Chapter Ten Guarded Him for Seventeen Years!

  "Lao Luo, who is this? It's rare to see you have friends!" Ji Changkong was taken aback by the middle-aged man's behavior for a moment, before smiling and asking Luo Tian.

  "A customer here to buy wine." Luo Tian replied, glancing at the middle-aged man and said indifferently: "Don't wipe it for now, sit down and wait for a while."

  The middle-aged man stopped wiping and sat down on a stool in the corner, staring at Ji Changkong with his big copper bell-like eyes.

  With those big eyes staring at him like a tiger, Ji Changkong felt a bit awkward and smiled softly at him, glancing sideways at Luo Tian. He praised the middle-aged man: "Uncle, you really have guts, daring to come to Old Luo's to buy wine! I've had my fair share of drinks here, but never tasted a single pot with normal flavor. Ha ha, I always thought that Old Luo's wine would never sell out, didn't expect there'd be someone like Uncle who's brave enough!"

  "Cough...cough...cough..."

  That middle-aged man suddenly started coughing violently, Guan Gong's face became even redder, like it was soaked in fresh blood. His cheeks were puffed up on both sides, as if he wanted to laugh loudly, but at the same time seemed to be holding back something, enduring pain and suffering, his facial expression twisted to an extreme degree!

  Ji Changkong stood in front of the wine seller, criticizing the poor quality of his brewed wine. Luo Tian didn't mind and calmly set up a chessboard on the grayish-brown wooden table in front of him, pushing a bowl of black pieces towards Ji Changkong, saying: "Let's play."

  "Alright." Ji Changkong agreed readily, he had long been accustomed to Luo Tian's way of doing things.

  Just as he was about to make his move, Ji Changkong suddenly remembered that there were others in the house. He glanced at the middle-aged man with a violently heaving chest and hesitated for a moment before leaning over to Luo Tian and whispering: "In all these years, I've only seen one person dare to come here to buy wine from you. Leaving him hanging like this is a bit inappropriate, don't you think?"

  Ji Changkong didn't make a sound as he gazed at Luo Tian, and instead took another step closer to him. He glanced at the middle-aged man once more, estimating the distance between them before confirming that the middle-aged man shouldn't be able to hear anything. Only then did Ji Changkong lower his voice even further, speaking in a somewhat stealthy tone: "This guy is wearing Cloud Silk Pavilion's brocade clothes - he must be a truly wealthy fat sheep! You've finally run into someone with a stupid brain, and you're not going to take advantage of him? Cough, after all, he's foolish, rich, and has delivered himself right to your doorstep. Absolutely can't let this opportunity slip away!"

  "Cough...cough...cough..."

  The middle-aged man's red face was about to burst, and he let out a violent cough, as if he wanted to cough up his heart and lungs. He suddenly stood up and volunteered: "I'll go outside for a walk, I'll come back later!" After speaking, he lowered his head and left in a hurry.

  "Hmm... did he hear something?" Ji Changkong looked a bit embarrassed and forced a smile, saying: "With just one guest, it can't be that they'd be scared off so easily, right?"

  "It's nothing, let's play chess." Luo Tian didn't even glance at the middle-aged man, urging Ji Changkong to make his move.

  The game of chess ended quickly, Luo Tian won and Ji Changkong lost. An hour had quietly passed.

  "Cháng kōng, wǒmen gāi zǒu le." At this time, Ji Yuanyun's voice came from outside the door. She was standing outside Luo Tian's house and shouting loudly, but she didn't come in.

  Still pondering where the chess game went wrong, Ji Changkong was suddenly startled awake. He stood up straight and smiled apologetically at Luo Tian: "I won't be able to continue playing tactics with you today, I have to go."

  Luo Tian nodded and said, "Bring two jars of 'Ku Du' with you."

  "I haven't finished the last one yet, I'll come back for more after I'm done. The taste of 'Kuto' is terrible, but I love it, and the best part is that it's free! Don't worry, after I finish drinking, I'll come back for more wine, anyway you can't sell it." Ji Changkong stretched his waist lazily and walked out of the house towards Ji Yuanyun.

