Chapter 54 Returning Defeated and Crestfallen

A month ago, Lan Bing still needed to enter her second state to unleash such combat prowess. Now, having advanced by just a single level, she could achieve the exact same feat without even activating it.

Perhaps this was the combat prowess she had always emphasized—a tier seemingly created by her own standards. Mo Xuan truly felt somewhat ashamed by comparison. Against her, his only notable lethal technique was the Triple-Heart Illusion, alongside that Power of Time whose usable window remained entirely unknown. Set those aside, and he genuinely had no way to measure up to Lan Bing.

Those two Earth-Nether tier stage-one stewards were actually being utterly beaten down by a mere Earth-Mystery tier stage-ten cultivator. It was simply unbelievable.

Growing truly enraged, the two stewards decided to rely on their overwhelming strength to face Lan Bing head-on.

Abruptly, two powerful primordial spirits manifested and surged in the midair: one was a black-striped tiger, and the other a purple-electric leopard. The primordial spirit power of the Earth-Nether tier was unleashed to its absolute limit.

The idea was sound, yet they completely underestimated Lan Bing's speed.

"Too slow!" These two were genuinely clumsy enough to leave such a massive opening while channeling their arts. Although Chen Zaixing was standing nearby, he was temporarily unable to break away.

Though Luo Qiuhe had been defeated, his combat strength remained, and the situation could not be resolved in a short time.

With a horizontal sweep of her dual crimson blood blades, Lan Bing unleashed a massive blade radiance that tore through the empty air.

Left with no choice, the two stewards could only mount a hasty defense. To their dismay, even their combined forces failed to block this seemingly understated strike.

Veiling immense power, the twin blade radiances shattered their defenses with irresistible, crushing momentum.

Ah, ah, ah!

With their defenses breached, the two stewards plummeted to the ground with a resounding crash, followed by an unbroken chain of miserable wails.

"What?!" Chen Zaixing wore an expression of utter astonishment. Having just driven Luo Qiuhe back with a single palm strike, he had originally intended to seize the opportunity and eliminate Lan Bing with thunderous force.

Yet before he could even act, Lan Bing flew at blinding speed directly above Chen Zaixing, utterly disrupting his entire tactical layout.

Everything happened far too fast.

High in the air, dual swords infused with crimson spiritual energy sliced through successive layers of air currents. A piercing, chilling sound rang out as they plummeted from the heavens. The accumulated spiritual energy erupted violently, forcefully splitting the ground below into two fissures nearly ten meters deep.

A tempest of kinetic shockwaves billowed outward, lingering for a long time!

This was simply too formidable! Whether it was the speed of her attacks or their sheer might, she completely outclassed every single Earth-Nether tier expert present by an immense margin.

Now, everyone grew even more convinced that she was the formidable expert who had annihilated Chen Kaishan. Her true power was entirely different from what her surface appearance suggested.

After all, Chen Zaixing possessed the strength of a peak Earth-Nether tier stage-two cultivator, and he managed to dodge at the very last moment, though the lingering shockwave still injured his meridians.

Clutching his injured shoulder with one hand—it appeared that arm was temporarily crippled—Chen Zaixing cast one final glance at Lan Bing, his face twisted in utter reluctance and frustration. "Very well, very well! Just you wait! We're retreating!"

Not far away!

Disregarding his own injured body, Luo Qiuhe hurried forward and stammered, "Thank you for stepping in to save us!"

City Lord Luo himself broke out in a cold sweat. Remembering how he had initially attempted to give her a hard time, he hastily stepped forward to apologize as well.

"I am not responsible for solving problems! No need to thank me." Lan Bing merely glanced at them before returning to her seat and sitting down.

Her meaning was crystal clear: the only reason she had helped was entirely because of Mo Xuan.

"Wow, Sister Bing was just so cool!" Mo Xuan could not help but exclaim in admiration.

