"Master Ge, might I ask what you wanted with this little one?" Seeing Ge Ming catch up, Tang Yan asked, curious.

"Ge merely borrowed your Pill Cauldron, yet you repaid me with a pill formula. Perhaps in Brother Tang's eyes this gift is no more than a thin sheet of paper, but to Ge it is a life-saving treasure. This great kindness, Ge will not forget.

"For a worthy younger brother of such talent to lack even a single decent Pill Cauldron - I have brought one to present to you, and I hope you will not think it beneath you." Ge Ming's tone was grave.

Tang Yan studied Ge Ming for a long moment. A cauldron that Ge Ming would part with was certainly no common piece. To accept it freely was to owe yet another debt of gratitude.

He wanted to decline, but the truth was he did lack a Pill Furnace. After turning it over in his mind, he cupped his hands. "Since Master Ge is so generous, it would be rude to refuse. Should any trouble find you in the days ahead, Tang will lend his full strength."

Hearing Tang Yan accept, Ge Ming felt the weight on his heart lift. He ordered a carriage prepared and had the cauldron carried aboard.

Tang Yan glanced at the carriage. The cauldron resting on it was, without a doubt, the very one Ge Ming had used earlier that day.

A cloth was draped over it. Tang Yan did not stand on ceremony either; he said his farewells, turned, and left with Xiaocui.

"Young Master, this cauldron... did the Master tell you to buy it?" Xiaocui blinked her wide eyes, full of confusion.

"Master Ge said it himself just now - the cauldron was a gift. How could I have bought it?" Tang Yan corrected her.

"A gift?" Xiaocui's eyes went wide again. As the personal maid of the Tang Family's eldest young master, she had seen and heard far more than ordinary folk. The Myriad Pill Pavilion had always been imposing, lofty, untouchable. She had only ever heard of people heaping gifts upon the Pavilion to win its favor. So how had her young master pulled a whole Pill Cauldron home without parting with so much as a single copper?

"That's right. Otherwise, with the little silver your young master carries, forget a cauldron like this - he couldn't even afford a shoddy one."

Master and maid chatted as they walked, and before long the main gate of the Tang Family came into view.

He led the horse into the courtyard. A few steps in, Old Master Tang came striding over, fury written across his face.

"Good afternoon, Grandfather." Tang Yan greeted him with a grin.

"Good my ass!" the old man snapped.

Tang Yan was left scratching his head. What had set Grandfather off this time?

"I told you to go out and not stir up trouble, and you'd barely cleared the gate before you were brawling with that mongrel pup from the Liu Family! Your Dantian's been crippled, and that little bastard's an Origin Rank Fourth Grade. If he'd hurt you, how many lives do you think you've got to throw away like that?"

Hearing the old man's tirade, Tang Yan smiled to himself. So Grandfather was worried about him - he just had a peculiar way of showing it.

"Grandfather, this one's not on me. It was that Liu Yuan brat who didn't know the height of heaven or the depth of earth and insisted on challenging me. We'd agreed beforehand that fists don't have eyes - beaten or killed, no one's to blame. The fact that I didn't put him down with a single punch already counts as mercy." Tang Yan gave his fist a shake, as if regretting he'd gone too easy.

The words gave Old Master Tang a start. This grandson had actually meant to beat Liu Yuan to death? It's a good thing you held back today. If you'd truly killed Liu Yuan, the Tang and Liu families would have split out in the open. For the sake of its name, even if the Liu Family didn't carve you up, they'd have crippled both your legs.

But he had no intention of voicing any of that as a warning. After all, his own grandson had beaten that Liu Yuan into a whimpering dog - and didn't that bring the Tang Family some face?

Then he recalled the servants' detailed account of the underhanded tricks Tang Yan had used against Liu Yuan, and the old man didn't know whether to laugh or sigh. Every man of the old Tang line had been upright and aboveboard - so how had Tang Yan's generation turned out so full of dirty cunning?

