“Grandfather, Mr Hua left behind a dan pill. He said that… this dan pill can enable you to live for another ten years,” Nie Tian told Nie Donghai, as he handed the dark green dan pill over to Nie Donghai.

“Oh!” Upon hearing these words, Nie Qian immediately became overly emotional and hurriedly got up to chase after Hua Mu to express her thanks.

However, Hua Mu had already long vanished.

“This dan pill can enable me to live for another ten years!” Nie Donghai’s face was filled with excitement, as he took the dan pill from Nie Tian. Nie Donghai took a whiff of the thick and sweet medicinal smell of the dan pill. “If this is true, then just the value of this dan pill has far exceeded the fees and rewards that we have paid him!”

“Why would Mr Hua Mu be so kind to us? Who exactly is he?” Nie Qian was both shocked and happy.

“He said…” Nie Tian hesitated and fabricated a white lie, “That he and me are fated.”

“Fated?” Nie Donghai slightly furrowed his eyebrows, “I think there is something amiss. Both of you stay here. I’m going to the city to look for him. No matter what, I want to thank him in person. He has shown too much love to us, grandfather and grandson.”

Having said that, Nie Donghai took the dan pill and left.

Unfortunately, though he searched in Black Cloud City for two entire days, he was unable to find any trace of Hua Mu. It seemed as if Hua Mu had vanished into thin air, just like he had mysteriously appeared out of nowhere when he had first arrived. 

With some renewed suspicion, Nie Donghai observed for several days, but discovered that Nie Tian no longer had sudden lapses of high fever. He believed, deep down in his heart, that Hua Mu had no ulterior or sinister motive.

From then on, he also believed that the dan pill, that Hua Mu had left behind, would most likely not harm him.

Hence, he unworriedly consumed the dan pill that he was unable to name, and he suddenly felt that his spirit qi had indeed gotten better by a lot.

From then on, when Nie Tian cultivated his Lianqi, he was easily able to feel the earth’s natural Lianqi. It would flow into his body, but it no longer continued to flow into his blood, muscles and the bones of his four limbs.

In fact, his strong and refined body had already absorbed enough energy and didn’t require any more external nourishment for growth and development.

……

Three months later, Nie Tian finally broke through the third Lianqi level, which he had been stuck at for a long time, and successfully entered the fourth Lianqi level..

At this moment, Nie Tian was also approaching his eleventh birthday.

These days, in order to avoid causing any trouble for his grandfather, Nie Tian no longer went to the square to train in the mornings, and also avoided stirring up any trouble.

He would spend most of his time training hard in his own bedroom and would occasionally go with his aunt, Nie Qian, to Black Cloud City to walk around.

One morning, he was practising when he suddenly heard a loud uproar coming from the square.

The sound of the uproar became louder and louder. It was so noisy that he couldn’t focus on his training. Finally, he was unable to resist any longer and walked over to the square.

As he got nearer, he saw that there were many Nie Family elders gathered around the square, and the face of every elder was filled with a delight that went beyond the average level of happiness.

Wu Tao, who was in charge of training the Nie Family children, also had a heartfelt and delighted smile on his face and kept repeating, “Nie Xian has successfully broken through into the ninth Lianqi level!”

“Fourteen years old! Ninth Lianqi level!” Nie Tian was also shocked and secretly felt happy for Nie Xian.

He didn’t know Nie Xian well, however, on many occasions where he had fought with Nie Hong and Nie Yuan, Nie Xian had said words of fairness and wasn’t like the rest of the Nie Family, who only sided with and protected Nie Hong and Nie Yuan.

For that reason, he actually secretly had positive feelings towards Nie Xian.

Therefore, since Nie Xian had successfully reached the ninth Lianqi level at the age of 14, he was also sincerely happy for Nie Xian.

He knew very clearly that the Nie family descendants who could reach the ninth Lianqi level before the age of 15 would be able to go to the Lingyun sect to practise. They were all extraordinary talents.

Nie Hong’s two elder brothers, Nie Han and Nie Tao, had displayed extraordinary talents since they were young, and had gotten great benefits from the a.s.sembly of Drawing Lots.

However, Nie Tao had failed to step into ninth Lianqi level before the age of 15 and was refused entry into the Lingyun sect.

Only his eldest brother, Nie Han, had successfully broken through into the ninth Lianqi level when he was fifteen years old and had become a disciple of the Lingyun sect.

It was rumoured that Nie Han, who had already stayed at the Lingyun sect for several years, seemed to be doing well, and was looked upon favourably by quite a number of people in the Lingyun sect.

Nie Biechuan was able to get the support of many Nie Family elders and successfully became the family head due to a number of reasons. Besides the fact that Nie Donghai was injured and falling back in his cultivation realm, Nie Han… was also a very big factor.

“Good! Very Good!” Nie Beichuan stood amongst the crowd of people and looked admiringly at Nie Xian and declared, “Like I said before, since I have taken this position, I will serve this family with my heart and soul and regain the former glory of the Nie Family! Nie Xian’s successful breakthrough and discipleship with the Lingyun sect is a sign that our Nie Family is thriving!”

“Haha, it is all due to the family head’s good fortune!”

“Once Older Brother took over the position of family head, Nie Xian successfully broke through to the ninth Lianqi level. It’s obvious that you’re bringing good fortune to our Nie Family!”

“In your hands, the Nie Family will be able to scale to new heights, and before long, crush the Yun Family and the An Family!”

“...”

“Many Nie Family members smiled and offered their congratulations, as though the successful breakthrough of Nie Xian into the ninth lianqi level was really due to Nie Beichuan.