  Although Luo Tian was extremely eccentric, only when he was with him could Ji Changkong feel completely relaxed and without any pressure, not having to think about his own experiences.

  "Remember to drink more, there's plenty of 'Ku Du' in the backyard, don't worry about not having enough." Luo Tian rarely spoke so many words.

  "Huh, you're back again to buy wine?" Ji Changkong walked out and suddenly saw the red-faced middle-aged man return. He was surprised and exclaimed, hesitating for a moment before dryly saying: "Although Old Luo's wine tastes bad, it has a special atmosphere that's hard to describe. You'll understand once you drink it... Uh, I was just joking with you earlier, don't take it seriously."

  "I'm a fool with lots of money, and it's voluntarily delivered to my doorstep, none of your business!" The middle-aged man scowled and hummed as he entered Luo Tian's house.

  That side of Ji Changkong still wanted to say something, but was pulled by Ji Yuanyun and dragged outside.

  After Ji Wan Yun took Ji Chang Kong away, the middle-aged man bowed to Luo Tian, who had a calm face, but did not dare sit down. He smiled and said: "This kid is really interesting!"

  "Continue gathering herbs, what we have now is not enough." Luo Tian didn't respond to his words, instead he instructed with an attitude that brooked no refusal.

  "No problem!" The middle-aged man immediately responded, hesitated for a moment, and then asked somewhat nervously: "He hasn't even condensed his yuan power yet. You've already refined ten cauldrons of 'Fire Dragon Burn', isn't it a bit too early? 'Fire Dragon Burn' is because the medicinal properties are too strong, so after half a year, the efficacy will start to decline. Do you want to wait a little longer?"

  "It's worth wasting!" Luo Tian's face was stern, his voice cold: "Today I carefully examined him, he only lacks a breakthrough catalyst. Once he crosses that threshold, he can immediately transform and soar to the sky! He will break free at any moment, I've been guarding him for 17 years! For him, no matter how much material is wasted, it's worth it!"

  "I understand!" The middle-aged man's face turned solemn, his eyes suddenly gleaming with a sharp light, like a spark of electricity that had condensed into substance.

  Looking from afar at the gradually disappearing Ji Changkong and Ji Yuanyun, the middle-aged man's eyes, which had burst out with a sharp light like electricity, actually retracted back into his eye sockets inch by inch. He took a light breath and asked: "That young lady from the Ji family, the four scars on her face were inflicted by Zhao Meilan of the Taian City Butcher Family, do you want me to...?" As he spoke, the middle-aged man's face turned cold and he made a slashing motion with his hand.

  "No need!" Luo Tian shook his head and said in a low voice: "The favor owed by Changkong will be repaid by himself in the future!"

  "How much longer will we have to wait?" a middle-aged man muttered under his breath.

  Luo Tian suddenly stood up, his eyes fixed straight on the middle-aged man, and said in a cold voice: "He Lao Liu, I heard that your son is called He Zhi Zhang, what kind of genius scholar?"

  Pausing for a moment, Luo Tiancai slowly and clearly shouted: "I'm telling you! Ten He Zhan's are not as good as one Ji Changkong!!"

  The middle-aged man was as silent as a cicada in winter, with a bitter face and repeated nods, not daring to say much. In his heart, he scolded himself for being too talkative, how dare he belittle Ji Changkong in front of him? It's really self-inflicted humiliation, what's the point of coming here?

  On the other side, Ji Ruo Yun, who was dragged away by Luo Tian Wang from the entrance of the house, had a puzzled expression on half of her face that wasn't covered by her long hair. She kept turning back to look and furrowing her brow as if thinking about something...

  "Aunt, aren't you always saying that Old Luo is strange and it's uncomfortable to stand next to him? What's going on today? You've turned back eight times already!" Ji Changkong couldn't help but ask as he saw her leave far away, still turning back from time to time.

  "I'm not looking at Luo Tian, I just saw that middle-aged man with a red face." Ji Yuanyun thought for a moment and suddenly stared at Ji Changkong, asking: "You seemed to have talked to him just now, how do you know him? What is he doing here in Luo Tian?"