"Enough. Watch yourself next time you go out. Your Dantian's ruined - meet a real expert and all you'll be good for is taking a beating. Pull this nonsense again and see if I don't tan your hide!" Having vented his temper, Old Master Tang glared with his tiger eyes, clasped his hands behind his back, and stalked off.

Tang Yan let out a breath. The old man had been too busy being angry to ask about the cauldron, which spared him a whole prepared excuse. He quickly called over a few hands and had the furnace hauled from the carriage to the back courtyard.

Once everyone had withdrawn, Tang Yan drew the two porcelain bottles from his robe. Gazing at the wholly emerald-green Initial Spirit Pill, he didn't hesitate - he tossed it straight into his mouth.

The Initial Spirit Pill was a pill passed down in Huaxia for a thousand years without ever fading, sought after by countless cultivators across the ages, the finest pill for the early stages of cultivation.

It melted the instant it touched his tongue, fragrance flooding his mouth, a stream of heat rushing straight for his Dantian. Just as Tang Yan made to refine and absorb it, the Heaven and Earth Creation Cauldron - which had lain silent in his Dantian all this while - suddenly flipped its lid open, drew the entire pill's power inside, and slammed shut with a clang.

No matter how he strained, the cauldron sat there as though nothing had happened, motionless in his Dantian. Of the medicinal strength he'd wanted, not a trace remained.

Holy crap - you actually ate my pill? Tang Yan cursed inwardly.

He wrestled with it for the better part of an hour, and still the cauldron gave no response. For a moment his spirits sank to the floor. It wasn't only that he mourned the lost pill - it was that this junk cauldron had swallowed it whole. Did that mean he'd never be able to cultivate using pills again?

The thought sent a chill through him. If that were truly the case, then he'd sooner be rid of this Heaven and Earth Creation Cauldron altogether.

Refusing to accept it, Tang Yan picked up another Initial Spirit Pill and swallowed it without a second thought.

The pill melted at once, a stream of heat shooting for his Dantian - and the lid of the Heaven and Earth Creation Cauldron opened and swallowed it down, just the same as before.

A third! Gone again!

A fourth! Gone again!

"Up your grandma's - what's a cauldron doing scarfing down pills?!" Tang Yan couldn't hold it any longer and loosed a stream of curses at the thing.

Beside himself, he snatched up the other bottle, yanked the stopper, dumped out all six pills inside, and swallowed them in one go.

The lid swung open as ever - but this time it took only one. The remaining five Initial Spirit Pills burst open all at once, and a stream of pure True Qi rose from his Dantian, surging like a churning river, howling toward his Meridians.

What the actual hell?! Why'd you stop swallowing now?!

The blast of energy detonated before Tang Yan even had time to weep over it. He hurried to still his breath and steady his mind, fighting to guide the True Qi through its circuit.

The Initial Spirit Pill was famed for its mildness - but only when taken one at a time. With five dissolving together, fivefold the spiritual force tearing through him, Tang Yan felt his channels swell at a violent rate.

A fire-like heat washed across his whole body. His eyes went bloodshot, the Supreme Alchemy Scripture spinning frantically within him, the skin over his frame flushing red as though the slightest outside push would burst the blood in his veins.

It's just five lousy Initial Spirit Pills - fine, I'll go the distance with you! Tang Yan steeled himself. Ignoring the agony in his Meridians, he drove the flood-beast of True Qi around the channels of his entire body.

Pop, pop, pop...

The finer channels couldn't bear the immense Spiritual Qi and burst one after another. The circuit was nearly complete, yet the pure energy showed no sign of slowing. Tang Yan couldn't help a sigh. His already battered channels likely couldn't drink in a force this vast.

Just as he prepared to guide the True Qi into a second revolution, the Heaven and Earth Creation Cauldron - quiet until now - flipped its lid open again. Tang Yan's heart leapt with wild joy; he made to pour every last thread of True Qi into the cauldron - and then an even purer Spiritual Qi came gushing out of its mouth.

Screw you!

Tang Yan paled in horror. His channels already couldn't withstand the Spiritual Qi from a moment ago - so what in the world was the thing doing pumping out more now?