The Extreme Alchemist of the Mighty Cauldron

“Hehe, before we proceed, shouldn’t we fulfill our bet?” Han Luoyun lightly chuckled.

Upon hearing this, Yang Jianye gave a bitter smile, while Li Zhendong wore a gloomy expression.

“Alas, we really underestimated that Fang Lin.” Yang Jianye sighed as he took out a treasure and handed it over to Han Luoyun through his assistant.

Han Luoyun smiled faintly, accepted the treasure, and then turned to Li Zhendong.

“Head of the Li Family, are you not going to honor your words?” Han Luoyun’s smile faded, and he spoke with a cold voice.

Li Zhendong snorted. Despite being extremely unhappy, he had to settle this matter with resignation.

Li Zhendong then smacked his Nine Palace Bag and took out a treasure, throwing it towards Han Luoyun.

Han Luoyun waved his hand, and the treasure landed steadily in his palm.

“Many thanks for the gift, Head of the Li Family.” Han Luoyun spoke as he tossed the treasure into his bag without even glancing at it, totally uninterested in whatever Li Zhendong had given out.

Soon, the internal struggle of the Li Family began.

“Fang Lin, don’t forget to show some mercy later.” Prince Yang Wanshan, standing beside Fang Lin, gave him a jovial warning.

Fang Lin sighed, “Prince, please, no jokes. I hope you can spare me some dignity later and not defeat me too awfully.”

Yang Wanshan roared with laughter, patting Fang Lin on the shoulder. Despite his friendly demeanor, Fang Lin acutely sensed that Yang Wanshan was a very deceptive man.

Among the many sons of Yang Jianye, each one left a different impression on Fang Lin.

The most familiar one, Yang Pojun, was straightforward and down-to-earth – a total martial arts devotee, lacking the cunning for politics.

While Prince Yang Jianfeng was an easy-going, genuine character.

Yang Fengchi, on the other hand, seemed arrogant, as if he didn’t regard anyone.

As for Yang Wanshan, even though he appeared affable, he was actually very shrewd and hid cunning and manipulation in his eyes, giving people a sense of deceitfulness.

The internal conflict of the Li Family turned out to be much more boring than imagined. A young man named Li Tong from the Li Family, who obviously didn’t fight with his full strength, was easily defeated by Li Shengming.

It was clear to discerning eyes that they had pre-arranged this. Li Shengming was indeed stronger than Li Tong, but winning wouldn’t have been so easy if they were seriously competing.

However, in order to reserve Li Shengming’s strength and hide his skills and trump cards from others, Li Tong allowed himself to be easily defeated, smoothly paving the way for Li Shengming to compete for the substitute position.

Although these actions weren’t the most honorable, no one challenged them. This was the result of a lottery, and the Es were free to decide how to conduct their internal fight.

What followed, the fight between Yang Wanshan and Fang Lin, piqued everyone’s interest. Whichever one of them won would proceed to compete for the substitute position against Li Shengming.

In the eyes of most people, Yang Wanshan had a higher chance of winning than Fang Lin, since Yang Wanshan was the second prince of Qian Country, and was among the top three in power amongst the numerous princes.

As for Fang Lin? Although his performance in the first round of selection was impressive and beyond everyone’s expectations, people believed he had taken a pill. When it came to real ability, he should not be able to handle Yang Wanshan.

This was particularly true for the royal family. They knew Yang Wanshan’s strength all too well, even the eldest Imperial son, Yang Xuanfeng, found it difficult to defeat Yang Wanshan.

Among those present, likely only Han Luoyun was betting on Fang Lin.

Even Yang Pojun, who was familiar with Fang Lin, did not believe that Fang Lin could defeat Yang Wanshan. After all, as princes, Yang Pojun and Yang Wanshan had sparring experiences, they knew each other’s strength very well.

Both of them walked to the middle of the martial arts area, several steps apart from each other, neither of them showed any signs of underestimating the other.

“Fang Lin, be careful.” Yang Wanshan cautioned before suddenly pulling out a glittery longsword and lunging towards Fang Lin.

Seeing Yang Wanshan use a weapon, Fang Lin did not hesitate, he smacked his Nine Palace Bag, and the exaggerated looking large bone stick appeared in his hand.

The weird weapon that Fang Lin pulled out elicited exclamations of surprise from the audience. Yang Wanshan’s eyes flickered and he quickened his speed, thrusting his sword towards Fang Lin.

Fang Lin hardly moved, he simply swung his large bone stick at it.

Clang!

The sound of metal against metal resounded. Yang Wanshan was taken aback as he felt a heavy force coming from Fang Lin’s side.

The next moment, Yang Wanshan was forced to stagger backwards several steps, barely managing to keep his balance.

Fang Lin, expressionless, stepped out using the Nine Heavens Step Skill, his large bone stick swinging once again with the sound of the wind breaking.

Yang Wanshan’s eyebrows knit together, he circulated his Inner Strength, his entire being gaining a temporary burst of speed, and he managed to dodge Fang Lin’s large bone stick.

Then he appeared behind Fang Lin. Instead of using his sword, he aimed a punch for the back of Fang Lin’s neck.

This was a weak spot in human, a lethal point.

Despite Yang Wanshan’s devious nature, he still was aware of Han Luoyun’s presence, so he didn’t dare to go too far. Therefore, he aimed for the back of Fang Lin’s neck, hoping to temporarily immobilize him.

However, he had clearly underestimated Fang Lin’s reaction. Before his fist could land, Fang Lin suddenly turned around and threw a punch in return.

Boom!

Their fists collided. Yang Wanshan, full of confidence, had poured ample Inner Strength into his punch. He believed Fang Lin wouldn’t be able to block it under such short notice.

“What? How is this possible?”

“The second prince is at a disadvantage!”

“Is Fang Lin really this strong?”

The result, however, took both Yang Wanshan and everyone else by surprise.

Yang Wanshan involuntarily retreated, staggering, his punching hand numb. In contrast, Fang Lin still stood his ground calmly, without even a single frown on his face.

With this, the difference in their abilities was immediately clear.

Yang Wanshan was both angry and aggrieved. He regretted not using his sword just now. Determined, he no longer cared about anything else.

Yang Wanshan was determined to win! Defeat Fang Lin, then defeat Li Shengming, and seize the substitute position. With this opportunity, he would hold significant capital in the competition for the position of the Crown Prince.

So, Yang Wanshan absolutely had to defeat Fang Lin, if he lost now, then he wouldn’t even stand a chance competing against the other princes for the position of the Crown Prince in the future.

“Take my sword!” Yang Wanshan roared. His longsword cut through the air, flying towards Fang Lin like a flood dragon.

Fang Lin’s eyes narrowed. He swung his large bone stick fast and hard, knocking the oncoming sword off its course.

However, Fang Lin himself didn’t have it easy either. The fierce Sword Qi imbued in the flying sword cut a few wounds on his right hand.