The so-called combat prowess referred to the damage output unleashed through the precise coordination of speed and secret arts. The most crucial element among them was knowing how to condense one's power—this was the combat prowess Lan Bing had spoken of.

Faced with Mo Xuan's inquiries, Lan Bing had only provided those explanations.

As for the other aristocratic families, seeing the favorable outcome, they chose not to leave. Tonight's battle had allowed them to witness the true strength of the Chen family, while simultaneously displaying the formidable power of this opposing faction. Now filled with renewed confidence, they resolved to stand firmly on this side.

Though initially terrified and hesitant to show their stance, once they calmed down and thought things through, the underlying logic became crystal clear.

Luochuan City was only so large, and its resources had always been monopolized by various clans—a state of affairs maintained by a sort of unspoken consensus. If the Chen family were to become the sole dominant power, backed by such overwhelming strength, they would undoubtedly seize absolute control over everything here.

It was only a matter of time. Rather than sitting idly and waiting for death, making a decisive move was far better.

Moreover, everyone had witnessed Lan Bing's strength. Dealing with three Earth-Nether tier experts had been effortless for her; her true caliber was likely even higher than that.

Possessing such terrifying strength at such a young age meant her background was undoubtedly extraordinary.

Thus, the alliance proceeded smoothly after all.

However, the crowd still held low expectations for Mo Xuan. The Mo family itself possessed no significant power, save for Mo Xuan's father, Mo Yuanhua, the former head of the family who had vanished many years ago.

Having failed to achieve their objectives tonight, the Chen family began plotting a different approach, seemingly harboring some deeper conspiracy.

After the banquet!

City Lord Luo sought out Mo Xuan once again, hoping to resolve the bottleneck in his cultivation. Harboring his own plans, he asked very politely, "Brother, could you please put in a good word for me? I would like to inquire about resolving my cultivation issue."

"Heh, as for that... it's useless even if you go. She won't fix it," Mo Xuan naturally answered truthfully, seeing as he was fully capable of handling this particular issue himself.

"I can pay a sufficient reward."

"Can't you tell what she meant by what she said earlier? You can disbelieve me if you wish, but a top-tier alchemist lacks none of these worldly treasures!" Mo Xuan explained roughly.

"Well... sigh, alright then!" Although Luo Haiji remained somewhat skeptical, this was his only remaining option at the moment, so he had no choice but to ask Mo Xuan for a solution. "Can it really be fixed?"

"Of course!" Mo Xuan said with supreme confidence. "Your condition is actually quite simple. You merely ingested a fifth-tier volatile medicinal herb in the past. Although it was refined, the technique used was far too crude—lacking deep refinement and matching auxiliary ingredients—which led to this outcome." Mo Xuan gave a brief explanation.

"Ah!" Luo Haiji wore a look of utter shock, his attitude toward Mo Xuan transforming instantly. He then let out a sorrowful sigh. "Ah, you don't know the half of it. I sensed the Chen family's ambitions as early as eight years ago. Back then, Earth-Nether tier cultivators had already begun appearing within their ranks, and it was solely to rapidly boost my strength that I had no choice but to resort to that method. I never imagined it would leave me permanently halted at this stage. Alas!"

After a brief explanation, he anxiously inquired about the remedy.

Judging from his tone, Mo Xuan could tell the man still possessed a strong sense of responsibility. "Here are the ingredients. There are three types in total. I assume you can procure them!"

Luo Haiji hurriedly took the list, glanced over it briefly, paused for a moment, and then let out a sigh of relief. "A fourth-tier alchemist once visited this place, and I paid him a special visit back then. Although he couldn't solve it either, he left behind a formula. To think that the ingredients he used are identical to yours. Haha!"

"I'll go fetch them right now!" Overjoyed and overwhelmed with excitement, Luo Haiji left the premises immediately to gather the items.

Mo Xuan did not follow him.

Very soon, the City Lord returned, hastily handing the materials over to Mo Xuan.

Mo Xuan likewise gave him a timeline: three days later, at the auction house.

