lu inquired with another strange smile.

“That will be a bit tough but if it is for the friends of the 7-star auction house, how could I dare to decline?”

Mentally I was just laughing at this small number as even 5 thousand would have been no problem for me to deliver if one took the little amount of effort it took me to change a into a pill into account.

“Good, very good. I hope you keep your end of the deal and that we will see each other again in 4 days’ time ten.

Farewell, Ge Hong the Saint.”

I waved him off with a beaming smile while inwardly sneering.

This guy looked nice and easy going on the outside but he gave me a bad feeling and I was starting to trust my instincts a lot more these days after that incident with the Reihu clan.

Especially the way he had called me a ‘Saint’.

Did he really think I didn’t see the arrogant and mocking glint in his eyes?

Despite my misgivings about this representative of the auction house that obviously looked down on me, I was internally thrilled and quickly wrapped up my business in the market place.

Simply telling them that I had run out prematurely was easy enough, as no one stayed to count how much I had really sold today.

Telling the few customers who were unable to purchase some of my pills that I would be back tomorrow with more, I swiftly returned to the inn.

I didn’t have to wait long for the girls and after telling them a quick summary of today’s events we started to discuss who would come along with me.

The reason why I only wanted one of them to accompany was simple enough.

Although of common birth, Hua Hong and Hua Ping were incredibly beautiful twins that looked very similar to each other.

This similarity and beauty would attract many eyes should they arrive together with ‘Ge Hong’ and a few members of the Li clan or other influential powers familiar with my real identity might even recognize them.

This in turn would once again create an unwanted connection between my real identity and the new one I had just created.

Therefore, only one of the girls would come with me to the event under the condition of being somewhat disguised too.

Hua Ping didn’t like dressing up to look different each day to begin with but to do it again and this time so that it would lower her natural beauty by a huge margin… well let’s just say she quickly allowed her sister to accompany me on the day of the auction…

Just from the way she had basically escaped this issue it was clear that she held her own beauty in a much higher regard than Hua Hong and I couldn’t really blame her for that either.

If a god or the heavens had gifted anyone else with such features they would surely protest against anything that would lower that beauty with all their might, simply out of principle.

Hua Hong on the other hand was delighted that she would be able to attend such an event with me, even if both of us would look nothing like our usual selves.

If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought that she saw this as some kind of date but just the idea seemed too ridiculous, even in my mind.

We would be heavily disguised and between countless powerful and domineering individuals with massive backgrounds.

There would definitely be an invisible pressure on our shoulders the entire time while we had to take each step as if treading on thin ice.

Whoever saw this as a happy go lucky date was not quite right in the head.

Maybe my mind was wandering in this strange direction because of Hua Hong’s aloof smile or by the way she was searching through my pile of disguises to find the best one, but I was starting to get a bad feeling.

Everything was going to go smoothly and without any major incidents at that auction, right?

….

“How did you get those bruises?”

My mother asked immediately after I entered the room.

Despite my efforts in hiding them with a bit of face powder as well as wearing long sleeves she seemed to see through it all with just a glance.

“I exchanged a few pointers with some seniors of the clan and was not careful enough.”

I replied with a noncommittal smile.

Seeing her brows furrow despite her pale face, I couldn’t help but evade her piercing glare.

“I had really hoped you wouldn’t lie to me. Has your father not talked to your brother yet to stop his violent tendencies?”

She asked and I could feel the knot in my chest squeezing a bit tighter when I heard my mother talk about father.

I was told not to hate him after he abandoned mother the moment she fell ill so he could look for a new wife, but that was the only thing I could not do that mother asked of me.

“He did, but Lei Long only wanted to show me his new technique and I was simply too weak to receive it, there is no need to worry.”

Even with my body aching like this while I lifted my hand to guide the spoon full of soup to my mother’s mouth, I couldn’t really hate my brother.

Lei Long had fallen into a dark place ever since my unique physique became known to the world and had pushed his importance in the clan down by a big margin.

It was clear that he blamed me for it, but so did I deep down.

I blamed my gift for taking away my big brother from me and all I could do these days was hope for him to wake up from the nightmare he was trapped in while silently enduring his hate filled gaze.

We remained in silence for the rest of the meal while I was feeding her.

My mother had contracted a rare and incurable disease many years ago with an unknown origin, making her frail and weak beyond compare, to the point where even lifting her hand had become a chore.

Dark circles were under her eyes and with her pale skin as well as fallen in cheeks her prior beauty was nowhere to be found.