  "It's just someone who came to buy wine, what's wrong, Aunt?" Ji Changkong was taken aback.

  She shook her head slightly, Ji Wenyun was very puzzled and muttered to herself: "It shouldn't be him... He doesn't drink well, with his identity, he shouldn't come to a place like this..."

  "Auntie, have you seen him?" Ji Changkong asked in surprise.

  "No, I just think he looks like someone." Ji Wenyun glanced at Luo Tian again and said casually: "I saw a person who looked very similar to him at a grand gathering on Xueyu Mountain before. But I was standing far away at that time and didn't see clearly. Hearing you say so, I guess it's not him, I must have been overthinking."

  "Who was the person you met at Blood Rain Mountain?" Ji Changkong had nothing better to do, and they still had a long way to go before reaching Witch Mountain, so he asked casually.

  "That person is called He Haoran, the master of the He family from Xueyu Mountain. Many years ago, he had already reached the Qixing Tian realm. At that time, several major Tiānshì sects held a grand gathering on Xueyu Mountain, and I only saw him from afar. He was surrounded by many Tiānshì stars in the center, and was a high-ranking figure, naturally not someone who would go to that dirty and chaotic place, Luo Tian." Ji Wanyun recalled for a moment before slowly speaking.

  "Seven Star Celestial Warrior!" Ji Changkong was shocked and exclaimed: "Isn't that as powerful as Nie Sheng?"

  "You, Uncle Nian, only reached the Seven Stars Heaven realm two years ago, but that person had already reached this realm twenty or thirty years ago. You, Uncle Nian... are probably not as good as him. Moreover, the power of the He family is also not something you, Uncle Nian, can compare to."

  Ji Wanyun smiled slightly and patted Ji Changkong's head, saying softly: "This world is much bigger than you imagined, with many outstanding talents and strong warriors. You, Niece, are still far from being the strongest!"

  Ji Changkong's face was shocked, for him, Nie Yuanshan, who could turn hundreds of huge boulders on Qingyuan Mountain into dust with a wave of his hand, was an unimaginably powerful existence!

  According to Ji Wenyun's words... there seem to be many more powerful Tian Shi than Nie Yuanshan, and Ji Changkong can't even imagine how terrifying those stronger Tian Shi would be!

  "Don't think about reaching the level of Nie Yuan Shan or He Hao Ran, just being able to reach the level of He Hao Ran's son for your entire life is enough to comfort Auntie!" Ji Wan Yun saw that he was shocked and couldn't help but laugh as she lowered her expectations.

  "Is he He Haoran's son? Is he very strong?" Ji Changkong asked after a moment of stunned silence.

  "He's called He Zhizhang, known as one of the three young geniuses of our Water Cloud Country. This year he's only twenty-seven years old, naturally still inferior to his father He Haoran, but compared to those so-called geniuses in our Qingyan City...” Ji Wanyun said up to this point, seemingly realizing that she would provoke Ji Changkong, and stopped speaking.

  The lady's mind was sharp and intelligent, and with one glance, she understood Xiāo Yuán Yún's intention. She smiled and said, "Auntie, have I not suffered enough setbacks over the years? When have I ever been afraid?"

  Taking a deep breath, Ji Changkong seemed to have made up his mind to face the question, and asked: "How does He Zhizhang compare to Ji Changxiao?"

  "One day, one land, no comparison!" Ji Wanyun smiled and immediately explained to Ji Changkong: "Changxiang is still wandering in the Two Instruments Heaven, while He Zhizhang has already reached the peak of the Four Elephants Heaven. Can you compare?"

  Ji Changkong's face was filled with a bitter smile, and it took him half a moment to compose himself. He said, "Wushan! Wushan! I hope that the old mother of Wushan can help me gather my yuan energy. I've already delayed for 17 years, and I cannot afford to waste any more time!"

  "Definitely will! Definitely will!" Ji Wanyun nodded heavily and said softly: "My family, the Ji clan, will not be inferior to others!"

  ……

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