As for why he chose the auction house, safety was the primary factor. Even after the medicinal potion was successfully brewed, the recipient still required a peaceful environment to circulate their energy and adjust their breathing. Any external interruption would waste all previous efforts, and the auction house was the safest venue available.

Initially, Mo Xuan had intended to resolve the City Lord's cultivation blockage entirely on his own, but a grade-three top-tier medicinal potion was clearly only sufficient to mend the core problem.

A grade-four top-tier potion might have yielded even better results, but he currently lacked the capability to brew one.

Therefore, after the banquet concluded, Mo Xuan ultimately sought out Lan Bing once again.

Walking alongside her, he coaxed, "How about you handle it? I feel that since we're helping, we might as well do a thorough job and thoroughly unleash all the potential he has accumulated over the years."

"In your dreams! I won't touch it! I'll be leaving for a while in a few days—about three days. Figure this out yourself!"

Tossing her head aside and folding her arms across her chest, Lan Bing walked straight away.

Mo Xuan hurried to catch up, but Lan Bing moved far too quickly for him to keep pace.

With no other choice, he headed back home. Bowing his head in deep thought all the way, he debated whether to stick to his original plan or try an alternative approach.

In the end, he decided to attempt an over-grade, grade-three top-tier medicinal potion.

Faced with two mandatory formulation conditions, he was forced to make this choice.

To brew a grade-four potion, the prerequisite condition was a cultivation realm above the Earth-Soul tier; otherwise, sustaining the required spiritual energy was nearly impossible, rendering success almost unachievable unless he possessed strength approaching the Earth-Soul tier—even an eighth-stage foundation or higher could barely scrape by.

The second condition was that during his previous brewing of grade-three top-tier potions, he had vaguely felt himself touching the threshold of the over-grade realm.

Since he had three sets of fifth-tier medicinal herbs, yielding at least three attempts, he could afford to experiment!

The Twin-Leaf Maple-Wash Herb, a water-attribute fifth-tier mid-grade medicinal herb, was the crucial key to brewing this potion.

Utilizing the quiet of the night, Mo Xuan first used his soul power to simulate the entire scenario. By analyzing the data outcomes from these simulations, he roughly evaluated whether the results met his expectations.

Yet the results proved deeply disappointing. The best he could achieve in simulation was the peak of top-tier quality, and that was merely virtual—actual execution in reality would only be harder.

Continuing like this was no solution. Mo Xuan intended to test it out personally, though for the sake of caution, he decided to practice with other, lesser materials first.

After tossing and turning for the entire night, success still eluded him. However, his efforts were not entirely in vain: his technique in brewing top-tier potions had become significantly more fluid, and his success rate had surged dramatically.

His previous success rate had hovered around fifty percent, but it had now unexpectedly climbed to seventy percent.

He even successfully brewed a speed-enhancing potion that approached the absolute peak of top-tier medicinal quality.

Its efficacy could virtually rival a fifth-tier upper-grade potion, capable of tripling one's speed. Even if he were to encounter a Heavenly-Three tier expert within the effective radius of this potion, he would likely be able to stall and maneuver against them for quite a while.

There was no need to panic; he still had two days left.

As for Bai Mei's side, progress remained smooth without any disruptions.

Meng Yao had also ceased her teasing and earnestly dedicated herself to the treatment. With the reinforcement of the Purple-Gold Heart-Burning Flame, her recovery was proceeding even faster than anticipated. At this rate, she was expected to heal completely within two months.

The second day brought the same result: persistent failure.

Overwhelmed by irritation and frustration, Mo Xuan nearly decided to throw in the towel. "Fine, fine! I'll just go with the original plan after all."

By late evening, the sky was tinged with faint crimson clouds, and a brisk wind whistled past, causing the branches on both sides of the road to sway in the gale.

In the distance, heavy dark clouds billowed thickly, slowly rolling over the horizon like a crushing blanket of ink.