If someone had told me that my beautiful and strong mother would one day fall to this level I would have demanded for the person to be executed on the spot, simply for trying to smear dirt on the crystal clear image I had of my own mother.

Now however, there was no way to shut my eyes or turn away from the truth.

Countless doctors and physicians had examined her over the years and all came to the same conclusion.

Something was sucking the life out of her.

She would die in a mere 2 years if this drain on her body as well as spirit continued, but because no one could find a probable cause, not a single one of those countless doctors and physicians was able to procure a cure.

Sure, there were countless miracle like drugs as well as herbs that existed in this world but they were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns.

It was something one would stumble upon but not something one could hope to find even in an entire lifetime.

Any hope in my heart to see the strong and powerful mother from a few years ago again had been extinguished when even the most well-known doctor in all of Dragon City, Cang Gong had told me that he knew of no cure.

This sudden disease in my mother had appeared shortly after giving birth to me but she had kept this fact hidden with the help of countless drugs and medicines, until 3 years ago where nothing seemed to work anymore.

Her physical appearance and strength that was far above the Body Enlightenment stage thus disappeared practically overnight and all that remained was the weak and frail body of a previous female expert.

Just looking at her like this when she didn’t even have the strength to eat filled me with bone-deep sorrow.

My thoughts were quickly disrupted by the sound of a door being pulled open behind me and when I turned my head I saw the person I hated the most in my life standing before me.

“Lei Xi, you know you can leave this to the countless maids in the clan, why aren’t you cultivating instead?”

My father asked with a disdainful look when he saw me holding a spoon to the lips of his previous wife.

“What do you want?”

I inquired with a frosty expression and voice, not even deeming his presence worth another look.

A sigh resounded behind me and I was thankful that he remained standing next to the door and didn’t step inside the room.

“I came to inform you that we will both be going to attend the coming auction of the 7-star auction house and that you will be able to meet your fiancé there for the first time too.”

Before his words even had the chance to fully dissipate I turned around in a blur while anger quickly made itself apparent on my face.

“What are you talking about?! I don’t have a fiancé!”

“Well as I have just informed you, yes you do. You will be able to meet him in 4 days so no need to be nervous.”

He replied with a calm voice, completely ignoring my visible anger.

“I am not nervous. I have no fiancé and I will not go with you because I have never agreed to anything like this in the first place!”

My insides burned with an uncontrollable fire as I stared into his expressionless eyes and all I could think was how I hated him for what he was trying to do to his own daughter at the moment.

“I have already spoken with the head of the Gen Clan about the marriage and it is a decided thing so there is nothing you can do to stop it.

Should you still be unwilling to meet your future husband then I will naturally take your view into consideration but let me tell you something else.

This coming auction is rather special because I was told that there will be an incredibly rare and precious herb for sale which is not found even once in a millennium.

And this herb is said to be something that can heal anyone, even from the brink of death.

I think you understand my meaning with this, right?”

The way he was smiling during his explanation, with his eyes full of confidence made me grind my teeth in anger once again but the news he was bringing filled my heart with a glimmer of hope for the first time in months.

If there was a way to safe her with this…

I no longer internally resisted his proposal of meeting this ‘fiance’ and he seemed to noticed this change as well because he left without another word.

That he had not spared even a single glance towards mother despite the time spent talking to me once again made my insides burn with anger, but the thought of a possible cure quickly blew away every other distraction in my mind.

“You shouldn’t go. He knows he can't really force you.”

Mother said beside me with a weak voice while grasping my hand and I immediately gently squeezed it, but my mind was only filled with a single thought.

If I had to meet and possibly even marry someone I didn’t know just so that my mother could live… then that was worth it for me.

After all, she was the only person left in my life that I truly held dear, and for her I would even spend it in misery if it meant that she would remain by my side through it all.

“It’s going to be alright.”

I whispered back with eyes cast down on the sickly pale hand held in my own.

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And that is that for now.

The few observant people around this place will naturally notice that this chapter was a tad shorter than normal but it seemed like a good place to end it for me and I will try to make the next one longer in turn, to make up for that.

I know some people don't like the switch away from our destined MC's POV but for what i have planned it will sadly be a reccuring thing.

Still, maybe the average chapter length that is triple that of other stories on this site can somewhat make up for it for those people who feel cheated out of some of the possible story. ^^

Hope you have a wonderful time and just to make things clear, no I will not just suddenly disappear again.

For now things are fine and should this happen again, I will get my lazy as well as sorry ass to at least make an announcment for it.

Peace out! :GG: