The Master and His Wealthy Fiancée

Old Ji said coolly, "You've grown, little one, and your appearance has changed a great deal. But your aura hasn't. To think you could fool me just like that... you're being naive!" As she spoke, a cold light flashed in her eyes and she added icily, "Coming to my Zhang Family, aren't you afraid I'll kill you?!"

Chen Dong knew then that no woman on earth was to be trifled with. Even this old grandmother before him, over a hundred years old, had an unbelievably foul temper.

Chen Dong forced a smile. "Senior, if you're looking for trouble, go find my master. Why come after a junior like me?"

Indeed, the Old Ji before him knew his master. The Mourning Bottle that Chen Dong recognized had been made by Old Ji herself and personally gifted to his master. The crucial part, however, was that his master had rejected her affection.

Chen Dong had been young back then, at the foot of Celestial Essence Mountain, when a heartbroken Old Ji had declared that if she couldn't kill the old man, she would kill his disciple instead. That threat had given Chen Dong nightmares for a long time.

This was why Chen Dong had been so reluctant to come to the Zhang Family to borrow their Pill Furnace in the first place.

'Originally, after discovering Kang Ming had the Mourning Bottle, my plan was to have him borrow the Pill Furnace. But who knew he'd be so useless? He was taken down before he could even mention the furnace. I didn't dare rescue him for fear of being recognized, but it turns out she knew who I was all along.'

Hearing this, Old Ji snapped, "If I could beat your master, I would've taken his worthless life long ago! Do I need a junior like you to tell me that?"

Chen Dong chuckled nervously. "Senior, it's been so many years. You shouldn't still be angry, right?"

But at these words, Old Ji reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, her fur bristling. Her aged voice turned shrill. "Not angry?! How could I not be angry? I waited for that son of a bitch for one hundred and twenty-two years! And just because he didn't want to marry into my Zhang Family, he refused me to the bitter end!"

Zhang Baikou, who was standing nearby, quickly went to rub Old Ji's back and soothe her. "Ancestor, don't be angry. It's not worth harming your health!" Then, she fixed Chen Dong with a cold stare and suggested, "Now that his disciple is here, why don't we capture him and use him as a threat? I bet that old man will come running!"

Chen Dong was taken aback. 'Looks like the women of the Zhang Family are especially dangerous. There must have been more to Master's refusal than just not wanting to marry into the family.' He also felt a pang of pity for whatever Kang Ming's future held!

Old Ji slowly sat back down and shook her head. "Forget it. I've lived all these years; I've seen through it all." Finished, she looked at Chen Dong and asked coolly, "Speak. Why are you at the Zhang Family? I certainly don't believe you came just to visit me for that old bastard's sake."

Chen Dong licked his lips and said, "I did intend to pay you a visit, Senior. But I also hoped to borrow your family's ancestral Pill Furnace."

Old Ji's eyelids drooped, as if her emotional outburst had exhausted her. She said softly, "Go home. I'm not lending it to you."

Hearing this, Chen Dong spoke up hurriedly. "Senior, I wouldn't be borrowing it for free! Once the pills are made, I'm willing to leave one from every furnace batch!"

Ever since she learned Chen Dong was that man's disciple, Zhang Baikou had looked at him with nothing but disgust. Hearing his offer, she snarled, "Do you think the Zhang Family is desperate for your pills? Are you underestimating our family, or overestimating yourself? Didn't you hear her? We're not lending it! Now get out!"

Old Ji, however, seemed intrigued. She scoffed, "Doesn't he have a Jade Cloud Divine Flame Furnace? What happened, did it explode? Is that why you have to come here and borrow mine?"

Chen Dong shook his head. "He already sent me down the mountain. It would be too humiliating to go back and use his Pill Furnace! Besides, the pill I intend to refine this time is something that you, Senior..."

"Wait!" Old Ji cut him off, rising to her feet and staring at him. "He sent you down the mountain? That means you must be at least at the Wai Xiang realm. A Wai Xiang practitioner this young... you might even become stronger than that old man in the future."

She then turned to Zhang Baikou. "Bai Kou, what do you think of him as a husband?"

Zhang Baikou was so shocked she could only stand there with her mouth agape, utterly speechless.

Chen Dong was stunned for a moment before quickly replying, "Senior, I'm already married."

Old Ji frowned. "To whom?"

"Li Huiran, of the Jiangzhou Li Family."

Old Ji scoffed. "The Jiangzhou Li Family? I've never even heard of them. Why not divorce her and marry into our Zhang Family? You'd live a life of ease and freedom!"

Zhang Baikou protested, "Ancestor, what are you saying? I wouldn't have this guy! Besides, I don't believe for a second he's at the Wai Xiang realm!"

Old Ji sighed. "If you're not interested, then so be it. Kid, you should go. My Zhang Family has no need for your paltry pills."

Chen Dong said solemnly, "What if it were a Mingxi Condensation Pill?"

"What did you say?" Old Ji asked in shock.

Zhang Baikou was confused. "Ancestor, what's a Mingxi Condensation Pill? How come I've never heard of it?"

Old Ji explained to Zhang Baikou, "There are only two ways to break through the Tiangang realm. The first is to rely on your own talent to force the breakthrough and achieve the Wai Xiang realm. But that's incredibly difficult; out of ten thousand Tiangang practitioners, you might not even find one who succeeds. The other way is to consume Mingxi Grass, which gives you a chance to break through. The Mingxi Condensation Pill is a medicinal pill made specifically for this purpose, and its effects are about twice as potent as consuming Mingxi Grass by itself."

After explaining, she turned to Chen Dong. "You have Mingxi Grass? Hasn't that stuff been extinct for ages?"

Chen Dong just chuckled, pulling a box from his robes and tossing it to Old Ji.