Alchemy Emperor of the Divine Dao

To have gotten hungry was only normal.

The source of energy for refining the body was the food one consumed. Ding Ping had not eaten all day and night. In addition, now that he had started cultivated a Body Art, he naturally would have gotten hungry immediately.

Ling Han burst out laughing, and said, “Let’s eat first.”

He took out ingredients from the Black Tower and proceeded to cook them. Soon, a fragrant aroma wafted throughout the entire place; Ding Ping could not help but drool. After allowing himself to take a bite, he could not stop eating.

Looking at him happily chowing down the meat piece by piece, Ling Han could not help but think of Hu Niu. ‘I wonder if that little girl is doing well in the immortal realm? She shouldn’t be eating less meat, right?’

When the time came for him to meet Hu Niu again, the other party should no longer be a little girl, but rather an elegant young woman.

“A girl changes eighteen times before reaching womanhood ¹ .” Would the little girl no longer like an “uncle” like him?

Ling Han was immersed in his own thoughts for a while before starting to eat. His splitting open the sky was imminent. As long as he entered the immortal realm, he would then be under the same starry sky as his family—a day would come when he reunited with them.

At this moment, Ding Ping felt a little strange—such delicious food, yet Master was distracted!

He truly deserved to be called Master; he probably had eaten such food too many times before, and already grew tired of it.

After eating, Ding Ping only felt that his whole body was full of strength. He then practiced the Nine Dragons Tyrant Body Art, and after briefly completing a single practice session, went to lift the huge rock again. To his astonishment, he found that his strength had increased by more than tenfold.

It had been just one day!

Moreover, much of the upgrade wasn’t simply just brute strength, but things like the toughness and durability of his skin and bones—these were invisible from the outside.

Ling Han nodded, saying, “Currently, your body cultivation has almost the strength of the third layer, but given your extremely bizarre skeletal structure, you can unleash a hundredfold power. Hence, your explosive power is comparable to the condensed Origin Power of that layer.”

“Go. Go home and have a good rest, and come back here every afternoon. When it’s time to leave for good, I will naturally bring you along.”

With a respectful expression, Ding Ping bowed, and said, “Yes, Master.”

He was filled with joy from the bottom of his heart. He had initially thought that he had become a cripple; never did he expect that he would push open another door of opportunity now.

Nine Dragons Tyrant Body Art: upon major accomplishment, one would possess the true power of nine dragons. How powerful would that be?

He couldn’t wait to go back to his clan and take a look at the smug faces of those people. He naturally had full reverence for Ling Han. After spending a brief period of one day together, he realized that his master’s power was beyond imagination.

Ling Han stayed by the river, waiting for the reappearance of Corpse Boss. He connected with the totem through divine sense, which allowed him to have a panoramic view of every corner of the small town.

He wanted to test the nature of Ding Ping’s heart.

Having talent and will just proved that Ding Ping had potential to become an elite. However, this elite might be a good person or a bad person. Ling Han didn’t want to nurture a monstrous devil with his own hands. Therefore, letting Ding Ping go back this time was a test of his temperament.

Suddenly experiencing an exponential increase in strength and being regarded as a genius again, would he be able to guard his heart?

Ding Ping returned to the town, and came upon the Ding Clan Residence. He entered the manor in an upright and assertive manner.

“Young Master!” The two guards at the door greeted him, yet their faces displayed derision, not showing even the slightest bit of respect.

Everyone knew that Ding Ping had finally awakened his Spirit Base six months ago, but it was crippled, which meant he could not cultivate at all. Nowadays, what was the use of having just massive brute strength?

The clan’s elders had been discussing this matter for quite a while. The conclusion would be out in the next few days, and the position of Ding Ping as the clan’s first heir would be abolished since there were so many of the Ding Clan’s younger generation to choose from. “A plucked phoenix is not as good as a chicken”—was there still a need to show reverence ² ?

Ding Ping’s gaze swept across them. He harrumphed, saying, “What is with your attitude?”

“What attitude?” a guard asked in bewilderment. “Young Master Ding, what kind of attitude do you need us to have? In a few days’ time, your position will become lower than that of a servant, so do take advantage of these few days and enjoy your last bit of glory as Young Master Ding!”

“Insolence!” Ding Ping raised his hand, and pa , gave him a slap in the face.

That guard was just at the level of the Body Refining Tier, how much could he block? Abruptly, he had been given a solid thrashing. Holding his face with one hand, he couldn’t help but point his halberd at Ding Ping, saying, “You dare to hit me?”

“And why not? As long as I am the young master of the Ding Clan, I have the right to teach you how to be a servant!” Ding Ping said coldly.

“Haha, Brother Ping sure is impressive!” At this moment, a youngster came out from the manor.

“Ding Feiwen!” Ding Ping’s gaze swept across him and suddenly blazed with fire.

Half a year ago, this clansman of his was still calling him “Big Brother Ding” while going circles around him and boot-licking. However, once he discovered that Ding Ping had a crippled Spirit Base, his attitude immediately took a 180-degree turn. Not only did he completely lose his respect for Ding Ping, he also disparaged the latter incessantly.

A vile character through and through.

“Hahaha!” Ding Feiwen laughed loudly. He was not alone; beside him, there was a beautiful young maiden about fourteen or fifteen years old. Her body had already developed quite well, with very distinct contours and undulations; she was extremely alluring.

“Yuanyuan!” Ding Ping couldn’t help blurting out her name once he caught a glimpse of the young maiden.

At this moment, the little beauty bore a cold expression, saying, “Young Master Ding, we have terminated the engagement. Please don’t call out my name so intimately. It will cause other people to misunderstand!” Her name was Ye Yuan, and she was once Ding Ping’s fiancée. However, half a year ago, when she learnt that Ding Ping had a crippled Spirit Base, the Ye Clan proceeded to terminate their engagement immediately.

What a joke. Although the Ye Clan’s power wasn’t on par with the Ding Clan’s, they would never allow the pearl of the clan to be betrothed to a piece of trash.

Moreover, Ye Yuan’s martial arts talent was quite amazing, and she was likely to have a promising future.

Ding Ping couldn’t help it—he felt incomparable pain in his heart. He sincerely liked Ye Yuan, and the other party had reciprocated his affection and been extremely gentle to him. However, since their engagement had been terminated six months ago, they had never seen each other again.

Before, he had thought that Ye Yuan was put under house arrest by her family. It was only now that he realized that the other party’s gentleness towards him in the past had all been mere pretense.

This cut through his heart like a knife.

“Yeah, Brother Ping, please don’t simply call out her name as Yuanyuan is now my fiancée!” Ding Feiwen added. Seeing that Ding Ping’s face had turned pale as if he had been hit with a heavy punch, he could not help but feel gratified.

He used to be suppressed by Ding Ping. No matter how outstanding his achievements were, when compared to Ding Ping, he would be seen as ordinary. However, he had a scheming nature; even though he hated Ding Ping, he still played the role of a younger brother in front of the other party because he valued power and influence more than arrogance and self-esteem.

But now, Ding Ping had lost his position, while he had been chosen to replace him. Naturally, he no longer had to keep up with the pretense, and could exhibit his fervor as well as ruthlessly strike against the person who used to tread above him.

His face pale, Ding Ping cried out, “Yuanyuan!” He genuinely liked Ye Yuan. However, the Ye Yuan in front of him now was completely irreconcilable with the person in his memory—there wasn’t any similarity in the slightest.

There were other two youngsters behind, and they immediately jumped out and shouted at Ding Ping, “How dare you! The name of Brother Feiwen’s fiancée isn’t one you can simply call!”