As Nie Xian was the main focus of attention, Nie Beichuan was also surrounded by people who congratulated him. However, his look was calm and he only politely offered his thanks and didn’t appear overly excited.

“Nie Xian, although your family members aren’t direct descendants, due to your success, your mother and younger sister shall move into the Nie Family mansion from now on. You only have to concentrate on practising in the Lingyun sect. With regards to other matters, you don’t need to worry yourself, as I’ll personally make all the appropriate arrangements.” Nie Beichuan attempted to win the people’s hearts over.

Nie Xian only had one mother and younger sister, and since they weren’t direct descendants and were women, they originally had no right or status to enter the Nie Family mansion.

“Many thanks, family head,” Nie Xian softly said.

“No need to stand on ceremony. This is what you deserve.” Nei Beichuan’s whole face was filled with a big smile. “I have already informed the Lingyun sect of your successful breakthrough into the ninth Lianqi level. This afternoon, your elder brother Nie Han will come together with people from the Lingyun sect to bring you to the Lingyun sect. Once you are at the Lingyun sect, you’ll just need to follow Nie Han, who has already arranged everything for you.”

“Okay.” Nie Xian nodded.

At the corner of the square, Nie Tian stood alone and looked at Nie Xian who was being praised to the skies by everyone, and Nie Biechuan with his overflowing ambitions.

“Ninth Lianqi level! One of these days, the Lingyun sect will also bring me to their mountain!” Nie Tian secretly promised himself.

“Why did you come out?” Nie Qian arrived and softly asked, “This has nothing to do with you. If you wish to enter the Lingyun sect, you have to work much harder. You’re almost eleven and although you recently had a breakthrough, that is only the fourth level. You cannot waste too much time on unrelated matters.”

“Auntie, I’ll be able to close the gap later.” Nie Tian was filled with confidence.

“It’s good that you have confidence.” Nie Qian smiled. “You’ve already been distracted. The Nie household will be very noisy today, and people like us who aren’t welcome shouldn’t stay here to be pests in other people’s eyes. Come, accompany your auntie to the city to walk around.”

“Ok.” Nie Tian obediently replied.

He followed Nie Qian out of the Nie Family household. They first had lunch at a family restaurant in Black Cloud City and later in the afternoon, they went to one of the city’s biggest jewellery shops to pick some jewellery and accessories.

“Oh, isn’t this Nie Family’s big sister who was divorced from our family?”

Just as Nie Tian and Nie Qian walked out of the jewellery shop, a sarcastic voice rang out.

Nie Tian’s keen perception led him to observe that Nie Qian suddenly shivered when she heard that voice.

He looked in the direction the voice came from and saw a man and a woman walking over with a boy about his age. They also seemed to be going to the jewellery shop to buy accessories.

The man was dressed in white and his face was like a piece of warm jade. He appeared to be mildly elegant and handsome.

The woman had beautiful hair and wore a tailored, green overskirt. She was pretty as a flower and also looked extraordinary.

The little boy that the couple was holding hands with appeared to have inherited both his father and mother’s good points, and was extremely handsome despite his young age.

As the man looked at Nie Qian, he had a guilty expression and pulled the woman to leave.

“Why are you in such a hurry?” The woman unhappily glared at him and stated, “Why? Is it because you still have feelings for her?”

“Don’t spout nonsense.” The man hurriedly replied.

“I doubt you have the guts to do so,” The woman humphed and looked at Nie Qian again. After a derisive laugh, she said, “Nie Family’s big sister, I heard that your father has given away his position as family head. How come you still have money left to shop in a jewellery shop? Hehe! What valuable jewels have you found? can you let your little sister here have a look?:

“Auntie, who are they?” Nie Tian angrily asked.

He was no longer young, and even though Nie Donghai and Nie Qian had never spoken of it, he had already heard many rumours and gossips about his auntie, Nie Qian, and thus, knew some facts about the matter.

The Yun Family and the Nie Family, just like the An Family, were big families in Black Cloud City, and in the past, the Yun Family and the Nie Family had good relations.

Due to that, both families had decided to arrange a marriage for their mutual benefit and let Nie Qian and the Yun Family’s Yun Zhiguo get married.

However, the good times would not last for long. Because, when Yun Zhi Guo was travelling, he had met Yuan Qiuying.

Yuan Qiuying was the daughter of the family head of Cold Stone City. The Yuan Family was the most powerful family in Cold Stone City and their strength was much greater than the Nie Family.

Under Yuan Qiuying’s intiative to seek his love and the secret encouragement of the Yun Family, Yuan Qiuying eventually became Yun Zhiguo’s wife.

Hence, Nie Qian, who was originally bethrothed to Yun Zhiguo, was mercilessly divorced by the Yun Family, who had found an unwarranted reason.

Due to the great humilation that the Nie Family had suffered, Nie Donghai had gone to the Yun Family in a fit of anger and had gotten heavily injured by the combined efforts of the Yuan- and the Yun Family. After that, he was unable to recover from his injuries.

Both families were backed by extremely strong Lianqi warriors. Even the Lingyun sect was not willing to go to war for the Nie Family and so, eventually, the Nie Family had to drop the matter.

Although Yuan Qiuying had successfully forced Nie Qian away, she was still unable to let go of Yun Zhiguo and Nie Qian’s past, and everytime she ran into Nie Qian, she would mock and jeer her, without ever saying a single good word.

“Let’s not bother them. Let’s go.” Nie Qian grabbed Nie Tian’s arm and pulled him away, as she wanted to avoid Yuan Qiuying.

“I’m not going!” Nie Tian stood at his original position, unmoving like an iron pillar stuck in the ground.

……