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Chapter 14

At first, Uncle Mo merely found Tang Yan’s words reasonable. But the more he thought about them, the more they left him utterly shaken.

“Six months from now…” he murmured. “Perhaps the Tang family’s rank among Cloud City’s four great families is about to change.”

Old Master Tang paced back and forth, analyzing every step his grandson had taken.

“First, he angered the crowd, drawing all their attention to himself. Then, he led by example, earning their respect through action. Next, he offered them incentives, igniting their passion. Finally, he established strict rules, securing his control over them.”

At that last point, even Old Master Tang felt a shiver run down his spine.

With such a method of training, how could the warriors not grow stronger?

If only the Tang family had done this sooner, would they have ever fallen into their current precarious position?

But what truly stunned Old Master Tang the most was his grandson’s transformation.

This useless, idle troublemaker… When did he suddenly mature?

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Tang Yan was unaware that his every move had been observed by his grandfather and Uncle Mo.

At that moment, he was in the training grounds, pushing his body to its absolute limit.

With a hundred-pound sandbag strapped to his back, he gritted his teeth and continued his push-ups.

This time, he infused his training with true energy.

The body's qi operated in a cycle—once depleted, it would regenerate. And with every session of extreme exertion, the amount of qi restored would be greater than before. This created a positive feedback loop, accelerating his progress.

Of course, there was a drawback. Continuous overexertion would inevitably damage his meridians.

But Tang Yan wasn’t worried. The pills he crafted could easily remedy such injuries.

At first, the Tang family’s guards assumed that their young master’s enthusiasm would be short-lived. But when they saw him actually commit to the grueling training, they were left utterly dumbfounded.

Their young master… was simply inhuman.

From dawn, he had been doing push-ups with a hundred-pound weight. And he kept at it—for a full hour!

Then, after only a short break, he started his second round of training.

Was this really someone with a crippled dantian?

Even those at the peak of the Yuan Stage—experts at the ninth rank—would struggle to perform weighted push-ups for a full hour.

Yet Tang Yan had done it.

His insane determination ignited the blood of the guards.

If a so-called cripple could do it, how could they—a group of trained warriors—back down?

Soon, the atmosphere in the training grounds soared to an unprecedented level of intensity.

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After a full day of brutal training, Tang Yan dragged his exhausted body back to his room.

But instead of diving straight into cultivation, he first instructed Xiao Cui to fetch some herbs from the Tang family’s apothecary.

Thankfully, the Tang family’s estate was well-stocked with a variety of medicinal ingredients. This time, Tang Yan intended to refine a batch of Marrow-Tempering Powder.

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Once Xiao Cui returned with the materials, Tang Yan entered his makeshift alchemy chamber. He swiftly sorted and purified the herbs before beginning the refining process.

Marrow-Tempering Powder was a first-tier, low-grade pill. Although its rank was not high, there were few medicinal remedies in this world that specifically targeted meridian refinement and recovery.

About an hour later, Tang Yan opened the furnace and scooped up the resulting powder.

He poured it into a large porcelain jar, satisfied with the results.

Under normal circumstances, he would have aimed to refine a higher-tier pill. But after a full day of training, his qi was nearly depleted. He had no choice but to settle for a simpler concoction.

Returning to his room, Tang Yan found that Xiao Cui had already prepared a large wooden tub filled with steaming hot water.

As the bubbling heat rose from the tub, Tang Yan poured a generous amount of the Marrow-Tempering Powder into it.

After a brief hesitation, he leapt inside.

“Hiss—!”

The scorching heat seared his skin, making him cry out despite his endurance.

After a moment, he finally adjusted to the temperature and shut his eyes. He retrieved a Primordial Qi Pill and swallowed it in one gulp.

But something unexpected happened.

Unlike before, the Heavenly Creation Cauldron did not absorb the pill. Instead, the pill dissolved instantly, transforming into pure energy that surged through his meridians.

There was no time to ponder this anomaly.

Tang Yan immediately sat cross-legged and focused on circulating his internal energy.

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In the following days, the Tang family’s guards experienced an even greater shock.

Many had assumed that their young master’s dedication would wane.

Yet, he persisted.

And not only that—his daily training regimen continued to intensify.

A month passed.

Tang Yan’s cultivation finally broke through to the eighth rank of the Yuan Stage.

But what excited him even more was the progress of his guards.

Many of them had reached their bottleneck. With the right push, they could break through to the Huang Stage.

If the Tang family gained 120 Huang Stage warriors, its overall strength would undoubtedly rise.

Of course, it still wouldn’t be the strongest.

In martial cultivation, the difference between ranks was like a chasm.

Within the Yuan Stage, a fourth-rank warrior could potentially defeat a fifth-rank opponent.

But in the Huang Stage, a first-rank warrior had almost no chance against a second-rank one.

The stronger one became, the more even the smallest gap became insurmountable.

Compared to the other great families, the Tang family still had fewer Huang Stage warriors.

It wasn’t because of low wages—the Tang family actually offered better compensation than its rivals.

The real issue was security.

Many warriors believed that the Tang family was in a precarious position, teetering on the edge of collapse.

So instead, they sought shelter under the Liu family or other more stable powers.

If Tang Yan wanted his men to advance, he needed to provide them with the right opportunity.

And that opportunity was pills.

Primordial Qi Pills were perfect for their cultivation.

But refining over a hundred pills would require at least ten furnaces of ingredients.

Although Tang Yan was a master alchemist with a 100% success rate, the sheer cost of materials was a major problem.

Even at the most conservative estimate, he needed over 10,000 taels of silver.

And that was the real dilemma.

He couldn't just ask his grandfather for money—not after his sudden transformation.

If his grandfather started asking too many questions, Tang Yan wouldn’t be able to explain himself.

“Looks like I need to find another way.”

After mulling it over, Tang Yan decided to take action.

He called for Xiao Cui and dressed in his usual white robe, grabbing a folding fan.

Then, the two of them left the Tang estate.

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The moment Tang Yan stepped out, Uncle Mo hurried to the study.

“Master, the young lord has left the estate,” he reported.

“Let’s follow him.”

Old Master Tang immediately stood up.

“Disguise yourselves,” he ordered.

Less than fifteen minutes later, two plainly dressed elderly men slipped out from the Tang family’s back entrance.

To any passerby, they looked like common merchants.

“Master, you’re personally following this time?” Uncle Mo asked in a hushed tone.

“Hmph.”

Old Master Tang’s eyes glinted with cold light.

“The Liu family has been spying on us for days. It’s obviously that bastard Liu Yuan plotting revenge for what happened before.

“But listen well—if anyone dares to lay a single finger on my grandson, I will exterminate their entire clan!”

Uncle Mo shuddered.

He knew that for over a decade, Old Master Tang had given up on his grandson, seeing him as nothing more than a lost cause.

But now, with Tang Yan’s dramatic change, the old man saw hope.

And if anyone threatened that hope…

Old Master Tang would burn the world down.

For everyone’s sake, Uncle Mo could only pray that no fool crossed Tang Yan’s path today.